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referring to fig1 magazine unit 10 comprises an elongated , generally tubular magazine 12 defining an interior cavity 14 , the cross section of which may be varied in size and shape responsive to that of the devices 100 ( such as the aforementioned tsops ) to be contained therein . magazine 12 may be formed of any suitable metallic or non - metallic material , although it is contemplated that it be molded from an anti - electrostatic discharge ( esd ) polymer , or coated with such a material . as shown , magazine cavity 14 is sized to accommodate a plurality of devices 100 stacked in vertically superimposed relationship . also as shown , one or more walls of magazine 12 may include an elongated view port 16 , so that the filled versus empty status of the magazine may be visually verified as desired . it is also desirable that magazine 12 include a floor 18 movable within interior cavity 14 . as shown in fig1 a , floor 18 is preferably larger than aperture 14a at the bottom of interior cavity 14 , so that devices 100 in magazine 12 will be retained from below by floor 18 when magazine 12 is being handled . as shown in fig1 b , floor 18 may include skirts or other peripheral extensions 18a to prevent tilting , cocking and jamming of floor 18 as it moves up and down within magazine cavity 14 . magazine 12 is placed above an elevation assembly 20 at a fixed vertical level l , and may be stabbed into a fixture , depicted in fig1 as receptacle 22 ( shown in broken lines ), to provide proper horizontal , vertical and angular ( about a vertical axis ) orientation for magazine 12 . it is preferred , although not required , that magazine 12 be secured against vertical movement by a detent assembly comprised of one or more resiliently - biased detent elements 24 cooperating with a like number of recesses 26 in a sidewall of magazine 12 . the detent assembly may comprise a leaf - spring biased detent element as shown , or biasing may be provided by a coil spring , a resilient elastomer , or otherwise as known in the art , or may comprise a resilient wall portion molded into receptacle 22 . alternatively , magazine 12 may be frictionally retained within receptacle 22 , or may be positively locked within receptacle 22 by a latch or pin - type locking arrangement , such mechanisms being conventional . an elongated , rod - like indexing element 30 is extendable upwardly into interior cavity 14 of magazine 12 under the power and control of drive 32 , which may comprise a stepper motor , a screw drive , or other suitable incrementally or continuously controllable drive mechanism as known in the art . as shown , indexing element 30 extends vertically through drive 32 and upwardly into magazine 12 , where it contacts the bottom of floor 18 . as shown in fig1 a and 1b , element 30 may be received within a cup 34 formed in the bottom of floor 18 . cup 34 , like skirts 18a , may alleviate any tendency of floor 18 to tilt , cock or jam . if desired , the upper end of indexing element 30 may be of rectangular or other suitable cross section , and the interior blind bore of cup 34 configured to mate therewith . drive 32 may be controlled responsive to removal or addition of a device to its associated magazine 12 by a pick - and - place mechanism to , respectively , extend or retract indexing element 30 by an increment equivalent to the depth ( thickness ) of a given device 100 . such movement may be software - controlled for ease of accommodating different devices 100 . optionally and desirably , each magazine 12 may carry identifying indicia or an identification device thereon to facilitate proper identification and use of a given magazine and its contents . for example , as shown in fig1 magazine 12 may bear an identification device 40 such as a bar code or magnetic strip ( such as is employed with credit cards ) on an exterior sidewall thereof alternatively , and again as shown in fig1 magazine 12 may bear a more sophisticated electronic identification device 42 utilizing a memory device such as an eeprom or flash memory . an rfid ( radio frequency identification ) device may also be employed for enhanced remote inventory and theft control through electronic tracking or monitoring . such bar code 40 or identification devices 42 may be employed to retain and provide &# 34 ; bin &# 34 ; information as to the test characteristics exhibited by the binned devices carried by the magazine , part count , manufacturing origin , test date , test equipment , test protocol , and other useful information , such as the location of a specific part in a stack of parts deposited in a given magazine 12 . as depicted in fig2 a plurality of magazine units 10 , optionally in identical modular form ( hereinafter &# 34 ; magazine modules &# 34 ;), may be arranged in a close horizontally - adjacent array 110 to dispense or receive devices 100 in association with a pick - and - place mechanism . this arrangement is particularly beneficial for receiving tested and sorted devices 100 , with each magazine 12 of the array 110 comprising a &# 34 ; bin &# 34 ; to receive devices exhibiting particular characteristics under test and sorted accordingly . as shown in broken lines 60 , the magazine module array 110 may be arranged to simulate the device containment pattern size and shape of the aforementioned jedec trays , while eliminating the previously - described conventional practice of presenting different trays for receiving differently binned devices . moreover , using the invention , a pick - and - place mechanism may thus be programmed to dispense tested , sorted chips to only one specific x - y plane ( transverse to the axes of magazines 12 ) location for each sort category , or bin , of tested devices . as desired , the magazine units or modules 10 may be arranged to comprise a square array ( for example , four modules 10 by four modules as shown in fig5 ), another rectangular array ( for example , four modules 10 by two modules 10 as shown in fig2 ), a linear array ( for example , a line of eight modules as shown in fig6 ), or in any other desired arrangement . further , and again as desired , two or more module arrays 110 may be employed if a large number of bins are required and the pick - and - place device 120 has a limited horizontal travel , the multiple arrays 110 being alternatively placeable within reach of a target field 124 of the pick - and - place arm 122 , as shown in fig7 . also , a longitudinally extended module array 110 may be mounted so as to be linearly translatable through a target field 124 of a pick and place arm 122 , as shown in fig8 . finally , and as illustrated in fig9 a circular carousel - type array 110 may be employed to rapidly , rotationally present each magazine module 10 at the same , specific , fixed target field 124 for pick - and - place . as shown in both fig1 and 2 , the magazine modules 10 may be easily bolted or otherwise secured by fasteners to a module or array support plate in any desired pattern and spacing using apertures 72 in flange plates 70 at the tops of drives 32 . alternatively , the magazine modules 10 may be frictionally seated in recesses in a support , spring - loaded or positively - locked clamps may be employed to retain magazine modules 10 , resiliently - biased detent devices employed , or any other suitable retention structure known in the art . further , drives 32 may be linked to a test apparatus and sorting device by quick - release electrical connections ( such as male - female connectors , resiliently - biased surface contacts , or other suitable connections known in the art ). when a given magazine 12 is completely filled , such status being conveyed to the operator by , for example , a sensor 50 ( see fig1 ) sensing the position of indexing element 30 or a proximity sensor 52 ( see fig1 ) located on the interior of receptacle 22 sensing the proximity of floor 18 to the bottom of that magazine 12 , the full magazine 12 is removed and replaced by an empty one . triggering of such sensors 50 , 52 may result in an alarm or other indicator to alert the operator , and a signal to a control system to stop the binning process until the full magazine is replaced . position sensor 50 may sense actual travel of indexing element 30 , or may merely react to proximity of an indicator located on the shaft of indexing element 30 . proximity sensor 52 may comprise a contact switch , a photocell , a reflection type optical encoder , an ultrasound sensor , or other suitable sensor known in the art . in lieu of being associated with receptacle 22 , sensor 52 may be built into the lower end of each magazine 12 , and electrical contact for providing power and passing a signal from the sensor made with a host device such as a programmed computer associated ( for example ) with a testing device or a sorting device when magazine 12 is plugged into receptacle 22 . male \ female mating contacts , resiliently - biased surface contacts , or other conventional arrangement may be employed to make the connection . position sensor 50 might also be employed to indicate when a dispensing magazine 12 has been emptied ( i . e , indexing element 30 is at full extension ), and a proximity sensor 52a might be employed at the top of each dispensing magazine 12 to signal the proximity of floor 18 to the mouth 14b of interior magazine cavity 14 , sensor 52a having a quick - disconnect electrical connection 54 associated therewith for connecting sensor 52a to an alarm or other indicator , to the control for the mechanism being fed by the magazine , and to the control for elevator drive 32 . alternatively , the connection for sensor 52a may be located at the bottom of magazine 12 so that entry of the bottom of magazine 12 into a receptacle 22 also effects an electrical connection for the sensor . further , the sensor may extend longitudinally along the vertical length of the magazine as shown at 52b , to sense the proximity of the floor 18 in a continuous manner , and thus the magnitude of the interior cavity 14 , of the magazine 12 above floor 18 on a continuous basis . in a very simple form , the &# 34 ; sensor &# 34 ; may comprise a graduated indicator scale 52c inscribed on the exterior of magazine 12 next to view port 16 in gradations equal to the thickness of the devices contained therein and numbered to visually indicate the number of devices in the magazine , the remaining magazine capacity , or both . alternatively , the scale 52c may be printed on an adhesive - backed strip or film to be removably adhered to a magazine 12 so that different scales may be used for devices of different thicknesses . as shown in fig3 the magazine of the present invention may be configured in an embodiment 210 to present or receive a plurality , for example four ( 4 ), of devices 100 by employing four interior cavities 14 arranged about a central passage 212 for receiving an indexing element 30 , the floors 18 within the four cavities 14 being linked to a central support 214 which is engaged by indexing element 30 . fig4 schematically depicts the dispensing of devices 100 from an array 110a of magazine units 10 according to the present invention , retrieval with arm 122a of a pick - and - place mechanism 120a and placement into a test board preparatory to passage through test apparatus 130 for electrical testing ( optionally at elevated temperature ) and sorting devices of , 100 as known in the art , retrieval of tested devices 100 with arm 122b of , a second pick - and - place mechanism 120b and binning of same into additional magazine units 10 in an array 110b in accordance with their exhibited test characteristics . other types of device handling mechanisms may also be employed , and it is specifically contemplated that a translatable chute - type gravity feed mechanism is suitable for dispensing tested devices 100 into various magazines 10 in accordance with their test characteristics . many types of such electrical tests being known and conventionally practiced in the art , and the type of such tests being unrelated to the present invention and its practice , no further description thereof will be made herein . the present invention has been disclosed as having specific utility with tsop devices . however , it is contemplated as having utility with any type of semiconductor device , particularly packaged devices such as ( for example ) small outline j - lead ( soj ) devices , thin quad flat pack ( tqfp ) devices , dual - in - line package ( dip ) devices , ball grid array ( bga ) devices , and chip scale package ( csp ) devices . while the present invention has been described in terms of certain illustrated embodiments , those of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that it is not so limited . many additions , deletions and modifications may be made to the embodiments disclosed , as well as combinations of features from different disclosed embodiments , without departing from the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed .
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referring now to the drawings , particularly fig1 there is shown a pipetting system 10 made in accordance with the present invention . pipetting system 10 includes a hand held pipettor 12 , the details of which are shown in fig2 and a control assembly 14 . pipettor 12 has a motor 16 , for example a stepping motor , which drives a pump assembly 18 for aspirating and dispensing liquid into and from a pipette 20 which is removably attached to the pipettor . control assembly 14 includes a keyboard 22 which is connected to a micro - processor 24 . keyboard 22 provides an operator with the ability of manually inputting micro - processor 24 . data signals generated from micro - processor 24 are applied to latches 26 and 28 , as well as a memory 30 . latch 26 and memory 30 are used in conjunction with a display 32 for indicating the status of pipetting system 10 . latch 28 is used in connection with motor 16 . the signals at the output of latch 28 are applied to a driver 34 which generates drive signals for controlling motor 16 . a calibration memory unit 36 is provided for storing calibration data signals for use in pipetting system 10 as hereinafter described . a power supply 38 generates a 5 volt signal , for example , which is applied to the electronic circuits hereinbefore . the detail construction of pipettor 12 is shown in fig2 . pipettor 12 includes a casing 40 having a handle 42 at one end and a pipette receiving receptacle 44 at the other end . a trigger 46 is slidably mounted to casing 40 and engages a switch 48 when the trigger is actuated . switch 48 energizes motor 16 whereupon a shaft 50 moves upwardly and downwardly relative to motor 16 in response to rotation of the motor armature 52 . the motor 16 is mounted to handle 42 in a pair of bearings 54 , 56 , the motor housing and stator 57 being constrained against movement relative to the handle . in the illustrated embodiment , shaft 50 is externally threaded and armature 52 is an internally threaded member . accordingly , clockwise and counterclockwise rotational movement of armature 52 produces upward and downward linear movement of shaft 50 . when armature 52 rotates in a clockwise direction shaft 50 moves up , for example , and when the armature rotates in a counterclockwise motion the shaft moves down . a sensor 58 is positioned adjacent bearing 56 and senses the relative position of shaft 50 . in the illustrated embodiment , by way of example , sensor 58 is a hall effect sensor and a magnet 60 is mounted to the lower end of shaft 50 . the hall effect sensor 58 generates signals which define the position of magnet 60 relative to the sensor . a piston 62 , which is constrained for reciprocating movement within a cylinder 64 , is attached to the upper end of shaft 50 . the upper end of cylinder 64 is sealed with a cap 66 having an internal passage 68 which is configured to sealably receive one end of a tube 70 . the other end of tube 70 is received in an adaptor 72 which is composed of rubber , for example . one end of a filter 74 , for example a sterilizing grade filter , is held in adaptor 72 in communication with tube 70 . the other end of filter 74 is received in a filter retainer 76 which is composed of rubber , for example . pipette receiving receptacle 44 captively fits about retainer 76 . as shown in fig3 receptacle 44 has an outer housing 78 and a plurality of downwardly extending fingers 80 , for example three fingers , which are radially disposed . the lower section of each finger 80 a projecting gripping member 82 which is configured to engage a pipette inserted into receptacle 44 . in the embodiment shown in fig2 and 3 , gripping members 82 are configured to engage an annular recess or constriction portion of a pipette 20 which is inserted into receptacle 44 . in an alternative embodiment , not shown , the pipette has an annular ribbed portion which is engaged by gripping members 82 . in a further embodiment , the pipette has a smooth outer surface . when pipette 20 is inserted into receptacle 44 , gripping members 82 lock onto ribbed portion 84 . when the pipette 20 is locked into position , the upper end of the pipette communicates with and is seated in filter retainer 76 , the upper end of the pipette being frictionally engaged by the filter retainer . the operation of pipettor 12 is initiated by actuation of trigger 46 . when trigger 46 is squeezed , an actuating arm 86 depresses a contact 88 in switch 48 . switch 48 is actuated and motor 16 is energized . armature 52 of motor 16 rotates , thereby causing either upward or downward linear movement of shaft 50 relative to the fixed position of motor 16 . piston 62 , which is mounted on the end of shaft 50 in sealing engagement with the walls of cylinder 64 by means of an &# 34 ; o &# 34 ; ring 90 , moves upwardly and downwardly with movement of the shaft . when piston 62 moves downwardly in cylinder 64 , a suction is created in tube 70 , whereby liquid is aspirated into pipette 20 which is attached to filter 74 . when piston 62 moves upwardly in cylinder 64 , pressure is applied to tube 70 and liquid is dispensed from pipette 20 . an indicator 92 , for example a light emitting diode , provides an indication that liquid is being dispensed from pipette 20 and an indicator 94 , for example a light emitting diode , provides an indication that liquid is being drawn into pipette 20 . in the illustrated embodiment , by way of example , indicator 92 is a red light emitting diode and indicator 94 is a green light emitting diode . sensor 58 provides an indication of the relative position of piston 62 in cylinder 64 by generating signals defining the position of magnet 60 with respect to the sensor . an initial or home position of magnet 60 relative to sensor 58 is the position where filling of pipette 20 begins and equates to zero volume in the pipette . pipetting system 10 is calibrated by means of a high precision pipette which is inserted into receptacle 44 . the purpose of the calibration process is to calibrate the pipetting system for a liquid of a specific density and at a specific temperature . the calibration procedure begins with the squeezing of trigger 46 and the energizing of motor 16 . the liquid is aspirated into the precision calibrated pipette 20 until the liquid level reaches a graduation mark 96 on the calibration pipette . it is preferred that the liquid used during the calibration process has the same density and it is at the same temperature as the liquid which is to be used during normal operation of the pipetting system . once the desired quantity of liquid has been aspirated into pipette 20 , a calibration button 98 on keyboard 22 is pressed and calibration data signals generated in micro - processor 24 are stored in calibration memory 36 . the calibration data signals stores the number of steps motor 16 moved to displace the liquid in pipette 20 to the graduation mark . in one example , the graduation line on the calibration pipette represents 10 ml . the calibration of the instrument for each liquid is accomplished by using the calibration data at 10 ml and normalizing the values over the volume range of the instrument , for example 0 - 12 ml . in the illustrated embodiment , calibration memory 36 is capable of storing five separate calibration data signals . once the pipetting system 10 has been calibrated , the precision calibration pipette is removed and a laboratory pipette is inserted in its place . in selected operating modes , the quantity of liquid aspirated and dispensed from the laboratory pipette is governed by the calibration data signals stored in calibration memory 36 . trigger 46 is depressed and motor 16 is energized . data signals corresponding to present piston 62 position are compared in micro - processor 24 with the calibration data signals . when the present position data signals or normalized calibration data signals , depending upon the quantity of liquid to be aspirated , equal the calibration data signals , motor 16 is deenergized and the quantity of liquid aspirated into the laboratory pipette is accurate because it considers that liquid specific temperature and density characteristic captured during the calibration procedure . keyboard 22 includes various control keys which govern the speed of motor 16 . in the illustrated embodiment , by way of example , keyboard 22 contains 10 speed control buttons for regulating the speed of motor 16 which , in turn , governs the rate of aspirative and dispensing liquids . the ability of pipetting system 10 to pipette liquids at varying speeds is particularly useful as it relates to special applications . the slowest speeds , for example , allow the user to remove supernatent laying on top of cell monolayers without disturbing or resuspending the cells into solution . conversely , the faster speeds are useful in applications where a powerful stream of liquid is aimed at a cell button that has been formed at the bottom of a test tube after centrifugation . this liquid stream is utilized to resuspend the cells into solution and is a delicate procedure that requires a powerful stream to resuspend the cells , yet one that will not lyse the cells rendering them unsuitable for further use . in the illustrated embodiment , display 32 is provided with five indicating zones . zone 1 , the upper left section of the display , displays the current volume level of liquid in the pipette . zone 2 , the upper right section of the display , presents an indication of the pre - selected volumes for the ( f ) fill and ( d ) dispense modes as well as the current mode of operation of system 10 . zone 3 , the lower left section of the display , is a message area which displays the mode of operation being performed , displays error messages , and provides operator instructions . zone 4 , the lower middle right section of the display , displays the cumulative volume of liquid which has been dispensed since last filled . zone 5 , the lower right section of the display , indicates which calibration channel is being used . the number 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 appears and denotes which one of the five channels is available to preset and store in memory the specific gravity and temperature of various liquids . in a first automatic mode of operation , a single pull of trigger 46 will activate motor 16 and liquids will be aspirated or dispensed in the volumes programmed using keyboard 22 and displayed on display 32 in a calibration scheme according to the previously stored calibration data for the particular liquid . in a second automatic mode , trigger 46 is depressed throughout the pipetting step . if trigger 46 is released prior to completion of the pipetting step , display 32 and led 92 or 94 provide an indication that the pipetting step has not been completed . the next time trigger 46 is depressed and held , the pipetting step is completed . this second automatic mode is unique in that it allows the user to be interrupted in the middle of a pipetting step and then continue with the pipetting step . in a manual mode of operation , the programmed values are overridden and pipetting system 10 fills or dispenses as long as trigger 46 is depressed . the first trigger activation aspirates and subsequent trigger activations dispense until the pipette is empty . since certain changes may be made in the foregoing disclosure without departing from the scope of the invention herein involved , it is intended that all matter contained in the above description and depicted in the accompanying drawings be construed in an illustrative and not in a limiting sense .
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fig2 a , 2b and 2c illustrate a comparison of the arrangement of full and half - pitch contacts on their respective carriers . fig2 a illustrates the array of the conventional full pitch contact of the prior art ; fig2 b illustrates the array of one embodiment of a half - pitch contact ; fig2 c illustrates the arrangement of a half - pitch contact in accordance with this invention . referring to fig2 b and 2c , it is apparent that the centerline spacing &# 34 ; a / 2 &# 34 ; of the adjacent contacts in the half - pitch contact set is one - half the spacing &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; of the full pitch contact sets . accordingly , the material required using the full pitch carrier design of fig2 a is double that of the half - pitch layout of fig2 b and 2c . the full pitch design allows multiple variation of the design to meet design criteria . the additional material when designing the full pitch socket connectors will result in additional material scrappage and additional plating which will increase cost to produce the contact . a comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of the full pitch layout to the half - pitch layout is as follows : 1 . the material required for a contact formed in a full pitch layout is sufficient to form two contacts with half - pitch layout . in the mass production environment , the half - pitch layout obviously possesses a cost - effective advantage . 2 . the centerline spacing of the terminal - receiving passages in the typical electrical connector insulator housing is a half - pitch pattern even a full pitch contact spacing is used , which requires two individual insertion procedure steps to insert full pitch contacts into each row of half - pitch terminal - receiving passages of an insulator housing as shown in fig1 while only one insertion procedure step is required for contact sockets formed by a half - pitch layout to complete the same insertion operation as shown in fig3 . accordingly , contacts having a half - pitch layout may require only half of the assembly time when compared to contacts having a full pitch layout . 3 . when conveying a continuous carrier strip with a plurality of connector contacts through a plating bath using an automatic conveyor , a half - pitch layout carrier strip exhibits a time - saving advantage when compared to the full pitch layout carrier strip under the same electrical plating conditions and plating processes when plating a plurality of materials . in other words , in a plating environment of specific length of carrier and specific amount of time , it may be expected that more half - pitch contacts will pass through the plating bath than is the case with full pitch layout carrier , which results in the saving of plating time and plating cost . considering the significant economic effect , it is an advantage to design and produce a half - pitch contact which satisfies all design and performance parameters . the fact that available material surface area on the strip for each contact with half - pitch layout is half as much as that of full pitch layout , imposes a limitation of feasible design patterns as well as an obstacle to obtaining optimum physical features , especially the connection feature at the contact portion of the conventional connector contact of fig1 whereby the cantilever arms are formed by first stamping strip material stock into two parallel strips with partly conjoined portions 21 and 22 shown in fig2 b such that said parallel strips 21 and 22 are revolved with respect to the centerline spacing of the connector contact to form the mating section which is the typical conventional fabricating method of generally recognized conventional connector contacts . in contrast , the contact of this invention is the result of novel design efforts and is an innovative contact structure which exhibits the desired physical features for optimum performance , and is manufactured using novel and unique techniques which distinctly distinguish over the generally recognized method . fig3 illustrates an exploded perspective view of this invention with connector contact socket designated generally by the numeral 31 and the insulator housing designated by numeral 32 . as shown , each contact socket includes a terminating section 34 that connects the contact to the carrier strip 34 &# 39 ;, a barbed retention section 35 that retains the contact in the housing 32 and a mating section 36 . the terminal - receiving passages 33 of fig3 of the insulator housing 32 and the contact sockets 31 are all in a half - pitch pattern so that only a one step inserting procedure is necessary for insertion of each row of contact sockets . fig4 illustrates the major characteristic steps of the contact socket manufacturing method of this invention from the carrier strip illustrated in fig2 c . in accordance with this invention , the contact is stamped and formed by first strip 41 and second strip 42 wherein the first strip 41 and second strip 42 are conjoined through the integral portion 43 as shown in fig4 a , 4b and 4c . the second strip 42 comprises a retention section and a terminating section while the first strip 41 comprises a mating section . one of the distinctions of this invention is that the receiving opening of the mating section is formed in the first strip and is a result of the following two fabricating steps . referring to fig4 a , strips 41 and 42 are initially in a common plane and conjoined at 43 as shown . referring to fig4 b , the first strip 41 is bent through 90 degrees with respect to the second strip while remaining integrally connected at 43 . as is shown in fig4 c , first strip 41 consists of two free ends 41a and 41b , wherein first free end 41a is bent through 180 degrees with respect to the second free end 41b to define a u - shaped portion . the above mentioned two - step - process is interchangeable . through this two - step - process , a u - shaped bent portion and a pair of cantilever arms are stamped and formed whereby a connector contact featuring significant material scrap reduction and good electrical connection characteristics is fabricated from the restricted material available , and exhibits a significant breakthrough over the conventional layout . in addition to the two steps of the process described above , the contact manufacturing method of this invention includes another step that includes the edge 42 &# 39 ; of second strip 42 which is opposite to the conjoined portion 43 being bent toward mating section 41 , defining a stop 59 in fig5 to act against u - shaped bent portion such that the contact force of the mating section is well supported and retained to provide a good mechanical and electrical connection relationship . fig5 illustrates another embodiment of the contact structure of this invention , wherein the socket contact includes a terminating section 51 formed at one end of the contact and adapted to be connected to a pc board or conductor . a mating section designated generally by the numeral 53 is formed at the opposite end of the contact and includes a u - shaped bent portion 54 integral with a pair of cantilever arms 55 and 56 . the u - shaped bent portion 54 and cantilever arms are formed from conductive metallic strip stock , cantilever arms facing toward each other as shown in fig5 wherein cantilever arm 55 extends from u - shaped portion 54 converging toward cantilever arm 56 through a predetermined degree while cantilever arm 56 extends from the other end of the u - shaped bent portion 54 , firstly extending outwardly or diverging from arm 55 then inwardly or converging toward cantilever arm 55 . a pair of divergent receiving ends 57 and 58 extend from the corresponding free ends of cantilever arms 55 and 56 and define a receiving opening for a mating contact . a retention section designated generally by the numeral 52 is formed integrally between the terminating section 51 and mating section 53 to secure the contact inside the insulator housing . a stop 59 acting against the u - shaped bent portion 54 of the mating section 53 limits the displacement of cantilever arms 55 and 56 to ensure a good mechanical and electrical connection feature when mating with another connector . stop 59 and the retention section 52 are joined integrally by a conjoined portion 69 which is formed by a revolved strip portion to strengthen the contact structure . the retention section 52 also includes barbs 60 for engaging the insulator and a rib 50 to strengthen and rigidify the flat portion . fig6 illustrates another embodiment of the contact structure of this invention which is distinguished from the embodiment of fig5 by two stops 61 and 62 wherein the upper edge 63 of stop 61 is formed as high as the upper edge 64 of u - shaped bent portion 54 to exhibit a better effect on restricting the displacement of cantilever arm 55 and 56 . in accordance with the new contact structure and manufacturing method of this invention , a connector contact featuring characteristics of good electrical and mechanical connection and manufacturing cost - saving may be fabricated which may benefit the connector industry . it is to be understood that the above described arrangements are simply illustrative of the preferred embodiment of this invention . other arrangements may be devised by those skilled in the art which will embody principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope of the claims appended hereto .
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the principle of the present invention will be generally described prior to the description of each preferred embodiment . each embodiment of the present invention has a detailed description of welding that is the mainstream of joining method and welder ( welding equipment ) as joining equipment . as described above , in an quality inspection for a joining portion and the controlling technology , there are problems to be solved for practical use . to address such problems , according to the joining control of the present invention , a feedback - type neural network technology is applied to welding control , in addition to a conventional feed - forward type . a neuron is the fundamental element of a neural network . the neuron in the present invention employs a dynamic analog model , in which a neuron output is returned back to an input of the neuron . ( see p . 9 to 20 , y . uesaka , mathematical funamentals of neuro - computing , kindai - kagaku - sya , july 1997 .) the dynamic analog model can provide input history records . that is , employing the dynamic analog model , thermal history records fed into a joining portion ( welding zone )— joining ( welding ) quality - determining primary factor — can be reflected on evaluation of joining ( welding ) quality . for this reason , in the neural network used for the present invention , the feedback - driven dynamic analog model is employed for the input layer accepting various data that relate to heat input to the welding zone . according to the present invention , a thermal conduction equation is applied to a resistance welder . in this case , for accelerated calculation time and a reduced cost for numerical calculation , the thermal conduction equation is solved as the following procedure . ∂ t ∂ t = ∇ ( k ∇ t ) + ρ c σ δ 2 ( a ) the following equation is derived by representing the equation ( a ) in a discrete form . t ( n ) - t ( o ) = k ∇ t δ t δ l + ρ δ 2 c σ ( b ) the equation ( b ) means that the temperature change in the left side is represented by the summation of : the heat movement change in the first term of the left side , and the heat - up by heat input in the second term of the right side . herein , assuming that the heat moves and changes similarly in shape in the first term of the right side , the following equation is derived . as a result , the following equation for seeking the temperature at welding zone is obtained : t ( n )≅( 1 − α · k · δt / δ 1 ) t ( 0 )+( δ v · i · δt )/( c · σs · δ 1 ) ( 1 ) where t ( n ) is the temperature at the center of a weld zone ; t ( 0 ) is the temperature at the center of the weld zone measured time δt before ; α is the constant on the assumption that the heat moves and changes similarly in shape ; δv is voltage for joining ( welding voltage ) applied to the welding zone ; i is current for joining ( welding current ) fed through the welding zone . that is , the temperature t ( n ) of the weld zone at a certain time is represented as a summation of the weld zone temperature at very little time δt before ( the first term of the right side ) and heat - up by the heat input during δt . herein , the second term in the parenthesis of the first term of the right side represents the heat movement change . with equation ( 1 ), the temperature in a welding zone can be obtained in a single - step calculation , by which the calculation time is accelerated higher than that required for the prior art calculation . this also promises a reduced cost numeric calculation . a general solution to a dynamic analog model is given by equation ( 2 ) below . ( see eq . ( 13 ), p . 19 , y . uesaka , mathematical funamentals of neuro - computing , kindai - kagaku - sya , july , 1997 .) a solution to the thermal conduction equation for a thermal conduction model of a resistance welding zone is given by equation ( 3 ) below . ( see eq . ( 6 . 17 ), p . 235 , t . ouji , fundamental of welding and joining process , selection on welding and joining vol . 1 , sanpo - publishing , june , 1996 .) as is evident from equations ( 2 ) and ( 3 ), the fundamentals for the solutions to these equations have the same form each other . where τ is a time constant , tc is the temperature at the center of a welding zone , to is the maximum temperature in the welding zone . the internal potential ( output ) of a dynamic analog model is assumed to be a parameter for the state in temperature at a welding zone . suppose that welding conditions , such as ( i ) a small range of variation in current path diameter in a welding zone ; ( ii ) a negligible change in thickness of a welding zone , are provided . under such limited conditions , it can be assumed that at least current for joining ( welding current ) and voltage for joining ( welding voltage ) will do for the input elements to a neural network . in the case that any factor that affects the welding state is found prior to welding , the factor can be added to the input elements for the neural network . this method makes a well - configured neural network system easily prepared before welding , appropriately matching with a joining state ( welding state ), for example , the shape of a work piece , and the shape of an electrode . the explanation above has been described taking a case of utilizing a similarity between a solution to a thermal conduction equation in resistance welding and a general solution to a dynamic analog model . this is also applicable to other factors — light , heating by laser , convective heating with a heated tool , providing another neural network based on the same similarity . that is , by replacing the current and voltage , which function as the factors in resistance welding , with heat generated by light input , a radiation diameter , a tool temperature in convective heating . thus , as is the case in resistance welding , another neural network can be established with ease . in this case , not only a variety of input items , but also the number of items that should be learned for the control by the neural network can be specified . the joining control ( welding control ) is performed employing joining strength ( welding strength ) that represents joining quality ( welding quality ). therefore , the neural network utilizes the neuron form shown in fig3 . using a dynamic analog model , the output ( internal potential ) of the neuron element is obtained by solving equation ( 4 ) as a difference equation . u ( t + dt )= a 0 · u ( t )+ x i ( 4 ) where a 0 is a the feedback factor , x i is the amount of input change . the output will be represented by sigmoid function , for example , the function that satisfies the equation ( 5 ) below . with equations ( 4 ) and ( 5 ), the relationship between welding current and welding voltage contained in the teacher data supplying to a dynamic analog model , and welding strength of the teacher data is fed into the neural network so that the network learns the relationship . saturated strength at a welding zone determines b in the equation . by solving simultaneous equations derived from learning results , the unknown parameters , a 0 , u 0 , and w are defined . the output value obtained from the dynamic analog model employing equations ( 4 ) and ( 5 ) corresponds to welding strength . with the value used as a reference , it will be able to perform the welding control with welding strength being optimally controlled . such configuration also enables the data of welding strength for teacher data to be fed into the neural network through a learning process . as described above , a dynamic analog model can be used for controlling by incorporating it into a neural network and giving limitations to welding procedures to be controlled thereunder . to apply the control much more extensively for various work pieces , the dynamic analog model described above will need to be corrected . physical constants for a work piece can be changed through the following methods . a ) changing a physical constant factor that affects the internal potential of a dynamic analog model , according to the extent of the internal potential &# 39 ; s variation . b ) changing the constant according to a welding - zone temperature determined by other detecting method , for example , a welding - zone temperature derived from a thermal conduction equation , or a welding - zone temperature evaluated from thermal image data . c ) shape variations in work pieces — a change in thickness of a welding zone is correctable by detecting the amount of movement of electrode and the amount of change in electrode force . d ) current path areas — can be determined according to a welding - zone temperature , the specific resistance value at the temperature of the work piece to be processed , and the resistance value at the welding zone from the current and voltage applied at the moment . the following events can be also useful for detecting condition changes of the welding zone for welding control . i ) a change in sound at welding ; ii ) light generated at welding ; iii ) a change in composition of a material estimated from a change in sound at welding ; iv ) the distribution of temperature at the welding zone . the temperature distribution mentioned in iv ) can be obtained from , for example , the amount of movement of electrode , and the method was disclosed in japanese patent publication no . 7 - 16791 mentioned earlier . with the methods for changing physical constants described above , the constant α in equation ( 1 ) can be appropriately corrected for each joining material ( welding material ). a destructive inspection for weld zone has been mainly conducted to check whether the welder properly works or not on the welding site . doing it takes a great deal of expertise derived from practical experience . on - the - spot evaluation has therefore not been an easy work . as described earlier , an output ( internal potential ) of a dynamic analog model incorporated in a neural network shows a value pertinent to saturated strength at a weld zone . the internal potential fed out from the neural network is determined as a welding evaluation index . examining a change in color at the welding zone during welding , the welding evaluation index - to - change in color correspondence table is prepared . the inspection based on the correspondence table provides a good grasp of on - the - spot welding . furthermore , the quality check of welding procedure may be conducted in such a way that the image representing the welding zone , which has been subjected to the image process , is evaluated according to color information . this makes possible to check on the progress of welding while the welder works . besides , the correspondence table is useful to ensure high and consistent welding quality . if the welding evaluation index or the change in color is out of its acceptable range as shown in the table , welder or other equipment and the work piece in process can be checked whether something wrong happened in the process . now will be described a case employing a dynamic analog model for controlling welding of a weld zone . as explained above , the internal potential of a dynamic analog model serves as an evaluation index for a weld zone . in this case , the internal potential is given as a function of time . in resistance welding , the welding evaluation index depends on the amount of heat input , i . e ., welding current and welding voltage . this is also true in the welding employing light or laser . welding current in resistance welding can be set as an external input . on the other hand , welding voltage can be represented as a function , with the welding current given as a variable , while the welding process is being monitored . as the welding procedures , referencing the welding zone - evaluation index calculated , a predicted value of the welding zone - evaluation index on the completion of welding is calculated from employing the welding - current value at predetermined time in progress and a predicted value of welding voltage represented with the welding current given as a variable . if the predicted value differs from the target value of the welding zone - evaluation index as a goal on the completion of welding , the welding current is changed to get closer the two values . the comparison of the two values can be a guide for determining the period of welding time : if the welding zone - evaluation index exceeds the target value before a predetermined ending time , the welding may be curtailed ; if the index will not reach the target value by the predetermined ending time , the welding may be extended . performing the comparison between the two values over and over again until the predetermined ending time allows the predicted value to reach closer to the target value on the completion of welding . if the difference between the two values persists , the welding time should be adjusted , setting it slightly longer or shorter . hereinafter will be described the first preferred embodiment of the present invention . in resistance projection welder 11 ( hereinafter referred to as welder 11 ) shown in fig1 welding zone 104 of work pieces 100 and 102 shown in fig4 is sandwiched with electrodes ( not shown ), and applied pressure by a pressuring mechanism ( not shown ) for projection welding . welding condition - setting unit 12 determines joining conditions ( welding conditions ), and predetermines specifications for aimed - welding quality and prepares teacher data 16 . welder controller 13 provides welder 11 with instructions for welding in response to the output value from neural network 14 . in the embodiment , controller 13 controls welding current . herein , welder 11 includes a detecting portion ( not shown ). the detecting portion observes and detects joining states ( welding states ) at the joining portion ( weld zone ). neural network 14 comprises a single neuron of the dynamic analog type , accepting welding voltage v and welding current i used for welding from welder 11 . teacher data 16 is fed into learning unit 15 , where an output target value and a feedback coefficient for neural network 14 are defined . these values are set into neural network 14 . welding condition - setting unit 12 changes the combination of welding current , welding duration , and electrode force — hereinafter referred to these three factors as welding conditions . teacher data 16 employs the data having achieved temperature at the weld zone . as other factors to determine teacher data 16 , information on discoloration due to burns on the surface of welding zone 104 may be available . when using the information , the welding zone should be examined , from the direction indicated by arrow 106 in fig4 for a discolored area on its surface . in addition to changes of welding voltage and current for a certain electrode force , changes in dimension of welding zone is also effective to teacher data 16 . besides , the weld zone 104 reaches at high temperature and then emits light . the light is also usable as teacher data 16 . in case of laser welding , the laser - reflected light at the laser - welded zone is also effective to teacher data 16 . learning unit 15 captures teacher data 16 therein . employing a group of data having similar welding results and solving simultaneous equations , unit 15 derives a feedback coefficient . the target value of neuron output required for control is obtained from the following ways . i ) after the calculation of the feedback coefficient , learning unit 15 may review teacher data 16 and determine the target value being in the range of neuron output values with good welding results , for example , acquired by evaluation of tensile strength . ii ) in reverse , determining the target value , the feedback coefficient may be adjusted so that the predetermined target value is to be the output data . [ 0139 ] fig5 shows the relationship between the target value of neuron output and tensile strength that is the key to good result of welding . in the embodiment , referencing to fig5 the range of neuron output in which a desirable tensile strength is provided . as is apparent from the figure , the target value of neuron output is set at 90 with the preferable range of neuron output provided +/− 20 . [ 0141 ] fig6 shows an example of neuron output from the start of welding until the end of welding . the values determined by learning unit 15 are fed into neural network 14 , which completes preparation for welding . while welding is in operation , neural network 14 outputs the difference between the target value of neuron output and a neuron output , which is fed out during the work shown in fig6 . the difference is entered to welder controller 13 . receiving the data , controller 13 changes welding conditions for welder 13 to eliminate the difference , so that the desired welding result is provided . according to the embodiment , welding current i is changed to change welding conditions . when the duration of welding is used for changing welding conditions , the welding work may complete at the time the neuron output reaches the target value of neuron output . in this case , the target value given only at the completion of welding is important . the characteristic of the value during the work is not required to be monitored . electrode force may be used for the parameter for changing welding conditions . in this case , the same effect as the case described above is expected if the response of a pressuring system is faster . now will be described the second preferred embodiment of the present invention . in resistance spot welder 21 shown in fig7 welding zone 22 of work pieces is sandwiched between electrode tips , with application of pressure and heat , to generate a nugget . temperature measurement unit 23 calculates the temperature at a weld zone , employing the voltage and current applied to weld zone 22 , data ( a ) 26 indicating specific resistance characteristics in a work piece , and data ( b ) 27 indicating specific heat temperature characteristics . herein , welder 21 includes a detecting portion ( not shown ). the detecting portion observes and detects welding states at the weld zone . in addition to that , unit 23 calculates resistance between electrode tips rm . comparing calculated rm with measured resistance between electrode tips re , identifying processing unit 24 determines a current path diameter dc and supplies it to unit 23 . estimating controller 25 controls the current and voltage applied to resistance welder 71 according to the weld - zone temperature calculated at unit 23 . [ 0154 ] fig8 is a flow chart indicating the working principle of the embodiment . referencing to fig8 the control sequence of welding operation will be described . at the start of welding , the temperature at welding zone t 0 is set at 20 ° c . substituting the values of data ( a ) 26 and ( b ) 27 , current , and voltage into equation ( 1 ) yields the internal temperature t1 . the current path area s in equation ( 1 ) is found in such a way that its diameter dc measures 6 mm as an initial value upon welding . after the calculation of temperature , the resistance value r at the welding zone is obtained from measured voltage and current , then the resistance value r is obtained by calculation . where ρ is specific resistance , l is a thickness at a welding zone , s is a current path area . then the resistance value r at the welding zone and measured resistance value r are compared in magnitude . the result determines the value of diameter dc : ( i ) when r & gt ; r , the value of dc should be decreased ; ( ii ) r & lt ; r , the value of dc should be increased ; ( iii ) r = r , the calculation cycle is continued with the value of dc having no alteration . unlike the initial setting of t0 , calculated internal temperature , t1 is given to t0 for the next calculation . data ( a ) 26 , i . e . specific resistance characteristics in a work piece and data ( b ) 27 , i . e . specific heat temperature characteristics are given values measured at temperature t1 , and the value determined in the previous calculation is for diameter dc , while newly measured values are used for voltage and current . the density , the thickness of a weld zone , and the thermal conductivity , which are required to equation ( 1 ), are contained in the welding condition factors given at the start of the procedure . with the same procedure as the previous calculation , t2 is calculated and dc is determined by comparing measured resistance value r and calculated resistance value r . if the welding work does not complete , the control sequence continues the next cycle . to calculate a time - varying temperature at the weld zone , the loop will execute until the welding work is over . herein , the coefficient α may be adjusted based on the output of temperature measurement unit 23 . [ 0162 ] fig9 a and 9b are graphs that illustrate a well - controlled nugget production according to changes in temperature at a welding zone . temperature measurement unit 23 , as shown in fig9 b , continuously calculates the temperature at the center of the welding zone with the calculation procedure described above . the nugget was produced on target time ts by controlling welding current appropriately , as shown in fig9 a , according to temperature variations . [ 0163 ] fig1 shows the relationship between changes in current and changes in nugget diameter a the number of weld increases . the prior art constant - current welding has the traditional limit of nugget production by the time the number of weld gets into the range of 1500 to 2000 due to wear of the electrodes . with the method of the embodiment , however , nuggets can be still produced over 3000 times of weld , which means the electrode life extremely increased . in this example , welding current increased from approx . 6 ka at the start of welding up to 7 . 5 ka at approx . 3000 times of weld . besides , a low - cost cpu will do for temperature measurement unit 23 of the embodiment , instead of an expensive device equipped with high - speed numeric calculation ability . in the embodiment , calculated temperature was controlled so as to reach the target temperature on the target time . in this case , the target temperature is based on the melting temperature of steel plates . as an additional effect , controlling an increasing rate of the calculated temperature effectively suppresses weld expulsion occurred during a welding work . now will be described third preferred embodiment of the present invention . in the actual welding site , an error in dimension or shape of each work piece , or variations in dimension due to deformation occurred in pressing often forces the welding work to weld with an edge portion of a work piece . the welding work at the edge portion of a work piece differs from the work at a normal ( that is , not at the edge ) position of a work piece in terms of thermal capacity , exothermic distribution . therefore , providing the same welding condition as that applied to the welding at a normal position can cause a extreme deformation or weld expulsion , degrading welding quality . to handle such a situation and get a higher welding quality , welding conditions should be changed so as to be suitable for each situation . the embodiment makes use of a neural network in coping with the situation . the neural network estimates a position to be weld and automatically changes welding conditions according to the state . an important point in the estimation is whether or not the position to be weld locates at the edge of a work piece . the neural network employs changes in electrode force as a guide for the estimation . now will be described the system and its working principle of the embodiment . in fig1 , welding power source 31 contains a pressuring section . neural network 34 outputs calculation results to output controller 33 , which controls welding power source 31 . employing teacher data 36 , learning section 35 calculates a feedback coefficient and a weighted coefficient for the neural network . welding voltage detector 37 , which works as a joining voltage detector , detects welding voltage , while welding current detector 38 , which works as a joining current voltage detecctor , detects welding current . pressuring power detector 39 detects changes in electrode force generated during welding . receiving pressuring power change characteristic from detector 39 , pressuring power change characteristic output unit 40 calculates the value measured at a predetermined time interval since the welding has started . the calculated result is sent to neural network 34 . welding setting unit 32 sets the welding condition for output controller 33 . welding power source 31 sandwiches a steel plate — or aluminum plate — made work piece ( not shown ) with its pressuring section ( not shown ) and performs resistance welding by applying welding current according to the welding instruction from welding setting unit 32 . welding current detector 38 detects welding current applied to the welding zone . welding voltage detector 37 detects welding voltage occurred in the work piece and transmits it to one of neurons in the input layer of neural network 34 . the signals from the built - in sensor ( not shown ) of the pressuring section are fed into pressuring power detector 39 . furthermore , output unit 40 sends the results calculated with the values measured at a predetermined time interval from the start of welding — pressing force change characteristic h — to a different neuron in the input layer of neural network 34 . now will be described the configuration of neural network 34 . neural network 34 in fig1 comprises the input layer having three neuron elements , the intermediate layer having two elements , and the output layer having one element . one output from one of neurons in the input layer is returned back to an input of the same neuron . the input layer accepts pressing force change characteristic h from pressuring power change characteristic output means 40 , welding current i , and welding voltage v . characteristic h is obtained by normalizing , with respect to the maximum value that pressing force characteristic shown in fig1 b has reached , the value measured with 5 ms delayed from the maximum value - achieved point . after that , characteristic h is fed into neural network 34 . neural network 34 is controlled so as to wait for the input of characteristic h with output c unchanged . therefore , output controller 33 continues welding operations according to the welding condition determined by welding setting unit 32 until characteristic h is accepted . prior to welding , the neurons , which are supposed to accept welding current i and welding voltage v , have experienced learning process since the welding started . the learning process employs teacher data 36 and feedback coefficient a 0 determined by learning unit 35 . weighted coefficients wij , vij are determined in advance by learning section 35 according to teacher data 36 . receiving characteristic h , neural network 34 changes output c with predetermined such coefficients . output controller 33 controls , according to output c , the welding current value for welding power source 31 to change welding conditions . [ 0186 ] fig1 a and 13b are examples of teacher data 6 of the embodiment . as shown in fig1 a , a group of plural data of current and voltage during welding is fed into the neuron responsible for performing the learning process of neural network 34 . in other words , plural kinds of data on current vs . welding time and voltage vs . welding time are fed into the neuron . herein , the value represents tensile strength is employed for the criteria for evaluating a welding result and feedback coefficient a 0 is defined — a 0 = 0 . 94 for this embodiment .) [ 0188 ] fig1 b shows a change in pressuring force during welding . it is apparent from fig1 b that pressuring power change characteristic changes as the position to be weld gets close to the edge of a work piece , changing the shape from curves 41 through 44 . with respect to the maximum value of pressuring force characteristic , characteristic h is obtained by normalizing the value measured with 5 ms delayed from the maximum value - achieved point , then fed into neural network 34 . a personal computer ( pc ) is employed for learning unit 35 . the pc contains a history data - learning program and a learning program for calculating weighted coefficients for a static analog model — typical type comprising an input layer , an intermediate layer , and an output layer . the weighted coefficients are calculated by the back - propagation method . with the prior art welding , an error in positioning of work pieces to be weld together has often occurred , as mentioned earlier , due to variations in their shapes . besides , the welding done with the edge of a work piece has sometime caused spatters of melted metal , i . e . weld - expulsion , at the weld zone , sparking around the site . the expulsion could cause the spatters remained in the welding equipment , degrading the reliability of the equipment including a weld unit . according to the embodiment , however , in the welding to be done at the edge of a work piece , the welding conditions — welding current , welding voltage , and electrode force — can be rapidly decreased suitable for the welding point , with the expulsion substantially eliminated . in addition , the welding strength achieved a satisfactory degree . although the embodiment employs pressuring power change characteristic for the learning process of a welding position , the amount of electrode displacement , i . e ., the amount of movement of electrode is available for good effect . to obtain a higher leveled result , a ccd camera shooting is effective . according to the image of the welding position taken by the camera , the welding position can be directly fed into the neural network . 1 ) providing a versatile control method responding with changes in complicate joining states ( welding states ). 2 ) accelerating the time for numerical calculations ; realizing a higher control speed and a low - cost device required for numerical calculations ; providing an economical and learning process - free control method . 3 ) minimizing the number of input items into a neural network ; minimizing an error of the network output with fewer learning items , with the result that a joining equipment having high joining capability with an effective learning process . 5 ) providing a versatile joining control that can obtain a good result with higher accuracy . 6 ) providing an easy - handling of joining control equipment on a joining ( welding ) site , and a confirmation method of the working state of the equipment .
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reference may be had to fig1 which illustrates schematically a monitoring , control and maintenance system 10 for remotely located autonomously powered lighting , security / video , monitoring ( weather , environmental ( including pollution ), industrial ( flow , sewage , water ) or telecommunications ( cellular , wifi , etc .) installation systems . in the embodiment shown , the system 10 includes an autonomously powered light pole array 12 , a central processing unit ( cpu ) 14 for receiving operational data signals from and providing central signals to the array 12 and a data storage repository 16 . the light pole array 12 , central processing unit 14 and data storage repository 16 are most preferably provided in wireless electronic communication by a suitable cellular , zigbee or wifi communications network 18 . the light pole array 12 preferably consists of a number of autonomously powered light poles 20 which are installed for operations at a geographic location remote from the cpu 14 . the light poles 20 forming each array 12 may optionally include at least one telecommunications aggregator pole 20 ′, as well as a number of conventional poles 20 . in particular , by reason of their autonomous power source , the light poles 20 are particularly suitable for installation in geographically remote regions which , for example , may lack conventional power infrastructure such as electrical or telephone transmission lines , or even seasonal roads . in this regard , the light pole array 12 may be situated several hundred or even thousands of kilometers from the cpu 14 , not only in developed areas , but also along borders or in other geographically inaccessible areas . fig2 shows best the basic design of each light pole 20 using the system 10 . the poles 20 include an aluminum column 22 which extends vertically from a hollow base 24 . the column 22 is used to mount above the ground a pair of led lights 26 a , 26 b as respective electric loads , as well as a pair of solar or photovoltaic panels 28 a , 28 b and a top mounted wind turbine generator 30 . a fuel cell or battery 38 is housed within the interior of the base . as will be described , the fuel cell 38 both receives and stores charging electric current generated by the photovoltaic panels 28 a , 28 b and wind generator 30 , and supplies a discharge electric current to the led lights 26 a , 26 b in response to control signals received from a pole communications and monitoring controller 42 . the photovoltaic panels 28 a , 28 b and wind turbine generator 30 are each electronically coupled to respective voltage / current sensors 32 a , 32 b , 34 . the voltage / current sensors 32 a , 32 b , 34 are operable to provide signals correlated to the voltage and electric current generated by the panels 28 a , 28 b and wind turbine 30 in real time . in addition to the current sensors 32 a , 32 b , 34 , each pole 20 includes additional sensors for monitoring environmental and / or pole operating parameters . optionally , a photovoltaic sensor 44 is provided to provide signals respecting ambient and / or sun light at each pole location . similarly a battery temperature sensor 40 within the interior of the column adjacent to the fuel cell 38 provides data relating to the battery temperature and / or ambient air temperature . in addition , optionally wind sensors may be provided as either a separate anemometer , or more preferably as part of the turbine generator 30 itself . fig3 shows best schematically the pole communications and monitoring controller 42 as being operable to receive data signals from the sensors 32 a , 32 b , 34 , 44 , 46 and provide control signals to regulate the supply of charging current from power generation produced by the photovoltaic panels 28 a , 28 b and wind generator 30 to the fuel cell 38 , as well as battery status and the discharge supply current therefrom to the led lights 26 a , 26 b . although not essential , most preferably , the communications and monitoring controller 42 further includes signal transmission and reception capability allowing the communication and / or transmission data and programming respecting the operating parameters of the pole 20 , fuel cell 38 and / or load conditions between adjacent poles 20 within the light pole array 12 by either ethernet or serial usb connections . the telecommunications aggregator pole 20 ′ is essentially identical to the other poles 20 , with the exception in that its communications and monitoring controller 42 , which includes a zigbee , cell , ethernet , or wifi transmitter 50 ( fig3 ) configured to upload data and / or receive control programming from the cpu 14 for the entire array 12 via the cellular communications network 18 . in one most preferred embodiment , within the light pole array 12 , each pole 20 is provided with a zigbee , cell , or ethernet transmitter to communicate data to the data storage repository 16 directly without going through a telecommunications aggregator pole 20 ′. in a more economical construction , however , a single telecommunications aggregator light pole 20 ′ is provided with the zigbee or cell transmission capability . the light pole 20 ′ is adapted to receive and retransmit data from the remaining light poles 20 within the array 12 to the cellular communications network . in a further optional embodiment , the communications and monitor controller 42 may also electronically communicate with either a stand - alone weather station situated at the remote location , and / or motion detector or other environmental sensors . the operation of the system 10 is shown best with reference to fig4 . in particular , in a most preferred mode of operation , data from the individual light poles 20 is uploaded via the cellular communications network 18 to a cloud - based processing and data storage repository 16 . although not essential , the use of a central data processing and data storage repository 16 permits multiple individual users accessing their own cpu 14 to monitor , assess and affect maintenance requirements on a number of different geographically remote light pole arrays 12 . in particular , the communications and monitoring controller 42 of the poles 20 in each array 12 monitors inputs from the various sensors 32 a , 32 b , 34 , 44 , 46 . this permits the system 10 to collect and monitor data respecting the voltage and current which is generated by each light pole 20 , turbine 30 and photovoltaic panels 28 a , 28 b , and record data as external factors such as temperature , wind and / or sunlight conditions at each remote region received from the photovoltaic and environmental sensors 32 , 32 b , 34 , 44 , 46 . the system 10 provides the ability to intelligently change the energy use of the individual light pole 20 loads under certain conditions to achieve lower maintenance , better performance , higher reliability and maximize the life cycle of the system . by way of example , if a weather forecast for the next 10 days may be for cloudy weather , the system 10 may determine not enough sun will be received . the cpu 14 proactively manages energy use of the light or other system load to manage through this ‘ brown - out ’ time period . similarly the micro wind environment of specific locations or the sun profiles of a specific location of the pole 20 dictates lower energy generation . it is possible to change the energy use to manage it so that the system 10 delivers light at reduced hours of operations or dimmed levels to ensure the system continues to perform . the system 10 further allows for the analysis of specific device or pole 20 performance against all of the other poles 20 (‘ calibration in the cloud ’). where on a select pole 20 the solar panels 28 do not operate according to the specifications or according to the expected performance relative to how the other systems are performing , or the battery does not meet specified levels , the system can change the energy use to make the pole 20 perform and meet the life cycle targets . the life cycle of the poles 20 may evolve and change due to battery discharges and other stresses . the system 10 allows for recording of the history and performance of the system and to evolve the energy use / charging to maximize the life of the battery . customization of the battery charging algorithms based upon environment , application and age of the system of the specific unit may also be achieved . most preferably , the communications and monitoring controller 42 includes an internal processor which may pre - filter the collected data to ensure that the individual operating parameters of the light pole 20 are performing within a predetermined acceptable range . where the sensed data determines that power generation and / or load output falls outside the pre - selected ranges , the communications and monitoring controller 42 may be used to effect power reduction to the loads ( i . e . dimming of the led lamps 26 a , 26 b ) and / or adjust the fuel cell 38 charging time accordingly . the data received from the light pole sensors 32 a , 32 b , 34 , 44 , 46 is transmitted by the communications and monitoring controller 42 by the telecommunications aggregator pole 20 ′, for each pole in the array 12 via the cellular and / or zigbee communications network 18 to the data storage repository 16 . data respecting the light pole power generation and load usage as well as environmental data for each pole 20 is stored in the repository 16 for each pole 20 of each array 12 . by means of the cpu 14 , a system administrator can thus monitor power generation for the entire array 12 in aggregate , as well as on an individual light pole 20 basis . similarly , environmental , wind generation and / or photovoltaic conditions can be aggregated for the entire pole array 12 ( or part thereof ) and compared against individual data on a selected pole - by - pole basis . the system 10 thus advantageously allows a user to monitor and control individual light poles 20 having regard to not only the individual pole operating parameters , but also overall environmental conditions . in one mode , the system 10 is used to monitor and / or control led light operations 26 a , 26 b , and if necessary provide maintenance instructions as a result for a selected light pole 20 . in particular , in the case of led lights 26 a , 26 b , initially led lamps have a tendency to burn with increased brightness in the first instance , characterized by a reduction in lumen output over time . as such , over the lifespan of a conventional led bulb , the bulbs may be initially too bright , and subsequently insufficiently bright for the intended site of installation . in one preferred mode , the cpu 14 is used to transmit control signals 104 to the communications and monitoring controller 42 to operate led light loads 26 a , 26 b at reduced power levels for an initial pre - selected period . as the lamps in the led lights 26 a , 26 b age , the cpu 14 controls the communications and monitoring controller 42 to increase power to the lights 26 to compensate for any reduction in performance . in another embodiment , external data from other sources outside of the system 10 may also be loaded into the data storage repository 16 for the purposes of servicing the pole 20 . in one instance , where there is an external weather forecast of severe weather with high winds , the cpu 14 may by way of communications and monitoring controller 42 modify the power draw from the wind turbine 30 and configure the turbine 30 to be best able to withstand a high wind event that could cause a failure to the system 10 . with the present system 10 , the communications and monitoring controller 42 will upload to the data storage repository 16 to log historical profiles of battery performance . depending upon the number and rate of battery charging and discharging over periods of time , the cpu 14 may by way of the communications and monitoring controller 42 modify the charging and discharging rate to and from the battery 38 with a view to extending battery life performance . in addition , depending upon environmental conditions for the pole array 12 as determined by the photovoltaic and environmental sensors 36 , 46 , where , for example , the geographic region where the light pole array 12 is subject to prolonged periods of either cloudiness and / or becalmed winds so as to result in a reduction of charging power to the battery , the cpu 14 may be used to signal the communications and monitoring controllers 42 of each light pole 20 within the light pole array 12 to either dim the output light intensity of the led lights 26 a , 26 b and / or their operation time to compensate for regional environmental anomalies . the present system 10 therefore allows for the remote troubleshooting and performance testing of the solar panels 28 a , 28 b , as well as the wind turbine 30 for each individual pole 20 , by a remote web based user or smart device 108 . most preferably , the cpu 14 is operable to effect control signals to the communications and monitoring controller 42 to provide remote open voltage tests and remote short circuit tests on solar panels 28 a , 28 b . similar tests for other systems components are also enable by cpu 14 . by assessing the operating data stored in the data storage repository 16 for a number of light poles 20 and / or light pole arrays 12 , it is therefore possible to compare individual light pole 20 performance across an aggregate number of poles to filter environmental versus hardware defects . the analysis of the performance of individual light poles 20 as compared to the aggregate of the light pole array 12 advantageously may eliminate and / or reduce needless service calls , particularly in case of the light pole arrays 12 which are installed at highly remote or physically inaccessible locations . by way of example , typically power line tree removal is currently undertaken on a ten year cycle , irrespective of whether or not an actual determination has been made whether it is needed . the present system therefore allows a system administrator to assess whether or not a number of light poles 20 in a particular array 12 are performing at a substandard level , triggering a call for intelligent maintenance when for example plant growth is adversely effecting the solar panel 28 a , 28 b and / or wind turbine 30 operation . it also allows for a system administrator to eliminate a scheduled maintenance operation in the event that a light pole 20 is operating according to design objectives . in a first exemplary mode of operation , the system 10 is used to identify installation defects where for example solar panels are installed in an incorrect orientation or with over shading structures . by comparing individual solar panel degradation within a configuration of multiple panels , and optionally comparing the performance over a longer period of time to take into consideration the seasonal change in power , the system 10 can identify upcoming potential service issues . in another situation , where a visual inspection of pole 20 may indicate potential shading or other issues , the system may identify that such degradation does not affect the overall performance of pole 20 and therefore , no servicing action is required . by tracking changing power output levels for each solar panel 28 a , 28 b over the calendar year and the change in sun position , it is possible to identify incorrectly positioned solar panels 28 a , 28 b and obstructions arising from seasonal changes by comparing the average solar panel output for the geographic population of the solar panel array . it is also possible to identify individual solar panels 28 a , 28 b that provide increasing or decreasing outputs on a seasonal basis . seasonal change in solar output provides an indication that the changing azimuth of the sun causes the solar panels 28 a , 28 b to be mis - positioned where overlying obstructions may provide shadows . in the event performance drops below predetermined thresholds , the cpu 14 is used to output a maintenance control signal to either a third party maintenance technician or alternately power down pole 20 or alter load power to preserve battery integrity . in a second exemplary mode of operation , the system 10 is used to identify component defect or failure for a selected pole 20 within the array 12 . the cloud 16 is used to provide a pooled performance output of the array 12 , taking into consideration internal and external data point factors , on both a calendar and anticipated product lifespan basis . the cpu 14 is used to identify any individual poles 20 which are providing performance output parameters , which fall below a preselected threshold or warranty thresholds from the average performance for the array 12 . in a simplified analysis , individual poles 20 , which are operating below the predetermined threshold of the array 12 , are identified and tagged for possible maintenance or repair . more preferably , individual pole 20 performance as well as array 12 performance is further assessed with respect to the anticipated degradation rates expected by manufacturer . in this regard , the system 10 advantageously may be used to identify arrays 12 where environmental factors have affected array 12 . corresponding assessments may be made with respect to wind turbine 30 performance . in measuring turbine performance of an individual pole 20 , the cpu 14 may be used to assess data from the cloud 16 to provide an indication of anemometer measured wind speed within the geographic region of the array 12 or alternatively a portion of the geographic region . the measured wind speed may be compared against pre - projected energy output of the mass performance of the turbines 30 to identify any individual turbines 30 , which have fallen below acceptable threshold levels . in an alternate embodiment , power output data for a selected number of pole turbines 30 within a portion of the array 12 is used as a reference . individual turbine 30 output within the sample population is then assessed for any selected poles 20 which are performing below outside threshold tolerance levels . assessment may be made periodically and / or averaged over various time periods based upon certain factors . in an alternate embodiment , testing may be prescheduled having regard to anticipated optimum wind or environmental conditions , selected to provide the desired reference output . in a further exemplary embodiment , battery temperature , depth of discharge and frequency of deep discharge for each battery 38 within the array 12 is recorded and stored within the cloud data repository 16 , over time . the depth and frequency discharge data for individual batteries 38 may thus be compared against averages for the population and optionally adjusted for manufacturer &# 39 ; s anticipated life span degradation to identify instances where battery 38 performance falls below acceptable performance levels . in this manner , the system 10 may be used to highlight and isolate individual poles where individual batteries may be susceptible to individual failure . in a further exemplary embodiment , the system 10 is operated to monitor and predict ongoing maintenance needs for the array 12 as a whole . the system 12 could be used to assess the performance of the entire array 12 against a series of further geographically remote arrays 12 ; as well system 10 may be used to assess an array 12 of poles 20 against the manufacturer &# 39 ; s projected performance having regard to component age . in a further exemplary embodiment , the system 10 may be used to identify and or predict scheduled maintenance needs for individual light pole components such as solar panels 28 a , 28 b , batteries 38 , led lamps 26 a , 26 b or other load or energy generation devices . the cpu 14 may be used to access historical data from the repository 16 to monitor the discharge supply current for each pole 20 in the individual array 12 and / or alternatively other arrays 12 of similar attributes . on a degradation of the discharge supply current for the selected array 12 , cpu 14 analysis may , for example , provide an indication of dirt fouling of the solar panels 28 a , 28 b or lights such that systems begin to fall under manufacturer &# 39 ; s performance projections . data can be compared with environmental data stored on the repository 16 to provide an assessment whether or not solar panel blockage is a result of cloud or fog conditions or more direct environmental impacts such as dust or snow or alike . in the latter case , the system 10 may be used to provide a signal to remote maintenance personnel signalling that the solar panels 28 a , 28 b or lamps 26 a , 26 b may need cleaning or other maintenance . alternatively , the system 10 can be signalled to modify the operation of the system 10 to reduce the discharge power output level and time ensuring the system 10 continues to perform for a longer period of time before the maintenance can be scheduled and delivered . by using data stored in the repository 16 for a number of different autonomously powered light installations within similar regions , the system 10 allows for layout and performance calculations to be undertaken using theoretical calculations from tools such as homer ™. in particular , over time the system 10 will gather actual performance data for the light poles 20 within the array 12 and will permit the calculations of variance versus theoretical algorithms allowing future systems to be designed and / or tailored having regard to the actual measured performance data . more preferably , the cpu 14 will allow for the system 10 to self - learn , permitting the modification of theoretical adjustments and / or assumptions , as more and more systems 10 are brought online . by the use of the systems 10 , it is further possible to generate performance curves for the individual wind turbine generators 30 . the turbine performance curves can thus permit users to monitor individual turbine power generation for a selected pole 20 as compared to the average for the entire pole array 12 , allowing for an individual assessment of performance and / or deterioration . similarly , the system may be used to provide maintenance warnings or indications of solar or photovoltaic panel deterioration . in particular , as individual photovoltaic panels 28 a , 28 b become pitted and damaged , by monitoring the performance of power generated for individual poles 20 versus the entire light pole array 12 , or even a regional average of photovoltaic panels for a particular area , it is possible to assess whether maintenance and / or panel replacement may be required where power generation falls below a pre - selected value . in yet a further exemplary embodiment , the cpu 14 is operable to access third party predictive environmental data including predictive near - term data such as short term weather forecast data for the coming one to three weeks ( i . e . cloud coverage , wind speeds , etc . ); as well as predictive seasonal data ( sunlight , solar intensity , predicted short term and / or average seasonal temperature , average wind speeds , average precipitation , etc .). in response to the predicted environmental data , the cpu 14 is operable to output control signals via the communications and monitoring controller 42 , to modify load profiles including one or more of power intensity and / or time of operation of the lights and the charging and / or discharging rates to and from the battery with the embodiment , load profiles can be configured at the light pole 20 or device , or through the cpu 14 . either way , the load requirements can be determined from an energy requirements perspective in order to determine how much available energy is available on - hand in the event that energy generation is anticipated to be problematic due to upcoming weather conditions . in one possible mode , the cpu 14 determines that the system 10 has an exemplary storage ( i . e . five days &# 39 ; worth ) of stored energy to operate , assuming the battery 38 is to provide a load profile without degradation , and may be fully recharged by average wind and / or solar output over that time period . where the cpu 14 receives weather data predicting significant cloud cover approaching for an extended period , the cpu 14 may anticipate situations where the stored available energy on - hand may decrease , and could potentially run out . with advance weather predictions available on the internet , and from third parties , it is possible to predictively forecast when adverse weather conditions are to occur and adjust the operating parameters of the system 10 to extend the amount of energy available , as for example through decreased windows of light operation and / or through dimming of operational light sources . in a mode of implementation an operating matrix for each system 10 includes a prediction model for each light 42 or load device based upon its installation gps coordinates , time , and date . the further north or south that a light 42 or device is located will impact the seasonally maximum amount of energy generated under optimum conditions . a base level matrix may thus be utilized by the cpu 14 to determine on which days the system 10 can be expected to fully recharge batteries 38 , as well as predict situations where battery charging can be compromised . the matrix can furthermore be utilized with other diagnostic applications , as for example to determine when the system 10 is not performing as expected . it can also be utilized from a sizing perspective to design new installations to meet the changing light for each individual location , and / or provide diagnosis warning of post installation growth , obstruction , or building that was not present when the system 10 was installed and / or when solar panels 28 a , 28 b need cleaning due to buildup of materials on the surface of the panel ( more noticeable in southern climates where solar panels are angled more horizontally in nature ). in one possible monitoring mode , the light poles 20 continuously transmit telemetry data to the cpu 14 on a user - configurable schedule . this information may for example include information about monitor sensor activation , low voltage disconnects , low voltage reconnects , etc . the light pole array data is sued by the cpu 14 for predictive analysis of the normal operating environment for each light pole 20 and / or the array 12 . in situations where a motion sensor is included , the cpu 14 could collect data and determine whether the motion sensor activates repeatedly between pre - set period ( i . e . the hours of 8 p . m . and 11 p . m . at an office location ) which can be used to accurately predict the energy requirements at smaller time intervals . on an hourly , daily , etc . period , the cpu 14 will update its weather parameter such as predicted wind speeds and / or predicted sunshine intensity , as for example as a weighted valve calculated by one or more of time of year , period of each system 10 based upon third party weather reporting api . the predictive model will only force changes at the light pole 20 / device level when the amount of storage fails to meet the anticipated load profile and the battery charging profile required to maintain the load profile . in such a case , the cpu 14 provides a control signal to the light pole array 12 requesting a profile change to extend energy storage . the cpu 14 signals will also include recommended programming changes based on the inventory of the attached energy generation devices ( solar panels 28 a , 28 b , wind turbines 30 , etc . ), as well as available battery or power storage facilities . in addition , the owner / operator of multiple systems 10 can indicate to the cpu 14 which arrays 12 and / or individual light poles 20 have a higher priority than others ( security cameras , for example ). this information is used by the cpu to weight the operational performance of the light poles having regard to similar weather and / or seasonal conditions and to control that a selected remote light pole 20 or device changes its operating parameters for energy conservation . in one possible mode , a security camera could be kept online as long as possible whilst other loads in the array 12 such as lighting could be dimmed and / or disabled entirely ( weather sensors , etc .). while fig2 illustrates a preferred light pole 20 which includes as electric loads a pair of led lights 26 a , 26 b , the invention is not so limited . reference may be had to fig5 which illustrates a light pole 20 in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention , in which like reference numerals are used identify like elements . in fig5 , the light pole 20 is provided with a single led light 26 . in addition , as further load sources , the pole 20 is used to mount one or two video sensing cameras 52 , one or two infrared light sensors ( likely with photocell ) 50 , one or two motion detectors , and separate wireless router for redundant and / or secure communications . it is to be appreciated that in the embodiment shown , the communications and monitoring controller 42 is used to provide control signals to and receive control signals from the infrared light 50 , the motion detector and the security camera 52 , as well as receive and transmit to the data storage repository 16 and or directly to the cpu 14 video images there from . it is believed that incorporating light poles 20 of the type shown in fig5 within the light pole array 12 advantageously may be used to provide off grid security . fig6 shows schematically the pole communications and monitoring controller 42 as being operable to receive data signals from the sensors 32 a , 32 b , 34 , 44 , 46 and provide control signals to regulate the supply of charging current from power generation produced by the photovoltaic panels 28 a , 28 b and the wind generator 30 to the fuel cell 38 , as well as battery status and the discharge supply current therefrom to the video sensing cameras 52 , infrared light sensors 57 , and motion detectors 54 . although not essential , most preferably , the communications and monitoring controller 42 further includes signal transmission and reception capability allowing the communication and / or transmission of data and programming respecting the operating parameters of the pole 20 , fuel cell 38 and / or load conditions between adjacent poles 20 within the pole array 12 , as well as information captured by the sensing cameras 52 , infrared sensors 57 and motion detectors , by either ethernet or serial usb connections 55 , 56 . although the detailed description describes the system 10 as used in the remote monitoring and control of an array of combination solar and wind powered lampposts , the invention is not so limited . it is to be appreciated that in an alternate embodiment , the system 10 could incorporate a variety of other autonomous solar powered , wind powered , other direct current or alternating current power sources and / or grid - powered devices providing a load . such devices could include without restriction , electrically powered security cameras , radio or cellular transmitters , parking and / or utility meters , monitoring stations traffic lights , display boards or the like . in still a further embodiment of the invention , the system could be provided with autonomous electricity generating wind turbines and / or other power generation sources in addition to , or in place of , the photovoltaic powered light poles , without departing from the current invention . although the detailed description describes and illustrates various preferred embodiments , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited strictly to the precise constructions , which are disclosed . modifications and variations will now occur to persons skilled in the art .
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one possible scheduling request scheme is to define an sr as being a single bit message where the single bit ( i . e ., the “ signal request bit ”) has been set to a particular predefined value ( e . g ., set to “ 1 ”) and to configure the ues such that the ues transmit an sr to the scheduler whenever : ( 1 ) the ue has data to transmit ( e . g ., the ue has data in a transmit buffer ) and ( 2 ) the ue does not have an uplink resource allocation for transmitting the data to the enodeb . however , a potential drawback of this approach is illustrated by the example scheduling message flow shown in fig4 . the example shown in fig4 assumes there are two synchronized ues ( i . e ., ue 1 and ue 2 ), neither of which initially has an uplink resource allocation for data transmission . it is further assumed that the ues have a dedicated sr channel . as shown in fig4 , when data arrives in the transmit buffer of ue 1 , ue 1 provides to the scheduler notification of this event by transmitting an sr ( e . g ., a “ 1 ”) to the scheduler using its next sr opportunity . in response , the scheduler grants ue 1 some resources for data transmission and transmits an sg to the ue 1 . in response , the ue 1 transmits a buffer status report to the enodeb . the ue 1 may also transmit data to the enodeb , depending on the ul resources allocated to it . as further shown in fig4 , when ue 2 has data for transmission , ue 2 transmits an sr ( e . g ., a “ 1 ”) at its next sr opportunity . for the sake of this example , we shall assume that ue 2 &# 39 ; s data has a lower priority than ue 1 &# 39 ; s data . in response to receiving the sr transmitted by ue 2 , the scheduler , which at this point in time does not know that ue 2 &# 39 ; s data has a lower priority than ue 1 &# 39 ; s data , grants ue 2 some resources blindly . ue 2 uses the allocated resource to transmit a buffer status report containing qos information and some data depending on the size of the allocation . using the buffer status reports transmitted by ue 1 and ue 2 , respectively , the scheduler compares ue 1 &# 39 ; s buffer status to ue 2 &# 39 ; s buffer status and , based on the comparison , prioritizes the data from ue 1 because the comparison indicates the low priority nature of ue 2 &# 39 ; s data . because the data from ue 1 is prioritized , the scheduler does not schedule the ue 2 further , thus preventing ue 2 from transmitting its data . consequently , because ue 2 has data to send , ue 2 will continue to transmit an sr in each of the tti &# 39 ; s in which it has an sr opportunity . relying on the data buffer report last transmitted from ue 2 , which reports indicated that the ue 2 had only low priority data waiting for transmission , the scheduler ignores the srs transmitted from ue 2 . the scheduler ignores these srs even after the ue 2 subsequently has high priority data to send because , other than through transmitting a buffer status report , there is no way for ue 2 to notify the scheduler that it has higher priority data . accordingly , in some cases , the scheduler may not be immediately aware of new high priority data arriving at ue 2 &# 39 ; s transmit buffer . this problem could be avoided if the scheduler were configured to grant some uplink resources to ue 2 every once in a while , thereby providing the ue 2 with opportunities to transmit to the scheduler a buffer status report indicating the new high priority data . however , if there are many users , this solution is quite costly in terms of resources . another solution is to extend the sr from one bit to more than one bit so that the sr can contain information regarding data priority . however , this solution creates significant overhead for the sr channel , particularly if there are many priority levels . embodiments of the present invention overcome the above described problem without the disadvantages suffered by these two solutions . embodiments of the present invention define an alternative sr triggering mechanism that is based on changes in transmit buffer status . with such an alternative triggering mechanism , the problems described above can be solved without increasing the sr from one bit to several bits and without periodically scheduling ues to transmit buffer status reports . according to embodiments of the present invention , the ues are configured to transmit an sr only when certain predefined conditions are met , such as , for example , changes in the ue &# 39 ; s transmit buffer content compared to what has been reported previously or what has been transmitted previously . for example , a predefined condition may be met whenever data arrives in the ue &# 39 ; s transmit buffer and the data has a higher priority than the priority of the previously reported data ( or transmitted data ). the changes in buffer status that trigger an sr are typically configured through radio resource control ( rrc ) signaling . in some embodiments , the ues are configured to transmit an sr only when all of the following are true : ( 1 ) the ue has no uplink grant ; ( 2 ) the ue has data to transmit to the enodeb ; and ( 3 ) the buffer status has “ changed ” since the last acknowledged buffer report was transmitted by the ue or the last acknowledged transmission was transmitted by the ue . in these embodiments , the scheduler is configured so that it will not ignore an sr from a ue configured as described above . in some embodiments , the buffer status is considered to have “ changed ” only if one or more of the following conditions are met : ( 1 ) higher prioritized data has arrived in buffer ; ( 2 ) the buffer size increase exceeds a predetermined threshold ( threshold a ); or ( 3 ) the elapsed time since the transmission of the last sr exceeds a predetermined threshold ( threshold b ). the thresholds a and b can typically be configured through rrc signaling . one exception to the above rule is that when data arrives to an empty buffer in the ue , the ue should always transmit an sr at the next sr opportunity . in the above examples , when a ue receives a ul scheduling grant from the scheduler , the scheduler is subsequently made aware of the ue &# 39 ; s buffer content through regular buffer status reports transmitted by the ue . this could be a continuous buffer report for each scheduled transmission . however , in some embodiments criterions are used for causing the ue to transmit buffer status reports . this means that if a ue is not granted further ul resources the latest acknowledged buffer report will be up - to date . it is also possible to use a variation of the above described sr triggering rules in case the ue does not send regular buffer reports . for example , assuming the ue employs strict priority between radio bearers ( i . e ., data from higher prioritised radio bearers is always transmitted before data from lower prioritised radio bearers ), then the scheduler will know that there is no higher priority data in the transmit buffer than what is being transmitted . in such a situation , the buffer status is considered to have “ changed ” only if one or more of the following conditions are met : ( 1 ) higher prioritized data has arrived in the buffer ; or ( 2 ) the elapsed time since the last sr was transmitted exceeds a threshold ( threshold b ). as before , one exception to the rule is that when data arrives to an empty buffer in the ue , the ue should always transmit an sr at its next sr opportunity . the threshold b is typically configured through rrc signaling . several alternatives and combinations of the examples above can be constructed . the present invention provides an improvement in that , instead of configuring the ue to transmit an sr whenever the ue has data to transmit , the ue is configured to transmit an sr only when it has data to transmit and some other event has occurred ( e . g ., a certain amount of time has elapsed since the last sr was transmitted , the amount of data in the buffer grew by at least a certain amount since the most recent transmission of data or a status report , or the transmit buffer was empty just prior to it receiving the data ). in some embodiments , a triggered but not yet transmitted sr should be cancelled whenever the ue obtains a scheduling grant from the enodeb before the sr transmission opportunity . in these cases , the ue will send high priority data first and optionally include a detailed buffer status report . in any case , the enodeb is aware of the change even without obtaining a scheduling request . referring now to fig5 , fig5 illustrates a message flow in a system according to an embodiment of the invention , which system includes two ues ( ue 1 and ue 2 ). the illustrated message flow begins when ue 1 receives high priority data in its transmit buffer . as shown in fig5 , in response to this event , ue 1 transmits an sr to the enodeb at its next sr opportunity . in response , the enodeb transmits an sg to ue 1 . in response to the sg , ue 1 may transmit a buffer report that indicates the high priority of the data in ue 1 &# 39 ; s transmit buffer . some time after ue 1 transmits the buffer report , ue 2 may receive data in its transmit buffer , which event causes ue 2 to transmit an sr at its next sr opportunity . for the sake of this example , we shall assume that ue 2 &# 39 ; s data has a lower priority than ue 1 &# 39 ; s data . in response to receiving the sr transmitted by ue 2 , the enodeb , which at this point in time does not know that ue 2 &# 39 ; s data has a lower priority than ue 1 &# 39 ; s data , grants ue 2 some resources blindly . ue 2 uses the allocated resource to transmit a buffer status report containing qos information and some data depending on the size of the allocation . based on the buffer status report , which indicates the low priority nature of ue 2 &# 39 ; s data , the enodeb prioritizes the data from ue 1 and , thus , does not schedule the ue 2 further , thereby preventing ue 2 from transmitting its data ( e . g ., the enodeb transmits to ue 2 a hybrid automatic repeat request ( harq ) ack for the transmission containing the buffer report and the ue 2 stores the latest ack &# 39 ; ed report ). however , rather than continue to transmit an sr at each subsequent sr opportunity , as is shown in fig4 , ue 2 is configured so as to not transmit an sr until after one or more certain predefined events occur ( e . g ., the ue 2 may transmit to the enodeb the signal request bit with the bit set to the value of “ 0 ” instead of “ 1 ” until one of the events happen , as is shown in fig5 ). accordingly , ue 2 is configured to check whether one or more certain events have occurred ( such as the receipt of high priority data ) prior to each subsequent sr opportunity so that , if one such event has occurred , the ue 2 can transmit an sr at that next sr opportunity . in this example , some time after ue 2 transmitted the buffer status report , high priority data arrives in ue 2 &# 39 ; s transmit buffer . the ue 2 detects this event and , in response , transmits an sr ( e . g ., a “ 1 ”) to the enodeb . the ue 2 may be configured to detect this event by comparing the last acknowledged buffer status report , which indicates the status of the transmit buffer at some previous point in time , to a newly generated buffer status information that indicates the current status of the transmit buffer . the enodeb is configured to respond to the sr by granting an uplink resource to ue 2 , as opposed to ignoring the sr , even though the enodeb has not received from ue 2 a new buffer status report indicating that ue 2 now has higher priority data . accordingly , in this manner , embodiments of the present invention solve the problem discussed in connection with fig4 . referring now to fig6 a , fig6 a is a flow chart illustrating a process 600 , according to some embodiments of the invention , performed by a ue . process 600 may begin in step 602 . process 600 assumes that the ue initially has no data to transmit to the enodeb ( e . g ., the ue &# 39 ; s transmit buffer is initially empty ), accordingly , in step 602 the ue waits until data is placed in the transmit buffer . in response to the ue having data to send to the enodeb , the ue transmits an sr to the enodeb ( step 604 ). in step 606 , the ue receives an sg from the enodeb . in step 608 , the ue uses the resource allocated by the enodeb to transmit to the enodeb a buffer status report and / or some data depending on the allocated resource . in step 609 , the ue may record a value representing the amount of data currently in its transmit buffer . in step 610 , the ue receives from the enodeb a harq ack for the transmission containing the buffer status report . in step 612 , the ue stores the latest ack &# 39 ; ed buffer status report ( i . e ., the report transmitted in step 608 ). in step 614 , the ue determines whether it has data to send to the enodeb ( e . g ., the ue determines whether its transmit buffer is empty ). if it does not have data to send ( e . g ., the buffer is empty ), process 600 may proceed back to step 602 , otherwise it may proceed to step 616 . in step 616 , the ue determines whether an sr triggering event has occurred . if so , process 600 proceeds back to step 604 , otherwise process 600 may proceed to step 618 . in step 618 , at the very next sr transmission opportunity , the ue transmits to the enodeb a message indicating that a triggering event has not occurred ( e . g ., the ue transmits a one bit message to the enodeb where the value of the bit is set to “ 0 ”). after step 618 , process 600 may proceed back to step 616 . referring now to fig6 b , fig6 b illustrates a process , according to some embodiments of the invention , for determining whether a triggering event has occurred . that is , fig6 b illustrates steps that may be performed in performing step 616 of process 600 . as shown in fig6 b , the process may begin in step 656 , where the ue determines whether new data has arrived in the transmit buffer since a particular point in time . for example , the ue may determine whether new data has arrived in the transmit buffer since the last buffer status report was generated or since the last time the ue performed step 616 . if the ue determines that new data has arrived , then the process may proceed to step 658 , otherwise it may proceed to step 662 . in step 658 , the ue determines whether the new data has a higher priority than the data that was in the transmit buffer when the new data arrived . the ue may determine this by comparing information in the buffer status report stored in step 612 to newly generated information reflecting the status of the current state of the transmit buffer . if the new data has a higher priority , then process may proceed to step 604 ( i . e ., the ue transmits an sr to the enodeb ), otherwise the process may proceed to step 660 . in step 660 , the ue determines whether the difference between the amount of data currently in the transmit buffer and the amount of data that was in the transmit buffer at a previous point in time exceeds a threshold . for example , in step 660 , the ue may find the difference between a value representing the amount of data currently in the transmit buffer and the value that was recorded in step 609 and compare the difference to the threshold value . if the difference equals or exceeds the threshold , then the process may proceed to step 604 , otherwise the process may proceed to step 662 . in step 662 , the ue determines whether the amount of time that has elapsed since the last sr was transmitted exceeds a threshold . if so , the process may proceed to step 604 , otherwise the process may proceed to step 618 . error case 1 : in this first error case , either ( a ) the enodeb misinterprets an sr ( e . g ., the enodeb detects that the signal request bit is set to a “ 0 ” instead of a “ 1 ”) and will not grant a resource or ( b ) the resource assignment message cannot be decoded by the ue . to handle this situation , the ue is configured to transmit an sr in all sr occasions until a ul grant is obtained ( i . e ., until the ue is given the opportunity to transmit data and / or a buffer status report ). error case 2 : in the second error case , the enodeb fails to decode the message containing the buffer status report or the initial data transmission . waiting for the harq retransmission could cause excessive delay . the scheduler repeats the ul grant : ( 1 ) until a reliable report is obtained if buffer reports are transmitted with each ul transmission ; ( 2 ) if buffer reports are triggering with similar criterions as for the sr ( the ue will have a buffer change compared with the latest acknowledged report and continue to transmit reports until a reliable report is obtained ); or ( 3 ) if no buffer reports are triggered new data is transmitted until the enodeb is able to decode . error case 3 : in the third error case , the enodeb detects the message containing the buffer report or the initial data transmission but the harq ack is misinterpreted as a nack by the ue . in this situation , the ue performs a regular harq retransmission , which fails as the enodeb does not expect any further transmission attempts . the ue stops after the maximum number of transmission attempts . the ue does not need to perform another scheduling request if some subsequent transmission has succeeded . with the error handling in case 2 , the enodeb would have issued another grant if the transmission had failed . referring now to fig7 , fig7 is functional block diagram of some components of a ue 700 according to an embodiment of the invention . as shown in fig7 , the ue may include : a transmit buffer 702 for buffering data to be transmitted to an enodeb ; a storage unit 704 for storing the last transmitted buffer status report ; a data processor 706 for executing software 708 for determining whether an sr should or should not be transmitted ( i . e ., software 708 may be configured to perform , among other steps , steps 616 - 622 of process 600 ) and for causing an sr to be transmitted if it determines that an sr should be transmitted ; a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting data to an enodeb ; and other elements . referring now to fig8 , fig8 is functional block diagram of uplink resource scheduler 202 according to an embodiment of the invention . as shown in fig8 , scheduler 202 includes : a storage unit 804 for storing buffer status reports 810 ; a data processor 806 for executing software 808 . software 808 is configured such that , when executed by data processor 806 , software 808 causes the scheduler 202 to function as described above . that is , for example , software 808 may cause the scheduler 202 to schedule uplink resources based on a comparison of the buffer status of the ue &# 39 ; s attempting to communicate with the enodeb 240 and to respond to each sr . although not shown , data processor 806 is coupled to a transmission means ( e . g ., transmit buffers and / or transmitters or the like ) that enables the scheduler to communicate with ues . referring now to fig9 , fig9 is a flow chart illustrating a process 900 performed by a base station configured according to an embodiment of the invention . as illustrated in fig9 , in step 902 the base station allocates an uplink resource to a first ue ( ue 1 ), thereby enabling ue 1 to transmit data to the base station . in step 904 , the base station receives an sr from a second ue ( ue 2 ) while ue 1 is utilizing the uplink resource . in step 906 , the base station reallocates the uplink resource to ue 2 in response to receiving the sr . in step 908 , the base station receives from ue 2 information related to the priority of the data in ue 2 that is waiting to be transmitted to the base station . in step 910 , the base station compares the priority of ue 1 &# 39 ; s data to the priority of ue 2 &# 39 ; s data using the respective priority information . in step 912 , the base station reallocates the uplink resource to ue 1 in response to determining that ue 1 has higher priority data than ue 1 . in step 914 , the base station receives a subsequent sr from ue 2 , wherein the subsequent sr is received after receiving the priority information from ue 2 and before receiving any other data priority information from ue 2 . in step 916 , the base station reallocates the uplink resource to ue 2 in response to receiving the subsequent sr . one advantage of embodiments of the invention is that the scheduler in the base station ( enodeb ) is provided with selected updates of the terminal &# 39 ; s buffer status and appropriate quality of service ( qos ) knowledge even with a single bit sr , while decreasing the ue power consumption for the scheduling request channel ( in case on / off keying is used ). while various embodiments / variations of the present invention have been described above , it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only , and not limitation . thus , the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above - described exemplary embodiments . further , unless stated , none of the above embodiments are mutually exclusive . thus , the present invention may include any combinations and / or integrations of the features of the various embodiments . additionally , while the processes described above and illustrated in the drawings are shown as a sequence of steps , this was done solely for the sake of illustration . accordingly , it is contemplated that some steps may be added , some steps may be omitted , and the order of the steps may be re - arranged .
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the treatment of this invention applies to poultry generally , but more especially to turkeys and chickens which are produced in large numbers . the poultry is slaughtered and the feathers and entrails removed . this carcass , with its skin still on , may then be treated in accordance with my invention by hand dipping the carcass in the heated oil , but preferably the process is carried out by attaching the carcass by its feet to a conveyor chain and arranging a vat of hot oil through which the carcass is passed as the conveyor chain moves forwardly , the speed of the conveyor being such that the carcass remains immersed for the period of time presribed . the process may also be carried out by placing poultry carcasses in a wire basket and immersing the basket into hot fat in a suitable container . after the prescribed period of time the basket is removed from the fat the poultry drained , chilled and sent on its way in the usual packing operation . the fat in which the poultry is immersed may be any animal or vegetable oil or any edible triglyceride which is liquid at a temperature of about 150 ° f .. for example , i may use corn oil , cottonseed oil , soya oil , lard , or mixtures of natural or synthetic triglycerides . the oil may be placed in a suitable container and heated to a temperature of from 180 ° f . to 315 ° f ., and this temperature maintained during the treatment of the poultry . the poultry is then immersed in a heated oil as above explained and left immersed for a period of from 10 to 60 seconds at which time it is removed from the oil . after the excess oil drains from the carcass it may be packed in accordance with usual practices and passed into marketing channels . the temperatures and times just mentioned are critical to the success of the treatment . if the temperature of the fat is too low and / or the time of immersion too low , the pasteurization of the surface of the poultry will be inadequate , and if the temperature of the fat is too high and / or the time of immersion is too great the treated poultry will appear to be &# 34 ; cooked &# 34 ; and the natural bloom of the raw poultry will be lost . it may also be understood that somewhat greater immersion times may be coupled with lower temperatures and lower immersion times with higher temperatures , within the ranges specified . i find that better results are obtained when the poultry to be treated is chilled to a temperature within the range of about 32 ° to 42 ° f . before it is subjected to immersion in the fat . chilling the poultry permits surface heating without substantially raising the temperature of the carcass or the part which is being treated . the treated poultry may then be packaged for shipment without further chilling and while avoiding recontamination . in the usual practice of my invention the carcasses , after the dipping treatment , are drained of excess fat and packaged , chilled and marketed . if desired , the carcasses may be frozen , either before or after the treatment in hot oil . the benefits from the improved process appear to flow principally from the lower bacteria count on the skin surface of the poultry . i find that this count is very dramatically reduced by the fat treatment , and this may be a reduction from a count of about 10 , 000 without the treatment to a count of about 40 with the fat treatment , a reduction of about 99 %. at the same time the treated poultry retains its natural bloom and appearance and has increased shelf life at refrigerated temperatures . cooking of the treated poultry demonstrates that it is unchanged in flavor , tenderness , and juiciness . by this process the consumer is provided with a wholesome poultry product free of pathogenic organisms such as salmonella and staphylococcus , and having a very low count of total surface bacteria . further , the thin surface coating of the fat which is retained on the poultry serves to reduce the moisture lost through dripping during distribution and marketing , and when the poultry is cooked the thin fat layer provides initial basting material . instead of dipping the whole carcass into the fat as above described , the carcass may be cut up into thighs , breasts , or other parts , and these parts subjected to dipping in the hot fat . in such case the bacteria on the skin of the various parts are substantially reduced and the skin retains the original appearance of raw poultry . the following examples demonstrate more specifically the practice of my process and the benefits to be obtained from it . whole fresh chickens in cut up form , were obtained from a market and swabs were taken on the breasts and thighs and the bacteria count determined to be of the order of 10 , 000 per square inch . the parts were dipped in a hydrogenated vegetable fat heated to 250 ° f ., for 10 seconds . after dipping , swabs of the treated parts were again tested and the bacteria count was found to be reduced by the order of 90 %. the above treatment was repeated using oil having a temperature of 300 ° f .. no noticeable changes were noted on the parts except for the liver and gizzard . at the 300 ° f . temperature some whitening of the exposed flesh did occur , but this was not objectionable , and this effect tended to diminish after a time . upon draining , the oil left a very thin coating on the chicken parts . a series of tests were planned to demonstrate the effect of using oil compared to water and the effect of different oil temperatures and dipping times both as to the reduction in bacterial count and appearance of the treated poultry . in each case a count of bacteria was taken before and after treatment . the bacteria counts before and after each of the different tests is given as follows : ______________________________________ total plate count______________________________________before using water at 212 ° f . for 20 seconds 44 , 000before using water at 212 ° f . for 40 seconds 37 , 000after using water at 212 ° f . for 20 seconds 23after using water at 212 ° f . for 40 seconds 44before using oil at 300 ° f . for 5 seconds 18 , 000before using oil at 300 ° f . for 10 seconds 9 , 200before using oil at 300 ° f . for 15 seconds 5 , 000after using oil at 300 ° f . for 5 seconds 450after using oil at 300 ° f . for 10 seconds 500after using oil at 300 ° f . for 15 seconds 980before using oil at 325 ° f . for 5 seconds 4 , 600before using oil at 325 ° f . for 10 seconds 1 , 600before using oil at 325 ° f . for 15 seconds 8 , 000after using oil at 325 ° f . for 5 seconds 1 , 400after using oil at 325 ° f . for 10 seconds 180after using oil at 325 ° f . for 15 seconds 2______________________________________ both tests using boiling water produced a cooked appearance on the chicken which would be unacceptable in the market . the tests using 300 ° f . fat produced a poultry product which looked good with substantially no change from the prior natural raw appearance . the tests using 325 ° f . fat produced a boiling effect about the chicken parts when they were immersed and thre treated poultry showed some change toward a cooked appearance . the poultry subjected to the above tests had been chilled to a temperature of about 40 ° f . to test the effect of temperature of the poultry which is subjected to treatment . two parts of chilled poultry were left to stand at room temperature for an hour and then were dipped in 300 ° f . fat for 15 seconds . this treated poultry appeared not to be quite as desirable as the poultry which , in chilled condition , was subjected to immersion in 300 ° f . fat for 15 seconds . to test the reduction in bacterial count comparing oil with water and variation of temperature between 180 ° f . and 315 ° f . and variation of times between 10 and 60 seconds , i made the tests described as follows : ______________________________________ total plate approximate count reduction______________________________________before treatment of poultry in180 ° f . oil for 60 secs 74 , 000after treatment in 180 ° f . oilfor 60 sec 160 99 . 7 % before treatment in hot waterat 180 ° f . for 10 sec 210 , 000after treatment in hot waterat 180 ° f . for 10 sec 12 , 000 94 % before treatment in hot oil at210 ° f . for 60 sec 350 , 000after treatment in hot oil at210 ° f . for 60 sec 50 , 000 88 % before treatment in hot waterat 212 ° f . for 5 sec 360 , 000after treatment in hot waterat 212 ° f . for 5 sec 12 , 000 96 % before treatment in oil at 250 ° f . for 25 sec 300 , 000after treatment in oil at 250 ° f . for 25 sec 11 , 000 96 % before treatment in oil at 250 ° f . for 15 sec 1 , 100 , 000after treatment in oil at 250 ° f . for 15 sec 140 , 000 87 % before treatment in oil at 275 ° f . for 10 sec 1 , 100 , 000after treatment in oil at 275 ° f . for 10 sec 26 , 000 97 % before treatment in oil at 275 ° f . for 15 sec 650 , 000after treatment in oil at 275 ° f . for 15 sec 9 , 800 98 . 5 % before treatment in oil at 300 ° f . for 5 sec 120 , 000after teatment in oil at 300 ° f . for 5 sec 9 , 800 91 . 8 % before treatment in oil at 300 ° f . for 10 sec 130 , 000after treatment in oil at 300 ° f . for 10 sec 5 , 000 96 % before treatment in oil at 315 ° f . for 5 sec 4 , 000after treatment in oil at 315 ° f . for 5 sec 33 99 . 1 % before treatment in oil at 315 ° f . for 10 sec 3 , 500after treatment in oil at 315 ° f . for 10 sec 5 99 . 9 % ______________________________________ although a reduction in bacteria count was obtained also when using water as the liquid in which the chicken was dipped , the appearance of the chicken subjected to water treatment was so altered as to be unacceptable in the market place . in order to demonstrate the effect of the improved process on frozen poultry carcass parts , chicken thighs and chicken drumsticks were purchased at a local supermarket , placed in a freezer and left over night . the following day the frozen chicken parts were dipped into a hydrogenated vegetable shortening for various times and temperatures . the poultry was tested for development of bacteria both before and after treatment by swabing one square inch of surface on the parts or by removing skin samples before and after treatment . in the case of the skin samples the skin was blended in sterile water and plated out using difco plate count agar . ______________________________________ total bacteria counttemperature time of emer - before after percentof the oil sion ( seconds ) treatment treatment kill______________________________________a . drumsticks310 ° 30 6 . 6 × 10 . sup . 6 1 . 1 × 10 . sup . 4 99 . 8310 ° 20 5 . 8 × 10 . sup . 7 4 . 2 × 10 . sup . 5 99 . 3310 ° 15 3 . 5 × 10 . sup . 6 1 . 1 × 10 . sup . 5 96 . 9b . thighs325 ° 30 3 . 0 × 10 . sup . 4 1 . 0 × 10 . sup . 3 96 . 5310 ° 20 2 . 6 × 10 . sup . 4 1 . 3 × 10 . sup . 3 95 . 0310 ° 10 5 . 7 × 10 . sup . 4 5 . 5 × 10 . sup . 3 90 . 5______________________________________ two whole turkey carcasses which had been held in frozen storage were thawed and dipped into a heated vegetable shortening for 15 seconds and also for 20 seconds . bacterial counts were made before and after dipping as to the breast and as to the cavity of each carcass . the results were as follows : ______________________________________ total bacteria counttemperature time of emer - before after percentof the oil sion ( seconds ) treatment treatment kill______________________________________a . breast - sample no . 1300 ° 15 4 . 1 × 10 . sup . 4 1 . 8 × 10 . sup . 3 95 . 6300 ° 20 2 . 7 × 10 . sup . 4 4 . 0 × 10 . sup . 2 98 . 5b . breast - sample no . 2300 ° 15 2 . 2 × 10 . sup . 4 2 . 0 × 10 . sup . 2 99 . 1300 ° 20 1 . 8 × 10 . sup . 4 1 . 0 × 10 . sup . 2 99 . 5c . cavity - sample no . 1300 ° 15 6 . 0 × 10 . sup . 2 2 . 0 × 10 . sup . 2 66 . 6300 ° 20 1 . 7 × 10 . sup . 3 1 . 0 × 10 . sup . 2 94 . 1d . cavity - sample no . 2300 ° 15 1 . 7 × 10 . sup . 3 5 . 0 × 10 . sup . 2 70 . 6300 ° 20 1 . 0 × 10 . sup . 3 1 . 0 × 10 . sup . 2 90 . 0______________________________________ while only certain embodiments of my invention have been described in detail it is to be understood that many embodiments may be practiced and many changes and variations made all within the spirit of the invention and with the scope of the appended claims .
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a first embodiment of the invention will be described hereinunder with reference to fig3 to 5 . referring to fig3 and 4 , the heat transfer portion of the scroll type laminated heat exchanger of the first embodiment has two heat transfer plates and three spacers laminated in layers as illustrated . each spacer 7 has a scroll - like shape defined by involute curves a → b , c → d , e → f and g → h . the form of the spacer 7 can be expressed by the values of x and y axes of an x - y coordinates as follows . where , λ represents a parameter and a o represents the radius of the basic circle of the involute . the points a and c are located on the same basic circle , while the points e and g are located on another basic circle . the curves are in congruity to the curves on an x &# 39 ;- y &# 39 ; coordinates which is obtained by rotating the x -- y coordinates around a point ( 0 , 0 ) by an angle θ . namely , these curves are defined as loci of the point ( x &# 39 ;, y &# 39 ;) represented by the following equation ( 5 ). ## equ1 ## thus , the curve e → f is obtained by rotating the curve a → b by an angle θ = π . similarly , the curve g → h is a curve which is obtained through rotating the curve c → d by an angle θ = π . the points b , d , f and h are the points where the involute curves contact the outer circle . thus , the portions of the spacer extending further from these points have forms of parts of a circle . if it is necessary to form three or more fluid passages , the angle θ is selected to be not greater than π . for instance , for forming three fluid passages , three involute curves are drawn at angles θ = 0 , θ = π / 3 and σ = 2π / 3 , respectively , and are connected to three involute curves which are represented by θ = α , θ = π / 3 + α and θ = 2π / 3 + α . by so doing , it is possible to form three grooves , i . e . three fluid passages , in the spacer 7 . the symbol α represents a factor which determines the width of the scroll of the spacer 7 , i . e . the width of the partition between a fluid passage and adjacent fluid passages . in the embodiment shown in fig3 thru 5 , the ratio of area between the passages for the fluids a and b is 1 : 1 while the ratio of area between the passages is able to be varied by changing an angle θ . the heat transfer plates 9 made of a metal and having a multiplicity of holes 8 and the spacers 7 are laminated alternatingly in - layers , and the portions of contact between the spacers 7 and the heat transfer plates 9 are bonded metallurgically or by means of an adhesive . the passages 3a and 3b for the fluids a and b are separated from each other by a spacer 7 on a common heat transfer plate 9 , and each passage has a constant width over the entire involute region which does not contact the outer circle . the spacers 7 are in the same phases with one another in relation to the x and y axes , so that the fluid passages have constant cross - sectional area also in the direction of flow of the fluids a and b . the heat exchange in this laminated heat exchanger owes to the transfer of heat through the wall of each heat transfer plate in the radial direction of the heat exchanger . viewing in the radial direction of the heat exchanger , each turn of passage of each fluid is sandwiched between the turns of the passage of the other fluid excepting the outermost portion of the scroll , so that it is possible to increase the fin efficiency of the heat transfer plate 9 over the entire length of the fluid passages 3a , 4a by a suitable selection of the widths of the flow passages . in addition , by increasing the number of turns of the scroll , it is possible to increase the areas of the flow passages without being accompanied by a reduction in the fin efficiency . it is to be noted also that , since the fluid passage of the same fluid is continuous on each heat transfer plate 9 , it is possible to absorb the variance of pressure of the fluid in the passage between adjacent heat - transfer plates 9 over the entire length of each fluid passage . in consequence , the tendency of local concentration of the fluid in the direction of lamination is effectively suppressed to ensure a good heat transfer performance of the heat exchanger . on the other hand , since the outermost peripheral surface of the scroll grooves forms a concentric circle , it is possible to minimize the outside diameter d o of the spacer 7 . fig5 shows the heat transfer portion shown in fig3 and 4 with headers attached to both ends thereof . each header 10 is provided on its one thicknesswise side with scroll grooves 11 of the same size and shape as those in the spacer 7 . the grooves 11 in the header 10 communicating with the fluid passages 3a and 4a are provided with ports 12 and 13 , respectively . these ports 12 and 13 constitute the inlet or outlet of the fluids a and b . namely , by provideding such ports 12 and 13 in each header 10 , it is possible to distribute the fluids to all portions of the flow passages in the heat transfer portion . accordingly , it is possible to remarkably simplify the construction of the header . referring to fig5 an intermediate flow distribution plate 14 has the same scroll shape as the spacer 7 but its thickness is greater than that of the spacer 7 . therefore , even when a non - uniform pressure distribution is formed in the groove in the spacer 7 , the pressure distribution is uniformalized in the groove of the intermediate flow distribution plate 14 having a greater volume , thereby to further eliminate the local concentration of the flow of fluid to ensure a higher heat transfer efficiency . fig6 and 7 show another embodiment of the invention in which ports 15 and 16 communicating with the outside of the heat exchanger are formed in the outermost peripheral portion of the fluid passages 3a and 4a formed in the intermediate flow distribution plate 14 . in this embodiment , therefore , it is possible to distribute parts of the fluids a and b to the outside of the heat exchanger through this intermediate flow distribution plate 14 . this means that the flow rates of the fluids a and b can be increased or decreased at the intermediate portion of the laminated heat exchanger . thus , the intermediate flow distribution plate 14 in this embodiment serves as a flow distribution header . fig8 shows still another embodiment in which the outermost portions of the fluid passages which neighbour the passage of the other fluid only at their one sides , i . e . the passage portions extending over the curves f &# 39 ;- a &# 39 ; and h &# 39 ;- b &# 39 ;, are made to have a width smaller than that of the other portions of the passages which are sandwiched between the passages of the other fluid . namely , the curves constituting the outermost peripheral portions of the scroll grooves are determined to preserve a constant width or distance w from the curves defining the inner circumference of the corresponding portions of the scroll grooves , as will be clearly seen from fig8 . according to this embodiment , it is possible to increase the fin efficiency of the outermost peripheral portions of the scroll passages neighbouring the passages of the other fluid only at their one sides can be increased by reducing the width of such portions of the scroll grooves , thereby to further improve the efficiency of the heat exchanger as a whole . although the invention has been described through specific embodiments in which the scroll grooves have spiral forms , this is not exclusive and the scroll grooves can have angular or polyginal forms . namely , the present invention can be carried out using heat transfer plates and spacers having polygonal shape . as has been described , the invention provides a laminated heat exchanger having a plurality of heat transfer plates and spacers laminated in layers alternatingly to form fluid passages for different fluids in the space between adjacent heat transfer plates , wherein the spacers have scroll - like shape so that a plurality of scroll fluid passages each being continuous in the scrolling direction are formed such that the fluid passages for different fluids neighbour on each other in the radial direction of the scroll . in consequence , according to the invention , it is possible to eliminate the local concentration of fluid in each passage thereby to remarkably improve the heat transfer performance of the heat exchanger .
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referring to fig1 and 2 , an instrument panel and dashboard 10 ( shown in phantom ) having a structural member 12 embodying the principles of the present invention is shown therein . the instrument panel 10 and structural member 12 are installed in the interior of a motor vehicle . the structural member 12 is illustrated as a cross bar 14 . the cross bar 14 extends horizontally across the motor vehicle generally from the left a pillar 18 to the right a pillar 18 . additionally , the cross bar 14 has an aperture 20 to accommodate a steering wheel and may have additional features to attach different components , such as a glove compartment , an audio system , a display for the climate control , a passenger airbag , etc . a support bracket 16 serves as an upright support for the cross bar 14 . the support bracket 16 is positioned substantially perpendicular to the cross bar 14 and is attached to the cross bar 14 at one end and attached to the floor ( not shown ) of the motor vehicle at the other end . the structural member 12 forms the backbone of the instrument panel and dashboard 10 . although in the drawings the structural member 12 is shown and described as a cross beam 14 , it must be understood that the structural member 12 is not limited to use exclusively in this arrangement . the structural member 12 can be used in a variety of components in a motor vehicle . for example , it may be used as a duct for the air conditioning unit in a car , or fluid in the radiator support . alternatively , the structural member 12 may be used in other application not relating to motor vehicles such as routing for electrical lines in a building walls etc . referring to fig3 the structural member 12 comprises an extruded substrate 22 and a blow molded member 24 located within and reinforcing the substrate 12 . preferably , the substrate 22 is formed from a suitable metal such as aluminum , iron , copper or alloys thereof . the blow molded member 24 is preferably formed from materials such as plastic , plastic composite or thermoplastic resin such as pet or nylon . the substrate 22 is formed by extrusion , and an inwardly extending channel 26 in a wall portion 27 of the substrate 22 is part of the extrusion profile . any appropriate number of inwardly extending channels 26 may be defined in the substrate , and three such channels 26 are shown herein as an example . the inwardly extending channel 26 is formed such that it is defined by a neck portion 28 and a body portion 30 . the neck portion 28 is adjacent to the wall portion 27 of the substrate 22 and defines a first outer dimension 32 . the body portion 30 extends from the neck portion 28 toward an interior of the substrate 22 and defines a second dimension 34 . this second dimension 34 is greater than the first dimension 32 , and the neck portion 28 forms an undercut relative to the body portion 30 . the body portion 30 such that portions 36 of the blow molded member 24 engage the inwardly extending channel 26 and wrap around the inwardly extending channel 26 adjacent the neck portion 28 . the portions 36 of the blow molded member 24 adjacent the neck portion 28 are secured in place by the larger body portion 30 , as shown in fig3 . the engagement of the blow molded member 24 and the inwardly extending channel 26 provides the necessary mechanical bond to hold the blow molded member 24 to the substrate 22 . the substrate 22 of the structural member 12 can have an open profile , such as that shown in fig3 wherein the substrate 22 provides a substantially c - shaped profile . if the substrate 22 has an open profile , preferably the blow molded member 24 is further secured to the substrate 22 by using a portion of the blow molded member 24 to encapsulate an edge 42 of the substrate 22 , as shown by the circle designated by reference letter a of fig3 . alternatively , the blow molded member 24 can be further secured to the substrate 22 by folding a flange portion 44 of the substrate 22 over onto the blow molded member 24 , as shown by the circle designated by reference letter b of fig3 . the substrate 22 can also have a closed profile , as shown in fig4 wherein the substrate 22 has a substantially circular , or square , or rectangular shape , such that the substrate 22 presents a hollow tubular profile . the inwardly extending channel 26 can serve various other purposes within the vehicle and elsewhere . referring to fig3 the inwardly extending channel 26 can be adapted to support communication members 38 , such as electrical wiring , or fiber optic cable or other devices adapted to transport electrical current or signals , fluids , air , between various components within the motor vehicle . further , the inwardly extending channel 26 can also be used to support a mounting device 40 that could be used to attach objects to the structural member 12 , or to mount the structural member 12 to another object . as a person skilled in the art will recognize from the previous description and from the figures and claims , modifications and changes can be made to the preferred embodiment of the invention without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims .
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the present invention is directed to a high inductance inductor in a semiconductor package . the following description contains specific information pertaining to various embodiments and implementations of the invention . one skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention may be practiced in a manner different from that specifically discussed in the present application . moreover , some of the specific details of the invention are not discussed in order not to obscure the invention . the specific details not described in the present application are within the knowledge of a person of ordinary skills in the art . the drawings in the present application and their accompanying detailed description are directed to merely example embodiments of the invention . to maintain brevity , other embodiments of the invention that use the principles of the present invention are not specifically described in the present application and are not specifically illustrated by the present drawings . structure 100 in fig1 illustrates a top view of an exemplary structure in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . structure 100 includes semiconductor die 102 , which can be attached to top surface 104 of substrate 106 in a manner know in the art . it is noted that a “ semiconductor die ,” such as semiconductor die 102 , is also referred to as a “ chip ” or a “ semiconductor chip ” in the present application . substrate 106 “ houses ” semiconductor die 102 , and can comprise , for example , an organic laminate material or a ceramic material . it is also noted that a “ substrate ,” such as substrate 106 , is also referred to as a “ package substrate ” in the present application . however , in one embodiment , substrate 106 may be a printed circuit board (“ pcb ”). structure 100 also includes inductor 108 , which is situated , or “ housed ,” on top surface 104 of substrate 106 . in other embodiments , inductor 108 may be housed in a pin grid array package , a ball grid array package , a land grid array package , or on a laminate pcb . the package or laminate materials might comprise , for example , various ceramic or organic materials known in the art . inductor 108 comprises winding 110 , core 112 , insulator 114 , substrate bond pad 116 , also referred to as a “ terminal ” of inductor 108 in the present application , and substrate bond pad 118 , also referred to as a “ terminal ” of inductor 108 in the present application . winding 110 further comprises bonding wires , such as bonding wire 120 , and trace metal segments , such as trace metal segment 122 . it is also noted that a “ trace metal segment ,” such as trace metal segment 122 , is also referred to as a “ conductor ” in the present application . trace metal segment 122 is fabricated on top surface 104 of substrate 106 . for example , a mask can be used to pattern conductors on a copper metallization layer on top surface 104 of substrate 106 . the excess copper can be etched away , resulting in a defined metal trace pattern that can include , for example , trace metal segment 122 . winding 110 is also referred to as an “ inductor winding ” in the present application . in structure 100 , trace metal segment 122 can comprise nickel - plated copper . trace metal segment 122 can further comprise a layer of gold plating over the nickel - plated copper to provide a surface for wire bonding . a first end of trace metal segment 122 is connected to substrate bond pad 116 , and a second end of trace metal segment 122 is connected to bonding wire 120 . similar to trace metal segment 122 , substrate bond pad 116 can be fabricated on top surface 104 of substrate 106 , and can comprise nickel - plated copper . substrate bond pad 116 can also further comprise a layer of gold plating over the nickel - plated copper to provide a surface for wire bonding . bonding wire 120 can comprise gold or can comprise other metals such as aluminum . the diameter of bonding wire 120 can be approximately 1 . 0 mil to 6 . 0 mils . for example , in an application where inductor 108 provides filtering for a high - current voltage regulator , the diameter of bonding wire 120 can be approximately 6 . 0 mils . by way of further example , in an application where inductor 108 is used with a low - current micro module , the diameter of bonding wire 120 can be approximately 1 . 0 mil . winding 110 will be discussed in greater detail in relation to fig2 . continuing with fig1 insulator 114 , also referred to as an “ insulator layer ” in the present application , is situated under core 112 so as to electrically insulate core 112 from trace metal segments such as trace metal segment 122 . insulator 114 can be a nonconducting material such as solder mask . in one embodiment , insulator 114 can be solder mask comprised of aus - 5 . as shown in fig1 bonding wires , such as bonding wire 120 , pass over core 112 and do not make contact with core 112 . in the present embodiment , core 112 can comprise a high permeability material such as a ferrite rod . by way of background , ferrite is a powdered , compressed , and sintered magnetic compound composed of iron oxide , a metallic oxide such as zinc , nickel , cobalt , or iron , and ceramic . instead of a ferrite rod , any other high or medium permeability material suitable for increasing inductance can also be used . the particular metallic oxide ( for example , zinc , nickel , cobalt , or iron ) that is used to form the ferrite rod affects the permeability of the ferrite rod , which can be , for example , approximately 40 . 0 to 100 . 0 . since the inductance of an inductor is proportional to the permeability of its core , the inductance of inductor 108 can be increased approximately 40 . 0 times if core 112 comprises a ferrite rod with a permeability of 40 . 0 . core 112 will be discussed in greater detail in relation to fig2 . continuing with fig1 a first end of bonding wire 124 is bonded to substrate bond pad 116 of inductor 108 , and a second end of bonding wire 124 is bonded to semiconductor die bond pad 126 . bonding wire 124 can be gold or can comprise other metals such as aluminum . the diameter of bonding wire 124 can be 30 . 0 microns or other diameter of choice . bonding wire 124 electrically connects substrate bond pad 116 of inductor 108 , i . e . a terminal of inductor 108 , to semiconductor die bond pad 126 . in to another embodiment , a bonding wire can electrically connect substrate bond pad 116 of inductor 108 to another substrate bond pad on the periphery of top surface 104 , such as substrate bond pad 128 . as shown in fig1 a first end of bonding wire 130 is bonded to substrate bond pad 118 of inductor 108 , and a second end of bonding wire 130 is bonded to substrate bond pad 132 . bonding wire 130 can be comprised of similar material as bonding wire 124 discussed above . substrate bond pads 118 , 128 , and 132 can be fabricated on top surface 104 of substrate 106 in a similar manner as substrate bond pad 116 discussed above . substrate bond pads 118 , 128 , and 132 can also comprise the same material as substrate bond pad 116 . bonding wire 130 electrically connects substrate bond pad 118 of inductor 108 , i . e . a terminal of inductor 108 , to substrate bond pad 132 , which “ abuts ” via 134 . thus , bonding wire 130 can , in one embodiment , electrically connect substrate bond pad 118 of inductor 108 to a land ( not shown in fig1 ) that is connected to via 134 on the bottom surface of substrate 106 by way of substrate bond pad 132 and via 134 . in a different embodiment , a bonding wire can electrically connect substrate bond pad 118 of inductor 108 to a semiconductor die bond pad , such as semiconductor die bond pad 136 on semiconductor die 102 . in another embodiment , a bonding wire can connect substrate bond pad 116 or substrate bond pad 118 to a component on top surface 104 of substrate 106 , such as a capacitor . it is noted that in fig1 only trace metal segment 122 , bonding wire 120 , substrate bond pads 128 and 132 , via 134 , and semiconductor die bond pads 126 and 136 are specifically discussed herein to preserve brevity . referring now to fig2 inductor 208 illustrates a perspective view of an exemplary inductor in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . inductor 208 corresponds to inductor 108 in fig1 . in particular , core 212 , winding 210 , insulator 214 , substrate bond pad 216 , substrate bond pad 218 , trace metal segment 222 , and bonding wire 220 , respectively , correspond to core 112 , winding 110 , insulator 114 , substrate bond pad 116 , substrate bond pad 118 , trace metal segment 122 , and bonding wire 120 in fig1 . now discussing fig2 in more detail , winding 210 comprises trace metal segments 222 , 224 , 226 , 228 , 230 , 232 , 234 , and 236 , and bonding wires 220 , 238 , 240 , 242 , 244 , 246 , 248 , and 250 . trace metal segments 222 , 224 , 226 , 228 , 230 , 232 , 234 , and 236 are similar to trace metal segment 122 in fig1 and are fabricated on top surface 204 of substrate 206 in a similar manner as trace metal segment 122 described above . winding 210 is also referred to as an “ inductor winding ” in the present application . continuing with fig2 the first ends of bonding wires 220 , 238 , 240 , 242 , 244 , 246 , 248 , and 250 , respectively , are connected to the first ends of trace metal segments 222 , 224 , 226 , 228 , 230 , 232 , 234 , and 236 . the second ends of bonding wires 220 , 238 , 240 , 242 , 244 , 246 , 248 , and 250 , respectively , are connected to the second ends of trace metal segments 224 , 226 , 228 , 230 , 232 , 234 , and 236 , and substrate bond pad 218 , also referred to as a “ terminal ” of inductor 208 in the present application . in the present embodiment , first ends of bonding wires 220 , 238 , 240 , 242 , 244 , 246 , 248 , and 250 , respectively , can be connected to the first ends of trace metal segments 222 , 224 , 226 , 228 , 230 , 232 , 234 , and 236 by bonding . similarly , the second ends of bonding wires 220 , 238 , 240 , 242 , 244 , 246 , 248 , and 250 , respectively , can be connected to the second ends of trace metal segments 224 , 226 , 228 , 230 , 232 , 234 , and 236 , and substrate bond pad 218 by bonding . bonding wires 220 , 238 , 240 , 242 , 244 , 246 , 248 , and 250 are similar to bonding wire 120 in fig1 and comprise the same material as bonding wire 120 , such as gold or aluminum . the diameter of bonding wires 220 , 238 , 240 , 242 , 244 , 246 , 248 , and 250 can be approximately 1 . 0 mil to 6 . 0 mils . trace metal segments 222 , 224 , 226 , 228 , 230 , 232 , 234 , and 236 can comprise nickel - plated copper . trace metal segments 222 , 224 , 226 , 228 , 230 , 232 , 234 , and 236 can further comprise a layer of gold plating over the nickel - plated copper to provide a surface for wire bonding . continuing with fig2 each trace metal segment of winding 210 and the bonding wire connected to the first end of the trace metal segment form a “ turn ” of winding 210 . for example , trace metal segment 222 and bonding wire 220 that is connected to the first end of trace metal segment 222 as discussed above form one “ turn ” of winding 210 . the inductance of an inductor is generally proportional to the square of the number of “ turns ” in the inductor &# 39 ; s winding . thus , the inductance of inductor 208 can be increased or decreased by increasing or decreasing the number of “ turns ” in winding 210 . for example , adding trace metal segments and bonding wires to winding 4 210 can increase the number of “ turns ” in winding 210 , and thus increase the inductance of inductor 208 . by way of further example , the inductance of inductor 208 can be decreased by removing bonding wires to decrease the number of “ turns ” in winding 210 . thus , by increasing or decreasing the number of “ turns ” in winding 210 , the inductance of the invention &# 39 ; s inductor 208 can be “ fine tuned ” to more closely match a required inductance in a particular application . for example , in the development phase of an lc resonance circuit , bonding wires can be removed or added to “ fine tune ” the inductance of inductor 208 to obtain a particular resonance frequency . thus , the present invention &# 39 ; s inductor 208 provides the flexibility to allow the number of “ turns ” in winding 210 to vary as required to produce an inductance in a range of approximately 1 . 0 nh to 100 . 0 μh . as shown in fig2 substrate bond pad 216 , also referred to as a “ terminal ” of inductor 208 in the present application , is connected to trace metal segment 222 to provide a connection to a first end of winding 210 . as discussed above , a second end of bonding wire 250 is bonded to substrate bond pad 218 to provide a connection to a second end of winding 210 . substrate bond pads 216 and 218 are fabricated on top surface 204 of substrate 206 in a similar manner as substrate bond pads 116 and 118 described above . substrate bond pad 216 can be wire bonded to a semiconductor die bond pad , such as semiconductor die bond pad 126 in fig1 or a substrate bond pad , such as substrate bond pad 128 . similarly , substrate bond pad 218 can be wire bonded to a semiconductor die bond pad , such as semiconductor die bond pad 136 in fig1 or a substrate bond pad , such as substrate bond pad 132 . in another embodiment , substrate bond pad 216 or substrate bond pad 218 can be connected to a component on top surface 204 of substrate 206 , such as a capacitor . continuing with fig2 core 212 is situated over insulator 214 ( or “ insulator layet ” 214 ) but under bonding wires 220 , 238 , 240 , 242 , 244 , 246 , 248 , and 250 . core 212 can be secured to top surface 204 of substrate 206 by glue . however , other methods known in the art may be used to attach core 212 to top surface 204 of substrate 206 . in the present embodiment , core 212 is housed on top surface 204 of substrate 206 , which also houses a semiconductor die , such as semiconductor die 102 in fig1 . in other embodiments , core 212 may be housed in a pin grid array package , a ball grid array package , a land grid array package , or on a laminate pcb . in the present embodiment , length 252 of core 212 can be approximately 20 . 0 mils , width 256 can be approximately 10 . 0 mils , and thickness 254 can be approximately 10 . 0 mils . in another embodiment , length 252 can be approximately 40 . 0 mils , width 256 can be approximately 15 . 0 mils , and thickness 254 can be approximately 10 . 0 mils . core 212 , as discussed above , can comprise a ferrite rod that can have a permeability of approximately 40 . 0 to 100 . 0 . also , as discussed above , core 212 can increase the inductance of inductor 208 in proportion to the increase in the value of the permeability of core 212 . therefore , inductor 208 can decrease in length and still maintain the same inductance by proportionally increasing the permeability of core 212 . moreover , in the manner described in relation to fig1 inductor 208 in fig2 can be fine - tuned to meet a required inductance in a particular application . fig2 further illustrates an inductor that can provide an inductance in a range of approximately 1 . 0 nh to 100 . 0 μh while maintaining a relatively small size . from the above description of the invention it is manifest that various techniques can be used for implementing the concepts of the present invention without departing from its scope . moreover , while the invention has been described with specific reference to certain embodiments , a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that changes can be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention . for example , in one embodiment , two inductors , each one similar to inductor 208 , can be mounted on a top surface of a substrate to form a transformer . in such instance , the core , i . e . the ferrite rod , of the first inductor can be mounted in close proximity to the core of the second inductor to form a transformer by coupling the magnetic fields generated by the windings of each inductor . as such , the described embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive . it should also be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described herein , but is capable of many rearrangements , modifications , and substitutions without departing from the scope of the invention . thus , a high inductance inductor in a semiconductor package has been described .
| 7 |
the present invention is described hereinbelow with reference to the signals received from a radionavigation satellite , but obviously it is not limited to this single application , and it can be implemented in various applications in which signals are received that have to vary in time in an at least partially nonrandom manner and that can be disturbed by various systematic causes , and for which there is a history of the variation of these disturbing signals . the present invention is based on the fact that an accurate orbit prediction algorithm works in batch processing mode ( processing a large number of consecutive values contained within a time period or “ arc ”), its first step mandatorily being the accurate estimation of the position and orbit parameters of a satellite along an estimation arc related to the past . the estimated positions are then extrapolated for a prediction period in order to provide the predictions of the orbit parameters . in the present case , the periods used for the determination of the predictions are always overlapping with one or more estimation arcs used in the last arcs of the prediction processing . furthermore , the accuracy of the restored values is much higher than that of the predicted values . the comparison ( namely their difference ) of these two sorts of values says a lot about the defects of the predictive method . known signal processing methods may be applied to the time - oriented series of these differences in order to extrapolate the behavior of the defects and correct them before they manage to produce their effects . the method of the invention makes it possible to significantly reduce the potential systematic effects ( of the type of those mentioned above ) by virtue of their observation in the past , which leads to prediction error distributions that are much more appropriate to the needs of the integrity computation standards . let x ( t ) be any parameter , dependent on time , which may relate to the clock or to the orbit of a satellite . this parameter x may be either a point of the orbit of this satellite with x = x , y or z which are the spatial coordinates of x , or be defined by x = δt , that is to say the offset of the satellite &# 39 ; s clock . the method of the invention comprises the following three main steps : estimation of the prediction error , analysis of the factors systematically affecting the prediction error , correction of the predictions . in detail , these steps are explained below . firstly , the prediction error is estimated on the basis of two batches of prediction values . the computation of the orbit of a satellite begins with a recording of measurements over an estimation arc e 1 =[ t b , 1 , t e , 1 ] which is relatively long ( more often than not from a few days to a few weeks ). this estimation arc is used to estimate the restored values as restored by the conventional computation circuits of the parameter x orbitography and synchronization instruments . let x r1 ( t ) be the function making it possible to obtain the restored values of this parameter during the time period tεe 1 . the details of the restoration method are unimportant in the context of the invention , and it is only necessary to have x r1 ( t ) for the duration of the arc e 1 . these restored values can , moreover , originate from a source that is different from the prediction computation circuit . the restored values are linked to the estimation of certain parameters ( orbit parameters , earth &# 39 ; s rotation parameters , satellite reflectivity model , etc .) that can be used to calculate the values of x at instants after t e , 1 ( t e , 1 being the start of p 1 ). let x p1 ( t ) be values obtained in this way for : in this expression , t p , 1 is the last prediction instant . these values of x p1 ( t ) provide a first prediction of the parameter concerned . it will also be noted here that the details of how the prediction method is implemented is unimportant for the invention , and it is only necessary to have x p1 ( t ) for the duration of the arc p 1 . fig1 shows the time variation of the estimation arcs ( e 1 , e 2 , e 3 , etc .) and of the corresponding prediction arcs ( p 1 , p 2 , p 3 , etc .). in this time diagram , the solid - line curve represents the restored values of x , whereas the broken - line curve segments relate to the predicted values of x . in fig2 , the points defining the solid - line curve correspond to the prediction errors of x obtained as the difference between the predicted values and the restored values of x at the same instants . for the next batch of orbit prediction values , the preceding operations are repeated for a second estimation arc e 2 =[ t b , 2 , t e , 2 ] with t e , 2 ≦ t p , 1 . furthermore , for most of the time : t b , 2 ≦ t e , 1 because the estimation arcs must be longer than the prediction arcs in order to obtain a good prediction quality , and then p 1 ⊂ e 2 . typically , but in a nonlimiting manner , in the present application , these estimation arcs may last from 1 hour to 48 hours . the measurements performed during the time period e 2 make it possible to obtain a set of restored orbit or clock parameter values x r , 2 ( t ) corresponding to this period e 2 and being able to be propagated during the period p 2 =[ t e , 2 , t p , 2 ] and obtain for this period orbit or clock predictions x p , 2 ( t ). it should be noted that , for the time period p 1 , two values of x are available because p 1 ⊂ e 2 , namely x p , 1 ( t ) and x r , 2 ( t ) for [ t e , 1 , t p , 1 ]. given that x p , 1 and x r , 2 are both approximations of the same orbit or clock parameter at the same instants , but with much better accuracy for x r , 2 than for x p , 1 , an approximation of the prediction error is obtained for the time period p 1 by : δ x ( t )= x p , 1 ( t )− x r , 2 ( t ) for [ t e , 1 , t p , 1 ] ( 1 ) for the following prediction batches , in the same way as δx ( t ) was established by comparing the prediction of x in the first batch to its restoration in the second , an estimation of the prediction error can be obtained for a batch n by comparing the prediction of x p , n ( t ) for this batch n to the restoration x r , n + 1 ( t ): δ x ( t )= x p , n ( t )− x r , n + 1 ( t ) pour [ t e , n , t p , n ] ( 2 ) this succession of estimation and prediction batches , and the prediction error estimation function δx ( t ) have been represented in fig2 . to sum up , the first main step of the method of the invention consists , for a batch n + 1 of prediction values , in constructing a time - oriented series δx ( t ) of prediction errors for each orbit or clock parameter x by comparing the restored values of the available batches with the predicted values of the preceding batch or batches . the next step of the method of the invention consists in isolating the systematic effects in the prediction error . the time - oriented series of prediction errors supplied by the function δx ( t ), as represented in a simplified manner in fig2 , contain all the information relating to the prediction error . if this prediction error resulted only from the measurement errors , the curve representing δx ( t ) would have a random variation . in most cases , this is not true , and , for example , a wavelet analysis or fourier analysis of the time - oriented series of prediction errors , as represented in fig3 , reveals the characteristics of these time - oriented series of errors which clearly show that it is not a purely random variation . these characteristics correspond to systematic errors affecting the prediction process , and they are due to the presence of errors in the model used to predict the orbit itself or due to limitations of the prediction process . fig3 shows a diagram of an example of fourier analysis giving the spectrum of the error on the power | δx ( f )| 2 according to the normalized frequency f . in this example , the components of the spectrum whose value is significantly greater than the average value of the spectrum ( the five narrow pulses that can be seen in the diagram ) can be attributed to the systematic effects . these components correspond , in the case of the fourier analysis , to the contributions δx s , i ( t )= a ( i ) e jωi ( t ) for different noteworthy values of ω ( i ) in the spectrum concerned . to sum up , the second main step of the method of the invention consists in analyzing the time - oriented series of prediction errors using an appropriate signal processing method ( fourier analysis , wavelet analysis , or other signal processing methods ) and isolating the contributions of the systematic effects δx s , i ( t ). the next step consists in performing the prediction and the correction of the systematic prediction errors . once the contributions δx s , i ( t ) of the systematic effects have been identified , it is relatively simple to extrapolate their behavior and time during the future prediction time period p n + 1 . these contributions can therefore be used to correct the predictions in the prediction batch n + 1 by subtracting the effects of the various contributions of the values of the function δx ( t ). to sum up , the third main step of the method of the invention consists in extrapolating the behavior of the contributions of the systematic effects δx s , i ( t ) in the prediction interval concerned and correcting the predictions with these contribution values . it will be noted that the method of the invention can be implemented for corrected or uncorrected predictions . also , the prediction arcs ( corresponding to the time periods p 1 , p 2 , p 3 represented in fig1 ) are advantageously mutually overlapping , but not necessarily .
| 6 |
in the fuel injection nozzle shown only partially in fig1 a needle valve 3 is disposed axially movable in a nozzle holder 1 and a nozzle body 2 . the needle valve 3 cooperates with its associated valve seat 4 and is lifted from the seat 4 by the force of fuel streaming through a fuel supply channel 5 in opposition to the force of a valve - closing spring 6 . a chamber 7 , in which the spring 6 is located , is connected with a leakage fuel line ( not shown ) through interconnected channels 8 . the fuel leakage line leads away fuel that is collected in the spring chamber 7 from leaks between the nozzle body 2 and the needle valve 3 . an electrically conductive probe 9 extends into the spring chamber 7 , and it is fastened in an apertured , electrically insulating screw 10 . the probe 9 is electrically insulated with respect to the nozzle holder 1 and carries a spade ( plug - on ) electrical connection 11 by means of which an electrical conductor ( not shown ) leads to a diesel testing instrument ( not shown ). on the side of the probe 9 facing away from the spade connection 11 , a turned - down portion 12 of the probe 9 carries a contact spring 13 which comes into contact with the needle valve 3 as soon as the latter has lifted from its seat 4 , i . e ., as soon as fuel injection has begun . contact between the probe 9 and the needle valve 3 is broken when fuel injection ends . during the process of further opening strokes of the needle valve 3 , the contact spring 13 is further compressed and thereby maintains , in such condition , an electrical circuit between the diesel test instrument and the nozzle holder 1 because of its elasticity , the circuit including the probe 9 , the spring 13 , the needle valve 3 and the nozzle body 2 . only when the needle valve 3 has again been pushed onto its seat 4 by the spring 6 is the electrical circuit again interrupted . the testing instrument counts the number of the nozzle openings and therefore the speed ( rpm ) and it further indicates the beginning and / or the end of each opening stroke and thereby records the injection adjustment and / or the fuel supply onset . the probe 9 , the contact spring 13 and the spade connection 11 can be installed in a majority of the mass - produced conventional fuel injection nozzles without any alteration of the precision parts . all that is required is a conventional tensioning screw 14 having an opening at one end and another in its wall , the latter providing communication to an annular tube connection 15 leading to the leakage line via one of the channels 8 . fig2 and 3 show an exemplary embodiment of another fuel injection arrangement direction from that of fig1 . as shown in fig2 the second embodiment includes a closing spring 20 which lies further below . the spring 20 is disposed in a spring chamber 21 into which one end of an electrically conductive probe 22 extends . the other end of the probe 22 extends into a leakage fuel line 23 . an insulating plastic bushing 24 is pressed into the space between the wall of the leakage fuel line 23 and the probe 22 . the bushing 24 has an axial slit ( not shown ) for the passage of the leakage fuel . the probe 22 is fixed in the leakage fuel line 23 by a transversely disposed conductive rod 25 which serves as a plug - on , electrical connector and by means of a fastening screw 26 . the probe 22 has a turned - down portion 27 into which a contact sleeve 28 having a shoulder 29 engages , as best seen in fig3 which shows these parts in enlarged scale . when the injection nozzle is closed , the contact sleeve 28 is in contact , on the one hand , with a spring support disc 30 , through which the forces of the spring 20 are transmitted to a needle valve 31 , and , on the other hand , with an end 32 of the probe 22 as limited by the shoulder 29 . radially between the contact sleeve 28 and the turned - down portion 27 of the probe 22 , an insulating bushing 33 of synthetic material is disposed . an insulating sleeve 34 having a stepwise bore is supported on the end face formed by the turned - down portion 27 of the probe 22 facing away from its end 32 . a contact spring 35 is disposed between the insulating sleeve 34 and the contact sleeve 28 . the purpose of the contact spring 35 is to ensure that the contact sleeve 28 maintains a contact with the spring disc 30 and , therefore , always maintains contact with the nozzle holder or with electrical ground . a play equalization spring 37 , having a lesser pretension than that of contact spring 35 , is disposed between the insulating sleeve 34 , axially slidable on the probe 22 , and an upper face 36 of the spring chamber 21 . when the entire switching system is installed , i . e . the probe , the springs and the sleeves , the fastening screw 26 is tensioned only after , with a closed injection nozzle , the quiescent position for the switching system has occurred because of the action of a play equalization spring 37 , i . e . the contact sleeve 28 must touch the spring disc 30 , and , furthermore , the shoulder 29 of the contact sleeve 28 must touch the end 32 of the probe 22 . after that , as soon as the needle valve 31 is lifted from its seat ( not shown ), the contact sleeve 28 is moved in opposition to the force of the contact spring 35 and the end 32 of the probe 22 is separated from the shoulder 29 of the contact sleeve 28 and , in this way , the electrical connection between the nozzle holder ( ground ) and the test instrument is interrupted . fig4 shows the connection of a fuel injection nozzle from the side of the leakage line , the switching system having been installed in the nozzle . in this third exemplary embodiment , the fuel displaced from a spring chamber ( not shown ) during the opening stroke of a needle valve is used to displace a yielding piston 40 in opposition to force of a return spring 41 positioned in a spring chamber , where the return spring 41 is in electrically conductive contact with a bolt 42 to which a spade connector 43 of the conductor leading to a test instrument is fastened . in its quiescent position , the yielding piston 40 touches an electrically conductive plate 44 which is connected within a fastening screw 45 which also holds a hollow semi - spherical member 46 . a bushing 48 is disposed between the yielding piston 40 and the bore 47 of the fastening screw 45 and it is guided within that bore permitting a predetermined amount of fuel leakage . the bushing 48 is insulated electrically , with respect to the yielding piston 40 , by a plastic member 49 . as soon as the needle valve lifts from its seat , the fuel displaced from the spring chamber acts to separate the yielding piston 40 from the conductive plate 44 and thus interrupts the connection from the test instrument to the nozzle holder ( ground ). it is to be understood that the foregoing description of the illustrative embodiments has been given by way of example , not of limitation . numerous variants and other embodiments are encompassed within the spirit and scope as defined in the appended claims .
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the present invention provides for an efficient process for separating components of a gas stream containing three or more components by the integration of one or more membrane units with a suitable cryogenic separation unit . the process as shown in fig2 and 3 shows one or more process streams leaving the cryogenic unit and being fed to one or two membrane units . the number of streams taken from the cryogenic unit , as well as the composition , pressure , and temperature of the streams is dependent upon the specific cryogenic cycle used , and is adjusted so that the performance of the total plant is at its optimal point consistent with co - production of nitrogen and crude argon products . the mixed gas stream is initially fed to a main cryogenic processing unit where it undergoes cryogenic treatment . the specific cryogenic treatment will depend upon the composition of the gas stream being treated and the end product desired , but in any case will involve cooling and at least partial removal of one component of the gas stream . at least a portion ; i . e ., at least about 5 % based on initial feed , of the treated gas stream is removed continuously from the cryogenic separation unit and fed to a membrane separation unit . the amount withdrawn at this point is dependent upon equipment size and capacity , flow rates , desired end product purity , and optimization conditions . the withdrawn portion of the gas stream is partially separated in the membrane unit thereby forming a permeate stream and a reject stream . the type of membrane used is dependent upon its selectivity for the components which are to be separated and , hence , may vary with the make - up of the feed . the feed to the membrane is partially separated to form a permeate stream and a reject stream . depending upon the product desired , at least one of the streams from the membrane unit is returned to the cryogenic separation unit for further treatment . i . e . cooling and separation , to form a purified gaseous and / or liquid product . a general description of the state - of - the - art process for nitrogen production can be had by reference to the drawing . as shown in fig1 an ambient air stream 100 is compressed by compressor 102 to provide stream 103 which is subsequently passed through a molecular sieve clean - up unit 104 to remove carbon dioxide and water . the entire purified stream 105 is cooled in sequential exchangers 106 and 107 and fed to the bottom of distillation column 108 . distillation column 108 splits the single feed stream 109 into a high - purity nitrogen overhead stream 111 and a nitrogen - depleted underflow stream 112 . stream 112 is subcooled in a third heat exchanger 113 and reduced in pressure through valve 114 to provide a source of refrigeration for reflux condenser 115 located at the top of distillation column 108 . the pure nitrogen stream 111 is warmed sequentially in heat exchangers 113 , 107 and 106 , becoming the primary nitrogen product stream 116 . the vaporized , nitrogen - depleted overhead stream 117 is also warmed in heat exchangers 113 and 107 , prior to the warmed stream 120 being expanded in expander 118 to provide refrigeration for the process . the expander outlet stream 119 is then rewarmed in heat exchangers 107 and 106 , and is vented at atmospheric pressure as a waste oxygen stream 121 . a part of stream 117 which is not required for refrigeration purposes may be removed as stream 122 which is then warmed sequentially through heat exchangers 107 and 106 and leaves the process as an intermediate pressure waste oxygen steam 123 . according to the invention , an integrated cryogenic - membrane process was configured to produce gaseous nitrogen as the main product and an argon - rich liquid or vapor as a by - product . this process is illustrated by fig2 and fig3 . a first embodiment of the present process is illustrated by fig2 . this embodiment uses a two - stage membrane separation system which is technically feasible , using membranes which are manufactured today . in this embodiment , an ambient air stream 200 is compressed by compressor 201 to provide stream 202 which is subsequently passed through a molecular sieve clean - up unit 203 to remove carbon dioxide and water . the purified stream 204 is combined with o 2 - rich recycle streams 205 and 206 and the combined stream 207 , is fed to the first stage 208 of a two - stage membrane gas separation system 209 , where it is split into a relatively oxygen - rich permeate stream 211 , and a relatively nitrogen - rich and argon - rich &# 34 ; reject &# 34 ; stream 212 . the permeate stream 211 is recompressed by compressor 213 and fed via line 214 to a second membrane stage 215 where it is separated into an oxygen - rich vent stream 216 and a relatively nitrogen - rich and argon - rich recycle stream 217 . stream 217 is cooled in heat exchanger 218 providing stream 219 which is subsequently condensed in reboiler / condenser 221 located at the bottom of side arm column 222 providing reboiler duty for column 222 and yielding a condensed liquid side stream 223 . the major stream n 2 - rich 212 from the membrane gas separation system 209 is cooled in heat exchangers 218 and 224 providing stream 225 , which is fed to the bottom of main distillation column 226 . liquid stream 223 from side column 222 is reduced in pressure through valve 228 , and the resulting stream 229 is also fed at , or near , the bottom of distillation column 226 . distillation column 226 is concurrently fed by the overhead vapor stream 231 from side - arm column 222 . column 226 separates the combined feeds into a high - purity nitrogen vapor overhead stream 232 ; a small , relatively argon - rich liquid side stream 233 , and an oxygen - rich liquid underflow stream 234 . stream 234 is subcooled in heat exchanger 235 and reduced in pressure through valve 236 to provide a source of refrigeration for reflux condenser 237 located at the top of distillation column 226 . the pure nitrogen overhead stream 232 is warmed in heat exchangers 235 , 224 , and 218 , becoming the nitrogen product stream 238 . one of the unique features of the disclosed process , a small , relatively argon - rich liquid side stream 233 is withdrawn from distillation column 226 , and fed to the top of the side distillation column 222 . distillation column 222 serves to remove nitrogen from this stream , producing a bottoms liquid stream 241 which is an argon / oxygen mixture containing more than 80 % argon and substantially devoid of nitrogen . overhead vapor stream 231 from side column 222 is returned to main column 226 . the bottoms liquid stream 241 of column 222 is withdrawn as crude argon product . overhead vapor stream 242 , resulting from the vaporization of stream 243 in the reboiler - condenser 237 at the top of distillation column 226 , is warmed in heat exchangers 235 and 224 to form partially re - warmed stream 244 . a portion 245 of stream 244 is fed to expander 246 , which provides the refrigeration needed for the cryogenic portion of the process . the expanded stream 247 , is warmed in heat exchangers 224 and 218 , forming stream 246 , which is subsequently compressed by compressor 247 to form recycle stream 206 . the un - expanded stream 248 is warmed only in heat exchanger 218 to form stream 249 , which is subsequently compressed by compressor 251 to form companion recycle stream 205 . the membrane characteristics adaptable to the present invention are based on a surface treated polymeric membrane ( poly [ trimethyl silylpropyne ]) developed and tested by air products and chemicals , inc ., which has an oxygen to argon selectivity ratio of 2 . 63 . this low selectivity causes about 80 % of the total argon feed to the membrane 209 ( stream 207 ) to remain in the reject stream 212 of the first stage . added argon recovery is achieved by recompressing the first stage permeate stream 211 and feeding it to the second stage membrane 215 . this membrane system recovers 33 % of the argon and 90 % of the nitrogen in the feed ( stream 200 ), and produces a waste stream rich in oxygen ( 90 % oxygen ), which is purged from the system via line 216 . in the next embodiment , the single - stage membrane separates only the recycle stream , rather than a combined feed air and recycle flow . a second embodiment of the invention is illustrated by fig3 . this version depends upon the use of a single - stage membrane which is highly selective for oxygen relative to argon and nitrogen . in this embodiment , ambient air stream 200 is compressed by compressor 201 to provide stream 202 which is subsequently passed through a molecular sieve clean - up unit 203 to remove carbon dioxide and water . the purified stream 204 is split into a larger stream 205 , and a smaller stream 206 , with a mass flow ratio of about 7 : 3 , respectively . the smaller stream 206 is further compressed by compressor 207 , subsequently split into a larger stream 208 and a smaller stream 209 , with a mass ratio of about 4 : 1 , respectively . stream 208 is further compressed by compressor 210 , cooled in heat exchanger 218 , and expanded in expander 211 , to provide refrigeration for the cycle . stream 209 is also cooled in heat exchanger 218 , providing stream 219 which is subsequently condensed in reboiler / condenser 221 located at the bottom of side arm column 222 , providing reboiler duty for column 222 , and yielding a condensed liquid side stream 223 . the major air stream 205 is cooled in heat exchangers 218 and 224 and is combined with discharge stream 250 , from the expander 211 , to form stream 251 which is fed to the bottom of distillation column 226 . side column liquid stream 223 is reduced in pressure through valve 228 to form stream 229 which is fed at or near the bottom of column 226 . distillation column 226 is also fed by the overhead vapor stream 231 from column 222 . distillation column 226 separates the combined feeds into a high - purity nitrogen vapor overhead stream 232 ; a small , relatively argon - rich liquid side stream 233 ; and an oxygen - rich liquid bottoms stream 234 . stream 234 is subcooled in heat exchanger 235 , and reduced in pressure through valve 236 to provide a source of refrigeration for reflux condenser 237 located at the top of distillation column 226 . the essentially pure nitrogen stream 232 is warmed in heat exchangers 235 , 224 , and 218 becoming the nitrogen product stream 238 . by one of the unique features of the present invention , a small , relatively argon - rich liquid side stream 233 is withdrawn from main distillation column 226 and fed to the top of side distillation column 222 . distillation column 222 serves to remove nitrogen from this stream , producing a bottoms liquid stream 241 which is an argon / oxygen mixture , containing more than 70 % argon , and substantially devoid of nitrogen . overhead vapor 231 from distillation column 222 is returned to column 226 . the liquid bottom stream 241 is warmed in heat exchangers 224 and 218 , forming crude argon product stream 254 . alternatively , stream 241 may be withdrawn directly as a liquid product due to its small flow rate . overhead stream 242 , resulting from the vaporization of stream 243 in the reboiler - condenser 237 at the top of distillation column 226 , is warmed in heat exchangers 235 , 224 , and 218 , providing stream 214 which is fed to membrane separation system 215 . membrane separation system 215 separates stream 214 into an oxygen - rich permeate 211 , and a relatively argon and nitrogen - rich reject stream 212 . stream 211 is vented at atmospheric pressure as a waste oxygen - rich stream . stream 212 is compressed by compressor 213 and recycled to distillation column 226 , a few stages above the bottom , after having been cooled in heat exchangers 218 and 224 , via line 252 . the crude argon stream 254 may be subsequently purified , for example , by membrane separation , cryogenic distillation and / or catalytic de - oxo systems . all or part of the recycle compression ( compressor 213 ) may be supplied upstream of membrane separator 215 resulting in increased ar and n 2 recovery . side distillation column 222 could be operated at a lower pressure than column 226 , in which case the overhead n 2 stream 231 would have to be recompressed or added to recycle stream 242 . table i compares the process of fig1 with the new processes of fig2 and 3 . all process calculations were done using the attached &# 34 ; standards for hybrid cycle work &# 34 ; ( table ii ) to ensure a fair comparison . the processes of fig3 having a membrane separation system were calculated assuming a single - stage high - oxygen - selectivity membrane ( selectivity of o 2 / ar = 53 and o 2 / n 2 = 100 ) . the simulated cases in table i may be described as follows : the first column is the optimized present practice , but without a membrane and without argon production , as depicted by fig1 . case a is the first embodiment of the new process , using membranes with currently available selectivities for oxygen and argon relative to nitrogen . this case corresponds to fig2 and illustrates the technical feasibility of the flow sheet to produce crude argon having & gt ; 80 % purity . incremental power consumption is required . case b is an alternate embodiment of the process ( fig3 ) employing a highly selective membrane such as may be obtained with an active transport membrane . given the existence of such a membrane , it is preferable to put the membrane on the recycle stream 214 only . it shows that 29 % argon recovery may be obtained , with no increase in power relative to production of nitrogen alone , by the addition of the sidearm column . this is also true when the oxygen concentration stream 212 of fig3 is maintained between 13 % and 16 %. case c is the same as case b , except that argon recovery has been increased to 46 %, at the expense of increased power and reduced argon purity , by increasing the oxygen content and flow . case d shows the effect of increasing the membrane feed pressure to 80 psia . this improves argon recovery and crude argon purity substantially relative to case b , while not exceeding the power required for the optimized base case of fig1 . membrane area is also reduced . case e shows the effect of increasing the membrane feed pressure to essentially that of the distillation column pressure . argon recovery and purity are increased and membrane area is very much reduced at the expense of increased power consumption . case e also produces a &# 34 ; waste oxygen &# 34 ; stream 211 containing 89 % oxygen . the present invention has been described with reference to some specific embodiments thereof . these embodiments should not be considered a limitation of the scope of the present invention . the scope of the present invention is ascertained by the following claims . table i__________________________________________________________________________argon separation process cycle comparison present practice new process ( fig2 and 3 ) ( fig1 ) case a case b case c case d case e__________________________________________________________________________nitrogen product , moles / 100 47 . 9 72 . 4 71 . 4 73 . 9 74 . 3 75 . 9moles dryair feed : crude argon product , moles / 100 0 0 . 36 0 . 37 0 . 60 0 . 46 0 . 56moles dryair feed : o . sub . 2 in n . sub . 2 product , ppm 5 5 5 5 5 5n . sub . 2 product press ., psia 115 115 115 115 115 115ar in crude ar product , -- 83 . 2 71 . 8 70 . 7 78 . 6 83 . 1 ( stream 241 ,), % moles contained ar in ar product , 0 32 29 46 39 50moles / 100 molear in air feed : pressure of expander 73 126 121 121 121 121inlet stream , psiaflow rate of stream , 212 0 171 70 85 78 85moles / 100moles dry air feed : o . sub . 2 concentration in stream 212 -- 22 . 4 14 . 3 19 . 4 12 . 8 11 . 8membrane feed pressure , psia -- 126 57 55 80 120power , kwh / 100 scf n . sub . 2 0 . 533 0 . 791 0 . 530 0 . 541 0 . 532 0 . 541productno . of membrane stages -- 2 1 1 1 1relative membrane area per 100 0 2288 1814 1223 700 255moles dry air feed ( assumingsame permeance for n . sub . 2for all cases ): membrane selectivityo . sub . 2 / n . sub . 2 -- 5 . 5 100 . 0 100 . 0 100 . 0 100 . 0o . sub . 2 / ar -- 2 . 9 52 . 8 52 . 8 52 . 8 52 . 8__________________________________________________________________________ table ii______________________________________standards for hybrid process cycle work______________________________________product : 100 , 000 scfh nitrogen ( gan ) gan product pressure : 115 psiagan product : 4 . 5 - 5 . 0 mppm 02fixed distillation tray countfixed reboiler delta tfixed pressure dropsplant heat leak : fixed btu / lbmol of gasflowtotal ntu count for main exchanger : 50 - 70reboiler purge flow : 0 . 2 % of air flowfixed expander isentropic efficiencyfixed isothermal compression efficiencyfixed motor efficiencyair feed relative humidity : 50 % air feed temperature : 70 ° f . air feed suction pressure : 14 . 5 psiastandard conditions : 14 . 7 psia ; 70 ° f . air feed temperature to mainexchanger : 45 ° f . main exchanger warm end delta t : 5 ° f . recycle feed temperature to mainexchanger : 45 ° f . minimum gas pressure in cycle : 15 psiano credit for power generated byexpander______________________________________ basis : air at 100 lbmol / hr ( 78 . 12 %; 20 . 95 % o . sub . 2 ; 0 . 93 % ar )
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fig1 shows a perspective view of a fire - fighting system 10 according to the present invention . the fire - fighting system 10 includes a truck 12 , a boom 14 , a conveying pipeline 16 , and a nozzle 18 . the truck 12 acts as a support or a base for the boom 14 . the boom 14 supports and articulates the conveying pipeline 16 . the truck 12 provides the ability for the fire - fighting system 10 to be mobile and transported to a location near the vicinity of the fire . the boom 14 and the conveying pipeline 16 function to allow the dispensing point of a quenching agent ( such as water or a fire retardant chemical foam ) to be located near the fire source . the quenching agent is dispensed through the nozzle 18 , which is mounted at the outermost end of the boom 14 . although the preferred embodiment , as shown in fig1 shows the fire - fighting system 10 having a boom 14 and conveying pipeline 16 mounted on the truck 12 , in other embodiments the boom 14 and conveying pipeline 16 may be mounted on a stationary support structure . the truck 12 , as best shown in fig1 and 3 , includes a chassis 20 , front outriggers 22 l , 22 r , rear outriggers 23 l , 23 r , a tank 24 , a pump 26 , and a boom base 28 . the chassis 20 of the truck 12 provides the main structural support for supporting the boom 14 and the conveying pipeline 16 . the front outriggers 22 l , 22 r and rear outriggers 23 l , 23 r extend laterally from the chassis 20 and impose a downward force on the surrounding ground . the front outriggers 22 l , 22 r and rear outriggers 23 l , 23 r function to stabilize the truck 12 and prevent it from tipping during deployment of the boom 14 and conveying pipeline 16 . the tank 24 holds a supply of the quenching agent used to suppress or quench the fire . the quenching agent may also be supplied by a source external to the truck 12 . the pump 26 acts to move quenching agent from the tank 24 or external source through the conveying pipeline 16 and out the nozzle 18 . the base 28 provides a surface for mounting the boom 14 . the boom 14 includes a turret 30 , a first boom section 32 , a second boom section 34 , a third boom section 36 , a first actuator assembly 38 , a second actuator assembly 40 , and a third actuator assembly 42 . the turret 30 of the boom 14 is mounted to the base 28 of the truck 12 . the turret 30 allows rotatable motion , about a vertical axis , of the boom 14 with respect to the truck 12 . as shown in fig1 a proximal end of the first boom section 32 is pivotally coupled to the turret 30 . a distal end of the first boom section 32 is pivotally connected to a proximal end of the second boom section 34 . a distal end of the second boom section 34 is pivotally connected to a proximal end of the third boom section 36 . although the preferred embodiment shown in fig1 includes three boom sections , the boom 14 could include any number of boom sections . as further shown in fig1 the first actuator assembly 38 is connected between the turret 30 and the first boom section 32 . the first actuator assembly 38 extends or retracts to control the angular position of the first boom section 32 with respect to the truck 12 . the second actuator assembly 40 is coupled between the first boom section 32 and the second boom section 34 and controls the angular position of the second boom section 34 with respect to the first boom section 32 . the third actuator assembly 42 is coupled between the second boom section 34 and the third boom section 36 and controls the angular position of the third boom section 36 with respect to the second boom section 34 . an operator of the fire - fighting system 10 can control the position of the distal end of the third boom section 36 by controlling the position of the turret 30 , the first actuator assembly 38 , the second actuator assembly 40 , and the third actuator assembly 42 . the position of the distal end of the third boom section 36 , which is where the nozzle 18 is located , determines the dispensing point of the quenching agent . the fire - fighting system 10 of the present invention allows an operator to manipulate the actuators 38 , 40 , 42 and strategically position the nozzle 18 for maximum fire - fighting efficacy . to safely deploy and position the nozzle 18 by manipulating the boom sections 32 , 34 , 36 with respect to one another , it is important that the boom base 28 , supporting the turret 30 , is approximately gravitationally level . the boom base 28 must be within three degrees offset from gravitational level along any axis through a center point . if the boom base 28 ( which supports the boom 14 and the conveying pipeline 16 ) is not gravitationally level , it may result in unsafe operating conditions . for example , the boom 14 may experience unintended slewin ( i . e ., rotation about a vertical axis ) at the turret 30 . also , a gravitationally level boom base 28 is important to prevent tipping of the truck 12 . leveling of the truck chassis 20 and the boom base 28 is performed using the front outriggers 22 l , 22 r and the rear outriggers 23 l , 23 r . as shown in fig2 . the outriggers 22 l , 22 r , 23 l , 23 r include a support arm 46 , a foot 48 , cribbing 50 , solenoid 52 , pressure switch 54 , and extend sensor 56 . once the truck 12 has reached its intended operating position , the outriggers 22 l , 22 r , 23 l , 23 r are deployed ( i . e ., extended out and away from truck ) by moving the support arm 46 to place them into position to help level and stabilize the truck 12 . the extend sensor 56 is a proximity sensor that provides a signal when the outrigger 22 l , 22 r , 23 l , 23 r is fully extended away from the truck 12 . the outriggers 22 l , 22 r , 23 l , 23 r apply pressure to the surrounding ground by lowering the foot 48 down onto the cribbing 50 , which is placed on the ground under the extension foot 48 for additional support . the raising and lowering of the foot 48 is done hydraulically using a system generally known to those of ordinary skill in the art . although in fig2 the solenoid 52 is shown located on the outrigger 22 l , 22 r , 23 l , 23 r , it may also be located on the truck 12 near the corresponding outrigger 22 l , 22 r , 23 l , 23 r . the solenoid 52 receives an electrical control signal and acts to open or close a hydraulic fluid valve , which controls the flow of fluid to a hydraulic cylinder , and thereby adjusts the vertical position of the foot 48 with respect to the support arm 46 . the pressure switch 54 provides a signal when it detects some threshold pressure level upon the arm 48 . the purpose of the pressure switch 54 is to provide a signal when the arm 48 is sufficiently lowered to generate the minimum pressure required upon the cribbing 50 for safe operation on the ground . this minimum pressure is generally around 500 pounds per square inch and functions to evenly distribute the weight between the four outriggers 22 l , 22 r , 23 l , 23 r . fig3 shows a top view of the fire - fighting system 10 according to the present invention . fig3 also shows the positions of the front outriggers 22 l , 22 r and the rear outriggers 23 l , 23 r with respect to the truck 12 , when the outriggers 22 l , 22 r , 23 l , 23 r have been fully deployed . the fire - fighting system 10 of the present invention operates to automatically level the chassis 20 of the truck 12 . leveling of the chassis 20 also levels the base 28 , which is attached to the chassis 20 . leveling of the base 28 acts to level the turret 30 and thus the entire boom 14 that it supports . as previously mentioned , leveling of the chassis 20 of the truck 12 is performed by using the outriggers 22 l , 22 r , 23 l , 23 r to apply pressure to the surrounding ground . as shown in fig3 the truck 12 has a tilt sensor 60 mounted to its chassis 20 near a longitudinal center line and closer to a front end of the truck 12 . the tilt sensor 60 is centered at the intersection of the imaginary line extending from the front outrigger 22 r to the rear outrigger 23 l and the imaginary line extending from the front outrigger 22 l to the rear outrigger 23 r . as shown in fig3 a y - axis 62 runs along a longitudinal centerline of the truck 12 of the fire - fighting system 10 , and an x - axis 64 runs orthogonal to the y - axis and through a center of the tilt sensor 60 . the tilt sensor 60 is disposed at the intersection of the y - axis 62 and the x - axis 64 and oriented such that it may provide a signal representing the angle between the y - axis 62 and gravitational level and the angle between the x - axis 64 and gravitational level . as further shown in fig3 a y ′- axis 66 extends between a center of the foot 48 of the front outrigger 22 l and a center of the foot 48 of the rear outrigger 23 r . an x ′- axis 68 extends between a center of the foot 48 of the front outrigger 22 r and a center of the foot 48 of the rear outrigger 23 l . both the y ′- axis 66 and the x ′- axis 68 extend through the intersection of the y - axis 62 and the x - axis 64 . using standard trigonometric relationships , and the signals from the tilt sensor 60 , it is thus possible to calculate the angles of the y ′- axis 66 and the x ′- axis 68 from gravitational level . these signals are then used to calculate which of the outriggers 22 l , 22 r , 23 l , 23 r to adjust as explained in greater detail below . fig4 shows a block schematic of the inputs and outputs from a microcontroller 70 used to perform the autoleveling function in the fire - fighting system 10 of the present invention . as shown in fig4 the microcontroller 70 accepts input signals from the tilt sensor 60 , extend sensor signals 56 a , 56 b , 56 c , and 56 d ( corresponding to the front left outrigger 22 l , the front right outrigger 22 r , the rear left outrigger 23 l , and the rear right outrigger 23 r , respectively ), and pressure switch signals 54 a , 54 b , 54 c , and 54 d ( corresponding to the front left outrigger 22 l , the front right outrigger 22 r , the rear left outrigger 23 l , and the rear right outrigger 23 r , respectively ). based on these input signals , the microcontroller 70 generates a drive signal to each of the outriggers 22 l , 22 r , 23 l , 23 r . the drive signal ( generated by the microcontroller 70 is an electrical control signal used to operate the solenoids 52 on the outriggers 22 l , 22 r , 23 l , 23 r , which adjust hydraulic valves to affect the position of the feet 48 of the respective outriggers . during operation the truck 12 is transported to a strategic position for fighting a fire . the operator then manually deploys the outriggers 22 l , 22 r , 23 l , 23 r . the operator then commands the two front outriggers 22 l , 22 r and the two rear outriggers 23 l , 2 r to deploy or extend away from the chassis 20 . the outriggers 22 l , 22 r , 23 l , 23 r continue to deploy until a signal is received from the corresponding extend sensors 56 a , 56 b , 56 c , 56 d . the operator continues to deploy the outriggers 22 l , 22 r , 23 l , 23 r until the signal is received from the extend sensor 56 a , 56 b , 56 c , 56 d , deployment of the corresponding outrigger ceases . once all four outriggers 22 l , 22 r , 23 l , 23 r have been fully deployed , the operator selects the autoleveling function . the microcontroller 70 operates the solenoids 52 of each of the outriggers 22 l , 22 r , 23 l , 23 r to begin extension ( i . e ., movement down and away from the support arm 56 ) of the foot 48 . this extension continues until a programmed pressure level is reached within the hydraulic fluid driving the foot 48 of the outrigger 22 l , 22 r , 23 l , 23 r . when the pressure level is reached the pressure switch 54 a , 54 b , 54 c , 54 d activate and the microcontroller 70 ceases extension of the foot 48 of the corresponding outrigger 22 l , 22 r , 23 l , 23 r . this process continues until each foot 48 of each outrigger 22 l , 22 r , 23 l , 23 r is extended to a minimum pressure point . at this point the microcontroller 70 executes the autoleveling routine described below . as discussed above , and as illustrated in fig3 the outriggers 22 l , 22 r , 23 l , 23 r are positioned on the y ′- axis 66 and the x ′- axis 68 . the tilt sensor 60 , however , provides a signal indicative of the angle with respect to gravitational level of the y - axis 62 and the x - axis 64 . based on the angle provided by the tilt sensor 60 , in the form of a voltage , the microcontroller 70 calculates the slope of the chassis 20 . the tilt sensor 60 provides two voltages , one indicative of the slope of the y - axis 62 and the other indicative of the slope of the x - axis 64 . if the voltage provided by the tilt sensor 60 is positive , the slope is positive . a positive slope along the y - axis 62 is defined by a point on the rear of the truck 12 having a higher altitude than a point on the front of the truck 12 . a positive slope along the x - axis 64 is defined by a point on the right side of the truck 12 having a higher altitude than a point on the left side of the truck 12 . once the microcontroller 70 has calculated the slope along the y - axis 62 and the slope along the x - axis 64 , it calculates the slope along the y ′- axis 66 and along the x ′- axis 68 by performing a coordinate transformation using the following equations : where m ′ x is the slope along the x ′- axis 68 , and m ′ y is the slope along the y ′- axis 66 , m x is the slope along the x - axis 64 , m y is the slope along the y - axis 62 , θ is the angle between the x - axis 64 and the x ′- axis 68 ( as shown in fig3 ), and φ is the angle between the y - axis 62 and the y ′- axis 66 ( as shown in fig3 ). the microcontroller 70 then generates a drive signal to each of the outriggers 22 l , 22 r , 23 l , 23 r based on m ′ x and m ′ y using the following equations : where x1 ( t ) is the drive signal to the solenoid 52 of the outrigger 23 l as a function of time , x2 ( t ) is the drive signal to the solenoid 52 of the outrigger 22 r as a function of time , y1 ( t ) is the drive signal to the solenoid 52 of the outrigger 23 r as a function of time , y2 ( t ) is the drive signal to the solenoid 52 of the outrigger 22 l as a function of time , and k is an adjustable constant that affects the response rate of the system . the autoleveling system of the fire - fighting system 10 of the present invention is designed to operate so that leveling is obtained only by raising the position of one of the outriggers 22 l , 22 r , 23 l , 23 r . therefore , if the drive signal calculated using the above equations is negative , it will not be transmitted to the corresponding solenoid 52 . only positive drive signals are sent causing one or more of the solenoids 52 to open and cause extension or lowering of the corresponding arm 46 . the microcontroller 70 continues to perform this procedure until the results from the tilt sensor 60 indicate that the chassis 20 of the truck 12 is sufficiently close to gravitationally level , and the pressure switches 54 a , 54 b , 54 c , 54 d have activated , at which time the autoleveling function is complete . the microcontroller 70 will also terminate the autoleveling procedure if the truck 12 enters an unsafe position such that it may tip . unsafe positions may be programmed into or calculated by the microcontroller 70 for this purpose . although the present invention has been described with reference to a fire - fighting vehicle , it should be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the disclosed system would function equally as well to gravitationally level a boom and pipeline system mounted to another type of vehicle or even mounted to a base not intended to be mobile . for instance , the device of the present invention could be applied to a concrete pumping boom truck . the principle of the present invention may be employed to automatically level a boom system to insure its safe operation . although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments , workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .
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referring now in detail to the drawings wherein like parts are designated by like reference numerals throughout , there is schematically illustrated in fig1 a dual fuel engine system which is designated generally by reference numeral 10 . dual fuel engine system 10 incorporates generally a dual fuel engine 12 , a fuel oil supply system 30 , a fuel gas supply system 80 , and , optionally , a turbocharger 90 . generally described , dual fuel engine system 10 includes a dual fuel engine 12 which is of the large , stationary , reciprocating engine type . in the preferred embodiment described herein , the dual fuel engine 12 is a lsvb - 20 - gdt four cycle engine manufactured by cooper - bessemer reciprocating division of cooper industries , the assignee of this invention . dual fuel engine 12 includes a plurality of cylinders , only one of which is illustrated schematically in fig1 and is designated generally by reference numeral 11 . the cylinders and the reciprocating pistons ( not shown ) in the cylinders are arranged in a v configuration , have a 151 / 2 in . bore , a 22 in . stroke , and develop 420 bhp per cylinder at 400 engine rpm . while the lsvb engine is typically built with 12 , 16 , or 20 cylinders , it will be appreciated that the invention may be applicable to any type of large reciprocating engine whether stationary or mobile . dual fuel engine 12 is provided with a diesel fuel supply header 14 for supply of diesel fuel through line 15 to a plurality of individual fuel injection pumps 16 ( only one shown ) of a diesel fuel injection system 18 for each cylinder 11 of the dual fuel engine , as will be described in detail hereinafter . the pressure in diesel fuel supply header 14 is regulated by a pressure regulator 20 , and a diesel fuel drain header 22 collects excess fuel oil not used by fuel injection pumps 16 for reuse . each cylinder of dual fuel engine 12 is also provided with a gas induction system 24 for supply of gaseous fuel mixed with air . a governor 26 provided on dual fuel engine 12 supplies a signal to adjust the pressure of the fuel gas supplied by gas induction system 24 , and a signal to control the exhaust gas exhausted from an exhaust manifold 28 of dual fuel engine 12 in a manner known in the art and therefore not described in further detail herein . still referring to fig1 the system for supplying diesel oil fuel to the cylinders of the dual fuel engine , designated generally by reference numeral 30 , will now be described in detail . a supply of diesel oil fuel is held in a fuel oil day tank 31 . fuel is pumped from tank 31 through line 32 by fuel oil transfer pump 34 , through line 36 to duplex filters 38 , thence through line 40 to fuel oil supply header 14 . pressure of the diesel oil in fuel oil supply header 14 is regulated by pressure regulator 20 , connected to fuel oil return line 42 . diesel oil fuel flows from header 14 via line 15 to the individual fuel injection pumps 16 of a diesel oil fuel injection system 18 provided for each of the plurality of cylinders of dual fuel engine 12 . referring now to fig2 wherein the fuel oil injection system 18 of fig1 is illustrated in greater detail , fuel oil injection system 18 comprises generally a fuel injection pump 16 and a fuel injection nozzle 44 which is supplied with fuel from pump 16 through high - pressure fuel line 46 . fuel injection pump 16 is of the &# 34 ; jerk pump &# 34 ; type known in the art and is located on the cylinder block directly above the cam follower in the cooper - bessemer lsvb engine . pump 16 generally comprises a delivery valve holder 48 , a delivery valve assembly 50 , and a barrel and plunger assembly 52 . flanges 54 are provided for connection of pump 16 to the cylinder block of dual fuel engine 12 . a high pressure line nut 56 connects delivery valve holder 48 to high pressure line 46 . further details of the structure and operation of pump 16 are not provided since pump 16 is of a type conventionally available from manufacturers such as bendix and l &# 39 ; orange gmbh of stuttgart , west germany . fuel oil is pumped from pump 16 through high pressure line 46 to fuel injection nozzle 44 from which it is sprayed into an individual cylinder 11 of the dual fuel engine 12 . the fuel injection nozzle 44 is located at the center of the cylinder head in the lsvb engine . fuel injection nozzle 44 comprises generally a nozzle body holder 58 , a nozzle valve assembly 60 , and a nozzle spray tip 62 projecting into the combustion chamber of the cylinder 11 . further details of the structure and operation of nozzle 44 are not provided since nozzle 44 , similar to pump 16 , is conventionally available from manufacturers such as the bendix and l &# 39 ; orange gmbh . nozzle spray tip 62 is provided with a specified number of orifices arranged annularly around the tip , each orifice having a specified diameter and arranged at a specified angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the nozzle 44 , in order to provide a precisely metered quantity and spray configuration of fuel injected into the cylinder . in accordance with the present invention , the orifices of the spray tip 62 are so structured and configured in terms of number , size and spray angle as to limit the supply of diesel fuel to the each cylinder to pilot ignition quantities only as defined hereinabove . operation of the dual fuel engine with pilot ignition quantities of diesel fuel results in a significant reduction of nox emissions , more specifically according to the present invention to an emission rate of less than 1 gm / hp - hr of nox . referring now to fig4 through 7 , there are illustrated details of various embodiments of the portion of fuel injection nozzle 44 , which includes nozzle spray tip 62 constructed according to the invention . nozzle spray tip 62 comprises a plurality of orifices 64 , which are typically arranged symmetrically about the central longitudinal axis of nozzle 44 . orifices 64 are oriented with their axes at a predetermined spray angle , defined in fig4 as angle b . the number of orifices , orifice diameter , and spray angle are determined empirically for a given dual fuel engine , to produce the desired pilot ignition quantity of fuel oil which will result in the reduced exhaust emission rate set forth hereinabove . as illustrated in fig5 and 7 , three embodiments of nozzle spray tips 62 according to the invention are provided with 4 , 6 , and 7 orifices 64 , respectively , for use with the lsvb engine described above . values of the orifice diameter and spray angle for the embodiments of fig5 and 6 are set forth in table i below , while in the embodiment of fig7 the seven ( 7 ) orifices 64 have a diameter of 0 . 0177 in . and are set at a spray angle b of 140 °. during the course of development of the present invention , several embodiments of dual fuel engine systems were tested . those embodiments are summarized below . table i______________________________________ specific emission percent rate nox pilot ( gm / hp - nozzle tip oil hr ) ______________________________________system one lsvb 8 - orifices 6 . 0 4 . 70 ( prior art ) universal 0 . 0177 in . standard system diameter 140 ° spray anglesystem two lsvb 6 - orifices 4 . 8 4 . 31 ( 1st experiment ) universal 0 . 0157 in . modified tip diameter 120 ° spray nozzlesystem three js 4 - orifices 2 . 2 0 . 95 ( 2nd experiment ) universal 0 . 0157 in . modified nozzle diametertip 120 ° spray anglesystem four pilot 6 - orifices 1 . 54 0 . 80 ( 3rd experiment ) nozzle 0 . 0106 in . pump and diametermodified nozzle 120 ° spray angle______________________________________ it is apparent from the foregoing table i that in the embodiments of system one ( prior art ) and system two ( 1st experiment ) specific emission rates of nox emissions exceeded 4 . 0 gm / hp - hr where the percent pilot oil was in the typical prior art range of 4 - 7 %. however , in the embodiments of system three ( 2nd experiment ) and system four ( 3rd experiment ), specific emission rates of nox emissions were reduced to less than 1 . 0 gm / hp - hr where the percent pilot oil was maintained below the 4 - 7 % range , i . e ., limited to pilot ignition quantities only . referring now to fig3 an additional embodiment of fuel oil injection system 18 according to the invention is illustrated . in the fig3 embodiment , fuel injection nozzle 44 is a &# 34 ; pencil nozzle &# 34 ; made by the stanadyne company and identified as a 5 . 4 mm &# 34 ; slim tip ,&# 34 ; pencil nozzle . fuel injection nozzle 44 is supplied with fuel oil through high pressure line 46 by pump 16 , which in the illustrated embodiment is the bd - 2 &# 34 ; automotive &# 34 ; type pump also manufactured by the stanadyne company . the fuel injection system 18 of fig3 is identified in table i as system four , and uses a nozzle spray 62 having 6 orifices of 0 . 0106 in . diameter , set at a 120 ° spray angle . referring once again to fig1 dual fuel engine system 10 is provided with a fuel gas supply system , generally designated by reference numeral 80 . before proceeding with an explanation of the fuel gas supply system 80 , a brief explanation of the characteristics of the gaseous fuel used in dual fuel engine system 10 is appropriate . the gaseous fuels used in such systems have two heating values : a high heating value ( hhv ), which includes the heat content of the water vapor released during combustion of hydrocarbons and oxygen ; and a low heating value ( lhv ), which excludes the heat content of the water vapor . for example , natural gas has a hhv of 1000 btu / ft 3 and a lhv of 930 btu / ft 3 . for various reasons , when specifying the heat content of a gaseous fuel it is customary in the industry to refer to the lhv . unless otherwise stated , that usage is employed in the present specification when referring to gaseous fuel heating values . normally , a natural gas fuel with a heat content of 930 btu / ft 3 is used in the dual fuel engine described above . however , according to another aspect of the present invention , it is appropriate to use alternative gaseous fuels , such as a digester gas to further reduce polluting exhaust emissions , particularly those containing nox emissions . digester gas is a relatively low heat content hydrocarbon gaseous fuel obtained from landfills and / or sewage treatment facilities and is diluted with inert components , such as co 2 , which constitute up to about 50 percent of the prime gaseous fuel charge . such digester gas has a low heating value of 450 - 550 btu / ft 3 . where digester gas is used as the fuel gas for dual fuel engine system 10 , still further improvements can be made in emissions rate reductions . for example , when digester gas is used as the fuel gas in the embodiment of the invention described in the above table i as system four , specific nox emission rates are reduced to 0 . 47 gm / hp - hr , with 1 . 4 percent pilot oil . nox emissions according to this embodiment of the invention are thus reduced below 0 . 5 gm / hp - hr . fuel gas supply system 80 comprises generally a supply of fuel gas through a line 82 , a gas regulating valve 84 which regulates the pressure of gaseous fuel supplied to the engine , and a line 86 through which the pressure regulated gaseous fuel is supplied to a gas induction system generally designated by reference numeral 24 . gas regulating valve 84 is controlled by a signal generated by governor 26 through a control line 85 . air is supplied to gas induction system 24 through a line 99 from a turbocharger 90 . gas induction system 24 comprises generally a gas inlet valve 88 and an air inlet valve 89 . gaseous fuel to the engine is inducted from line 86 through gas valve 88 which is concentric to and commonly operable with air inlet valve 89 as described below . air inlet valve 89 is opened by a conventional cam - operated valve gear . after the air inlet valve 89 begins to open , a shoulder on the air inlet valve stem pushes open the gas inlet valve 88 to create a delayed opening of the latter , and gaseous fuel flows into the combustion chamber of cylinder 11 in concert with the inlet air . referring again to fig1 dual fuel engine system 10 is optionally supplied with a turbocharger , generally designated by reference numeral 90 . turbocharger 90 comprises an impeller 92 , a turbine 94 , an exhaust stack 96 , a turbine inlet line 98 , and a turbocharged air discharge line 99 . as is conventional , turbine 94 receives exhaust gas from exhaust manifold 28 of dual fuel engine 12 . the exhaust gas rotates the blades of turbine 94 and compresses the air supplied to impeller 92 through air inlet line 93 . the turbocharged air is discharged from impeller 92 through line 99 where it is supplied to the air inlet valve 89 of gas induction system 24 for mixing with the gaseous fuel . by means of turbocharger 90 , a high air charging pressure , in excess of 28 psig is imparted to the air supplied to the engine , thereby further enhancing the exhaust emission performance of the dual fuel engine . in addition to the use of a turbocharger , the exhaust emission performance of the dual fuel engine may be further improved by imparting a high swirl or turbulence to the gaseous fuel mixture within the combustion chamber , using conventional engine design techniques . although only preferred embodiments are specifically illustrated and described herein , it will be appreciated that many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings and within the purview of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and intended scope of the invention .
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fig1 is a diagram showing one conceptual embodiment of a system for maintaining skills for agents of a contact center and the automated updating of agent skills for a skill - based routing system within that contact center . fig1 shows how customers , potential customers , or other people may use fax machines 105 , phones 110 , email messages 115 or other systems ( now known or developed in the future ) 120 to contact a corporation , government group or other entity . a routing system 130 may use routing logic to determine which agent 135 should handle a particular contact . routing logic may include rules and / or source data for determining the routing . in this document , the term routing logic also encompasses the source data used by the logic . this routing logic may use , among other factors , agent availability as a part of the routing decision . furthermore , the routing system 130 may use agent capability / skill information ( sometimes stored in a database as part of the agent &# 39 ; s profile ) to make the routing decisions . once the routing is determined , the transferring system 125 may transfer the contact ( such as a phone call , email message , web chat , web call - through , web call - back , paper - based correspondence converted to electronic form , fax or instant message , for example ) to the proper agent 135 . in one embodiment , the transferring system 125 may be a pbx / acd switch system sold by avaya inc . other hardware and / or software may be used in other embodiments . for example , the transferring system 125 may also be a system sold by aspect or nortel . in one embodiment , the routing system 130 may be the avaya advocate system sold by avaya inc . the avaya advocate system may be deployed on - board the pbx / acd transferring system 125 . or , the avaya advocate system may be separated from the transferring system 125 . in other embodiments , systems sold by genesys or cisco may be used as the routing system 130 , for example . the routing system 130 may include a database used to store agent profile and / or routing data . to make the skill data in the routing system 130 more robust and up - to - date , a centralized skill tracking system 140 is implemented in one embodiment of the present invention . the skill tracking system 140 has , in one embodiment , a database 145 for storing the skill data for each agent 135 . skill data may be updated either manually or automatically by data sent from various skill - impacting systems . a learning management educational system 150 , a call monitoring system , a customer satisfaction scoring system 155 , a crm application , a performance metrics system 160 , a staff scheduling / forecasting system , a compensation management system , a knowledge management system , a custom - developed reporting system , an automatic call distributor system , a call management / reporting system , a computer telephone integration system , an interactive voice response system and other skill - impacting systems ( now known or implemented in the future ) 165 are some of the types of systems that can feed skill - impacting data to the skill tracking system 140 . skill - impacting data may be satisfaction assessments from completed customer contacts , completion or results of a training course , coaching outcomes , and / or performance metrics , such as if an agent &# 39 ; s handle time is greater than a predetermined threshold . of course , there are many other types of skill - impacting data and skill - impacting systems that can be used with the present invention . as shown in fig1 , the skill tracking system 140 may be used ( in one embodiment ) to update and / or synchronize the skill - related data for an agent from the skill tracking system 140 to the routing system 130 . once data is updated to the routing system 130 , routing decisions by the routing system 130 and / or the transferring system 125 may be improved . fig1 shows several types of systems that may submit skill - impacting data . examples of a learning management educational system 150 include docent enterprise developed by docent , inc . examples of a call monitoring system include the equality software suite developed by witness systems , inc . examples of a customer satisfaction system 155 include applications of conversant interactive voice response systems developed by avaya . examples of a crm application include siebel call center developed by siebel systems , inc . examples of an agent performance metrics system 160 include call management system ( cms ) developed by avaya . while the system shown in fig1 is highly abstracted , fig3 shows one embodiment of implementing the present invention on a siebel / genesys architecture . here , agents 135 have access to the system via a siebel web client 170 . the pbx / acd 125 and t - server 125 components are part of the transferring system 125 to transfer client contacts to the appropriate agent based on the routing system , which is implemented through a genesys urs server 130 and a genesys configuration database 130 . the administrative interface 305 shown in fig3 is the traditional way to input and update agent profiles ( including skill levels of various agents ) to the routing system 130 . as shown in the figure , the capability - impacting systems ( 150 , 155 , 160 and 165 ) send skill - related data to the skill - tracking system of the capability profile update system 140 and the siebel database 145 . the siebel database of fig3 stores not only the data used by the siebel crm or erm application , but also the skill - based data within agent profiles . as one skilled in the art will understand , the various embodiments of the present invention can be implemented as a system of modular components and / or as a series of code segments of one or more computer programs stored on a computer - readable medium . the computer program code segments can be written in java , c , c ++, or any computer language now known or developed in the future . for a conceptual diagram of one embodiment of the invention as a system , refer to fig6 and 7 , which represent a system with modular components including a profile module 610 , a skill receiver 615 , an updating module 620 , a synchronization module 625 , a contact receiver 630 , a routing processor 635 , and a contact router 640 , and a system with modular components including a profile module 710 , a profile maintenance module 715 , a source data module 720 , an update module 725 , an identification module 730 , and an agent selector 735 . similar in many ways to fig3 , fig4 is a diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention in a siebel / avaya architecture framework . here , the routing system 130 includes the avaya advocate routing engine and configuration database as well as the avaya call management system . the transferring system 125 is the avaya pbx / acd . of course , other embodiments of the present invention could be made using other combinations of hardware , software and technical architectures . fig2 is a high - level flowchart of one embodiment of providing the functionality of updating the capability profile 140 and then synchronizing 310 the data in the routing system . when a capability - impacting system ( 150 , 155 , 160 , and / or 165 ) modifies skill - related information , an external event is triggered 205 . for an example using an oracle database available from oracle corp ., as database elements in the database change , a trigger may be executed automatically . the event generates a transaction 210 , which in turn triggers a workflow 215 . ( a workflow is a state table utilized by sibbel and other systems .) the workflow 215 updates the centralized capability profile 220 . this update triggers a second workflow 225 which in turn initiates an intermediary process to mimic 230 the typically manual administration ( i . e ., a supervisor using the administrative interface 305 ) of the agent skill information of the routing system 130 . other embodiments of the present invention use other methodologies to update the skill tracking system 140 / 145 and to synchronize the routing system 130 . for example , in one embodiment , a custom interface automates the changing of agent skills by looking for and processing files sent to the avaya call management system 130 . this is done on an adjustable , periodic interval . when a change is noticed , the interface automatically updates the skill set as appropriate and provides a log that indicates when it has received and processed a file for a skill change . fig5 is a conceptual diagram of an example agent profile as can be stored in the system . as shown in fig5 , several skill / capability scores can be tracked . each skill has an associated rating . for example , fig5 reflects an agent highly skilled in : ( a ) product a , ( b ) product b , ( c ) sales business function and ( d ) value segment d . some skills may have a boolean rating in which the skill is either present or not . for example , a foreign language skill such as “ speaks spanish ” may be boolean since the agent either can speak spanish or she cannot . other skill ratings may be a range . such ratings may be a number ( such as between 1 and 5 ), or a level ( such as beginner , intermediate , or advanced ), for example . other ratings can be implemented as well . in some embodiments , profiles are stored for groups of agents instead of for ( or in addition to ) individual agents . in some embodiments , skill - impacting data is received that is representative of a group of agents rather than for a single agent . the foregoing description addresses embodiments encompassing various principles of the present invention . the embodiments may be changed , modified and / or implemented using various types of arrangements . those skilled in the art will readily recognize various modifications and changes that may be made to the invention without strictly following the exemplary embodiments and applications illustrated and described herein , and without departing from the scope of the invention , which is set forth in the following claims .
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an exemplary embodiment of a variable pitch propeller system made according to the invention is illustrated in the drawings and with reference to fig1 is seen to include a rotatable hub , generally designated 10 , constituting the rotatable side of the variable pitch propeller system , and a stationary side , generally designated 12 , of conventional construction . the hub 10 is rotatable about an axis 14 and is driven by any suitable power plant , most often a gas turbine engine ( not shown ). a shaft 16 is bolted as by bolts 18 to the hub 10 and is journaled for rotation about the axis 14 by bearings including a transfer bearing , generally designated 20 of conventional construction . the transfer bearing 20 , in addition to journaling function , serves as an interface between the hub 10 and the stationary part 12 of the propeller system by serving to transmit , as is conventional , three streams of hydraulic fluid . one such stream commands the propeller system towards a coarse pitch and is designated p c . another stream is operative to bias the propeller towards a fine pitch condition and is designated p f . the third stream is a governor disable signal and is designated p gds . the stream &# 39 ; s p f and p c will be at selected variable , elevated pressures controlled by an epc ( not shown ) or other conventional control while the stream p gds will typically be at one or the other of two different pressure values . the shaft 16 includes an interior cavity 22 in which a valving system , generally designated 24 , and shown in fig2 is contained . the valving system 24 communicates in a manner to be seen with a shaft / transfer tube 26 and a concentric transfer tube 27 having a central flow path or conduit 28 and a concentric flow path 30 , formed by the shaft / transfer tube 26 and the transfer tube 27 , which respectively receive the streams p f and p c . the shaft / transfer tube 26 extends into a double acting hydraulic cylinder , generally designated 32 having a double acting piston 34 therein . the piston 34 is connected to a piston rod 36 which extends out of the cylinder 32 and which is reciprocally mounted on the shaft / transfer tube 26 for movement along the axis 14 . the central conduit 28 in the shaft 26 opens through a radial port 37 to a first or fine pitch side 38 of the piston 34 . at the same time , the concentric conduit 30 opens via a port 40 to the opposite or coarse pitch side 42 of the piston 34 . within hub 10 , and disposed between the double acting cylinder 32 and the valve assembly 24 , the piston rod 36 mounts a conventional reciprocating to rotary motion converting mechanism , generally designated 42 . this mechanism may be of any conventional form and as illustrated , includes a pair of bell - shaped plates 44 , 46 that are abutted near their center and at their point of connection to the piston rod 36 . they are separated to provide a bearing receiving space 48 at their peripheries . a self - aligning spherical bearing 50 is located in the space 48 for each of a plurality of propeller blades 52 carried by the hub 10 . the blades 52 have shanks 54 which are journaled to the hub 10 and retained in the hub 10 by a retention bearing system , generally designated 56 , of conventional construction . the rotational axis of one blade is shown at 58 and it will be observed that the shank 54 , at its radially innermost end , includes an eccentrically located pin 60 on which the bearing 50 is mounted . as a consequence , when the piston 34 moves within the cylinder 32 , the reciprocating to rotary motion converting mechanism 42 reciprocates along the axis 14 and such motion , because of the eccentricity of the pin 60 , is converted to rotary motion of the blades 52 within the hub 10 . as viewed in fig1 when the piston 34 is moved to the left , the blades 52 will be pivoted towards a coarse pitch position . conversely , when the piston 34 is moved to the right as viewed in fig1 the propeller blades 52 will be moved toward a fine pitch position and , in a case where reverse thrusting propellers are involved , ultimately toward a reverse thrust position . finally , with reference to fig1 it is to be noted that a reciprocal push rod 62 optionally having a roller 64 thereon is positioned to be engaged by an end 66 of the piston rod 36 to move reciprocally in a path that is generally parallel to the rotational axis 14 . the purpose of this linkage will be described hereinafter . turning now to fig2 the backup governing system contained within the valve assembly 24 will be described in greater detail . the system includes a spool valve , generally designated 68 , having a spool 70 reciprocally mounted therein . adjacent one end 72 of the spool 70 , a chamber 74 is provided for housing a flyweight assembly , generally designated 76 . the flyweight assembly 76 includes a plurality of flyweights 78 that are generally l - shaped and which include arms 80 in operative relation with a radial flange 82 on the end 72 of the spool 70 . a bearing 84 is interposed between the ends of the arms 80 and the flange 82 and each of the flyweights 78 is mounted for pivoting movement about a pivot pin 86 . as a consequence of this , as the rotational speed of the hub 10 increases , an increasing amount of centrifugal force will be generated within the flyweight assembly 76 which in turn will be conveyed via the arms 80 and the bearings 84 to the flange 82 on the spool 70 . this speed dependent force will tend to drive the spool 70 to the right as viewed in fig2 . also within the chamber 74 is a spring retainer 88 which retains a compression coil spring 90 against the side of the flange 82 opposite the bearings 84 . this spring 90 applies a biasing force against the spool 70 that is to the left as viewed in fig2 . suitable means ( not shown ) are provided for varying the position of the retainer 88 to pre - set the degree of bias applied by the spring 90 . also within the chamber 74 is a bell crank 92 mounted for pivotal movement by a pivot pin 94 . the bell crank 92 , at one end , includes a roller 96 that may be abutted against one of the flyweights 78 to move the same . specifically , the bell crank 92 has sufficient mass to assure this movement of the flyweight 78 . the contact occurs on the radially inner side of the flyweight 78 and is such that the motion of the rod 62 in the decrease pitch direction will cause the flyweight 78 , either by the addition of mass or by physical displacement to move radially outward . the effect of such is to drive the spool 70 to the right as viewed in fig2 and the resulting action in response to a low pitch condition is similar to that caused by an increase in rotational speed . the other end of the bell crank 92 includes a roller 98 engaged with a cam surface , generally designated 100 , on an end of the push rod 62 . the cam surface 100 includes a valley 101 between two lobes 103 . it will be observed from fig2 that when the push rod 62 is in the position illustrated , the bell crank 94 will be rotated to a counterclockwise most position with the result that the roller 96 will be at its radially inward most position and out of contact with the flyweight 78 . it should be noted that bell crank 94 has enough mass so that it will over power all spring forces in the flyweight system , insuring that it will always be in contact with the cam surface 100 . on the other hand , when allowed to contact the flyweight 78 , it will physically position the flyweight 78 . thus , when the push rod 62 is moved to the right as viewed in fig2 the roller 98 will follow the cam surface 100 into the cam surface valley 101 , thereby allowing the bell crank 92 to pivot in a clockwise direction with the result that the roller 96 , in contact with the radially inner side of a flyweight 78 , will move the flyweight 78 in the counterclockwise direction . consequently , in the illustrated embodiment , the bell crank 92 serves to position the flyweight assembly 76 . specifically , when the bell crank 92 is introduced into the flyweight assembly 76 , as will occur when a low pitch condition is sensed as will be explained in greater detail hereinafter , the same urges the upper flyweight 78 in a counterclockwise direction about its pivot 86 which allows the lower flyweight 78 to rotate in the clockwise direction , thereby moving the flyweight assembly 76 against the flange 82 of the spool 70 . thus , movement of the spool 70 to the right will occur as a result . the actuator 34 , in turn , will reposition the spool to a position where the balance of forces on the actuator will cause equilibrium of the system . in short , when the actuator 34 is positioned in response to a low pitch condition , it will always position the spool 70 accordingly , thereby guaranteeing direct control of the low pitch stop position and the flyweights 78 have no effect at this time . still a further biasing force is applied to the spool 70 by a compression coil spring 102 abutted against the end 104 of the spool 70 , opposite the end 72 . the spring 102 is interposed between the spool end 104 and an end 106 of a piston valve 108 . the piston valve 108 has a seal 110 at the end 106 and an enlarged end 112 also bearing a seal 114 . the same is disposed in a stepped bore 116 communicating with the bore in which the spool 70 is received . the step is shown at 118 and acts as a valve seat when the piston valve 108 is shifted to the right from the position illustrated in fig2 . returning to the spool valve 68 , the valve body includes two spaced annuluses 120 and 122 while the spool 70 , for purposes of the present invention , includes three lands 124 , 125 and 126 separated by grooves 127 and 128 . a conduit 129 opens the groove 127 to the conduit 134 , which eventually communicates with the sump pressure . an internal conduit 130 is connected to the transfer bearing 20 ( fig1 ) to receive the p f stream of hydraulic fluid under pressure . the conduit 130 is connected to a first port 132 within the piston valve 108 and located to the side thereof closest the spring 102 . the conduit 130 has a second port 134 which opens to the spool 70 between the annuluses 120 and 122 in the body of the spool valve 68 , depending upon the position of spool 70 . a conduit 136 is connected to the annulus 120 and extends to a pitch delay valve , generally designated 138 . a further conduit 140 extends to the stepped bore 116 on the large side of the step 118 while a further conduit 142 extends from the same location to the central conduit 28 in the shaft / transfer tube 26 and the transfer tube 27 . it is to be noted that an orifice 144 interconnects the conduits 136 and 140 in bypass relation to the pitch delay valve 138 . a conduit 150 is connected to the annulus 122 and extends to an annulus 152 in a reverse enable valve , generally designated 154 . the reverse enable valve 154 includes a second annulus 156 that is connected to the sump . a biasing spring 158 biases a valve spool 160 within the reverse enable valve 154 toward the right as viewed in fig2 and includes a groove 162 sized to allow fluid communication between annulus 152 and groove 162 when the valve spool 160 is moved to the left . it should be noted that a conduit 163 communicates through the groove 162 , with either the annulus 152 or the annulus 156 , but not both for any position of the spool 160 . between the annuluses 152 and 156 , the conduit 163 is in fluid communication with the interior of the valve 154 and extends to the pitch delay valve 138 . the pitch delay valve includes an internal spool 164 which is biased to the left as viewed in fig2 by a spring 166 . an end 168 of the pitch delay valve spool 164 is subjected to the hydraulic stream p c by a conduit 170 , which also includes a branch 172 extending to and in fluid communication with the conduit 30 between the shaft / transfer tube 26 and the transfer tube 27 . the spool 164 includes a pair of grooves 174 and 176 separated by a land 178 . the groove 176 is sized to allow fluid communication between the conduits 136 , 140 when the valve 164 is in the position illustrated in fig2 while the groove 174 is sized to allow fluid communication between the conduit 163 and a conduit 180 that extends to the large side of the stepped bore 116 and is in fluid communication with the side of the piston valve 108 opposite the spring 102 . the land 178 is sized so that when the valve 164 moves to the left from the position illustrated in fig2 communication between the conduits 163 , 180 is cut off and communication between the conduits 180 and 140 is established , while communication between the conduits 136 , 140 is also cut off , with the exception of flow through orifice 144 . in normal operation , the components are generally in the position illustrated in fig2 . the spool 70 will be essentially ineffective with flow to the conduit 150 blocked by the land 126 , with the conduit 150 ported to sump pressure via the groove 127 and the conduit 129 . at the same time , the p f stream will be directed to the fine pitch side 38 ( fig1 ) of the piston 34 via the conduit 130 , the port 132 , past the valve seat 118 , to the conduit 142 and then to the central conduit 28 within the shaft / transfer tube 26 and the transfer tube 27 . similarly , the p c stream will be directed via the conduit 170 , the branch 172 and the concentric conduit 30 to the coarse pitch side 42 of the piston 34 . control of the pitch of the propeller will then be effected by the relative pressures p f and p c in a conventional fashion , i . e ., controlled by the electro - hydraulic servo valve , or a hydro - mechanical control valve , in the stationary part of the propeller . in the case of an overspeed condition coming into existence , the flyweight 78 ( fig2 ) will exert an increasing bias against the spool 70 tending to move the same against the spring 90 . as that occurs , the groove 128 on the spool 70 begins to meter the p f stream entering at the port 134 into the annulus 122 from which it enters the conduit 150 , passes through the reverse enable valve to the conduit 163 , passes through the pitch delay valve 138 to the conduit 180 to be applied to the piston valve 108 on the side thereof opposite the spring 102 . as a consequence , the piston valve 108 shifts to the right and will close against the seat 118 cutting off the flow of the p f from the port 132 to the conduit 142 . the shifting of the piston valve 108 increases the biasing force applied by the spring 102 to the spool 70 as well as the counteracting force applied to the spool 70 by the spring 90 . the spring constant of the springs 90 and 102 as well as the force supplied by the flyweight 78 is chosen so that the balance of forces positions the spool 70 so that as propeller speed reaches 101 . 5 % of maximum speed , the land 126 begins to open the annulus 122 to the port 134 . the resulting movement of the piston valve 108 changes the set point of the system to 103 % of maximum speed . it is to be particularly noted that as the spring 102 is further compressed , it tends to cause a greater opening to the annulus 122 at the land 126 , thus providing positive feedback , which establishes a new set point at 103 % of maximum speed . as mentioned above , the piston valve 108 will have shifted to the right as viewed in fig2 to close against the seat 118 . as a consequence , flow from the conduit 130 to the conduit 142 about the seat 118 is terminated , and the resetting of the set speed to 103 % allows speed to increase to 103 % before the governor can control the overspeed . at this speed and time , the shifting of the spool 70 to the right allows a groove 182 in the spool to come into fluid communication with the annulus 120 . the groove 182 is in fluid communication with a conduit 184 extending to the sump . thus , the conduit 136 is gradually connected to the sump via the groove 182 . the conduit 136 remains connected to the central conduit 28 in the shaft / transfer tube 26 leading to the fine pitch side 38 ( fig1 ) of the double acting piston 34 . hydraulic fluid on that side of the piston is then permitted to flow to the sump out of the center conduit 28 , through the conduit 142 to the conduit 140 and either through the orifice 144 or the groove 176 in the pitch delay valve 138 to the conduit 136 . thus , pressure is relieved in the double acting cylinder 32 allowing the rotational and aerodynamic force existing in the propeller assembly and the p c pressure signal to urge the piston 34 to the left as viewed in fig1 thereby increasing the propeller pitch in the coarse direction . as a consequence , propeller speed will begin to diminish as the pitch increases resulting in the flyweight 78 applying a lesser biasing force to the spool 70 which tends to allow the spool 70 to shift to the left until the new equilibrium point is established by the movement of the piston valve 108 is reached . at this time , the land 124 will be modulating flow to or from the fine pitch side 38 of the piston 34 to the sump or from groove 134 at the annulus 120 . essentially , the main control system has been locked out by shifting of the piston valve 108 until propeller speed decreases to 100 % of maximum speed , at which time the flyweight 78 allows the spool 70 to return to its normal - operating position . if one or the other of the main controls is operating properly , propeller pitch to prevent overspeed is maintained by it . if not , as speed increases , the backup system again cycles into backup operation as described above . in a low pitch condition , the same sort of action occurs . however , in this particular case , it is initiated by the push rod 62 being engaged by the end 66 of the piston rod 36 to cause the cam 100 to cause the bell crank 92 to physically position the flyweight assembly 76 . consequently , the spool 70 now becomes a motion control valve rather than a force control valve and pitch is increased . when it is desired to reverse pitch , a manual control is shifted to the conventional ground stop position . this in turn energizes a solenoid valve ( not shown ) which allows the stream p gds signal to be applied to the right - hand side of the reverse enable valve 154 . the resulting shift of the spool 160 causes the groove 162 to establish fluid communication between the line 161 and the sump while cutting off flow from the annulus 152 . as a consequence , the piston 108 , if not already in the position illustrated in fig2 will be shifted back to that position primarily by the balance of pressure forces on piston 108 and secondarily by the bias of the spring 102 . at the same time , the flow path to the conduit 180 is cut off within the reverse enable valve 154 to again prevent the piston valve 108 to be shifted to the right . consequently , the backup governing system is disabled , allowing the propeller to be operated below flight idle or even in the reverse thrust position . in some instances , during aircraft maneuvers that could result in so - called negative g &# 39 ; s coming into effect , oil pressure may be temporarily lost . in such a situation , it is not desirable that a rapid pitch change in the propeller occur during normal operation . in such a situation , the pressures of streams p f and p c may momentarily drop . when p c drops in pressure , it allows the spring 166 to move the spool 164 of the pitch delay valve to the left as viewed in fig2 . this not only cuts off communication between the conduits 163 , 180 , but it also connects conduit 180 and conduit 140 , and cuts off communication between the conduits 136 and 140 through the pitch delay valve 138 and allowing communication between those conduits only through the orifice 144 . it is to be noted that where the propeller is counterweighted , as is frequently the case , the blades will naturally tend toward coarse pitch under the influence of rotational and aerodynamic forces . this causes the cavity on the side 38 of the piston 34 to be pressurized as the piston 34 moves toward coarser pitch . with the conduits 140 and 180 connected by the spool 164 , continued flow from the fine pitch side 38 of the piston 34 is directed against the piston 108 , shifting it to the right as viewed in fig2 to seat against the valve seat 18 . only at this time does the flow from the fine pitch side 38 pass through the orifice 44 , which now acts as a flow limiter , limiting the flow back to the conventional electro hydraulic servo valve ( not shown ) in the main control to a limited flow rate so that a rapid pitch change will not be effected . there will be , however , an initial flow rate greater than such limited flow rate until the piston 108 closes against the valve seat 118 . from the foregoing , it will be appreciated that a backup governing system made according to the invention provides excellent control of the propeller during situations such as overspeed for low pitch and governs the propeller at 103 %+/− 3 % of maximum speed . the same eliminates mechanical components at the interface between the fixed and rotating propeller system parts and yet is completely compatible with conventional systems to the point where it may be readily retrofitted therewith .
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reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the invention , which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings . with reference to fig2 ( a ) and ( b ), an air blowing system 10 according to a first embodiment of the invention is shown in a ground vehicle v . while the ground vehicle v is illustrated as an automobile , it should be understood that the invention is not limited to just automobiles but may be used with other types of ground vehicles , such as trucks , trains , trailers , and recreational vehicles . further , the invention is not limited to a ground vehicle having the specific contours but may be incorporated into ground vehicles of various different shapes and sizes . the blowing system 10 has a source of compressed air 14 for supplying compressed air through piping or ducts 22 to a flow valve 16 . after passing through the flow valve 16 , the air is routed through piping 24 into a plenum 12 and then out a tangential slot 26 formed in an outer surface of the vehicle v . the plenum 12 distributes the air so that the air is discharged through the tangential slot 26 along the entire length of the plenum 12 which extends transversely of the vehicle . the slot 26 preferably extends across the entire rear portion of the vehicle v and partially along the sides thereof . downstream of the slot 26 is a curved surface 27 leading to the aft contour of the vehicle v . the flow of air through the valve 16 and hence into the plenum 12 is regulated by a controller 18 . fig2 ( b ) shows an enlarged detail . the air blown from the tangential slot 26 is preferably at a very low pressure and is discharged near the rear of the vehicle v over curved surface 27 , although , as will be apparent hereinafter , the air flow velocity can for certain applications be quite high . as shown by the arrows representing the flow of air , the air remains attached to the rear rounded surfaces 27 of the vehicle , entrains the flow - field , and reduces , if not eliminates , flow separation . as a result , a clean , smooth , small wake is left behind the car , thereby greatly reducing the separation - induced drag . because the drag is reduced , the cruise efficiency , fuel economy and performance can all be increased while the amount of interior noise can be decreased . due to the aerodynamic geometry of this aft surface 27 and slot 26 , the source 14 of compressed air need only provide a minimal amount of compressed air in order to generate significant aerodynamic forces . due to the small amounts of or small pressure requirements for the compressed air , the source 14 may comprise a component which already exists on the vehicle v and which requires no modifications or only slight modifications , such as an air conditioning compressor , a heater blower , a turbocharger , or a supercharger . on the other hand , the source 14 may be an entirely separate component which supplies compressed air only to the blowing system 10 . the blowing system 10 may be controlled in many different ways . for instance , the controller 18 may open the valve 16 only when the flow separation is detected by one or more turbulence sensors 28 located at the rear of the vehicle v . thus , the controller 18 could adjust the flow of air through the valve 16 until a sufficient amount of air is discharged through the slot 26 to eliminate flow separation . the controller 18 may also adjust the valve 16 based upon an external input from a sensor or group of sensors 29 . for instance , the controller 18 may open the valve 16 when the vehicle v reaches a certain speed and / or when the vehicle is accelerating less than a certain threshold amount . with this control scheme , the sensors 29 may comprise an engine rpm detector and an accelerometer . this approach in controlling the flow of air is preferred when the source 14 comprises a supercharger or turbocharger since these components would have excess flow at non - accelerating highway speeds . this control scheme is also desirable since the blowing system 10 generates a positive lift on the vehicle . thus , at cruising speeds , the blowing system 10 may be activated to reduce the amount of weight on the vehicle &# 39 ; s tires thereby reducing the amount of ground or rolling friction and increasing the cruising efficiency . as another example of a control scheme , the blowing system 10 may have a sensor 29 for sensing the application of brakes . the blowing system 10 would discontinue the blowing of air through the plenum 12 when the brakes are applied so as to increase the amount of weight on the vehicle &# 39 ; s tires , thereby improving the braking ability of the vehicle v . other ways in which the blowing system 10 may be controlled will readily be apparent to those skilled in the art and , accordingly , will not be described in any further detail . in the preferred embodiment , the controller 18 is a computer , the valve 16 is a solenoid valve , and the piping 22 and 24 are light - weight flexible tubing . the computer forming the controller 18 may comprise a separate computer dedicated to the blowing system 10 or may comprise an existing on - board computer that performs other functions in the operations of the vehicle v . depending upon the specific manner in which the blowing system 10 is controlled , however , the controller 18 may comprise a programmable logic array ( pla ) or other types of logic circuitry . the plenum 12 is preferably positioned near the gap between the rear trunk and the surface of the vehicle v whereby the blowing system 10 may be easily incorporated therein . the blowing system 10 may also be used to eliminate , or at least reduce , the vortex roll - up . with reference to fig3 if the slot 26 curves with the rear contour of the vehicle v so that air is blown outward as well as downward , the discharged air offsets the vortex roll - up . this occurs because the jet exits tangentially to the surface 27 which is curved downstream of the slot 26 . aerodynamically , the jet remains attached to the surface because of the well known &# 34 ; coanda effect .&# 34 ; in fig3 the left rear portion of the vehicle v is shown without the blowing system 10 and the effects thereof while the right rear portion of the vehicle v is shown with the blowing slot 26 of the invention . since the induced drag on the vehicle v is a function of the vehicle lift coefficient squared , any reduction in vortex roll - up will significantly reduce the amount of induced drag on the vehicle v . an additional control feature here is that the blowing slot 26 may be tailored in height in the span - wise direction towards the curved side of the vehicle v , so that for the same pressure in plenum 12 , varying slot mass flow rates are possible as needed to offset the vortex formation . as shown in fig4 when the vehicle v experiences a relative wind rw , the air flow over the vehicle v becomes separated s at the rear portion of the vehicle v . additionally , the vehicle v experiences nose - up pitch and lift as a result of a high velocity flow and negative pressures (- cp ) over the front upper surface of the vehicle v . nose - up pitch relative to the vehicle &# 39 ; s center of gravity c can unload the front steering wheels of the car , thereby reducing the amount of traction and the amount of steering control . if the vehicle v experiences too much lift , the vehicle v can lose traction in both the straight ahead and sideways directions . a blowing system 40 according to a second embodiment of the invention can control the amount of lift and nose - up pitch as well as reduce the flow separation . with reference to fig4 the blowing system 40 discharges air through the slot 26 formed at the rear portion of the vehicle v . in addition to eliminating the separated flow s , the air discharged through slot 26 generates a large negative pressure region b at the rear portion of the vehicle v . the negative pressure region b tends to produce a nose - down pitch in the vehicle v , thereby offsetting the nose - up pitch caused by the relative wind rw . the effect of this negative pressure region b is also to return traction and steering control to the vehicle v . this upper surface negative pressure also produces lift , which reduces weight on the rear wheels and thus reduces rolling friction . the blowing system 40 also has a slot 26 &# 39 ; located in a lower rear portion of the vehicle v . as with the slot 26 , air blown out of the lower slot 26 &# 39 ; can also reduce separated flow . the lower slot 26 &# 39 ;, however , can additionally generate a negative lift on the vehicle &# 39 ; s undersurface , thus increasing the download on the wheels and increasing traction . although the lower slot 26 &# 39 ; and the slot 26 may be controlled jointly , the lower slot 26 &# 39 ; preferably has a separate valve 16 &# 39 ; for independently adjusting the amount of air blown through the slot 26 &# 39 ;. while not shown , the valves 16 and 16 &# 39 ; are both controlled by the controller 18 and both receive a supply of compressed air from the source 14 . the controller 18 may selectively blow air out of the lower slot 26 &# 39 ; during sharp cornering or in braking in order to increase traction . the sensor 29 could therefore sense the angle of steering and / or the application of the brakes . the amount of desired pitch and lift can be easily controlled by variation of the blowing rate . in general , blowing - enhanced forces and moments usually vary linearly above a certain threshold with the blowing coefficient and can generate forces which occur virtually instantaneously . in fact , the air blown out of the slots 26 and 26 &# 39 ; can be at a velocity equal to or even greater than the speed of sound . the blowing coefficient parameter c 82 can be determined according to the following equation : where m is the blowing mass flow , v j is the blowing jet velocity , q is the free - stream dynamic pressure , and s is the reference frontal area . as apparent from equation 1 , significant blowing forces and moments can be generated when the blowing jet velocity v j is near the speed of sound . this means that aerodynamic response to the blowing is practically instantaneous , yielding very high response rates when employed as a control system . the pressure of air from the source 14 or the dimensions of the slot 26 may be varied in order to adjust the value of the blowing coefficient parameter c . sub . μ . fig5 depicts a number of aerodynamic forces and moments which are exerted on a vehicle v when the vehicle v travels in a direction d and is subjected to a relative wind rw at a yaw angle ψ . the relative wind rw at the yaw angle ψ may be caused by side gusts of wind or may be caused by other ground vehicles passing the vehicle v in the same or opposite directions . this relative wind rw will cause the vehicle v to have vortex roll - up vr on the same side of the vehicle v as the wind rw and at the rear of the vehicle v . the vehicle will also have flow separation s at the rear of the vehicle v on the opposite side of the vehicle v to the wind rw . due to the relative wind rw , the vehicle v is subjected to a side force f s pushing the vehicle v at an angle relative to the direction d of travel . the vehicle v will have drag from the flow separation s and the vortex roll - up vr and will experience both roll and yaw moments in the directions shown . these moments can produce lateral and directional instabilities which can make driving the vehicle v extremely hazardous at higher speeds with side winds . with reference to fig6 a blowing system 50 according to a third embodiment of the invention is able to counteract these moments and asymmetric forces . the blowing system 50 has a number of sensors 52 positioned about the surface of the vehicle v to detect the direction and pressure of the relative wind rw . the sensors 52 preferably comprise differential pressure probes which react to the difference in pressure between the pressure on the surface of the vehicle v and a reference space 57 , which is connected to the atmosphere through a throttle path 55 . each sensor 52 is connected to the reference space 57 by a pipe or hose 58 and provides its electrical output to a controller 59 . based upon the outputs from the sensors 52 , the controller 59 determines the direction and pressure of the relative wind rw . the preferred manner of determining the direction and pressure of the relative wind rw is disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 987 , 542 to tran , which is hereby incorporated by reference . the blowing system 50 comprises a left plenum 56l and a right plenum 56r which respectively receive a supply of compressed air from valves 54l and 54r . while not shown , the valves 54l and 54r both receive compressed air from the same source , such as source 14 , but are independently controlled by the controller 59 . thus , the valves 54l and 54r may be controlled so that air is blown out through neither of the plenums 56l or 56r , through only the left plenum 56l , through only the right plenum 56r , or through both plenums 56l and 56r at the same or unequal rates . with reference to fig7 when the vehicle v receives a relative wind at a yaw angle ψ at the front left portion of the vehicle v as shown in fig5 the vehicle v will have vortex roll - up on the left rear portion of the vehicle v . the blowing system 50 will detect the direction and pressure of the relative wind rw through the sensors 52 and controller 59 . based on this information , the controller 59 will cause air to be blown out of only the right slot 56r at a certain calculated rate . the air blown out of right slot 56r reattaches the flow and generates yawing and rolling moments due to asymmetric blowing and an aft side force f y to the right and right lift force f z which oppose the moments and force generated by the relative wind rw . thus , by blowing air out of slot 56r , the vehicle v is returned to its desired straight - ahead motion and has its yaw and roll stability restored . the same results will occur by blowing the slot on the left side when the side wind is from the right side . these counteracting forces and moments are produced by very low blowing rates . based upon estimates from two - dimensional wind - tunnel tests by this inventor , the blowing system 50 can obtain aerodynamic force augmentation of up to 80 times the input blowing momentum . a blowing system 60 according to a fourth embodiment of the invention is shown in fig8 . the blowing system 60 comprises a plurality of apertures 66 for blowing jets of air perpendicular or nearly perpendicular to the vehicle &# 39 ; s surface . the apertures 66 are divided into apertures 66l on the left side of the vehicle v which are controlled independently from apertures 66r on the right side of the vehicle v . after detecting the direction and pressure of the relative wind rw , the blowing system 60 can blow jets of air out of the apertures 66l near the vortex roll - up vr . these jets act as pneumatic spoilers . thus , with this blowing system 60 , the jets of air blown out of the apertures 66l counteract the vortex roll - up vr and prevent any unstable yaw or roll forces from occurring . while not shown , the blowing system 60 may have a left plenum for supplying compressed air to the left set of apertures 66l and a right plenum for supplying compressed air to the right set of apertures 66r . by separately adjusting the flow of air into each plenum , the jets of air discharged by the left apertures 66l may be controlled independently from the jets of air discharged through the right apertures 66r . alternatively , each aperture 66 in the outer surface of the vehicle v may be controlled independently . a blowing system 70 , according to a fifth embodiment of the invention shown in fig9 comprises upper and lower plenums 72 and 72 &# 39 ; with respective control valves 73 and 73 &# 39 ;. the control valves 73 and 73 &# 39 ; independently adjust the rates of air flowing through the plenums 72 and 72 &# 39 ; based upon signals from a controller 74 . in a manner similar to the embodiment of fig4 the valves 73 and 73 &# 39 ; may be controlled to reattach flow , reduce drag , generate a negative or positive lift , and generate nose - down pitch . the blowing system 70 is shown on a vehicle v having a rear bumper 78 . as shown by the arrows tangential to the surface of the vehicle v , the air does not become separated at the rear of the vehicle v but rather remains attached and generates a smooth wake . the air additionally produces over pressure regions op on the rear surface of the vehicle v which produces a force in the direction of travel . therefore , the effects of the rear bumper 78 may actually operate to reduce pressure drag on the vehicle v . the blowing system may have an actuator 76 for controlling the positioning of a rear bumper 78 . the air traveling along the rear surface of the vehicle v produces a jet thrust jt as it separates from the rear bumper 78 . this jet thrust jt may be selectively directed to adjust the lift or the amount of nose - down pitch . for instance , the controller 74 may command the actuator 76 to pivot the rear bumper 78 to be at a downward angle when the vehicle v is cruising at non - accelerating highway speeds . the jet thrust jt leaving the rear bumper 78 would then produce a nose - down force and would generate lift at the rear of the vehicle v . the rear bumper 78 can therefore be used as an additional tool in controlling the aerodynamic forces on the vehicle v . the actuator 76 may comprise any suitable device for altering the position of the rear bumper 78 . as an example , the actuator 76 may comprise a motor and gearing for angling the bumper 78 . the actuator 76 could alternatively be comprised of one or more pistons which are extended or retracted to position the bumper 78 . other variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading this description . in simplest form , the bumper could be fixed at a predetermined angle and require no actuator or adjustment . the foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustrating the features and principles thereof . it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed . many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings . for example , the invention may have a greater or lesser number of plenums than that described . thus , in addition to having left and right plenums for either the upper or lower portions of the vehicle , each left or right plenum may be further divided into a number of regions . in this manner , the aerodynamic forces generated by the blowing system of the invention can be even more accurately controlled and directed . also , as will be apparent to those skilled in the art , the blowing slot heights may vary along the span to produce varying distributions of lift , drag , and moments . also , it should be understood that a single embodiment may incorporate features of the other embodiments . for instance , while not illustrated , the embodiments of fig4 and 6 to 9 may comprise the turbulence sensors 28 and the sensor or sensors 29 depicted in fig2 ( a ). as another example , all of the embodiments may have the sensors 52 and other components for detecting the direction and pressure of the relative wind . the invention , however , is not limited to the number or type of sensors 52 shown in fig6 but may detect the direction and pressure in other ways . a blowing system according to the invention may additionally comprise various types of safety features . for instance , a blowing system may have another valve or another device to ensure that the plenum is completely disconnected from the source of compressed air . the embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the invention and their practical application ; various other possible embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use are also contemplated and fall within the scope of the present invention .
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with reference to fig1 , according to the method of the invention , the two reagents are poured in predetermined volumes in a preferably but not necessarily cylindrical test tube 1 during the manufacturing stage of the device for performing said method , said test tube 1 comprising a first inner container 2 able to be inserted in a second outer container 3 that forms the main body of the test tube 1 . the container 2 is configurated to form a cap for the container 3 . the two containers 2 and 3 are then assembled so that the wad a ( fig3 ) with the sample to be tested sequentially passes through the reagent r 2 , placed inside the container 2 , and the reagent r 3 , placed inside the container 3 , respectively , by breaking the mechanical barrier 4 that forms the bottom wall of said container 2 and separates said two reagents r 2 and r 3 . the containers 2 and 3 can be manufactured with any kind of material compatible with the reagents r 2 and r 3 contained therein , and can have a proper shape and a sufficient volume to contain the wad a , said reagents r 2 and r 3 being in turn either in liquid or in solid state . the test tube 1 is sealed at its top using any known sealing system , for example with a metallic sheet ( not shown ). another embodiment of the device for performing the method according to the present invention is shown in fig2 . after pouring the reagent r 3 in the test tube 1 , it is possible to form a partition wall 14 in said test tube 1 having the same function of the container 2 mechanical barrier 4 , for example by adding solid paraffin , heating it up to its melting and thus letting it cool down until it forms a proper physical partition element 14 similar to said mechanical barrier 4 , thus being able to define two separate containers , an upper one 12 and a lower one 13 , inside the same test tube 1 . at this point it is possible to add the second reagent r 2 into the so formed upper container 12 of the test tube 1 . in this case too the test tube 1 is subsequently sealed at its top using a known sealing system . the device consisting of the test tube 1 for performing the method according to the invention is then able to ensure that the two reagents r 2 and r 3 are put in contact only when the wad a bearing the sample is present . therefore , according to the method of the invention , the transportation of the first reagent to the second reagent is performed by the wad a itself . another most preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in fig4 and 5 . a test tube 101 comprises an inner container 102 shaped and configurated to be inserted in an outer container 103 and to form a cap for this latter . to this end , the outer container 103 comprises a body 104 and an open portion 105 . the body 104 is substantially cylindrical in shape and is closed at the bottom , preferably with a rounded profile . advantageously , the body 104 is tapered downwardly . the inner surface of the body 104 comprises an annular rib 107 that is situated in a position wherein it can interfere with the outer surface of the inner container 102 , while this latter is fitted in the outer container 103 , and thus can act as a gasket ring . the open portion 105 has a larger diameter than the body 104 and presents a stepped internal profile . the inner container 102 comprises a body 108 and an open portion 109 , both having a diameter substantially equal to or slightly less than the internal diameter of the corresponding parts of the outer container 103 , so that the inner container 102 can be inserted in the outer container 103 without substantial clearance between the two surfaces . to this end , the body 108 of the inner container 102 is substantially cylindrical in shape and slightly tapered downwardly , in order to follow the profile of the outer container 103 . the body 108 has a closed beveled bottom , so that a proximal connecting portion 110 a and a distal connecting portion 110 b , with respect to the open portion 109 , are defined . the closure wall 110 is substantially planar and has a thickness that decreases from the proximal connecting portion 110 a to the distal connecting portion 110 b to the body 108 . this feature is very important while the wad is inserted in the inner container 102 and , after having absorbed the reagent contained therein , is then forced against the closure wall 110 in order to puncture it . in fact , the beveled shape of the bottom of the inner container 102 together with the smaller thickness of the distal connecting portion 110 b allow to concentrate the force in that point and to make easier the puncturing of the wall . thus , thanks to this particular shape of the closure wall 110 , the inner container 102 is made of one piece , so that the barrier to be punctured by the wad can be made of a material , such as polyethylene , that is thicker and more resistant that a paraffin film . this provides for enhanced impermeability and tightness to leakage with respect to the paraffin barriers as normally used in the prior art devices , wherein the paraffin ( or similar weak materials ) is employed to improve the puncturing action . another advantage deriving from the use of a harder , thicker material for the closure wall 110 of the inner container 102 is that , when the wad has punctured it and is then removed , it sticks against the stiff edge of the closure wall 110 . in such a way , as shown in fig6 , the removing action of the wad also brings the inner container 102 out , thus leaving the outer container 103 ready for the subsequent analysis . the body 108 of the inner container 102 extends for a length that is less than the length of the outer container 103 , in order to create in this latter a bottom chamber 111 , wherein a reagent r 3 can be kept . the length of the inner container 102 is such as to allow the annular rib 107 of the outer container 103 to interfere with the surface of the substantially cylindrical portion of the body 108 above the bottom portion thereof . the open portion 109 of the inner container 102 has an external profile that can substantially fit with the internal profile of the corresponding portion of the outer container 103 . to this end , the outer surface of the open portion 109 of the inner container 102 is stepped . in a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention , the upper rims 113 , 114 of the outer and inner containers 103 , 102 , respectively , have tooth - shaped annular corrugations 113 a , 114 a . as shown in fig5 , these corrugations 113 a , 114 a serve the function of allowing a secure welding of a closure sheet 115 , such as a conventional peelable metallic sheet . in fact , in absence of such corrugations , it may happen that the upper rims 113 , 114 of the inner and outer containers 102 , 103 are not perfectly levelled , so that the closure sheet can be welded on one rim only . as a consequence , leakage can occur or the internal reagents can be contaminated by outside . conversely , the tooth - shaped corrugations 113 a , 114 a are sufficiently thin to melt during the thermal welding of the closure sheet 115 , so that they auto - level themselves to give a complete and efficient welding . very preferably , the outer container 103 is made of a flexible material , such as polyethylene . this allows the body 104 to be squeezed when the wad , after having put into contact , the two reagents r 2 and r 3 , is removed from the test tube 101 , thus assuring that the whole antigen solution is released from the wad . preferably , both the inner container 102 and the outer container 103 are made of the same material such as polyethylene . as in the previous embodiments , in this case too the two reagents r 2 and r 3 are poured in predetermined amounts in the inner and in the outer containers 102 , 103 , respectively , during the manufacturing stage of the device , which is then sealed on the top openings with conventional peelable films . during use of the device , the sealing film is removed and the wad — which was previously used to contact a body fluid or mucuous membrane of a patient — is dipped in the inner container 102 in order to contact the reagent r 2 contained therein . after the required time is elapsed , the wad is pushed to puncture the closure wall 110 of the inner container 102 and is then put into contact with the reagent r 3 . at this time the reaction takes place and the extraction of the antigen from the wad is performed . after the prescribed time is elapsed , the wad is removed by simultaneously squeezing the body 104 of the outer container 103 in order to squeeze also the wad to release all the antigen solution imbibed thereon . after squeezing the wad , the removal of the wad is completed and this action allows the inner container 102 to be removed together with the wad , as explained above . at this stage , the outer container 103 , containing the whole antigen solution to be tested , is ready for the subsequent analysis . the analysis is typically an immunochromatographic test performed by means of a strip that is dipped in the antigen solution directly in the outer container 103 of the test tube 101 . in this connection , the fact that the removal of the inner container 102 does not leave any residue of the barrier separating the two containers in the outer container 103 ( as this barrier is associated with the removed inner container 102 ), avoids the risk that the strip test is altered by the presence of solid material that could interfere with the capillarity movement of the liquid solution on the strip . according to a preferred aspect of the invention , the sample is taken with a pharyngeal wad a following well known procedure . the wad a is then inserted into the first container 2 or 12 of the test tube 1 , after the removal of the seal , and it is then driven in the second container 3 or 13 , by breaking the barrier 4 between the containers 2 and 3 or the partition wall 14 between the containers 12 and 13 . the extraction of the antigen by means of the so formed nitrous acid is thus started . when the expected extraction time is lapsed , the wad a is removed , preferably with the first container 2 if present , from the test tube 1 and the liquid can be poured directly from said test tube 1 into the immunochromatographic device for the antigen detection . for example , according to the method of the invention , the reagent r 2 contained in the first container 2 , 12 can be a 0 . 4 m acetic acid . the operator inserts the wad a into the first container 2 , 12 of the test tube 1 . the reagent r 2 is almost fully absorbed by the wad a . by pushing the wad a against the bottom 4 , 14 of the container 2 , 12 , said bottom 4 , 14 breaks , allowing said wad a to pass through and thus to reach the reagent r 3 , for instance a 2 m sodium nitrite , in the second container 3 , 13 . at this point , the nitrous acid formation reaction takes place . therefore , if the antigen is present , the antigen extraction takes place in the best conditions for the effectiveness of said extraction . once the expected time for the extraction of the bacterial antigens from the wad a is lapsed , the wad a is removed from the test tube 1 and the liquid can be poured in the immunochromatographic strip cartridge well . another example of the method according to the present invention allows to extract chlamydia antigens from cervical or urethral wads . the sample is taken with a cervical or urethral wad according to well known procedures . the wad is then inserted into the first container 2 , 12 of the test tube 1 , after the removal of the said test tube seal , and it is left in contact with the reagent r 2 for the required extraction time . once the extraction is finished , the wad is pushed into the second container 3 by breaking the barrier 4 , or into the second container 13 by breaking the partition wall 14 , and it is put in contact with the neutralization reagent r 3 . in this case , the reagents comprise an alkaline reagent ( r 2 ) and an acidic neutralization reagent ( r 3 ). according to a traditional method , the cervical o urethral wad is inserted into a test tube containing 5 drops of 0 . 2 n sodium hydroxide , and it is left in the solution for 2 minutes . after shaking the wad , a predetermined volume of 0 . 1 n hydrochloric acid is added to neutralize the extraction solution . after shaking the wad again , said wad is then removed and a certain volume of the extraction solution is added to the test cartridge . in order to take biological samples from particular sites , for example from the nasal cavities or the urethra , devices having a flexible and thin structure are available on the market , thus being difficult to break the partition wall between the two reagents with said devices . in this case , the sampling device can be inserted in advance into an assembly provided with the proper stiffness and resistance features for breaking the partition wall . for example , after the insertion of the sampling wad a into the test tube 1 , 101 , it is possible to surround said wad a with a tube b having a proper diameter . by pushing the tube b , that breaks the barrier 4 or the closure wall 110 , the wad a is transported into the container 3 , 13 , 103 ( see fig3 ). it should be understood that several modifications could be made to the device , formed by the test tube 1 , 101 , that performs the method of rapid antigen extraction according to the present invention , as it is also defined in the appended claims . for example , the sealing of the test tube 1 can be obtained by using a cap , or by thermal sealing with an aluminum sheet coupled with polyethylene . furthermore , although in the description the sample collection system is indicated as a “ wad ”, this denomination is merely used for convenience , since the most common systems for taking the a group streptococcus are the pharyngeal wads , while the most common systems for taking the chlamydia trachomatis are the cervical or urethral wads . therefore , it should be obvious for a man skilled in the art that it is possible to use any sampling system compatible with the immunological array format .
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hereinafter , embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings . the disclosure may , however , be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein . rather , these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete , and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art . in the drawings , the shapes and dimensions of elements may be exaggerated for clarity , and the same reference numerals will be used throughout to designate the same or like elements . in addition , in the present specification , it is to be noted that a first lens refers to a lens that is the closest to an object , and a sixth lens refers to a lens that is the closest to an image sensor . further , it is to be noted that the term ‘ forward ’ refers to a direction from the lens module toward the object , while the term ‘ backward ’ refers to a direction from the lens module toward the image sensor . in addition , it is to be noted that a first surface of each lens refers to a surface disposed toward the object ( or an object - side surface ) and a second surface of each lens refers to a surface disposed toward the image sensor ( or an image - side surface ). further , in the present specification , units of all of a radius of curvature , a thickness , a ttl , an sl , an imgh of the lens , an overall focal length of the optical system , and a focal length of each lens are provided in millimeters ( mm ). further , in descriptions of lens shapes , the meaning that one surface of the lens being convex is that an optical axis portion of the corresponding surface is convex , and the meaning that one surface of the lens is concave is that an optical axis portion of the corresponding surface is concave . therefore , although it is described that one surface of the lens is convex , an edge portion of the lens may be concave . likewise , although it is described that one surface of the lens is concave , an edge portion of the lens may be convex . fig1 is a configuration view of a lens module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure , fig2 and 3 are graphs showing aberration characteristics of the lens module shown in fig1 , fig4 and 5 are tables showing characteristics of the lens module shown in fig1 , fig6 is a configuration view of a lens module according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure , fig7 and 8 are graphs showing aberration characteristics of the lens module shown in fig6 , and fig9 and 10 are tables showing characteristics of the lens module shown in fig6 . a lens module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include an optical system including six lenses . specifically , the lens module may include a first lens , a second lens , a third lens , a fourth lens , a fifth lens , and a sixth lens . however , the lens module is not limited to including only six lenses , but may further include other components , if necessary . for example , the lens module may include a stop for adjusting an amount of light . in addition , the lens module may further include an infrared cut - off filter for filtering infrared light . in addition , the lens module may further include an image sensor ( i . e ., an imaging device ) for converting an image of a subject incident through the optical system into an electrical signal . in addition , the lens module may further include interval maintaining members for adjusting distances between lenses . the first lens to the sixth lens configuring the optical system may be formed of plastic . further , at least one of the first lens to the sixth lens may have an aspherical surface . in addition , the first lens to the sixth lens may have at least one aspherical surface . that is , at least one of a first surface and a second surface of the first lens to the sixth lens may be aspherical . further , the optical system including the first lens to the sixth lens may have an f no . of 2 . 4 or less . in this case , the subject may be clearly imaged . for example , the lens module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may be able to clearly capture an image of the subject , even under low illuminance conditions ( for example , 100 lux or less ). the optical system including the first lens to the sixth lens may satisfy conditional expressions 1 . in conditional expressions 1 , sd is a size of a stop opening and f is an overall focal length of the optical system . the optical system including the first lens to the sixth lens may satisfy conditional expressions 2 . in conditional expressions 2 , ttl is a length from the first surface of the first lens to an image surface and f is an overall focal length of the optical system . here , in the case of the lens module having a value outside of a lower limit value of conditional expressions 2 , it may be difficult to secure optical performance of the lens module , and in the case of the lens module having a value outside of an upper limit value of conditional expressions 2 , it may be difficult to implement the miniaturization thereof . the optical system including the first lens to the sixth lens may satisfy conditional expressions 3 . in conditional expressions 3 , v4 is an abbe value of the fourth lens and v5 is the abbe value of the fifth lens . here , the lens module satisfying conditional expressions 3 may be easily miniaturized . the optical system including the first lens to the sixth lens may satisfy conditional expressions 4 . in conditional expressions 4 , r2 is a radius of curvature of the second surface of the first lens and r1 is a radius of curvature of the first surface of the first lens . here , in the case of the first lens satisfying conditional expressions 4 , a shape thereof may be easily fabricated and sensitivity thereof depending on fabrication tolerance may be reduced . the optical system including the first lens to the sixth lens may satisfy conditional expressions 5 . in conditional expressions 5 , sa is a sweep angle of the second surface of the sixth lens . here , conditional expressions 5 may be a numerical condition for significantly decreasing total reflection of the sixth lens . for example , the lens module having a value outside of the upper limit value of conditional expressions 5 may easily generate an internal reflection . the optical system including the first lens to the sixth lens may satisfy conditional expressions 6 . in conditional expressions 6 , f1 is a focal length of the first lens , and f4 is a focal length of the fourth lens . the optical system including the first lens to the sixth lens may satisfy conditional expressions 7 . in conditional expressions 7 , f5 is a focal length of the fifth lens , and f6 is a focal length of the sixth lens . next , the first to sixth lenses configuring the optical system will be described . the first lens may have refractive power . for example , the first lens may have positive refractive power . the first surface of the first lens may be convex , and the second surface thereof may be concave . for example , the first lens may have a meniscus shape in which it is convex toward the object . at least one of the first and second surfaces of the first lens may be aspherical . for example , both surfaces of the first lens may be aspherical . the first lens may be formed of a material having high degrees of light transmissivity and processability . for example , the first lens may be formed of plastic . however , a material of the first lens is not limited to plastic . for example , the first lens may be formed of glass . the second lens may have refractive power . for example , the second lens may have positive refractive power . both surfaces of the second lens may be convex . at least one of the first and second surfaces of the second lens may be aspherical . for example , both surfaces of the second lens may be aspherical . the second lens may be formed of a material having high degrees of light transmissivity and processability . for example , the second lens may be formed of plastic . however , a material of the second lens is not limited to plastic . for example , the second lens may be formed of glass . the third lens may have refractive power . for example , the third lens may have negative refractive power . both surfaces of the third lens may be concave . alternatively , the first surface of the third lens may be convex , and the second surface thereof may be concave . for example , the third lens may have a meniscus shape in which it is convex toward the object or a plano - convex shape in which it is convex toward the object . at least one of the first and second surfaces of the third lens may be aspherical . for example , both surfaces of the third lens may be aspherical . the third lens may be formed of a material having high degrees of light transmissivity and processability . for example , the third lens may be formed of plastic . however , a material of the third lens is not limited to plastic . for example , the third lens may be formed of glass . further , the third lens may have a diameter smaller than those of the first and second lenses . for example , an effective diameter of the third lens ( that is , a diameter of a portion in which available light is substantially incident and refracted ) may be smaller than those of the first and second lenses . the fourth lens may have refractive power . for example , the fourth lens may have positive refractive power . the first surface of the fourth lens may be concave , and the second surface thereof may be convex . for example , the fourth lens may have a meniscus shape in which it is convex toward the image or a plano - convex shape in which it is convex toward the image . at least one of the first and second surfaces of the fourth lens may be aspherical . for example , both surfaces of the fourth lens may be aspherical . the fourth lens may be formed of a material having high degrees of light transmissivity and processability . for example , the fourth lens may be formed of plastic . however , a material of the fourth lens is not limited to plastic . for example , the fourth lens may be formed of glass . the fifth lens may have refractive power . for example , the fifth lens may have negative refractive power . the first surface of the fifth lens may be concave , and the second surface thereof may be convex . for example , the fifth lens may have a meniscus shape in which it is convex toward the image . at least one of the first and second surfaces of the fifth lens may be aspherical . for example , both surfaces of the fifth lens may be aspherical . the fifth lens may be formed of a material having high degrees of light transmissivity and processability . for example , the fifth lens may be formed of plastic . however , a material of the fifth lens is not limited to plastic . for example , the fifth lens may be formed of glass . the sixth lens may have refractive power . for example , the sixth lens may have negative refractive power . the first surface of the sixth lens may be convex , and the second surface thereof may be concave . in addition , the sixth lens may have an inflection point formed on at least one surface thereof . for example , the second surface of the sixth lens may be concave at the center of the optical axis thereof and may be convex toward an edge thereof . at least one of the first and second surfaces of the sixth lens may be aspherical . for example , both surfaces of the sixth lens may be aspherical . the sixth lens may be formed of a material having high degrees of light transmissivity and processability . for example , the sixth lens may be formed of plastic . however , a material of the sixth lens is not limited to plastic . for example , the sixth lens may be formed of glass . meanwhile , in the lens module according to exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure , the first to sixth lenses may be disposed such that effective diameters thereof are decreased from the first lens toward the third lens and are increased from the fourth lens toward the sixth lens . the optical system configured as described above may increase an amount of light incident to the image sensor to thereby increase resolution of the lens module . the lens module configured as described above may improve aberration , which may result in a deterioration of image quality . further , the lens module configured as described above may improve resolution . further , the lens module configured as described above may be allow for lightness and be advantageous in decreasing manufacturing costs . a lens module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to fig1 through 5 . a lens module 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may include an optical system including a first lens 10 , a second lens 20 , a third lens 30 , a fourth lens 40 , a fifth lens 50 , and a sixth lens 60 , and may further include an infrared cut - off filter 70 , and an image sensor 80 . in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure , the first lens 10 may have positive refractive power . in addition , a first surface of the first lens 10 may be convex , and a second surface thereof may be concave . the second lens 20 may have positive refractive power . in addition , both surfaces of the second lens 20 may be convex . the third lens 30 may have negative refractive power . in addition , a first surface of the third lens 30 may be convex , and a second surface thereof may be concave . the fourth lens 40 may have positive refractive power . in addition , a first surface of the fourth lens 40 may be concave , and a second surface thereof may be convex . the fifth lens 50 may have negative refractive power . in addition , a first surface of the fifth lens 50 may be concave , and a second surface thereof may be convex . the sixth lens 60 may have negative refractive power . in addition , a first surface of the sixth lens 60 may be convex , and a second surface thereof may be concave . further , the sixth lens 60 may have an inflection point . for example , the sixth lens 60 may have an inflection point formed on the second surface thereof . the lens module 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may include at least one stop st . for example , the stop st may be disposed between the second lens 20 and the third lens 30 . the stop st disposed as described above may perform an adjustment of an amount of light and a vignetting function . the lens module configured as described above may have aberration characteristics as shown in fig2 and 3 and lens characteristics as shown in fig4 and 5 . for reference , fig4 is a table showing radii of curvature , thicknesses , distances , and the like of the respective lenses , and fig5 is a table showing aspherical surface values of the respective lenses . for example , a ( 1 ) of fig4 represents a radius of curvature of an object - side surface of the first lens and a ( 2 ) of fig4 represents a radius of curvature of an image - side surface of the first lens . here , values of a ( 1 ), a ( 2 ), ( ai ) may be calculated through fig5 . for example , a value corresponding to a ( 1 ) of fig4 is a reciprocal number of a value corresponding to a ( 1 ) in a column and curv in a row in fig5 . as an example , a radius of curvature a ( 5 ) of an object - side surface of the third lens 30 may be 9 . 138 [ mm ], the reciprocal number of 0 . 109435 corresponding to a ( 5 ) in the column and curv in the row in fig5 . as another example , a radius of curvature a ( 8 ) of an image - side surface of the fourth lens 40 may be − 6 . 155 [ mm ], the reciprocal number of − 0 . 162472 corresponding to a ( 8 ) in the column and curv in the row in fig5 . further , the thicknesses of the respective lenses and distances between the lenses may be confirmed through fig4 . for example , a thickness of the first lens 10 may be 0 . 49 [ mm ] corresponding to 1 in a column and a thickness / distance in a row in fig4 , and a distance between the first lens 10 and the second lens 20 may be 0 . 0955 [ mm ], as described below the value of the thickness of the first lens 10 . further , refractive indices and abbe numbers of the respective lens may be confirmed through gla values of fig4 . for example , the refractive index of the second lens 20 may be 1 . 544 , and the abbe number thereof may be 56 . 0 . as another example , the refractive index of the third lens 30 may be 1 . 639 , and the abbe number thereof may be 23 . 0 . next , a lens module according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig6 through 10 . the lens module 100 according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may include the optical system including the first lens 10 , the second lens 20 , the third lens 30 , the fourth lens 40 , the fifth lens 50 , and the sixth lens 60 , and may further include the infrared cut - off filter 70 , and the image sensor 80 . in another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure , the first lens 10 may have positive refractive power . in addition , the first surface of the first lens 10 may be convex , and the second surface thereof may be concave . the second lens 20 may have positive refractive power . in addition , both surfaces of the second lens 20 may be convex . the third lens 30 may have negative refractive power . in addition , the first surface of the third lens 30 may be convex , and the second surface thereof may be concave . the fourth lens 40 may have positive refractive power . in addition , the first surface of the fourth lens 40 may be concave , and the second surface thereof may be convex . the fifth lens 50 may have negative refractive power . in addition , the first surface of the fifth lens 50 may be concave , and the second surface thereof may be convex . the sixth lens 60 may have negative refractive power . in addition , the first surface of the sixth lens 60 may be convex , and the second surface thereof may be concave . further , the sixth lens 60 may have an inflection point . for example , the sixth lens 60 may have an inflection point formed on the second surface thereof . the lens module 100 according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may include at least one stop st . for example , the stop st may be disposed between the second lens 20 and the third lens 30 . the stop st disposed as described above may perform an adjustment of an amount of light and a vignetting function . the lens module configured as described above may have aberration characteristics as shown in fig7 and 8 and lens characteristics as shown in fig9 and 10 . for reference , fig9 is a table showing radii of curvature , thicknesses , distances , and the like of the respective lenses , and fig1 is a table showing aspherical surface values of the respective lenses . for example , a ( 3 ) of fig9 represents a radius of curvature of an object - side surface of the second lens and a ( 4 ) of fig9 represents a radius of curvature of an image - side surface of the second lens . here , values of a ( 1 ), a ( 2 ), ( ai ) may be calculated through fig1 . for example , a value corresponding to a ( 3 ) of fig9 is a reciprocal number of a value corresponding to a ( 3 ) in a column and curv in a row in fig1 . as an example , a radius of curvature a ( 3 ) of the object - side surface of the second lens 20 may be 2 . 302 [ mm ], the reciprocal number of 0 . 434377 corresponding to a ( 3 ) in the column and curv in the row in fig1 . as another example , a radius of curvature a ( 4 ) of an image - side surface of the second lens 20 may be − 147 . 102 [ mm ], the reciprocal number of − 0 . 006798 corresponding to a ( 4 ) in the column and curv in the row in fig1 . further , the thicknesses of the respective lenses and distances between the lenses may be confirmed through fig9 . for example , a thickness of the third lens 30 may be 0 . 28 [ mm ] corresponding to 3 in the column and a thickness / distance in the row in fig9 , and a distance between the third lens 30 and the fourth lens 40 may be 0 . 45 [ mm ] as described below the value of the thickness of the third lens 30 . further , refractive indices and abbe numbers of the respective lens may be confirmed through gla values of fig1 . for example , the refractive index of the fifth lens 50 may be 1 . 639 , and the abbe number thereof may be 23 . 0 . the respective exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure configured as described above are slightly different from each other in terms of some optical characteristics as shown in table 1 , but satisfy all of the conditional expressions 1 to 7 . while exemplary embodiments have been shown and described above , it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations could be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims .
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a preferred embodiment of the control apparatus for an engine will be described with reference to the drawings . the construction of the control apparatus of the present invention is the same as those shown in fig1 and 2 . accordingly , the same reference numerals designate the same or corresponding parts . the operation of the control apparatus will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in fig5 . at step 101 , an average air quantity a ( n ) between adjacent tdcs is obtained by dividing an accumulated air quantity s which is obtained in a constant time interruption routine ( not shown in the drawings ) by the number of accumulations i , and then , the memory in a ram which keeps the values s and i in the ecu is reset . at step 102 , a determination is made whether or not there is a high load state , i . e . the load is at a predetermined value or higher , by using a load parameter such as a throttle opening degree , a boost pressure or another . when it is found that there is a low load , a predetermined value is set at a clip control counter cmax at step 103 . on the other hand , when a high load is found , determination is made at step 104 whether or not the value of the clip control counter cmax is 0 . when the determination is negative , counting down is conducted in the clip control counter cmax at step 105 . on the other hand , when it is found that the value of the clip control counter cmax is 0 , the maximum value amax of intake air quantity is read at step 106 . the maximum value amax may be determined by using the revolution speed as a parameter and the maximum value is stored in a rom in the ecu 9 . at step 107 , determination is made as to whether or not the average air quantity a ( n ) between the tdcs exceeds the maximum value amax . when the determination is affirmative , the value a ( n ) is set as amax at step 108 , whereby the clipping operation is effected . fig4 is a time chart showing the waveforms of the major components of the engine in a case that the intake air quantity exceeds the maximum value at the time of rapid acceleration of the engine . fig4 a is the waveform of the crank angle signal . in fig4 d , the solid line e indicates a case that the throttle opening degree is suddenly made large . fig4 c shows that the negative pressure d in the surge tank 4 increases with an amount of air charged in the surge tank . at this moment , there takes place an overshoot in an air flow rate a detected by the afs 2 . the waveform of the overshoot corresponds to that of the actual amount of intake air . the judgement as to how much amount of load is applied to the engine depends on the throttle opening degree e , and when a value of the load exceeds the level g at which the judgement of high load is made , the counting - down of the count value f is effected each time of ignition at the clip control counter cmax . during the counting operation , the intake air quantity detected by the afs 2 is continuously used as the intake air quantity . when the count value f becomes 0 , determination is made as to whether or not the detected air flow rate a exceeds the maximum value c ( i . e . amax ). when the detected air flow rate exceeds the maximum value c , the detected air flow rate is clipped at the maximum value c . when a low load is applied to the engine , or the air flow rate a is lower than the maximum value c even when the value counted by the counter is 0 , the detected air flow rate a is used . accordingly , air flow rate indicated by the dotted line b in fig4 b is obtainable , and the fuel injection corresponding to the air flow rate can be attained : in the conventional control apparatus , on the other hand , the air flow rate is clipped immediately after the air flow rate exceeds maximum value c , whereby the fuel injection quantity does not correspond to the intake air quantity . in the above - mentioned embodiment , the judgement as to the high load is made depending on the throttle opening degree of the throttle valve . however , the judgement may be determined by using a negative pressure or a charging efficiency . further , the counting - down at the counter may be conducted each time of ignition . further , the counting - down may be effected at constant time intervals . in fig5 description is made as to use of the average value of the output of the afs 2 between the tdcs . on the other hand , in fig4 description is made as to use of the output of the afs 2 directly . thus , the effect of the present invention can be obtained by either of the cases . obviously , numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . it is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein .
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fig1 a depicts a regular sized pickup 100 having one of my inventive racking systems 50 in place on the bed 20 . as there depicted , inboard slanting upright posts 14 have been inserted in the pockets of bed 20 . ( an outward slanting post 15 is shown in fig5 to be described later ). the post slant determines the width for my narrower or wider racking systems . this fig1 embodiment is a typical example of my novel to racking system selections . it is referred to as a deluxe unit . the rearmost “ over the bed part ” of the rack 50 may advantageously be fabricated from 2 inch schedule 40 aluminum pipe supported in position by circular pipe openings in a plurality of couplings 10 . each of my rack systems use a number of such couplings 10 that are configured for different functions in accordance with the rack type under consideration . as is obvious from a closer study , one will note in fig1 that my coupling 10 is repeated in many locations throughout the rack system 50 . such couplings are all of the same basic shape and only the functions that they accomplish varies depending upon their position and fabrication for my given rack models . such couplings 10 are extruded from aluminum stock material , and they make a decidedly and relatively inexpensive — yet highly versatile — building block throughout my various rack models . in fig1 b one can see a vertically oriented pair of couplings 10 , namely 10 a and 10 b , which pair is bolted or otherwise suitably fastened to spaced openings in the top of upright post 14 . these couplings support the upper and lower rails 20 and 25 respectively . just forward of that coupling pair and holding forward cross rail 30 in a rigid , but adjustable , position is another coupling assembly 10 c . this coupling 10 c is actually a pair of my couplings connected together base to end and forming a corner coupling assembly 150 . fig2 b includes an enlarged view of a partially exploded corner assembly 10 c . in fig2 b a base to end junction of my individual coupling units is achieved by knurled threaded assembly fasteners 40 . in this view one coupling 45 a is joined with another to coupling 45 b to form a corner assembly 150 . coupling 45 has formed there through a pair of slightly oversized bore holes 40 a ( relative to the shaft diameters of fastener bolts 40 ). these oversized fastener openings are parallel to the base is 180 and are located in the shaded quadrant area above the coupling base 180 and slightly below inwardly directed grooves 2 . ribs 3 are just above a slot 7 , which slot 7 yields or springs back slightly for controlled tension around rail pipe 25 . the function for my couplings 10 depends upon the rack selection and is readily achieved by simply tightening or loosening my transverse - to - the - base tensioning screw 4 . i use split couplings 155 in several embodiments and always at every telescoping junction . thus , in fig1 b both the upper and lower rails 20 and 25 carry my split coupling 155 at the sliding member telescope junction as rail 25 steps down from 2 inch rail pipe to the smaller sliding telescoped 1½ inch diameter of front telescope slide 60 . in my method of use , the craftsman tightens the anchor part of split coupling 155 on the larger pipe rails 20 ( both sides of the rack ) and loosens the smaller diameter slide member on both side rails of the system . the user then manually pulls the front telescoping slide 60 forward and tightens the slide tension adjustment screw 4 on the slide part of the split coupling . the reverse step follows a reverse procedure . fig3 , 4 , 5 and 6 will be described together in this section of the application since the operational principles have already been covered by the earlier descriptions . thus , fig3 is essentially the lower rack portion of fig2 c and need not be described in detail in view of the foregoing description . the same couplings , rails and cross bars described in connection with fig2 c are employed in fig3 , 4 and 5 with like numbered elements achieving same functions as earlier described . fig6 is the same as fig2 c and thus has already been sufficiently described . the double rail rack of fig4 includes an additional upper rail pair 20 further racking capability . fig5 is referred to as a farm or ranch rack and is particularly useful for bulky relatively lightweight loads such as hay , insulation , foam planks , plastic conduits . i have used my outwardly slanted upright posts in order to increase the hauling capacity for such materials . again please note that the outwardly slanting uprights allow a plank to be placed close to a wall or similar immovable structure for added user convenience and safety purposes . with the prior art straight uprights the truck mirrors and other side protrusions prevent the workers from getting very close to buildings with the prior art rack systems . again cross rail 30 , upon selective user adjustment slides back and forth . every similarly located coupling unit need not be numbered in every figure since it is believed that persons of ordinary skill in this art will readily understand their functions in view of the earlier descriptions herein . fig7 and 8 are taken together and are mostly self explanatory in view of the earlier descriptions of operation for the earlier figures . in fig7 and 8 it should be noted that the rack invention includes an optional upper railing that parallels the first lower railing . both of these parallel railing pairs have been equipped with telescoping members . lower rail 25 has a forward telescope slide 60 whereas upper rail pair 20 has a rear telescoped slide 70 with a dropped rear cross pipe to increase the rack length for carrying long loads across a common horizontal load plane . lower rail 25 includes a front telescope slide 60 and in this rack model upper and lower pairs of split couplings 155 are employed . additional front support is provided by upper rail 20 bending down to connect with telescope slide 60 via a corner assembly 45 as earlier described in connection with fig1 b . very heavy loads may be placed on the telescoped end of the rack system of fig7 without fear of bending or breaking the rack system . an extreme overhang of the forward telescoped slide 60 of the rack proper extends load support out almost to the hood end of a truck so equipped . this forward overhang is a decided point of departure from the prior art and provides added versatility to the invention . fig8 is the same rack as that of fig7 with the telescoped slides parked or withdrawn . it is likewise very strong and rigid . fig8 is not believed to require any further description . fig9 includes fig9 a and 9b which are telescoped and parked or withdrawn embodiments , achieving functions similar to that of fig7 and 8 wherein the double rails take the form of a trombone shaped railing system . the trombone double rail also presents a stylish look for that certain market segment . this is considered to be the strongest of the rack systems , but may be less costly to manufacture . fig1 is another additional embodiment wherein two pairs of attachment plates 180 are provided for the top of both sides of a truck box that may not have any stake pockets . the uprights 15 of fig1 are formed from curved pipes of the type described herein . otherwise the earlier descriptions are believed self sufficient as explanation of this racking system . fig1 depicts a symbolic line drawing of a truck and “ planks ” or “ platforms ” 190 that are known to the art and are available for use to great advantage with my telescoping rack system invention . these platforms 190 are carried by my couplings that have a lower section of the circular collar segment removed to fabricate semi - circular hooks 195 . ( please see fig1 b .) these hooks 195 drop snuggly in place over cross piece 30 of any of my rack systems . sliding and fastening the positions for my various cross pipes 30 and 40 , as described herein , readily allows such planks 190 widespread usage throughout my various model rack systems . this fig1 also depicts that selected sections of my platforms 190 may be dropped at one end into the truck bed 20 for additional load moving freedom . platforms 195 are very handy for contractors since the height of the truck and my rack system elevates workers far above the ground on a secure and moveable base . a fine example is fig1 wherein the rack invention has been extended upwardly for a higher platform for painters . fig1 is believed self explanatory also note the fact that such platforms 195 may be hooked in the manner herein describe over the elevated cross rails 210 . obviously the platforms 195 will span rails 210 and form a high scaffold for painters , roofing contractors and the like . when platforms 195 are removed from my rack system and placed from the rear of the pickup bed 20 to the ground , loading of supplies , various vehicles , tools and equipment is greatly facilitated . fig1 show such an application . examples of use for sportsmen are the ease and capability to load atvs , motorcycles , wheelbarrows etc . from the ground into the pickup bed . when one intends to load an atv , for example , into the pickup bed along a platform 195 from the bed to the ground , the invention provides another feature wherein the tailgate 198 is equipped by a rail accessory 200 that fits to the top of the tailgate . my semicircular hooks 195 again drop over the pipe 200 attached to the tailgate 198 and provide a long incline ramp from the ground into the bed 20 of pickup 100 . a still further advantage of my racking system is shown in fig1 wherein the rearmost cross rail 40 is fitted with a snap hook 195 at one end as depicted in the enlarged view of fig1 b . a loose swivel or hinge connection is provided by coupling 10 around the rear end of a rail 20 . these connections allows the rear cross piece to drop down over the tail end of one the said rails in one position and be removed from that rail in another pivoting position . such rotation as shown in fig1 allows the cross rail 40 to swing upward and swivel out of the way as needed to clear the way for headroom into the bed 20 during the example of an atv loading process . while my invention has been described with reference to particular examples of some preferred embodiments , it is my intention to cover all modifications and equivalents within the scope of the following claims . it is therefore requested that the following claims , which define my invention , be given a liberal interpretation commensurate with my contribution to the relevant technology .
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in the following detailed description , reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof wherein like numerals designate like parts throughout , and in which is shown by way of illustration embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced . it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure . therefore , the following detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense , and the scope of embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents . various operations may be described as multiple discrete operations in turn , in a manner that may be helpful in understanding embodiments of the present disclosure ; however , the order of description should not be construed to imply that these operations are order dependent . for the purposes of the present disclosure , the phrase “ a and / or b ” means ( a ), ( b ), or ( a and b ). for the purposes of the present disclosure , the phrase “ a , b , and / or c ” means ( a ), ( b ), ( c ), ( a and b ), ( a and c ), ( b and c ), or ( a , b and c ). various logic blocks may be introduced and described in terms of an operation provided by the blocks . these logic blocks may include hardware , software , and / or firmware elements in order to provide the described operations . while some of these logic blocks may be shown with a level of specificity , e . g ., providing discrete elements in a set arrangement , other embodiments may employ various modifications of elements / arrangements in order to provide the associated operations within the constraints / objectives of a particular embodiment . the description may use the phrases “ in an embodiment ,” or “ in embodiments ,” which may each refer to one or more of the same or different embodiments . furthermore , the terms “ comprising ,” “ including ,” “ having ,” and the like , as used with respect to embodiments of the present disclosure , are synonymous . embodiments of the present disclosure describe a dynamic element matching ( dem ) technique , which may also be referred to as a dithering technique , to suppress fractional spurs due to tdc mismatch in , e . g ., a dpll . in some embodiments , a randomized phase shift may be added before the tdc and then removed in the digital domain after the tdc . this dithering technique allows for the fractional spurs suppression without degrading the output spectrum since the introduction of the randomized phase shift breaks the periodicity of the vco phase , thus the periodicity of the phase error due to the tdc mismatch , and the same phase shift is then removed in the digital phase domain after the tdc . fig1 illustrates a dpll 100 in accordance with some embodiments . the dpll 100 may include a phase detector 102 that receives a digital word 104 , from a feedback path 106 , representing a phase of an output signal 108 output by vco 110 . the phase detector 102 may also receive a clock signal 112 and a reference digital word ( ref ) 114 . the phase detector 102 may generate and output a digital phase error ( dpe ) 116 based on the differences between the digital word 104 and the reference digital word 114 . in the figures , the block arrows indicate a digital signal , while line arrows indicate an analog signal . the digital phase error 116 may be filtered at filter 118 to generate a digital control signal ( dcs ) 120 . the digital control signal 120 may be converted to an analog control signal ( acs ) 122 by a dac 124 . the analog control signal 122 may be provided to the vco 110 to adjust the phase of the output signal 108 . the output signal 108 may be provided to a phase shifter ( ps ) 126 of the feedback path 106 . the phase shifter 126 may dither the output signal 108 by , e . g ., providing a randomized phase shift to the output signal 108 , to provide a dithered , or delayed output signal ( dos ) 128 . the amount of the randomized phase shift provided by the phase shifter 126 may be controlled by a digital phase shift control signal ( pscs ) 130 that is provided to the phase shifter 126 by shift controller 132 . the shift controller 132 may include a pseudo - random number generator ( prng ) 134 and a summer 136 . the phase shifter 126 may be coupled with , and provide the delayed output signal 128 to , a tdc 138 . the tdc 138 may include a dll and may generate a digital word 140 that represents a phase of the delayed output signal 128 . the feedback path 106 may further include an adder 142 coupled with the tdc 138 and the shift controller 132 . the adder 142 may generate the digital word 104 based on the digital word 140 and the phase - shift control signal 130 and provide the digital word 104 to the phase detector 102 . by receiving the phase shift control signal 130 from the shift controller 132 , the adder 142 may have accurate knowledge of the amount of randomized phase shift provided by the phase shifter 126 to the delayed output signal 128 . thus , the adder 142 may be able to accurately remove the amount of randomized phase shift such the digital word 104 represents the phase of the output signal 108 , rather than the phase of the delayed output signal 128 , which is represented by the digital word 140 . how the above - described dithering technique breaks the periodicity of the vco phase may be illustrated by reference to the waveforms depicted in fig2 . fig2 shows waveforms of a reference clock , a vco signal ( e . g ., a digital representation of the output signal 108 ), and a vco + φ signal ( e . g ., a digital representation of the delayed output signal 128 ) in accordance with various embodiments . t_vco represents a period of the vco signal . with the frequency of the vco signal divided by the frequency of the reference clock being equal to 2 . 25 , the phase of the vco signal may repeat after four samples . the addition of randomized φ values as shown , causes the vco + φ signal to lose its periodicity and , therefore , not repeat every four - sample period . the specific φ values that are shown do not restrict φ values in other embodiments . fig3 illustrates the phase shifter 126 in accordance with various embodiments . the phase shifter 126 may include a delay line 304 with a plurality of delay elements , e . g ., delay elements 308 , 312 , 316 , and 320 , coupled with one another in series , through which the output signal 108 will be propagated . while fig3 shows four delay elements , it is understood that any number of delay elements may be used . the delay line 304 may be coupled with a phase detector ( pd )/ charge pump ( cp ) 324 that provides a control signal to each of the delay elements of the delay line 304 so that each of the delay elements provides an equal phase delay ( or simply “ delay ”) of , e . g ., 90 degrees . in general , the phase delay provided by each delay element of a dll may be determined by dividing the total signal period , e . g ., 360 degrees , by the number of delay elements . taps following each delay element may be coupled with a multiplexer ( mux ) 328 as inputs that respectively represent the output signal delayed by a different number of delays . for example , the first tap may provide the mux 328 with the output signal 108 delayed by one delay , the second tap may provide the mux 328 with the output signal 108 delayed two delays , etc . the mux 328 may select one of the inputs for output as the delayed output signal 128 based on the phase - shift control signal 130 received from the shift controller 132 . in this manner , a phase shift introduced to the output signal 108 may be randomized among a discrete set of known values , yet knowledge of the discrete set of values ( and the selected input ) may allow the adder 142 to accurately remove the introduced phase shift prior to providing the digital word 104 to the phase detector 102 . removal of the introduced phase shift in the digital domain may facilitate accurate removal . in this manner , the dithering technique may break the periodicity without constituting an additional noise source for the dpll 100 . in some embodiments , it may be desirable for the whole dynamic range ( as phase ) of the tdc 138 to be exercised by the additional phase shift added by the mux 328 in order to get an effective dynamic element matching over the tdc 138 . however , as shown in fig4 a - b , it may also be desirable for a randomized phase shift to be limited in magnitude . fig4 a - b provide waveforms 404 and 408 respectively illustrating introductions of phase shifts of 120 degrees and 60 degrees in accordance with various embodiments . to avoid glitches , it may be desirable to switch from one phase to another when both signals have the same logic value . as can be seen from fig4 a - b , switching from 0 degrees to 120 degrees provides a significantly smaller window in which the phase switch may be performed ( phase - switching window ), as compared to switching from 0 degrees to 60 degrees . in order to exercise the whole dynamic range of the tdc 138 , while limiting the magnitude of the phase shift , the shift controller 132 may use the running sum of a prng sequence to drive the mux 328 and thus provide a random walk through the entire range of possible phase shifts . consider , for example , an embodiment in which the mux 328 had ten inputs , thus , enabling ten different phase shifts to be applied . in one embodiment , it may be desirable to limit the phase shift to 3 delay phases . that is , the first phase shift may include 0 , 1 , 2 , or 3 delay phases ; the second phase shift may have 0 , 1 , 2 , or 3 delay phases added to the first phase shift ; and so on . the prng 134 and the summer 136 may cooperatively implement the above - described random walk as follows . the prng may generate a pseudo - random number ( prn ) from a number of possible values that corresponds to the number of delay phases to which the phase shift may be limited . in some embodiments , the number of possible values may be one greater than the number of delay phases to which the phase shift may be limited to accommodate the possibility that no delay phase is added . the number of possible values will be less than the total number of inputs to the mux 328 . in the above example , the prng 134 may be used to generate a sequence with a uniform randomized distribution from 0 - 3 . the summer 136 may be a modulo - m adder that implements a modulo - m operation , where m is in the number of phases coming to the mux 328 . the summer 136 may receive the prn and add the prn to the previous selection . even if the prng 134 were to produce a sequence having low variance , the running sum will span all the possible m - levels and its variance will increase with time . moreover , the consecutive phase shifts may be kept small , e . g ., less than 90 degrees , due to the relatively small number of possible values of the prng output . fig5 illustrates a flowchart 500 describing operation of the feedback path 106 of the dpll 100 in accordance with some embodiments . at block 504 , the operation may include receiving , e . g ., by the phase shifter 126 , the vco output signal 108 . at block 508 , the operation may include receiving , e . g ., by the phase shifter 126 , the phase - shift control signal 130 from the shift controller 132 . the operation may then include , at block 512 , selecting and adding , e . g ., by the phase shifter 126 , a phase shift from a discrete set of possible phase shifts based on the received phase - shift control signal . the phase - shifter 126 may provide the discrete set of possible phase shifts by inputting the vco output signal 108 through a dll as described above . a mux 328 of the phase shifter 126 may output the delayed output signal 128 . at block 516 , the operation may include generating , e . g ., by the tdc 138 , a digital word 140 representing a phase of the delayed output signal 128 . the tdc 138 may include a dll to facilitate generation of the digital word 140 . at block 520 , the operation may include generating , e . g ., by the adder 142 , a digital word representing a phase of the vco output signal based on the phase - shift control signal 130 and the digital word 140 . as described above , the phase shift added by the phase shifter 126 may be removed by the adder 142 . fig6 and 7 respectively illustrate charts 600 and 700 depicting phase noise as a function of frequency . chart 600 is associated with a prior art dpll , while chart 700 is associated with a dpll in accordance with embodiments of the present invention . values common to both charts include : dpll reference frequency of 80 megahertz ( mhz ) and a fractional number , n , of 60 + 1 / 1024 , thus , the output frequency is 4800 . 078125 mhz , while spurs may appear at 78 . 125 kilohertz ( khz ) and its multiples ; dpll loop bandwidth of approximately 1 mhz ; delay of each delay cell of the dll of the tdc generated using a gaussian distribution with a variance of 1 picosecond ; and frequency bins of 76 hz . with respect to chart 700 , the number of inputs to a mux of a phase shifter is 32 and a prng sequence generates a uniform distribution from 0 - 7 , which may result in maximum phase shift of approximately 7 / 32 * 360 = 79 degrees . chart 600 shows that the output spectrum exhibits spurs as high as − 39 decibels relative to the carrier ( dbc ). in chart 700 , on the other hand , the fractional spurs lower to − 58 dbc . moreover , the total phase noise integrated inside the transmission channel ( 100 hz to 10 mhz ) is − 31 . 7 dbc in a prior art dpll and − 38 . 8 dbc with a dpll , e . g ., dpll 100 , using the dithering techniques disclosed herein . thus , the dpll 100 may reduce fractional spurs by 18 db and the integrated phase noise by 7 db compared to a prior art dpll . the disclosed dynamic element matching technique works in the background to suppress fractional spurs . the disclosed embodiments do not require a modification to a tdc used in a feedback path of a dpll and they do not have inherent bandwidth limitations since they do not attempt to compensate for mismatch of each tdc delay element . still further , the disclosed embodiments provide insensitivity to process , voltage and temperature ( pvt ) variations since the dll of the phase shifter automatically tracks any pvt variations associated with the dll of the tdc . embodiments of the present disclosure do not require calibrations when the dpll frequency is adjusted ; rather , the dll of the phase shifter will automatically settle over a relatively short amount of time , e . g ., within a few microseconds . while disclosed embodiments discuss the dem techniques with respect to specific circuits , e . g ., dpll 100 with dll - based tdc 138 , other embodiments may use the disclosed dem techniques with other circuits . for example , the disclosed dem techniques may be used with non - dll based tdcs ; may be used with digitally controlled oscillator , rather than a vco ; etc . although certain embodiments have been illustrated and described herein for purposes of description of the preferred embodiment , it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a wide variety of alternate and / or equivalent embodiments or implementations calculated to achieve the same purposes may be substituted for the embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of the present disclosure . similarly , memory devices of the present disclosure may be employed in host devices having other architectures . this application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the embodiments discussed herein . therefore , it is manifestly intended that embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof .
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fig1 illustrates a logical arrangement of a physical disk 106 , a virtual disk 102 and a virtual machine 100 . a virtual machine runs in a virtualized environment which is generally created by installing a hypervisor on a physical host . a virtual machine uses virtual devices and hardware such as a virtual processor , virtual network interface card , virtual disk , etc . these virtualization details are well known in the art , hence a detailed discussion is being omitted . virtual machine 100 uses virtual disk 102 , which is viewed as a normal storage disk by guest software ( such as an operating system 112 and applications 110 ) running in virtual machine 100 . virtual disk 102 includes virtual blocks 104 , which are used by applications or operating system running in virtual machine 100 to store file data . these virtual blocks 104 represent storage space in virtual disk 102 . in one embodiment , a virtual disk provides normal file system capabilities to applications running in virtual machine 100 . however , the virtual disk itself may be stored as a single file in physical disk 106 . in other embodiment , virtual disk 102 may be stored on physical disk 106 in multiple files form . when guest software stores data in virtual blocks 104 of virtual disk 102 ( which appears to be a normal storage device to guest software ), through file system 114 , the previously unused virtual blocks are marked as “ used .” to store this data in physical blocks 108 in physical disk 106 , more physical blocks are allocated for data by host file system 116 . when guest software deletes some data , file system 114 marks corresponding virtual blocks as unused . however , host file system 116 remains unaware of this reclamation of virtual blocks by guest software . hence , host file system continues treating the underlying corresponding physical blocks as “ used .” hence , the size of virtual disk 102 as stored in physical disk 106 does not shrink . fig2 illustrates a logical diagram of virtual machine 100 configured to use more than one virtual disks 102 , 102 t . virtual disk 102 t has its own file system 114 ′. applications and operating system ( i . e ., guest software ) running in virtual machine 100 create temporary files for the duration of a session and then either delete these temporary files or don &# 39 ; t use these files during the next session . however , since host file system 116 remains unaware of these file deletions ( because file system 114 marks virtual blocks unused but the status of corresponding physical blocks remain the same ), the size of virtual disk 102 in physical disk 106 does not shrink . over the period of time in which virtual disk 102 remains in use , the size occupied by virtual disk 102 on physical disk 106 continues to grow . temporary files are files that are created and used by guest software during one power - on session only . in one embodiment , virtual machine 100 is configured to use more than one virtual disks . a temporary virtual disk 102 t is created every time virtual machine 100 is started . temporary virtual disk 102 t is configured to be used for storing temporary files . when virtual machine 100 shuts down or powered off , temporary virtual disk 102 t is deleted . a virtual disk is composed of one or more files . taking at least one snapshot results in one base disk and one or more delta disk files . in another embodiment , a snapshot of temporary virtual machine 102 t is taken upon power - on of virtual machine 100 , thereby creating a delta disk ( or redo log file ). a snapshot of a virtual disk is typically taken to preserve the state of the virtual disk so the virtual disk can be reverted back the same state at a later time . in one embodiment , this delta disk is deleted during power off . in other words , the snapshot is reverted back to its original state during powering off . in another embodiment , the delta disk is preserved upon a power off operation and continues to persist until a user explicitly reverts the virtual disk back to its original state . during the powered on period of virtual machine 100 any “ write ” to temporary virtual disk 102 t is routed to the delta disk . hence , temporary files are written to this delta delta disk . the term “ non - persistent ” means that the information saved in the disk is lost when virtual machine 100 is powered off . fig3 illustrates a process 200 of adding a temporary virtual disk to a virtual machine . at step 202 , a new virtual disk is created . various virtualization infrastructure providers ( for example , vmware , microsoft , etc .) provide tools , apis and methods for creating new virtual disk files . for example , vmware workstation ™ product provides a wizard ( add -& gt ; new hard disk -& gt ; create a new virtual disk ) to add a new virtual disk to a virtual machine . at step 204 , virtual machine configurations are modified to enable the virtual machine to see this newly added virtual disk . at step 206 , the newly created virtual disk is formatted . disk formatting means creating an empty file system on the disk . with a host file system compatible with guest software , at step 208 , the newly created virtual disk is set to be non - persistent . alternatively , if the underlying platform or virtualization system does not provide functionality to create non - persistent virtual drives , this step may be omitted and process 200 may be repeated every time virtual machine starts . however , if a virtualization platform provides this functionality of creating non - persistent virtual drives , then process 200 only needs to be performed once for a particular virtual machine . at step 210 , applications and guest operating system running in virtual machine 100 are configured to store temporary files in the file system on the newly added temporary virtual disk . in one embodiment , environment variables such as temp and tmp ( in the case of microsoft windows ™) may be changed to store temporary files in the file system on the temporary virtual disk ( for example , by changing the value of the % temp % environment variable c :\ temp to d :\ temp , wherein drive letter c refers to the file system on the main virtual disk and d to the file system on the temporary virtual disk ). in other embodiments , symbolic / hard linking , or folder redirection mechanism may be employed to route temporary file creation to the temporary virtual disk . fig4 a illustrates creating and adding a temporary virtual disk to virtual machine 100 , in a preferred embodiment . when a temporary and non - persistent virtual disk 102 t is added to virtual machine 100 , virtual machine 100 creates a snapshot of non - persistent temporary virtual disk 102 t at startup . as a result of taking the snapshot operation , a delta disk file 102 f 1 of base disk 102 f is created and all subsequent writes to non - persistent temporary virtual disk 102 t are routed to delta disk 102 f 1 . if non - persistent temporary disk 102 t is configured in the “ non - persistent mode ,” this delta virtual disk 102 f 1 is automatically discarded when virtual machine 100 is powered off . in one embodiment , the size of base disk file 102 f is kept at the minimum at the time of its creation . since a snapshot is created every time virtual machine 100 is started , base disk file 102 f is not used for write operations , and hence base disk file 102 f does not grow in size . fig4 b illustrates a process 300 of creating a delta disk for storing temporary files . at step 302 , a request for powering on a virtual machine is entertained . at step 304 , a delta disk is created for storing temporary files during the power - on session of the virtual machine . at step 306 , the virtual machine is powered on . at step 308 , guest software runs and uses the delta disk for storing temporary files . at step 310 , the virtual machine is powered off . at step 312 , the delta disk is deleted . fig5 illustrates fig2 in another embodiment . a redirecting file system driver 120 is inserted between virtual machine 100 and virtual disks 102 , 102 t . with redirecting file system driver 120 monitoring write operations to file systems , step 210 of process 200 ( fig3 ) does not need to be performed in this embodiment . in one embodiment , all file operations go through redirecting file system driver 120 . redirecting file system driver 120 is configured to separate out temporary file data and automatically send this temporary file data to temporary virtual disk 102 t , without a need to configure the guest operating system and applications in virtual machine 100 . in one embodiment redirecting file system driver 120 is a part of a file system driver . in another embodiment redirecting file system driver 120 exists separately from the file system driver and is loaded when the file system driver is loaded . when this temporary file data is needed by guest software , redirecting file system driver 120 automatically redirects read operations to temporary virtual disk 102 t . with the above embodiments in mind , it should be understood that the invention can employ various computer - implemented operations involving data stored in computer systems . these operations are those requiring physical manipulation of physical quantities . any of the operations described herein that form part of the invention are useful machine operations . the invention also relates to a device or an apparatus for performing these operations . in one embodiment , the apparatus can be specially constructed for the required purpose ( e . g . a special purpose machine ), or the apparatus can be a general - purpose computer selectively activated or configured by a computer program stored in the computer . in particular , various general - purpose machines can be used with computer programs written in accordance with the teachings herein , or it may be more convenient to construct a more specialized apparatus to perform the required operations . the embodiments of the present invention can also be defined as a machine that transforms data from one state to another state . the transformed data can be saved to storage and then manipulated by a processor . the processor thus transforms the data from one thing to another . still further , the methods can be processed by one or more machines or processors that can be connected over a network . the machines can also be virtualized to provide physical access to storage and processing power to one or more users , servers , or clients . thus , the virtualized system should be considered a machine that can operate as one or more general purpose machines or be configured as a special purpose machine . each machine , or virtual representation of a machine , can transform data from one state or thing to another , and can also process data , save data to storage , display the result , or communicate the result to another machine . the invention can also be embodied as computer readable code on a computer readable medium . the computer readable medium is any data storage device that can store data , which can thereafter be read by a computer system . examples of the computer readable medium include hard drives , network attached storage ( nas ), read - only memory , random - access memory , cd - roms , cd - rs , cd - rws , magnetic tapes and other optical and non - optical data storage devices . the computer readable medium can include computer readable tangible medium distributed over a network - coupled computer system so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion . although the method operations were described in a specific order , it should be understood that other housekeeping operations may be performed in between operations , or operations may be adjusted so that they occur at slightly different times , or may be distributed in a system which allows the occurrence of the processing operations at various intervals associated with the processing , as long as the processing of the overlay operations are performed in the desired way . although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail for purposes of clarity of understanding , it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications can be practiced within the scope of the appended claims . accordingly , the present embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive , and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein , but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims .
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as shown in fig1 a blade - like connecting needle 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention has the blade signal line 10 disposed in a blade body thereof , a support insulator 8 covering the blade signal line 10 , and a plurality of guard patterns 12 a , 12 b , 12 c , 12 d covering the surface of the insulator 8 , so as to have a coaxial - type signal line . this is in contrast to the blade signal line 111 exposed on the surface of the blade 115 according to the conventional design . the blade - like connecting needle 1 thus provides an excellent and complete guard environment for minimizing exposure of the signal line and an electric coupling with an adjacent signal line ( which corresponds to the coupling between the terminals 60 , 64 shown in fig1 ). the blade - like connecting needle 1 is thus capable of minimizing dielectric absorption and a steady leakage current between itself and another signal line of different potential present near the blade - like connecting needle 1 . a signal obtained from a probe 2 by the coaxial blade - like connecting needle 1 is outputted via the blade signal line 10 to a signal output section 11 to which a measuring unit ( not shown ) is connected . the blade - like connecting needle 1 is shown as having a rectangular cross - sectional shape , but may have a circular or polygonal cross - sectional shape . the blade - like connecting needle 1 can simply be manufactured by combining insulating materials corresponding to existing blades having signal lines on their surfaces . the probe 2 ( which corresponds to the probe 116 shown in fig2 ) mounted on the tip end of the blade - like connecting needle 1 may comprise the conventional probe or any other probe manufactured according to one of any other known technique . the guard patterns may be produced by depositing films of an electrically conductive material such as metal in or on the insulator by plating , evaporation , or the like . the probe 2 may also be of a coaxial structure produced by covering a signal line with a support insulator and covering the support insulator with guard patterns . since the coaxial structure reduces the exposure of the signal line of the probe , the characteristics of the probe can be improved . fig2 ( a ) through 2 ( c ) show the blade - like connecting needle 1 as seen from different directions . specifically , fig2 ( a ) shows in front elevation the coaxial blade - like connecting needle 1 with the signal output section 11 on its front side . fig2 ( b ) and 2 ( c ) are side elevational and bottom views , respectively , of the coaxial blade - like connecting needle 1 . as shown in fig3 the signal output section 11 connected to the blade signal line 10 is connected to a coaxial cable 20 and a probe card 22 , which is connected to a measuring unit ( not shown ). a process of producing the blade - like connecting needle 1 according to the present invention will be described below . the blade - like connecting needle 1 is of a symmetrical shape as viewed in front elevation , for example , with respect to an axis x thereof which is indicated by the broken lines . therefore , the blade - like connecting needle 1 may be produced by defining grooves in two respective members that are separated by the broken - line axis x , and bonding the two members to each other with the blade signal line 10 housed in the grooves . according to the first embodiment , the blade signal line 10 and the coaxial cable 20 are connected to each other by an exposed aerial wire . however , the blade signal line 10 and the coaxial cable 20 may be connected to each other by a coaxial connector . for example , a coaxial connector may simply be connected to the signal output section 11 of the coaxial blade - like connecting needle 1 . because a conventional blade - like connecting needle is also connected to a coaxial cable by an exposed aerial wire , use of such a coaxial connector in the conventional coaxial blade - like connecting needle is also effective . [ 0035 ] fig4 shows a coaxial blade - like connecting needle 49 according to a second embodiment of the present invention . in fig4 the coaxial blade - like connecting needle 49 is used in combination with a shielded electric conductive path 48 on a probe card blank board 39 . the coaxial blade - like connecting needle 49 shown in fig4 differs from the coaxial blade - like connecting needle 1 shown in fig1 in that a signal output section 43 of a blade signal line 30 is disposed between guard patterns 12 e , 12 f on a surface corresponding to the guard pattern 12 a shown in fig1 . the signal output section 43 is surrounded by an insulating layer 41 in the shielded electric conductive path 48 , and is connected to a pogo pin block 50 of a test head by the shielded electric conductive path 48 . the shielded electric conductive path 48 is covered with a guard pattern 40 except for exit areas for a signal line 42 . the guard pattern 40 is connected as by soldering to guard patterns 12 ( 12 b , 12 c , 12 d , 12 e , 12 f , 12 g ) of the coaxial blade - like connecting needle 49 . the signal output section 43 is connected as by soldering to a signal connecting pad 47 on the shielded electric conductive path 48 . the signal connecting pad 47 is isolated from the guard pattern 40 by an insulating layer 45 . the signal line 42 in the shielded electric conductive path 48 is connected to a sense connecting pad 44 and a force connecting pad 46 which are connected to a measuring unit ( not shown ) respectively through a sense terminal s and a force terminal f of the pogo pin block 50 . the guard pattern 40 is connected to a guard terminal g of the pogo pin block 50 and held at a guard potential according to the guard technique used . preferably , an active guard is employed to keep the guard terminal g at substantially the same potential as the sense terminal s and the force terminal f . with the above arrangement , the coaxial blade - like connecting needle 49 shown in fig4 has a smaller exposed signal line area than the coaxial blade - like connecting needle 1 shown in fig3 for improved characteristics . the shielded electric conductive path 48 on the probe card blank board 39 is in accordance with one of the embodiments ( wiring is provided on one general - purpose pc board ) described in japanese patent application no . 2000 - 036636 ( japanese laid - open patent publication no . 2001 - 231195 ), and the blade - like connecting needle according to the present invention can be used in combination with the shielded electric conductive path 48 . in the present embodiment , the support insulator 8 between the blade signal line 10 and the guard patterns 12 a , 12 b , 12 c is not limited to any materials . the support insulator 8 may be made of a ceramic material having relatively good dielectric characteristics which is used in the conventional blade - like connecting needle . if no guard can be used with conventional insulating materials or if a passive guard is used , then a suitable insulator having desired characteristics may be used . as described above in the first embodiment , the probe 2 may be covered with the support insulator 8 or any of other suitable insulating materials . an effect produced when the blade - like connecting needle is contaminated during measurements on semiconductor wafers will be described below with reference to fig5 ( a ) and 5 ( b ), which are graphs of settling characteristics . the data shown in fig5 ( a ) and 5 ( b ) represent current values after applying of a step voltage of 10 v , and indicate measured values of the conventional blade - like connecting needle and expected values of the blade - like connecting needle according to the present invention . fig5 ( a ) shows the data when a signal output pin is a 14th pin , and fig5 ( b ) shows the data when a signal output pin is a 24th pin . in fig5 ( a ), the time that elapses until the current value becomes 100 fa or less after the voltage is changed by 10 v is about 3 seconds with the conventional blade - like connecting needle , but 1 second or less with the blade - like connecting needle according to the present invention . similarly , in fig5 ( b ), the time that elapses until the current value becomes 100 fa or less after the changing of 10 v is about 4 seconds or more with the conventional blade - like connecting needle , but about 1 second with the blade - like connecting needle according to the present invention . fig5 ( b ) for the 24th pin indicates that a current of 42 fa continues to flow even after the elapse of 10 seconds . in this case , the measurement of a current on the order of fa cannot be started unless a waiting time of several tens of seconds is additionally spent . if the blade - like connecting needle is significantly contaminated , then the current may not fall to a value of the order of 10 fa , making it impossible to measure the current . a model used to produce the settling characteristics , shown in fig5 ( a ) and 5 ( b ), of the blade - like connecting needle according to the present invention will be described below with reference to fig6 ( a ) and 6 ( b ). as shown in fig6 ( a ), a region where a blade signal line is exposed can be considered as having a capacitive coupling and a resistor in each of four areas a , b , c , d . settling times ( time constants ) due to the capacitive coupling and the resistor in the air in the areas a , b , c , d are represented respectively by τ a , τ b0 and τ b1 , τ c , and τ d . these settling times ( time constants ) are usually much faster than τ b2 which represents a sum of settling times due to capacitive couplings through small regions on the blade . the dielectric characteristics of the sum ρ b2 of settling times are usually most influential . while such regions are also present in the other areas a , c , d , they are less influential than τ b2 in view of the continuity of the material . the overall settling time ( time constant ) τ of the model can be expressed using the settling times ( time constants ) τ a , τ b0 and τ b1 , τ c , and τ d through the air in the areas a , b , c , d , as follows : if the coupling distance through the air is constant , then the capacitive couplings per unit length of respective signal portions are equal to each other , and the capacitive couplings in the respective areas a , b , c , d are proportional to the length of respective exposed portions of the signal line . this is because if the settling time ( time constant ) in the circuit of the model is represented by t , the capacitance thereof c , and the resistance thereof r , then t ∝ cr , indicating that the capacitance c and the settling time ( time constant ) t are proportional to each other . if the lengths of the respective areas a , b , c , d are indicated by l a , l b , l c , l d , respectively , then in view of the fact that the overall settling time ( time constant ) σ of the model is at least proportional to these lengths ( τ a ∝ l a , τ b ∝ l b , τ c ∝ l c , τ d ∝ l d ), the overall settling time ( time constant ) τ is expressed as : this relationship is illustrated in fig6 ( b ). the measured values of these lengths of the respective areas a , b , c , d were l a = 8 mm , l b = 22 mm , l c = 2 mm , l d = 2 mm , respectively . the effect of the coaxial blade is estimated from the above model . as described above , if the settling time ( time constant ) is represented by t , the capacitance thereof c , and the resistance thereof r , then since the capacitance c and the settling time ( time constant ) t are proportional to each other , the settling time ( time constant ) t can be expected from a change in the capacitance c . a value ( expected value ) that estimates the effect of the coaxial blade as a very small level can be derived by comparing with a situation where the length l b is 0 mm . if the coefficient value ( expected value ) is represented by η , then it can be expected to be equal to or smaller than : since the examples shown in fig5 ( a ) and 5 ( b ) are based on the measurement of a total contribution of the probe and the blade signal line , in worst cases , the coefficient value ( expected value ) η can be expected to be equal to or smaller than 26 . 7 %, which is found as follows : processes of producing the blade - like connecting needle according to the present invention will be described below . since the process of producing the blade - like connecting needle by bonding two members to each other has already been described above , other processes of producing the blade - like connecting needle will be described below . fig7 ( a ) and 7 ( b ) are illustrative of a process of producing the blade - like connecting needle from multilayer plates by way of routing and end - face plating . as shown in fig7 ( a ), an internal wire 76 is placed between multilayer - plate insulators 70 , 72 , 74 as a base material , and then the multilayer - plate insulators 70 , 72 , 74 are machined to a desired shape by routing . finally , as shown in fig7 ( b ), sides 78 a , 78 b , 78 c , 78 d of a multilayer base are plated with metal , forming a coaxial blade - like connecting needle which has surfaces 79 a , 79 b covered with guard patterns by plating or the like . a process of producing the coaxial blade - like connecting needle according to the present invention from a base and a lid by way of routing , four - face plating , slotting , and bottom - face plating will be described below with reference to fig8 ( a ), 8 ( b ), and 9 . first , a base 80 shown in fig8 ( a ) is machined to a desired shape by routing , and then four sides 82 , 84 , 86 , 88 of the base 80 are plated . thereafter , as shown in fig8 ( b ), the base 80 is slotted to form a groove 90 therein , and the bottom 92 of the groove 90 is plated . then , as shown in fig9 a metal lid 94 is attached to close the groove 90 , thus forming a hollow coaxial blade - like connecting needle . the blade - like connecting needle can also be produced by an ic fabrication process which may be one of epitaxy , etching , metallization , cmp , etc . if the blade insulator is made of a material such as ptfe which is of better dielectric characteristics than ceramics , then the resultant blade - like connecting needle provides somewhat good characteristics even if no guard can be used or if a passive guard is used . the conventional blade insulator of ceramics poses no problem at present . even if the blade - like connecting needle is used as a bias path ( the guard is normally at the ground potential ) before a small current is measured , a waiting time required to switch different between applications can be shortened by selecting a good insulator as described above . by using a general - purpose blade fabrication process to realize a complete guard structure , it is possible to incorporate , into a probe card , another circuit network which could not conventionally be introduced in view of a possible degradation of small current characteristics . compared with the less reliable coaxial structure using a needle , the blade - like connecting needle which provides its coaxial structure using a blade according to the present invention can easily be handled , and can quickly be repaired inexpensively should it be damaged . the cost of management and the cost of transportation for the blade - like connecting needle according to the present invention can also be reduced . since the blade - like connecting needle is compatible with the conventional blade - like connecting needle , the customer can regard the blade - like connecting needle as a simple higher - level compatible device , and the conventional blade - like connecting needle can be unified with the blade - like connecting needle according to the present invention . the complete guard structure according to the first and second embodiments is capable of reducing a measurement waiting time due to the dielectric absorption of an insulating material which would be present between the signal line and another potential , to a negligible level . since no insulating material is present , of which one end is connected to the signal line and the other end is connected to the other potential , no characteristic variations which might be caused by such an insulating material are present . the fully guarded structure provides good insulating characteristics under severe conditions such as high temperature , high humidity , etc . the blade - like connecting needle of the above structure can be produced according to a usual blade fabrication process , the blade - like connecting needle can stably be manufactured inexpensively . furthermore , since the blade - like connecting needle according to the present invention is of substantially the same dimensions as the conventional blade - like connecting needle , the blade - like connecting needle according to the present invention does not need to be of a special material and a special shape . therefore , the blade - like connecting needle according to the present invention is compatible with the conventional blade - like connecting needle . the entire disclosure of japanese patent application no . 2001 - 114861 filed on apr . 13 , 2001 including the specification , claims , drawings and summary are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety .
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hereinafter , preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings . referring to fig3 , there is shown a schematic configuration of a direct down - conversion receiver in accordance with the present invention . as shown therein , the direct - conversion receiver comprises an in - phase channel frequency mixer ( hereinafter referred to as an i - channel frequency mixer ) 310 , a quadrature phase channel frequency mixer ( hereinafter referred to as a q - channel frequency mixer ) 320 , an rf 90 ° phase shifter 330 , an lo 90 ° phase shifter 340 , a low noise amplifier ( lna ) 350 and a voltage controlled oscillator ( vco ) 360 . first , an rf signal is received by an antenna ( not shown ) and is applied to the lna 350 . the rf signal is of a single - phase signal , not a differential signal . the lna 350 amplifies the received rf signal while minimizing noise therein . the output from the lna 350 is then provided to the rf 90 ° phase shifter 330 by which the single - phase rf signal is orthogonally divided into two rf signals having phases of 0 ° and 90 °. the divided rf signal having 0 ° phase is fed to the i - channel sub - harmonic frequency mixer 310 , while the rf signal having 90 ° phase is fed to the q - channel sub - harmonic frequency mixer 320 . in the meantime , an lo signal having half of the rf signal frequency is created by the vco 360 , and is provided to the lo phase shifter 340 wherein the lo signal is also of a single - phase signal , not a differential signal . the lo signal is orthogonally divided into two lo signals having phases of 0 ° and 90 ° by the lo phase shifter 340 . the divided 0 ° and 90 ° lo signals are then applied to the i - channel sub - harmonic frequency mixer 310 and the q - channel sub - harmonic frequency mixer 320 , respectively . according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention as set forth above , it is possible to make a topology of the circuit configuration simply and lower the power consumption because the lna 350 and the vco 360 produce the single - phase rf signal and the single - phase lo signal , respectively . in addition , by using the lo 90 ° phase shifter 340 in place of the poly - phase filter embedded in the prior art as described above , it is possible to decrease the power loss of the lo signals and further reduce the power consumption because the direct - conversion receiver does not require an lo buffer amplifier . each of the mixers 310 and 320 generates an in - phase component i and a quadrature component q of desired signals whose center frequencies are a difference between rf frequency ( f rf ) and a twice of lo frequency ( f 2lo ). fig4 a and 4b are detailed circuit diagrams of the direct - conversion receiver shown in fig3 . as shown in fig4 a , the rf 90 ° phase shifter 330 is connected to the output of the lna 350 ; and receives a single - phase rf signal via its rf input node 332 . the rf 90 ° phase shifter 330 functions to divide the rf signal into two rf signal having phase difference of 90 °. the rf 90 ° phase shifter 330 is comprised of rc - cr network in which a resistor r 1 and a capacitor c 2 are connected in parallel to the rf input terminal 332 , and a capacitor c 1 and a resistor r 2 are coupled between two output terminals 334 and 336 that issues two rf signals having phase of 0 ° and 90 °. on the other hand , the lo 90 ° phase shifter 340 is connected to the output of the vco 360 ; and receives a single - phase lo signal via its lo input node 342 . the lo 90 ° phase shifter 340 serves to divide the single - phase lo signal into two lo signals having phase of 0 ° and 90 °. similarly to the rf 90 ° phase shifter 330 shown in fig4 a , the lo 90 ° phase shifter 340 is composed of an rc - cr network in which a resistor r 3 and a capacitor c 4 are coupled in parallel with the lo input node 342 , and a capacitor c 3 and a resistor r 4 are coupled between two output nodes 344 and 346 that provide two lo signals having phase of 0 ° and 90 °, respectively . the values of capacitance and resistance in each phase shifter 330 and 340 are optimized to operate at rf and lo frequencies in order to minimize the phase and amplitude mismatches between i channel and q channel . an operational principle of one , e . g ., of the 90 ° phase shifters will be described with reference to fig5 . if it is assumed that an input signal vin is of 0 °, a phase of an output vout 1 is shifted by − 45 °, compared to the phase of the input signal vin , by an rc - cr network of resistors r 1 , r 2 and capacitors c 1 , c 2 . meanwhile , a phase of an output vout 2 is shifted by + 45 °, compared to the phase of the input signal vin , by the rc - cr network . therefore , the signals having phase difference of 90 ° can be obtained from between the two outputs vout 1 and vout 2 , as calculated below equations . if the resistor and capacitor values are combined to allow a multiplication of the two values to be consistent with a frequency of each of the rf signals and the lo signals , signals having same magnitude but 90 ° phase difference from each other can be obtained at output nodes of the 90 ° phase shifter 330 . the rf signals having phase of 0 ° and 90 ° produced by the rf 90 ° phase shifter 330 are then fed to the i - channel mixer 310 and the q - channel mixer 320 , respectively . in the meantime , an operation of the lo 90 ° phase shifter 340 is substantially identical to that of the 90 ° rf phase shifter 330 ; and therefore , detailed description thereof will be omitted for the sake of simplicity . the lo signals having phase of 0 ° and 90 ° obtained by the lo 90 ° phase shifter 340 are then delivered to the i - channel mixer 310 and the q - channel mixer 320 , respectively . the i - channel mixer 310 includes two transistor pairs 312 and 314 whose emitters and collectors are respectively coupled with each other . in the transistor pairs 312 and 314 , each of the transistors q 1 to q 4 includes a bipolar junction transistor ( bjt ). inputted to bases of the transistors q 2 and q 3 in each of the transistor pairs 312 and 314 is the rf signal having 0 ° phase from the rf 90 ° phase shifter 330 ; and applied to another bases of the transistors q 1 and q 4 in each of the transistor pairs 312 and 314 is the lo signal having 0 ° phase from the lo 90 ° phase shifter 340 . further , connected between an emitter common node and a ground of each of the transistor pairs are current sources that provide bias currents i 1 and i 2 , respectively . likewise , the q - channel mixer 320 includes two transistor pairs 322 and 324 whose emitters and collectors are coupled with each other , respectively . an input to bases of the transistors q 6 and q 7 in each of the transistor pairs 322 and 324 is the lo signal having 90 ° phase from the lo 90 ° phase shifter 340 ; and an input to another bases of the transistors q 5 and q 8 in each of the transistor pairs 322 and 324 is the lo signal having 90 ° phase from the lo 90 ° phase shifter 340 . in operation , first of all , single - phase lo signals having 0 ° and 90 ° phases are applied to the transistors q 1 and q 4 , respectively . and single - phase rf signals having 0 ° and 90 ° phases are fed to the transistors q 2 and q 3 with same bias conditions as the transistors q 1 and q 4 and that make pairs therewith , respectively . in this circuit arrangement , a frequency mixing is made by the lo signals having a relatively high power compared to the rf signals , so that baseband signals having a 180 ° phase difference and a frequency of f rf - f 2lo are produced at + i and − i output nodes 316 and 318 . more specifically , the transistors q 1 and q 4 have nonlinear characteristics because of receipt of the lo signal having a higher power than that of the rf signal , thereby creating harmonic frequency components corresponding to an integral multiple of the lo signal frequency due to such nonlinear characteristics . in other words , there occurs frequencies of f lo , f 2lo , f 3lo , . . . and , in turn , output frequency components corresponding to a multiplication of these frequency components and a frequency component f rf of the rf signal are generated . as a result , such frequency components as f rf ± f lo , f rf ± f 2lo and f rf ± f 3lo are produced at the output nodes 316 and 318 of the i - channel mixer 310 and a desired down - converted frequency component of f rf - f 2lo can be obtained by low pass filtering . output currents i 2 and i 3 incurred by the rf signal may be linearly represented as follows : the transfer functions of the transistors q 1 and q 4 by the lo signal may be given by the following equations with nonlinear characteristics . output voltages can be defined by a multiplication of the currents by the rf signal as in eq . ( 3 ), to the lo transfer functions of eqs . ( 4 ) and ( 5 ) and load resistors rl 1 and rl 2 , as indicated in eqs . ( 6 ) and ( 7 ). namely , the output voltages across the load resistors rl 1 and rl 2 , having differential baseband output voltage components that is 180 ° difference in phase and is same in magnitude , can be detected by a low pass filter ( not shown ). fig4 b is a detailed circuitry diagram illustrating another embodiment of the direct - conversion receiver shown in fig3 . the embodiment of fig4 b is substantially identical to that of fig4 a except that field effect transistors ( fets ) are used therein in lieu of bjts . therefore , in the embodiment of fig4 b , the bases , emitters and collectors given in the embodiment of fig4 a will be designated as gates , sources and drains , respectively ; and therefore , a further description of the same elements will be omitted . in comparison with a frequency mixer of a conventional gilbert cell structure , the input nodes of the lo signals and the rf signals are not formed in a multi - level but arranged in a same level ; and therefore , sufficiently large output voltages can be obtained at the output terminals , + i and − i nodes , even under lower supply voltage . accordingly , since the frequency receiver of the present invention can provide the sufficient output voltages while using the low supply voltage , this circuit architecture is adaptable for a low power circuit . in addition , by help of the use of the rf 90 ° phase shifter at the rf input section , the structure of the frequency mixer can be more simplified because the single - phase rf signal is adopted therein , instead of differential rf signals . and also , since the lo 90 ° phase shifter has a smaller number of resistor - capacitor stages at the lo input section compared to the common poly - phase filter , the power loss of the lo signals can be reduced . reducing the power loss of the lo signals does not need the lo amplifier that has been used to compensate the loss of the lo signals by the existing poly - phase filter , thereby further decreasing the power dissipation of the overall receiver . as described above , the present invention can contribute to a low power and low cost implementation of mobile communication terminals by considerably reducing the number of components used in the direct - conversion receiver and thus simplifying the whole structure and alleviating power consumption . furthermore , the invention enables the use of lower supply voltage owing to a single - level design of the sub - harmonic frequency mixer circuit . moreover , the invention can share analog and digital circuits that follow the receiver and a power because of the use of low supply power in a high frequency circuit . through such features , microwave circuits and analog / digital circuits can be implemented on a single chip , which can highly contribute to the development of a system - on - chip ( soc ). while the invention has been shown and described with respect to the preferred embodiments , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims .
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referring to fig1 , a computer based fire sprinkler drawing system 10 having integrated voice activated command features is illustrated in block diagram form . it should be noted that , while the fire sprinkler drawing system 10 is described herein as being implemented in software executed on a personal computer , this system could be executed on any other type of computer as well , such as in any laptop computer , handheld computer or data assistant , any larger mainframe type computer , etc . still further , the fire sprinkler drawing system 10 described herein could be implemented in firmware or hardware elements such as in application specific integrated circuits ( asics ) as well as in typical software routines . it will also be understood that , as described herein , the different modules , routines or programs stored in a computer memory may be stored in any desired manner in volatile memory , such as in a magnetic type memory , random access memory , etc ., as well as in any desired type of non - volatile memory such as in eproms , eeproms , asics , etc . still further , these routines may be embodied in hardware logic circuits ( which are considered to be memories ) of any desired types , such as asics . moreover , while the description herein specifically describes the use of voice activated commands in a fire sprinkler drawing system , this same concept could be embodied in any building construction drawing system implemented on a computer , including , for example , in plumbing drawing systems , electrical drawing systems , architectural drawing systems , gas delivery drawing systems , etc . in those cases , the drawing program could be tailored to the specific type of system being drawn , each of which is generally a building construction system , such as a distribution system . as illustrated in fig1 , the fire sprinkler drawing system 10 includes a display device 12 , such as an lcd screen , crt screen , plasma panel display , printer or other type of display , a processing unit 14 and a database 16 . the system 10 may also include user input ports 18 which may include standard or known inputs for a keyboard 20 , a mouse device 22 . and a microphone 24 or other voice input device . if desired , the system 10 may also include one or more input / output ports 25 that enable files , such as drawing files or other types of data to be delivered to the processing unit 14 from , for example , a cd or floppy disk drive 26 , the internet , etc . further , a printer 27 may be connected to the fire sprinkler drawing system via one of the input / output ports 25 and any other external communication port may be included and used to enable the system 10 to print out or to download reports or other data generated by the system 10 . the database or memory storage unit 16 may be a ram on a hard drive or any other type of memory and is connected to the processing unit 14 via any appropriate input / output ( i / o ) driver or device 28 . furthermore , the database 16 may include different storage regions for pipes , fittings and other sprinkler system elements available to be used to draw a fire sprinkler system , for building elements available to be used to draw a building , and for the building and sprinkler systems currently being drawn , etc . the memory 16 may be organized in any desired manner and may be accessed using any suitable database access software . a number of different programs or routines may be stored in and executed on the processing unit 14 which , of course , includes a memory and a typical processor such as a general purpose processor of any desired type . as illustrated in fig1 , the processing unit 14 may store and execute a number of modules or routines which are used to provide user input / output functions as well as to implement or provide assistance in drawing a fire sprinkler system for a building . in particular , the processing unit 14 may implement a graphics or image display controller 30 which may store , in an image data memory 32 , data associated with the image being displayed on the display device 12 and may process or manipulate that data as needed . while the image data memory 32 will generally be ram or a buffer memory that is easily accessible , the image data memory 32 may be within the hard drive of the computer or may be any other suitable memory . the image or display controller 30 may be implemented using any desired or known image or display control software or routine , such as that associated with the microsoft windows operating system . the processing unit 14 also includes a program store 36 which stores the programs or routines ( or the portions thereof currently being used ) and which are executing within the processor . the program store 36 stores or implements the programs needed to perform the numerous tasks associated with the fire sprinkler drawing program that will be described in more detail herein . the processing unit 14 also includes a number of input drivers , such as any standard keyboard input unit 38 and mouse input unit 40 which process the keyboard and mouse generated commands . such input drivers may be those as provided by the microsoft windows operating system . still further , and importantly , the processing unit 14 stores and executes a voice processing module or routine 42 . the voice processing unit 42 which , preferably , is a voice recognition unit , may be implemented using , for example , the microsoft speech api program . however , this voice processing unit 42 may be any other desired type of voice processor . the processing unit 14 also includes an arbiter or controller 44 that controls the order of and the timing of the execution of the different programs or modules within the processing unit 14 . thus , the controller 44 arbitrates the timing and execution of the different programs , routines or modules such as the programs within the program store 36 , the input drivers 38 , 40 and 42 , the image controller 30 , etc . to assure that these programs interact together in a seamless manner . in one embodiment , a fire sprinkler drawing program 50 is stored in the program store 36 . this fire sprinkler system drawing program 50 may be , for example , based on the auotsprink program described above . in any event , the fire sprinkler drawing system routine 50 may be implemented in a cad programing structure developed using an object oriented programming paradigm . in this situation , the logical concept for describing components of the computer program are known as objects . an object is used to define the properties and interfaces of a system component . the computer program is an assembly of one or more objects and this object structure helps to clearly define and encapsulate the components of the computer program . the program uses “ object oriented programming ,” an industry standard practice , well known in the art , for program definition , design , and development . in one embodiment , the objects are implemented in c ++ program code as classes . a class is a c ++ programming language data structure that exists to implement the logical concept of an object and is used to encapsulate the data properties and methods / interfaces of an object into a single data structure . generally speaking , three basic foundation structure programs are initially stored into the computer memory 16 or the processing unit 14 to implement the fire sprinkler system objects for display in a fire sprinkler system drawing produced on the display device 12 . first , microsoft foundation program structure is a program based upon the microsoft standard multi - document interface ( mdi ). this program model is built upon a base including four fundamental objects , namely , application , frame , document , and view . the application , sold under the trademark , microsoft foundation class libraries ( mfc ), provides utilitarian objects and represents a program itself . it is through the application object that the process is initiated and all other objects come into existence . the application creates the frame , document , and view objects . the frame object represents the frame window of the application that becomes visible to the user and acts as the manager for subsequent user interface objects , such as other windows . the frame object encapsulates the internal data structures used by the operating system , sold under the trademark microsoft windows , to create and maintain an application &# 39 ; s parent window . the document object represents an instance of the user &# 39 ; s data and is stored to memory for later retrieval . many document objects can exist for each instance of the program , enabling the program to open several documents simultaneously . the view object represents a view into the data of a document object . the view object provides the user with a visual interface to the document . the view object encapsulates the internal data structures used by the microsoft windows operating system to create and maintain an application &# 39 ; s child window . many view objects can exist for each document object , enabling the program to display several different views of the same document simultaneously . the second foundation program within the routine 50 is a cad foundation program sold under the trademark symmetrica , for the piping system design software . this software includes a set of programming objects that expands upon the mfc program structure . it adds capability to the mfc application , frame , document , and view objects , enabling them to offer the fundamental behavior and interfaces of a cad program . many essential objects provided by this program support the needs of a cad program . an application object necessary to support the cad program , and a frame object which establishes the parent window framework required to support the cad program objects are derived from microsoft mfc objects . a document object is used to provide all the capability required to encapsulate cad drawing data , which includes drawing elements and user settings appropriate to each drawing . a view object provides a visual interface to the document object . this view object provides the three dimensional view , rotation and scaling properties , enabling the user to view the document &# 39 ; s data from any arbitrary three dimensional position , view rotation , and magnification . it also provides for requesting three dimensional cartesian coordinate ( x , y , z ) point input from the user . input is provided by the system pointing device 22 ( mouse ), the keyboard 20 , or both . also provided is a base class object of all cad drawing elements , such as lines , arcs , circles , etc ., that can be managed by the document object and displayed by the view object . this object defines the interface to the cad drawing elements that all derived classes inherit through standard c ++ mechanisms . this standard interface enables the definition of the new kinds of elements for the cad drawing , such as a pipe layout object derived from a line segment . the cad foundation program further acts as the foundation program for other programs . the third foundation program is the program sold under the trademark object dbx . this program is a collection of objects for reading , writing , and viewing dwg and dxf drawing files . this file format is well known in the art , the industry standard for the exchange of drawing files , and is used in one embodiment of the fire sprinkler drawing system described herein . using object dbx objects , the above cad foundation has the capability to read , write , and view dwg and dxf drawing files . this capability is implemented in the cad program document and view objects . dwg and dxf drawing files can be read / appended to a cad drawing and the cad drawings may be stored on a data storage medium as dwg and dxf drawing files . additionally , dwg and dxf drawing files can be selected as a backdrop to the current cad drawing . this method enables the cad program to make full use of the high - speed display objects to view dwg and dxf drawings . when the display must be refreshed , the background drawing is displayed first , immediately followed by the elements of the cad drawing . in general , the cad program stores fire sprinkler system elements , such as pipes , sprinkler heads , hangers , fittings , couplings , etc ., as well as building elements , such a walls , ceilings , floors , beams , electrical components , plumbing components , etc . as templates or generic objects in one or more parts databases in , for example , the memory 16 . the cad program may also store information describing features and capabilities of the drawing routine in the form of a help database , in the memory 16 . during operation , the cad program enables the user to perform any of numerous commands to create or produce a building and / or a fire sprinkler system drawing having a plurality of fire sprinkler system elements connected together at particular locations in the drawing using the parts and elements in the parts databases . in the past , these commands were generated solely using mouse and keyboard inputs and the design or function of these commands is known in the art . during operation , and in response to the user initiated commands , the cad program produces the fire sprinkler system drawing essentially as a set of interconnected objects each having particular properties ( as specified by the user initiated commands ), such as location , size , color , etc . that define these objects and the interconnection of these objects . the cad program stores the fire sprinkler system drawing , which may include fire sprinkler system elements with or without building elements therein , in the memory 16 or other memory associated with the system 10 . the cad program , using the image controller 30 and other programs described herein , also displays the fire sprinkler system drawing , or portions thereof , on the display unit 12 . in some cases , the cad program may enable a user to perform other functions or analyses on or with respect to the fire sprinkler system drawing , such as performing any desired or known hydraulic calculations or analysis on the drawing . such hydraulic calculations may include finding a remote area in the drawing , as that term is generally known in the art , and performing hydraulic calculations using that remote area to understand or view the flow capabilities or properties of the fire sprinkler system which has been drawn . such hydraulic calculations are known and need not be described herein . the cad program may also implement a system optimizer that enables the user to change elements within the drawing and to determine the hydraulic effects of that change to thereby optimize the fire sprinkler system in terms of function and cost . still further , the cad program may implement a report that lists all of the parts in the fire sprinkler system or a selected portion of the fire sprinkler system , or any other desired report . of course , the functionality of the fire sprinkler system drawing routine itself is not new and , thus , will not be described in detail herein . also , while the fire sprinkler drawing routine is described herein as being an object - oriented routine , it could be any other type of routine , using other programming structures or paradigms , that provides a user with the capability to produce a fire sprinkler system drawing on a display device using a set of user initiated commands . as will be described below , the fire sprinkler drawing program 50 is responsive to user initiated commands in the form of keyboard and mouse commands as well as voice commands . fig2 illustrates the generic form of a possible graphics image that may be placed on the display unit 12 including an image or drawing region 52 and a command region 54 . the image region 52 is the region in which the fire sprinkler system drawing and , if desired , the building in which the fire sprinkler system being drawn , is illustrated in graphical form . the building and the fire sprinkler system can be drawn in any form , such a in two - dimensional form , three - dimensional form , etc . in this case , each part of the drawing , such as each building wall , floor , ceiling , pipe , fitting , coupling , etc . is a separate object which is instantiated to have some particular qualities or parameters as well as a particular location in some coordinate space . the user can add or delete elements from the drawing on the image region 52 as desired using appropriate commands . generally speaking , the command region 54 , provides or displays commands that can be used to draw a fire sprinkler system and a building in which this system is to be used . such commands typically take the form of pull down menus having numerous commands that can be selected by the user with , for example , the mouse 22 or the keyboard 24 ( via , for example , function keys ) to perform certain tasks within the image region 52 . the command region 54 may also include a section 54 a that displays templates or other drawing commands that can be used to place , delete or modify objects within the image region . these commands may cause the curser to draw , for example , a wall , a ceiling , a pipe , a fitting , etc . when the command is selected and the cursor is placed in the image region 52 . when a user selects one of these commands and draws an element in the image region , the program 50 will instantiate the element as an object within the fire sprinkler system drawing , as stored in the database 16 . fig3 provides an example of an image 60 that may be generated on the display screen 12 having an image region 62 and a command region 64 in the form of that illustrated in fig2 . as shown in fig3 , a fire sprinkler system drawing 65 having interconnected sprinkler heads , branch lines , cross mains , etc . is displayed in the image region 62 . furthermore , the left hand side of the command region 64 a of fig3 includes a set of templates or drawing commands that can be used to place objects on the image region 62 . there are also numerous commands available in the form of pull down menus on the top portion of the command region 64 . in particular , these commands may be accessed via pull down menus entitled file , edit , select , snaps , tools , actions , commands , auto draw , roof planes , wizards , hydraulics , finish , listing , parts database , settings , etc . in fig3 , the wizards pull down menu is selected illustrating a 3 point system command , a grid system command , an in - rack system command , a loop system command and a tree system command . when any of these wizards commands is selected , a wizard or routine within the program 50 in initiated which aids the user in drawing the particular type of fire sprinkler system , such as a grid fire sprinkler system , a loop fire sprinkler system , etc . thus , as illustrated in fig3 , each of the pull down menus in the command region 64 may be selected to illustrate or access commands that can be used to perform functions within the image region 62 . as will be understood , some of the commands , such as the 3 point system command , runs a routine that asks the user for additional information . in particular , the 3 point system wizard is a routine that first asks the user to select and area on the image region 62 in which a sprinkler system is to be drawn , and then asks the user for hundreds of other design criteria to be used in drawing a fire sprinkler system . after the user enters all of the design criteria , the 3 - point wizard then draws a fire sprinkler system within the designated area as specified by the design criteria entered by the user . thus , certain commands , when selected , will cause the user to use other commands to , for example , input particular information which is needed to implement a function or operation within the image region 62 . it can be seen that there are many , many commands that are available to the user of the drawing system , and , at least , initially , the user can be overwhelmed with the sheer number of commands that he or she can initiate at any given time . thus , the user may be unable to easily and quickly find the command that he or she needs at a particular time . to help alleviate this problem , the fire sprinkler drawing system 10 of fig1 incorporates a voice command acquisition and recognition feature to enable a user to more quickly and easily draw a fire sprinkler system using voice commands . as illustrated in fig1 , the voice recognition unit 42 is stored in the processing unit 14 and is executed on the processor associated therewith to process incoming voice signals generated by the microphone 24 . during this processing activity , a voice signal is processed to determine a voice command , which is then compared to a list of appropriate or possible commands for the situation or context . thus , in some contexts , a command may not be appropriate or available because of the state in which the program 50 lies and , if so , an error signal or other message may be displayed to the user to indicate that the voice command is inappropriate . in any event , if the decoded voice signal is determined to be , according to some statistical measure , one of the possible or currently appropriate commands , that command is sent to the processor to be processed within the context of the fire sprinkler drawing program 50 in a manner similar to the manner in which a mouse or keyboard generated command would be processed . more particularly , when the voice processing unit 42 receives speech , voice or other sound signals from the microphone 24 , the voice processing unit 42 performs voice or speech recognition processing thereon in any known or desired manner and delivers a potential command to the controller unit 44 based on recognized voice inputs which is then delivered to the program 50 in the same manner that decoded keyboard and mouse commands are delivered to the program 50 . of course , the voice processing unit 42 may deliver a decoded command to the program directly if so desired . the voice processing unit 42 may perform any desired or known type of processing on the received speech signals to identify certain recognized speech commands or words . during this process , the voice processing unit 42 may compare an identified voice command to a list of stored or recognized commands which may be stored in a memory 70 to determine if a valid command is being delivered via the voice or speech input . of course , if desired , the controller 42 may determine if the received command is a valid command within the context of the program 50 and may notify the user when an unrecognized command is received . the voice processing unit 42 may , if so desired , have learning capabilities of any desired type . referring now to fig4 , a flowchart 72 depicts the operation of one embodiment of software associated with an embodiment of the voice processing unit 42 that may be used to implement voice activated commands within the fire sprinkler drawing system or program 50 . it should be noted that the flowchart 72 is general in nature and can be implemented using any desired programming structure , routines or commands . in the flowchart 72 , a block 74 receives a speech or voice signal from the microphone 24 or other voice input device . a block 76 processes the voice signal to identify a voice command within the signal using any desired or standard voice recognition processing routine , such as that indicated above . a block 78 next determines a potential decoded command and a block 80 compares the identified decoded command or input with a set of recognized commands stored in , for example , the memory 70 , to determine if the decoded command is a valid command . of course , the set of recognized commands may change depending on the state of the program 50 at any particular time . if the voice command is recognized as being the same or similar to one of the recognized commands as determined by the block 82 , a block 84 provides the command to the fire sprinkler drawing program 50 via , for example , the controller 44 , and control is returned to the block 74 . the command is then used by the fire sprinkler drawing program 50 in the manner in which it would be used if received via a keyboard or mouse input . if , at the block 82 , the voice command signal is not recognized as a valid command , a block 86 may notify the user via , for example , a screen prompt or a voice or sound indication , such as a beep , and control is returned to the block 74 which receives and processes further voice signals . if desired , however , the program 50 may implement a check to determine if a decoded voice command is a valid command and may ignore invalid commands . thus , the blocks of the flowchart 72 do not need to be all within the voice processing unit 42 . generally speaking , the voice processing unit 42 may implement or allow a user to perform using spoken command any number or type of commands including , for example , drawing placement commands , wizard initiation commands , autodraw commands , edit commands , view commands , parts listing commands , hydraulics calculation commands , software management commands , and help commands , to name but a few . generally speaking , drawing placement commands enable the user to place specific building , pipe and sprinkler elements , such as pipes , hangers , columns , sprinkler heads , mains , etc . into the image area of a drawing or layout being designed by the user . wizard initiation commands enable the user to initiate a wizard that asks for exact specifications of a variety of elements and that then uses these specifications to draw a fire sprinkler system within the image area . autodraw commands allow the user to have the computer perform particular drawing functions , such as placing fittings , hangers , etc . within a fire sprinkler system being drawn . edit commands enable the user to modify and manipulate existing elements in a drawing and includes commands such as copy , paste , delete , rotate , mirror , etc . view commands determine , change or manipulate the size , contour and color of a drawing displayed by the computer in the image region . these commands includes zoom , 3 - d / 2 - d , element colors , distance between points , etc . parts listing commands enable the user to view , in list format , the sprinkler and pipe elements used in a drawing within the image region . these commands may allow the user to view elements according to different categories such as cost , pipe size , manufacturer , etc . hydraulics calculation commands initiate routines that perform different types of known hydraulic calculations which enable the user to examine the hydraulic performance of a fire sprinkler system depicted in the fire sprinkler system drawing . these commands include defining a remote area , creating analysis reports , etc . software management commands allows the user to store and retrieve various files and program specifications and includes such commands as save , print , adding parts to database , changing default settings , etc . help commands allow the user to access a database of information describing the software &# 39 ; s features and capabilities and may include accessing tutorial videos , daily tips which are tips given to the user pertaining to the operation of the fire sprinkler drawing program 50 , etc . the table below lists one set of commands that may be recognized by the voice processing unit 42 and stored in the memory 70 , along with a description of the function performed by each command within the fire sprinkler drawing program 50 of course these commands are but of few of the voice commands that can be used in a fire sprinkler drawing system to provide a user with more accurate and faster drawing capabilities . thus , any other commands could be used instead of or in addition to those listed above . in fact , in some instances , a single voice command can eliminate the need to perform two or more mouse or keyboard selection operations , thereby making these commands more readily available and easier to use . in particular , in some instances , the user has to use a mouse to select a pull down menu and then move the mouse to a command and then select that command , all of which takes time and hand coordination . however , that same command may be initiated by a single voice command in a fraction of the time and with a fraction of the effort . still further , it has been determined that , in the complex drawing environment of fire sprinkler systems , it is often easier for the user to remember the names of the commands he or she needs to use than the location or place at which the user needs to access that command from the windows menu . this fact is especially true when the designer or user is unfamiliar with the fire sprinkler drawing program such as when he or she is first learning to use the system . thus , the incorporation of the voice activated commands within the fire sprinkler drawing environment is especially beneficial as it reduces the time it takes a user to draw a fire sprinkler system as well as the time it takes the user or designer to learn to use the fire sprinkler drawing program effectively . while the present invention has been described with reference to specific examples , which are intended to be illustrative only and not to be limiting of the invention , it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that changes , additions or deletions may be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .
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various types of cyclomethicones may be used . illustratively , and not by way of limitation , the volatile silicones are one or more members selected from the group consisting of cyclic polydimethylsiloxanes such as those represented by formula i : where n is an integer with a value of 3 - 7 , particularly 5 - 6 . by volatile silicone material is meant a material that has a measurable vapor pressure at ambient temperature . for example , dc - 245 fluid or dc - 345 fluid from dow corning corporation ( midland , mich .) is a type of cyclomethicone which can be used . these include a tetramer ( or octylmethylcyclotetrasiloxane ) and a pentamer ( or decamethylcyclopentasiloxane ). the antiperspirant active can be selected from the group consisting of any of the known antiperspirant active materials . these include , by way of example ( and not of a limiting nature ), aluminum chlorohydrate , aluminum chloride , aluminum sesquichlorohydrate , zirconyl hydroxychloride , aluminum - zirconium glycine complex ( for example , aluminum zirconium trichlorohydrex gly , aluminum zirconium pentachlorohydrex gly , aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex gly and aluminum zirconium octochlorohydrex gly ), aluminum chlorohydrex pg , aluminum chlorohydrex peg , aluminum dichlorohydrex pg , and aluminum dichlorohydrex peg . the aluminum - containing materials can be commonly referred to as antiperspirant active aluminum salts . generally , the foregoing metal antiperspirant active materials are antiperspirant active metal salts . in the embodiments which are antiperspirant compositions according to the present invention , such compositions need not include aluminum - containing metal salts , and can include other antiperspirant active materials , including other antiperspirant active metal salts . generally , category i active antiperspirant ingredients listed in the food and drug administration &# 39 ; s monograph on antiperspirant drugs for over - the - counter human use can be used . in addition , any new drug , not listed in the monograph , such as aluminum nitratohydrate and its combination with zirconyl hydroxychlorides and nitrides , or aluminum - stannous chlorohydrates , can be incorporated as an antiperspirant active ingredient in antiperspirant compositions according to the present invention . particular types of antiperspirant actives include aluminum zirconium trichlorohydrex and aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex either with or without glycine . a particular antiperspirant active is aluminum trichlorohydrex gly such as azz - 902 suf ( from reheis inc ., berkley heights , n . j .) which has 98 % of the particles less than 10 microns in size . antiperspirant actives can be incorporated into compositions according to the present invention in amounts in the range of 10 - 25 % ( on an actives basis ) of the final composition , but the amount used will depend on the formulation of the composition . at lower levels the antiperspirant active material will not substantially reduce the flow of perspiration as effectively , but will reduce malodor , for example , by acting also as an antimicrobial material . the antiperspirant active material is desirably included as particulate matter suspended in the composition of the present invention in amounts as described above , but can also be added as solutions or added directly to the mixture . emollients are a known class of materials in this art , imparting a soothing effect to the skin . these are ingredients which help to maintain the soft , smooth , and pliable appearance of the skin . emollients are also known to reduce whitening on the skin and / or improve aesthetics . examples of chemical classes from which suitable emollients can be found include : ( a ) fats and oils which are the glyceryl esters of fatty acids , or triglycerides , normally found in animal and plant tissues , including those which have been hydrogenated to reduce or eliminate unsaturation . also included are synthetically prepared esters of glycerin and fatty acids . isolated and purified fatty acids can be esterified with glycerin to yield mono -, di -, and triglycerides . these are relatively pure fats which differ only slightly from the fats and oils found in nature . the general structure may be represented by formula iii : wherein each of r , r 2 , and r 3 may be the same or different and have a carbon chain length ( saturated or unsaturated ) of 7 to 30 . specific examples include peanut oil , sesame oil , avocado oil , coconut , cocoa butter , almond oil , safflower oil , corn oil , cotton seed oil , castor oil , hydrogenated castor oil , olive oil , jojoba oil , cod liver oil , palm oil , soybean oil , wheat germ oil , linseed oil , and sunflower seed oil ; ( b ) hydrocarbons which are a group of compounds containing only carbon and hydrogen . these are derived from petrochemicals . their structures can vary widely and include aliphatic , alicyclic and aromatic compounds . specific examples include paraffin , petrolatum , hydrogenated polyisobutene , and mineral oil . ( c ) esters which chemically , are the covalent compounds formed between acids and alcohols . esters can be formed from almost all acids ( carboxylic and inorganic ) and any alcohol . esters here are derived from carboxylic acids and an alcohol . the general structure would be r 4 co — or . the chain length for r 4 and r 5 can vary from 7 to 30 and can be saturated or unsaturated , straight chained or branched . specific examples include isopropyl myristate , isopropyl palmitate , isopropyl stearate , isopropyl isostearate , butyl stearate , octyl stearate , hexyl laurate , cetyl stearate , diisopropyl adipate , isodecyl oleate , diisopropyl sebacate , isostearyl lactate , c 12 - 15 alkyl benzoates , myreth - 3 myristate , dioctyl malate , neopentyl glycol diheptanoate , neopentyl glycol dioctanoate , dipropylene glycol dibenzoate , c 12 - 15 alcohols lactate , isohexyl decanoate , isohexyl caprate , diethylene glycol dioctanoate , octyl isononanoate , isodecyl octanoate , diethylene glycol diisononanoate , isononyl isononanoate , isostearyl isostearate , behenyl behenate , c 12 - 15 alkyl fumarate , laureth - 2 benzoate , propylene glycol isoceteth - 3 acetate , propylene glycol ceteth - 3 acetate , octyldodecyl myristate , cetyl ricinoleate , myristyl myristate . ( d ) saturated and unsaturated fatty acids which are the carboxylic acids obtained by hydrolysis of animal or vegetable fats and oils . these have general structure r 6 cooh with the r 6 group having a carbon chain length between 7 - 10 straight chain . ( e ) saturated and unsaturated fatty alcohols ( including guerbet alcohols ) with general structure r 7 coh where r 7 can be straight chain and have carbon length of 7 to 10 . ( f ) lanolin and its derivatives which are a complex esterified mixture of high molecular weight esters of ( hydroxylated ) fatty acids with aliphatic and alicyclic alcohols and sterols . general structures would include r 8 ch 2 —( och 2 ch 2 ) n oh where r 8 represents the fatty groups derived from lanolin and n = 5 to 75 or r 9 co —( och 2 ch 2 ) n oh where r 9 co — represents the fatty acids derived from lanolin and n = 5 to 100 . specific examples include lanolin , lanolin oil , lanolin wax , lanolin alcohols , lanolin fatty acids , isopropyl lanolate , ethoxylated lanolin and acetylated lanolin alcohols . ( g ) alkoxylated alcohols wherein the alcohol portion is selected from aliphatic alcohols having 2 - 18 and more particularly 4 - 18 carbons , and the alkylene oxide portion is selected from the group consisting of ethylene oxide , and propylene oxide having a number of alkylene oxide units from 2 - 53 and , more particularly , from 2 - 15 . specific examples include ppg - 14 butyl ether and ppg - 53 butyl ether . ( h ) silicones as the linear organo - substituted polysiloxanes which are polymers of silicon / oxygen with general structure : ( 1 ) ( r 10 ) 3 sio ( si ( r 11 ) 2 o ) x si ( r 12 ) 3 where r 10 , r 11 and r 12 can be the same or different and are each independently selected from the group consisting of phenyl and c1 - c60 alkyl ; or ( 2 ) ho ( r 14 ) 2 sio ( si ( r 15 ) 2 o ) x si ( r 16 ) 2 oh , where r 14 , r 15 and r 16 can be the same or different and are each independently selected from the group consisting of phenyl and c1 - c60 alkyl ; ( with specific examples including dimethicone , dimethiconol behenate , c 30 - 45 alkyl methicone , stearoxytrimethylsilane , phenyl trimethicone and stearyl dimethicone ); one particular group of emollients includes c12 - 15 alkyl benzoate ( finsolv tn from finetex inc ., elmwood park , n . j . ), medium volatility dimethicone ( especially 10 - 350 centistoke material and more especially 10 - 50 centistoke material ), isopropyl myristate ; and neopentyl glycol diheptanoate . the emollient or emollient mixture or blend thereof incorporated in compositions according to the present invention can , illustratively , be included in amounts of 1 - 15 %, and particularly 3 - 12 % by weight of the total weight of the composition . polyethylenes may be made in a variety of ways . each polymerization method has its own advantages and disadvantages and may e used to obtain a polymer with specific properties . for example , free radical polymerization of ethylene using radical initiators usually gives highly branched polymers known as low - density polyethylene . this method usually requires high temperatures and pressures . preparation of linear polyethylene can be achieved at low temperatures and pressures using transition metal compounds and organometallic compounds as a catalyst . zeigler - natta catalyst ( for example , ticl 4 and al ( c 2 h 5 ) 3 ) is a widely used catalyst system for commercial preparation of linear polyethylene . the molecular weight of the polymer can be manipulated by controlling temperature , pressure and the ratios of the two - part catalyst system used . the molecular weight can also be controlled by using chain transfer agents such as molecular hydrogen and zn ( c 2 h 5 ) 2 . active hydrogen compounds ( for example , methanol ) can also bring about termination of the growing chains just as they do in anionic polymerization . the method for making both low and high molecular weight linear polyethylene is the same . low molecular weight polymer is obtained by controlling the molecular weight using chain transfer agents such a hydrogen gas or methanol followed by isolation of the desired molecular weight through fractionation by distillation or re - precipitation with solvents of varying polarities . one can also use a catalyst system which employs a combination of transition metal compound or an element from groups iv to viii such as vanadium , chromium , or cobalt as well as an organometallic compound of a metal from groups i and iii of the periodic table . one typical example for making linear polyethylene is described below ( see example pe ). the polyethylenes useful in this invention include those sold under the performalene ™ product line ( new phase technology , piscataway , n . j . ); marcus polyethylenes ( for example m200 , m300 , m500 and m4040 ) ( marcus oil and chemical , houston , tex . ); hpwax polyethylene waxes ( for example , hp cwp 200 , hp cwp 500 and hp 400m ) ( hase petroleum wax co ., arlington heights , ill .). mixtures of neutral polyethylene wax / polypropylene wax may also be used such as polarwachs ® pt30 , polarwachs ® pt70 , and polycerit ® at - grades ( th . c . tromm gmbh , germany ). suitable polyethylenes may also be made using information found in the art such as british patent 1 450 285 . one particular elastomer of interest is ksg - 15 silicone elastomer from shin - etsu silicones of america ( akron , ohio ). the stick antiperspirant / deodorant products of this invention is an opaque product which leaves little or no white residue when applied and which exhibits improved efficacy and stability as compared to other stick formulations made with stearyl alcohol . reduction of sweat of at least 10 % more than that achieved with sticks gelled with stearyl alcohol can be achieved with the compositions of the invention . suitable antibacterial or antimicrobial agents include , for example , bacteriostatic quaternary ammonium compounds such as 2 - amino - 2 - methyl - 1 - propanol ( amp ), cetyl - trimethylammonium bromide , cetyl pyridinium chloride , 2 , 4 , 4 ′- trichloro - 2 ′- hydroxydiphenylether ( triclosan ), n -( 4 - chlorophenyl )- n ′-( 3 , 4 - dichlorophenyl ) urea ( triclocarban ), silver halides , octoxyglycerin ( sensiva ™ sc 50 ) and various zinc salts ( for example , zinc ricinoleate ). the bacteriostat can , illustratively , be included in the composition in an amount of 0 - 5 %, particularly 0 . 01 - 1 . 0 % by weight , of the total weight of the composition . triclosan , can illustratively be included in an amount of from 0 . 05 % to about 0 . 5 % by weight , of the total weight of the composition . a variety of fragrances can be used in these compositions if scented products are desired . fragrances can be used in an amount in the range of 0 - 5 %, particularly 0 . 01 - 2 . 0 %, and , for example , at a level of 1 %. masking agents can be used in an amount of 0 . 05 - 5 . 0 % ( particularly 0 . 05 - 2 %) by weight based on the total weight of the composition if an unscented product is desired . for additional hardening of sticks , other additives having a melting point in the range of 78 - 98 degrees c . such as long chain alcohols ( such as performacol 350 ( having an average carbon chain length of 24 carbons ), performacol 425 ( having an average carbon chain length of 30 carbons ), or performacol 550 ( having an average carbon chain length of 40 carbons )); alcohol ethoxylates ( such as performathox 420 ( 20 % by weight ethoxylation ) and performathox 450 ( 50 % by weight ethoxylation ) all available from new phase technology , piscataway , n . j . may be used . for reducing whitening in sticks liquid or solid high refractive index materials may be used such as diethylhexyl 2 , 6 - naphthalate ( from c . p . hall co ., chicago , ill .) or phenyltrimethicone ( from dow coming corp ., midland , mich .) as well as other suitable ingredients . other various optional components include those described in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 019 , 375 to tanner et al ; 4 , 937 , 069 to shin ; and 5 , 102 , 656 , each of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein . examples of such additional ingredients include fragrances , coloring agents , opacifiers , etc . in types and amounts conventionally used for such products . these compositions are sticks made as suspensions and thickened or gelled by the combination of polyethylene and selected wax components . the products of the invention can be made by conventional mixing techniques . the emollients are selected , weighed out and heated with stirring to about 65 degrees c . next the wax component is added and heating is continued to a temperature in the range of 82 - 85 degrees c . the polyethylene is added . the mixture is cooled to about 80 degrees c . and the elastomer plus additional cyclomethicone ( which has been preheated to about 70 degrees c .) is added . the mixture is cooled further to 75 degrees c . and the antiperspirant active is added . the temperature is increased to about 80 degrees c . and held there for about 10 minutes with mixing . fragrance , an antibacterial agent , coloring , etc . are then added if desired and thoroughly mixed . the final mixture is poured into suitable containers and then passed through a cooling tunnel which is at about 4 degrees c . or placed in a refrigerator for a suitable length of time on a laboratory scale . cooling is then completed ( completion of cooling can also be done at room temperature ). the composition can be rubbed onto the skin from the top surface of the container ( itself fed from a reservoir of product in the container ) so as to deposit an adequate amount of the cosmetic composition on to the skin . the cosmetic composition , for example , an antiperspirant / deodorant may be applied to the skin in the axillary regions to deposit sufficient amounts of antiperspirant and / or deodorant active material to reduce body malodor and / or reduce perspiration in axillary regions of the human body . various forms of the invention can be exemplified by the following formulations but should not be construed as limitations on the invention : the following examples are offered as illustrative of the invention and are not to be construed as limitations thereon . in the examples and elsewhere in the description of the invention , chemical symbols and terminology have their usual and customary meanings . in the examples as elsewhere in this application ( a ) values for n , m , etc . in formulas , molecular weights and degree of ethoxylation or propoxylation are averages ; ( b ) temperatures are in degrees c . unless otherwise indicated ; and ( c ) the amounts of the components are in weight percents based on the standard described ; if no other standard is described then the total weight of the composition is to be inferred . various names of chemical components include those listed in the ctfa international cosmetic ingredient dictionary ( cosmetics , toiletry and fragrance association , inc ., 7 th ed . 1997 ). mixing techniques used to make the compositions are those conventionally used in the art including those described above . a 3 - liter flask reactor is equipped with a manometer and stirring apparatus and is set at atmospheric pressure with constant stirring . the reactor temperature is set at 65 degrees c . by thermostat , purged with nitrogen , purged with ethylene , and then charged with 1 liter of purified dry cyclohexane , 4 . 6 millimoles of ticl 4 , and 2 . 0 millimoles of al ( c 2 h 5 ) 3 . ethylene is then fed at the rate of 1 liter / minute into the reactor . after 15 minutes , the reaction is quenched by bubbling hydrogen gas through the reaction mixture . the low molecular weight polymers ( which are oligomers ) are separated by fractional distillation of the product mixture at reduced pressure ( 200 torr , 26 , 664 pascals ). the emollients ( for example , dimethicone ( for example , dc - 200 , 10 centistokes and / or dc - 200 350 centistokes from dow corning corp .) and c12 - 15 alkyl benzoate ( finsolv tn brand product ) are weighed out and placed in a 600 ml beaker . each of the other ingredients is weighed out separately . heating with stirring is initiated for the emollients in the 600 ml beaker until the temperature is about 65 degrees . c . the wax component is then added ( for example , japan wax sub 525 and / or microcrystalline wax from ross ). heating and stirring are continued until the temperature is in the range of 82 - 85 degrees c . the polyethylene ( for example , performalene - 400 from new phase technology , piscataway , n . j .) is then added with stirring . the mixture is cooled to about 80 degrees and the elastomer ( ksg - 15 ) plus additional cyclomethicone ( dc - 345 from dow corning corp .) which has been preheated to about 70 degrees c . is then added with stirring . the mixture is further cooled to about 75 degrees c . and the antiperspirant active salt ( for example , reach azz 902 suf aluminum zirconium salt or reach azp 908 from reheis inc ., berkeley heights , n . j .) is added with mixing . the temperature is increased to about 80 degrees c . and held there for about 10 minutes with mixing . fragrance is added and mixing is continued for 1 minute . the mixture is poured into oval containers of the type normally used for antiperspirant / deodorant products and placed in a refrigerator at about 4 degrees c . for about 15 minutes . cooling is completed at room temperature . in some of the examples additional ingredients such as diethylhexyl 2 , 6 - naphthalate or performacol 350 alcohol can be added .
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so as to facilitate comprehension of the invention , the following are the readily accepted definitions of some terms used in this description : 1 . primers : single strand synthetic oligonucleotide , normally used in pairs in hybridisation with strands complementary to a dna section . the inner extremities of the primer / dna template complex are used by the dna polymerase as points of initiation of the synthesis in a pcr . 2 . polymerase chain reaction ( pcr ) : technique involving the application of cycles of denaturation , annealing with the primer and extension with a thermostable dna polymerase , e . g . the taq dna polymerase , to amplify a target sequence of dna . the pcr process for amplifying nucleic acid is described in the documents u . s . pat . no . 4 , 683 , 195 and u . s . pat . no . 4 , 683 , 202 . an inadequate choice of primers may produce various undesirable effects , such as : impossibility of amplification , amplification at various sites , formation of primer dimers , amongst others , rendering the amplification reaction non - informative . the object of the present invention is accomplished by the amplification , by pcr , of a specific region of the schistosoma sp . genoma and latter separation by electrophoresis of the products of this amplification , followed by appropriate colouring techniques that permit an adequate visualisation of the dna in the gel including , but not limited to : colouring by silver salts , radioisotopes and enzymes combined with substrates that permit their detection , without the undesirable effects mentioned above . the method of the present invention may be employed for the detection of the dna of the genera schistosoma in any biological sample that contains cells or dna free of the parasite having sufficient integrity to be amplified by pcr . some samples , such as faeces and urine , need to be submitted to some kind of treatment so that the membranes or envelopes that may eventually enclose the dna in the cell of the parasite , may be ruptured , releasing the dna in solution . other samples , e . g . the serum of infected people , already contains the free molecules and do not need such treatment . generally , the membranes can be ruptured by the use of special chemical substances , such as detergents and chaotropic salts , or by using physical and mechanical processes , such as induced osmotic pressure and sonication . after the rupture of the cell membranes , the dna must be isolated from the other cell molecules , which can also be done by physicochemical processes , such as precipitation by ethanol or with the use of silica matrixes . once free in the solution , the dna may be detected in the sample , after amplification by pcr . the dna must be , preferentially , purified employing standard techniques for the removal of eventual substances that inhibit the amplification reaction . after extraction , the dna is selectively amplified by polymerase chain reaction . through the pcr , a specific sequence of the schistosoma sp . genoma is selectively copied millions of times , permitting the detection of the parasite dna . the reaction is a sequential process that requires at least two primers , small sequences of dna complementary to the parasite dna , that will be extended enzymatically , presenting a faithful copy of this dna . adding large quantities of primers , together with other necessary reagents , millions of copies of the parasite dna are obtained . the primers of the pcr employed here were specially designed for this invention , based on the original highly repetitive sequence of the s . mansoni genoma as described in id seq n . 1 and also illustrated in fig1 . it must be understood that other primers may be constructed having nucleotide sequences that are functionally equivalent in relation to id seq n . 2 and id seq n . 3 . such sequences are termed equivalent if functionally the corresponding biopolymers can perform the same role , without being identical , in view of the usage or purpose considered . the equivalent sequences may be the result of variability , as such , any modification in a sequence , spontaneous or induced , whether by substitution and / or deletion and / or insertion of nucleotide , and / or extension and / or shortening of the sequence at one of its extremities . an unnatural variability can result from genetic engineering techniques . each primer of the pair is , preferentially , constructed in a manner as to be substantially complementary to a different strand of the sequence that flanks the specific sequence of the schistosoma sp . genoma to be amplified . thus , a primer from each pair is sufficiently complementary to be able to hybridise with a part of the sequence in the sense and the other primer of each pair is also sufficiently complementary to hybridise with a different part of the same sequence in the antisense . despite the sequence of the primer not necessarily needing to mirror the exact sequence of the template , the closer the terminal 3 ′ sequence corresponds to the exact sequence the better the link during the matching stage of the polymerase chain reaction . the primers may be prepared by any appropriate method known to those skilled in the art and include , for example , cloning and digestion of adequate sequences and direct chemical synthesis . the product from the amplification promoted by pcr is a fragment , or a series of dna fragments of different sizes which can be separated through electrophoresis , followed by appropriate techniques of colouring which allow adequate visualisation of the dna in gel . due to the great specificity of pcr , the amplified dna of the parasite can be differentiated from the other products of the amplification based on its specific size . in this manner , the presence or absence of the infection can be determined , most times , simply by visual analysis of the amplified products , therefore , by the presence or not of the fragment with a weight corresponding to that of the parasite . in the present invention , the pcr is employed to amplify and visualise a specific fragment of dna originally described in s . mansoni , and also amplify specific regions of other species of schistosoma , leading to the conclusion that the repetitive and specific region of the dna originally verified in s . mansoni and described in id seq n . 1 is common to all the other species of schistosoma . the amplification of the specific region of the schistosoma sp . genoma is done by pcr , with the primers specially constructed to be used in the present invention and defined in table 1 or functionally equivalent sequences , therefore , that are capable of amplifying the sequence of s . mansoni or homologous sequences of other species of schistosoma . the kit of the present invention includes all the reagents necessary to allow the detection of any infection caused by helminths of the genera schistosoma . the kit consists of specific primers for a specific region of the schistosoma sp . genoma as shown in table 1 or functionally equivalent sequences and , furthermore , reagents and additives normally used in the pcr technique are also supplied , e . g . appropriate nucleotide , such as dgtp ( desoxyguanidine - triphosphate ), datp ( desoxyadenosine - triphosphate ), dctp ( desoxycitidine - triphosphate ) and dttp ( desoxytimidine - trisphosphate ); appropriate buffer solution ( e . g . 10 to 20 mm of tris - hcl , 50 to 60 mm of kcl , 1 . 5 to 2 . 0 mm of mgcl 2 , ph 8 . 0 to 8 . 5 ); taq dna polymerase , preferentially . a certain quantity of dna to be used as a positive control of the reaction will also be supplied , along with an instructions manual containing the protocol to be used in the test , with an illustrative diagram of the results to be expected . the present invention is described in detail through reference to the following examples . it must be understood that the present invention is not limited to these examples but also includes variations and modifications within the scope of the functions of the invention . the eggs of s . mansoni were extracted from the livers of mice previously infected with 100 cercariae , and stored in 0 . 9 % saline solution at − 20 ° c . until being used ( pellegrino e siqueira , 1956 , rev . bras . malar . 8 : 589 ). for the rupture of the eggs , 10 μl of the saline solution containing 100 . 000 eggs / ml was mixed with 90 μl of distilled water and the final solution submitted to 5 minutes of agitation in a mechanical mixer . this mixture , containing ruptured eggs , was used directly in the extraction of the dna . extraction of dna , through a modification of the steiner method ( steiner , j . j ., c . j . poklemba , r . g . fjellstrom and l . f . elliott . 1995 . a rapid one - tube genomic dna extraction process for pcr and rapd analyses . nucleic acids res . 23 ( 13 ): 2569 - 2570 ). 100 μl of the ruptured egg solution was diluted in 200 μl of buffer containing 10 mm of tris - base , ph 8 . 0 ; 270 mm of edta , ph 8 . 0 ; 1 % of sodium dodecyl sulphate ( sds ); 1 % of polyvinylpolypyrrolidone ( pvpp ). this mixture was incubated at 95 ° c . for 20 minutes , with a rapid manual agitation after the first 10 minutes of incubation and , then centrifuged for 10 minutes at 8000 × g , at room temperature . the dna contained in the skim was precipitated with ethanol , the skim was removed and the precipitate was incubated for 15 minutes at 37 ° c . for the evaporation of the remaining alcohol and later replaced in suspension in buffer t . e . ( 10 mm of tris , ph 8 . 0 ; 1 mm of edta , ph 8 . 0 ). the dna was then quantified by optical density reading at 260 nm , and stored at − 20 ° c . until being used in the pcr . amplification by polymerase chain reaction employing the specific primers shown in table 1 : briefly , 1 μl of extracted dna was submitted to amplification in a reaction tube containing pcr buffer ( 20 mm tris - hcl ph 8 . 0 , 50 mm de kcl , 1 . 5 mm mgcl 2 ), 200 μm dntps ( deoxinucleotides ), 0 . 5 μm of each primer and 0 . 75 units of taq polimerase enzyme , in a total volume of 10 μl . the amplification reaction involved denaturation of the double - stranded parasite dna at 95 ° c . ; for 45 seconds and primer annealing at 63 ° c . ; for 30 seconds . these two steps were repeated sequentially in 35 consecutives cycles . in the first cycle , the denaturation step was prolonged for five minutes , in order to assure complete denaturation , and at the last cycle an additional step , at 72 ° c . ; for 2 minutes , was included to finalise the extension of the remaining annealed primers . [ 0051 ] fig2 shows the electrophoretic pattern obtained from the amplification of the dna of s . mansoni and , also , the maximum sensitivity obtained for the detection of this dna . in lane m is the molecular weight marker ; in lanes 1 to 5 : 20 , 10 , 5 , 1 and 0 . 5 fg of dna , respectively . the reaction by pcr was capable of detecting down to 1 fg of s . mansoni dna . fig3 shows the electrophoretic pattern obtained after the amplification of the dna of five other species of genus schistosoma , amplified with the same primers and in the same pcr conditions as used for s . mansoni . lane m : molecular weight marker ; lane 1 : dna of s . mansoni ; lane 2 : s . haematobium ; lane 3 : s . japonicum ( strain from the phillipines ); lane 4 : s . japonicum ( strain from japan ); lane 5 : s . matthei ; lane 6 : s . bovis ; lane 7 : s . leipperi ; lane 8 : negative control . the pcr reaction was capable of amplifying the dna of all the species of schistosoma sp . tested . fig4 shows the attempt to amplify the dna of worms of other genera , also under the same conditions used for s . mansoni . lane m : molecular weight marker ; lane 1 : positive control ( dna of s . mansoni ); lane 2 : ascaris lumbricoides ; lane 3 : ancilostoma duodenales ; lane 4 : taenia solium ; lane 5 : trichiuris trichiuria . no product of amplification can be visualised when using the dna of worms of other genera . the pcr described in this invention is , therefore , specific for genera schistosoma . detection of the s . mansoni dna in faecal samples of patients : in these experiments , the eggs contained in the infected faeces ( naturally or artificially ) were ruptured in the manner described in example 1 . the dna was then extracted from the faeces by the same technique used for the extraction of dna from pure s . mansoni eggs ( example 2 ). after extraction , 1 μl of the s . mansoni ( diluted 100 times ) was amplified with the same primers and in the same conditions described in example 3 . fig5 shows the products of the amplification of the s . mansoni dna in faeces artificially infected with the eggs of the parasite . briefly , 100 mg of a faecal sample of a patient , containing 216 eggs / gramme , was mixed to 900 mg of negative faeces , forming a sample with an expected concentration of approximately 20 eggs / gramme . this procedure was repeated two more times originating faeces samples with 2 and 0 , 20 eggs / gramme , approximately . an aliquot of each sample was then submitted for analysis by the kato - katz method an for detection of the parasite dna by the pcr of the invention , with the aim of comparing the sensitivity of the two methods . in lane m is the molecular weight marker ; lane 1 : positive control ( 0 . 1 ng of s . mansoni egg dna ); lanes 2 to 5 : amplified dna of samples containing 200 , 48 , 4 . 8 and 0 . 48 eggs / gramme of faeces , respectively . the pcr was capable of detecting the dna of s . mansoni down to the sample containing approximately 4 . 8 eggs / gramme , whilst the sensitivity of the kato - katz method was of 48 eggs / gramme , therefore , 10 times lower . [ 0055 ] fig6 shows the result of the amplification of the s . mansoni dna in faeces of patients with various concentrations of parasites , previously determined by the kato - katz method . lane m : molecular weight marker ; lane 1 : positive control ; lanes 2 to 9 : samples of human faeces containing 0 . 96 ; 0 . 168 ; 432 ; 600 ; 96 . 912 and 72 eggs / gramme , respectively . the result of the pcr was in accordance with those obtained by the parasitological test in all the samples . the dna of 4 samples of serum was purified using 100 μl / sample employing the glass - max ® dna isolation spin cartridge system ( life technologies ), in accordance with the instructions of the manufacturer . 2 μl of this dna were then used in the amplification by pcr , in the same conditions described above . the serum from persons previously examined by the kato - katz method was used , having 2 positive and 2 negative samples . [ 0058 ] fig7 shows the result of this amplification . in lane m is the molecular weight marker ; lane 1 : positive control ; lanes 2 to 5 : serum of persons containing 0 ; 96 ; 0 and 216 eggs / gramme of faeces respectively .
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various embodiments of polarization conversion systems that receive light from a projector are described . the polarization conversion systems present a brighter screen image in cinematic applications utilizing polarized light for three - dimensional viewing . fig2 is a schematic diagram showing a polarization conversion system ( pcs ) 100 for cinematic projection . an embodiment of the polarization conversion system 100 includes a polarizing beam splitter ( pbs ) 112 , a polarization rotator 114 ( e . g ., a half - wave plate ), a relecting element 116 ( e . g ., a fold mirror ), and a polarization switch 120 , arranged as shown . the polarization conversion system 100 may receive images from a conventional projector with a projection lens 122 . in operation , ray bundles a , b , and c emerge randomly polarized from the lens 122 and are projected toward a screen 130 to form an image . in this embodiment , a pbs 112 is inserted in place of the polarizer 22 shown in fig1 . the pbs 112 transmits p - polarized light 124 , and reflects s - polarized light 126 . the p - polarized light 124 passes through the polarization switch ( bundles a , b , and c ) and is rotated by the polarization switch in alternating frames , same as bundles a , b , and c in fig1 . the s - polarized light 126 reflected by the pbs 112 passes through a polarization rotator 114 ( e . g ., a half - wave plate , preferably achromatic in some embodiments ) and is rotated to p - polarized light 128 . the new p - polarized light 128 passes to a fold mirror 116 . the fold mirror 116 reflects the new p - polarized light 128 and passes it to polarization switch 120 . the polarization switch 120 , acting on p - polarized ray bundles a ′, b ′, and c ′, rotates the polarization of the ray bundles in alternating frames , in synchronization with the rotation of bundles a , b , and c . the position of bundles a ′, b ′, and c ′ at the screen may be adjusted ( e . g ., by adjusting the tilt of the fold mirror 116 ) to closely or exactly coincide with the positions of bundles a , b , and c at the screen . since nearly all of the randomly polarized light 106 from the projection lens 122 is imaged at the screen 130 with a single polarization state , the resulting image of the system in fig2 is approximately two times brighter than the image at the screen for the system in fig1 . in this exemplary embodiment , the pbs 112 in fig2 is depicted as a plate . however , various types of pbss may be used . for example , the pbs plate may be constructed using a wire grid layer on glass ( e . g ., proflux polarizer from moxtek in orem , utah ), polarization recycling film ( e . g ., double brightness enhancing film from 3m in st . paul , minn . ), polarization recycling film on glass ( for flatness ), or a multi - dielectric layer on glass . the pbs 112 in fig2 could alternatively be implemented as a glass cube ( with wire grid , polarization recycling film , or dielectric layers along the diagonal ) to reduce astigmatism in the final image associated with light passing through a tilted plate . alternatively , the tilted plate pbs 112 in fig2 may , in various embodiments , be implemented with spherical , aspheric , cylindrical or toroidal surfaces to reduce astigmatism in the final image at the screen 130 . de - centered spherical , aspheric , cylindrical or toroidal surfaces on the plate , and / or additional de - centered spherical , aspheric , cylindrical or toroidal elements in the optical path after the plate can be implemented to reduce astigmatism in the final image . see , e . g ., “ simple method of correcting the aberrations of a beamsplitter in converging light ,” v . doherty and d . shafer , proc . spie , vol . 0237 , pp . 195 - 200 , 1980 , which is hereby incorporated by reference . it should also be noted that a second flat plate may be inserted into the system after the tilted pbs plate 112 and its tilt adjusted to reduce or correct astigmatism in the final image . in some embodiments , the polarization rotator 114 in fig2 may be an achromatic half - wave plate . the half - wave plate may be implemented with polymer films ( e . g ., achromatic retardation plate from colorlink , inc ., boulder , colo . ), quartz plates , or a static liquid crystal device optionally patterned to account for geometric polarization alteration . the half - wave plate 114 may be positioned as shown in fig2 , or in other embodiments , it may be positioned between the fold mirror 116 and polarization switch 120 , intersecting ray bundles a ′, b ′, and c ′. this implementation may be desirable , as bundles a ′, b ′, and c ′ reflect from the fold mirror 116 in s - polarization state and mirrors often have a higher reflection for s - polarized light . however , with such an implementation , the half - wave plate 114 should be located such that bundles a ′ and c do not overlap at the plate . although in most described embodiments herein , the polarization rotator 114 is located in the second light path , it may alternatively be placed in the first light path instead , and the polarization conversion system will operate in a similar manner in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure . in some embodiments , the fold mirror 116 may be replaced with a pbs element ( e . g ., wire grid plate ). in this case , a purer polarization may be maintained after the pbs element . polarization switch 120 may be a switch as taught by u . s . pat . no . 4 , 792 , 850 ; a switch as taught by any of the switches of commonly - assigned u . s . patent application ser . no . 11 / 424 , 087 entitled “ achromatic polarization switches ”, filed jun . 14 , 2006 ; both of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes , or any other polarization switch known in the art that selectively transforms an incoming state of polarization . in some embodiments , the polarization switch 120 can be split ( i . e ., to increase yield of the device ). if the polarization switch 120 is split , it is desirable that the two devices are located such that there is no overlap of bundles a ′ and c in fig2 . splitting the polarization switch 120 allows one portion to be relocated in the a ′, b ′, c ′ optical path between the half - wave plate 114 and fold mirror 116 . placing the polarization switch 120 here may call for the fold mirror 116 to have better polarization preserving properties ( e . g ., a silflex coating from oerlikon in golden , colo .) as this may be the last element in the a ′, b ′, c ′ optical path prior to the screen . in the polarization conversion system 100 of fig2 , the optical path of ray bundle a ′ is longer than that of ray bundle a ( similarly b ′- b and c ′- c ) resulting in a magnification difference between the images produced by a ′, b ′, c ′ and a , b , c . this magnification difference may be unacceptable to an audience , especially for wide angle and short - throw projection systems . some techniques for correcting this magnification difference may include ( 1 ) providing a curved surface on the fold mirror 116 with optical power that compensates for the magnification difference ; this solution is achromatic , which is desirable ; ( 2 ) adding a fresnel or diffractive surface with optical power to the fold mirror 116 to compensate for the magnification difference ( which may or may not be achromatic ); ( 3 ) adding a refractive element ( lens ) between the fold mirror 116 and polarization switch 120 , or between the pbs 112 and fold mirror 116 ; a singlet lens is unlikely to be achromatic , but a doublet solution can be achromatic ; ( 4 ) addition of a telephoto lens as illustrated in fig3 and 4 ; or ( 5 ) a combination of at least two of the above four techniques . although as described , p - polarized light is transmitted toward the polarization switch 120 , while s - polarized light is directed toward half - wave plate 114 , it should be apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art that an alternative configuration may be employed in which s - polarized light is transmitted toward the polarization switch 120 , while p - polarized light is directed toward the half - wave plate 114 . fig3 is a schematic diagram showing another embodiment of a pcs for cinematic projection 200 . the elements of pcs 200 may be of similar type and function for those shown with respect to pcs 100 of fig2 . for instance , elements 2 xx are similar to elements 1 xx , where xx are the last two digits of the respective elements . in this embodiment , ray bundles a , b , and c may be directed through an additional set of fold mirrors 232 , 234 operable to equalize the optical path lengths of bundles a and a ′, b and b ′, c and c ′ as shown in fig3 . [ note : bundles a ′ and c ′ are present , but not illustrated . they follow a similar path to the a ′, b ′, c ′ bundles shown in fig2 ]. note that although the pbs and fold mirrors are shown here to be orientated at 45 degrees to the optical axis , the pbs 212 and fold mirrors 216 , 232 , 236 may have other orientations in accordance with the present teachings . additionally , glass may be inserted into the optical path of a ′, b ′, and c ′ ( e . g ., by replacing the fold mirror 216 with a right angle prism and / or using a glass cube pbs in place of a plate pbs ) to reduce or eliminate the optical path difference between the a , b , c and a ′, b ′, c ′ bundles , respectively . with reference to fig2 and 3 , the image from bundles a ′, b ′, and c ′ should substantially overlap the image from bundles a , b , and c for viewing comfort ( although perfect overlap is not necessarily required ). some techniques of adjusting one image location relative to the other include ( 1 ) using thumb screws or a similar mechanical techniques to tilt the fold mirror , pbs plate , or pbs cube ; ( 2 ) mechanically de - centering a lens or element with optical power ( e . g . curved mirror ); ( 3 ) utilizing a feedback system to automatically adjust image position via one of the aforementioned image adjustment techniques ; or ( 4 ) a combination of at least two of the above three techniques . optical transmission and stray light control may be optimized on optically transmissive elements by providing an anti - reflection coat thereon for high transmission and low reflection . reflections from transmissive elements can cause stray light in the system which degrades contrast and / or produces disturbing artifacts in the final image . in some embodiments , additional absorptive polarizers may be placed after the half - wave plate 114 in the a ′, b ′, c ′ path and / or after the pbs 112 in either path to control polarization leakage and improve the final image contrast . fig4 is a schematic diagram showing another embodiment of a pcs for cinematic projection 300 . the elements of pcs 300 may be of similar type and function for those shown with respect to pcs 100 of fig2 . for instance , elements 3 xx are similar to elements 1 xx , where xx are the last two digits of the respective elements . in this exemplary embodiment , a telephoto lens pair 340 may be implemented in the optical path where light transmits through the pbs 312 . here , telephoto lens pair 340 is located along an optical path and with the field of view centered on the optical axis . typically , telephoto lens 340 allows control of magnification , distortion , and imaging properties with two elements such that the two images overlay relatively close , i . e ., within 1 - 4 pixels of each other , while maintaining spots sizes on the order of a fraction of a pixel and lateral color on the order of a pixel . alternatively , a reverse telephoto lens ( not shown ) may be implemented in the optical path where light reflects from the pbs 312 ( located between the polarization switch 320 and fold mirror 316 , or after the fold mirror 316 ). if a telephoto or reverse telephoto lens is used for controlling magnification in one optical path , the radial distortion and keystone distortion of the final image can be tuned by laterally displacing the individual elements or pair of elements from the optical axis . fig5 is a schematic diagram showing another embodiment of a pcs for cinematic projection 400 . the elements of pcs 400 may be of similar type and function for those shown with respect to pcs 100 of fig2 . for instance , elements 4 xx are similar to elements 1 xx , where xx are the last two digits of the respective elements . in this exemplary embodiment , a telephoto lens pair 440 may be implemented in the optical path where light transmits through the pbs 412 . here , telephoto lens pair 440 is located along an optical path and with the field of view decentralized from the optical axis . just as described above , the radial distortion and keystone distortion of the final image can be tuned by laterally displacing the individual elements or pair of elements 440 from the optical axis . fig6 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a pcs for cinematic projection 500 that provides a circularly polarized output . pcs 500 includes a telephoto lens pair 540 along an optical path , with field of view centered on an optical axis . in this case , each polarization switch 520 is a circular polarization switch ( or z - screen ), e . g ., as described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 792 , 850 . the cleanup polarizers 542 , 544 in each path are optional , depending on the level of contrast desired from the system . for example , including one or both cleanup polarizers may enhance the system contrast . fig7 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a pcs for cinematic projection 600 that provides a linearly polarized output . here , each polarization switch 620 is an achromatic linear polarization switch , as described in u . s . patent application ser . no . 11 / 424 , 087 entitled “ achromatic polarization switches ”, filed jun . 14 , 2006 ; also manufactured by colorlink , inc ., of boulder , colo . similar to the example in fig6 , cleanup polarizers 642 , 644 in each path are optional , depending on the level of contrast desired from the system . for example , including one or both cleanup polarizers may enhance the system contrast . additionally , the achromatic rotator 648 is optional , depending on the achromatic properties of the polarization switch 620 . fig8 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a pcs for cinematic projection 700 , showing an alternative configuration in which the polarizers 746 , achromatic rotator 714 , and polarization switches 720 are located after other optical components . the elements of pcs 700 may be of similar type and function for those shown with respect to pcs 100 of fig2 . for instance , elements 7 xx are similar to elements 1 xx , where xx are the last two digits of the respective elements . in operation , light exits projection lens 722 toward pbs 712 . p - polarized light passes through pbs 712 toward telephoto lens pair 740 , then toward polarization switch 720 . an optional cleanup polarizer 746 may be located between telephoto lens pair 740 and polarization switch 720 to further enhance contrast . the s - polarized light reflected by pbs 712 is directed toward fold mirror 716 , where it reflects toward an achromatic rotator 714 that transforms the s - polarized light into p - polarized light , then it passes through an optional cleanup polarizer 746 . next , the p - polarized light from achromatic rotator 714 passes through polarization switch 720 . in this configuration , the s - polarized light reflected by the pbs 716 is efficiently reflected , with polarization maintained by the fold mirror 716 . this relaxes any want for polarization preservation from the fold path and maximizes brightness . an achromatic 90 ° rotator 714 ( probably retarder stack based ) can be used to convert light from the fold mirror to the orthogonal state . in order to eliminate p - reflection from the pbs 712 , a clean up polarizer 746 is likely desirable . this preferably follows the achromatic rotator 714 , thereby reducing polarization conversion efficiency as a factor in system level contrast . pcs 700 provides a high contrast image on the screen . in this exemplary embodiment , the final screen image has a center located on the optical axis of the projection lens . in some other embodiments , the final screen image may be located off - center from the optical axis — for example , a half screen height below the optical axis of the projection lens . in such embodiments , the polarizing beamsplitter 712 may be relocated to intercept the full illumination from the projection lens 722 , and the fold mirror 716 may be tilted to properly overlay the two images on the screen . the polarization switch 720 in this embodiment has been split into two elements ( one for each path ) to increase fabrication yield ; although , as previously discussed , it could alternatively be a single unit . as used herein , the term “ cinematic projection ” refers to the projection of images using front and / or rear projection techniques , and includes , but is not limited to , applications for cinema , home theatre , simulators , instrumentation , head - up displays ,. and other projection environments where stereoscopic images are displayed . while several embodiments and variations of polarization conversion systems for stereoscopic projection have been described above , it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only , and not limitation . thus , the breadth and scope of the invention ( s ) should not be limited by any of the above - described exemplary embodiments , but should be defined only in accordance with any claims and their equivalents issuing from this disclosure . furthermore , the above advantages and features are provided in described embodiments , but shall not limit the application of such issued claims to processes and structures accomplishing any or all of the above advantages . additionally , the section headings herein are provided for consistency with the suggestions under 37 cfr 1 . 77 or otherwise to provide organizational cues . these headings shall not limit or characterize the invention ( s ) set out in any claims that may issue from this disclosure . specifically and by way of example , although the headings refer to a “ technical field ,” such claims should not be limited by the language chosen under this heading to describe the so - called technical field . further , a description of a technology in the “ background ” is not to be construed as an admission that technology is prior art to any invention ( s ) in this disclosure . neither is the “ brief summary ” to be considered as a characterization of the invention ( s ) set forth in issued claims . furthermore , any reference in this disclosure to “ invention ” in the singular should not be used to argue that there is only a single point of novelty in this disclosure . multiple inventions may be set forth according to the limitations of the multiple claims issuing from this disclosure , and such claims accordingly define the invention ( s ), and their equivalents , that are protected thereby . in all instances , the scope of such claims shall be considered on their own merits in light of this disclosure , but should not be constrained by the headings set forth herein .
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systems and methods described herein potentially enable electrical connections between flex circuits and electronic components to be made at locations that are difficult for operators to reach . by way of example , some embodiments accommodate electrical interconnecting of components that may be located in an area of insufficient clearance for an operator to conveniently grasp and / or position a flex circuit and / or component . as shown in fig1 an embodiment of a flex circuit assembly 100 includes a flex cable 102 . for ease of illustration , only a portion of the flex cable is shown in fig1 . flex cable 102 is attached to a connector 104 at one of its ends , with another connector ( not shown ) typically being attached at the other of its ends . connector 104 is sized and shaped to mate with a corresponding connector of a component , such as a circuit assembly , e . g ., a printed circuit board ( pcb ), so that the component can electrically communicate with the flex cable . similarly , the other end of the flex cable and corresponding connector are configured to electrically communicate with another component so that the components attached to the flex cable can electrically communicate with each other . various types of connectors , e . g ., a fine pitch , surface mount compatible connector , such as a “ mictor ” series connector manufactured by tyco , can be used . in the embodiment depicted in fig1 guide posts 106 and 107 are mounted adjacent to opposing end walls 108 , 109 of the connector . the guide posts 106 and 107 are sized and shaped to be received within corresponding orifices ( not shown ) of a mating connector , which typically is attached to the component to which the flex cable is to be connected . the guide posts assist in aligning the connector of the flex cable with the connector of the component so that the connectors can electrically communicate with each other . clearly , various shapes , sizes and numbers of guide posts can be used . in some embodiments , guide posts may even be omitted . a bolster plate 110 that supports guide posts 106 , 107 is located at end 112 of the flex cable , with the bolster plate 110 and the connector 104 being positioned on opposite sides of the flex cable . in addition to supporting the guide posts , the bolster plate 110 supports , e . g ., stiffens , the flex cable so that the flex cable is more resistant to bending . this tends to improve the integrity of the solder joints that typically are used to attach the flex cable 102 to the connector 104 . as shown more clearly in fig2 retention members 113 and 114 are supported by and extend outwardly from the bolster plate 110 . retention members can , however , be attached to a flex circuit assembly in various manners . by way of example , retention members can be directly adhered to a flex circuit assembly , such as with high strength adhesive . alternatively , one or more mechanical fasteners can be used . for instance , fasteners can be inserted through a flex cable to clamp the retention members to the flex cable . clearly , any fastener that extends through a flex cable should be positioned so that the fastener does not interfere with internal circuitry / conductors of the flex cable . in fig3 an embodiment of a retention member 300 is shown that includes a post 310 and a cap 312 . post 310 is generally cylindrical in shape and extends from a first end 314 , which attaches to a bolster plate ( not shown in fig3 ). the second end 316 is attached to cap 312 . cap 312 includes multiple segments , the ends of which are movable toward the post 310 . specifically , the embodiment of the cap of fig3 includes four segments ( segments 318 , 320 and 322 of which are shown ), each of which is generally triangular in shape . the apex of each segment is attached in a vicinity of the second end 316 of the post . since only the apex of each segment is fixed to the post 310 , the base of each segment can be deflected toward the post . for example , segments can be deflected inwardly toward the post as the cap is inserted through an orifice that has a smaller diameter than that of the cap . after being inserted into such an orifice , continued insertion of the retention member can enable the segments to return to their unbiased positions so that an interference fit is formed with the structure defining the orifice . referring now to fig4 mounting of an embodiment of a flex circuit assembly 402 to a support structure 410 will be described . in fig4 a support structure 410 is depicted that is generally configured as a plate . support structure 410 can be a portion of a chassis or other component that is adapted to mount the flex circuit assembly . in the embodiment depicted in fig4 support structure 410 includes holes 412 and 414 that are used to receive mechanical fasteners for mounting the support structure to a chassis . support structure 410 also includes mounting holes 420 and 422 , each of which is adapted to receive a retention member of the flex circuit assembly 402 . specifically , hole 420 is adapted to receive retention member 421 , and hole 422 is adapted to receive retention member 423 . as the respective caps 424 , 426 of the retention members 421 , 423 are directed through the holes 420 , 422 , the segments of the caps are deflected inwardly toward their respective posts . once inserted through the holes , the segments return to their unbiased positions and form interference fits with the support structure 410 so that the flex circuit assembly 402 is mounted to the support structure as shown in fig5 . note that the holes can vary in size so that , in some embodiments , the flex circuit assembly is able to move or “ float ” in a limited manner , while still maintaining the interference fit . this is particularly useful in applications where components are to be blind - mated , since it is often required that at least one of the components is able to float in order to compensate for manufacturing dimensional tolerances , for example . also note in fig5 that the support structure 410 includes protruding portions 428 , 430 that extend outwardly from a centerline of the support structure . as shown in fig8 protruding portions 428 , 430 serve as mounts for an anchor 610 . as will be described in detail below , the anchor 610 is configured to receive the distal end of a shaft that is used to align and engage the connector of the flex circuit assembly with a corresponding connector of an electronic component . an embodiment of a method for electrically interconnecting components is depicted in the flowchart of fig6 . as shown in fig6 the method may be construed as beginning at block 602 , where a flex circuit assembly is provided . in block 604 , a support structure is provided that is used to support at least a portion of the flex circuit assembly . in particular , as depicted in block 606 , an interference fit is formed between the support structure and a portion of the flex circuit assembly . typically , the portion of the flex circuit assembly forming the interference fit is located near a connector of the flex circuit assembly . this enables the connector to supported so that the connector is readily accessible for interconnecting with a corresponding connector of a component . continuing with the flowchart of fig7 some embodiments of a method may further include providing a component , such as depicted in block 608 . for instance , the component can be an electronic component such as a printed circuit board . in block 610 , an alignment feature of the support structure is engaged with an alignment feature of the component . note , representative alignment features will be described in detail later with respect to fig8 and 9 . in block 612 , the component is electrically interconnected with the flex cable of the flex circuit assembly . specifically , engagement of the corresponding alignment features facilitates electrical interconnection of the component and the flex cable . reference is now made to fig8 which depicts support structure 410 and flex circuit assembly 402 of fig5 positioned for engaging a connector of a component . in particular , the component depicted is a pcb 810 that includes an alignment feature for engaging a corresponding alignment feature of the anchor 610 . note , the anchor 610 is generally configured as a bar that extends between the protruding portions 428 , 430 of the support structure 410 . the alignment feature anchor 610 is an orifice 812 located at an intermediate portion of the anchor . the alignment feature 812 is adapted to engage an alignment feature of pcb 810 , which is configured as the distal end 814 of a shaft 820 . as shown in fig8 shaft 820 extends generally across the pcb 810 . the distal end 814 is located in a vicinity of connector 822 , which is adapted to mate with the connector 823 of the flex circuit assembly 402 . mounts , e . g ., mounting blocks 824 , 826 , are used to support the shaft 820 and allow the shaft to rotate so that the distal end 814 can engage within the orifice 812 . in some embodiments , the distal end 814 and the orifice 812 are threaded so that when the distal end engages the orifice and the shaft is rotated , such as by use of a handle 828 , rotation of the shaft draws the connectors 822 , 823 into mating engagement with each other . note that in fig8 the shaft 820 is located on the underside of pcb 810 , i . e ., the side that does not include the electrical traces and attached components . clearly , the shaft could be located in various other positions . typically , however , the shaft is located adjacent to the connector that is to engage the flex circuit assembly . in fig9 a portion of a representative chassis 900 is shown , in which component 810 is mounted . specifically , component 810 is electrically interconnected with flex circuit assembly 402 . note that the flex circuit assembly 402 is located at a generally central portion of the interior of the chassis 900 . this is a location that would be difficult for an operator to access by hand , particularly when a top cover of the chassis , which is not depicted in fig1 for clarity , is installed . typically , component 810 is supported within the chassis 900 by one or more of various support components ( not shown ), such as card guides or sliding rails , for example . shaft 820 provides additional structural support for component 810 since , in the installed position depicted in fig9 the shaft engages anchor 610 , which is attached to support structure 410 of the chassis . in order to remove component 810 from the chassis 900 , an operator rotates handle 828 , such as in the direction indicated by arrow a , to disengage the distal end 814 of the shaft from the anchor 610 . after the shaft disengages the anchor , the component 810 and accompanying shaft can be slid out of the chassis . the component 810 can be remounted within the chassis by reversing the above - mentioned process . it should be emphasized that the above - described embodiments of the present invention are merely possible examples of implementations set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the invention . many variations and modifications may be made to the above - described embodiments of the invention without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the invention . by way of example , the embodiments described herein incorporate shafts with threaded distal ends that engage threaded orifices of corresponding support structures . however , in other embodiments , mechanical interfaces other than threads can be used . for instance , hardware that activates on quarter turn operation could be used . additionally or alternatively , the single shaft structures described here could be substituted with various combinations of mechanical linkages , such as linkages that operate by rotation and / or longitudinal and / or transverse displacement . by way of example , an over - center draw latch , a level action assembly , or a cam action assembly could be used . as another example , the distal end of the shaft could include an orifice that receives an externally - threaded protrusion of the anchor . all such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and the present invention and protected by the following claims .
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a pitch containing 5 to 35 wt . % of mesophase is obtained by heat - treating a carboneous pitch such as a coal pitch or a petroleum pitch to allow mesophase to be formed . the mesophase formation is carried out usually by heat treatment at a temperature ranging from 340 ° to 450 ° c ., preferably 370 ° to 420 ° c ., at atmospheric or reduced pressure . it is also preferable that this heat treatment be conducted while introducing an inert gas such as nitrogen gas . the duration of the heat treatment may vary according to conditions such as the treating temperature and the amount of inert gas introduced , but usually ranges from 1 minute to 30 hours , preferably 5 minutes to 20 hours . the amount of inert gas introduced is preferably in the range of 0 . 7 to 5 . 0 scfh / lb pitch . the mesophase formation is carried out while adjusting to give a mesophase content of the pitch in the range of 5 to 35 wt . %. outside this range , it is impossible to expect the effect of the present invention . the pitch containing 5 to 35 wt . % of mesophase is then contacted with sulfur . usually , this treatment is conducted by adding sulfur into the pitch and heating the pitch composition at a temperature ranging from 150 ° to 400 ° c ., preferably 200 ° to 350 ° c ., at an atmospheric pressure or under application of pressure . the duration of this treatment may vary according to conditions such as the treating temperature and the amount of sulfur added , but usually ranges from 5 minutes to 3 hours , preferably 10 minutes to 2 hours . the amount of sulfur added is in the range of 0 . 5 to 10 wt . %, preferably 1 to 5 wt . %. the pitch thus treated is then subjected to melt spinning by a conventional method . the resultant pitch fiber is then rendered infusible in an oxidizing gas atmosphere . as the oxidizing gas , there may be used one or more of oxidizing gases such as oxygen , ozone , air , nitrogen oxide , halogen and sulfurous acid gas . this treatment for rendering the pitch fiber infusible is carried out under a temperature condition under which the melt - spun pitch fiber being treated does not soften and change in shape , for example , at a temperature in the range of 20 ° to 360 ° c ., preferably 20 ° to 300 ° c . the duration of this treatment usually ranges from 5 minutes to 10 hours . the pitch fiber thus rendered infusible is then subjected to carbonization and subsequent graphitization if required , in an inert gas atmosphere , to obtain carbon fiber . the carbonization treatment is carried out at a temperature usually ranging from 800 ° to 2 , 500 ° c . generally , the time required for carbonization is 0 . 5 minute to 10 hours . subsequently , graphitization may be performed , if required , at a temperature in the range of 2 , 500 ° to 3 , 500 ° c . for usually 1 second to 1 hour . during the treatment for rendering the pitch fiber infusible or for carbonizing or graphitizing it , the pitch fiber being treated may be held under a slight load or tension . the following examples and comparative examples . are given to further illustrate the present invention , but it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto . a heavy oil ( properties of which are shown in table 1 ) with a boiling point not lower than 200 ° c . by - produced in steam cracking of naphtha at 830 ° c . was heat - treated at 400 ° c . under a pressure of 15 kg / cm 2 . g for 3 hours . the heat - treated oil thus obtained was distilled at 250 ° c ./ 1 mmhg to distill off the light fraction therefrom to obtain a starting pitch ( 1 ) having a softening point of 82 ° c . 30 g . of the starting pitch ( 1 ) was heat - treated at 400 ° c . for 1 hour with stirring while nitrogen was introduced therein at a rate of 600 ml / min , to obtain a pitch ( 2 ) having a melting point of 220 ° c . and a mesophase content of 20 wt . %. then , 30 g . of the pitch ( 2 ) was stirred with 3 wt . % of sulfur for 90 minutes at 300 ° c . to obtain a pitch ( 3 ) having a softening point of 255 ° c . and a mesophase content of 20 wt . %. the pitch ( 3 ) thus prepared was melt - spun at 325 ° c . by means of a spinning apparatus having a nozzle diameter of 0 . 3 mm and an l / d ratio of 2 . 0 to obtain pitch fiber of 16 - 19μ . the pitch fiber thus obtained was then rendered infusible , carbonized and graphitized under the following conditions to obtain carbon fiber . infusiblization condition : heat in an air atmosphere at a rate of 3 ° c ./ min up to 200 ° c . and 1 ° c ./ min up to 300 ° c ., and hold at 300 ° c . for 30 minutes . carbonization condition : heat in a nitrogen atmosphere at a rate of 5 ° c ./ min and hold at 1 , 000 ° c . for 30 minutes . graphitization condition : heat in an argon gas stream up to 2 , 500 ° c . at a rate of 25 ° c ./ min . the carbon fiber thus obtained proved to have a tensile strength of 250 kg / mm 2 and a young &# 39 ; s modulus of 22 ton / mm 2 . table 1______________________________________heavy oil propertiesspecific gravity ( 15 ° c ./ 4 ° c .) 1 . 039______________________________________distillation initial boiling point 192 ° c . property 5 % 200 10 % 206 20 % 217 30 % 227 40 % 241 50 % 263 60 % 290 70 % 360______________________________________ the pitch ( 2 ) used in example 1 was subjected , directly without going through the treatment with sulfur , to melt spinning in the same way as in example 1 . as a result , there occurred breakage of thread frequently and it was impossible to effect spinning continuously . the starting pitch ( 1 ) used in example 1 was heat - treated at 400 ° c . for 2 hours with stirring while nitrogen was introduced therein in the same way as in example 1 , to obtain a pitch ( 4 ) having a softening point of 230 ° c . and a mesophase content of 33 wt . %. then , the pitch ( 4 ) thus obtained was stirred with 1 wt . % of sulfur for 90 minutes at 30 ° c . to obtain a pitch ( 5 ) having a softening point of 270 ° c . and a mesophase content of 33 wt . %. the pitch ( 5 ) thus obtained was melt - spun at 340 ° c . by means of the spinning apparatus used in example 1 and then subjected to infusiblization , carbonization and graphitization treatments in the same way as in example 1 , to obtain carbon fiber . the carbon fiber thus obtained proved to have a tensile strength of 270 kg / mm 2 and a young &# 39 ; s modulus of 30 ton / mm 2 . the starting pitch ( 1 ) used in example 1 was heat - treated at 400 ° c . for 30 minutes with stirring while nitrogen was introduced therein in the same way as in example 1 , to obtain a pitch ( 6 ) having a softening point of 198 ° c . and a mesophase content of 8 wt . %. then , the pitch ( 6 ) thus obtained was stirred with 5 wt . % of sulfur for 90 minutes at 300 ° c . to obtain a pitch ( 7 ) having a softening point of 243 ° c . and a mesophase content of 8 wt . %. the pitch ( 7 ) thus obtained was melt - spun at 315 ° c . by means of the spinning apparatus used in example 1 and then subjected to infusiblization , carbonization and graphitization treatments in the same way as in example 1 to obtain carbon fiber . the carbon fiber thus obtained proved to have a tensile strength of 200 kg / mm 2 and a young &# 39 ; s modulus of 20 ton / mm 2 . a heavy oil ( properties of which are shown in table 2 ) obtained by subjecting a vacuum - distilled light oil from arabic crude oil to catalytic cracking at 500 ° c . in the presence of a silica - alumina catalyst was heat - treated at 430 ° c . under a pressure of 15 kg / cm 2 . g for 3 hours . the heat - treated oil thus obtained was distilled at 250 ° c ./ 1 mmhg to distill off the light fraction therefrom to obtain a starting pitch ( 8 ) having a softening point of 85 ° c . 30 g . of the starting pitch ( 8 ) was heat - treated at 400 ° c . for 1 . 5 hours while nitrogen was introduced therein in the same way as in example 1 , to obtain a pitch ( 9 ) having a softening point of 225 ° c . and a mesophase content of 32 wt . %. then , the pitch ( 9 ) thus obtained was stirred with 3 wt . % of sulfur for 90 minutes at 300 ° c . to obtain a pitch ( 10 ) having a softening point of 260 ° c . and a mesophase content of 32 wt . %. the pitch ( 10 ) thus obtained was melt - spun at 310 ° c . by means of the apparatus used in example 1 and then subjected to infusiblization , carbonization and graphitization treatments in the same way as in example 1 to obtain carbon fiber . the carbon fiber thus obtained proved to have a tensile strength of 250 kg / mm 2 and a young &# 39 ; s modulus of 35 ton / mm 2 . table 2______________________________________heavy oil propertiesspecific gravity ( 15 ° c ./ 4 ° c .) 0 . 965______________________________________distillation initial boiling point 320 ° c . property 5 % 340 10 % 353 20 % 370 30 % 385 40 % 399 50 % 415 60 % 427 70 % 445 80 % 467 90 % 512viscosity cst @ 50 ° c . 18 . 21______________________________________ the pitch ( 9 ) used in example 4 was subjected , directly without going through the treatment with sulfur , to melt spinning in the same way as in example 1 . as a result , there occurred breakage of thread frequently and it was impossible to effect spinning continuously .
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fig1 through 3 show a buckling - restriction bracing member according to a first embodiment of the present invention . in a steel buckling - restriction member 1 , steel rib plates 4 for reinforcement are rigidly fixed by welding on the respective surfaces of the respective ends of a steel center axis force member 2 which is formed of band steel plate . a plurality of bolt through holes 5 are provided in the respective ends of the steel center axis force member 2 and the rib plates 4 . a stick preventing coat 3 is applied to the whole surface of an intermediate portion of the steel center axis force member 2 . steel buckling - restriction member bodies 6 each having a channel section are disposed on the respective sides of the steel center axis force member 2 . band steel plates 8 are disposed along flanges 7 of the respective steel buckling - restriction member bodies 6 . the flanges 7 are clamped with many bolts 9 to the band steel plates 8 . further , the stick preventing coat 3 contacts with the whole inner periphery of the steel buckling - restriction member 1 . fig4 shows a buckling - restriction bracing member according to a second embodiment of the present invention . in a steel buckling - restriction member 1 , a steel center axis force member 2 has a cross - shaped section . four steel buckling - restriction member bodies 6 each having an l - shaped section are disposed around the steel center axis force member 2 . rod - type steel spacers 10 are disposed between the respective side edges of the adjacent steel buckling - restriction member bodies 6 . the respective side edges of the adjacent steel buckling - restriction member bodies 6 are clamped with many bolts 9 . the rest is the same construction as in the case of the first embodiment as shown in fig1 through 3 . fig5 shows a buckling - restriction bracing member according to a third embodiment of the present invention . in a steel buckling - restriction member 1 , two steel buckling - restriction member bodies 6 each provided with a groove having a channel section are disposed such that the respective grooves are opposed to each other . the respective side edges of the respective steel buckling - restriction member bodies 6 are clamped with many bolts 9 . the rest is the same construction as in the case of the first embodiment as shown in fig1 through 3 . fig6 shows a buckling - restriction bracing member according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention . in a steel buckling - restriction member 1 , two steel buckling restriction member bodies 6 each having a t - shaped section are disposed such that respective plate portions of the steel buckling - restriction member bodies 6 are disposed in spaced apart parallelism with each other . rod - type steel spacers 10 are disposed between the respective side edges of the respective steel buckling - restriction member bodies 6 . the side edges of the respective steel buckling - restriction member bodies 6 are clamped with many bolts 9 . the rest is the same construction as in the case of the first embodiment as shown in fig1 through 3 . fig7 shows a buckling - restriction bracing member according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention . in a steel buckling - restriction member 1 , two square steel pipes 11 are disposed in spaced apart parallelism with each other . band steel plates 8 are disposed between a pair of coplanar plate bodies of the two square steel pipes 11 . the respective side edges of the band steel plates 8 are rigidly fixed by welding on the square steel pipes 11 . the rest is the same construction as in the case of the first embodiment as shown in fig1 through 3 . fig8 through 10 show a buckling - restriction member according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention . the buckling - restriction bracing member includes a steel center axis force member 2 having an h - shaped section , and a steel buckling - restriction member 1 formed of a square steel pipe . further , a stick preventing coat 3 is closely disposed between the respective flanges 12 of the steel center axis force member 2 and the plate bodies 13 of the steel buckling - restriction member 1 . a plurality of bolt through holes 5 are provided in the respective ends of the steel center axis force member 2 . fig1 shows a buckling - restriction member according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention . a steel buckling - restriction member 1 comprises a steel center axis force member 2 having a h - shaped section . a pair of steel buckling - restriction member bodies 6 each having a channel section are disposed in grooves of the steel center axis force member 2 . band steel plates 8 are disposed in overlying relation to the outer surface of the respective flanges 14 of the steel center axis force member 2 . rod - type steel spacers 10 are disposed between the respective sides of the band steel plates 8 and the flanges 15 of the steel buckling - restriction member bodies 6 . the side edges of the band steel plates 8 and the side edges of the flanges 15 of the steel buckling - restriction member bodies 6 and the steel spacers 10 are clamped with bolts 9 . a stick preventing coat 3 is closely disposed between the whole periphery of the steel center axis force member 2 and the inner periphery of the steel buckling - restriction member 1 . a plurality of bolt through holes are provided in the flanges 14 at the respective ends of the steel center axis force member 2 . fig1 through 14 show a buckling - restriction member according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention . in a steel buckling - restriction member 1 , a steel center axis force member 2 formed of a circular steel pipe passed through the steel buckling - restriction member 1 formed of a circular steel pipe . a stick preventing coat 3 is closely disposed between the steel buckling - restriction member 1 and the whole surface of the steel center axis force member 2 . steel connecting plates 17 with a cross - shaped section have many bolt through holes 5 . the steel connecting plates 17 are rigidly fixed by welding through steel connectors 18 on the respective ends of the steel center axis force member 2 projecting from the respective ends of the steel buckling - restriction member 1 . form parting agent , oil paint , asphalt , tar , rubber and so on may be used as the stick preventing coat 3 of the present invention . this invention is clearly new and useful . moreover , it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in this art at the time it was made , in view of the prior art considered as a whole as required by law . it will thus be seen that the objects set forth above , and those made apparent from the foregoing description , are efficiently attained and since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention , it is intended that all matters contained in the foregoing construction or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense . it is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described , and all statements of the scope of the invention which , as a matter of language , might be said to fall therebetween .
| 4 |
the current subject matter describes methods , systems , apparatuses , and articles ( sometimes referred to herein as “ privbank ” or the “ privbank system ”— privbank being a registered trademark of discoverready llc ) for collecting information and insight gained from reviewing more than 10 million electronic files ( 100 million pages ) for privileged material over hundreds of cases and from thousands of hours of independent research . the current subject matter can be implemented in connection with a wide variety of platforms including , without limitation , the platform ( and related systems , methods , and articles ) described in co - pending application ser . no . 13 / 014 , 643 , the contents of which are hereby fully incorporated by reference , as well as the i - decision ® platform by discoverready , llc . with reference to fig1 , a method 100 is illustrated in which , at 110 , a set of documents is imported / received . thereafter , at 120 , attributes of each of the documents are compared with a plurality of predefined indicators that characterize a likelihood of the document containing such attributes being privileged . based on this comparison , at 130 , it is determined which of the documents are potentially privileged based on the comparison . data can then be provided , at 140 , that identifies which of the documents are potentially privileged . the attributes can comprise content of the documents and / or contextual information associated with the document . example attributes include , but are not limited to : terms within a document , metadata , document id , sending entity , receiving entity , copied entity , blind copied entity , subject line , date and / or time sent , date and / or time received , file name , file size , file checksum , reviewed , hash , attachment , confidentiality , author , title , file type , document extension , pre - defined category , privilege , and pre - defined issues . fig2 is a system diagram illustrating a system 200 in which one or more documents sources 210 provide data characterizing documents ( or the documents themselves ) to a privbank system 220 . as will be discussed in more detail below , the privbank system 220 can compare terms within imported documents in relation to domains obtained from a domains database 240 and / or other contextual information obtained from a secondary data source 250 . the secondary data source 250 can include , for example , a custom e - mails datastore 252 and / or a decision bank 254 datastore . documents determined not to be privileged and / or data identifying such documents can be transferred to one or more document production applications 230 . documents determined to be potentially privileged can be segregated and , in some cases , stored in a separate privilege database 260 . the custom e - mails datastore 252 can represent data that a customer / user of the privbank system 220 can add in for any e - mail addresses that are unique to its business or case that should also be considered an indicator of potentially privileged communications . the decision bank datastore 254 can represent data that is collected over each use of the privbank system 220 to retain unique identifying information ( such as a hashcode or other document characteristics that associate documents with each other ) on documents that have been previously analyzed and the resulting decisions ( e . g ., privileged / non - privileged , etc .) so that document matches can be identified and past decisions reused without the time and load of performing full text searches repeatedly or requiring any additional processing or human review . the privbank system 220 can retain other identifying information ( such as author , sender , recipient , full text ) so past decisions can be used with respect to substantially similar documents that are later encountered . the custom e - mails datastore 252 can be populated in a variety of manners . e - mail addresses can be manually input , imported from an e - mail client , or otherwise mapped from a first format to another format . the domains database 240 can contain names , e - mail addresses and domain names associated with attorneys , law firms and consultants from around the world . this can be combined with complex queries for identifying privileged communications and work product which have been optimized by thousands of hours formulating and refining . the current subject matter is advantageous in that it can identify a high percentage of privileged records using the domains database 240 and stored queries . at the outset of each litigation matter , the privbank system 220 can help identify and segregate documents imported from the document sources 210 containing key indicators of privilege . with this segregated data , a segregated data storage area can be created for each client in the privilege database 260 and corresponding data can be deposited therein . a resulting “ fingerprint ” for each file within a client - specific area within the privilege database 260 and corresponding content can be reused from one matter to the next , allowing for an increasingly effective privilege screening process . the system 200 of fig2 ( and environment ) can be implemented in a client application ( e . g ., a windows application , etc .) and / or a web - based / networked application . with a client application , the system 200 can be distributed / sold / licensed for customer usage to retrieve documents from a document repository and / or one or more remote document sources 210 , compare attributes of the documents against various items such as , for example , pre - defined search terms ( in the secondary data source 250 ) and bank of domains ( in the domains database 240 ) to look for a set of documents , and export a potential privilege mark for all the documents with hits into the document production applications 230 . with either a client application or a web - based application , all data can be secured using any variety of technologies / protocols . for example , encrypted xml files can be used for client based implementations and secure transmission technologies such as ssl protocols can be used for web - based implementations . the domains database 240 can be used by the privbank system 220 to scan whether corresponding indicators ( e . g ., domain names , domains , etc .) are referenced within a set of documents , and if they are , the documents can be considered as potentially privileged due to attorney - client communications . in addition , scripts and processes can be used automatically or manually by highly technical people to generate query strings to search for custom names , terms , and e - mail addresses in a similar manner . these functions and processes can be used against a set of documents to identify which documents are “ hits ” and should be considered as potentially privileged . the domains database 240 can be made available to a plurality of separate entities / clients and can include information derived from , for example , historical litigation matters . while the domains database 240 and the secondary data source 250 are illustrated as being separate , it will be appreciated that the data contained therein can be integrated into a single database . in some cases , the single database can provide partitioning for multiple tenants such that tenant specific information is segregated from other tenants and the domains database is accessible by multiple tenants . in addition , while fig2 illustrates the integration of the privbank system 220 with a plurality of applications 210 , 230 , it will be appreciated that the privbank system 220 can incorporate the functionality of one or more of such applications 210 , 230 , whether or not such applications are identified in fig1 . for example , the privbank system 220 can be integrated into a document classification application that classifies documents according to categories such as privileged / non - privileged , a document management system , e - mail servers , and the like . in some cases in which the privbank system 220 is offered as a service , the domains datastore 240 can be offered / consumed as a secured database to customers . stated differently , the domains datastore 240 can be configured so that it is accessible as a service and does not expose any of the underlying data such as the aggregated domains list , but rather , information can be returned which indicates whether a hit is present . the privbank system 220 can render a graphical user interface which allows a user to set up / configure the system . the interface can allow a user to enter search terms which in turn can produce sql or boolean keyword queries and alias combinations for case searches . the interface can allow for the ability to modify the application of the custom e - mails datastore 252 by adding / update / delete search terms within case searches ( created above ). the interface can provide the ability to run some or all defined searches against a document set and produce a report of all the document ids with a hit and what search ( es ) it hit . the privbank system 220 can be used to generate or it can contain search query logic to perform , for example , one or more of the following ( which in turn is used to determine whether a particular document is potentially privileged ): “ domains list ” ( sql )— searching for e - mail domains that are on a pre - defined list of domains of law - firm or litigation - support entities ( the “ domains list ”). “ generic subset in e - mail address header fields ” ( sql )— look for selected privilege - rich terms in the header of an e - mail ( such as “ law ” or “ legal ”). running this query can be helpful to identify documents that are highly likely to be privileged . “ generic subset in subject ” ( sql )— look for selected privilege - rich terms in the subject line of an e - mail ( such as “ law ” and “ legal ”). running this query can be helpful to identify documents that are highly likely to be privileged . “ domains list ” ( full text )— this includes the use of the domain list as a full - text boolean search . the domain search can be run for each domain that is found to exist in a prior matter for the client or in the domains list - sql search ( above ) that is run earlier . the goal is to find references to a legal entity domain in the header , subject line , or body of e - mail and in the searchable text of other documents . “ client internal e - mail ” ( sql )— using client - provided e - mail addresses for the client &# 39 ; s internal legal personnel , search in the data for other potential e - mail addresses for identified legal personnel , and build searches for likely e - mail addresses if no particular e - mail address is provided or can be found for a given legal department person . to identify communications with internal legal personnel , which are highly likely to be privileged , a query can be run on the back end that searches the e - mail address header fields for those given , found , and built e - mail addresses . “ client internal e - mail ” ( full text )— text search for e - mail addresses of client - specific internal legal personnel found anywhere within a document ( such as “ john . smith @ client . com ”). “ client internal names ” ( full text )— text search for the names of client - specific internal legal personnel found anywhere within a document ( such as “ smith , john ” or any internal counsel nickname ). because legal personnel names may occur within the text of a document , and because either in the history of an e - mail chain a “ display name ” may be shown rather than an e - mail address , it is important to search for the names , as well as any nicknames , of legal personnel . name searches can be built to consistently account for common nicknames for given names . “ client - specified outside counsel names ” ( full text )— text search for specific outside counsel attorneys who worked on the underlying matter found anywhere within a document . because legal personnel names may occur within the text of a document , and because either in the history of an e - mail chain a “ display name ” may be shown rather than an e - mail address , it is important to search for the names , as well as any nicknames , of legal personnel . name searches can be built to consistently account for common nicknames for given names . “ client internal counsel department names ” ( full text )— text search for specific client departments ( such as “ legal dept .” or “ compliance dept .”) found anywhere within a document . “ names list ” ( full text )— proper names of law firms and legal support companies that correspond to domains from the document universe matching the domains list - sql ( search ( 2 ), above ). a proper name search can be run for each domain that is found to exist in a prior or current client matter . “ generic terms ” ( full text )— this text search contains standard terms to capture indicia of privilege that are not captured by law firm names . this search can vary slightly depending on the type of matter , and whether the client is concerned about client confidentiality as well as privilege . it can also be customized to avoid common footers or disclaimers which may contain text that otherwise would be suggestive of privilege . “ privacy terms ” ( full text )— text search for potentially personally sensitive or embarrassing terms such as curse words , illicit drugs , medical conditions , allusions to sexual activity and family - related matters . “ third party confidentiality terms ” ( full text )— generic terms designed to identify documents that may need to be withheld until third party clearance is obtained . for example , documents subject to third party non - disclosure agreements would fall under this search . this search could be generic ( such as “ nda ” or “ confidentiality agreement ”) or specific to search for parties that are known to have non - disclosure agreements in place . “ previously privileged ” ( sql )— using hash values or other methodologies to identify exact duplicates or substantial similar instances , documents are reviewed against privileged documents for the client from earlier review (“ previously privileged does ”). the privbank system 220 can report the results in a variety of manners . for example analytics reports can identify hit rates for a particular case . such hit rates can be broken down by document source , document type , and / or other factors . past document decisions can be imported into the decision bank datastore 254 from a variety of sources such as a generic / proprietary data file . a query builder can allow a user to get all document ids ( or other designated fields ) that meet user defined criteria ( such as all those that were found privileged from specific case databases ). the decision bank datastore 254 can be accessed while processing documents to determine if the document has already had a past decision made . options can be provided for a user to define how documents are matched up ( such as to use the file name , created date and file size or substantial textual similarity instead of the hash code ). decision bank datastore 254 can also allow for the storage of decisions made on a document after performing queries . in addition , analytics can be utilized to compare results of custom queries against past decisions and provide suggestions for changes to the queries ( i . e ., queries can be optimized based on past decision knowledge , etc .). in arrangements in which third party applications are integrated or utilized by the privbank system 220 , generic integrations can be provided that allow for custom delimited files to import / export data with such third party applications . custom delimited in this regard means that a user can define what character is used for field delimiters and what character is used for record delimiters ( for example , a tsv file uses & lt ; tab & gt ; for the field delimiter and cr / lf for the record delimiter ). an interchangeable model can be provided such that external interfaces can be built for each third party application to interact directly with the database tables producing the exact same results as the generic integration achieved . this data can consist of a minimum of document id , e - mail to , e - mail from , and subject . additional fields such as e - mail cc and e - mail bcc can be optionally available for field mapping . the privbank system 220 interface can include a variety of screens ( see , for example , fig3 - 8 ) to aid the determination of whether certain documents are potentially privileged and resulting analystics . fig3 is a screenshot 300 illustrating domain comparison search results and generated keyword search strings . fig4 is a screenshot 400 illustrating an interface for client and case setup that can be used to input and track information customized for a specific client or matter . fig5 is a diagram 500 illustrating an interface for banking documents for which a decision ( e . g ., privileged / non - privileged , etc .) have already been made ( i . e ., historical decisions ). this interface can be used to compare attributes of new documents with previous determinations in prior matters . fig6 is a report snapshot 600 that illustrates the top ten domains which were found in a corpus of analyzed documents . such information can be useful in high granularity characterizations of a certain corpus of documents . similarly , fig7 is a report snapshot 700 that illustrates the top e - mail addresses that were identified within a corpus of analyzed documents . fig8 is a report snapshot 800 that shows relative numbers of privileged and non - privileged documents within a corpus of analyzed documents . further , a main screen can include the navigation to all functionality including setup , updates , to import documents , to define search terms , launch a privilege search process , and export results ( e . g ., document tags , etc .). a setup screen can be used to define any parameters necessary for the operation of the privbank system 220 , define parameters about how it will run , and perform maintenance such as creating backups of the database and restoring from previous backups . an update screen can allow users to check whether there are any published updates ( software or data ) to the privbank system 220 or domain databases 240 and will download / install as necessary . in addition , an import document screen can prompt the user for the source application to be used for the import , and any necessary information such as file location , database name , field delimiters ( such as & lt ; tab & gt ;), record delimiters ( such as cr / lf ), etc . as required for that integration . a define search term screen can define search terms that allow for the user to enter names / terms they wish to consider privilege and to generate the appropriate aliases and query string appropriate to accommodate the search term entered . these terms can be saved off to the custom database specific to that user &# 39 ; s installation . a privilege search screen can be displayed while searching for privileged documents and is primarily a status screen that will show the user the progress (% complete , # of hits found , etc .) of the search in real time as it is occurring . upon completion , a report will be available to the user listing all the doc id &# 39 ; s that were hits and the search terms they hit on . an export privilege tags screen can be provided that is similar to the import document screen . the export tags screen can prompt the user for the destination application to be exported into , and any necessary information such as file location , database name , field delimiters ( such as & lt ; tab & gt ;), record delimiters ( such as cr / lf ), etc . as required for that integration . upon completion , a summary screen can be displayed showing the number of privilege tags that were updated . fig9 a and 9b are sample sql table diagrams 900 that may be used to implement the current subject matter . it will be appreciated that this particular table arrangement is illustrative and can be adapted or modified depending on the desired configuration . various implementations of the subject matter described herein may be realized in digital electronic circuitry , integrated circuitry , specially designed asics ( application specific integrated circuits ), computer hardware , firmware , software , and / or combinations thereof . these various implementations may include implementation in one or more computer programs that are executable and / or interpretable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor , which may be special or general purpose , coupled to receive data and instructions from , and to transmit data and instructions to , a storage system , at least one input device , and at least one output device . these computer programs ( also known as programs , software , software applications or code ) include machine instructions for a programmable processor , and may be implemented in a high - level procedural and / or object - oriented programming language , and / or in assembly / machine language . as used herein , the term “ machine - readable medium ” refers to any computer program product , apparatus and / or device ( e . g ., magnetic discs , optical disks , memory , programmable logic devices ( plds )) used to provide machine instructions and / or data to a programmable processor , including a machine - readable medium that receives machine instructions as a machine - readable signal . the term “ machine - readable signal ” refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and / or data to a programmable processor . to provide for interaction with a user , the subject matter described herein may be implemented on a computer having a display device ( e . g ., a crt ( cathode ray tube ) or lcd ( liquid crystal display ) monitor ) for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device ( e . g ., a mouse or a trackball ) by which the user may provide input to the computer . other kinds of devices may be used to provide for interaction with a user as well ; for example , feedback provided to the user may be any form of sensory feedback ( e . g ., visual feedback , auditory feedback , or tactile feedback ); and input from the user may be received in any form , including acoustic , speech , or tactile input . the subject matter described herein may be implemented in a computing system that includes a back - end component ( e . g ., as a data server ), or that includes a middleware component ( e . g ., an application server ), or that includes a front - end component ( e . g ., a client computer having a graphical user interface or a web browser through which a user may interact with an implementation of the subject matter described herein ), or any combination of such back - end , middleware , or front - end components . the components of the system may be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication ( e . g ., a communication network ). examples of communication networks include a local area network (“ lan ”), a wide area network (“ wan ”), and the internet . the computing system may include clients and servers . a client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network . the relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client - server relationship to each other . although a few variations have been described in detail above , other modifications are possible . for example , the logic flow depicted in the accompanying figures and described herein do not require the particular order shown , or sequential order , to achieve desirable results . other embodiments may be within the scope of the following claims .
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sucralose , or 4 , 1 ′, 6 ′- trichloro - 4 , 1 ′, 6 ′- trideoxygalactosucrose , a sweetener with a sweetness intensity several hundred times that of sucrose , is derived from sucrose by replacing the hydroxyl groups in the 4 , 1 ′, and 6 ′ positions with chlorine . synthesis of sucralose is technically challenging because of the need to selectively replace specific hydroxyl groups with chlorine , while preserving other hydroxyl groups including a highly reactive primary hydroxyl group . numerous approaches to this synthesis are known . sucralose from these and other methods of synthesis may be advantageously used for in the compositions and devices of this invention . such useful sucralose is not limited to any material obtained from any particular synthetic route . because of its intense sweetness , other advantageous sensory attributes , and its good stability in solution , sucralose may be advantageously used in the compositions and devices of the present invention . in addition to sucralose , other sweeteners may be used within the meaning of his in this invention . such sweeteners include aspartame , neotame , saccharin , cyclamate , acesulfame , thaumatin ( or katemfe ), neohesperidin , and other high intensity sweeteners with sufficient solubility in water or other food grade solvents . additional sweeteners suitable for the purposes of this invention include stevia ( extract of the leaf of stevia rebaudiana ); hernandulcin ( extract of phyla scaberrima ); monellin , an extract of the serendipity berry ( dioscorophyllum cumminsii ); brazzein , an extract of the fruit of pentadiplandra brazzeana ; and mogroside , from the fruit of siraitia grosvernorii . for the purposes of this invention , any of the aforementioned sweeteners may be used alone , or they may be used in combination with other his . sweetness intensity of the compositions of the present invention can of course be increased by increasing the concentration of sucralose to levels of up to 300 mg / ml . the actual level of sweetener in the concentrate or solution is determined by the sweetening needs of the intended product applications and the volume of material dispensed at each use . the sweeteners herein described may also be termed “ non - nutritive sweeteners .” although some of these sweeteners may be metabolized by the body and yield some slight nutrient value , any nutrient value will be quite small because the levels of ingestion of these sweeteners is quite low under normal circumstances . hence the term “ non - nutritive sweeteners ” is appropriate for these materials regardless of their metabolic fate . in preparing the spray sweetener according to the present invention , an appropriate amount of sucralose , other his , or a mixture thereof is dissolved in water , or another appropriate food grade solvent , such as , ethanol , to achieve the desired sweetness delivery amount . this produces a high intensity sweetener solution or concentrate . the specific concentration of his is determined in part by the intensity of the selected sweetener or sweeteners used and the amount of solution dispensed as an aerosol during use . the amount and coverage of the high intensity sweetener solution dispensed should be sufficient to provide uniform coverage of the solution over the surface of the food to which it is applied . however , the volume of solution dispensed should not be so great as to cause sogginess or other obvious alterations in the textural properties of the food to which it is applied . the composition of the present invention may utilize a single high intensity sweetener such as sucralose , or it may contain a combination of sweeteners such as sucralose and saccharin . when sucralose is used as the only his in the his solution , the concentration of sucralose is from about 0 . 01 to about 30 weight percent of the his solution , or from about 0 . 1 to about 5 weight percent of the his solution , or from about 0 . 2 to about 3 weight percent of the his solution . other high intensity sweeteners may of course be used at concentrations that will provide equivalent levels of sweetness . the amount of high intensity sweetener solution delivered to the food product is preferably about 0 . 1 ml to about 5 ml , more preferably about 0 . 2 ml to about 2 . 5 ml , and most preferably about 0 . 5 ml to about 1 . 5 ml . also important is avoiding foam generation on the surface of the treated food , as the foam is visually unappealing in many applications and often indicates less than uniform coverage of the high intensity sweetener solution . for the purposes of this invention , “ non - foam forming ” means that no foam from the application of the high intensity sweetener solution remains on the surface of the food for more than 10 seconds after application . to aid in preparing a non - foam forming composition an antifoam agent may be added to the sweetener solutions . examples of suitable antifoam agents include simethicone , dimethicone , polydimethylsiloxane , and mixtures thereof . the high intensity sweetener concentrate may contain only the his dissolved in a suitable solvent , or it may additionally include buffers , stabilizers , preservatives , flavors , and mixtures thereof . examples of sucralose solutions include those embodied in examples i through xii of u . s . pat . no . 5 , 384 , 311 , which is incorporated herein in entirety by reference . the his solution may be delivered by a spray device . such device includes pump - type or squeeze - type sprayer , or alternatively , incorporated into a pressurized aerosol container . the compositions embodied in this invention are free of added nutritive sweeteners . such nutritive sweeteners include , but are not limited to , sucrose , glucose , high fructose corn syrup , or fructose . as a result of the low sweetness potency of these sweeteners ( compared to his ), relatively little additional sweetness is provided by incorporating these nutritive sweeteners into the spray compositions that are dispensed in small volumes . frequently food ingredients , such as , flavors that may be used in this invention , contain some levels of nutritive sweeteners to serve as fillers or stabilizing agents . therefore , the compositions of this invention may contain small amounts of nutritive sweeteners introduced from other ingredients . it is contemplated that generally any nutritive sweetener introduced from other food ingredients will be less than about 5 to about 10 weight percent of the final composition . although nutritive sweeteners do not contribute substantially to the sweetness imparted by the compositions disclosed herein , inclusion of these nutritive sweeteners into the spray composition would provide an excellent substrate for the growth of many microorganisms . to control this susceptibility to microbial growth , there is a need to incorporate into nutritive sweetener containing spray compositions substantial levels of antimicrobial preservatives such as benzoic acid , sorbic acid , methyl paraben , propyl paraben , butyl paraben , and mixtures thereof . these antimicrobial preservatives have significant adverse taste impacts , contributing notes of bitterness or sourness . alternatively , pastuerization or sterilization techniques could be used to prevent microbial spoilage of sweetener spray compositions containing nutritive sweeteners . however , such techniques add cost and complexity to manufacturing operations , and the heat exposure resulting from these processes can also have adverse effects on taste of the sweetener composition . his spray compositions without added nutritive sweeteners thus provide a better tasting composition with less risk of microbial spoilage , in contrast to sweetener compositions that also contain nutritive sweeteners . sucralose is especially desirable for the compositions of this invention because of its resistance to attack by microorganisms . the amount of antimicrobial preservatives needed to attain adequate preservation in a sucralose solution can be reduced in comparison to the amount needed in a nutritive sweetener containing composition . a variety of mechanical approaches may be used to dispense the sweetener compositions described herein . one contemplated embodiment of the invention is dispensing the his solution from a squeeze bottle , which generates a spray by means of a pump handle or by a squeeze mechanism by which physical pressure is exerted on the container holding the sweetener composition , and the solution is expelled through a narrow orifice , creating a spray or aerosol . the above described squeeze bottle is distinguished from aerosol containers , in which a propellant is incorporated inside a pressure - resistant vessel in which the sweetener composition is also contained . a number of propellant gases may be used , including , but not limited to , propane , butane , carbon dioxide , compressed air , fluorocarbon derivatives , and mixtures thereof . the fluorocarbon derivatives are generally less suitable because of possible adverse environmental consequences of their use . the propellant and sweetener concentrate may be contained within the same chamber of the aerosol container . alternatively , the aerosol container may be partitioned into two or more separate chambers by the use flexible membranes or diaphragms . in this embodiment , the pressure of the propellant squeezes the membrane or diaphragm , thereby indirectly causing the sweetener composition to be under pressure . the invention of this disclosure includes the physical means of generating and dispersing a spray or aerosol as mentioned above , and include but are not limited to spray bottles , squeeze bottles , and pressurized or aerosol devices . one embodiment of the present invention is an aerosol spray that delivers the sweetness equivalent of one teaspoon of sugar each time the spray actuator is fully depressed or the pump spray handle depressed or the bottle squeezed . one teaspoon of sugar ( table sugar , or sucrose from a beet or cane source ) weighs about 4 g . since sucralose is about 600 times as sweet as table sugar , the amount of sucralose needed to provide equivalent sweetness is about 0 . 0067 g or 6 . 7 mg . if the amount of solution dispensed per use is designed to be 1 . 0 ml , then the concentration of sucralose would be 6 . 67 mg / ml , or 6 . 67 g / l ( 0 . 667 % weight / volume ). a 150 ml portion of water was placed in container , and 350 mg of sucralose was added , and the contents were stirred to dissolve . this yielded a high intensity sweetener concentrate containing about 2 . 3 mg / ml of sucralose . the solution so obtained was placed in a pump spray bottle ( ace hardware all purpose sprayer ). each full depression of the spray bottle handle dispensed a mean of 1 . 35 ml of the high intensity sweetener solution . the spray bottle so prepared was used to spray the solution onto a bowl of cereal ( cheerios ®, general mills , inc .) to which skim milk had been previously added . one depression of the spray bottle handle was made while the spray bottle nozzle was held about 20 cm from the cereal , and the spray bottle was rotated over the top of the bowl in a circular manner during dispensing of the sweetener . the cereal in the bowl was found to be lightly but pleasantly sweetened . in particular , the sweetness remained localized on the surface of the cereal , instead of becoming generally dispersed in the milk . a more microbiologically stable form of example 1 is prepared by adding 150 mg each of potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate to the solution prepared as described in example 1 , and then stirring to achieve dissolution of these materials . finally , 272 mg of anhydrous citric acid and 258 mg of sodium citrate dihydrate are added , and stirring is continued until all materials are fully dissolved . this composition is resistant to growth of spoilage microorganisms . a sucralose solution containing antimicrobial preservatives and a buffer system is prepared as described in example 2 . approximately 200 ml of solution are placed in an empty steel aerosol can . the can is then pressurized by the addition of a charge of liquid propane , and the can is sealed and fitted with a spray actuator . the orifice of the spray actuator is designed so that , when the can is fully charged with propellant , about 0 . 5 ml of solution is dispensed over a 5 second interval . approximately one cup of sliced , capped strawberries is placed in an open bowl . the actuator of the aerosol can is held about 10 cm above the surface of the strawberries , and the actuator is depressed for 5 seconds while the spray is gently directed over the entire surface of the fruit . the fruit is found to be evenly sweetened on the surface , and the addition of sweetener by this method does not result in powdered material on the surface of the fruit , or an excessive amount of moisture on the fruit . one liter of ingestible grade , non - denatured 70 % ethanol is placed into a large covered beaker . with gentle stirring , 6 . 67 g of sucralose are gradually added , and stirring is maintained until dissolution is complete . ethyl vanillin ( 1 g ) is then added , and dispersed in the solution by stirring . the solution is then dispensed into a pump - type spray dispenser bottle as described in example 1 . sliced bread made from white wheat flour is gently toasted , and spread with a thin coating of benecol ® spread ( mcneil nutritionals ). the spray bottle is held about 15 cm above the surface of each slice of toast , and the spray handle is squeezed once over each slice of toast . the toast possesses a pleasant sweet taste with a vanilla note ; the toast remains crisp , and is not rendered soggy by the amount of solution sprayed onto the surface . one liter of ingestible grade , non - denatured 70 % ethanol is placed into a large covered beaker . with , gentle stirring , 6 . 67 g of sucralose is gradually added , and stirring maintained until dissolution is complete . caramel flavor ( 1 g ) is added , along with caramel color ( 1 g ). these materials are dispersed by stirring , and the solution is dispensed into a pump - type spray dispenser bottle as described in example 1 . popcorn is prepared in a microwave corn popper to provide approximately one liter of popped corn . while the corn is still warm , the spray bottle is held about 20 cm above the surface of the popcorn , and the spray handle is squeezed 10 times while the popcorn is stirred with a spoon . the corn is found to have a sweet , caramel taste and a pleasing color . the composition of example 1 is prepared . additionally , 0 . 1 ml of a 1 : 10 aqueous dilution of antifoam af emulsion ( 30 % simethicone polymers , dow corning ) is added with through mixing , and the solution is placed in a spray bottle . the solution is sprayed onto the surface of a food product ; no residual foam remains on the surface of the food . the antifoam agent can be used to prevent the formation of foam when other materials with a foaming tendency are also incorporated into the composition .
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in the following description of the various embodiments , reference is made to the accompanying drawings , which form a part hereof , and in which is shown by way of illustration various embodiments in which the invention may be practised . it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized , and structural and functional modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention . fig1 illustrates an example of a device according to an embodiment of the present invention . a device of fig1 has a control block 107 , which manages all functions and other blocks of the device . control block 107 handles and processes data , and transmits information between blocks . as an input means there is presented a keyboard 108 . devices may include other means for user input , such as mouse , pen or touch panel . as an output means there is presented a display 109 for presenting graphical and textual data . fig1 presents a microphone 106 for voice input . inputted analog voices are coded to digital form by a coder 105 . for voice and sound output there is presented a loudspeaker 104 . before digital sounds can be outputted by a loudspeaker 104 , sounds are decoded to analog form by a decoder 103 . the device of fig1 has also memory block 110 for storing information and settings . typically devices include different kind of memories , e . g . read - only memory ( rom ), random access memory ( ram ), flash memory , volatile and non - volatile memory . memory has typically different data structures for different purposes in order to store and access data in the most suitable way . in fig1 there is a transceiver block 102 and an antenna 101 for establishing connections and for transmitting and receiving data , radio waves or signals through the connection established . typically , connections are formed through a radio network to another devices , terminals , endpoints or nodes of the network . security settings are specified using a block 113 . typically , there are two determined security levels , namely secure and insecure . according to an embodiment of the invention , it is also possible to have more security levels , each including different determinations and settings regarding safety settings of a device . the settings include locking modes . according to an embodiment , security settings of block 113 are determined during the manufacturing phase and the user is typically not able to edit the settings . the stored security settings 113 are accessible for the user . the user can associate a locking mode to a certain feature of a device by associating a security level including a locking mode . according to an embodiment of the present invention , security levels stored in settings in block 113 are presented in user profile 112 . according to the embodiment the user may choose the wanted security level similarly as other items of the user profile . the security level setting is linked to a certain user profile and changed according to user profiles . according to an embodiment of the present invention , locking modes are presented in the user profile 112 settings . according to the embodiment , the user may choose the wanted locking mode similarly as other items of the user profile . the chosen locking mode is associated to the user profile and the locking mode currently in use is chosen according to currently valid user profiles . according to an embodiment of the present invention , the user can associate a certain locking mode to certain place . this is typically implemented by determining certain area , for example coordinates of the place . according to an embodiment certain often visited , insecure place is determined and a certain chosen , safe locking mode is associated to it . the present situation of the device is typically located with the aid of the global positioning system gps 111 , or some similar system for positioning the current location of the device . when the present coordinates or the location is detected to correspond to the predetermined , insecure place , to which a certain locking mode is associated to , the locking mode in question is set to be valid . when the locking mode is valid , it will be used for locking the device after the locking event is triggered manually by the user of automatically after a predetermined time of inactivity detected in the device . typically , the certain locking mode is valid , as long as it is detected that the device is within the predetermined , insecure area . according to an embodiment of the present invention , the user can associate a security level mode to certain place . when the present coordinates or the situation is detected to correspond to the determined , insecure place , for which certain security level is associated to , the security level in question is set to be valid . typically , the certain security level is valid , i . e . the locking mode is used if the device is locked , as long as it is detected that the device is within the determined , insecure area . generally , there are different kinds of opening codes for different kinds of locking modes . an insecure locking mode having a key locking function for enabling handy and flexible use is typically released by inputting certain short key combination . the key combination is typically universal , common to all devices , thus basically anyone can release it . according to an embodiment , a second secure locking mode has a safe locking and closing function for protecting the device from an unauthorized access . the safe locking function is typically released by a code specified by the user . thus , usually only the owner of the device knows the code and can release the safe device lock . according to embodiments of the invention , it is also possible to have multiple safe locking modes each having certain own specified features in order to be suitable for different situations and environments . a certain locking mode can be selected to be activated and used according to embodiments of the present invention . releasing can be implemented according to the locking mode selected , although a commonly sensible number of releasing codes are employed . for example , two codes are typical in order to release locking codes classified as secure , and on the other hand locking codes classified as insecure , even though according to an embodiment , there can be few different locking codes having a bit different features under the each classification . fig2 a presents a method according to an embodiment of the present invention . in phase 201 the user determines user profiles of the user device . typically , there is determined several user profiles for different situations and environments . the user profiles typically include settings for ringing tone , loudness , alarm , and so on . the chosen features of the user profile depend on requirements of the environment or situation , wherein the user profile is to be used . according to an embodiment of the present invention , a locking mode is also a feature to be selected in the user profile . in phase 202 existing locking modes are presented as alternatives to the user in user profile settings . according to another embodiment , locking modes can alternatively or additionally be selected manually from the menu of the device . according to another embodiment , there is presented security level alternatives in phase 202 in user profile settings . the user can thus select a security level to be associated to the user profile , i . e . to be used when the user profile is valid to be used . the security level includes a certain locking mode to be used with the security level . the user selects the locking mode automatically by selecting a certain security level , since the security level includes locking mode determinations . in this embodiment in phase 203 the user selects a locking mode from the alternatives presented in phase 202 . the chosen locking mode is associated with the user profile . according to an embodiment , the user chooses a security level to be associated with the user profile in question . the chosen locking mode is then valid when the user profile is valid to be used , and thus activated by activating the user profile . fig2 b presents a method according to an embodiment relating to locking the device after the determinations according to embodiment presented with the accompanying fig2 a are made . the device is locked in phase 204 . a device is typically locked manually by certain constant command input by the user . in some devices locking is performed automatically after a certain period of inactivity , i . e . after the device has not been used for a certain period of time . despite the triggering event for the locking of the device , after the device obtains a command to lock , the currently active locking mode or security level is determined in the user profile . the user profile currently valid for use is checked in order to discover the currently valid locking mode in phase 205 . the currently valid locking mode can be determined in the user profile settings directly or through security level settings . the user profile may have some constant predetermined security level , which is used , when no locking mode is determined by the user . typically , different user profiles have different security requirements and thus different selected locking modes and / or security levels . after the currently valid locking mode is found , the locking is performed according to it in phase 206 . the locking is performed according to locking mode associated to the currently active user profile in phase 206 . fig3 a presents a method according to an embodiment of the present invention . according to the embodiment , in phase 301 alternative locking modes are presented to the user in a menu . the user may choose a locking mode he desires to associate to certain determinable place , area or location . according to another embodiment , in phase 301 security levels including locking modes are presented to the user in a menu . the security levels including certain predetermined functions and settings are then presented to the user in phase 301 for the user to be able to choose the most applicable among those . the locking modes and / or security levels are predetermined possibly already in the manufacturing phase . in the embodiment of fig3 a , the user determines certain place , area or location in phase 302 . it is possible to determine place like a museum , theatre , park , stadium , market place , factory , or any other place requiring a certain level of security . typically , a place , area or location is determined using its location information , which is determined for example using gps equipment . in phase 303 the user associates the locking mode or the security level selected in phase 301 , to the determined location information . typically , often - visited places , which are determined to be insecure , i . e . requiring safe and secure settings for the mobile device , are associated with the high security level or secure locking mode . fig3 b presents a method according to an embodiment relating to locking the device after the determinations according to the embodiment presented with the accompanying fig3 a are made . the device is locked in phase 304 . a device is typically locked manually by certain constant command input by the user . in some devices , locking is performed automatically after a certain period of inactivity , i . e . after the device has not been used for a certain period of time . despite of the triggering event for the locking of the device , after the device obtains a command to lock , the present location information of the device is determined in phase 305 . typically , the location information is verified with the global positioning system , gps . it is also possible to check the current position of the mobile device from the radio network . regardless of how the current position is determined , after the current position is verified , it is compared in phase 306 to predetermined location information to which certain security level or locking mode is associated . if , according to the current location information , the mobile device is found to be in the area to which certain locking mode and / or security level is linked , the locking is performed according to the locking mode predetermined to be used in the area in phase 307 . usually , some insecure places or locations are associated with high security level and / or secure locking mode . the assumption is to use low security level and / or insecure locking mode , unless the location information determined in phase 305 is found to correlate with the predetermined location information in phase 306 to which a secure locking mode is associated . embodiments relating to fig2 a and 2 b , and embodiments relating to fig3 a and 3 b are well fit to be realized together in the same device . the embodiments may be overlapping such that there is certain priority in between those . for example , it can be specified that the locking mode associated to a certain area or location always overrides a locking mode determined in the user profile settings . further , there can be a locking mode determined manually to be used at the moment , which can be used as an assumption , if no other determination is found , e . g . associated to the determined current location information , or from the settings of the currently valid user profile . according to an embodiment of the present invention , a location information and possible security levels associated to it are checked first . when no locking mode or security level is found to be associated to the current location , the currently valid user profile is checked in order to find a locking mode or a security level determined in the user profile settings . according to another embodiment , the user profile is checked first . if no locking mode or security level is found , the location information is determined . it is also possible to check the location information and possible security levels associated to the current position of the device , when the security level of the user profile is found to be a predetermined constant , which is used if no other determinations is found . according to an embodiment of the invention , the user uses a positioning service to record the position information of the most commonly visited locations . according to an embodiment in the user device , there is presumptive locking mode , which is used when nothing else is specified . according to the embodiment , the presumptive locking mode is safe - one , i . e . it locks the whole device , not only the keys , and is releasable only by a device - specific locking code . if the user considers some determined location , e . g . her office , to be secure , there is no need to use safe locking , but keyboard locking would be sufficient . according to embodiments , the user determine a certain location to be secure by associating only keyboard locking function to be performed on location in question . the mobile device traces its current location . while the device is on a location , which is determined to be secure and the device lock is activated , only the keyboard lock is turned on . on other locations , namely presumed or determined to be insecure , the secure locking code for protecting the device from unauthorized access is turned on .
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the elements designated with numbers in the drawings correspond to the parts indicated as follows . the cabinet described consists of a box - shaped body ( 1 ) in general orthoedric shape , with walls made of a material of great resistance ( in order to support , in case of the explosion of one or more bottles of compressed air , the stresses resulting from this incident ). body ( 1 ) opens on its front vertical face and on its upper base , by which its utilization is verified and where the two doors ( 2 ), ( 3 ) for access to the interior are located . door ( 2 ) moves vertically on the plane of the front face , and is operated by a mechanism for its elevation and descent , which will be described . door ( 3 ) moves horizontally on the upper base of the body 1 , sliding with rollers ( 3 a ) on two lateral guides , and equipped with two handles ( 4 ) for manual movement . the movement of door ( 3 ), apart from the manual method indicated , can likewise be carried out with an electromechanical device that is known , such as with a nut ( 39 ), a lead screw and an electric motor ( 40 ). the door can also be folding or other type . the operating mechanism of the front door ( 2 ) includes an electric motor ( 5 ), actuator of a transversal axle - shaft ( 6 ), the ends of which , sustained by bearings ( 7 ), carry the conical cog wheels ( 8 ), meshed with other wheels ( 9 ) attached to the lateral and vertical spindles ( 10 ). the spindles ( 10 ), in their turning , determine the vertical movement of the nuts ( 11 ), attached to the supports ( 12 ) fixed to the front door ( 2 ) and which will produce the vertical movement of the same . conventionally , the heads of the spindles ( 10 ) rest with bearings ( 13 ) on the supports ( 14 ) on the upper and lateral parts of the body ( 1 ). the vertical movement of the front door ( 2 ) could likewise be carried out with pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders , chain and / or belt mechanisms and similar . the grease pump ( 15 ), located on one of the exterior sides of the body ( 1 ), serves for maintenance of the device , especially of the spindles ( 10 ). bottles ( 16 ), ( 17 ) which are to be filled with compressed air are inserted in horizontal position into the cabinet . initially , they are allowed to rest on a transversal roller ( 41 ), located on the upper edge of the front door ( 2 ) and are then deposited by horizontal pushing , according to fig3 to 8 , on sets of rollers ( 18 ), ( 19 ) of rubber or similar material , of low hardness and conical shape , associated two by two at their smaller bases ( defining shapes of the known “ diavolo ”). this characteristic ensures the stability and virtual immobility of the bottles ( 16 ), ( 17 ) during the filling operation ; it likewise ensures that no scratching occurs or other aggressions on the outer surface of the bottles ( 16 ), ( 17 ). rollers ( 18 ), ( 19 ) are mounted on fixed horizontal shafts ( 20 ), parallel and equidistant , sustained by the side faces ( 21 ), ( 22 ) of a common support ( 23 ) in a low box shape . inside of it there is a partition ( 24 ) parallel to the faces ( 21 ), ( 22 ); thus , there is a section in e shape , which is passed through by the shafts ( 20 ). one part ( 18 ) of the rollers can turn freely on the shaft sections ( 20 ) ( fixed ) located between the face ( 21 ) and the partition ( 24 ), and cannot move axially . another part ( 19 ) of the rollers is first contained inside of a support ( 27 ) in the shape of a channel of rectangular section , the side faces of which , provided with perforations ( 28 ), are passed through by the same fixed shafts ( 20 ). the space defined between the partition ( 24 ) and the face ( 22 ) of the support ( 23 ) is greater in width than the distance between the face ( 21 ) and the partition ( 24 ) itself ; thus , the length of the shaft sections ( 20 ) in this space is greater than that of each conical roller pair ( 19 ) and their support ( 27 ). for this reason , support ( 27 ) can move , always parallel to itself , leaving exposed equivalent sections of the shafts ( 20 ). consequently , the distances between the roller pairs ( 18 ), ( 19 ) mounted on the shafts ( 20 ) can be modified at will , according to the diameters of the bottles ( 16 ), ( 17 ) placed horizontally on them . alternatively , instead of the elastic rollers ( 18 ), ( 19 ) mentioned , forming a unit of support for the bottles ( 16 ), ( 17 ) oriented horizontally , a shelf or drawer could be used , sliding horizontally on guides and forming “ beds ” or elongated entries for receiving and sustaining the bottles ( 16 ), ( 17 ). the bottles ( 16 ), ( 17 ) remain with their taps ( 29 ) located on the front , upper and inner part of the body ( 1 ) of the cabinet ( fig4 ), and for their filling , receive the coupling of the filling taps ( 30 ) ( fig5 ), disposed in number of four , according to fig3 and 3 bis , or of two , according to fig6 and 7 . the filling taps ( 30 ) ( fig4 and 5 ) are fed through respective flexible tubular hoses ( conduits ) ( 31 ), associated to an air collector ( 32 ) to which , in turn , the air intake ( 25 ) is connected , pertaining to the installation of an air compressor not shown in the drawings . conventionally , suitable purgers will be used . the new cabinet has a control panel ( 26 ) which includes an emergency switch ( 33 ) ( fig7 ), a filling gauge ( 34 ), a compressor filling switch ( 35 ), a stop switch ( 36 ), and switches ( 37 ), ( 38 ) for the vertical movement of the front door ( 2 ) and the horizontal movement of the upper door ( 3 ) simultaneously . the control panel ( 26 ) mainly occupies an upper part of the body ( 1 ). the passive safety of the described cabinet with respect to occasional explosions due to the release of air at high pressure and breakage of bottles ( 16 ), ( 17 ) is guaranteed by the sturdiness of the walls of the body ( 1 ) and of the doors ( 2 ), ( 3 ), made mainly of iron plate of a suitable thickness . the objective is the personal safety of the users of the filling cabinet . on the inner , lower and rear parts of the body ( 1 ) ( fig4 and 5 ) there is a tube or camera ( 42 ) ( fig5 ) with escape openings for the shock wave which would be produced in the case of explosion or breakage of one or more high - pressure air bottles ( 16 ), ( 17 ). to be included among the advantages of the filling cabinet described are , in addition to its safety and ease of use , its portability and the possibility of simultaneously filling bottles ( 16 ), ( 17 ) of different types and at different values of air pressure . it is not necessary to lift and maintain an upper door which may injure the user of the cabinet if it falls , or use pins or other auxiliary elements to position said upper door , as is the case with other types of cabinets for filling bottles . all that does not affect , alter , change or modify the essence of the cabinet described will be variable by the holder of this patent , for the purposes of the protection provided by the same . modifications may not be introduced by other persons with the purpose of eluding the protection of this patent , without authorization of the holder .
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referring to the embodiment of fig1 - 3 , the arrangement therein illustrated comprises a housing 10 constructed of a nonconducting material illustratively shown to be bakelite and cylindrically shaped . located in the housing in aligned relationship are two electrical transfer plates 11 , two circuit transfer plates 12 , one heat transfer plate 13 , two air gap assemblies 14 , two plungers 15 , two springs 16 and two heat coil assemblies 17 . the plungers are made of any suitable material such as steel or brass . the plates and springs are made of any suitable material such as beryllium copper or phosphor bronze . electrical transfer plates 11 , circuit transfer plates 12 and heat transfer plate 13 are mounted through slots in the housing and held in place by deforming the connector terminals 11c , 12c and 13c on their respective plates , after installation . electrical transfer plate 11 and heat transfer plate 13 each has a pair of spaced blades 11a , 11b and 13a , 13b respectively . each pair of associated blades comprise a holding clip . the holding clips are aligned to receive and hold the over - voltage gas protector 18 . in the embodiment illustrated in fig3 - 4 this over - voltage gas protector is of known construction ; examples of which are an aei type 16 gas tube protector , a tii - 16 type surge arrester , a siemens type ti - 6350 surge voltage arrester . a cartridge of this type comprises a gas - filled housing having a pair of opposed , spaced electrodes each of which makes electrical contact with one of the cartridge and terminals 18a and 18b . in the presence of an excessive voltage the gas between the electrodes is ionized thereby effectively shorting the end terminals and connecting them to the case of the protector and to external ground as described below . the lines and apparatus connected to these electrodes via the electrical transfer plates are thus short - circuited to thereby prevent the over - voltage condition from causing excessive current flow in the protected apparatus . in the application of this device each of the circuit transfer plates 12 is connected to a different entering line wire 20 of the two line system , each of the electrical transfer plates 11 is connected to a different apparatus wire 21 of the two line system and the heat transfer plate 13 is connected to external ground wire 22 . these connections are illustratively accomplished by such means as ` faston ` female connectors 19 manufactured by amp co . these are push - on - quick - disconnect receptacles which mate tightly with the connector terminals 11c , 12c , 13c on one end and firmly crimp to different wires 20 , 21 and 22 on the other end . the air gap assembly 14 is illustratively shown to be the same type as used in independently mounted air gap protectors such as manufactured by cook electric co ., western electric co ., reliable electric co . or reliance electric co .. this assembly contains carbon electrodes although metal electrodes will also suffice . there are two carbon electrodes 41 , 42 one fusible disc 43 , and a metal cage housing 44 . the carbon electrodes are insulated from each other by an air gap which allows the grounding of high voltage surges through the development of an arc path between line carbon electrode 41 and grounded carbon electrode 42 . should these high voltage surges on the line persist , the continued arcing will heat and melt the fusible disc 43 , thereby allowing repositioning of components due to urging of spring 16 , so that plunger 15 contacts grounded metal cage 44 thereby shorting across the air gap and causing the incoming line and all voltage surges to be grounded . the fusible disc 43 may be lead , solder , babbit or other appropriate material in accordance with ratings and installation requirements , the fusible disc being designed to melt when the current rating of the device is exceeded . the heat coil assembly 17 is composed of two identical conducting rings 71 , an insulating washer 72 and coil wire 73 . suitable material for the conducting ring is steel , brass or copper and for the insulating washer is bakelite . each conducting ring is fastened to an opposite face of the insulating washer as by glue , and each ring has a tab 71d used to connect by solder means one end of the heat coil wire 73 . the heat coil wire 72 is insulated and maintained in place within the center of the heat coil assembly by its own stiffness , the coil wire being designed to open when the current rating of the apparatus wire is exceeded over a predetermined time period , as when a voltage appears which is not large enough to cause arcing of a protector . since the coil wire is a series element in the incoming line its opening will assure apparatus safety from any excessive current . the coil is not affected by short duration over - voltage surges which produce arcing across the protector . in fig4 there is illustrated the combination of an over - voltage gas protector with the device . under normal operation the signal path is from either one of the wires 20 and its associated connector 19 to one of the terminals 12c . it then passes to circuit transfer plate 12 to ring 71 , through coil wire 73 to the other ring 71 on the same heat coil assembly where it enters electrical transfer plate 11 , connector 19 and wire 21 to the apparatus . if excessive voltage exists on the line the current developed will be conducted to ground through the path consisting of its associated wire 20 to its connector 19 to its associated circuit transfer plate 12 to ring 71 , through coil wire 73 to the other ring 71 on the same heat coil assembly to electrical transfer plate 11 to its associated gas protector end terminal 18a or 18b , then through the gas protector 18 which will ionize , to the protector case , through heat transfer plate 13 , the terminals at 13c , connector 19 and wire 22 to ground . as an added measure of reliability a back up path to ground is provided for excessive voltage if the over - voltage gas protector should fail or be removed from the device . with the gas protector 18 inoperable or missing from the device an excessive voltage arriving at electrical transfer plate 11 will pass to spring 16 , plunger 15 and line carbon electrode 41 . the excessive voltage then arcs across the air gap to grounded carbon electrode 42 , to fusible disc 43 to metal cage 44 , heat transfer plate 13 , terminal at 13c , connector 19 and wire 22 to ground . with gas protector 18 installed and operable an entering excessive voltage can be grounded through either of two parallel paths ; one utilizing the gas protector and the other utilizing the carbon electrodes in the air gap assembly . however , the gas protector should conduct first because it can be more accurately set for a lower firing voltage . in the case of a prolonged over - voltage condition there is a possibility that the gas tube or other protective element will fail . if the element becomes an open conduit the apparatus and lines connected thereto are no longer protected . to eliminate this possibility the embodiment of fig3 includes a shorting arrangement which provides an extra measure of safety and reliability as described hereinafter . in the event of a sustained excessive voltage the heat generated in the gas protector will be conducted by spaced blades 13a , 13b of the heat transfer plate 13 to cage 44 and to the fusible disc 43 in air gap assembly 14 . as excessive heat melts the fusible disc , its compressed spring 16 expands , pushing plunger 15 towards cage 44 . during this movement electrical contact between the plunger and grounded cage is prevented by insulation means within air gap assembly 14 . eventually , when the fusible disc is melted , plunger 15 contacts cage 44 which is in contact with the grounded heat transfer plate 13 thus connecting the incoming line to ground through the path of its associated wire 20 , connector 19 , terminal 12c , circuit transfer plate 12 , ring 71 , coil wire 73 , second ring 71 , electrical transfer plate 11 , spring 16 , plunger 15 , cage 44 , heat transfer plate 13 , terminal 13c , connector 19 and wire 22 . in the illustrated use of this device there are two fusible discs , each providing similar heat sensitive means and similar grounding means for said excessive voltage . when the gas protector is not in operation these fusible discs function in the same manner as discussed , to ground the incoming line and sustain excessive voltage causing heat to be generated in the carbon electrodes . an extra measure of assurance that the device is installed may be easily obtained . since it is possible that the device may be removed from existing terminals it is necessary to provide means whereby it must be replaced . these means consist of a slight wiring rearrangement and a change of wire termination hardware as hereinafter described . as presently configured , the subscriber station utilizes three screw terminals , one for each line of the two line system and one for ground . for connection purposes bared wires are now wrapped around each terminal and held in place by use of a nut on the screw . although this clip - on device may be easily adapted to existing subscriber terminals , it is proposed to eliminate the present screw terminals and place female connectors on each of the wires . these connectors were previously described and are shown as item 19 in fig1 , 4 . each of the two incoming lines accepts a connector which is placed on a different terminal 12c . each of the two apparatus wires accepts a connector which is placed on a different terminal 11c . the existing grounded wire and the apparatus ground wire accept one common connector which is placed on terminal 13c . through this rewiring additional safety is obtained since the device becomes a series element rather than a parallel element in the use of the apparatus and it becomes impossible for the apparatus to function without the device in its proper place . in addition , ease of maintenance and safety of personnel is provided in the removal and replacement of the device after the fusible disc has melted . although connector 19 firmly grasps connector terminals 11c , 12c , 13c , it can be disconnected rapidly and safely since connector 19 has insulation on its crimped portion where it may be held without fear of shock as with the present screw terminal connection . an important aspect of this device is its adaptability to existing terminals of presently utilized protectors , which may be removed from operation due to one or more undesirable deficiencies and may be replaced by this device without major installation costs . this device may be operated across existing circuit terminals which presently utilize an air gap type protector with the air gap protector removed , since safety during prolonged overload is provided by its own fusible element and is not dependent upon the fusible element backup accompanying the independent air gap protector . this small mobile holder for the gas - filled over - voltage protector may be encapsulated with a gas protector using a potting material , stycast 2651 - 40 or rtv - 21 are suitable examples , with terminals 11c , 12c , 13c left exposed , and may be maneuvered and positioned into place so that it is quickly and easily connected as previously described or by utilizing a connector 19 having a pigtail wire for connection to existing circuit screw terminals . another important feature of this small device is its adaptability to existing central office equipment presently utilizing densely packaged gas - filled over - voltage protectors which operate without the use of any fusible safety elements , such as in the tii 700 block . one possible minor wiring modification is removing the existing block ground connection at each gas protector case and placing the ground onto connector terminal 13c of heat transfer plate 13 . while only one embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described , it is to be understood that many changes and modifications can be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope hereof .
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variations described for the present invention can be realized in any combination desirable for each particular application . thus particular limitations , and / or embodiment enhancements described herein , which may have particular advantages to the particular application need not be used for all applications . also , it should be realized that not all limitations need to be implemented in methods , systems and / or apparatus including one or more concepts of the present invention . referring to fig1 , an interconnection structure 10 suitable for the connection of microelectronic integrated circuit ( ic ) chips to packages is provided by this invention . in particular , the invention pertains to the area - array or flip - chip technology often called c4 ( controlled collapse chip connection ). the blm ( also named an under bump metallurgy ( ubm ))) 11 is deposited on passivated integrated circuit ( ic ) device 12 ( e . g ., a silicon wafer ). a first layer of the blm 11 is an adhesion / diffusion barrier layer 14 which may preferably be a metal , alloy or compound selected from the group consisting of cr , ti , tiw , v , zr , ta and their alloys ( or compounds ), and may have a thickness of about 100 to 5 , 000 angstroms , and may be deposited by evaporation , sputtering , or other known techniques . a solder reaction barrier layer 16 of a metal or compound preferably selected from the group consisting of ni , co , ru , hf , nb , mo , w , v and their alloys ( or compounds ) may be subsequently deposited on the adhesion layer , preferably by , for example , sputtering , plating , or evaporation to a thickness of about 500 to 30 , 000 angstroms . top layer 18 is a solderable layer consisting preferably of a metal selected from the group of cu , au , pd , pt , sn and their alloys , by , for example , sputtering , plating , or evaporation to a thickness of about 500 to 20 , 000 angstroms . in some special applications , the three - layer blm structure can be simplified to two layers if when the same element is selected for both the second and third layer ; the same applies to the first and second layer . an optional fourth layer , 38 , such a thin layer preferably of gold or sn , may be deposited on layer 18 to act as a protection layer against oxidation or corrosion . solder 40 is then applied , as shown in fig1 . the c4 structure 10 may be completed with a lead - free solder ball 20 comprising tin as the predominate component and preferably one or more alloying elements selected from ag , cu , bi , ni , co , in and sb . in accordance with the present invention , a preferred adhesion layer 14 is tiw or ti , which is preferably either sputtered or evaporated , at a preferred thickness of about 100 to 5000 angstroms . the thickness of the adhesion layer 14 can vary widely as long as both good adhesion and good barrier properties are maintained . if blanket tiw is deposited and subsequently etched as the final step in forming the patterned blm structure , 11 , the film thickness should be minimized consistent with adequate performance . an alternative adhesion layer is cr , ta , w or their alloys at a thickness of about 100 to 5000 angstroms . the second layer 16 is a solder reaction barrier layer , preferably typically a few thousand angstroms to several microns in thickness , deposited preferably by sputtering , evaporation or plating . since the high tin content pb - free solders are highly reactive than the eutectic pb - rich pb — sn solder , a thick reaction barrier layer is needed to survive multiple thermal cycles without being totally consumed . a total consumption of blm will lead to a “ floating blm ” failure that degrades the mechanical integrity of the solder joint . since cu is highly reactive with high sn solder , a less reactive metal , such as ni or its alloys , in the blm is preferred for lead - free application . in accordance with the invention , it has been found that suitable solder reaction barrier layers may preferably be formed of ni , ru , co , w , hf , nb , mo , v , and their alloys . the third layer 18 is a solder wettable layer . layer 18 is easily wettable by , and potentially totally dissolved into , the molten solder during reflow joining , thus allowing for the formation of a reliable metallurgical joint to the blm pad through the formation of intermetallic compounds with the reaction barrier layer . the wettable layer is a metal preferably selected from the group consisting of cu , au , pd , pt , sn , and their alloys . both copper and gold react very rapidly with high - tin solders and do not provide a suitable reaction barrier layer . however , these metals all react and wet well with solder and therefore serve as the top layer for oxidation protection , wetting and joining to the c4 solder . in an added benefit , cu dissolving into solder can be used as an alloying element for the solder . for example , when cu is dissolved into pure sn solder , it forms the binary sn — cu solder alloy . when dissolved into binary snag alloy , it forms the ternary near eutectic sn — ag — cu solder . both sn — cu and sn — ag — cu are the leading pb - free solder candidates for microelectronic assembly . the dissolution and incorporation of cu as an added alloying element in solder is shown to simplify the plating processes . instead of plating a ternary alloy of sn — ag — cu , which is very complicated , a simpler plating of binary snag alloy can be easily performed , with the alloying element cu coming from the blm pad . the same approach applies to the plating of pure sn which is very simple , and the subsequent reaction of pure sn with cu , which is from the blm pad , to form a simple binary alloy system which is simpler than plating the binary sn — cu alloy to facilitate manufacturability . maintaining the bath chemistry and precise control of solder composition during plating of multicomponent solder alloys is very complicated , and this complexity can be simplified using this approach . it is noted that cu rapidly dissolves into the essentially liquid solder during the reflow portion of the process , thus assuring that the composition of the solder ball is relatively uniform . the manner in which the solder wettable layer is dissolves into the solder ball is shown in fig1 a for the first exemplary embodiment of the invention , and in fig4 a for a second embodiment of the invention . the solderable layer may be sputtered , evaporated or plated using the same procedure as that used for the deposition of the other blm layers . subsequently , the blanket films must be patterned to form the blm 11 in the finished structure depicted in fig1 . in this example , the first layer is preferably tiw , cr or ti . the second layer is preferably ni , co , ru , w or their alloys ( or compounds ). the third layer is preferably cu , pd , pt or their alloys . a fourth layer preferably may be au or sn . in this example , the first layer is preferably tiw , ti or cr which serves as an adhesion / reaction barrier layer . the second layer is preferably selected from the group consisting of ru , ni , cu , co , sn , or their alloys . in all three or four layer structures cu is the preferred wettable layer , fast reaction and dissolution of cu into molten solder alloy during reflow joining forms the cu — sn intermetallic compounds which adheres well at blm / solder interface to enhance the mechanical integrity of the solder joint . the melting properties of the solder alloy that is used over the ubm must be compatible with manufacturing requirements . the preferred deposition method for the solder is c4np , electrodeposition ( either direct electrodeposition of the alloy or sequential deposition of the individual alloy components ), stencil printing or by paste screening . fig2 a to fig2 d illustrate steps in producing the structure of fig1 . in fig2 a the blm 11 of fig1 , including layers 14 , 16 and 18 is produced on a wafer or substrate 12 , as explained above . the c4 pattern is defined on the wafer with an appropriate photoresist pattern 24 , of thickness at least as great as the thickness of the solder which is to be deposited . referring to fig2 b , the lead - free solder 26 is transfer deposited onto blm by means of molten solder injection , plating , paste screening , stencil printing or solder jetting , to name a few . sequential electroplating of the solder components , followed by mixing upon reflow , is an alternative to direct plating of the alloy . the blanket blm layer in fig2 c not covered under the solder is subsequently etched as shown in fig2 d . the solder is reflowed in an appropriate atmosphere to form a solder ball , as illustrated in fig1 . the wafer 12 may then be diced , sorted , picked and good chips are joined to a ceramic or organic chip carrier employing a suitable flux or by fluxless joining . fig3 a to fig3 d illustrate an alternative process to form the structure of fig1 . in fig3 a , a photoresist pattern 24 , is deposited over the blanket blm 11 . fig3 b illustrates the etching of the layers of the blm 11 which is not covered under the photoresist 24 . the photoresist pattern 24 being used as an etch mask to pattern the blm . in fig3 c , the photoresist pattern 24 is stripped off the patterned blm layers . in fig3 d , the solder bumps are selectively deposited on the patterned blm 11 on either wafer or substrate by means of c4np molten solder transfer , paste screening , stencil printing , etc . the solder bump 26 is then reflowed in an appropriate atmosphere . the wafer is then diced , sorted and picked . good chips are selected and joined to a chip carrier either with a suitable flux or fluxlessly joined . fig4 is a cross - sectional view of a , exemplary second embodiment of c4 structure in accordance with the invention . the blm 30 is a two layer structure suitable for deposition on a substrate or wafer with oxide , nitride or polyimide passivation 32 . the first layer 34 , which is deposited on the surface of the passivated wafer or substrate may preferably be cr , ti , tiw , zr , v or their alloys . the next layer 36 serves both as a reaction barrier and solderable layer , is deposited on the layer 34 , and may preferably be selected from the group of ru , ni , co , cu , pd , pt , or their alloys . an optional third layer 38 , such as preferably a thin layer of gold or sn , may be deposited on layer 36 to act as an oxidation protection layer . optional layer 38 should be a material other than that already selected for the second layer . again , with the described layered structure if the selected element is already used in the prior layer it will not be used for the subsequent layer to avoid duplication . solder 40 is then applied , as in fig1 . as noted above , when the optional layer 38 is not applied and the top layer of fig4 is , for example cu , the manner in which the solder wettable layer is dissolved into the solder ball 40 is shown fig4 a . the embodiment illustrated in fig4 may be formed using either one of the methods illustrated in fig2 a to fig2 d or in fig3 a to fig3 d . fig5 is a sem cross - sectional view of a binary sn0 . 7 % cu pb - free solder alloy after reaction with a three - layer tiw / nisi / cu blm at 250 degree c . continuously for 40 minutes . fig5 a is lower magnification , and fig5 b is higher magnification . tiw is an adhesion layer ; nisi is a reaction barrier layer ; and cu is a solderable layer which , after reflow joining , is totally dissolved into solder . fig6 is a sem cross - sectional view of binary sn0 . 7 % cu pb - free solder alloy after reaction with a three - layer tiw / niw / cu blm at 250 degree c . continuously for 40 minutes . fig5 a is for lower magnification , and fig5 b for higher magnification . tiw is an adhesion layer ; niw is a reaction barrier layer ; and cu is a solderable layer which is totally consumed by reacting with solder . fig7 is a sem cross - sectional view of binary sn3 . 8 % ag pb - free solder alloy after reaction with a two - layer tiw / ru blm at 250 degree c . continuously for 20 minutes ; tiw is an adhesion layer ; ru serves both as a reaction barrier layer and solder wettable layer . a thin layer of intermetallic compound is formed at solder and blm interface . the first layer is preferably tiw , ti or cr or its alloys . the second layer is preferably ru , cu , ni , co , sn or its alloys serving both as a reaction barrier layer and a wettable surface . a three layer blm structure comprising preferably a tiw , ti or cr as an adhesion layer deposited on a substrate , a ni or its alloys serving as a reaction barrier layer on the adhesion layer , and a cu sacrificial layer for plating solder deposition . a lead free solder of sn , or an snag binary alloy is deposited on the cu layer . when reflowed , as described above , the cu layer is dissolved into the resulting solder ball to alloy with the solder . the solder is preferably lead - free , and a binary sn — cu alloy or a ternary sn — ag — cu alloy is formed when the cu is dissolved into the solder wherein the original solders were pure sn and binary sn — ag , respectively . the blm metallurgy of the present invention may be further improved in robustness by annealing at 150 - 350 degrees c . for 30 to 90 minutes either before or after blm patterning . thus , while there have been shown and described and pointed out fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to currently preferred embodiments thereof , it will be understood that various omissions , substitutions and changes in the form and details of the method and product illustrated , and in their operation , may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention . in addition it is to be understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale . it is the intention , therefore , to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended herewith and equivalents thereof . it is noted that the foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects and embodiments of the present invention . the concepts of this invention may be used for many applications . thus , although the description is made for particular arrangements and methods , the intent and concept of the invention is suitable and applicable to other arrangements and applications . it will be clear to those skilled in the art that other modifications to the disclosed embodiments can be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . the described embodiments ought to be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the invention . other beneficial results can be realized by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention in ways known to those familiar with the art . thus , it should be understood that the embodiments has been provided as an example and not as a limitation . the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims .
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[ 0016 ] fig1 is a diagrammatic drawing of an auto associative neural network ( aann ) 10 including an input layer 12 ; three hidden layers comprising a mapping layer 14 , a bottle - neck layer 16 , a de - mapping layer ; and an output layer 20 . the overall transfer function of the aann 10 of the present invention is equal to 1 , as the outputs are trained to be equal to the values on the corresponding inputs . the design of the aann 10 uses compression of data in the bottleneck layer 16 to achieve an overall transfer function that is not trivially equal to 1 . for this type of aann to work properly , the input data has the property of analytical redundancy where the inputs to the aann 10 are physically related somehow . the analytically redundant information will be used to generate correct output values when the inputs are only partially correct or in a fault condition . for example , when a sensor is faulty on one input , there is enough information coming from the other inputs to generate a correct output value for the faulty sensor . the aann 10 of the present invention with analytical redundancy can be used to calculate expected values for each output that can then be used to detect bad input values and provide fail - soft values for the system in place of the faulty sensor value . to achieve robustness and to produce a non - corrupted output value for inputs containing gross errors , the aann 10 is trained on exemplars that represent this input - output behavior . once an aann 10 is initially trained using a sufficient number of good data values to represent the system over its complete operating range , it has the capability to make its outputs equal to its inputs as long as a sensor fault is not present . if the training is stopped at this point , the aann 10 is trained to model a good system such that it could be used to detect faults in a traditional manner . the current sensor values are compared to the calculated outputs of the aann 10 , and a fault is flagged when the differences between the two exceeded a threshold . however , if the training is taken a step further , and the system is trained on data that is representative of bad sensors , then the output of the aann 10 may be used to provide fail - soft values for the bad input all at once . training the aann 10 involves the compilation of heuristic data , as there are several “ knobs ” that can be turned during the training process . the end result of training is an aann 10 that will produce outputs equal to its inputs when good sensor values are present and fail - soft values when faulty sensors are present . aanns that have gone through this second step of training , with exemplars of faulty sensors , will be referred to as robust aanns . the aann 10 developed in the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be of the robust type . the present invention in a preferred embodiment utilizes the aann 10 in an automotive application as show by the engine control system 30 of fig2 but any sensor application is considered within the scope of the present invention . the engine control system 30 includes an engine controller 32 receiving sensor measurements of coolant temperature ; air temperature ; manifold pressure ( map ) from map sensor 34 ; manifold air flow rate ( maf ) from maf sensor 36 ; engine speed and engine position from engine position sensor 38 ; pedal position ; throttle position or angle ( tps ) from throttle position sensor 40 ; and exhaust oxygen measurements before and after a catalytic converter 42 by oxygen sensors 44 and 46 air enters an internal combustion engine ( ice ) 50 through an intake manifold 52 . a throttle plate 54 controls air flow through the ice 50 and may be controlled electronically or manually by a wire connected to an accelerator pedal . the air is mixed with fuel from a fuel injector 56 controlled by the engine controller 32 . the air / fuel mixture enters a piston 58 where it is ignited to rotate a crankshaft , as is commonly known in the art . the exhaust gases are oxidized and reduced by the catalytic converter 42 , as is commonly known in the art . the sensors relating to air entering the engine manifold have the property of analytical redundancy and will be used in the preferred embodiment of the present invention . specifically , the map sensor 34 , maf sensor 36 , and tps sensor 40 are related to air flow through the ice 50 . the maf sensor 36 measures the amount of air being drawn into the ice 50 , the map sensor 34 measure the pressure in the ice 50 , and the tps sensor 40 measure the throttle blade 54 angle or area . [ 0021 ] fig3 is a diagrammatic drawing of a preferred embodiment of an aann 60 in the present invention . map , maf , and tps sensors 34 , 36 , and 40 are input to a normalization function 62 . the normalized sensor values are processed at an input layer 64 having a linear transfer function . the input layer generates outputs to weighted connections 66 . a mapping layer 68 having sigmoidal transfer functions outputs values to weighted functions 70 . a bottleneck layer 72 processes the inputs from the weighted connections 70 and generates outputs to weighted connections 74 . the weighted connections 74 output signals to a de - mapping layer 76 and outputs values to weighted connections 78 . an input layer 80 having a linear transfer function processes the outputs from weighted connections 78 . block 82 un - normalizes the outputs from block 80 to generate representative values maf ′, map ′, and tps ′. the functions of auto associative neural network 60 ( layers 62 - 82 ) described above is as follows : a = f 1 ( w 5 f 2 ( w 4 f 1 ( w 3 f 2 ( w 2 f 1 ( w 1 p + b 1 )+ b 2 )+ b 3 )+ b 4 )+ b 5 ) w 1 = weight vector for input layer 64 ( 3 × 3 matrix ) w 2 = weight vector for mapping layer 68 ( 6 × 3 matrix ) w 3 = weight vector for bottleneck layer 72 ( 2 × 6 matrix ) w 4 = weight vector for de - mapping layer 76 ( 6 × 2 matrix ) w 5 = weight vector for output layer 80 ( 3 × 6 matrix ) b 1 = bias vector for input layer 64 ( 3 × 1 matrix ) b 2 = bias vector for mapping layer 68 ( 6 × 1 matrix ) b 3 = bias vector for bottleneck layer 72 ( 2 × 1 matrix ) b 4 = bias vector for de - mapping layer 76 ( 6 × 1 matrix ) b 5 = bias vector for output layer 80 ( 3 × 1 matrix ) the representative values maf ′, map ′, and tps ′ should generally equal the values generated by the map , maf and tps sensors 34 , 36 , and 40 under normal operating conditions or under a fault condition for any of the sensors 34 , 36 , and 40 . accordingly , the engine control system 30 may still operate within normal parameters if there is a fault , or in alternate embodiments , the representative values may be used to replace a physical sensor . in alternate embodiments of the present invention , other related sensor groupings such as engine speed , transmission speed , wheel speed sensors , related sensors such as throttle position sensors , and other similar sensor groupings may be used in the present invention . it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact construction illustrated and described above , but that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims .
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exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings . the same reference numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts . detailed descriptions of well - known functions and structures incorporated herein may be omitted to avoid obscuring the subject matter of the present invention . in the conventional harq mechanism in which a ue uses only the ndi to discriminate the uplink transmission resource assignment messages indicative of initial transmission and retransmission , the ue may fail to discriminate the messages . in some embodiments of the present invention the ue discriminates the uplink transmission resource assignment messages indicative of initial transmission and retransmission in consideration of the ndi , rv and harq buffer status so as to improve the discrimination accuracy . typically , the uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of an initial transmission of a new packet takes place after the previous packet transmission has completed even though the uplink transmission resource assignment message has the ndi identical to that of the previous uplink transmission resource assignment message . in consideration of this feature , according to some embodiments of the present invention , the ue the received the uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of initial transmission in a harq process calculates the last available retransmission time and , if the last available retransmission time has expired , flushes the harq buffer even though the mac pdu transmission has failed . also , if the harq buffer has no data when an uplink transmission resource assignment message is received in a harq process , i . e . the uplink transmission resource assignment message indicates the first uplink transmission resource assignment message after flushing the harq buffer , then the ue determines that the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu regardless of the ndi value of the uplink transmission resource assignment message . fig6 is a diagram illustrating a problematic situation that can be encountered in a mobile communication system and solved with a signal transmission method according to an embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig6 , the ue receives an uplink transmission resource assignment message 605 indicative of an initial transmission of a new packet for a harq process x . once the uplink transmission resource assignment message 605 indicative of an initial transmission of a new packet is received , the ue waits for a time t to elapse from the point in time at which the uplink transmission resource assignment message is received and transmits a mac pdu 610 using the uplink transmission resource indicated by the uplink transmission resource assignment message for the harq process x . if a nack 625 is received in response to the mac pdu 610 , then the ue retransmits the mac pdu 615 . the retransmission 615 and 620 of the mac pdu repeats in response to the nack 625 and 630 at an interval of harq rtt . the retransmission can be repeated until a maximum retransmission time is reached . in fig6 , the ue receives a harq ack 635 in response to the mac pdu . upon receipt of the harq ack 635 , the ue stops retransmission of the mac pdu . next , the ue monitors the maximum retransmission time and flushes the harq buffer 640 for the harq process x when the maximum retransmission time is reached 645 . in fig6 , an uplink transmission resource assignment message 650 indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu is transmitted for the harq process x after the ue has completed the transmission of the previous mac pdu 620 but the ue fails to receive the uplink transmission resource assignment message 650 . in this case , since no mac pdu is transmitted by the ue , the enb repeats noise decoding at an interval of the harq and determines that the mac pdu transmission of the ue is terminated with a failure when the last available retransmission time has expired . after some time elapses from the transmission of the previous uplink transmission resource assignment message 650 , the enb transmits another uplink transmission resource assignment message 655 indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu to the ue , and the ue receives the uplink transmission resource assignment message 655 . in this case , the ndi of the uplink transmission resource assignment message 655 is set to 0 , identical to the ndi of the uplink transmission resource assignment message 605 which the ue has received most recently . if referring to the ndi for discriminating whether the uplink transmission resource assignment message 655 is indicative of initial transmission or retransmission , then the ue misidentifies the uplink transmission resource assignment message 655 indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu as an uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of retransmission of previous mac pdu . in an embodiment of the present invention the ue checks the harq buffer status in order to avoid such misidentification . if the harq buffer is not empty , then the ue discriminates the uplink transmission resource assignment message with reference to the ndi . otherwise if the harq buffer is empty , then the ue determines that the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu regardless of the ndi . fig7 is a flowchart illustrating a signal transmission method for a mobile communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig7 , a ue receives an uplink transmission resource assignment message for a harq process in step 705 . once the uplink transmission resource assignment message is received , the ue determines whether the harq buffer for the harq process is empty in step 710 . if the harq buffer is empty , then the ue determines that the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu , and the process goes to step 715 . otherwise , if the harq buffer is not empty , the process goes to step 730 . at step 730 , then the ue determines whether the ndi of the uplink transmission resource assignment message is toggled , i . e . whether the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu or retransmission of previous mac pdu . if the harq buffer is empty at step 710 , this means that the ue is requesting to transmit a new pdu using the uplink transmission resource indicated by the uplink transmission resource assignment message . at step 715 , the ue checks the redundancy version ( rv ) to determine whether the rv is set to 0 . the rv set to 0 means that the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu rather than retransmission . if the rv is set to 0 , then the process goes to step 725 . if the rv is set to a value other than 0 , then the process goes to step 720 . before further progress of the explanation , the rv is described in more detail with reference to fig8 and 9 . fig8 is a diagram illustrating a sequence of redundancy versions ( rvs ) for requesting data retransmission in a mobile communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention , and fig9 is a diagram illustrating how to set rvs for adaptive retransmission in a mobile communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig8 and 9 , the rv field is used to indicate a part of the original data to be retransmitted in the harq process . the uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu includes the transmission resource assignment information the mcs level information . the ue that received an uplink transmission resource assignment message determines the size of the data to be transmitted based on the number of resource blocks and mcs level indicated by the uplink transmission resource assignment message and generates a mac pdu 805 of the determined size . the mac pdu is channel - coded according to the mcs level indicated by the uplink transmission resource assignment message , and the channel - coded data 810 is stored in the harq buffer for the corresponding harq process . the ue transmits a part of the channel - coded data 810 which is indicated by the rv and performs retransmission in a sequential order of the rv value . the sequence of rvs is defined to be rv 0 , rv 2 , rv 3 , and rv 1 , and the ue repeats retransmissions in the sequence cyclically . the rv 0 , rv 1 , rv 2 , and rv 3 point to the respective parts 815 , 820 , 825 , and 830 constituting the channel coded data 810 . in practice , the parts pointed to by the rvs are not continuous unlike the exemplary case shown in fig8 . in general , the transmission is started from the rv 0 815 and then in order of rv 2 825 , rv 3 830 , and rv 1 820 . the transmission order is cyclic such that the data pointed to by the rv 1 815 is transmitted after the last part of the channel coded data has been transmitted . in the case of an adaptive retransmission , the rv can be indicated in the uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of the adaptive retransmission . for instance , if an uplink transmission resource assignment message 905 indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu is received at a point in time , then the ue transmits the part ( of the mac pdu ) pointed to by the rv 0 915 through the assigned uplink transmission resource after the time t 910 elapses from the receipt of the uplink transmission resource assignment message . assuming that the mac pdu is continuously retransmitted , the ue sequentially transmits the parts pointed to by the rv 2 920 and rv 3 925 through the same uplink transmission resource at intervals of the harq rtt . at this time , if it is required to move the retransmission of the ue to another uplink transmission resource , then the enb transmits an uplink transmission resource assignment message 930 of which ndi is identical to that of the previous uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of initial transmission of the new mac pdu . at this time , the enb may change the sequential order of the rvs by resetting the value of the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message for the adaptive retransmission . for instance , if the enb resets the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message for the adaptive retransmission to 2 , then the ue transmits the data pointed to by the rv 2 935 although it is time to transmit the data pointed to by the rv 1 , and the changed sequence is maintained until the transmission is completed or the sequence is changed by the enb again . that is , the sequence is changed such that the rv 3 940 , rv 1 945 , rv 0 950 are sequentially transmitted following the rv 2 935 . as described above , the rv set to 0 indicates that the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of initial transmission of a new message rather than adaptive retransmission . accordingly , the ue generates a new mac pdu with reference to the information indicated by the uplink transmission resource assignment message and stores the mac pdu within the harq buffer after channel coding , and transmits a data part pointed to by the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message at step 725 . strictly speaking , the rv can be set to 0 for the uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of the adaptive retransmission . for instance , if the uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of the adaptive retransmission transmitted to the ue which is preparing the fifth transmission , then the sequence returns to the original rv sequence so as to be more efficient . nevertheless , if it is permitted for the enb to use the rv 0 for the adaptive retransmission , there can be a possibility that the ue may misidentify the uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of adaptive retransmission as the uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of initial transmission or vice versa . accordingly , in the embodiments of the present invention , it is not permitted for the enb to use the rv 0 for adaptive retransmission . in other words , the enb must set the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message , which is transmitted at a time reserved for the data pointed to by the rv 0 and indicative of the adaptive retransmission , to a non - zero value . with this strategy , it is possible to secure the protocol reliability with little compromise of transmission efficiency . returning to fig7 , if the rv is not set to 0 at step 715 , then the ue determines that the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of adaptive retransmission of a new mac pdu , and this means that an uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu is lost before receiving the uplink transmission resource assignment message that is indicative of adaptive retransmission . as described above , the harq retransmission is restricted to the maximum number of harq transmissions . accordingly , when the uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of initial transmission is lost , the ue does not know how many times the uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of adaptive retransmission is transmitted . if the last possible retransmission point in time is misidentified , then the ue may transmit the data through an unavailable uplink transmission resource that is not reserved for the ue at that time , resulting in interference . accordingly , if the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message is set to a nonzero value and the harq buffer is empty , then the ue ignores the uplink transmission resource assignment message and does not transmit data in step 720 . if the harq buffer is not empty at step 710 , then the ue determines whether the ndi of the current uplink transmission resource assignment message is toggled as compared to the last previously received uplink transmission resource assignment message in step s 730 . if the ndi is toggled , i . e . the ndi of the current uplink transmission resource assignment message is not identical to the ndi value of the last previously received uplink transmission resource assignment message for the harq process , then the ue determines that the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu and flushes the harq buffer in step 735 . after flushing the harq buffer , the process goes to step 715 . otherwise , if the ndi is not toggled , then the ue determines that the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of adaptive retransmission of previous mac pdu and transmits the part of the coded data , which is stored in the harq buffer pointed by the rv , using the uplink transmission indicated by the uplink transmission resource assignment message in step 740 . fig1 is a flowchart illustrating a signal transmission method for a mobile communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention in view of ue . the harq procedure depicted in fig1 is substantially similar to that of fig7 but more simplified by inspecting the rv prior to the harq buffer inspection . referring to fig1 , a ue receives an uplink transmission resource assignment message for a harq process x in step 1005 . once the uplink transmission resource assignment message is received , the ue determines whether the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message is set to 0 in step 1010 . if the rv is set to 0 , then the ue determines that the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu such that the process goes to step 1015 . at step 1015 , the ue generates a new mac pdu and performs channel coding on the mac pdu based on the information contained in the uplink transmission resource assignment message , stores the channel coded data within the harq buffer , and then transmits the part of the channel coded data which is pointed to by an rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message , i . e . rv 0 . otherwise , if the rv is not set to 0 , then the ue determines whether the harq buffer for the harq process x is empty , i . e . whether the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu in step 1020 . if the harq buffer is empty , then the ue determines that the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of adaptive retransmission of a new mac pdu . if the rv is not set to 0 and the harq buffer is empty , this means that an uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of initial transmission of a new pdu is lost before receiving the current uplink transmission resource assignment message such that the ue ignores the currently received uplink transmission resource assignment message and does not transmit data in step 1025 . if the harq buffer for the corresponding harq process is not empty at step 1020 , then the ue determines whether the ndi of the current uplink transmission resource assignment message is toggled as compared to the ndi value of the last previously received uplink transmission resource assignment message in step 1030 . if the ndi of the current uplink transmission resource assignment message is toggled as compared to the ndi value of the last previously received uplink transmission resource assignment message , i . e . if the ndi of the current uplink transmission resource assignment message is different from that of the last previously received uplink transmission resource assignment message , then the ue determines that the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of the adaptive retransmission of a new mac pdu , and the process goes to step 1025 . if the ndi is not toggled at step 1030 , then the ue determines that the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of the adaptive retransmission of a previous mac pdu , and process goes to step 1035 . at step 1035 , the ue transmits a part of the channel coded data which is stored in the harq buffer and pointed by the rv through the uplink transmission resource indicated by the uplink transmission resource assignment message . in short , the ue discriminates the following three types of uplink transmission resource assignment messages and operates depending on the type of the uplink transmission resource assignment message . the first type of uplink transmission resource assignment message is an uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu . when an uplink transmission resource assignment message of which rv is set to 0 is received for the harq process of which harq buffer is empty , the uplink transmission resource assignment message is determined as the uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu , whereby the ue transmits the uplink data according to the normal initial transmission process . the second type of uplink transmission resource assignment message is an uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of adaptive retransmission of the mac pdu stored in the harq buffer . when an uplink transmission resource assignment message of which the rv is set to a non - zero value and the ndi is not toggled is received for the harq process of which harq buffer is not empty , the uplink transmission resource assignment message is determined as the uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of adaptive retransmission of the mac pdu stored in the harq buffer , whereby the ue retransmits the mac pdu stored in the harq buffer according to the normal retransmission process . the third type of uplink transmission resource assignment message is an uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of adaptive retransmission of a new mac pdu . when an uplink transmission resource assignment message of which the rv is set to a nonzero value is received for the harq process of which harq buffer is empty or an uplink transmission resource assignment message of which the rv is set to a nonzero value and the ndi is toggled is received for the harq process of which harq buffer is not empty , the uplink transmission resource assignment message is determined as the uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of adaptive retransmission of a new mac pdu , whereby the ue ignores the uplink transmission resource assignment message and does not transmit data . in an embodiment of the present invention , an uplink transmission resource assignment message discrimination method and apparatus using the ndi , rv , and harq buffer status in bundled transmission is proposed . fig1 is a flowchart illustrating a signal transmission method for a mobile communication system according to another embodiment of the present invention . in this embodiment , the ue first inspects the ndi to simplify the procedure for discriminating the uplink transmission resource assignment messages . referring to fig1 , a ue receives an uplink transmission resource assignment message for a harq process x in step 1105 . once the uplink transmission resource assignment message is received , the ue determines whether the ndi of the uplink transmission resource assignment message is identical to or incremented from the last previously received ndi for the harq process x in step 1110 . the last previously received ndi can be the ndi of the last previously received uplink transmission resource assignment message for the corresponding harq process . if the ndi of the current uplink transmission resource assignment message is incremented compared to the ndi of the last previously received uplink transmission resource assignment message , i . e . if the value of the ndi is changed , the ue determines that the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu so as to form a new mac pdu based on the information included in the uplink transmission resource assignment message , perform channel coding to the mac pdu , store the channel coded mac pdu in the form of channel coded data , and transmit a part of the channel coded data that is pointed to by the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message in step 1115 . at step 1115 , the ue forms a new mac pdu and performs channel coding and stores the new mac pdu in the harq buffer with reference to the information contained in the uplink transmission resource assignment message and transmits a part of the channel coded mac pdu that the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message points . if the ndi of the current uplink transmission resource assignment message is identical to that of the last previously received uplink transmission resource assignment message , the ue determines whether the corresponding harq buffer is empty in step 1120 . if the harq buffer is empty , the ue determines that the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu such that the process goes to step 1115 . otherwise , if the harq buffer is not empty at step 1120 , the ue determines that the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of adaptive retransmission of a previous mac pdu so as to transmit a part of the coded data stored in the harq buffer , the part being pointed to by the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message , using the uplink transmission resource indicated by the uplink transmission resource assignment message . fig1 is a flowchart illustrating a signal transmission method for a mobile communication system according to another embodiment of the present invention . in this embodiment , the ue discriminates the uplink transmission resource assignment messages indicative of initial transmission and retransmission with reference to the rv rather than harq buffer status while simplifying the message discrimination procedure by first inspecting the ndi of the uplink transmission resource assignment message . referring to fig1 , the ue receives an uplink transmission resource assignment message for a harq process x in step 1205 . once the uplink transmission resource assignment message is received , the ue determines whether the ndi of the uplink transmission resource assignment message is identical to or incremented from the last previously received ndi for the harq process x in step 1210 . if the ndi of the current uplink transmission resource assignment message is incremented from the last previously received ndi , i . e . if the value of the ndi is changed , the ue determines that the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu so as to form a new mac pdu based on the information included in the uplink transmission resource assignment message , perform channel coding to the mac pdu , store the channel coded mac pdu in the form of channel coded data , and transmit a part of the channel coded data that is pointed by the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message in step 1215 . if the ndi of the current uplink transmission resource assignment message is identical to that of the last previous received uplink transmission resource assignment message , the ue determines whether the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message is set to 0 in step 1220 . if the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message is set to 0 , the ue determines that the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu such that the process goes to step 1215 . otherwise , if the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message is set to a nonzero value at step 1220 , the ue determines that the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of adaptive retransmission of a previous mac pdu so as to transmits a part of the coded data stored in the harq buffer , the part being pointed to by the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message , using the uplink transmission resource indicated by the uplink transmission resource assignment message . the bundled transmission according to an embodiment of the present invention is a feature that a ue retransmits data a predetermined number of times using an uplink transmission resource to solve the problem caused by the lack of transmission power at the cell boundary . in the bundled transmission , the ue sequentially transmits the data pointed to by the rv 0 , rv 2 , rv 3 , and rv 1 through the identical uplink transmission resource assigned by the enb . the enb performs soft combining on the data received through four uplink transmissions , error check on the combined data , and transmits a harq ack or harq nack . fig1 is a diagram illustrating a bundled transmission process of a signal transmission method for a mobile communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig1 , an uplink transmission resource assignment message 1305 indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu is transmitted to a ue configured to operate in a bundled transmission mode . upon receipt of the uplink transmission resource assignment message 1305 , the ue transmits the data 1315 pointed by the rv 0 , rv 2 , rv 3 , and rv 1 included in the uplink transmission resource assignment message 1305 for the four transmission time intervals ( ttis ) after the time t has elapsed from the receipt of the uplink transmission resource assignment message 1305 . if a harq nack is received after transmission of the data , then the ue retransmits the data 1325 pointed to by the rv 0 , rv 2 , rv 3 , and rv 4 at an interval of the harq rtt 1320 that is defined for the bundled transmission . in the bundled transmission , the same rv is used for the initial transmission and retransmission . that is , the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of adaptive retransmission and the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of initial transmission are identical with each other . for instance , when transmitting an uplink transmission resource assignment message 1330 indicative of adaptive retransmission , the enb sets the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message 1330 to the rv value of the previously transmitted uplink transmission resource assignment message 1305 . in the case where the same rv is used for the initial transmission and retransmission , the ue should discriminate the uplink transmission resource assignment messages indicative of initial transmission and retransmission with reference to the ndi and harq buffer status . if an uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of initial transmission is lost as aforementioned , it is impossible to discriminate the uplink transmission resource assignment messages indicative of initial transmission and retransmission only with the ndi and harq buffer status . assuming that the uplink transmission resource assignment message 1305 indicative of initial transmission is lost such that the ue receives the uplink transmission resource assignment message 1330 indicative of retransmission without awareness of the uplink transmission resource assignment message 1305 , the ndi is likely to be toggled in the uplink transmission resource assignment message 1330 as compared to the previous uplink transmission resource assignment message 1305 . accordingly , the ue is likely to misidentify the uplink transmission resource assignment message 1330 indicative of adaptive retransmission as an uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of initial transmission . in order to solve this problem , the signal transmission method according to an embodiment of the present invention sets the rv to indicate a number of retransmission times rather than to point to corresponding data . fig1 is a diagram illustrating a diagram illustrating a bundled transmission process of a signal transmission method for a mobile communication according to another embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig1 , when an uplink transmission resource assignment message 1405 indicative of initial transmission and first to third uplink transmission resource assignment messages 1420 , 1430 , and 1440 indicative of retransmission are transmitted in sequential order , the enb sets the rvs of the uplink transmission resource assignment messages 1405 , 1420 , 1430 , and 1440 to 0 , 1 , 2 , and 3 , respectively . that is , the value of rv increments by 1 from 0 as the number of transmissions of uplink transmission resource assignment messages increases . if the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message for the harq process of which the buffer is not empty is set to a non - zero value , i . e . if an uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of adaptive retransmission is received without receipt of an uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of initial transmission , then the ue ignores the uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of adaptive retransmission . fig1 is a flowchart illustrating a signal transmission method for a mobile communication system according to another embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig1 , a ue receives an uplink transmission resource assignment message for a harq process x in step 1505 . once the uplink transmission resource assignment message is received , the ue determines whether the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message is set to 0 in step 1510 . if the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message is set to 0 , then the ue determines that the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu and determines whether the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of bundled transmission in step 1513 . whether the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of bundled transmission is configured by a control message of an upper layer . if the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of bundled transmission , then the process goes to step 1517 . otherwise , if the uplink transmission resource assignment message is not indicative of bundled transmission , then the process goes to step 1515 . at step 1515 , the ue generates a new mac pdu and performs channel coding on the mac pdu based on the information extracted from the uplink transmission resource assignment message , stores the channel coded data within the harq buffer , and transmits the data pointed to by the rv (= 0 ) of the uplink transmission resource assignment message . at step 1517 , the ue generates a new mac pdu and performs channel coding on the mac pdu based on the information extracted from the uplink transmission resource assignment message , stores the channel coded data within the harq buffer , and transmits the data pointed by the rv 0 , rv 2 , rv 3 , and rv 1 in sequential order . if the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message is set to a non - zero value , then the ue determines whether the harq buffer for the harq process x is empty in step 1520 . if the harq buffer is empty , then the ue determines that the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of adaptive retransmission of a new mac pdu . here , the empty harq buffer means that an uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu is lost after the harq buffer is flushed . as aforementioned , the harq retransmission is restricted to the maximum number of harq transmissions . accordingly , when the uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of initial transmission is lost , the ue does not know how many times the uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of adaptive retransmission is transmitted . if the last possible retransmission point in time is misidentified , then the ue may transmit the data through an unavailable uplink transmission resource that is reserved for the ue at that time , resulting in interference . accordingly , if the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message is set to a nonzero value and the harq buffer is empty , then the ue ignores the uplink transmission resource assignment message and does not transmit data in step 1525 . if the harq buffer is not empty at step 1520 , the ue determines whether the ndi of the current uplink transmission resource assignment message is toggled as compared to the last previously received uplink transmission resource assignment message in step 1530 . if the ndi of the current uplink transmission resource assignment message is toggled , i . e . the ndi of the current uplink transmission resource assignment message is not identical to the ndi value of the last previously received uplink transmission resource assignment message for the harq process , then the ue determines that the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of retransmission of a new mac pdu , and process goes to step 1525 . otherwise , if the ndi is not toggled , the ue determines that the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of adaptive retransmission of the previous mac pdu and determines whether the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of bundled transmission in step 1533 . if the uplink transmission resource assignment message is not indicative of bundled transmission , then the ue transmits a part ( of the coded data pointed by rv 0 , rv 2 , rv 3 , and rv 1 within the harq buffer ) corresponding to the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message using the uplink transmission resource indicated by the uplink transmission resource assignment message in step 1535 . otherwise , if the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of the bundled transmission , then the ue ignores the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message and transmits the data ( mac pdu ) stored within the harq buffer in sequential order of the rv 0 , rv 2 , rv 3 , and rv 1 in step 1537 . in short , the ue discriminates following three types of uplink transmission messages and operates depending on the type of the uplink transmission resource assignment message . the first type of uplink transmission resource assignment message is an uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu . when an uplink transmission resource assignment message of which rv is set to zero is received for the harq process of which harq buffer is empty , the uplink transmission resource assignment message is determined as the uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu , whereby the ue transmits the uplink data according to the normal initial transmission process . the second type of uplink transmission resource assignment message is an uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of adaptive retransmission of the mac pdu stored in the harq buffer . when an uplink transmission resource assignment message of which rv is set to a nonzero value and the ndi is not toggled compared to the previous uplink transmission resource assignment message is received for the harq process of which harq buffer is not empty , the uplink transmission resource assignment message is determined as the uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of adaptive retransmission of the mac pdu stored in the harq buffer , whereby the ue retransmits the mac pdu stored in harq buffer according to the normal retransmission process . the ue configured to operate in bundled transmission mode ignores the rv of the uplink transmission resource assignment message and transmits the data stored in the harq buffer in sequential order , e . g . the order of the rv 0 , rv 2 , rv 3 , and rv 1 . the third type of uplink transmission resource assignment message is an uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of adaptive retransmission of a new mac pdu . when an uplink transmission resource assignment message of which rv is set to a nonzero value is received for the harq process of which harq buffer is empty or an uplink transmission resource assignment message of which rv is set to nonzero value and the ndi is toggled is received for the harq process of which harq buffer is not empty , the uplink transmission resource assignment message is determined as the uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of adaptive retransmission of a new mac pdu , whereby the ue ignores the uplink transmission resource assignment message and does not transmit data . fig1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a signal transmission apparatus of a ue for a mobile communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig1 , the signal transmission apparatus includes an upper layer unit 1605 , a harq unit 1610 , a transmission resource control unit 1620 , a transmission / reception unit 1625 , and a pdcch processing unit 1630 . the transmission / reception unit 1625 is responsible for receiving a physical downlink control channel ( pdcch ) through a radio channel and communicating other traffic . the transmission / reception unit 1625 decodes the signal received on the pdcch and outputs the decoded signal to the pdcch processing unit 1630 . the pdcch processing unit 1630 performs a crc check on the decode signal output by the transmission / reception unit 1625 and outputs the uplink transmission resource assignment message that passes the crc check to the transmission resource control unit 1620 . the transmission resource control unit 1620 extracts the ndi and rv from the uplink transmission resource assignment message and discriminates the uplink transmission resource assignment message indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu , adaptive retransmission of the mac pdu stored in the harq buffer , and adaptive retransmission of a new mac pdu with reference to the ndi , rv , and the harq buffer status . if the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of initial transmission of a new mac pdu , the transmission resource control unit 1620 controls the upper layer unit 1605 to determine the size of the mac pdu to be transmitted with reference to a number of assigned transport blocks and mcs level , generate the mac pdu of the determined size , and deliver the mac pdu to the harq process . if the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of adaptive retransmission of the previous mac pdu , the transmission resource control unit 1620 controls the harq unit 1610 to perform the adaptive retransmission of the previous mac pdu . if the uplink transmission resource assignment message is indicative of adaptive retransmission of a new mac pdu , the transmission resource control unit 1620 ignores the uplink transmission resource assignment message and does not transmit data . the upper layer unit 1605 represents the pdcp layer device and multiplexer of mac layer . the harq unit 1610 includes a plurality of harq processes and performs harq operation for each of the harq processes . as described above , the signal transmission method and apparatus for a mobile communication system according to the present invention enables a ue to accurately discriminate the uplink transmission resource assignment messages indicative of initial transmission and retransmission of data , thereby reducing a waste of resources caused by a misidentification of the uplink transmission resource assignment message . although embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail hereinabove , it should be clearly understood that many variations and / or modifications of the basic inventive concepts herein taught which may appear to those skilled in the present art will still fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention , as defined in the appended claims .
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the invention can be implemented in numerous ways , including as a process , an apparatus , a system , a composition of matter , a computer readable medium such as a computer readable storage medium or a computer network wherein program instructions are sent over optical or electronic communication links . in this specification , these implementations , or any other form that the invention may take , may be referred to as techniques . a component such as a processor or a memory described as being configured to perform a task includes both a general component that is temporarily configured to perform the task at a given time or a specific component that is manufactured to perform the task . in general , the order of the steps of disclosed processes may be altered within the scope of the invention . a detailed description of one or more embodiments of the invention is provided below along with accompanying figures that illustrate the principles of the invention . the invention is described in connection with such embodiments , but the invention is not limited to any embodiment . the scope of the invention is limited only by the claims and the invention encompasses numerous alternatives , modifications and equivalents . numerous specific details are set forth in the following description in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention . these details are provided for the purpose of example and the invention may be practiced according to the claims without some or all of these specific details . for the purpose of clarity , technical material that is known in the technical fields related to the invention has not been described in detail so that the invention is not unnecessarily obscured . creating and validating digital signatures for multiple encodings are disclosed . in some embodiments , creating a digital signature for a document includes computing a signature for two or more encodings of the document information . the signatures are labeled and packaged together as a multiple encoding signature . when a document with a multiple encoding signature is validated , a signature corresponding to the encoding of the document is located within the multiple encoding signature and used to validate the document . the document can be converted into another encoding for which a corresponding signature exists in the multiple encoding signature and still have a valid multiple encoding signature . if no exact signature corresponding to the encoding of the document is found , the document can be canonicalized before signature validation . fig1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a multiple encoding signature creation . in the example shown , three different xdp encodings , 102 , 104 , and 106 , and three different pdf encodings , 108 , 110 , and 112 , for a document are shown as encodings associated with multiple encoding signature 124 . for example , difference between the different encodings of xdp or pdf can be due to different encoding versions and / or different ordering of data within the document . any encoding used to encode data can be associated with multiple encoding signature 124 , including any encoding variations on xdp encoding , xml encoding , binary xml encoding , and pdf encoding . any number of encodings can be associated with multiple encoding signature 124 . the encodings associated with multiple encoding signature 124 can be preconfigured or dynamically configured . xdp ′″ encoding 102 , xdp ″ encoding 104 , and xdp ′ encoding 106 is canonicalized as xdp encoding 114 . any encoding variation or any number of encodings can be canonicalized into a common canonical form . in generating multiple encoding signature 124 , a hash of various encodings is made . xdp encoding 114 is hashed to generate xdp hash 122 . pdf ′″ encoding 108 is hashed to generate pdf ′″ hash 116 . pdf ″ encoding 110 is hashed to generate pdf ″ hash 118 . pdf ′ encoding 112 is hashed to generate pdf ′ hash 120 . in some embodiments , one or more of xdp encoding variations , 102 , 104 , and 106 , are hashed in addition to the canonical xdp encoding . any hashing function can be used to generate the hashes , including the md5 hashing function . one or more hashes produced from various encodings are encrypted and combined to form multiple encoding signature 124 . the hashes can be combined before encryption or combined after individual encryption . any encryption method may be used , including any public key encryption methods . fig2 a illustrates an embodiment of a multiple encoding signature coupled to one or more electronic documents . multiple encoding signature 202 comprises two or more hashes corresponding to one or more encodings of electronic documents contained in 204 . in some embodiments , multiple encoding signature 202 is multiple encoding signature 124 of fig1 . in some embodiments , multiple encoding signature 202 comprises hashes for two or more unrelated documents contained in one or more documents of 204 . multiple encoding signature 202 and document 204 are coupled together in a single file . the multiple encoding signature can exists in any location of the file . in some embodiments , multiple encoding signature 204 and document 204 do not exist in the same file . for example , they may exist in different files and / or exist in a database . multiple encoding signature 202 may be a part of another document signature . fig2 b illustrates an embodiment of a single encrypted multiple encoding signature . in some embodiments fig2 b is the multiple encoding signature 202 of fig2 a . in the example shown , multiple hashes generated for different encodings have been combined before they are encrypted . the contents of the multiple encoding signature comprises hashes , 208 , 212 , and 216 , and labels , 206 , 210 , and 214 , corresponding to the hashes . there may any number of hashes and any number of labels . in some embodiments , a label corresponds to more than one hash . a label contains one or more data related to one or more hashes , including hash location , hash size , one or more encoding identifiers corresponding to one or more hashes , identifier identifying documents corresponding to one or more hashes , and any hash attributes . two or more hashes and one or more labels are encrypted together to form a multiple encoding signature . the hashes may be encrypted separately from the labels . the labels may be unencrypted . the labels may be included as metadata , i . e . header data , of a document . the order of the hashes and / or labels within the multiple encoding signature may be preconfigured or dynamically configured . if the location and attributes of the hashes are predetermined , labels do not have to be included . in some embodiments , labels are not included in the multiple encoding signature . fig2 c illustrates an embodiment of a multiple encoding signature with individually encrypted hashes . in some embodiments fig2 c is the multiple encoding signature 202 of fig2 a . in the example shown , multiple hashes generated for different encodings are encrypted individually before they are packaged together as a multiple encoding signature . the contents of the multiple encoding signature comprise single encoding signatures , 220 , 224 , and 228 , and labels , 218 , 222 , and 226 , corresponding to individually encrypted hashes . there may any number of individually encrypted hashes and any number of labels . in some embodiments , a label corresponds to more than one individually encrypted hash . a label contains one or more data related to one or more individually encrypted hashes , including individually encrypted hash location , individually encrypted hash size , one or more encoding identifiers corresponding to one or more individually encrypted hashes , identifier identifying documents corresponding to one or more individually encrypted hashes , and any individually encrypted hash attributes . two or more individually encrypted hashes and one or more labels are packaged together to form a multiple encoding signature . the labels may be left unencrypted or encrypted separately or together with a corresponding individually encrypted hash . the labels may be included as metadata , i . e . header data , of a document . the order of the individually encrypted hashes and / or labels within the multiple encoding signature may be preconfigured or dynamically configured . if the location and attributes of the individually encrypted hashes are predetermined , labels do not have to be included . in some embodiments , labels are not included in the multiple encoding signature . fig3 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a multiple encoding signature system . in the example shown , author system 302 is connected to recipient system 306 by network 304 . author system 302 generates the multiple encoding signature and recipient system validates the multiple encoding signature . network 304 is any public or private network and / or combination thereof , including without limitation the internet , intranet , lan , wan , and other forms of connecting multiple systems and or groups of systems together . the network is used to send data between the author and the recipient . in some embodiments , the author and recipient system is physically located inside the same system . author system 302 comprises encoders , 308 , 310 , and 312 , hash generator 314 , and encrypter 316 . encoders 308 - 312 each corresponds to one or more encodings used to encode one or more documents . there can be any number of encoders . hash generator 314 generates hashes based at least in part on encodings of one or more documents . encrypter 316 encrypts one or more hashes individually or together in order to generate a multiple encoding signature . recipient system 306 comprises decoder 318 , decrypter 320 , hash generator 322 , and validator 324 . decoder 318 decodes the multiple encoding signature to determine and locate the hash needed to verify one or more documents . decrypter 320 decrypts the encoded signature . for example , if the signature was encoded using a public key cryptography , the public key is used to decrypt the signature . hash generator 322 generates the same hash used to generate the hash contained in the signature . validator 324 compares the generated hash and the hash of the signature in order to validate the signature . other components may exist in both the author and recipient system . this system diagram has been simplified to illustrate the embodiment clearly . fig4 illustrates an embodiment of a process for generating a multiple encoding signature . in the example shown , data to be encoded is received at 402 . at 404 the data is encoded to one or more encodings . encodings to be produced are preconfigured and / or dynamically configured . a canonical encoding may be used as one or more of the encodings . in some embodiments , already encoded documents are received and one or documents may be converted to a canonical encoding . at 406 , the encodings are hashed to produce hashes corresponding to each encoding . in some embodiments , only portions of the documents are hashed . the portions to be hashed can be preconfigured , dynamically configured , or specified by the author . at 408 the hashes are combined together . a label containing data corresponding to the hashes may be combined together with the hashes . at 410 , the combined hashes are encrypted to produce a multiple encoding signature . in some embodiments , the hashes are encrypted individually to produce individual signatures to be combined into a multiple encoding signature . the multiple encoding signature may be packaged into together with one or more corresponding documents or data . in some embodiments , the signatures are stored in an order , e . g ., a hierarchical order . in some embodiments , the signatures are stored in a separate module in an order , e . g ., a hierarchical order . the hierarchical order may be based on any signature or electronic document attribute or data . fig5 illustrates an embodiment of a process for validating a multiple encoding signature . the multiple encoding signature is received at 502 . at 504 , one or more efficient hashes that could be used to validate the document are determined . efficient hashes include hashes not requiring canonicalization of the document to be verified and hashes requiring less than the maximum amount of computation required to convert / canonicalize the document to be verified . in some embodiments , one or more efficient hashes are requested from a module containing multiple hashes . at 506 , the multiple encoding signature is decrypted and the most efficient hash contained in the multiple encoding signature is located . the most efficient hash may be a hash corresponding to the specific encoding of the document to be verified or a hash corresponding to an encoding that requires conversion of the document to be verified . if the document requires conversion , the document is converted / canonicalized to the required encoding . at 508 , all or a portion of the document encoding corresponding to the most efficient hash is hashed with the same hashing algorithm used to generate the most efficient hash . at 510 , the generated hash and the most efficient hash are compared to determine the validity of the signature . in some embodiments if the hashes match , the signature is verified . the processes shown in fig4 and 5 and described above may be implemented in any suitable way , such as one or more integrated circuits and / or other device , or as firmware , software , or otherwise . digital signatures for electronic documents have been described above as illustrative examples . digital signatures can be used to sign and validate data other than electronic documents . although the foregoing embodiments have been described in some detail for purposes of clarity of understanding , the invention is not limited to the details provided . there are many alternative ways of implementing the invention . the disclosed embodiments are illustrative and not restrictive .
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this detailed description begins with a technical description of the manufacturing requirements for pwb imaging , including image sharpness , resist uniformity in thickness ; registration ( accuracy of placement ) and hole tenting . also the light intensity requirements of the uv curable photopolymers to achieve polymerization is defined . next , this detailed description illustrates the techniques for mating the coated phototool with a copper - clad printed wiring board ; the near - simultaneous technique for curing ; the selection of high temperature photo imaging means hereinafter termed a phototool , followed by the preferred embodiment for production printed wiring board imaging . throughout this disclosure the process of joining together the substrate , the photopolymer and the phototool into a unified assembly s referred to as mating . computer grade pc boards are typically manufactured in panel form in sizes of the order of 18 by 20 inches ( 0 . 46 m by 0 . 5 m ). conductor lines and spaces are of the order of 0 . 010 inches wide ( 0 . 025 cm ) with sharply defined edges , free of nicks and bulges . additionally , the imaging resist forming the conductors must maintain a constant thickness , consistent with the plating or etching chemicals , temperature and immersion time . too thin a resist results in breakdowns and the plating of metal at unwanted locations . with regard to image placement on the copper - clad board , the 18 by 20 inch ( 0 . 46 m by 0 . 5 m ) panel will typically have an accuracy of 0 . 002 inches ( 0 . 05 mm ) on drilled hole location , requiring the imaging be accurate to within 0 . 005 inches ( 0 . 13 mm ) in order to maintain an annular ring of the order of 0 . 005 inches ( 0 . 13 mm ) around the hole . as described earlier , the uv curable photopolymers used in pwb manufacture have been developed to be applied by screen printing over the copper surface and cured by conveying under 200 watt - per inch mercury vapor lamps at a speed of 12 feet ( 3 . 66 m ) per minute . the surface temperature rise is significant , for the board receives approximately 200 watt - seconds of energy per square inch of area . typically , surface temperatures in excess of 300 degrees f . are experienced . the aforementioned 200 watt - seconds per square inch ( 6 . 45 cm 2 ) energy requirement is for photopolymer whose surface is exposed to air . most all of the tested photopolymers are affected by air to the extent that the exposure energy can be reduced to only 50 watt - seconds per square inch ( 6 . 45 square cm ) when the air is completely excluded by the mating process described herein . a phototool , as used herein , is a transparent sheet with light opaque areas corresponding to the image to be reproduced , and this phototool is placed between the uv lamp and the substrate to control those areas of photopolymer to be hardened . the terms photo image , photomask and phototool can be used interchangeably . while it is possible to image the coated pwb with the phototool off - contact , it is not cost - effective , since an expensive collimated light source is required ; other light sources will produce light undercutting , reduced line widths , and loss of line fidelity . in order to use a non - collimated light source and still achieve fine line imaging , it is necessary for the phototool to intimately contact the photopolymer , as is accomplished herein . fig1 shows a section of a pwb 1 in which the phototool is being mated to the coated surface 3 . pwb 1 has been previously roughly coated with photopolymer layer 3 . phototool 4 is positioned above and off contact with pwb 1 with opaque areas 7 registered to drilled holes 47 in the pwb 1 . assembly 6 movable in the direction of arrow 46 has rubber blade 10 of 50 durometer , which traverses the top surface of phototool 4 . force f 1 in direction 8 on phototool 4 causes the phototool to contact the photopolymer and force f 2 in the direction of movement 9 causes blade 10 to traverse the topside of the phototool and progressively mate the phototool with the photopolymer . this technique purges the photopolymer of air bubbles which may have been entrapped during the coating cycle , and also prevents the entrapment of air resident between the phototool and photopolymer surface . this mating technique has several highly desirable features not readily obtainable otherwise . first , the photopolymer surface , when coated , may be mottled or have an orange - peel effect . these surface irregularities are smoothed out and the mated surface conforms to the smooth plastic surface topology of phototool 4 as well as the substrate . in the case of a pwb the substrate carries a copper layer 52 surface which is to be conformed to the image of the phototool 4 , for example . this is illustrated in fig1 with crosshatched photopolymer area 2 being in surface to surface contact because of the previous scanning of surface contact member 10 , preferably a rubber blade , across the phototool 4 surface . while this mating technique smoothes out surface irregulatiries , there is no tendency for the photopolymer to be forced out ahead of the blade and thereby reduce the coating thickness . at the point 5 where the blade edge contacts the phototool , the instantaneous pressure may reach 300 pounds per square inch ( 2067 kpa ). this high pressure causes any trapped air bubbles to burst and the air is forced out ahead of the blade . experiments with the substitution of a rubber roller in the manner of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 837 , 887 -- k . akamatsu et al ., sept . 24 , 1974 in lieu of the blade yielded inferior results , for air was entrapped under the phototool . on those areas of the phototool now mated with the ( crosshatched ) photopolymer , a strong holding force is maintained between the phototool and pwb surface . thus , atmospheric pressure 11 ( fig1 ) maintains the phototool in intimate contact with the photopolymer surface indefinitely , without an outside vacuum source . phototool opaque areas 7 ( which usually do not constitute surface irregularities ) are in intimate contact with the photopolymer surface , and the photopolymer can be exposed with a non - collimated light source and produce high fidelity reproduction of images on the phototool on the pwb plating resist pattern . fig2 shows a preferred method for curing photopolymer 3 . for this purpose , uv lamp 14 and reflector - focuser 13 are mounted on the same movable transversing assembly 21 as blade 10 . after the blade causes the phototool to mate with the photopolymer , light rays 12 expose and polymerize the photopolymer layer 2 directly beneath the phototool transparent areas . light rays 12 cannot expose those areas ahead of blade 10 . fig2 shows the coolant dispensing apparatus ; reservoir 15 , supplying coolant 17 to sponge 16 and thence to phototool 4 in a film shown as droplets 18 . shuttering is accomplished automatically by pivoted shutter 19 as the assembly 21 is lowered into contact with phototool 4 . light shroud 20 contacts phototool 4 and slides upward along the reflector - focuser 13 , and actuates the pivoting shutter 19 which opens to expose the mated photopolymer . arrow 53 shows the reciprocal movement of the transversing assembly to move from rest into engagement on transversal and then back into a spaced separation position from the photopolymer layer 3 . fig2 shows 3 distinct zones or conditions of photopolymer . photopolymer 2 under lamp 14 is polymerized as shown by crosshatching , while photopolymer 2 under sponge 16 is under vacuum but not yet exposed as indicated by lining ; photopolymer 3 is not yet contacted by phototool 4 and is therefore at atmospheric pressure as indicated by dotting . this progressive exposure method is an advancement in the art of producing printed plates with photopolymers , since present systems require a time of several seconds for drawdown of he entire phototool before the exposure begins as for example in the aforementioned u . s . pat . no . 4 , 070 , 110 . similarly vacuum drawdown techniques are costly and time consuming . since the disclosed system requires no external vacuum and exposes during scanning , this drawdown period and equipment is eliminated . the following sections describe the preferred phototool construction techniques to image the major photopolymer resists in use in pwb manufacture and photopolymers used in graphics imaging . ______________________________________manufacturer product code description______________________________________w . r . grace corp . spr 7263 lr plating resistcolumbia , md . spr 7263 m etch resistdynachem corp . sr 30 h screen resisttustin , calif . mac dermid corp . 9403 uv plating resistwaterbury , conn . colonial printing ink uv 50 - 48 solder maske . rutherford , n . j . advance processing & amp ; uval graphics imagingsupply corp . chicago , ill . uv curable photo - polymer______________________________________ these photoresists have been developed to be screen printed to a thickness of 1 to 2 thousandths of an inch ( 0 . 025 mm to 0 . 05 mm ), and cured by a two - lamp assembly , each lamp rated at 200 watts per linear inch ( 2 . 54 cm ), with a conveyor speed of 12 feet per minute . with the disclosed equipment the phototool is placed between the lamp and pwb , subjecting the phototool to temperature ranging up to 300 degrees f . while the phototool temperature can be reduced to less than 100 degrees f . by utilizing a different lamp source and increasing the exposure time to the order of 40 seconds , the preferred embodiment is the use of polyester sheet and a high temperaure silicone rubber layer to bond the opaque areas 7 ( fig1 ) to the sheet 4 ; and the use of a liquid coolant on the surface of the sheet . referring to fig1 phototool 4 is seen to be subjected to a horizontal force 9 which tends to stretch the phototool and thereby introduce registration errors . polyester sheet in the thickness of 4 to 8 thousandths of an inch ( 0 . 1 to 0 . 2 mm ) provides the stability needed by the phototool , plus the ability to withstand short temperature excursions to 250 degrees f . phototool opaque areas consist of etched metal foil , preferably aluminum . to make a phototool , a sheet of clear polyester and a thin sheet of aluminum foil are laminated together , with a thin layer of clear silicone rubber adhesive bonding the two securely . the foil is given a pre - etch in sodium hydroxide in order to reduce the foil thickness to the order of 0 . 0001 inch ( 0 . 0025 mm ). the foil is then coated with a photographic etch resist , exposed , washed out and then etched again to produce the phototool image in etched foil . etched aluminum foil is preferred over other black emulsion systems since a large area of black emulsion would absorb large quantities of heat which could distort the phototool , while the aluminum surface reflects heat and reduces the total amount absorbed . for use in this invention the phototool is previously coated and imaged for subsequent use in imaging substrates . the aforementioned polyester sheet 4 with bonded foil is stretched in phototool frame 24 , fig3 coated and inserted into the apparatus of fig4 . exact registration between the phototool pattern and substrates to be imaged in production is achieved by placing a production substrate onto the substrate mounting plate 22 in register such as by use of registration pins 27 . next the master artwork is placed in frame 24 over the substrate in exact register . the mounting plate is secured to the phototool frame as in fig3 in register by means of hinge 23 . the resilient blade 10 is drawn across the polyester sheet 4 which was previously developed from an artwork master and photopolymer coated polyester sheet , thereby transferring the artwork in the form of a foil surface 7 . the flexible polyeser sheet phototool 4 is coated over the foil surface with silicone rubber adhesive , dow corning product code 734 rtv , which serves two major functions . first , the resilient rubber can accommodate small dirt particles on the pwb surface . during the mating cycle pwb surface irregularities can cause a separation to exist between phototool and pwb surface which will mar the image over a much wider area than the irregularity itself . the silicone rubber , being resilient , conforms to the irregularity and reduces the marred area . secondly , the silicone rubber adhesive forms a non - stick surface on the phototool to which hardened photopolymer will not adhere . while a silicone rubber adhesive is the preferred bonding material for the foil coating , other materials can be used . polyethylene was used in tests conducted by the applicant , with good results . polyethelene provides a non - stick surface and has the added advantage of providing a surface which does not dewet when coated with photopolymer . however , polyethelene is thermoplastic and if subjected to temperatures of 250 degrees f . can melt and react with the photopolymer and thereby damage the phototool . the phototool can also be made from polyester photographic film having either a silver halide emulsion or a diazo emulsion , with a suitable non - stick surface added . the aforementioned heat build up in large opaque areas may distort and damage this type of phototool . thus far in this disclosure , the use of a flexible phototool has been described . the phototool need not be flexible in all cases . for example , when imaging flexible printed wiring circuits , the phototool may be a glass plate and the flexible substrate mated with the phototool by drawing the blade across the flexible substrate . thus , in the frame of fig3 simply the substrate and phototool are interchanged in position . the photo scanning need then occur on the opposite side . depending on exposure time and distance of phototool from uv lamps , the temperature rise of the phototool can be up to 300 degrees f . and beyond . there are two practical techniques for reducing substrate temperature rise in conventional uv lamp conveyorized systems . first , the uv lamps can be water - jacketed to reduce convected thermal transfers and non - functional infra - red radiations . however , the cooling water must be distilled and exceptionally free of minerals and other impurities , which could reduce light output . the cost of piping and a stainless - steel heat exchanger is prohibitive . a second technique for substrate cooling is to force cold air , at 30 degrees f . onto the substrate while under the uv lamp . this cooling technique is expensive and wasteful of energy . a water spray on printed substrates to prevent overheating presents the hazard of water impinging on the hot lamp surface and causing catastrophic damage . this disclosure teaches a way of introducing a liquid coolant onto the phototool surface at the trailing edge of the mating blade . a 50 percent water - alcohol solution is applied across the width of the phototool by a sponge . while many liquids can be used , it is necessary that the phototool be wetted completely and beading of coolant prevented . the coolant absorbs heat from the phototool by evaporation , yet does not significantly reduce the transmittance of the uv light energy . the alcohol - water solution will keep the phototool temperature to 200 degrees f . or lower . as shown in fig2 reservoir 15 contains the coolant solution , which is applied to phototool 4 by sponge 16 . when two successive lamps are used , coolant film shown as droplets 18 is partially evaporated by the first lamp 14 , and remain in diminished quantity to provide phototool cooling when passing under the second uv lamp . coolant solution is introduced after the mating blade , as the solution would be forced ahead of the blade if introduced there . in fig2 uv light source 14 is a commercially available medium pressure mercury vapor lamp , whose length is chosen to correspond to the width of the substrate to be imaged . one suitable lamp is manufactured by canrad - hanovia company of newark , n . j . the lamp is mounted in irridator 13 , fig2 which is manufactured by the same company . fig3 shows a fixture for mounting the phototool and pwb in register and off contact . the fixture shown in fig3 is used when precise registration is required when a conveyorized uv curing unit is used as the exposure source , or when a pre - registered fixture is needed , but the process of fig2 can be carried out by hand without the needs of a fixture . in the fixture 42 , pwb 1 mounts on base 22 and is registered via pins 27 . phototool 4 is mounted on frame 24 which maintains the phototool in registration with drilled pwb 1 . hinge 23 allows frame 24 to be raised and lowered for placement and removal of pwb 1 . spacers 26 maintain off - contact distance between phototool 4 and pwb 1 top surface . in fig3 mounting base 22 has a metal strip 48 affixed to the under side , whose purpose is to cause the generation of an electrical signal when the exposure assembly is conveyed in direction 49 past a sensor 50 serving to actuate a lowering mechanism at control center 51 for positioning the mating blade 10 . a similar electrical signal at 52 will in turn cause the mating blade to rise . thus contact of the phototool at the leading edge of the image area with the blade 10 is automated . also the signal at sensor 52 will also cause the blade to be raised automatically at the trailing edge of the image area . the following chart shows the process steps of this invention to be followed where hole tenting is not required . f . separate the phototool from the pwb leaving hardened photopolymer on pwb . g . wash out unexposed paste photopolymer on pwb and post cure if desirable . h . blot the phototool to remove any photopolymer paste adhering thereto , and reinstituting the cycle . the pwb is coated , step b , by screen printing to the desired thickness , normally from 0 . 5 to 2 thousandths of an inch ( 0 . 013 mm to 0 . 51 mm ), as determined by plating bath requirements ( temperature , immersion time , plating current density and chemical composition ), and the plating thickness to be deposited . the photopolymer thickness is controlled primarily by the screen fabric thickness and percent open area . for example , a 156 mesh polyester fabric will coat the pwb to a thickness of approximately 1 mil , while a 230 mesh fabric will deposit a coating 0 . 3 mils ( 0 . 076 mm ) thick . the phototool is maintained off - contact , but correctly positioned above the coated pwb by the fixturing as shown in fig3 . off contact distance is of the order of 0 . 060 inches ( 0 . 15 cm ) for a 12 by 18 inch ( 0 . 3 by 0 . 46m ) pwb . the phototool is mated with the coated pwb by pressing the blade down at one end of the pwb and drawing the blade across the pwb length , using a downward force of 2 pounds ( 8 . 9 n ) per linear inch ( 2 . 54 cm ) of blade length . step e , exposure to uv light source , may be accomplished concurrently with the phototool mating step d . alternatively , the positioning fixture ( with mated phototool ) may be exposed to a remote light source . as previously described , the mating process forces out all air from the photopolymer , and all air from between the phototool and photopolymer surface , producing a vacuum . this vacuum is maintained indefinitely , provided the phototool does not start to lift away at the pwb edge in response to the upward pull of the phototool . thus , without the use of an external vacuum source , the mated phototool pwb can be exposed to various light sources to effect polymerization . while the preferred embodiments used tubular mercury vapor lamps to effect exposure in several seconds under the lamps , a flip - top platemaker exposure system of lower power can be used for exposure , but the exposure time increases . other suitable lamp sources are the drawer type exposure units such as the colight dmvl - hp with exposure times of the order of 2 minutes . the washout of unexposed photopolymer , step f , is accomplished by using a solvent spray bath lasting from 10 to 30 seconds . the du pont &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; processor with trichlorethane is one combination of equipment and solvent which produced excellent quality images . step h , the blotting of the underside of the phototool is required to smooth out unexposed photopolymer which remains on the phototool after the exposed pwb is removed . if left on the phototool , then the next image may be marred by the presence of entrapped air . usually it is necessary to blot the phototool after every second or third exposure cycle , depending on the photopolymer coating thickness on the pwb . blotting is accomplished by use of a rubber roller to obliterate the patterns and distribute the remaining photopolymer more evenly . where selected holes are to be tented by the photoimaged resist , the primary difference in the procedures for hole tenting is step b , in which the phototool is coated rather than the pwb . another difference is that blotting the phototool is not necessary when tenting , since the next step , phototool coating , obliterates the residual photopolymer patterns . as described earlier , the phototool has a thin layer of clear silicone rubber on the underside . when a coating of photopolymer is applied by screen printing ( or other means ) onto the silicone rubber , the photopolymer will develop &# 34 ; fish - eyes &# 34 ; or voids which will continue to expand in area with time . this is caused by the inability of the wet photopolymer to grip the silicone rubber , and the photopolymer surface tension causes the photopolymer to form beads , similar to the beading of water on a waxed surface . in order to prevent the formation of fish - eyes or voids , the disclosed apparatus exposes or flashes the photopolymer through the phototool as the coating is being applied . this flashing step is of sufficient intensity to slightly polymerize the photopolymer over the clear areas of the phototool , but not to the point of exterior surface hardening . that photopolymer above the phototool opaque areas need not be flashed . it would appear that this flashing step is critical with regard to lamp intensity and exposure time , but in practice it is not . the photopolymers listed in this disclosure , and all photopolymers tested are air - inhibited , meaning that the photopolymer cure with less uv energy in the absence of air than is required in the presence of air . thus , as the phototool is coated with photopolymer via screen printing , only a thin line of photopolymer immediately under the squeegee is deprived of air , for the screen fabric is off - contact , and touches the phototool only along a line underneath the squeegee . previously deposited photopolymer , though exposed , will retain a wet surface for good adhesion to the substrate to be printed . this flashing technique is an important aspect of tenting holes in pwb resist imaging , for the flashing ensures a thicker film over the tented hole than would be attained without flashing , for without flashing the photopolymer would thin out at the edges of the holes and would be more likely to break down during washout and immersion in the plating solution . this flashing step has produced a polymerized image which is hardened on the phototool side , but wet on the exterior side , so that the next step of phototool mating with the substrate can be considered to be an image transfer technique . the apparatus and procedures disclosed herein can also be used to image pwb using dry film photoimaging resists as manufactured by the du pont company and others . the following du pont photopolymers are representative of those which can be mated and exposed as described herein : type 6 ; 1105 ; 1010 ; x1135 ; 1020 and 310 . the procedure shown in the foregoing chart a through f are followed as described for paste - consistency photopolymer , with the exception of the coating cycle , wherein the dry film photopolymer is laminated to the pwb by a heated roller laminator . using the disclosed mating and exposing apparatus , the resolution of dry film images can be significantly improved . this increased resolution is achieved by removing the protective polyester sheet which covers the dry film photopolymer prior to exposure . the manufacturer recommends leaving the polyester film in place during exposure and up to the time of development . however , the film , being 0 . 75 mils ( 0 . 019 mm ) thick separates the phototool emulsion from the photopolymer surface during exposure and results in loss of image fidelity . when the cover sheet is removed , the unexposed dry film is tacky to the point that a phototool cannot be placed on the photopolymer and moved about to achieve register . the disclosed apparatus used in accordance with these procedures mates the phototool without air entrapment and exposes the photopolymer without the normal vacuum drawdown period , saving time and improving image fidelity . in arriving at the preferred embodiment substrates were imaged using three available production equipments modified as described . while these alternates do not provide the capability for coating , mating and exposing as readily as the preferred embodiment , they have high production capacities or other merits . a substrate can be coated via screen printing , placed in the exposure fixture and imaged with a modified conveyorized uv curing unit , consisting of horizontal tubular uv lamps with a conveyor belt for moving substrates under the lamps . these uv curing units can be used for producing images per this disclosure by the addition of a mating blade assembly and phototool coolant - dispensing apparatus as shown in fig4 . conveyor belt 36 conveys the phototool assembly 42 under blade 10 . blade 10 is pulled downward by vacuum cylinders 40 , for a period of time beginning when the leading edge of metal strip on the bottomside of phototool assembly 42 bridges electrical contacts mounted under conveyor belt 36 . the conveyor belt on most uv curing units are made of fiberglass mesh encased in a heat resistant plastic , enabling the filaments comprising the electrical contacts to extend thru the mesh and contact the blade control strip . this action permits precise control of the blade and prevents the blade from striking the leading or trailing edge of the phototool frame . co - mounted with blade 10 is reservoir 15 containing the phototool coolant which is dispensed by a sponge not shown in fig4 . uv curing unit 37 is a standard 2 lamp system manufactured for example by argus manufacturing inc . of hopewell , n . j . or colight inc . of minneapolis , minn ., modified to accommodate blade 10 , blade activator vacuum cylinder 40 , and blade activator switch previously described . lamps 41 expose the photopolymer . the use of a modified uv - curing unit as an exposure source has two attributes not afforded by the preferred embodiment . first , the use of a modified uv curing unit permits a much higher rate of production , for many different types of images can be exposed sequentially with no uv curing unit changes . this allows a large production facility to coat pwb on multiple screen printers and to expose with a single high speed curing unit . the second attribute of the use of uv curing unit is that substrates of exceptional length can be mated and exposed , obviating the need for oversize cabinetry . the second alternative apparatus is the use of an automatic screen printer with modifications including the addition of a tubular lamp integrally mounted with the print bar assembly ; a power supply ; and coolant dispensing apparatus . precision automatic printers , such as made by autoroll , can maintain the required registration without the need for fixturing as shown in fig3 . the automatic printers can be used in two ways ; with and without positioning fixture 42 . when used without the positioning fixture , the coated substrates are mated and exposed , with registration being maintained by the printer . when used with the positioning fixture then a single printer can mate and expose different types of intermixed pwb for high speed production . the third alternative apparatus which can be used for exposure of mated substrates is the use of a platemaker , such as the units made by nuarc of chicago , ill . the non - stop platemaker has a cabinet - mounted lamp and a swivel top which allows one substrate to be exposed while a second substrate is being prepared on the top surface . when used as an exposure source for imaging as disclosed herein , an exposure fixture as in fig3 is mounted on each side of the flip - top ; one exposure fixture for each side of a double sided pwb , for example . the substrates are coated on auxiliary equipment and mated manually . this alternative apparatus represents the least expensive method for imaging per this disclosure in a manual environment . having therefore set out the construction and operation of a preferred embodiment of the invention and advanced the state of the art , these features of novelty believed descriptive of the spirit and nature of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims . there is provided an improved process and apparatus for making precision photo images particularly useful in the production of printed wiring circuits , where a resist image is put on a copper - clad board to limit the plated metal to those areas which will become electrical conductors . thus , a uv curable photopolymer of paste - consistency is applied over the board surface and selectively exposed through a phototool in contact with the wet photopolymer , producing a hardened resist pattern which withstands the subsequent solvent wash - out step . additionally , the disclosed process and apparatus provides an improvement in half - tone dot printing , particularly for substrates heretofore imaged by screen printing .
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[ 0020 ] fig3 illustrates the architecture diagram of the dac system according to an embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig3 the dac system 30 includes an element pool 31 , a plurality of switches sa 1 ˜ san and sb 1 ˜ sbn , two summing nodes 32 and 33 , and a random number generator 34 . the summing nodes 32 , 33 generate a first analog output signal and a second analog output signal , respectively . thus , the embodiment outputs two analog output signals . of course , the dac system 30 may utilize more than two summing nodes to provide more than two analog output signals , as may be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art . in this embodiment , the element pool 31 includes a plurality of dac elements e 1 ˜ en , which are substantially the same . the dac system 30 utilizes two switches sa and sb to couple each dac element to the two summing nodes 32 and 33 , respectively . the on / off states of the two switches sa and sb are controlled by the first and second random control signals ca and cb , in order to control the connection / disconnection of the element signals of the dac elements to the summing nodes 32 and 33 . for example , the element signal of the dac element e 1 is connected to the summing nodes 32 and 33 through the switches sa 1 and sb 1 . in an embodiment , the switches sa 1 and sb 1 are designed not to be turned on simultaneously but may be turned off simultaneously . similarly , the element signal of the dac element e 2 is connected the summing nodes 32 and 33 through the switches sa 2 and sb 2 , and so on . the dac system 30 utilizes the random number generator 34 to receive two digital input data d a and d b , and to output the first and second random control signals ca 1 ˜ can and cb 1 ˜ cbn according to the two received digital input data d a and d b . therefore , it is possible to control each of the dac elements e 1 ˜ en among the element pool 31 to selectively be coupled to the summing nodes 32 or 33 , and as a result , the first and second analog output signals are respectively corresponding to the digital input data d a and d b . although the embodiment of fig3 provides two analog output signals , the architecture of the dac system also may be modified to provide multiple analog output signals as long as the number of summing nodes is increased . it is to be noted that the total number of dac elements in the element pool 31 is not required to be exactly the same as the sum of the numbers of dac elements in two separate dacs . instead , it is enough to have a total number of dac elements in the element pool 31 that is sufficient to provide a maximum output bit number simultaneously required by such two dacs . of course , the resolution of two digital input data d a and d b can be different . moreover , the dac elements may be of different types . for example , the dac element in a resistor string dac is a resistor ; the dac element in a charge - redistribution switched - capacitor dac is a capacitor ; and the dac element in a current - steering dac is a current source . there are several ways to generate the random control signals for the dac system 30 . fig4 shows an example of the random control signals of the random number generator , wherein fig4 a shows the relationship between the digital input data d a , d b and the random control signals ca , cb at each time point , and fig4 b shows the dac elements assigned to each set of outputs corresponding to fig4 a . the first digital input data da corresponds to the first random control signal ( ca 1 to can ) of fig3 for controlling the switches sa 1 to san , while the second digital input data d b corresponds to the second random control signal ( cb 1 to cbn ) of fig3 for controlling the switches sb 1 to sbn . in fig4 it is assumed that the element pool 31 has eight dac elements e 1 to e 8 , whereof the output element signals are of substantially the same current amount , while output signal errors caused by manufacturing process variation exist . in addition , i and q are assumed to be the queues used in the random control signals ca and cb , respectively . p is the queue of the element pool . a method of generating the random control signal according to an embodiment of the invention is described as following . when the newly - inputted digital input data d a ( or d b ) is greater than the current digital input data d a - 1 ( or d b - 1 ), the method pulls the required element number from the queue p and pushes it into the queue i ( or q ); and when the newly - inputted digital input data d a ( or d b ) is smaller than the current digital input data da - i ( or db - i ), the method pulls the redundant element number from the queue i ( or q ) and pushes it back to the queue p . when the newly - inputted digital input data d a ( or d b ) is equal to the current digital input data d a - i ( or d b - i ), the queues i , q and p are kept unchanged . thereafter , the switches are controlled according to the contents of the queues i and q . as can be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art , the architecture of a common element pool with multiple analog output signals eliminates potential errors existing among different dacs , and randomized control signals also serve the error balancing purpose . therefore , the obtained relative error between the two analog output signals gets significantly smaller . the switch operation at each time point will be described with reference to fig4 a and 4b . time point to : when the digital input data d a and d b are both 0 , the first and second analog output signals are also 0 . so , the random control signals ca and cb are both “ 00000000 ”, the queues i and q are null , and contents in the queue p are dac elements of e 1 to e 8 . time point t 1 : when the digital input data da is changed to 1 and the digital input data d b is changed to 4 , the first analog output signal should be 1 , and one element signal is to be outputted to the summing node 32 . so , the queue i is pushed into one dac element e 1 , which is pulled out from the queue p , and the first random control signal ca is changed to “ 00000001 ”. meanwhile , the second digital output signal should be 4 , and four element signals are to be outputted to the summing node 33 . thus , the queue q is pushed into four dac elements e 2 , e 3 , e 4 and e 5 , which are pulled out from the queue p , and the second random control signal cb is changed to “ 00011110 ”. the elements of e 6 , e 7 , and e 8 are remained in the queue p . time point t 2 : when the digital input data d a is changed to 2 and the digital input data d b is changed to 3 , the first analog output signal should be 2 , and two element signals are to be coupled to the summing node 32 . so , the queue i is pushed into one element e 6 , which is pulled out from the queue p , and the first random control signal ca is changed to “ 00100001 ”. meanwhile , the second analog output signal should be 3 and three element signals are to be coupled to the summing node 33 . thus , the queue q is pulled out one element e 2 , which is pushed into the queue p , and the second random control signal cb is changed to “ 00011100 ”. the elements of e 7 , e 8 , and e 2 are remained in the queue p . time point t 3 : when the digital input data da is changed to 3 and the digital input data d b is changed to 2 , the first analog output signal should be 3 , and three element signals are to be coupled to the summing node 32 . so , the queue i is pushed into one element e 7 , which is pulled out from the queue p , and the first random control signal ca is changed to “ 01100001 ”. meanwhile , the analog output signal b should be 2 , and two element signals are to be coupled to the summing node 33 . thus , the queue q is pulled out one element e 3 , which is pushed into the queue p , and the second random control signal cb is changed to “ 00011000 ”. the elements of e 8 , e 2 , and e 3 remain in the queue p . the signals and queues at other time points may be derived analogically . [ 0030 ] fig5 shows a flow chart of a method for generating the random control signal according to an embodiment of this invention . in this embodiment , the queue p is the redundant element data of the element pool , the queue i is the element data used by the first control signal ca , and the queue q is the element data used by the second control signal cb . the method comprises the following steps . step s 502 : read the new first and second digital input data d a and d b . step s 504 : calculate the difference e between the new data da and the current data d a - 1 . that is , e = d a − d a - i . then , the data d a - 1 is updated to be data d a . step s 506 : if the difference e is greater than 0 , it means that the new data d a is greater than the current data d a - 1 , and at least a new element signal is to be coupled to the first summing node . if the difference e is smaller than 0 , the process jumps to step s 516 . if the difference e is 0 , the process jumps to step s 526 . step s 508 : call the n = pull ( p ) procedure . a data n is pulled out from the queue p . step s 510 : call the push ( i , n ) procedure . the data n is then pushed into the queue i . step s 512 : set the n - th bit of the first random control signal to 1 , and the difference e is subtracted by 1 . step s 514 : check whether the difference e is 0 . the process jumps to step s 526 if the difference e is 0 ; otherwise the process jumps back to step s 508 . step s 516 : if the difference e is smaller than 0 , it means that the new data d a is smaller than the current data d a - 1 , and the number of element signals coupled to the first summing node is to be decreased . thus , the process jumps to step s 518 . if the difference e is 0 , the process jumps to step s 526 . step s 518 : call the n = pull ( i ) procedure . a data n is pulled out from the queue i . step s 520 : call the push ( p , n ) procedure . the data n is pushed into the queue p . step s 522 : set the n - th bit of the first control data to 0 , and the difference e is added by 1 . step s 524 : check whether the difference e is 0 . the process jumps to step s 526 if the difference e is 0 ; or otherwise the process jumps back to step s 518 . the steps s 526 ˜ s 546 resemble the steps s 504 ˜ s 524 with da being substituted by d b . note that the flow chart of fig5 is divided into two stages . the first stage from steps s 504 to s 524 is to set the first control data according to the first digital input data . the second stage from step s 526 to s 546 is to set the second control data according to the second digital input data . consequently , if more than two analog output signals are needed , a third stage can be added , and the steps resemble those in the second stage . [ 0046 ] fig6 shows an embodiment of the pull ( l ) procedure of fig5 wherein symbol l may represent the queue i , q or p . each queue has four variables , i . e ., “ list ”, “ size ”, “ avail ”, and “ vacc ”, and the general forms thereof are represented by “ l . list ”, “ l . size ”, “ l . avail ”, and “ l . vacc ”. “ list ” is an array for storing the numbers of the elements ; “ size ” is the maximum capacity of this queue ; “ avail ” is the index of the elements that may be pulled out , wherein avail = 0 represents that the queue is null ; and “ vacc ” is the null index into which the element may be pushed , wherein vacc = 0 represents that the queue is full . the steps of the pull ( l ) procedure will be described with reference to fig6 . step s 602 : check whether the queue is null . that is , to determine whether the l . avail is 0 . when l . avail = 0 , it means that the queue is null , and the process jumps to the error procedure step s 604 , or otherwise jumps to step s 606 . step s 606 : check whether the queue is full . that is , to determine whether the l . vacc is 0 . when l . vacc = 0 , it means that the queue is full , and the process jumps to step s 608 ; or otherwise jumps to step s 610 . step s 608 : set the null index to the position at which the element is to be pulled out . that is , l . vacc = l . avail . step s 610 : pull the element number at the avail position in the queue , that is , n = l . list [ avail ], and the avail is added by 1 to indicate a next usable position . step s 612 : check whether the avail exceeds the range , i . e ., determine whether the l . avail is greater than the l . size . the process jumps to step 614 if l . avail & gt ; l . size ; or otherwise the process jumps to step s 616 . step s 614 : wrap around the l . avail to the beginning of the list , i . e ., set the l . avail to 1 . step s 616 : check whether the queue is null . if l . avail = l . vacc , it means that the queue is null and the process jumps to step s 618 ; or otherwise the process jumps to step s 620 . step s 620 : return the n that is pulled out , and end the procedure . of course , in the above - mentioned procedure , steps s 602 and s 604 may be omitted if the output signal being negative is avoided ( i . e ., no condition of taking the element from the null queue exists ). [ 0057 ] fig7 shows a flow chart of the push ( l , n ) procedure in the flow chart of fig5 wherein symbol l may represent the queue i , q or p , and symbol n is the element number . the steps of the push ( l , n ) procedure will be described with reference to fig7 . step s 702 : check whether the queue is full , i . e ., determine whether the l . vacc is 0 . when l . vacc = 0 , it means that the queue is full , and the process jumps to step s 704 , or otherwise jumps to step s 706 . step s 704 : process the error procedure . when the queue is full , the element cannot be pushed in . so , the error processing operation is performed , and the process is temporarily terminated . step s 706 : check whether the queue is null , i . e ., determine whether the l . avail is 0 . when l . avail = 0 , it means that the queue is null , and the process jumps to step s 708 ; or otherwise jumps to step s 710 . step s 708 : set the usable position to the position at which the element is to be placed . that is , l . avail = l . vacc . step s 710 : push the data n to the position of vacc in the queue , i . e ., l . list [ vacc ]= n , and add the vacc by 1 in order to indicate a next null position . step s 712 : check whether the vacc exceeds the range , i . e ., determine whether the l . vacc is greater than the l . size . if l . vacc & gt ; l . size , the process jumps to step s 714 , or otherwise jumps to step s 716 . step s 714 : wrap around the l . vacc to the beginning of the list . that is , the l . vacc is set to be 1 . step s 716 : check whether the queue is full again . that is , determine whether the l . vacc equals l . avail . if l . vacc = l . avail , it means that the queue is full , and the process jumps to step s 718 , or otherwise jumps to step s 720 . of course , in the above - mentioned procedure , if it is avoided that the output signal is greater than the queue maximum ( i . e ., no condition of placing the element to the full queue exists ), the steps s 702 and s 704 may be omitted . please note that although in the embodiment presented above the dac elements provide currents with substantially the same amount , other quantities of current provided by these dac elements may also be adopted , such as a combination of 1i , 2i , 4i , 8i , . . . etc . likewise , the randomized control signal scheme presented above is of exemplary purpose only and is not intended to serve as limitation . other control schemes may also be adopted in the same hardware configuration . while certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings , it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative of and not restrictive on the broad invention , and that this invention not be limited to the specific construction and arrangement shown and described , since various other modifications may occur to those ordinarily skilled in the art .
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fig1 is a schematic diagram of distributed engine control system 2 according to a possible embodiment of the invention . the control system comprises multiple engines 4 in communication with a central controller 6 by way of a wired or wireless communications link 8 . for purposes of illustration only , fig1 shows three of the engines 4 , and engines 4 of the gas turbine type . the control system 2 may alternatively have as little as two engines 4 or more than three engines 4 , and the engines 4 may be of another type , such as of the reciprocating internal combustion type . each engine 4 drives a load 10 by way of an engine drive shaft 12 . the load 10 may be mechanical or electrical . by way of example only , fig1 shows each load 10 as an electrical generator , with each electrical generator load 10 coupled to a common electrical grid 14 . each engine 14 has a fuel control valve 16 for metering fuel at a fuel metering point along a fuel line 18 . the valve 16 has at least a valve actuator 20 and a valve position sensor 22 that senses the position of the valve 16 . a fuel valve controller 24 drives the actuator 20 with an actuator drive signal by way of an actuator control line 26 . the valve position sensor 22 generates a valve position signal representative of valve position and transmits it to the valve controller 24 by way of a valve position signal line 28 . in one mode of operation , the central controller 6 may transmit a control signal representative of a desired fuel flow to each engine 4 by way of its fuel line 18 , such as a desired fuel valve position signal or a desired fuel flow signal . if the control signal comprises a desired valve position signal , the valve controller 24 compares the valve position signal that it receives on the valve position signal line 28 and generates a respective actuator drive signal on the actuator control line 26 to adjust the position of the valve 16 so that the valve position signal on the valve position line 28 correlates to the control signal from the central controller 6 that represents desired valve position . if the control signal comprises a desired flow signal , the valve controller 24 may correlate the control signal with a desired position of the valve 16 and generate a respective actuator drive signal on the actuator control line 26 to adjust the position of the valve 16 so that the valve position signal on the valve position line 28 correlates to the desired valve position . the valve controller 24 may transmit a monitoring signal to the central controller 6 by way of the communications link 8 that is representative of the adjusted fuel metering , such as the valve position signal on the valve position line 28 . the valve controller 24 may correlate the position of the valve 16 as represented by the valve position signal on the valve position line 28 with the effective flow area of the fuel at the fuel metering point along the fuel line 18 . furthermore , the valve controller 24 may correlate the position of the valve 16 as represented by the valve position signal on the valve position line 28 with actual fuel flow through the fuel line 18 and generate the monitoring signal as representing this actual fuel flow . the valve controller 24 may receive additional signals from additional sensors that represent other fuel flow parameters . for instance , an upstream fuel pressure sensor 30 that senses fuel pressure upstream of the fuel metering point may generate an upstream fuel pressure signal representative of the sensed pressure on an upstream fuel pressure signal line 32 . a fuel temperature sensor 34 that senses fuel temperature upstream of the fuel metering point may generate an upstream fuel temperature signal representative of the sensed temperature on an upstream fuel temperature signal line 36 . a downstream fuel pressure sensor 38 that senses fuel pressure downstream of the fuel metering point may generate a downstream fuel pressure signal representative of the sensed pressure on a downstream fuel pressure signal line 40 . the valve controller 24 may correlate the effective flow area of the valve 18 as represented by the valve position signal on the valve position line 28 , the upstream fuel pressure signal on the upstream fuel pressure signal line 32 , the upstream fuel temperature signal on the upstream fuel temperature signal line 36 and the downstream fuel pressure signal on the downstream fuel pressure signal line 40 with actual fuel mass flow . in this case , the control signal from the central controller 6 may represent desired fuel mass flow , and the valve controller 24 may compare the actual fuel mass flow to the desired fuel mass flow and generate the actuator drive signal on the actuator control line 26 to adjust the position of the valve 16 so that the actual fuel mass flow matches the desired fuel mass flow . each engine 4 has a compressor 42 and a turbine 44 that couples to its drive shaft 12 . a compressor inlet temperature sensor 46 may sense compressor inlet temperature and generate a compressor inlet temperature signal representative of the sensed temperature on a compressor inlet temperature signal line 48 . a turbine inlet temperature sensor 50 may sense turbine inlet temperature and generate a turbine inlet temperature signal representative of the sensed temperature on a turbine inlet temperature signal line 52 . an engine speed sensor 54 may sense engine speed and generate an engine speed signal representative of the measured speed on an engine speed signal line 56 . the valve controller 24 may analyse engine parameters as represented by the compressor inlet temperature signal on the compressor inlet temperature signal line 48 , the turbine inlet temperature signal on the turbine inlet temperature signal line 52 and the engine speed signal on the engine speed signal line 56 and compare them with desired engine operating characteristics . the valve controller 24 may compare the actual engine operating characteristics to the desired engine operating characteristics and generate the actuator drive signal on the actuator control line 26 to adjust the position of the valve 16 so that the actual engine operating characteristics correlate with the desired engine operating characteristics . the desired engine operating characteristics may comprise setpoints , such as an engine speed setpoint and a turbine input temperature setpoint , and engine operating schedules , such as engine start , acceleration and deceleration schedules , speed - based fuel schedules and an engine temperature schedule . the central controller 6 may correlate the monitoring signal that it receives from the valve controller 24 aboard each engine 4 with a level of a power system parameter , such as the level of power that the electrical generator load 10 of each engine 4 delivers to the common electrical grid 16 , then compare the correlated power system level with a desired power system level and finally adjust its control signal that it transmits to the valve controller 24 aboard each engine 4 in response to any difference between the correlated power system level and the desired power system level . the desired power level may be a cumulative power level for all of the engines 4 , in which case the central controller 6 correlates each monitor signal from the valve controller 24 of each engine 4 to a corresponding level of the power system parameter , combines the correlated engine power system levels to produce a cumulative correlated power system level and adjusts its control signal that it transmits to the valve controller 24 aboard each engine 4 in response to any difference between the cumulative correlated power system level and the desired power system level . since the central controller 6 and the communication link 8 only has to handle the monitoring signal from the valve controller 24 aboard each engine 4 and the controller 6 needs only transmit a control signal to the valve controller 24 aboard each engine 4 that represents a single desired fuel system parameter , the complexity and data rate of both are greatly reduced with the distributed control system 2 . the described embodiments of the invention are only some illustrative implementations of the invention wherein changes and substitutions of the various parts and arrangement thereof are within the scope of the invention as set forth in the attached claims .
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fig1 through 3 illustrate the principles of various rotary screen printing methods . fig1 shows a rotary screen printing apparatus integrated on a sheet - fed press . the circular screen 1 is fitted , optionally , with an indentation 1 ′. the squeegee 2 mounted inside the screen is linked to a device ( not shown ) for lifting the squeegee 2 in a controlled manner . a sheet 25 that can be gripped by a gripper 24 rests on the impression cylinder 3 . when the gripper 24 projects from the pit of the impression cylinder , the circular screen 1 will be provided with an indentation 1 ′ ( for instance in the form of a cross - strip with an uncovered zone for the projecting gripper 24 at the impression cylinder 3 ). when the gripper 24 is countersunk ( not shown ), the circular screen does not need an indentation . however , in both cases the squeegee 2 must be lifted above the indentation 1 ′ or the pit with countersunk gripper 24 . fig2 diagrammatically shows a rotary screen printing apparatus integrated on a web - fed press with reciprocating web transport . an impression cylinder 3 with an uncovered zone 3 ′ is present beside the circular screen 1 with squeegee 2 ( with a linked device ( not shown ) to lift the squeegee in controlled manner ). in this embodiment the squeegee 2 must be lifted each time above the uncovered zone 3 ′ because of the web being drawn back ( reciprocation ). fig3 shows the principle of a rotary screen printing apparatus integrated on a substrate printing machine . in this design , the circular screen 1 is fitted with a squeegee 2 raised in controlled manner . the substrates ( impression cylinders ) to be printed may be planar bodies 26 ( for instance glass plates ) moved on a conveyor belt 27 or they may be cylindrical bodies 28 ( for instance bottles ). the substrates 26 or 28 to be printed form the impression cylinders . the squeegee 2 must be raised when between the individual substrates . fig4 shows a synchronized drive system for the circular screen 1 , the squeegee 2 and the impression cylinder 3 ( in this case an impression cylinder with an uncovered zone of a reciprocating machine ) of a screen printing apparatus . the synchronized drive system is situated on one side of the printing apparatus . however , a further cam disk with a lever controlling the squeegee 2 may be provided on the other side of the circular screen 1 . the synchronized drive system for the circular screen 1 , squeegee 2 and impression cylinder 3 is substantially implemented by means of the following components : driven by a motor 6 , the gears 4 , 5 move the circular screen 1 and the impression cylinder 3 . the motor 6 in this design drives the printing apparatus . in principle , such a drive also may be delivered by the main machine shaft . the gears 7 through 10 drive a bevel gear 11 , which is part of the control system for the squeegee 2 . the cam disk 14 is driven by a further bevel gear 12 , which is positioned in transversely displaceable manner by an adjusting mechanism 13 . due to bevel gear , this adjusting mechanism 13 allows highly accurately setting the phase of the cam disk 14 ( also during operation ). the contour of the cam disk 14 may be fixed or variable , for instance by consisting of two mutually oppositely rotatable panes 21 , 22 . the squeegee is controlled , i . e . lifted , by means of an idler roller 15 and the squeegee lever 16 , which illustratively is a kind of rocking lever pivoted about the point 16 ′. because of the support at point 16 ′, the squeegee pressure can be made adjustable . in the case of two cam - disk panes , the squeegee 2 is held in place and is controlled more precisely and the compression is more easily regulated . besides the purely mechanical design of the drive system , a hybrid electro - mechanical design also may be used . fig5 is a design similar to that of fig4 and shows a rotary screen printing system with discontinuous squeegee pressure . in this embodiment , the circular screen 1 , the squeegee 2 , or the control cam disks 14 , and the impression cylinder 3 ( shown as a reciprocating device ) are driven by three mutually independent motors 17 , 18 , 19 , as a result of which maximum adjustment flexibility is attained when in synchronization . in this design the cam disks 14 may assume a fixed or a variable contour , as discussed above in relation to fig4 and the squeegee pressure can be adjusted at the squeegee - lever &# 39 ; s fulcrum 16 ′. the squeegee pressure can be adjusted during operation ( printing , see paper web 20 ). the squeegee 2 always must be lifted in the absence of an opposing pressure , as otherwise the circular screen 1 might be damaged . due to the independent drives means , the circular screen may , for instance , be rotated into a position precluding the leakage of ink , however it may especially be driven in a suitable manner to insert the screen at an arbitrary , appropriate position .
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the treatment for bacterial and viral infections in cattle , horses , pigs , sheep and other domestic and non - domestic animals of the present invention is comprised in a liquid state of trace minerals , cobalt amino acid chelates , acidophilus sp ., kelp and vitamins in a solution using distilled water as the carrier . trace mineral elements have been linked to immune system health , cell growth enhancement , glucose tolerance factor and other overall health concerns . furthermore , metal ions have been shown to have certain antimicrobial properties . the above mentioned trace elements , when combined in the current formulation have an unexpected synergy in treatment of a diseased animal . the second solution used to formulate the new treatment composition is composed of a bacterial species that would recolonize the gastrointestinal tract as well as a nutritional formulation to provide needed vitamins and minerals to the affected animal . in addition , kelp , a natural source of carbohydrates , amino acids , vitamins , minerals and trace elements is also added . kelp contains over 60 minerals and elements including iodine , 21 amino acids , simple and complex carbohydrates . it is believed to be a promoter of glandular health , especially for the pituitary , adrenal and thyroid glands . the thyroid and pituitary glands regulate certain functions of digestion . kelp also provides a natural source of fiber . after the two solutions are mixed , an oral dose of approximately 10 - 15 ml . of the resultant treatment solution is administered to the affected animal . the dose is repeated every 24 hours until symptoms are relieved . after the animal responds to the treatment , and regains its appetite , a regular diet and feeding schedule can be resumed . furthermore , with the instant treatment for bacterial , fungal and viral infections in cattle , horses , pigs , sheep and other domestic and non - domestic animals composition , there is no requirement for isolation and identification of the causative agent or antimicrobial sensitivity testing of etiologic agents in order to determine antibiotic resistance . in addition , because the present composition does not incorporate synthetic antibiotics such as penicillin or amoxycillin , there is no selection for antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria which would necessitate concurrent or sequential administration of antibiotics . the present composition was administered on the above - noted 24 hour cycle to several test groups of infected animals . there was no mortality among those animals treated with the present treatment for bacterial and viral infections . affected animals that were treated with the present composition were asymptomatic after 1 to six days of treatments . a field trial was conducted where 15 yearling calves , all diagnosed with pneumonia , were each treated with 10 milliliters of the present treatment for bacterial and viral infections . the dose was administered orally once a day for up to 5 days . of these treated calves , 33 % were asymptomatic within 24 hours after having been given only one dose of the present composition . eight calves were asymptomatic within 48 hours having been given 2 doses . the other two calves were asymptomatic after 4 dosages . a second field trial included one limousin bull diagnosed with pneumonia .. the normal weight of the bull was 1 , 950 pounds but at the time of treatment , the weight was 1 , 625 pounds . the bull had experienced a weight loss of 325 pounds since the onset of symptoms . the bull would not eat or drink , had a severe dry cough with no discharge from the nose , was weak and lethargic . the bull was administered an oral dosage of 30 milliliters of the present composition . within one hour , he was eating hay and drinking water . he was asymptomatic within 3 days . on the seventh day , still asymptomatic , he was given a 30 milliliter follow up dose . the bull fully recovered and regained his normal weight . he was being used in a registered limousin breeding program . a third field trial was conducted on two hereford crossbred calves . the 4 month old calves were diagnosed with coccsidiosis . the symptoms included profuse , watery green stool with mucous and large amounts of bright red blood . both calves were weak . one calf , # 178 , had these symptoms for seven days without treatment and was steadily getting worse . the other calf , # 162 , had been sick for 3 days . both calves were given oral doses of 15 milliliters of the novel treatment for bacterial and viral infections once a day for two days . after the first administration , both calves were in a much improved condition . both were asymptomatic within 48 hours after having received a total of two doses of the present composition . a fourth field trial was conducted on 23 horses in a herd of 165 . the horses showing symptoms had deep rumbling cough , profuse green / yellow mucous discharge from both nostrils , dull glassy eyes , lowered heads , and were lethargic and despondent . the infected horses had displayed these symptoms for 7 to 20 days . symptoms continued to worsen with continued duration of the disease . all 23 horses were given 15 milliliters of the current composition once a day . nine of these horses were asymptomatic after 48 hours and two doses . ten horses were asymptomatic within four days having been administered three doses . four horses were asymptomatic within six days having been given five doses . a fifth field trial was conducted on a hereford crossbred cow . the cow had been diagnosed with foot rot in her left hind foot . she could not put any weight on it . the foot was swollen twice the normal size and red in color between the toes and around the comet band . there was a hole in the sole of the left toe at the heel , ½ inch in diameter , which was oozing putrefied matter . the cow was given an oral dose of 30 milliliters of the present composition . in addition , the novel treatment compound was administered topically around the cornet band and 10 milliliters was injected into the hole in the sole of the left toe using a needle - less syringe . within four days , the cow was walking on that foot . at that time , the oral and topical administration was repeated using the same protocol . within seven days of the second administration , the cow was fully recovered . these field tests demonstrated that the current composition for treatment infections in animals worked on a broad range of pathogens with no recurrence of symptomology . all animals recovered in a very short period of time with bright eyes , shiny coats , good appetites and vigorous carriage . in addition to the field trials conducted with the present composition for treatment of disease in animals , minimum inhibitory concentrations of the composition were determined for several bacteria and one mycotic organism . the protocol for performing this test is found in the national committee for clinical laboratory standards 9nccls ) publication m7 - t2 . the tests were conducted by larry w . harris , registered microbiologist rm ( n . r . m .) 3053 . the minimum inhibitory concentration ( mic ) measures the ability of the antimicrobial agent to inhibit multiplication of the organisms being challenged . thus , organisms in the innoculum are inhibited from replicating by the antimicrobial agent . examples of bacteriostatic agents are chloramphenicol and erythromycin , nalidixic acid , sulfonamides and tetracyclines . dilutions of the present composition were made in a nutrient broth . the nutrient broth is known to support growth of the organisms used to challenge the efficacy of the composition . a one to ten , a one to one hundred dilution and a one to one thousand dilution of the present composition were made in the nutrient broth . further dilutions of each concentration were made as follows in table 1 below : the undiluted antimicrobial composition and 1 : 10 , 1 : 100 and 1 : 1000 dilutions were each diluted as indicated in the chart above resulting in a set of 11 tubes for each . all of the tubes then received , one milliliter ( ml ) of nutrient broth . at this point each tube contained 2 ml . a bacterial suspension was added to each tube . 0 . 1 ml of the test organism suspension 1 × 10 6 cfu / ml , where cfu is an abbreviation for colony forming units , was added to each tube . each tube contained 2 . 1 milliliters of liquid at this point with a concentration of 2 . 5 × 10 4 cfu / ml . of the challenge innoculum . this procedure was conducted using four bacteria as the challenge innoculum . two gram negative organisms , psuedomonas aeruginosa and k - 12 escherichia coli were used as challenge organisms . two gram positive organisms , staphyloccocus aureus , and bacillus subtilis were used as challenge organisms . the tubes were then incubated at 35 ° c . over night . the tubes that were turbid were evaluated to have growth of bacteria . the nonturbid tubes were determined to be negative for growth of bacteria ( see table 2 below ). after overnight incubation of the tubes , 0 . 001 ml from the control tube and each of the non - turbid tubes was subcultured to nutrient agar , mannitol - salt agar and macconkey agar ( see table 3 , table 4 and table 5 below ). these subcultures were incubated at 35 ° c . overnight . cfu on subcultures were determined . additionally , 0 . 001 ml of the broth from control tubes were subcultured to agar resulting in a count of 250 colonies . in addition , efficacy of the present composition against mycotic organisms was tested . the minimum inhibitory concentration ( mic ) of the present composition was established using the previously described protocol . again , the minimum inhibitory concentration is that concentration of the compound which successfully prevents multiplication of the organisms being challenged . a one to ten , a one to one hundred dilution and a one to one thousand dilution of the present composition were made in the sabouraud dextrose broth . sabouraud dextrose broth is known to support growth of mycotic organisms used to challenge the efficacy of the composition . the results are illustrated in table 7 below . further dilutions of each concentration were made as follows in table 6 below : the undiluted antimicrobial composition and 1 : 10 , 1 : 100 and 1 : 1000 dilutions were each diluted as indicated in the chart above resulting in a set of 11 tubes for each . all of the tubes then received , one milliliter ( ml ) of nutrient broth . at this point each tube contained 2 ml . a suspension of the test organism was added to each tube . 0 . 1 ml of the test organism suspension 1 × 10 6 cfu / ml , where cfu is an abbreviation for colony forming units , was added to each tube . each tube contained 2 . 1 milliliters of liquid at this point with a concentration of 2 . 5 × 10 4 cfu / ml . of the challenge innoculum , in this case , saccharomyces cerevisiae . the tubes were then incubated at 35 ° c . over night . the tubes that were turbid were evaluated to have growth of the organism . the nonturbid tubes were determined to be negative for growth of the organism . after overnight incubation of the tubes , 0 . 001 ml from the control tube and each of the non - turbid tubes was subcultured to sabouraud dextrose agar . these subcultures were incubated at 35 ° c . overnight . cfu on subcultures were determined . additionally , 0 . 001 ml of the broth from control tubes were subcultured to agar resulting in a count of 250 colonies . the results are illustrated in table 8 below . the treatment for bacterial and viral infections in cattle , horses , pigs , sheep and other domestic and non - domestic animals of the present invention is comprised in a liquid state of 22 constituents . these constituents are formulated in two liquid solutions which are then combined and stored in liquid form . the composition is readily available in this form for administration to the animal at 10 - 15 ml per dose most commonly at 24 hour intervals . the first solution is composed of trace minerals in microgram amounts . the following is a list of trace minerals with the approximate amount of each in micrograms ( mcg ): cobalt 200 mcg copper 200 mcg silicon 120 mcg neodymium 100 mcg praseodymium 100 mcg nickel 70 mcg chlorine 65 mcg zinc 62 mcg yttrium 60 mcg strontium 15 mcg titanium 15 mcg aluminum 15 mcg chromium 10 mcg gallium 10 mcg rubidium 10 mcg total trace minerals 1052 mcg the trace organic minerals are suspended in a liquid carrier prior to final formulation of the new treatment composition . the following are the constituents of the second solution suspended in 1 oz . of water : acidophulus sp . 3 . 0 grams water ( distilled ) 1 . 0 liquid ounce dried kelp 1 . 0 gram folic acid 1 . 0 gram vitamin a supplement 0 . 5 grams vitamin d 3 supplement 0 . 5 grams cobalt amino acid chelates 0 . 2 grams all ingredients are mechanically mixed to form the liquid composition which may then be administered orally to affected animals in doses of 10 to 15 ml . the ratio of group 1 to group 2 is 24 : 1 respectively . a needle - less syringe is used to administer the required dosage into the back of the affected animals mouth . this treatment is repeated every 24 hours as needed . in severe cases , the dosage can be increased to 15 to 30 ml every 24 hours until the afflicted animal is asymptomatic . it should be understood , however , that even though these numerous characteristics and advantages of the invention have been set forth in the foregoing description , together with details of the composition and method of application of the invention , the disclosure is illustrative only , and changes may be made in detail , especially in matters of chemistry , dosage and implementation within the principal of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed .
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the present invention uses the process steps of separating co 2 from a flue gas stream and converting at least a fraction of that co 2 to co . the co 2 is preferably separated from the flue gas stream though a cryogenic air separation process , in which the co 2 is converted to its liquid phase . in order to ensure that the co 2 is in liquid phase , it is preferred that the pressure be maintained at approximately 7 . 0 atmospheres and the temperature maintained at approximately 78 ° c . the temperature and pressure needed to contain the co 2 as a liquid can be estimated from the phase diagram of the carbon oxygen system as shown in fig2 . cryogenic air separation units are well known . universal industrial gases , inc . has installed such plants to recover the co 2 from high - purity or low - purity feed streams generated by various sources such as ammonia , ethanol or hydrogen plants . in addition , cryogenic air separation units have also been used in the steel industry which are capable of removing 40 . 8 tons of o 2 in one hour . the conversion of the separated co 2 to co is accomplished by introducing carbon to the liquid co 2 in the presence of heat to enable the following reaction to proceed : as shown in fig3 nearly all of the co 2 is converted to co at temperatures in excess of 1200 ° c . the carbon used in this reaction can be of various forms including graphite . the liquid co 2 and carbon are passed into a plasma furnace where the reaction will take place to form co . the co generated from this reaction can be used to supplant other forms of energy such as coal , hydrogen , or natural gas . other forms of carbon injection may be utilized , but the results of other methods of adding carbon to the gas stream may not result in the same extent of creation of co as obtained by mixing the graphite with the liquid co 2 . preferably , the carbon that is used in the process is graphite , which is the purest form of carbon that can be found . if the goal of the process is to remove all of the deleterious materials such as arsenic , sulfur , mercury and the like , then graphite powder should be used to prevent all such deleterious materials commonly found in coal and the like from ever entering the flue gas . if it is not required to have flue gas of such purity then other forms of carbon such as charcoal and the like may be utilized . the form of carbon used can be mixed with the liquid co 2 and can go through the plasma arc furnace together to form co . the co produced by the reaction of co 2 and carbon provides a source of potential energy . it is possible to sequester the co 2 to a tank that could contain substantially enough liquid co 2 that when reacted with carbon would create enough co that its combustion would provide enough energy to maintain the generation of heat at substantially the same level so that the reaction would function with either carbon or such hydrocarbon products as a fuel . the co 2 can be transferred from the storage pressure vessel to a pressure vessel immediately adjacent to burners such as are used on ships or on the boilers of electric generation plants . any pressure vessel situated adjacent to the burners should be double walled and water filled so that the heat generated by the action of plasma arc system would be absorbed by the water flowing through the walls of the pressure vessel . this absorbed heat can be utilized in the boilers or other methods of utilizing heat to produce steam or other requirements for heat in other applications . when the heated gases are finally admitted to the burners of the boiler or other requirement for heating they contain 32 . 9 kcal of energy resulting from the transformation of co 2 to co . when the 2 moles of co are mixed with oxygen , the combustion results in the formation of an additional 164 . 367 kcals . therefore , the sequestration of the co 2 prior to its transformation to co results in an additional amount of heat that when combined with the energy created by combustion of the co amounts to a substantial increase in the heating value of the gas . in addition , the safety of the operation would be advanced in that large quantities of co would not have to be either sequestered or transported to the burners where they would be utilized . a thermal plasma heating system always contains some mechanism of inducing the flow of electricity through an ionized working gas . the current flow heats the gas to a very high temperature through the mechanism of resistive or joule heating . through electronic , atomic , and molecular collisions the gas is maintained in an ionized state and the plasma becomes self sustaining . typical thermal plasma temperatures are in the range of 10 , 000 ° k to 30 , 000 ° k and result in heat transfers that are difficult to match by alternative processing techniques . the liquid co 2 and carbon are passed through the plasma arc with the formation of co according to equation ( 1 ). specific methods and compositions described herein are representative of preferred embodiments and are exemplary and not intended as limitations on the scope of the invention . other objects , aspects , and embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of this specification , and are encompassed within the spirit of the invention as defined by the scope of the claims . where examples are given , the description shall be construed to include but not to be limited to only those examples . it will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art that varying substitutions and modifications may be made to the invention disclosed herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention , and from the description of the inventions , including those illustratively set forth herein , it is manifest that various modifications and equivalents can be used to implement the concepts of the present invention without departing from its scope . a person of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that changes can be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention . the described embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive . thus , for example , additional embodiments are within the scope of the invention and within the following claims .
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the dental product of the present invention is a tooth gel / dentifrice that cleans and brightens / whitens teeth . however , the instant dental product can also be a mouth wash , a paste , a gel , a dental pack , or dental floss . it may also be used to treat gum disease . it is equally well suited to prevent caries , calculi and tartar formation as well as to help remove them . the dental product of the present invention contains acetic acid . preferably the composition also contains sodium hexametaphosphate . examples of some acids which may be used according to the present invention instead of or in addition to acetic acid are phosphoric acid , boric acid , hydrochloric acid , maleic acid , benzoic acid , citric acid , lactic acid , malic acid , oxalic acid , tartaric acid , succinic acid , glutaric acid , glycolic acid , gentisic acid , valeric acid , gallic acid , beta - resorcylic acid , acetyl salicylic acid , salicylic acid , perchloric acid , barbituric acid , sulfanilic acid , phytic acid , p - nitro benzoic acid , stearic acid , palmitic acid , oleic acid , myristic acid , lauric acid ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid ( edta ), ethylene glycol - bis { beta - aminoethyl ether }- n , n , n ′, n ′- tetraacetic acid , and diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid and the like . the most preferred salts are those of acetic acid but any pharmaceutically acceptable salts of the above acids are equally suitable in the compositions of this invention , acetic and other organic acids are present preferably in an amount ranging from about 0 . 001 % to about 5 . 0 % by weight of the total composition ; more preferably from about 0 . 01 % to about 3 . 0 %; most preferably from about 0 . 05 % to about 1 . 2 %, even more preferably from about 0 . 08 to about 1 . 0 %. the desired ph range achieved by the content of acid in the composition is between 4 and 7 inclusive . preferably , the ph is 5 . 5 ± 1 , more preferably , the ph is about 5 . 0 . in order to maintain the preferred ph range in some occasions it can be desirable to add a buffer system to the dental composition . the selection of the buffer is well known in the art and the buffer is preferably compatible with the other ingredients , that is , it should not have any negative effect on same , and should be non - toxic . the present invention successfully cleans and brightens teeth while inhibiting and reducing the growth of plaque bacteria , which is achieved when acetic acid or other equivalent organic acid is utilized in combination with conventional dental ingredients in effective concentrations to treat the oral cavity . small quantities of this unexpectedly simple and nevertheless active component is required to obtain effective inhibition of plaque and other bacteria . since low quantities of active component can be used in the compositions of this invention , the side effects associated with use of the present invention is correspondingly reduced or eliminated . microorganisms that may be eliminated by the present composition and methods include but are not limited to candida albicans , cryptococcus neoformans , aspergillus fumigatus , candida krusei , candida parapsilosis , candida tropicalis , malassezia species , trichophyton rubrum , epidermophyton species , microsporum species , sporothrix species , blastomyces dermatitidis , coccidiodes immiitis , histoplasma capsulatum , staphylococcus aureus , streptococcus faecalis , escherichia coli , pseudomonas aeruginosa , enterobacter aerogenes , klebsiella pneumoniae , staphylococcus epidermis , zanthomonus maltrophilia , acinetobacter , enterobacter cloacae , serratia marscens , listeria , monocytogenes , enterococcus faecalis , streptococcus pyogenes , streptococcus pneumonia , viridans streptococci , haemophilus influenzae , proteus mirabills , proteus vulgaris and bacterioides fragilis among many others . in one form of this invention , the composition may be a liquid such as a mouthwash or rinse . in such a composition the vehicle is typically a water - alcohol mixture . generally the ratio of water to alcohol is in the range of from about 1 : 1 to about 20 : 1 , preferably about 3 : 1 to about 20 : 1 and most preferably about 3 : 1 to about 10 : 1 by weight . the most preferred mouthwash or mouth rinse compositions comprise from 0 to about 30 % by weight alcohol , such as ethanol . the total amount of water - alcohol composition in a mouthwash composition is typically in the range from about 70 % to about 99 . 9 % by weight of the composition . the ph value of such a mouthwash composition is generally from about 4 . 0 to about 7 . 0 and preferably from about 5 to about 6 . 5 . a ph below 4 would be irritating to the oral cavity . a ph greater than 7 would result in an unpleasant feel . oral liquid compositions may also contain surface active agents in amounts up to about 5 % and fluorine - providing compounds in amounts up to about 2 % by weight of the composition . the composition also comprises chelating agents , including but not limited to , ethylenediaminetatraacetic acid , edetate sodium , edetate disodium , edetate trisodium , edetate calcium disodium , deferoxamine , ditiocarb sodium , aluminum salts , citric acid - sodium salt , gluconic acid - sodium salt , tartaric acid , sodium hexametaphosphate , anthranilic acid , phosphonate , polyacrylic acid , alkyl - diamine polyacetic acids and salts , penicillamine , pentetic acid , succimer and trientine . the preferred chelator is sodium hexametaphosphate . these chelators are especially useful in preventing and dissolving calculus build - up . surface active agents are organic materials which afford complete dispersion of the composition throughout the oral cavity . the organic surface active material may be non - ionic , amphoteric , or cationic . preferred non - ionic surface active agents include condensates of sorbitan mono - oleate with from 20 to 60 moles of ethylene oxide ( e . g ., “ tweens ” a trademark of ici united states , inc . ), condensates of ethylene oxide with propylene oxide and condensates of propylene glycol (“ pluronics ” a trademark of basf - wyandotte corp .). other suitable non - ionic surfactants are the condensation products of an alpha - olefin oxide containing 10 to 20 carbon atoms , a polyhydric alcohol containing 2 to 10 carbons and 2 to 6 hydroxyl groups and either ethylene oxide or a heteric mixture of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide . the resulting surfactants are heteric polymers having a molecular weight in the range of about 400 to about 1600 and containing 40 % to 80 % by weight of ethylene oxide , with a alpha - olefin oxide to polyhydric alcohol mole ratio in the range of about 1 : 1 to 1 : 3 . amphoteric surfactants useful in the present invention are zwitterions having the capacity to act as either an acid or a base . they are generally non - irritating and non - staining . non - limitative examples of suitable amphoteric surfactants include cocoamidopropyldimethylsultaine and cocodimethylbetaine ( commercially available from lonza chem . co . under the trade - names lonzaine cs and lonzaine 12c , respectively ). cationic surface active agents are molecules that carry a positive charge such as the quaternary ammonium compounds and are well know to those of skill in the art . a fluorine providing compound may be present in the oral compositions of this invention . these compounds may be slightly water soluble or may be fully water soluble and are characterized by their ability to release fluoride ions or fluoride containing ions in water . typical fluorine providing compounds are inorganic fluoride salts such as soluble alkali metal , alkaline earth metal , and heavy metal salts , for example , sodium fluoride , potassium fluoride , ammonium fluoride , cuprous fluoride , zinc fluoride , stannic fluoride , stannous fluoride , barium fluoride , sodium fluorosilicate , ammonium fluorosilicate , sodium fluorozirconate , sodium monofluorophosphate , aluminum mono - and difluorophosphate and fluorinated sodium calcium pyrophosphate . in an oral liquid composition such as a mouthwash , the fluorine providing compound is generally present in an amount sufficient to release up to about 0 . 15 %, preferably about 0 . 001 % to about 0 . 05 %, fluoride by weight of the composition . the compositions of this invention may be substantially solid or pasty in character such as dental cream , toothpaste , toothpowder or chewing gum . such solid or pasty oral compositions may also contain polishing materials . typical polishing materials are abrasive particulate materials having particle sizes of up to about 20 microns . nonlimiting illustrative examples include water - insoluble sodium metaphosphate , potassium metaphosphate , tricalcium phosphate , dehydrated calcium phosphate , anhydrous dicalcium phosphate , dicalcium phosphate , calcium pyrophosphate , magnesium orthophosphate , trimagnesium phosphate , calcium carbonate , alumina , aluminum silicate , zirconium silicates , silica , bentonite , and mixtures thereof . polishing materials are generally present in an amount from about 20 % to about 99 % by weight of the composition . preferably , such materials are present in amounts from about 20 % to about 75 % in toothpaste , and from about 70 % to about 99 % in toothpowder . in clear gels , a polishing agent of colloidal silica and alkali metal aluminosilicate complexes are preferred since they have refractive indices close to the refractive indices of gelling agent liquid systems commonly used in such dentifrices . the compositions of the present invention may additionally contain sweeteners , flavorants and colorants . in the instance where auxiliary sweeteners are utilized , the present invention contemplates the inclusion of those sweeteners well known in the art , including both natural and artificial sweeteners . water - soluble sweetening agents such as monosaccharides , disaccharides and polysaccharides such as xylose , ribose , glucose , mannose , galactose , fructose , dextrose , sucrose , maltose , partially hydrolyzed starch , or corn syrup solids and sugar alcohols such as sorbitol , xylitol , mannitol and mixtures thereof . without limiting to these examples , water - soluble artificial sweeteners such as the soluble saccharin salts , i . e ., sodium , or calcium saccharin salts , cyclamate salts , acesulfame - k and the like , and the free acid form of saccharin are equally suitable . other sweeteners such as dipeptide based sweeteners such as l - phenylalanine methyl ester and materials described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 492 , 131 ( herein incorporated by reference ) and the like are equally suitable . in general , the amount of sweetener will vary with the desired amount of sweetness selected for a particular composition . this amount will normally be 0 . 01 % to about 40 % by weight . the water - soluble sweeteners are preferably used in amounts of about 5 % to about 40 % by weight , and most preferably from about 10 % to about 20 % by weight of the final composition . in contrast , the artificial sweeteners described are preferably used in amounts of about 0 . 005 % to about 5 . 0 % and most preferably about 0 . 05 % to about 2 . 5 % by weight of the final composition . these amounts are ordinarily necessary to achieve a desired level of sweetness independent from the flavor level achieved from flavorants . suitable flavorings include both natural and artificial flavors , and mints such as peppermint , citrus flavors such as orange and lemon , artificial vanilla , cinnamon , various fruit flavors and the like . in one embodiment the flavoring agent comprises cinnamon - clove beads . such beads can be additionally filled with fillers consisting of inert materials or medicinal agents such as vitamins or antibacterial agents . both individual and mixed flavors are contemplated . the flavorings are generally utilized in amounts that will vary depending upon the individual flavor , and may , for example , range in amounts of about 0 . 1 % to about 6 % by weight of the final composition . the colorants useful in the present invention , include the pigments which may be incorporated in amounts of up to about 2 % by weight of the composition . also , the colorants may include other dyes suitable for food , drug and cosmetic applications , and known as fd & amp ; c dyes and the like . the materials acceptable for the foregoing uses are preferably water - soluble . illustrative examples include the indigo dye , known as fd & amp ; c blue no . 2 , which is the disodium salt of 5 , 5 - indigotindisulfonic acid . similarly , the dye known as fd & amp ; c green no . 1 , comprises a triphenylmethane dye and is the monosodium salt of 4 -[ 4 - n - ethyl - p - sulfobenzyl amino ) diphenylmethylene ]-[ 1 -( n - ethyl - n - p - sulfoniumbenzyl )- 2 , 5 - cyclohexadie nimine ]. a full recitation of all fd & amp ; c and d & amp ; c colorants useful in the present invention and their corresponding chemical structures may be found in the kirk - othmer encyclopedia of chemical technology , 3rd edition , in volume 6 , at pages 561 - 595 , which text is accordingly incorporated herein by reference . a medicated dental floss for controlling the bacterial activity associated with gingivitis is also contemplated . the floss incorporates acetic acid which , as a result of the flossing action , is deposited to the inter - dental area of the teeth . the slow dissolution of the antimicrobial agent ensures that effective levels of medication are attained for sustained periods , thereby reducing bacterial activity . examples of making such floss are well known and are disclosed for example in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 603 , 921 herein incorporated by reference . the present invention also involves a method for treating teeth or gums to reduce plaque or gingivitis comprising applying to the surface of the teeth and / or gums the compositions of this invention as described above . the compositions can be applied to the teeth and gums by any conventional means such as brushing , spraying , painting or rinsing of the oral cavity and the like . the compositions not only cleans and brightens the teeth and retards plaque accumulation , but has been demonstrated to remove pre - existing plaque as well . additionally , the compositions show a prolonged effect on plaque accumulation following cessation of treatment for at least about one week after use . this property is especially useful in veterinary applications where animals are not necessarily treated on a daily basis , but where longer intervals of time occur between treatments . the compositions of this invention are also useful as a topical antiseptic , disinfectant or antibacterial which is applied externally to the skin around the mouth or oral cavity . the composition can be delivered in form of a cream , lotion , lip balm , lipstick , or other art - known forms of carriers . other uses and applications for compositions prepared according to the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art . preferred uses include , but are not limited to , formulations for oral use such as a mouthwash or dentifrice , mouth rinses ( including swish and swallow preparations ). other preferred formulations for topical use are contemplated which include , but are not limited to , skin sanitizers , surgical scrubs and preparations , handwashs and towlettes ; formulations for treatment of infections of the skin or mouth area in a human ; veterinary medicament for animal skin , hooves , claws , fur , or teeth ; nail paints and polishes ; skin preparations ; and footwear inserts . the following examples are presented to further illustrate this invention . the examples are intended in an illustrative sense and not in a limitative sense . the present invention includes the embodiments described and shown and any equivalents thereof . all parts and percentages are on a weight basis unless otherwise indicated . [ 0044 ] tooth paste abrasive powder 12 . 9 calcium phosphate 25 . 0 acetic acid 1 . 0 carrageenan 1 . 0 glycerin 10 . 0 sorbitol 15 . 0 sodium lauryl sulfate 2 . 0 flavor 1 . 0 sodium saccharinate 0 . 1 silicon dioxide 2 . 0 water 30 . 0 [ 0045 ] tooth powder abrasive powder 95 . 3 sodium lauryl sulfate 2 . 0 acetic acid 1 . 0 flavor 1 . 5 sodium saccharinate 0 . 2 [ 0046 ] wet tooth powder abrasive powder 64 . 38 calcium phosphate 10 . 0 sorbitol 10 . 0 sodium lauryl sulfate 2 . 0 acetic acid 1 . 0 flavor 1 . 5 calcium phosphate 1 . 0 water 10 . 0 sodium saccharinate 0 . 12 [ 0047 ] mouthwash acetic acid 1 . 0 nonionic surfactant 0 . 7 sorbitol solution 50 . 0 ethanol ( 95 % in water ) 10 . 0 coloring agent 0 . 0004 flavoring agent 0 . 15 water to 100 % [ 0048 ] dentifrice acetic acid 3 . 0 sodium fluoride 0 . 24 hydrated silica 10 - 50 xylitol 10 - 40 xanthan gum 0 . 1 - 1 . 5 cocobetaine 0 . 1 - 1 . 5 flavoring agent 0 . 9 water to 100 % [ 0049 ] oral spray citric acid ; hydrous 1 . 0 nonionic surfactant 1 . 2 ethanol 12 . 0 glycerol 20 . 0 sweetening agent 0 . 01 flavoring agent 0 . 10 water to 100 % [ 0050 ] chewing gum ( per stick ) estergum 142 mg coumarone resin 213 mg latex 71 mg paraffin wax 47 mg sorbitol 1309 mg corn syrup 400 mg flavoring q . s . sodium bicarbonate 0 . 2 - 43 mg sodium chloride 0 . 3 - 23 mg sodium thiocyanate 0 . 4 - 32 mg sodium fluoride 0 . 2 - 16 mg ascorbic acid 10 mg acetic acid 10 mg [ 0051 ] breath freshener tablet wintergreen oil 0 . 6 mg talc 10 . 0 mg menthol 0 . 85 mg peppermint oil 0 . 3 mg sodium saccharin 0 . 3 mg mannitol usp 180 . 95 mg sodium stearate 2 . 0 mg sodium bicarbonate 0 . 2 - 43 mg sodium chloride 0 . 3 - 23 mg sodium thiocyanate 0 . 4 - 32 mg sorbitol usp 180 . 0 mg lactose usp q . s . 1 gm sodium flouride 0 . 2 - 16 mg acetic acid 2 mg [ 0052 ] chewable multivitamin tablet vitamin a 5000 usp units vitamin d 400 usp units ascorbic acid 60 mg thiamine hcl 1 mg riboflavin 1 . 5 mg pyridoxine hcl 1 mg cyanocobalamin 2 mcg calcium pantothenate 3 mg niacinamide 10 mg mannitol 236 mg corn starch 16 . 6 mg sodium saccharin 1 . 1 mg sodium stearate 6 . 6 mg talc 10 mg wintergreen oil 1 . 2 mg menthol 1 . 7 mg peppermint oil 0 . 6 mg sodium bicarbonate 0 . 2 - 43 mg sodium chloride 0 . 3 - 23 mg sodium thiocyanate 0 . 4 - 32 mg sodium fluoride 0 . 2 - 16 mg acetic acid 22 mg [ 0053 ] veterinary , e . g ., dog , tooth gel water 65 . 95 sd alcohol 40 - b 18 . 00 sorbitol 10 . 00 pvm / ma decadiene crosspolymer 1 . 80 acetic acid 1 . 00 c11 - 15 pareth - 12 1 . 00 flavor 0 . 50 methylparaben 0 . 20 lactose ( and ) cellulose ( and ) 0 . 10 hydroxypropyl methylcellulose ( and ) chromium hydroxyde green ( and ) tocopheryl acetate lactose ( and ) cellulose ( and ) 0 . 10 hydroxypropyl methylcellulose ( and ) ultramines ( and ) tocopheryl acetate ( and ) retinyl palmitate lactose ( and ) cellulose ( and ) 0 . 10 hydroxypropyl methylcellulose ( and ) iron oxide and tocopheryl acetate triethanolamine 1 . 10 sodium benzoate 0 . 10 sodium hexametaphosphate 0 . 05 a solution of 0 . 1 % of neutral red is applied to the front teeth of each of two male adults a and b who had been using conventional commercially available dentifrice . thereafter , a similar dyeing operation is conducted one day after they began to use the dentifrice of example 1 and the plaque - stained areas before and after the use of the dentifrice of example 1 is compared . in the case of a , the stained area after the change is about only 10 % of the initial stained area indicating that the decontamination of the plaque area is about 90 %. in the case of b the decontamination of the plaque area is about 50 % superior to conventional dentifrice . these beneficial effects result from the twice - daily application of about 5 to 25 gram of the dentifrice of example 1 . similar beneficial results are obtained when a third subject rinsed the mouth with about 50 to 100 ml of mouthwash of example 4 . minimum inhibitory concentration studies are performed using the gram - negative enterobacterium pseudomonas aerugenosa ( american type culture collection # 9027 ) in accordance with the protocol for testing the bactericidal activity of antimicrobial agents ( document m26 - t of the national center for clinical and laboratory standards ). p . aeruienosa is cultured overnight at 37 ° c . in trypsin soy broth to a final density of approximately 1 × 10 8 cfu / ml ( 0 . 5 mcfarland standard ) and then diluted 1 : 10 with cation - adjusted mueller - hinton medium . 10 microliters of this bacterial culture is then added to 200 microliters of an already - prepared dilution series of the test solution ( composition of example 4 ). after a 5 minute incubation at room temperature , 10 microliters of wash test solution is plated onto a sector of a letheen - agar plate and incubated at 37 ° c . overnight . mic breakpoint is interpreted as the highest dilution for which no growth is evident . the results show that compositions of example 4 are far more effective in vitro at inhibiting the growth of p . aerugenosa than the control solution , which contains the usp benzalkonium chloride mixture . the invention has been described with respect to certain preferred embodiments but it will be understood that variations and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of this invention and the scope of the appended claims .
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the embodiments of the present invention are explained in the following , in reference to the above - described drawings . fig1 illustrates a network configuration according to the present embodiment . ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 , pc ( personal computer ) 102 , web server 103 or the like are provided within local network 100 . local network 100 is connected to internet / intranet 105 via router 104 . on internet / intranet 105 , enum server 106 , dns server 107 , ca ( call agent ) server 108 are in operation . in addition , another ip telephone apparatus ( b ) 110 may be connected to internet / intranet 105 via router 109 . this network configuration simply shows one example . for example , dns server 107 and ca server 108 may not be used in another network . also , the location of each communication device is not limited to the above description . enum server 106 , dns server 107 and ca server 108 are shown as an example . the configuration may include a plurality of apparatuses connected to each other so as to provide a function which is described later . ip telephone apparatuses ( a ) 101 and ( b ) 110 have the same functions that enable voice communication with another ip telephone apparatus connected via internet / intranet 105 . enum ( telephone number mapping ) server 106 is equipped with a database ( db ) that stores a naptr ( the naming authority pointer ) resource record ( hereafter referred to as “ naptr record ”), which is described later . enum server 106 transmits , to ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 ( 110 ), the naptr record stored in the db in response to a query ( hereafter referred to as “ enum query ”) from ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 ( 110 ). in the specification , enum is used as a general term describing a system that searches enum dns ( enum server ) based on a predetermined number ( including an electronic communication number ) and obtains one or a plurality of applications in a uri form , the application being applicable in relation to the predetermined number . dns ( domain name system ) server 107 is equipped with a db that stores a domain name ( including a uri { uniform resource identifier }) specified in the naptr record and stores an ip address corresponding to the domain name . dns server 107 transmits , to ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 ( 110 ), the ip address stored in the db in response to a query from ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 ( 110 ). ca server 108 controls a call control between ip telephone apparatuses ( a ) 101 and ( b ) 110 connected to local network ( ip network ) 100 ca server 108 controls a call connection with a destination ip telephone apparatus in response to a call connection request from a source ip telephone apparatus . dns server 107 is not required when ca server 108 controls a call connection . fig2 illustrates a block diagram describing a hardware configuration of ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 . ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 is mainly configured with cpu 201 , memory 202 , handset 203 , display 204 and network interface ( hereafter referred to network i / f ) 205 . cpu 201 controls all operations needed to perform voice communication with another ip telephone apparatus ( b ) 110 via internet / intranet 105 , which is an ip network , based on a voice communication control program stored in memory 202 . cpu 201 performs , for example , a communication control utilizing the ip network , a call control via the ip network and a voice processing control . call controls are represented by sip ( session initial protocol ) and h . 323 . cpu 201 also displays necessary information on display 204 and performs ip communication via network i / f 205 . ip communication is designed to , for example , transmit to enum server 106 a query ( hereafter referred to as “ enum query ”) for a naptr record corresponding to a destination terminal , receive a response ( hereafter referred to as “ enum response ”) to the enum query , transmit to dns server 107 a query ( hereafter referred to as “ ip address query ”) for an ip address and control reception of a response ( hereafter referred to as “ ip address response ”) to the ip address query . memory 202 is configured with a rom ( read only memory ) and a ram ( random access memory ). the rom stores a voice communication control program or the like executed by cpu 201 . the ram is used as a work memory when cpu 201 executes the program . handset 203 is used to output an on - or - off hook signal to cpu 201 according to a user &# 39 ; s on - or - off hook operation . handset 203 is configured with a microphone and a speaker . handset 203 converts the user &# 39 ; s transmitting voice , through the microphone , into the transmitting voice signal , when starting communication with the destination terminal . at the same time , handset 203 outputs , through the speaker , the receiving voice signal input from cpu 201 as the receiving voice . display 204 is configured with an lcd ( liquid crystal display ) or the like and displays the current status of ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 . display 204 also displays a telephone number or the like input by cpu 201 . network i / f 205 is an interface for local network ( ip network ) 100 to which ip telephone apparatus 101 is connected . network i / f 205 functions as a transmitter and a receiver . fig3 illustrates a front view of ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 . ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 is configured with handset 203 , display 204 , numerical keys 1102 , am ( answering machine ) button 1103 , speaker button 1104 , and function button 1105 . numerical keys 1102 is used to enter a telephone number or the like . am button 1103 is used to switch to the answering machine mode . speaker button 1104 is used to switch the mode to the external output voice . function button 1105 is able to set various functions such as a single touch transmission function . ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 further includes , on its side , lan interface ( lan i / f ) 1106 to be connected to local network 100 and includes public line interface ( public line i / f ) 1107 to be connected to a pstn ( public switched telephone network ). fig4 illustrates a block diagram describing a configuration of enum server 106 . enum server 106 is mainly configured with cpu 301 , memory 302 , db 303 , input / output device 304 and network i / f 305 . cpu 301 controls the entire operation of enum server 106 based on the control program stored in memory 302 . upon receiving an enum query ( inquiry ) from ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 , for example , cpu 301 searches for a naptr record corresponding to the enum query from the data stored in db 303 , which is described later , and transmits the naptr record to ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 that has transmitted the enum query . in the present embodiment , it is possible to use a reversed natra query transmitted from web server ( described later ). memory 302 may be configured with a rom and a ram . the rom stores the control program executed by cpu 301 . the ram is used as a work memory when cpu 301 executes the program . db 303 , which is configured with a hard disk device or the like , stores the above - noted naptr record . fig5 illustrates an example of the naptr record stored in db 303 . the example shows that db 303 stores the naptr record corresponding to domain name “ 0 . 0 . 0 . 0 . 0 . 0 . 0 . 1 . 3 . 1 . 8 . e164 . arpa ” obtained from telephone number “ 0310000000 ”, and the naptr record corresponding to domain name “ 1 . 0 . 0 . 0 . 0 . 0 . 0 . 1 . 3 . 1 . 8 . e164 . arpa ” obtained from telephone number “ 0310000001 ”. particularly , db 303 stores a call recipient profile html . for example , for the user who has a uri including telephone number “ 0310000000 ”, html file “// www . tokyo . sip . com / useraaa . html ” is stored . when a corresponding icon is clicked on the browser , web server 103 transmits a reversed naptr query based on the call recipient profile html . in this example , a reversed naptr query indicates a query for a telephone number uri stored in connection with a call recipient enum domain name , the domain name being reversely obtained from the uri . in response to the reversed naptr query , enum server 106 first searches the db storing the naptr record , and retrieves the enum domain name corresponding to the uri , based on the call recipient profile html file name ( uri ). enum server 106 then transmits the extracted telephone number uri ( 050 system number ), the uri being stored in connection with the retrieved enum domain name . in the example shown in fig5 , an html file name such as “// www . tokyo . sip . com / useraaa . html ” is designated and used for the reversed naptr query . “ 0 . 0 . 0 . 0 . 0 . 0 . 0 . 1 . 3 . 1 . 8 . e164 . arpa ” is reversely obtained as the call recipient enum domain name . telephone number uri “ 05011112222 @ tokyo . sip . jp ” is stored in connection with the call recipient enum domain name . input / output device 304 is configured with an input device such as a keyboard and an output device such as a display . the input device is used for the maintenance of enum server 106 . the output device is used to display the maintenance information . network i / f 305 is an interface for internet / intranet 105 to which enum server 106 is connected . fig6 illustrates a block diagram describing a configuration of web server 103 . web server 103 is mainly configured with cpu 401 , memory 402 , db 403 and network i / f 404 . cpu 401 controls the entire operation of web server 103 based on the control program stored in memory 402 . upon receiving a phonebook search request from pc 102 , cpu 401 searches for the call recipient profile html from phonebook data stored in db 403 ( described later ), and transmits the profile html to pc 102 that has transmitted the request . memory 402 may be configured with a rom and a ram . the rom stores a control program executed by cpu 401 . the ram is used as a work memory when cpu 401 executes the program . db 403 , which is configured with a high - capacity hard disk device or the like , stores the phonebook data . the phonebook data may be searched by the phonebook search system , which is an application executed by cpu 401 . fig7 illustrates a display example of personal data ( personal profile data ) searched and retrieved by the phonebook search system . in the present embodiment , the profile shown in fig7 is created in an html file ( referred to as profile html ) that may appear on the browser . when name column 410 in the profile html is clicked on the browser , a reversed naptr query is transmitted to web server 103 . as shown in fig8 , db 403 stores a user id and a password that cpu 401 uses for user authentication when the user logs in to the phonebook search system . db 403 further stores a uri or an ip address corresponding to the user id for the user of the ip telephone apparatus . in the following , in the fig1 network configuration , a case is explained wherein the call recipient is specified by the phonebook search system at pc 102 and a call is placed to ip telephone apparatus ( b ) 110 by clicking the call recipient name on the browser . fig9 , 10 , 11 and 12 are referred for the illustration . fig9 illustrates a sequence describing operations from when the user logs in to the phonebook search system at pc 102 to when communication starts between ip telephone apparatuses ( a ) 101 and ( b ) 110 . fig1 illustrates a flow chart for pc 102 ; fig1 illustrates a flow chart for web server 103 ; fig1 illustrates a flow chart for the ip telephone apparatus . first , operations between pc 102 and web server 103 are described . the user starts the browser at pc 102 and logs in to the web server 103 phonebook search system . as shown in fig1 , pc 102 starts the browser in accordance with the user &# 39 ; s operation ( s 101 ) and transmits , to web server 103 , a request for displaying an initial screen of the phonebook search system by using the uri received from web server 103 , the uri being specified by the user . when the user logs in on the initial screen by entering the user id and password , pc 102 transmits a login request to web server 103 ( s 102 ). as shown in fig1 , upon receiving the login request to the phonebook search system ( s 201 ), web server 103 cross - checks the obtained id and password with those stored in the phonebook ( fig8 ). when they match , web server 103 allows the user to login ( s 202 ). web server 103 transmits , to the client ( pc 102 ) that logged in , a phonebook search screen . fig1 illustrates an example of the phonebook search screen . the phonebook search screen appears on the browser &# 39 ; s window of pc 102 that logged in to the phonebook search system . when entering a search condition in name column 411 provided on the phonebook search screen and clicking search button 412 , an advanced search condition is transmitted to web server 103 ( s 103 ). web server 103 transmits the advanced search condition to the phonebook system and searches for the corresponding data from the phonebook data ( s 203 ). for example , when the name targeted as the advanced search condition is “ tokkyo taro ”, the personal data shown in fig7 is retrieved as a search result . web server 103 transmits , to pc 102 , the call recipient profile html (“// www . tokyo . sip . com ./ useraaa . html ”) which displays the personal data shown in fig7 on the browser ( s 204 ). when there are a plurality of corresponding records , a plurality of other parties &# 39 ; htmls are transmitted . the browser &# 39 ; s window of pc 102 displays the call recipient profile , which shows the personal data shown in fig7 , based on the call recipient profile html received from web server 103 . when the user places a call to “ tokkyo taro ”, which was retrieved by the phonebook search system , for example , name 410 is clicked , the name which was displayed in the call recipient profile html ( s 104 ). when the call recipient name 410 is clicked , web server 103 transmits a reversed naptr query and a telephone number request , using a cgi ( common gateway interface ) based on the call recipient profile html information . web server 103 first transmits , to enum server 106 , the reversed naptr query for the call recipient enum domain name based on the call recipient profile html information ( s 206 ). enum server 106 stores , in db 303 , the naptr record shown in fig5 . when the reversed naptr query is received from web server 103 , enum server 106 , at cpu 301 , reversely obtains the call recipient enum domain name based on the call recipient profile html included in the request . as an example , enum server 106 searches the uri schemes corresponding to the http service , the uri schemes contained in the naptr record stored in db 303 . enum server 106 then retrieves the naptr record specifying , in the uri , the same file name as the call recipient profile html . next , enum server 106 extracts the telephone number uri ( 050 system ) corresponding to the sip service ( ip telephone ) from the naptr record ( uri ) stored in connection with the retrieved call recipient enum domain name . in other words , enum server 106 extracts all of the uris or the telephone numbers ( 050 system ) included therein for the call recipient that was clicked on pc 102 , the uris or telephone numbers corresponding to the ip telephone service ( sip ) stored on enum server 106 . in the fig5 example , when “ tokkyo taro ” is clicked on the browser , the call recipient enum domain name “ 0 . 0 . 0 . 0 . 0 . 0 . 0 . 1 . 3 . 1 . 8 . e164 . arpa ” is reversely obtained from the call recipient profile html “// www . tokyo . sip . com / useraaa . html ”. after that , uri “ 05011112222 @ tokyo . sip . jp ” is retrieved , the uri corresponding to the sip service ( ip telephone ) and being stored in connection with the call recipient enum domain name . upon receiving the reversed naptr query , enum server 106 transmits , to web server 103 that has transmitted the request , telephone number uri “ 05011112222 @ tokyo . sip . jp ” or only telephone number “ 05011112222 ” as the call recipient number response . web server 103 then receives the call recipient number response from enum server 106 ( s 207 ). when enum server 106 does not store the naptr record , an error notification is transmitted to enum server 106 . the error notification is forwarded to pc 102 that has transmitted the request , after which the process is terminated ( s 208 ). web server 103 transmits , to the uri ( ip address ) of the source ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 , the uri being confirmed when the user logged in to pc 102 , the call recipient telephone number uri , using a refer message ( s 209 ). pc 102 transmits , to web server 103 , a click - to - dial request when name 410 is clicked on the browser ( s 105 ). after that , pc 102 performs an automatic logout process by a timer , or upon the user request ( s 106 ). when the logout request is received from the client ( s 210 ), which is pc 102 , web server 103 terminates the process . after the above - noted steps , the process proceeds to operations performed among the source ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 , ca server 108 and the destination ip telephone apparatus ( b ) 110 . fig1 illustrates a flow chart for the source ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 . ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 receives the call recipient telephone number ( including a uri containing a telephone number ) by the refer message transmitted from web server 103 , which initiates a call process ( s 301 ). ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 creates the “ invite ” message which includes the call recipient telephone number and the telephone number of ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 . the call recipient telephone number was received in s 301 as an intended recipient telephone number (“ to ” field ). the telephone number of ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 is specified as the source telephone number (“ from ” field ). ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 then transmits the “ invite ” message to ca 108 ( s 302 ). ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 previously stores an ip address of ca server 108 . fig1 illustrates an example of the “ invite ” message . when receiving the “ invite ” message from ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 , ca server 108 confirms the call recipient telephone number (“ to ” field ), and forwards the “ invite ” message to the ip address of ip telephone apparatus ( b ) 110 , which has the call recipient telephone number . in other words , ca server 108 obtains the ip address of ip telephone apparatus ( b ) 110 having the call recipient telephone number , based on the call recipient telephone number , sets the ip address of ip telephone apparatus ( b ) 110 as an ip packet destination , and transmits the “ invite ” message to internet / intranet 105 . upon receiving the “ invite ” message , the destination ip telephone apparatus ( b ) 110 sounds a ring tone and transmits , to ca server 108 , the “ 180 ringing ” message . ca server 108 then forwards the “ 180 ringing ” message to the source ip telephone apparatuses ( a ) 101 . upon receiving the “ 180 ringing ” message ( s 303 ), the source ip apparatus ( a ) 101 sounds a ring back tone through the speaker of handset 203 ( s 304 ). in response to the ring back tone , the user , who searched for the call recipient name from the phonebook system at pc 102 and clicked the name , picks up handset 203 of ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 provided close to the user of pc 102 , puts the handset 203 to the ear , and hears the ring tone directed to the destination ip telephone apparatus ( b ) 110 . when an off - hook condition is detected at the destination ip telephone apparatus ( b ) 110 , the destination ip telephone apparatus ( b ) 110 transmits , to the source ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 , the “ 200 ok ” message via ca server 108 . upon receiving the “ 200 ok ” message ( s 305 ), the source ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 transmits the “ ack ” message to the destination ip telephone apparatus ( b ) 110 ( s 306 ), after which communication becomes available ( s 307 ). when an error message is received in s 303 , it indicates that the communication was unsuccessful ( s 308 ), and the process is terminated . as described above , in the present embodiment , when the call recipient name is clicked on the search result screen of the phonebook search system , the html file name displaying the call recipient profile ( personal data ) is transmitted to enum server 106 . enum server 106 then extracts the uri corresponding to the call recipient ip telephone service from the naptr record based on the html file name , and transmits the uri to ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 . therefore , the user becomes able to place a call to the destination ip telephone apparatus ( b ) 110 without entering the call recipient telephone number at ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 . in addition , in the above - described embodiment , ca server 108 is involved until a connection is established between the source ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 and the destination ip telephone apparatus ( b ) 110 . it is also possible , however , to establish a connection by performing a call control directly between ip telephone apparatuses ( a ) 101 and ( b ) 110 without involving ca server 108 . fig1 illustrates a sequence describing a call control directly performed between ip telephone apparatuses ( a ) 101 and ( b ) 110 without involving ca server 108 . fig1 shows a case where web server 103 transmits , to the uri ( ip address ) of the source ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 , the uri being confirmed when the user logged in to pc 102 , the call recipient telephone number uri , using the refer message . upon receiving , from web server 103 , the call recipient telephone number uri , the source ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 starts a process for obtaining the ip address of the destination ip telephone apparatus ( b ) 110 based on the domain name corresponding to the uri . more specifically , the source ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 transmits , to dns server 107 , a request for the ip address by specifying the domain name . dns server 107 has a function which obtains the ip address of the corresponding terminal ( ip telephone apparatus ( b ) 110 ) based on the domain name . dns server 107 transmits , to ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 , the obtained ip address of ip telephone apparatus ( b ) 110 . the source ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 then directly transmits , to the destination ip telephone apparatus ( b ) 110 , the “ invite ” message , using the obtained ip address , via internet / intranet 105 . the “ invite ” message is structured as shown in fig1 . communication then starts after the direct exchange of the messages “ 180 ringing ”, “ 200 ok ” and “ ack ” between the source and destination ip telephone apparatuses . in the above description , the user at the transmitting side accesses the phonebook search system and clicks the call recipient name at pc 102 . it is also possible , however , to have the source ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 perform all operations , the operations initiated by starting the browse at pc 102 . in other words , it is possible to perform the operation of pc 102 shown in fig1 at ip telephone apparatus ( a ) 101 . in this case , the process does not require web server 103 . instead of displaying personal data for only one individual as show in fig7 , it is further possible to display personal data for a plurality of parties , to click on the selected party , and to transmit to enum server 106 a request for a reversed naptr search as well as a telephone number request by specifying the call recipient profile file html for the party that was clicked . in addition , personal data stored on web server 103 is not limited to phonebook data , but may take the form of other types of data as well . it is also possible to display all of the personal data or part of the data on pc 102 . it is noted that the foregoing examples have been provided merely for the purpose of explanation and are in no way to be construed as limiting of the present invention . while the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments , it is understood that the words which have been used herein are words of description and illustration , rather than words of limitation . changes may be made , within the purview of the appended claims , as presently stated and as amended , without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention in its aspects . although the present invention has been described herein with reference to particular structures , materials and embodiments , the present invention is not intended to be limited to the particulars disclosed herein ; rather , the present invention extends to all functionally equivalent structures , methods and uses , such as are within the scope of the appended claims . the present invention is not limited to the above described embodiments , and various variations and modifications may be possible without departing from the scope of the present invention .
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the central element of the network protection system is a protection device 18 , which is installed on the local - area network on which is located each receiving email server 14 to be protected . optionally , a protection device 18 is installed outside this local area network , but can connect to each receiving email server 14 using the internet or other network . in the case where protection device 18 is installed on the local - area network with a receiving email server 14 , each receiving email server 14 is configured with a new ip address 44 . the former ip address 44 of each receiving email server 14 is assigned to protection device 18 . optionally , the protection device 18 is assigned a valid ip address 44 , and the dns record for the domain name of each receiving email server 14 is changed to resolve to protection device 18 , while the receiving email server &# 39 ; s ip address 44 is not changed . in the case where protection device 18 is installed outside the local - area network on which is located a receiving email server 14 , the ip address 44 of each receiving email server 14 is not changed . protection device 18 is assigned an ip address 44 for each protected receiving email server 14 , and the dns record for the domain name of each receiving email server 14 is changed to resolve to protection device 18 . after installation in either of these cases , protection device 18 accepts email connection attempts from any sending email server 12 on behalf of each receiving email server 14 , from which in turn a receiving email client 48 can retrieve messages . the protection device 18 functions by making use of server information 42 from public or private server attribute databases 26 , and optionally other information , to calculate a blocking score 32 . the blocking score 32 is compared to a failing threshold 34 to determine whether to allow or disallow a sending email server 12 to send an email message to a protected receiving email server 14 . the blocking score 32 is determined by a novel , efficient , and effective method involving the use of a hierarchical score tree 28 , described in more detail below . the use of this method results in highly accurate identification of sources of spam , very low “ false positives ” ( legitimate email servers classified as spam sources ), and very efficient use of computing and communication resources . together these advantages provide a price / performance ratio far superior to existing solutions , and enable packaging of the protection device 18 in a low - cost , embedded systems platform or a software application that uses minimal server resources . the method of allowing or disallowing the sending email server 12 is a novel , efficient , and effective method involving the termination of a mail connection . the termination is done with rejection information 46 that includes an error code that prevents the transmission of the email message , optionally adding handling or other information to the error code . the protection device 18 may use any standard email connection error code . each , in combination with optional handling information , indicates to any legitimate sender that a connection was rejected . for example , rejection information 46 may include customized text including an email blocking policy , alternate means of contacting the recipient ( e . g . phone , fax , mailing , web page ), or other information desired by the protection device 18 operator . the optional inclusion of handling information with an error code provides not only a positive feedback mechanism to the rejected sender , but can provide additional instructions to resolve any problems in the case of a sending email server 12 that was incorrectly identified as a source of spam . the prevention of transmission saves communications costs for the protected email network , as well as for the “ public internet ”, across which email messages are normally transmitted . most importantly , with the method of termination resulting in a legitimate sender knowing about a delivery failure , false positives do not cause the “ black hole ” problem of existing quarantine solutions , where critical messages may reside for days in a spam folder among many spam messages . instead a legitimate sender may be expected to contact the intended recipient by phone or other method , in which case the legitimate sender can optionally be added to a global white list 20 or personal white list 24 . the protection device 18 itself is comprised of several elements , including a hardware computing device on which is installed software or firmware , as well as an optional global white list 20 , optional global black list 22 , optional personal white list 24 , blocking score 32 , failing threshold 34 , optional delaying threshold 36 , and hierarchical score tree 28 . the optional global white list 20 is a database , each record of which contains an identifier or identifiers for each sending email server 12 that is explicitly allowed to send email messages to the receiving email server 14 . in the preferred embodiment , an optional global white list 20 is stored within the protection device 18 . in another embodiment , an optional global white list 20 is stored outside the protection device 18 , but is accessible to the protection device 18 . the optional global black list 22 is a database , each record of which contains an identifier or identifiers for each sending email server 12 that is explicitly prohibited from sending email messages to the receiving email server 14 . in the preferred embodiment , an optional global black list 22 is stored within the protection device 18 . in another embodiment , an optional global black list 22 is stored outside the protection device 18 , but is accessible to the protection device 18 . the optional personal white list 24 is a database , each record of which contains an identifier or identifiers for an email user of a protected receiving email server 14 , paired with an identifier or identifiers for a sending email server 12 that is explicitly prohibited from sending email messages to that email user . in the preferred embodiment , an optional personal white list 24 is stored within the protection device 18 . in another embodiment , an optional personal white list 24 is stored outside the protection device 18 , but is accessible to the protection device 18 . the blocking score 32 is a score that the protection device 18 calculates by use of a hierarchical score tree 28 and server information 42 from public or private server attribute databases 26 , and optionally other information . the failing threshold 34 is a configurable threshold that the protection device 18 compares with the blocking score 32 to determine if the blocking score 32 should result in an accepted or denied email connection . the optional delaying threshold 36 is a configurable threshold that the protection device 18 compares with the blocking score 32 to determine if the blocking score 32 should result in an accepted or temporarily denied email connection . a hierarchical score tree 28 , of which an example is depicted in fig3 , is comprised of a node 30 , or more than one node 30 in a dependent , hierarchical structure . node 30 arrangement consists of one or more levels , each level containing one node 30 or more than one node 30 . each node 30 features a score condition 38 triggered by server information 42 or other information , and a contributing score 40 that contributes to a blocking score 32 . in the preferred embodiment , a hierarchical score tree 28 is stored on the protection device 18 . in another embodiment , the hierarchical score tree 28 is stored outside the protection device 18 , but is accessible to the protection device 18 . a score condition 38 is a logical statement evaluating to true or false . an example is the presence or absence of an ip address 44 of a sending email server 12 in a any server attribute databases 26 such as public dns blocking lists of known sources of spam . another example is server information 42 indicating whether or not a sending email server 12 is located in a particular country . another example is the presence or absence of an error condition resulting from an mx record query of the internet dns system . a contributing score 40 may be positive , negative , or zero . a contributing score 40 is the score contributed to the blocking score 32 by a node 30 if the score condition 38 of that node 30 is met , and the score condition 38 is met for the node 30 on which said node 30 depends . in the fig3 example , the 3 . 1 node 30 will only contribute its contributing score 40 of 5 if its score condition 38 “ sending server located in country x ”) is met , and if the score condition 38 (“ presence of sending server ip address 44 in blocking list a ”) of the 2 . 1 node 30 is also met . a hierarchical score tree 28 may be configured with a variety of topologies from one to many layers , each including one node 30 or more than one node 30 . for example , one embodiment of a hierarchical score tree 28 could be comprised of a single node 30 . this enables use of a single score condition 38 , such as presence of an ip address 44 of a sending email server 12 on a black list , to calculate a contributing score 40 , which due to the singular node 30 would then become the blocking score 32 . another embodiment of a hierarchical score tree 28 could be comprised of a single layer of more than one node 30 this enables use of more than one node 30 without any dependency of one node 30 to another . this is useful for representing a set of conditions , any one of which could contribute to the blocking score 32 without depending on the value of any other node 30 representing another condition . also , each score condition 38 and contributing score 40 may be changed by manual configuration or automated adjustment based on performance history and other information . this enables protection device 18 to be optionally adjusted or to self - adjust over time to improve effectiveness , calculation efficiency , or other performance metrics . keeping in mind all of the above elements , a network protection system operates as flowcharted in fig2 and explained in sections a through h below : a . a sending email server 12 attempts an email connection to protection device 18 , which is acting on behalf of a receiving email server 14 . typically a sending email server 12 will be attempting to deliver an email message delivered to it by a sending email application 10 , which can be an email client such as microsoft outlook , or a bulk email creation application . b . the protection device 18 receives initial email connection information from the sending email server 12 , obtaining the ip address 44 and optionally other attributes of the sending email server 12 . c . optionally , protection device 18 determines whether the ip address 44 of the sending email server 12 is in global white list 20 . if this ip address 44 is in global white list 20 , then protection device 18 allows the email transaction to proceed , by passing through email session information to receiving email server 14 , optionally inserting any desired or necessary information into the packet stream . after completion of the email session for transmission of the email message , the email connection is terminated normally . d . optionally , if no global white list 20 evaluation was performed , or if ip address 44 is not in global white list 20 , then protection device 18 determines whether ip address 44 is in global black list 22 . if ip address 44 is in global black list 22 , then protection device 18 terminates the email session , transmitting rejection information 46 to the sending email server 12 . e . optionally , if no black list evaluation was performed , or if ip address 44 is not in global black list 22 , then protection device 18 determines whether ip address 44 is in a personal white list 24 . if ip address 44 is in the personal white list 24 , then protection device 18 allows the email transaction to proceed until “ rcpt - to :” information is encountered . protection device 18 then checks the personal white list 24 for the recipient identified by the “ rcpt - to :” information . if the recipient is present in the personal white list 24 , and the ip address 44 is identified as allowed by the same recipient , protection device 18 allows the email transaction to proceed by passing through email session information to receiving email server 14 , optionally inserting any desired or necessary information into the packet stream . after completion of the email session for transmission of the email message , the email connection is terminated normally . f . protection device 18 queries any server attribute databases 26 required to evaluate score conditions of nodes in a hierarchical score tree 28 , or queries one or more temporary caches , to determine whether the ip address 44 is in any of the server attribute databases 26 , or to obtain server information 42 by querying based on ip address 44 or other information obtained from the email connection . g . using resulting server information 42 , protection device 18 uses a hierarchical score tree 28 to determine a blocking score 32 for ip address 44 , in the context of the current email transaction attempt . optionally the blocking score 32 can influence a stored score that can be used across multiple transaction attempts from a particular ip address 44 . h1 . if the blocking score 32 is below a failing threshold 34 , then protection device 18 allows the email transaction to proceed by passing through email session information to receiving email server 14 , optionally inserting any desired or necessary information into the packet stream . after completion of the email session for transmission of the email message , the email connection is terminated normally . h2 . if the blocking score 32 is at or above a failing threshold 34 , then protection device 18 executes the appropriate blocking action . for example , in one embodiment , protection device 18 terminates the email session , transmitting rejection information 46 to the sending email server 12 . h3 . in another embodiment , an additional delaying threshold 36 is used . if the blocking score 32 is above the delaying threshold 36 , but below the failing threshold 34 , protection device 18 terminates the email session , transmitting rejection information 46 indicating temporary unavailability of receiving email server 14 . this enables the sending email server 12 to re - try the transaction at a later time , when server attribute databases 26 may have changed . h4 . in another embodiment , a series of thresholds may be used to choose from a variety of actions of varying severity , from various kinds of temporary delays or queuing , to termination of an email session with more severe rejection information 46 , for example an smtp code 554 . the above describes the overall process by which a network protection system operates to prevent spam from burdening an email network , within the context of an email network . since other modifications and changes varied to fit particular operating requirements and environments will be apparent to those skilled in the art , the invention is not considered limited to the example chosen for purposes of disclosure , and covers all changes and modifications which do not constitute departures from the true spirit and scope of this invention . having thus described the invention , what is desired to be protected by letters patent is presented in the subsequently appended claims .
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fig1 to 8 illustrate a process for fabricating a transistor with a high - k dielectric sidewall spacer according to an embodiment of the present invention . in these figures an nfet transistor and a pfet transistor are shown arranged in a side - by - side manner for convenience of description . however , this is not meant to limit the present invention . embodiments of the present invention can be directed to one or more nfet transistors , one or more pfet transistors , or a combination of these two types of transistors . the process begins with a silicon - on - insulator ( soi ) wafer that has a silicon substrate 102 , an overlying oxide layer (“ box ”) 104 ( e . g ., of 3 μm ), and an overlying silicon layer 106 . one or more sti regions 110 are formed in the silicon layer 106 . conventional hafnium dioxide ( hfo 2 ) and titanium nitride ( tin ) depositions are used to form a high - k dielectric layer 112 and a metal layer 114 for the gate stack , as shown in fig1 . the hafnium dioxide layer 112 has a k value in the range of about 20 - 25 ( as compared to 3 . 9 for sio 2 ) and has an exemplary thickness in the range of about 1 - 3 nm . the titanium nitride layer 114 has an exemplary thickness of about 10 nm . these layers 112 and 114 together form the ( as yet unpatterned ) mhk gate stack . this initial structure represents a conventional 501 cmos with a mhk gate stack . fig2 shows the structure after the deposition of an amorphous silicon ( or polysilicon ) layer 216 having an exemplary thickness in the range of about 30 - 100 nm , and the subsequent deposition and patterning of a photoresist layer 220 . the photoresist 220 is left where a device gate is desired to be formed . fig3 , which is a partial view that does not include the silicon substrate 102 and oxide layer 104 for simplicity , shows the result after a gate stack etch and subsequent removal of the photoresist 220 . in this embodiment , the gate stack etch stops at the high - k material ( hafnium dioxide layer 112 ). fig4 shows the structure after deposition , for example a blanket deposition by chemical vapor deposition ( cvd ), plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition ( pecvd ), or atomic layer deposition ( ald ), of a high - k spacer material layer 218 . as opposed to an amorphous silicon or polycrystalline silicon material , the high - k spacer material is a material with a dielectric constant greater than about 10 . the high - k layer 218 of this embodiment illustratively has a thickness in the range of about 10 - 20 nm . as shown in fig4 , the high - k spacer layer 218 covers the high - k layer 112 and the exposed surfaces of the metal layer 114 and the silicon layer 216 of the gate stack . the high - k spacer layer 218 and the high - k layer 112 can comprise the same or different high - k materials . a process such as reactive ion etching ( rie ) is used to selectively etch the high - k spacer layer 218 so that it remains only on the sidewalls of the gate stack , as shown in fig5 . therefore , a high - k sidewall spacer is created on the sides of each of the gates , extending down to the high - k layer 112 . the high - k sidewall spacer of this embodiment has an exemplary thickness of about 6 - 15 nm . further , this etching is continued through the high - k hafnium dioxide layer 112 , so that only the portions of the high - k layer 112 located below the gate stacks 114 and 216 and the sidewall spacers 218 remain , as shown in fig6 . thus , the gate stack is formed by the high - k layer 112 , the metal layer 114 , and the silicon layer 216 . in this gate stack , a lateral extent ( width ) of the high - k layer 112 is greater than a lateral extent ( width ) of the metal and silicon layers 114 and 216 . in this embodiment , a wet etch using a dilute hydrofluoric acid ( dhf ) solution is used to remove portions of the high - k hafnium dioxide layer 112 . such a process is described in the article “ etching of zirconium oxide , hafnium oxide , and hafnium silicates in dilute hydrofluoric acid solutions ” ( v . lowalekar et al ., materials research society , vol . 19 , no . 4 , pp . 1149 - 1156 ), which is hereby incorporated by reference . in further embodiments , other processes are used to etch the high - k layer . as shown in fig7 , extension implants 720 are then alternately performed on the nfet and pfet transistors . in particular , photolithography is used to selectively define the areas for the source / drain extension implants for the nfet and pfet , and ions are implanted . the extension implant is performed using an n - type species for the nfet , and using a p - type species for the pfet . because of the presence of the high - k sidewall spacers , these implantations can be performed at a much lower dose than with a conventional structure having a conventional sidewall spacer , such as at an at least a 50 % lower dose ). for example , in preferred embodiments the implantation is performed at a dose of less than about 1 . 5 e 15 / cm 3 , and in this exemplary embodiment is performed at a dose of 0 . 5 to 0 . 8 e 15 / cm 3 ( compared to a typical dose of 2 . 0 to 3 . 0 e 15 / cm 3 in a conventional fabrication processes ). the remainder of the fabrication process is the same as the conventional cmos fabrication process . as shown in fig8 , oxide and / or nitride diffusion spacers 824 are formed ( for example , by pecvd ). the diffusion spacers 824 of this embodiment have an exemplary thickness of about 2 - 10 nm . source and drain regions are then implanted . the source / drain implant is performed using a p - type species for the nfet ( for example , as or p ), and using an n - type species for the pfet ( for example , b or bf 2 ). a subsequent rapid thermal anneal ( rta ) is performed ( e . g ., millisecond laser anneal or flash anneal ) to provide relatively deep diffusions for the source and drain regions . subsequent conventional processing is used to silicide the gates , sources , and drains ( typically with ni or co ) to complete the nfet and pfet transistors . as shown in fig8 , extensions 721 and halos 722 are formed in the silicon layer 106 by the extension implants and annealing . the extension implant dose and subsequent anneal operate to drive each extension implant ( i . e ., extension region 721 ) under part but not all of the high - k sidewall spacer 218 , and not under any of the gate stack . that is , each high - k sidewall spacer 218 is only partially underlapped by an extension junction . this results in the effective device length leff being greater than the physical device length lgate . in contrast , in the conventional mhk transistor with conventional oxide and / or nitride sidewall spacers as shown in fig9 , the extension implant dose and anneal drive operate to drive each extension implant 920 ( i . e ., extension region ) completely under the sidewall spacers 924 and partially under the gate stack , which causes the effective device length leff to be less than the physical device length lgate . because the present invention provides an effective device length leff that is greater than the physical device length lgate , the gating action of the fringing fields from the gate is enhanced , so as to invert the extension regions in proximity to the gate . the gate electrode gates both the normal inversion layer under the gate as well as regions to the left and right of the gate . although the overlap capacitance component from the outer fringe increases , the capacitance component from gate to extension region drops , as the direct overlap capacitance component is eliminated . the extension region can also be implanted right before the spacer deposition to reduce the effect in the region . fig1 - 13 illustrate a process for fabricating a transistor with a high - k dielectric sidewall spacer according to an embodiment of the present invention . in this embodiment , the gate stack etch stops on the silicon layer 106 , as shown in fig1 . thus , the gate stack is formed by the high - k layer 112 , the metal layer 114 , and the silicon layer 216 . in this gate stack , a lateral extent ( width ) of the high - k layer 112 is the same as a lateral extent ( width ) of the metal and silicon layers 114 and 216 . after the gate stack etch , a high - k spacer material layer 218 is deposited , for example with a thickness in the range of about 10 - 20 nm . as shown in fig1 , the high - k spacer layer 218 covers the exposed surfaces of the high - k layer 112 , the metal layer 114 , and the silicon layer 216 of the gate stack . the high - k spacer layer 218 and the high - k layer 112 can comprise the same or different high - k materials . a process such as reactive ion etching ( rie ) is used to selectively etch the high - k spacer layer 218 so that it remains only on the sidewalls of the gate stack , as shown in fig1 . therefore , a high - k sidewall spacer is created on the sides of each of the gates , extending down to the silicon layer 106 . the high - k sidewall spacer of this embodiment has an exemplary thickness of about 6 - 15 nm . extension implants are then performed . because of the presence of the high - k sidewall spacers , this implant can be performed at a much lower dose than with a conventional structure having a conventional sidewall spacer ( for example , a 50 % lower dose ). the remainder of the fabrication process is the same as in the embodiment described above . as shown in fig1 , oxide and / or nitride diffusion spacers 824 are formed ( for example , by pecvd ) with an exemplary thickness of about 2 - 10 nm . source and drain region are then implanted , and a subsequent rapid thermal anneal ( rta ) is performed ( e . g ., millisecond laser anneal or flash anneal ) to provide relatively deep diffusions for the source and drain regions . subsequent conventional processing is used to silicide the gates , sources , and drains ( typically with ni or co ) to complete the nfet and pfet transistors . as shown in fig1 , in this embodiment also the extension implant dose and subsequent anneal operate to drive each extension implant ( i . e ., extension region 721 ) under part but not all of the high - k sidewall spacer 218 , and not under any of the gate stack . that is , each high - k sidewall spacer 218 is only partially underlapped by an extension junction . this results in the effective device length leff being greater than the physical device length lgate . the embodiments of the present invention described above are meant to be illustrative of the principles of the present invention . these mhk device fabrication processes are compatible with cmos semiconductor fabrication methodology , and thus various modifications and adaptations can be made by one of ordinary skill in the art . all such modifications still fall within the scope of the present invention . for example , while the exemplary embodiments of the present invention described above relate to gate structures that use hafnium dioxide for the high - k layer and titanium nitride for the metal layer , further embodiments can use other compatible materials , such as zro 2 or hfsi x o y , which both exhibit the high dielectric constant ( e . g ., k of approximately 20 - 25 ) needed to provide a larger equivalent oxide thickness . similarly , other metal oxide - based materials may be used , such as a uniform or a composite layer comprised of one or more of ta 2 o 5 , tio 2 , al 2 o 3 , y 2 o 3 and la 2 o 5 . the metal - containing layer 114 could also be formed of another material , such as one or more of ta , tan , tacn , tasin , tasi , aln , w and mo . additionally , in further embodiments the silicon layer 216 described above can be comprised of another material that is able to be etched , remain conductive , and withstand high temperatures . similarly , while the embodiments described above relate to a transistor on an soi wafer , the transistors and fabrication methods of the present invention are also applicable to bulk technologies . likewise , the various layer thicknesses , material types , deposition techniques , and the like discussed above are not meant to be limiting . furthermore , some of the features of the examples of the present invention may be used to advantage without the corresponding use of other features . as such , the foregoing description should be considered as merely illustrative of the principles , teachings , examples and exemplary embodiments of the present invention , and not in limitation thereof . it should be understood that these embodiments are only examples of the many advantageous uses of the innovative teachings herein . in general , statements made in the specification of the present application do not necessarily limit any of the various claimed inventions . moreover , some statements may apply to some inventive features but not to others . in general , unless otherwise indicated , singular elements may be in the plural and vice versa with no loss of generality . the circuit as described above is part of the design for an integrated circuit chip . the chip design is created in a graphical computer programming language , and stored in a computer storage medium ( such as a disk , tape , physical hard drive , or virtual hard drive such as in a storage access network ). if the designer does not fabricate chips or the photolithographic masks used to fabricate chips , the designer transmits the resulting design by physical means ( e . g ., by providing a copy of the storage medium storing the design ) or electronically ( e . g ., through the internet ) to such entities , directly or indirectly . the stored design is then converted into the appropriate format ( e . g ., gdsii ) for the fabrication of photolithographic masks , which typically include multiple copies of the chip design in question that are to be formed on a wafer . the photolithographic masks are utilized to define areas of the wafer ( and / or the layers thereon ) to be etched or otherwise processed . the method as described above is used in the fabrication of integrated circuit chips . the resulting integrated circuit chips can be distributed by the fabricator in raw wafer form ( that is , as a single wafer that has multiple unpackaged chips ), as a bare chip , or in a packaged form . in the latter case , the chip is mounted in a single chip package ( such as a plastic carrier , with leads that are affixed to a motherboard or other higher level carrier ) or in a multichip package ( such as a ceramic carrier that has either or both surface interconnections or buried interconnections ). in any case , the chip is then integrated with other chips , discrete circuit elements , and / or other signal processing devices as part of either ( a ) an intermediate product , such as a motherboard , or ( b ) an end product . the end product can be any product that includes integrated circuit chips , ranging from toys and other low - end applications to advanced computer products having a display , a keyboard , or other input device , and a central processor .
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fig1 shows a short pulse sequential waveform generator 10 including an input - output circuit 11 , a generator circuit 12 and a bias voltage source 13 for the generator circuit 12 . the waveform generator circuit 10 has input terminals a and b and output terminals b &# 39 ; c . terminals b and b &# 39 ; are connected to ground . the input terminal a is coupled to the first terminal of an inductor 14 which has its second terminal connected to an output coupling capacitor 15 and the input of a first section 18a of a high frequency transmission line 18 which may be comprised of a plurality of lengths of coaxial line . the first terminal on a d . c . blocking capacitor 16 in the generator circuit 12 is connected to the output of the first section 18a of the line 18 . the second terminal on the output coupling capacitor 15 is connected to the output terminal c . in the generating circuit 12 the second terminal on the capacitor 16 is connected to the cathode of a step recovery diode 17 and the first terminal on a bias limiting resistor 20 which has its second terminal connected to a terminal a in the bias voltage source 13 . the anode of the step recovery diode 17 is connected to ground . the first line section 18a in combination with the capacitor 16 and the step recovery diode 17 and resistor 20 comprise the first stage of the generating circuit 12 . the second stage of the generating circuit 12 includes a second section 18b of the line 18 having its first terminal connected to the junction between the capacitor 16 , the diode 17 and the resistor 20 . the second terminal of the second section 18b is connected to the first terminal on a d . c . blocking capacitor 21 which has its second terminal connected to the cathode of a step recovery diode 22 and the first terminal on a resistor 23 which has its second terminal connected to a terminal b in the bias voltage source 13 . the third stage of the generating circuit 12 includes a third section 18c of the line 18 having its first terminal connected to the junction of the capacitor 21 , step recovery diode 22 and the resistor 23 . the second terminal of the third section 18c is connected to the first terminal on a d . c . blocking capacitor 24 which has its second terminal connected to the cathode on a step recovery diode 25 and the first terminal on a bias limiting resistor 26 which has its second terminal connected to a terminal c on the bias voltage source 13 . the fourth stage of the generating circuit 12 includes a fourth section 18d of the line 18 having its first terminal connected to the common junction between the capacitor 24 , the step recovery diode 25 and the resistor 26 . the second terminal of the fourth section 18d is connected to the first terminal on a d . c . blocking capacitor 27 which has its second terminal connected to the cathode of the step recovery diode 30 and the first terminal on the bias limiting resistor 31 which has its second terminal connected to a terminal d on the bias voltage source 13 . the anodes of the step recovery diodes 17 , 22 , 25 and 30 are all connected to the common ground for the terminals b and b &# 39 ;. the common junction between the capacitor 27 , the step recovery diode 30 and the resistor 31 is coupled to a fifth section 18e of the line 18 which has its second terminal connected to the first terminal on a coupling capacitor 32 . the second terminal on the capacitor 32 is connected to the first terminal on a terminating resistor 33 which has its second terminal connected to the common ground for terminals b and b &# 39 ;. although four stages are shown , any other number may also be used . a step recovery diode can be idealized to be thought of as a fast acting switch which during its conducting period , i . e ., when it is forward biased , has sufficient charge stored in the intrinsic , i , region of the diode so that it acts as a short - circuit with a very low forward resistance which may be designated r f . this is shown in fig3 by the resistor r f connected across the step recovery diode by the dotted lines . an incident positive pulse applied to the cathode of the step - recovery diode will be reflected as a negative pulse until all the charge is withdrawn . after the charge is withdrawn the step - recovery diode suddenly turns into an insulator having only a small capacitance designated c r in fig3 which is connected across the step recovery diode by the dotted lines . when the charge stored in the i region of the diode is depleted , the diode changes state producing two positive steps which travel in opposite directions away from the diode . the first positive step follows the negative step and cancels the original negative reflected step for all times in which t & gt ; t dl so that the net reflection from the diode is a negative pulse having a pulse width t dl . in operation an input pulse as shown to the left of fig1 is applied across the input terminals a , b of the circuit 11 which couples the applied input pulse into the first stage of the generating circuit 12 comprised of the first section 18a of the line 18 , the capacitor 16 , diode 17 and resistor 20 . the diode 17 is initially forward biased through the resistor 20 by the bias voltage source 13 . thus the step - recovery diode 17 initially carries current in the forward direction and appears like a short circuit across the transmission line . likewise the diodes 22 , 25 , and 30 are also forward biased through their associated bias resistors and the bias voltage source 13 . therefore each of these step recovery diodes has a finite amount of charge and appears as a short circuit across the transmission line . the application of the positive input pulse at the cathode of the diode 17 withdraws the stored charge until the diode abruptly changes state from low impedance , i . e ., conducting , to high impedance , i . e ., non - conducting thereby producing a negative pulse which is reflected back to the input of the line 18 . the time from the arrival of the incident positive pulse to the state change of the diode 17 is designated the charge depletion time , t d , and is a function of the characteristics of the particular diode employed , the bias voltage applied to the cathode of the diode , the amplitude and shape of the input pulse , and the ambient temperature . the charge depletion time for this first step recovery diode 17 is designated t dl and is the width of the negative pulse reflected by the step recovery diode in response to the applied input pulse . this reflected negative pulse is coupled from the step recovery diode 17 through the capacitor 16 and the first section of the line 18a to the junction of the inductive coil 14 and output capacitor 15 . these latter components function as a filter which separates the low frequency applied input pulse from the high frequency output pulse which is coupled through the output capacitor 15 as the first pulse in the sequential output waveform . when the step recovery diode 17 changes state from conducting to non - conducting , two positive steps are produced which travel away from the junction of the capacitor 16 , diode 17 , resistor 20 and line 18b . the positive step coupled through the capacitor 16 cancels the portion of the original negative reflected step produced during the withdrawal of stored charge from the diode 17 for the duration of time in excess of the depletion time of the first step recovery diode 17 , i . e ., t dl . as a result , the net reflection from step recovery diode 17 is a negative pulse having a pulse width t dl and this pulse is the first pulse in the sequential waveform . the second positive step which is produced simultaneously with the first positive step by the step recovery diode 17 is coupled through the second section 18b of the transmission line 18 and the capacitor 21 to the cathode of the diode 22 which is initially forward biased . the positive input step at the cathode of the diode 22 withdraws the stored charge in a similar manner to that described above with respect to diode 17 until the diode 22 abruptly changes state from low impedance to high impedance thereby producing a negative pulse which is reflected back through capacitor 21 , the second section of line 18b , capacitor 16 , the first section of line 18a to the junction of the inductor 14 and the capacitor 15 . the time from the trailing positive going edge of the first output pulse to the leading negative going edge of this second output pulse is designated t 12 which has a value equal to 2l 12 / v , where l 12 is the length of the second segment 18b of the transmission line 18 between the diode 17 and the capacitor 21 and v is the propagation velocity of the pulse . the diode 22 will remain in the low impedance state until the time t d2 after the arrival of the positive step at the cathode of the diode 22 . when the diode 22 changes state from low impedance to high impedance two positive steps will be produced which will travel away from the junction of the capacitor 21 , diode 22 , resistor 23 and the third section of line 18c in the same manner as described with respect to step recovery diode 17 . the process for producing the first and second output pulses in the sequential output waveform described with respect to the first and second stages is common to all of the following stages including the last step recovery diode 30 . this diode produces a second positive step output which is coupled through the last segment of transmission line 18e , the coupling capacitor 32 to the terminating resistor 33 where it is completely absorbed . the total reflected waveform is determined by summing all the reflected pulses coupled through the coupling capacitor 15 to the output terminals b &# 39 ;, c to provide the sequential output waveform shown in fig1 . the sequential output waveform may be modified by controlling the individual bias voltages applied to each stage of the generator circuit 12 . for example , if the bias voltage coupled to step recovery diode 22 is reduced to zero , i . e ., t d2 = 0 , then the leading negative going edge of the negative step from the diode 25 will follow the positive going trailing edge of the first negative pulse from the diode 17 by a time t &# 39 ; = 2 ( l 12 + l 23 )/ v . in an actually constructed embodiment of the subject invention the generator circuit 12 included three hewlett - packard 5082 - 0365 step recovery diodes , each separated approximately by 1 . 95 inches in a 50 - ohm microstrip configuration . each d . c . blocking capacitor corresponding to capacitors 16 , 21 , 24 had a capacitance of 10 3 picofarads , each bias resistor corresponding to resistors 20 , 23 and 26 had an impedance of 910 ohms and the terminating resistor corresponding to resistor 33 had an impedance of 50 ohms . in the preferred embodiment shown in fig1 the input - output circuit 11 is comprised of the inductor 14 and the coupling capacitor 15 . in this combination the inductance 14 acts as a low - pass element which allows the applied input pulse to be coupled into the generator circuit 12 but blocks the higher frequency reflected waveform from traveling to the input terminal a . whereas the capacitor 15 functions as a high - pass element which keeps the low frequency applied input signal from being coupled to the output terminals c and only produces minimal attenuation of the reflected output waveform being coupled to the output terminal c . this input - output circuit proved quite effective in efficiently separating the applied input pulse from the resulting waveform in an actual embodiment of the invention . an alternate form of input - output circuit configuration is shown in fig2 in which the input is coupled to an input circuit 34 comprised of an unbiased step recovery diode 35 which has its cathode coupled to the input terminal a and its anode coupled to the grounded input terminal b . an applied positive input signal is coupled to the first section of line 18a with minimal reflection by the diode 35 . however , each negative reflected signal produced by each of the step recovery diodes in response to the applied positive input pulse will have the proper polarity to cause the diode 35 to conduct and be almost entirely reflected back through the generator circuit 12 to the output terminals c , b &# 39 ;. in order to employ this alternate configuration of input device 34 , the width of the input pulse , t i , must be of sufficiently short duration to insure that part of the input pulse is not at the diode 35 at the time the reflected negative pulse signal arrives . otherwise the total voltage on the input line will not become negative . therefore for proper output operation , the condition to be satisfied is t i & lt ; 2l ol / v , where l ol is the distance between the diode 35 and the diode 17 in the first stage of the generator circuit 12 . in the actually constructed embodiment of the subject invention the sequential output waveform was comprised of a plurality of pulses having pulse widths less than 1 nanosecond and amplitudes greater than 10 volts in which the individual pulse widths were varied electrically by changing the bias voltage applied to the individual step recovery diodes in the generator circuit 12 . while the invention has been described in its preferred embodiments , it is to be understood that the words which have been used are words of description rather than limitation and that changes may be made within the purview of the appended claims without departing from the true scope and spirit of the invention in its broader aspects .
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the following detailed description illustrates the invention by way of example , not by way of limitation of the principles of the invention . this description will enable one skilled in the art to make and use the invention , and describes several embodiments , adaptations , variations , alternatives and uses of the invention , including what we presently believe is the best mode of carrying out the invention . referring now to the drawings , in which like reference numbers represent similar or identical structures throughout , fig1 shows a set of fixed - angle endoscopes 10 with viewing directions of 0 , 30 , 70 , and 120 degrees . along with the traditional forward view , a 30 degree offset is often popular because it affords simultaneous straight forward and lateral viewing . greater angles of 70 and 120 provide lateral and near retrospective viewing . together these scopes 10 make up an endoscope suite as currently used in cystoscopy and neuroendoscopy . other standard viewing angles include 12 , 45 , and 90 degrees . fig2 shows a common variable direction of view endoscope 10 with a view vector 12 which can swing through a range 14 . the size of this range depends on the particular construction of the endoscope 10 . some variable direction of view scopes have a detent which settles the view vector 12 stably into a specific angular position 16 , here 90 degrees lateral , effectively transforming the scope into a fixed off - angle scope . this detent keeps the view vector 12 from drifting away from a true 90 degree angle when the scope is manipulated . the drawback with this mechanism is that the detent cannot be repositioned if the user desires a different fixed angle , and the overall design also does not let the user reconfigure the scope 10 to add or subtract other fixed angles depending on the application . in the preferred embodiment shown in fig3 , a variable direction of view endoscope 10 with a scan range 14 is configured to have its line of sight move between discrete angular positions 0 , 30 , 70 , and 120 degrees . the scope 10 was previously configured to move between a different set of angles : 0 , 12 , 45 , and 90 degrees . any set of angles can be specified , and with a continuously variable viewing direction as many discrete positions as desirable can be set by the user according to the specific application or need . depending on the construction of the endoscope 10 , this can be done mechanically by adjusting a physical setting or electronically by programming the device . mechanical configuration is accomplished with a standard transmission where a clutch can be used to shift the rotation rates , as with stick - shifted cars or revolving spindle machines like lathes or mills ( the transmission and actuation techniques are not shown as there is a wealth of well known mechanisms suitable for the purpose of the present invention .). there could for example be three settings ; continuous smooth motion , 30 degree increments , and 45 degree increments . depending on the complexity of the transmission mechanism , combinations of different settings could also be possible . with an electronic or electromechanical endoscope it is possible to reconfigure the endoscope electronically ( simple common support circuitry can be added if necessary ). this would be done simply by programming the device , much like one would set preferences in consumer electronics , such as programming favorite radio stations or one - touch phone dialing , etc . setting the desired angles could either be done with input buttons directly on the endoscope or it could be done through the graphical user interface ( described below ). depending on the electronic configuration of the device , any number of angles can be stored , and the angles can be set to any value . the user can then rapidly switch between these preset angles without the time , thought , and effort normally required to adjust the endoscopic viewing direction . it is also possible to rapidly switch between programmed sets of preset angles , say from a standard cystoscopy set to a standard sinoscopy set . a further valuable feature is that the scope 10 can be configured so that certain button presses or double clicks take the view vector 12 to a preset home position and bypass intervening angles for rapid toggle between home and a desired viewing angle ( described further below ). also , if desired , the scope 10 can always be switched into continuous mode where the angle of the view vector 12 is smoothly variable . once configured , a series of input devices can be used for controlling the endoscopic viewing direction : fig4 a shows a wheel 18 which can be actuated by the user &# 39 ; s thumb ( or other appropriate finger ). this thumb - wheel 18 , located on the endoscope handle 19 , is configured to settle into discrete positions , much like a tuning knob on a digital radio . a pointer 20 could also be used . such a pointer 20 could either serve as a control input or be passively attached to a knob or thumb - wheel 18 . aligned with the endoscopic view vector ( not shown ), the pointer 20 provides an important indication to the operator about where the endoscope 10 is “ looking ” ( see u . s . pat . no . 6 , 695 , 774 to hale et al .). a clutch 22 is used for shifting the transmission ratio between the thumb wheel 18 and the view vector . other mechanical input means include handles , triggers , or variable increment knobs 23 , as shown in fig4 b . variable increment knobs are typically found on radio tuners , oscilloscopes , and micrometers , where knobs engage different transmission ratios depending on axial position , or where there are several coaxial knobs which each engage a different setting . for an electronic or electromechanical endoscope , the input device is a joystick 24 or similar electronic switch / button , shown in fig4 c . by pushing the joystick 24 forward or backward , the endoscopic view vector position is incremented or decremented to an adjacent angular configuration . depressing the joystick 24 or moving it right or left performs additional functions , such as putting the device into set mode and adjusting settings in this mode . the device can also be configured to toggle between angular positions which are not adjacent , depending on the dynamic needs of the operator . in particular , toggling between straight forward and an off - angle is very useful . during endoscopic procedures surgeons often get disoriented and would like to be able to rapidly return the view to a home position for a reference check . the best reference view is normally straight forward as it is the one to which the surgeon can most easily relate . this type of immediate return to a home reference is not possible with current endoscopes but can be done with the present invention . double - clicking the joystick 24 for example , causes a return to home and / or there could also be a designated home - button 26 , as in the alternative button based interface shown in fig4 d ( top view ). a set - button 28 which puts the device in set mode is also included in this interface , along with forward and backward buttons 30 , 32 . generally , a wide range of interface configurations are possible , as exemplified by the multitude of different available video game joysticks and keypads . which one is used will depend on the ergonomic requirements for different users and situations . in its preferred embodiment , the present invention includes a graphical user interface ( gill ) for controlling the endoscopic viewing process . this gill , shown in fig5 , comprises a main section 34 for displaying the endoscopic image 36 , and a section for selecting viewing parameters 38 . for example , a set of default angular settings according to surgical procedure are available , allowing the user to choose the appropriate set of angles for a given procedure . a neurosurgeon would select a neurosurgical setting which runs the scope in the default multi - mode constituting the angles 0 , 30 , 70 , and 120 degrees . an ear - nose - throat surgeon would select a sinoscopy setting which provides default viewing angles of 0 , 30 , 45 , 70 , and 90 degrees . the gill also allows the user to customize settings , with specific toggles between angles , and personally preferred home positions for the endoscope . it also displays the current viewing angle 40 , which allows the user to run a combination of continuous mode and discrete mode : the scope can be operated with a smoothly variable viewing angle , but the user will also know the running angle and can thus manually move the scope to specific desired angles without being tied to discrete preprogrammed positions . the viewing angle can also be displayed on a small readout , display , or dial located on the endoscope itself , but this is less useful because during a procedure it is inconvenient to have to look at the endoscope to get the current viewing angle . further features give the user the choice of enabling advanced navigation features such as gravity leveling of the endoscopic image ( provided the endoscope in use is equipped with the appropriate instrumentation ) and superimposition of custom or default reference coordinate systems 42 . accordingly , the present invention provides a method and interface for providing endoscopists with the advantages of traditional fixed - angle endoscopy while avoiding the disadvantages of using multiple instruments . it also provides other advantages such as rapid toggling between views and immediate return to home reference positions . the present invention has been described above in terms of a presently preferred embodiment so that an understanding of the present invention can be conveyed . however , many alternative designs , interfaces , configurations , and structural arrangements are possible without departing from the principle of the invention . the scope of the present invention should therefore not be limited by the embodiments illustrated , but rather it should be understood that the present invention has wide applicability with respect to multi - directional viewing instruments and their use , which can be industrial or medical . all modifications , variations , or equivalent elements and implementations that are within the scope of the appended claims should therefore be considered within the scope of the invention .
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as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art , aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system , method or computer program product . accordingly , aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment , an entirely software embodiment ( including firmware , resident software , micro - code , etc .) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “ circuit ,” “ module ” or “ system .” furthermore , aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium ( s ) having computer readable program code embodied thereon . any combination of one or more computer readable medium ( s ) may be utilized . the computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium . a computer readable storage medium may be , for example , but not limited to , an electronic , magnetic , optical , electromagnetic , infrared , or semiconductor system , apparatus , or device , or any suitable combination of the foregoing . more specific examples ( a non - exhaustive list ) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following : an electrical connection having one or more wires , a portable computer diskette , a hard disk , a random access memory ( ram ), a read - only memory ( rom ), an erasable programmable read - only memory ( eprom or flash memory ), an optical fiber , a portable compact disc read - only memory ( cd - rom ), an optical storage device , a magnetic storage device , or any suitable combination of the foregoing . in the context of this document , a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain , or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system , apparatus , or device . a computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein , for example , in baseband or as part of a carrier wave . such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms , including , but not limited to , electro - magnetic , optical , or any suitable combination thereof . a computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate , propagate , or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system , apparatus , or device . program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium , including but not limited to wireless , wireline , optical fiber cable , rf , etc ., or any suitable combination of the foregoing more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium comprise for example , a semiconductor or solid state memory , magnetic tape , an electrical connection having one or more wires , a swappable intermediate storage medium such as floppy drive or other removable computer diskette , tape drive , external hard drive , a portable computer diskette , a hard disk , a rigid magnetic disk , a random access memory ( ram ), a read - only memory ( rom ), an erasable programmable read - only memory ( eprom or flash memory ), a portable compact disc read - only memory ( cd - rom ), a read / write ( cd - r / w ) or digital video disk ( dvd ), an optical fiber , disk or storage device , or a transmission media such as those supporting the internet or an intranet . the computer - usable or computer - readable medium may also comprise paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed or otherwise encoded , as the program can be captured , for example , via optical scanning of the program on the paper or other medium , then compiled , interpreted , or otherwise processed in a suitable manner , if necessary , and then stored in a computer memory . the computer - usable medium may include a propagated data signal with the computer - usable program code embodied therewith , either in baseband or as part of a carrier wave or a carrier signal . the computer usable program code may also be transmitted using any appropriate medium , including but not limited to the internet , wire line , wireless , optical fiber cable , rf , etc . computer program code for carrying out operations of the present invention may be written in any suitable language , including for example , an object oriented programming language such as java , smalltalk , c ++ or the like . the computer program code for carrying out operations of the present invention may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages , such as the “ c ” programming language , or in higher or lower level programming languages . the program code may execute entirely on a single processing device , partly on one or more different processing devices , as a stand - alone software package or as part of a larger system , partly on a local processing device and partly on a remote processing device or entirely on the remote processing device . in the latter scenario , the remote processing device may be connected to the local processing device through a network such as a local area network ( lan ) or a wide area network ( wan ), or the connection may be made to an external processing device , for example , through the internet using an internet service provider . the present invention is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods , apparatus systems and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention . it will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams , and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams may be implemented by system components or computer program instructions . these computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer , special purpose computer , or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine , such that the instructions , which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus , create means for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks . these computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer - readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner , such that the instructions stored in the computer - readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function / act specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks . the computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks . according to illustrative embodiments of the present invention , the invention may be implemented in a sip / ss7 based system . the acronym ss7 , as used herein , refers to a set of protocols that describe a means of communication between telephone switches in public telephone networks . typically , ss7 communication protocols are used to provide signaling and control for various telephone network services and capabilities . for example , ss7 communication protocols can be used to set up telephone calls , tear down telephone calls , translate numbers , enable prepaid billing , and enable short message services . the phrase “ transfer capabilities application part ( tcap )”, as used herein , refers to a protocol for ss7 networks . the primary purpose of tcap is to control non - circuit related information switched between two or more signaling nodes . the phrase “ session initiation protocol ( sip )”, as used herein , refers to a standard protocol for initiating an interactive user session that involves multimedia elements . various aspects of the disclosed embodiment enables flexible and automated end - to - end testing of applications over networks , such as , for example , tcap and legacy ss7 networks using programmable extensible markup language ( xml ) test scripts and data tunneling in tcap messages . fig1 is an illustrative network that is shows two network legs , a leg a on the left side and a leg b on the right side . it should be understood that these are illustrative ; many different networks and network configurations can exist , including one in which legs a and b are combined into one leg . telecommunication network 204 includes a client a ( 102 ) that is connected with the a leg . a web services application under test is located at application server 208 a . client 102 is typically connected via a network link 205 to sip network 206 with application server 208 a . in the disclosed embodiment , client 102 is directly connected to application server 208 a by a connection 203 . client 102 contains a test driver 104 that initiates the execution of test cases ; for this purpose test driver 104 transmits sip messages to the application 105 at application server 208 a . the sip messages from test driver 104 cause application 105 to initiate test messages to sip / ss7 interface device 210 a using a soap protocol . these messages are converted to a tcap protocol at sip / ss7 interface device 210 a ; the tcap messages are thence transmitted via a web service system 212 a to ss7 network element 214 a . ss7 network element 214 a transmits the tcap messages to ss7 network element 214 b ; the test messages continue up leg b to test simulator 106 located in application server 208 b where one or more test responses are generated and returned over legs b and a to the application 105 where the results are collected , analyzed and possibly made available to an operator or to test driver 104 for analysis . test driver 104 initiates a test case by sending a test case ( tc ) number to application server 208 a via sip network 206 . application server 208 a uses the tc number to retrieve a test case module from storage 107 . a test case module contains instructions in an xml format ; the xml instructions direct the application 105 under test to send specific sip request messages to test simulator 106 that resides at application server 208 b . application servers 208 a and 208 b might or might not reside in the same physical component . a test module also specifies the expected response to be returned to application 105 responsive to a test message . as shown in fig1 , both application 105 and test simulator 106 have access to storage 107 where the xml test files are stored . this allows test simulator 106 to return the expected response to the application 105 under test to determine how the application treats the response . there may be any number of xml files in a module that are accessed in sequence to provide an overall test . this will become clearer in regard to a series of illustrative message flows shown in fig2 and 3 . each xml file associated with any test case describes a soap message that application 105 will invoke , the expected response from test simulator 106 , network parameters to use and the allowable pause and timeout values between these events , etc . a series of related xml test files in a test case are identified by a unique test case number . when a test case is initiated at client a , the test case number is encoded into the header of a sip invite message . each subsequent request and response also includes the test case number . specifically , the test case number is encoded in the bytearray private data field of the related soap message . by encoding the test case number as a private parameter in the bytearray field , the test case number is tunneled to test simulator 106 without the tcap / ss7 network interpreting and damaging the test case number . in this way , the test case number reaches test simulator 106 intact for synchronizing the application 105 and the test simulator 106 . this is the way that both application 105 and test simulator 106 are synchronized such that each knows what test case is being executed . both application 105 and simulator 106 have access to the same or identical xml test case files , which also specifies to test simulator 106 the exact response to return to application 105 . if application 105 deals with a response properly , then the application is working properly , at least up to this point in a test case . otherwise , there is a problem to be solved in the application . it should be understood that other ways of synchronizing application 105 and simulator 106 are possible and within the scope of this disclosure . for example , if both application 105 and simulator 106 are contained within the same physical component , then it is possible for them to communicate directly with shared memory or other interprocess communication techniques to exchange the test case numbers and perhaps the xml test files as well . table 1 following is one example of an initial xml test file in a test case . in response to a test case initiation message from test driver 104 , or to a response message from test simulator 106 , a control module including a jaxb ( java architecture for xml binding ) compiler ( not shown ) at application server 208 a unmarshalls in real time the next xml file in the test case . unmarshalling an xml document with the jaxb compiler results in a tree of java objects 103 in which the nodes of the tree correspond to xml elements containing attributes and the content as instance variables . the java application 105 manipulates the java objects 103 to create and send the java test messages according to the instructions in the xml test file and control the receipt and processing of response messages . the integrity and validity of a soap service call message is enforced by the name space schemas identified in line 0 of the above example . the test case number is encoded into the bytearraystring defined within the opcode parameters of lines 3 - 5 . the opcode , optype , opclass and dialogid of lines 3 through 8 are parameters that are defined by the tcap and ss7 protocols . according to the above arrangement , all of the parameters that might be involved in performing a web service can be made accessible via a series of xml test case files and can be quickly modified to test all combinations of service parameters . some of the java test objects 103 are used by the java application 105 to create soap service call messages that are sent to simulator 106 . other of the objects 103 are used by the java application to validate the integrity of the soap responses from the simulator 106 . a service call message consists of a soap envelope and a soap body . an illustrative soap message is shown below . the envelope in lines 1 - 5 identifies the schemas that define the message . these can contain a protocol specific schema to define message contents and soap and xml specific schemas . the soap body in lines 6 - 18 contains the test instructions . the instructions in lines 7 through 17 are identical to the corresponding xml test file that was unmarshalled by jaxb . the opcode , opclass , optype and dialogld parameters in lines 10 through 15 are tcap and itu parameters that are well known to workers skilled in the telephony and networking fields . the test case number is encoded in the bytearraystring parameter of line 11 . the following is an example of tunneling the test case number and the dialogld in a base64 byte array ; 31 3c aa 0b 86 07 01 00 23 0a 08 40 74 75 13 df 44 01 cd 85 09 04 00 21 0b 14 52 17 18 81 df 74 01 00 df 4a 03 15 03 07 df 77 01 08 df 840f 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0a 0b 0c 0d 0e 0f the last 18 bytes of the above hex string ( shown underlined ) is added by a java application 105 to tunnel the test case number and dialogld . the first byte “ df ” of this underlined portion denotes the beginning of a private data field , followed by the second byte , “ 84 ”, representing the tag of the private data field . the third byte , “ 0f ”, indicates there are 15 remaining bytes in this private field . these 15 remaining bytes are used to encode the test case number and other test session data . the original data from the test case xml file is always preserved . the tunneled data is appended to the existing data . only the second byte in the overall hex string above is adjusted , as it indicates the total number of the bytes in the bytearraystring . fig2 and 3 illustrate the message flows in two example test scenarios . the figs . are simplified by omitting network components that are not necessary for understanding the invention at this point . reference will also be made to fig3 through 7 , which contain illustrative flowcharts , at appropriate points . fig2 illustrates a normal flow in which a test process should complete successfully with the simulator returning an end message at the close . fig3 illustrates a scenario in which the simulator should return an abort response . these simple examples are used to test that application 105 responds properly to the end and abort responses , and that the intervening network components correctly transport the data in it &# 39 ; s entirety . with reference to fig2 , test driver 104 initiates a test case illustratively numbered 1113 by transmitting an invite message at 200 ( see fig4 , steps 402 , 404 ). the test case number is included in the message for tunneling to simulator 106 . application server 208 a receives the message and initiates the generation of java objects as described earlier . a java object is generated using the jaxb compiler for each message and expected response that application 105 will transmit and receive in the test case ( see fig5 , step 504 ). application server 208 a then executes the java application 105 which uses the first java object 103 to convert the invite message into a begin message and transmit it at 202 ( see fig5 , steps 504 , 508 ). application 104 then initiates a timeout mechanism at step 509 for receiving a response from simulator 106 . the begin message continues through the network at 204 and 206 to ss7 simulator 106 . simulator 106 retrieves the test case number from the begin message ( fig7 , step 702 ) and retrieves the first xml test file corresponding with the begin message from storage 107 ( fig7 , step 704 ) to determine the response . in this example , the xml file specifies that simulator 106 return a continue message , which is shown at 208 and steps 706 and 708 of fig7 . this message continues at 210 and 212 to application 105 . when the response is received by application 105 within the timeout period , step 511 disables the timeout mechanism . the execution of sending the data associated with the second java object corresponding with this test case number is also activated . the java application 105 reads the second xml test file from the test module corresponding to the test case number , which specifies that the application 105 proceed with a second continue message at 214 to simulator 106 . when simulator 106 receives this message at 218 , it reads the second xml test file , which specifies what the received soap message should look like . the simulator 106 then returns an end message to the application 105 . this occurs at 220 , 222 and 224 , which causes a second java object at application server 105 to be processed which controls the application to process the end message . application 105 processes the end message and upon determining that there are no more xml files to process , it initiates a bye message and sends any test results in the bye message to test driver 104 at 226 ( fig4 , steps 406 , 408 , and 410 . fig6 illustrates how test driver 104 is activated should application server 208 a or application 105 fail to execute a test case , due to a crash for example . if a timeout established at fig5 , step 509 occurs , application server 208 a causes an entry to 600 , where step 602 sends a timeout message to test driver 104 . step 604 then cleans up the test environment and exits . having thus described the invention of the present application in detail and by reference to embodiments thereof , it will be apparent that modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of the invention defined in the appended claims .
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fig1 shows a communication network 10 in which processing can take place in accordance with the embodiments of the invention described just below . an exemplary communication network is the internet . the discussion which takes place below assumes some familiarity with the internet , and world wide web practices , formats , and protocols . a great number of books are available on these subjects . stout , rick , the world wide web : complete reference , mcgraw - hill , 1996 , is one example . communication network 10 includes a server 12 and a client 14 . the client and server communicate over a communications medium or link such as the internet 18 or some other network medium . in the described embodiment , server 12 is an internet information server . a web - site rendering engine 16 runs on server 12 . the web - site rendering engine is responsible for rendering or providing a resource that is requested by client 14 . the request for the resource includes an input url string or user - friendly url that is in a simple form or easily recognizable form , an example of which was given above . a mapping engine 22 also executes on server 12 and initially receives the input url string . in the illustrated example , mapping engine 22 includes a rule cache 24 and a parser 26 . rule cache 24 includes one or more rules which are applied to the input url string . parser 26 performs parsing functions on the input url string . the result of the operations of rule cache 24 and parser 26 is an output url string which is provided to web - site rendering engine 16 . the output url string is in a form which can be understood by web - site rendering engine 16 . web - site rendering engine 16 responds by performing the appropriate operations to generate and return the requested resource to client 14 via a response which is sent over communication medium 18 . fig2 shows a general example of a desktop computer 130 that can be used in accordance with the invention . a computer such as that shown can be used for any of the client computers 14 and server 12 . computer 130 includes one or more processors or processing units 132 , a system memory 134 , and a bus 136 that couples various system components including the system memory 134 to processors 132 . the bus 136 represents one or more of any of several types of bus structures , including a memory bus or memory controller , a peripheral bus , an accelerated graphics port , and a processor or local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures . the system memory 134 includes read only memory ( rom ) 138 and random access memory ( ram ) 140 . a basic input / output system ( bios ) 142 , containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within computer 130 , such as during startup , is stored in rom 138 . computer 130 further includes a hard disk drive 144 for reading from and writing to a hard disk ( not shown ), a magnetic disk drive 146 for reading from and writing to a removable magnetic disk 148 , and an optical disk drive 150 for reading from or writing to a removable optical disk 152 such as a cd rom or other optical media . the hard disk drive 144 , magnetic disk drive 146 , and optical disk drive 150 are connected to the bus 136 by an scsi interface 154 or some other appropriate interface . the drives and their associated computer - readable media provide nonvolatile storage of computer - readable instructions , data structures , program modules and other data for computer 130 . although the exemplary environment described herein employs a hard disk , a removable magnetic disk 148 and a removable optical disk 152 , it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other types of computer - readable media which can store data that is accessible by a computer , such as magnetic cassettes , flash memory cards , digital video disks , random access memories ( rams ), read only memories ( roms ), and the like , may also be used in the exemplary operating environment . a number of program modules may be stored on the hard disk 144 , magnetic disk 148 , optical disk 152 , rom 138 , or ram 140 , including an operating system 158 , one or more application programs 160 , other program modules 162 , and program data 164 . a user may enter commands and information into computer 130 through input devices such as a keyboard 166 and a pointing device 168 . other input devices ( not shown ) may include a microphone , joystick , game pad , satellite dish , scanner , or the like . these and other input devices are connected to the processing unit 132 through an interface 170 that is coupled to the bus 136 . a monitor 172 or other type of display device is also connected to the bus 136 via an interface , such as a video adapter 174 . in addition to the monitor , personal computers typically include other peripheral output devices ( not shown ) such as speakers and printers . computer 130 commonly operates in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers , such as a remote computer 176 . the remote computer 176 may be another personal computer , a server , a router , a network pc , a peer device or other common network node , and typically includes many or all of the elements described above relative to computer 130 , although only a memory storage device 178 has been illustrated in fig2 . the logical connections depicted in fig2 include a local area network ( lan ) 180 and a wide area network ( wan ) 182 . such networking environments are commonplace in offices , enterprise - wide computer networks , intranets , and the internet . when used in a lan networking environment , computer 130 is connected to the local network 180 through a network interface or adapter 184 . when used in a wan networking environment , computer 130 typically includes a modem 186 or other means for establishing communications over the wide area network 182 , such as the internet . the modem 186 , which may be internal or external , is connected to the bus 136 via a serial port interface 156 . in a networked environment , program modules depicted relative to the personal computer 130 , or portions thereof , may be stored in the remote memory storage device . it will be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing a communications link between the computers may be used . generally , the data processors of computer 130 are programmed by means of instructions stored at different times in the various computer - readable storage media of the computer . programs and operating systems are typically distributed , for example , on floppy disks or cd - roms . from there , they are installed or loaded into the secondary memory of a computer . at execution , they are loaded at least partially into the computer &# 39 ; s primary electronic memory . the invention described herein includes these and other various types of computer - readable storage media when such media contain instructions or programs for implementing the steps described below in conjunction with a microprocessor or other data processor . the invention also includes the computer itself when programmed according to the methods and techniques described below . for purposes of illustration , programs and other executable program components such as the operating system are illustrated herein as discrete blocks , although it is recognized that such programs and components reside at various times in different storage components of the computer , and are executed by the data processor ( s ) of the computer . although fig1 show all of these functions being performed within a single server computer , it is likely that actual embodiments will involve several server computers acting together to satisfy requests of large numbers of clients . furthermore , the various functions described might be distributed among more than one computer . also , the mapping engine and web - site rendering engine in the described embodiment are designed to work in conjunction with a microsoft product called “ internet information server .” this product performs many of the management functions of a web server , while allowing customization through the use of so - called “ filters ” and “ extensions ”. mapping engine 22 is implemented as an isapi ( internet server application programming interface ) filter for use in conjunction with microsoft &# 39 ; s internet information server . web - site rendering engine 16 is implemented as an “ extension ,” again for use with internet information server . as a preliminary matter , the following discussion will use the terminology below : “ input string ” is a url or other string as received by the server from a client . this is typically a user - friendly or “ friendly ” url that has been designed for easy recognition and / or recall by human users . this string is passed to the mapping engine for translation into an “ unfriendly ” format that is appropriate for web - site rendering engine 16 . “ output string ” is the url or other string that is output by mapping engine 22 in response to the input string . this string is formatted as appropriate for the web - site rendering engine . “ input expression ” is an expression that is compared with input strings to determine an appropriate mapping . in the described embodiment , an input expression is formatted syntactically in a manner that allows specification of both identity and variability among constituent parts of an input string . thus , the input expression can include literal parts that call for an exact character - by - character match between those parts and corresponding parts of the input string , and variable parts that allowed for inexact matches or no match at all between those parts and corresponding parts of the input string . an input string is said to “ match ” an input expression when there is a correspondence between the literal and variable parts of the input string and input expression . “ output expression ” is an expression that is paired with an input expression and that is used to create an output string when there is a match between the input string and the input expression . in the described embodiment , the output expression allows parts of the input string to be specified in the output string . specifically , the parts of the input string corresponding to variable parts of the input expression can be specified as parts of the output string . in any particular server , a plurality of input expressions are defined in accordance with a predefined syntax . the predefined syntax makes use of pattern matching rules . in the described embodiment , this syntax utilizes complex pattern matching rules known as regular expressions . a regular expression comprises a character string in which literal characters indicate text that must exist identically in an input url string . regular expressions can also include special characters to indicate portions of an input string in which variability is allowed . as an example , assume that it is desired to map the “ friendly ” url input string “ seattle . sidewalk . com ” to “ sidewalk . com / script / foo . dll / seattle ”. assume further that similar mappings are to be made for other cities , such as portland , cincinnati , etc . generally , a matching input string will be any string in which some undefined characters precede the string “. sidewalk . com ”. using a simple form of pattern matching rules , this might be expressed as the following input expression : “. sidewalk . com ”. the “*” indicates any combination of characters , while the following literal characters (“. sidewalk . com ”) are to be matched character - by - character with the input string . to produce the appropriate output string , an output expression corresponding to the input string , is formulated as a replacement template . in this example , the output expression might be “ sidewalk . com / script / foo . dll /*”. the “*” in an output string is an identifier and represents whatever characters corresponded to the “*” in the input string . in this example , the corresponding characters would have been those of the string “ seattle ”. thus , this output expression would generate the output string “ sidewalk . com / script / foo . dll / seattle .” it should be apparent that the same input / output expression pair would work with any city specified by a user . this example illustrates a fairly simple and easily understandable syntax . however , more powerful syntax can be used and are often desirable . fig3 shows one example of more a complex set of pattern matching rules known as regular expressions that define a plurality of special characters for specifying variability in an input expression . regular expressions in accordance with this syntax include so - called escape characters whose meanings are shown . the use of these regular expressions in mapping engine 22 provides a great deal of generality and flexibility in specifying input expressions . fig4 shows a flow diagram generally at 100 that describes certain methodical steps in accordance with an embodiment of the invention . at 102 an input url string is received by server 12 from a client 14 ( fig1 ). server 12 accesses a plurality of input expressions , each of which is associated with an output expression . at step 104 the input url string is compared with an input expression . this involves searching the input url string for a particular pattern that is defined by the input expression . if the input url string matches the input expression at 106 , then the procedure branches to a step 108 of generating an output url string or pattern from the output expression . the output expression might generate the output url string by simply causing the mapping engine to conduct a string replacement , e . g . replacing “*” with “ seattle ”, or by doing some additional work such as invoking a lookup procedure . the output url string is then passed to web - site rendering engine 16 , which responds by generating an appropriate web page or other resource . formulation of the output url string can take place through multiple transformations , in an iterative fashion , of the input url string . for example , multiple rules ( discussed below ) could be used iteratively causing , for example , multiple transformations . if , at 106 , the input url string does not match an input expression , execution proceeds to step 110 , which determines whether any more input expressions are available for comparing against the input url string . if there are , execution loops back to step 104 and 106 , in which the next input expression is identified and compared with the input url string . the input expressions might be arranged in a particular hierarchical order so that the input expressions are checked in a stepwise fashion . if there are no more input expressions and there has been no match , then the procedure branches to 112 and returns the url without modification . in the described embodiment of the invention , mapping engine 22 stores a plurality of rules in its rule cache 24 . each rule comprises an input expression and an output expression . the rules are organized in groups . the rules of a particular group are designed for a particular purpose . fig5 - 7 show three different groupings of rules that are established or defined using the regular expression syntax defined in fig3 . fig5 shows a group of rules that can be used for mapping the hostname part of an input url string . fig6 shows a rule grouping that can be used for mapping the parameters part ( e . g . the “ abs path ” portion discussed above ). fig7 shows a rule grouping that supports a scoping function which is discussed below in more detail . a rule group consists of a set of zero or more rules . each rule specifies a mapping of an input url string to an output url string using regular expression syntax . referring specifically to fig5 each rule includes a rule id . here , the rule ids number one through twelve . the rule id is a number that uniquely identifies a rule inside a rule group . rules from different groups might take on non - unique ids , but all rules within a certain group have unique ids . rules within each group are applied in the order of the rule id , which implies the order in which the rules were added to the group . each rule is also given a rule action type . three exemplary rule action types are as follows : the repeat rule action forces a rule to be applied once again if the rule succeeds . the rule will get applied until the rule fails . the abort mapping action implies that if the concerned rule is successfully applied , the mapping process should be immediately aborted and a notification is sent to server 12 . the no action action implies that no special action should be taken if the rule concerned succeeds . that is , the processing of the input url string should simply continue , i . e . continue following the prescription indicated by the current rule group . each rule also includes an input expression and an associated output expression . an input expression in the described embodiment is a regular expression in accordance with the syntax of fig3 . the output expression is a pattern in accordance with the syntax set forth in fig3 . the output expression can be a simple replacement string , or a string including special characters . a / n ( where n is a digit [ 0 - 9 ]) in the output expression of a rule corresponds to the n th - tagged expression in the input expression . this provides a convenient notation to extract variable strings from the input expression and insert them into the output expression . a rule is satisfied or succeeds if each of the following events takes place : ( 1 ) the input url string matches the input expression of the rule , based either on a simple string comparison , or a more complex regular expression search ; and ( 2 ) an attempt to generate the output string based on the output expression succeeds . if a rule is successful , the rule action associated with the rule and the group tag ( discussed below ) of the concerned rule group determines what happens next . if this is the last rule in the last group , then this completes the mapping process . fig6 shows a rule grouping that can be used to map parameters of an input url string . it might be desirable in some applications for the defined syntax to allow invocation of some external procedure such as a lookup procedure . in one embodiment , at least a portion of the output expression can be used to invoke a lookup procedure that produces a result . the result is used to produce an output url string that is used by the web - site rendering engine to provide the requested resource . the lookup procedure can be invoked in any number of ways . one exemplary way is , to instantiate a lookup object having an interface which supports the lookup procedure . by obtaining a pointer to the interface of the lookup object , the pointer can be used to invoke the lookup procedure . in this example , the lookup object might be a com object . com objects and interfaces are described in more detail in brockschmidt , kraig , inside ole , second edition , microsoft press , 1995 . it should be noted , however , that the use of com is in no way necessary to practice the invention , as any suitable object identification schema could be used ( e . g . specifying the name of a run - time library file and an entry point , use of a non - com object directory , etc .). in the illustrated rules , a new special character sequence is shown in the output expressions of rules 10 - 13 as : “\( progid , n )”, where “ n ” is a digit . the sequence invokes a lookup function that takes the nth tagged expression as its input . the string argument progid is used to create an instance of a lookup object that implements an interface iswfriendlylookup ( ) that has lookup ( ) as one of its methods . specifically , the progid obtained from the output expression is used to get the clsid of the lookup object that implements the iswfriendlylookup interface . the mapping engine then calls cocreateslnstance ( ) ( a “ windows ” operating system call ) using this clsid in order to get a pointer to the iswfriendlylookup interface of this lookup object . once the interface pointer is obtained , the mapping engine can cache the pointer for future use . the interface pointer is used to invoke the lookup ( ) method of that interface . the lookup ( ) method can take as input , any part of the input url string for the mapping that matched the tagged expressions specified in the input expressions . the output of the lookup ( ) method is also a string which replaces the tagged expression in the output expression . fig7 shows a rule group that supports regional scoping . here , instead of setting a parameter such as “ city = seattle ” in the url , a lookup function is used to resolve an incoming “ virtual city name ” into a scopeld instead . the tagged expression syntax in the output expression indicates that a lookup needs to be performed . the mapping engine uses the string “ scope ” to search a lookup cache , and if an entry is found , the cached interface pointer is selected for the object that implements the lookup method . otherwise , the mapping engine creates an instance of that particular lookup object and then calls the lookup ( ) method . the lookup ( ) method can access a database , if necessary , and then returns a scope id that replaces the tagged expression in the output expression . the rule is then considered successful . as mentioned above , in order to provide for flexibility in the application of rules , the rules can be aggregated in sets to form one or more groups . in essence then , mapping engine 22 comprises a plurality of rule groups , each of which can contain one or more rules . groups allow aggregation of rules that achieve one aspect of the mapping process into a group . for example , say an input url stream needs to be decoded by replacing ‘+’ with a space and ‘% xx ’ with the character corresponding to the hex value of xx . these operations form two separate rules that take care of one aspect of the url mapping ( that of preprocessing the url ) and can be grouped together in one group . groups have the following attributes : ( 1 ) group id , ( 2 ) group tag , and ( 3 ) group mask id . these are shown for the rule groups in fig5 and 6 . the group id is a unique identifier for the group and is used to identify the group when rules are changed , i . e . added , deleted , or modified . the group tag specifies a protocol to use when applying the rules in a particular group . for example , a “ match - all ” tag specifies that all the rules in a group should be applied . that is , if a rule succeeds , the output of that rule becomes the input of its successor . a “ match - one ” tag specifies that mapping for that rule group should terminate as soon as a rule matches or succeeds . that is , the output for the rule that succeeds becomes the input of the next group ( if one exists ) to be considered for mapping . if a rule does not succeed , the output of the rule is the same as the input for the rule ( as if the rule does not exist ). the group mask id is a bit mask which is used during the mapping process . each group is given a bit mask upon its creation . when a client needs to send a string for mapping , the client can specify a bit - mask key that is logically combined , e . g . anded , with the bit mask of each group . if the result of the logical combination is true , then the group is included in the mapping process , otherwise it is skipped . this use of the group mask id provides a convenient method of specifying which groups of rules need to get included in the mapping and which do not . an example of how this feature can be exploited is as follows . it is desirable to have mapping which is bi - directional in the sense that where a given set of rules yields a particular output url string from a given input url string , there should be another set of rules in which that particular output url string yields the given ( i . e . the same ) input url string . when doing mapping in one direction , the rules for mapping in the other direction should not apply . one way to achieve this is to provide forward - mapping sets of rule groups with one group mask id , and provide reverse - mapping sets of rule groups with another group mask id . for example , assume groups 1 , 2 , and 3 have the forward - mapping rules , and groups 4 , 5 , and 6 have the reverse - mapping rules . group mask ids can then be assigned to the respective groups as follows : if the client requests for an input string to be mapped and specifies the bit - mask key to be “ 0x0000 0007 ”, then a logical anding with the group mask ids would result in only groups 1 , 2 , and 3 getting included in the mapping . this would , in turn , provide for forward mapping . on the other hand , a bit - mask key of “ 0x0000 0070 ” would result in only groups 4 , 5 , and 6 being considered in the mapping , and not groups 1 , 2 , and 3 . in this case , reverse mapping would be applied . as another example , consider a situation where rule groups are desired to be removed . if you want to change the rules , the best way to do it is to add the new rules ( using bitmasks not currently in use ), then once they are all successfully added , switch to using the new bitmasks and stop using the old ones . subsequently , the old rule groups can be removed . in this way there is a clean move over to the new rule set . in one specific implementation , a mapping system is provided through the use of microsoft &# 39 ; s internet information server &# 39 ; s extension facilities and microsoft &# 39 ; s com methodologies mentioned above . for purposes in assisting in understanding this implementation , components of the mapping system and pertinent interfaces are described . the mapping engine is implemented as an isapi filter . hence , it implements the functions every isapi filter needs to implement , e . g . getfilterversion ( ) and httpfilterproc ( ). getfilterversion ( ): this function is called only once when iis ( internet information server ) is started . it is used for exchanging version information between iis and the mapping engine . the mapping engine also informs iis of the notifications that it is interested in . later , when a certain event occurs , iis will invoke only those filters that have requested notification for that event . httpfilterproc ( ): iis notifies the mapping engine by calling httpfilterproc ( ) and passing it the notification types and a pointer to the structure corresponding to that notification . using this pointer the mapping engine will gain access to the header information such as & lt ; hostname & gt ; and & lt ; abs_path & gt ; ( the two parts of the url discussed above ). the mapping engine is a com server . this means that it can provide its services to anyone who can obtain a pointer to its appropriate interface . this results in generic , rule - based mapping capabilities . some of the interfaces that can be used to populate and use the mapping engine are as follows : this interface provides various methods for managing and using the mapping engine &# 39 ; s rules . it provides support for adding new groups of rules to the rule cache and new rules to the groups . it can also provide support for loading rules from a file , and for storing rules back to a file so that the rules persist even after iis is restarted . other methods that can be supported can include methods for modifying and deleting rules . for example , “ remove ” operations that are analogous to the “ add ” operations discussed just below can readily be added . a few examples of such methods are given below . addgroup ( )— this method is used by the clients to add a new group to the rule cache . the client specifies a group tag and group mask id as input parameters , and the method returns a group id for the newly added group in the output parameter . the client can then use this group id to add rules to this group . // add a new group ( or cache ) of rules to friendly addrule ( )— this method is used to add a rule to a group that is identified by its group id . the client provides the following : group id of the group to which the rule is to be added , the action associated with the rule , the input expression and the output expression for the rule . processurl ( )— this method is called by the client to send an input url string to the mapping engine . the client specifies a bit - mask that is used to decide which groups of rules are to be included for mapping . // takes the incoming url as input and sends it through // the mapping engine . the input url gets sent through each this interface provides a method for conducting a lookup procedure . here , a rule can invoke a lookup procedure that gets its input from the input url string . the output of this procedure is used in the output generated by the rule , e . g . an output url string . objects that implement this interface are referred to as friendly lookup objects or flos . each flo has a clsid and a progid and registers itself in the registry on compilation . a cache is provided and is referred to as the friendly lookup cache . the friendly lookup cache contains two fields in each entry — a progid ( or a string ) and a pointer to the iswfriendlylookup interface . when a rule needs to invoke the lookup method of a flo , it will use the flo &# 39 ; s progid to create an instance of it and will then cache the pointer to the interface in its cache for future references . specifically , if the output expression of a rule has a tagged expression with the following syntax , it means that the rule requires a lookup method to be invoked : if the input url string matches the input expression for a certain rule , and the output expression contains a tagged expression of the type shown above , the mapping engine performs the following steps : 1 . it extracts the string in the tagged expression (“ foo ” in the above case ) and does a search in its lookup cache based on this string . 2 . a call to clsidfromprogid ( ) is made to obtain the clsid of the flo . using this clsid , an instance of the flo is created by calling cocreatelnstance ( ). the pointer to the interface obtained in this way is cached in the lookup cache along with the progid for future lookups . 3 . using the interface pointer , the lookup method of this interface is invoked . the input for the lookup method is the sub - string from the input url string that matches the n th tagged expression in the input url string of the rule . syntax might also be provided in the tagged expression to specify more than one string obtained from the input url string to be passed to lookup method . this can provide for more powerful lookups . 4 . the output or result of the lookup method replaces the tagged expression in the output expression . 5 . if the lookup fails , the rule is considered unsuccessful and processing continues just like it would after a rule fails . lookup ( )— this method takes as input a string ( obtained as explained above ) and returns a pointer to a string buffer pointer . the callee allocates memory to hold the output of the lookup ( ) and the caller frees the buffer . various embodiments of the invention described above provide for a flexible and generic solution to the problem of mapping input url strings to output url strings . rules for mapping can now be changed , i . e . added , deleted , or modified dynamically , without the need to access and rewrite code , or shut down the communication network server . and , while the described embodiments have been described in terms of processing input url strings , it is possible that other inputs can be used as well . for example , various mapping methods and systems can use other information as inputs , such as that gleaned from an http header . examples of such other information include cookies , user agent , user browser capabilities and the like . typically , these are provided as strings . thus , in these methods and systems , there are two or more inputs to the mapping engine . for example , the two methods specified just below can enable the use of two regular expressions ( e . g . one for the url , and one to process on all of the headers ) in order to process the rules . other advantages will be apparent to those of skill in the art . although the invention has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological steps , it is to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or steps described . rather , the specific features and steps are disclosed as preferred forms of implementing the claimed invention .
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fig1 shows a perspective view , in an oblique angle from the top , of one preferred embodiment of a laying aid 1 according to the invention , having a tile - supporting region 2 . overall , the laying aid 1 has a disk shape with a circular contour . the tile - supporting region 2 is interrupted by four identical cutouts 3 . the cutouts 3 essentially have the shape of a sector of a circle , i . e ., a circular surface , which is delimited by a circular arc 4 and two circle radii 5 . the corners of the circular sector are rounded . a circular cutout 6 is present in the center of the laying aid 1 . thus , the tile - supporting region 2 is composed of an annular section 7 and four spoke - like sections 8 which are oriented at an angle of 90 ° relative to one another . a spacer web 9 is situated on each spoke - like section 8 . each spacer web 9 is situated at the level of the cutouts 3 in the radial direction with respect to the spoke - like section 8 . the height of each spacer web 9 extends perpendicularly to the plane defined by the tile - supporting region 2 . the thickness 10 of each spacer web 9 is selected corresponding to a desired joint width of the tile surface to be laid . the tile - supporting region 2 formed from the spoke - like sections 8 and the annular section 7 may be made of polystyrene , abs , pc , or san , and in one preferred embodiment is transparent . the entire tile - supporting region 2 has pointed knobs 11 . the underside of the laying aid 1 , not visible in fig1 , is the support region 12 with which the laying aid 1 is placed on the subsurface to be covered with tiles . this is identifiable in the sectional view according to fig2 , described in greater detail below . as identified particularly well in fig2 , which shows a cross section of the laying aid 1 according to fig1 along line ii - ii , the spacer webs 9 have a height 13 with respect to the tile - supporting region 2 . the height 13 of the spacer webs 9 is advantageously selected so that it is less than the thickness of the tiles to be laid . as shown in fig2 , the support region 12 is also provided with pointed knobs 11 . the spacer webs 9 are rounded at the corners 13 , on the side facing away in the tile - supporting region 2 . it is also shown in fig2 that the tile - supporting region 2 has a predetermined breaking edge 14 , which in the sectional view according to fig2 appears as a notch - like depression . as shown in fig1 , according to the exemplary embodiment described here the laying aid 1 has a predetermined breaking edge 14 at three adjacent spoke - like sections 8 of the tile - supporting region 2 . the predetermined breaking edge 14 extends in each case in the longitudinal direction of the spoke - like distance 8 , i . e ., in the radial direction relative to the circular disk - shaped laying aid 1 , starting from an outside region of the annular section 7 and continuing to the circular cutout 6 in the center of the laying aid 1 . the spacer webs 9 are each slightly offset , relative to the radial positions , in parallel to the edges of the predetermined breaking edges 14 . fig3 illustrates , based on various design variants of the laying aid according to the invention , the uses which are obtainable by means of the laying aid 1 according to the invention , without tools , with the aid of the predetermined breaking edges 14 . fig3 is structured as a matrix ; various design variants of the laying aid 1 according to the invention are shown in lines ( a ), ( b ), . . . , ( g ) in the first column highlighted by a border and denoted by column heading 1 / 1 . the columns with headings 1 / 2 and 1 / 4 show the base design of the laying aid 1 according to the invention shown in column 1 / 1 in which the laying aid 1 has been modified by breaking out segments along the predetermined breaking edges 14 , without tools . the laying aids 1 are each shown in the top view of the tile - supporting region 2 . the variant shown in line ( a ), column 1 / 1 is suitable for laying tiles in a composite joint , four spacer webs 9 having a given thickness being provided . this basic shape may be converted , without tools , to a laying aid 1 having a semicircular basic shape by breaking off the lower circular segment along the predetermined breaking edge 14 , the segment obtained now having only three spacer webs 9 . compared to the basic shape according to column 1 / 1 , in which four tiles may be aligned with one another , the segment according to column 1 / 2 is suitable for aligning two tiles with one another , and at an end wall . the device according to the invention is likewise usable for tiles and plates of all sizes and made of any material . lastly , the quarter circle - like segment according to column 1 / 4 is obtained by breaking the element according to column 1 / 2 along the predetermined breaking edge 14 . this segment now has only two spacer webs 9 , which are situated at a 90 ° angle relative to one another . lines ( b ) and ( c ) in fig3 show modifications of the basic shape according to line ( a ), and differ from the basic shape according to ( a ), 1 / 1 in that the spacer webs 9 have a spacer knob 15 . the spacer knob 15 extends parallel to the plane of the tile - supporting region 2 , at a right angle to the end face of the spacer webs 9 . on account of the spacer knobs 15 , the effective thickness of the spacer webs 9 is increased when tiles are placed on the spacer webs 9 , resulting in a larger joint width of the laid tiles . the design according to line ( c ) in fig3 differs from that according to line ( b ) in that the spacer knobs 15 are longer , resulting in a correspondingly larger joint width . line ( d ), column 1 / 1 in fig3 shows a base embodiment of the laying aid 1 according to the invention which has only three spacer webs 9 , each oriented at a 90 ° angle relative to one another . this embodiment is suitable for laying tiles in an offset joint , in which three tiles adjoin one another in each case . the variants according to lines ( e ) and ( f ) in fig3 once again differ from the basic shape according to line ( d ) by virtue of the spacer knobs 15 for producing a greater effective thickness 10 of the spacer webs 9 , which results in a greater joint width . line ( g ) in fig3 shows in the single column 1 / 1 a design variant of the device according to the invention which is particularly suited for use as a base element when laying tiles and / or plates on a wall . according to this design variant , the device has a semicircular shape with a spacer web 9 along the straight edge . fig4 illustrates the use of different embodiments of the laying aid 1 according to the invention for laying tiles . the schematic illustration in part ( a ) of fig4 shows the uses for the so - called composite joint , whereas part ( b ) of fig4 shows the conditions for an offset joint . in fig4 , the tiles are denoted by reference numeral 16 in each case . in both parts of the figure , in each case a vertical wall border 17 delimits the side , and a horizontal floor border 18 delimits the bottom , of the surface 19 to be covered with tiles 16 . in the composite joint patterns shown in fig4 ( a ), in each case four tiles 16 adjoin one another at their corner regions at positions 20 . laying aids 1 according to one of lines ( a ), ( b ), ( c ) of column 1 / 1 in fig3 may be used at these positions 20 , depending on the desired joint width . at positions 21 , in each case two tiles 16 adjoin one another as well as the wall border 17 . the designs from the basic shapes according to column 1 / 1 which are obtained by breaking along the predetermined breaking edges 14 in one of the designs according to lines ( a ), ( b ), or ( c ) in fig3 may be used in these positions 21 , depending on the desired joint width . position 22 is characterized by the meeting of the wall border 17 and the floor border 18 at a tile 16 . the designs obtained according to column 1 / 4 in one of the variants according to lines ( a ), . . . , ( f ), starting from the embodiments shown in column 1 / 1 in fig3 and twice breaking off segments along the predetermined breaking edges 14 , may be used in such a corner position 22 , depending on the desired joint spacing . in the case of the joint offset laying technique shown in fig4 ( b ), once again positions 21 are characterized by two adjacent tiles 16 which meet at the vertical wall border 17 . the designs according to fig3 which may be used in these positions 21 correspond to those described in conjunction with the composite joint according to fig4 ( a ). likewise , position 22 is characterized by the meeting of one corner of a tile 16 with the vertical wall border 17 on the one hand and with the floor border 18 on the other hand ; the embodiments of the laying aid according to fig3 which may be used in these positions 22 correspond to those described in conjunction with fig4 ( a ) for the composite joint . lastly , for laying the tiles 16 in the offset joint as shown in fig4 ( b ), positions 23 are characterized by the meeting of two tiles 16 at the corners and with an additional tile 16 at one edge . the designs according to column 1 / 2 in fig3 may be used in these regions , as well as in the case of positions 21 , depending on the desired joint width . in both fig4 ( a ) and fig4 ( b ), the use of the embodiment of the invention according to fig3 ( g ) in position 25 is shown . as is apparent , the embodiment is used as a base between the floor and wall attachment when tiles or plates are laid at a wall . the embodiment is used along the lower edge of a plate or tile in order to hold same in a specified joint spacing relative to the floor . fig5 illustrates the stackability of the embodiment of the laying aid 1 according to the invention shown in fig1 . fig5 ( a ) shows a side view of a “ tower ” composed of 80 laying aids 1 according to fig1 which are vertically stacked on top of one another . fig5 ( b ) shows a top view of the tower 24 according to fig5 ( a ) in the viewing direction of arrow b . it is apparent that the stackability is based on the fact that the spacer webs 9 are insertable into the cutouts 3 of the particular laying aid 1 thereabove . each additional laying aid 1 is rotated about the vertical with respect to the laying aid 1 on which it is placed in order to allow positioning of the spacer webs 9 and spoke - like sections 8 . this stackability is based on the fact that the cutouts 3 are shaped in such a way that they are able to accommodate the spacer webs 9 with regard to the radial extension as well as with regard to their thickness 10 .
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referring to fig1 a segmented extendible boom includes a plurality of boom segments 10 which are compactly stored in a storage assembly 12 . the boom segments are extended or retracted by means of a segment support and driver assembly 14 , which in turn is mounted to a fork - shaped support frame 16 also shown in fig2 . the frame 16 is rotated with respect to a support post 18 . the support post is fixed to a support base . the apparatus shown provides means for extending and positioning a boom formed from a plurality of segments 10 . the boom has , for example , a hoist cable 20 positioned at the end thereof for handling and hoisting of loads . the hoist cable 20 passes over a hoist sheave 22 . a conventional hoist motor and winch assembly 24 is shown as a typical means of controlling the hoise cable 20 . the boom segment support and drive assembly 14 includes a frame formed from a pair of side plates 30 which are maintained in a spaced - apart relationship by means of a plurality of cross - brace members 32 which are welded or otherwise suitably fastened to the side plates to provide a rigid suppport . frame . as shown in fig1 and 2 , the support frame is pivotal about pins 34 which extend through appropriate apertures at the ends of the extending arms 36 of the fork - shaped frame 16 . two hydraulic cylinders 38 are each pivotally connected at one end to the frame 16 and at the other end to brackets projecting from the support and drive assembly 14 as shown . the cylinders permit the angle of elevation of the boom to be adjusted to a desired setting . the boom may be flipped all the way over to provide a low profile for storage or transportation . the forked frame 16 pivots about a center pin 40 on bearings 42 , 44 and is rotated by means of a swing motor 46 which drives a pulley 48 . a drive cable 50 driven by the pulley 48 engages a groove 52 extending around the top portion of a base 54 . rollers 58 are mounted on tabs 60 which project from a support 55 fixed to a deck or the like and the rollers guide the post 18 . the height of the entire boom assembly is adjustable and the base 54 is positioned at various points by means of a lock pin 62 which passes through the support 55 and one of a plurality of vertically spaced apertures on the post 18 , which post is adapted to have additional extensions connected thereto . the construction of a boom segment 10 is shown in cross section in fig6 . each of the segments 10 has a uniform cross - sectional configuration and the segments differ only in length . fabrication of the segments is simplified by using standardized segments . the strength of each segment is the same as the other segments , wherever located in the boom . each segment 10 is a truncated v - shaped structure which includes a generally flat bottom portion 70 with side walls 72 extending upwardly and at oblique angles to the flat bottom portion 70 . extending longitudinally along the outside of the flat bottom portion 70 is a pintle rail 74 having a generally hollow interior as shown . holes 75 as shown in fig7 are provided in the rail 74 at uniform spacings for receiving pins , or pintles 76 . the pintles 76 form a rack which is engaged by a gear for driving the segments in a longitudinal direction . a pair of downwardly extending flanges 78 are formed near the outside edge of each of the flat bottom plates 70 for each segment . these flanges cooperate with the pintle rail to provide a pair of cable troughs for a plurality of auxiliary cables 79 . laterally extending reinforcement ribs 82 are provided along the bottom plate 70 near the longitudinal ends of each segment 10 . welded in place near the top and at one end of each segment 10 is a rod , or cross member 80 , to which are affixed clamps 82 for cables , hoses , and the like . each clamp 82 has two segments which spring together to hold , for example , an electrical cable or a pneumatic hose providing power to operate the hoist motor or the like , as required . fig3 and 9 show some of the details for pivotal connection of adjacent segments . the transverse axis about which adjacent segments pivot extends perpendicularly inward at location t of fig7 and 9 . the pivotal connection of the segments 10 is utilized primarily in storing the segments and is accomplished by means of a pair of elastically extendible hinge straps 90 , as shown in fig3 . because the heavy loading on the boom is carried by a series of cables , the hinges are not necessarily required to be heavy duty . one end of each of the straps 90 or riveted by means of a rivet 92 to the exterior wall of the segment as shown . an outwardly bowed spring portion 94 is provided on each strap 90 which permits each strap 90 to be elastically lengthwise extended . pins 96 engage elongated slots 98 formed in the straps to permit elastic lengthwise extension of the straps . two straps are joined together by means of hinge pins 100 so that the longitudinal axes of adjacent segments 10 are pivotal about the hinge pins 100 lying along transverse axes by as much as 90 ° as shown in fig9 of the drawing . the elasticity of the hinge straps permits the abutting ends of the segments 10 to move slightly apart if an overload force is applied against the segments 10 to prevent damage to the segments and joints and to provide a safety factor when the support cables are stretched by heavy loading . each of the boom segments 10 is guided and locked end - to - end in an abutting relationship with adjacent segments . the segments are guided together by means of the angled plates 102 , 104 shown in fig7 and 8 . fig7 and 9 show an outwardly extending end portion of the rod 80 engaged by a cam - slot 106 formed in a projecting end portion of each segment 10 . fig9 shows a rod 80 positioned at the entrance of the cam - slot 106 . as the segments 10 are pivoted together , the rod 80 rides within the slot 106 and guides the angle plates 102 , 104 into an engaging relationship as shown in fig8 . when the angle plates are engaged , lateral movement of the adjacent segments is prevented . fig6 shows a cross - sectional end view of a boom segment 10 having a pair of oppositely extending flanges 108 located at the wider end of each segment . each flange has a lower half 110 and an upper half 112 . the flange lower half 110 is fixed to the exterior wall of a segment . the halves 110 , 112 of each flange contain corresponding countersunk apertures for receiving fastening hardware such as nuts and bolts or rivets 113 . located at the outer extremities of the flange half are the hinge straps 90 , previously described . each flange lower half 110 has a raised convex portion 114 and a grooved concave portion 116 which extend the length of the flange . similarly , each flange upper half 112 has a grooved concave portion 118 and a raised convex portion 120 . the convex portions provide some additional strengthening to the flanges in areas of greater stress under heavy loading . the raised and the grooved portions engage oppositely formed portions of guide and support rollers described below . fig6 and 7 show a plurality of longitudinally extending ribs 130 formed in the upper and lower halves 110 , 112 of the flanges 108 . a plurality of half - sleeve members 132 fit in the slots formed between the ribs 130 . each half - sleeve 132 engages and clamps one side of one of a plurality of longitudinally extending stress cables 134 ( typically shown ). when the upper and lower halves 110 , 112 of the flanges 108 are assembled together with the half - sleeve 132 , the main stress cables 134 and sandwiched and held within the flanges 108 . the main stress cables 134 extend the length of the boom from segment to segment and are tensioned to support the boom . when the segments are extended the cables 134 are placed in tension and provide the main strength for supporting vertical loads on the boom . the cables are not clamped adjacent the hinge points to allow free flexing of the cable to minimize sharp angles and abrasion . fig4 shows a force vector f having a side - load force component on the boom . the cutaway section of the boom segment shows the main stress cables 134 . the side - load force component creates a moment tending to laterally pivot the boom segments about the side 153 . the cables 134 provide forces opposing lateral pivoting . the cable furthest from the side 153 has a moment arm l and the other cables also have smaller moment arms . all of the cables with their corresponding moment arms provide moments opposing lateral pivoting of the boom . thus the wide transverse width of the flanges increase the effective moment arms of the cables to advantagely withstand lateral loads . these moments provided by the cables 134 are in addition to the forces provided by the structural design of the segments alone . referring to fig1 and 2 , boom segments 10 are driven inwardly and outwardly from the boom support means 14 by means of a main boom drive hydraulic motor 140 having a drive sprocket gear 142 connected thereto . the drive sprocket gear 142 engages a drive chain 144 which , in turn , engages a driven sprocket 146 which is affixed to the main boom segment drive pinion gear 148 , the teeth of which engage the pintles 76 forming the rack on the bottom of the boom segments 10 . the boom segments are thus moved inwardly and outwardly by a rack and pinion arrangement . the boom segments 10 are guided and supported within the boom support means 14 by a plurality of rollers . side rollers 160 contact the upwardly extending sides 72 of the segments 10 as shown in fig1 and 2 . fig1 and 6 show a plurality of rollers , each of which is spaced and aligned for support of the boom segment flanges . all of the rollers described herein are appropriately mounted using conventional bearings and mountings . fig2 and 4 show the top inside rollers 150 having convex external surfaces which mate with corresponding concave surfaces 118 on the boom segment flanges . the top inside rollers 152 have concave external surfaces which match the convex raised surfaces 120 formed on the flanges . the lower surface of the flanges are engaged by a pair of large inside rollers 154 having a concave exterior surface which mates with the corresponding convex surface 114 of the flange and lower half 110 as shown in fig1 , 5 , and 6 . a pair of smaller inside rollers 156 are aligned in the same line of direction as the rollers 154 . a pair of outside convex lower rollers 158 engage the concave portions 116 of the flange lower half 110 . the rollers as described above provide support for the boom when it is extended and serve as guides for extending and retracting the boom segments 10 . referring to fig3 and 6 , the auxiliary cables 79 are stored on a drum 170 which is concentric with the main boom drive pinion gear 148 . the cables are shown in fig6 . fig3 shows the free ends of a cable 79 looped and fastened around the axle 172 of the drum 170 with cable fasteners 174 . a cable 79 is fed through an aperture in the grooved surface of the drum 170 . a cable 79 is laid within the groove so that one portion of the cable overlays the other portion . the cables 79 are payed out from the grooves on the drums 170 into the longitudinally extending cable troughs along the bottom of the segments . the cables extend out to the endmost section as shown in fig3 and each cables passes around sheaves 176 , 178 . the sheaves 176 rotate about an axle 180 which is supported by a bracket 182 . the position of the bracket is adjusted relative to the segment by means of an adjustment screw 184 which passes through the end of the adjustment bracket 182 , through a block 186 fastened to the segment 10 and into an adjustment nut 188 . the longitudinal position of the bracket 182 is adjusted to provide sufficient tension on the cables 79 . the length of the wraps of cable 79 around the drum 170 is approximately equal to the boom segment lengths . because the inner cable wrap has a diameter slightly less than the diameter of the outer cable wrap , the outer cable wrap is somewhat longer than the inner cable wrap and the sheave 176 permits the lengths to be equalized . the purpose of the auxiliary cables 79 is to maintain the boom segments 10 in their extended positions when the boom is turned over or when an upward force is exerted against the boom . without the cables 79 , the boom segments 10 would pivot about their pivot pins 100 and collapse the boom . the cables 79 thus serve as safety cables and also permit the boom to be used in an inverted position . fig1 of the drawing shows a sectional view of a boom segment , the drum 170 and the driven pinion gear 148 . fig1 and 2 show an auxiliary hose storage reel 190 mounted on a bracket 192 . hydraulic swivel couplings 194 provide fluid connection between external hydraulic hoses ( not shown ) and a hollow hose reel shaft 195 . the hollow shaft 195 is connected to hydraulic hoses 196 coiled on each of the reels 190 . it is readily apparent that other auxiliary hoses , cables and the like may be stored on the reels 190 as required . the cables , hoses , or the like stored on said reels are used for a variety of auxiliary functions such as , for example , operating a hoist motor or winch at the end of the boom . means are provided for automatically feeding the hoses 196 into the clips 82 which extend upwardly from the rods 80 on each of the boom segments 10 . this means includes a pair of feed wheels 200 rotatably positioned beneath the storage reels 190 . fig1 a and 12b show a feed wheel 200 having a portion of a hose 196 contained within a groove 197 extending around the periphery of said wheel as shown . the spring clips 82 have resilient , opposing side spring members 202 which are normally biased together to hold a hose or the like therebetween . in fig1 b , the feed wheel 200 is shown to have tapered edges 204 formed next to the circumferential peripheral groove 197 . the tapered sides 204 of the feed wheel open the flexible arms of the clip 82 as it moves past the feed wheel 200 and the hose 196 is placed between the arms . as the hose clip 82 moves away from the wheel 200 , the resilient arms 202 spring together and hold the hose 196 in position on a boom segment . when the boom is inverted , the clips 82 securely hold the hoses in position . fig1 shows the segment storage means 12 having the interconnected boom segments 10 coiled in multiple wraps around a core 206 . the segments 10 form a generally square configuration around the core 206 and the core 206 rotates on an axis formed by an axle 208 . the ends of the cables 134 are fixed to the core 206 . the lengths of the segments 10 are chosen to have the segments compactly nest together . as an example , the sides of the core are eight inches in length . each segment increases the thickness of the configuration by two inches . the first segment on the core is nine inches long . the second and third segments are 10 inches long . the fourth and fifth segments are 12 inches long . this sequence is continued to provide the square configuration on the core 206 as shown in fig1 . the entire segment storage assembly 12 moves up and down along the storage assembly support posts 210 as shown in fig1 and 11 . the core support axle 208 extends through a pair of slideable brackets 212 , each of which is mounted for movement on one of the support posts 210 by means of four rollers 214 . attached to each of the posts 210 is a rack 216 . each rack 216 is engaged by a pinion gear 218 which is fixed to a larger gear 220 . the larger gears 220 are each driven by a chain 222 . each chain is connected to a gear 224 on one end of the axle 208 as shown in fig1 . it should be readily understood that as the segment core rotates with its axle 208 , the rack and gear arrangement will move the coiled up segments along the support posts 210 . attached to each side of the core 206 is a sheave 226 , each of which has a cable 228 wrapped around it . each cable 228 is also wrapped around one of a pair of helically grooved drums 230 which are mounted between the side plates 30 on an axle 232 . a spring motor 234 having a helically wound ribbon spring 236 tensions the cables 228 . as each boom segment 10 is removed from around the core 206 , the core 206 rotates with its axle 208 and moves along the support posts . as segments are removed from the core , the axle 208 is lowered which permits the boom segments 10 to be longitudinally aligned with the rollers in the boom support means 14 . when the boom segments are being retracted and coiled into the storage assembly 12 , the axis of the core is moved upwardly by means of the rack and gear arrangement . the spring motor 234 provides a substantially constant force to tension the cable 228 . as segments are removed from the core , the cables 228 are removed from the helically grooved drums 230 and the radius of the grooves of the drum 230 increases to counteract the increasing force provided by the spring motor 234 . this provides a substantially constant tension on the cables 228 to assist in recoiling the boom segments . fig1 shows that the entire boom assembly can be pivoted about the pins 34 so that the entire assembly can be turned upside down , as indicated by the elements shown in phantom . an overbalance spring 250 provides assistance in moving the assembly . one end of the spring is fixed to the pin engaging one end of the hydraulic cylinder 38 . the other end of the spring is moved horizontally by the slide and pivot mechanism 251 which slides along a rail 252 . the entire boom assembly can be pivoted about the pins 34 to any elevation angle desired by means of the hydraulic cylinders 38 . the boom assembly can be raised and lowered along the main support post 18 . this is accomplished by lowering the end of the boom so that the longitudinal axis of the boom is positioned in a generally vertical direction . the boom segments are then either retracted or extended , causing entire assembly to be raised with respect to the support 55 . while a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown and described , it should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto since many modifications may be made . it is therefore contemplated to cover by the present application any and all such modifications that fall within the true spirit and scope of the basic underlying principles disclosed and claimed herein .
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referring to fig1 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention , a tiled , flat - panel display 10 may include an optical integrator 25 having a front surface 30 . in addition , a frame 12 may surround the display 10 . a viewer observes an image on the display 10 through the front surface 30 of the optical integrator 25 . that is , the front surface 30 of the display 10 may have light emitted through it . the optical integrator 25 may be made of a substantially transparent material such as glass . the frame 12 may be made of a supportive material , such as a plastic or a metal , which may reduce the tendency of the display 10 to twist or bend at the periphery . tiling of individual display elements 16 may occur during fabrication , as shown in fig2 . the plurality of display elements 16 , on the back surface 28 of the display 20 , may ultimately create the image observed by the viewer through the front surface 30 of the display 10 . the display elements 16 emit visible light through the front surface 30 ( fig1 ). the individual display elements 16 that make up the tiled , flat - panel display 10 may be liquid crystal , field emission , plasma , or electroluminescent displays , as examples . individual display elements 16 may be square , rectangular , or another geometric shape . however , in one embodiment of the invention , the display elements 16 may be of the same size and geometric shape . weak points or seams 18 known as stress risers may develop when the display elements 16 combine to form the composite display 10 . without additional support , a bending stress placed on the display 10 may be concentrated on the optical integrator 25 at the seams 18 . this concentration of stress may result in catastrophic failures . for example , a bending stress may provide the potential for the initiation and propagation of cracks in the display 10 . thus , the optical integrator 25 may have a tendency to break at the seams 18 when subjected to a bending force . in one embodiment of the invention , each display element 16 may be adjacent to at least two other display elements 16 to form seams 18 in both the vertical and horizontal directions . thus , an increased number of display elements 16 provide an increased number of seams 18 and a decrease in the mechanical stability of the display 10 . consequently , the larger the display 10 , the greater the potential for the optical integrator 25 to break at the seams 18 especially when subjected to a non - peripheral stress . a plurality of vertical straps 20 and horizontal straps 22 may attach to the back surface 28 of the display 10 as shown in fig3 . in one embodiment of the invention , the straps 20 and 22 may bridge the seams 18 that create mechanical weakness in the display 10 . that is , each one of the straps 20 and 22 may be attached to a portion of each of two adjacent display elements 16 so that the straps 20 and 22 lie across the seams 18 . in one embodiment , straps 20 and 22 may be adhesively secured to the elements 16 . moreover , the straps 20 and 22 may be positioned over the seams 18 so that they are perpendicular to each other . to further mechanical stability and overall strength of the display 10 , the straps 20 and 22 may connect to the frame 12 by a plurality of joints 24 . in addition , the vertical straps 20 and the horizontal straps 22 may also connect to each other by a plurality of joints 26 . in one embodiment of the invention , the straps 20 and 22 may be attached to each other by an adhesive , for example . additionally , the straps 20 and 22 may also be adhesively attached to the frame 12 . however , the straps 20 and 22 may be unconnected to one another or all of the straps 20 and 22 may be formed as one integral piece . the above - described arrangement of the straps 20 and 22 may contribute to the stability of the display 10 by providing a mechanical interconnection between adjacent display elements 16 . moreover , the positioning of the straps 20 and 22 may redistribute stress from the optical integrator 25 to the straps 20 and 22 . thus , the attachments and positioning of the straps 20 and 22 may diminish the stress placed on the optical integrator 25 and hence the tendency of the display 10 to break . in one embodiment of the invention , two adjacent display elements 16 are positioned between the optical integrator 25 and one of the straps 20 , as shown in fig4 a and 4 b . the vertical strap 20 lies across the seam 18 between the two display elements 16 where it is adhered to a portion of each of the back surfaces 28 of the adjacent display elements 16 , according to one embodiment . although not shown for purposes of clarity , the horizontal straps 22 may be similarly positioned across the seams 18 between adjacent display elements 16 . stress concentrations placed on the display 10 around the seams 18 may be redistributed as tension in the straps 20 or 22 , as shown in fig4 a . the display 10 may be subjected to a bending stress “ a ” that bends the display 10 forward relative to the frame 12 , toward the front surface 30 of the optical integrator 25 . without the straps 20 and 22 , bending stress a may cause the optical integrator 25 to crack at the seams 18 . however , the straps 20 and 22 may limit the degree to which the display 10 may bend in response to the stress a . that is , the bending stress a placed on the display 10 may be redistributed as a tensional stress “ b ” placed on the strap 20 or 22 . thus , the strap 20 or 22 may significantly reduce the concentration of the bending stress a placed on the optical integrator 25 at the seam 18 . stress concentrations placed on the display 10 around the seams 18 may also be redistributed as compression , as shown in fig4 b . the display 10 may be subjected to bending stress “ c ” that bends the display 10 backward , toward the back surface 28 of the display 10 . thus , bending stress c is opposite in direction to that of bending stress a ( fig4 a ). again , the degree to which the optical integrator 25 and the display elements 16 may be subjected to bending stress c may be limited by the presence of the strap 20 or 22 . in this case , the bending stress c placed on the display 10 around the seam 18 may be redistributed as compression “ d ” placed on the strap 20 or 22 . thus , the redistribution of bending stress c to compression d may significantly reduce the concentration of stress placed on the display 10 . in sum , the redistribution of bending stress to either tension or compression may decrease the tendency of the display 10 to fail at the seams 18 . in one embodiment of the present invention , straps 20 may attach across every vertical seam 18 between display elements 16 in the display 10 , as shown in fig5 . the straps 22 may be similarly situated over every horizontal seam 18 , in one embodiment . thus , a non - peripheral bending force , in either direction , may be transferred from the optical integrator 25 over the entire back surface 28 of the display , via the straps 20 and 22 . moreover , the combination of the vertical straps 20 and horizontal straps 22 at the juncture of vertical and horizontal seams 18 may significantly redistribute bending stress at these points to improve the integrity of the display 10 . lastly , the frame 12 may reduce the tendency of the display 10 to twist or bend at the periphery . taken together , the vertical straps 20 , the horizontal straps 22 and the frame 12 may provide sufficient mechanical strength to significantly consume many types of bending and twisting stresses that may lead to cracking or other failures of the display 10 . in turn , this may allow for the construction of a large array , tiled , flat - panel display that is lightweight yet sturdy . while the present invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments , those skilled in the art will appreciate numerous modifications and variations therefrom . it is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of this present invention .
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the present invention relates to the uses of curculigo latifolia ( c . latifolia ) extracts . hereinafter , this specification will describe the present invention according to the preferred embodiments of the present invention . however , it is to be understood that limiting the description to the preferred embodiments of the invention is merely to facilitate discussion of the present invention and it is envisioned that those skilled in the art may devise various modifications and equivalents without departing from the scope of the appended claims . more particularly , the present invention relates to a method for ameliorating blood glucose , glucose uptake activity , insulin and adiponectin level . the method of treatment involves administration of c . latifolia extracts . accordingly , it is an object of the present invention to provide c . latifolia extracts which can modulate diabetes mellitus by administrating an effective amount of c . latifolia extracts to the subject , wherein the amount of c . latifolia extracts modulates the symptoms of diabetes mellitus . in order to achieve the above object , the extensive studies in in vitro and in vivo have been conducted . in in vitro , an effective amount of c . latifolia extracts have been tested in cell lines : brin - bd11 , 3t3 - l1 adipocytes and l6 myotubes . meanwhile , in in vivo , c . latifolia extracts has been administered orally to subjects . accordingly , it is a method of cytotoxicity of brin - bd11 , 3t3 - l1 adipocyte and l6 myotubes treated with c . latifolia extracts , wherein the amount of c . latifolia extracts is found to be non - toxic towards those cell lines . the preferred embodiment of the present invention is a method of glucose uptake in 3t3 - l1 adipocyte and l6 myotubes cell lines treated with c . latifolia extracts , wherein the amount of c . latifolia extracts is found to increase glucose uptake activity in 3t3 - l1 adipocyte and l6 myotubes cell lines . further embodiment is a method of secretion of insulin in brin bd11 cell line and adiponectin in 3t3 - l1 adipocytes cell line treated with c . latifolia extracts , wherein the amount of c . latifolia extracts is found to increase secretion of insulin in brin bd11 cell line and adiponectin in 3t3 - l1 adipocyte . according to above objects , the subject has been induced to develop diabetes mellitus by combination of high fat diet ( hfd ) and low dose streptozotocin ( stz ). diabetes mellitus is non - insulin dependent diabetes mellitus ( niddm ). the symptoms of diabetes mellitus can be selected from the group that showing hyperglycemia , obesity , increased insulin level , polyphagia , polydipsia and polyuria . yet further , subject has been administered orally with an effective dose is about 100 mg / kg body weight per day . more specifically , subject has been administered for a 30 days . an embodiment of the present invention is a method of reducing blood glucose in a diabetes mellitus subject by administering an effective amount of c . latifolia extracts . according to the method for ameliorating blood glucose level of the present intervention , fasting blood glucose and oral glucose tolerance are monitored . it is envisioned that the c . latifolia extracts reduce blood glucose level and increase insulin and adiponectin levels in the subject . further envisioned of the present study , c . latifolia extracts increase oral glucose tolerance in the subject . still further , another envisioned is c . latifolia extracts increased food intake and body weight in a subject . the c . latifolia extracts according to the present invention can be prepared in accordance with the following process . fresh c . latifolia fruits were washed with distilled water . then , 50 g of c . latifolia fruits were extracted with 2 l of distilled water in 5 l beaker for 24 hours with continuous stirring at room temperature . this extract was filtered through whatman no . 1 filter paper . the filtrate was then collected and lyophilized . the lyophilized sample was kept at − 80 ° c . until use . five grams of c . latifolia leave powder were placed in 200 ml boiling ( distilled ) water . then it was removed from the heat source and allowed to infuse for 15 min . this suspension was filtered with whatman no . 1 filter paper . the filtrate was then collected and lyophilized . the lyophilized sample was kept at − 80 ° c . until use . five grams of c . latifolia leave powder were extracted with 200 ml of distilled water and were soaked for 24 hours with continuous stirring at room temperature . this extract was filtered through whatman no . 1 filter paper . the filtrate was then collected and lyophilized . the lyophilized sample was kept at − 80 ° c . until use . five grams of c . latifolia root powder were extracted with 200 ml of distilled water and were soaked for 24 hours with continuous stirring at room temperature . this extract was filtered through whatman no . 1 filter paper . the filtrate was then collected and lyophilized . the lyophilized sample was kept at − 80 ° c . until use . in vitro cytotoxicity study of c . latifolia extracts tested on 3t3 - l1 adipocyte , l6 - myotubes and brin - bd11 pancreatic cell lines brin - bd11 cell line was cultured and maintained in rpmi 1640 medium supplemented with 10 % foetal bovine serum , 1 % penicillin - streptomycin and 1 % glutamine at 37 ° c . in a humidified atmosphere of 5 % co 2 . meanwhile , 3t3 adipocytes and l6 myotubes cells were cultured in dulbecco &# 39 ; s modified eagle &# 39 ; s medium ( dmem ) supplemented with streptomycin / penicillin antibiotics and 10 % fetal bovine serum . both cells were maintained in humidified atmosphere of 5 % co 2 at 37 ° c . cells were subcultured every 2 to 3 days at approximately 80 % confluence using trypsin - edta to detach the cell from the culture flask . cell counting was done using hemocytometer . for differentiation , l6 cells were transferred to dmem with 2 % fetal bovine serum , 4 - 6 days post - confluence . the extent of differentiation was established by observing multinucleation of cells and & gt ; 90 % fusion of myoblasts into myotubes were considered . meanwhile , differentiation of 3t3 preadipocyte was grown in the plates to reach confluence in 3 days . at this point ( day 0 ) cells were switched to differentiation medium ( dmem , 10 % fbs , 0 . 25 μm dexamethasone , 0 . 25 mm ibmx , and 1 μg / ml insulin ) for 3 days , with one medium change in between . on day 3 , the dexamethasone and ibmx were removed leaving insulin on the cells for an additional 4 days , changing the medium every 2 days . thereafter the cells were maintained in the original propagation dmem , changing medium every 2 - 3 days , until use . plates where cells were & gt ; 90 % differentiated were used for experiments between days 9 to 12 post - induction . to date various methods have been developed and introduced to measure the viability cell . the celltiter 96 ® aqueous non - radioactive cell proliferation assay ( promega , madison , wis .) is one of them . the cells were seeded onto 96 - well plates at a concentration 2 × 10 5 cells / well in 100 μl of medium culture and allowed to attach for 24 hours . the cells monolayer were washed with phosphate - buffered saline ( pbs ) to remove unattached cells ; the attached cells were incubated in fresh serum free media with different concentrations of c . latifolia fruit , leave and root extracts for 72 hours . cells were then incubated with 20 μl of tetrazolium salt solution for four hours . the absorbance of each well was measured at 490 nm using a microplate reader ( opsys mr , thermolabsystems ) to quantify the formazon product . the number of living cells in culture is proportional to quantity of formazon product presence . fig1 a , 1 b and 1 c show the effect of c . latifolia extracts on min bd11 , 3t3 - l1 adipocyte and l6 myotubes cell lines , respectively . brin - bd11 cell line was used to evaluate insulin secretion . insulin secretion activity was determined using 24 - well plates . cells were seeded at a concentration 2 × 10 5 cells / well in rpmi 1640 containing 10 % foetal bovine serum , 1 % antibiotic and 1 % glutamine and allowed attachment overnight . cell were then washed thrice with kreb &# 39 ; s — ringer bicarbonate buffer ( krb ; 115 mm nacl , 4 . 7 mm kcl , 1 . 28 mm cacl2 , 1 . 2 mm kh 2 po 4 , 1 . 2 mm mgso 4 , 24 mm nahco 3 , 10 mm hepes - free acid , 1 g / l bovine serum albumin , 1 . 1 mm glucose ; ph 7 . 4 ) and preincubated for 40 minutes in krb buffer at 37 ° c . cells were then incubated for 30 min with 1 ml krb buffer in the absence and presence of c . latifolia extracts and glibenclamide as positive control . aliquots were removed from each well and stored at − 20 ° c . for insulin assay later . in order to quantify the insulin concentration , aliquot from insulin secretion in in vitro study were used and assay was done using mercodia rat insulin elisa ( uppsala , sweden ) protocol . the absorbance of each well was measured at 450 nm using a microplate reader ( opsys mr , thermolabsystems ) to quantify the insulin concentration . fig2 shows the effect of c . latifolia extract on brin - bd11 cell in insulin secretion after 30 minutes treatment . glucose uptake was measured in fully differentiated l6 myotubes and 3t3 adipocyte . cells were rinsed thrice with krebs - ringer hepes buffer ( ph 7 . 4 ) before treated with c . latifolia extracts in the presence and absence of insulin ( 100 nm ). this treatment was allowed to proceed for 30 min . after 30 min , 1 μci / ml of 2 - deoxy - d -[ 1 - 3 h ] glucose was added and allowed 30 min incubated . before the cells were digested , the medium was collected to vials and frozen at − 20 ° c . for adiponectin analysis and the collected process has done on a bed of ice . then , plates were washed thrice with ice - cold krh buffer and cells were digested with 0 . 1 % sds . an aliquot was used to measure the radioactivity by using scintillation counter ( tri - garb 2300tr , perkin elmer life and analytical services , boston , mass ., usa ) using ultima gold ™ llt as the scintillation cocktail ( perkin elmer , boston , mass ., usa ). glucose uptake was expressed as disintegrations per minute ( dpm ). fig3 a , 3 b , 3 c and 3 d show the c . latifolia extracts effect on glucose uptake activity in differentiated 3t3 adipocytes , respectively , whereas , fig4 a , 4 b , 4 c and 4 d show the c . latifolia extracts effect on glucose uptake activity in differentiated l6 myotubes , respectively . biovision rat adiponectin elisa assay ( mountain view , usa ) was used to screen c . latifolia extracts to potentiate the adiponectin secretion in differentiated 3t3 adipocytes . aliquot collected from glucose uptake assay were used and assay was done according to the kit procedure . fig5 shows the c . latifolia extracts effect on adiponectin secretion activity in differentiated 3t3 adipocytes with absence of insulin whereas fig6 shows the c . latifolia extracts effect on adiponectin secretion activity in differentiated 3t3 adipocytes with presence of insulin . a total of 42 male sprague - dawley ( sd ) rats ( 160 - 200 g ) were used for this study . they were housed individually in polypropylene cages and maintained under controlled room temperature ( 22 ± 2 ° c .) and humidity ( 55 ± 5 %) with 12 : 12 h light and dark cycle . all rats were provided with free access to water and commercially available rat normal pallet ( npd ) prior to acclimatize period . all experimental protocols for animal care and use was approved by the animal care and use committee ( acuc ) of faculty of medicine and health sciences , universiti putra malaysia . the hf diet was formulated based on the composition provided by levin et . al . ( 1989 ). it will be prepared from a mixture of 50 % normal rat chow pallet , 24 % of corn oil ( mazola brand ), 20 % of full - cream milk powder ( nespray brand from nestlé ) and 6 % sugar . development of hfd - fed and low dose stz - treated type 2 diabetic rats rats were allocated into two groups based on dietary regimens ; npd and hfd and they were fed for a month . after a month on either diet , rats which were introduced with hfd will be anesthetized with diethyl ether after an overnight fast and then inject with stz ( 35 mg / kg ) via intravenous . rats were continued to their original diets ( chow or fat ) and water after the stz injection . after seven days of stz injection , diabetes conditions were identified by polydipsia , polyuria and by measuring fasting blood glucose level ; glucose level & gt ; 170 mg / dl were included in the study . body weight , food consumption and fasting blood glucose were determined weekly . the animals are randomly divided into seven groups of three animals each . group 1 : normal control ( normal pellet diet , non - diabetic , untreated ) rats group 2 : diabetic control ( high fat - fed diet , diabetic , untreated ) rats group 3 : diabetic control ( high fat - fed diet , induced with stz , diabetic , untreated ) rats group 4 : diabetes test rats ( high fat - fed diet , induced with stz , diabetic , treated ), treatment with glibenclimide 600 μg per b . w group 5 : diabetic test rats ( high fat - fed diet , induced with stz , diabetic , untreated ), treatment with c . latifolia fruit extract 100 mg per b . w group 6 : diabetic test rats ( high fat - fed diet , induced with stz , diabetic , untreated ), treatment with c . latifolia root extract 100 mg per b . w group 7 : diabetic test rats ( high fat - fed diet , induced with stz , diabetic , untreated ), treatment with combination of c . latifolia root and fruit extract 100 mg per b . w body weight , food consumption and fasting blood glucose are determined weekly . fasting blood glucose level of each rat was determined at zero - time ( after overnight fasting with free access to water ). glucose ( 2 g / kg b . w ) was orally administered 30 minutes after an oral administration of the c . latifolia extracts or glibenclamide . blood glucose concentration was measured just before and 30 , 60 and 120 minutes after the oral administration of test sample . blood samples were collected at the end of every phase of treatments . plasma was collected by cardiac puncture for various biological assays . physical and biochemical parameters were obtained such as changes in body weights , food intake , plasma glucose , insulin and adiponectin level . insulin level was measured using an insulin elisa kit ( mercodia ab , uppsala , sweeden ) with rat insulin as a standard . adiponectin level is measured using biovision rat adiponectin elisa assay ( mountain view , usa ). fig7 a shows the effect of c . latifolia extracts on body weight in high fat - fed diet and low dose stz induced diabetic rats whereas fig7 b shows the effect of c . latifolia extracts on fasting blood glucose in high fat - fed diet induced diabetic rats . on the other hand , fig7 c shows the effect of c . latifolia extracts on insulin level in high fat - fed diet induced diabetic rats whereas fig7 d shows the effect of c . latifolia extracts on adiponectin level in high fat - fed diet induced diabetic rats
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referring to the figures , the clip of the present invention includes a crown 10 and depending legs 12 , 14 which are connected to the crown 10 . in manufacture , the wire from which the clip is manufactured is rolled into the cross sectional form or shape such as illustrated by fig4 . the wire is then cut to an appropriate length and formed into the u - shaped configuration of fig1 for use as a clip by a clip attachment apparatus . generally the clip is manufactured from an aluminum alloy or other wire material of desired mechanical properties . the clip , when formed about packaging material , is generally formed to the shape shown in fig3 with the legs 12 , 14 being crossed one over the other to define the closure surface 18 and tightened about packaging material . the subject matter of the present invention relates particularly to the constant cross sectional shape of the clip . thus , the particular configuration of the u - shaped clip in terms of the length of the legs 12 , 14 , the extent of the crown 10 , and the radial connecting portion between the crown 10 and legs 12 , 14 is not a limiting feature of the invention . fig4 represents graphically a typical cross sectional shape of a clip which is within the scope of the invention . importantly , the dimensional characteristics of the clip , and more particularly the cross sectional shape of the clip , are defined to enhance the use of material from which the clip is formed . the amount of material is thus reduced to a minimum while the mechanical properties of the clip are maximized . simultaneously the clip is fashioned in such a manner that it remains usable with existing clip attachment machines without rebuilding of those machines , for example , by replacement of the clip channels . the configuration of the cross sectional shape in fig4 is represented by the following formulas : ## equ1 ## where : a is the cross sectional area measured in square inches ; h is the height of the cross sectional shape of the clip measured in inches ; bi is the width of the head of the cross sectional shape measured in inches ; ti is the height of the head of the cross sectional shape measured in inches ; t is the width of the upright portion of the cross sectional shape measured in inches ; r6 is the radius between the upright portion and head of the cross sectional shape measured in inches ; r2 is the radius measured in inches of the transition of the side of the head with the lower flat of the head as seen in fig4 ; alpha is the angle measured in degrees between a vertical line and the side of the upright portion of the cross section , and cross sectional shape of the clip being generally symmetrical about a plane through the head and leg and generally parallel to the crown and legs ; and the value of z generated in equation 3 will fall between z min and z max generated from equation 1 and 2 respectively , using the value of k from equation 4 . note that the cross sectional shape of the clip is symetrical about a plane defined generally by the plane 20 through the clip . the plane 20 is generally parallel with the crown and legs which form the clip . as a result of manufacture of the clip in accordance with the equations set forth , it is possible to graph the family of clips which are within the scope of this formulation and thus constitute , in general , the subject matter of the invention . fig5 is a graph which represents the range of parameters for a clip formed in accordance with the equations set forth . while there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention , it is to be understood that the invention is to be limited only by the following claims and their equivalents .
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disclosed herein various embodiments of precast traffic barrier segments that are designed to rest above an earth retaining wall of precast segments to prevent traffic from falling over the retaining wall . the objective of the current invention is to allow a uniform height precast traffic barrier be installed parallel and to the alignment grade of the proposed roadway grade above the wall even though the supporting retaining wall is constructed and installed in parallel uniform height segments along courses of modular precast units . in order to provide a differing height required to follow a roadway grade that varies along the wall length especially in vertical curves of the changing roadway grade , a leveling or variable height course of modular concrete segment block units is required . the current invention , with the use of a tilting table to cast the leveling units at various heights / angles , modifies the immediate course below the uniform height traffic barrier course to allow the traffic barrier to follow the changing vertical grade of the roadway . when roadways , driveways or vehicle access is planned above an earth retaining wall , a barrier to prevent traffic from falling over the walls leading edge is typically required . traditionally , a guard rail or poured in place concrete traffic barrier segment is installed above the retaining wall to contain vehicles above the earth retaining wall in the planned drive isle or roadway . the exemplary embodiments expedite installation of the traffic barrier segment by making it a part of the earth retaining wall system where the barrier segment can act as the top row of modular precast retaining wall system and provide resistance to overturning by using the backfill soil weight resting on the horizontal triangular stem . the downward pressure of the soil backfill beside and on top of the horizontal stem provides the resisting pressure to have the exemplary precast traffic barrier segment act as a cantilever foundation / vertical wall and resist impact loads from vehicles on the portion of the barrier segment extending above grade . generally speaking , the portion of the traffic barrier segment extending above grade has a shape that varies depending upon a state &# 39 ; s rules and regulations ( promulgated by the department of transportation ), which define certain acceptable geometries and dimensions for barrier segments installed along roadways / highways of the state . therefore , the geometry of the traffic barrier segment &# 39 ; s vertical portion extending above roadway grade may vary from state to state . referring to fig1 , an exemplary precast traffic barrier segment 100 has a vertical face 130 that extends above roadway grade and a face 120 extending below roadway grade that consists of the upper portion of the underlying earth retaining wall . the top of the barrier segment portion 140 above roadway grade is typically 32 inches above the roadway or driveway surface elevation . the back face of the barrier segment extending above grade is 180 where the vehicular impact would occur as well as the slanted portion 150 . the overall stability of the exemplary precast traffic barrier segment is prevented from overturning by a counterweight from backfill soil resting beside and above the rear stem 190 . a triangular portion 110 of the rear stem helps capture the surrounding backfill soils weight to add resisting force by means of downward weight on the exemplary traffic barrier segment stem 190 . the top of the stem 160 is approximately 30 inches below the drive or roadway grade to allow the installation of utilities and pavement section not obscured by the precast traffic barrier segment piece or segment . fig2 shows a cross section 200 of the elevated roadway grade 220 sitting on top of the earth retaining wall . the stem 190 of the exemplary precast traffic barrier segment sits well below the pavement grade 220 to prevent interference . to keep the exemplary precast traffic barrier segment from sliding on top of the retaining wall , two protruding lugs 170 extend below the exemplary traffic barrier segment to lock into the top concrete precast segment of the earth retaining wall . for installation of the exemplary precast traffic barrier segment , a square hole 240 is cast into the exemplary precast traffic barrier segment to facilitate lifting and hoisting into place . a diagonal portion of the stem 210 is required to transfer the downward cantilever pressure on the stem 190 to the vertical portion of the exemplary precast traffic barrier segment to prevent impact on the face 120 of the barrier segment facing vehicular traffic . in looking at an elevation view , fig3 , of the front face of the earth retaining wall , the exemplary precast traffic barrier segment 100 makes up the top row of the concrete earth retaining wall to complete or top out the earth retaining wall soil retention requirements . the grade of the proposed roadway 220 is below the barrier segment portion of the precast traffic barrier segment but above the stem portion 190 of the traffic barrier segment . in fig4 , the exemplary precast traffic barrier segment 100 is shown to illustrate the unique features . the lower locking lugs 170 extend below the bottom of the stem 190 to lock into the earth retaining wall system below . the front face 120 of the precast traffic barrier segment is in vertical alignment with the underlying retaining wall face to complete the earth retaining wall vertical plane alignment . fig5 shows the top view to illustrate the triangular sides 110 of the stem 190 cover approximately 50 % of the overall counterweight area of backfill soil that is available to provide weight for overturning resistance . the triangular stem portions 110 allow the reduced horizontal coverage area and hence save precast concrete area / volume . fig6 is a rear view of the exemplary precast traffic barrier segment 100 which shows the diagonal connection arm 210 from the top of the stem 160 up to the vertical portion of the traffic barrier segment 180 and 150 . it should be emphasized that the above described invention of the present disclosure is to implement an arching effect within the earth retaining wall backfill soils by the triangular stem to take advantage of the soil backfill vertical weight to provide resisting force from horizontal vehicular impact on the portion of the stem above the drive isle or roadway grade . the dimensions of the portion of the barrier segment above grade may vary depending upon various department of transportation guidelines for impact barrier segments along roadways . when roadways are located above or rest on top of the completed earth retaining wall , a traffic barrier segment may be required to handle large impact loads from trucks or other large vehicles . the results may be more pressure than the individual segments can resist from overturning and sliding . therefore , the attachment of one segment to the next horizontally in order to share the impact load may be required . in this instance , a groove is cast in the side of the segment with a slip joint to allow the segments to work together in resisting the impact . the exemplary embodiment allows the individual segments to carry more impact load by interacting with the adjacent segments to provide more resistance than any one segment can exhibit alone . also , the grove is such that when setting the segments in place , the adjacent segment slides down over the top to expedite installation of these traffic barrier segments . also , the groove allows the alignment of the segments to be kept in line so the segments do not protrude out from one another that could snag a vehicle that comes in contact with the wall and slides down the traffic barrier segment impacting several segments in series . referring to fig7 , the exemplary precast traffic barrier segment 300 has a vertical face 330 that extends above roadway grade and a face 320 extending below roadway grade that consists of the upper portion of the underlying earth retaining wall . the top of the barrier segment portion 340 above roadway grade is typically 36 inches above the roadway or driveway surface elevation . the back face of the barrier segment extending above grade is 380 where the vehicular impact would occur as well as the slanted portion 350 . the overall stability of the exemplary precast traffic barrier segment is prevented from overturning by a counterweight from backfill soil resting beside and above the rear stem 390 . a triangular portion 310 of the rear stem helps capture the surrounding backfill soils weight to add resisting force by means of downward weight on the exemplary traffic barrier segment stem 390 . the top of the stem 360 is approximately 30 inches below the drive or roadway grade to allow the installation of utilities and pavement section not obscured by the precast traffic barrier segment piece or segment . a vertical node 430 protrudes out the side of the segment to fit into the adjoining segments groove 440 to allow interconnectivity . the groove does not extend all the way to the top of the segment but terminates at 450 to not expose the joint and hide from view . fig8 shows a cross section 400 of the elevated roadway grade 420 sitting on top of the earth retaining wall . the stem 390 of the exemplary precast traffic barrier segment sits well below the pavement grade 420 to prevent interference . to keep the exemplary precast traffic barrier segment from sliding on top of the retaining wall , two protruding lugs 370 extend below the exemplary traffic barrier segment to lock into the top concrete precast segment of the earth retaining wall . for installation of the exemplary precast traffic barrier segment , a square hole 420 is cast into the exemplary precast traffic barrier segment to facilitate lifting and hoisting into place . a diagonal portion of the stem 410 is required to transfer the downward cantilever pressure on the stem 390 to the vertical portion of the exemplary precast traffic barrier segment to prevent impact on the face 380 of the barrier segment facing vehicular traffic . the vertical slot 440 receives the adjacent vertical node 430 to interlock and allow connectivity and shared resistance when impacted . in looking at an elevation view , fig9 , of the front face of the earth retaining wall , the exemplary precast traffic barrier segment 300 makes up the top row of the concrete earth retaining wall to complete or top out the earth retaining wall soil retention requirements . the grade of the proposed roadway 420 is below the barrier segment portion of the precast traffic barrier segment , but above the stem portion 390 of the traffic barrier segment . the segments connect horizontally by a node and vertical channel 460 to share impact loads from vehicles . in fig1 , the exemplary precast traffic barrier segment 300 is shown to illustrate the unique features . the lower locking lugs 370 extend below the bottom of the stem 390 to lock into the earth retaining wall system below . the front face 320 of the precast traffic barrier segment is in vertical alignment with the underlying retaining wall face to complete the earth retaining wall vertical plane alignment . the vertical slot 440 is to receive the vertical node from the adjacent segment . fig1 shows the top view to illustrate the triangular sides 310 of the stem 390 cover approximately 50 % of the overall counterweight area of backfill soil that is available to provide weight for overturning resistance . the triangular stem portions 310 allow the reduced horizontal coverage area and hence save precast concrete area / volume . the vertical node 430 extends out the side of the segment to fit inside the adjacent segments vertical slot 440 . fig1 is a rear view of the exemplary precast traffic barrier segment 300 which shows the diagonal connection arm 410 from the top of the stem 360 up to the vertical portion of the traffic barrier segment 380 and 350 . the vertical node 430 is shown as well as the receiving vertical slot or channel 440 . it should be emphasized that the second embodiment implements an arching effect within the earth retaining wall backfill soils by the triangular stem to take advantage of the soil backfill vertical weight to provide resisting force from horizontal vehicular impact on the portion of the stem above the drive isle or roadway grade . the dimensions of the portion of the barrier segment above grade may vary depending upon various department of transportation guidelines for impact barrier segments along roadways . the vertical node on one side and vertical slot or channel on the opposite side allows horizontal interaction of adjacent segments to share vehicle impact loads . referring to fig1 , shown is an exemplary precast leveling segment 500 . the precast leveling segment 500 has a front portion 320 , horizontal stem 590 , and an alignment seat 165 . the front portion 320 comprises a front surface 530 , a rear surface 535 , a top surface 540 , and a bottom surface 545 . the top surface 540 may slope in parallel to an above roadway . the bottom surface 545 is parallel to an underlying earth retaining wall . for example , the top surface 540 may run parallel to a roadway above the precast leveling segment 500 that slopes from the left side 560 to the right side 550 whereas the bottom surface 545 may run parallel to an underlying earth retaining wall that does not slope . in this example , the top surface 540 is not parallel to the bottom surface 545 but the bottom surface 545 is perpendicular to the front surface 530 . continuing the example , the height of the left side 560 is greater than the height of the right side 550 to facilitate the top surface 540 running parallel to the roadway above . allowing the top surface 540 to run parallel to the roadway and the bottom surface 545 to run parallel to the underlying earth retaining wall prevents the need to slope the underlying earth retaining wall . the horizontal stem 590 extends outwardly from a rear surface 535 of the front portion 320 . the horizontal stem 590 comprises a triangular portion 310 extending left and right from the top surface 570 of the horizontal stem 590 . the triangular portion 310 of the horizontal stem 590 helps capture the weight of the surrounding backfill soil to add resisting force by means of downward weight on the precast leveling segment 500 . two open boxed cavities 520 are cast into the lower section of the precast leveling segment 500 to allow lifting for placement . the alignment seat 165 has right and left aligning elements 370 that align the leveling segment to an underlying earth retaining wall . fig1 depicts an isometric view to illustrate that the triangular portion 310 of the horizontal stem 590 covers approximately 50 % of the overall area of backfill soil that is available to provide weight for overturning resistance . the triangular portion 310 allows a reduced horizontal coverage area and saves precast concrete area and / or volume . in reference to fig1 , a cross section 600 of a sloping elevated roadway grade 420 is shown sitting on top of an earth retaining wall . the elevated roadway grade 420 slopes toward the viewer of fig1 . the top surface 540 of the front portion of the precast leveling segment 500 slopes toward the viewer of fig1 parallel to the elevated roadway grade 420 . one of two protrusions 170 is shown . the protrusion 170 , along with the other , nonvisible protrusion , locks into the precast segment below . a horizontal stem 590 comprises at least a triangular portion 310 and square holes 240 . for installation of a precast leveling segment 500 , two square holes 240 are cast into the precast leveling segment 500 for lifting and hoisting the precast leveling segment 500 into place . a horizontal stem 590 parallel to the traffic barrier above is required to transfer downward vertical pressure from a traffic barrier above to the horizontal stem 590 below the precast leveling segment 500 . fig1 depicts an elevation view of the front face of the earth retaining wall . a leveling course 505 of precast leveling segments 500 a , 500 b , and 500 c makes up the designated row below the elevated roadway grade 420 . although many precast leveling segments are depicted , the leveling course 505 may comprise one or more precast leveling segments . the top surfaces 540 a , 540 b , and 540 c of the precast leveling segments 500 a , 500 b , and 500 c slope parallel to the sloping elevated roadway grade 420 . thus , the front surface heights of left edges 560 a , 560 b , and 560 c and right edges 550 a , 550 b , and 550 c of each of the precast leveling segments 500 a , 500 b , and 500 c may increase or decrease relative to the precast leveling segments 500 a , 500 b , and 500 c immediately to the left or right as the elevated roadway grade 420 increases or decreases . the precast leveling segments are in an order that maintains a predefined distance between the elevated roadway grade 420 and the top surfaces 540 a , 540 b , and 540 c . for example , the distance between a point at the top of the left edge 560 a and a point 422 a on the roadway that is on a line parallel to the left edge 560 a equals the distance between a point at the top of the right edge 550 a and a point 422 b on the roadway that is on a line parallel to the right edge 550 a . in one embodiment , the first front surface height of the right edge 550 a of a first precast leveling segment 500 a is greater than a second front surface height of the right edge 550 b of a second precast leveling segment 500 b . therefore , the top surfaces 540 a and 540 b slope parallel to the elevated roadway grade 420 above the leveling course 505 . the precast leveling segments 500 a , 500 b , and 500 c are aligned such that the height of the right edge 550 a of the first precast leveling segment 500 a is within a predefined delta of the height of the left edge 560 b of the second precast leveling segment 500 b to ensure a gradual slope parallel to the elevated roadway grade 420 above . in alternative embodiments , the height of the left edge 560 b may be greater than the height of left edge 560 a when the elevated roadway grade 420 increases slope or the height of the left edge 560 b may be less than the height of left edge 560 a when the elevated roadway grade 420 decreases slope . in fig1 , a side view of a precast leveling segment 500 is shown . shown is a front portion 520 , horizontal stem 590 , and alignment seat 515 . the front portion 530 comprises a front surface 525 , a top surface 540 , a rear surface 535 , and a bottom surface 545 . the horizontal stem 590 attaches to the rear surface 535 of the front portion 520 . the top surface 540 slopes downward , with a greater height of the left edge 560 than the height of the right edge 550 . the horizontal stem 590 comprises a top surface 570 and a triangular portion 310 . two square holes 520 are cast into the horizontal stem 590 of the precast leveling segment 500 for lifting and hoisting the precast leveling segment 500 into place . the alignment seat 515 comprises at least lower aligning elements 370 that extend below the horizontal stem 310 to lock in to the earth retaining wall system below . the lower aligning elements 370 may be locking lugs . it should be emphasized that the above - described embodiments of the present invention , particularly , any “ preferred ” embodiments , are merely possible non - limiting examples of implementations , merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the invention . many variations and modifications may be made to the above - described embodiment ( s ) of the invention without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the invention . all such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and the present invention .
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in that form of the present invention chosen for purposes of illustration , fig1 shows an automobile , indicated generally at 10 having a wheel 12 with a tire 14 and having a fender 16 extending above the wheel 12 . in accordance with the present invention , a wheel protection device , indicated generally at 18 , comprising a box 20 is mounted under the fender 16 above the wheel 12 and contains a protective sheath 22 , as seen at 24 in fig2 which is stored in a retracted position , as seen in fig1 . the protective sheath 22 is pivotally mounted on a bracket 19 and carries a curved ratchet 21 which is engaged by a worm gear 23 driven by reversible motor 28 , as best seen in fig3 . with the protective sheath 22 , in the retracted position , the automobile 10 an be driven in a normal manner and the protection device 18 will not interfere with the driving , but will remain hidden inconspicuously under the fender 16 . when the driver parks and wishes to protect the wheels 12 , the driver actuates a switch 26 on the dashboard which actuates a motor 28 . this causes worm gear 23 to travel along the curved ratchet 21 and to extend the protective sheath 22 to the position seen in fig2 . as best seen in fig3 the protective sheath 22 is formed of metal or other suitable material which will resist stabbing or other attempts to tamper with or remove it and is comprised of a plurality of overlapping and interconnected plates 30 , each having a leading edge flange 31 projecting inwardly and a trailing edge flange 33 wghich extends above and below the surface 35 of the plate 30 . when not extended , the plates 30 are stored within a housing member 37 which carries the curved ratchet 21 and has inwardly extending flanges 39 procided at each edge . also , the housing member 37 contains a cable reel 41 which is driven by motor 28 and worm gear 23 through worm gear 43 . the cable reel 41 is a double reel and carries twocables 45 and 47 which extend about pulleys 49 and 51 , respectively , and pass through openings 53 in the trailing edge flanges 33 of the plates 30 and are attached to the leading edges of the leading plates 55 and 57 , as best seen in fig4 . as seen in fig3 when the protective sheath 22 extends , it extends about the tire 14 and substantially encloses the tire 14 and wheel 12 . this prevents potential vandals or thieves from obtaining access to the tires , wheel covers and lug nuts and , hence , prevents vandalism or theft . the protective sheath 22 comprises a plurality of interconnected plates 30 which overlap each other and which unfold as the sheath 22 is extended to enclose the tire 14 and wheel 12 , as seen in fig3 . with the sheath 22 in this position , the sheath prevents anyone from gaining access to either the tire 14 or wheel 12 and , thereby prevents vandalism or reverse direction to retract the sheath 22 into the housing member 37 and , hence can have access to the tire 14 and wheel for servicing , changing and the like . when the plates 30 are fully retracted , tension on the cables 45 and 47 will prevent further rotation of cable reel 41 and , hence , of worm gear 43 . this causes worm gear 28 to travel off of worm gear 43 to the curved ratchet 21 , which causes the protetive sheath 22 to rotate to the stored position , as seen in fig1 . when worm gear 28 reaches the end of the curved ratcht 21 , it strikes lilmit switch 63 which turns off motor 28 and returns it to the forward polarity theft . as seen in fig4 the outer portions of the leding plates 53 and 55 are recessed , as seen at 59 , to allow the car to be towed or pushed , if necessary , but not to permit access to the tires 14 by knives , nails or the like . also , as seen in fig4 leading plate 57 carries a latch 61 which is urged by spring 63 to project through an opening 65 in the leading edge of plate 55 to latch the plates 55 and 57 together in the fully extended position . when desired , the driver can actuate switch 26 to cause motor 28 to rotate in the reverse direction to retract the sheath 22 into the housing member 37 and , hence , can have access to the tire 14 and wheel for servicing , changing and the like . obviously , numerous variations and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention . therefore , it should be clearly understood that the form of the present invention described above and shown in the figures of the accompanying drawing are illustrative only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention .
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as required , detailed aspects of the disclosed subject matter are disclosed herein ; however , it is to be understood that the disclosed aspects are merely exemplary of the invention , which may be embodied in various forms . therefore , specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting , but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art how to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure . certain terminology will be used in the following description for convenience in reference only and will not be limiting . for example , up , down , front , back , right and left refer to the invention as orientated in the view being referred to . the words , “ inwardly ” and “ outwardly ” refer to directions toward and away from , respectively , the geometric center of the aspect being described and designated parts thereof . additional examples include computing devices such as a mobile smart device including a display device for viewing a typical web browser or user interface will be commonly referred to throughout the following description . the type of device , computer , display , or user interface may vary when practicing an embodiment of the present invention . a computing device could be represented by a desktop personal computer , a laptop computer , “ smart ” mobile phones , pdas , tablets , or other handheld computing devices . healthcare providers may include any person or entity within the healthcare field , from insurance providers , to pharmacists , to hospitals , to doctors , and more . said terminology will include the words specifically mentioned , derivatives thereof and words of similar meaning . referring to the drawings in more detail , the reference numeral 2 generally designates a preferred embodiment medical disposition system 2 which generally includes a patient having a patient computing device 4 , a health care provider having a health care provider computing device 6 , and a centralized server computing device 8 , all connected via a wireless network 10 , such as the internet . the patient computing device 4 typically includes a cpu and data store 12 which stores and runs a software application 14 . the patient computing device 4 also includes a user interface display 18 . a preferred embodiment would also include a location sensor 20 , such as a global navigation satellite system ( gnss ) sensor capable of determining the precise location of the patient computing device 4 . optionally the position could be entered by a user . the patient enters a patient query input 16 into the software application 14 which is processed by the cpu and is sent through the wireless network 10 . a health care provider computing device 6 likewise includes a cpu and data storage 22 element , a separate software application 24 stored and run by the cpu and data storage elements , and stored patient data 26 logs . these patient data logs include previous patient data , such as medication being taken , past medical history , and other information known to the provider . the health care provider &# 39 ; s computing device 6 would also include a user interface display 28 for interacting with the software and a known location 30 of that healthcare provider . the health care provider &# 39 ; s computing device 6 receives patient queries 16 sent from the patient computing device 4 along with data from the central computing device 8 . the central computing device 8 includes a cpu and storage element 32 along with the core application software 34 . this software may be updated here prior to updates being applied to the software applications 14 , 24 of the patient computing device 4 and the health care provider computing device 6 . a database 36 is stored on the central computing device 8 containing all relevant and known factors which may affect how data is transferred between the patient computing device 4 , the central computing device 8 , and the health care provider computing device 6 . the database will also contain third - party data . fig2 shows the relationship between the patient query 16 and patient data 26 as it is transferred through the wireless network 10 between the various parties . as diagrammed , a patient query 16 typically includes at least one symptom 38 and other related medical information such as the medication 40 currently being taken by the patient , the duration 42 of the symptoms , or other symptom - related data . other patient history data 44 in the patient &# 39 ; s possession may also be uploaded through the patient query . photographs and audio files 45 along with other multimedia evidence of symptoms may also be uploaded with the patient query . all of this data is sent through the wireless network 10 to the centralized sever 8 . the central server has access to third party sources 56 , including health care providers , insurance providers , and other information databases . the central server will attempt to provide the patient &# 39 ; s query with a disposition result based upon the data received in the patient query along with data obtained from third parties , including health care professionals . the application software 34 , along with the cpu 32 , calculates what should be the response to the patient . if needed , the patient query is forwarded on to healthcare providers , such as the patient &# 39 ; s primary care physician , to supplement the disposition result . the healthcare provider has additional patient data 26 such as past patient history 48 , new patient data 50 based upon the patient query 16 , regional medical data 52 , such as recent outbreaks of disease in the area , along with related software application data 54 which may have been customized by the health care provider . the healthcare provider will look at the patient query and all additional information and analyze it with the health care provider computing device 6 to reach a disposition result . this result is sent back through the network to the patient , who is instructed how to proceed . all new data is stored in the central server 8 database 36 and is used for future disposition calculations , as well as by third party entities for unrelated purposes . these purposes may include : increasing the knowledge base around certain diseases and ailments ; increasing information about certain genetic diseases ; increasing the health care provider network &# 39 ; s knowledge about symptoms relating to diseases and other dispositions ; and notifying insurance agencies about claims in the area . the data may also be sent through an analytic algorithm to determine the cost savings of having a patient use this semi - automated disposition system to receive the correct disposition and healthcare instructions rather than had that patient gone straight to the emergency room or , even worse , ignored the ailment until it became worse and more costly . the present invention generally relies upon a generated decision tree which branches depending on what information is known to the disposition system 2 , what information is entered into the system by the patient via the patient query 16 , and other data that may be provided by health care providers or other third - parties during the disposition review . this decision tree concept is generally outlined through several flowcharts described below . fig3 is a flowchart diagramming the steps generally taken when a patient query is input into the system and a disposition result is sought . the method starts at 100 , and third party data is retrieved by the central server at 102 . the database 36 for disposition analysis is populated at 104 . this essentially sets up the software application 14 , 24 and the application software 34 to communicate and for the processor 32 to be able to sort through the database of symptoms , knowledge , and other data and response to a patient query 16 . if a patient query is entered at 106 then the query is encoded 108 for use within the central database to be interpreted through the application software . otherwise the database continues to retrieve inputs from external third parties at 102 and populate the database at 104 . the encoded query is sent to the server at 110 where it is processed at 112 by the central server &# 39 ; s cpu . once the query is processed , the cpu will make a determination of whether health care provider input ( e . g . a doctor ) is needed at 114 . if not , the server sends back a response at 116 which is determined by the server cpu and provided through the patient &# 39 ; s software application . the process ends at this step at 132 . the response to the patient may include instructions to see a health care provider or to go to the emergency room . if provider input is needed at 114 , the patient &# 39 ; s location is determined at 118 and the nearest health care provider is located at 120 . there may be parameters limiting which providers can be listed , such as those providers who are in network with the patient &# 39 ; s health insurance provider , or those providers who the patient has indicated are their primary care physicians . the nearest provider is contacted at 122 and a check is performed to see if the provider is capable of responding at that time at 124 . if not , the next provider on the list is located at 120 and process repeats . if the provider responds at 124 , the patient query is sent to the provider at 126 through the central server . the provider processes the query at 128 through its computer system using its database of patient history and other data to evaluate the patient query . a patient response is sent to the patient from the provider at 130 . this response could go directly from the provider to the patient , or it could be filtered through the software application located at the central server . data based upon the provider &# 39 ; s response at 130 is also sent to the central server via the dashed line shown in fig3 , which represents only data flow and not a step in the method . this data is seen as third party data and populates into the database to increase the ability of the software application at the central server , via the central server cpu , to respond to similar patient queries in the future . it should be noted that the response to the patient from either the software application or the health care provider should take the form of a patient disposition , directing the patient to the appropriate place to obtain health care , rather than to attempt to produce a diagnosis of the patient &# 39 ; s ailment based upon the patient &# 39 ; s inputs alone . fig4 is a flowchart diagraming the steps taken when the health care provider provides a response to a patient query . the process starts at 140 and the health care provider retrieves the patient query at 142 . the provider then retrieves all patient history records at 144 , and all relevant external data at 146 . the patient query is then evaluated at 148 while all of these data factors are taken into account . this process is likely performed by the health care provider computing device 6 cpu 22 . alternatively , this could be performed at the central server 8 using data stored at the health care provider . a determination is made at 150 whether manual review of the patient query and related data is needed . if no , then a second determination is made whether the determination requires a patient visit at 152 . if no , then a disposition response is formulated and sent to the patent at 154 and the process ends at 170 . if manual review is necessary at 150 , then the data is sent to a professional to review at 156 . after the review , a diagnosis is retrieved at 158 based upon the professional review , and the determination of whether a visit is required occurs at 152 . again , if no , a patient disposition response is determined and sent to the patient at 154 and the process ends at 170 . if a visit is determined necessary at 152 , direction to the medical care provider are added to the disposition response at 160 , and the response is sent to the patient at 162 . the process then is on stand - by until the patient visit occurs at 164 . the professionals will examine the patient in the ordinary course , and then the results of that examination will be given to the patient and will also be uploaded through the software application to the central server at 166 . the database ( s ) are updated at 168 and the process ends at 170 . it should be noted here that the requirements for having the patient diagnoses reached by the professional entered into the disposition system 2 allows the disposition system to essentially become “ smarter .” future patient queries with similar symptom features may not require an in - face doctor visit based upon the outcome of previous visits . fig5 is a flowchart demonstrating the steps taken for submitting a patient query 16 through a patient computing device 4 . the process starts at 172 and the software application is activated at 174 . the patient interacts with the software application through user interface , such as a touch screen , mouse and keyboard , or other standard computer user interface . the patient first enters text data at 176 which describes the symptoms the patient is suffering from and generally describes the area of the body being affected . the patient is asked whether there are physical symptoms at 178 . if yes , the patient takes a photograph of those symptoms ( e . g . rash , swelling ) at 180 . the patient is then asked whether there are audible symptoms ( e . g . cough ) at 182 . if yes , the patient takes an audio recording of the symptom at 184 . all of this symptom data is compiled and uploaded as the patient query at 186 . the query is sent at 188 . results are eventually returned to the patient at 190 in the form of a disposition , instructing the patient who to call or what to expect based upon the symptoms as presented by the patient . if the instructions require the patient to visit a health care provider , directions may be returned along with the result . this process ends at 192 . fig6 is a flow chart demonstrating how third party data and third party diagnostics are incorporated into the practice of a method of the present invention . the process starts at 200 and third party data is received at the central server at 202 . this data may be delivered directly from the third party as part of a relationship between the third party and the disposition system 2 , or it may be based upon research performed in conjunction with the disposition system 2 , or it may be some other public source of information , or , as described above , it may come directly from health care providers based upon prior patient queries . the database is populated with third party at 204 . new diagnostic data is received at 206 . this data may come from any of the sources above , and adds to the database of knowledge available to the disposition system 2 . the database is updated at 208 as this new diagnostic data is received . third parties may make requests of data from the disposition system . if such a request is not made at 210 , the database continues to be updated as new diagnostic data is received at 206 . once a third party request is made at 210 , the requested data is sent to the third party at 212 . here , third parties may be health care providers , insurance companies , or even statisticians using the data to help increase responsiveness and effectiveness of health care providers . the data is processed at the third party location at 214 , such as at a doctor &# 39 ; s office . if a change in data , or some other meaningful result is determined based upon the data , at 216 , the third party may take some action at 218 . this action may be a doctor &# 39 ; s disposition result for a patient , or it may be the recognition of an outbreak in the area of a particular disease , or it may even be a breakthrough in some genetic testing based upon data stored in the disposition system database . this updated data is sent back into the database which is updated at 208 . if no change in data as described above is determined at 216 , then the procedure returns to ask if there is another third party request . the cycle continues as new data is absorbed and new requests are performed . fig7 presents the steps of practicing an embodiment of the present invention for performing a generic example of a patient query having symptoms . the process starts at 230 and may begin with an age query at 232 . the query may ask whether the patient is less than 2 months old , over sixty years old , or some other quantifier . depending on the response at 232 , the disposition system 2 will require a determination immediately at 246 whether emergency procedures are necessary . for example , if a two - month old patient has a fever over 104 °, the disposition system will tell the patient or the user to immediately contact an emergency health provider at 248 . otherwise it will recommend contacting the patient &# 39 ; s pediatrician or other family health provider at 250 . if the age query returns a range that does not require immediate attention , the patient will be asked to enter textual symptom information into the query at 234 . this may include the location of the body where pain is occurring or the description of other symptoms ( e . g . sneezing , wheezing , and shortness of breath ). if these symptoms trigger a disposition result at 236 within the disposition system 2 , then a determination of whether or not there is an emergency response need is made at 246 . if yes , the patient is instructed to immediately contact an emergency health provider at 248 ; otherwise , the patient is instructed to contact their primary care provider at 250 . if the textual symptoms do not trigger a disposition result , the patient may then be asked to submit photographs of physical symptoms , if any , the patient is suffering from at 238 . again , if these symptoms trigger a disposition result at 240 within the disposition system 2 , then a determination of whether or not there is an emergency response need is made at 246 . if yes , the patient is instructed to immediately contact an emergency health provider at 248 ; otherwise , the patient is instructed to contact their primary care provider at 250 . if the physical symptoms do not trigger a disposition result , other additional symptom queries may be entered at 242 . these may include additional textual symptoms , or choices from a list produced by the disposition system 2 , or audio files for audible symptoms . again , if these symptoms trigger a disposition result at 244 within the disposition system 2 , then a determination of whether or not there is an emergency response need is made at 246 . if yes , the patient is instructed to immediately contact an emergency health provider at 248 ; otherwise , the patient is instructed to contact their primary care provider at 250 . if no trigger is determined , the system checks to determine whether it is capable of producing an automated result for the patient at 252 . if not , it suggests following up with the patient &# 39 ; s primary care provider . if there is a result , the system determines whether the condition is self - treatable at 254 based upon the determined disposition . if not , it suggests following up with the patient &# 39 ; s primary care provider . if the ailment is determined to be self - treatable , the system sends a result at 256 which may include a video indicating how to treat the symptom ( s ) of the ailment . for example , if it is determined that the user has a mild eye irritation , the video may show how to put eye drops into your eye to flush out the irritant or otherwise sooth the irritation . the process then ends at 258 . not shown in the chart , but possible in an optimized embodiment of the present invention , is a scheduling step . the patient computing device 4 would schedule the self - treatment procedure required by the video , and would request from the patient follow - up data after the self - treatment should have occurred according to the schedule . this follow - up data may then lead to a different diagnosis . fig8 goes one step further and provides a specific example of how a patient suffering from a fever would use a preferred embodiment disposition system 2 . the process starts at 270 and the first question posed by the disposition system software would be whether the patient &# 39 ; s temperature exceeds 100 . 3 ° fahrenheit at 272 . if not , instructions are sent to the patient at 274 which basically indicate that fevers at or below 100 . 3 ° fahrenheit are not indicative of a need for immediate medical attention . the instructions may suggest taking aspirin or another fever reducer and to continue checking the patient &# 39 ; s temperature at a regular basis . the process would then end at 298 . if the patient answers that their fever is above 100 . 3 ° fahrenheit at 272 , the next question may be whether the fever has been present for more than five days at 276 . alternatively , the question presented to the patient would simply ask how long the fever has been persisting . if the fever has been present for more than five days at 276 , the system will inform the patient to either contact their doctor immediately or to head to the nearest emergency room at 275 . instructions to the location of choice may also be provided by the disposition system . the process then ends at 298 . if the fever has not been present for more than five days at 276 , the next question presented by the disposition system may be the age of the patient at 278 . similar to the discussion above , if the age of the patient falls within a pre - determined threshold of ages ( e . g . under two months or over sixty years ), the patient may be instructed to either contact their doctor immediately or to head to the nearest emergency room at 275 . instructions to the location of choice may also be provided by the disposition system . the process then ends at 298 . if the patient does not fall within a specific age threshold at 278 , the patient may be asked whether the suffer from any immune or infection issues at 280 , or any other key factors which may require immediate medical attention . if the patient does indeed suffer from any of these factors , the patient may be instructed to either contact their doctor immediately or to head to the nearest emergency room at 275 . instructions to the location of choice may also be provided by the disposition system . the process then ends at 298 . if the patient does not suffer from additional immunity or infection issues at 280 , they may next be asked to list their symptoms or choose from some predetermined text - based symptom queries at 282 . if any of these symptoms cause the disposition system to trigger an alert at 282 , the patient may be instructed to either contact their doctor immediately or to head to the nearest emergency room at 275 . instructions to the location of choice may also be provided by the disposition system . the process then ends at 298 . similarly , the patient may be asked to provide photographs of their visible symptoms at 284 , if any . like above , if any of these symptoms cause the disposition system to trigger an alert at 282 , the patient may be instructed to either contact their doctor immediately or to head to the nearest emergency room at 275 . instructions to the location of choice may also be provided by the disposition system . the process then ends at 298 . a similar process will take place regarding audio symptoms at 286 , if any . again , the results may trigger a response instructing the patient to contact their doctor or the local emergency room at 275 . a follow - up query may be presented by the system at 288 where a number of photographs are presented to the patient . the patient may select any photographs which match their physically visible symptoms . the results could trigger the need to seek immediate medical attention . if no trigger has been reached , the patient may be asked to enter additional information about their symptoms at 290 . an optional step not shown in fig8 would send these results to a medical professional who may examine them and determine whether or not immediate medical attention is necessary . these other symptoms may also be reviewed by the disposition system 2 and may automatically trigger such a response . if no trigger for immediate medical attention has occurred , the disposition system may ask the patient whether they are suffering from common symptoms at 292 . in the case of a fever , the query may ask about sneezing , coughing , or other symptoms indicating that the patient is suffering from the common cold . if the patient indicates this is correct , the disposition system 2 will send the patient common instructions on how to treat the symptoms of the common cold at 296 , and the process ends at 298 . note that this result will only generate such a diagnosis when all other probable results have been eliminated . if the patient indicates that they are not suffering from the common symptoms listed by the disposition system at 292 , but no trigger for immediate medical attention has occurred previously , the patient will be instructed to set up an appointment with their primary care physician at 294 and the process ends at 298 . it should be understood that this is just one example of one ailment and how the disposition system 2 of a preferred embodiment invention would respond to the patient query . different ailments and symptoms may trigger different responses from the disposition system . as the disposition system evolves over time , what may trigger an emergency alert may change . other symptoms or patient data not listed in these steps may also be gathered by the disposition system 2 from the patient or third parties when evaluating a patient disposition . fig9 a - f show an example of a screenshot of a user interface 18 as it may appear on a mobile computing device 4 used by a patient when accessing the software application 14 . fig9 a in particular shows the selection of the location on the patient &# 39 ; s body where the pain , discomfort , injury , or other symptom ( s ) are occurring . the patient can choose from a list as shown , or alternatively an interactive figure resembling the human body may appear and the patient can select the portion of the body that is affected . fig9 b similarly shows how a patient may select one or more symptoms from a predetermined list . this list is narrowed down by the selection of body location . it may further be narrowed down based upon other information provided by the patient and / or third parties . alternatively the patient will type the symptoms into the user interface directly . fig9 c shows an example of a user interface where a number of audio files of different types of coughs may be reviewed by the patient by clicking on a “ play ” icon 58 . once the user has heard all of the cues , they patient will select a selectable radio button 60 relating to their symptom . options are available if the patient has “ no cough ” or if none of the sound bites sound like the patient &# 39 ; s cough . if “ none ” is selected , other options may be pulled up in a second screen . fig9 d similarly shows an example of a user interface where the patient is asked to select between two images 62 which may resemble the physically visible symptoms they are suffering from . again , the patient will select either image or “ neither image ” by selecting a selectable radio button 60 or otherwise selecting the object . alternatively the patient will take a photograph of their symptom , upload it , and view it on the user interface 18 to verify the picture is clear . fig9 e shows a user interface 18 including a text bar 19 for typing in a patient &# 39 ; s symptoms , and a results list 21 based upon what the patient has typed in . it should be noted that all results will appear at a seventh - grade health literacy level , instead of presenting large medical terms and medical conditions that a lay person would not understand . fig9 f shows a user interface 18 asking basic questions that the patient query 16 needs to establish before eliminating possible symptoms and solutions . for instance , if the gender “ male ” is selected , the question regarding pregnancy would be removed . age ranges of important medical significance are also asked about up - front . other features relating to the various elements described throughout may be incorporated into the user interface to varying degrees . any typical means of selecting items within a user interface may be used in conjunction or separate of any of the elements mentioned herein . the major feature of the present invention over the existing prior art is the ability to generate a patient disposition based upon data from parties other than the patient and instruct the patient correctly , in a manner which can be understood by nearly any patient ( e . g . at a seventh - grade health literacy level ). the patient is instructed to seek the correct guidance to resolve their medical issue , rather than being provided a laundry list of difficult to pronounce diagnoses which the patient must select between based upon similar sounding symptoms of which they have no way to differentiate . instead of worrying a patient or providing incorrect diagnoses , the present invention makes sure the patient has the best course of action for treating whatever ailment they have based upon data from all sources available , not just what the patient inputs . because the present invention can be incorporated into business models within the healthcare industry , such as insurance companies and hospitals , it is important for the software and hardware to be capable of generating reports based upon the results of the disposition system illustrated above . these data analytics will be important to the business side of the healthcare industry , and may drive the way the software application responds to patient queries to increase cost savings to both the providers and the patients . for example , the system 2 will record how many patients use the application software on a daily basis . based upon the disposition outcomes , the system 2 can generate data associated with the efficiency of preventing or averting visits to emergency departments or to urgent care that would have likely been burdened with such a visit absent the presence of the disposition system 2 . similar results would be available for averted urgent care or physician office visits that may not have been postponed had the patient been incorrectly alerted to a diagnosis that they were not actually suffering from . the system 2 will record the top presenting complaints entered into patient queries and can generate reports based upon dispositions stemming from those complaints . all of this can lead to a reigning - in of healthcare costs . the present invention could be more specifically applied to systems and methods of producing a disposition . one example would be a pregnancy tracking and advising application which records up to date information provided by the patient to predetermine what could be wrong with the patient or the unborn child during various periods of pregnancy . as data is collected and stored , the disposition system would be able to more accurately determine what may be wrong with the patient and to properly instruct the patient whether the problem can wait until the next meeting with the patient &# 39 ; s primary care or obgyn , or whether immediate emergency medical treatment should be sought . similarly , the disposition system could be used for patients with diagnosed or presumed mental health issues . the system could be setup after a traumatic event or after diagnosis of mental illness by a health care provider . the system could track the patient &# 39 ; s mood via periodic queries , and ensure that the patient is reminded to take their medication . if the patient fails to check in regularly , the system could automatically alert a guardian or medical personnel to check on the patient immediately . the same disposition tools could apply to surgical applications as well as typical non - surgical medical issues . for example , a patient who is scheduled for a surgical procedure could access the software application associated with an embodiment of the present invention and could enter information about their diagnosis and the proposed procedure . through the disposition system described herein , the patient could be instructed to seek a second opinion or be presented with questions that the patient should ask the surgeon prior to consenting to surgery . additionally , the disposition system could present alternatives to surgery . these suggestions could be beneficial to patients who otherwise may be nervous to second - guess their surgeon . it is to be understood that while certain aspects of the disclosed subject matter have been shown and described , the disclosed subject matter is not limited thereto and encompasses various other embodiments and aspects .
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according to the invention , a is a linear , branched or cyclic alkylene or alkenylene group having 2 to 24 carbon atoms , wherein the alkenylene group is a 1 - alkenylene or an internal alkenylene group . examples of suitable alkylene groups are ethylene , propylene , butylene , pentylene , decylene , octadecylene and eicosenylene and the like . examples of suitable alkenylene groups are propenylene , but - 2 - enylene , oct - 4 - enylene and the like . according to a most particular preferred embodiment of the present invention , the alkyl and alkenyl moieties comprise at least one internal ethynylene moiety . that is , that a is in particular a linear group having 6 to 24 carbon atoms according to the formula : wherein p is in the range of 1 to 7 and q is in the range of 1 to 7 , the groups —( ch 2 )— and —( c ≡ c )— optionally occurring in a random sequence , and wherein the right terminus of a is bonded to b . such ethynylene moieties can be polymerized to provide a cross - linked network that will reduce the permeability of the monolayer , and that will provide more stabilization to the monolayer . examples of this linear group are : preferably , the linear group has the formula — ch 2 — ch 2 —( ch 2 ) p —( c ≡ c ) q —( ch 2 ) r —, wherein p is 1 to 9 , preferably 7 , r is 1 to 9 and q is 1 or 2 . according to the invention , b can be selected from the functional groups as defined above . suitable examples of — ch ═ cr 2 r 3 groups are ethenyl , 2 - propenyl , 4 - butenyl and the like . the formula — ch ═ cr 2 r 3 may represent a cyclic structure having a carbon carbon double bond in the ring or having an exo carbon carbon double bond , that is that the formula — ch ═ cr 2 r 3 includes structures such as cyclopent - 3 - enyl and 2 - methylene cyclopentyl . suitable examples of — c ≡ cr 2 groups are ethynyl , 2 - propynyl and the like . suitable examples of the — xr 2 group are — oh , — sh , — ome , — oet and the like , wherein me represents methyl and et represents ethyl . suitable examples of the — n ( r 2 ) 2 group include primary , secondary and tertiary amino groups such as — nh 2 , — nhet and — nme 2 . a suitable example of the urea group — nr 2 — c ( o )— n ( r 2 ) 2 is — nh — c ( o )— nh 2 . the group — o —[( c ( r 4 ) 2 ) p o ] q — r 2 represents oligomers and polymers of alkylene oxides . r 4 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and c 1 - c 4 alkyl , e . g . methyl , ethyl , n - propyl and i - propyl . preferably , r 4 is hydrogen or methyl and p is 2 . the group — o —[( c ( r 4 ) 2 ) p o ] q — r 2 encompasses diblock , triblock , multiblock or comb - like oligomers and polymers , e . g . — o —[( ch 2 o ) s —( chmeo ) t ]— r 2 wherein s + t = q . a suitable diblock polymer consists for example of a polyethylene oxide block and a polypropylene oxide block . in addition , these oligomers and polymers may be terminated with a hydroxyl group or an alkoxy group ( e . g . a methoxy group ), the latter being represented by — or 2 as appears from the formula . suitable examples of the — c ( x ) xr 1 group are ester groups and thioester groups , e . g . — c ( o ) ome , — c ( o ) oet , — c ( s ) sme and the like . suitable examples of the amide groups or thioamide groups — c ( x ) nr 2 r 3 are — c ( o ) nme 2 and — c ( s ) nme 2 . suitable examples of the sulfino group — s ( o ) or 1 are — s ( o ) ome and — s ( o ) oet . suitable examples of the sulfonyl group — s ( o ) 2 or 1 are — s ( o ) 2 ome and — s ( o ) 2 oet . likewise , a suitable example of the group — s ( o ) nr 2 r 3 includes — s ( o ) nme 2 . a suitable example of the sulfamoyl group — s ( o ) 2 nr 2 r 3 is — s ( o ) 2 nme 2 . a suitable example of the group — p ( o )( r 1 )( or 1 ) is — p ( o )( me )( ome ) and a suitable example of the group — p ( o )( or 1 ) 2 is — p ( o )( ome ) 2 . suitable examples of the groups according to formula ( 2 ) are shown below as belonging to preferred embodiments of b . according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention , b is a functional group selected from — ch ═ cr 2 r 3 ; — c ≡ cr 2 ; — or 2 ; — n ( r 2 ) 2 ; — nr 2 — c ( o )— n ( r 2 ) 2 ; — o —[( c ( r 4 ) 2 ) p o ] q — r 2 ; — c ( o ) or 1 ; — c ( o ) sr 1 ; — c ( o ) nr 2 r 3 ; — s ( o ) or 1 ; — s ( o ) 2 or 1 ; — s ( o ) nr 2 r 3 ; — s ( o ) 2 nr 2 r 3 ; — p ( o )( r 1 )( or 1 ); — p ( o )( or 1 ) 2 ; — cn ; — cl ; — nco ; — ocn ; and according to a more preferred embodiment of the present invention , b is a functional group selected from — ch ═ cr 2 r 3 ; — c ≡ cr 2 ; — or 2 ; — n ( r 2 ) 2 ; — o —[( c ( r 4 ) 2 ) p o ] q — r 2 wherein r 4 is hydrogen or methyl , p is 2 and q is an integer within the range of 1 - 250 ; — c ( o ) or 1 ; — c ( o ) nr 2 r 3 ; — s ( o ) or 1 ; — s ( o ) 2 or 1 ; — s ( o ) nr 2 r 3 ; or — s ( o ) 2 nr 2 r 3 ; and wherein n is 1 . it is furthermore preferred that a is a linear alkylene or alkenylene group having 2 to 24 carbon atoms . more preferably , a is a linear alkylene or alkenylene group having 6 to 20 carbon atoms . even more preferably , a is a linear alkylene or alkenylene group having 8 to 18 carbon atoms . the present invention also provides a process for the preparation of a functionalized si / ge surface , wherein a si / ge surface is subjected to the following steps : ( a ) etching the si / ge surface with an etching agent to form an etched si / ge surface ; and ( b ) reacting the etched si / ge surface with an ω - functionalized alkene represented by the general formula ( 4 ) or with an ω - functionalized alkyne represented by the general formula ( 5 ) or with a mixture thereof : wherein p is a linear , branched or cyclic alkenyl group having 2 to 24 carbon atoms , the alkenyl group being a 1 - alkenyl group or an internal alkenyl group ; q is a linear , branched or cyclic alkynyl group having 2 to 24 carbon atoms , the alkynyl group being a 1 - alkynyl group or an internal alkynyl group ; c is a functional group selected from : — ch ═ cr 2 r 3 ; — c ≡ cr 2 ; — nr 2 — c ( o )— n ( r 2 ) 2 ; — o —[( c ( r 4 ) 2 ) p o ] q — r 1 ; — c ( x ) xr 1 ; — c ( x ) nr 2 r 3 ; — s ( o ) or 1 ; — s ( o ) 2 or 1 ; — s ( o ) nr 2 r 3 ; — s ( o ) 2 nr 2 r 3 ; — p ( o )( r 1 )( or 1 ); — p ( o )( or 1 ) 2 ; — cn ; — cl , — br ; — i ; or — ncx ; — xcn ; or — xc ( x ) r 1 ; — nr 2 c ( x ) r 1 ; — xr 5 ; — xsi ( r 1 ) 3 ; — os ( o )( or 1 ); — os ( o ) 2 or 1 ; — p ( o )( r 1 )( or 1 ); — op ( o )( or 1 ) 2 ; a group of the general formula ( 6 ) and tautomers thereof : wherein r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , p and q are as defined above ; r 5 is a monofunctional hydroxy or thiohydroxy protecting group ; r 6 represents a protected — oh or — nh 2 group , wherein the protected — oh group is selected from the groups defined for — xr 5 wherein x is o and wherein the protected — nh 2 group is selected from the groups defined for — nr 2 c ( x ) r 1 ; and wherein n is an integer in the range of 1 to 3 . according to the present invention , r 5 is a monofunctional hydroxy or thiohydroxy protecting group . such protecting groups are well known in the art as well as methods for adding such groups to — xh groups and methods for removing such protecting groups under conditions that do not affect the molecular structure of the functionalized si / ge surface obtained . 15 suitable examples of monofunctional hydroxy and thiohydroxy protecting groups include methoxymethyl , methylthiomethyl , 2 - methoxyethoxymethyl , bis ( 2 - chloroethoxy ) methyl , tetrahydropyranyl , tetrahydrothiopyranyl , 4 - methoxytetrahydropyranyl , 4 - methoxytetrahydrothiopyranyl , tetrahydrofuranyl , tetrahydrothiofuranyl , 1 - ethoxyethyl , 1 - methoxyl - methoxyethyl , 2 -( phenylselenyl ) ethyl , t - butyl , allyl , benzyl , optionally substituted triphenylmethyl ( trityl ). however , it is preferred that the monofunctional hydroxyl or thiohydroxy protecting group is selected from the group of allyl , benzyl , optionally substituted trityl , and tetrahydropyranyl . it is even more preferred that the monofunctional hydroxyl or thiohydroxy protecting group is selected from benzyl and tetrahydropyranyl . suitable examples of the — si ( r 1 ) 3 group are trimethylsilyl , triethylsilyl , triisopropylsilyl , isopropyldimethylsilyl , t - butyldimethylsilyl , t - butyldiphenylsilyl and tribenzylsilyl . methods of the introduction and removal of such groups are well known in the art . 16 preferably , c is a functional group selected from — ch ═ cr 2 r 3 ; — c ≡ cr 2 ; — nr 2 — c ( o )— n ( r 2 ) 2 ; — o —[( c ( r 4 ) 2 ) p o ] q — r 1 ; — c ( o ) or 1 ; — c ( o ) nr 2 r 3 ; — s ( o ) or 1 ; — s ( o ) 2 or 1 ; — s ( o ) nr 2 r 3 ; — s ( o ) 2 nr 2 r 3 ; — p ( o )( r 1 )( or 1 ); — p ( o )( or 1 ) 2 ; — cn ; — cl ; and — nco ; — ocn ; or c is a protected functional group selected from — oc ( o ) r 1 ; — nr 2 c ( o ) r 1 ; — or 5 ; — osi ( r 1 ) 3 ; — os ( o )( or 1 ); — os ( o ) 2 or 1 ; — p ( o )( r 1 )( or 1 ); — op ( o )( or 1 ) 2 ; and a group of the general formula ( 6 ) and tautomers thereof which is shown above , wherein r 6 represents a protected — oh or — nh 2 group , wherein the protected — oh group is selected from the groups defined for — xr 5 wherein x is o and wherein the protected — nh 2 group is selected from the groups defined for — nr 2 c ( x ) r 1 ; wherein r 5 is a monofunctional hydroxy or thiohydroxy protecting group ; and wherein n is 1 . even more preferably , c is a functional group selected from — ch ═ cr 2 r 3 ; — c ≡ cr 2 ; — o —[( c ( r 4 ) 2 ) p o ] q — r 1 wherein r 4 is hydrogen or methyl , p is 2 and q is an integer within the range of 1 - 10 ; — c ( o ) or 1 ; — c ( o ) nr 2 r 3 ; — s ( o ) or 1 ; — s ( o ) 2 or 1 ; — s ( o ) nr 2 r 3 ; — s ( o ) 2 nr 2 r 3 ; or c is a protected functional group selected from — oc ( o ) r 1 ; — nr 2 c ( o ) r 1 ; — or 5 ; — osi ( r 1 ) 3 ; and a group of the general formula ( 6 ) and tautomers thereof which is shown above , wherein r 6 represents a protected — oh or — nh 2 group , wherein the protected — oh group is selected from the groups defined for — xr 5 wherein x is o and wherein the protected — nh 2 group is selected from the groups defined for — nr 2 c ( x ) r 1 ; wherein r 5 is a monofunctional hydroxy or thiohydroxy protecting group ; and wherein n is 1 . according to the present invention , it is preferred that c is in the ω - position of the alkenyl and alkynyl groups . consequently , it is therefore preferred that the functionalized alkene is a ω - c - 1 - alkene and that the functionalized alkyne is a ω - c - 1 - alkyne , the ω - position being dependent on the number of carbon atoms of the alkene or alkyne , respectively . according to a most particular preferred embodiment of the present invention , the alkenyl groups p and the alkynyl groups q comprise at least one internal ethynylene moiety . that is , that p and q are in particular a linear group having 6 to 24 carbon atoms according to the formula : wherein p is in the range of 1 to 7 and q is in the range of 1 to 7 , the groups —( ch 2 )— and —( c ≡ c )— optionally occurring in a random sequence , and wherein the right terminus of p and q are bonded to c . preferably , the linear groups p and q have the formula wherein p is 1 to 9 , preferably 7 , r is 1 to 9 and q is 1 or 2 . the etching agent is preferably selected from hf , nh 4 f / hf or h 3 po 4 . when nh 4 / hf is used , the ratio of nh 4 f to hf is preferably 1 : 1 to 20 : 1 , most preferably 5 : 1 to 15 : 1 . most preferably , however , the etching agent is hf . according to the invention , the etching step is performed for at least about 0 . 01 h . to about 100 h . the etching agent is usually used as a solution in water , said solution comprising about 0 . 1 to about 10 . 0 wt . %, preferably about 1 . 0 to 3 . 0 wt . % of the etching agent , based on the total weight of the solution . the etching step can be performed as is well known in the art . in step ( b ) mixtures of ω - functionalized alkenes or mixtures of o - functionalized alkynes may be used . step ( b ) may furthermore be performed in an inert organic solvent and elevated temperature , e . g . at reflux , or using microwave irradiation . the inert organic solvent is preferably a hydrocarbon such as mesitylene . however , according to the invention step ( b ) may be performed without solvent , i . e . that the etched si / ge surface is reacted with neat functionalized alkene according to the general formula ( 4 ) or neat functionalized alkyne according to the general formula ( 5 ). an important advantage of the functionalized si / ge surfaces is their versatility , i . e . that they can provided with hydrophobic or hydrophilic properties depending on the nature of the functional groups b , which in addition can be converted into other groups as will be apparent to those skilled in the art . for example , the functional groups b may me made ionic , e . g . by converting amino groups into cationic ammonium groups or by converting carboxyl groups into anionic carboxylate groups . the present invention further relates to the use of the functionalized si / ge surfaces in the preparation of si / ge surfaces bearing pendant groups , wherein the pendant groups are derived from biologically active groups or host molecules . as discussed in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 569 , 979 , incorporated by reference herein , the biologically active groups may be proteins , dna or rna molecules or fragments or derivatives thereof , e . g . single stranded oligonucleotides that have for example been used in gene sequencing , drug research , medical diagnostics and binding studies of ligands to oligonucleotides . additionally , the host molecules may be selected from calixarenes , dendrimers or fragments and derivatives thereof and mono - oligo - and polysaccharides . the present invention also relates to si / ge surfaces bearing pendant groups , wherein alkyl or alkenyl moieties as defined above are covalently bonded to the si / ge surface , wherein the alkyl or alkenyl moieties bear a pendant group , preferably in their ω - position , that are derived from biologically active groups or host molecules . as will be apparent to those skilled in the art , such si / ge surfaces bearing pendant groups can be prepared from the functionalized si / ge surfaces as disclosed herein , wherein the functional groups b provide a linking means for bonding the biologically active groups or host molecules . for example , b may be an — oh group that by way of an esterification can be bonded to a host molecule bearing a carboxylic group . obviously , if b is a protected functional group such as a — osime 3 group , b must first be deprotected prior to the addition of the host molecule bearing a carboxylic group . it will be apparent to the person skilled in synthetic organic chemistry how to conduct the syntheses of such si / ge surfaces bearing pendant groups . the present invention therefore also relates to a process for the preparation of si / ge surfaces bearing pendant groups , wherein a functionalized si / ge surface is attached to a pendant group , wherein the pendant groups are derived from biologically active groups or host molecules . low - stress silicon - enriched silicon nitride surfaces ( 1 cm 2 , 200 nm thickness ) were deposited on polished silicon wafers using low - pressure chemical vapor deposition . the higher than stoichiometric si / n ratio may direct the chemistry of silicon nitrides towards the chemistry of silicon , e . g . h - termination by treatment with hf solutions and monolayer attachment . xps measurements show the presence of si , c , n and o in solvent - cleaned but un - etched silicon nitrides ( see examples ); the presence of c in the unmodified sample is attributed to environmental contamination . prolonged exposure to hf leaves the nitride layer largely intact : almost complete removal of oxygen is observed , while there are no significant changes in the n signal ( xps data ; see fig1 : n1s and o1s xps spectra of si 3 n x before ( a ) and after ( b ) etching in 2 . 5 % hf for 2 min .). in addition , x - ray reflectivity measurements indicate no observable change in the silicon nitride layer thickness upon etching . the static water contact angle θ was found to increase from ˜ 20 ° to ˜ 60 ° after 2 min etching with 2 . 5 % hf solution , indicating the formation of the less polar si — h bonds . the presence of n ( partially as nh and nh 2 sites at the surface ) makes θ for the h - terminated silicon nitride surface lower than that obtained for h - terminated si surfaces . 8 the residual amount of oxygen that is observed after etching is at least partially due to deeply embedded atoms that cannot be removed upon etching , but which are therefore not expected to be reactive at the surface ( a small fraction of surface re - oxidation can probably also not be fully excluded at this stage ). 3 the effect of the reaction time on the quality of 1 - hexadecene monolayers on silicon nitride surfaces , as studied by measuring θ , is shown in fig2 ( variation of the static water contact angle θ of a 1 - hexadecene - derived monolayer on silicon nitride as a function of reaction time ). stable and almost densely packed monolayers are obtained after ˜ 24 h reaction time ( θ ˜ 107 °). this is much better than obtained without hf etching ( θ ˜ 83 °), 11 which is attributed to the formation of reactive si — h bonds at the surface upon hf etching . support for monolayer formation also comes from xps c1s spectra that show a clear increase in the amount of carbon upon modification after different time intervals ( fig3 : xps c1s spectra of si 3 n , before ( reference spectrum ), and after monolayer attachment of 1 - hexadecene , for 2 and 8 h , respectively ). the c1s signals due to the alkyl chain are not resolved from si — c bond formation ( 284 . 9 and 283 . 1 ev , respectively ). 14 the shoulder at 286 . 9 ev that appears only for modified si 3 n x is likely due to n — c bond formation . 14 no precise indication of the ratio of n — c and si — c bond formation can be given at this stage , but without wishing to be bound by any theory , the inventors believe that both these data strongly support covalent monolayer attachment . increase of the 1 - alkene concentration to neat reaction mixtures yields a rise of θ by 1 - 2 ° to ˜ 106 - 108 ° ( example 3 ), which points to the formation of an almost densely packed hydrophobic monolayer . this packing is no indication for high ordering in this case , as shown by infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy ( irras , 1 cm − 1 resolution ). irras yields peaks corresponding to anti - symmetric and symmetric ch 2 vibrations at 2923 and 2855 cm − 1 , respectively ( see fig4 ). these irras spectra strongly support the presence of a well - defined monolayer . in addition , they also point to a significant degree of disorder in these monolayers , as the peak at 2923 cm − 1 is intermediate between that obtained for ch 2 in isotropic media ( 2928 cm − 1 ) and that obtained in crystalline media ( 2919 cm − 1 ). 1 the inventors attribute this disorder partially to the surface roughness of hf - etched silicon nitride surfaces , and likely also to a slightly diminished packing density of the monolayer . finally , functionalization of these monolayers has been shown via the attachment of a trifluoroethanol - ester derived alkene ( ch 2 ═ ch —( ch 2 ) 9 cooch 2 cf 3 ; example 4 and fig4 : irras data of modified silicon nitride ( left ) ch 2 vibrations after reaction of silicon nitride with different 1 - alkenes . ( right ) c ═ o vibrations after reaction of silicon nitride with ch 2 ═ ch ( ch 2 ) 9 co 2 ch 2 cf 3 , before ( d ) and after ( e ) hydrolysis ). attachment shows in irras the appearance of a c ═ o stretching vibration at 1740 cm − 1 , characteristic for the ester functionality . hydrolysis of this moiety under basic conditions ( 0 . 25 m potassium tert - butoxide in dmso ) reduced θ from 88 ° to 44 °. this was also visible in the irras spectrum , which yields a shift of the c ═ o stretch frequency from 1740 to 1640 cm − 1 . hydrolysis of this moiety under acidic conditions ( 2 n hcl ) reduced θ from 88 ° to 32 °. this was also visible in the irras spectrum , which yields a shift of the c ═ o stretch frequency from 1740 to 1640 cm − 1 . stability of the alkyl monolayer under these circumstances was shown by a near - constant intensity of the ch 2 stretching vibrations . organic monolayers on this h - terminated si 3 n x surface were prepared by placing the wafer in refluxing solutions of 1 - alkene or 1 - alkyne ( 0 . 4 m ) in mesitylene , 8 or in neat 1 - alkene at 165 ° c . 15 1 - hexadecene ( aldrich , purity & gt ; 99 %) was purified by double vacuum distillation to achieve a purity of almost 1000 % ( gc ). all the solvents ( acros ) were first distilled at atmospheric pressure before use . silicon nitride coated silicon [ 10 × 10 × 0 . 5 mm 3 single side - polished ] wafers were supplied by aquamarijn , the netherlands , or by lionix , the netherlands . nitride thicknesses between 100 and 200 nm were used in this work . silicon nitride samples were first cleaned by rinsing several times with chemically pure acetone and wiped with a tissue . subsequently , the wafer is sonicated for 5 minutes in acetone . surfaces were further cleaned in air plasma cleaner / sterilizer ( harrick pdc - 32g ) for 3 min followed by 2 × 3 minutes in oxygen plasma . hydrogen termination is carried out by dipping the samples in 2 . 5 % hf for 2 minutes , while the flask with the hf solution and sample is placed within an ultrasonic bath . neat 1 - hexadecene or its solution in mesitylene ( 10 ml , 0 . 4 m ) is placed in a small , three - necked flask fitted with a nitrogen inlet , a condenser with a cacl 2 tube , and a stopper . the solution is then deoxygenated for at least 45 min , by refluxing it at 200 ° c ., while slowly bubbling dry nitrogen through the solution . subsequently a freshly hydrogen - terminated silicon nitride wafer is dropped into the refluxing solution by removing and replacing the stopper quickly . the reaction time varied from 2 - 24 h . finally , the solution was allowed to cool and the sample was removed and rinsed extensively with distilled pe 40 / 60 , etoh , and ch 2 cl 2 . for xps and water contact angle measurements samples of 10 × 10 mm 2 were used , for irras samples of 30 × 15 mm 2 . silicon nitride surfaces were characterized by static water contact angle measurements using an erma contact angle meter g - 1 ( volume of the drop of demineralized h 2 o = 3 . 5 μl ), and by x - ray photoelectron spectroscopy ( xps ) on a phi quantera sxm machine , with as x - ray source the a1k - α 1486 . 6 ev line at 24 . 8 w , with a beam diameter of 100 . 0 μm , a 1 . 4 v 15 . 0 μa neutralizer , and the fat analyzer mode . the binding energies were calibrated with respect to si 2p corresponding to si 3 n 4 ( 101 . 80 ev ). the total surface xps spectrum of the original , un - etched but solvent - cleaned silicon nitride is shown in fig5 . irras spectra were measured on a bruker tensor 27 ft - ir spectrometer , using a commercial variable - angle reflection unit ( auto seagull , harrick scientific ). a harrick grid polarizer was installed in front of the detector , and was used for measuring spectra with either p - polarized ( parallel ) or s - polarized ( perpendicular ) radiation with respect to the plane of incidence at the sample surface . single channel transmittance spectra were collected using a spectral resolution of 1 or 4 cm − 1 , using 4096 scans in each measurement . the spectra shown in this paper are the result of spectral subtraction of a solvent - cleaned silicon nitride sample that was used as a background and the spectrum of the modified samples , without any further data manipulation ( no line smoothening or so ). samples were first cleaned by rinsing and sonication in acetone ( p . a .). the wafers were further cleaned for 2 × 3 min in an oxygen plasma using a plasma cleaner / sterilizer ( harrick pdc - 32g ), and used directly afterwards for the attachment of the monolayer . the wafer is placed in hot , nearly refluxing mesitylene (˜ 9 ml ), and should be fully covered by the solution . as soon as the wafer is placed into the mesitylene solution , the solution is brought to reflux within ˜ 30 s . after monolayer preparation the modified wafers are cleaned with petroleum ether ( 40 - 60 ), ethanol , and dichloromethane ( 10 × times each ). all solvents were distilled before use ; all 1 - alkenes and 1 - alkynes were doubly distilled under vacuum before use . the resulting wafers are stable under ambient conditions , i . e . no change in static water contact angle was measured for a 1 - hexadecene - derived monolayer over storage for 1 month . silicon nitride samples with 1 - hexadecyl monolayers prepared according to example 1 were examined by x - ray reflectivity measurements . fit of the x - ray reflectivity data of the modified surface indicates a monolayer thickness of 18 angstrom . silicon nitride samples with 1 - hexadecyl monolayers prepared according to example 1 were dipped in hydrochloric acid solutions , ph = 1 , for different time intervals . the static water contact angle is not affected ( for more than 1 °, the experimental error ) up to 4 hours in both cold and hot acid solutions . slight decreases in the measured contact angles are observed thereafter : the decrease in the water contact angle after 20 hours was only 5 ° ( 103 °, rather than 108 °) silicon nitride samples with 1 - hexadecyl monolayers prepared according to example 1 were immersed in 0 . 1 m aqueous sodium hydroxide solutions for different time intervals . the monolayer stability was monitored by measuring the static water contact angle and recording irras spectra of the monolayer . no significant change in the water contact angle or the quality of the irras spectra was observed up to three hours of treatment . thereafter , contact angle decreased to 90 ° after treating the monolayer for four hours . 1 - octadecyl and 1 - hexadecenyl - modified silicon nitride surfaces prepared according to the method described in example 2 were dipped in alkaline solution , ph = 11 , at 60 ° c . for different time intervals . monolayer stability was monitored by measuring static water contact angle , and further examination on the stability of the monolayer was performed by recording the irras spectra of the treated samples . the values of water contact angles of 1 - octadecyl monolayer attached to silicon nitride decreased from 108 to 104 ° after 6 hours under these conditions . however , 1 - hexadecenyl monolayers showed a much higher stability , as the water contact angle only decreased from 108 to 102 ° after 22 hours under the same conditions . silicon carbide powder ( 1 g ; 400 mesh from aldrich ) was first cleaned by rinsing several times with chemically pure acetone . subsequently , the powder is sonicated for 5 minutes in acetone . the dry powder is then cleaned in an oxygen plasma for 10 minutes to achieve complete removal of any organic impurities . hydrogen termination is obtained by dipping the samples in 2 . 5 % hf for 5 minutes . the powder is then filtered through a millipore filter , and dried by flushing with n 2 . subsequently , the powder is transferred to a deoxygenated refluxing ( 200 ° c .) solution of 1 - hexadecene in mesitylene in the previously described flask , while slowly bubbling dry nitrogen through the solution . the reaction time was set to 15 h . afterwards , the solution was allowed to cool and the sample was removed by filtration on a filter paper and rinsed extensively with distilled pe 40 / 60 , etoh , and ch 2 cl 2 . first , an irras spectrum was recorded for the cleaned sic powder as a background followed by measuring the spectrum of the modified powder . the subtraction of these spectra provides a spectrum displayer material deposited on top of the sic . the antisymmetric and symmetric ch 2 - stretching bands of the subtracted spectra are shown in fig6 . they indicate the presence of a substantial amount of ch 2 moieties , corresponding to covalent monolayer formation . monolayers of trifluoroethanol ester were prepared using 0 . 4 m ester solutions applying the same procedure described previously . silicon nitride modified with trifluoroethanol ester is hydrolyzed by treatment with either 0 . 25 m potassium tert - butoxide in dmso for 3 minutes at room temperature or aqueous 2 . 5 m hcl at 70 ° c . for 2 h . 1 . ( a ) gmelin handbook of inorganic and organometallic chemistry : silicon supplement , silicon nitride . schröder , f . a ., ed . 8th ed . ; springer verlag : berlin , 1995 ; ‘ vol .’ b 5d1 , p 27 ; ( b ) kirk - othmer , encyclopedia of chemical technology , john wiley , 1991 , vol . 5 , p . 599 . 2 . van rijn , c . j . m ., nano and micro engineered membrane technology . aquamarijn research bv , the netherlands : 2002 ; p 140 . 3 . ( a ) sieval , a . b . ; linke , r . ; zuilhof , h . ; sudhöter , e . j . r . adv . mat . 2000 , 12 , 1457 . ( b ) wayner , d . d . m . ; wolkow , r . a . j . chem . soc ., perkin trans . 2 2002 , 23 . ( c ) buriak , j . m . chem . rev . 2002 , 102 , 1271 . 4 . linford , m . r . ; fenter , p . ; eisenberger , p . m . ; chidsey , c . e . d . j . am . chem . soc . 1995 , 117 , 3145 . ( b ) sieval , a . b . ; demirel , a . l . ; nissink , j . w . n . ; linford , m . r . ; van der maas , j . h . ; de jeu , w . h . ; zuilhof , h . ; sudhölter , e . j . r . langmuir 1998 , 14 , 1759 . 5 . sun , q .- y . ; de smet , l . c . p . m . ; van lagen , b . ; wright , a . ; zuilhof , h . ; sudhölter , e . j . r . angew . chem . int . ed . 2004 , 43 , 1352 . 6 . niederhauser , t . l . ; lua , y .- y . ; jiang , g . ; davis , s . d . ; matheson , r . ; hess , d . a . ; mowat , i . a . ; linford , m . r . angew . chem . int . ed . 2002 , 41 , 2353 . 7 . pike , a . r . ; lie , l . h . ; eagling , r . a . ; ryder , l . c . ; patole , s . n . ; connolly , b . a . ; horrocks , b . r . ; houlton , a . angew . chem . int . ed . 2002 , 41 , 615 . 8 . de smet , l . c . p . m . ; stork , g . a . ; hurenkamp , g . h . f . ; sun , q .- y . ; topal , h . ; vronen , p . j . e . ; sieval , a . b . ; wright , a . ; visser , g . m . ; zuilhof , h . ; sudhölter , e . j . r . j . am . chem . soc . 2003 , 125 , 13916 . 9 . ( a ) kölbel , m . ; tjerkstra , r . w . ; kim , g . ; brugger , j . ; van rijn , c . j . m . ; nijdam , w . ; huskens , j . ; reinhoudt , d . n . adv . funct . mater . 2003 , 13 , 219 . ( b ) ren , s . ; yang , s . ; zhao , y . langmuir 2003 , 19 , 2763 . ( b ) tsukruk , v . v . ; bliznyuk , v . n . langmuir 1998 , 14 , 446 . ( c ) qian , l . m . ; xiao , x . d . ; wen , s . z . langmuir 2000 , 16 , 662 . 10 . gao , h . ; luginbuhl , r . ; sigrist , h . sensors actuators b 1997 , 38 , 38 . 11 . pignataro , b . ; grasso , g . ; renna , l . ; marietta , g . surf . interf . anal . 2002 , 33 , 54 . 12 . cricenti , a . ; longo , g . ; luce , m . ; generosi , r . ; perfetti , p . ; vobornik , d . ; margaritondo , g . ; thielen , p . ; sanghera , j . s . ; aggarwal , i . d . ; miller , j . k . ; tolk , n . h . ; piston , d . w . ; cattaruzza , f . ; flamini , a . ; prosperi , t . ; mezzi , a . surf sci . 2003 , 544 , 51 . 13 . sieval , a . b . ; vleeming , v . ; zuilhof , h . ; sudhölter , e . j . r . langmuir 1999 , 15 , 8288 . 14 . moulder , j . f . ; stickle , w . f . ; sobol , p . e . ; bomben , k . d ., handbook of x ray photoelectron spectroscopy . physical electronics usa : 1995 , p . 40 . 15 . ( a ) mcomie , j . f . w ., protective groups in organic chemistry , plenum press , 1973 ; ( b ) theodora w . greene , peter g . m . wuts , protective groups in organic synthesis , 3 rd edition , john wiley & amp ; sons inc , june 1999 ( c ) carey , f . a . ; sundberg , r . j ., advanced organic chemistry part b : reactions and synthesis , 3 rd . ed ., plenum press , p . 678 - 686 , 1990 .
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preferred embodiments of the invention are described below while referring to the accompanying drawings . it must be noted , however , that the invention is not limited by the illustrated embodiments alone . in fig1 and fig3 an automatic water feed mechanism mainly consists of a hand washer 1 , an artificial retina sensor 2 , and a control unit 3 for controlling the water feed operation of the hand washer 1 on the basis of the output of the artificial retina sensor 2 . further , the hand washer 1 is composed of a basin 1 a composed of a bowl 4 and a horizontal mounting plane 5 , and a faucet main body having a discharge pipe 6 installed on the horizontal mounting plane 5 . the bowl 4 is white in color . the discharge pipe 6 is inclined by a specified angle θ ( θ being an acute angle ) from a vertical plane n perpendicular to the horizontal plane of the horizontal mounting plane 5 to the bowl 4 side so as to be directed to the bowl 4 . reference numeral 6 b is a discharge port . on the other hand , the artificial retina sensor 2 has a camera function , and is disposed on the front side 6 a of the discharge pipe 6 so that the input image captured by the artificial retina sensor 2 through a sensing window 9 ( described later ) may be within a conical viewing field region ( light receiving region ) ( m ) as shown in fig2 fig3 and fig4 . fig2 fig3 and fig4 show the viewing field region ( m ) of the artificial retina sensor 2 , and more specifically fig2 and fig3 show the range along the height direction ( t direction ) from the bottom ( g ) of the bowl 4 of the basin 1 a , while fig4 shows the width in the lateral direction ( w direction ) of the basin 1 a . the range along the t direction of the viewing field region ( m ) is from the bottom ( g ) of the bowl 4 to the position of height ( h ). further , in fig4 m 1 is water discharge region , and when the user projects hands into this region m 1 and brings closer to the discharge port 6 b , water is discharged from the discharge port 6 b . meanwhile , m 2 and m 3 are non - discharge regions . in this embodiment , the artificial retina sensor 2 has 1024 ( 32 × 32 ) pixels ( dots ). the artificial retina sensor 2 is mainly composed of , as shown in fig2 a wide - angle lens 7 of a circular front view forming a nearly conical viewing field region ( m ), a photo detector element array 8 positioned immediately beneath the wide - angle lens 7 , and a sensing window 9 of a circular front view positioned immediately above the wide - angle lens 7 . the photo detector element array 8 has a square front view , and is formed on a circuit board 11 mounted on a base 10 , thereby forming an lsi . in this embodiment , for example , 1024 photo detector elements corresponding to a 32 × 32 image plate are disposed on the circuit board 11 . that is , in the embodiment , the 32 × 32 image plate is composed of the photo detector element array 8 , circuit board 11 , and base 10 . reference numeral 12 is a cover for surrounding the sensing window 9 , and 13 is a ring - shaped waterproof packing . that is , in order to extend the viewing field region of the artificial retina sensor 2 as much as possible , in this embodiment , the wide - angle lens 7 is provided above the photo detector element array 8 . by this wide - angle lens 7 , the viewing field region ( m ) is set so as to include not only the water discharge region m 1 but also non - discharge regions m 2 , m 3 . [ 0052 ] fig6 to fig9 show input images captured by the artificial retina sensor 2 . [ 0053 ] fig6 is an input image of the surface 4 a of the bowl 4 made of , for example , white porcelain , and a drain hole 4 c of the bowl 4 is depicted . fig7 and fig8 are input images of the user u of the hand washer 1 as object of detection in the process of washing hands . fig9 is an input image of the surface 4 a of the bowl 4 showing foreign matter z other than the hands of the user u . the control unit 3 is composed of , as shown in fig1 a microcomputer 15 , a memory 16 including two memory units 16 a , 16 b , a solenoid valve 17 responsible for water discharge and stopping action of the discharge pipe 6 , a solenoid valve drive circuit 18 for driving and controlling the solenoid valve 17 , a drive power source 21 of the control unit 3 , an alarm display circuit 19 for displaying drop of supply voltage of the drive power source 21 , and a low voltage circuit and voltage monitoring circuit 20 . the processing steps of input image captured by the artificial retina sensor 2 are shown . as the input image , an example of input image a in fig7 is explained . in fig1 , ( 1 ) an input image a is issued from the artificial retina sensor 2 as an output image a ′, and is input to the microcomputer 15 . ( 2 ) in the microcomputer 15 , the output image a ′ is optimized , and a recognition object image is acquired . as optimizing process , for example , when binary processing ( black and white processing ) is done , a recognition object image a ″ as shown in fig1 is obtained ( see also fig1 ). as described below , the black display shows the presence of an object , and the white display indicates the absence of an object . ( 3 ) this recognition object image ( hereinafter called acquired image ) a ″ is stored into the memory 16 from the microcomputer 15 . similarly , by the microcomputer 15 , the input image b in fig6 is processed as acquired image b ″ ( see fig1 ). the input image c in fig8 is processed as acquired image c ″. the input image d in fig9 is processed as acquired image d ″. consequently , these acquired images a ″, b ″, c ″, d ″, and so forth are processed by the recognition algorithm in the memory 16 . meanwhile , the input images a , b , c , d , etc . are those obtained in the 32 × 32 image plates . relating to the acquired image b ″, acquired image a ″, and acquired image c ″ the processing procedure by the recognition algorithm is explained . as mentioned above , fig1 and fig1 ( fig1 ) show acquired images b ″ and a ″ of the input image b and input image a , respectively . in fig5 the user u goes to the hand washer 1 to wash hands ( see step 100 ). first , at step 101 , the acquired image b ″ while the user u is not washing hands is stored in the memory unit 16 a . next , when the user u extends hands to the bowl 4 for washing , the acquired image a ″ is taken , and the acquired image a ″ is stored in the memory unit 16 b ( see step 102 ). at step 103 , referring to the memory units 16 a , 16 b , the number of changes ( a ) of dots for composing the image is extracted . that is , in the memory 16 , the acquired image b ″ stored first in time and the acquired image a ″ stored later in time are compared , and only the position changed in the number of dots ( difference ) is extracted , so that a change image s 1 showing a dot change as shown in fig1 is obtained . for example , in fig1 , dot d 1 in black display shown in the first acquired image b ″ is also shown in the later acquired image a ″ ( see fig1 ), and hence in the change image s 1 , position p of location of dot d 1 ( see fig1 ) is displayed in white , which tells no change is made . by contrast , dot d 2 in black display shown in the acquired image a ″ ( see fig1 ) is not found at the corresponding position in the acquired image b ″ ( see fig1 ), and therefore in the change image s 1 , dot d 2 remains in black display . this invention is designed to judge if the number of dot changes ( a ) recognized in the change image s 1 is within a specified range or not ( see step 104 ). for example , the upper limit of number of dot changes ( a ) is 960 , and the lower limit is 128 . that is , at step 104 , when the number of dot changes ( a ) is judged to be within this range , a valve opening signal for opening the solenoid valve 17 is sent from the microcomputer 15 to the solenoid valve drive circuit 18 , so that water is discharged from the discharge pipe 6 ( see step 105 ). ( 1 ) in this case , the acquired image b ″ stored earlier than the acquired image a ″ is deleted , and the acquired image a ″ is moved from the memory unit 16 b into the vacated memory unit 16 a ( see step 106 ). in succession , the acquired image c ″ acquired later in time than the acquired image a ″ is stored into the vacated memory unit 16 b ( see step 107 ). further , same as at step 103 , referring to the memory units 16 a , 16 b , the number of dot changes ( a ) for composing the image is extracted ( see step 108 ). that is , in the memory 16 , the acquired image a ″ stored first in time and the acquired image c ″ stored later in time are compared , and only the position changed in the number of dots is extracted , so that a change image s 2 showing a dot change as shown in fig1 is obtained . that is , in fig1 , comparing two acquired images a ″ and c ″ as the object of detection during use of the hand washer , the change image s 2 extracting only dot changes in the acquired images a ″, c ″ is shown . in this embodiment , when the number of dot changes ( a ) in the extracted change image s 2 is 64 or more , it is judged that the hand washer is being used ( see step 109 ), and the acquired images c ″ and subsequent images are acquired continuously . when the number of dot changes ( a ) is less than 64 , a valve close signal for closing the solenoid valve 17 is sent from the microcomputer 15 to the solenoid valve drive circuit 18 ( see step 110 ). then the process returns to step 105 . ( 2 ) at step 104 , if the number of dot changes ( a ) is judged to be out of the specified range , the acquired image b ″ stored earlier than the acquired image a ″ is deleted , and the acquired image a ″ is moved from the memory unit 16 b into the vacated memory unit 16 a ( see step 111 ). then the process returns to step 102 . thus , changes in the number of dots are operated in two consecutive acquired images b ″, a ″, and a ″, c ″, and the motion of the object of sensing is detected by the difference , so that the sensing method not affected by the color of the basin 1 can be presented . at step 104 , it is judged if water can be discharged or not in non - use state ( closed state of solenoid valve 17 ). that is , when the solenoid valve 17 is closed , if the number of dot changes ( a ) is a ≧ 128 , a valve open signal is sent to the solenoid valve 17 , but the upper limit of the number of dot changes ( a ) is set at 960 because sensing control is effected visually . that is , in the environments of use , the surrounding brightness has a large influence , and in the case of a room , for example , considering a case of extinguishing of lighting , an upper limit is required in recognition value by the number of dot changes ( a ). as a result , malfunction due to lighting or extinguishing can be avoided . the number of photo detector elements used in the invention is not limited to 1024 . [ 0079 ] fig1 to fig1 show embodiment 2 of the invention in which the viewing field region ( m ′) is set so as to include only the water discharge region m 1 by using a condenser lens 30 . in fig1 to fig1 , same reference numerals as in fig1 to fig1 refer to same objects . in fig1 to fig1 , an artificial retina sensor 2 ′ has a condenser lens 30 disposed between a narrow - angle lens 7 ′ and a photo detector element array 8 . the condenser lens 30 has a function of narrowing the width in the w direction of the viewing field region ( m ) in embodiment 1 so as to include only the water discharge region m 1 , and further setting the height in the t direction in viewing field region ( m ′) higher than in the viewing field region ( m ) in embodiment 1 . the range along the t direction of the viewing field region ( m ′) is from the bottom ( g ) of the bowl 4 to the position of height h (& gt ; h ). the width in the lateral direction ( w direction ) of the viewing field region ( m ′) includes only the water discharge region m 1 . as a result , the image i of the viewing field region ( m ′) seen from the sensing window 9 is as shown in fig1 . that is , by disposing the condenser lens 30 between the narrow - angle lens 7 ′ and photo detector element array 8 , the viewing field region ( m ′) can be heightened in the height direction ( t direction ), and the viewing field region ( m ′) is set vertically long so as to include only the water discharge region m 1 . on the other hand , the narrow - angle lens 7 ′ is set to narrow the viewing field region ( m ′) of the artificial retina sensor 2 ′ as much as possible . as a result of combination of the narrow - angle lens 7 ′ and condenser lens 30 , the input image a 1 captured by the artificial retina sensor 2 ′ through the sensing window 9 is as shown in fig1 . in fig1 , ( 1 ) the input image a 1 becomes an output image a 1 ′ from the artificial retina sensor 2 ′, and is input to the microcomputer 15 . ( 2 ) in the microcomputer 15 , the output image a 1 ′ is optimized , and a recognition object image a 1 ″ is obtained . in this embodiment , since the non - discharge regions m 2 , m 3 are not included in the viewing field region m ′ of the artificial retina sensor 2 ′, useless information from the non - discharge regions m 2 , m 3 can be omitted . accordingly , the recognition object image ( acquired image ) a 1 ″ obtained in the artificial retina sensor 2 ′ is sharper , and the motion of hands of the user u in the water discharge region m 1 can be judged more accurately , so that malfunction can be prevented securely . the invention is not limited to the hand washer , but may be applied to flush urinal and other lavatories . the first to fourth aspects of the invention using one artificial retina sensor have been explained so far . in fifth and sixth aspects of the invention , a plurality of artificial retina sensors are used as explained below . [ 0088 ] fig1 to fig2 refer to embodiment 3 of the invention configured so as to monitor the user u of a flush urinal 31 from a position immediately above the flush urinal 31 , by disposing a pair of artificial retina sensors 2 right , 2 left at right and left positions of a water feed piping 32 of the flush urinal 31 so that the central axes x 1 , x 2 of the viewing field regions ( light receiving regions ) m , m may be parallel to each other . in fig1 to fig2 , same reference numerals as in fig1 to fig1 refer to same objects . in fig1 and fig2 , the automatic water feed mechanism comprises the flush urinal 31 , two artificial retina sensors 2 right , 2 left having a camera function , and a control unit 3 ′ for controlling the water feed operation of the flush urinal 31 on the basis of outputs from the artificial retina sensors 2 right , 2 left . the artificial retina sensor 2 right is positioned at the right side of the front of the flush urinal 31 , and the artificial retina sensor 2 left is positioned at the left side of the front of the flush urinal 31 . the two artificial retina sensors 2 right , 2 left are provided because the user u of the flush urinal 31 as the object of sensing can be recognized securely with a perspective sense as compared with the case of one artificial retina sensor . the flush urinal 31 is installed in a vertical state on a front side 34 a of a wall 34 . reference numeral 32 is a water feed piping , which projects upward from the top of the flush urinal 31 , and is bent to the wall side , and is connected to a piping 36 disposed at the rear side 34 b of the wall 34 . that is , the downstream end of the water feed piping 32 is connected to the flush urinal side , and the upstream end is connected to the piping 36 . the structure of the artificial retina sensors 2 right , 2 left is as shown in fig2 , which is same as the structure of the artificial retina sensor 2 shown in fig2 . in fig2 , a is an image seen from the sensing window 9 of , for example , the artificial retina sensor 2 right . that is , a is an input image captured by the artificial retina sensor 2 right . the processing steps of the image seen from the sensing window 9 of the artificial retina sensor 2 right are explained below while referring to fig1 and fig2 . in fig1 and fig2 , ( 1 ) the input image a becomes an output image a ′ from the artificial retina sensor 2 right , and is input to the microcomputer 15 . ( 2 ) in the microcomputer 15 , the output image a ′ is optimized , and a recognition object image is acquired . as optimizing process , for example , when binary processing ( black and white processing ) is done , a recognition object image a ″ as shown in fig2 is obtained . as described below , the black display shows the presence of an object ( the user u ), and the white display indicates the presence of the flush urinal 31 . ( 3 ) this recognition object image ( hereinafter called acquired image ) a ″ is stored into the memory 16 from the microcomputer 15 . on the other hand , fig2 is a diagram explaining the water feed operation of the flush urinal 31 when the user u approaches the flush urinal 31 . [ 0098 ] fig2 ( a ) shows an acquired image p r1 ″ corresponding to the input image p ( not shown ) captured by the artificial retina sensor 2 right and an acquired image q l1 ″ corresponding to the input image q ( not shown ) captured by the artificial retina sensor 2 left , when the user u of the flush urinal 31 is at a remote position . naturally , these acquired images p r1 ″ and q l1 ″ correspond to the images seen at the same time from the sensing windows 9 , 9 . in fig2 ( a ), for example , the flush urinal 31 and the user u of the flush urinal 31 are apart by a distance corresponding to length l 1 . as mentioned above , for example , the acquired image p r1 ″ is an acquired image obtained as a result of optimizing process ( for example , binary processing ) of the output image p ′ as the input image p is input to the microcomputer 15 through the output image p ′ ( not shown ) from the artificial retina sensor 2 right . since the user u is away , the input image p and input image q are nearly same and there is few mutual change . [ 0099 ] fig2 ( b ) shows an acquired image p r2 ″ corresponding to the input image p ″ ( not shown ) captured by the artificial retina sensor 2 right and an acquired image q l2 ″ corresponding to the input image q ″ ( not shown ) captured by the artificial retina sensor 2 left , when the user u approaches the flush urinal 31 . naturally , these acquired images p r2 ″, p r1 ″ and acquired images q l2 ″, q l1 ″ are mutually consecutive images . that is , fig2 ( b ) shows the acquired images p r2 ″, q l2 ″, for example , when the distance between the flush urinal 31 and the user u of the flush urinal 31 is shortened to a distance corresponding to length l 2 (& lt ; l 1 ). as mentioned above , for example , the acquired image p r2 ″ is an acquired image obtained as a result of optimizing process ( for example , binary processing ) of the output image p ′″ as the input image p ″ is input to the microcomputer 15 through the output image p ′″ ( not shown ) from the artificial retina sensor 2 right , but as compared with the case of fig2 ( a ), since the user u is closer to the flush urinal 31 , the acquired image p r2 ″ and acquired image q l2 ″ are mutually different . [ 0101 ] fig2 ( c ) shows an acquired image pr 3 ″ and an acquired image ql 3 ″ when the user u approaches more closely to the flush urinal 31 as compared with the case in fig2 ( b ). naturally , these acquired images p r3 ″, p r2 ″ and acquired images q l3 ″, q l2 ″ are mutually consecutive images . that is , fig2 ( c ) shows the acquired image p r3 ″ corresponding to the input image captured by the artificial retina sensor 2 right and acquired image q l3 ′ corresponding to the input image captured by the artificial retina sensor 2 left , when the distance between the flush urinal 31 and the user u of the flush urinal 31 is shortened further to a distance corresponding to , for example , length l 3 (& lt ; l 2 & lt ; l 1 ). as mentioned above , for example , the acquired image p r3 ″ is an acquired image obtained as a result of optimizing process ( for example , binary processing ) of the output image as the input image seen from the sensing window 9 is input to the microcomputer 15 through the output image from the artificial retina sensor 2 right . however , as compared with the case of fig2 ( b ), since the user u is further closer to the flush urinal 31 , the image of the user u appears on the entire surface of the input image seen from the sensing window 9 , and , as mentioned below , since artificial retina sensors 2 right , 2 left are disposed at right and left symmetrical positions so that the central axes x 1 , x 2 of the viewing field regions ( light receiving regions ) m , m may be parallel to each other , in the acquired image p r3 ′ and the acquired image q l3 ″, the image portions 200 , 201 corresponding to the image of the user u are nearly covering the entire area , the image portions 200 , 201 are mutually positioned asymmetrically . further , the two artificial retina sensors 2 right , 2 left are disposed at right and left symmetrical positions on both sides of the water feed piping 32 ( see fig2 ). for example , a fixing plate ( not shown ) for fixing the artificial retina sensors 2 right , 2 left is installed at the front side 34 a of the wall 34 , and the two artificial retina sensors 2 right , 2 left are fitted to the fixing plate with the sensing windows 9 , 9 facing the direction vertical to the front side 34 a of the wall 34 . in this embodiment , as shown in fig2 , the artificial retina sensors 2 right , 2 left are disposed at right and left symmetrical positions on both sides of the water feed piping 32 so that the central axes x 1 , x 2 of the viewing field regions ( light receiving regions ) m , m may be parallel to each other . then a box - shaped cover 35 c having openings 9 a , 9 a [ see fig2 ( c )] where the two sensing windows 9 , 9 are positioned is fitted to the fixing plate , and the two artificial retina sensors 2 right , 2 left are covered . in this embodiment , the artificial retina sensors 2 right , 2 left having 1024 ( 32 × 32 ) pixels ( dots ) are used , but other two artificial retina sensors having a different number of pixels ( dots ) may be also used in the present invention . the control unit 31 of the embodiment is same in configuration as the control unit 3 shown in fig1 . referring now to examples of the acquired image p r1 ″ ( hereinafter called lsi { circle over ( 1 )} image ), acquired image ql 1 ″ ( lsi { circle over ( 2 )} image ), the acquired image p r2 ″ ( lsi { circle over ( 3 )} image ), acquired image q l2 ″ ( lsi { circle over ( 4 )} image ), acquired image p r3 ″ ( lsi { circle over ( 5 )} image ), and acquired image q l3 ′ ( lsi { circle over ( 6 )} image ), procedure of processing by recognition algorithm is explained . in fig2 ( a ) and fig2 , the user u goes to the flush urinal 31 ( see step 120 ). first , as shown at step 121 , while the user u is away from the flush urinal 31 by a distance corresponding to length l 1 , of the two lsi images , for example , lsi { circle over ( 1 )} image is stored in the memory unit 16 a and lsi { circle over ( 2 )} image is stored in the memory unit 16 b . in fig2 ( a ), the image portion 300 ( black portion ) corresponding to the image of the user u in the lsi { circle over ( 1 )} image is supposed to be composed of m dots . similarly , the image portion 301 ( black portion ) corresponding to the image of the user u in the lsi { circle over ( 2 )} image is supposed to be composed of n dots . at step 122 , the memory units 16 a , 16 b are referred to , the change in the number of dots is calculated , and the number of dot changes ( a ) (= absolute value | m − n |) is extracted . ( 1 ) overlapping the lsi { circle over ( 1 )} image and lsi { circle over ( 2 )} image , if there is an overlapping portion of image portions 300 , 301 , it means to calculate so as to delete the overlapping portion and maintain the non - overlapping portions of image portions 300 , 301 . that is , it means to calculate the absolute value | m − n |, and ( 2 ) as shown , for example , in fig2 ( a ) below , if there is no overlapping portion of image portions 300 a , 301 a by overlapping the lsi { circle over ( 1 )} image and lsi { circle over ( 2 )} image , it means to calculate to maintain the both portions 300 a , 301 a . that is , it means to calculate the number of dot changes ( a ) (= number of dots g for composing image portion 300 a + number of dots h for composing image portion 301 a ). as a result of the calculation , the change image s 1 shown in fig2 ( a ) is obtained . as recognized in this change image s 1 , the number of dot changes ( a ) presumed to be displayed in black is hardly observed . this is because the user u is away from the flush urinal 31 , the central axes x 1 , x 2 of the viewing field regions ( light receiving regions ) m , m are parallel to each other , and the artificial retina sensors 2 right , 2 left are disposed at right and left symmetrical positions , and therefore the image portions 300 , 301 are composed of a nearly same number of dots ( m being nearly equal to n ), and are present at the same position . the present invention is configured to judge if the number of dot changes ( a ) recognized in the change image s 1 is within a specified range or not ( see step 123 ). for example , the upper limit of the number of dot changes ( a ) (= absolute value | m − n |) is 960 , and the lower limit is set at 64 . that is , at step 123 , when the absolute value | m − n | is judged to be in a range of 960 ≧ number of dot changes ( a )≧ 64 , a valve open signal for opening the solenoid valve 17 is sent from the microcomputer 15 to the solenoid valve drive circuit 18 , and water is discharged from the water feed piping 32 , but since the number of dot changes ( a ) (= m − n ≈ 0 ) recognized in the change image s 1 is smaller than or equal to the lower limit , and the process returns to step 121 , and newly acquired images shown in fig2 ( b ), that is , lsi { circle over ( 3 )} image and lsi { circle over ( 4 )} image are stored , for example , in the memory unit 16 a and memory unit 16 b , respectively . in this case , the already stored images lsi { circle over ( 1 )} image and lsi { circle over ( 2 )} image are deleted . successively , at step 122 , the memory units 16 a , 16 b are referred to , and the number of changes of the number of dots m ′ for composing the image portion 400 ( black portion ) corresponding to the image of the user u in the lsi { circle over ( 3 )} image and the number of dots n ′ for composing the image portion 401 ( black portion ) corresponding to the image of the user u in the lsi { circle over ( 4 )} image are calculated , and the number of dot changes ( a ) (= absolute value | m ′− n ′|) is extracted . in this case , too , overlapping the lsi { circle over ( 3 )} image and lsi { circle over ( 4 )} image , the overlapping portion is deleted , and a change image s 2 as shown in fig2 ( b ) is obtained . in this case , too , the number of dot changes ( a ) of the change image s 2 judged at step 123 is smaller than or equal to the lower limit , and the process returns to step 121 again . the lsi { circle over ( 3 )} image and lsi { circle over ( 4 )} image stored in the memory unit 16 a and memory unit 16 b are deleted , and newly acquired images shown in fig2 ( c ), that is , lsi { circle over ( 5 )} image and lsi { circle over ( 6 )} image are stored , for example , in the memory unit 16 a and memory unit 16 b , respectively . successively , at step 122 , the memory units 16 a , 16 b are referred to , and the number of changes of the number of dots m ″ for composing the image portion 200 ( black portion ) corresponding to the image of the user u in the lsi { circle over ( 5 )} image and the number of dots n ″ for composing the image portion 201 ( black portion ) corresponding to the image of the user u in the lsi { circle over ( 6 )} image are calculated , and the number of dot changes ( a ) (= absolute value | n ″− n ″|) is extracted . in this case , too , overlapping the lsi { circle over ( 5 )} image and lsi { circle over ( 6 )} image , the overlapping portion is deleted , and a change image s 3 as shown in fig2 ( c ) is obtained . in this case , at step 123 , the absolute value | m ″− n ″| is judged to be within a range of 960 ≧ number of dot changes ( a )≧ 64 . accordingly , at step 124 , a valve open signal for opening the solenoid valve 17 is sent from the microcomputer 15 to the solenoid valve drive circuit 18 , and water is discharged from the water feed piping 32 . during discharge of water , newly acquired novel images ( consecutive image ) not shown are stored in the memory unit 16 a and memory unit 16 b from which the lsi { circle over ( 5 )} image and lsi { circle over ( 6 )} image are deleted ( see step 125 ). the novel images are respectively lsi { circle over ( 7 )} image and lsi { circle over ( 8 )} image , and the number of dot changes ( a ) is judged similarly . that is , in the water discharge state , at step 126 , the memory units 16 a , 16 b are referred to , and the number of changes of the number of dots m ′″ for composing the image portion corresponding to the image of the user u in the lsi { circle over ( 7 )} image ( not shown ) and the number of dots n ′″ for composing the image portion corresponding to the image of the user u in the lsi { circle over ( 8 )} image ( not shown ) are calculated , and the number of dot changes ( a ) (= absolute value | m ′″− n ′″|) is extracted . in this case , if the absolute value | m ′″− n ′″| exceeds , for example , 64 , it is judged that the user u leaves the flush urinal 31 ( see step 127 ), and the microcomputer 15 sends a valve close signal to the solenoid valve 17 ( see step 128 ). on the other hand , if the absolute value | m ′″− n ′″| is , for example , less than 64 , it is judged that the user u still remains at the flush urinal 31 ( see step 127 ), and the valve open signal continues to be transmitted , and the process returns to step 125 . [ 0124 ] fig2 shows an example of water feed operation . when the user u approaches the flush urinal 31 within 55 cm , a green lamp lights for 1 second [ see fig2 ( a )], and in about another 1 second , the flush urinal 31 is prewashed for 2 seconds [ see fig2 ( b )]. after use , when the user u leaves the flush urinal 31 , the flush urinal 31 is washed for 6 seconds [ see fig2 ( c )]. moreover , to prevent drying of discharge pipe of the flush urinal 31 if the flush urinal 31 is not used for a long period , it is automatically flushed in every 24 hours . [ 0125 ] fig2 to fig2 refer to embodiment 4 of the present invention configured so as to monitor the user u of a flush urinal 31 from a position immediately above the flush urinal 31 , by disposing a pair of artificial retina sensors 2 right , 2 left at right and left positions of a water feed piping 32 of the flush urinal 31 so that the central axes x 1 , x 2 of the viewing field regions ( light receiving regions ) m , m may intersect each other . in fig2 to fig2 , same reference numerals as in fig1 to fig2 refer to same or equivalent objects . in fig2 ( a ) and fig2 , the user u goes to the flush urinal 31 ( see step 500 ). first , as shown at step 501 , while the user u is away from the flush urinal 31 by a distance corresponding to length l 1 , of the two lsi images , for example , lsi { circle over ( 1 )} image is stored in the memory unit 16 a and lsi { circle over ( 2 )} image is stored in the memory unit 16 b . in fig2 ( a ), the image portion 300 a ( black portion ) corresponding to the image of the user u in the lsi { circle over ( 1 )} image is supposed to be composed of g dots . similarly , the image portion 301 a ( black portion ) corresponding to the image of the user u in the lsi { circle over ( 2 )} image is supposed to be composed of h dots . at step 502 , the memory units 16 a , 16 b are referred to , and the change in the number of dots ( a ) is extracted . in this case , different from above - mentioned embodiment 3 , in embodiment 4 , since the artificial retina sensors 2 right , 2 left are disposed at right and left positions of the water feed piping 32 of the flush urinal 31 so that the central axes x 1 , x 2 of the viewing field regions ( light receiving regions ) m , m may intersect each other , the image portion 300 a and image portion 301 b are mutually composed of nearly same number pixels ( g ≈ h ), but are not located at the same position as in above - mentioned embodiment 3 as shown in fig2 ( a ), but are present at mutually exact opposite positions as shown in fig2 ( a ). that is , the change image f 1 obtained as a result of calculation of the number ofdot changes is exactly same as the remaining of the image portion 300 a and image portion 301 a . next , at step 503 , when the number of dot changes ( a ) recognized in the change image f 1 is judged to be less than 64 , a valve open signal for opening the solenoid valve 17 is transmitted to the solenoid valve drive circuit 18 from the microcomputer 15 , and water is discharged from the water feed pipe 32 , but since the number of dot changes ( a ) recognized in the change image f 1 is more than or equal to 64 , going back to step 501 , newly acquired novel images shown in fig2 ( b ), that is , lsi { circle over ( 3 )} image and lsi { circle over ( 4 )} image are stored , for example , in the memory unit 16 a and memory unit 16 b respectively . in this case , the previously stored lsi { circle over ( 1 )} image and lsi { circle over ( 2 )} image are deleted . successively , at step 502 , the memory units 16 a , 16 b are referred to , and the number of changes ( a ) of the number of dots g ′ for composing the image portion 400 ( black portion ) corresponding to the image of the user u in the lsi { circle over ( 3 )} image and the number of dots h ′ for composing the image portion 401 ( black portion ) corresponding to the image of the user u in the lsi { circle over ( 4 )} image are extracted . in this case , in fig2 ( b ) same as in fig2 ( a ), although the image portion 400 a and image portion 401 a are composed of a nearly same number of dots ( g ′≈ h ′), as shown in fig2 ( b ), the image portion 400 and image portion 401 are notpartly overlapped , but the image portion 400 a and image portion 401 a are separate from each other , and the change image f 2 obtained as a result of calculation of the number of dot changes ( a ) is same as the remaining of the image portion 400 a and image portion 401 a . in this case , too , the number of dot changes ( a ) of the change image f 2 is more than or equal to 64 , and the process returns to step 501 again . after the lsi { circle over ( 3 )} image and lsi { circle over ( 4 )} image stored in the memory unit 16 a and memory unit 16 b , respectively , are deleted , newly acquired novel images shown in fig2 ( c ), that is , lsi { circle over ( 5 )} image and lsi { circle over ( 6 )} image are stored , for example , in the memory unit 16 a and memory unit 16 b , respectively . again , at step 502 , the memory units 16 a , 16 b are referred to , and the number of changes ( a ) is extracted from the number of dots g ″ for composing the image portion 200 a ( black portion ) corresponding to the image of the user u in the lsi { circle over ( 5 )} image and the number of dots h ″ for composing the image portion 201 a ( black portion ) corresponding to the image of the user u in the lsi { circle over ( 6 )} image . in this case , since the user u is further approaching the flush urinal 31 , the image of the user u is shown in the entire area of the image seen from the sensing window 9 , and the image portions 200 a , 201 a cover almost the entire area , and the image portions 200 a , 201 a are located nearly at same position . hence , by overlapping lsi { circle over ( 5 )} image and lsi { circle over ( 6 )} image , the image portions 200 a , 201 a are overlapped almost completely . hence , as recognized in the change image f 3 obtained as a result of calculation , the number of dot changes ( a ) presumed to be shown in black is hardly recognized . herein , the number of dot changes ( a ) recognized in the change image f 1 at step 503 is judged to be less than 64 , and a valve open signal for opening the solenoid valve 17 ( see step 504 ) is sent from the microcomputer 15 to the solenoid valve drive circuit 18 , so that water is discharged from the water feed pipe 32 . during discharge of water , newly acquired novel images ( consecutive images ) not shown are stored in the memory unit 16 a and memory 16 b , respectively , from which the lsi { circle over ( 5 )} image and lsi { circle over ( 6 )} image have been deleted ( see step 505 ). the novel images are lsi { circle over ( 7 )} image and lsi { circle over ( 8 )} image , and the number of dot changes ( a ) is similarly judged . that is , in the water discharge state , at step 506 , the memory units 16 a , 16 b are referred to , and the number of changes ( a ) is extracted . in this case , if the number of dot changes ( a ) is less than 64 , it is judged that the user u is away from the flush urinal ( see step 507 ), and the microcomputer 15 sends a valve close signal to the solenoid valve 17 ( see step 508 ). if the number of dot changes ( a ) is over 64 , on the other hand , it is judged that the user u is not away from the flush urinal 31 ( see step 507 ), and the transmission of valve open signal continues , and the process returns to step 505 . in the present invention , the number of photo detector elements is , natually , not limited to 1024 . also , the present invention is not limited to the flush urinal , but may be applied in the hand washer and other lavatories .
| 4 |
the invention provides a trolling plate design that releases reliably and automatically when water pressure generated by a propeller exceeds a selected threshold . fig1 shows a perspective view of a trolling plate set in a substantially vertical orientation , referred to as the &# 34 ; trolling position &# 34 ;. trolling plate assembly 20 includes mounting bracket or base 22 . base 22 is configured for mounting on the cavitation plate of an outboard motor . plate member 24 is pivotally connected to brace 22 via two lateral support bars 26 , only one of which can be seen in fig1 . lateral support bar 26 is pivotally connected to base 22 so that it can pivot around inside axis 28 . at its other end , lateral support bar 26 is pivotally mounted to plate member 24 so that it is free to pivot around outside axis 30 . ramp 40 is mounted on the inside of plate member 24 , intermediately between lateral support bars 26 . a bolt or threaded member 42 is accessible from the back of plate member 24 and threads through plate member 24 to contact ramp 40 . adjustment of bolt 42 alters the angle of ramp 40 relative to plate member 24 . curved bumper member or roller 44 is mounted on cylinder 45 between the sides of base 22 . roller 44 is aligned with ramp 40 so that ramp 40 and bumper 44 contact and move ( slide or roll ) relative to each other when force is applied to the inside surface of plate member 24 . rigid bar 46 extends obliquely upward from the upper inside surface of plate member 24 . lanyard 50 is connected to cable 52 which is linked to distal tip 54 of bar 46 and also to ring 56 which is affixed to axle 58 . detent 60 is secured near the center of axle 58 such that ring 56 and detent 60 rotate together with rotation of axle 58 . a pair of cables 62 connect cylinder 45 to plate member 24 . cables 62 prevent plate member 24 from being drawn into a propeller when the engine is placed in reverse . fig2 is a top view of trolling plate 20 of fig1 . most of the details shown in fig2 have already been discussed in reference to fig1 . rigid extensions such as bolts 63 function as stops limiting upward movement of lateral support bars 26 . in fig1 and 2 , plate member 24 is positioned where it will be when there is no significant force being exerted on plate member 24 except for gravity , i . e ., where plate member 24 is located when the motor is turned off . in this location , ramp 40 and roller 44 are not in contact . when the motor is placed in forward , ramp 40 moves into contact with roller 44 . an important feature of the invention is the mechanism which enables a person to alter or fine - tune the assembly so that it will release in response to a threshold amount of water pressure that suits the particular motor or trolling situation . when trolling with a large motor , the release setting is adjusted so that a relatively large amount of water pressure is required to push the plate member into the non - trolling position . this is because a large motor trolls at higher horsepower than a small motor . if the plate is set at a minimal release threshold , then water pressure generated by the large engine propeller at its trolling speed may cause the plate to rotate out of its trolling position at the wrong time . however , if the trolling plate is being used behind a small engine that is capable of trolling at significantly lower horsepower , then it is desirable to adjust the release setting so that the plate moves to its non - trolling position in response to a smaller amount of water pressure from the propeller . fig3 and 4 show the trolling plate responding to different amounts of water pressure at two different ramp angles relative to plate member 24 . force vectors in fig3 and 4 are not drawn to scale , but are used to illustrate relative differences in the function of trolling plate assembly 20 at different settings . in each of fig3 and 4 , ramp 40 and plate member 24 are shown in three different positions rotating around roller 44 in response to water pressure generated by propeller 65 . in fig3 and 4 , positions a and aa , shown in solid lines , are trolling positions for two different ramp settings . positions b and bb , drawn in dashed lines , show plate member 24 and ramp 40 , moved upward relative to roller 44 , at or near the trip - point . positions c and cc , shown in dash - dot lines , show locations of ramp 40 and plate member 24 after passing the trip - point , rotating toward the substantially horizontal non - trolling position . in fig3 trolling plate assembly 20 is adjusted for use behind a large outboard motor . ramp 40 forms angle α 1 with plate member 24 . propeller 65 generates water pressure against plate member 24 causing clock - wise torque t 1 on lateral support bar 26 around axis 28 . plate member 24 moves upward relative to base 22 because the only way for plate member 24 to gain any distance from propeller 65 is to move upward along with clock - wise rotation of support bar 26 toward parallel orientation with base 22 . as bar 26 approaches parallel , progressively more force is required to move plate member 24 upward . angled ramp 40 substantially impedes or counter - forces against upward movement of plate member 24 because roller 44 applies force f n normal to the surface of ramp 40 . f n has a vertical force component f i that is directed downward countering or impeding upward movement of plate member 24 . consequently , a relatively large upward force f is required to elevate plate member 24 distance d 1 to the trip - point position b . in contrast , as shown in fig4 a relatively small angle α 2 is formed between ramp 40 and plate member 24 . the small magnitude of angle α 2 causes ramp 40 to be less of an impedance or counter - force against upward movement of plate member 24 . roller 44 exerts force fnn normal to the surface of ramp 40 . f nn has a downward vertical force component f ii which is much smaller than fi in fig3 . when propeller 65 speeds up substantially above its trolling speed , water pressure exerted against the inside surface of plate member 24 causes torque t 2 on lateral support bar 26 around axis 28 . since ramp 40 is minimally angled to provide less impedance ( f ii ) against upward movement of plate member 24 , a relatively small amount of upward force f 2 is required to move plate member 24 upward by distance d 2 to the trip - point position bb . f 1 in fig3 is substantially greater than f 2 in fig4 while d 1 and d 2 are approximately equal . fig5 shows a bar graph illustrating the relative amounts of work ( w . sub . α1 = f 1 × d 1 , w . sub . α2 = f 2 × d 2 ) required to push plate member 24 to trip - point positions b and bb , respectively , depending on the angles ( α 1 and α 2 ) formed between ramp 40 and plate member 24 . fig6 and 7 illustrate use of lanyard 50 to pull plate member 24 up from its trolling position . once plate member 24 is pulled to the trip - point , then water pressure causes plate member 24 to complete rotation around roller 44 to the non - trolling position . as shown in fig6 bar 46 is connected to the inside surface of plate member 24 , and rests on cylinder 45 . cable 52 is connected to distal tip 54 of bar 46 . a person in the boat can pull on lanyard 50 , causing bar 46 to act as a lever on fulcrum cylinder 45 , thereby pulling plate member 24 up and over the trip - point , as shown in fig7 . fig8 and 9 show how detent 60 secures plate member 24 in its non - trolling position , and how lanyard 50 can be pulled on to cause release of the detent securing mechanism . in fig8 plate member 24 has rotated to an approximately horizontal position in which protrusion 68 of detent 60 hooks over plate member 24 , thus holding plate member 24 in its non - trolling position . detent 60 is urged forward to engage plate member 24 , by spring 72 which is contacted and bent by ramp 40 . spring 72 is anchored to a lower portion of detent 60 . as shown in fig9 a person can tug on lanyard 50 , thereby causing clock - wise rotation of axle 58 and detent 60 . when plate member 24 is unhitched by detent 60 , it rotates counter - clock - wise , primarily under gravitational force , toward the trolling position . preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described in detail . however , it is apparent that many modifications of the invention are also possible . for example , the positions of the ramp and roller can be switched . the ramp can be connected to the base of the trolling plate assembly , while the roller is connected to the plate member . there are also other ways to make the trolling plate assembly adjustable for different motor sizes . for example , the ramp angle can be permanently fixed , while the orientation of the lateral support bars can be adjustable . the connection points between the lateral support bars and the plate member can be adjustable vertically . alternatively , the connection points between the lateral support bars and the base can be adjustable horizontally . further , the vertical position of either the ramp or the roller could be adjusted to cause the trip - point to be reached sooner or later in the plate &# 39 ; s rotation . moving the roller down in the configuration shown in fig3 would cause the plate member to trip more quickly , thus serving a smaller motor . conversely , moving the roller up would require the motor to drive the plate further up ( and the lateral support bars to a more horizontal position ) before tripping , hence serving a larger motor .
| 1 |
phasing plugs perform two functions . first , the phasing plug provides acoustic load , i . e ., acoustic amplification to the throat of the horn . this is done through acoustic impedance matching , and generally depends on the compression ratio and the distance between the diaphragm and the phasing plug . therefore , to match the impedance , the height of the dome formed in the phasing plug and the width of the slots both need to be accurate because the height of the dome affects the distance between the diaphragm and the phasing plug ; and the width of the slots affects the compression ratio . put differently , because the cross - sectional area of the slots ( or air channel inlets ) are smaller than the area of the diaphragm , the air between the diaphragm and the phasing plug ( i . e ., the compression region ) can be compressed to relatively high pressures by motion of the diaphragm . this allows a compression driver to output sound at greater pressure levels than conventional loudspeakers where the diaphragm radiates directly into the air . the efficiency of the loudspeaker is thus increased by virtue of the phasing plug being placed in close opposition to the diaphragm to minimize the volume of air between the diaphragm and the phasing plug . second , the phasing plug provides equalized path length to its orifice so that all of the transmitted sounds are in phase . without such path length equalization , sound waves emanating from the different air channels or air passages would constructively or destructively interfere with one another at certain frequencies to distort the overall frequency response . to minimize such distortion and to maximize the impedance matching , the two - stage phasing plug needs to be manufactured to a tight dimensional tolerance . in other words , the path length will be eschewed , if the dimensions deviate from the specified dimensions and , therefore , distortion will occur . moreover , the shape and height of the dome and the width of the slots on the rear side ( the side adjacent to the diaphragm ) of the first phasing plug that create the acoustic impedance matching need to be accurate for the two - stage phasing plug to perform properly . fig1 illustrates a general overview of a compression driver 100 having a two - stage phasing plug assembly 102 and a diaphragm 104 adapted to couple to a horn 106 . the two - stage phasing plug assembly 102 , comprised of the first phasing plug 108 and the second phasing plug 110 , is adapted to couple to the throat 112 of the horn 106 . the diaphragm 104 may be adapted to be juxtaposed to the first phasing plug 108 to drive air through the two - stage phasing plug assembly and then to the throat 112 of the horn 106 . to manufacture a two - stage phasing plug with tight tolerances in the critical areas , the two - stage phasing plug 102 may be divided into two pieces comprising a first phasing plug 108 and a second phasing plug 110 . the first phasing plug 108 may be made from a unitary work - piece and is machined to shape the dome surface 114 and its height and may be cut to form the slots ( see also fig2 - 6 ). in other words , tolerances can be tightly held because the first phasing plug is machined from a unitary work - piece . with regard to the second phasing plug 110 , the accuracy may not be as critical as the dimensional requirements in the first phasing plug . therefore , the second phasing plug may be assembled from a number of components made of less expensive material , such as plastic , paper material or any material and allows for materials having lower tolerances . alternatively , the first phasing plug may be assembled from a number of pieces that are glued or fitted together and adapted to associate with the second phasing plug . also , the second phasing plug may be made from a unitary work - piece as well . fig2 illustrates a cross - sectional view of the two - stage phasing plug assembled within the compression driver 100 . a cover 202 encloses the entire assembly . the diaphragm 200 may be adjacent or juxtaposed to the first phasing plug 108 . moreover , the second phasing plug 110 may be flush within the first phasing plug 108 to form the two - stage phasing plug assembly . in this embodiment , a three circular slots 204 , 206 , and 208 may be formed between the first and second phasing plugs 108 , 110 to form air passages or channels so that air between the diaphragm 200 and the first phasing plug 108 may be compressed through the three slots . compressed air then exit through the throat of the horn . as illustrated in fig3 , the first phasing plug 108 may have a rear side 300 and a first intermediate side 302 . in this embodiment , the rear side 300 may have a convex or dome shape , while the first intermediate side 302 may have a concave shape . on the first intermediate side 302 , the first phasing plug 108 has a cavity 308 adapted to receive the second phasing plug 110 . the cavity 308 may have a cylindrical shape having a diameter “ d ” and the intermediate side 302 forming a base for the cavity 308 . moreover , the first phasing plug 108 has a flange 304 adapted to couple to the throat 112 of the horn 106 illustrated in fig1 . to do so , the flange 304 has a threaded opening 306 to receive a bolt to couple to the throat 112 of the horn . fig4 illustrates a plurality of slots , three circular slots 204 , 206 , and 208 in this embodiment , formed between the rear and first intermediate sides 300 and 302 . moreover , the three slots 204 , 206 , and 208 have a substantially similar slot length l between the rear and first intermediate sides 300 and 302 . the slots forming the air channels may expand from the rear side 300 to the first intermediate side 302 . that is , the width of the cut on the rear side 300 may be smaller than the width of the cut on the first intermediate side 302 . besides the slots , a pair of indentations 400 may be made forming a first bridge 402 between the pair of indentation so that the inner plate 404 is not cut away from the first phasing plug 108 because of the slot 204 . similar indentations and bridges may be made to hold a center plate 406 and an outer plate 408 in place . the plurality of slots form air passages or channels so that air between the diaphragm and the rear side 300 may be compressed into the plurality of slots . the radial distance δ 1 generally represents the radial diameter of the first slot 204 . the radial distance δ 2 separates the two slots 204 and 206 . the radial distance δ 3 separates the two slots 206 and 208 . the radial distances δ 1 , δ 2 , and δ 3 may be substantially similar to the wavelength of the highest frequency the two stage - phasing plug 100 needs to produce such that any cancellation , if at all , occurs at the highest frequency possible outside of the audio band . that is , as the diaphragm compresses , air pressure waves are formed , and some of the pressure waves takes a longer path to the slots than other pressure waves . for instance , pressure waves at the center of two slots must travel , half of the radial distance , i . e ., δ / 2 , further than pressure waves near the same two slots . if distance δ / 2 is equal to one - half of the wavelength , then the pressure waves at δ / 2 distance from any of the slots are out of phase with the pressure waves near the slots , thus canceling each other . put differently , “ standing waves ” as generally known to one skilled in the art , typically occur in the cavity between the diaphragm and the rear side 300 of the first phasing plug 108 , which can interfere with or cancel the pressure waves passing through the slots in the phasing plug . to minimize the interference from the standing waves , the radial distances δ 1 , δ 2 , and δ 3 may be positioned on the rear side 300 of the first phasing plug 108 based on a methodology developed by bob smith in a paper entitled “ an investigation of the air chamber of horn type loudspeakers ” jasa , vol . 25 , no . 2 , published march of 1953 , that is incorporated by reference into this application . any one of the modes may be suppressed by making the horn throat an annulus which is located at the node , of this mode . if it is necessary to suppress two modes , two annuluses ( slots ) are required . these annuluses can be located at the nodes of the second mode and thus do not excite it . each annulus does excite the first node , but the excitation by the second annulus is out of phase with that of the first annulus . by suitable choice of annulus widths , complete cancellation of the first mode results . thus , the first two modes are suppressed . the process can be carried out for any number of annuluses , i . e ., in the general casae of “ m ” annuluses the first “ m ” modes can be suppressed . the air chamber theory developed here suggests the following design procedure : the diaphragm size is selected by the power requirements of the loudspeaker . one then computes the frequencies of the modes associated with this diaphragm from eq . ( 13 ), decides how many modes have to be suppressed , and chooses this number of annuluses . the radii of these annuluses are determined from eq . ( 26 ) and the relative widths from the set of eqs . ( 25 ). λ 1 = 1 . 64 a , λ 2 = 0 . 896 a , λ 3 = 0 . 618 a , λ 4 = 0 . 471 a . the first a modes can be suppressed by letting “ j ” take on integral values from 1 to m . this produces a set of simultaneous equations : a 1 j o ( k 1 r 1 ) . . . a m j o ( k 1 r m )= 0 a 1 j o ( k m r 1 ) . . . a m j o ( k m r m )= 0 ( 25 ) any set of annulus areas and radii which satisfy eq . ( 25 ) will suppress the first m modes . one way of doing this is to choose the radii such that j o ( k m r i )= 0 i = 1 , . . . m , ( 26 ) i . e ., choose the radii to be at the nodes of the “ m ” th mode of jo . this reduces eq . ( 25 ) to “ m − 1 ” equations . these equations can be solved simultaneously for the area of each annulus . for the case of one , two , or three annulus the proper radii and widths of annulus are for m = 1 : r 1 = 0 . 628a and ω 1 arbitrary ; for m = 2 : r 1 = 0 . 334a , r 2 = 0 . 788a , ω 1 arbitrary , and ω 2 = 1 . 004ω 1 ; for m = 3 : r 1 = 0 . 238a , r 2 = 0 . 543a , r 3 = 0 . 853a , ω 1 arbitrary , ω 2 = 1 . 025ω 1 , and ω 3 = 1 . 065ω 1 . in general , incorporating more slots in the phasing plug further suppresses the lower frequency standing waves . alternatively , with enough slots in the phasing plug , the occurrence of the standing waves may be outside of the audio band such that the interference may not be noticeable to a listener at all . as such , the radial distances δ 1 , δ 2 , and δ 3 each may vary depending on the application of the compression driver . in general , the benefit of having more slots is balanced with the increase in cost associated with incorporating more slots into the phasing plug . for example , the first phasing plug 108 according to fig4 may have the following exemplary dimensions . the slot width for the slot 204 on the rear side 28 may be from about 0 . 02 inches to about 0 . 10 inches , and in particular about 0 . 06 inches ; while on the first intermediate side 302 , the width of the slot 204 may be from about 0 . 02 inches to about 0 . 15 inches , and in particular about 0 . 077 inches . the width for slots 206 and 208 may be substantially similar to the width of the slot 204 . the radial distances δ 1 , δ 2 , and δ 3 may be about 0 . 5 inches to provide a compression ratio to be about 6 : 1 to about 12 : 1 , and in particular about 10 : 1 . the first phasing plug 108 may be made from a work - piece that has been machined and cut . for example , a work - piece may be initially formed from a cast that is cylindrical in shape . to accurately cut the rear side 300 into a dome surface , the work - piece may be installed in a spindle or lathe and tooled to form the dome shape according to the specification and tolerance . the work - piece may be cut with a tool that is computer controlled so that the rear surface 300 may be cut accurately to form the dome shape in one pass . other methods known to persons skilled in the art may be used to polish or carve the rear side 300 to satisfy the tolerance requirement . the work - piece may be initially cast or forged with sufficient tolerances that it may not need to be carved or polished to satisfy the specification . once the rear surface 300 has been machined , the slots 204 , 206 , and 208 may be partially pierced between the rear and first intermediate sides 300 and 302 . this may be done using a variety of machining tools as known to one skilled in the art . then , the slots may be cut through the first phasing plug 108 between the rear side 300 and first intermediate sides 302 using a water jet or other suitable cutting mechanism , except for the bridges between the plates 404 , 406 , and 408 . for example , a water jet may be injected from the rear side 300 until it cuts through the first intermediate side 302 . with regard to the indentations , the water jet does not cut in those areas . one of the advantages with the water jet is that it expands as it cuts so that the water jet naturally makes the slots 204 , 206 , and 208 that expand from the rear side 300 to the first intermediate side 302 . therefore , there is no additional machining that needs to be done to expand the slots or air channels from the rear side 300 to the first intermediate side 302 . alternatively , a laser , cutting tools , or plasma cutting methods or any other methods known to one skilled in the art may be used to cut the slots as well . fig5 illustrates a side view of the first phasing plug 108 that has been machined on the rear side 300 to form a dome shape having a particular dimensional tolerance , and cut to have the slots 204 , 206 , and 208 . the slot 204 defining the inner plate 404 , the slot 206 defining the center plate 406 , and the slot 208 defining the outer plate 408 . fig6 illustrates the bottom view of the first phasing plug 108 showing the first intermediate side 302 . although the dimensional tolerance on the first intermediate side 302 may not be as critical as the rear side 300 , the first intermediate side 302 may be machined as well so that the thickness between the rear and first intermediate sides 300 , 302 is substantially constant . again the slot 204 defines the inner plate 404 . the center plate 406 is between the two slots 204 and 206 . and the outer plate 408 is between the two slots 206 and 208 . to hold the plates together , an inner bridge 602 is formed between the inner plate 404 and the center plate 406 , a center bridge 604 is formed between the center plate 406 and the outer plate 408 , and an outer bridge 606 is formed between the outer plate 408 and the edge 608 of the first phasing plug 108 . moreover , a number of threaded openings 608 are formed to receive a bolt to couple to the throat of a horn . the two - stage phasing plug may have a number of slots depending on the application . for instance , fig7 illustrates a two - stage phasing plug 700 including a first phasing plug 702 and a second phasing plug 704 with four slots 706 , 708 , 710 , and 712 . and fig8 illustrates a two - stage phasing pug 800 including a first phasing plug 802 and a second phasing plug 804 with five slots 806 , 808 , 810 , 812 , and 814 . note that in this example , the first intermediate side 816 is substantially flat rather than being concave as in the other embodiments . with additional slots in the two - stage phasing plug , the radial distances need to be smaller to accommodate more slots on the rear side 818 . as such , to maintain the compression ratio on the compression driver , which may be generally defined as the overall surface area of the rear side of the first phasing plug in relation to the overall opening area of the slots on the rear side , the width of the slots need to be reduced as well . in general , the compression ratio may be between about 6 : 1 and about 12 : 1 , and in particular about 10 : 1 . as illustrated in fig8 , the thickness between the first intermediate side 816 and the rear side 818 need not be constant . for example , the first intermediate side 816 or the base of the cavity may be a substantially flat surface rather than being a curved surface as illustrated in fig3 . fig9 - 12 illustrate by way of example the second phasing plug 110 configured to substantially fill the cavity 308 of the first phasing plug 108 illustrated in fig3 . fig9 illustrates the second phasing plug 110 having a second intermediate side 900 and a front side 902 . the second intermediate side 900 substantially matches the shape of the first , intermediate side 302 so that when the first and second intermediate sides are adjacent they are substantially flush together . in other words , there is little gap , if any , between the first and second intermediate sides 302 , 900 . as illustrated in fig1 , the second phasing plug 110 has a plurality of slots 1000 , 1002 , and 1004 that correspond to the slots 204 , 206 , and 208 , respectively , in the first phasing plug 108 . moreover , the slot 1000 generally defines an inner piece 1010 . between the two slots 1000 and 1002 is a centerpiece 1012 , and between the slots 1002 and 1004 is an outerpiece 1014 . that is , the second intermediate side 900 is comprised of the inner piece 1010 , the centerpiece 1012 , and the outerpiece 1014 , which flush against the inner plate 404 , the center plate 406 , and the outer plate 408 on the first intermediate side 302 of the first phasing plug 108 , respectively . in other words , the second intermediate side 900 substantially matches the first intermediate side 302 so that when the second phasing plug 110 is inserted into the cavity of the first phasing plug 108 , the second intermediate side 900 may be substantially flush against the first intermediate side 302 . to substantially fill the cavity 308 , the second phasing plug 108 may have a cylindrical shape with a diameter “ d ” that is equal or slightly less than the diameter “ d ” of the cavity 308 in fig3 . therefore , the second phasing plug 108 may be press - fitted into the cavity 308 . alternatively , glue may be used to securely hold the second phasing plug 110 within the cavity 308 of the first phasing plug 108 . in another embodiment , the second phasing plug 110 may be interchangeable so that the compression assembly 100 may be adaptable for a particular application by simply changing the second phasing plug . that is , the second phasing plug may be releaseably held in the cavity of the first phasing plug , so that the second phasing plug may be removed and replaced with a different phasing plug depending on the application . fig1 illustrates the slots 1000 , 1002 , and 1004 exiting through the front side 902 of the second phasing plug 110 . as illustrated in fig1 , the slots 1000 , 1002 , and 1004 expand from the second intermediate side 900 to the front side 902 , i . e ., the exit side . moreover , the width of the slots 1000 , 1002 , and 1004 in the second intermediate side 900 are substantially similar to the corresponding slots 204 , 206 , and 208 on the first intermediate side 302 . this way , the slots forming the path lengths or air channels from the first and second phasing plugs transition smoothly and continuously . in this embodiment , the front side 902 is substantially flat such that the second phasing plug may be fully inserted into the cavity 308 , as shown in fig2 . alternatively , the front side 52 may extend into the throat 112 of the horn 106 . the second phasing plug 110 may be assembled using a variety of methods . one such method is illustrated in fig1 - 18 . as dimensional accuracy in the second phasing plug 110 is not as critical as in the first phasing plug 108 , the second phasing plug may be assembled together , unlike the first phasing plug 108 , which may be made from a unitary work - piece . that is , in this embodiment , an inner piece 1300 , the centerpiece 1400 , the outerpiece 1600 , and a housing 1800 are assembled to make the second phasing plug 110 . fig1 illustrates the inner piece 1300 having a cone shape with a pair of flanges 1302 . the inner piece 1300 has an inner surface 1304 that is a portion of the second intermediate side 900 , which flush against the inner plate 404 along the first intermediate side 302 of the first phasing plug 108 . fig1 and 15 illustrate the centerpiece 1400 having a funnel shape with a bore 1402 ; and a center surface 1404 that is a portion of the second intermediate side 900 and fits flush against the center plate 406 of the first phasing plug 108 . moreover , the centerpiece 1400 has a pair of divots 1406 adapted to receive the pair of flanges 1302 , so that the inner piece 1300 may be press - fitted into the bore 1402 of the centerpiece 1400 . likewise , the centerpiece 1400 has three flanges 1408 so that the centerpiece may be press - fitted into the outerpiece 1600 . fig1 and 17 illustrate the outerpiece 1600 having a funnel shape as well . the outerpiece 1600 has an opening 1602 , and three divots 1604 adapted to receive the three flanges 1408 from the centerpiece 1400 . that is , the centerpiece 1400 may be press - fit into the opening 1602 of the outerpiece 1600 . likewise , the outerpiece 1600 has an outer surface 1606 that fits flush against the outer plate 408 of the first phasing plug 108 . moreover , the outerpiece 1600 has three flanges 1608 . fig1 illustrates the housing 1800 having a cylindrical shape with a diameter “ d ” and an opening 1802 . within the opening 1802 are three divots 1804 which are adapted to receive the three flanges 1608 so that the outerpiece 1600 may be press - fit into the housing 1800 . accordingly , the second phasing plug 108 as shown previously in fig9 - 12 may be assembled by press - fitting the inner piece 1300 into the center piece 1400 , then press - fitting the center piece 1400 into the outerpiece 1600 , and then press - fitting the outerpiece 1600 into the housing 1800 . with regard to the expansion of the slots through the two - stage phasing plug 102 , the slots may expand gradually in a straight line through the first phasing plug 108 and then to the second phasing plug 110 , as illustrated in fig2 . alternatively , as illustrated in fig1 , the first phasing plug 1908 may have slots 1912 , 1914 , 1916 , and 1918 expanding gradually in a straight line but in the second phasing plug 1910 , the slots 1912 , 1914 , 1916 , and 1918 expand in a curve or in any conic profile , i . e ., hyperbolic , parabolic , etc . shape so that the length of the each slots through the two - stage phasing plug 1900 between the rear side 1920 and the front side 1922 are substantially constant . moreover , the slots 1912 , 1914 , 1916 , and 1918 exit through the second phasing plug 1910 substantially parallel with the center axis 1950 . that is , air exits through the slots substantially parallel with the center axis 1950 . still further , as illustrated in fig2 , in another embodiment , a two - stage phasing plug 2000 may have slots 2012 , 2014 , 2016 , and 2018 through the first phasing plug 2008 that expand in a curve or in any conic profile , i . e ., hyperbolic , parabolic , etc . shape as well as in the second phasing plug 2010 . here , the first phasing plug 2008 may be assembled from a number of pieces rather than being formed from a unitary piece . also , the slots 2012 , 2014 , 2016 , and 2018 exit through the front side 2022 of the second phasing plug 2010 at an acute angle relative to the center axis line 2050 . in other words , as air exit through the slots 54 , air diverges off of the center axis line 2050 at an acute angle φ , such as between about 5 ° and about 25 °. one of the advantages here is that as air exit through the slots 2012 , 2014 , 2016 , and 2018 in a divergent direction so that the direction of the air is in alignment with the contour of a horn that flares out as well . in other words , with this embodiment , pressure waves leave the slots in the direction that conforms to the shape of the horn . fig2 illustrates yet another embodiment of the invention , where a phasing plug 2100 may be made of a number of pieces rather than in two stages as discussed above . that is , slots 2112 , 2114 , 2116 , and 2118 may be formed through the phasing plug 2100 which are curve comprised of number of pieces assembled together like the second phasing plug 110 assembled together as illustrated in fig9 through 12 . the first phasing plug may be made of any ferromagnetic material such as steel . alternatively , any other materials known to one skilled in the art may be used as well . the second phasing plug , on the other hand , may be made of less expensive and easier to work with material such as plastic or any material known to one skilled in the art . any method may be used to make the second phasing plug , such as well - known molding processes . also , machining and cutting processes are well known to one skilled in the art and may be selected based on the tolerance requirements . although the invention is generally described in terms of the one embodiment above , numerous modifications and / or additions to the above - described embodiment would be readily apparent to one skilled in the art . for example , the slots may be cut in any configuration . u . s . pat . no . 4 , 050 , 541 , is incorporated by reference into this application and discloses a radial slot configuration . u . s . pat . no . 5 , 117 , 462 , is incorporated by reference into this application discloses a whole array . the first intermediate surface 302 may also have a convex surface rather than a concave surface . phasing plugs have been made with many designs . perhaps the most frequently used type is one having annular cross - sections that usually increase in area as the principal radius of each annulus decreases in moving toward the throat of a speaker . this is shown , for example , in u . s . pat . no . 2 , 037 , 187 , entitled “ sound translating device ,” issued to wente in 1936 and incorporated by reference . another type is the salt shaker design , so called because holes at the spherical outer surface of the plug that extend through to the throat of the speaker resemble the holes of a salt shaker . another design that has been used , shown in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 050 , 541 , entitled “ acoustical transformer for horn - type loudspeaker ,” couples the diaphragm region to the throat by radial slots extending from the axis of cylindrical symmetry of the speaker and is incorporated by reference into this application . while various embodiments of the application have been described , it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many more embodiments and implementations are possible within the scope of this invention . accordingly , the invention is not to be restricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents .
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a nacelle ( not depicted ) constitutes a tubular housing for a turbojet engine and channels the air flows that it generates defining the internal and external aerodynamic lines necessary to obtain optimal performance . it also houses various components necessary for the operation of the turbojet engine , together with ancillary systems such as a thrust reverser . the nacelle is intended to be attached to a fixed structure of an airplane , such as a wing , via a pylon . more specifically , a nacelle has a structure comprising a front section that forms an air inlet 4 , a central section 5 intended to surround a fan of the turbojet engine , and a rear section ( not visible ) surrounding the engine of the turbojet engine and generally housing a thrust reversal system . the air inlet 4 splits into two zones , namely , on the one hand , an inlet lip 4 a designed optimally to funnel toward the turbojet engine the air needed to be fed to the fan and to the internal compressors of the turbojet engine and , on the other hand , a downstream structure 4 b comprising an external panel 40 and an internal panel 41 and to which the lip 4 a is attached and which is intended to channel the air suitably toward the fan blades . the central section also breaks down into an external wall and an internal wall comprising a casing of the fan . a nacelle that has an air inlet structure as depicted in fig1 and 2 has a lip 4 a incorporated into the external panel 40 , it being possible for said external panel also to incorporate , at least in part , the external wall of the central structure 5 . the external wall 40 and the air inlet lip 4 a therefore form a single dismantlable component extending over the entire upstream part of the nacelle . the internal panel 41 for its part is attached upstream of the fan casing via fixing flanges . the external panel 40 may be modular and comprise a plurality of longitudinal external panels each defining a portion of the external wall of the nacelle . in such a case , the external structure of the nacelle will have meeting lines running longitudinally with respect to the nacelle , and these will have only a negligible impact on the aerodynamic continuity of the air inlet structure 4 , unlike a nacelle according to the prior art that has a peripheral meeting line where the external panel 40 meets the lip 4 a and where the external panel 40 meets the external panel of the central section 5 , said meeting line running transversely with respect to the direction of the air flow . as shown in fig1 and 2 , the external panel is mounted with the capacity for translational movement along a substantially longitudinal axis of the nacelle to make it easier to remove and / or to replace . this translational movement is performed by virtue of the installation of guide means 100 according to the invention , comprising a rail 101 collaborating with a slide 102 . the present invention will be illustrated by a guide system 100 comprising a rail 101 fixedly mounted on the internal wall 41 and a slide 102 fixedly connected to the external panel 40 . quite clearly , the present application is not restricted to such a configuration and it is entirely possible for the invention to be extended to cover a rail fixed to the moving external panel and collaborating with a fixed slide of the nacelle ; or alternatively to use a rail with rollers , for example . as explained , a nacelle as described hereinabove allows simple opening of the entire upstream section of the nacelle but also at the same time allows said external panel 40 to be removed . as a result , the guide system 100 needs to allow the slide to be halted at the end of its travel when the external panel 40 is simply being opened , but needs also to be able to allow an over - travel of the slide 102 so that it can be disengaged from the rail 101 and the external panel can be removed . the present invention aims to provide such a guide system 100 which is depicted during the course of various steps in fig3 to 8 . as previously stipulated , a guide system 100 comprises a rail 101 on which there is mounted a slide 102 capable of translational movement along said rail 101 . the rail 101 is hollow and incorporates a retractable translational immobilization system . for this , the rail 101 has a first end 103 in which two heel pieces 104 are mounted facing one another . each heel piece 104 has a first end 104 a forming a pivot and via which it is mounted on an axis of rotation against the wall of the rail 101 and a second end 104 b that projects from the first end 103 of the rail 101 forming a return 105 able to project laterally from the rail 101 when the heel piece 104 is pressed against the wall of the rail 101 ( engaged position ) but not protruding laterally beyond the rail 101 when the heel pieces are sufficiently far away from the wall of the rail 101 ( disengaged position ). the heel pieces 104 are connected to one another by a spring 106 that constitutes an elastic return means that tends to return them to their disengaged position . alternatively , it is equally possible to imagine equipping each heel piece 104 with a spring mounted against the wall of the rail 101 and tending to push them away from said wall . each heel piece 104 has , at its end 104 b , a beveled face 107 intended to collaborate with a corresponding frustoconical end 121 of a connecting rod 120 mounted with the capacity for translational movement inside the rail 101 and able to move alternately from a first position in which the frustoconical end acts as an end stop for the heel pieces 104 and keeps them in their engaged position against the action of the spring 106 , to a second position in which the frustoconical end 121 is away from the heel pieces 104 and allows them , under the effect of the spring 106 , to return toward their disengaged position . the rod 120 is made to move between its two positions by means of a trigger 130 positioned at a second end 108 of the rail 101 . the trigger 130 is mounted such that it can rotate between two stable positions and is connected to the rod 120 by a link 131 . the trigger 130 is also connected to an elastic return means 132 allowing it to be kept in each of the two stable positions and to be returned to one of its two positions when it is in an unstable intermediate position . the two stable positions of the trigger 130 are determined in such a way that , on the one hand , when actuated into its first stable position , the trigger 130 , via the link 132 , drives the rod 120 into its position of separation from the heel pieces 104 which then move into the disengaged position and , on the other hand , when actuated into its second stable position , the trigger 130 via the link 132 returns the rod 120 to its position of engagement with the heel pieces 104 which , as explained hereinabove , are then kept in their engaged position . it will also be noted that the trigger is equipped with an extension 133 arranged in such a way that it projects laterally from the rail 101 when the heel pieces 104 are in the disengaged position . the various steps in implementing the guide system 100 and its in - built locking system will now be explained with the aid of fig3 to 8 . fig3 illustrates the guide system 100 in its initial position when the external panel 40 is closed and the heel pieces 104 are in their engaged position . in this position , the slide 102 is retreated toward the second end 108 of the rail 101 . as for the in - built immobilizing system , the heel pieces 104 are kept in the engaged position , that is to say in the position in which they project laterally from the rail 101 , by the end 121 of the rod 120 . the trigger 130 is in the corresponding stable position . fig4 illustrates the guide system 101 in the case of simple opening of the external panel 40 without its removal . in this configuration , the heel pieces 104 are still in the engaged position and the slide 102 has slid toward the first end 103 of the rail 101 until possibly it has come into abutment against the return 105 of the heel pieces 104 . fig5 to 8 illustrate the steps involved in completely removing and possibly replacing the external panel 40 . to do this , the trigger 130 is pivoted by hand or through an electric control into its second stable position . it will be noted that the locking means are located at one end of the rail while the control means are located at the second end . this is because such positioning is advantageous because it allows ease of access to the control means , the moving cowl 40 beginning to open from the side at which the control means are located . as this happens , the link 132 transmits this movement to the rod 120 which undergoes a slight translational movement until the frustoconical end 121 has moved away from the heel pieces 104 to allow them , under the effect of the spring 106 , to return to their disengaged position . thus , the returns 105 of the heel pieces 104 no longer project laterally from the rail 101 and the slide 102 is free to continue its travel as illustrated in fig6 so that the rail 101 and the slide 102 can be disengaged , allowing the external panel 40 to be removed . as illustrated in fig7 , the external panel 40 or a new panel is refitted by performing the procedure in reverse . however , as is depicted in fig8 , the locking system is able automatically to return to the engaged position once the external panel 40 has been refitted . what happens is that when the external panel 40 is returned to the closed position , the slide 102 undergoes a translational movement along the rail 101 toward its second end 108 where the extension 133 of the trigger projects laterally from the wall of the rail 101 . as the external panel 40 is returned to the closed position , the slide butts against said extension 133 of the trigger and pushes it back , thus causing the trigger 130 to return to its first stable position and , as a result , causing the heel pieces 104 to reengage . the external panel 40 is manipulated in the conventional way using suitable tooling mounted on lifting points , advantageously situated near the center of gravity of the wall . hence it is easy to perform a pivoting by hand in order to fit and remove said one - piece wall . optionally , the lifting point may be situated inside a casing of a latch . although the invention has been described in conjunction with specific exemplary embodiments , it is quite obvious that it is not in any way restricted thereto and that it comprises all technical equivalents of the means described and combinations thereof where these fall within the scope of the invention . in particular , it would be possible to provide retractable end stops of different shapes . it will also be noted that the present guide system is not limited to an air inlet external panel but could also be applied to the guidance of any moving part of a nacelle . it will finally be noted that the locking system according to the invention may be combined with an electric drive and control system , possibly associated with a sensor to detect that the external panel has been re - closed .
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the copying apparatus shown in fig1 has an original table 1 on which an original 2 to be copied such as a book or a sheet is stationarily placed . the original table 1 is made of transparent glass and fixedly mounted on the upper part of a machine frame 0 of the apparatus body . an optical image of the original 2 is projected onto a photosensitive medium 10 at the exposure position a by a projection optical system composed of plane mirrors 3 , 4 an in - mirror lens 6 having a mirror 6 &# 39 ; at its rear portion , and a plane mirror 12 or by a projection optical system composed of the plane mirrors 3 , 4 , in - mirror lens 6 , a roof mirror 7 and a plane mirror 9 . the photosensitive medium 10 is formed of a photosensitive drum having an electrophotographic photosensitive layer provided on the circumference in a known manner . the drum 10 is rotated in the direction of arrow 11 not only during the forward scanning time but also during the backward scanning time of the original . the photosensitive drum 10 is slitwise exposed to the original image . to define the slit - like exposure area whose long side extends in the direction along the generating line of the drum , that is , in the direction normal to the direction in which the drum 10 is moved , there is disposed a slit plate 5 in the optical path between the original table 1 and the mirror 3 . the slit plate 5 has a slit opening 5 &# 34 ; provided for limiting the width of the original image forming beam relative to the direction of original scanning . the long side of the slit opening 5 &# 34 ; extends in the direction normal to the direction of the original being scanned ( the moving direction of mirrors 3 and 4 described later ). the slit plate 5 may be disposed in the vicinity of the photosensitive drum 10 . in either case , an optical image of the original 2 is slitwise exposed on the drum 10 . a lamp 8 illuminates the original . in the manner well known in the art , the photosensitive drum 10 is electrically charged uniformly by a corona discharger b and then it is subjected to a slit exposure of the original image at the position indicated by a . by this exposure there is formed on the photosensitive drum 10 an electrostatic latent image which is then developed by a developing device c . the toner image obtained by the development is then transferred onto a sheet of paper p moving in the direction of arrow under the action of a corona discharger d . the transferred toner image on the paper p is fixed on the paper by a fixing device e . on the other hand , after transferring , the photosensitive drum is cleaned up by a cleaning device f . the original 2 is scanned by the mirrors 3 and 4 . to this end , the mirrors 3 and 4 are reciprocally moved in parallel to the original and in synchronized relation with each other between the position indicated by solid and the position suggested by phantom mirrors 3 &# 39 ;, 4 &# 39 ;. to keep constant the optical length between the original and the photosensitive drum , the mirror 4 is moved in the same direction as the mirror 3 but at a half ( 1 / 2 ) speed of the running speed of the mirror 3 . since the slit plate 5 and the lamp 8 is mounted on the same carriage on which the mirror 3 is mounted ( the carriage is not shown in the drawing ), the slit plate 5 and lamp 8 move together with the mirror 3 . means for moving the mirrors 3 , 4 , slit plate 5 and lamp 8 in the manner described above is well known in the art and therefore need not to be further described . a forward scanning of the original is performed during the time when the mirrors 3 , 4 , slit plate 5 and lamp 8 are together moved from the position indicated by solid ( starting point of forward movement ) to the position suggested by phantom 3 &# 39 ;, 4 &# 39 ;, 5 &# 39 ;, 8 &# 39 ; ( end point of forward movement ) in the direction of arrow 15 . a backward scanning of the original is performed during the time when the mirrors 3 , 4 , slit plate 5 and lamp 8 are moved back in the direction of arrow 16 from the position suggested by phantom to the position indicated by solid . during the forward scanning time and also during the backward scanning time , the light coming from the original passes through at first the slit opening 5 &# 34 ; and then it is reflected successively by the mirrors 3 and 4 toward the lens 6 . the light entering the lens 6 is reflected by the mirror 6 &# 39 ; of the lens and then exits from the lens . during the forward scanning , that is , when the mirrors 3 and 4 are moved forwards in the direction of arrow 15 , the roof mirror 7 is in the optical path at the downstream side of the lens 6 . namely , during the forward scanning , the roof mirror 7 takes the position suggested by phantom . fig2 shows the structure of the roof mirror 7 as viewed in the direction of arrow x in fig1 . as seen in fig2 the roof mirror 7 has a first reflecting plane surface 71 and a second reflecting plane surface 72 . the two reflecting plane surfaces 71 and 72 intersect at right angles . in fig2 a ray a is at first reflected by the reflecting surface 71 and then reflected by the reflecting surface 72 whereas another ray b is reflected by the reflecting surface 72 and then by intersection 73 . as readily understood from the running courses of the rays , the roof mirror 7 can invert the image in regard to the direction normal to the intersection 73 of the two reflecting planes 71 and 72 ( the vertical direction as viewed in the drawing of fig2 ). the angle θ at which the two reflecting planes 71 and 72 intersect , is preferably 90 °. however , the intersectional angle θ is not necessarily always 90 °. the angle may be acute or obtuse . in any case , the roof mirror 7 is disposed in such manner that the intersection 73 is orientated toward the direction normal to the longitudinal direction of the slit opening 5 &# 34 ; or to the generating line of the photosensitive drum 10 . as previously described , during the forward scanning of the original , the image forming beam exiting from the lens 6 is incident on the roof mirror 7 . after reflected by the two reflecting surfaces of the roof mirror 7 , the image forming beam runs toward the plane mirror 9 along the optical path l 2 . the plane mirror 9 reflects the image forming beam to the exposure position a . this mirror 9 is fixedly mounted on the machine frame 0 so that the mirror remains stationary in the optical path l 2 . the roof mirror 7 is fixed to one end of an arm 13 the other end of which is supported by a pivot 14 fixed to the machine frame 0 . therefore , the arm 13 is swing movable about the pivot 14 . a tension spring 17 is disposed between the arm 13 and the machine frame 0 . one end of the spring 17 is anchored to the arm and the other end is anchored to the machine frame . this tension spring 17 biases the arm 13 to clockwise rotation about the pivot 14 . the arm 13 is also in engagement with an electromagnetic plunger 18 . when the plunger 18 is energized , it rotates the arm 14 counter - clockwise about the pivot 14 against the force of the spring 17 thereby moving mirror 7 down to the position indicated by solid 7 &# 39 ; from the position indicated by phantom 7 . when the plunger 18 is deenergized , the mirror 7 is moved up to the phantom line position 7 from the solid line position 7 &# 39 ; by the elastic force of the spring 17 . the rotational movement of the arm 13 is limited by stoppers 19 and 20 . in the course of upward movement of the arm by the spring force , the arm 13 abuts against the stopper 19 by which the roof mirror 7 is positioned in the position indicated by phantom lying in the optical path l 1 of the image forming beam . in the course of downward movement of the arm by the action of the plunger 18 , the arm 13 abuts against the stopper 20 by which the roof mirror 7 is positioned in the solid line position out of the above mentioned optical path l 1 . in this retracted position indicated by solid , the roof mirror 7 can not take any part in forming an image on the photosensitive drum 10 . during the forward scanning time , the plunger 18 remains deenergized . it is energized after the mirrors 3 , 4 slit plate 5 and lamp 8 have reached the respective end positions 3 &# 39 ;, 4 &# 39 ;, 5 &# 39 ; and 8 &# 39 ; and before they start returning back in the direction of arrow 16 . in other words , the plunger 18 is energized at a time point between the end of a forward scanning and the start of a backward scanning subsequent to it . when the plunger 18 is energized , the roof mirror 7 is retracted to the solid line position 7 &# 39 ; out of the optical path of the image forming beam in the manner described above . therefore , in this position , the image forming beam from the lens 6 is incident on the stationary plane mirror 12 but not on the roof mirror 7 &# 39 ;. the plane mirror 12 reflects the beam toward the position a along the optical path l 3 which does not pass through the mirror 9 . in other words , the mirror 9 is disposed in the optical path l 2 at a position out of the optical path l 3 . in the retracted position , the roof mirror 7 never obstructs the running of the beam reflected by the mirror 12 along the optical path l 3 . as previously noted , the optical path l 1 of image forming beam extending from the original to the roof mirror 7 in the phantom line position is common to the forward scanning and the backward scanning . but , the optical path extending from the phantom position to the photosensitive drum 10 is l 2 for the forward scanning and l 3 for the backward scanning . the optical paths l 2 and l 3 are different from each other . thus , the roof mirror 7 , when it is in the working position before the stationary mirror 12 , reflects the image forming beam passed through the lens 6 in the direction different from the direction in which the beam is reflected by the stationary mirror 12 . when the roof mirror 7 is positioned in its working position by the stopper 19 , the intersection of the two reflecting surfaces of the roof mirror 7 is somewhat inclined to the stationary mirror . in any event , the focused state of the image on the photosensitive drum during the forward scanning and that during the backward scanning must desirably be equal to each other . to satisfy this requirement , it is desirable that the working position of the roof mirror 7 indicated by the broken line and the position of the stationary mirror 9 should be selected in such manner that the optical path length from the lens 6 to the drum 10 through the roof mirror 7 in the working position and the mirror 9 is substantially equal to the optical path length from the lens 6 to the drum 10 through the mirror 12 . further , it is preferable that the mirror 9 be so disposed as to reflect the image forming beam reflected by the roof mirror 7 toward the same exposure position a as the beam is directed to by the stationary mirror 12 during the backward scanning . however , the image exposure position on the photosensitive drum during the forward scanning may be slightly different from that during the backward scanning . in summary , according to the invention , the roof mixture 7 is in its working position indicated by broken line or phantom only when the original is scanned forwards . in this position , the optical path for the image forming beam is formed by mirrors , 3 , 4 , lens 6 , roof mirror 7 and mirror 9 . when the original is scanned backwards , the plunger 18 is energized and the roof mirror 7 is retraced to its non - working position indicated by solid line . in this position , the optical path for the image forming beam is formed by mirrors 3 , 4 , lens 6 and mirror 12 . with this arrangement of the invention , the original can be correctly copied not only by a forward scanning but also by a backward scanning of the original . this is because during the forward scanning , the roof mirror 7 effects an inversion of the original image on the photosensitive drum relative to the original image formed during the backward scanning in regard with the direction of the generating line of the drum or the longitudinal direction of the slit and also the mirror 9 effects an inversion of the original image relative to that formed during the backward scanning with regard to the direction of the drum being moved or the direction normal to the longitudinal direction of the slit . in brief , the roof mirror 7 and mirror 9 together have an effect of changing the orientation of the original image on the drum 10 by 180 ° relative to the original image on the drum during the backward scanning . by this effect it is made possible to obtain correct copies of an original during the forward scanning as well as during the backward scanning while using a photosensitive drum rotating always in the same direction . while the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes may be made therein in the light of the above teachings . for example , the positions 3 &# 39 ;, 4 &# 39 ;, 5 &# 39 ; and 8 &# 39 ; suggested by phantom may be selected as the starting points for forward running of mirrors 3 , 4 , slit plate 5 and lamp 8 . in this case , the original is forward scanned by these elements 3 , 4 , 5 and 8 moving in the direction of arrow 16 . when they run in the direction of arrow 15 , a backward scanning of the original is performed . the roof mirror 7 is brought to its working position indicated by broken line when the backward scanning is carried out . the roof mirror 7 may be fixed stationary , for example , at the position of mirror 9 in fig1 while the plane mirror 9 is attached to the arm 13 . further , there may be a prism having a roof reflecting surface as the roof mirror 7 . the mirrors 3 , 4 slit plate 5 and lamp 8 may be mounted stationary on the machine frame 0 while reciprocally moving the original table 1 above the slit opening 5 &# 34 ; using a known original table moving means . in this modification , the original is scanned with the reciprocal movement of the original table 1 . the roof mirror 7 is moved to its working position indicated by phantom when the original table 1 is moved in the direction of arrow 16 . when the original table is moved in the direction arrow 15 , the roof mirror is retracted to the position indicated by solid in fig1 . as another modification , the original may be reciprocally moved above the slit opening 5 &# 34 ; using a known original conveying means such as belt and roller . also , in this case , the roof mirror 7 is brought to its working position when the original is moved in the direction of arrow 16 and it is retracted to non - working position when the original is moved in the direction of arrow 15 . the present invention is applicable also to an electro fax type copying machine in which a photosensitive paper is used as copying paper and an image is fixed on the photosensitive paper .
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please refer to fig1 and fig2 . fig1 is a schematic diagram of a monitor 1 of a preferred embodiment according to the present invention . fig2 is a back view of the monitor 1 . the monitor 1 includes a displaying device 12 , a supporting device 14 , and a console 16 ( or other input device , the invention is not limited to it ). the supporting device 14 is connected to and supports the displaying device 12 . the console 16 is connected in communication to the displaying device 12 and is capable of being engaged with the supporting device 14 . in the embodiment , the console 16 is electrically connected to a universal serial bus connection port 122 of the displaying device 12 by a cable 18 . however , the invention is not limited to this ; the console 16 is alternatively capable of being connected to the displaying device 12 through any other connection ports , even through a wireless connection . the supporting device 14 includes amounting 142 and a support 144 . the support 144 is disposed between the displaying device 12 and the mounting 142 . the mounting 142 can be placed on a plane ( not shown in the figure ) such as tabletop ; however , the invention is not limited to it . the displaying device 12 is supported by the support 144 . the displaying device 12 thereon defines a view direction 124 ; correspondingly , the mounting 142 thereon defines a disposition direction 1422 perpendicular to the view direction 124 . the mounting 142 includes an engagement structure 1424 along the disposition direction 1422 on each of two sides of the mounting 142 . in other words , the mounting 142 has a mounting left end 1421 a and a mounting right end 1421 b . each of the mounting left end 1421 a and the mounting right end 1421 b has the engagement structure 1424 . thereby , the console 16 is capable of being engaged with the supporting device 14 by either of the engagement structures 1424 , or being departed from the mounting 142 . there are two of the engagement structures 1424 in the embodiment ; hence , a user is able to choice either of the engagement structures 1424 by his habit to engage . that is , the user can use his left or right hand to engage the console 16 to the mounting 142 by the left or right side . however , for the disposition , quantity , and geometric structure of the engagement structure 1424 , the invention is still not limited to the above disclosure . it is added that , in the embodiment , the mounting 142 has a mounting top surface 1423 . the console 16 has an input - device top surface 161 . when the mounting 142 is engaged with the console 16 by the engagement structure 1424 , the mounting top surface 1423 and the input - device top surface 161 are coplanar . furthermore , the mounting 142 has a mounting front edge 1425 . the console 16 has an input - device front edge 163 . similarly , when the mounting 142 is engaged with the console 16 by the engagement structure 1424 , the mounting front edge 1425 is aligned with the input - device front edge 163 . in addition , as the engagement direction of the console 16 and the mounting 142 shown in fig1 , the console 16 has an input - device left end 165 a and an input - device right end 165 b . there is one of the engagement structures 1424 at the mounting left end 1421 a . the input - device right end 165 b is capable of being engaged with the mounting left end 1421 a by the engagement structure 1424 at the mounting left end 1421 a , while the input - device left end 165 a has a plurality of buttons ( i . e . the buttons marked with numbers ‘ 1 ’, ‘ 2 ’ and ‘ 3 ’ and a return symbol ). in the embodiment , the engagement structure 1424 is a protrusion basically ; the console 16 has a depression 162 correspondingly ( shown in dashed lines in fig2 ). the console 16 realizes the engagement purpose of the console 16 and the supporting device 14 by the joining the depression 162 and the protrusion together . in practice , the protrusion may include some structure features thereon so that the depression 162 and the protrusion can be joined tight . for example , the engagement sections of the protrusion and the depression 162 can be designed to be more complex in geometry so as to increase the contact area between the protrusion and the depression 162 ; or the protrusion thereon forms ribs ( the extension direction of which is non - parallel to the disposition direction 1422 ) while the depression 162 forms corresponding slots inside , so as to produce the effect of holding . furthermore , because the console 16 has depressions 162 on the both sides , the user can engage the console 16 with the mounting 142 by either engagement structure 1424 on different side ; however , the invention is not limited to this . it is added that , in practice , the engagement structure 1424 can be a depression , and the console 16 includes a protrusion correspondingly for being engaged with the depression . please refer to the above description for the engagement herein , which is no longer to be discussed more . in addition , the engagement mechanism using geometric structure has the effect of positioning , so by the design of appearance dimensions of the console 16 and the mounting 142 , the whole profile of the console 16 engaged with the mounting 142 together is continuous and smooth to show an integral whole , which improves the appearance of the product . please refer to fig3 , which is a schematic diagram of the engagement for the mounting 142 and the console 16 of another embodiment according to the present invention . in this embodiment , there is no engagement structure meshing with each other for the mounting 142 and the console 16 . however , the mounting 142 and the console 16 includes magnetic parts 1426 and 164 respectively , so the console 16 is capable of being mounted on the mounting 142 by use of the magnetic attraction induced by the magnetic parts 1426 and 164 . in practice , the magnetic parts 1426 and 164 can be disposed outside or inside the mounting 142 and the console 16 , even integrated into a part of the case thereof . the magnetic parts 1426 and 164 can be made of magnetic material ; or one of the magnetic parts 1426 and 164 is a magnet , and the other is made of magnet - conductive material . however , the invention is not limited to this . in this embodiment , there is no engagement structure meshing with each other , so the user to attach the console 16 on the mounting 142 more easily . in addition , in practice , for the advantages of the alignment accuracy of physical geometric structure and the convenience of magnetic engagement , a meshing structure such as pyramids 1428 and holes 166 ( shown in dashed lines ) for guiding the engagement may be added to the engagement interface in fig3 . it is added that , in the engagement mechanism shown in fig2 , magnets may be disposed in the engagement structures 1424 and the depressions 162 respectively to improve the engagement stability of the console 16 and the mounting 142 . please refer to fig4 and fig5 . fig4 is a schematic diagram of the console 16 of the monitor 1 in fig1 . fig5 is a partial section of the console 16 for showing the interior thereof ; the position of the cutting plane for the section is shown as the cutting line x - x in fig4 substantially . the console 16 includes three switch keys 168 a , 168 b ad 168 c , a back key 170 , a rotary part 172 , and a confirmation key 174 . in the embodiment , the rotary part 172 is a rotary wheel , the rotation of which is sensed by use of a sensor 176 . the confirmation key 174 is disposed below the shaft of the rotary part 172 ( as shown in fig5 ). the rotary part 172 can be pressed down to trigger the confirmation key 174 . a user can set the displaying parameters , including sizes , brightness , saturation , contrast , horizontal position , vertical position and so on , of the displaying device 12 by use of the back key 170 , the rotary part 172 and the confirmation key 174 . for a general setting operation , an on - screen display menu 126 relative to the displaying parameters of the displaying device is shown as in fig6 . in the embodiment , the on - screen display menu 126 is a nest structure to be displayed in single list , which is conducive to selecting by use of the rotary wheel ; however , the invention is not limited to this . furthermore , in practice , there are displaying parameters having been stored in advance correspondingly to each of the switch keys 168 a , 168 b and 168 c . if any one of the switch keys 168 a , 168 b and 168 c is triggered ( such as by pressing ), the displaying device 12 will be switched to a displaying mode relative to the displaying parameters corresponding to the pressed switch key 168 a , 168 b or 168 c . in the embodiment , the user can also use the back key 170 , the rotary part 172 , and the confirmation key 174 to set the displaying parameters correspondingly to the switch keys 168 a , 168 b and 168 c respectively . for example , when the user has set the displaying parameters by use of the on - screen display menu 126 , the user can press any one of the switch keys 168 a , 168 b and 168 c for some time ( for example 5 seconds or any other set time ) to store the present displaying parameters corresponding to the pressed switch key 168 a , 168 b or 168 c . in addition , according to a program design , the user can press anyone of the switch keys 168 a , 168 b and 168 c for some time ( for example 10 seconds or any other set time , usually longer than the time for storing abovementioned ) to restore a default displaying parameters corresponding to the pressed switch key 168 a , 168 b or 168 c . in sum , the switch keys 168 a , 168 b and 168 c corresponds to different displaying parameters respectively . anyone of the switch keys 168 a , 168 b and 168 c can be triggered ( such as by pressing ) for switching the displaying device 12 to operate in the displaying mode relative to the displaying parameters corresponding to the pressed switch key 168 a , 168 b or 168 c . therefore , in the embodiment , the displaying device 12 has at least three displaying modes ; for example , except for the original displaying modes corresponding to the switch keys 168 a , 168 b and 168 c , the switch keys 168 a , 168 b and 168 c can be triggered together with the back key 170 for switching more displaying modes . in practice , the above - mentioned displaying modes can be a bright displaying mode , a predetermination - sized displaying mode , a theater displaying mode , a game displaying mode , a darkroom displaying mode , a document - processing displaying mode and so on . it is added that the operation design for the keys ( including the switching keys 168 a , 168 b and 168 c , the back key 170 , the rotary part 172 , and the confirmation key 174 ) can involve more functions depending on different program designs to satisfy different demands . further , the invention is not limited to controlling the displaying modes of the displaying device 12 . for example , the invention is also applied to interactive manipulations on the displaying content of the displaying device 12 . the above is not described one by one herein . in addition , in practice , the operation for triggering the switch keys 168 a , 168 b and 168 c is not limited to pressing ; for example , if the switch keys 168 a , 168 b and 168 c are realized by a touch panel , the triggering can be performed by touching the touch panel . furthermore , in practice , the user can remove the console 16 from the mounting 142 to approach his body for convenient operation ; alternatively , the user can reach his hands for operation , which does not trouble the user much . anyway , the user can operate easily to switch the displaying modes for the displaying device 12 by use of the switch keys 168 a , 168 b and 168 c without the problem of the on - screen display menu 126 shadowing the screen , which solves the problem of inconvenience , wasting time , distraction and so on during the switching in the prior . besides , the console 16 does not directly contact the displaying device 12 , so the hands of the user will not affect the displaying device 12 during the operation on the console 16 and the shaking problem in the problem is therefore avoided . please refer to fig7 , which is a partial section of the console 16 according to another embodiment for showing the interior thereof . compared with the console 16 in fig5 , in this embodiment , the rotary part of the console 16 in fig7 is a trackball 173 and the sensor of console 16 is a photo - sensor 177 for sensing the two - dimensional rolling of the trackball 173 . the carrier 178 for carrying the trackball 173 shows a cantilever structure ( or other elastic structures ). the confirmation key 174 is disposed under the free end of the carrier 178 such that the trackball 173 can be pressed to make the carrier 178 press down the confirmation key 174 , and the operation of triggering the confirmation key 174 is therefore completed . it is added that the trackball 173 can provide pointer operation of two - dimensional movement , so the on - screen display menu 126 ( as shown in fig6 ) can be displayed in an arrangement of multiple lists in this embodiment , and the user can perform selection and setting by use of the trackball 173 . in the above embodiments , they are illustrated for the invention by the supporting device 14 mainly consisting of the single mounting 142 and the single support 144 ; however , the invention is not limited to this . please refer to fig8 , which is a schematic diagram of a monitor 3 of the invention according to another preferred embodiment . a mounting 342 of a supporting device 34 of the monitor 3 includes a base 3422 and two feet 3424 . the two feet 3424 are symmetrically connected to the base 3422 . a support 344 of supporting device 34 is connected to the base 3422 . an engagement structure 3426 of the mounting 342 is disposed on the base 3422 between the two feet 3424 . a displaying device 32 of the monitor 3 is connected to the support 344 . a console 36 is connected in communication to the displaying device 32 by a cable 38 and is capable of being disposed between the two feet 3424 to be connected to the engagement structure 3426 . in the embodiment , the engagement structure 3426 is a wedge structure where the console 36 has a corresponding wedge structure to be connected . similarly , the engagement structure 3426 can be replaced with magnetic parts so that the magnetic attraction replaces the structure constraint , or the engagement structure 3426 further includes magnetic parts therein for the both advantages . the above - mentioned explanation for the engagement structure and the magnetic part is also applied herein , which is not repeated . it is added that the rotary part of the console 36 is a rotary wheel 362 . a confirmation key is disposed under the rotary wheel 362 and is capable of being triggered by pressing the rotary wheel 362 . an applicable structure for the confirmation key can be easily realized according to the description of the above embodiments , which will not be described . switch keys 364 a , 364 b and 364 c of the console 36 are disposed at a side of the main body of the console 36 . a back key 366 of the console 36 is disposed in the hollow portion of the rotary wheel 362 . regarding descriptions for other components of the monitor 3 , please refer to the relevant descriptions mentioned above of the components with the same names of the monitor 1 , which will not be repeated . please refer to fig9 , which is a schematic diagram of a monitor 5 of the invention according to another preferred embodiment . a displaying device 52 of the monitor 5 is connected to a support 544 of a supporting device 54 of the monitor 5 . a mounting top surface 5423 of a mounting 542 of the supporting device 54 of the monitor thereon forms a rectangle depression slot 5422 having an accommodating space , regarded as the engagement structure for accommodating a console 56 . thereby , the console 56 can be accommodated in the accommodating space or be taken out of the accommodating space selectively . in the embodiment , the profile of the rectangle depression slot 5422 matches the profile of the console 56 ; however , the invention is not limited to this . the console 56 and displaying device 52 are connected in communication with a cable 58 . the rotary part of the console 56 is a rotary wheel 562 . directly pressing the rotary wheel 562 can trigger a confirmation key of the console 56 . the rotary wheel 562 , a back key 564 , and switch keys 566 a , 566 b and 566 c are arranged in order on the main body of the console 56 . regarding descriptions for other components of the monitor 5 , please refer to the relevant descriptions mentioned above of the components with the same names of the monitor 1 , which will not be repeated . it is added that , in practice , the rectangle depression slot 5422 can be a through hole passing through the mounting 542 with a bottom directly by the top of a desk ; therefore , the console 56 can still be accommodated in the rectangle depression slot 5422 stably . please refer to fig1 , which is a schematic diagram of a monitor 7 of the invention according to another preferred embodiment . a displaying device 72 of the monitor 7 is connected to a support 744 of a supporting device 74 of the monitor 7 . amounting top surface 7423 of a mounting 742 of the supporting device 74 of the monitor thereon forms a circular depression slot 7422 having an accommodating space , regarded as the engagement structure for accommodating a console 76 . thereby , the console 76 can be accommodated in the accommodating space or be taken out of the accommodating space selectively . in the embodiment , the profile of the circular depression slot 7422 matches the profile of the console 76 ; however , the invention is not limited to this . the console 76 and displaying device 72 are connected in communication with a cable 78 . the rotary part of the console 76 is a rotary wheel 762 . a confirmation key 764 and a back key 766 of the console 76 are disposed at two sides of the main body of the console 76 respectively . switch keys 768 a , 768 b and 768 c are disposed in the hollow portion of the rotary wheel 762 . regarding descriptions for other components of the monitor 7 , please refer to the relevant descriptions mentioned above of the components with the same names of the monitors 1 and 5 , which will not be repeated . please refer to fig1 , which is a schematic diagram of a monitor 9 of the invention according to another preferred embodiment . a support 944 of a supporting device 94 of the monitor 9 consists mainly of two pillars . a displaying device 92 of the monitor 9 is connected to the support 944 . a mounting 942 of the supporting device 94 thereon forms a circular protrusive pedestal 9422 as the engagement structure for accommodating a console 96 , slightly protruding out the mounting 942 between the two pillars . in the embodiment , the circular protrusive pedestal 9422 forms a protrusion - and - depression structure thereon . the bottom of the console 96 thereon forms a corresponding protrusion - and - depression structure ( not shown in the figure ) for engaging with the circular protrusive pedestal 9422 . such design can also achieve the engagement of the console with the supporting device . furthermore , in the embodiment , the console 96 and the displaying device 92 transit signals by wireless communication , which saves a cable for electrical connection so that the appearance of the monitor 9 is simpler . the rotary part of the console 96 is a rotary wheel 962 . directly pressing the rotary wheel 962 can trigger a confirmation key of the console 96 . the rotary wheel 962 , a back key 964 , and switch keys 966 a , 966 b and 966 c are adjacent to be arranged at the circumference of the main body of the console 96 . regarding descriptions for other components of the monitor 9 , please refer to the relevant descriptions mentioned above of the components with the same names of the monitors 1 and 5 , which will not be repeated . it is added that , the above embodiments are exampled illustrated for the invention by the console capable of being engaged with the mounting of the supporting device ; however , the invention is not limited to this . for example , the console can also hang on the support . in this case , the console does not physically contact the displaying device either , so manipulation on the console on the support does not induce any noticeable shaking of the displaying device . as discussed above , compared to the prior art , the console of the invention is designed to be detachable , so that the user can remove the console from the supporting device for manipulation close by or can manipulate the console when the console is still engaged with the supporting , which depends on the user &# 39 ; s habits . no matter which the user takes , the invention can provide the user convenient setting manipulation and quick switching manipulation ; moreover , the console does not physically contact the displaying device , so the manipulation does not induce any noticeable shaking of the displaying device . therefore , the invention can effectively solve the problems of wasting time , distraction , shaking , and soon induced by setting or switching the displaying modes in the prior art . those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention .
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an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to fig4 . fig4 illustrates an exemplary gop 400 in accordance with the mpeg standard , but modified to include two important data portions . similar to gop 300 discussed above with reference to fig3 , gop 400 includes a vol header portion 402 and a plurality of vops ( frames ) portions . for simplicity of discussion , in this example , gop 400 includes a first vop ( frame ) portion 404 and a second vop ( frame ) portion 406 . similar to vol header portion 302 discussed above with reference to fig3 , vol header portion 402 is a sequence level header associated with all vop portions within gop 400 , which in this case are first vop portion 404 and second vop portion 406 . vol portion 402 includes a tirc portion 416 and a user data portion 418 . similar to first vop portion 304 discussed above with reference to fig3 , first vop portion 404 includes a first vop header portion 408 and a first vop data portion 410 . first vop header portion 408 includes a first tic portion 420 and a first user data portion 422 . in the case of first tic portion 420 , there is no previous frame , so both modulo time base and time increment will be zero . similar to second vop portion 306 discussed above with reference to fig3 , second vop portion 406 includes a second vop header portion 412 and a second vop data portion 414 . second vop header portion 412 includes a second tic portion 424 and a second user data portion 426 . the second tic portion 424 consists of a modulo time base , which indicates the number of integral seconds between the second frame 406 and the first frame 404 , and a time increment , which represents the time difference between the second frame 406 and the last integral second . distinct from user data portion 318 discussed above with reference to fig3 , user data portion 418 includes a recorded - time - increment - resolution code ( rtirc ) portion 428 . rtirc portion 428 comprises a 16 - bit unsigned integer that represents the resolution of video time stamps as recorded . a video time stamp is the time that is associated with a video frame in the encoded video bit stream that indicates the relative time of occurrence of that video frame with respect to the start of the recording . specifically , rtirc portion 428 includes data corresponding to the time resolution of the video data as recorded or the number of units or “ ticks ” per second . rtirc portion 428 corresponds to the resolution of the video data as recorded , whereas tirc portion 416 is a conventional data portion that corresponds to the resolution of the video data for purposes of playback by a compliant decoder . distinct from first user data portion 322 discussed above with reference to fig3 , first user data portion 422 includes a first recorded - time - increment code ( rtic ) portion 430 , and second user data portion 426 includes a second rtic portion 432 . data within first rtic portion 430 and second rtic portion 432 indicates the real video record frame rate , which may be provided in terms of a frame rate ( recorded modulo time base and recorded time increment ), a slow - motion factor or both a multiplier and divider that represents the slow - motion factor . for example , a frame rate of 120 fps or a 4 × slow - motion factor would be used if generating a 30 fps recording from a 120 fps input . rtic portions 430 and 432 correspond to the recorded frame rate of the video data , whereas tic portions 420 and 424 are conventional data portions that correspond to the frame rate of the video data for purposes of playback by a compliant decoder . one will note that first vop portion 404 includes the modulo time base and time increment code , i . e ., the apparent record frame rate , in first tic portion 420 . similarly , second vop portion 406 includes the modulo time base and time increment code , i . e ., the apparent record frame rate , in second tic portion 424 . as such , a conventional video player would recognize the apparent frame rate , e . g ., 30 fps , and would therefore be interoperable with a recorder in accordance with the present invention . for example , suppose first rtic portion 430 and second rtic portion 432 indicates a real video record frame rate in terms of a 4 × slow - motion factor . a conventional video player would not recognize first rtic portion 430 or second rtic portion 432 . therefore , the conventional video player would not recognize the 4 × slow - motion factor indicated within first rtic portion 430 or second rtic portion 432 . the conventional video player would , however as discussed above , recognize the apparent record frame rate . in such a case , with a 4 × slow - motion factor , a frame recorded 2 seconds after the start of recording would have a time stamp of 8 seconds , which is the time that frame would appear after the start of playback when played back by an existing video player . returning back to fig2 , as for interleaving audio packets 204 , in accordance with the present invention , audio data can be recorded along with the video data . however , audio packets 204 may not playback , i . e ., be decoded , correctly in existing video players . this is due to the fact that each audio packet 204 will have a true - speed audio time stamps , which are associated with an audio frame in the encoded audio bit stream that indicates the relative time of occurrence of that audio frame with respect to the start of the recording . in accordance with the present invention , if the video data is recorded in a frame rate that is different than the apparent record frame rate , i . e ., the rtic portion within a frame includes a real recorded frame rate , then the video data will have scaled time stamps . as such , the video data will run slower than the audio data . for example , 30 seconds of recording with the example 4 × slow - motion factor would result in 30 seconds of audio but the apparent length of the video would be 120 seconds . a video player in accordance with the present invention is operable to recognize tirc portion 416 and tic portions 420 and 424 as defined by the mpeg standard . a video player in accordance with the present invention is operable to additionally recognize rtirc portion 428 and rtic portions 430 and 432 . as such , a video player in accordance with the present invention will decode the video data , frame - for - frame , and interpret rtirc portion 428 and rtic portions 430 and 432 to determine any encoded recorded frame rate , e . g ., slow - motion factors . once the real recorded frame rate is known , a video player in accordance with the present invention can provide an accurate and known true - speed playback . in particular , such a video player may accept a playback speed factor p , for example via any known user interface , wherein a playback speed factor p = 1 × is real - time and p & gt ; 1 × is slow - motion . on the contrary , a conventional video player may test a range of playback factors when decoding bitstream 400 and may , at some point , provide a true - speed playback . however , in such a case , the conventional player , and user of the player , will not know that the playback speed is the true - speed . accordingly , one of the benefits of the present invention is the ability to provide an accurate and known true - speed playback . a video player in accordance with the present invention can further compute the playback frame rate . tic portion portions 420 and 424 include the video time stamps v = fps . rtic portions 430 and 432 include the recorded frame rate , which may be in the form of a slow - motion factor = s . a user may provide , via a user interface as discussed above , the playback speed factor = p . the video player may then compute the playback frame rate = f =( v * s / p fps ). furthermore , a video player in accordance with the present invention can skip frames between a video decoder output and a display to match a desired playback speed with a user provided display update frame rate d . for example , by using die computed playback frame rate = f discussed above , in conjunction with the user provided display update frame rate d , the video player may easily compute to skip ( f - d ) out of every ( f ) frames , wherein frames must be skipped uniformly during playback . still further , as noted above , a video player in accordance with the present invention can enable and synchronize the audio data with the video data when displaying the decoded video data at true - speed ( playback speed factor = 1 ). this would not be possible without precise knowledge of the frame rate at which the video was recorded . note that audio output can only be synchronized with the video output during true - speed playback . playback equipment capable of decoding the recorded frame rate , can process the bitstream and display , as the operator chooses , slow - motion , or real - time video with synchronized sound . in accordance with the present invention , a user is able to playback at slow - motion or true - speed via a user interface . in conventional systems , the user cannot select true - speed playback . more specifically , in conventional systems , the user can select virtually any playback speed , but will not know the true - speed and further cannot dial - in a specific playback speed factor . since an aspect of the present invention enables true - speed playback , the present invention additionally enables synchronizing video playback with audio playback . in conventional systems , there is no audio because video is recorded such that it cannot be played back at true - speed and therefore cannot be synchronized with audio . in accordance with the present invention , audio could be recorded along with the video , then audio could be ignored during playback except when playback is at true - speed . aspects of the invention may be extended to other video compression standards . an example embodiment in accordance with the present invention in the h264 video compression standard will be described below . the h264 compression technique is able to transform a video sequence corresponding to a plurality of consecutive recorded individual images , each image of which comprises a large amount of data , into a number of network abstraction layer ( nal ) units . these nal units will contain sequence headers , picture headers or picture data . the nal units include the time stamp for each frame , which corresponds to the apparent frame rate , e . g 30 fps . each frame of the h264 bitstream has a supplemental enhancement information ( sei ) nal unit that includes a user_data_unregistered payload . the user_data_unregistered payload includes an rtirc , which is a 16 - bit integer that represents the resolution of the video stamps as recorded , and an rtic . data within the rtic indicates the real video recorded frame rate , which may be provided in terms of frame rate ( recorded modulo time base and recorded time increment ), a slow motion factor or both a multiplier and divider that represents the slow motion factor . for example , a frame rate of 120 fps or a 4 × slow - motion factor . the nal units include frame time stamps corresponding to the apparent frame rate . as such , a conventional video player would recognize the apparent frame rate , e . g 30 fps , and would therefore be interoperable with a recorder in accordance with the present invention . for example , suppose rtic portions in the user_data_unregistered payload of the sei nal unit of each frame indicates a recorded frame rate in terms of a 4 × slow - motion factor . a conventional video player would not recognize the 4 × slow - motion factor indicated by the rtic portions , but would recognize the apparent frame rate of 30 fps . a video player in accordance with the present invention is operable to recognize the time stamps present in the nal units , which indicate the apparent frame rate . a video player in accordance with the present invention is operable to additionally recognize the rtirc and rtic portions in the user_data_unregistered payload of the sei nal units . as such , a video player in accordance with the present invention will determine the recorded frame rate , e . g slow - motion factor . many of the example embodiments discussed - above include an example of a 30 fps recording from a 120 fps input . in accordance with aspects of the present invention , the apparent from rate is not limited to 30 fps and the actual frame rate is not limited to 120 fps . the foregoing description of various preferred embodiments of the invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description . it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed , and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching . the exemplary embodiments , as described above , were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated . it is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto .
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in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the apparatus of this invention , a seismic gas exploder 10 resting on the ground 11 is interconnected with an upstanding hydraulic catcher cylinder 12 which is in turn affixed to a supporting frame 14 , which may be either stationary or truck mounted . the gas exploder 10 may consist generally of any of various types adapted to impart a downwardly directed seismic pulse into the ground 11 and then rebound upwardly responsive to the reaction force . the gas exploder 10 is suitably fastened to the lower end of a piston rod 15 projecting downwardly from a catcher piston 16 movable within the catcher cylinder 12 . the upper and lower ends of fluid bypass conduit 18 are respectively interconnected with the catcher cylinder 12 above and below the piston 16 . at a position intermediate the upper and lower ends of the conduit 18 , a metering tube or orifice 20 is positioned so as to restrict fluid flow therethrough . an oil reservoir or accumulator 22 also intercommunicates with the bypass conduit 18 . a channel 24 extends in an axial direction through the piston 16 so that when the exploder 10 rebounds in an upward direction from a seismic shot , fluid 26 flows essentially without restraint through the channel 24 in a downward direction . when the exploder 10 reverses direction and starts to fall , a flapper valve 28 positioned behind the piston 16 shuts off the lower opening of channel 24 so that fluid 26 is forced to return slowly to the upper part of the cylinder 12 through the restricting orifice 20 in the conduit 18 thereby damping the motion of exploder 10 . the reservoir 22 stores excess hydraulic fluid 26 on the upward stroke of the piston 16 and returns such excess fluid to the system on the downward stroke thereof . turning now to the features more particularly concerned with this invention , a flexible diaphragm 30 may be positioned in a wall of the conduit 18 so that it is responsive to pressure in the fluid 26 . the diaphragm 30 is adapted to operatively engage a pivotable contact arm 32 of a dual position pressure switch 34 normally urged against fixed contact 36 by means of spring 38 . as the exploder 10 falls and the flapper valve 28 closes due to upward pressure of fluid 26 , the weight of the exploder 10 rests on the piston 16 and is transmitted thereby to increase the pressure of the hydraulic fluid 26 beneath the piston 16 from a few psi to a substantial value , for example 100 psi or more . as the pressure in the fluid 26 increases , the diaphragm 30 moves and exerts a force to separate arm 32 and contact 36 . this condition persists until such time as the exploder 10 returns to earth so that its weight no longer rests on the piston 16 . in this manner , therefore , the condition of the exploder 10 with respect to earth contact is automatically and continuously sensed and monitored . clearly the diaphragm 30 and pressure switch 34 may be designed so that arm 32 and contact 36 will separate at any predetermined pressure . in this manner , an indication may be received when any predetermined percentage of the weight of the exploder 10 is supported by the earth 11 . it is desirable , particularly in repetitive operation of the exploder 10 , to insure that a firing signal is not provided thereto in accordance with known techniques until exploder 10 has been returned to the earth . to this end , the pressure switch 34 may be positioned to control the operation of a conventional firing circuit 37 as more particularly exemplified in fig2 which is illustrative of known commercial circuits such as , for example , the delta products type mark x capacitor discharge firing circuit , as will now be explained . in a typical operation , the gas exploder 10 may be truck mounted and transported in a raised position preparatory to firing . the exploder 10 can be initially lifted to such a position by firing or by means of separate hydraulic means ( not shown ), well - known in the art , adapted to inject additional fluid 26 beneath the piston 16 . a solenoid valve 39 ( fig1 ) is actuated to block fluid return through the conduit 18 , thus holding the exploder 10 in the raised position . in this position the weight of exploder 10 applies pressure to fluid 26 and diaphragm 30 urges the contact arm 32 away from contact 36 and against contact 35 . this completes a charging circuit for capacitor 41 from power supply 42 through a resistance 43 . when it is desired to fire the exploder 10 , the solenoid valve 39 may be actuated to lower it again to the ground , permitting spring - biased contact arm 32 to again engage contact 36 . a firing signal may be provided by a well - known means to close a switch such as tone control switch 44 . this enables the capacitor 41 to discharge through the primary of the spark coil 45 to yield a high voltage across the secondary thereof and to generate a hot spark across the gap 46 . this spark in turn is suitable for ignition of an explosive mixture within the exploder 10 . the firing circuit 37 will be disabled as long as switch contact arm 32 and contact 36 are separated , which indicates a continued high pressure in fluid 26 and an above - ground condition of the exploder 10 . an alternate mode of operation can be achieved by maintaining the switch 44 in a closed position . in that event , the capacitor 41 will discharge to provide a spark at gap 46 automatically when the exploder 10 reaches the earth . during the rebound of the exploder 10 to its maximum height , the diaphragm 30 is not under pressure and consequently the charging circuit for the capacitor 41 is not completed . however , during the downward stroke of the exploder 10 and the piston 16 , the pressure switch 34 is actuated to again move arm 32 against contact 35 so that the capacitor 41 has adequate time to charge before the exploder 10 returns to earth . it is understood , of course , that the above cycle of operation will be coordinated in a well - known manner with an explosive mixture filling operation . for safety purposes , the capacitor charging circuit is interruptable by means of a switch 47 as shown . those skilled in this art will have no difficulty in envisaging other purposes in connection with the operating cycle of seismic gas exploders wherein it will be advantageous to have a simple and effective means of determining when the exploders have fully or partially returned their weight to the ground . it should also be pointed out that although the invention has been described and illustrated with a certain degree of particularity , it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed .
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referring now to fig1 a , 1b and 2 , a preferred embodiment of transfer system 10 of the present invention is illustrated . transfer system 10 comprises a box frame 11 which is shaped to provide a base 200 which fits between a mattress 16 and a foundation 18 such as box springs or a bed platform . so positioned , frame 11 rests on its base , extending from one edge of the base around an edge of the mattress 16 , preferably the end of the mattress located at the foot of a bed . from the exposed edge of the base frame 11 rises vertically for a distance and then bends back over mattress 16 . the end of frame 11 opposite the base is thus suspended over mattress 16 . on the end of frame 11 over mattress 16 , a handle 12 and a support brace 14 are positionable for the use of a person getting into and out of bed . normally , a person lying on mattress 16 can grab handle 12 when extended and be pulled to a sitting position by the handle as it is retracted . for individuals with limited use of their arms , a harness 92 may be attached to handle 12 by straps 93 and 95 . the individual can than fit harness 92 around their back with the straps 93 and 95 extending from under their arms to be pulled to a sitting position . alternatively , handle 12 can be removed and harness 92 fitted directly to the linkages used for attachment of the handle to frame 11 . the upper section of frame 11 , corresponding in part to arms 23 and 27 , slants downwardly from a location over the end of the mattress 16 toward the head of the bed . handle 12 is movable on frame 11 from the end of the frame over the bed in the directions indicated by double arrow “ a ”. handle 12 thus may be extended somewhat downwardly toward the head of the bed ( illustrated in fig4 ) and retracted back into frame 11 . handle 12 is disposed on rods which extend from within frame tubes 20 and 24 and which are spring biased to urge the handle outwardly from frame 11 out over mattress 16 toward the head of the bed . a handle retraction motor 111 is mounted to frame 11 on cross member 32 and is connected to handle 12 by a flexible tether 113 set on a pulley ( illustrated below ). tether 113 provides for retracting handle 12 into frame 11 with sufficient force to overcome the bias of the spring . when the weight of a person &# 39 ; s torso hangs from handle 12 the person is gently lowered onto the bed from a sitting position and can , from a recumbent position , pull the handle towards themselves . handle 12 is also rotatable in the directions indicated by double arrow “ b ” on an axis which is parallel to the upper major surface of mattress 16 to allow the handle to be pushed out of the way or pulled to a more convenient position . a support brace 14 is also mounted to a cross member 34 near the upper end of frame 11 . support brace 14 may be rotated in the directions indicated by double arrow “ c ” about an axis substantially perpendicular to the upper major surface of mattress 16 . brace 14 may be moved out over one of the major edges of mattress 16 to provide support to a person moving from a standing position along side the bed to a sitting position on mattress 16 , or from a sitting position on the mattress to standing alongside the bed . frame 11 is constructed from two tubular members 20 and 24 , and a plurality of transverse cross members 28 , 30 , 32 and 34 . each tubular member has , in turn , three major sections corresponding to the principal parts of the frame 11 . for tubular member 20 there is a base leg 21 , an upright 22 and a positioning arm 23 . tubular member 20 is preferably formed from a single tube with curved transition sections between the major sections . similarly , tubular member 24 has a base leg 25 , an upright 26 and a positioning arm 27 . frame 11 has three major sections , defined by their respective functions , which are : as a base or foundation for the frame ; as a riser disposed between the base and an upper support platform to allow positioning of the frame around an edge of the bed ; and as a platform positioned above the bed for the active elements of the support system 10 . frame 11 stands on one side of the frame , comprising base legs 21 and 25 and cross member 28 , which form the base . the base is illustrated as positioned below a mattress 16 , which stabilizes frame 11 on a box spring or platform 18 . the riser corresponds to vertical uprights 22 and 26 and cross member 30 . the platform to position patient aid braces and handles within easy reach of a patient is formed by arms 23 and 27 along with cross members 32 and 34 . vertical support for arms 23 and 27 is provided by vertical uprights 22 and 26 , respectively . uprights 22 and 26 are braced against on one another be cross member 30 . positioning arms 23 and 27 depend from uprights 22 and 26 , respectively , and are linked to one another by cross members 32 and 34 . cross members 28 , 30 , 32 and 34 are attached to tubular members 20 and 24 by suitable fastening means . for cross members 28 , 30 and 32 these may include penetration of the tubular members 20 and 24 by the ends of the cross members coupled with screws through the bodies of the tubular members into the cross members . cross member 34 serves other functions and is attached to tubular members 20 and 24 somewhat differently as is described below . frame 11 generally defines a u - shaped frame , which can be fitted around one edge of bed mattress and which is held in place by the mattress . specific construction elements , such as tubular frames , joints , bends and cross members , including consideration of their size and material may vary upon specific application of the device , for example in houses or health care facilities , or the type of bed used . spring types , fasteners and the like may be chosen based on cost considerations or the desire for the highest refinement of the tool . the basic design concept would be unchanged . for example , hospital and nursing home beds are different than beds normally found in individual houses or apartments in that a spring grid is all that is provided immediately under the top level bedding element . no box spring is provided and as a result no integral surface exists as a base . in such an application a tubular frame base would not be appropriate . in some applications welded joints joining distinct tubes may be used in place of a single bent tubes , or rectangular tubing may be used instead of circular cross - section tubing to enhance rigidity . the retraction motor is preferably of a type generating high torque at low rotational speeds , such as provided by vehicle windshield wiper motor . [ 0029 ] fig2 is a side elevation of frame 11 illustrating more fully tubular member 20 and the position relative thereto of handle 12 . brace 14 swings on a pivot axis 70 which is perpendicular to the upper major surface of mattress 16 . a plurality of screws 80 are set in tubular member 20 hold cross members 28 , 30 and 32 in place . similar screws ( not shown ) join the cross members 28 , 30 and 32 to tubular member 24 . referring now to fig3 a - b and 4 , the mechanical details relating to positioning of handle 12 are illustrated . handle 12 is mounted on co - axial pivoting mounts 42 and 44 , which are provided by rods 50 and 52 to position a gripping section 36 within easy reach of a person laying in a bed . rods 50 and 52 are mounted in cylinders 46 and 48 with rod exerts 54 and 56 extending from the cylinders to mate with holes through handle arms 38 and 40 , respectively . appropriate threaded nuts or other fastening elements may be used to hold handle 12 on rod exerts 54 and 56 . retraction of handle 12 is powered by a motor 111 , which is mounted on a platform 123 which in turn is set on cross rod 32 . motor 111 is turned on by depression of either of switch pads 115 which may be placed on handle 12 to be easily reached by a user . the position indicated for switch pads 115 is illustrative only and many other locations may be used for the control switch such as a free box which may be placed on an adjacent table . typically the switches will be spring loaded and will cut off if continuous pressure is not applied . motor 111 turns a shaft 127 which in turn drives a constant rotation direction pulley 125 . tether system 113 is connected to retract a cable between pivot mounts 42 and 44 and the constant rotation direction payout pulley 125 to effect retraction of handle 12 . tether system 113 comprises a base cable 121 which winds on pulley 125 . cable 121 divides into two parts , 117 and 119 which are looped through holes 97 and 99 in extensions 83 and 85 , which depend from mounts 42 and 44 , respectively . tether segments 117 and 119 feed though openings 150 and 152 through cross member 34 . extension and retraction of handle 12 relative to frame 11 is supported on piston rods 62 and 64 , which extend from the bases of mounting cylinders 46 and 48 , respectively , and which are partially inserted into the open ends of positioning arms 23 and 27 . rods 62 and 64 are free to move in and out of positioning arms 23 and 27 except as limited rod ends 67 and 69 and by restraining caps 78 and 80 . restraining caps 78 and 80 close the open ends of positioning arms 23 and 27 save for annular openings sized to pass rods 62 and 64 . restraining caps 78 and 80 are of smaller diameter than the width of rod ends 67 and 69 . this allows the free traversal of the rods 62 and 64 . referring to fig4 a cross sectional view of arm 27 illustrates a spring biasing mechanism applicable to both arms . compression spring 68 biases rod 64 outwardly from the tube forming positioning arm 27 toward an extended position . compression spring is located between a piston rod shoulder stop 76 located around piston rod 64 and a screw 220 which positions one end of cross member 32 . if desired , the force generated by spring 68 may be adjusted by building up shoulder 76 , or by selecting a spring with a different spring constant . for a patient with minimal upper body strength and no abdominal strength , handle 12 should be easily drawable , if speed limited , the retractive force applied by the tether 113 balancing the outward force supplied by spring 68 and a comparable spring in arm 23 . retractive force , overcoming the spring forces and supporting the weight of the patient is supplied by motor 111 . the maximum speed of extension may be set by limiting the speed at which constant rotation direction payout pulley 125 can turn . brace 14 is pivotally mounted to an extension of cross member 34 , which positions the pivot 70 for the brace at a point horizontally displaced from the upper or positioning section of frame 11 toward an edge of the bed . a pivot stop 72 limits travel of brace 14 toward the center of the bed and allows the infirm user of the apparatus to pull him or herself around to bring their legs over the edge of the bed . brace 14 may then be pivoted outwardly over the edge of the bed , or to other convenient positions , to provide a support for the individual as he or she stands . it should be apparent that brace 14 and handle 12 may be used to reverse the process as well . [ 0036 ] fig5 illustrates a simple series circuit suitable forproviding energization of motor 111 . a power supply 131 may be connected to motor 111 by simple closure of switch 115 . as stated above , switch 115 is biased open . wires for switch 115 are typically snaked through the tubing of the handle and of frame 11 to reach motor 111 . where handle 12 is removed for a harness an independent switch box may be provided . the present invention aids the infirm in getting into and out of bed , generally without assistance of another individual , or in the case where two elderly persons live together , eases the task of helping another person out of bed . the preferred embodiment is readily installed on most beds , requiring no permanent physical modification of the bed , and is readily removed if desired . when positioned with a bed the apparatus does not limit access to the bed by blocking the major sides with rails . while the invention is shown in only one of its forms , it is not thus limited but is susceptible to various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .
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the following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention . the description is not to be taken in a limiting sense , but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention , since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims . as used herein , the following terms shall refer to the stated structures among the various fig1 — rack assembly ; 11 — upper portion ; 12 — bottom portion ; 13 — receptacle ; 14 — latch ; 15 — tail gate ; 16 — slide ; 17 — hinge ; 18 — bed side ; 19 — bed back ; 20 — bed floor ; 30 — trailer hitch ; 31 — horizontal top link connector ; 32 — lift arm connector ; 33 — vertical top link connector ; 34 — tow spine support ; 35 — tow spine 40 — rail tube ; 41 — short rib tube ; 42 — cross bar ; 50 — wheel ; 51 — caster ; 52 — legs ; 53 — wheel mount plate ; 54 — leg sleeve ; 55 — aperture 60 — lumber rack tool bracket ; 61 — ring tool bracket ; 62 — side bin bracket ; 63 — strap tool bracket ; 64 — j hook bracket ; 65 — chainsaw holder ; 110 — alternative rack assembly ; and 140 — alternative rail tube . referring to fig1 , a preferred embodiment of rack assembly 10 generally includes upper portion 11 having two curved rail tubes 40 extending to bottom portion 12 . bottom portion 12 includes receptacle 13 , including tail gate 15 , two bed sides 18 ( fig2 shows one ), bed back 19 ( fig3 ), and bed floor 20 ( fig4 ). as best shown in fig6 , tail gate 15 is connected to bed floor 20 at hinges 17 . fig4 depicts tailgate attached to side panels with spring pins for easy removal . tail gate 15 is preferably a continuous and planar surface with upper surface of bed floor 20 when tail gate 15 is in opened position ( fig1 ). tail gate 15 can released from vertical position to rest at horizontal position , and be locked at vertical position , by slides 16 . alternatively , tail gate 15 can be released and locked by latches 14 , as shown in fig2 . curved rail tubes 40 are preferably constructed of square tubing having approximately 1¼ to 2 inch width , and preferably approximately 1 / 16 inch wall thickness . wall and floor structures of receptacle 13 are preferably constructed of between 12 and 16 gauge , and preferably 13 gauge , steel . it is preferred to use cold rolled steel in the construction of rack assembly 10 , in order to gain strength and durability . also , it may be desirable to corrugate panels such as tail gate 15 and bed back 19 in order to gain more rigidity under load . as shown in fig2 , rack assembly 10 can include an assembly which is compatible with the 3 point hitch system found in many tractors . this assembly includes horizontal top link connector 31 , vertical top link connector 33 , and lift arm connector 32 . as best shown in fig6 , horizontal top link connector 31 and vertical top link connector 33 comprise one unitary “ l - shaped ” piece , with the former forming the short part of the “ l ”, and the latter forming the long part of the “ l ”. fig5 - 52 depict a tractor mounted with rack assembly 10 . however , it should be understood that rack assembly 10 can be used without the 3 point hitch assembly , as shown in fig2 & amp ; 27 . in this embodiment rack assembly 10 plugs directly into a conventional receiver , such as that found on a pickup truck . rack assembly 10 can be engaged with a variety of vehicles including automobiles , trucks , vans , atv &# 39 ; s , utv &# 39 ; s , golf carts , tractors , or others that can accept a 2 ″ receiver hook up and / or that have a 3 point hitch . on the opposite side of horizontal top link connector 31 is trailer hitch 30 ( fig5 ), thereby providing an attachment point for an additional trailer . having two connection points , for example trailer hitch 30 on one side and 3 point hitch assembly on the other side , permits “ daisy chaining ” of trailers . alternatively , “ daisy chaining ” can be without 3 point hitch assembly , as depicted in fig4 - 46 . it is desirable that trailer hitch 30 includes a square receiver opening of 1 . 25 inches ( for class i / ii towing ), or 2 inches ( for class iii / iv / v towing ). class iv / v receivers , in 2 . 5 inches , are also possible . in this manner a user tow items such as a seed spreader , log splitter , trailers for personal watercraft , and so forth . as would be understood by those in the art , rack assembly 10 must withstand a tremendous amount of force when used with a vehicle . for one , rack assembly 10 extends outwardly from a vehicle , without being supported underneath . additionally , a trailer may be connected rearwardly . there is also the weight of rack assembly 10 itself ( approximately 170 pounds , depending on the configuration ), plus all the implements stored on and inside the device . finally , the rack assembly 10 is subjected to bouncing when attached to a moving tractor or other vehicle . rack assembly 10 includes various structures which enable the device to withstand these forces . of particular importance is tow spine 35 , which unifies trailer hitch 30 and horizontal top link connector 31 . in addition , a plurality of tow spine supports 34 , extending substantially perpendicularly from tow spine 35 , also provide structural integrity by strongly reinforcing bed floor 20 . this is further strengthened by lift arm connectors 32 , as shown in fig6 , and the use of a 3 point hitch where compatible . tow spine 35 performs the majority of the work in terms of load bearing and resistance to deformation of the structure when under different loading scenarios . while most of the assembly could be delivered as a flat packed bolt together kit , the tow spine 35 is a welded , heavier gauge steel , providing a rigid foundation for the rest of the rack , in addition to the modular hitch features . the tow spine &# 39 ; s metal thickness can range from ⅛ inch to ¼ inch . regarding fig5 a and 56b , two acceptable loading scenarios are demonstrated . fig5 a shows a loading scenario with a 480 lbf evenly distributed in the center of the rack , bringing the total static weight to 600 lbf . fig5 b shows a loading scenario with a 320 ( calculated ) load placed asymmetrically all on one side up to the maximum the rack can handle . fig5 - 66 set forth finite element analysis results . although this analysis was conducted with an earlier rack design , consisting of mostly square tubing , the focus was on determining the strength of the spine component . accordingly , much of the data is relevant to the present invention . regarding fig5 , for the finite element analysis , the rack weight was configured for 2 ″ square receiver , approximately 120 lbs , and the analysis was based on 1020 cold rolled steel material properties . regarding fig5 , the following support specifications are preferred : 3 point hitch ( category 0 ), 12 ″ behind lp 450 lbf ( jd ) 3 point hitch ( category 1 ), 24 ″ behind lp 680 - 1450 lbf ( jd ) 2 ″ square receiver ( class iii , standard ) 600 lbf ( tw ) 1¼ ″ square receiver ( class i ) * 200 lbf ( tw ) 1¼ ″ square receiver ( class ii ) 300 lbf ( tw ) reasonable design limit for standard configuration ( 2 ″ square receiver ) is 600 lbf ( static ). this would be an acceptable load for all class 3 rated receivers and receivers on class 1 or higher 3 point hitches . * possible to design 1¼ ″ configuration such that system only fits class ii receivers regarding fig5 , a spine component designed with ⅛ ″ walls , appr . 16 lbs , is depicted with a symmetric loading of 1200 lbf total load ( 120 lbf plus 480 lbf payload , 2 × fos ), showing that the highest stresses are at the square tube where it exits the receiver , but the stresses should not cause yielding of rack . regarding fig5 , a spine component is depicted with a symmetric loading , showing that at maximum load and 2 × gravity ( driving over a bump ), the point furthest from the receiver will flex downward approx . 0 . 144 ″. fig5 depicts maximum payloads of different materials , evenly distributed . fig5 a depicts 12 concrete blocks evenly distributed at 30 - 40 lbf each . fig5 b depicts 12 cubic feet of green oak at 40 lbf / ft 3 evenly distributed ( other woods weigh less , so larger volume could be carried .) fig5 c depicts 6 bags of cement evenly distributed at 80 lbf each . fig5 d depicts one 55 gallon drum filled with water at 500 lbf ( slightly over max ) evenly distributed . fig6 depicts 320 lbf asymmetrically loaded at extremes of ribs and 120 lbf representing weight of rack ( 2 × fos for a total of 880 lbf ). system has highest stresses where 2 ″ tube exits hitch receiver but should not yield . additional strength can be gained ( if needed ) by using 3 / 16 ″ wall tubing . fig6 , depicts 640 lbf asymmetrically loaded at extremes of ribs ( 2 × fos ) and 240 lbf representing weight of rack ( 2 × fos ). deflection at worst position is approximately 0 . 25 ″ vertically . fig6 depicts maximum payloads equal to 320 lbf ( static ), unevenly distributed . although it is difficult to predict how the rack will be loaded , the rack will handle 4 bags of cement or 8 concrete blocks when subjected to 2 times g ( gravity ). as can be seen in fig7 - 12 , and 29 - 34 , a variety of add - on brackets and holders may be added to rack assembly 10 in order to customize the device according to the needs of the user . examples of add - ons include lumber bracket 60 , ring tool bracket 61 , side bin bracket 62 , strap tool bracket 63 , j hook bracket 64 , and chain saw holder ( unnumbered in fig2 , 30 , 31 and 34 ). as shown in fig7 , cross bar 42 may also be used , which adds additional structural integrity to the device and provides an attachment site for additional add - ons . fig1 depicts alternative rack assembly 110 , having alternative rail tube 140 , which is substantially rectangular in shape . one advantage of rack assembly 10 is that it may be removed from a vehicle and used as a semi - stationary storage device ( fig1 ), or as a tool cart ( fig1 ). as shown in fig1 , rolling functionality is provided for by connecting one wheel mount plate 53 to each bed side 18 . each wheel mount plate 53 includes a pair of hollow leg sleeves 54 which releasably receive legs 52 . vertical displacement of rack assembly 10 can be changed by adjusting position of legs 52 within leg sleeves 54 , then securing with pins ( not shown ) that pass through apertures 55 . in this manner rack assembly 10 can be rolled on wheels 50 from one location to another . this functionality may be particularly helpful when engaging and disengaging rack assembly 10 and vehicle . by way of example , a user can roll fully loaded rack assembly 10 to the vicinity of a vehicle &# 39 ; s hitch , connect the rack to the vehicle , remove wheel mount plate 53 , and use the vehicle - mounted rack in the ordinary manner . when it is desirable to remove the rack from the vehicle the user can attach mount plates 53 , and then roll the rack ( fully loaded ) to a desired location . in this manner a user adjusts leg lengths once , and then simply attaches the wheel mount plates ( and connected legs ) as desired . in another embodiment , depicted in fig3 - 40 , 47 and 48 there are four individual legs that are mounted . this embodiment is used in the manner described , except it is necessary to attach legs one at a time . another important structure of the present invention is the suitcase weight bracket accessory of fig2 - 266 . this bracket holds suitcase weights ( not shown ) for counter weight . more specifically , fig2 - 266 depict a mounting bar that attaches to the 3 pt riser arm , and is used to hang counterweights . it should be understood , of course , that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims . by way of example the rack assembly can be modified for other specific uses such as transporting cargo , tailgating , camping , and hunting . add - ons can secure items such as hunting rifles , bows , bird cages , fishing gear , fishing poles and so forth . also accessories such as work tables , table saw work surfaces , and chop saw work surfaces can be used with the rack assembly &# 39 ; s 2 inch receiver . all ranges set forth herein include increments there between ; “ approximate ” and the like mean +/− 10 %
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the method of the invention relates to using mixtures of betaines and amine oxides in the inhibition of enveloped viruses and treatment of viral infections caused by enveloped viruses . the method of the invention also relates to using mixtures of betaines and amine oxides in the inactivation of enveloped viruses . the betaines that can be used in this invention are alkyl - n - betaines , alkyl - n - sulfobetaines , acyl - n - betaines , alkyl n - substituted aminopropionic acids or alkylimidazolinium betaines or mixtures thereof . the amine oxides that can be used in this invention are alkyl - n , n - dimethylamine oxides , alkyl - n , n - dihydroxyethylamine oxides or acylamide t - amide oxides or mixtures thereof . these compositions are also effective for the treatment of viral , fungal , and microbial infections and contaminations . these compositions are effective in inhibiting enveloped viruses that are transmitted sexually or nonsexually . these compositions are also effective in the inhibition of bacteria and fungi which coexist with viruses or viral infections . these compositions can also be used topically . typically , these compositions are applied to areas where viruses are or can be transmitted . this includes application in the vagina , to mucous membranes , and to the skin . these compositions can also be used as spermicides , either alone or in combination with other spermicides . these compositions can also be used with or incorporated into contraceptive devices such as , for example , condoms , diaphragms , sponges , contraceptive films , suppositories , sustained release devices , and contraceptive patches . for example , the composition may be incorporated into a lubricant applied to a condom or as part of a reservoir at the tip of a condom , or incorporated into a contraceptive sponge , contraceptive film , suppository , sustained release device or contraceptive patch . a contraceptive film can comprise the composition described above , together with , type a gelatin , cellulose gum and a polyhydric alcohol . the compositions can also be used in contraceptive foams , gels , jellys , creams . the compositions can also be used in douches . for use in preventing the transmission of viruses , these compositions can be used alone , with other spermicides and with or incorporated into a contraceptive device as described above . this invention also comprises a method for inhibiting the transmission of viruses that cause sexually transmitted diseases which comprises applying the compositions to those parts of the anatomy that are exposed to body fluids emanating from another during sexual activity . these compositions have also unexpectedly been found to be less toxic to mammalian cells than nonoxoynol - 9 ( n - 9 ) ( see fig4 and 5 ). table 1 shows that these compositions have equivalent spermicidal activity to n - 9 , which is one of the few surfactants approved by the fda for use as a spermicide . for use in topical applications , the compositions can also be incorporated into liquids , creams , salves , lotions , foams and gels . the invention also provides a method for disinfecting air and inanimate surfaces , for example , in an operating room or laboratory . more particularly , this invention provides a method for disinfecting areas which are contaminated with enveloped viruses . these compositions can also be incorporated into sprays , mists , wipes , aerosols or devices which produce sprays , mists or aerosols . these compositions can also be applied as liquids . according to the method of this invention , these compositions may be used as viricides , fungicides and bactericides . the compositions employed in the method of the invention comprise an admixture of betaines and amine oxides . the betaines used in this invention are selected from the group consisting of ( a ) alkyl - n - betaines , alkyl - n - sulfobetaines , acyl - n - betaines , alkyl n - substituted aminopropionic acid , alkylimidazolinium betaines and mixtures of two or more thereof . typically the betaines have two lower alkyl groups bonded to the nitrogen atom . most effectively they have two methyl substituents on the nitrogen atom . the amine oxides used in this invention are selected from the group consisting of b ) a an alkyl - n , n - dimethylamine oxides , alkyl - n , n - dihydroxyethylamine oxide or acylamide t - amine oxides and mixtures of two or more thereof . typically , the betaine and amine oxide components are present in a molar ratio of from 1 : 5 to 5 : 1 , preferably in a molar ratio of 1 : 1 . the alkyl - n - betaine , the alkyl - n - sulfobetaine , the acyl - n - betaine , the alkyl n - substituted 2 - aminopropionic acid and alkylimidazolinium betaine ( also referred to as cocoamphoacetates ) employed as the components ( a ) of the composition of the invention have structures , respectively , as follows : where r is a higher alkyl group having from 10 to 18 carbon atoms , preferably from 12 - 16 carbon atoms . when used herein the term lower alkyl means an alkyl group of from 1 to 3 carbon atoms . illustrative of these aforementioned substances are : ( 1 ) coco - n - betaine , cetyl - n - betaine , stearyl - n - betaine , isostearyl - n - betaine , oleyl - n - betaine ; ( 2 ) coco - n - sulphobetaine , cetyl - n - sulphobetaine , stearyl - n - sulfobetaine , isostearyl - n - sulfobetaine , oleyl - n - sulfobetaine ; ( 3 ) cocoamido - n - betaine , cetylamido - n - betaine , stearylamido - n - betaine , isostearylamido - n - betaine , oleylamino - n - betaine ; ( 4 ) n - coco - 2 aminopropionic acid , n - cetyl - 2 - aminopropionic acid , n - stearyl - 2 - aminopropionic acid , n - isostearyl - 2 - aminopropionic acid , n - oleyl - 2 - aminopropionic acid , n - stearyl - bis ( 2 - aminopropionic acid ), n - oleyl - bis ( 2 - aminopropionic acid ), n - coco - bis ( 2 - aminopropionic acid ), n - cetyl - bis ( 2 - aminopropionic acid ), ( 5 ) n - lauryl - bis ( 2 - aminopropionic acid ) 1 - hydroxyethyl - 1 - carboxymethyl - 2 - decylimidazolium betaine ; 1 - hydroxyethyl - 1 - carboxymethyl - 2 - dodecylimidazolium betaine ; 1 - hydroxyethyl - 1 - carboxymethyl - 2 - cocoimidazolium betaine ; 1 - hydroxyethyl - 1 - carboxymethyl - 2 - stearylimidazolium betaine ; 1 - hydroxyethyl - 1 - carboxymethyl - 2 - oleylimidazolium betaine ; or mixtures of the same . when used here the term “ coco ” is that used in the ctfa ( designations of cosmetic and toiletry and fragrance association , wash ., d . c .) and is used to indicate alkyl groups present in coconut oil , i . e . a mixture of alkyl groups of from 10 to 18 carbon atoms . the designations of the compounds listed herein are those of the ctfa . the ( 1 ) alkyl - n , n - diethylamine oxide , ( 2 ) alkyl - n , n - dihydroxylethylamine oxide , or ( 3 ) acylamide t - amine oxide employed as component ( b ) of the aforementioned mixture , respectively , have the structure : where r is a higher alkyl group of from 10 to 18 carbon atoms , for instance , radicals such as decyl , undecyl , lauryl , tridecyl , myristyl , cetyl , stearyl , isostearyl or oleyl . exemplary of the amine oxides are : decyl - n , n - dimethylamine oxide , lauryl - n , n - dimethylamine oxide , stearyl - n - n - dimethylamine oxide , oleyl - n , n - dimethylamine oxide , coco - n , n dihydroxyethylamine oxide , cetyl - n , n - dihydroxyethylamine oxide , oleyl - n , n - dihydroxyethyl - amine oxide , n , n - dihydroxyethylamine oxide , oleyl - n ,- n - dihydroxyethyl - amine oxide and mixtures of the same . the components ( a ) and ( b ) are usually admixed and acid is then added in an amount necessary to adjust the ph of a 0 . 5 % solution to between 4 - 8 , preferably to ph 4 . 5 - 5 . 5 . the ph of an aqueous solution comprising the above enumerated components of the invention is determined by employing an aqueous solution of 0 . 5 %, by weight , total of active components typically at a glass electrode , to precisely define the acidity of the composition . in general , the acid used to adjust the overall composition to the required ph is any organic or inorganic acid that is compatible with the intended use of the composition , for example , hydrochloric acid , phosphoric acid , sulfuric acid , citric acid , acetic acid or nicotinic acid . the balance of the composition , after allowing for the acid is usually an acceptable solvent , such as water or a lower ( c 1 - c 4 ) monohydric aliphatic alcohol , for a total of 100 parts or more . where water is employed , small amounts of a lower alkyl alcohol , such as ethanol or propanol , may also be added to provide ease in formulation . acceptable diluents , carriers and excipients are , for example , ethyl or isopropyl alcohols , polyethylene glycol , povidone , polyhydric alcohols , glycerine , cellulose gums , gelatin , colorants and fragrances . if necessary , the ph of the total composition is then adjusted to the requisite ph by adding a suitable inorganic or organic acid thereto . the result is a substantially uniform , homogeneous , relatively nontoxic composition having enhanced activity against enveloped viruses , bacteria and fungi . it has been unexpectedly found that these compositions exhibit ( 1 ) low mammalian cell toxicity , a property which is known to correlate with low irritation and low toxicity when used in contact with mucous membranes ( journal clinical dentistry 2 ( 2 ): 34 - 38 , ( 1990 )), and ( 2 ) highly efficacious inactivation of enveloped viruses although cytocidal activity is low . in the past , research has used cytocidal activity as an index of activity . ( asculai , s . s ., antimicrb . agents chemother . 13 : 678 - 690 ( 1978 )) in practice , the total amount of the components ( a ) and ( b ) of the overall composition can range from 0 . 01 %- 40 %, preferably from 0 . 03 %- 30 % depending on the intended means of use . for example , concentrations used are , approximately 20 %- 30 % in contraceptive films and 0 . 2 % to 2 % in gels . compositions for use in this invention comprise alkyl n - di ( lower alkyl ) glycines and alkyl n - di ( lower alkyl ) amine oxides , wherein the lower alkyl is c 1 - c 3 . one class of betaines i have found to be partically useful in this invention are the alkyl n - dimethyl betaines , such as cocobetaines and lauryl betaines . particularly useful amine oxides for use in this invention are the an alkyl n - dimethyl amine oxides , such as cocodimethyl amine oxides and lauryl dimethyl amine oxides . one particular composition that can be used in this invention comprises cocobetaine , cocamine oxide and citric acid monohydrate . another composition that can be used in this invention comprises lauryl betaine , lauramine oxide and citric acid monohydrate . in such compositions , the molar ratio of betaines to amine oxides is normally from 5 : 1 to 1 : 5 , preferably in a molar ratio of 2 : 1 to 1 : 2 , more preferably about 1 : 1 . other compositions that can be used in this invention comprise mixtures of betaines , amine oxides , gelatin having a bloom strength of 100 - 300 and a molecular weight from about 75 , 000 to about 300 , 000 , polyhydric alcohols and cellulose gums . such compositions are described in a copending u . s . application being filed simultaneously with the present application and having attorney docket no . u8186 , now u . s . pat . no . 5 , 244 , 652 . compositions used in this invention can inhibit the activity of viruses that are related to aids . it is also expected that these compositions can inhibit the activity of hsv - 1 and hsv - 2 . it is also expected that the compositions used in this invention can inhibit hepatitis a , b and c . it is expected that the compositions can be used to inhibit viruses , bacteria and fungi which are associated with sexually transmitted diseases ( std &# 39 ; s ). the compositions of this invention may be useful in relation to the following : 1 ) transmission of hiv is often associated with the co - transmission of other viral and / or microbial pathogens . indeed , some investigators have suggested that hiv may not be the sole agent responsible for aids ( see duesberg , p . h . ( 1991 ) proc . natl . acad . sci . 88 : 1575 - 1579 ; lemaitre , m ., guetard , d ., henin , y ., montagnier , l . and zerial , a . ( 1990 ). res . virol . 141 : 5 - 16 ). for this reason , antimicrobial agents , such as those described in this application , with a broad spectrum of activities against viruses , bacteria , and yeasts such as candida may be of particular value in the prevention and treatment of acquired immune deficiency syndrome ( aids ). 2 ) it is thought that certain bacteria known to cause std &# 39 ; s may aid in hiv transmission . in persons who have been exposed to hiv , certain bacteria which cause std &# 39 ; s often fail to respond to therapies that are otherwise highly effective . hiv infection may help the spread of a bacterial std that in turn helps to spread hiv . std &# 39 ; s such as chlamydia , chancroid , syphilis , genital herpes and gonorrhea which cause ulcerations of the genital skin seem to increase the risk of acquiring or transmitting hiv infection sexually . aral , s . o ., et al . scientific american , 264 ( 2 ): 62 - 69 ( february 1991 ). the compositions described above may also be of use to inactivate other enveloped viruses , including vaccinia , varicella , herpes zoster , cytomegalovirus , epstein barr virus , influenza , mumps , measles , rhinovirus , rabies and rubella . in order to facilitate a further understanding of the invention , the following examples are presented primarily for the purposes of illustrating more specific details thereof . the invention is not to be deemed as limited thereby except as defined in the claims . the composition described below is a concentrate of c31g , an equimolar preparation of cocobetaine and cocodimethylamine oxides ( designations of ctfa cosmetic and toiletry and fragrance association , wash ., d . c .) [ cfta ] which can be used in a number of different configurations . to make about 782 . 5 lb c31g at 29 . 6 % ai , at a dilution 1 % ai ; ph = 4 . 9 . the spermicidal activity of c31g of example 1 was compared to the spermicidal activity of nonoxynol - 9 ( n - 9 ). the studies were conducted using the hamilton - thorn sperm motility analyzer . samples of pooled washed semen were incubated with dilutions of the two compounds for fifteen seconds and were analyzed ( in triplicate ) for determination of the minimum concentration for inactivation by the following criteria : as shown in table 1 , c31g and n - 9 gave identical results : the cytotoxic effects of c31g and n - 9 on mammalian cells were determined in several types of assays . cell toxicity is an indication of the relative safety and comfort in use of surfactants in contraceptives or prophylactics . as shown in fig4 a two week study monitoring drug effects on sup - ti cells , ( a human lymphocytic cell line ), c31g demonstrated minimal toxicity at 0 . 001 % [ 10 ppm ] while n - 9 at the same concentration was extremely toxic . fig5 shows mmt reduction in cem cells after five days of continuous exposure . under these conditions c31g showed no toxicity to mammalian cells at 3 ppm [ 0 . 0003 %] while n - 9 showing toxicity , reducing mammalian cell viability by 50 % at the same concentration . it is unexpected that a compound having the same spermicidal activity as n - 9 would be less toxic to mammalian cells than n - 9 . to test the effect of c31g and n - 9 on herpes simplex virus type - 1 ( kos strain ), the virus stock was prepared in vero ( african green monkey kidney ) cells . the virus was released from the cells by one freeze - thaw cycle followed by sonication . the virus titer was 4 . 5 × 10 8 plaque forming units ( pfu )/ ml , as determined on vero cells . the drug formulations used were identical to the drugs in the spermicidal study . the stock concentration of each drug was 5 %. two - fold serial dilutions were made , down to 0 . 04 %, in pbs ph 7 . 4 at room temperature . 24 ul of each dilution was added to 220 ul of virus ( 10 8 pfu ), giving final concentrations of 0 . 5 - 0 . 004 %. these samples were incubated at room temperature for 10 min , and then 100 ul of each was immediately diluted to 1 ml with ice - cold dmem / 5 % fbs . 10 - fold serial dilutions were then made , down to 10 - 7 , for titration of remaining infectious virus on vero cells in 24 - well plates . plaques were counted 36 hours post - infection . note that these are titers ( ie . pfu / ml ), rather than absolute numbers of pfu . the titer determined for untreated virus was 4 . 7 × 10 8 pfu / ml in the experiment using n - 9 and 4 . 5 × 10 8 pfu / ml in the experiment using c31g . it is noted that complete inhibition of plaque formation by c31g occurs at more than one dilution below that of n - 9 . see fig6 . the inactivation of hiv - 1 ( aids ) virus was studied in two experiments . the first study compared the effects of c31g of hiv - 1 at two different exposure times , 2 minutes and 45 minutes . the next study compared the relative activity of c31g and n - 9 on hiv using the same virus strain and measuring antiviral activity by reduction of virus titer as determined by reduction of p - 24 hiv antigen . cells : sup - t1 cell line ( cd4 + lymphoid cells which produce characteristic cell fusion with giant cells and syncytia when infected with hiv ) 1 . serial fourfold dilutions of c31g in pbs ( 4 . 0 %- 0 . 004 % and pbs alone as control ) were prepared . ph was adjusted to 5 . 5 . 2 . pooled aliquots of viral stock were prepared and c31g was added at each concentration , at 1 : 9 detergent : virus ratio ( 1 : 10 detergent dilution ). these were incubated for either 2 or 45 minutes . 3 . serial fourfold dilutions of each virus / detergent mixture down to 1 : 4096 were prepared . 4 . 16 . 6 ul of each virus / detergent dilution from each series were added to four replicate wells of sup - t1 cells ( 10 4 cells in 150 ul volume ; 1 : 10 detergent dilution followed by further fourfold dilutions ). 5 . the wells were examined twice weekly for two weeks and each well was scored positive or negative for the presence of characteristic viral syncytia or non - syncytial ghost formation due to detergent lysis . virus was exposed to c31g at a 1 : 10 dilution of initial concentration for either 2 or 45 minutes , followed by another 1 : 10 dilution and then serial four - fold dilutions for the entire period . cells were exposed to c31g at a 1 : 100 and then serial fourfold dilutions of initial concentration for entire period . test compounds : compounds c31g and n - 9 , supplied as 5 % solutions , were filtered through a low binding 0 . 22 filter prior to diluting . 1 . serial 2 fold dilutions of compounds n - 9 and c31g in pbs adjusted to ph 5 . 5 were prepared . the highest concentration was 4 % and the lowest was 0 . 03 %. the initial concentrations were 4 , 2 , 1 , 0 . 5 , 0 . 25 , 0 . 125 , 0 . 06 , and 0 . 03 %, as well as a control without drug . the control titration was done twice . 2 . 14 12 × 75 mm sterile plastic tubes with 0 . 9 ml each of concentrated virus ( at least 1 × 10 6 tcid 50 / ml ) were set - up . 0 . 1 ml of each compound dilution were transferred to a tube ( dilution of 1 : 10 of the initial drug concentrations ). 3 . incubation was for 10 minutes at room temperature , and was terminated ( or slowed ) by diluting 1 : 10 in complete growth medium ( on ice ). 4 . additional serial 5 fold dilutions ( 7 dilutions , with the final dilution equal to 1 : 781250 ) in complete medium on ice were prepared . 5 . 50 ul of the virus dilutions were added to quadruplicate wells of 96 well trays ( u bottom ) containing 3 × 10 4 cem cells in 50 ul . 6 . 60 minutes were allowed for virus absorption . the cells were washed twice by centrifuging the plates at 1500 rpm for 5 minutes and aspirating the supernatents . the final cell pellets were resuspended in 100 ul of medium and transferred to flat bottom 96 well trays . the results are shown in fig8 and 9 . the above are stirred to a uniform solution . at a dilution of one part to 30 , the composition should have a ph of 4 . 85 at the glass electrode . putative concentration equal to 28 . 5 % active ingredients ( ai ). the above are stirred to solution at 45 ° c . and injected into molds , cooled and ejected for packaging . added to each mold for curing urethane . charge in mold provided with polyester loop for post coital removal of the sponge . spermicidal gels , creams or jellies for use with cervical caps condoms , diaphragms or alone prior to coitus . procedure — the gelating and cellulose gum are triturated in the glycerine and added to the water at 45 ° c . and stirred to solution . the surfactants are added to the vessel and the warm solution removed for packaging . a uniform fluid high viscosity gel forms on cooling . clear fluid contraceptive jellies are prepared by substitution of 1 . 5 pts of high viscosity grade hydroxypropyl or hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose for the gelatin and hydroxyethyl cellulose of the above examples . the gel formulations above are converted to cream formulations by incorporation of 0 . 5 pts of cetyl alcohol in gel 1 or 2 formulations by dissolving the alcohol in the glycerine at 49 ° c . before trituration of the gelating and cellulose gums . 6 . 2 lbs of gelatin type a100 is triturated with 0 . 5 lbs of hydroxyethylcelluose . 31 lbs of glycerine are added . solution is mixed thoroughly to form a slurry . add 33 lbs of ccon of example 8 and 15 lbs of water . warm to 40 ° c . mix until gums and gelatin are completely hydrated . solution is poured on polyethylene sheet to cast a film of about 3 mm thick to be cut for films to be used as contraceptive films after cooling .
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it is necessary to modify the quantity of water flowing over the metal or steel strip 15 in order to provide greater uniformity in the cooling rate along the steel strip 15 for steel strip 15 having a width greater than 80 inches . in other words , it is necessary to reduce the temperature difference between points a and b and c and d in fig2 to a number within the acceptable range of 30 ° f . if the coolant flow from the coolant pipe 55 at the nozzles 60 closer to the edge of the steel strip 15 provides a reduced coolant flow , then the quantity of coolant over the steel strip 15 may be more uniform . more specifically , the subsequent heat transfer across the steel strip 15 may be more uniform . to that end , fig4 illustrates a supply pipe 50 with a coolant pipe 55 attached thereto . nozzles 100 , 105 , 110 , 115 extend across the width of the coolant pipe 55 . the nozzle 100 closest to the center 70 of the steel strip 15 has the largest inner diameter , and the inner diameter of the nozzles 105 , 110 and 115 become progressively smaller with distance from the center 70 of the steel strip 15 . in such a fashion , the profile of the water distribution over the steel strip is believed to be changed such that the quantity of water flowing at the edges of the steel strip 15 is closer in volume to the quantity of water flowing over the center 70 of the steel strip 15 . returning to fig2 it is believed that such an arrangement will result in a temperature profile more closely aligned with that illustrated by dotted line 200 between points a and b . while not illustrated , it should be realized that such a profile would also be available between points c and d . the nozzles illustrated in fig4 are symmetric in distance from the center 70 of the steel strip 15 and the internal diameters of the nozzles are also symmetric about the center 70 of the steel strip 15 . specifically , nozzles 105 on both sides of the center are identical , just as are nozzles 110 and 115 with one another . while nozzles 100 , 105 , 110 and 115 are illustrated as equally spaced along the cooling pipe by a distance l , this is not necessary , and just as the inner diameter of each of these nozzles is different , so , too , may be the spacing between the nozzles as illustrated in fig5 by nozzles 120 , 125 , 130 , 135 spaced apart by distances l1 , l2 and l3 . while fig5 illustrates nozzles having different inner diameters spaced apart by distances l1 , l2 and l3 , it is also possible to provide nozzles having the same inner diameter but spaced apart in a similar fashion . specifically , the distance between nozzles would increase from the center to the edges of the steel strip . fig4 illustrates a series of nozzles spaced equally along the length of the coolant pipe 55 in which the center nozzle 100 has the largest diameter and the adjacent nozzles 105 have smaller diameters . as illustrated in fig6 it is possible that a plurality of nozzles 200 , 205 clustered about the center of coolant pipe 55 have equal diameters and the nozzles 210 , 215 adjacent this cluster 220 have diameters of descending size as the nozzles are located further from the center of the coolant pipe 55 . all of the nozzles across the coolant pipe 55 may be spaced equally by a distance l , as illustrated in fig6 or , in the alternative , may be spaced symmetrically but with different distances between adjacent nozzles in a fashion similar to that illustrated in fig5 . furthermore , whatever the configuration of nozzles on either side of the cluster 220 , it is possible to vary the distance between nozzles within the cluster 220 in a fashion similar to that illustrated by the nozzles in fig5 . fig7 a , 7b and 7c illustrate a front view , cross sectional view and rear view of a typical nozzle 150 that may be used as any of the nozzles presented in fig4 - 6 . the difference in each of these nozzles , as indicated , would be the internal diameter . fig8 illustrates a cross sectional view of one embodiment of the coolant pipe 55 with the nozzle 150 mounted therein . while the coolant pipe 55 in this embodiment has a rectangular cross section , it is entirely possible for the coolant pipe 55 to have a circular cross section . for ease in removing and installing nozzle 150 , the nozzle body is preferably made of plastic , metal , or other suitable material and is secured to the coolant pipe 55 with a threaded portion 155 which mates with matching threads on an orifice extending through the coolant pipe 55 . the internal diameter of the nozzle 150 may be made larger or smaller than the cooling pipe orifice 160 in order to accommodate the nozzles of varying diameter that will be positioned across the length of the coolant pipe 55 and still retain the same exterior dimensions on the nozzle 150 , thereby permitting use of the same orifices 160 extending through the coolant pipe 55 . while fig4 and 6 illustrate schematics showing only seven nozzles , it should be appreciated for commercial applications , nozzles generally are distributed every 2 - 3 inches and therefore a coolant pipe having a length of 120 inches would , in actuality , have many more nozzles . this discussion has been directed toward an apparatus and a method for cooling the top surface of the steel strip 15 . it is also important to provide uniform cooling to the bottom surface of the steel strip 15 . however , the mechanisms employed are significantly different and are not the subject matter of this disclosure nor the focus of the subject invention . the invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment . obvious modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding detailed description . it is intended that the invention be construed as including all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof .
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while the invention is susceptible to embodiments in many different forms , the preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown in the drawings ( fig2 and 5 ) and will be described in detail herein . it should be understood , however , that the present disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the spirit or scope of the invention and / or the embodiments illustrated . it is to be understood that no limitation with respect to the specific methods and apparatus illustrated herein is intended or should be inferred . the heart of the invention is a technology breakthrough mems - scale plasma discharge ( fig1 ), developed in prof . gary eden &# 39 ; s laboratory at the university of illinois , called the microcavity discharge ( mcd ), the properties of which are highly adaptable to propulsion . this new technology can revolutionize low - power electric propulsion for pico -, nano -, micro - and even larger satellites to perform various mission tasks including orbit transfer , station - keeping , position , attitude and acceleration control , and structure control . the innovation forms the basis for a new class of electrothermal thruster that is particularly applicable to satellites . referring now to fig2 , the propulsion system 100 consists of 1 ) a gaseous propellant tank 130 and valve 132 used to control the release of a gaseous propellant 101 through feed tube walls 114 , 2 ) an about 1000 v ac power source 112 with an about 5 - 500 khz inverter 140 with step - up transformer 142 , 3 ) two electrodes 102 and 104 that are insulated in a material 105 and that are capacitively coupled to an about 1 atm . plasma 106 in an about 100 μm diameter microcavity 108 and 4 ) a mems small - area ratio micronozzle 110 ( similar to fig3 ) to accelerate the gas and generate thrust 120 one important aspect of one or more embodiments of the invention is potential scalability from very small to significantly large thrusters , as any desired number of cavities , also called pixels , can be run in parallel , with equally high efficiency . unlike normal glow or arc discharges that have a negative resistance v - i characteristic and are thermally unstable in parallel without ballast , the cavities operate in the abnormal glow mode , with ionization fraction & lt ;& lt ; 1 % and a positive v - i characteristic ( fig4 ), thus allowing parallel operation and power scaling . a 1 cm 2 square pixel array with a pixel spacing of about 500 μm would have a 20 × 20 ( 400 ) pixels . fig1 and 4 display parallel operation of a 3 × 3 pixel matrix , at a power of about 0 . 13 w / pixel . as much as 2 w per pixel has been demonstrated , with a plasma temperature of about 1500 k , achieved with aluminum electrodes encapsulated in al 2 o 3 . the new type of thruster of this invention is to modify an mcd into an mcdt thruster , as shown schematically in fig5 . our initial choices of propellant are neon and argon with a few percent n 2 or h 2 o seed gas , but other monatomic gases and ammonia show promise . these propellants are non - toxic and their implementation can build on the commercial micro - valve and pressure control hardware developed for cold gas thrusters . the mcd thruster is a readily - modified version of an mcd by adding a properly designed plenum and nozzle / valve array ( fig5 ) and running it at high current and voltage , i . e . in the upper right of the v - i plot in fig4 , at a few watts per pixel at frequencies of around 5 - 100 khz and higher . the mcd thruster will operated at a temperature of about 1500 k , previously - achieved by the mcd , and will attempt to go higher , including but not limited to 2000 k . the electrodes and nozzles can be fabricated in al / al 2 o 3 material , with possible fabrication in a higher temperature electrode / insulator combination using materials such as titanium or sic . the capability to machine conical and parabolic mems nozzle shapes into a cavity array has been demonstrated and this technology will be used for the first time on an mcd thruster ( fig3 ). this new propulsion approach is based on recent advances in mems cavity discharges , developed at the university of illinois . the mcd thruster is predicted to achieve & gt ; 60 % efficiency or greater at about 220 s with neon , or about 500 s with helium . maximum input power will be about 1 - 3 w per cavity . the gas propellant feed system is adapted from known technology , including filters to prevent particle contamination in about 100 μm orifices . the mcd is electrodeless , with al 2 o 3 insulation , and is therefore predicted to have a very long life , even with oxygen - containing propellant . voltage levels are modest (& lt ; 1 kv ), and the system does not require a neutralizer for operation . the predicted thrust efficiency exceeds considerably that of the micro - resistojet at 60 %. performance , in terms of specific impulse , and thruster mass and volume , is much higher than that of the resistojet . large arrays of these micro - cavities , as many as 400 / cm 2 , could absorb about 1 kw / cm 2 , resulting in a high power thruster with extremely low mass and high thrust / cm 2 . the mcd , the basis for the proposed thruster , has been under development at the university of illinois by prof . gary eden , dr . sung - jin park , and colleagues since 1997 , and is the subject of numerous patents . to date , applications of the mcd are display light sources , and microchemical reactors . in these applications the plasma is sometimes static , but in most cases flows through the cavity driven by a differential pressure ( herein after “ δp ”) of 0 . 2 - 0 . 3 atm . for the propulsion application , a flowing and accelerating plasma would be at a higher δp ( about 0 . 5 - 3 . 0 atm . across the microcravity and preferably around 0 . 5 to 1 . 5 atm .) and higher power input than has here - to - fore been demonstrated . the predicted efficiency of 60 % is much higher than that of other low power electrothermal , ion or hall microthrusters , because : 1 . ionization fraction is & lt ;& lt ; 1 %, and frozen flow loss from ionized exhaust is negligible . 3 . operating pressure is a few atm ., giving reasonable nozzle reynolds numbers , and low viscous losses . 4 . power processing is accomplished with a dc - ac converter with low mass , and with ppu efficiency as high as 96 %. 5 . the system is electrodeless ( meaning the electrodes are not exposed to the discharge gas because the electrodes are insulated ), eliminating sheath loss and electrode ablation . 6 . power is capacitively coupled , so electrodes are cool , and heat loss is minimized . power density is extremely high , typically 10 12 w / m 3 . calculations of heat loss at the operating reynolds number , using a nusselt number model , predict a loss of less than 10 % of the input power for argon , with the loss scaling as ( molecular weight ) − 1 / 2 thus approaching 10 - 20 % loss for helium . the primary reason the heat loss is low is that the cavity length is extremely low about 100 - 500 μm and most likely around 250 μm , resulting in a low wall area . 2 . the mcd thruster has very low thrust noise , making it a candidate for certain af and nasa missions requiring extremely precise , low - noise acceleration control . 3 . high stagnation temperatures are possible , much higher than attainable with the resistojet ( about 1500 k has been obtained with al / al 2 o 3 electrodes ), without the need for bulky , inefficient insulation . to achieve higher temperatures , a polyatomic seed gas can be added such as nitrogen or water vapor . 4 . a very low system mass and volume is anticipated , allowing use on very small satellites with mass as little as about 1 kg . technology development on the mcd ( microcavity discharge ) began eleven years ago at the university of illinois , with the objective of being used as a light source with practical applications for high resolution / thin - film plasma displays and medical treatment . in this case the mcd thruster is a variant of the mcd , originally made up of a 3 × 3 pixel array ( fig1 ), comprised of multiple pixels ( i . e . emitters ), each about 100 μm in diameter , fabricated by mems micro - machining . experimentally determined voltage - current ( v - i ) characteristics for a 3 × 3 pixel array of al 2 o 3 / al micro - discharge devices ( fig4 ), are for ne at about 700 torr and results are shown for sinusoidal ac excitation frequencies of 5 , 10 , 15 , and 20 khz . the dashed horizontal line indicates the approximate value of the ignition voltage , and the inset qualitatively illustrates the device structure ( not drawn to scale ). this technology was recently scaled to a large array size of 40 , 000 pixels giving us a great deal of confidence that mcd thruster technology can also be scaled for this propulsion application . this new thruster leverages technology developed over the past several years at the university of illinois in which microplasma devices having predetermined cross - sectional geometries can be fabricated with sidewalls of extraordinary quality ( rms surface roughness & lt ; 1 μm ). precise control of the cavity profile and surface morphology is achieved with a sequence of wet electrochemical processes . chemical micromachining enables the cavity cross - sectional profile , ranging from a linear taper to parabolic (“ bowl - shaped ”) geometry , fig3 , to be specified while maintaining all dimensions to within ± 2 %. aluminum electrodes produced by this process are buried in nanoporous al 2 o 3 , encompass each microcavity , and the inner surface of every electrode is conformal to the profile of the al 2 o 3 microcavity wall . arrays comprising as many as 51200 microcavity devices , each with a parabolic cross - section and an emitting aperture ( d ) of 160 ± 2 μm , have been operated in ne and ne / xe gas mixtures . referring now to fig6 a and 6b , there is shown a single microcavity with circular apertures about 150 ± 2 μm and about 100 ± 2 μm in diameter and a cross - sectional profile satisfying the relation : y = at 1 / 2 x 2 + bt , where a and b are constants , t is the time devoted to etching the microcavity , y is the coordinate collinear with the microcavity axis , and x is the orthogonal coordinate in the plane of the page . formed in al 2 o 3 , this cavity is a replica of that etched electrochemically in al . virtually all of the original al foil ( about 127 μm thick in this case ) has been converted into al 2 o 3 but the microcavity surface contour has been accurately preserved . a magnified , cross - sectional view of the region between two adjacent microcavities in a linear array of microplasma devices is presented by the sem in fig6 b . at the center of this electron micrograph is a segment of the buried al electrode that serves both microcavities . this structure is formed by the intersection of the ring electrodes encircling the neighboring cavities . as illustrated by the dashed white curve , the surfaces of the al electrode facing each cavity exhibit a profile that matches the shape of the corresponding portion of the cavity wall . electrode surfaces that are conformal to the microcavity wall are an inherent result of the anodization process , one that ensures the uniformity of the dielectric barrier thickness throughout the cavity . note , too , the surface morphology of the cavities of fig6 . the rms surface roughness is well under about 1 μm which is decidedly superior to that for cavities produced by mechanical methods , such as microdrilling or laser ablation . if the pitch for an array of cavities is increased beyond that of fig6 , the al electrode cross - section tapers down to an al strip interconnect thickness of 15 μm . fig7 displays two images of arrays of parabolic cross - sectional microcavities . panel ( a ) of the figure is an sem in plan view of a portion of an array of al 2 o 3 cavities with upper and lower apertures about 160 μm and about 100 μm in diameter , respectively . a segment of a more closely packed array of microcavities is shown by the sem of fig7 ( b ). cavities in these linear arrays were designed to be overlapped by about 20 % of the diameter of the emitting aperture . fig8 is a photograph , recorded with a telescope and ccd camera , of an 11 × 10 segment of a 200 × 100 array of microplasma devices , each having a parabolic cavity with an emitting aperture about 150 μm in diameter . the device pitch within a row is about 200 μm and the array is operating with about 500 torr ne and driven by about a 20 khz sinusoidal ac waveform . lineouts of ccd intensity maps show the variation of the peak emission from device - to - device to be within ± 5 % over the entire array , a result that is attributed to the quality of the microcavity wall surface and to stringent control of all microcavity dimensions . the ability for precision control of the geometry of a microcavity fabricated in al / al 2 o 3 structures represents an enormous asset for this innovation , allowing us to systemically correlate thruster design with performance . although we are confident that parabolic microcavities with exit apertures as small as about 10 - 20 μm in diameter ( and , possibly , smaller ) are achievable in the next 1 - 2 years , our near - term experiments will focus on about 50 - 100 μm diameter conical nozzles . numerical analysis will determine the optimal profile for the nozzle surface that , in turn , dictates the processing parameters for the wet chemical fabrication sequence . an important feature of the mcd thruster is the capability of operating at a reynolds number sufficiently high so that the nozzle flow is not dominated by viscous effects . typically this means re & gt ; 1000 . higher re operation is possible because , although the diameter and length of the mcd thruster are small , the pressure is relatively high . this is necessary because the mcd , in order to maintain a low breakdown voltage of several hundred volts , typically operates at a pd ( pressure times diameter ) value of about 2 - 10 torr - cm . at the upper end of the range , this implies that about a 100 mm ( 0 . 01 cm ) diameter cavity needs a pressure of about 1000 torr ( about 1 . 3 atm ). this value is sufficient to keep the re high enough to operate the nozzle efficiently . another asset of microplasmas that was mentioned earlier is that these plasmas generally operate in the abnormal glow region in which the v - i characteristic has a positive slope . in contrast to conventional ( macroscopic ) plasmas , therefore , microplasma arrays do not require external ballast . however , it is important that the plasma resistivity is measured so that the driving electronics can be optimized . from the resistivity the degree of ionization a can be inferred . we expect a very low level of α , and hence a very small loss due to frozen flow . the efficiency of the mcd thruster can be supported by heat transfer calculations . the first approach is to calculate a heat transfer coefficient h [ w / m 2 - k ] from the well - known nusselt number relation nu = hd / k , where nu = 0 . 023 ( pr ) 0 . 4 ( re ) 0 . 8 , k is thermal conductivity and d is taken as ( a wall ) 1 / 2 . for the mcd thruster the wall area is a wall = 0 . 063 mm 2 , giving d = 0 . 25 mm . the nusselt number calculation gives a heat transfer coefficient h for the mcd thruster of 520 w / m 2 - k and the resulting ha wall is 3 . 3e - 5 . since the mcd thruster operates at a power level of ( 2 - 3 w ) and a temperature of ( 1600 - 2000 k ), the value of ha wall δt is ˜ 60 milliwatts , and the conclusion is that the mcdt has a small heat loss . here we present a model of the wall heat loss based on the reynolds analogy , which relates heat transfer to skin friction through the statement that similar boundary layer solutions exist for the momentum and energy equations for laminar flow . the reynolds analogy relationship of heat transfer rate to shear stress , for fluid temperature t and velocity u , can be written : q . w = τ w c p ( t - t w ) u where { dot over ( q )} w is the local wall heating , and τ w is the local wall shear stress , related to the friction coefficient f and the fluid dynamic pressure q = ρu 2 / 2 by : for low re ( laminar flow ) the friction coefficient is given by f = 16 / re . it is convenient to use the relation ( mass flow )= ρua [ kg / s ], where a = flow area , and write re as : we now combine the above equations and wind up with the simple relation : q . w = 8 μ c p ( t - t w ) d [ w / m 2 ] where μ is the viscosity in pa - s , and l is the length of the flow duct in meters . assuming that t w is constant and that t ( x ) increases linearly from t w at x = 0 to t max at x = l , the total wall heating loss is : { dot over ( q )} w = 4 πμc p ( t max − t w ) l note that the heat loss is independent of the diameter , and the fractional heat loss only depends on the flow duct length . the goal is to find the fractional heat loss , given by : input power p in ={ dot over ( q )} w +{ dot over ( m )} c p ( t max − t w ) which after rearranging gives the simple expression for fractional heat loss q : note that for simplicity we have used an average value instead of a temperature - dependent value for viscosity . the model predicts that low l and high mass flow rate are desirable , the latter implying high pressure . finally , our past experience with other microthrusters has shown that the dominant flow loss is nozzle frozen flow loss due to dissociation and ionization . for the mcdt this is not a concern , since we use monatomic neon propellant , and the degree of ionization is very small (˜ 0 . 01 %). it is likely that the major determiner of thrust efficiency is viscous losses in the nozzle due to the required reynolds number regime . if the nozzle expansion drops the flow temperature to an exit temperature t e , the nozzle thermal efficiency η n can be expressed as : η n = 1 - t e / t o = m e 2 m e 2 + 3 for the expected m e = 3 based on similar nozzles , η n = 0 . 75 . when added to heat loss , plume divergence and distribution loss , we anticipate with confidence an mcd thrust efficiency of 60 %. resistojets show thrust characteristics that follow predictions for supersonic nozzles , when allowance is made for viscous effects by operating at a sufficiently high reynolds number . although the nozzle flow can become rarified , these effects can only be determined from numerical modeling . the other control question is that of the minimum impulse bit , which is important for precision location and attitude control . a straightforward calculation shows that the impulse bit of the mcd thruster is small enough for most requirements . consider a satellite of mass m , which must be kept positioned within a distance d [ m ]. in order to keep the control thruster duty cycle greater than a period of t [ sec ] between operations , the velocity must be kept below d / t [ m / s ], and the momentum , or impulse bit , below md / t . thus for a satellite of mass 1 kg , for d = 1 mm and t = 10 seconds , i bit & lt ; 10 − 4 n - s = 100 μn - s . this i bit can be achieved by an mcd thruster with a thrust of 1 mn and a thrust time of t t = 0 . 1 s . while valve operating time is far less than 0 . 1 s , the plenum volume feeding the mcdt must be sufficiently small . the condition is that the characteristic volume flow time τ = v o /{ dot over ( v )} must be kept small compared to t t , where { dot over ( v )} is the volume flow rate a * a *[ m 3 / s ] at the throat . for neon and a throat diameter of 100 mm , this requires v o = a * a * t & lt ; 7 mm 3 . this value of v o is achievable with a small mcd thruster array and close - coupled valve . while this example is extreme , it indicates that precision mass flow control with an mcd thruster can be achieved with very small impulse bits if required . referring back to fig5 , in one embodiment of the present invention there is provided an electrothermal thruster system 200 . the system 200 includes a gaseous propellant feed line 205 , with upstream propellant tank ( not shown ) holding a pressurized gaseous propellant . a controlled valve 210 is further coupled to the feed line 205 for controlling the release of gaseous propellant from the tank into a plenum 215 . at least one microcavity 220 is coupled to the plenum . the at least one microcavity has a preferred diameter of about 50 - 300 microns and more preferred diameter of about 100 microns . the system 200 further includes an alternating current power source 225 in communication with a pair of electrodes 230 insulated in a material 235 , for which power is supplied to heat the gaseous propellant into a plasma with a temperature of about 500 - 4000 k , wherein increasing the temperature of the plasma through the microcavity 220 increases the velocity of the plasma as it discharges out of the microcavity producing thrust 240 . in other embodiments , the at least one microcavity can be an array of microcavities operating electrically and fluid dynamically in parallel , wherein the size of the array is at least 100 , 000 microcavities . in addition , the system may further include a converging - diverging micronozzle downstream of each microcavity that expands the heated propellant , accelerating it to create a supersonic exhaust jet . in yet other embodiments , the insulated material is aluminum oxide ( al 2 o 3 ) and / or the electrodes can be made of one or more of the following : titanium , titanium oxide , or silicon carbide . yet further may be a system having the power source operated at a discharge radio frequency of about 5 to 500 khz which is created from a dc bus voltage using a dc - ac inverter and step - up transformer , providing a voltage and current at about 1000 v and about 1 ma , for a typical power into each microcavity of about 1 watt . the gaseous propellant may be a monatomic gas such as but not limited to xenon , krypton , argon , neon , or helium and the gaseous propellant may be seeded with a few percent of polyatomic gases such as nitrogen or water vapor to increase power . in yet further embodiments the thruster system may include a differential pressure through the system of about 0 . 2 to about 3 atms and in other embodiments , about 0 . 5 to about 1 . 5 atms . the microcavity discharge ( mcd ) thruster is expected to be a high specific thrust , high thrust density , high specific power system , with high propellant utilization and a simple power processor . efficiency is predicted as greater than 60 %, and power scalability is straightforward over a wide range . lifetime is expected to be long , due to the lack of electrode sheaths and the capability of operating without an auxiliary neutralizer . from the foregoing and as mentioned above , it will be observed that numerous variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concept of the invention . it is to be understood that no limitation with respect to the specific methods and apparatus illustrated herein is intended or should be inferred .
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reference is now made to the drawings , in which like numerals designate like elements throughout the several views . generally described , one embodiment of the present invention includes the use of at least two substantially horizontal “ pusher plates ”, which are each slidably movable relative to an apparatus including a stationary floor and a horizontal - axis cutting drum . disclike wood “ lilypads ” are dropped via conveyor or other suitable means onto the floor , and the two pusher plates are urged towards the lilypads and eventually cause at least some of them to be urged into contact with the cutting drum and to be consumed thereby . the relative positioning of the two plates as they come into the vicinity of the lilypad is important ; the upper pusher plate overhangs the other such that a “ moving pocket ” is defined which tends to capture the disclike members in a desired orientation as they contact the cutting drum . reference is first made to fig1 to illustrate the manner in which the lilypad wood members 50 are oriented relative to a rotating cutting drum 11 . fig1 is a pictorial illustrative view of an isolated cutting drum 11 having cutting knives 12 mounted thereon . the cutting drum 11 rotates about a substantially vertical axis of rotation “ r ”, such that a lilypad wood member 50 is captured within a pocket is consumed by the cutting knives . the lilypad wood member 50 is oriented the during cutting process as if it was part of an elongate log 52 and the longitudinal axis of the log is parallel to the rotational axis of the cutting drum . as may be seen , lilypad wood members such as 50 are typically cut from the ends of typical elongate wood members such as a source log 52 . as is well known , the wood grain of such source logs runs along the longitudinal axis of the log . in the wood processing art , it has become known to process such logs with prior art knives or other suitable cutting members when the longitudinal axis 53 of the source log 52 is substantially parallel to the longitudinal and rotational axis of the cutting drum 11 . one reason for such desired orientation is due to the fact that such elongate log members lend themselves well to a “ cradling ” effect in which the log is cradled between the cutting drum and a stationary wall or anvil such as shown in my u . s . pat . no . 4 , 785 , 860 , or similarly cradled between a cutting drum and a plurality of toothed wheels drum as shown in my u . s . pat . no . 4 , 444 , 234 . however , as noted above , as more accurate wood processing techniques have been developed , less waste is involved ( the low - end trim is much shorter ) and therefore there is more of a tendency to create “ lilypads ” such as 50 in fig1 with the average length of the lilypads ( also known as cut - offs ”) being approximately 3 ″ thick × 6 ″- 36 ″ in diameter , although other dimensions are contemplated . therefore , it may be understood that the desired chipping action is similar to the desired chipping action as if a log was parallel to the longitudinal axis of the chipper drum , in that cutting is preferably done by slicing “ along the log ”, which takes less horsepower than if cutting with the end grain facing the drum . as noted above , the wood lilypads must be oriented correctly to make an acceptable chip . it has been determined that there is difficulty in orienting “ lilypad ” elements , due to their relatively short fiber length . the apparatus according to the present invention achieves such an orientation . reference is now made to fig2 . fig2 is a pictorial view of an isolated cutting drum 11 ( having a cutting drum axis of rotation “ r ”) shown relative to a lilypad wood member 50 as it is guided towards the circumferential surface of the cutting drum by an upper pusher plate 40 and a lower pusher plate 60 . the respective oscillation paths 42 , 62 , of the upper and lower pusher plates 40 , 60 , are also shown . the lower pusher plate 60 is configured to slidably move in a reciprocating fashion relative to the frame of the apparatus 10 . the upper pusher plate 40 , in one preferred embodiment , rests atop the lower pusher plate 60 , although as discussed later in this application , the upper pusher plate 40 is configured to slide relative to the lower pusher plate 60 , as well as to slide relative to the frame of the apparatus 10 . a sliding connection may be made by conventional means known in the art . in the case of the present invention , the sliding connection may be provided by the use of elongate bearing strips made of moly filled nylon or other prior art materials . as described later in further detail , the upper and lower pusher plates 40 , 60 , each move in a reciprocating manner along substantially horizontal and parallel travel axes . the paths of each of these pusher members are essentially the same length , beginning from a “ retracted ” position , and ending at a “ extended ” position . the lower pusher plate is powered by a hydraulic cylinder . however , the upper pusher plate 40 is not powered , but instead rests atop and slides along with the lower pusher plate unless an outside force or object is encountered to overcome friction between the two plates 40 , 60 , as discussed elsewhere . operation of the apparatus is now discussed in reference to figs . fig4 a - 4e , which are sequential side views showing various stages of a complete operating cycle of a two - plate system , showing an upper pusher plate 40 , a lower pusher plate 60 , a lilypad 50 member being consumed , and a chipping drum 11 consuming the lilypad member 50 . operation of the apparatus is as follows . referencing first fig4 a , “ lilypad ” wood members such as 50 are dropped into the hopper onto the floor 32 from a conveyor or other suitable means . the wood members can be dropped in one by one , or in bulk as desired . the upper and lower pusher plates 40 , 60 , begin their cycle from their positions shown in fig4 a . a hydraulic cylinder ( not shown in fig4 a - 4e ) attached between the lower pusher plate and the frame of the overall apparatus is then energized , forcing the lower pusher plate 60 to be urged towards an extended position . the upper pusher plate 40 , which rests atop the lower pusher plate 60 , is pushed along with the lower pusher plate due to the influence of friction between the two plates 40 , 60 . during this “ infeed ” stroke , the upper pusher plate 40 extends beyond the lower pusher plate , causing a cavity 51 ( see fig4 e ) to be provided underneath the overhanging upper pusher plate 40 . this cavity 51 , which is eventually closed of and eliminated , is an important feature of the present invention and will be discussed in later detail . as the upper pusher plate 40 nears the end of its stroke , it approaches a stationary stop member ( not shown ). the upper pusher plate 40 contacts the stationary stop , and is itself stopped from further travel , to remain in the position shown in fig4 b . this is the fully “ extended ” position of the upper pusher plate 40 . however , as shown in fig4 a - c , the lower pusher plate 60 continues its travel , closing the cavity 51 provided by the upper pusher member until the lower pusher plate 60 travels to a desired position until it reaches a microswitch ( not shown ), which causes its travel to be reversed . at the instant of such travel reversal , the lower pusher plate 60 is at its fully “ extended ” position , which is shown in fig4 c . at the point shown in fig4 c at which the lower pusher plate 60 reverses its position from its “ extended ” position , it may be understood that both of the upper and lower pusher plate 40 , 60 are fully extended . at this time , their arcuate leading edges are in close proximity to the outer , circumferential , surface of a cutter drum , which in the preferred embodiment includes a plurality of cutting knives such as known in the art . after both have been completely extended , the upper and lower pusher plates 40 , 60 , reverse their direction and more together to the positions shown in fig4 d under the influence of the double - acting hydraulic cylinder . as before , the upper pusher plate 40 , which rests atop the lower pusher plate 60 , is drawn backward along with the lower pusher plate due to the influence of friction between the two plates 40 , 60 . as the two plates 40 , 60 , continue to be drawn backward , the upper plate 40 contacts a stationary stop 98 , which causes the upper pusher plate to stop at its fully retracted position shown in fig4 e . however , the bottom pusher member 60 is moved further rearwardly ( against the frictional force between the members 40 , 60 ) to its final position shown in fig4 e . upon complete retraction of the upper and lower pusher plates 40 , 60 , more wood members can fall upon the horizontal sliding floor surface of the hopper . the pusher plates 40 , 60 then again move from their retracted to their extended positions . the wood members 50 are then consumed by the cutting drum 11 , with the chips falling within the drum and removed as known in the art . reference is now made to fig5 a - 5b , which are side partial cross - section views of a portion of the apparatus according to the present invention . these figures show lilypad members 50 a , 50 b , sliding down an inclined hopper wall 34 of the apparatus 10 , with one lilypad member 50 b being “ tipped ” over by the upper pusher plate 40 , and lilypad member 50 b sliding off the inclined wall 34 and onto the top of the upper pusher plate 40 , although it will be knocked off later into the paths of the members 40 , 60 , later upon full retraction of the upper pusher plate 40 . as noted above , the upper pusher plate 40 “ leads ” the lower pusher plate 60 during the “ infeed ” stroke . it may be understood that the location of the stop 98 compared to the location of when the lower pusher plate 60 begins its forward motion results in the amount of overhang provided by the upper pusher member 40 . it should also be understood that the stroke paths of the two pusher members 40 , 60 , differ in the amount of the overhang . fig1 is a transverse cross section of the pusher plates with upper pusher plate 40 shown by way of example , although this cross sectional configuration is also provided in the lower pusher plate 60 ( not shown in fig1 ). this cross section is taken along a plane normal to the reciprocating travel axis of the upper pusher plate , and shows a platelike metal portion 44 , a platelike lower bearing portion 46 , and two striplike side bearing portions 48 . the upper pusher plate shown in fig1 fits as snugly as possible within available tolerates between the side walls of the hopper , such that the lower bearing plate portion 46 slides upon the upper surface of the lower pusher plate , and the outwardly - facing surfaces of the side bearing portions 48 slide against inwardly - facing surfaces of the hopper . the lower pusher plate 60 slides a similar matter between the walls of the hopper , but its lower surface slides against the floor of the hopper . as noted elsewhere in this application , molybdenum - impregnated nylon is used as the bearing material for elements 46 and 48 . in one particular embodiment , when the top pusher plate reaches ¾ inches of the drum it is stopped by stops welded or bolted to the sides of the hopper . at this time material less than 3 inches thick ( the thickness of the top plate ) is trapped below the top pusher ; the bottom pusher continues moving toward the chipper drum closing the 9 inch gap until it reaches ¾ inches of the drum . this gives the thin material , ( log ends , tie cut offs , etc . ), the stability necessary to make a good chip . in the method discussion above , the two pushers come forward accordingly one at a time until the spikes on both are ¾ inches from the drum , whereupon they all withdraw simultaneously . as discussed later , for higher production and utilizing more knives in the drum , a second set of pushers with a powered pusher could be mounted on top of the first set of pushers . fig9 a - 9b are side partial cross sectional views of a portion of a second embodiment of an apparatus according to the present invention , showing a tipper plate 90 used in conjunction with an upper and lower pusher plates 40 , 60 . fig9 a shows the tipper plate 40 tipping a lilypad member 50 a over , and then retracting to the position shown in fig9 b . in fig9 b a second lilypad member 50 b slides from atop the inclined wall 34 to atop the upper pusher plate 40 , until is it later pushed off by the tipper plate 90 or by the stationary inclined wall 34 upon full retraction of the upper pusher plate 40 . the configuration of fig9 a - 9b operates as follows : the tipper plate 90 goes out and back , preferably tipping over lilypads such as the one shown in fig9 a . after the tipper plate &# 39 ; s retraction , the lower two plates operate as discussed in the design not including the tipper plate described earlier , although some dampening or speed reduction may be provided as discussed later with respect to controls and hydraulics . another alternative to the embodiment is the use of a 3 - level configuration , in which an upper pusher element is moved all the way in , and then a middle pusher element is moved all the way in , and then a lower pusher element is moved all the way in . all three can then be retracted . another embodiment includes the use of a “ pair ” of elements which interact similar to the two elements shown in fig1 a - d . in this case , the lower “ pair ” will conduct the action described above , and then , the upper pair will perform a similar action , with the upper surface of the upper pusher member of the lower pair performing the same service of the floor of the hopper . if for instance longer blocks are introduced , for example a dia . of 18 ″× 10 ′ long the top pusher will set higher on the block making it more stable . if there were resistance in the chipping process the bottom pusher would automatically be moving forward to assist in the feeding process . the pushers can be different thicknesses depending on average block size . the top pusher i described is depending on the bottom pusher for movement or power . the bottom pusher is moved by a hydraulic cylinder . the top pusher i will call the non - powered pusher . the non - powered pushers can be stacked several high depending on material length ( thickness ). the pushers would resemble inverted stair steps to better trap various size material . reference is now made to fig7 . which shows that the leading arcuate pushing edges of the upper and lower pusher members can include multiple gripping teeth or “ spikes ” 70 , which are attached to the metal portion of the pusher plates and tend to “ grip ” wood members as they are being engaged by the cutting knives of the drum . these teeth , if used , can be a variety of heights and at various spacing . however , they can be 3 - 4 inches apart , in two rows , and approximately ¼ - ½ inches high . fig6 a - 6b show the spikes as they are mounted and as they engage and retain the wood members . this retention feature , combined with the feed system used can have a significant impact on power consumption , as cradling and “ jamming ” of the wood material is discouraged . for comparison purposes , a prior art system which includes “ crading ” is shown in fig1 . this system , which includes a horizontal chipper and accepts to logs via gravity drop , encourages cradling , wedging , and , effectively , jamming . as may be understood , such systems do not include the capability of controlled feeding as provided by the present invention , in which feed can be stopped or slowed upon high loading of the chipper drum . the lilypad members 50 can be conveyed or dropped onto the sloping end of the hopper . this will assist the lilypads in falling flat on the floor of the hopper . the sloped end of the hopper could be made of stainless steel , fiberglass or plastic with a magnet attached to the back of the sloped end to capture tramp metal . screening holes in the floor of the hopper can be provided for sawdust and other small materials . if the pusher assembly is made of stainless steel , fiberglass , or plastic , an electro magnet could be installed under the top layer and capture tramp metal . when the pusher is fully retracted the electromagnet can be turned off and an overhead magnet would attract the metal . the pusher &# 39 ; s magnet would be turned on when it again enters the working area . in lieu of an overhead magnet , a flap type scraper could also be employed when the magnet is shut off on the return stroke . as may be seen in for example fig5 a - b , the shape of the chute tends to prevent wood lilypad members from falling atop the upper pusher member , while still providing efficient use of space . reference is now made to fig1 a - 12c , 13 , and 14 . fig1 a - 12c show side , leading end , and top views , respectively , of a cutting knife 12 according to the present invention . as may be seen , such a configuration includes a main cutting edge 13 m ( including three shown serrations ), a pair of cutting wings 13 w and three cutting faces 13 f . three serrations are shown which are each 0 . 010 inches deep and ⅛ inches wide . these serrations provide fiber - slitting edges . fig1 is an exploded view of a knife assembly including the knife 13 and upper and lower knife retaining elements 19 , 18 . the lower retaining element 18 is mounted to the cutting drum and the upper element 19 captures the knife 13 and is retained by an unshown bolt having a longitudinal axis along line l . fig1 shows the knife 13 in its mounted position . as may be seen , the sharpness angle of the main cutting edge is approximately 38 degrees , the clearance angle is approximately 5 degrees ( 5 . 315 degrees in one particular instance ), and the rake angle is approximately 46 degrees . these approximate angles should total to ninety degrees . as noted within this description , reciprocating movement of various plates is provided by the use of various hydraulic components , although other drive configurations are contemplated without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . however , it has been found advantageous to provide a system which moves more rapidly during its “ retraction ” stroke ( s ), as this is essentially machine downtime . assuming the system of fig9 a - 9b , reference is now made to the elements of fig1 . hydraulic cylinder 101 is connected to and is configured to move the lower pusher plate 60 . hydraulic cylinder 102 ( with cushions at both ends ) is connected to and is configured to move the tipper plate 90 . relief valve 103 is used to relieve excessive hydraulic oil pressure allowing the hydraulic cylinder 101 to retract if impact occurs to plate 60 . adjustable flow control 104 controls speed of the stroke of plate 60 when pushing “ lilypads ” or other material toward cutting drum 11 and will still give full flow of hydraulic oil to cylinder 102 allowing the tipper plate 90 to move forward at high speed . adjustable flow control 105 controls the retracting speed of plate 60 and tipper plate 90 . electric solenoid operated hydraulic valve 106 controls cylinders 101 and 102 . solenoid operated hydraulic valve to detour hydraulic oil to flow control valve 108 . an adjustable flow control valve 108 is provided . valves 108 and 107 , when activated , will restrict flow from the hydraulic pump and act as a decelerating valve for hydraulic cylinder 101 . valves 108 and 107 will be controlled by a limit switch mounted a distance from the end of the return stroke of pusher plate 60 . a variable displacement pressure compensated hydraulic pump 109 is provided the energize the overall system . reference is now made to fig1 , to describe controls used with the configuration of fig9 a - 9b . for controls one can use plc with limit switches , pressure switches and amperage sensors on the drive motors to control feed rates , all safety plugs and emergency stop buttons . reference is now made to fig1 . as may be seen , this electrical schematic allows switching between manual ( to cycle feed plates with a manual switch ) to automatic to energize an automatic feed system . when in the position shown in fig1 , line 1020 is hot . momentary contact of start switch will energize 1060 which will energize solenoid coil cr 3 and close cr 3 - 1 and cr 3 - 2 energizing line 1090 . power will then go through ls 1 and to the second level of the start switch . the initial engagement of the start will energize 1070 and energize cr 1 and will close cr 1 - 1 and cr 1 - 2 , energizing 1040 and t 1 . this will energize the valve to move the feed plates forward . when the feed plates are all the way forward , ls 1 will engage and energize line 1130 and cr 2 which will drop out cr 2 - 1 de - energizing cr 1 and will drop out cr 1 - 1 and cr 1 - 2 to 1040 and t 1 . cr 2 - 3 is now closed energizing 1050 and t 2 which will energize the 4 way valve to reverse the feed plates . ls 3 will energize the decelerating valve near the end of the reverse stroke . when the feed plates reach the reverse end of the stroke ls - 2 will close , energizing cr - 1 , closing cr 1 - 1 , opening cr 1 - 3 , which will de - energize cr - 2 , closing cr 2 - 1 closing cr 1 - 2 to 1040 and t 1 causing the feed plates to move forward and continue to cycle . therefore it may be seen that when the ls 1 switch is triggered , the pusher plates go into reverse . when hit ls 2 is triggered , they go forward . when they hit ls 3 , they slow down . as shown in fig1 , the pusher plates ( the lower pusher plate 60 is shown ) in one embodiment include a steel portion 44 , 2 inches thick , with a 1 inch solid “ wear plate ” 46 of nylon bearing material attached underneath , and two 1 inch by 2 inch side bearing strips 48 running the length of the lower pusher plate 60 . a ¾ inch steel floor is used . the system is a “ 3000 lb ” system capable of a 3000 lb pushing force and 52 ″ pushing stroke , used in conjunction with a cutting drum of 50 ″ diameter and driven at approximately 210 rpm by a 100 hp motor , although at the time of filing that was thought to be possibly too much hp . it should be understood that other alternate configurations having different sizes , rates , and power capabilities could also be used without departing from the spirit scope of the present invention . in the present invention , it has been noted that the weight of the upper pushing plate 40 tends to cause it to be frictionally engaged atop the lower pusher plate 60 to cause such friction to pull the upper member back simultaneously with the lower pusher plate 60 as the lower pusher plate 60 is retracted relative to the frame . however , a stop attached to the lower member which engages the upper member may also be used in case the upper member tends to bind along its sliding path . alternately , a hog may be used . if a hog is used , anvil members may also be provided along the wall where wood may be drawn . the 9 inch upper plate overhang of the embodiments show can be different depending on material diameters . the pushers can also be different thicknesses depending on the average material size . instead of a long tipper plate such as shown in fig5 a - b , a shorter tipper plate ( not shown ) could be used which would only extend out partly towards the cutting drum ( for example 1 - 2 feet from the edge of the infeed sloping member ), to “ kick ” over lilypads which may remain on edge . the feed rate is controllable by the speed of the pusher plate , and can be varied as desired for different material thicknesses . however , one configuration it has been found that for ¼ ″ thickness chips , with a “ dual - flight ” cutter confirmation ( two cuts per revolution ), a feed speed of ½ ′ per revolution is appropriate . it should be understood that some field adjustments as known in the wood chipping art are always possible ; if excessive power consumption or “ smoking ” is occurring , the feed rate or pressure may be reduced , or if the chips are too thin the feed rate or pressure may be increased . an additional hydraulic cylinder could also be used intermediate the upper and lower pusher plates if relative movement or a “ dampening ” effect is desired which is not provided by the frictional contact shown . instead of plastic bearing plates , wheels rollers or rails could also be used . instead of using hydraulics to push or pull the plates , chains , cable , or lead screws could also be used . the concept of a contained cavity noted above could also be used with a horizontal chipper . as shown in fig1 , a chipper disc 180 ( having a vertical face ) mounted to a horizontal drive shaft 181 ( rotating about a horizontal axis ) can be fed along the top of a supporting member 187 by a pair of pusher plates 182 , 183 , ( similar to those previously discussed but having “ square ” pushing faces ), such that a wood member 185 ( shown captured in a substantially closed cavity ) can be turned into wood chips 186 . the knifes on the disc 180 can be as known in the art or as shown previously , and oriented to provide an optimal chip . it has also been found that power requirements for cutting with present vertical axis chipper configuration is less than prior art configurations such as shown in fig1 . as shown in fig1 , the prior art configurations include a horizontal chipper spout which includes a wedging action against the drum to keep the wood stable while being chipped . however , such as configuration causes friction , heat , and wear , and uses excessive power . in contrast , the pusher plates on the chipper of the present invention do not depend on wedging , and thus provide a more consistent wood chip . in contrast , the blocks are held by toothlike points and the pusher plate ( s ) are moved toward the drum at a controlled speed and no wedging is required . a further power saving feature could be the use of an amperage sensor on the motor which would slow or stop the pusher plate until the amperage decreases , followed by more of the pushing action . this “ stop and go ” feed motion is further facilitated by the design of the one apparatus according to the present invention , which does not depend on gravity for feeding purposes . if feed needs to be stopped , the pusher ( s ) are simply stopped and there are no wood members which are in a gravity - fed hopper which must still be consumed . the apparatus 10 according to the present invention is believed to have good possibilities for the medium to large production mills . the lower knives will likely do most of the work . for the larger , higher production mills , the lower pushers may be stacked . the bottom one would forward first , then the one above it moves forward until all pushers are forward . then all pushers retract at one time and start the cycle over again . this does two things , increases production and distributes wood over more of the working area of the drum , utilizing more knives . the basic idea is that the wood material can be dropped into the hopper from a conveyor and will tend to be oriented when hitting the top of the pusher or the bottom of the hopper . therefore it may be seen that the present invention overcomes deficiencies in the prior art by providing a method and apparatus for handling bulk quantities of lilypads , which will process the lilypad members in an efficient yet effective manner , providing wood chips having desirable characteristics . while this invention has been described in specific detail with reference to the disclosed embodiments , it will be understood that many variations and modifications may be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention as described in the appended claims .
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the cell search synchronization system 10 in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in fig1 . the system 10 comprises a step 1 module 12 , a step 2 module 14 , a step 3 module 16 , and a controller 18 to accomplish synchronization between a user equipment ( ue ) and a base station . in order to accomplish this synchronization , the ue , through the cell search synchronization system 10 , utilizes an initial cell search algorithm , to be disclosed hereinafter . the step 1 algorithm of the initial cell search algorithm is accomplished using the step 1 module 12 . referring to fig3 , the step 1 module 12 comprises two hierarchical golay correlators ( hgc ) 21 , 22 , two absolute value modifiers ( avm ) 23 , 24 , a decision circuit 25 , a normalizer circuit 26 , a look up table 27 , a multiplier 28 , a splitter 19 , and a step 1 comparator 29 . the root raised cosine filter ( rrcfir ) 1 shown is not a part of the step 1 module 12 , but are illustrated therein to provide a complete picture . the purpose of the step 1 module 12 is to find the strongest path over a frame worth of samples the ue has detected and determine the chip offset of the strongest path . the rrcfir 1 coupled to the splitter 19 is a pulse shaped filter that samples the downlink communication signal from the base station at twice the chip rate and forwards the sample signal to the splitter 19 . the splitter 19 splits the sampled signal into its even and odd samples and passes them to hgcs 21 , 22 . the hgcs 21 , 22 are coupled to the avms 23 , 24 , and the sample selector 34 of the step 2 module 14 ( illustrated in fig5 ), to be disclosed hereinafter . hgcs 21 , 22 correlate the psc of the input signal . as those skilled in the art know , the hgcs 21 , 22 output the complex values of the even and odd samples of the input signal , respectively . the hgc 21 , 22 outputs are forwarded to the avms 23 , 24 and the sample selector 34 . the avms 23 , 24 , coupled to the hgcs 21 , 22 and the decision circuit 25 , determine the magnitudes of the hgcs 21 , 22 , equation to generate the magnitudes is determined according to the following equation : the use of the approximated absolute value in accordance with equation 1 reduces the hardware required in this implementation and causes no significant performance degradation . once the approximated absolute values have been determined by the avms 23 , 24 , respectively , the modified even and odd samples are output to a decision circuit 25 . the decision circuit 25 , coupled to the avms 23 , 24 and the controller 18 , determine the chip offset . the modified even and odd samples output from the avms 23 , 24 are input into a mux 8 within the decision circuit 25 , and combined into a single stream . this stream is a representation of the strength of the signal transmitted in one of the samples of each slot of each frame . as illustrated in fig2 , there are two thousand five hundred and sixty ( 2560 ) chips in each slot and fifteen ( 15 ) slots in each frame . since the input signal is sampled at twice the chip rate , there are 5120 samples in each slot . therefore , the decision circuit 25 determines the location of the psc in the signal , chip offset , by sweeping through the 5120 accumulated samples at the end of each slot . the stream generated by the mux is forwarded to an accumulator ( not shown ) within the decision circuit 25 . this accumulator has a five thousand one hundred and twenty ( 5120 ) sample long register which stores the accumulated sample value for each slot of every frame , and operates on the slot rate . the strength of the signal for each sample in a slot is added to the strength of the signal of each sample in every subsequent slot . as an example , the samples of slot 1 comprise the following signal strength values { 1 , 5 , 3 , 7 }; the samples of slot 2 comprise the following signal strength values { 2 , 4 , 8 , 3 }. initially , the registers of the accumulator have the values { 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 }. as each sample value from slot 1 is added to the registers of the accumulator , the register values change accordingly . for instance , when the first sample value of slot 1 is added to the first register value , the accumulator has the values { 1 , 0 , 0 , 0 }; when the second sample value of slot 1 is added to the second register value , the accumulator has the values { 1 , 5 , 0 , 0 } and so on . once the last sample value of slot 1 is added to the accumulator , the first sample value of slot 2 is added to the first register of the accumulator , resulting in the accumulator having the values { 3 , 5 , 3 , 7 }; when the second sample value of slot 2 is added to the second register value , the accumulator has the values { 3 , 9 , 3 , 7 }. the preferred embodiment of the present invention , flushes the registers of the accumulator after five ( 5 ) frames have been accumulated , which is equivalent to seventy five ( 75 ) slots . the number of accumulated frames is counted by a step 1 counter ( not shown ) within the decision circuit 25 . a decision , determination of the chip offset , by the decision circuit 25 is generated at the end of each frame , fifteen ( 15 ) slots . the decision circuit 25 determines which register in the accumulator has the maximum accumulated sample value max and assigns an index to it . the index corresponds to the half chip location of the psc signal for the base station with the strongest signal . chip offset assignment is determined using the hgc offset value of 511 . as those skilled in the art know , the output of the hgc are delayed by 256 chips . therefore , when the decision circuit 25 assigns an index in the peak sample , the hgc offset value must be subtracted . since the psc is 256 chips long , 512 samples long , subtracting the hgc offset from the index equates to setting the chip offset to the beginning of the slot . if the index generated by the decision circuit 25 is greater than the hgc offset value of 511 then the chip offset is calculated in accordance with equation 2 below : if the index is less than the hgc offset value then the chip offset is calculated in accordance with equation 3 below : as illustrated in fig3 , the decision circuit 25 also comprises a mask generator 5 , which is used to exclude a window around a rejected chip offset from detection by the decision circuit 25 . this mask generator 5 , therefore , prohibits the decision circuit 25 from utilizing an index associated with a rejected chip offset . the details of the mask generator 5 will be disclosed hereinafter . the calculated chip offset and the frame count step 1 counter are output to a controller 18 , to be disclosed hereinafter . the decision circuit 25 also outputs the maximum accumulated chip value max and the accumulated chip value output for all registers . the accumulated chip value output for all registers is output to a normalizer circuit 26 , where it is sampled at 20 % the chip rate ( one out of five ), summed , and then normalized to 1024 . the frame count step 1 counter is output to the lookup table 27 to determine the proper gain factor based on the number of frames accumulated . the output of the normalizer circuit 26 and the lookup table 27 are then multiplied by the multiplier 28 . the output of the multiplier 28 is considered the noise threshold and is forwarded to a step 1 comparator circuit 29 , to be compared to the maximum accumulated sample value max . if the maximum accumulated sample value max is greater than the noise threshold , the differential amplifier 29 outputs a high step 1 firm signal to the controller , indicating a good decision for step 1 , otherwise a low signal is output . as stated earlier , the chip offset and other outputs are determined at the end of every frame . therefore , the reliability of the first decision is less than that of the second because the second decision is made over thirty slots instead of fifteen slots . the reliability increases as the number of slots accumulated increases . the highest reliable output is generated at the m1th frame , m1 being an integer greater than or equal to one ( 1 ). the controller 18 resets the frame count step 1 counter and the accumulator registers at the end of every m1th frame . the performance results under different channel impairment show that five - frame integration is good enough to detect psc . however , this integration can be changed to more or less frames . a flow diagram of the step 1 module is illustrated in fig4 . the ue detects the receipt of communications over the common downlink channel ( step 401 ) and samples the signal at twice the chip rate generating even and odd samples ( step 402 ). these even and odd samples are passed to the hierarchical golay correlators ( hgc ) 21 , 22 ( step 403 ). the hgcs 21 , 22 then forwards the outputs to the avms 23 , 24 and sample selector 34 ( step 404 ). the avms 23 , 24 approximate the magnitudes of the even and odd outputs received from the hgcs 21 , 22 ( step 405 ) and forwards them to the decision circuit 25 ( step 406 ). upon receipt of the output magnitudes the decision circuit 25 combines the magnitudes ( step 407 ), which represents the signal strength of the signal transmitted in one of the samples of each slot of each frame . the signal strength for each sample is accumulated for all slots within each frame ( step 408 ). the decision circuit 25 then determines which sample in the frame has the maximum accumulated sample value ( step 409 ) and assigns an index to it ( step 410 ). based on the index , a chip value is assigned to the index ( step 411 ), known as the chip offset , and output to the controller 18 ( step 412 ). a noise threshold value is then generated using the accumulated chip value for all samples and the frame count ( step 413 ) and then compared to the maximum accumulated sample value ( step 414 ), indicating a firm or tentative decision to the controller 18 ( step 415 ). referring back to fig1 , the outputs of the step 1 module 12 , the chip offset , step 1 firm , and step 1 counter , are forwarded to the controller 18 . the controller 18 forwards the chip offset to the step 2 module 14 . as stated above , the step 2 module 14 utilizes a step 2 algorithm which takes the chip offset output from step 1 and the hgc 21 , 22 outputs and detects the slot offset and the code group number . the step 2 module 14 illustrated in fig5 , comprises a step 2 comparator 30 , a delay 32 , a sample selector 34 , a conjugator 36 , a complex multiplier 38 , a fast hadamard transform ( fht ) 33 , an envelope remover 31 , an input matrix generator 35 , an rs encoder 37 , and a step 2 decision circuit 39 . the purpose of the step 2 algorithm is to provide the step 3 algorithm with the scrambling code group number and the slot offset . the chip offset from the step 1 module 12 is sent from the controller 18 to a delay 32 of the step 2 module 14 . the chip offset is delayed for a frame through the delay 32 in order to allow the step 1 module to make a first decision . the delayed chip offset is then forwarded to the sample selector 34 which is coupled to the delay 32 , a conjugator 36 and the hgcs 21 , 22 of the step 1 module 12 . using the index determined by the decision circuit 25 , the sample selector 34 extracts the peak hgc 21 , 22 outputs from the input signal , which are then conjugated by the conjugator 36 and output to the complex multiplier 38 . the same communication signal to the step 1 module 12 is input to an alignment circuit 15 , which aligns the input signal so that step 2 module 14 begins it search for the scrambling code group number and slot offset at the beginning of the slot . once the signal is aligned , the alignment circuit 15 forwards it to the step 2 module 14 . even though there are two thousand five hundred and sixty ( 2 , 560 ) chips in each slot , it should be apparent from fig2 that the psc is located within the first 256 chips of each slot . since the chip offset has been determined by the step 1 module , the step 2 module determines the ssc using the location of the strongest psc in the first 256 chips in each slot . as those skilled in the art know , when ssc codes are generated , an envelope sequence is applied to the rows of an hadamard matrix in order to have some orthogonality between psc and ssc codes . this envelope has to be removed before proceeding into the remaining portion of the step 2 algorithm . this envelope removal is accomplished by the envelope remover 31 . once the envelope has been removed from the input signal , the signal is output from the envelope remover 31 to the fht transform 33 coupled to the envelope remove 31 and multiplier 38 , which reduces the complexity of the pure hadamard correlation operation . fig6 is an illustration of the fht structure . the output of the fht transform 33 is multiplied by the conjugate of the peak hgc 21 , 22 by the complex multiplier 38 coupled to the conjugator 36 and the fht transform 33 . the use of the conjugate of the peak output from the hgcs 21 , 22 provides a phase correction to the fht output and transforms the one entry that corresponds to the transmitted ssc code onto the real axis . once the fht transform 33 output has been multiplied in the complex multiplier 38 , the real part of the fht outputs are forwarded to the input matrix generator 35 by the multiplier 38 , which puts the fht outputs into a real matrix of 15 × 16 , called the input matrix . in the input matrix , there are fifteen ( 15 ) slots and in each slot sixteen ( 16 ) elements for a frame . the input matrix is updated per frame . the input matrix is then forwarded to the decision circuit 39 where a determination of the slot offset and code group number are made . the structure of the input matrix is illustrated in fig7 . a correlation matrix is generated within the step 2 decision circuit 39 using the input matrix 35 and a known code group matrix , which results in a 64 × 15 matrix . the correlation matrix is reset when the frame counter for the step 2 module reaches m2 , similar to that disclosed in the step 1 module . in order to generate the correlation matrix , the decision circuit 39 steps through each of the elements of the code group matrix and the elements of the input matrix 35 in accordance with the equation 4 below : where j is an integer incremented from 0 to 14 by 1 , that represents cyclic shifts performed on the identity matrix with respect to columns ; i is an integer incremented from 0 to 63 by 1 ; and k is an integer incremented from 0 to 14 by 1 . the structure of the code group matrix and the resulting correlation matrix are illustrated in fig8 and 9 respectively . once the correlation matrix has been generated , the maximum entry is found by the decision circuit 39 . the corresponding row of the found maximum entry is the code group number and the column is the slot offset . similar to the step 1 module 12 , if the max correlation max 2 is greater than the threshold , the comparator circuit 30 will output a high step 2 firm signal to the controller 18 indicating a firm decision , otherwise a low signal is output indicating a tentative decision . the threshold value is calculated using the mean magnitude value of the correlation matrix : th = k 1 960 ( ∑ i = 0 63 ∑ j = 0 14 mag ( c ij ) ) k = 5 . 12 , p fa = 10 - 4 equation 5 where p fa is the probability of false alarm . the step 2 module 14 outputs to the controller 18 the code group number , slot offset , step 2 firm , and step 2 counter . the flow diagram for the step 2 algorithm is illustrated in fig1 . the step 2 module receives the communication signal from the base station over the downlink channel ( step 1001 ). an envelope sequence is removed from the communication signal ( step 1002 a ) and output to an fht transform 33 , ( step 1003 a ). at the same time , the chip offset from the step 1 module 12 is input to a delay 32 in the step 2 module 14 ( step 1002 b ) and forwarded to a sample selector 34 , which extracts the peak even or odd output generated by the hgcs 21 , 22 of the step 1 module 12 based on the chip offset ( step 1003 b ). the output of the fht transformer 33 is then multiplied by the conjugate of the peak even or odd sample output from the sample selector 34 ( step 1004 ) and transforms one entry of the fht output that corresponds to the ssc code onto the real axis ( step 1005 ). the real part of the fht outputs for each slot in a frame are forwarded to the input matrix generator 35 ( step 1006 ). the input matrix generator 35 then creates the input matrix ( step 1007 ). the input matrix is then forwarded to the decision circuit 39 to determine the slot offset and code group number ( step 1008 ). utilizing the input matrix and known code group matrix , the decision circuit 39 generates a correlation matrix ( step 1009 ). once the correlation matrix has been generated , the decision circuit 39 locates the maximum entry in the correlation matrix ( step 1010 ), for which the corresponding row of the found maximum entry is determined to be the code group number and the column is the slot offset . the code group number and the slot offset are then forwarded to the controller 18 ( step 1011 ). a threshold value is then calculated using the mean magnitude value of the correlation matrix ( step 1012 ) and compared to the max correlation ( step 1013 ), forwarding an indication of a firm or tentative decision to the controller 18 ( step 1014 ). the chip offset output from the step 1 module 12 and the slot offset and code group number output from the step 2 module , are forwarded by the controller 18 to the step 3 module 16 , which utilizes a step 3 algorithm for the purpose of determining which one of the primary scrambling codes is coming with the least probability of false alarm ( pfa ) when the code group number is given . there are eight primary scrambling codes in each code group . the block diagram of the step 3 module 16 is illustrated in fig1 . similar to the step 2 module 14 , the communication signal is input to a second alignment circuit 18 which aligns the output signal so that the step 3 module 16 begins its search for the scrambling code number at the beginning of the frame . once the input signal has been aligned , the alignment circuit 18 forwards the input signal to the step 3 module 16 . the step 3 module comprises eight ( 8 ) scrambling code generators 40 1 . . . 40 8 , eight ( 8 ) correlator circuits 41 1 . . . 41 8 , a noise estimator circuit 42 , a step 3 decision circuit 44 , a decision support circuit 45 , a gain circuit 46 , and a comparator circuit 47 . the code group number generated by the step 2 module 14 is input to the eight ( 8 ) scrambling code generators 40 1 . . . 40 8 and scrambling codes are generated therefrom . the output of the scrambling code generators 40 1 . . . 40 8 is forwarded to the scrambling code correlators 41 1 . . . 41 8 , respectively . along with the scrambling codes output from the scrambling code generators 40 1 . . . 40 8 , the communication signal , after processing by a realignment circuit 15 using the chip offset and slot offset output from the controller 18 , is input to the correlators 41 1 . . . 41 8 . the correlators 41 1 . . . 41 8 utilize non - coherent integration over a certain number of slots . integration can be over multiple frames . the correlation is made coherently for each symbol that corresponds to the 256 - chip data . the absolute value of the correlation results are accumulated over 10 * n symbols per frame , where n is the number of slots to be accumulated from the beginning of a frame . in a single slot there are ten 256 - chip long data parts ; therefore , ten 256 - chip coherent correlation and ten accumulations are made per slot . fig1 shows the details of a correlator 41 1 . after the correlators 41 1 . . . 41 8 generate the outputs , the maximum output and its index have to be found . the step 3 decision circuit 44 takes the outputs of the scrambled code correlators 41 1 . . . 41 8 , determines the correlator 41 1 . . . 41 8 with the maximum output , and generates an index thereof . the index is the scrambling code number . the scrambling code number is then forwarded to the decision support circuit 45 and the controller 18 . the decision support circuit 45 observes the last m3 decisions made by the decision circuit 44 . if a code repeats itself more than k repetitions out of m3 inputs , then the code that has been repeated is the scrambling code number that is output from the decision support circuit 45 to the controller 18 . however , the output of the decision support circuit 45 is only utilized when there is no firm decision over the consecutive m3 frames . even though the decision support circuit is only illustrated in the step 3 module 16 , a decision support circuit 45 as disclosed in the step 3 module 16 can be utilized for both the step 1 and step 2 modules 12 , 14 disclosed herein above . a firm decision is indicated when the determined maximum correlation value is greater than the calculated threshold value . the threshold value is calculated using the noise estimator circuit 42 , which is used for noise measurement , and a gain factor . the noise is determined by taking the magnitude of the difference between the successive common pilot symbols . this method of noise estimation eliminates any bias in the noise estimate due to orthogonal signal interference . the result of the noise estimator 42 is multiplied by the gain factor in the multiplier 46 , which is determined to be the threshold . when the determined maximum correlation is greater than the calculated threshold , the comparator 47 outputs a high step 3 firm signal indicating a firm decision , otherwise a low signal is generated indicating a tentative decision . the flow diagram of the step 3 algorithm is illustrated in fig1 . the code group number output from the step 2 module 14 is input to the step 3 module 16 scrambling code generators 40 1 . . . 40 8 ( step 1301 ), which then generate scrambling codes therefrom ( step 1302 ). the output of the scrambling code generators is then forwarded to the scrambling code correlators 41 1 . . . 41 8 ( step 1303 ). along with the scrambling codes output from the scrambling code generators 40 1 . . . 40 8 , the communication signal is correlated in the scrambling code correlators 41 1 . . . 41 8 ( step 1304 ), which then generate ten 256 chip coherent correlations and ten non - coherent accumulations per time slot ( step 1305 ). the accumulated results are forwarded to the step 3 decision circuit 44 ( step 1306 ). the decision circuit 44 determines the correlator with the maximum output and generates an index thereof , which is the scrambling code number ( step 1307 ). a threshold value is then calculated ( step 1308 ) and compared to the maximum correlation value ( step 1309 ). if the maximum correlation value is greater than the calculated threshold , the step 3 module 16 outputs a high step 3 firm signal ( step 1310 ), which results in the decision circuit 44 outputting the scrambling code number to the controller 18 ( step 1311 ). otherwise , a low signal is output to the controller 18 ( step 1312 ) and the scrambling code number is output to the decision support circuit 45 ( step 1313 ). since the decision support circuit 45 observes the last m3 decisions made by the decision circuit 44 , a scrambling code number is output to the controller 18 when a scrambling code repeats itself k times out of m3 inputs ( step 1311 ). referring back to fig1 , the controller 18 comprises a rejected chip offset buffer 9 , a rejected chip offset counter 11 , a rejected primary scrambling code vector buffer 13 , a rejected primary scrambling code counter 3 , a decision logic circuit 2 and a window exclusion logic circuit 6 . the controller 18 is used to make better decisions during the entire cell search algorithm in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention . the flow diagram of the decision logic used by the controller 18 to determine the primary scrambling code for synchronization with the transmitting base station is illustrated in fig1 . the controller 18 receives the chip offset , the step 1 firm signal and the step 1 counter signal from the step 1 module 12 ( step 1401 ). if the step 1 firm signal is high , the controller 18 forwards the firm chip offset to the step 2 module 14 ( step 1402 a ), otherwise a tentative chip offset is forwarded ( step 1402 b ). the step 2 module 14 generates the code group number , slot offset value , step 2 firm , and step 2 counter ( step 1403 ). if the step 2 firm signal is high , the controller forwards the firm code group to the step 3 module ( step 1404 a ). otherwise , the controller 18 forwards a tentative code group to the step 3 module 16 ( step 1404 b ) and if the step 2 counter is less than m2 , the step 2 module 14 continues to generate the code group number ( step 1403 ). if the step 2 counter is equal to m2 , then the step 2 module 14 is reset ( step 1407 ), which results in the step 2 module generating a code number and slot offset ( step 1403 ). the step 3 module 16 then generates a scrambling code number and step 3 firm signal ( step 1405 ) generated in step 1403 , receiving the slot offset and code group number . if the step 3 firm signal is high , then the decision logic circuit 2 determines that the scrambling code number is firm and ends the decision logic process . if the step 3 firm signal is low and the step 1 firm signal is high or the step 2 counter is less than m2 , the step 2 module continues to generate a code group number ( step 1403 ). otherwise , the step 2 module receives a reset signal from controller 18 and resets the step 2 counter to 0 ( step 1407 ). this procedure continues until the decision output by the step 3 module 16 is firm . due to a possible initial frequency error in the vco , excess loss of signal correlation may occur . therefore , the vco is frequency stepped in order to control the maximum possible frequency error between the ue and the cell . upon initialization of the ue , the controller 18 initializes the cell search frequency using the frequency synthesizer 20 . referring to fig1 , the frequency synthesizer 20 comprises an adaptive frequency circuit ( afc ) 4 and a voltage controlled oscillator ( vco ) 7 or numerically controlled oscillator ( nco ). the afc 4 , coupled to the controller 18 and the vco 7 , comprises a frequency allocation table ( fat ) and a frequency step table ( fst ). when the controller 18 is initialized , the afc 4 sets the frequency using the first frequency in the fat and the offset value from the fst . this initial frequency is the frequency used by the controller 18 to conduct the cell search . the fst is a table of step frequencies , or offset frequencies , for example { 0 , 2 , − 2 , 4 , − 4 , 6 , − 6 . . . n , − n } which are used to offset the frequency in use by the controller 18 . the fat includes a plurality of predetermined frequencies for which the controller 18 , or a level 1 controller ( not shown ) utilize to locate and synchronize the ue to the base station . for purposes of this disclosure , the plurality of frequencies listed are defined as f 0 , f 1 , f 2 . . . f n in the fat and the offset frequencies in the fst are defined as sf 0 , sf 1 , − sf 1 , sf 2 − sf 2 . . . sf n , − sf n . accordingly , when the controller is initialized , the offset frequency is sfo and the frequency & gt ; f 0 . the afc 4 combines the two values f 0 + sf 0 , and forwards the resulting frequency value to the vco or nco 7 , which maintains the ue frequency at this forwarded frequency . the controller 18 performs the decision logic disclosed above . if after x number of frames the output step 3 firm does not go high , the controller signals the afc 4 to step 2 the next offset in the fst , for example , sf 1 . the afc 4 then combines the new offset frequency with the frequency of the fat , f 0 + sf 1 , and outputs the resulting frequency to the vco or nco 7 to maintain the ue at this frequency . the controller 18 continues to step through the offset frequencies in the fst until a high signal is detected from the step 3 module 16 , indicating a firm detection or until all offset frequencies have been tried by the controller 18 . once all of the offset frequencies have been tried , the afc 4 resets the fst offset frequency to sf 0 , steps to the next frequency in the fat , f 1 and combines the two values , f 1 + sf 0 , for output to the vco or nco 7 . the vco or nco 7 then regulates the ue frequency to this new resulting frequency and the controller 18 then performs the decision logic until a high signal is detected from the step 3 module 16 . this process of stepping through the fst and then stepping to the next fat frequency is continued until a high signal is output by the step 3 module 16 . once this event occurs the detection of a scrambling code , the afc 4 locks the fst offset value at its current position , not to be readjusted until the controller 18 is initialized . as those skilled in the art know , most service providers in a communication system have a different public land mobile network ( plmn ). the ue utilizes the detected plmn to determine whether or not the service provider provides service in the ue &# 39 ; s location . the controller 18 utilizes a window exclusion logic within the window exclusion logic circuit 6 for overcoming a rejection due to the wrong plmn . since detecting the hgc 21 , 22 output at peak value always gives the same plmn , the controller 18 utilizes the window exclusion logic to overcome this deadlock . the window exclusion logic circuit is coupled to the decision logic circuit 2 , rejected chip offset vector buffer 9 , a rejected chip offset counter 11 , a rejected primary scrambling code vector buffer 13 , and a rejected primary scrambling code counter 3 . the window exclusion logic circuit 6 checks the primary scrambling code output from the step 3 module against the rejected primary scrambling codes stored in the rejected primary scrambling code vector buffer 13 . if the primary scrambling code output from the step 3 module is found in the buffer 13 , or the wrong plmn is detected , the window exclusion logic circuit 6 rejects the code and initializes the decision logic circuit again . each time a primary scrambling code is rejected , the chip offset that was generated by the step 1 module is stored in the rejected chip offset vector buffer 9 and used by the mask generator 5 . the mask generator 5 of the decision circuit 25 within the step 1 module 12 uses the values stored in the rejected chip offset vector buffer 9 and rejected chip offset counter 11 from the controller 18 to determine which chips in each slot to exclude in the window . the exclusion of the detected primary scrambling codes and chip offsets are made only within a single frequency band . the buffers and counters are reset when there is an acknowledgment by the base station or new frequency band is used by the level 1 controller . in order to adjust the frequency band used by the controller 18 during the window exclusion logic process , the layer 1 controller signals the afc 4 to step to the next frequency in the fat . since the offset frequency of the fst is set , the afc combines the new frequency with the set offset frequency . the vco or nco 7 is then adjusted to maintain this combined frequency . a flow diagram of the window exclusion logic utilized by the controller is illustrated in fig1 . the controller 18 runs the cell search decision logic and finds a primary scrambling code ( step 1501 ). the primary scrambling code is passed to the upper layers ( step 1502 ) which store the frequency and the primary scrambling code index ( step 1503 ). if the plmn is correct for the particular service provider , the ue is synchronized to the base station , and the process is terminated ( step 1504 ). if the plmn is incorrect and there is a frequency remaining in the fat of the agc 4 , the agc 4 steps to the next frequency in the fat and the controller 18 changes the frequency , stores the primary scrambling code in the vector buffer 13 , and resets the cell search algorithm ( step 1505 ). it should be noted that the failure condition monitors either the counter buffers 3 , 11 , or a timer to determine whether a failed condition occurs . a failed condition indicates that synchronization will not occur under the current conditions ( e . g . frequency ). if there is no frequency left within the fat , the controller 18 begins to the sweep the frequencies with the stored primary scrambling code ( step 1506 ). the controller 18 then sets the first frequency and passes the rejected primary scrambling code to the initial cell search with window exclusion method ( step 1507 ). the controller 18 resets the initial cell search with window exclusion method and also resets the failure condition ( step 1508 ). the rejected primary scrambling code is pushed into the rejected primary scrambling code vector buffer 13 and the rejected primary scrambling code counter is incremented ( step 1509 ). the cell search decision logic is run and a primary scrambling code and chip offset are found ( step 1510 ). if the primary scrambling code is stored in the rejected primary scrambling code vector buffer 13 , then the chip offset is pushed into the rejected chip offset vector buffer 9 and the rejected chip offset counter 11 is incremented ( step 1511 ). the cell search decision logic is again run excluding a window around the rejected chip offset ( step 1512 ). if the primary scrambling code generated by this cell search decision logic is again stored in the rejected primary scrambling code vector buffer , then the detected chip offset is pushed onto the rejected chip offset vector buffer and the rejected chip offset counter is incremented ( step 1511 ) and the cell search decision logic excluding a window of value rejected chip offset is run again ( step 1512 ). steps 1511 and 1512 continue until the detected primary code is not in the list at which point the primary scrambling code is forwarded to the upper layers to await an acknowledgment by the base station ( step 1513 ). if there is a failure condition and there is no frequency left , the controller 18 indicates that no service is available ( step 1517 ) and the process is terminated . if there was a failure and there was a frequency remaining in the bandwidth , the controller 18 sets a new frequency and passes the rejected primary scrambling code for that frequency ( step 1516 ). the controller 18 then resets the initial cell search with window excluding method and the failure condition monitor ( step 1508 ). the controller 18 then continues the initial cell search with window exclusion method as disclosed above . if there is no failed condition and the plmn is correct , the controller 18 indicates that the ue is synchronized to the base station upon receipt of the acknowledgment ( step 1518 ), and the process is terminated . if the plmn is incorrect , the rejected primary scrambling code is pushed into the rejected primary scrambling code vector buffer 13 and the rejected primary scrambling code counter 3 is incremented ( step 1515 ). the cell search decision logic is run again excluding a window around the previously rejected chip offset value ( step 1512 ). this procedure continues until the controller indicates that no service is available or an acknowledgment from a base station is received .
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the fuel supply circuit shown diagrammatically in the drawing substantially comprises a fuel tank 10 to which is connected the inlet of a low - pressure pump 12 of which the outlet supplies a high - pressure gear pump 14 by the intermediary of heat exchangers 16 and filters 17 , the heat exchangers serving in particular for the cooling of the lubrication liquid of the turbine engine and for an idg ( integrated drive generator ) system . the outlet of the high - pressure pump 14 supplies a flow regulating valve 18 ( fmv or fuel metering valve ) which makes it possible to dose the quantity of fuel sent to the injectors 20 of the turbine engine according to the operating conditions . the difference in pressure between the inlet and the outlet of the pump 14 is also used to control a set 22 of auxiliary equipment with variable geometry , comprising in particular actuators of guiding vanes with variable setting . the excess fuel pumped is returned upstream of the high - pressure pump 14 by the intermediary of a by - pass valve 19 . a pressurising and shut - off valve 24 is mounted between the outlet of the flow regulating valve 18 and a supply duct 26 of the injectors 20 , with this valve 24 being sensitive to the pressure of the fuel at the outlet of the valve 18 and prohibiting the supply of the fuel of the injectors 20 as long as this pressure does not reach a certain value , i . e . as long as the pressurising of the fuel is less than a determined threshold , this pressurising corresponding to the difference in pressure between the outlet and the inlet of the pump 14 and being for example 19 bars . the pressurising and shut - off valve 24 is provided with a detector of opening 28 and with two electro - hydraulic control members 29 and 31 , of the servovalve or solenoid type , of which one is excited by the means for processing 32 and the other by an overspeed system 33 . these control members 29 and 31 are effective only if the pressure is sufficient . a temperature sensor 30 is mounted on the line 26 supplying the injectors 20 . the signals provided by the detectors 28 and 30 are applied to means for processing 32 , which also receive the outlet signal of a detector 34 measuring the rotational speed of the turbine engine . in the means for processing 32 , the signal of opening of the pressurising and shut - off valve 24 , which is supplied by the detector 28 , controls the recording of the value of the rotational speed supplied by the detector 34 , and of the value of the temperature of the fuel , supplied by the detector 30 . the recorded values of the rotational speed are compared to a predetermined threshold value , beyond which it would be difficult to restart the turbine engine in flight and which corresponds to maximum admissible wear and tear of the high - pressure pump 14 . when this threshold value is reached by the rotational speed , a signal 36 is generated by the means for processing 32 in order to report the necessity of replacing the high - pressure pump 14 . measuring the temperature of the fuel in the line 26 makes it possible to take into account the variations in the density of the fuel which result from the temperature variations and which have an influence on the flow of the high - pressure pump 14 . the variations detected in the temperature of the fuel make it possible to correct the measured values of the rotational speed and therefore to return in the case of a fuel supply to a substantially constant temperature . the opening of the pressurising and shut - off valve occurs during each starting phase of the turbine engine . monitoring of the high - pressure pump 14 can therefore be carried out at each starting of the turbine engine and makes it possible to regularly follow the wear and tear of the high - pressure pump 14 , in order to propose its replacement when this becomes necessary . the invention further makes it possible to render reliable the overspeed test of the turbine engine by associating this test in an original and automatic manner to the starting and monitoring phase of the high - pressure pump . an example of test logic is described hereinafter , with many alternatives able to be derived . when the engine is started , to a few speed percents , an electric order is generated by the means for processing 32 on the electro - hydraulic control 29 of the pressurising and shut - off valve 24 . the hydraulic circuit does not open because the speed is below the opening threshold of the pressurising and shut - off valve 24 . the speed increases due to the fact of the action of the starter and when the opening threshold ( acquired by the detector 28 ) is reached , the means for processing 32 record the value of the rotational speed which makes it possible to issue a judgement on the condition of the high - pressure pump 14 . the means for processing 32 thus provide a signal to the overspeed system 33 which triggers its test , i . e . the control of the closing of the pressurising and shut - off valve 24 by the intermediary of the electro - hydraulic control 31 . the means for processing 32 check by the intermediary of the detector of opening 28 that the overspeed system 33 has been effective and issues an end of test order to the overspeed system 33 so that the latter controls the closing of its electro - hydraulic member 31 . simultaneously , the means 32 issue a closing order to the electro - hydraulic control 29 . the pressurising and shut - off valve 24 closes . the rotation of the engine driven by the starter continues and , at the optimal starting speed , the means for processing 32 issue an opening order to the pressurising and shut - off valve 24 by the intermediary of the electro - hydraulic control 29 and send a command to the ignition exciter box which will energise the sparking plug ( s ) of the engine .
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fig1 a shows a number of leds 10 , 20 arranged electrically in series forming a led string 1000 . the led string is equipped with a driver circuit 2000 . the driver circuit comprises a current source 30 which supplies a current 31 , electrical switches 11 , 21 and nodes 10 t , 10 b , 20 t and 20 b . the switches 11 , 21 are each arranged electrically parallel with a led 10 , 20 . the switch 11 connects between node 10 t and 10 b on either side of led 10 . likewise , the switch 21 connects between node 20 t and 20 b on either side of led 20 . when the switches 11 , 21 are open , the current 31 flows through the leds 10 , 20 , causing the leds to emit light , as shown in fig1 a . fig1 b shows the same arrangement , but with the top switch 11 closed . this gives a lower - resistive current path through the top switch 11 as through the top led 10 , causing the current to flow through the top switch 11 instead of the top led 10 , and thus causing the top led 10 to switch off . the current is thus bypassing the led 10 . in fig1 b , the lower switch 21 is still open , such that the lower led 20 is still on . by operating the switches 11 , 21 , the duty cycle at which the corresponding leds 10 , 20 are switched on is controlled . during this operation , the current source 30 is arranged to keep its output current 31 substantially constant at a fixed level . fig2 shows an alternative arrangement with a longer string of leds . the leds 101 , 102 , 103 are grouped in a led segment 100 , all leds being arranged in series . the bypass switch 11 is arranged electrically parallel to the whole led segment 100 , instead of to a single led , and connects between node 100 t and 100 b of led segment 100 . the led segment 100 is electrically in series with a second led segment 200 , of leds 201 , 202 , 203 in series , together forming the led string . the operation is similar as that of fig1 a and fig1 b . in the example shown , the led segment 100 consists of three leds 101 , 102 , 103 in series , but it can of course also have any other number of leds . it may , e . g ., also consist of a single led only . in describing fig3 to 10 , we will refer to a led segment of any number of leds as a led segment 10 or 20 , with nodes 10 t and 10 b or 20 t and 20 b respectively . fig3 a shows an embodiment of the schematic arrangement of fig2 . the switches 11 , 21 are implemented using mosfet transistors 12 , 22 . the bypass current through the top mosfet transistor 12 from node 10 t to node 10 b is referred to as current 50 , the bypass current through the lower mosfet transistor 22 from note 20 t to node 20 b is referred to as current 60 . the mosfet transistors are depicted as nmos transistors , but equally well be pmos transistors or any other type of switch . the switches 12 , 22 are controlled from a segment controller 36 , which drives the switches with control signals 70 , 71 . we will refer to these control signals with the same reference numbers 70 , 71 when we refer to their logical levels and when we refer to their electrical levels . the current source is implemented as a buck converter 2001 , which is built from a power switch 31 , shown as a mosfet transistor 31 , an inductive element 32 , a diode 34 , a resistor 33 and a buck controller 35 . the buck controller 35 drives the gate of the power transistor 31 , such that the inductor is charging and discharging at a high frequency . in an example , the arrangement has a total of 36 leds in series in the led string , arranged in two segments of 18 leds each ; the converter frequency is approximately 100 khz with a dc - input voltage vin of 150 v , and a value of the inductor of 5 mh . in the example , the gates of the bypass switches 12 , 22 are operated at a frequency of approximately 200 hz . it is to be noted that the segment controller 36 nor the switch mode controller 35 may not be shown in subsequent figures , but they are meant to be present for controlling the switches in the segment driver units and the power switches in the power supply respectively . fig3 b shows the electrical waveforms at various positions in the led arrangement of fig2 . the upper curve shows a coil current 40 . the middle curve shows the current 50 through the upper led segment 10 . the lower curve shows the current 60 through the lower led segment 20 . the periodic modulation of the currents 40 , 50 , 60 is due to the operation principle of the switch mode driver , which charges and discharges the inductor 32 while periodically opening and closing the power transistor 31 . the led current waveforms 50 , 60 show a very deep modulation depth , varying periodically between , in this example , 0 ma and approximately 100 ma , at an average current of about 50 ma , i . e ., with peak values that are twice the nominal value . this exemplary large modulation may be used to give power - efficiency and emi advantages because of zero - current and zero - voltage switching during switch - on of the power transistor 31 . fig3 c shows a similar arrangement , but with a switch 34 ″ instead of the diode 34 of fig3 b . by opening and closing the switch depending on the phase of the operation of the switch mode driver , the switch performs a similar function as the diode : it allows the coil current to discharge . fig4 a shows an embodiment of the circuit of fig2 , with an added filter capacitor 80 over the output of the buck converter . the filter capacitor 80 reduces the current modulation to a smaller modulation depth , also called ripple . in this example , the capacitor 80 has a capacitor value of 15 nf . fig4 b shows the electrical waveforms for this example at various positions in the led arrangement of fig2 . the upper curve shows a logical signal 71 controlling the gate of bypass transistor switch 22 . when the logical signal 71 is high , the switch 22 is closed , such that the current flows through the switch 22 and the lower led segment 22 is switched off . when the logical signal 71 is low , the switch 22 is open such that the current flows through the lower led segment 22 and the lower led segment 22 is switched on . the middle curve shows a current 51 through the upper led segment 10 . the lower curve shows a current 61 through the lower led segment 20 , which is being switched by the bypass transistor 22 . it is observed that in the example the currents 51 , 61 have a much smaller current modulation than the unfiltered currents 50 , 60 of fig3 b , with a current ripple 51 , 61 of only about 10 % at a nominal led current of about 50 ma , due to the filter capacitor 80 . the maximum led current is thus reduced with approximately 50 %, resulting in a better lifetime of the leds compared to the unfiltered situation of fig3 a and fig3 b . however , around the switching moments , an unacceptable overshoot of about 300 ma and an undershoot of 0 ma is also observed in the led current 51 through the upper led 10 , i . e ., the led that is not switched but continues to stay on . these high transients can damage the leds . fig5 a shows an led arrangement according to the present invention , with two led segments 10 , 20 . each led segment 10 , 20 is driven from a led segment driver 110 , 210 which consists of not just a switch 12 , 22 , but also a capacitor 13 , 23 for each individual segment . the capacitors 13 , 23 are connected electrically in parallel to the corresponding led segment 10 , 20 , as are the switches 12 , 22 . i . e ., the switch 12 and the capacitor 13 each connect between node 10 t and 10 b on either side of led segment 10 , and the switch 22 and the capacitor 23 each connect between node 20 t and 20 b on either side of led segment 20 . we also refer to the capacitors 13 , 23 as segment capacitors . the segment capacitors 13 , 23 are dimensioned such that the buck output filter capacitor 80 is obsolete , and have a value of 30 nf each in this example , such that the same total capacitance is obtained from the series arrangement of capacitors 13 and 23 as the capacitance of capacitor 80 , resulting in the same current ripple . fig5 b shows the electrical waveforms for this circuit . the upper curve shows a logical signal 72 controlling the gate of bypass transistor switch 22 . the middle curve shows a current 52 through the upper led segment 10 . the lower curve shows a current 62 through the lower led segment 20 , which is being switched by the bypass transistor 22 . comparing currents 52 , 62 of fig5 b to currents 51 , 61 of fig4 b , it is clearly observed that the current over - and undershoots are removed with the segmented capacitor . also the ripple of the current is reduced . it is also observed in the lower curve showing current 62 that the switch - on of the dimmed segment takes longer compared to the current 61 in fig4 b . this is because its segment capacitor 23 needs to charge from basically zero volt . this switch - on delay may be acceptable , as it is small compared to the drive period : in the example , the delay is about 40 μs vs . a drive period of 5 ms . when it is acceptable , the effect on the light output of the led segment 20 can be ignored . in an alternative embodiment , the switch - on delay may be compensated for in the duty cycle of the signals 72 driving the bypass switches 12 , 22 . the dead time may be calibrated for the led arrangement , or monitored and automatically compensated for . active monitoring and correction has the advantage that temperature and ageing effects are automatically taken into account , at the cost of some additional circuitry to measure the switching time and comparing the measured time with the required duty cycle . a further embodiment with a hardware solution will be described further below . we now turn to alternative embodiments with a buck - boost converter employed in the driver arrangement . compared to the previously described buck converter , the ratio of peak led current to average led current can be even larger than 2 because of the discontinuous output current of a single - coil buck - boost converter , that typically a filter capacitor is required to meet reliability and lifetime requirements of the led . the buck - boost topology is very well suited for the bypass driving of leds , as it will also continue to work well when the output voltage at any moment in time becomes smaller than the input voltage , which is the case when all bypass switches are closed and all leds are switched off . an example of such a topology is disclosed and its operation is described in detail in us patent application us 2004 / 0145320 a1 . the description uses a single - coil buck - boost converter , but is equally applicable for other topologies such as , e . g ., a 4 - switch auto - up - down , a cuk , a sepic or a zeta converter , as well as isolated implementations like flyback , forward or resonant converters . fig6 a shows a led arrangement with a buck - boost converter according to the prior art . the buck - boost controller has a buck - boost controller 35 ′, controlling the gate of a power transistor 31 ′, an inductive element 32 ′, a diode 34 ′ and a resistor 33 ′. fig6 b shows a simulation of the electrical behaviour for an example with a converter frequency of again approximately 100 khz , vin = 24 v and a total of 22 leds is placed in series in the led string , arranged in two segments of 11 leds each . in the example , the inductive element 32 ′ with an inductor value of 500 μh . the coil current 43 shows a continuous triangular behavior . the led currents 53 , 54 however show a discontinuous saw - tooth behavior in which the leds carry a current during the secondary stroke of each supply conversion period when the inductive element 32 ′ is discharging over the diode 34 ′ and delivering a current to the led string . in this example , for an average led current of about 50 ma , the peak led current is about 200 ma . fig7 a shows a led arrangement with a buck - boost converter with an output filetr capacitor according to the prior art . the buck - boost controller has a buck - boost controller 35 ′, controlling the gate of a power transistor 31 ′, an inductive element 32 ′, a diode 34 ′ and a resistor 33 ′, as in fig6 a . a capacitor 80 ′ is placed over the converter in parallel to the led string . this capacitor filters the discontinuous current with the large amplitude shown in fig6 b to a current with a reduced ripple . in this example , the resulting ripple is about 10 %. in this example , the inductive element 32 ′ has an inductor value of 500 μh , the converter output filter capacitor 80 ′ has a capacitor value of 150 nf , the converter frequency is again approximately 100 khz , vin = 24 v and a total of 22 leds is placed in series in the led string , arranged in two segments of 11 leds each . fig7 b shows a simulation of the electrical behavior . the upper curve shows a logical signal 74 controlling the gate of bypass transistor switch 22 . the middle curve shows a current 54 through the right led segment 10 . the lower curve shows a current 64 through the left led segment 20 , which is being switched by the bypass transistor 22 . again , severe over - and undershooting led currents are observed of approximately 300 ma and 0 ma at a nominal led current of 50 ma in this example . the electrical components are dimensioned to get a current ripple of approximately 10 %, as in the buck - converter case . the discontinuous output of the buck - boost converter required an increased amount of filtering , resulting in a somewhat longer rise time of current 64 , compared to the rise time of current 61 of the buck converter of fig5 b . fig8 a shows a led arrangement with a buck - boost converter according to the invention . comparing fig8 a to fig7 a , the buck - boost converter output filter capacitor 80 ′ of fig7 a is omitted and a first capacitor 13 , 23 is applied for each of the led segments . the first capacitors 13 , 23 are connected electrically in parallel to the corresponding led segment 10 , 20 , as are the switches 12 , 22 . i . e ., the switch 12 and the capacitor 13 each connect between node 10 t and 10 b on either side of led segment 10 , and the switch 13 and the capacitor 23 each connect between node 20 t and 20 b on either side of led segment 20 . as an example , fig8 b shows a simulation of the currents through the leds for a value of each of the first capacitors , of 300 nf , the filter capacitor is functionally replaced by serially connected first capacitors of the segments . the upper curve shows a logical signal 75 controlling the gate of bypass transistor switch 22 . the middle curve shows a current 55 through the right led segment 10 . the lower curve shows a current 65 through the left led segment 20 , which is being switched by the bypass transistor 22 . a larger switch - on delay for current 65 is observed , compared to the switch - on delay for the current 62 of the buck converter of fig5 b , due to the increased amount of filtering for the same current ripple of about 10 %. this switch - on delay can be compensated for in the timing of the bypass switches , as described above in the discussion of fig5 . an alternative solution to prevent switch - on delay and to prevent the slow rise time is described next . fig9 a shows two led segment drivers 110 ″, 210 ″ for two led segments 10 , 20 according to a further embodiment of the invention . the segment driver comprises a bypass switch 12 , 22 and a segmented capacitor 13 , 23 , and is also equipped with a second switch 14 , 24 in series with the segmented capacitor 13 , 23 . the series arrangement of the capacitor 13 , 23 and corresponding second switch 14 , 24 is connected electrically in parallel to the corresponding led segment 10 , 20 , as is the bypass switches 12 , 22 . i . e ., the series arrangement of the second switch 14 and the capacitor 13 connects between node 10 t and 10 b on either side of led segment 10 , as does the bypass switch 12 . likewise , the series arrangement of the second switch 24 and the capacitor 23 connects between node 20 t and 20 b on either side of led segment 20 , as does the bypass switch 22 . the second switch and the segmented capacitor are operated to hold the voltage across the led for the next switch - on phase after the led is switched off . we thus also refer to the second switch and segmented capacitor as sample - and - hold switch and hold capacitor . fig9 b shows the electrical behavior of a logical signal 76 controlling the gate of bypass transistor switch 22 , a logical signal 86 controlling the gate of sample - and - hold transistor switch 23 , a current 56 through the upper led segment 10 and a current 66 through the lower led segment 20 , when the circuit of fig9 a is implemented with the buck - boost supply topology of fig8 a . the simulation is done without any compensation in the control signals of the bypass switches 12 , 22 . a fast and instantaneous switch - on of the current 66 is observed . to prevent short - circuiting of the segmented capacitor 13 , 23 and sample - and - hold switch 14 , 24 with the bypass switch 12 , 22 , a non - overlapping clocking scheme is used , in which in a first phase a 1 , the voltage across leds is sampled by opening ( i . e ., put in a non - conducting state ) the sample - and - hold switch 14 , 24 and hold the voltage on the capacitor 13 , 23 ; secondly , in a second phase p 1 bypass switch 12 , 22 is closed ( i . e ., put in conducting state ) to switch off the corresponding led segment 10 , 20 ; in a third phase p 2 , the bypass switch 12 , 22 is kept closed for a certain pwm period ; in a fourth phase p 3 , the bypass switch 12 , 22 is opened ( i . e ., put in a non - conducting state ) to switch on the corresponding led segment 10 , 20 ; and in a fifth phase a 2 , the filter and sample capacitor is connected again across corresponding led segment 10 , 20 by closing the sample - and - hold switch 14 , 24 . fig9 c shows an alternative embodiment , with a pmos transistor 14 ′, 24 ′ at the upper side of the segmented capacitor 13 , 23 . this alternative embodiment is operated in a similar to that shown in fig9 a , as a person skilled in the art will understand . during the small disconnect time of the segment capacitor the led current gets filtered only by the parasitic capacitors of the led itself . this disconnect time largely depends on the speed of the available devices in the ic process that is used to implement the drivers for the switches and consequently — it may be beneficial to add an additional ( second ) capacitor which is not sampled to the segment driver units of fig9 a or 9 c . this is depicted in fig1 with capacitors 15 , 25 . as an example , the capacitors 15 , 25 may each have a value of 1 nf , an order of magnitude smaller than the first capacitor . the capacitor 15 , 25 is connected electrically in parallel to the corresponding led segment 10 , 20 . i . e ., also capacitor 15 connects between node 10 t and 10 b on either side of led segment 10 , and also capacitor 25 connects between node 20 t and 20 b on either side of led segment 20 . in the description of the invention and its embodiments above , the physical arrangement of all components was not explicitly discussed . the arrangement may be built from discrete components on a single or on a plurality of carriers , e . g ., printed circuit boards . the invention and its embodiments can be advantageously applied when the arrangement can be built from modular components with one or more of its specific components integrated in an assembly for each individual led segment , or alternatively in an assembly for several led segments together . in some embodiments , the assemblies are constructed on small printed circuit boards ( pcbs ) as small led modules , each carrying all the leds for a single led segment and one or more of the specific components needed in an arrangement according to the invention . depending on the required size of the assembly for a specific application , the number of modules is then easily adapted . in some embodiments , the assembly is constructed on a submount , e . g ., a silicon or ceramic carrier , and the assembly thus forms an active led package . a led assembly according to one embodiment of the invention comprises a led 10 and a capacitor 13 . the capacitor 13 is arranged electrically in parallel to the led 10 . a plurality of these assemblies can be easily put together with external switches and an external power supply to create the led arrangement of e . g ., fig7 . alternatively , a plurality of these assemblies can be put together to form a ladder network of leds and capacitors . this ladder network may then be connected to a plurality of external switches and an external power supply to create the led arrangement of e . g ., fig7 . fig1 a shows such a led assembly , where the led 10 and the capacitor 13 are mounted on a carrier 19 . fig1 b shows an alternative led assembly where three leds 101 , 102 , 103 are mounted in a series arrangement as one led segment 100 , together with a capacitor 13 , on a carrier . fig1 c shows another alternative led assembly where a led 10 ( or a series arrangement 100 of leds 101 , 102 , 103 as in fig1 b ), a first capacitor 13 and a bypass switch 12 are mounted on a carrier 19 . the bypass switch 12 is connected electrically parallel to the led 10 or led segment 100 of several leds in series 101 , 102 , 103 . fig1 d shows again another alternative led assembly where a led 10 ( or a series arrangement 100 of leds 101 , 102 , 103 as in fig1 b ), a first capacitor 13 and a sample - and - hold switch 14 are mounted on a carrier 19 . the sample - and - hold switch 14 is connected electrically in series with the first capacitor 13 , and together these are arranged electrically parallel to the led 10 or led segment 100 of several leds in series 101 , 102 , 103 . fig1 e shows again another alternative led assembly where a led 10 , a first capacitor 13 , a sample - and - hold switch 14 and a bypass switch 12 are mounted on a carrier 19 . the sample - and - hold switch 14 is connected electrically in series with the first capacitor 13 , and together these are arranged electrically parallel to the led 10 and to the bypass switch 12 . fig1 f shows again another alternative led assembly where a led 10 ( or a series arrangement 100 of leds 101 , 102 , 103 as in fig1 b ), a first capacitor 13 , a sample - and - hold switch 14 and a second capacitor 15 are mounted on a carrier 19 . the sample - and - hold switch 14 is connected electrically in series with the first capacitor 13 , and together these are arranged electrically parallel to the led 10 and the second capacitor 15 . fig1 g shows again another alternative led assembly where a led 10 ( or a series arrangement 100 of leds 101 , 102 , 103 as in fig1 b ), a first capacitor 13 , a sample - and - hold switch 14 , a bypass switch 12 and a second capacitor 15 are mounted on a carrier 19 . the sample - and - hold switch 14 is connected electrically in series with the first capacitor 13 , and together these are arranged electrically parallel to the led 10 , to the bypass switch 12 , and to the second capacitor 15 . the switches 12 and 15 may be discrete switches , or integrated as part of an ic that also contains the driving electronics for the switch . fig1 h shows again another alternative led assembly where a led 10 ( or a series arrangement 100 of leds 101 , 102 , 103 as in fig1 b ) and the second capacitor 15 are mounted on a carrier 19 . the second capacitor 15 is arranged electrically parallel to the led 10 . fig1 i shows a led assembly , where one led 10 ( or a series arrangement 100 of leds 101 , 102 , 103 as in fig1 b ) and one capacitor 13 are carried by a silicon submount carrier 19 . more specifically , the capacitor is implemented in the silicon submount itself instead of mounted as a separate electrical component on its surface . a plurality of these assemblies can be easily put together with external switches , external capacitors and an external power supply to create the led assembly of , e . g ., fig7 . also , additional electrical components , such as the sample - and - hold switches or capacitors may be integrated in the submount . fig1 shows a light source 5000 with a led assembly 1 in a housing 5001 . the housing 5001 is a metal box with reflective inner walls . the light generated by the led assembly is reflected towards the front of the housing , which is covered with a diffusive transparent plate 5002 . the light source 5000 carries a power adapter 5010 , which supplies the led assembly 1 with an input voltage vin from an ac / dc converter , connected to the mains via a power cord 5011 with a power connecter 5012 , to fit a wall contact ( not shown ) with mains supply . fig1 shows a method according to the invention to operate a led arrangement according to the invention , e . g ., the led arrangement shown in fig5 a . the method comprises periodically executing a period comprising at least three subsequent phases p 1 , p 2 , p 3 . the first phase pl , comprises closing the first switching element 12 , 22 such that the current through the led segment 10 , 20 stops and the led segment 10 , 20 is switched off the subsequent second phase p 2 comprises keeping the first switching element 12 , 22 closed for a specific duration of time for each individual drive period . the subsequent third phase p 3 comprises opening the first switching element 12 , 22 such that the current flows through the led segment 10 , 20 and the led segment 10 , 20 is switched on . in an example , the period has a duration of 5 ms , corresponding to a frequency of 200 hz . a current of 100 ma runs through the led string and is routed by the first switching element 12 through the led segment 10 such that the led segment 10 emits light . at phase p 1 at the beginning of the period , the first switching element 12 closes and the current is routed through the first switching element 12 , bypassing the led segment 10 , such that the led segment 10 switches off the first switching element 12 remains closed during second phase p 2 , with a specific duration of time of , e . g ., 2 ms . after this specific duration , during the third phase p 3 of the method the first switching element 12 opens again and the led segment 10 is switched on for the remainder of the period and until the first phase p 1 of the next period starts . by varying the specific duration of time in each individual drive period , the time that the led segment 10 emits light is varied and the amount of light emitted ( averaged ) over the drive period is varied . when the specific duration has the same duration as the drive period , the led segment remains off . second phase p 2 may comprise applying a compensation to the specific time for each individual drive period , the compensation compensating for the switching delay of the corresponding segment driver unit 110 , 210 . as shown in , e . g ., fig5 b and fig8 b , a switching delay can occur when switching on a led segment 10 , 20 . in the examples shown in fig5 b and fig8 b , these delays are about 40 resp . 150 μs . this delay can be compensated for in the specific duration of time that the first switching element remains closed in p 3 . fig1 shows a further method according to the invention , to operate a led arrangement according to the invention , e . g ., the led arrangement with the segment driver units 110 ″, 210 ″ shown in fig9 a . in the led arrangement to which this method applies , each segment driver unit 110 ″, 210 ″ comprises also a second switching element 14 , 24 , arranged electrically in series with the first capacitor 13 , 23 . the method comprises periodically executing a period comprising the at least three subsequent phases p 1 , p 2 , p 3 , and a first auxiliary phase a 1 prior to the first phase and a second auxiliary phase a 2 after the third phase . the first auxiliary phase a 1 comprises opening the second switching element 14 , 24 such that the voltage over the corresponding led segment 10 , 20 is held by the first capacitor 13 , 23 . the subsequent first phase p 1 comprises closing the first switching element 14 , 24 such that the current through the led segment 10 , 20 stops and the led segment 10 , 20 is switched off . the subsequent second phase p 2 comprises keeping the first switching element 12 , 22 closed for a specific duration of time . the subsequent third phase p 3 comprises opening the first switching element 12 , 22 such that the current flows through the led segment 10 , 20 and the led segment 10 , 20 is switched on again . last , the second auxiliary phase a 2 comprises closing the second switching element 14 , 24 . it should be noted that the above - mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention , and that those skilled in the art will be able to design many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims . e . g ., other topologies can be used for the switched - mode power supply , the diode 34 , 34 ′ can be replaced by a switch 34 ″, p - type as well as n - type switches can be used , and other types of switches can be used , such as an igbt instead of a mosfet , without departing from the scope of the invention and the appended claims . in the claims , any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim .
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referring now to particularly to fig1 of the drawings , the present invention will be seen to relate to an aircraft ground transporter 10 providing for the lifting and transport of an aircraft equipped with landing skids ( e . g ., helicopter ). the landing skids of such aircraft are universally arranged parallel to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft , and spaced apart to each side by cross tubes connecting the two skids to the aircraft fuselage and to one another . while it is well known to equip such aircraft with wheels , it is by no means universal , particularly with lighter helicopters . the reduction in weight , and to a certain extent drag , permitted by removal of wheels , provides a significant performance advantage in such aircraft , and the penalty of less convenient ground movement is accepted by many operators of lighter helicopters in return for the performance improvement . accordingly , the present invention provides a convenient and easy to operate device for moving such skid equipped aircraft ( whether equipped with wheels or not ) about on the ground . even if such a landing skid equipped aircraft is also equipped with wheels , use of the present invention for movement may still be desirable , in order to move the aircraft laterally for placement in the corner of a hangar , etc . the present transporter 10 includes a generally h - shaped frame having a left longitudinal arm 12 , an opposite right longitudinal arm 14 spaced apart therefrom , and a lateral crossmember 16 permanently and immovably connecting the two arms 12 and 14 ; the crossmember 16 is more clearly shown in fig2 . this configuration provides a fixed , permanent relationship between the two arms 12 and 14 . each of the arms 12 and 14 has a forward end , respectively 18 and 20 , and an opposite rearward end , respectively 22 and 24 ( shown in fig2 ). the crossmember 16 is positioned closer to the rear of the transporter than to the front , but is located somewhat forward of the rearward ends 22 and 24 of the left and right arms 12 and 14 . thus , the majority of the length of the transporter 10 is adapted for the aircraft lifting means , while the portion behind the crossmember 16 is used for the various hydraulic and other components and controls used to provide motive and lifting power for the present transporter 10 . each of the arms 12 / 14 includes a lifting bar , respectively 26 and 28 , articulately attached and generally parallel thereto . each of the arms 26 / 28 has a forward end , respectively 30 / 32 , and an opposite rearward end , respectively 34 / 36 . the lifting bar forward ends 30 / 32 are secured to their respective left and right arms 12 / 14 at points near their forward ends 18 / 20 respectively by links 38 / 40 , while their opposite rearward ends 34 / 36 are secured to a torque tube 42 extending laterally across the frame and forward of the crossmember 16 , by another pair of links 44 / 46 ; this linkage arrangement is shown more clearly in fig2 . each of the links 38 , 40 , 44 , and 46 are the same length , and the distances between their pivotal attachment points at the forward and rearward ends of the lifting bars 26 / 28 and arm forward ends 18 / 20 and the torque tube 42 are equal , to form a parallelogram configuration . thus , when the bars 26 / 28 are articulated upward , they remain generally parallel to the arms 12 / 14 at any given height to which the bars 26 and 28 may be raised . the bars are particularly adapted for the lifting and support of a landing skid equipped aircraft , such as a helicopter or the like , either wheelless or having wheels on the skids . such aircraft are nearly universally provided with cross tubes between the skids , and the two lifting bars 26 / 28 are adapted to contact these cross tubes from below and to lift the aircraft by the cross tubes resting atop the bars 26 / 28 . accordingly , the bar ends 30 , 32 , 34 , and 36 include padding 48 ( e . g ., a relatively firm , 60 durometer neoprene sleeve or the like ) to protect the cross tubes . also , the bars 26 / 28 may have inward and downward offsets 50 / 52 , providing clearance for any aircraft structure ( cabin steps , etc . which may extend outwardly and downwardly from the fuselage . operation of the above described lifting bars 26 / 28 is accomplished by rotating the torque tube 42 , which in turn causes the two rear lifting bar links 44 / 46 to which the torque tube 42 is immovably attached , to rotate and raise the ends of the links 44 / 46 which are pivotally connected to the rear portions 34 / 36 of the lifting bars 26 / 28 . as the rear portions 34 / 36 of the lifting bars 26 / 28 are drawn upward , the front portions 30 / 32 of the lifting bars 26 / 28 follow , causing the pivotally attached forward links 38 / 40 to follow also . this operation is shown in fig2 . rotation of the torque tube 42 is by means of a single hydraulic strut or cylinder 54 , which is pivotally connected to the frame crossmember 16 by a bracket , and also to a lever arm 56 extending radially from the torque tube 42 . when the lift bar cylinder 54 is actuated , it draws the lever arm 56 rearward , causing the torque tube 42 to rotate and raise the lift bars 26 / 28 as described above . release of pressure allows the bars 26 / 28 to drop to their lowered position due to gravity ; otherwise , reversal of pressure in the double acting lifting cylinder 54 causes the bars 26 / 28 to lower . stops ( not shown ) may be provided to limit movement in either direction . hydraulic pressure for the above lifting operation ( as well as other operations of the transporter 10 ) is provided by a power source 58 ( e . g ., a relatively small internal combustion industrial engine ), which provides power to a hydraulic pump 60 ; these components are shown in the more detailed view of fig1 as opposed to the view of fig2 which has been simplified for clarity in the drawing figure . the pump 60 provides pressure to the cylinder 54 via a lift control valve 62 at the operators console 64 ; the schematic of fig4 discloses the system . motive power for the transporter 10 is also provided by hydraulic means . the above discussed power source 58 and hydraulic pump 60 provide hydraulic power to a hydraulic drive motor 66 , which is secured to the front of a conventional straight axle and differential assembly 68 . the drive motor 66 is controlled by a drive control valve 70 , which is actuated for either forward or reverse motion as desired to reverse the hydraulic flow through the hydraulic drive motor 66 . the drive axle and differential 68 uses conventional left and right wheel and tire assemblies 72 and 74 to transfer the power to the underlying surface and to support the rear of the transporter 10 . again , the various hydraulic components and their relationships are shown in the schematic of fig4 . a hydraulic fluid reservoir 76 may also be provided as an additional fluid supply , as desired . the front wheel and tire assemblies 78 / 80 provide steering for the transporter 10 . each of the arms 12 / 14 respectively includes a steerable left front wheel assembly 78 and right front wheel assembly 80 extending forwardly from the forward ends 18 / 20 thereof ; fig3 provides a detail view of the left hydraulic steering mechanism of the transporter 10 , with the right side being a mirror image . while fig3 discloses only a single wheel and tire , it will be understood that due to the need to keep the front wheel and tire diameters to a minimum in order to provide a relatively low height for the front structure of the transporter 10 so that it may fit easily beneath the low underside of the fuselage and skid cross tubes of an aircraft , preferably dual tires having a diameter considerably smaller than that of the rear drive wheels 72 and 74 are used at the front of the transporter 10 . however , other wheel and tire combinations may be used as desired . the forward end 18 of the left arm 12 includes a left steering cylinder 82 therein , which drives the rack portion 84 of a conventional rack and pinion assembly 86 ; the pinion gear is concentric with the vertical spindle 88 ( fig1 and 2 ). a right steering cylinder 90 is provided for the right side , and is shown schematically in fig4 . control of the two steering cylinders 82 and 90 is by means of a steering valve 92 , controlled by a conventional steering wheel 94 ( fig1 and 2 ) from the operators position . as an example of the operation of the above system , when a left turn is desired , the operator turns the steering wheel conventionally counterclockwise . the steering valve 92 supplies hydraulic pressure to the forward port 96 of the double acting cylinder 82 via a first hydraulic steering line 98 , causing the piston to move rearwardly in the cylinder 82 . this draws the rack portion 84 rearward , rotating the pinion counterclockwise , thus turning the wheel assembly 78 to the left . ( obviously , the inlet and outlet positions of the hydraulic lines , and the relative left / right positions of the rack and pinion , could be reversed and the same effect would be achieved .) due to the rearward movement of the piston in the cylinder 82 , hydraulic fluid is forced from the rear portion of the cylinder 82 , out the rear port 100 , and into the interconnecting hydraulic steering line 102 . this line 102 is connected to the rear port 104 of the opposite right side steering cylinder 90 , which causes the piston to advance in the cylinder 90 , causing the rack ( on the opposite side of the pinion from the left wheel assembly 78 ) to rotate counterclockwise to also turn the right wheel assembly 80 to the left , in concert with the left wheel assembly 78 . from this point , fluid forced from the front port 106 of the right cylinder 90 is returned to the reservoir 76 for recirculation as required , via a return line 108 . the above assumes a power steering system , with the hydraulic pressure boosted by the hydraulic pump 60 . however , it will be seen that non - powered steering may make use of such a hydraulic system , independently of the hydraulic pump 60 , if desired . the steering valve 92 need only be connected directly to the reservoir 76 to draw unpressurized fluid therefrom , if non - powered steering is acceptable . the above described transporter 10 enables a single operator to move an aircraft equipped with landing gear skids , quickly and easily . the transporter 10 is positioned with the two lifting bars 26 / 28 beneath the aircraft , and substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft and equally spaced to each side thereof . the operator then raises the lift bars 26 / 28 , using the lift control valve 62 , to contact the aircraft skid cross tubes and raise the aircraft skids clear of the underlying surface by a small amount ( i . e ., a couple of inches or so ). the high friction coefficient between the lift bars 26 / 28 and the aircraft skid cross tubes provided by the lift bar padding 48 , substantially reduces any likelihood of the aircraft slipping on the transporter 10 . however , by carrying the aircraft so the skids are just clear of the underlying surface , no damage will occur if the aircraft slips . the speed of the transporter 10 is also limited by the relatively small engine 58 and hydraulic drive motor 66 , providing further safety ; it is intended that the transporter be operated no faster than a brisk walking speed . when the aircraft is positioned as desired , the operator merely lowers the lift bars 26 / 28 to place the aircraft on the surface , and backs the transporter 10 clear . additional utility is provided in the present transporter 10 by the tow bar accessory 110 of fig5 a and 5b . the tow bar 110 provides towing ( pushing / pulling ) of a wheeled aircraft , using the transporter 10 . landing wheel equipped aircraft are virtually universally equipped with a left and a right non - steerable main landing gear strut , and a steerable nose wheel or tail wheel strut assembly . accordingly , various devices have been developed which attach to the steerable nose wheel or tail wheel of such aircraft , for the ground handling thereof . however , oftentimes the nose wheel assembly of such aircraft has a restricted degree of arcuate motion , limiting the turning radius of the aircraft ( and the corresponding turning radius of the attached towing device ). the present tow bar 110 is not so limited , as it lifts the entire nose wheel assembly ( or tail wheel assembly , for such aircraft ) clear of the surface during towing operations . thus , the only consideration required is the steering angle of the aircraft wheel assembly ; the assembly itself may be moved laterally across the surface , as it is not in contact therewith . thus , an aircraft may be maneuvered in a much more confined area with the present transporter and tow bar . the tow bar 110 comprises an elongate bar 112 or other suitable structure , with a rearward end 114 providing for attachment to the lifting bar forward end 30 , and an opposite forward end 116 having an aircraft wheel axle attachment clamp thereon . the rearward end 114 of the bar 112 is preferably sized to fit within the hollow tubular forward end 30 of the lift bar 26 , to provide for coaxial attachment . the tow bar 110 is removably attached to the lift bar 26 by means of a transverse bolt or pin 118 passed therethrough , the pin 118 may be withdrawn and the tow bar 110 removed when it is not needed . it will be noted that the bar 112 includes an intermediate downwardly offset portion 120 therein . this allows the clamp end 116 of the tow bar 110 to be sufficiently low to be inserted beneath the axle a of the aircraft wheel assembly w , as shown in fig5 b . the forward portion 116 may comprise a flat plate secured to the bottom of the bar 112 , if necessary to lower the clamp as much as possible , or may be an extension of the bar 112 . in any event , the upper surface of the tow bar forward end 116 includes two longitudinally spaced apart pivot points 122 and 124 , each of which has a semicylindrical clamp portion , respectively 126 and 128 , pivotally attached thereto . the spacing between the pivot points 122 / 124 is predetermined to cause the two clamp portions 126 / 128 to close when an object is placed downwardly therein ( or the clamps are raised upwardly beneath an object , e . g ., axle a ) to cause the lower edges 130 / 132 of the clamps to be pushed downward and the opposite upper clamp edges 134 / 135 to close together , as shown in fig5 b . normally , the two clamp portions 126 / 128 are resiliently held open respectively by tension springs 138 / 140 , until urged to a closed position as shown in fig5 b . the present transporter 10 may be used to move and maneuver a wheeled aircraft by temporarily installing the tow bar attachment 110 as described above . the operator of the transporter 10 then maneuvers the transporter 10 as required to position the two clamp portions 126 and 128 beneath the axle a of the steered wheel w ( nose wheel or tail wheel ) of the aircraft . the lift control valve 62 is then actuated to raise the lift bars 26 and 28 , and thus the tow bar attachment 110 and its two clamp portions 126 and 128 . the lower edges 130 / 132 of the clamp portions 126 / 128 are deflected downwardly by contact with the aircraft axle a , with the opposite upper edges 134 / 136 closing about the aircraft axle a , as shown in fig5 b . the lift bars 26 / 28 are raised slightly above this point , in order to raise the aircraft wheel w clear of the surface . the transporter 10 may then be driven to maneuver the aircraft as desired , with the lift bars 26 / 28 merely being lowered to cause the clamp portions 126 / 128 to release automatically due to the tension springs 138 / 140 urging the clamp portions 126 / 128 open when downward pressure is released in the clamp portions , when the aircraft is finally positioned as desired . preferably , tow bar attachment 110 is secured to the left side lifting bar 26 , so the operating controls ( steering wheel 94 , lift and movement valves 62 and 70 , etc .) and the forwardly facing operators seat 142 , which are offset to the left and preferably substantially aligned with the left side lifting bar 26 , are substantially aligned with the tow bar 110 coaxially installed in the forward end 30 of the left side lift bar 26 . however , it will be noted that the tow bar 110 may be installed in either the left or right lift bars 26 / 28 , as desired . this offset placement of the operators controls and seat provides the operator with more readily observable alignment of the tow bar 110 with the aircraft axle a to facilitate the attachment thereto , and also provides a clearer view for an operator transporting an entire aircraft substantially centered on the lift bars 26 / 28 . in such situation , the operator will have a reasonably good view along the side of the aircraft , rather than being seated directly behind the aircraft and having his / her direct forward view obscured . the laterally offset operators seat 142 and controls also provide clearance from the tail boom or other aircraft structure which may extend over the rear structure of the transporter during transport of the aircraft . further utility is provided by the lighting means 144 disposed to each side of the rear of transporter 10 , as shown in fig1 . it will be noted that the lights 144 are substantially aligned with the left and right arms 12 / 14 , thus providing the greatest lighting power to the sides of an aircraft being carried on the transporter 10 to project past the aircraft , and with the left light being substantially aligned with the line of sight of the operator in the leftwardly offset operators seat 142 for optimum efficiency . in summary , the above described aircraft transporter 10 provides excellent versatility and ease of movement of various types of aircraft about an aircraft parking ramp , hangar , or the like . a single operator may easily maneuver the present transporter 10 to position it with the lift bars beneath a landing skid equipped aircraft ( either wheelless or having supplementary wheels ), lift the aircraft clear of the underlying surface by means of a single control valve , and transport the aircraft as required . the present transporter 10 is particularly suitable for use with a wide variety of small to medium size helicopters ( e . g ., bell jet ranger , or other helicopters having similarly sized and configured landing skids ), but may be readily modified by widening or narrowing the spacing between the left and right arms 12 and 14 . additional versatility is provided by the tow bar attachment 110 , providing for the towing of wheeled aircraft as required . the automatic connection of the tow bar to an aircraft wheel axle , provided by merely lifting the tow bar using the lift control lever , enables a single operator to position the transporter , connect the tow bar to the aircraft to raise the clamped wheel axle slightly clear of the underlying surface , and move and reposition the aircraft as required . it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the sole embodiment described above , but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims .
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off - road racing vehicles include those in a truck - race , buggy - race , lifted truck recreational , sand car - recreational , monster truck and military specialty vehicles . the function of the shock absorber 20 ( fig1 ) of the invention is to permit such off road racing vehicles to pass over extremely rough terrain at high speeds with improved control and stability . the shock absorber 20 includes a radial bypass damper housing 22 having a chamber in which moves a working piston and shaft 24 to effect compression and rebound strokes . a hose 26 connects the opposite end of the chamber with an oil gas reservoir 28 . turning to fig2 , the radial bypass damper housing 22 is made of aluminum alloy and formed without welds . the housing of the radial bypass damper housing 22 may be formed from extruded 6061 - t6 aluminum alloy that is manufactured in solid profile in fixed lengths . the profile of the radial bypass damper housing 22 incorporates cooling fins , which in turn offer substantially more surface area and material to disperse the heat during operation and direct airflow than smooth , un - finned surfaces . when the invention was tested in operation , temperature indicators showed that the operating temperatures that are experienced are lower than when steel dampers are used . also , higher vehicle speeds were attained than for other damper types installed on test vehicles on the same course . inspection of components that are susceptible to wear showed improvement in reduced wear and reduced failure in long - term service over conventional dampers tested . such performance gains signify the realization of serviceability and cost savings in operation during the life of the damper . the fixed lengths are cut to suit installation for an off - road vehicle . the different lengths for longitudinal auxiliary holes ( bypass passageways ) 30 are cut to the appropriate dimensions . the longitudinal auxiliary holes 30 are machined into the solid parts by a gun - drilling procedure . the main hole ( cylinder ) 32 is precision bored . fig3 and 4 show respectively the compression strokes of the working piston 24 within the main hole 32 of the radial bypass damper housing 22 . as best seen in fig5 - 10 , there are two longitudinal auxiliary holes ( bypass passageways ) 30 that allow the oil to bypass through the two longitudinal auxiliary holes depending upon the position of the working piston during the compression stroke with respect to the intersecting ports 34 . there is no bypass function performed by these two longitudinal auxiliary holes ( bypass passageways ) 30 during the rebound stroke . however , there are two other longitudinal auxiliary holes ( bypass passageways ) that provide bypass function during the rebound stroke depending upon the position of the working piston 24 during the rebound stroke with respect to the intersecting ports 34 . the longitudinal auxiliary holes 30 widen into a cavity 36 at an end and into which is to be inserted an ifmv . as the working piston 24 travels towards the open intersecting ports 34 , the oil flows in the opposite direction , deflecting the piston of the ifmv 38 . the oil then flows through the ifmv 38 at a preset position and to the backside of the working piston 24 . this is the bypass function of the radial bypass damper housing 22 during the compression stroke . the location of the open intersecting ports varies and is reliant on the total stroke length of the working piston 24 within the radial bypass damper housing 22 . when the working piston 24 covers the open intersecting bypass port 34 , the bypass function becomes disengaged entirely . this is also true as the working piston 24 travels beyond the bypass port 34 . this same dynamic function is observed during the rebound stroke of the working piston 24 with the incremental metering flow valve 38 located at the opposite end of the bypass port , thereby governing the flow in the opposite direction from what is viewed in fig4 . during the rebound stroke , the incremental metering flow valve 38 sees equal pressure on both sides of its piston and will remain closed , or inactive . when the working piston 24 is beyond the bypass ports in its compression stroke , the valving found in the working piston 24 and the acv 40 is governing flow / resistance in its entirety , thus no additional bypass is in use . the radial bypass damper housing 22 of the invention preferably has no welds and the longitudinal auxiliary holes 30 and main hole 32 are manufactured precisely straight and true to provide longer wear band service life , less frictional resistance and reduced heat build up as compared to having external bypass tubes welded onto the housing . such welding gives rise to unwanted distortions that create adverse wear characteristics on piston wear bands . after machining , the housing of the damper is preferably hard anodized to specification mil - a - 8625f class 1 , type iii for corrosion and wear resistance . the radial bypass damper housing 22 acts as a heat sink . it dissipates the heat built up from damping energy by transferring it outward through the surface area of the profile provided by the cooling fins 42 and external profile . analogous to a radiator , airflow over the damper housing improves the cooling performance and stabilizes the temperature at a lower level for the duration of a race with the off - road vehicle . the rate of cooling has been tested and found to reduce peak temperatures by as much as 100 degrees f ., which constitutes as much as a 33 % reduction in temperature . steel shock tubes under the same test conditions often reach peak temperatures of 325 degrees f . and above . fig1 and 12 illustrate the steps in the manufacturing procedure for the radial bypass damper housing 22 . an aluminum alloy extrusion process is used , the steps of which are conventional for extruding aluminum alloy housings , albeit unique as it applied to the damper housing of the invention . a tool - die is made with the parts cross - sectional profile machined in its center . the outer features of the damper housing are incorporated in to the tool - die . the die is placed in a conventional extrusion apparatus and semi - molten aluminum alloy is forced through the die at high pressure and cooled upon exit to maintain the shape with minimal distortion over a 12 ′ length . the steps of manufacture are : 1 . initially solid profile of aluminum alloy is extruded , such as in 12 foot lengths . 2 . the solid profile is cut to desired lengths , e . g ., four different lengths . 3 . the main hole ( cylinder ) is located , e . g ., 3 inch diameter . 4 . radial bypass bosses are milled to length . 5 . the longitudinal auxiliary hole centers are located . 6 . the longitudinal auxiliary holes are gun drilled . 7 . the main hole is precision bored and honed to specification . 8 . bypass counter bores and threading is made . 9 . main hole counter bores and threading is made . 10 . intersecting bypass ports are drilled . 11 . surface finish and cleanup are performed . 12 . hard anodized clear , mil - a - 86256 , class 1 - type iii is conducted . 13 . logo is milled onto housing . a drilling process ( fig1 ) is performed from the inside of the radial bypass damper housing 22 outward through intervening walls 44 ( fig7 - 10 ). fig1 indicates the minimum bore size ( mbs ), the maximum shank diameter ( msd ) and the maximum tool clearance ( mtc ). an appropriate drilling tool 52 ( fig1 ) is used to perform a drilling process for forming intersecting ports 34 between the main hole 32 and respective ones of the longitudinal auxiliary holes 30 . this drilling process is not from the outside inward through the exterior of the longitudinal auxiliary holes and thus eliminates the need for external plugs and potential seal failures that otherwise are present conventionally with steel tubes where the exterior of the longitudinal auxiliary holes are drilled into from the outside . counter bores are made at the ends of the auxiliary holes and main hole to accommodate the insertion of further components , such as ifmvs . turning to fig1 and 16 , compression and rebound strokes of the working piston 24 and their effect on flow through valving shims of the acv 40 ( fig1 ) are depicted . deflective disks ( or valving shims ) ( fig1 , 18 ) that form a valve stack are used to tune the amount of flow / resistance in both compression and rebound strokes of a mono - tube damper . the shims are found primarily on the active / working piston 24 within the damper housing 22 ( fig2 ), but may also be used in conjunction with a base valve / acv ( fig1 , 17 ). the greatest diameter shim found directly on the surface of the piston / base valve is called a cover disc and jointly acts as a check valve , governing oil flow in the opposite direction during the rebound or compression stroke of the damper . referring to fig1 and 18 , the acv 40 is a tuning tool that permits far less gas pressure to achieve the task of preventing oil cavitation ( foaming ). an acv 40 is more commonly associated with twin - tube shock design because it is fixed toward the base of the internal shock tube and generally is without a gas chamber . in mono - tube shock design , the location is much the same but with the option of moving it into a remote reservoir with the gas chamber and dividing piston . the acv 40 is stationary and located in the reservoir end cap between the floating piston , which separates a nitrogen gas chamber from the oil , and the working piston . its function is not affected by either of the aforementioned locations . the base valve 40 enhances the effects of a damper &# 39 ; s nitrogen chamber . the nitrogen gas chamber provides a reactive force on the hydraulic oil , and prevents cavitation of the oil . this is an inherent byproduct of flowing fluid past solid objects at high velocity , i . e . the working piston and valve shims . cavitation is the sudden formation and collapse of low - pressure bubbles in liquids by means of mechanical forces , such as those resulting from propeller rotation . the dividing piston will move relative to oil displacement caused by the piston rod plunging in or out of the damper , while maintaining force on the oil due to the nitrogen chambers ability to compress and expand . the side effect is that the gas pressure rises significantly as the chamber is reduced in size . this creates force on the piston rod effectively adding “ spring rate ”. in other words , the gas force wants to push the piston rod back out of the damper . this force is like a spring on a vehicle and can increase the resistance put upon the vehicles “ sprung weight ” and change the dynamics of the vehicles handling and feel . a sudden ramp - up of gas force when the piston rod displaces the oil can make a vehicle feel very harsh over rough terrain , effectively losing traction and “ detaching ” the driver from feedback through vehicle . the acv 40 is tuned to maintain pressure between the working piston and reservoir when the shock is in transition from compression to rebound strokes . it works with the nitrogen chamber to reduce the chance of cavitation during sudden changes of directional travel of the piston but with upwards of 175 % less psi . without the acv 40 , the gas pressure must be set to 200 - 250 psi static to help the piston respond quickly to the rebound stroke . however , the inherent lag in transient response , or hysteresis , can cause an air pocket to form at the head of the working piston . hysteresis is the lagging of a physical effect on a body behind its cause ( as behind changed forces and conditions ). when the working piston 24 goes into its rebound stroke , the dividing piston must respond by changing direction as well . in other words , the gas pressure expands when the force changes from compression to extension . this is the dynamic point of action that can induce cavitation at the working piston . without a quick response , an air pocket can form in the main damper cylinder , directly affecting the performance of the damper throughout the duration of a race or hard use . this air pocket is found in between the hose inlet and the working piston . with each stroke , the air pocket would continue to disperse to both sides of the working piston and bypass ports , causing what is called “ fade ”. the working piston 24 will lose its ability to generate the needed resistance to the dynamic motions of the vehicle and its suspension , allowing the tires to lose contact or allow the vehicle to bottom out it &# 39 ; s suspension travel . the acv 40 is fixed in place by an internal retaining ring and permits easy servicing and tuning . the remote reservoir housing contains the gas chamber , which is separated from the hydraulic oil with a floating dividing piston . the acv 40 reduces the required gas pressure by as much as 130 - 175 % as compared to conventional products . as in the working piston 24 of the shock absorber , the acv 40 uses valving shims to govern the flow of oil and maintain positive pressure at the working piston . charge pressures are reduced from as much as 250 psi to a minimum of 50 psi , effectively reducing the gas spring force on the piston rod and therefore reducing measurable spring rate . the rod force of a shock absorber not equipped with the acv 40 , charged to 200 psi , was measured at 338 . 32 lbf ( 1504 . 83 n ) when compressed . the rod force of the same shock absorber equipped with the acv 40 and charged to 60 psi was measured at 101 . 49 lbf ( 451 . 45 n ). no performance lag ( indicating cavitation ) was observed when tested on a dynamometer . turning to fig1 , an anti - cavitation valve body 58 has three compression ports 54 that are angled into a tuned valve stack , which is located on opposite side , as viewed . the anti - cavitation valve body 58 has six rebound ports 56 that allow the reverse flow through the acv 40 to occur , only having to actuate a single lightly rated deflective shim . this anti - cavitation valve body 58 acts as a directional valve with minimal resistance to the flow of oil on rebound . referring now also to fig1 , the acv 40 uses valving shims to govern the flow of oil and maintain positive pressure at the working piston . the valving shims include a plurality of stacked plates of different dimensions stacked in succession from a cover plate 59 and sharing a common axis with the cover plate 59 . a second cover plate is not depicted in fig1 . the heavy washer 60 is shimmed a particular distance away from the cover plate 59 and acts as a stop plate . a fastener 62 through the center of the valving shims keeps the valving shim assembly together . only the required amount of deflection to allow maximum flow is needed and limiting the cover shim at that point reduces cycle fatigue . opposite from that of the working piston , the greater number of ports in the acv 40 are utilized for the rebound stroke , and the lesser for compression . the acv 40 must permit the dividing piston to react as quickly as possible during its rebound travel and therefore rebound force must be relieved effectively . in contrast , the compression ports of the acv 40 are fewer and are restricted with a tuned valving stack , much like the working piston within the radial bypass damper . the intent being to prolong a built up force under compression stroke between the working piston and the acv 40 . conventionally bypass dampers that are position sensitive include variable flow metering check valve assemblies . the off - road industry has used several variations of bullet style check valve pistons with contoured valve seat that are adjusted by a threaded stop - pin that limits the distance the piston can travel . the amount of flow is governed at this piston and its mating / sealing surface . fig2 shows some exemplary components of the working piston 24 , such as a nut 64 , washer 66 , valving shims 68 , wear band 70 , o - ring 72 , piston 74 , washer 76 , piston rod 78 , bearing spacer 80 , bearing cup seal 82 , internal retaining ring 84 , spherical bearing 86 and rod end 88 . the valving shims 68 may include the cover plate 59 of fig1 - 19 , except arranged in a reverse orientation in that more flow is needed during the compression stroke for regulation but flow may be restricted during the rebound stroke . turning to fig2 , 23 - 26 , the present invention encompasses an ifmv 38 for whose piston travel is not limited until maximum flow through the valve occurs . that is , its piston does not limit the regulation of flow at all . instead , a flow regulating mechanism 90 is provided that includes a triangular port assembly located at one end of the bypass port to govern the flow bypass adjustments . the ifmv 38 is positioned within the cavity 36 ( fig2 ) at an end of each of the longitudinal auxiliary holes 30 . the triangular port assembly includes an opening 92 that is shaped like an isosceles triangle to allow for precise monitoring of the bypass . two opposed triangular ports are machined into the valve housing , position diametrically across from each other . the flow regulating mechanism includes a flow regulator 94 that is rectangular in shape to sweep past the triangular shaped ports to create a linear change in the rate of flow , i . e . increase or decrease as applicable depending upon the unobstructed dimension through the triangular ports . the actuation of the ifmv 38 is adjusted externally and has sure - indexing features 96 . the valve is a one - piece unit sealed with buna o - rings that prevent oil from escaping and prevent dirt and water from entering . a spring - loaded detent ball 98 is arranged to provide and audible click and feel as it is moved along each of the selectable settings . the valve cannot be rotated beyond a ninety - two degree range due to internal features and each selectable setting is marked on the valve housing . the valve has a hex head 100 that may be readily accessed with a wrench or socket to turn as desired . the regulator 92 moves in unison with the turning of the hex head 100 . likewise , either the spring - loaded detent ball 98 or the selectable settings 96 move in unison with the turning of the hex head 100 as well . thus , turning of the hex head 100 is accomplished with a single tool , even when the valve is not easily visible . preferably , the valves are color coded for both bump ( compression ) and rebound ( extension ). the check valve piston 102 has a contoured face that seats against a machined tapered surface and provides smooth , uninhibited flow of the hydraulic oil . all of the edges of the piston are rounded , thereby reducing cavitation as the oil flows past them . a linear coil spring 104 assists in returning the piston to its position against the sealing surface when flow changes direction . the pressure generated by the working piston governs how far the ifmv must travel to permit the flow of oil to bypass it without restriction . bleed ports 106 are provided in the piston head to allow oil to flow out of the cavity between the internal bore of the ifmv piston 108 and the guide pin 110 , preventing hydraulic lock . this in turn allows the piston to reciprocate quickly and without delay . also shown in fig2 and 26 are o - rings 112 , the valve housing 114 , and the socket head cap screw 118 used to secure the ifmv into a pair of receiving screw holes 116 at the end of the longitudinal auxiliary holes 30 ( fig5 ), and a ring 119 . each radial bypass damper has four ifmv assemblies , two for bump ( compression ) and two for rebound ( extension ). the position of the assembly is dependent on the travel length of the radial bypass damper . each setting of the ifmv 38 changes the force / velocity , either positively or negatively , in a linear fashion . fig2 shows a graph of the force / velocity change , which is indicative of the separation achieved with each setting on the rebound / bump stroke of the shock absorber . while the foregoing description and drawings represent the preferred embodiments of the present invention , it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention .
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non - limiting , exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . in the drawings , the same or corresponding reference symbols are given to the same or corresponding members or components . it is to be noted that the drawings are illustrative of the invention , and there is no intention to indicate scale or relative proportions among the members or components , or between thicknesses of various layers . therefore , the specific thickness or size should be determined by a person having ordinary skill in the art in view of the following non - limiting embodiments . fig1 is a cross - sectional elevation view of schematically illustrating an atomic layer deposition ( ald ) apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention , and fig2 is a cross - sectional plan view of schematically illustrating the ald apparatus . referring to fig1 , an ald apparatus 80 includes a process tube 1 that has a shape of a cylinder with a closed top and a bottom opening and is made of , for example , quartz glass . the process tube 1 is provided in its upper inside part with a top plate 2 made of , for example , quartz glass . in addition , a manifold 3 that has a cylindrical shape and is made of , for example , stainless steel is connected to the bottom opening of the process tube 1 via a sealing member 4 such as an o - ring . the manifold 3 allows predetermined gases to be introduced into the process tube 1 , while serving as a supporting member that supports a bottom end of the process tube 1 . namely , plural through holes ( not shown ) are formed on a side wall of the manifold 3 and plural gas pipes ( described later ) are connected to the corresponding through holes . the manifold 3 has a bottom opening , and a lid member 9 is coupled to the bottom end of the manifold 3 via a sealing member 12 such as an o - ring , in order to open or close the bottom opening of the manifold 3 . the lid member 9 has a center opening through which a rotational shaft passes in an airtight manner . a table 8 is placed on an upper end of a rotational shaft 10 ; a heat retention cylinder 7 , which is made of , for example , quartz glass is placed on the table 8 ; and a wafer boat 5 is placed on the heat retention cylinder 7 . as shown in fig2 , the wafer boat 5 has three pillars 6 . the three pillars 6 have plural grooves , so that plural wafers w are supported by the grooves . the rotational shaft 10 may be rotated by a rotation mechanism ( not shown ), so that the rotational shaft 10 and thus the wafer boat 5 are rotated around a vertical axis . a bottom end of the rotational shaft 10 is attached to an arm 13 that is elevatably supported by an elevation mechanism ( not shown ). by moving the arm 13 upward and downward , the wafer boat 5 is transferred into and out from the process tube 1 by the arm 13 . incidentally , a magnetic fluid seal 11 is provided between the rotational shaft 10 and the lid member 9 , so that the process tube 1 can be sealed in an airtight manner . in addition , the ald apparatus 80 is provided with a nitrogen - containing gas supplying mechanism 14 that supplies a nitrogen - containing gas to the process tube 1 , a silicon - containing gas supplying mechanism 15 that supplies a silicon - containing gas to the process tube 1 , and an inert gas supplying mechanism 16 that supplies an inert gas to the process tube 1 . the nitrogen - containing gas supplying mechanism 14 includes a nitrogen - containing gas supplying source 17 , a nitrogen - containing gas supplying pipe 17 l that guides the nitrogen - containing gas from the nitrogen - containing gas supplying source 17 , and a nitrogen - containing gas distribution nozzle 19 . the nitrogen - containing gas distribution nozzle 19 is connected to the nitrogen - containing gas supplying pipe 17 l , passes through the manifold 3 , and is bent upward within the process tube 1 . the nitrogen - containing gas distribution nozzle 19 is made of , for example , quartz glass . plural gas ejection holes 19 a are formed at predetermined intervals in a vertically extending part of the nitrogen - containing gas distribution nozzle 19 , so that the nitrogen - containing gas is uniformly ejected in a horizontal direction from each of the plural gas ejection holes 19 a . in addition , the nitrogen - containing gas supplying pipe 17 l is provided with an open / close valve 17 a and a flow rate controller 17 b that controls a flow rate of the nitrogen - containing gas . with these , the start / stop of supplying the nitrogen - containing gas and the flow rate of the nitrogen - containing gas are controlled . the silicon - containing gas supplying mechanism 15 includes a silicon - containing gas source 20 , a silicon - containing gas supplying pipe 20 l that guides the silicon - containing gas from the silicon - containing gas supplying source 20 , and a silicon - containing gas distribution nozzle 22 . the silicon - containing gas distribution nozzle 22 is connected to the silicon - containing gas supplying pipe 20 l , passes through the manifold 3 , and is bent upward within the process tube 1 to extend in a vertical direction . the silicon - containing gas distribution nozzle 22 is made of , for example , quartz glass . referring to fig2 , two silicon - containing gas distribution nozzles 22 are provided in this embodiment . plural gas ejection holes 22 a are formed at predetermined intervals in a vertically extending part of each of the silicon - containing gas distribution nozzles 22 , so that the silicon - containing gas is uniformly ejected in a horizontal direction from each of the plural gas ejection holes 22 a . incidentally , the number of the silicon - containing gas distribution nozzles 22 is not limited to two , but may be only one , or three or more . in addition , the silicon - containing gas supplying pipe 20 l is provided with an open / close valve 20 a , a flow rate controller 20 b , a buffer tank 180 , and an open / close valve 20 c . for example , when the open / close valve 20 a is opened while the open / close valve 20 c is closed and the silicon - containing gas is supplied from the silicon - containing gas supplying source 20 , the silicon - containing gas is temporarily retained in the buffer tank 180 . then , when the open / close valve 20 a is closed and the open / close valve 20 c is opened , a predetermined amount of the silicon - containing gas retained in the buffer tank can be supplied to the process tube 1 . the inert gas supplying mechanism 16 includes an inert gas source 41 , an inert gas supplying pipe 41 l that guides the inert gas from the inert gas supplying source 41 and is merged into the silicon - containing gas supplying pipe 20 l . because the inert gas supplying pipe 41 l is merged into the silicon - containing gas pipe 41 l , the inert gas is ejected from the silicon - containing gas distribution nozzle 22 into the process tube 1 . in addition , the inert gas supplying pipe 41 l is provided with an open / close valve 41 a and a flow rate controller 41 b that controls a flow rate of the inert gas . with these , the start / stop of supplying the inert gas and the flow rate of the inert gas are controlled . a plasma generation mechanism 30 is formed in a part of the circumferential wall of the process tube 1 . the plasma generation mechanism 30 includes an opening 31 that is made in the circumferential wall of the process tube 1 and has the shape of a vertically oblong rectangle , and a plasma partitioning wall 32 that is welded to cover the opening 31 from the outside . specifically , the plasma partitioning wall 32 has a box shape that has a vertical length sufficient to cover the opening 31 , and is made of , for example , quartz glass . because of the plasma partitioning wall 32 , it appears that a part of the circumferential wall of the process tube 1 is indented outward . an inner space of the plasma partitioning wall 32 communicates with an inner space of the process tube 1 . in addition , the opening 31 is long enough in a vertical direction to span from the lowest wafer w to the highest wafer w loaded in the wafer boat 5 . in addition , the plasma generation mechanism 30 includes a pair of plasma electrodes 33 , 33 and a high frequency power source 35 that supplies high frequency power to the plasma electrodes 33 , 33 via a feed line 34 . one of the plasma electrodes 33 , 33 extends in a vertical direction near one of outer side surfaces of the plasma partitioning wall 32 , and the other one of the plasma electrodes 33 , 33 extends in a vertical direction near the other one of the outer side surfaces of the plasma partitioning wall 32 , so that the plasma electrodes 33 , 33 oppose each other across the plasma portioning wall 32 . when electric power at a frequency of 13 . 56 mhz is applied from the high frequency power source 35 to the plasma electrodes 33 , 33 , plasma is generated within the plasma partitioning wall 32 . incidentally , the frequency of the electric power is not limited to 13 . 56 mhz , but may be 400 khz , for example . incidentally , as shown in fig1 , the nitrogen - containing gas distribution nozzle 19 is bent in an outward direction and then bent again upward near the inner surface of the plasma partitioning wall 32 , thereby to extend upward along the inner surface of the plasma partitioning wall 32 . therefore , the nitrogen - containing gas ejected from the nitrogen - containing gas distribution nozzle 19 flows through the inner space of the plasma partitioning wall 32 , and is electromagnetically excited by the electric power supplied to the plasma electrodes 33 , 33 , thereby generating the plasma . in other words , the nitrogen - containing gas is excited sufficiently to be transformed into plasma and flows toward the center of the process tube 1 . an insulating protection cover 36 is attached on the outer surface of the plasma partitioning wall 32 , so that the plasma partitioning wall 32 and the plasma electrodes 33 , 33 are covered by the insulating protection cover 36 . in addition , a cooling fluid conduit ( not shown ) is formed inside of the insulating protection cover 36 . when cooled nitrogen gas is supplied to the cooling fluid conduit , the plasma electrodes 33 , 33 can be cooled . the two silicon - containing gas distribution nozzles 22 stand one on one side of the opening 31 and the other on the other side of the opening 31 of the process tube 1 . the two silicon - containing gas distribution nozzles 22 eject the silicon - containing gas toward a center part of the process tube 1 from the plural ejection holes 22 a of the corresponding silicon - containing gas distribution nozzles 22 . incidentally , as the silicon - containing gas , dichlorosilane ( dcs ), hexachlorodisilane ( hcd ), monosilane ( sih 4 ), disilane ( si 2 h 6 ), hexamethyldisilazane ( hmds ), tetrachlorosilane ( tcs ), disilylamine ( dsa ), trisilylamine ( tsa ), bis ( tertiary - butylamino ) silane ( btbas , sih 2 ( nh ( c 4 h 9 )) 2 ), or the like may be used . in addition , as the nitrogen - containing gas , ammonia ( nh 3 ) gas , hydrazine ( n 2 h 2 ), or the like may be used . an evacuation opening 37 for evacuating the process tube 1 is provided on the other side of the opening 31 in the process tube 1 . the evacuation opening 37 has a vertically oblong rectangular shape in this embodiment , and is formed by removing a part of the circumferential wall of the process tube 1 . as shown in fig2 , an evacuation opening cover member 38 , which has a substantially u - shaped cross - section , is welded onto the outer circumferential surface of the process tube 1 in order to cover the evacuation opening 37 . the evacuation opening cover member 38 extends upward along the outer circumferential wall of the process tube 1 , and defines a gas outlet port 39 in an upper part of the process tube 1 . the gas outlet port 39 is connected to a vacuum pump vp via a main valve mv and a pressure controller pc , so that the process tube 1 is evacuated at a controlled pressure by the vacuum pump vp . the vacuum pump vp may include a mechanical booster pump and a turbo molecular pump . in addition , a heating unit 40 having a cylindrical shape is provided in order to surround the process tube 1 , so that the wafers w in the process tube 1 are heated , as shown in fig1 . incidentally , the heating unit 40 is omitted in fig2 . the ald apparatus 80 is provided with a controller 50 including a microprocessor ( or computer ) that controls operations of the ald apparatus 80 . for example , the controller 50 controls on / off operations of the open / close valves 17 a , 20 a to 20 c , and 41 a , thereby controlling starting / stopping the gases , and controls the flow rate controllers 17 b , 20 b , 41 b , thereby adjusting flow rates of the gases . in addition , the controller 50 controls the heating unit 40 , thereby heating the wafers w at a predetermined temperature . the controller 50 is connected to a user interface 51 composed of a keyboard ( not shown ) through which an operator can input process parameters or commands and a display ( not shown ) that may illustrate process situations . in addition , the controller 50 is connected to a memory part 52 that stores programs or recipes for the controller 50 to cause the ald apparatus to carry out various treatments with respect to the wafers w . the programs include a film deposition program by which a film deposition method ( described later ) is carried out by the ald apparatus 80 under control of the controller 50 . in addition , the programs are stored in a computer readable storage medium 52 a and downloaded to the memory part 52 . the computer readable storage medium 52 a may be a hard disk , a semiconductor memory , a compact disk - read only memory ( cd - rom ), a digital versatile disk ( dvd ), a flash memory or the like . in addition , the programs may be downloaded to the memory part 52 from another apparatus through , for example , a dedicated network . when needed , an arbitrary program is read out from the memory part 52 in response to instructions from the user interface 51 , and is executed by the controller 50 , so that a corresponding treatment is carried out under control of the controller 50 . when the film deposition program is carried out , the controller 50 serves as a controlling unit that controls the components and parts of the ald apparatus 80 , thereby carrying out the film deposition method . next , referring to fig3 and 4 in addition to fig1 and 2 , a film deposition method according to an embodiment of the present invention is explained , taking an example where the film deposition method is carried out in the ald apparatus 80 . in addition , the nh 3 gas is used as the nitrogen - containing gas and the dcs gas is used as the silicon - containing gas . first , the wafers w are loaded into the wafer boat 5 , and the wafer boat 5 is transferred into the process tube 1 by the arm 13 . the wafer boat 5 is rotated around a vertical axis . then , the main valve mv is opened while no gas is supplied to the process tube 1 ( or while the open / close valves 17 a , 20 c , and 41 a are closed ), and a pressure controlling valve of the pressure controller pc is fully opened , so that the process tube 1 is evacuated to the lowest reachable pressure by the vacuum pump vp ( step s 31 of fig3 ). after the process tube 1 is evacuated for a predetermined time period , the main valve mv is closed , and a nitrogen gas as the inert gas is supplied with its flow rate controlled by the flow rate controller 41 b to the process tube 1 through the inert gas supplying pipe 41 l , the silicon - containing gas supplying pipe 20 l , and the silicon - containing gas distribution nozzle 22 , at step s 32 ( fig3 ). with this , a pressure within the process tube 1 is increased to , for example , 3 , 4 , or 5 torr ( 400 , 533 , 667 pa , respectively ) depending on a flow rate of the nitrogen gas ( or an amount of the nitrogen gas ) supplied to the process tube 1 , as shown in fig4 . the pressure within the process tube 1 may be , for example , 0 . 05 torr ( 6 . 67 pa ) or more . when the nitrogen gas is supplied to the process tube 1 with the main valve mv is closed , the open / close valve 20 a is opened while the open / close valve 20 c is closed in the silicon - containing gas supplying pipe 20 l . in addition , the dcs gas is supplied with its flow rate controlled by the flow rate controller 20 b from the silicon - containing gas source 20 to the buffer tank 180 , and thus the buffer tank 180 is filled with the dcs gas . in this case , an amount of the dcs gas filling the buffer tank 180 ( or the number of dcs gas molecules ) may be determined so that upper surfaces of the wafers w supported by the wafer boat 5 are covered with the dcs gas molecules , and specifically , may be determined by carrying out a preliminary experiment . next , while keeping the main valve mv closed , the open / close valve 41 a of the inert gas supplying pipe 41 l is closed thereby stopping supplying the n 2 gas , and then , the dcs gas filling the buffer tank 180 is supplied to the process tube 1 by opening the open / close valve 20 c at step s 33 ( fig3 ). with this , an inner space of the process tube 1 is under environment of a mixed gas of the n 2 gas and the dcs gas , and the pressure within the process tube 1 is increased depending on the amount of the dcs gas in the buffer tank 180 ( see fig4 ). the dcs gas is adsorbed on the upper surfaces of the wafers w . after the dos gas is supplied to the process tube 1 , the open / close valve 20 c is closed and the main valve mv is opened , thereby evacuating the process tube 1 to the lowest reachable pressure at step s 34 ( fig3 ). with this , the dcs gas within the process tube 1 is evacuated and the pressure within the process tube 1 is decreased as shown in fig4 . next , the open / close valve 17 a is opened thereby supplying the nh 3 gas from the nitrogen - containing gas source 17 to the process tube 1 , and the high frequency electric power of 13 . 56 mhz is supplied from the high frequency power source 35 to the plasma electrodes 33 , 33 at step s 35 . with this , the pressure within the process tube 1 is maintained at a certain pressure depending on a flow rate of the nh 3 gas supplied to the process tube 1 , as shown in fig4 . in addition , plasma is generated from the nh 3 gas between the plasma electrodes 33 , 33 , and thus the nh 3 gas is excited thereby generating an active species such as ions and radicals . the active species flow toward the wafers w supported by the wafer boat 3 , and react with the dcs gas adsorbed on the upper surfaces of the wafers w , thereby producing silicon nitride on the upper surfaces of the wafers w . after a time period that allows the active species originating from the nh 3 gas to fully react with the dcs gas has passed , supplying the nh 3 gas is terminated , and the main valve mv of the process tube 1 is opened , thereby evacuating the process tube 1 to the lowest reachable pressure at step s 36 ( fig3 ). subsequently , the steps s 31 through s 36 described above are repeated when the expected number of repetitions is not reached ( step s 37 : no ). on the other hand , the deposition of the silicon nitride film is terminated when the expected number of repetitions is reached ( step s 37 : yes ). specifically , after the main valve mv has been opened once thereby evacuating the process tube 1 to the lowest reachable pressure , the main valve mv is closed and the n 2 gas is supplied into the process tube 1 until the pressure within the process tube 1 is increased to the atmospheric pressure . next , the wafer boat 5 is transferred out from the process tube 1 by the arm 13 , and the wafers w are taken out from the wafer boat 5 by a loader / unloader ( not shown ), and thus the film deposition process is completed . next , an experiment was carried out to deposit a silicon nitride film on a silicon wafer in accordance with the film deposition method and the results are explained with reference to fig5 and 6 . in this experiment , the silicon nitride films were deposited on the wafers while the pressure within the process tube 1 at step 32 ( fig3 ) where the n 2 gas was supplied to the process tube 1 ( or before the dcs gas was supplied to the process tube 1 ) was set to be 0 . 08 , 2 . 67 , 3 . 24 , and 3 . 91 torr ( 10 . 7 , 356 , 432 , and 521 pa , respectively ). the thicknesses and thickness distributions of the silicon nitride films across the wafers were measured . fig5 is a graph illustrating the results of the experiment , where a horizontal axis represents a position along a diameter of the wafer in the units of mm , and a vertical axis represents a film thickness in the units of nm . as shown , when the pressure within the process tube 1 is 0 . 08 torr ( 10 . 7 pa ) at step s 32 , the silicon nitride film has a concave thickness distribution . namely , the silicon nitride film is thinner in a center part thereof and thicker in a circumferential area . on the other hand , when the pressure within the process tube 1 at step s 32 is 2 . 67 , 3 . 24 , and 3 . 91 torr , the silicon nitride film has a convex thickness distribution . namely , the silicon nitride film is thicker in the center part and thinner in the circumferential area . namely , when the pressure within the process tube 1 is increased from 0 . 08 torr to 2 . 67 torr , the film thickness distribution is changed from a concave pattern to a convex pattern . therefore , it has been confirmed that the film thickness distribution can be controlled by adjusting the pressure within the process tube 1 before supplying the dcs gas into the process tube 1 . in addition , fig6 is a graph illustrating a film thickness uniformity of the silicon nitride film obtained in the experiment . as shown in fig6 , the film thickness uniformity becomes degraded as the pressure within the process tube 1 is increased from 2 . 67 torr to 3 . 24 torr and then to 3 . 91 torr . it may be thought that this result indicates that the film thickness becomes more convexly distributed as the pressure within the process tube 1 is increased from 2 . 67 torr . in addition , it may be thought from fig6 that the concave distribution is changed to the convex distribution at a pressure of about 0 . 5 torr ( 66 . 7 pa ) within the process tube 1 at step s 32 . in other words , when the pressure within the process tube 1 is in a range from 0 . 08 torr to 0 . 5 torr the silicon nitride film thickness is concavely distributed , and when the pressure within the process tube 1 exceeds 0 . 5 torr the silicon nitride film thickness is convexly distributed . an arrangement by which film thickness distribution can be controlled by the pressure within the process tube 1 before supplying the dcs gas into the process tube 1 may be understood in the following manner . first , when the pressure within the process tube 1 is relatively low , the dcs gas supplied into the process tube 1 can reach a point that is relatively far away from the gas ejection holes of the silicon - containing gas distribution nozzle 22 , as shown by arrows a in an upper section of section ( a ) of fig7 . this is because a mean free path of gas molecules becomes longer when the pressure within the process tube 1 is lower . in this case , if the dcs gas and the nh 3 gas are alternately supplied to the process tube 1 in the aforementioned manner without rotating the wafer boat 5 , the silicon nitride film becomes gradually thinner in a direction from a front edge near the gas ejection holes 22 a to a distal edge of the wafer w ( or along a gas flowing direction ), as shown in a middle section of section ( a ) of fig7 . in this situation , when the wafer boat 5 is rotated , the film thickness in a front edge area and the film thickness in a distal edge area can be offset , so that the film thicknesses in the front and the distal edge areas become substantially ( the film thickness in the front edge area + the film thickness in the distal edge area )/ 2 , which is still greater than the film thickness of the silicon nitride film in a center area of the wafer w . therefore , the silicon nitride film thickness becomes concavely distributed , as shown in a lower section of section ( a ) of fig7 . on the other hand , when the pressure within the process tube 1 before the dcs gas is supplied to the process tube 1 is relatively high with the n 2 gas , the dcs gas is impeded by the nitrogen gas molecules and thus can only reach substantially halfway along the diameter of the wafer w , as shown by arrows b in an upper section of section ( b ) of fig7 . in this case , if the dcs gas and the nh 3 gas are alternately supplied to the process tube 1 in the aforementioned manner without rotating the wafer boat 5 , the silicon nitride film becomes gradually thinner in the direction from the front edge to the center area of the wafer w ( or along the gas flowing direction ) and suddenly thinner in an area slightly beyond the center area of the wafer w , as shown in a middle section of section ( b ) of fig7 . in this situation , when the wafer boat 5 is rotated , the film thickness in the front edge area and the film thickness in the distal edge area can be offset , so that the film thicknesses in the front and the distal edge areas become substantially ( the film thickness in the front edge area + the film thickness in the distal edge area )/ 2 . here , the film thickness in the distal edge area is substantially zero ; the average thickness becomes less than the film thickness of the silicon nitride film in the center area of the wafer w . therefore , the silicon nitride film thickness becomes convexly distributed , as shown in a lower section of section ( b ) of fig7 . as explained above , according to the embodiment of the present invention , a thin film having a desired film thickness distribution can be obtained by the ald method . while the present invention has been described in reference to the foregoing embodiments , the present invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments , but may be modified or altered within the scope of the accompanying claims . for example , when the nh 3 gas is supplied to the process tube 1 at step s 35 , high frequency electric power is supplied to the plasma electrodes 33 , 33 , thereby activating the nh 3 gas to be plasma , in the above embodiment . however , the nh 3 gas may be supplied to the wafers w in the process tube 1 without utilizing the plasma in other embodiments . in this case , the nh 3 gas may be thermally decomposed by the heat of the wafers w thereby nitriding the dcs gas adsorbed on the upper surfaces of the wafers w . even in this case , the film thickness distribution of the silicon nitride film can be controlled by the pressure within the process tube 1 before supplying the dcs gas into the process tube 1 . after the main valve mv is closed , the nitrogen gas is supplied to the process tube 1 at step s 32 in the above embodiment . in other embodiments , the nitrogen gas may be supplied to the process tube 1 while the main valve mv is kept open . in this case , when the pressure within the process tube 1 becomes a predetermined value with the nitrogen gas , supplying the nitrogen gas may be terminated and the main valve mv may be closed , and then the dcs gas is supplied to the process tube 1 . namely , the main valve mv may be closed when the dcs gas is supplied to the process tube 1 . in addition , when the nitrogen gas is supplied to the process tube 1 while the main valve mv is kept open , the pressure within the process tube 1 may be controlled by the pressure controller pc . in addition , when the nitrogen gas is supplied to the process tube 1 at step s 32 , the buffer tank 180 may be used in the same manner as the buffer tank 180 is used for the silicon - containing gas . namely , the nitrogen gas is supplied to the buffer tank 180 in advance and the nitrogen gas may be supplied in a single burst to the process tube 1 from the buffer tank 180 at step s 32 . with this , the pressure within the process tube 1 rapidly becomes a predetermined value , thereby reducing a process time . in addition , the dcs gas filling the buffer tank 180 is supplied to the process tube 1 at step s 33 in the above embodiment . however , in other embodiments , the dcs gas may be supplied at a flow rate controlled by the flow rate controller 17 b from the nitrogen - containing gas source 17 to the process tube 1 without using the buffer tank 180 . moreover , the nitrogen gas is supplied to the process tube 1 at step s 32 in the above embodiment ; a noble gas such as helium ( he ) gas , argon ( ar ) gas or the like may be used instead of the nitrogen gas . furthermore , the present invention is applicable to a silicon oxide film deposition carried out by employing the silicon - containing gas and an oxygen - containing gas . as the oxygen - containing gas , ozone ( o3 ) gas may be used . in addition , oxygen gas plasma may be used . the pressure within the process tube 1 before supplying the silicon - containing gas is adjusted by supplying an inert gas to the process tube 1 in an embodiment of the present invention . the pressure may be determined taking into consideration a size of the process tube 1 , a kind of inert gas , source gases to be used , or the like . in addition , the pressure may be determined taking into consideration a film thickness distribution suitable for the subsequent process . a preliminary experiment or a computer simulation is preferably carried out in order to determine the pressure . in addition , the ald apparatus 80 may be provided with and a purge gas supplying nozzle that goes through the manifold 3 , and a purge gas supplying source that is connected to the purge gas supplying nozzle , in order to supply a purge gas to the process tube 1 . with such a configuration , the purge gas may be supplied to the process tube 1 after the wafer boat 5 is transferred into the process tube 1 , so that remaining air can be easily purged out from the process tube 1 with the purge gas . in addition , the dcs gas ( or the nh 3 gas ) supplied to the process tube 1 may be purged with the purge gas , before the nh 3 gas ( or the dcs gas ) is supplied to the process tube 1 . with this , the dcs gas and the nh 3 gas are efficiently impeded from being intermixed with each other within the process tube 1 , thereby assuredly realizing the ald of the silicon nitride film . incidentally , it is preferable that the inert gas is supplied to the process tube 1 at step s 32 ( fig3 ), namely before supplying the dcs gas , through the silicon - containing gas supplying pipe 20 l and the silicon - containing gas distribution nozzle 22 . this is because a flow pattern of the inert gas in the process tube 1 is substantially the same as a flow pattern of the silicon - containing gas that is supplied to the process tube 1 after the inert gas , and thus the silicon - containing gas can reach the upper surfaces of the wafers w in the wafer boat 5 without being disturbed . if the inert gas is supplied to the process tube 1 through the purge gas supplying nozzle described above , the inert gas may excessively perturb the flow pattern of the silicon - containing gas , so that the silicon - containing gas cannot be uniformly adsorbed on the upper surfaces of the wafers w . however , the silicon - containing gas may be supplied to the process tube 1 without being disturbed after the inert gas supplied through the purge gas supplying nozzle calms down and is distributed uniformly in the process tube 1 .
| 2 |
the nutrified food of the invention is based on the addition of amino acids in specific relative amounts which provide an increased net nitrogen utilization ( nnu ). using this parameter of evaluation , it is possible using the compositions and methods of the present invention to obtain a higher nnu . the higher nnu is believed to be obtained because of the extremely high absorption rates that are possible because of the particular compositions devised by the applicant . the nutrified food compositions of the invention comprise those having the following proportions of amino acids in grams per 10 grams of amino acid content which are provided from the amino acid content of the food base and exogenously added amino acids : ______________________________________ ( i ) isoleucine 0 . 730 - 2 . 470leucine 1 . 096 - 4 . 102lysine 0 . 756 - 3 . 538methionine 0 . 139 - 1 . 167phenylalanine 0 . 506 - 1 . 971threonine 0 . 582 - 1 . 930tryptophan 0 . 125 - 0 . 700valine 0 . 756 - 2 . 850 ( ii ) isoleucine 0 . 730 - 2 . 306leucine 1 . 096 - 3 . 829lysine 0 . 756 - 3 . 303methionine 0 . 139 - 1 . 089phenylalanine 0 . 506 - 1 . 840threonine 0 . 582 - 1 . 802tryptophan 0 . 125 - 0 . 654valine 0 . 756 - 2 . 660 ( iii ) isoleucine 0 . 852 - 2 . 306leucine 1 . 279 - 3 . 829lysine 0 . 882 - 3 . 303methionine 0 . 162 - 1 . 089phenylalanine 0 . 590 - 1 . 840threonine 0 . 679 - 1 . 802tryptophan 0 . 146 - 0 . 654valine 0 . 882 - 2 . 660 ( iv ) isoleucine 0 . 852 - 2 . 141leucine 1 . 279 - 3 . 555lysine 0 . 882 - 3 . 067methionine 0 . 162 - 1 . 011phenylalanine 0 . 590 - 1 . 708threonine 0 . 679 - 1 . 673tryptophan 0 . 146 - 0 . 607valine 0 . 882 - 2 . 470 ( v ) isoleucine 0 . 974 - 2 . 141leucine 1 . 462 - 3 . 555lysine 1 . 008 - 3 . 067methionine 0 . 186 - 1 . 011phenylalanine 0 . 674 - 1 . 708threonine 0 . 776 - 1 . 673tryptophan 0 . 166 - 0 . 607valine 1 . 008 - 2 . 470 ( vi ) isoleucine 0 . 974 - 1 . 976leucine 1 . 462 - 3 . 282lysine 1 . 008 - 2 . 831methionine 0 . 186 - 0 . 934phenylalanine 0 . 674 - 1 . 577threonine 0 . 776 - 1 . 544tryptophan 0 . 166 - 0 . 560valine 1 . 008 - 2 . 280 ( vii ) isoleucine 1 . 095 - 1 . 976leucine 1 . 644 - 3 . 282lysine 1 . 134 - 2 . 831methionine 0 . 209 - 0 . 934phenylalanine 0 . 759 - 1 . 577threonine 0 . 873 - 1 . 544tryptophan 0 . 187 - 0 . 560valine 1 . 134 - 2 . 280 ( viii ) isoleucine 1 . 095 - 1 . 812leucine 1 . 644 - 3 . 008lysine 1 . 134 - 2 . 595methionine 0 . 209 - 0 . 856phenylalanine 0 . 759 - 1 . 445threonine 0 . 873 - 1 . 416tryptophan 0 . 187 - 0 . 514valine 1 . 134 - 2 . 090 ( ix ) isoleucine 1 . 217 - 1 . 812leucine 1 . 827 - 3 . 008lysine 1 . 260 - 2 . 595methionine 0 . 232 - 0 . 856phenylalanine 0 . 843 - 1 . 445threonine 0 . 970 - 1 . 416tryptophan 0 . 208 - 0 . 514valine 1 . 260 - 2 . 090 ( x ) isoleucine 1 . 217 - 1 . 647leucine 1 . 827 - 2 . 735lysine 1 . 260 - 2 . 359methionine 0 . 232 - 0 . 778phenylalanine 0 . 843 - 1 . 314threonine 0 . 970 - 1 . 287tryptophan 0 . 208 - 0 . 467valine 1 . 260 - 1 . 900 ( xi ) isoleucine 1 . 217 - 1 . 530leucine 1 . 827 - 2 . 735lysine 1 . 260 - 2 . 078methionine 0 . 232 - 0 . 778phenylalanine 0 . 934 - 1 . 314threonine 0 . 970 - 1 . 287tryptophan 0 . 208 - 0 . 467valine 1 . 391 - 1 . 900 ( xii ) isoleucine 1 . 251 - 1 . 647leucine 1 . 846 - 2 . 130lysine 2 . 023 - 2 . 359methionine 0 . 490 - 0 . 778phenylalanine 0 . 843 - 1 . 144threonine 1 . 053 - 1 . 287tryptophan 0 . 238 - 0 . 401valine 1 . 260 - 1 . 426 ( xiii ) isoleucine 1 . 289 - 1 . 647leucine 1 . 917 - 2 . 130lysine 2 . 023 - 2 . 359methionine 0 . 490 - 0 . 778phenylalanine 0 . 843 - 1 . 144threonine 1 . 053 - 1 . 217tryptophan 0 . 238 - 0 . 319valine 1 . 342 - 1 . 426 ( xiv ) isoleucine 1 . 251 - 1 . 408leucine 1 . 846 - 2 . 054lysine 2 . 086 - 2 . 359methionine 0 . 621 - 0 . 778phenylalanine 0 . 969 - 1 . 144threonine 1 . 106 - 1 . 287tryptophan 0 . 293 - 0 . 401valine 1 . 260 - 1 . 422 ( xv ) isoleucine 1 . 372 - 1 . 530leucine 1 . 827 - 2 . 539lysine 1 . 550 - 2 . 078methionine 0 . 490 - 0 . 708phenylalanine 0 . 969 - 1 . 177threonine 0 . 970 - 1 . 157tryptophan 0 . 208 - 0 . 373valine 1 . 422 - 1 . 600 ( xvi ) isoleucine 1 . 217 - 1 . 530leucine 1 . 952 - 2 . 735lysine 1 . 260 - 1 . 999methionine 0 . 232 - 0 . 778phenylalanine 0 . 934 - 1 . 314threonine 1 . 043 - 1 . 287tryptophan 0 . 266 - 0 . 467valine 1 . 391 - 1 . 900 ( xvii ) isoleucine 1 . 372 - 1 . 445leucine 2 . 192 - 2 . 539lysine 1 . 550 - 1 . 770methionine 0 . 490 - 0 . 642phenylalanine 0 . 969 - 1 . 155threonine 0 . 970 - 1 . 052tryptophan 0 . 282 - 0 . 319valine 1 . 486 - 1 . 571 ( xviii ) isoleucine 1 . 451 - 1 . 530leucine 1 . 827 - 1 . 846lysine 2 . 020 - 2 . 078methionine 0 . 490 - 0 . 642phenylalanine 0 . 969 - 1 . 144threonine 1 . 115 - 1 . 157tryptophan 0 . 368 - 0 . 373valine 1 . 422 - 1 . 483 ( xix ) isoleucine 1 . 328 - 1 . 357leucine 1 . 917 - 1 . 951lysine 2 . 086 - 2 . 250methionine 0 . 642 - 0 . 673phenylalanine 0 . 969 - 1 . 144threonine 1 . 196 - 1 . 287tryptophan 0 . 333 - 0 . 340valine 1 . 342 - 1 . 422 ( xx ) isoleucine 1 . 366 - 1 . 408leucine 1 . 846 - 1 . 917lysine 2 . 267 - 2 . 359methionine 0 . 674 - 0 . 778phenylalanine 0 . 969 - 1 . 144threonine 1 . 106 - 1 . 157tryptophan 0 . 311 - 0 . 333valine 1 . 260 - 1 . 313 ( xxi ) isoleucine 1 . 289 - 1 . 647leucine 1 . 917 - 2 . 130lysine 2 . 023 - 2 . 359methionine 0 . 622 - 0 . 778phenylalanine 0 . 843 - 0 . 988threonine 1 . 053 - 1 . 271tryptophan 0 . 238 - 0 . 298valine 1 . 342 - 1 . 426 ( xxii ) isoleucine 1 . 251 - 1 . 328leucine 1 . 950 - 2 . 067lysine 2 . 078 - 2 . 315methionine 0 . 490 - 0 . 689phenylalanine 0 . 969 - 1 . 144threonine 1 . 106 - 1 . 152tryptophan 0 . 282 - 0 . 401valine 1 . 306 - 1 . 422______________________________________ preferred compositions include the following proportions by weight of the amino acids : ______________________________________ ( xxiiii ) isoleucine 1 . 217 - 1 . 477leucine 2 . 281 - 2 . 735 . lysine 1 . 332 - 1 . 999methionine 0 . 232 - 0 . 608phenylalanine 0 . 934 - 1 . 136threonine 1 . 043 - 1 . 287tryptophan 0 . 304 - 0 . 467valine 1 . 391 - 1 . 900 ( xxiv ) isoleucine 1 . 408 - 1 . 530leucine 1 . 952 - 2 . 077lysine 1 . 260 - 1 . 521methionine 0 . 674 - 0 . 778phenylalanine 1 . 257 - 1 . 314threonine 1 . 106 - 1 . 146tryptophan 0 . 266 - 0 . 373valine 1 . 581 - 1 . 700______________________________________ the especially preferred compositions include those having the following proportions by weight : ______________________________________ ( i ) ( ii ) ( iii ) ( iv ) ( v ) ( vi ) ( vii ) ( viii ) ______________________________________isoleucine 1 . 438 1 . 482 1 . 310 1 . 341 1 . 381 1 . 311 1 . 443 1 . 484leucine 2 . 287 1 . 963 2 . 053 1 . 922 1 . 891 1 . 951 2 . 226 1 . 832lysine 1 . 650 1 . 428 2 . 189 2 . 144 2 . 297 2 . 266 1 . 760 2 . 064methionine 0 . 283 0 . 699 0 . 621 0 . 651 0 . 682 0 . 752 0 . 556 0 . 580phenylalanine 0 . 943 1 . 288 1 . 029 1 . 027 1 . 029 0 . 959 1 . 100 1 . 067threonine 1 . 226 1 . 111 1 . 107 1 . 211 1 . 113 1 . 119 1 . 041 1 . 136tryptophan 0 . 448 0 . 368 0 . 293 0 . 338 0 . 318 0 . 256 0 . 317 0 . 371valine 1 . 721 1 . 656 1 . 390 1 . 358 1 . 284 1 . 376 1 . 553 1 . 461______________________________________ it is possible to substitute cysteine for part of the methionine component ; and to substitute tyrosine for part of the phenylalanine component . the nutrified foods may be used in all patients where it is desirable or necessary to avoid increasing the blood urea nitrogen ( bun ). the nutrified foods of the invention have particular use during pregnancy because the proper requirement of protein is supplied without increasing blood urea nitrogen ( bun ) or other nitrogen metabolic residuals ; in addition , its use prevents nutritional and metabolic disorders and their consequences during pregnancy and lactation . the amount of the nutrified compositions to be used in each particular condition may generally be determined by titration of individual patients to obtain the desired nutritional response or by use of the nutrified foodstuffs in the usual amounts consumed by humans . the preferred route of administration is orally via normal feeding . the nutrified food may be administered dry as a powder , in capsules or tablets , as a solution or dispersion in a suitable liquid , or in a semi - solid medium . it is to be understood that one or more of the mineral - free , protein - free carbohydrates may be used with one or more of the highly polyunsaturated vegetable fats as an additive to the food composition to provide the desired flavor and calorie content . distilled water or any other suitable diluent may be added , as desired . if desired , the invention may be used to prepare a supplement / replacement compositions for use in providing and / or enhancing a basic source of nutrition for infants , children and adults . it is of particular utility in geriatric patients and may be used as an additive for soups , gravies and the like for the prevention and treatment of protein - calorie - malnutrition ( pcm ) while avoiding hyperuricemia , hypercholesterolemia , and elevated bun levels . the amount of the composition to be used in each particular condition may generally be determinated in accordance of the energetic need of individual patients to obtain that desired nutritional response . the preferred route is the oral route , but a tube may be used for direct infusion into the alimentary tract . the natural food which may be nutrified according to the present invention include liquid bovine milk and dried bovine milk products , flours derived from wheat , soybeans , rice , corn , amaranth , cous - cous , oats , rye , barely , potatoes , millet , legumes and mixtures thereof . the legumes include the edible beans , peas , chick peas , lentils and the like . bovine sources of milk include ruminants such as domestic cattle , sheep , oxen , goats and the like . the liquid or dried milk products may be treated to remove all or a portion of the fat or lactose content in accordance with standard techniques . the study population comprised thirty healthy subjects , fifteen men and fifteen women , with a mean age of 27 years ( sd = 5 ; range : 22 - 38 ), a mean height of 163 cm ( sd = 8 ; range : 148 - 174 ), and a mean weight of 54 . 1 kg ( sd = 9 . 7 ; range : 39 - 66 . 5 ). the subjects were selected if they satisfied all the inclusion criteria and none of the exclusion criteria . the inclusion criteria were : ( a ) good health ; ( b ) age between 21 and 40 years ; ( c ) either male or female subjects . the exclusion criterias were : ( a ) being under - weight ; ( b ) pregnancy or lactation ; ( c ) current disease which could alter the n balance ; ( d ) phenylketonuria . the fifteen men and fifteen women selected were randomly integrated , according to sex and number , into five matched groups of three men and three women , identified as groups 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 and 5 . the ages , heights and ideal weights of the subjects by groups are shown in table i . the study was carried out during a 100 - day period , in double - blind conditions , using a quintuple cross - over technique . this technique was performed based on the known fact that n retention efficiency is increased by prior lower protein intake . this technique allowed each subject to receive the same five n source diets in different sequences . the study was divided into the following two phases : ( a ) the preliminary phase was conducted during a 30 - day period to equalize and stabilize the subjects &# 39 ; protein and energy metabolism , thus avoiding different metabolism degrees which could affect the n balances during the main phase of the study . to achieve this , the thirty subjects were fed with a composition of table a in accordance with the &# 34 ; metabolism equalizing & amp ; stabilizing diet &# 34 ; ( mesd ), according to the obligatory diet sequence ( table ii ). the composition of the formula in grams per 10 grams of amino acids was : table a______________________________________ ile 1 . 438 leu 2 . 281 lys 1 . 650 met 0 . 283 phe 0 . 943 thr 1 . 226 trp 0 . 448 val 1 . 721______________________________________ ( b ) the main phase was conducted during five consecutive 2 week periods ( 70 days ), at which time the subjects &# 39 ; n balances were assessed to determine their nnu of consumed protein or amino acid formula during the periods of diets g , h , i , j and k . groups 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 and 5 were fed with diets g , h , i , j and k following the obligatory sequence ( table ii ). the diets consisted of an identical composition of equal amounts of protein or amino acids , carbohydrate ( s ), fat ( s ), vitamins and minerals , and had the following characteristics : diet &# 34 ; g &# 34 ; provided each subject with a protein intake of 0 . 4 g / kg / day ( equivalent to 64 mg / kg / day of nitrogen ) through dried bovine milk ( table b - 1 ), plus an energy intake of 50 kcal / kg / day through essentially protein - free carbohydrate ( s ) and fat ( s ) ( table iii ). diet &# 34 ; h &# 34 ; provided each subject with a protein intake of 0 . 4 g / kg / day ( equivalent to 64 mg / kg / day of nitrogen ) through a nutrified dried bovine milk , ( table b - 2 ) plus an energy intake of 50 kcal / kg / day through essentially protein - free carbohydrate ( s ) and fat ( s ) ( table iii ). table b______________________________________ 1 2 essential amino added amino acid composition of acid complement dried bovine milk * ( g added / 10 g of ( g / 10 g of essential essential amino amino acid content ) acid content ) ______________________________________isoleucine 1 . 443 0leucine 2 . 226 0 . 061lysine 1 . 760 0methionine 0 . 556 0phenylalanine 1 . 100 0threonine 1 . 041 0 . 185tryptophan 0 . 317 0 . 131valine 1 . 553 0 . 168______________________________________ * based on the data presented in orr , m . l ., and watt , b . k ., &# 34 ; amino acid content of foods &# 34 ;, u . s . dept . agr ., 1957 . diet &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; provided each subject with a protein intake of 0 . 4 g / kg / day ( equivalent to 64 mg / kg / day of nitrogen ) through soybean flour ( table c - 1 ), plus an energy intake of 50 kcal / kg / day through essentially protein - free carbohydrate ( s ) and fat ( s ) ( table iii ). diet &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; provided each subject with a protein intake of 0 . 4 g / kg / day ( equivalent to 64 mg / kg / day of nitrogen ) through a nutrified soybean flour , ( table c - 2 ) plus an energy intake of 50 kcal / kg / day through essentially protein - free carbohydrate ( s ) and fat ( s ) ( table iii ). table c______________________________________ 1 2 essential amino added amino acid composition of acid complement soybean flour ** ( g added / 10 g of ( g / 10 g of essential essential amino amino acid content ) acid content ) ______________________________________isoleucine 1 . 548 0leucine 2 . 220 0 . 067lysine 1 . 819 0methionine 0 . 386 0phenylalanine 1 . 423 0threonine 0 . 691 0 . 535tryptophan 0 . 396 0 . 052valine 1 . 511 0 . 210______________________________________ ** based on the data presented in orr , m . l ., and watt , b . k ., &# 34 ; amino acid content of foods &# 34 ;, u . s . dept . agr ., 1957 . diet &# 34 ; k &# 34 ; provided each subject with a protein intake of 0 . 4 g / kg / day ( equivalent to 64 mg / kg / day of nitrogen ) through the essential amino acid formula of table a plus an energy intake of 50 kcal / kg / day through essentially protein - free carbohydrate ( s ) and fat ( s ) ( table iii ). the mesd , g , h , i , j and k diets were supplemented with vitamins and minerals , in accordance with the u . s . recommended daily allowance . it is well known that the nitrogen ( n ) balance detects small gains or losses of body protein in the whole organism . the n balance has been in use for about 150 years and is one of the mainstays of starvation studies . the n balance , however , only has value when meticulously carried out . therefore , the following precautions were taken : ( a ) to avoid or minimize possible differences in the efficiency of n retention caused by a particular diet sequence , a quintuple cross - over technique was used . this allowed each subject to receive the same five n source diets in different sequences . it was taken into consideration that n retention efficiency is increased by prior lower protein intake ; ( b ) to avoid common errors in energy intake that could affect the n balance , and to take into consideration the protein sparing effect of carbohydrate , the mesd , g , h , i , j and k diets were supplied a constant energy intake per subject equivalent to 50 kcal / kg / day during the study period ; ( c ) to avoid common errors in n intake that could affect the n balance , the carbohydrate ( s ) and fats ) of the mesd , g , h , i , j and k diets were selected from the essentially protein - free foods of table iii ; ( d ) to avoid the subjects &# 39 ; n over - intake per mg / kg / day , which could affect the n balance , the protein requirement was calculated in accordance with the subject &# 39 ; s ideal weight ; and ( e ) to avoid over - estimating n intake , caused by unconsumed dietary protein during the mesd , g , h , i , j and k diets , the total consumption of each allotted diet was achieved . all the subject were fed three times per day ( 8am - 2pm - 8pm ). in addition , to preserve the double - blind condition of the study , dried bovine milk ( diet g ), nutrified dried bovine milk ( diet h ), soybean flour ( diet i ), and nutrified soybean flour ( diet j ) and the essential amino acid formula of table a ( diet k ) were mixed with an identical fruit shake . the fruit used in the shake was chosen from table iii , and provided each subject with the same energy intake . the subject &# 39 ; s ideal weight ( in kg ) was determined by subtracting factor 100 from the subject &# 39 ; s height ( in cm ), then multiplying the result by either factor 0 . 9 ( man ) or 0 . 8 ( woman ), in accordance with the subject &# 39 ; s sex . the result was rounded off to the nearest 0 . 500 kg . the following formula was applied : the subject &# 39 ; s weight ( in kg ) was determined in the early morning before breakfast after the subject &# 39 ; s urination and evacuation . the result was rounded off to the nearest 0 . 100 kg . the n balance represents the difference between n intake ( i ), and n output ( u + f + s ); the difference being either positive ( n retention , as in active growth ), negative ( n loss ), or zero ( n equilibrium ). to avoid possible misinterpretation of the subject &# 39 ; s daily n balance , which is not commonly linear , the subject &# 39 ; s dietary n intake and output were determined during each 2 week period . to determine the subject &# 39 ; s n intake ( i ), the following formula was applied : dietary protein amount = dietary n × 6 . 25 ; where use of factor 6 . 25 implies that the average protein has a 16 % n content . the subject &# 39 ; s urine ( u ) and feces ( f ) were collected throughout each 24 - hour day of each consecutive 2 week period and the total n was determined by micro - kjeldahl techniques . to avoid errors in n output , each subject received an enema before starting diet mesd and at the end of diets mesd , g , h , i , j and k . to determine the subject &# 39 ; s dermal and minor route losses ( s ) of n , calculations were made by accepting a constant , it being unusual to make direct measurements of these losses . the following formula was applied : to avoid errors , this calculation was made by applying the subject &# 39 ; s real weight . the subject &# 39 ; s lean tissue loss was determined by multiplying the subject &# 39 ; s protein loss by factor 5 . the following formula was applied : the n content of the mixed proteins of the body is 16 %. thus , 1 g of n excreted represents a loss from the body of 6 . 25 g of mixed proteins . intracellular protein exists in approximately a 20 to 25 % aqueous solution in the lean tissue of the body ( the fat - free , connective tissue - free , and bone - free &# 34 ; wet &# 34 ; tissue ). assuming that 1 g of protein is associated with 5 g of hydrated lean tissue , then 1 g of excreted n represents a loss of 1 × 6 . 25 × 5 = 31 . 25 g of lean tissue . the data were analyzed using the analysis of variance ( anova ) followed by the student - newman - keuls test . table iv summarizes the n balance results of groups 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 and 5 while receiving 64 mg / kg / day of nitrogen intake during diets g , h , i , j and k . table v summarizes the n balance results of all thirty subjects while receiving diets g , h , i , j and k . the comparison of the mean n output differences within groups 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 and 5 between diets g , h , i , j and k , was statistically significant ( p ← 0 , 001 ) in each case . the comparison of the mean n output differences by each diet ( g , h , i , j and k ), between groups , was not statistically significant in each case . all five groups , while receiving diet k , regardless of the sequence order , showed the lowest n output with a resulting significantly higher net nitrogen utilization ( nnu ) the variance related to the mean n output of the subjects receiving diet k points out extremely low and constant values ( sd = 0 , 001 ). this indicates the formula of table a has a higher nnu in comparison with the other diets . while receiving diet k none of the thirty subjects reported any side effects , and none showed adverse effects on blood parameters . during this study , all thirty subjects achieved zero ( equilibrium ) n balance while receiving diet k in the amount of 0 . 4 g / kg / day , equivalent to 64 mg / kg / day of n per subject . since zero n balance could be achieved at the expense of a slowing of body protein turnover , the attainment of zero n balance does not , in itself , permit the conclusion that the intake of 0 . 4 g / kg / day of the formula of table a , equivalent to 64 mg / kg / day of n per subject , was nutritionally adequate . despite the fact that the subjects received diets consisting of an identical composition of equal amounts of protein or amino acids , carbohydrate ( s ), fat ( s ), vitamins and minerals , all thirty subjects showed : ( a ) the highest mean nnu while receiving diet k , achieving zero n balance ( tables v and vi ); ( b ) a lower mean nnu while receiving the nutrified dried bovine milk ( diet h ), achieving negative n balance , with a mean n loss of 14 . 0 mg / kg / day ( sd = 0 . 2 ) ( table v ), which is 22 % lower nnu than while receiving the formula of table a ( table vi ). this mean n loss is equivalent to a lean tissue loss of 437 . 5 mg / kg / day ; ( c ) a lower mean nnu while receiving a nutrified soybean flour ( diet j ), achieving negative n balance , with a mean n loss of 16 . 5 mg / kg / day ( sd = 0 . 2 ) ( table v ), which is 26 % lower nnu than while receiving the formula of table a ( table vi ). this mean n loss is equivalent to a lean tissue loss of 515 . 6 mg / kg / day ; ( d ) a lower mean nnu while receiving dried bovine milk ( diet g ), achieving negative n balance , with a mean n loss of 35 . 3 mg / kg / day ( sd = 0 . 2 ) ( table v ), which is 55 % lower nnu than while receiving the formula of table a ( table vi ). this mean n loss is equivalent to a lean tissue loss of 1 , 103 . 1 mg / kg / day ; and ( e ) the lowest mean nnu while receiving soybean flour ( diet i ), achieving negative n balance , with a mean n loss of 43 . 5 mg / kg / day ( sd = 0 . 3 ) ( table v ), which is 68 % lower nnu than while receiving the formula of table a ( table vi ). this mean n loss is equivalent to a lean tissue loss of 1 , 359 . 3 mg / kg / day . ( a ) 73 % higher mean nnu while receiving a nutrified bovine milk ( diet h ) than while receiving bovine milk ( diet g ) ( tables v and vi ); and ( b ) 131 % higher mean nnu while receiving a nutrified soybean flour ( diet j ) than while receiving soybean flour ( diet i ) ( tables v and vi ). the significantly higher mean nnu achieved while receiving a nutrified bovine milk , and / or a nutrified soybean flour , confirm the efficacy of nutrification of food proteins by the appropriate nutrificators to improve the proteins &# 39 ; nutritional value . it can , therefore , be concluded that the high efficacy and safety of the present invention makes it unique for unlimited applications in the nutrification of food proteins . table i______________________________________subjects &# 39 ; characteristicsgroup characteristics mean s . d . range______________________________________1 age ( years ) 26 5 24 - 36 height ( cm ) 163 7 154 - 170 ideal weight ( kg ) 54 . 0 8 . 8 43 . 0 - 63 . 02 age ( years ) 29 4 24 - 35 height ( cm ) 163 10 149 - 174 ideal weight ( kg ) 53 . 7 11 . 8 39 . 0 - 66 . 53 age ( years ) 27 6 22 - 38 height ( cm ) 164 8 149 - 170 ideal weight ( kg ) 54 . 3 9 . 6 39 . 0 - 63 . 04 age ( years ) 26 5 23 - 36 height ( cm ) 162 8 148 - 171 ideal weight ( kg ) 53 . 3 9 . 8 38 . 5 - 64 . 05 age ( years ) 26 4 22 - 34 height ( cm ) 164 11 149 - 174 ideal weight ( kg ) 55 . 0 12 39 . 0 - 66 . 5______________________________________ table ii__________________________________________________________________________sequence of the diets by group and perioddiet period group 1 group 2 group 3 group 4 group 5__________________________________________________________________________preliminary 30 days mesd mesd mesd mesd mesddietfirst 14 days g h i j kdietsecond 14 days h i j k gdietthird 14 days i j k g hdietfourth 14 days j k g h idietfifth 14 days k g h i jdiet__________________________________________________________________________ table iii______________________________________essentially protein - free carbohydrate and fat foodsfood ( 100 g ) protein energy______________________________________sugar 0 . 0 384corn oil 0 . 0 884apricot 0 . 8 57pineapple 0 . 4 52peach 0 . 8 52strawberry 0 . 8 36pondapple 0 . 4 52tangerine 0 . 7 43mango 0 . 5 59apple 0 . 3 58muskmelon 0 . 5 25orange 0 . 7 50loquat 0 . 2 44papaya 0 . 5 32pear 0 . 3 56watermelon 0 . 5 22celery 0 . 8 19eggplant 1 . 0 27waxgourd 0 . 5 14chayote 0 . 9 31lettuce 1 . 0 13cucumber 0 . 7 15ripe tomato 0 . 8 21sweet cassava 1 . 0 132carrot 0 . 8 41______________________________________ table iv______________________________________nitrogen balance ( mg / kg / day ) results by group and diet n output n balance (*) group diet mean s . d . mean s . d . ______________________________________1 g 99 . 2 0 . 2 - 35 . 2 0 . 2 h 78 . 1 0 . 2 - 14 . 1 0 . 2 i 107 . 6 0 . 3 - 43 . 6 0 . 3 j 80 . 6 0 . 2 - 16 . 6 0 . 2 k 63 . 998 0 . 001 0 . 002 0 . 0012 h 78 . 0 0 . 2 - 14 . 0 0 . 2 i 107 . 3 0 . 2 - 43 . 3 0 . 2 j 80 . 4 0 . 1 - 16 . 4 0 . 1 k 63 . 998 0 . 001 0 . 002 0 . 001 g 99 . 2 0 . 1 - 35 . 2 0 . 13 i 107 . 6 0 . 1 - 43 . 6 0 . 1 j 80 . 5 0 . 2 - 16 . 5 0 . 2 k 63 . 997 0 . 001 0 . 003 0 . 001 g 99 . 3 0 . 2 - 35 . 3 0 . 2 h 77 . 9 0 . 2 - 13 . 9 0 . 24 j 80 . 6 0 . 4 - 16 . 6 0 . 4 k 63 . 997 0 . 001 0 . 003 0 . 001 g 99 . 4 0 . 2 - 35 . 4 0 . 2 h 78 . 0 0 . 2 - 14 . 0 0 . 2 i 107 . 7 0 . 2 - 43 . 7 0 . 25 k 63 . 998 0 . 001 0 . 002 0 . 001 g 99 . 3 0 . 2 - 35 . 3 0 . 2 h 78 . 0 0 . 4 - 14 . 0 0 . 4 i 107 . 4 0 . 2 - 43 . 4 0 . 2 j 80 . 6 0 . 2 - 16 . 6 0 . 2______________________________________ (*) n balance = n intake ( 64 mg / kg / day ) - n output table v______________________________________nitrogen balance ( mg / kg / day ) ( all 30 subjects ) diet n mean s . d . ______________________________________g i 64 o 99 . 3 0 . 2 b - 35 . 3 0 . 2h i 64 o 78 . 0 0 . 2 b - 14 . 0 0 . 2i i 64 o 107 . 5 0 . 3 b - 43 . 5 0 . 3j i 64 o 80 . 5 0 . 2 b - 16 . 5 0 . 2k i 64 o 63 . 997 0 . 001 b 0 . 003 0 . 001______________________________________ i = n intake ; o = n output ; b = n balance table vi______________________________________net nitrogen utilization ( nnu ) by dietdiet nnu n / loss______________________________________g 45 % 55 % h 78 % 22 % i 32 % 68 % j 74 % 26 % k 100 % 0 % ______________________________________
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an embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like elements are referenced by like numerals . referring first to fig1 to 6 , a camera stand or support generally designated at 1 is fitted to a case 101 of a display 100 . the camera stand 1 comprises an elongated rail member 2 . the rail member 2 has a couple of shoulders 2a and 2b formed on its back along edges thereof and longitudinally extending in parallel with each other . the back of the rail member 2 is provided with an adhesive layer 3 adhered on the side of the display case 101 to be adhered . it will be appreciated that the adhesive layer 3 is protected by a released paper previous to adhesion . a slide rod fixing clamp 4 has at its base an engagement groove 5 and is slidably mounted on the rail member 2 with the engagement groove 5 engaged with the shoulders 2a and 2b of the rail member 2 . a resistance means not shown is provided within the engagement groove 5 in order to retain the slide rod fixing clamp 4 at an appropriate position on the rail member 2 . the resistance means may be formed of , for example , a metallic leaf spring which presses the rail member 2 with a predetermined pressing force to provide a predetermined frictional resistance , thereby retaining the slide rod fixing clamp 4 on the rail member 2 . the slide rod fixing clamp 4 is displaceable by manually applying thereto a force exceeding the frictional resistance of the resistance means , thus ensuring alterations in the retaining position of the slide rod fixing clamp 4 . the slide rod fixing clamp 4 includes a pair of clamping sections 7a and 7b defining in the middle thereof a transversely extending through - hole 6 for receiving a slide rod 11 . the clamping sections 7a and 7b have at their ends a clamp screw 8 . to unclamp or clamp the slide rod 11 , the clamp screw 8 is turned to alter the diameter of the through - hole 6 . the through - hole 6 of the slide rod fixing clamp 4 is provided with a pair of retaining protrusions 10a and 10b intended to be fitted into a pair of given - angle compensation grooves 12a and 12b , respectively , which will be described later , of the slide rod 11 . the slide rod 11 is a round bar having the pair of axially extending given - angle compensation grooves 12a and 12b . the slide rod 11 is inserted into the through - hole 6 formed in the slide rod fixing clamp 4 while bringing the given - angle compensation grooves 12a and 12b into engagement with the retaining protrusions 10a and 10b , respectively . this will prevent the slide rod 11 from being rotated . an orthogonal rod 13 is secured to the slide rod 11 at right angles therewith . the outer periphery of the orthogonal rod 13 is provided with axially extending knurls 14 and also axially extending level confirmation lines 15a and 15b . the knurls 14 ensure a moderate rotation of a camera mounting clamp 16 described later as well as a positive locking thereof . the level confirmation lines 15a and 15b provide not only a confirmation that the orthogonal rod 13 is brought to a level with the rail member 2 upright positioned along the sidewall of the display 100 but also a measure for visually checking a setting angle of the camera mounting clamp 16 . the camera mounting clamp 16 includes a pair of clamping sections 18a and 18b defining in the middle thereof a throughhole 17 for receiving the orthogonal rod 13 . the clamping sections 18a and 18b have a clamp screw 19 to alter the diameter of the through - hole 17 . by tightening up the clamp screw 19 , the camera mounting clamp is rigidly fixed to the orthogonal rod 13 . the camera mounting clamp 16 further includes on its top a mounting screw 21 for mounting a camera 24 thereon , and a tilt device 22 allowing both full - rotations around the mounting screw 21 and vertical swings within a predetermined range of angles ( capable of being arbitrary directed or angled to predetermined directions or angles ). the tilt device 22 has been already filed as japanese patent application no . 294187 / 93 . the clamping sections 18a and 18b of the camera mounting clamp 16 are provided with lines 23a and 23b , respectively , allowing visual observations of angles with the level confirmation lines 15a and 15b , respectively . description will now be given of a manner of mounting the camera stand 1 onto the display case 101 to be mounted in the above - described construction . the rail member 2 is first attached vertically to the sidewall of the display case 101 by means of the adhesive layer 3 . then , the slide rod fixing clamp 4 is mounted on the rail member 2 by fitting the shoulders 2a and 2b of the rail member 2 into the engagement groove 5 of the slide rod fixing clamp 4 . the slide rod fixing clamp 4 is vertically displaced and retained in position . thereafter , the slide rod 11 is inserted into the through - hole 6 of the slide rod fixing clamp 4 . the camera - mounting clamp 16 is then mounted on the orthogonal rod 13 secured to the slide rod 11 . afterwards , the camera 24 is mounted on the camera mounting clamp 16 by means of the mounting screw 21 . subsequently , in order to direct the camera 24 toward an optimum direction , the camera stand 1 undergoes vertical adjustments of the slide fixing clamp 4 , transverse adjustments of the slide rod 11 , adjustments of the camera mounting clamp 16 , and final adjustments through the tilt device . it is to be appreciated that the camera mounting clamp 16 is visually adjusted through angles of the lines 23a and 23b with the level confirmation lines 15a and 15b formed on the orthogonal rod 13 . in this manner , the camera 24 is so adjusted in direction that it is positioned in front of and confronts the user so as to look up at him or her , thereby producing preferable images of the face of the user as compared with the images viewed from above in the prior art . also , the camera stand 1 may be applied to a camera for imaging documents . in this case , the mounting screw 19 is loosened to rotate the camera mounting clamp 16 by 90 degrees around the orthogonal rod 13 from the state shown in fig1 . this results in the state of the camera 24 shown in fig7 enabling its lens to be directed downward . in order to allow the lens to directly confront the documents , the slide rod fixing clamp 4 may be possibly loosened to transversely displace the slide rod 11 for positional adjustments of the camera 24 . this may be also attended with micro - adjustments by the tilt device 22 . thus , the documents lying on the desk can appear on the display 100 . referring to fig8 and 9 , there is depicted another embodiment . although the above embodiment is disclosed including the slide rod 11 provided with the given angle compensation grooves 12a and 12b , this embodiment employs a slide rod 11 of a simple cylinder free from the given angle compensation grooves 12a and 12b . correspondingly , the slide rod fixing clamp 4 has no engagement protrusions 10a and 10b . this means that the slide rod 11 is retained only with a clamping force of the clamping sections 7a and 7b . nevertheless , the camera 24 is fixed in position since the clamping force of the clamping sections 7a and 7b overcomes a rotational moment exerted on the slide rod 11 by the weight of the camera 24 . this may result in a less reliability on the rotational moment exerted on the slide rod 11 by the weight of the camera 24 as compared with the above embodiment , but will ensure an increased degree of freedom in setting the position and direction of the camera 24 due to free setting of angles of the orthogonal rod 13 and the tilt device 22 around the slide rod 11 . the other elements are substantially the same as the above embodiment , and hence are designated by the common reference numerals to omit the description thereof . according to the present invention , as described above , the slide rod fixing clamp is displaced along the rail member to vertically shift the camera mounting clamp bearing the camera thereon , while the slide rod fixing clamp is loosened to transversely shift the slide rod , whereby the camera mounting clamp bearing the camera thereon can be freely displaced in vertical and transverse directions . in addition , the camera mounting clamp is capable of being rotated around the orthogonal rod , allowing a production of images of not only the user &# 39 ; s face but also the documents lying on the desk . for the images of the user &# 39 ; s face , the camera is allowed to be positioned in front of and confront the user so as to look up at him or her , thereby providing preferable images . further , the rail member can be readily attached to the sidewall of the display case with the aid of the adhesive layer , and the retaining protrusions of the slide rod fixing clamp to be engaged with the given angle compensation grooves formed in the slide rod serve to keep at all times the slide rod and the orthogonal rod at a predetermined angle with the rail member . moreover , the level confirmation lines provided in the orthogonal rod enable the state of level to be visually observed . the lines of the camera mounting clamp provide visual observations of angles thereof with respect to the orthogonal rod . also , the knurls formed on the orthogonal rod ensure moderate rotations and positive locking of the camera mounting clamp , and the tilt device provided on the camera mounting clamp allows the camera to swing and rotate around the mounting screw . furthermore , the cylindrical shape of the slide rod allows rotations of the tilt means around the slide rod , with the result that the camera can be retained at an angle . it will be understood by those skilled in the art that a number of variations and modifications may be made in the present invention without departing from its spirit and scope . accordingly , the foregoing description is to be construed as illustrative only rather than limiting . the present invention should only be taken as limited by the following claims .
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the present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings , in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown . the present invention may , however , be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein . in the drawings , the thickness of layers , films and regions are exaggerated for clarity . like numerals refer to like elements throughout . it will be understood that when an element such as a layer , film , region or substrate is referred to as being “ on ” another element , it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present . in contrast , when an element is referred to as being “ directly on ” another element , there are no intervening elements present . now , liquid crystal displays and thin film transistor ( tft ) array panels for lcds according to embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . an lcd according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to fig1 - 5 . fig1 is a layout view of a tft array panel of an lcd according to an embodiment of the present invention , fig2 is a sectional view of the tft array panel shown in fig1 taken along the lines ii - ii ′- ii ″- iii ′″, fig3 is a layout view of a common electrode panel of an lcd according to an embodiment of the present invention , fig4 is a layout view of an lcd including the tft array panel shown in fig1 and 2 and the common electrode panel shown in fig3 , and fig5 is a sectional view of the lcd shown in fig4 taken along the line v - v ′. an lcd according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a tft array panel 100 , a common electrode panel 200 , and a lc layer 3 interposed between the panels 100 and 200 and containing a plurality of lc molecules 31 aligned substantially vertical to surfaces of the panels 100 and 200 . the tft array panel 100 is now described in detail with reference fig1 , 4 and 5 . a plurality of gate lines 121 and a plurality of storage electrode lines 131 are formed on an insulating substrate 110 such as transparent glass . the gate lines 121 extend substantially in a transverse direction and are separated from each other and transmit gate signals . each gate line 121 includes a plurality of projections forming a plurality of gate electrodes 124 and an end portion 129 having a large area for connection with an external driving circuit . each storage electrode line 131 extends substantially in the transverse direction and includes a plurality of sets of branches . each branch set includes a pair of longitudinal branches forming first and second storage electrodes 133 a and 133 b . each of the first storage electrodes 133 a has a free end portion and a fixed end portion connected to the storage electrode line 131 , and the fixed end portion has a projection . the storage electrode lines 131 are supplied with a predetermined voltage such as a common voltage , which is applied to a common electrode 270 on the common electrode panel 200 of the lcd . each storage electrode line 131 may include a pair of stems extending in the transverse direction and it may further include a plurality of connections ( not shown ) connected between the first storage electrodes 133 a and the second storage electrodes 133 b respectively in adjacent sets of the storage electrodes 133 a and 133 b . the gate lines 121 and the storage electrode lines 131 is preferably made of al containing metal such as al and al alloy , ag containing metal such as ag and ag alloy , cu containing metal such as cu and cu alloy , mo containing metal such as mo and mo alloy , cr , ti or ta . the gate lines 121 and the storage electrode lines 131 may have a multi - layered structure including two films having different physical characteristics , a lower film ( not shown ) and an upper film ( not shown ). the upper film is preferably made of low resistivity metal including al containing metal such as al and al alloy for reducing signal delay or voltage drop in the gate lines 121 and the storage electrode lines 131 . on the other hand , the lower film is preferably made of material such as cr , mo and mo alloy , which has good contact characteristics with other materials such as indium tin oxide ( ito ) or indium zinc oxide ( izo ). a good exemplary combination of the lower film material and the upper film material is cr and al — nd alloy . in addition , the lateral sides of the gate lines 121 and the storage electrode lines 131 are inclined relative to a surface of the substrate , and the inclination angle thereof ranges about 20 - 80 degrees . a gate insulating layer 140 preferably made of silicon nitride ( sinx ) is formed on the gate lines 121 and the storage electrode lines 131 . a plurality of semiconductor stripes 151 preferably made of hydrogenated amorphous silicon ( abbreviated to “ a - si ”) or polysilicon are formed on the gate insulating layer 140 . each semiconductor stripe 151 extends substantially in the longitudinal direction and has a plurality of projections 154 branched out toward the gate electrodes 124 . a plurality of ohmic contact stripes and islands 161 and 165 preferably made of silicide or n + hydrogenated a - si heavily doped with n type impurity such as phosphorous are formed on the semiconductor stripes 151 . each ohmic contact stripe 161 has a plurality of projections 163 , and the projections 163 and the ohmic contact islands 165 are located in pairs on the projections 154 of the semiconductor stripes 151 . the lateral sides of the semiconductor stripes 151 and the ohmic contacts 161 and 165 are inclined relative to a surface of the substrate , and the inclination angles thereof are preferably in a range between about 30 - 80 degrees . a plurality of data lines 171 , a plurality of drain electrodes 175 separated from the data lines 171 , and a plurality of isolated metal pieces 172 are formed on the ohmic contacts 161 and 165 and the gate insulating layer 140 . the data lines 171 for transmitting data voltages extend substantially in the longitudinal direction and intersect the gate lines 121 and the storage electrode lines 131 . each data line 171 is disposed between the first and the second storage electrodes 133 a and 133 b in adjacent sets of the branches 133 a and 133 b of the storage electrode lines 131 and it includes an end portion 179 having a large area for contact with another layer or an external device . a plurality of branches of each data line 171 , which project toward the drain electrodes 175 , form a plurality of source electrodes 173 . each drain electrode 175 includes an end portion having a large area for contact with another layer and each source electrode 173 is curved to partly enclose another end portion of the drain electrode 175 . a gate electrode 124 , a source electrode 173 , and a drain electrode 175 along with a projection 154 of a semiconductor stripe 151 form a tft having a channel formed in the projection 154 disposed between the source electrode 173 and the drain electrode 175 . the metal pieces 172 are disposed on the gate lines 121 near the end portions of the storage electrodes 133 a . the data lines 171 , the drain electrodes 175 , and the metal pieces 172 are preferably made of refractory metal such as cr , mo containing metal , ti and ti , or al containing metal and they may also have a multilayered structure including a lower film ( not shown ) preferably made of refractory metal and an upper film ( not shown ) located thereon and preferably made of low resistivity material . like the gate lines 121 and the storage electrode lines 131 , the data lines 171 , the drain electrodes 175 , and the metal pieces 172 have tapered lateral sides , and the inclination angles thereof range about 30 - 80 degrees . the ohmic contacts 161 and 165 are interposed only between the underlying semiconductor stripes 151 and the overlying data lines 171 and the overlying drain electrodes 175 thereon and reduce the contact resistance therebetween . the semiconductor stripes 151 include a plurality of exposed portions , which are not covered with the data lines 171 and the drain electrodes 175 , such as portions located between the source electrodes 173 and the drain electrodes 175 . a passivation layer 180 is formed on the data lines 171 , the drain electrodes 175 , and the exposed portions of the semiconductor stripes 151 . the passivation layer 180 is preferably made of photosensitive organic material having a good flatness characteristic , low dielectric insulating material having dielectric constant lower than 4 . 0 such as a - si : c : o and a - si : o : f formed by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition ( pecvd ), or inorganic material such as silicon nitride . the passivation layer 180 may include a lower film of inorganic insulator and an upper film of organic insulator . the passivation layer 180 has a plurality of contact holes 182 and 185 exposing the end portions 179 of the data lines 171 and the end portions of the drain electrodes 175 , respectively . the passivation layer 180 and the gate insulating layer 140 have a plurality of contact holes 181 , 183 and 184 exposing the end portions 129 of the gate lines 121 , the projections of the free end portions of the first storage electrodes 133 a , and portions of the storage electrode lines 131 near the fixed end portions of the first storage electrodes 133 a , respectively . in addition , the passivation layer 180 and the gate insulating layer have a number of rectilinear trenches 186 . a plurality of pixel electrodes 190 , a plurality of contact assistants 81 and 82 , and a plurality of storage connections 84 , which are preferably made of a transparent conductor such as ito and izo or a reflective conductor such as al , are formed on the passivation layer 180 . the pixel electrodes 190 are physically and electrically connected to the drain electrodes 175 through the contact holes 185 such that the pixel electrodes 190 receive the data voltages from the drain electrodes 175 . the pixel electrodes 190 supplied with the data voltages generate electric fields in cooperation with the common electrode 270 , which reorient liquid crystal molecules 31 in the liquid crystal layer 3 . a pixel electrode 190 and the common electrode 270 form a liquid crystal capacitor , which stores applied voltages after turn - off of the tft . an additional capacitor called a “ storage capacitor ,” which is connected in parallel to the liquid crystal capacitor , is provided for enhancing the voltage storing capacity . the storage capacitors are implemented by overlapping the pixel electrodes 190 with the storage electrode lines 131 including the storage electrodes 133 a and 133 b . each pixel electrode 190 is chamfered at its left corners and the chamfered edges of the pixel electrode 190 make an angle of about 45 degrees with the gate lines 121 . each pixel electrode 190 has a plurality of upper cutouts 91 and 92 , lower cutouts 95 and 96 , and center cutouts 93 and 94 , which partition the pixel electrode 190 into a plurality of partitions . the upper and the lower cutouts 91 , 92 , 95 and 96 are disposed at upper and lower halves of the pixel electrode 190 , respectively , and the center cutouts 93 and 94 are located between the upper cutouts 91 and 92 and the lower cutouts 95 and 96 . the cutouts 91 - 96 substantially have inversion symmetry with respect to an imaginary transverse center line bisecting the upper and the lower halves of the pixel electrode 190 . the upper and the lower cutouts 91 , 92 , 95 and 96 make an angle of about 45 degrees to the gate lines 121 , and the upper cutouts 91 and 92 , which extend substantially parallel to each other and to the chamfered upper left edge of the pixel electrode 190 , extend substantially perpendicular to the lower cutouts 95 and 96 , which extend substantially parallel to each other and to the chamfered lower left edge of the pixel electrode 190 . the cutouts 91 and 96 extend approximately from a left longitudinal edge of the pixel electrode 190 approximately to transverse edges of the pixel electrode 190 . the cutouts 92 and 95 extend approximately from the left edge of the pixel electrode 190 approximately to a right longitudinal edge of the pixel electrode 190 . the center cutout 93 includes a transverse portion extending approximately from the left edge of the pixel electrode 190 along the transverse center line of the pixel electrode 190 and a pair of oblique portions extending from the transverse portion to the right edge of the pixel electrode 190 and extending substantially parallel to the upper cutouts 91 and 92 and the lower cutouts 95 and 96 , respectively . the center cutout 94 extends along the transverse center line of the pixel electrode 190 and has an inlet from the right edge of the pixel electrode 190 , which has a pair of inclined edges substantially parallel to the upper cutouts 91 and 92 and the lower cutouts 95 and 96 , respectively . accordingly , the upper half of the pixel electrode 190 is also partitioned into four upper partitions by the upper cutouts 91 and 92 and the center cutout 93 , and the lower half of the pixel electrode 190 is partitioned into four lower partitions by the lower cutouts 95 and 96 and the center cutout 93 . the number of partitions or the number of the cutouts is varied depending on the design factors such as the size of pixels , the ratio of the transverse edges and the longitudinal edges of the pixel electrodes , the type and characteristics of the liquid crystal layer 3 , and so on . in addition , each pixel electrode 190 has a number of depressions forming along the trenches 186 of the passivation layer 180 and the gate insulating layer 140 and contacting the substrate 110 . in the meantime , the storage electrode lines 131 may further include a plurality of branches ( not shown ) overlapping the cutouts 91 - 96 and lower edges of the pixel electrodes 190 . the contact assistants 81 and 82 are connected to the end portions 129 of the gate lines 121 and the end portions 179 of the data lines 171 through the contact holes 181 and 182 , respectively . the contact assistants 81 and 82 are not requisites but preferred to protect the end portions 129 and 179 and to complement the adhesiveness of the end portions 129 and 179 and external devices . the storage connections 84 cross over the gate lines 121 and they are connected to the exposed projection of the fixed end portions of the first storage electrodes 133 a and the exposed portions of the storage electrode lines 131 respectively through the contact holes 183 and 184 opposite each other with respect to the gate lines 121 . the storage connections 84 overlaps the metal pieces 172 and they may be electrically connected to the metal pieces 172 . the storage electrode lines 131 including the storage electrodes 133 a and 133 b along with the storage connections 84 and the metal pieces 172 are used for repairing defects in the gate lines 121 , the data lines 171 , or the tfts . the electrical connection between the gate lines 121 and the storage electrode lines 131 for repairing the gate lines 121 is obtained by illuminating the cross points of the gate lines 121 and the storage connections 84 by a laser beam to electrically connect the gate lines 121 to the storage connections 84 . in this case , the metal pieces 172 enhance the electrical connection between the gate lines 121 and the storage connections 84 . the description of the common electrode panel 200 follows with reference to fig3 - 5 . a light blocking member 220 called a black matrix for preventing light leakage is formed on an insulating substrate 210 such as transparent glass . the light blocking member 220 may include a plurality of openings that face the pixel electrodes 190 and it may have substantially the same shape as the pixel electrodes 190 . the light blocking member 220 is preferably made of a single cr layer , double layers of cr and cr oxide , or an organic layer containing black die . a plurality of color filters 230 are formed on the substrate 210 and they are disposed substantially in the areas enclosed by the light blocking member 220 . the color filters 230 may extend substantially along the longitudinal direction along the pixel electrodes 190 . the color filters 230 may represent one of the primary colors such as red , green and blue colors . an overcoat 250 for preventing the color filters 230 from being exposed and for providing a flat surface is formed on the color filters 230 and the light blocking member 220 . a common electrode 270 preferably made of transparent conductive material such as ito and izo is formed on the overcoat 250 . the common electrode 270 has a plurality of sets of cutouts 271 - 276 . a set of cutouts 271 - 276 face a pixel electrode 190 and include a plurality of upper and lower cutouts 271 and 272 and 275 and 276 and center cutouts 273 and 274 . each of the cutouts 271 - 276 is disposed between adjacent cutouts 91 - 96 of the pixel electrode 190 or between a cutout 91 or 96 and a chamfered edge of the pixel electrode 190 . in addition , each of the cutouts 271 - 276 has at least an oblique portion extending parallel to the upper cutouts 91 and 92 or the lower cutouts 95 and 96 of the pixel electrode 190 , and the distances between adjacent two of the cutouts 271 - 276 and 91 - 96 , the oblique portions thereof , the oblique edges thereof , and the chamfered edges of the pixel electrode 190 , which are parallel to each other , are substantially the same . the cutouts 271 - 276 substantially have inversion symmetry with respect to an imaginary transverse center line of the pixel electrode 190 . each of the cutouts 271 and 276 has an oblique portion extending approximately from a left edge of the pixel electrode 190 approximately to an upper or lower edge of the pixel electrode 190 and transverse and longitudinal portions extending from respective ends of the oblique portion along edges of the pixel electrode 190 , overlapping the edges of the pixel electrode 190 , and making obtuse angles with the oblique portion . each of the cutouts 272 and 275 has an oblique portion , a longitudinal portion connected to an end of the oblique portion , and an expansion connected to the other end of the oblique portion . the oblique portion extends approximately from the left edge of the pixel electrode 190 approximately to upper right or lower right corner of the pixel electrode 190 . the longitudinal portion extends from the end of the oblique portion along the left edge of the pixel electrode 190 , overlaps the left edge of the pixel electrode 190 , and makes an obtuse angle with the oblique portion . the expansion covers the respective corner of the pixel electrode 190 . the cutout 273 has a pair of oblique portions extending approximately from the center of the left edge of the pixel electrode 190 to the right edge of the pixel electrode 190 , a transverse portion extending from a meeting point of the oblique portions to the left , and a pair of longitudinal portions extending from the respective oblique portions along the right edge of the pixel electrode 190 , overlapping the right edge of the pixel electrode 190 , and making an obtuse angle with the respective oblique portions . the cutout 274 has a transverse portion extending along the transverse center line of the pixel electrode 190 , a pair of oblique portions extending from the transverse portion approximately to the right edge of the pixel electrode 190 and making obtuse angles with the transverse portion , and a pair of longitudinal portions extending from the respective oblique portions along the right edge of the pixel electrode 190 , overlapping the right edge of the pixel electrode 190 , and making an obtuse angle with the respective oblique portions . the number of the cutouts 271 - 276 may be varied depending on the design factors , and the light blocking member 220 may also overlap the cutouts 271 - 276 to block the light leakage through the cutouts 271 - 276 . in the meantime , the cutouts 271 - 276 may expose portions of the color filters 230 if there is no overcoat 250 , and the exposed portions of the color filters 230 may contaminate the lc layer 3 . retardation films 13 and 23 for compensating the retardation of the lc layer 3 are disposed on outer surfaces of the panels 100 and 200 , and crossed polarizers 12 and 22 are provided on the retardation films 13 and 23 , respectively , such that a transmissive axis of the polarizer 12 is parallel to the transverse direction . however , the transmissive axis of the polarizer 12 may be parallel to the longitudinal axis . one of the polarizers may be omitted when the lcd is a reflective lcd . the lcd may further include homeotropic alignment films ( not shown ) and these films have depressions forming along the trenches 186 and the depressions of the pixel electrodes 190 . the lc layer 3 has negative dielectric anisotropy and the lc molecules 310 in the lc layer 3 are aligned such that their long axes are substantially vertical to the surfaces of the panels in absence of electric field . as shown in fig4 , a set of the cutouts 91 - 96 and 271 - 276 divides a pixel electrode 190 into a plurality of subareas and each subarea has two major edges and is full of the trenches 186 . the trenches 186 make an oblique angle , preferably of about 45 degrees , with oblique edges of the cutouts 91 - 96 and 271 - 276 . it is preferable that the trenches 186 extend parallel to a transmissive ( or absorptive ) axis of the polarizers 12 and 22 and they are aligned substantially perpendicular to transverse and longitudinal edges of the cutouts 91 - 96 and 271 - 276 and of the pixel electrodes 190 . in detail , the trenches 186 in each of four parallelogrammic subareas , which has substantially two oblique edges and two longitudinal edges , are aligned in the transverse direction . on the other hand , the trenches 186 in each of twelve trapezoidal subareas , which has substantially two oblique edges , a transverse edge , and a longitudinal edge , have two extending directions depending on the relative distances from the transverse edge and the longitudinal edge . the trenches 186 closer to transverse edge than the longitudinal edge are aligned perpendicular to the transverse edge , while those closer to the longitudinal edge are aligned perpendicular to the longitudinal edge . the cutouts 91 - 96 and 271 - 276 as well as the trenches 186 control the tilt directions of the lc molecules 31 in the lc layer 3 . this will be described in detail . upon application of the common voltage to the common electrode 270 and a data voltage to the pixel electrodes 190 , an electric field substantially perpendicular to the surfaces of the panels 100 and 200 is generated . the lc molecules 31 tend to change their orientations in response to the electric field such that their long axes are perpendicular to the field direction . in addition , the lc molecules 31 near the depressions of the alignment layers generated by the trenches 186 tend to align themselves to the length directions of the depressions . the cutouts 91 - 96 and 271 - 276 of the electrodes 190 and 270 and the edges of the pixel electrodes 190 distort the electric field to have a first horizontal component . the first horizontal component of the electric field is perpendicular to the edges of the cutouts 91 - 96 and 271 - 276 and the edges of the pixel electrodes 190 . like the cutouts 91 - 96 and 271 - 276 , the depressions of the pixel electrodes 190 generated by the trenches 186 also distort the electric field to have second horizontal components . since the depressions make angles of about 45 degrees with the cutouts 91 - 96 and 272 - 276 , the second horizontal components of the electric field make an angle of about 45 degrees with the first component . accordingly , the orientations of the lc molecules 31 on each subarea have an azimuthal distribution determined by balancing the aligning forces caused by the geometry of the trenches 186 and caused by the cutouts 91 - 96 and 271 - 276 , and the azimuthal distribution improves lateral visibility as well as front visibility . in addition , the trenches 186 themselves contribute to the improvement of the lateral visibility since they scatter the light , which is expected to go to the front side , to go to the lateral side . in the meantime , the parallelism between the trenches 186 and the transmission ( or the absorption ) axis is required for maintaining the luminance in a black state where there is no electric field and the perpendicularity between the trenches 186 and the transverse and the longitudinal edges of each subarea is required for preventing textures due to the conflict of the tilt directions given by the trenches 186 and the edges . at lease one of the cutouts 91 - 96 and 271 - 276 can be substituted with protrusions or depressions . the shapes and the arrangements of the cutouts 91 - 96 and 271 - 276 may be modified . a method of manufacturing the tft array panel shown in fig1 - 5 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be now described in detail with reference to fig6 - 9 as well as fig1 - 5 . fig6 - 9 are sectional views of the tft array panel shown in fig1 - 5 in intermediate steps of a manufacturing method thereof according to an embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig6 , a conductive layer preferably made of al containing metal , ag containing metal , cu containing metal , mo containing metal , cr , ti or ta are sputtered and wet or dry etched by photolithography to form a plurality of gate lines 121 including a plurality of gate electrodes 124 and end portions 129 and a plurality of storage electrode lines 131 including a plurality of storage electrodes 133 a and 133 b . the conductive layer may include a mo alloy lower film and an ag alloy upper film . both the upper and lower films can be simultaneously etched by an al etchant containing phosphoric acid , nitric acid , acetic acid and deionized water . in addition , the conductive layer can have an inclined lateral surface making an angle of about 30 degrees since the etching rate of the above - described al etchant is faster for al alloy than for mo alloy . referring to fig7 , after sequential cvd of a gate insulating layer 140 preferably made of silicon nitride or silicon oxide , an intrinsic a - si layer , and an extrinsic a - si layer , the extrinsic a - si layer and the intrinsic a - si layer are photo - etched to form a plurality of extrinsic semiconductor stripes 164 and a plurality of intrinsic semiconductor stripes 151 including a plurality of projections 154 on the gate insulating layer 140 . referring to fig8 , a conductive layer preferably made of refractory metal is sputtered and photo - etched to form a plurality of date lines 171 including a plurality of source electrodes 173 and end portions 179 , a plurality of drain electrodes 175 , and a plurality of metal pieces 172 . thereafter , portions of the extrinsic semiconductor stripes 164 , which are not covered with the data lines 171 and the drain electrodes 175 , are removed to complete a plurality of ohmic contact stripes 161 including a plurality of projections 163 and a plurality of ohmic contact islands 165 and to expose portions of the intrinsic semiconductor stripes 151 . oxygen plasma treatment preferably follows in order to stabilize the exposed surfaces of the semiconductor stripes 151 . referring to fig9 , a passivation layer 180 is formed by chemical vapor deposition of a - si : c : q or a - si : o : f , by deposition of an inorganic insulator such as silicon nitride , or by coating of an organic insulator such as acrylic material . the passivation layer 180 and the gate insulating layer 140 are photo - etched to form a plurality of trenches 186 exposing the substrate 110 and a plurality of contact holes 181 - 185 exposing the end portions 129 of the gate lines 121 , the end portions 179 of the data lines 171 , the storage electrodes 133 a , and the storage electrode lines 131 , and the drain electrodes 175 . finally , a plurality of pixel electrodes 190 having a plurality cutouts 91 - 96 , a plurality of contact assistants 81 and 82 , and a plurality of storage connections 84 are formed on the passivation layer 180 and on the exposed portions of the substrate 110 , the drain electrodes 175 , the end portions 129 and 179 , the storage electrodes 133 a , the storage electrode lines 131 by sputtering and photo - etching an izo or ito layer . a tft array panel for an lcd according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to fig1 a - 10c . fig1 a is a layout view of a tft array panel for an lcd according to another embodiment of the present invention , fig1 b is a sectional view of the tft array panel shown in fig1 a taken along the line xb - xb ′, and fig1 c is a sectional view of the lcd shown in fig1 a taken along the lines xc - xc ′ and xc ′- xc ″. referring to fig1 a - 10c , a layered structure of the tft array panel according to this embodiment is almost the same as that shown in fig1 - 5 . in detail , a plurality of gate lines 121 including a plurality of gate electrodes 124 and end portions 129 and a plurality of storage electrode lines 131 including a plurality of storage electrodes 133 a and 133 b are formed on a substrate 110 , and a gate insulating layer 140 , a plurality of semiconductor stripes 151 including a plurality of projections 154 , and a plurality of ohmic contact stripes 161 including a plurality of projections 163 and a plurality of ohmic contact islands 165 are sequentially formed thereon . a plurality of data lines 171 including a plurality of source electrodes 173 and end portions 179 , a plurality of drain electrodes 175 , and a plurality of isolated metal pieces 172 are formed on the ohmic contacts 161 and 165 , and a passivation layer 180 is formed thereon . a plurality of contact holes 181 - 185 and a plurality of trenches 186 are provided at the passivation layer 180 and the gate insulating layer 140 . a plurality of pixel electrodes 190 having a plurality of cutouts 91 - 96 , a plurality of contact assistants 81 and 82 , and a plurality of storage connections 84 are formed on the passivation layer 180 . different from the tft array panel shown in fig1 - 5 , the tft array panel according to this embodiment further provides a plurality of semiconductor islands ( not shown ) and a plurality of ohmic contact islands ( not shown ) disposed under the metal pieces 172 and having substantially the same planar shape as the metal pieces 172 . in addition , the semiconductor stripes 151 have almost the same planar shapes as the data lines 171 and the drain electrodes 175 as well as the underlying ohmic contacts 161 and 165 . however , the projections 154 of the semiconductor stripes 151 include some exposed portions , which are not covered with the data lines 171 and the drain electrodes 175 , such as portions located between the source electrodes 173 and the drain electrodes 175 . many of the above - described features of the tft array panel shown in fig1 - 5 may be appropriate to the lcd shown in fig1 a - 10c . now , a method of manufacturing the tft array panel shown in fig1 a - 10c according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail . fig1 a and 11b are sectional views of the tft array panel shown in fig1 a - 10c taken along the line xb - xb ′ and the lines xc - xc ′ and xc ′- xc ″, respectively , in a first step of a manufacturing method thereof according to an embodiment of the present invention ; fig1 a and 12b are sectional views of the tft array panel shown in fig1 a - 10c taken along the line xb - xb ′ and the lines xc - xc ′ and xc ′- xc ″, respectively , in the step of the manufacturing method following the step shown in fig1 a and 11b ; fig1 a and 13b are sectional views of the tft array panel shown in fig1 a - 10c taken along the line xb - xb ′ and the lines xc - xc ′ and xc ′- xc ″, respectively , in the step of the manufacturing method following the step shown in fig1 a and 12b ; fig1 a and 14b are sectional views of the tft array panel shown in fig1 a - 10c taken along the line xb - xb ′ and the lines xc - xc ′ and xc ′- xc ″, respectively , in the step of the manufacturing method following the step shown in fig1 a and 13b ; and fig1 a and 15b are sectional views of the tft array panel shown in fig1 a - 10c taken along the line xb - xb ′ and the lines xc - xc ′ and xc ′- xc ″, respectively , in the step of the manufacturing method following the step shown in fig1 a and 14b . referring to fig1 a and 11b , a conductive layer is sputtered on an insulating substrate 110 and they are wet or dry etched in sequence to form a plurality of gate lines 121 , each including a plurality of gate electrodes 124 and an expansion 129 , and a plurality of storage electrode lines 131 including a plurality of storage electrodes 133 a and 133 b . referring to fig1 a and 12b , a gate insulating layer 140 , an intrinsic a - si layer 150 , and an extrinsic a - si layer 160 are sequentially deposited by cvd and a conductive layer 170 is deposited by sputtering , and a photoresist film pr with the thickness of about 1 - 2 microns is coated on the conductive layer 170 . referring to fig1 a and 13b , the photoresist film pr is exposed to light through a slit photo - mask ( not shown ) including slit areas ( not shown ), and developed such that the developed photoresist pr has a position dependent thickness . the photoresist shown in fig1 a and 13b includes a plurality of first to third portions with decreased thickness . the first portions are located on first areas b ( referred to as “ wire areas ” hereinafter ) and the second portions are located on second areas a ( referred to as “ channel areas ” hereinafter ), respectively , while the third portions located on remaining third areas c are not illustrated in the figures since they have substantially zero thickness to expose underlying portions of the conductive layer 170 . the thickness of the second portions on the channel areas a is preferably smaller than half of that of the first portions on the wire areas b , and more preferably , it is smaller than about 4 , 000 å . the different thickness of the photoresist pr enables to selectively etch the underlying layers when using suitable process conditions . therefore , a plurality of data lines 171 including a plurality of source electrodes 173 , a plurality of drain electrodes 175 , and a plurality of isolated metal pieces 172 as well as a plurality of ohmic contact stripes 161 including a plurality of projections 163 , a plurality of ohmic contact islands 165 , a plurality of semiconductor stripes 151 including a plurality of projections 154 , and a plurality of semiconductor and ohmic contact islands ( not shown ) disposed under the metal pieces 172 are obtained by a series of etching steps as shown in fig1 a and 14b . for descriptive purpose , portions of the conductive layer 170 , the extrinsic a - si layer 160 , and the intrinsic a - si layer 150 on the wire areas b are called first portions , portions of the conductive layer 170 , the extrinsic a - si layer 160 , and the intrinsic a - si layer 150 on the channel areas a are called second portions , and portions of the conductive layer 170 , the extrinsic a - si layer 160 , and the intrinsic a - si layer 150 on the third areas c are called third portions . an exemplary sequence of forming such a structure is as follows : ( 1 ) removal of third portions of the conductive layer 170 , the extrinsic a - si layer 160 and the intrinsic a - si layer 150 on the wire areas b ; ( 3 ) removal of the second portions of the conductive layer 170 and the extrinsic a - si layer 160 on the channel areas a ; and ( 1 ) removal of the third portions of the conductive layer 170 ; ( 3 ) removal of the third portions of the extrinsic a - si layer 160 and the intrinsic a - si layer 150 ; ( 4 ) removal of the second portions of the conductive layer 170 ; ( 6 ) removal of the second portions of the extrinsic a - si layer 160 . at first , the exposed third portions of the conductive layer 170 on the third areas c are removed by wet etching or dry etching to expose the underlying third portions of the extrinsic a - si layer 160 . next , the third portions of the extrinsic a - si layer 160 on the third areas c and of the intrinsic a - si layer 150 are removed preferably by dry etching and the second portions of the photoresist pr are removed by ashing to expose the second portions of the conductors 170 . the removal of the second portions of the photoresist pr are performed either simultaneously with or independent from the removal of the third portions of the extrinsic a - si layer 160 and of the intrinsic a - si layer 150 . residue of the second portions of the photoresist pr remained on the channel areas a is removed by ashing . the semiconductor stripes 151 and the metal pieces 172 as well as the semiconductor and ohmic contact islands under the metal pieces 172 are completed in this step . next , the second portions of the conductors 170 and the extrinsic a - si layer 160 on the channel areas a as well as the first portion of the photoresist pr are removed . at this time , the second portions of the semiconductor stripes 151 may be subject to thickness reduction . in this way , each conductor 170 is divided into a data line 171 and a plurality of drain electrodes 175 to be completed , and the extrinsic a - si layer 160 is divided into an ohmic contact stripe 161 and a plurality of ohmic contact islands 165 to be completed . referring to fig1 a and 15b , a passivation layer 180 is deposited and patterned along with the gate insulating layer 140 to form a plurality of contact holes 181 - 185 and a plurality of trenches 186 . finally , a plurality of pixel electrodes 190 , a plurality of contact assistants 81 and 82 , and a plurality of storage connections 84 are formed on the passivation layer 180 and the substrate 110 and on the exposed portions of the gate insulating layer 140 , the drain electrodes 175 , the expansions 129 of the gate lines 121 , and the expansions 179 of the data lines 171 by sputtering and photo - etching an izo or ito film with thickness of about 400 - 500 å as shown in fig1 a - 10c . as a result , the manufacturing process is simplified by omitting a photolithography step . an lcd according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to fig1 . fig1 is a sectional view of an lcd shown in fig4 taken along the line v - v ′ according to another embodiment of the present invention . it is noted that reference numerals 91 - 96 and 271 - 276 shown in fig4 should be changed into 101 - 106 and 281 - 286 . referring to fig1 , an lcd according to this embodiment also includes a tft array panel 100 , a common electrode panel 200 , and a lc layer 3 interposed therebetween and including a number of lc molecules 31 . layered structures of the panels 100 and 200 according to this embodiment are almost the same as those shown in fig5 . regarding the tft array panel 100 , a plurality of gate lines 121 including a plurality of gate electrodes 124 and end portions 129 and a plurality of storage electrode lines 131 including a plurality of storage electrodes 133 a and 133 b are formed on a substrate 110 , and a gate insulating layer 140 , a plurality of semiconductor stripes 151 including a plurality of projections 154 , and a plurality of ohmic contact stripes 161 including a plurality of projections 163 and a plurality of ohmic contact islands 165 are sequentially formed thereon . a plurality of data lines 171 including a plurality of source electrodes 173 and end portions 179 , a plurality of drain electrodes 175 , and a plurality of isolated metal pieces 172 are formed on the ohmic contacts 161 and 165 , and a passivation layer 180 is formed thereon . a plurality of contact holes 181 - 185 and a plurality of trenches 186 are provided at the passivation layer 180 and the gate insulating layer 140 . a plurality of pixel electrodes 190 , a plurality of contact assistants 81 and 82 , and a plurality of storage connections 84 are formed on the passivation layer 180 . regarding the common electrode panel 200 , a light blocking member 220 , a plurality of color filters 230 , an overcoat 250 , and a common electrode 270 are formed on an insulating substrate 210 . retardation films 13 and 23 for compensating the retardation of the lc layer 3 are disposed on outer surfaces of the panels 100 and 200 , and a pair of polarizers 12 and 22 are provided on the retardation films 13 and 23 . different from the lcd shown in fig5 , a plurality of protrusions 101 - 106 are provided on the pixel electrodes 190 instead of the cutouts 91 - 96 shown in fig5 , and a plurality of protrusions 281 - 286 are provided on the common electrode 270 instead of the cutouts 271 - 276 shown in fig5 . the protrusions 101 - 106 and 281 - 286 play substantially the same role as the cutouts 91 - 96 and 271 - 276 . that is , the protrusions 101 - 106 and 281 - 286 cause a horizontal component in an electric field generated in the lc layer 3 . in addition , the protrusions 101 - 106 and 281 - 286 cause pretilt of the lc molecules 31 that is perpendicular to edges of the protrusions . as described above , the trenches 186 induce the lc molecules 31 to align their length directions . accordingly , the orientations of the lc molecules 31 on each subarea enclosed by the protrusions 101 - 106 and 281 - 286 and chamfered edges of the pixel electrodes 190 have an azimuthal distribution made by balancing the aligning forces caused by the geometry of the trenches 186 and caused by the protrusions 101 - 106 and 281 - 286 , which improves lateral visibility as well as front visibility . many of the above - described features of the lcd shown in fig1 - 5 may be appropriate to the lcd shown in fig1 . an lcd according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to fig1 . fig1 is a sectional view of an lcd shown in fig4 taken along the line iv - iv ′ according to another embodiment of the present invention . it is noted that reference numerals 271 - 276 shown in fig4 should be changed into 281 - 286 . referring to fig1 , an lcd according to this embodiment also includes a tft array panel 100 , a common electrode panel 200 , and a lc layer 3 interposed therebetween and including a number of lc molecules 31 . layered structures of the panels 100 and 200 according to this embodiment are almost the same as those shown in fig5 and 16 . more exactly , the structure of the lcd shown in fig1 is a hybrid of those shown in fig5 and 16 . regarding the tft array panel 100 , a plurality of gate lines 121 including a plurality of gate electrodes 124 and end portions 129 and a plurality of storage electrode lines 131 including a plurality of storage electrodes 133 a and 133 b are formed on a substrate 110 , and a gate insulating layer 140 , a plurality of semiconductor stripes 151 including a plurality of projections 154 , and a plurality of ohmic contact stripes 161 including a plurality of projections 163 and a plurality of ohmic contact islands 165 are sequentially formed thereon . a plurality of data lines 171 including a plurality of source electrodes 173 and end portions 179 , a plurality of drain electrodes 175 , and a plurality of isolated metal pieces 172 are formed on the ohmic contacts 161 and 165 , and a passivation layer 180 is formed thereon . a plurality of contact holes 181 - 185 and a plurality of trenches 186 are provided at the passivation layer 180 and the gate insulating layer 140 . a plurality of pixel electrodes 190 , a plurality of contact assistants 81 and 82 , and a plurality of storage connections 84 are formed on the passivation layer 180 . regarding the common electrode panel 200 , a light blocking member 220 , a plurality of color filters 230 , an overcoat 250 , and a common electrode 270 are formed on an insulating substrate 210 . retardation films 13 and 23 for compensating the retardation of the lc layer 3 are disposed on outer surfaces of the panels 100 and 200 , and a pair of polarizers 12 and 22 are provided on the retardation films 13 and 23 . the lcd according to this embodiment provides a plurality of cutouts 91 - 96 at the pixel electrodes 190 like fig5 , while it provides a plurality of protrusions 281 - 286 on the common electrode 270 like fig1 . accordingly , the orientations of the lc molecules 31 on each subarea enclosed by the cutouts 91 - 96 , the protrusions 281 - 286 and chamfered edges of the pixel electrodes 190 have an azimuthal distribution made by balancing the aligning forces caused by the geometry of the trenches 186 and caused by the cutouts 91 - 96 and the protrusions 281 - 286 , which improves lateral visibility as well as front visibility . many of the above - described features of the lcd shown in fig5 and 16 may be appropriate to the lcd shown in fig1 . an lcd according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to fig1 - 21 as well as fig2 and 23 . fig1 is a layout view of a tft array panel of an lcd according to an embodiment of the present invention , fig1 is a layout view of a common electrode panel of an lcd according to an embodiment of the present invention , fig2 is a layout view of an lcd including the tft array panel shown in fig1 and the common electrode panel shown in fig1 , and fig2 is a sectional view of the lcd shown in fig2 taken along the line xxi - xxi ′. referring to fig1 - 21 , an lcd according to this embodiment also includes a tft array panel 100 , a common electrode panel 200 , and a lc layer 3 interposed therebetween and including a number of lc molecules 31 . layered structures of the panels 100 and 200 according to this embodiment are almost the same as those shown in fig1 - 5 . regarding the tft array panel 100 , a plurality of gate lines 121 including a plurality of gate electrodes 124 and end portions 129 and a plurality of storage electrode lines 131 including a plurality of storage electrodes 133 a and 133 b are formed on a substrate 110 , and a gate insulating layer 140 , a plurality of semiconductor stripes 151 including a plurality of projections 154 , and a plurality of ohmic contact stripes 161 including a plurality of projections 163 and a plurality of ohmic contact islands 165 are sequentially formed thereon . a plurality of data lines 171 including a plurality of source electrodes 173 and end portions 179 , a plurality of drain electrodes 175 , and a plurality of isolated metal pieces 172 are formed on the ohmic contacts 161 and 165 , and a passivation layer 180 is formed thereon . a plurality of contact holes 181 - 185 are provided at the passivation layer 180 and the gate insulating layer 140 . a plurality of pixel electrodes 190 having a plurality of cutouts 91 - 96 , a plurality of contact assistants 81 and 82 , and a plurality of storage connections 84 are formed on the passivation layer 180 . regarding the common electrode panel 200 , a light blocking member 220 , a plurality of color filters 230 , an overcoat 250 , and a common electrode 270 having a plurality of cutouts 271 - 276 are formed on an insulating substrate 210 . retardation films 13 and 23 for compensating the retardation of the lc layer 3 are disposed on outer surfaces of the panels 100 and 200 , and crossed polarizers 12 and 22 are provided on the retardation films 13 and 23 , respectively , such that one of their polarization axes is parallel to the transverse direction or the longitudinal direction . a pair of alignment layers 11 and 21 , which are not shown in fig5 but may be also provided , are coated on inner surfaces of the panels 100 and 200 . different from the lcd shown in fig1 - 5 , there is no trench at the passivation layer 180 . instead , the alignment layers 11 and 21 preferably made of polyimide or polyamide are rubbed in a direction making an oblique angle , preferably of about 40 - 50 degree and more preferably of about 45 degrees , with oblique edges of the cutouts 91 - 96 and 271 - 276 . it is preferable that the rubbing directions are parallel to a polarization axis pol of the polarizers 12 and 22 such that the luminance in a black state of the lcd is minimized . it is also preferable that the rubbing directions are antiparallel but they may be parallel . the rubbing makes the lc molecules 31 near the alignments layers 11 and 21 tilt along the rubbing directions upon application of an electric field to the lc layer 3 , and antiparallel rubbing directions make the lc molecules 31 tilt in opposite directions . the predetermined tilt direction is referred to as “ the pretilt direction ” hereinafter and the treatment for providing the pretilt direction such as the rubbing is referred to as “ the pretilt treatment .” the provisions of the above - described trenches 186 can be also considered as a kind of the pretilt treatment . the pretilt direction may be also obtained by illuminating a polarized light onto the alignment layers 11 and 21 . the pretilt treatment may cause the lc molecules 31 to be slightly inclined relative to a direction normal to surfaces of the alignment layers 11 and 21 . the pretilt treatment may be performed to only one of the alignment layers 11 and 21 . when pretilt treatment is performed to the alignment layer 11 , the pretilt direction is preferably parallel to the polarization axis pol of the polarizer 12 . on the contrary , the pretilt direction is preferably parallel to the polarization axis pol of the polarizer 22 when the pretilt treatment is performed at the alignment layer 21 . as described above , the parallelism between the pretilt direction and one of the polarization axes pol minimizes the light leakage in the black state . fig2 and 23 show two different types of pretilt directions , one in the longitudinal direction and the other in the transverse direction , for a pair of crossed polarization axes pol . the pretilt directions shown in fig2 and 23 are antiparallel to each other . the nails shown in fig2 and 23 indicate four different tilt directions of the lc molecules 31 . accordingly , the orientations of the lc molecules 31 on each subarea enclosed by the cutouts 91 - 96 and 271 - 276 and chamfered edges of the pixel electrodes 190 have an azimuthal distribution made by balancing the aligning forces caused by the provision of the pretilt directions and caused by the cutouts 91 - 96 and 271 - 276 , which improves lateral visibility as well as front visibility . the pretilt treatment such as rubbing or the light illumination can be localized by using photoresist pattern . for example , the pretilt directions formed by the local pretilt treatment may be equal to the extending directions of the trenches 186 shown in fig4 . many of the above - described features of the lcd shown in fig1 - 5 may be appropriate to the lcd shown in fig1 - 21 . an lcd according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to fig2 - 27 . fig2 is a layout view of a tft array panel of an lcd according to an embodiment of the present invention , fig2 is a layout view of a common electrode panel of an lcd according to an embodiment of the present invention , fig2 is a layout view of an lcd including the tft array panel shown in fig2 and the common electrode panel shown in fig2 , and fig2 is a sectional view of the lcd shown in fig2 taken along the line xxvii - xxvii ′. referring to fig2 - 27 , an lcd according to this embodiment also includes a tft array panel 100 , a common electrode panel 200 , and a lc layer 3 interposed therebetween and including a number of lc molecules 31 . layered structures of the panels 100 and 200 according to this embodiment are almost the same as those shown in fig1 - 21 . regarding the tft array panel 100 , a plurality of gate lines 121 including a plurality of gate electrodes 124 and end portions 129 and a plurality of storage electrode lines 131 including a plurality of storage electrodes 133 a and 133 b are formed on a substrate 110 , and a gate insulating layer 140 , a plurality of semiconductor stripes 151 including a plurality of projections 154 , and a plurality of ohmic contact stripes 161 including a plurality of projections 163 and a plurality of ohmic contact islands 165 are sequentially formed thereon . a plurality of data lines 171 including a plurality of source electrodes 173 and end portions 179 , a plurality of drain electrodes 175 , and a plurality of isolated metal pieces 172 are formed on the ohmic contacts 161 and 165 , and a passivation layer 180 is formed thereon . a plurality of contact holes 181 - 185 are provided at the passivation layer 180 and the gate insulating layer 140 . a plurality of pixel electrodes 190 , a plurality of contact assistants 81 and 82 , and a plurality of storage connections 84 are formed on the passivation layer 180 , and an alignment layer 11 is coated thereon . regarding the common electrode panel 200 , a light blocking member 220 , a plurality of color filters 230 , an overcoat 250 , a common electrode 270 , and an alignment layer 21 are formed on an insulating substrate 210 . retardation films 13 and 23 for compensating the retardation of the lc layer 3 are disposed on outer surfaces of the panels 100 and 200 , and crossed polarizers 12 and 22 are provided on the retardation films 13 and 23 , respectively . different from the lcd shown in fig1 - 21 , each pixel electrode 190 has a cutout 98 extending in a longitudinal direction and bisecting the pixel electrode 190 into left and right halves . in addition , the common electrode 270 has a plurality of pairs of cutouts 277 and 279 and each pair of cutouts 277 and 279 faces a pixel electrode 190 and is disposed between the cutout 98 of the pixel electrode 190 and longitudinal edges of the pixel electrode 190 . the cutouts 98 , 277 and 279 make an electric field generated by the electrodes 190 and 270 to have a horizontal component in a transverse direction . furthermore , the polarization axes of the polarizers 12 and 22 make an angle of about 45 degrees with the gate lines 121 and the data lines 171 and the alignment layers 11 and 21 are subject to pretilt treatment giving a pretilt direction parallel to one of the polarization axes pol of the polarizers 12 and 22 . fig2 show exemplary pretilt directions , the tilt directions of the lc molecules , and a pair of crossed polarization axes pol of the lcd shown in fig2 - 27 . the pretilt directions shown in fig2 are antiparallel to each other . the nails shown in fig2 and 23 indicate two different tilt directions of the lc molecules 31 . when the cutouts 98 , 277 and 279 extend in the transverse direction , the tilt directions may be longitudinal as shown in fig2 , which shows pretilt directions , tilt directions of lc molecules , and a pair of crossed polarization axes pol of such an lcd . accordingly , the orientations of the lc molecules 31 on each subarea enclosed by the cutouts 98 , 277 and 279 and the longitudinal edges of the pixel electrodes 190 have an azimuthal distribution made by balancing the aligning forces caused by the provision of the pretilt directions and caused by cutouts 98 , 277 and 279 , which improves lateral visibility as well as front visibility . many of the above - described features of the lcd shown in fig1 - 21 may be appropriate to the lcd shown in fig2 - 27 . while the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments , those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications and substitutions can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims .
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for explaining the functioning , it shall be assumed that , as shown in fig1 a rectangular skip from 0 to the ultimate value s ensues at the signal output at the time t 0 , whereby the engraving system should mechanically follow this . this represents the hardest case that occurs in practice . when a linear , completely undamped spring - mass system is excited by a rectangular skip in rated value , as shown in fig2 then , as shown in fig3 it continues to oscillate with its characteristic , natural frequency with double the amplitude of the rated value skip after the skip . in a practically executed system , a damping is always present , being even potentially effected by measures specifically provided for this reason . such a system will follow the curve reproduced in fig4 ; the undesired , resonant oscillation will decay due to the attenuation until the system ultimately remains in the new final position that corresponds to the rated value skip . as already mentioned above , this transiency leads to image disturbances . here , too , however , the first cusp point lies at double the amplitude of the rated value skip in a good approximation -- as it does in fig3 . when it is then assumed that the incoming signal of fig1 is supplied to a delay element ( for example , to a sample - and - hold circuit ) that outputs it again after a time t 2 - t 0 ( fig5 ) then a correction signal can be derived from the rated signal during this storage time . for a rectangular skip of the useful signal , this correction signal advantageously has half the amplitude value of the useful signal ( fig5 ) and has the length of a quarter period of the characteristic oscillation of the system and is likewise advantageously rectangular . when , as shown in fig6 this correction signal is placed chronologically preceding the useful signal during output , then the engraving system will already skip to the point p upon application of the correction signal ( double the amplitude of the correction signal ). at time t 2 , the engraving system has just reached the rated value and the excursion speed is 0 . when the delay circuit then forwards the full , new rated value to the system at this time t 2 , then the system experiences no further accelerations but remains at the desired rated excursion . that stated above applies exactly only to linear systems . the spring of such systems is usually fashioned as a non - linear torsion spring and the forces of the permanent magnetic flux also act on the armature like the spring having a non - linear characteristic . further , different engraving systems have slight scatters in the resonant frequency in manufacture . for exact matching , it is therefore advantageous to make the correction signal variable with respect to amplitude and duration . due to the non - linear characteristic , it is also advantageous to control the amplitude and duration of the correction signal dependent on the difference in gradation value ( skip height ) and dependent on the gradation value itself . a number of solutions can be applied with respect to the embodiment of the circuit arrangement . for example , the signal can be quantized and input as well as output can be effected by a shift register controlled with a clock generator . the correction signal can be acquired with regulated and controlled voltage dividers and can likewise be output by the clock control . solutions are also conceivable that undertake the storing and output in analog form with clocked sample - and - hold circuits . in any case , such circuit arrangements can be constructed with means at the command of any one skilled in the art . fig7 illustrates the apparatus for practicing the invention . an engraving signal is supplied to terminal 10 and supplied to delay circuit 11 which may be a sample and hold circuit . the output 11 &# 39 ; of the delay circuit 11 is connected to a correction circuit 12 which can be adjusted to vary the amplitude of the correction signal by amplitude setting knob 14 . a duration setting knob 16 allows the time of phase delay of circuit 12 to be set . the outputs of circuits 11 and 12 are combined and supplied as a command signal corrected according to the invention to an engraving system 13 .
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fig1 is the block diagram of a prior art audio synchronizer system containing a video frame synchronizer 1 having a video input terminal 2 , a delayed video output terminal 3 , a video delay detector 6 having a video input terminal 4 , a delayed video input terminal 5 and providing a video delay signal 10 . also shown is a variable audio delay 7 having an audio input terminal 8 and a delayed audio output terminal 9 , the variable audio delay being responsive to the video delay signal 10 . fig1 shows by way of example a typical block diagram of a prior art audio synchronizer system which would be used to correct audio to video delay problems . in this system , a television video signal is passed through video frame synchronizer 1 which delays the video . video delay detector 6 is responsive to video input to the frame synchronizer at terminal 4 and video output from the frame synchronizer at terminal 5 , to measure the time difference , or time delay , of video from terminal 2 which is passed through the video frame synchronizer 1 to terminal 3 . this delay is output from the delay detector 6 at terminal 10 and is applied to the variable audio delay 7 . audio delay 7 operates to delay the television program audio input on terminal 8 by an amount equal to the delay of the video passing through the video frame synchronizer and output the delayed audio on terminal 9 . the prior art audio synchronizer system of fig1 works well ; however , it requires that video which is input to the video frame synchronizer , or delay , and video output from the video frame synchronizer or delay are both applied to the video delay detector . this is an unsuitable situation where the input and output of the delay mechanism are removed by any physical distance . such a situation happens if video is transmitted via satellite and audio is transmitted via another path such as terrestrial microwave . fig2 is a prior art audio in video transmission system having an audio in video encoder 13 which has a video input terminal 11 and an audio input terminal 12 and a video plus audio output terminal 14 . also shown is a video transmission path and delay 15 , an audio in video decoder circuit 16 having an input terminal to receive audio from 15 , a delayed video output terminal , and a delayed audio output terminal . this prior art solution to ensure that audio and video synchronization is always maintained is to encode the audio portion of a television program onto the video part of the program . in fig2 audio at input terminal 12 and video at input terminal 11 are applied to an audio in video encoder 13 where the audio is stored for 1 frame , time compressed and placed into the blanking interval of the video signal . the combined audio and video signal output from terminal 14 is then passed through the video transmission path , or other delay , 15 and is input to an audio in video decoder 16 . the audio in video decoder then removes the digitized audio from the blanking interval of the video and reconverts it to analog audio where it is output in delayed form , delayed by the same amount as the video plus 1 frame . the video signal is also output in delayed form , the delay being due to 15 . since the audio and the video have both travelled the same path , then the delay of audio at the output terminal and the delay of video at the output terminal will be nominally the same ; therefore , no large mis - synchronization of audio and video will occur . the prior art system of fig2 works well ; however with current systems , it has a shortcoming in that when high quality audio is placed into the video blanking interval the video is no longer in conformance with ntsc standards , causing a great deal of difficulty if the video signal is to be processed by standard video equipment such as video tape recorders . another problem with the system of fig2 is that there is a limited amount of information - carrying capability in the video signal due to its limited blanking interval . therefore , the quality or number of audio channels which can be handled by this system is limited . two u . s . patents describing such audio in video systems are u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 333 , 108 and 4 , 361 , 852 . fig3 is the block diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention which may overcome the previously discussed problems of the prior art . fig3 shows a timing encoder 17 responsive to a second associated signal , in this example audio , input on input terminal 45 to generate a timing signal , and combining that timing signal with a first associated signal , in this example video , input on terminal 20 , outputting the combined video and timing signal on 22 . in the preferred embodiment the timing signal is a digitized version of the audio signal which has been low pass filtered . the combined video and timing signal which has passed through video transmission path 23 is applied to delay decoder 18 at input terminal 24 and to delay generator 19 at input terminal 29 . alternate connection of 18 is shown in dashed lines . if transmission path 23 is to be a video recording device , the combined video and timing signal at 22 may be combined by recording the video and timing signal on the same recording medium as will be discussed later . delay decoder 18 is also responsive to audio which has passed through audio path 43 at input terminal 41 . in the recursive form of the invention , the audio will have been delayed by 19 before application to 18 , in the non - recursive form audio is applied to 18 before delay by 19 . corresponding conditions apply for video . audio path 43 need not be related to or have the same time delay as video path 23 . delay decoder 18 determines the relative delay between the signals input at 24 and 41 using the aforementioned timing signal and outputs a delay signal from output terminal 47 which is a measure of this delay . delay generator 19 is responsive to the combined video and timing signal at input terminal 29 and to audio at input terminal 37 to delay the earlier one of these signals in response to the delay signal at input terminal 33 in order that the video output at output terminal 30 and the audio output at output terminal 39 will be equalized in timing . delay generator 19 is shown in this preferred form of the invention as having the capability of delaying either the received audio signal at 37 or the received video signal at 29 in order that either may arrive earlier than the other . in a great number of television systems , the received video will always be delayed with respect to the received audio , therefore the video will never need to be delayed . in these systems , the video delay capability of 19 along with terminals 29 and 30 may be eliminated . in other systems , it is desired to only measure the relative delay without any correction and thus the delay generator 19 is unnecessary . as will be obvious to one skilled in the art , delay decoder 18 may be connected at the output of delay generator 19 as shown in dashed lines of fig3 to determine if delayed audio from 39 and delayed video from 30 are properly matched . the delay generator 19 would then be controlled by the delay generator 19 to maintain proper timing . delay generator 19 could then be placed at the other side of the transmission path if desired . inspecting the output of the delay generator to control the delay generator is a recursive form of the invention , and inspecting the input to the delay generator to control the delay generator is a non - recursive form . making the transition from recursive to non - recursive form will be obvious from the present teachings taken with the prior art such as u . s . pat . no . 4 , 313 , 135 , so only the non - recursive form will be discussed . it will be understood however that the present disclosure and claims may apply to either form . fig4 shows a first embodiment of the invention containing a timing encoder 17 consisting of a timing signal generator 44 and a combiner 21 . timing signal generator 44 is responsive to input audio from terminal 45 to generate the aforementioned timing signal which is combined with the video signal input on terminal 20 by combiner 21 . the combined video and audio timing signal is then passed through the video transmission path 23 and on to delay decoder 18 and delay generator 19 . the audio signal applied to terminal 45 is also passed through the audio transmission path 43 which does not need to be related to video path 23 . at the receiving end of the audio and video transmission paths 23 and 43 , a timing signal recovery circuit 26 , part of delay decoder 18 , which is responsive to video containing the timing signal information input at input terminal 24 , recovers the timing signal information and applies it via output 27 to delay detector 34 at input terminal 32 . a second timing signal generator 40 , also part of delay decoder 18 , which is the same as timing signal generator 44 , is responsive to audio which has passed through the audio transmission path 43 applied at input terminal 41 , to generate a timing signal on output terminal 42 which is applied to the delay detector 34 at input terminal 35 . the timing signal output of timing generator 40 at terminal 42 is the same as that which was output by timing signal generator 44 and previously combined with the video in combiner 21 . by way of example , if the delay of 23 is greater than that of 43 , the timing signal input to the delay detector at input terminal 35 is therefore the same timing signal that will be input at a later time , corresponding to the delay of the video transmission path , 23 , less the delay of the audio transmission path 43 , at input terminal 32 of the delay detector . the delay detector is capable of measuring the time delay between the occurance of a particular timing signal sequence at input 35 and that same timing signal sequence which is later input at terminal 32 and outputting a signal responsive to that delay . this delay signal is a measure of the audio to video timing and is output at output terminal 47 . the delay signal from 47 is applied via input terminal 33 of 19 to the input of variable audio delay 36 at terminal 38 causing the variable audio delay 36 to delay audio from input terminal 37 by an amount substantially equal to the delay of video present at 24 with respect to audio at 41 , and output that delayed audio from output terminal 39 with video delay 28 is set to minimum delay , which delayed audio has the same delay as the video output from the system at terminal 25 . the audio to video lip - sync is thereby equalized . one skilled in the art will immediately recognize that this invention will operate with either audio or video delayed with respect to the other . it is important to note that delay detector 34 measures the relative delay between audio at 41 and video at 24 and thus can accomodate positive and negative changes in relative delay of audio and video which result from changes in the video delay of path 23 or the audio delay of path 43 . appropriate adjustment of delays 28 and 36 is made accordingly . this feature is not present in prior art audio synchronizer devices such as that of fig1 . the delay signal output from delay detector 34 may be utilized for a variety of test and measuring functions , as well as or in place of controlling variable delays 28 and 36 . in systems where the audio transmission path delay exceeds that of the video transmission path it is necessary to delay the video signal rather than the audio signal in order to achieve proper audio to video synchronization . in that situation , the output of delay detector 34 is applied to a variable video delay 28 at input terminal 31 and audio delay 36 is set to minimum . the variable video delay operating to delay the video from the transmission path 23 , which is applied to its input terminal 29 , and to output the delayed video at its output terminal 30 . in this fashion , the video may be delayed to match the audio delay which occured in the audio transmission path 43 , thereby affecting correct synchronization of television audio and video . of course , if the video delay is always greater than the audio delay , 28 may be eliminated and vice versa . either video from 29 or audio from 37 will be utilized for the program material as appropriate . in the preferred embodiment , in those systems where the video delay always exceeds the audio delay , video from 25 and audio from 39 will be used with 28 being eliminated . in summary , a timing signal which is derived from the television audio signal is combined with the video before the audio and / or video signals are transmitted through the transmission path or processing circuitry to a receiving location which transmission causes unequal audio and video delay times . at the receiving location , this timing signal is recovered from the video and is compared to the timing signal which is again generated from the audio which has been passed through the delay path or circuitry . because the timing signal , which has been recovered from the video and the timing signal which is generated from the delayed audio are essentially the same signal separated in time , a delay detector can determine the difference in time between the occurance of selected events or patterns of those two signals . it should be noted that this difference in time corresponds to the actual difference in timing between audio and video at the output of the delays or the transmission paths . it does not necessarily correspond to the delay time of the video path or to the delay time of the audio path . the delay detector then controls either a variable audio delay or a variable video delay or both to delay the audio or the video signal , whichever is earlier , to match the other of the signals . by this process , the audio to video synchronization , or lip - sync , will be restored . in addition , the measure of the delay which is output from the delay detector may be used for test , monitor or measuring functions , for example , to monitor the path length or delay time as a measure of quality of the transmission path . the timing signal which is encoded in the video need to not be the full bandwidth audio as in the prior art of fig2 since only timing information is required ; therefore , the problem of having adequate video blanking intervals is overcome . also , there is no connection required between video going into the video transmission path , or delay , and the delay detector which may be located at the output of the video transmission path , or delay . because such a connection is not required , this system is well - suited to preserving a lip - sync for television systems such as satellite and microwave transmission systems which have great distances between their input and output locations . fig5 illustrates an alternate embodiment of the present invention showing an audio to video correction system which may be utilized with one or more audio channels . fig5 shows timing encoder 17 , delay decoder 18 and delay generator 19 , all having the same purpose as the same numbered sections of fig3 but having different internal functions as compared to the embodiment of fig4 . audio # 1 from input 45 is low - pass filtered by low - pass filter 65 and applied to an audio in video encoder 46 at input 48 where it is combined with video from input terminal 20 . the low - pass filtered audio is digitized to an n - bit quantization level , for example 1 - bit , thus becoming a timing signal derived from the audio . the timing signal is , in this case , a digitized low - pass filtered audio signal and may still be referred to as low - pass filtered ( lpf ) audio . of course , the lpf audio may be digitized to more than a one - bit level as in prior art systems of fig2 ; however , in the preferred embodiment shown , one bit is sufficient . for the preferred one bit digitization level the audio output on 54 of audio in video decoder 52 will be binary in nature ; however , if more than one bit quantization is used the output on 54 may be binary or analog . either binary or analog audio from 54 may be input to 18 since by use of a timing signal generator such as 40 of fig4 the analog audio signal may be converted to binary for use by the delay detector . the low - pass filtered audio in video which is output from audio and video encoder 46 on output terminal 22 , is then passed through the video transmission path and delay 50 . at the output of the video transmission path 50 , the video containing low - pass filtered audio may be passed through an optional additional video delay 51 having input 49 , and then applied to an audio and video decoder 52 via input 24 . the audio in video decoder 52 outputs the delayed video , called delayed video because it has been delayed by the transmission path 50 , and separates the low - pass filtered audio which is output on terminal 54 corresponding to 27 of fig4 . it should be noted that in fig5 the delayed video output 53 from the transmission path 50 is shown as passing through the delay decoder 18 , whereas in fig4 the video output video 25 does not pass through delay decoder 18 . this difference is shown because in some systems it is desirable to have the audio information deleted from the video before the video is output from 53 . this deletion is performed by 52 . if it is not necessary to perform this deletion , then output 53 may be taken directly from input 24 or 49 as will be apparent to one skilled in the art . similarly , the video output 25 of fig4 may be taken from the delay decoder 18 as necessary . the low - pass filtered audio is applied to an audio delay detector 55 corresponding to 34 of fig3 at input terminal 56 . referring again to fig5 audio # 1 from input terminal 64a is transmitted through audio transmission path 63a . audio output from the transmission path is then applied to the audio delay detector 55 at input terminal 57 . the audio delay detector 55 detects the delay of audio arriving at input terminal 56 with respect to the audio arriving at input terminal 57 . the delay output from audio delay detector 55 on output terminal 58 is then applied via line 33 to variable audio delay 59a at input terminal 60a where the audio # 1 signal from the audio transmission path 63a is input via 61a , delayed and output on output terminal 62a . a second audio signal applied at terminal 64b and passing through audio transmission path 63b may also be delayed by variable delay 59b having input 61b in response to the audio delay detector &# 39 ; s output which is input at terminal 60b . the delayed audio # 2 is output on terminal 62b . in the system of fig5 the delay given to audio # 1 and audio # 2 , by transmission paths 63a and 63b , is expected to be the same , as will be the delay generated by variable delays 59a and 59b . in order to ensure that audio arriving at audio delay detector input terminal 56 is always delayed with respect to audio arriving at delay detector input terminal 57 , an additional video delay 51 may be added to the system . however , if the delay of video transmission path 1 is sufficient to guarantee that audio input to the delay detector at terminal 56 will always be delayed with respect to audio arriving at terminal 57 , then the additional video delay 51 will not be necessary , and the video from transmission path 50 will be coupled directly to the input of the audio in video decoder 52 at 24 . since the audio arriving at input terminal 56 is a low - pass filtered and delayed version of the audio arriving at input terminal 57 , it is possible for the audio delay detector to detect the delay , or the time difference , between those two audio signals . since audio # 1 , which is encoded in the video in the audio and video encoder 46 is low - pass filtered , only a small amount of the video blanking interval need be used . since only a small amount of the interval is used for encoding audio , the video may still conform to ntsc specifications . the low - pass filtered audio which is encoded in the video , will be sufficient for recovering timing information ; however , it may not be suitable for transmitting program audio information . it may be recognized , by one skilled in the art , that even if the delay time of video transmission path 50 and / or audio transmission paths 63a and 63b are constantly changing , as is the case in many video transmission systems , the audio delay detector 55 will still be able to decode the relative delay between audio at input terminals 56 and 57 and will be able to control variable delays 59a and 59b accordingly , so that audio output from 59a and b will be properly timed to delayed video which is output from terminal 53 . as previously stated , it is expected that the audio transmission paths 63a and 63b of fig5 will give equal delay to audio signal # 1 and audio signal # 2 . fig6 shows another embodiment of the system of fig5 wherein the audio transmission paths may have separate delays . fig6 shows a two - channel audio to video timing equalizer with timing encoder 17 having audio # 1 input terminal 69a and audio # 2 input terminal 69b . audio # 1 from 69a is input to low - pass filter 68a and is passed through audio transmission path 84a . audio # 2 from 69b is passed to low - pass filter 68b and to audio # 2 transmission path , 84b . low - pass filtered audio # 1 from 69a via 68a is passed to audio in video encoder 85 at audio input terminal 67a . audio # 2 from 69b , which has been low - pass filtered by 68b , is passed to audio in video encoder 85 at terminal 67b . video into the system is applied via 20 to audio in video encoder 85 at terminal 66 . audio in video encoder 85 has an output terminal 70 corresponding to 22 of fig3 which outputs video which has had audio timing signals derived from audio at terminal 67a and 67b encoded on it . this video is passed through transmission path 71 and applied to audio in video decoder 73 at terminal 72 corresponding to 24 of fig3 . audio in video decoder 73 has output terminal 74 which outputs delayed video , output terminal 75a which outputs low - pass filtered audio # 1 , the timing signal derived from audio # 1 and output terminal 75b which outputs low - pass filtered audio # 2 . low - pass filtered audio # 1 from terminal 75a is also applied to audio delay detector 76a and input 77a . audio # 1 , which has passed through transmission path 84a , is also applied to audio delay detector 76a at terminal 78a , and applied to variable audio delay 81a at input terminal 83a . delay signal from the delay signal output terminal 79a of audio delay detector 76a is applied to input terminal 80a of variable audio delay circuit 81a . audio applied at terminal 83a of variable audio delay circuit 81a is delayed and then output via terminal 82a . low - pass filtered audio # 2 output from audio in video decoder 73 at terminal 75b is applied to audio delay detector 76b at terminal 77b . audio # 2 from transmission path 84b is applied to audio delay detector 76b at input terminal 78b and also applied to variable audio delay 81b at input terminal 83b . audio delay detector 76b outputs a delay signal at output terminal 79b , which delay signal is applied to audio delay 81b at its input terminal 80b . audio # 2 , which was applied to variable audio delay 81b at terminal 83b , is delayed and output on output terminal 82b . the essential difference between the embodiments of fig6 and fig5 is that the low - pass filtered audio # 2 timing signal is also encoded in the video signal and subsequently decoded from the video signal after it has passed through the transmission path . each audio channel will then have its own audio delay detector 76a and 76b and its own variable audio delay 81a and 81b responsive to its individual audio delay detector . in this fashion , the delay times of the two audio transmission paths 84a and 84b may be different and each respective audio delay may compensate accordingly . as previously discussed , the video delay may not be needed and thus is not shown in fig6 . since low - pass filtered audio is encoded in the video and only enough audio information to recover timing information is required , it is possible to put both audio channels &# 39 ; timing information into the video and still have the video conform to ntsc or other specifications . it would not be possible to encode 20 k hz 90 db program audio in video meeting ntsc standards in a fashion such that full - quality program audio could be decoded at the output of the transmission path 71 . however , according to the teachings of the present invention , only timing information need be encoded which takes up much less space in the video blanking interval than would full bandwidth program audio . from the above teachings it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that by connecting 83a to 77b , delay detector 76b can be caused to equalize the delay between audio # 1 and audio # 2 if the two audio signals are similar . this arrangement will be useful for correcting phase errors of stereo signals . several variations of this system will also be apparent from the present teachings , for example sum ( audio # 1 + audio # 2 ) or - different ( audio # 1 - audio # 2 ) signals can be operated on or used to generate timing information . pilot tones or other timing signals can also be added to the audio in response to the video in a sub - audible fashion , thereby causing the audio to carry the timing information instead of or in addition to the video carried timing information , however it is preferred to operate the system without altering the audio signal . fig7 and 8 show details of a binary audio encoder which gives a more detailed view of element 17 of fig3 or 5 and their operation . the circuit of fig7 has a video input terminal 96 , corresponding to 20 of these figures , and an audio input terminal 97 corresponding to 45 . a combined video and binary audio output terminal 87 is shown corresponding to 22 . audio is passed through a low - pass filter 98 corresponding to 65 of fig5 . fig8 shows the audio input at terminal 97 in waveform 102 as might typically be seen . waveforms 102 - 105 have the same time relationships along the x axis . the low - pass filter 98 removes high - frequency components and outputs low - pass filtered audio on terminal 99 as would be seen in waveform 103 of fig8 . the comparator 100 provides a binary output corresponding to the period in time when low - pass filtered audio is positive . this binary audio output may be seen in waveform 104 of fig8 . note that waveform 104 is high when the low - pass filtered audio waveform 103 is positive and waveform 104 is low when the low - pass filtered audio is negative . by way of demonstration , the vertical blanking interval of the video input signal applied at terminal 96 is shown at wave form 105 . this blanking interval occurs at approximately a 60 hz rate . the low - pass filtered audio , shown at waveform 103 , is low - pass filtered to approximately a 10 hz 3 db point , as can be seen from this example by comparing the waveform 103 to the waveform 105 . the binary audio from comparator 100 on output terminal 101 is applied to enable gate 92 on input terminal 94 . the enable gate stores the binary audio from the previous vertical field period , in response to timing signals applied at input 93 from output 91 of the sync stripper and clock generator 89 . in response to the timing signals from 89 , the enable gate will output the stored binary audio pulses during a selected line of vertical blanking , which pulses are combined with the video which is input on terminal 86 in combiner 90 . these pulses would typically be seen as 107 on waveform 106 of fig8 if inspected at output terminal 87 . note that the time scale for 106 is not the same as for 102 - 105 . details of inserting digital samples of an audio signal into a video signal will be obvious to one skilled in the art after reading the previously mentioned u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 333 , 108 and 4 , 361 , 852 . enable gate 92 alternately may merely sample the binary audio at input terminal 94 during a selected line of the vertical blanking as determined by sync stripper 89 . if binary audio is high during this line , the enable gate 92 will output a pulse at 95 which is applied to the input 88 of the combiner 90 on terminal 88 , this pulse being added to the line of vertical blanking of the video signal applied at input 86 and the combined video and pulse output on terminal 87 . if binary audio was not high during the selected line of the vertical interval in the second example , no pulse would be output from enable gate 92 and therefore no pulse would be combined with video in combiner 90 . the enable gate 92 may be thought of as sampling the binary audio signal at a predetermined interval which , in this example , corresponds to the vertical blanking rate and outputting those samples on output terminal 95 so that combiner 90 combines those samples with incoming video . as a further embodiment of the system , the enable gate might sample binary audio periodically during the video field , for example six times per field , store those samples , and then during the selected line of vertical blanking output all six of those samples for combination with the video . the number of samples of binary audio which are combined with video on every vertical blanking interval , determines the maximum frequency response of the binary audio when it is recovered from the video after transmission through the transmission path . according to nyquist &# 39 ; s theorem , the maximum frequency of binary audio signal which can be reconstructed is one - half of the sampling rate which the enable gate 92 performs . this maximum frequency determines the accuracy with which delay times can subsequently be determined ; however , a sample rate of one sample per vertical will allow a 30 hz binary audio signal to be reconstructed . this 30 hz signal is more than adequate for determining delays of most video transmission systems . as previously mentioned the audio signal can also be digitized to greater accuracy than one bit . this is desirable for improving performance , such as the speed at which the delay decoder 18 can measure the delay , and the ability to measure delay in the presence of noise on the audio or video signals . it is however not necessary as previously explained , to encode full broadcast quality audio . as an alternate embodiment of this system , 89 , 92 and 90 can be replaced with a smpte timecode generator and the binary audio from 101 inserted in the binary data or user bits area of the standard smpte / ebu time code , with the timecode being encoded in the video vertical interval . the spmte / ebu time code can also be transmitted or recorded on a separate channel or track as is well known in the art . such time code encoding generators with built in video insertion are well known in the art . companion time code decoding devices which will allow the subsequent recovery of binary audio are also well known . fig9 shows a more detailed drawing of 26 of fig4 or of the major part of 52 of fig5 fig4 and 5 showing two embodiments of 18 . fig9 is a binary audio decoder which is suitable for use in decoding binary audio signals which have been encoded on a video signal by a binary audio encoder such as shown in fig7 . video containing encoded binary audio is input in input terminal 108 and is applied to comparator 109 at 118 , to reference circuit 110 at 119 , and to sync stripper and clock generator circuit 115 at input 120 . reference circuit 110 is a peak hold circuit responsive to the video and to the encoded pulses such as that shown at 107 of fig8 to generate a reference 117 which is approximately one - half of the voltage level between the peak of pulse 107 and the blanking level of video . this reference is applied to the negative input of comparator 109 . video is applied to the positive input of comparator 109 , therefore the output 111 of 109 will correspond to the period in time when the video exceeds the reference . sync stripper and clock generator 115 provide timing signals 116 to latch 112 at input 114 so that only the previously encoded binary audio signal from 111 is latched and stored in the latch and any output from 109 which occurs during the active portion of video will be discarded . latch 112 therefore outputs the binary audio which has been recovered from the video signal and stored at output terminal 113 at a constant rate matching the rate with which the audio was originally sampled in 17 . a delay detector , such as that shown as 34 of fig4 or 55 of fig5 is shown in more detail in fig1 . such a delay detector is suitable for determining the delay between two audio signals , such as the binary audio signal output at terminal 113 of fig9 and the output of the binary audio encoder at terminal 101 of fig7 . for clarity , the audio decoding system of fig1 , receives signals which have passed through that circuitry of fig7 in series of that circuitry with fig9 and is delayed by low - pass filter 122a having input 121a corresponding to 56 of fig5 and comparator 123a of fig1 . lpf 122a converts the binary audio from 113 of fig9 back to analog audio , and then comparator 123a converts it back to binary audio at 124a . this apparently redundent exercise is to cause binary audio at 121a to be delayed by the same amount as audio at 121b , as it passes to delay counter 125 . for simplicity of this example the functioning performed by the low - pass filter 98 and comparator 100 of fig7 is duplicated by low - pass filter 122b having input 121b corresponding to 57 of fig5 and comparator 123b of fig1 . low - pass filter 122b and comparator 123b will operate to generate a binary audio signal which is output from 124b . referring to fig8 the audio input to the low - pass filter at 121b would look like that shown as waveform 102 . the audio output of the low - pass filter 122b would look like that of waveform 103 of fig8 . the binary audio output of the comparators 123a or 123b , which would be seen at terminal 124a or 124b would look like that at 104 of fig8 . assuming the audio from video input to 121a is delayed with respect to audio input at 121b , it may be seen that the binary audio at 124a will be the same as that at 124b , but delayed . of course , the audio from video input at 121a will have been sampled by the action of encoding it in the video ; however , the timing information will be accurately reconstructed by the lpf 122a . alternately , 122a and 123a may be eliminated with output 113 of fig9 feeding directly into 126 which in this instance would correspond to 56 of fig5 . in this situation , care must be taken to ensure that the delay of audio through low - pass filter 122b is small enough to be inconsequential to the overall system preformance , or otherwise that the delay is compensated for . assuming the audio at 124b looks like the binary audio 104 of fig8 it may be seen that occasionally periods of silence will cause no outputs to be seen at 124b for some period of time . a retriggerable one - shot 130 having output 132 , is responsive to binary audio from 123b on input 131 , may be caused to retrigger to the normally present binary audio and to time - out when a silence period of some predetermined length of time , which has been preset at the one - shot , has occured . in this embodiment , the silence period is preset at the one - shot 130 to be greater than the maximum audio delay , which can be experienced by audio on the video passing through the video transmission path , then when the retriggerable one - shot 130 times out , thus enabling the delay counter 125 at input 129 , the audio delay period will also have started and be present at the stop input of the delay counter 125 . the delay counter 125 , having been previously enabled by the time - out of retriggerable one - shot 130 , will now start counting as soon as binary audio in the relatively undelayed channel appears again at input terminal 127 . the counter will continue to count at a known , predetermined rate until the same binary audio appears at some delay time later at terminal 126 , which stops the delay counter 125 . the number of counts the delay counter has counted between the start and the stop then corresponds to the delay time between audio input at 121b and audio input at 121a . the count from 125 may then be converted to a delay time since it was originally counted from a known frequency source and that delay time is output on output terminal 128 corresponding to 58 of fig5 . the delay time may be held at output terminal 128 until the retriggerable one - shot 130 again times - out during a silence period causing the delay counter to count a new delay count which is then applied to the output terminal 128 . as one skilled in the art will recognize , the function of the delay counter is easily implemented using standard ttl logic - type parts . alternately , a small microprocessor could be used to perform the delay count and the retriggerable one - shot function . the operation of the audio delay detector is such that , in a system , the input terminal 126 would receive delayed binary audio such as is available from output terminal 113 of fig9 . the start input terminal 127 and the input terminal of the retriggerable one - shot 131 would receive binary audio such as would be available from the output of comparator 100 of fig7 . referring to fig4 for the system block diagram of the first embodiment , if the delay detector of fig1 were used in the fig4 embodiment , delay detector input terminal 32 would correspond to delay counter input terminal 126 and delay detector input terminal 35 would correspond to delay counter input terminal 127 and one shot input 131 . delay counter output terminal 128 of fig1 would correspond to output terminal 47 of fig4 . timing signal recovery 26 would be that circuit of fig9 and timing signal generator 40 would correspond to 122b and 123b of fig1 . fig1 shows an alternate delay detector constructed around a correlator circuit 135 . this delay detector is suitable for use as 34 of fig4 or with lpf and comparator such as 98 and 100 of fig7 added to input 134 , suitable for 55 of fig5 or 76a and 76b of fig6 . phrased another way , the circuit of fig1 can replace 125 and 130 of fig1 . the correlator circuit 135 operates to shift in a first correlation signal into input a from input 133 according to a shift a clock present at input terminal 137 and to shift in a second signal from terminal 134 into input b with the shift b clock at terminal 136 . a measure of the correlation , or the number of cell - matches between these two signals a and b , is output at output terminal 138 . if there is a perfect match , then the output at 138 corresponds to the number of cells of length of the correlator in this example 64 . if there is perfect disagreement between the signals a and b , then the output from 138 is equal to 0 . briefly , the correlator circuit operates to store a portion of the earlier signal , continuously inspect the later signal as it arrives and flag when the later arriving signal &# 39 ; s pattern matches the stored signal &# 39 ; s pattern . this match indicates that the stored portion of the earlier arriving signal is the same as the later signal . the time delay between the storage of the first signal and the match corresponds to the relative delay between the two signals . an example of such a correlation device is the commercially available trw tdc 1023 . for more information on the operation of such devices and their use in this application one may receive an application note on the part and on correlation techniques in general from trw lsi products in la jolla , calif . binary audio corresponding to the delayed audio is input to terminal 133 . this input terminal corresponds to terminal 126 of fig1 and 32 of fig4 . binary audio in the relatively undelayed form is input at terminal 134 corresponding to terminal 127 of fig1 and to 35 of fig4 . a clock signal of known period , preferably that of the signal which is applied to 133 , is applied at input terminal 142 . a start signal is applied at input terminal 143 . to start the sequence , the start signal goes active low after at least sixty - four ( corresponding to the length of correlator 135 ) clock signals have been applied at terminal 142 . the start signal going low causes the shift b clock at terminal 136 to stop due to the action of and 144 , thereby stopping the shifting of binary audio input from the b input , terminal 134 . the start signal going active low also removes the active high reset from counter 145 , which starts counting clock pulses input from 142 , which are also input to the counter at terminal 147 . the counter then counts the number of clock pulses which are used to shift binary audio input at terminal a of the correlator and outputs this count on terminal 146 . the correlation value and output at terminal 138 from the correlator then becomes a measure of the correlation between the moving binary audio signal a and the stored , or fixed , binary audio signal b . as soon as binary audio a matches binary audio b , a sixty - four will be output from the correlator at output terminal 138 , the sixty - four corresponding to a perfect match between a and b in the correlator and will happen when the moving audio pattern on input a matches the stored pattern from b . this perfect match will happen when enough shift a clocks have been applied to the correlator to cause the delayed audio input at terminal 133 to match in time the stored audio which was previously input at terminal 134 . since the length of correlator 135 is sixty - four cells , the comparison number n for this example will be set to sixty - four . this number is represented by 139 of fig1 , which is applied to one input of comparator 140 . the other input of comparator 140 is the correlation value . when the correlation value matches the number n , an output high signal will be output from terminal 141 of the comparator . the output high signal from terminal 141 via latch clock input 152 causes latch 149 to latch the present counter number which is input to it on terminal 150 from counter 145 output 146 . this counter number was the number of clocks required to shift binary audio a to the point where it matches binary audio b which was previously stored in the correlator . the count was therefore a measure of the delay of binary audio a with respect to binary audio b in the correlator . the latched count from counter 145 is output on terminal 151 and is a measure of the delay that the audio which was encoded on the video has experienced with respect to the audio which was transmitted via the separate transmission path . when a count has been latched in latch 149 , the start signal at 143 may be taken to the high state , causing a new binary audio sequence b to be shifted into 1071 the correlator and causing counter 145 to be reset to 0 via reset terminal 148 . after the correlator has received sixty - four or more clock pulses on shift b input 136 , the start signal may again be taken to the low state starting the process over again . it has been assumed for the above explanation that the signal at 133 is delayed with respect to that at 134 . if , however , the signal at 134 is delayed , then the connections of 133 and 134 to inputs a and b of 135 should be reversed . if it is not known which is delayed , such may be determined by trying first one connection and if not receiving a proper output on 138 within a reasonable number of clocks , reversing the connections and again looking for a proper output at 138 or by using two such circuits . such switching may be performed by an electronic double pole double throw switch such as a 74157 . in some applications , due to noise which is imparted to audio either through the audio transmission path , or audio which is encoded in the video , a less than perfect match will be made at the proper correlation point . this will result in correlator 135 outputting a number which is lower than sixty - four at output terminal 138 . in this instance , a number lower than sixty - four will be required at the reference in 139 . the lower number will allow operation in the presence of noise and still maintain a high degree of immunity from false correlation pulses due to the somewhat random nature of the input audio signals . also , one may wish to average the results of a number of correlation trials in order to reduce the effects of noise and false correlations . the clocking signal applied to 142 is preferred to be that which has been used to recover binary audio from the video , however it may be selected to be a frequency which is convenient in order to provide a delay output from terminal 151 which is matched to the delay required by the audio delay circuitry . for example , if the clock input at terminal 142 had a frequency of 1 khz , then the delay output from terminal 151 would correspond to the number of milliseconds of delay of binary audio input at terminal 133 , with respect to binary audio input at terminal 134 . in any event , the delay of the two signals may be determined from the count which is held in the latch 149 and the period of the clock applied at 142 . one skilled in the art will easily be able to determine the proper clock frequency for a given application and to build proper control circuitry to generate the start signal applied at input terminal 143 . for ease of explanation , the fact that the binary audio which is recovered from video may be delayed by one video field has not been addressed . in a system where the gate 92 of fig6 stores more than one binary audio sample per video field , the binary audio subsequently recovered from the video will contain this storage delay . this storage delay , if it is a significant amount , should be subtracted from the delay output from the delay detector by utilizing a common digital adder circuit . several commercially available parts would be suitable for the functions shown in fig1 , for example , the reference number 139 could be set with a dip switch , the comparator 140 could be made of a 74ls684 , the latch 149 could be constructed of a 74ls374 , the counter 145 could be constructed of a 74ls491 , the and gate could be constructed of a 74ls08 , and the correlator 135 , as previously mentioned , could be constructed of a trw tdc 1023 . fig1 shows a digital audio delay suitable for delaying audio signals in response to the delay output of the delay detector of either fig1 , or of fig1 and may be used for 36 of fig4 a or b of fig5 or 81a or b of fig6 . the digital audio delay has an audio input terminal 172 , which corresponds to terminal 37 of fig3 an audio output terminal 180 , corresponding to 39 of fig3 and a delay input terminal 184 corresponding to 33 of fig3 . audio input on terminal 172 is digitized in the a - to - d converter 173 and digital audio 174 is then stored into ram 175 in response to a write - address generator 185 which applies a write address at write - address terminal 177 . the write address at input 182 is modified in adder 181 by the delay count input at terminal 184 . this delay could be the same delay output , shifted by several bits or scaled in a prom from terminal 151 of fig1 , or output from 128 of fig1 . the adder 181 adds the delay input at terminal 184 to the current write address input at terminal 182 and outputs a read address on terminal 183 . this read address is applied to ram 175 at the read address input terminal 178 . in operation , digitized audio input to the ram from 174 is written into a write - address location , for instance , in this example , location 0 . the write address generator continues causing the write address to change with new digital audio samples being written into subsequent decreasing addresses in the ram . at some point in time later , the sum of the then - current write address and the delay input on terminal 184 will be equal to 0 which will become the read address for the ram . at that point in time , the previously written digital audio at address location 0 is read from the ram and output on terminal 176 . this digital audio which is read from the ram is then applied to the d - to - a converter 179 , and converted back to analog audio which is output on terminal 180 . one can see that if the delay applied to 184 is 0 , the ram will read and write from the same address ; therefore , the digital audio written into the ram is immediately read out of the ram and passed to the d - to - a converter . the net delay , then , for storage time through the ram will be 0 . if the delay number applied at 184 is increased , then the distance between the write and the read addresses will be increased causing the delay through the ram to increase correspondingly . several digital audio delay devices operating on this principle are available in the marketplace today , one such device being the lexicon pcm 42 digital delay unit . the delay period is generally set by front panel thumbwheel switches in these devices . one skilled in the art will find it relatively easy to replace the front panel delay control of such a device with the delay signal output from the delay detector . alternately , it would be relatively easy to build a dedicated digital audio delay from commercially available parts , as would be readily apparent to one skilled in the art . fig1 shows an alternate delay detector , part of delay decoder 18 , which may be used as 34 in the embodiment shown in fig4 or with the addition of an lpf and comparator as 55 of fig5 or 76a or b of fig6 . fig1 shows a phase - lock loop type delay detector which generates a variable - frequency clock whose frequency is responsive to the delay between the two binary audio signals . the relatively undelayed binary audio signal is applied at terminals 166 and 167 corresponding to 35 of fig3 . terminal 167 is the input to a retriggerable one - shot circuit 168 , operating the same as that shown in fig1 . the retriggerable one - shot times - out after a period of silence which is greater than the maximum delay that the delayed binary audio can receive from the transmission path and enables the d - type flip - flops 157a and 157b at their b inputs 156a and 156b , respectively . for the purpose of explanation , assume the vco ( voltage controlled oscillator ) 163 has been operating at a frequency which causes clocked delay 165 to clock binary audio from input terminal 166 to the input 153b of d flip - flop 157b with a delay such that it is coincident with the occurance of the same binary audio input to d flip - flop 157a . in other words , the delay of clock delay 165 exactly matches the delay of binary audio which has been recovered from video which has passed through the video transmission path . assuming the one - shot 168 has enabled 157a and b &# 39 ; s d - input , or applied an active high signal to them , both 157a and b will simultaneously clock that high to their q outputs on terminals 157a and 157b . the two high signals applied to nand gate 158 will cause the output of nand gate 158 to go low which correspondingly causes d flip - flops 157a and 157b to be cleared by the clear input terminals 154a and 154b . the net effect is to generate two very short , high - going pulses output from the d flip - flops at 155a and 155b . these pulses will be equal in duration corresponding approximately to the propagation delay through 158 and the clear propagation time of 157a and b . since the pulses are equal in duration and applied to integrator 159 , one to the positive integrating input 160 and one to the negative integrating input 161 , the net change of the integrator will be 0 and the voltage output from the integrator on terminal 162 and applied to the vco at input 171 will remain constant ; therefore , the voltage - controlled oscillator frequency output at 164 from 163 will remain constant . as will be apparent to one skilled in the art , the integrator 159 could also be an amplifier , changing the loop order from 3 to 2 . this output 164 corresponds to 47 of fig4 . now assume that binary audio from the video input on terminal 153a corresponding to 32 of fig4 advances slightly from its previous position . the retriggerable one - shot at the next silence period will enable 157a and 157b , binary audio applied at 153a will cause flip - flop 157a to clock , outputting a high at terminal 155a . this high causes the error integrator to charge in the positive direction because there has not yet been a corresponding high from d flip - flop 157b . the integrator will continue to charge until the delayed clock is applied to terminal 153b , the clock input of d flip - flop 157b . at that time both d flip - flops will be cleared , as previously discussed . in the meantime , however , the integrator 159 has been caused to charge in the positive direction , due to the earlier binary audio pulse being applied on 153a . the error voltage output from the integrator output terminal 162 will then cause the vco 163 to oscillate at a higher frequency than previously , causing the variable - frequency clock , output on terminal 164 , to oscillate faster which causes the clock delay 165 which has the vco clock input at 170 to shorten in delay time . the shortened delay time of clock delay 165 has the effect of advancing the pulse applied to 157b , therefore bringing it back into coincidence with the previously advanced pulse applied at input terminal 153 and to the clock input of 157a . the net result is that the clock edges input to 157b are always maintained in synchronism with the edges at 157a &# 39 ; s clock input . the frequency of the variable - frequency clock output from terminal 164 corresponding to 47 of fig4 is then proportional to the relative delay of binary audio input at 153 , with respect to binary audio input at 166 . whenever the delay increases , the clock frequency decreases , so as to maintain coincidence at the two clock inputs of 157a and 157b . this variable - frequency clock can be used to drive a variable - frequency audio delay such as shown in fig1 . alternately , delay 165 can be the delay generator 19 of fig3 in a recursive configuration . delayed audio corresponding to 39 of fig3 would come from the output of 165 . fig1 , 11 and 13 all show delay detectors which can be used as delay decoder 13 of fig3 , 5 or 6 . one skilled in the art will recognize that the inputs to all three of these delay detectors as shown is digital . the audio input 41 of fig3 - 5 and 78a and b is an analog audio signal and must be filtered and converted to digital by a timing signal generator such as 40 of fig4 . also , as previously mentioned , the audio from video 56 of fig5 and 75a and b of fig6 could be analog and thus be converted by a circuit such as 40 for use by the delay decoders . fig1 shows a charge - coupled device used as a variable clock audio delay suitable for use as 36 of fig4 . the ccd device 202 has an audio input terminal 203 corresponding to 37 , a delayed audio output terminal 205 corresponding to 39 , and a variable - frequency clock input terminal 204 corresponding to 38 . the variable - frequency clock input to 204 would be the same as , or a multiple of the variable - frequency clock output from 164 of fig1 . for this example , it will be assumed , however , that it is the same variable - frequency clock . the length of clocked delay 165 is chosen to be the same number of cells as the length of charge - coupled device 202 , in this example , 1024 . the circuitry of fig1 will cause clock delay 165 to delay binary audio input at 166 by this proper amount needed to make it coincident with binary audio input at 153 . if the ccd device 202 has the same number of cells as 165 , the audio input to it will also be delayed by the same amount as the two devices 165 and 202 are driven from the same clock . therefore , the audio will be delayed by the proper amount to make it correspond to the video from which the binary audio input to 153 of fig1 was taken . fig1 shows a circuit by which a digital delay number , such as that number which is output from terminal 151 of fig1 can be converted to a variable - frequency clock suitable for driving a variable - frequency delay such as shown in fig1 or 16 . the circuit of fig1 can be included in either 18 or 19 of the embodiments of fig3 through 6 in order to allow the use of variable clock frequency clock delays with delay detectors which output a digital number as the delay output . fig1 contains a comparator 187 having an input terminal 186 to which is input the quotient of the maximum number the delay can obtain at maximum delay ( n ) divided by the delay at a given instant . for example , if the delay detector can have a maximum output of 1 , 000 , corresponding to a 1 , 000 - millisecond delay , then the number input to comparator at 186 is 1 , 000 divided by the actual delay output . if the delay output were 500 , then the number input to comparator 187 would be two . if the delay output of the delay detector were to be 250 , then the number entered into comparator 187 on terminal 186 would be four . comparator 187 compares the number entered at terminal 186 to the number entered at terminal 188 . if the number at 186 is larger , the comparator outputs a high level on output terminal 189 . if the number at 186 is smaller , then the comparator outputs a high level on terminal 190 . if the numbers are equal , the comparator has no output from either 189 or 190 . outputs 189 and 190 are coupled to the input terminals 192 and 193 , respectively , of integrator 191 . input terminal 192 is a positive integration input which will cause the output of the integrator 191 to increase in voltage when there is a high level present at terminal 192 . terminal 193 causes the output of the integrator to decrease in voltage when there is a high present at terminal 193 . if neither terminal has a high present , then the output voltage of the integrator remains constant . the output terminal of the integrator 194 couples the output voltage to the input of a voltage - controlled oscillator 195 . it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that integrator 191 could also be an amplifier thus changing the loop order from 3 to 2 or for use with an audio delay having an integrating characteristic , i . e . where the delay corresponds to the integral of the clock frequency deviation rather than directly to the frequency . the frequency of the clock output from the voltage - controlled oscillator ( vco ) on terminal 196 is proportional to the voltage on the input of the voltage - controlled oscillator from terminal 194 . if the voltage at terminal 194 increases , the frequency of the clock output from terminal 196 will also increase . the variable - frequency clock from terminal 196 is applied to the clock input terminal 198 of counter 197 . counter 197 is caused to clear and then count for a finite period of time in response to timer 201 . timer 201 inputs a control signal to counter 197 at the counter enable input 200 . the output of counter 197 at the end of the timed period is applied at output terminal 199 to input terminal 188 of the comparator 187 . in the example given , where the maximum delay can be 1 , 000 , corresponding to 1 , 000 milliseconds , the timer 201 would have a timing period during which counter 197 is allowed to count for one millisecond . assume if you will that the delay is 500 milliseconds ; therefore , the number input to terminal 186 will be two . the comparator 187 will cause the integrator to charge up or down until the vco frequency is exactly 2 khz . the 2 khz clock , when feeding counter 197 for the timer period of one millisecond , will give an output of two on terminal 199 , corresponding to the two on terminal 186 of the comparator input . it can be seen that if the number input on 188 is too low , corresponding to the variable - frequency clock being too slow , the output of the comparator will cause the integrators output to charge higher , thus increasing the frequency of the vco . conversely , if the number input at 188 is to large , the comparator will cause the integrator to charge in a negative - going direction , thereby lowering the frequency of the vco . for another example , assume that the delay which is output from the delay detector is 250 milliseconds out of a possible maximum of 1 , 000milliseconds . the number input at terminal 186 will then be four . the comparator , integrator , and vco will then operate to adjust the variable - frequency clock frequency so that the number of clock cycles counted by counter 197 during the 1 - millisecond enable period will be equal to four . this four is output by terminal 199 to comparator input terminal 188 . the variable - clock frequency required to give an output of four during the 1 - millisecond time period is 4 khz . the variable - frequency clock output from terminal 196 can be applied to a clocked audio delay , such as the ccd device shown in fig1 . assuming that the ccd device 202 has a length which corresponds to the maximum delay which can be output from the delay detector , in the previous example 1 , 000 , the ccd device will then delay the audio input signal at 203 by an amount equal to the delay which is output from the delay detector , and output the delayed audio signal on terminal 205 . the numbers given , of course , may not be very practical for an actual application , as a clocking frequency of 1 khz would not be sufficient to pass a normal audio frequency signal associated with a television program . in this instance , the length of the ccd would need to be increased and the clocking frequency applied to ccd increased accordingly . for example , if it were desired to clock this ccd at a minimum clocking frequency of 10 khz , instead or 1 khz given at the previous example , then the ccd would need to be made 10times as long as the 1 , 000 - section device given previously . in order to insure proper operation of comparator 187 , the time length of timer 201 would need to be decreased by one - tenth to correspond to the ten - times higher variable - frequency clock . by way of the previous explanation and examples , one skilled in the art will be able to construct a system utilizing the digital delay to variable - frequency clock converter of fig1 and a variable frequency clock audio delay such as shown in fig1 , or that of fig1 soon to be discussed . it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that for using a variable - frequency clock delay , for example that shown in fig1 or that shown in fig1 , the digital to variable frequency clock converter of fig1 can become part of the variable audio delay 36 , the delay detector 34 , or the variable video delay 28 shown in the system of fig3 . several commercially available integrated circuits are available which perform the functions of fig1 . the division of the delay number can be performed by programmable read - only memory . the comparator 187 can be performed by 74ls685 . the integration 191 can be performed by an integrated circuit op - amp , such as the generic 741 type . several integrator circuits are available in applications literature from manufactures which produce this part . the voltage - controlled oscillator 195 can be built around a 74ls624 . the counter 197 can be built around a 74ls491 . the timer 201 can be built around a 74ls221 . the details of construction of such a circuit utilizing these parts will be obvious to one skilled in the art . fig1 shows a variable - frequency clock audio delay circuit having an audio input terminal 206 corresponds to 37 of fig4 an a - to - d converter 207 responsive to the input audio to provide digitized audio on output terminal 208 , digital shift registers 210 responsive to the digital audio output from the a - to - d converter to provide delayed digital audio output on terminal 212 . the delayed digital audio output is applied to the input of the d - to - a converter 213 which converts the digital audio back to analog audio and outputs the delayed audio on terminal 214 corresponding to 39 of fig4 . a - to - d converter 207 has a clock input 209 , shift registers 210 have a clock input terminal 211 , and d - to - a converter 213 has a clock input terminal 215 . all three of these devices are provided with the same variable - frequency clock which corresponds to 38 of fig4 and which , for example , could be the variable - frequency clock output of terminal 196 of fig1 . it will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art that the delay of audio passing through this system is responsive to the number of shift register elements and the frequency of the clocking signal . if the clocking signal frequency is increased , the audio delay will be decreased . conversely , if the clocking frequency is decreased , the audio delay will be increased . the overall operation of this circuit is much the same as that of the ccd device of fig1 . several commercially available parts are available which can perform the functions of fig1 . a - to - d and d - to - a converters are available from companies such as analog devices and burr brown , and the shift register devices are available from companies such as texas instruments and monolithic memories . these companies are well - known to those skilled in the art . fig1 shows a fourth embodiment of the invention which may be utilized when the transmission paths 23 and 43 are recording devices such as a video tape recorder ( vtr ) for 23 and an audio tape recorder ( atr ) for 43 . fig1 contains the timing encoder 17 having video input 20 , audio input 45 and combined video and timing output 22 ; the same as fig3 . a video tape recorder having a record input 216 , a video playback output 218 and a speed control input 221 is shown for transmission path 23 . the video and timing signal could actually be recorded by the video recorder on separate tracks of the same recording medium , or the timing signal can be encoded in the video as previously shown . an audio tape recorder having an audio record input 217 , an audio playback output 219 and a speed control input 220 is shown for transmission path 43 . a delay decoder having inputs 24 and 41 and output 47 ; the same as fig3 is also shown . since it is also possible to control the relative delay of the video and audio signals output from 218 and 219 , respectively , by changing the playback speed of one or the other or both of the recording devices 23 and 43 , the need for the delay generator 19 of fig3 is eliminated . the delay output 47 is then simply coupled to the playback speed control input of one or both of the recording devices , causing the recording device to perform the delay function of 19 . in the preferred embodiment , since vtr &# 39 ; s are typically more speed accurate than atr &# 39 ; s , the speed of the atr may be changed by coupling delay output 47 to playback speed control input 220 only . as one skilled in the art will recognize , it is also possible to couple 47 to the vtr speed control unit 221 as shown by the dashed lined . interfacing the devices will be fairly simple since many recording devices will accept an external reference for playback speed control . the external reference typically is a signal which occurs at a periodic rate for example 60 hz and increasing or decreasing this rate will cause a corresponding increase or decrease in playback speed . for recording devices which do not have built - in capability of accepting an external reference , the playback speed is often referenced to the a . c . power frequency by the use of a synchronous motor for moving the recording medium , i . e . tape or disc . by changing the frequency of the power supplied to the motor moving the medium , the playback speed is thereby affected . the variable clock frequency delay outputs of fig1 and 14 are ideally suited for determining the frequency of the speed control reference or of the power applied to the aforementioned motor by simply dividing the oscillator output to give a frequency corresponding to the normally used reference frequency . for example , if the v . c . o . operates at 60 khz and the reference frequency is 60 hz the output is simply divided by 1000 . although only one audio and one video recorder is shown in fig1 , it is obvious that a multiplicity of devices can be utilized for recording and for playback . the system of fig1 is recursive in nature since the delayed signals output from the delay generator are compared for proper timing . this embodiment of the invention will be extremely useful for synchronizing a laser compact disc audio player to a video tape recorder . referring back to the system block diagram given in fig4 it can be seen that the timing signal generator 44 and the combiner circuit 21 may be effected by the binary audio encoder circuit shown in fig7 . the timing signal recovery circuit 26 may be effected by the binary audio decoder shown in fig9 . the timing signal generator 40 may be effected by the low - pass filter and comparator 98 and 100 of the binary audio encoder of fig7 . the delay detector circuit 34 may be effected by the delay counter circuit 125 and retriggerable one - shot 130 of fig1 , or by the correlation - based delay detector circuit of fig1 . a further embodiment which may be utilized for the delay detector circuit 34 is the variable - frequency clocked audio delay circuit shown in fig1 . the variable audio delay circuit 36 will be performed by the circuit of fig1 , alternately by the circuit of fig1 , or by the circuit of fig1 , with the system of fig4 being capable of operating with any combination of delay detector and variable audio delay with a suitable interface between the delay detectors and the variable - frequency clock type audio delays being shown in fig1 . variable video delay devices , commonly known as time - base correctors and frame synchronizers in the industry , are readily available . these devices may be genlocked to external references and the design of a suitable video delay device for element 28 of fig4 is readily apparent to one skilled in the art , and therefore not discussed extensively in this specification . the basic system shown in fig3 consists of two parts , one part the timing encoder 17 located before the transmission paths and one part the delay decoder 18 and delay generator 19 after the transmission paths . the part before the transmission paths , 17 , consists of a timing signal generator responsive to audio to generate a timing signal , which timing signal is combined with the video in order that it may be transmitted over the video transmission path with the video . in the circuitry shown by way of example , this timing signal corresponds to the zero - crossings of low - pass filtered audio . however , one skilled in the art will be able to utilize various different timing signals which are derived from the audio signal , since only a relatively small amount of timing information is required to be transmitted with the video signal . the second part of the system of fig3 is located at the receiving location at the end of the video transmission path . this section , composed or delay detector 18 , essentially recovers the timing signal which was previously combined with the video , generates a new timing signal from the audio which has passed through a transmission path , and compares the two timing signals to determine their relative delay . this measure of the relative delay may be utilized to control a delay generator 19 containing a variable audio delay or a variable video delay , or both . the audio signal from the audio transmission path and the video signal from the video transmission path may therefore be synchronized in order to correct or restore any lip - sync problems which may have developed due to audio and video passing through unequal time delays . the term ` transmission path ` has been used throughout the specification to indicate a path , device or medium , over or through which the video passes which generates a delay in the video signal . ` transmission path `, is also used with respect to the audio signal to indicate that the audio signal passes over or through a transmission path , medium or device which causes a delay to the audio signal which may or may not be equivalent to the delay of the video passing through the video transmission path . &# 34 ; transmission path &# 34 ; as used herein may refer to a recording or playback device and may include the delay generator function 19 in the recursive form of the invention . the actual nature of the transmission path is unimportant to the operation of the invention disclosed herein in that the invention measure only the relative delay between audio and video when the two signals are output from the respective transmission paths . while two separate transmission paths have generally been shown , it will be understood that audio and video may well be combined into one single transmission medium or in various different combinations of single , redundant and dual transmission paths may be incorporated in the audio system as is typically done in the industry . it will be understood by one skilled in the art that various functions have been shown in preferred form and particularly , many functions have been shown in either analog or digital form as is most appropriate for the above explanations . one skilled in the art will immediately recognize that parts shown as analog can be converted to digital and vice versa . although this invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity , it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example , and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to , as well as combinations of functions or parts within or as part of other devices , or performed by microprocessor or other computing device without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed .
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fig1 depicts automated well test system 20 . the major components of system 20 include valve manifold 22 for use in selectively flowing individual wells , test separator 24 , flow rate instrumentation drain line 26 for use in measuring volumetric flow rates of production components coming from test separator 24 , gas blanket system 28 for use in maintaining a constant pressure in test separator 24 , and automation system 30 . the individual components of test system 20 may be purchased from a variety of commercial sources and assembled as the configuration shown in fig1 . valve manifold 22 includes a plurality of valves , e . g ., valve 32 . each valve is coupled with a wellhead supply line , e . g ., supply line 34 , which leads to a single producing well ( not depicted ). each valve is coupled with a test separator supply line , e . g ., line 36 , leading to test separator gathering line 38 . each valve is also coupled with a main production separator gathering line 40 leading to a conventional main production separator 42 . the valves , such as valve 32 , are preferably - three - way electronically - initiated , pneumatically actuated valves that control access to test separator line 38 and main production separator gathering line 40 . valves 32 are used to direct the production of an individual well to either main production separator 42 or test separator 24 . a particularly preferred three way valve for use in this application is the xomox tuffline 037ax wcb / 316 well switching valve with a matryx mx200 actuator . the valves are preferably configured to each receive production fluids from a corresponding individual well . the valves can selectively divert the production fluids to main production separator gathering line 40 where the fluids are combined with fluids from other valves for transport to main production separator 42 . a single valve can be selected to divert the production from its associated well to test separator gathering line 38 for transport to test separator 24 . test separator 24 is a conventional well test gravitational separator having an ovaloid outer wall 44 of sufficient strength to withstand well test pressures . test separator 24 is provided with an electronic liquid level indicator 46 for use in indicating to automation system 30 the level of total liquid including water 48 , oil - in - water emulsion 50 , and oil 52 . gas 54 resides within test separator 24 above the total liquid level . an exemplary form of level indicator 46 is the fisher model 249b - 2390 analog float system level transmitter with a sight glass . test separator 24 is connected to a flue gas drain line 56 , which preferably includes a gage pressure transmitter 58 , e . g ., a model 2088 pressure transmitter from rosemount of eden prairie , minn . flue gas drain line 56 also preferably includes a gas flowmeter 60 , such as a smart vortex meter model 8800 from rosemount of eden prairie , minn ., or an orifice differential pressure transmitter such as the model 3051 from rosemount of eden prairie , minn . electronically controlled gas flow control throttle valve 62 governs the flow of gas through gas drain line 56 . valve 62 may , for example , be purchased as a model v2001066 - asco valve from fisher of marshalltown , iowa . gas drain line 56 terminates in the main production separator 42 . flow rate instrumentation drain line 26 connects with a drain point 64 on test separator 24 . instrumentation drain line 26 includes a water - cut monitor 66 , which uses electrical measurements to quantify the water - cut of fluids flowing through instrumentation drain line 26 . water and oil have very different dielectric constants , which make possible the use of electrical measurements to quantify the water - cut . thus , water - cut monitor 66 can utilize capacitance , resistance , or other measurements to quantify the water - cut . other commercially available devices include the use of microwave radiation to detect water cut . an exemplary form of water cut monitor 66 is the drexelbrook model cm - 2 capacitance monitor . instrumentation drain line 26 proceeds from water cut monitor 66 to liquid flowmeter 68 . liquid flowmeter 68 preferably includes a coriolis flowmeter ( including a mass flowmeter , densitometer , and temperature gauge ), which obtains mass flow , density , and flowmeter temperature measurements of materials passing through instrumentation drain line 26 . exemplary forms of flowmeter 68 include the elite models cmf300356nu and model cmf300h551nu , which are available from micro motion of boulder , colo . temperature sensor 69 is provided to measure the temperature of fluids within instrumentation drain line 26 . an exemplary form of temperature sensor 69 is the model 68 sensor from rosemount of eden prairie , minn . sample port 70 is a manually operated valve that is provided for obtaining samples of the fluids within line 26 . in - line static mixer 71 is used to ensure that well - mixed samples are obtained from line 26 through port 70 . dump valve 72 is prefer : ably electronically controlled and pneumatically actuated . dump valve 72 can be opened to drain test separator 24 through instrumentation drain line 26 , and can be closed to permit test separator 24 to fill with production from valve manifold 22 . an exemplary form of dump valve 72 is the fisher level control valve model ez - 667 - asco valve . instrumentation drain line 26 terminates in main production separator 42 . gas blanket system 28 includes a pressurized gas source 74 , which can be gas from a compressor or fuel gas from a pressurized gas source that is used to operate the production facility . the gas source 74 could also be the main production separator 42 . source 74 flows into gas supply line 76 , which leads to gas blanket valve 80 . an exemplary form of valve 80 is the fisher model 357 - 546 . valve 80 preferably works to maintain a constant pressure within test separator 24 , as needed , by throttling a flow of gas through supply line 76 . supply line 76 terminates at upper entry point 82 into test separator 24 . automation system 30 is used to govern the operation of system 20 . system 30 includes a computer 84 ( e . g ., an ibm 486 compatible machine ) that is programmed with data acquisition and programming software . a preferred form of this software is the intellution software dmacs , which is available from intellution , a subsidiary of emerson electric . this software is particularly preferred because it can generate alarms that indicate abnormal well test conditions representative of mechanical failures which are potentially dangerous . computer 84 controls programming of remote operations controller 86 , which includes a plurality of drivers and interfaces that permit computer 84 to interact with remote components of system 20 . a preferred form of remote operations controller 86 is the fisher model roc364 . controller 86 may also be programmed with software to facilitate the implementation of control instructions from computer 84 . valve control leads 88 , 90 , 92 , and 94 respectively connect controller 86 with corresponding electronically actuated valves 32 , 80 , 72 , and 62 for selective control of the valves . lead 96 connects controller 86 with pressure transmitter 58 . lead 98 connects controller 86 with gas flowmeter 60 . lead 100 connects controller 86 with water - cut meter 66 . lead 102 connects controller 86 with transmitter 104 which , in turn , connects with fluid level 46 , liquid flowmeter 68 , and temperature sensor 69 for transmitting information to controller 86 . an exemplary form of transmitter 104 is the elite model rft9739 , which is available from micro motion of boulder , colo . fig2 depicts a schematic process control diagram governing the operation of test system 20 . the fig2 process is governed by control software in computer 84 or controller 86 . step p200 represents a normal test mode that may optionally include testing a selected well by adjusting manifold 22 to flow the well through test separator 24 , or using valve manifold 22 to bypass test separator 24 by flowing all production to main production separator 42 in the event that no test is needed . in step p200 , the lease operator needs to know with accuracy and precision the volumetric oil flowrate q o as defined above by equation ( 5 ) and the volumetric water flow rate as defined q w by equation ( 6 ). calculation of these values requires the calculation of a water fraction , such as x w as defined by equation ( 1 ). in equation ( 1 ), flowmeter 68 can only provide the combined density reading d e while a given well is on test . therefore , equation ( 1 ) relies upon laboratory measurements to provide d o , t and d w , t . as indicated above in the background of the invention , these laboratory measurements sometimes lack accuracy and precision because the laboratory conditions do not correspond to the conditions ( e . g ., pressure , temperature , and solution gas content ) within test system 20 . according to the present invention , the values d o , t and d w , t or equation ( 1 ) are replaced with the values ρ o , t and ρ w , t according to equation ( 8 ): wherein ρ o , t is a density of the pure oil phase excluding any residual water content of the segregated oil component ; ρ w , t is a density of the pure water phase ; and the remaining variables are defined above . the variables ρ o , t and ρ w , t of equation ( 8 ) differ from the variables d o , t and d w , t of equation ( 1 ) because the variables d o , t and d w , t derive from laboratory measurements that are conducted upon samples that are obtained manually , e . g ., in a flow laboratory after removal from system 20 through spigot 70 . in contrast , the variables ρ o , t and ρ w , t derive from in - line measurements that flowmeter 68 conducts on materials within test system 20 . the discussion below pertaining to steps 201 - 214 describes how to obtain the in - line measurements of ρ o , t and ρ w , t . these values have significance because each of equations ( 1 )-( 7 ) yields a superior ( more accurate ) calculation by substituting ρ o , t for d o , t , and by substituting ρ w , t for d w , t , as has been done for equation ( 1 ) in the case of equation ( 8 ). this substitution provides greater accuracy in the calculations because the in - line density measurements eliminate the need for error - prone laboratory measurements in the calculation of d o , t and d w , t . in contrast , equation ( 1 ) relies upon error - prone laboratory measurements that sometimes fail to reflect in - line conditions . flowmeter 68 is preferably programmed to perform calculations according to equations ( 2 )-( 8 ) by substituting ρ o , t and ρ w , t for d o , t and d w , t . these calculations can also be performed by computer 84 or controller 86 . it is necessary to periodically update the variables ρ o , t and ρ w , t because these values change over the life of the producing well . therefore , the fig2 process includes a density determination mode beginning at step p201 . in step p201 controller 86 actuates one of the valves in manifold 22 ( e . g ., valve 32 ). the actuation diverts flow of materials from a selected well through the valve to test separator 24 . the valve need not be actuated if the well is already flowing on test to separator 24 , but it will normally be advantageous to enter the density determination mode prior to conducting an actual well test . in step p202 ; controller 86 opens dump valve 72 to permit flow of materials from valve 32 through test separator 24 and instrumentation drain line 26 into main production separator 42 . controller 86 uses liquid flowmeter 68 to measure a volume of total liquid sufficient to fill gathering line 38 , test separator 24 , and the portion of instrumentation drain line 26 preceding flowmeter 68 . this volume flows through test separator 24 , but does not fill test separator 24 because dump valve 72 remains open . a multiple of this volume may optionally be used to assure that test separator 24 has been fully purged of liquids from another well that did not flow through valve 32 . this volumetric test separator purge operation provides significant advantages over conventional separator purge cycles that rely on a time of flow to purge the separator . purge cycles that rely on time can result in the separator not being fully purged , and test measurements are eventually conducted on fluids from the wrong well . a volumetric purge assures that test measurements are eventually conducted on materials from the correct well . in step p204 , controller 86 closes dump valve 72 to fill test separator 24 with liquid . at the same time , valve 32 is permitted to continue flowing material into test separator 24 until level indicator 46 provides a signal indicating to controller 86 that liquid within test separator 24 has reached a fill level . the fill level is preferably determined by the lease operator , and controller 86 or computer 84 can be programmed to fill test separator 24 to a different level for each producing well . the optimum fill level for each well is determined by experience in the field . the fill level is preferably based upon a total liquid level , but can also be based upon the oil or water level if a weighted float is used in level indicator 46 . gas flowmeter 60 measures the volumetric gas flow leaving test separator 24 during the fill process while gas flow control throttle valve 62 is adjusted by controller 86 , as needed to maintain the materials within test separator 24 at a substantially constant pressure . gas flowmeter 60 provides signals to controller 86 that indicate a volume of gas flowing through gas drain line 56 . when controller 86 receives the signal from indicator 46 that test separator 24 is sufficiently full , controller 86 causes valve 32 to divert its production to main production separator 42 . controller 86 also closes gas blanket valve 80 and gas flow control throttle valve 62 to seal the materials within test separator 24 . the materials inside test separator 24 are permitted to settle while gravity segregates the respective oil , gas , and water components of the material inside test separator 24 . the wait period for gravity segregation can be based upon a sufficient time , e . g ., thirty minutes , as dictated by experience in the field . in the initial installation of system 20 , the operator can view the separation within test separator 24 through a view window on level indicator 46 . the required time for separation is provided as : program control data to computer . 84 . the material within test separator 24 is permitted sufficient time for gravity to cause stratification of the different materials . this stratification normally does not need to occur within two please separator because the separator is only designed to measure two phase ( gas and total liquid ) flow . the fill level within test separator 24 during gravity segregation preferably ranges from about 60 % to about 80 % of the internal volume of the separator . the drain level preferably drops down to about half of the separator internal volume . the respective fill and drain levels for test separator 24 are preferably different for each well , and can be programmed into computer 84 . for example , a well that produces at a high water - cut and low production rate with little associated gas preferably is associated with a high fill level and a low drain level to optimized the produced oil volume in the separator . in comparison , a well that produces at a high gas - oil ratio and a high volumetric oil rate would preferably have a low fill level , and drain a very small volume down to the drain level to permit separation of the gas phase while not needing a significant drain volume to purge a segregated water phase beneath the oil . in step p206 , after controller 86 has determined that the materials inside test separator 24 are sufficiently segregated , controller 86 opens dump valve 72 to drain the materials within test separator 24 through instrumentation drain line 26 and into main production separator 42 . valves 32 and 62 remain closed . the volume of materials that are drained from within test separator 24 is preferably kept relatively small , i . e ., less than about five percent of the total separator volume ( five barrels from a one - hundred barrel separator ). in later steps , this small drainage volume permits rapid refilling of test separator 24 as needed to obtain an accurate well test of the daily rate for the well . step p208 includes obtaining measurements of the materials draining through line 26 . controller 66 receives signals from water - cut monitor 66 that indicate the water - cut of the liquids flowing through drain line 26 . similarly , controller 86 receives mass flow rate and density signals from liquid flowmeter 68 . these signals can be converted into a volumetric flow rate either at flowmeter 68 or computer . 84 . controller 86 receives temperature signals from temperature monitor 69 . controller 86 closes dump valve 72 when controller 86 receives a signal from liquid level indicator 46 indicating that the liquid components have drained from within test separator 24 to a minimum level that avoids introducing gas into instrumentation drain line 26 . flowmeter 68 measures the density of the segregated materials that flow from test separator 24 . the water density ( ρ w , t ) is measured from water layer . 48 , and will have the greatest density of any component . this measurement is conducted on essentially pure water because the water component is substantially free of oil . the oil - in - water emulsion 50 normally causes extensive variations in the density measurement , and these values are ignored . the oil - in - water emulsion flow period is also characterized by a density less than water but greater than oil . density measurements of the oil - in - water emulsion 50 are ignored . the oil layer 52 will have the lowest density value . the density measurement ( ρ t ) of oil layer 52 must be corrected for residual water content because it typically contains up to about ten percent water . the measured oil density is corrected for water content according to equation ( 9 ) below : wherein ρ o , t is water - corrected oil density at temperature t ; ρ the total density of the water - cut oil component as measured by the flowmeter 68 at temperature t ; ρ w is the density of the water component as measured by the flowmeter 68 from the segregated water phase at temperature t ; and wc is the water - cut of the oil component expressed as the volumetric fraction of water in the gravity - segregated oil component exiting test separator 24 . wc is measured by the water - cut monitor 66 . it is noted that the water - cut monitor 66 can be relied upon to obtain accurate water - cut readings because the water - cut in the segregated oil phase will typically not exceed 10 %. the value ρ o , t is used in equation ( 8 ), and the x w value from equation ( 8 ) is used in combination with equations ( 2 )-( 7 ) to provide volumetric rate calculations . it is desirable to maintain a constant pressure inside test separator 24 during step p208 because excessively high or low pressures can result in volumetric test and density measurement errors as gas is liberated or absorbed by the separator liquids responsive to abnormal changes in pressure . controller 86 monitors signals from pressure transmitter 58 , and uses these signals to maintain a substantially constant pressure inside test separator 24 . controller 86 adjusts valve 80 to supply additional gas as needed to compensate for the pressure reduction that accompanies an expanding gas volume which compensates for the removal of liquids from within test separator 24 . the pressure inside test separator 24 is preferably maintained at a value equal to or slightly above that for the main production separator 42 . a slight additional pressure ( e . g ., + 10 psi ) will facilitate the flow of liquids through drain line 26 and into main production separator 42 without introducing a significant volumetric error . the pressure inside test separator 24 typically ranges from 200 psi to 1500 psi , plus or minus about 20 psi , but the pressure can be any pressure that circumstances demand . in step p210 , controller 86 determines whether the quantity of oil measured by liquid flowmeter 68 was a sufficient quantity from which to obtain an accurate reading . it is preferred to close valve 32 for very brief periods of time , so as to not interrupt the steady - state flow characteristics of the producing well with significant periods of pressure drawdown ahd buildup . therefore , the draining of test separator 24 that occurs in step p208 is preferably limited to relatively small volumes of one to three barrels of total production . controller 86 preferably requires a threshold volume to be produced , e . g ., 100 barrels , before the test is completed . volumetric measurements are taken over the time that the well is actually flowing . if the cumulative quantity of well test fluid is not sufficient , control transfers to step p212 , which repeats the fill and drain cycles until a sufficient quantity of oil can be obtained for measurement . in this case , the signals from liquid level indicator 46 are received to indicate dumping of water to a minimum level that does not dump oil from within test separator 24 until steps p202 and p208 have been repeated a sufficient number of times to obtain a measurable quantity of oil . this feature of the processing avoids the need for the operator to purchase an oversize test separator merely for the purpose of obtaining a sufficient quantity of oil for measurement . step p210 transfers control to step p214 once a sufficient quantity of oil has been obtained for measurement . step p214 concludes the density determination mode by returning control to step p201 . the cycle is preferably repeated until density measurements have been obtained from all of the flowing wells connected to manifold 22 . alternatively , step p214 can return control to step p200 for conducting a well test . the test information derived from the above - described process includes water - cut data , volumetric gas flow rates , volumetric oil flow rate , volumetric water flow rate , oil density , water density , separator temperature , and separator pressure . computer 84 stores these values for transmission to the operator . alternatively , the data can be transmitted to the operator through a radio that is coupled with controller 86 . the system advantageously permits more frequent and accurate well testing than can be obtained manually by pumpers who visit the production facility . the use of a coriolis flowmeter ( including a mass flowmeter and densitometer ) as flowmeter 68 is particularly preferred because of its inherent accuracy and reliability . it will be understood that numerous commercial sources exist for respective materials listed above . for example , several potential sources exist for electronically actuated three way valves such as valve 32 , water - cut monitors such as monitor 66 , and fluid level indicators such as indicator 46 . the fact that applicants have identified specific preferred commercial sources does not limit the practice of the invention to items obtained from these sources alone , because those skilled in the art are readily able to find and substitute substantially equivalent materials from alternative sources . additionally , test separator 24 can be a conventional three - phase separator having a plurality of internal floats and drain ports for draining the respective phases . in this case , a separate liquid flowmeter 68 will be required for each drain line . in this application , the term ` oil ` includes condensate from gas wells . it is not necessary that the well produce oil , water , and gas , but only that the mixture of wellhead production materials include a plurality of these different phases . those skilled in the art will understand that the preferred embodiments described hereinabove may be subjected to apparent modifications without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention . accordingly , the inventors hereby state their full intention to rely upon the doctrine of equivalents in order to protect their full rights in the invention .
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illustrated generally in fig2 , a preferred embodiment of the inventory and rate management system 20 used in connection with the present invention not only accepts reservations , but also bundles vacation products , manages bundled vacation packages for the vacation package seller 22 , completes bookings , facilitates shopping and comparing between travel products , facilitates payment by vacation package sellers 22 and to travel product suppliers 24 , distributes commissions , allows simultaneous marketing of travel products by travel product providers 24 to numerous vacation package sellers 22 , and provides vacation package sellers 22 with pre and post travel service of their bookings . as indicated by lines 25 , the inventory and rate management system 20 is linked to the inventory systems of one or more travel product suppliers 24 and may , if necessary , be linked to one or more gds 26 as indicated by line 27 in order to supply particular components of travel products such as air travel tickets . the inventory and rate management system 20 is linked to vacation package sellers 22 as indicated by lines 23 in order to allow vacation package sellers 22 to access the system to take advantage of its resources . the vacation package sellers 22 are linked to travel agents 28 and consumers 30 as indicated by lines 29 to allow the vacation package sellers 22 to distribute packaged vacations to the travel agents 28 and consumers 30 . this connection 29 may be by computer line , telephone , or otherwise . the inventory and rate management system 20 may also be linked to the internet such that the system can be accessed by vacation package sellers 22 and suppliers of individual travel products 24 throughout the world using one or more interfaces . as shown in fig3 , one embodiment of the inventory and rate management system 20 includes a number of discrete components — databases of bulk travel product inventory and rates 32 , a component bundler 34 , a content services module 36 , a customer services module 38 , a marketing data module 40 , and / or an accounting services module 42 . each of these components is integrated with the others to effectively manage the sale and distribution of travel products in combined vacation packages by vacation package sellers 22 . these components also provide travel product suppliers 24 ( not shown in fig3 , see fig2 ) with the ability to effectively manage inventory and pricing and to obtain valuable market data . the inventory and rate management system 20 may be linked to the inventory database systems of travel product suppliers 24 as indicated by lines 25 by direct computer connection , via the internet , or via some other connection method such that the travel product supplier &# 39 ; s 24 inventory can be accessed by the inventory and rate management system 20 and / or individual components thereof . as shown in more detail in fig4 , included in the inventory and rate management system 20 within the bulk inventory and rates portion 32 are databases 44 of information including travel product inventory information , rate information , and a variety of other information such as restrictions or rules relating to the sale and distribution of the individual travel products . for example , airline a may allocate from its database 44 of inventory in the inventory and rate management system 20 twenty - five seats on a flight from milwaukee to las vegas for inclusion into vacation packages sold by a particular vacation package seller 22 . alternatively , airline a may allow any vacation package seller 22 to access the database 44 and sell one or more of the twenty - five allocated seats as part of a vacation package . postings of inventories of available travel products to these databases 44 may be made by the travel product suppliers 24 or by the operator of the inventory and rate management system 20 . the database 44 may also contain rules about the rates at which the airline a is willing to sell its inventory in the database 44 to particular vacation package sellers 22 . for example , airline a may sell its milwaukee to las vegas seats for $ 150 to one vacation package seller 22 but may charge $ 175 for another vacation package seller 22 . of course , other restrictions such as time and date of flights may also be included in the database 44 . by using the system and method of the present invention , travel product suppliers 24 thus gain the ability to manage inventory and pricing for numerous vacation package sellers 22 using a single system . the component bundler 34 of the inventory and rate management system 20 may be a dynamic bundling system that allows vacation package sellers 22 to customize vacation packages for individual consumers as those consumers inquire about vacation packages . for example , if a consumer wants a trip to maui provided by a particular vacation package seller 22 , the vacation package seller 22 can access the component bundler 34 of the inventory and rate management system 20 to select from a number of available individual travel components to offer a complete vacation package . the package may include airfare , a hotel room , a rental car , and a luau on the night of arrival . various options for each of these individual components may be provided to the consumer for selection . if a particular component is not included in the inventory databases 44 within the bulk inventory and rates portion 32 of the inventory and rate management system 20 , the component bundler 34 can directly access the databases of the travel product supplier 24 to obtain the component . further , for components supplied by travel product suppliers 24 with which the operator of the inventory and rate management system 20 has no relationship , the component bundler 34 may access a gds 26 in order to obtain the particular component . the use of the dynamic bundler enables the vacation package seller 22 to tailor the vacation package to the needs of a particular consumer . a component bundler 34 that pre - selects and bundles travel products into vacation packages may also be used either instead of or in conjunction with a dynamic bundler . such a component bundler 34 pre - selects travel products from the bulk inventory and rate portion 32 of the inventory and rate management system 20 and presents the vacation package to vacation package sellers 22 as a single unit . the vacation package seller 22 can then sell the package through its usual channels to travel agents 28 or consumers 30 . in cases where a particular travel product supplier 24 has special pricing on particular portions of its inventory , the use of a component bundler 34 that pre - selects components may be advantageous in allowing the vacation package seller 22 to present low price special vacation packages . the inventory and rate management system 20 may include a content services module 36 . as shown in fig7 , the content services module 36 includes one or more databases of information 46 provided by individual travel product suppliers 24 relating to the individual travel products . the databases 46 allow vacation package sellers 22 to provide information about travel options such as particulars about hotels , rental cars , airlines , ships , and activities at the destination . information for the database 46 is provided by travel product providers 24 and allows the travel product providers 24 to effectively distribute information about travel products to a number of vacation package sellers 22 without having to provide the information individually to each vacation package seller 22 . the travel product providers 24 can manipulate , edit , and update the information in the databases 46 using an interface to the inventory and rate management system 20 . further , using a content management and distribution feature 48 , the content services module 36 may include the ability to tailor the content being provided to particular vacation package sellers 22 in order to best present the information in a manner that increases sales opportunities . such tailoring of the content management and distribution feature 48 may be accomplished at the direction of the travel product supplier 24 or may be performed by the operator of the inventory and rate management system 20 . in either case , the information in the databases 46 that is provided to particular vacation package sellers 22 may be controlled using the content management and distribution feature 48 of the content services component 36 . additionally , third party content such as reviews of destinations or particular travel products can be included in the content services module 36 and managed by a travel product provider 24 or the operator of the inventory and rate management system 20 . as shown in fig3 and in more detail in fig5 , the inventory and rate management system 20 may also include a customer services module 38 . the customer services module 38 can provide the vacation package seller 22 with fulfillment services 50 such as ticketing and billing , booking support 52 to enable the reservation of individual travel products , and post - booking support 54 for changes to reservations for individual travel products . as shown in detail in fig8 and generally in fig3 , a marketing data management module 40 may be included in the inventory and rate management system 20 . the marketing data management module 40 collects and stores data in a database 56 , and allows access to a number of pieces of marketing data through a data management and analysis component 58 . for example , the marketing data management module 40 can collect data in its databases 56 for a particular travel product supplier 22 that allows the travel product supplier 22 , using the marketing management and analysis component 58 , to analyze which methods of pricing and inventory availability allocation result in the maximization of sales or profits . this data cannot be effectively or efficiently collected or analyzed when the travel product supplier 24 sells its products through relationships with many vacation package sellers 22 because the process of collecting the data is time - consuming and cost - prohibitive . similarly , the marketing data management module 40 can collect data for a vacation package seller 24 in its databases 56 in order to use the marketing data management and analysis module 58 to assess which travel product suppliers 24 allow it to more cost effectively sell vacation packages . such data is difficult if not impossible to compile and assess where the vacation package seller 22 has relationships with numerous travel product suppliers 24 because the collection of such data is time - consuming and expensive . additionally , the inventory and rate management system 20 may include an accounting services module 42 shown generally in fig3 and in more detail in fig6 . the accounting service module 42 facilitates the accounting function of transactions for the vacation package sellers 22 and the travel product suppliers 24 . the accounting module 42 may allow reporting of airline reservations through the airline reporting corporation (“ arc ”)— the entity that allows travel agents 28 and vacation package sellers 22 to issue airline tickets . the accounting module 42 may include information in a vacation package seller payment module 62 about the payments to be made by vacation package sellers 22 for the travel components they reserve . through a supplier payments module 66 , payments for purchased travel products to travel product suppliers 24 can be made . using a commission payments module 64 , the accounting services feature 42 may facilitate the distribution of commissions for the vacation package seller 22 to travel agents 28 and for the travel product providers 24 to vacation package sellers 22 . the accounting services system 42 can provide reports to vacation package sellers 22 and travel product suppliers 24 regarding particular transactions or summaries of all transactions to ensure proper payment for purchased products . if desired , the operator of the inventory and rate management system 20 can allow the vacation package sellers 22 and travel product suppliers 24 to access the accounting system 42 to directly acquire information about transactions and to complete payments for transactions . using the accounting system , the vacation package seller 22 need only pay one entity for all the travel products it uses . similarly , travel product providers 24 need only look to one entity for payment of fees for all the inventory of travel products it sells to vacation package sellers 22 . for many smaller travel product providers 24 , such as an individual hotel that is not part of a chain or network , it is very difficult and expensive to maintain relationships with many vacation package sellers 22 . thus , the smaller travel product providers 24 do not have the ability to reach a very large market of vacation package sellers 22 ( and their travel agent 28 or individual consumer 22 customers ) for the inclusion of travel products into vacation packages . for these travel product suppliers 24 , use of the system and method of the present invention is particularly advantageous as the small travel product suppliers 24 can provide its products to numerous vacation package sellers 22 by establishing a relationship with the operator of the system and method of the present invention . similarly , smaller vacation package sellers 22 may not have the ability to effectively maintain relationships with numerous travel product providers 24 . by establishing a relationship with the operator of the system and method of the present invention , the smaller vacation package seller 22 can obtain travel products from many travel product suppliers 23 from which it could not otherwise obtain travel products . the system and method of the present invention thereby allows new entities , including travel product suppliers 24 themselves , to become vacation package sellers 22 without having to first overcome the significant obstacles to entry into the vacation package selling market . such obstacles primarily involve the establishment of relationships with the numerous travel product providers 24 from which travel products must be purchased in order to compete effectively with established vacation package sellers 22 . thus , the system and method of the present invention benefits vacation package sellers 22 by providing a system and method where the vacation package seller 22 can access a wide range of individual travel products from many travel product suppliers 24 , where the vacation package seller 22 does not have to develop the infrastructure and inventory to provide a variety of packaged travel products to their customers , and where the vacation package seller 22 gains access to new travel products for inclusion in vacation packages . the system and method of the present invention also provides travel product suppliers 24 with a low cost , easy to implement system for providing travel products to numerous vacation package sellers 22 . as illustrated by the foregoing detailed description and shown in the figures , the present invention is more suitable as a system and method of distributing packaged travel products than are conventional systems and methods . the present invention overcomes the limitations and disadvantages of existing systems in that it allows packaged vacation sellers to efficiently and economically sell packaged travel products , and allows travel product suppliers to take advantage of a inventory and rate management system to which they would not otherwise have the ability to access . although the invention has been herein shown and described in what is perceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiments , it is to be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific embodiments set forth above . rather , it is recognized that modifications may be made by one of skill in the art of the invention without departing from the spirit or intent of the invention and therefore , the invention is to be taken as including all reasonable equivalents to the subject matter of the appended claims .
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the following descriptions are not meant to limit the invention , but rather to add to the summary of invention , and illustrate the vehicle - roof mounting - base using evacuation with a vacuum . the present invention can be used as a mounting base for signs , lightbars , emergency lights , spot lights , and lighted signs . the present invention is the mounting base , itself . fig1 shows a cross section of the present invention supporting a sign 10 . the present invention has a case 1 , a base 2 , a vacuum pump 3 , a vacuum sensor 4 , a seal 5 , vacuum tubing 6 , a nozzle 7 , a wire 21 to connect the vacuum sensor 4 to the vacuum pump 3 , and a fastener 9 to connect the base 2 and the case 1 . the base 2 may include an optional flange 8 ( also known as a gimp ), for decorative and / or protective purposes . the invention can be powered with a standard cigarette lighter power cable or similar device or accessory ( not shown ). fig2 shows a cross section of the present invention supporting a light 11 assembly . the present invention has a case 1 , a base 2 , a vacuum pump 3 , a vacuum sensor 4 , a seal 5 , vacuum tubing 6 , a nozzle 7 , a wire 21 to connect the vacuum sensor 4 to the vacuum pump 3 , and a fastener 9 to connect the base 2 and the case 1 . the base 2 may include an optional flange 8 , for decorative and / or protective purposes . the invention can be powered with a standard cigarette lighter power cable or similar device or accessory ( not shown ). the light 11 assembly is comprised of at least one light 11 , at least one socket 14 , a housing 12 , and a power connection 13 . when the present invention is used with a light 11 assembly , the case 1 , or part of the case 1 ( a lens ), can be constructed from a clear or transparent material such as pc , pmma , or other generic or brand - name clear or semi - transparent plastic . the base 2 may be either planar or a curved surface , fabricated from pmma , pc , abs , steel , or aluminum . the case 1 is fabricated for both decorative and protective purposes . depending on the use , the case 1 is made from a durable polymer such as abs , pp , pmma , pc , hdpe , or ldpe . in lighting applications , the case 1 can include a lens fabricated from pc ( lexan ®) or pmma ( plexiglass ), or the case 1 can integrally be made out of pc ( lexan ®) or pmma ( plexiglass ), thus integrating the case 1 into the lighting application . the impermeable seal 5 is continuous , and is fabricated from silicon , butyl rubber , nitrile rubber , or closed - cell foam . depending on the roof contour of the application , and the base 2 contour , the seal 5 may need to be of compound construction . a compound seal 5 would have an upper part fabricated from a durable material , such as abs , pp , pmma , pc , hdpe , ldpe , steel , or aluminum . the lower part of a compound seal 5 is made of gas impermeable silicon , butyl rubber , nitrile rubber , or closed - cell foam . the seal 5 is attached to the base 2 with an adhesive , welding , or other gas impermeable attaching means . the seal 5 dimensions are dependent on the application and the material . a quick sealing material , such as silicon , should be used for a seal 5 used to mate the base to a roof with ridges . the vacuum assembly is comprised of a vacuum pump 3 , a vacuum hose 6 , a vacuum sensor 4 , a nozzle 7 , a wire connecting the vacuum pump 3 and the vacuum sensor 4 , and a power supply cable ( not shown ). the vacuum pump 3 is a traditional low - cost , dry , constant displacement pump that exhausts to atmospheric pressure . typically , the vacuum pump 3 will be made of rotary vane , or diaphragm construction . the vacuum hose 6 is made from standard flexible automotive vacuum hose materials such as neoprene , silicon , hdpe , and flex steel . when the vacuum hose 6 is made from neoprene , silicon , hdpe , or ldpe , it is reinforced with fibers made from polyester or other suitable material . the vacuum sensor 4 can be either a low - cost differential pressure sensor and the associated circuitry , or a pressure switch calibrated to close when the pressure in the enclosed volume exceeds the pre - defined retention pressure . the nozzle 7 is a one - way gas valve of typical construction . fig3 shows a top view of the present invention , used as a sign 10 base . the case 1 and sign 10 are visible . there is a flange 8 around the perimeter of the base 2 that is both decorative and functional . the flange 8 can be decorative and minimizes environmental exposure to the seal 5 . the fasteners 9 holding the case 1 to the base 2 are visible . other fastening methods are possible , such as adhesives or welding . fig4 shows an exploded isometric view of the present invention , used as a sign 10 mounting base . the seal 5 is connected to the bottom of the base 2 with adhesive , welding , or other gas impermeable attaching means . other fastening methods , such as plasma discharge or foam - in - place can be used , depending on the gas impermeable material used for the seal 5 . the vacuum assembly is attached to the base 2 . the vacuum assembly includes the vacuum pump 3 , the vacuum tube 6 , the nozzle 7 , a vacuum sensor 4 , and a wire 21 connecting the vacuum sensor 4 to the vacuum pump 3 . the base 2 is fastened to the case 1 with fasteners 9 that are inserted into through - holes from the bottom of the base 2 . fig5 is an exemplary exploded isometric view of the present invention , used as a light 11 mounting base . the light 11 assembly includes a light bulb 11 , a socket 14 , a housing 12 , and a wire 13 powering the light 11 . when used for a lighting application , the case 1 is to be constructed from a transparent material such as pc or pmma .
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the preferred embodiments of the present invention are elaborated with reference to the accompanying drawings below . in the accompanying drawings , the same or similar components from different figures are marked by the same drawing reference signs . reference to “ module ” encompasses elements that can be figured as hardware , software , or a combination of hardware and software , as is understood by personnel of ordinary skill in the telecommunications field . fig3 shows a flowchart of a method for reserving and playing dtv programs in one embodiment of the present invention . specifically , a method for reserving and playing dtv programs provided in an embodiment of the present invention comprises the following steps : step s 201 : a prompt indicating multiple dtv programs to be played at the same time is displayed to a subscriber before or when the time of playing the reserved dtv programs arrives . in actual implementation , the dtv programs can be displayed to subscribers in a form , for example , a program list . step s 202 : a dtv program selected by the subscriber from the multiple reserved dtv programs is played when the time of playing the reserved dtv programs arrives . it is noted that in the actual situation , subscribers may reserve one or more dtv programs to be played at the same time . therefore , before the prompt is displayed to the subscribers , indicating multiple dtv programs to be played at the same time , the method provided in this embodiment further comprises : checking the number of reserved dtv programs to be played at the same time ; if the result shows that only one dtv program is reserved , playing this dtv program by default when the time of playing the reserved dtv program arrives ; if the result shows that more than one dtv programs are reserved for playing at the same time , displaying a prompt indicating the multiple dtv programs to the subscriber before or when the time of playing the reserved dtv program arrives . in addition , when subscribers reserve dtv programs , and if the number of reserved dtv programs to be played at the same time exceeds the preset reservation limit , a conflict prompt or a program list is displayed to inform the subscribers of the reserved dtv programs to be played at the same time . therefore , subscribers are enabled to determine whether to replace a reserved program in the list , thus keeping the number of reserved dtv programs to be played at the same time within the limit . the preceding embodiment of the present invention enables subscribers to reserve multiple programs to be played at the same time , and then select one program for playing before or when the time of playing the reserved dtv programs arrives . in this manner subscribers can select the program to be played at a specific time point . therefore , this invention helps avoid the trouble of repeated selection by subscribers , thus simplifying the reservation process . moreover , this invention enables multiple subscribers to reserve their desired programs to be played at the same time , and before or when the playing time of reserved programs arrives , the current subscribers can select their desired programs for playing . therefore , multiple subscribers can reserve programs . fig4 shows a structure of a dtv playing system in the embodiment of the present invention . the dtv playing system 1 provided in the present invention includes : a terminal device 12 , adapted to play dtv programs , and a dtv stb 11 , adapted to control the terminal device 12 to play the dtv programs . in addition , fig5 shows a structure of a dtv stb applicable to the dtv playing system in the embodiment of the present invention , where the dtv stb includes a program reserving unit 100 . the program reserving unit 100 includes : a receiving module 110 ( with the structure shown in fig7 ), adapted to receive the request for reserving dtv programs from a subscriber ; a prompt displaying module 120 , adapted to display the prompt indicating multiple dtv programs to be played at the same time to the subscriber before or when the time of playing the reserved dtv programs arrives ; and a playing module 130 ( see fig6 ), adapted to play one dtv program selected by the subscriber from the multiple dtv programs when the time of playing the reserved dtv programs arrives . fig6 shows a structure of a playing module in an stb of a dtv playing system in an embodiment of the present invention . in this embodiment , the playing module 130 in the stb 11 is a functional module of the program reserving unit 100 , and includes : an obtaining submodule 131 , adapted to obtain information about a dtv program selected from multiple reserved dtv programs by subscribers ; and a playing submodule 132 , adapted to play the corresponding dtv program according to the information obtained by the obtaining submodule 131 about the dtv program selected from the multiple reserved dtv programs by subscribers . in addition , in actual implementation , subscribers may reserve only one dtv program . therefore , no prompt needs to be displayed to subscribers . thus , the playing module 130 provided in the present embodiment further includes : a checking submodule 133 , adapted to check the number of reserved dtv programs to be played at the same time ; if the result shows that only one dtv program is reserved , instruct the playing submodule 132 to directly play this reserved dtv program by default when the time of playing the reserved dtv program arrives . in instances where the result shows that more than one dtv program has been reserved , instruct the prompt displaying module 120 to display a prompt indicating the reserved dtv programs to be played at the same time to the subscribers when or before the time of playing the reserved dtv programs . fig7 shows a structure of a receiving module for reserving dtv programs in an stb of a dtv playing system in an embodiment of the present invention . in this embodiment , the receiving module 110 in the stb is a functional module of the program reserving unit 100 , and includes : a reservation request receiving submodule 111 , adapted to receive requests for reserving dtv programs from subscribers ; a conflict checking submodule 112 , adapted to check whether the number of reserved dtv programs to be played at the same time received by the reservation request receiving submodule 111 exceeds the reservation limit ; a conflict prompt displaying submodule 113 , adapted to display the conflict prompt to subscribers if the conflict checking submodule 112 has detected that the number of reserved dtv programs to be played at the same time exceeds the reservation limit ; and a reservation result determining submodule 114 , adapted to determine the reserved dtv programs to be played at the same time according to subscriber &# 39 ; s operation after the conflict checking submodule 112 has detected that the number of reserved dtv programs to be played at the same time does not exceed the reservation limit . according to the preceding embodiments of the present invention , the receiving module 110 can receive requests for reserving multiple programs to be played at the same time from the subscribers . when or before the playing time arrives , the prompt displaying module 120 displays a prompt to enable the subscribers to select one program for playing . therefore , the subscribers need not make repeated program selections , thereby simplifying the reservation process . moreover , this invention enables multiple subscribers to reserve their desired programs to be played at the same time , and before or when the playing time of reserved programs arrives , the current subscribers can select their desired programs for playing . therefore , multiple subscribers can reserve programs . for example , subscribers can reserve programs through the tv guide interface . assume that a subscriber has reserved the following programs at 18 : 00 , may 19 , 2007 : the receiving module 110 receives all the requests for reserving these dtv programs , and the conflict prompt displaying submodule 113 does not display the conflict prompt . under certain circumstance , the conflict prompt displaying submodule 113 displays the conflict prompt to the subscribers if the number of reserved dtv programs to be played at the same time exceeds the reservation limit . in this embodiment , it is assumed that the number of reserved dtv programs to be played at the same time is within the reservation limit . when it is 18 : 00 , may 20 , 2007 , the subscriber can view the following programs through the reservation management interface . in other words , after all the dtv programs are reserved , the subscriber can view these programs on the reservation management interface before the playing time . the reserved programs can be displayed in the manner as shown in the preceding table . when the playing time of the reserved programs meets , namely , 19 : 00 , may 20 , 2007 , the system detects that the news broadcast and the internal news are to be played soon on cctv - 1 and phoenix chinese channel respectively . therefore , the prompt displaying module 120 displays the following prompt : press up / down or left / right , and then press “ ok ”. press “ exit ” to exit . it is noted that the prompt can be displayed before or when the playing time of the program arrives . the time for displaying the prompt before the playing time can be preset , for example , several minutes or seconds before the playing time . this enables subscribers to determine which program is to be played and press the keys . in addition , the first program is highlighted on the interface by default , and the operation guide is displayed at the bottom of the interface . by pressing the keys , for example , up / down or left / right keys , on the controlling device such as a remote controller , keyboard , or panel compatible with the dtv stb 11 to move the colored cursor , the subscribers can choose a dtv program to be played , and finally determine the dtv program to be played by pressing the yes / sure / ok key on the controlling device such as a remote controller , keyboard , or panel . in conclusion , the method for reserving and playing dtv programs , the stb , and the playing system provided in the embodiments of the present invention enable subscribers to reserve multiple programs to be played at the same time and choose one program for playing before the playing time of the reserved programs . therefore , subscribers select a program to be played before the playing time , without repeated selection , thus optimizing and perfecting the reservation process . moreover , this invention enables multiple subscribers to reserve their desired programs to be played at the same time , and before the playing time of reserved programs , the current subscribers can select their desired programs for playing . therefore , multiple subscribers can reserve programs . it is understandable for those skilled in the art that all or part of flowcharts in the preceding embodiments can be performed through hardware instructed by programs . the programs may be stored in a computer - readable storage medium . when the program is being performed , the flowcharts of the method provided in the preceding embodiments are also being implemented . the storage medium can be : disks , optical disks , read - only memory ( rom ), random access memory ( ram ), and so on . disclosed above are merely exemplary embodiments of the present invention , but not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention . various variations or replacements made by persons skilled in the art without departing from the technical scope of the present invention fall within the protection scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims .
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the following description of exemplary embodiment ( s ) is merely illustrative in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention , its application , or uses . exemplary embodiments are directed to or can be operatively used on various wired or wireless earphone devices ( also referred to herein as earpiece devices ) ( e . g ., earbuds , headphones , ear terminals , behind the ear devices or other acoustic devices as known by one of ordinary skill , and equivalents ). processes , techniques , apparatus , and materials as known by one of ordinary skill in the art may not be discussed in detail but are intended to be part of the enabling description where appropriate . additionally exemplary embodiments are not limited to earpiece devices , for example some functionality can be implemented on other systems with speakers and / or microphones for example computer systems , pdas , blackberry ® smartphones , mobile phones , and any other device that emits or measures acoustic energy . additionally , exemplary embodiments can be used with digital and non - digital acoustic systems . additionally , various receivers and microphones can be used , for example micro - electro - mechanical systems ( mems ) transducers or diaphragm transducers . to enable an si earphone user to hear their local ambient environment , conventional si earphones often incorporate ambient sound microphones to pass through local ambient sound to a loudspeaker in the si earphone . in existing systems , the earphone user must manually activate a switch to enable the ambient sound pass - through . such a manual activation may be problematic . for example , if the user is wearing gloves or has their hands engaged holding another device ( e . g ., a radio or a weapon ), it may be difficult to press an “ ambient sound pass - through ” button or switch . the user may miss important information in their local ambient sound field due to the delay in reaching for the ambient sound pass - through button or switch . also , the user may have to press the button or switch a second time to revert back to a “ non ambient sound pass - through ” mode . a need exists for a “ hands - free ” mode of operation to provide ambient sound pass - through for an si earphone . embodiments of the invention relates to earphone devices and earphone systems ( or headset systems ) including at least one earphone device . an example earphone system ( or headset system ) of the subject invention may be connected to a remote device such as a voice communication device ( e . g ., a mobile phone , a radio device , a computer device ) and / or an audio content delivery device ( e . g ., a portable media player , a computer device ), as well as a further earphone device ( which may be associated with the user or another use ). the earphone device may include a sound isolating component for blocking a meatus of a user &# 39 ; s ear ( e . g ., using an expandable element such as foam or an expandable balloon ); an ear canal receiver ( ecr ) ( i . e ., a loudspeaker ) for receiving an audio signal and generating a sound field in an ear canal of the user ; and at least one ambient sound microphone ( asm ) for capturing ambient sound proximate to the earphone device and for generating at least one asm signal . a signal processing system may receive an audio content ( ac ) signal from the remote device ( such as the voice communication device or the audio content delivery device ); and may further receive the at least one asm signal . the signal processing system mixes the at least one asm signal and the ac signal and may transmit the resulting mixed signal to the ecr in the earphone device . the mixing of the at least one asm signal and the ac signal may be controlled by voice activity of the user . the earphone device may also include an ear canal microphone ( ecm ) for capturing sound in the user &# 39 ; s occluded ear - canal and for generating an ecm signal . an example earphone device according to the subject invention detects the voice activity of the user by analysis of the ecm signal from the ecm ( where the ecm detects sound in the occluded ear canal of the user ), analysis of the at least one asm signal or the combination thereof . according to an exemplary embodiment , when voice activity is detected , a level of the asm signal provided to the ecr is increased and a level of the ac signal provided to the ecr is decreased . when voice activity is not detected , a level of the asm signal provided to the ecr is decreased and a level of the ac signal provided to the ecr is increased . in an example earphone device , following cessation of the detected user voice activity , and following a “ pre - fade delay ,” the level of the asm signal provided to the ecr is decreased and the level of the ac signal fed to the ecr is increased . in an exemplary embodiment , a time period of the “ pre - fade delay ” may be proportional to a time period of continuous user voice activity before cessation of the user voice activity . the “ pre - fade delay ” time period may be bound by an upper predetermined limit . aspects of the present invention may include methods for detecting user voice activity of an earphone system ( or headset system ). in an exemplary embodiment , a microphone signal level value ( e . g ., from the asm signal and / or the ecm signal ) may be compared with a microphone threshold value . an ac signal level value ( from the input ac signal ( e . g . speech or music audio from a remote device such as a portable communications device or media player )) may be compared with an ac threshold value . in an exemplary embodiment , the ac threshold value may be generated by multiplying a linear ac threshold value with a current linear ac signal gain . it may be determined whether the microphone level value is greater than the microphone threshold value . according to another example , it may be determined whether the microphone level value is greater than the microphone threshold value and whether the ac level value is less than the ac threshold value . if the conditions are met , then a voice activity detector ( vad ) may be set to an on state . otherwise the vad may be set to an off state . in an example method , the microphone signal may be band - pass filtered , and a time - smoothed level of the filtered microphone signal may be generated ( e . g ., smoothed using a 100 ms hanning window ) to form the microphone signal level value . in addition , the ac signal may be band - pass filtered , and a time - smoothed level of the filtered ac signal may be generated ( e . g ., smoothed using a hanning window ) to form the ac signal level value . referring to fig1 , a cross - sectional view diagram of an exemplary earphone device 100 is shown . earphone device 100 is shown relative to ear 130 of a user . fig1 also illustrates a general physiology of ear 130 . an external portion of ear 130 includes pinna 128 . an internal portion of ear 130 includes ear canal 124 and eardrum 126 ( i . e ., a tympanic membrane ). pinna 128 is a cartilaginous region of ear 130 that focuses acoustic information from ambient environment 132 to ear canal 124 . in general , sound enters ear canal 124 and is subsequently received by eardrum 126 . acoustic information resident in ear canal 124 vibrates eardrum 126 . the vibration is converted to a signal ( corresponding to the acoustic information ) that is provided to an auditory nerve ( not shown ). earphone device 100 may include sealing section 108 . earphone device 100 may be configured to be inserted into ear canal 124 , such that sealing section 108 forms a sealed volume between sealing section 108 and eardrum 126 . thus , ear canal 124 represents an occluded ear canal ( i . e ., occluded by sealing section 108 ). sealing section 108 may be configured to seal ear canal 124 from sound ( i . e ., provide sound isolation from ambient environment 132 external to ear canal 124 ). in general , sealing section 108 may be configured to conform to ear canal 124 and to substantially isolate ear canal 124 from ambient environment 132 . sealing section 108 may be operatively coupled to housing unit 101 . as shown in fig1 , housing unit 101 of earphone device 100 may include one or more components which may be included in earphone device 100 . housing unit 101 may include battery 102 , memory 104 , ear canal microphone ( ecm ) 106 , ear canal receiver 114 ( ecr ) ( i . e ., a loudspeaker ), processor 116 , ambient sound microphone ( asm ) 120 and user interface 122 . although one asm 120 is shown , earphone device 100 may include one or more ambient sound microphones 120 . in an exemplary embodiment , asm 120 may be located at the entrance to the ear meatus . ecm 106 and ecr 114 are acoustically coupled to ( occluded ) ear canal 124 via respective ecm acoustic tube 110 and ecr acoustic tube 112 . in fig1 , housing unit 101 is illustrated as being disposed in ear 130 . it is understood that various components of earphone device 100 may also be configured to be placed behind ear 130 or may be placed partially behind ear 130 and partially in ear 130 . although a single earphone device 100 is shown in fig1 , an earphone device 100 may be included for both the left and right ears of the user , as part of a headphone system . memory 104 may include , for example , a random access memory ( ram ), a read only memory ( rom ), static ram ( sram ), dynamic ram ( dram ), flash memory , a magnetic disk , an optical disk or a hard drive . although not shown , housing unit 101 may also include a pumping mechanism for controlling inflation / deflation of sealing section 108 . for example , the pumping mechanism may provide a medium ( such as a liquid , gas or gel capable of expanding and contracting sealing section 108 ) and that would maintain a comfortable level of pressure for a user of earphone device 100 . user interface 122 may include any suitable buttons and / or indicators ( such as visible indicators ) for controlling operation of earphone device 100 . user interface 122 may be configured to control one or more of memory 104 , ecm 106 , ecr 114 , processor 116 and asm 120 . user interface 122 may also control operation of a pumping mechanism for controlling sealing section 108 . in general , ecm 106 , asm 120 may each be any suitable transducer capable of converting a signal from the user into an audio signal . although examples below describe diaphragm microphones , the transducers may include electromechanical , optical or piezoelectric transducers . the transducer may also include bone conduction microphone . in an example embodiment , the transducer may be capable of detecting vibrations from the user and converting the vibrations to an audio signal . similarly , ecr 114 may be any suitable transducer capable of converting an electric signal ( i . e ., an audio signal ) to an acoustic signal . all transducers ( such as ecm 106 , ecr 114 and asm 120 ) may respectively receive or transmit audio signals to processor 116 in housing unit 101 . processor 116 may undertake at least a portion of the audio signal processing described herein . processor 116 may include , for example , a logic circuit , a digital signal processor or a microprocessor . earphone device 100 may be configured to communicate with a remote device ( described further below with respect to fig2 ) via communication path 118 . in general , the remote device may include another earphone device , a computer device , an audio content delivery device , a communication device ( such as a mobile phone ), an external storage device , a processing device , etc . for example , earphone device 100 may include a communication system ( such as data communication system 216 shown in fig2 ) coupled to processor 116 . in general , earphone device 100 may be configured to receive and / or transmit signals . communication path 118 may include a wired or wireless connection . sealing section 108 may include , without being limited to , foam , rubber or any suitable sealing material capable of conforming to ear canal 124 and for sealing ear canal 124 to provide sound isolation . according to an exemplary embodiment , sealing section 108 may include a balloon capable of being expanded . sealing section 108 may include balloons of various shapes , sizes and materials , for example constant volume balloons ( low elasticity & lt ;= 50 % elongation under pressure or stress ) and variable volume ( high elastic & gt ; 50 % elongation under pressure or stress ) balloons . as described above , a pumping mechanism may be used to provide a medium to the balloon . the expandable balloon may seal ear canal 124 to provide sound isolation . if sealing section 108 includes an expandable balloon , sealing section 108 may be formed from any compliant material that has a low permeability to a medium within the balloon . examples of materials of an expandable balloon include any suitable elastomeric material , such as , without being limited to , silicone , rubber ( including synthetic rubber ) and polyurethane elastomers ( such as pellethane ® and santoprene ™). materials of sealing section 108 may be used in combination with a barrier layer ( for example , a barrier film such as saranex ™), to reduce the permeability of sealing section 108 . in general , sealing section 108 may be formed from any suitable material having a range of shore a hardness between about 5 a and about 30 a , with an elongation of about 500 % or greater . fig2 is a functional block diagram of exemplary earphone system 200 ( also referred to herein as system 200 ), according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention . system 200 may be configured to communicate with other electronic devices and network systems , such as earphone device 220 ( e . g ., another earphone device of the same subscriber ), earphone device 222 ( e . g ., an earphone device of a different subscriber ), and / or mobile phone 228 of the user ( which may include communication system 224 and processor 226 ). fig2 illustrates exemplary hardware of system 200 to support signal processing and communication . system 200 may include one or more components such as ram 202 , rom 204 , power supply 205 , signal processing system 206 ( which may include a logic circuit , a microprocessor or a digital signal processor ), ecm assembly 208 , asm assembly 210 , ecr assembly 212 , user control interface 214 , data communication system 216 , and visual display 218 . ram 202 and / or rom 204 may be part of memory 104 ( fig1 ) of earphone device 100 . power supply 205 may include battery 102 of earphone device 100 . ecm assembly 208 , asm assembly 210 and ecr assembly 212 may include respective ecm 106 ( fig1 ), asm 120 and ecr 114 of earphone device 100 ( as well as additional electronic components ). user control interface 214 and / or visual display 218 may be part of user interface 122 ( fig1 ) of earphone device 100 . signal processing system 206 ( described further below ) may be part of processor 116 ( fig1 ) of earphone device 100 data communication system 216 may be configured , for example , to communicate ( wired or wirelessly ) with communication circuit 224 of mobile phone 228 as well as with earphone device 220 or earphone device 222 . in fig2 , communication paths between data communication system 216 , earphone device 220 , earphone device 222 and mobile phone 224 may represent wired and / or wireless communication paths . in an example embodiment , earphone system 200 may include one earphone device 100 ( fig1 ). in another example , system 200 may include two earphone devices 100 ( such as in a headphone system ). accordingly , in a headphone system , system 200 may also include earphone device 220 . in a headphone system , each earpiece device 100 may include one or more components such as ram 202 , rom 204 , power supply 205 , signal processing system 206 , and data communication system 216 . in another example , one or more components of these components ( e . g ., ram 202 , rom 204 , power supply 205 , signal processing system 206 or data communication system 216 ) may be shared by both earpiece devices . referring next to fig3 , a functional block diagram of an exemplary signal processing system 206 is shown . signal processing system 206 may be part of processor 116 ( fig1 ) of earphone device 100 and may be configured to provide automatic sound pass - through of ambient sound to ecr 114 of earphone device 100 . signal processing system 206 may include voice activity detection ( vad ) system 302 , ac gain stage 304 , asm gain stage 306 . mixer unit 308 and optional vad timer system 310 . signal processing system 206 receives an audio content ( ac ) signal 320 from a remote device ( such as a communication device ( e . g . mobile phone , earphone device 220 , earphone device 222 , etc .) or an audio content delivery device ( e . g . music player )). signal processing system 206 further receives asm signal 322 from asm 120 ( fig1 ). a linear gain may be applied to ac signal 320 by ac gain stage 304 , using gain coefficient gain_ac , to generate a modified ac signal . in some embodiments , the gain ( by gain stage 304 ) may be frequency dependent . a linear gain may also be applied to asm signal 322 in gain stage 306 , using gain coefficient gain_asm , to generate a modified asm signal . in some embodiments , the gain ( in gain stage 306 ) may be frequency dependent . gain coefficients gain_ac and gain_asm may be generated according to vad system 302 . exemplary embodiments of vad system 302 are provided in fig4 , 6a and 6b and are described further below . in general , vad 302 may include one or more filters 312 , smoothed level generator 314 and signal level comparator 316 . filter 312 may include predetermined fixed band - pass and / or high - pass filters ( described further below with respect to fig4 a and 6b ). filter 312 may also include an adaptive filter ( described further below with respect to fig5 ). filter 312 may be applied to asm signal 322 , ac signal 320 and / or an ecm signal generated by ecm 106 ( fig1 ). gain stages 304 , 306 may include analog and / or digital components . smoothed level generator 314 may receive at least one of a microphone signal ( e . g ., asm signal 322 and / or an ecm signal ) and ac signal 320 and may determine respective time - smoothed level value of the signal . in an example , generator 314 may use a 100 ms hanning window to form a time - smoothed level value . signal level comparator 316 may use at least the microphone level ( value ) to detect voice activity . in another example , comparator 316 may use the microphone level and the ac level to detect voice activity . if voice activity is detected , comparator 316 may set a vad state to an on state . if voice activity is not detected , comparator 316 may set a vad state to an off state . in general , vad system 302 determines when the user of earphone device 100 ( fig1 ) is speaking . vad system 302 sets gain_ac ( gain stage 304 ) to a high value and gain_asm ( gain stage 306 ) to a low value when no user voice activity is detected . vad system 302 sets gain_ac ( gain stage 304 ) to a low value and gain_asm ( gain stage 306 ) to a high value when user voice activity is detected . the gain coefficients of gain stages 304 , 306 for the on and off states may be stored , for example , in memory 104 ( fig1 ). the modified ac signal and the modified asm signal from respective gain stages 306 and 310 may be summed together with mixer unit 308 . the resulting mixed signal may be directed towards ecr 114 ( fig1 ) as ecr signal 324 . signal processing system 206 may include optional vad timer system 310 . vad timer system 310 may provide a time period of delay ( i . e ., a pre - fade delay ), between cessation of detected voice activity and switching of gains by gain states 304 , 306 associated with the vad off state . in an exemplary embodiment , the time period may be proportional to a time period of continuous user voice activity ( before the voice activity is ceased ). the time period may be bound by a predetermined upper limit ( such as 10 seconds ). vad timer system 310 is described further below with respect to fig7 . referring next to fig4 , a flowchart of an exemplary method is shown for determining user voice activity by vad system 302 ( fig3 ), according to an embodiment of the present invention . according to an exemplary embodiment , voice activity of the user of earphone device 100 ( fig1 ) ( i . e ., the earphone wearer ) may be detected by analysis of a microphone signal captured from a microphone . according to one example , the voice activity may be detected by analysis of an ecm signal from ecm 106 ( fig1 ), where ecm 106 detects sound in the occluded ear canal 124 . according to another exemplary embodiment , voice activity may be detected by analysis of an asm signal from asm 120 . in this case , the method described in fig4 is the same except that the ecm signal ( from ecm 106 of fig1 ) is exchanged with the asm signal from the asm 120 . at step 402 , a microphone signal is captured . the microphone signal 402 may be captured by ecm 106 or by asm 120 . at optional step 404 the microphone signal may be band - pass filtered , for example , by filter 312 ( fig3 ). in an exemplary embodiment , the band - pass filter 312 ( fig3 ) has a lower cut - off frequency of approximately 150 hz and an upper cut - off frequency of approximately 200 hz , using a 2nd or 4th order infinite impulse response ( iir ) filter or 2 chain biquadratic filters ( biquads ). at step 406 , a time - smoothed level of the microphone signal ( step 402 ) or the filtered microphone signal ( step 404 ) is determined , to form a microphone signal level value (“ mic level ”). the microphone signal level may be determined , for example , by smoothed level generator 314 ( fig3 ). for example , the microphone signal may be smoothed using a 100 ms hanning window . at step 412 , input audio content ( ac ) signal 320 ( fig3 ) ( e . g ., speech or music audio from a remote device ) may be received . at optional step 414 , the ac signal 320 may be band - pass filtered , for example by filter 312 ( fig3 ). in an exemplary embodiment , the band - pass filter is between about 150 and about 200 hz , using a 2nd or 4th order iir filter or 2 chain biquads . at step 416 , a time - smoothed level of ac signal ( step 412 ) or the filtered ac signal ( step 414 ) is determined ( e . g ., smoothed using a 100 ms hanning window ), such as by smoothed level generator 314 ( fig3 ), to generate an ac signal level value (“ ac level ”). at step 408 , the microphone signal level value ( determined at step 406 ) is compared with a microphone threshold 410 ( also referred to herein as mic threshold 410 ), for example , by signal level comparator 316 ( fig3 ). microphone threshold 410 may be stored , for example , in memory 104 ( fig1 ). at step 418 , the ac signal level value ( determined at step 416 ) is compared with a modified ac threshold ( determined at step 422 ), for example , by signal level comparator 316 ( fig3 ). the modified ac threshold is generated at step 422 by multiplying a linear ac threshold 420 with a current linear ac signal gain 424 . ac threshold 420 may be stored , for example , in memory 104 ( fig1 ). at step 426 , it is determined whether voice activity is detected . at step 426 , if it is determined ( for example by comparator 316 of fig3 ) that the microphone level is greater than the microphone threshold 410 ( mic level & gt ; mic threshold ) and the ac level is less than the modified ac threshold ( ac level & lt ; modified ac threshold ), then the state of vad system 302 ( fig3 ) is set to an on state at step 430 . otherwise vad system 302 ( fig3 ) is set to an off state at step 428 . at step 430 , when voice activity is detected ( i . e . vad = on state ), the level of asm signal 322 ( fig3 ) provided to ecr 114 ( fig1 ) is increased by increasing gain_asm ( via gain stage 306 ), and the level of ac signal 320 provided to ecr 114 is decreased by decreasing gain_ac ( via gain stage 304 ). at step 428 , when voice activity is not detected ( i . e . vad = off state ), the level of asm signal 322 ( fig3 ) provided to ecr 114 ( fig1 ) is decreased by decreasing gain_asm , and the level of ac signal 320 provided to ecr 114 is increased by increasing gain_ac . a maximum value of gain_ac and gain_asm may be limited , e . g . to about unity gain , and in one exemplary embodiment a minimum value of gain_ac and gain_asm may be limited , e . g . to about 0 . 0001 gain . in an exemplary embodiment , a rate of gain change ( slew rate ) of the gain_asm and the gain_ac in mixer unit 308 ( fig3 ) may be independently controlled and may be different for “ gain increasing ” and “ gain decreasing ” conditions . in one example , the slew rate for increasing and decreasing “ ac gain ” in the mixer unit 308 is about 30 db per second and about − 30 db per second , respectively . in an exemplary embodiment , the slew rate for increasing and decreasing “ asm gain ” in mixer unit 308 may be inversely proportional to the gain_ac ( on a linear scale , the gain_asm is equal to the gain_ac subtracted from unity ). referring next to fig5 , a flowchart of an exemplary method is shown for determining user voice activity by vad system 302 ( fig3 ), according to another embodiment of the present invention . at step 502 , a microphone signal is captured . the microphone signal may be captured by ecm 106 ( fig1 ) or by asm 120 . at step 504 , ac signal 320 ( fig3 ) is received . at step 506 , the ac signal 320 is adaptively filtered by an adaptive filter , such as filter 312 ( fig3 ). at step 508 , the filtered signal ( step 506 ), is subtracted from the captured microphone signal ( step 502 ), resulting in an error signal . at step 510 , the error signal ( step 508 ) may be used to update adaptive filter coefficients ( for the adaptive filtering at step 506 ). for example , the adaptive filter may include a normalized least mean squares ( nlms ) adaptive filter . steps 506 - 510 may be performed , for example , by filter 312 ( fig3 ) at step 512 , an error signal level value (“ error level ”) is determined , for example , by smoothed level generator 314 ( fig3 ). at step 516 the error level is compared with an error threshold 514 , for example , by signal level comparator 316 of fig3 . the error threshold 514 may be stored in memory 104 ( fig1 ). at step 518 it is determined ( for example , by signal level comparator 316 of fig3 ) whether the error level ( step 512 ) is greater than the error threshold 514 . if it is determined , at step 518 , that the error level is greater than the error threshold 514 , step 518 proceeds to step 522 , and vad system 302 ( fig3 ) is set to an on state . step 522 is similar to step 430 in fig4 . if it is determined , at step 518 , that the error level is less than or equal to error threshold 514 , step 518 proceeds to step 520 , and vad system 302 ( fig3 ) is set to an off state . step 520 is similar to step 428 in fig4 . referring next to fig6 a and 6b , flowcharts are shown of an exemplary method for determining user voice activity by vad system 302 ( fig3 ), according to another embodiment of the present invention . fig6 a and 6b show modifications of the method of voice activity detection shown in fig4 . referring fig6 a , the exemplary method shown may be advantageous for band - limited input ac signals 320 ( fig3 ), such as speech audio from a telephone system that is typically band - limited to between about 300 hz and about 3 khz . at step 602 , ac signal 320 is received . at optional step 614 , ac signal 320 may be filtered ( e . g ., high - pass filtered or band - pass filtered , such as by filter 312 of fig3 ), to attenuate or remove low frequency components , or a region of low - frequency components , in the input ac audio signal 612 . at step 606 , an ecr signal may be generated from the ac signal 320 ( which may be optionally filtered at step 614 ) and may be directed to ecr 114 ( fig1 ). referring next to fig6 b , at step 608 , a microphone signal is captured . the microphone signal may be captured by ecm 106 ( fig1 ) or by asm 120 . at optional step 610 , the microphone signal may be band - pass filtered , similarly to step 404 ( fig4 ), for example , by filter 312 ( fig3 ). at step 612 , a time - smoothed level of the microphone signal ( captured at step 608 ) or the filtered microphone signal ( step 610 ) may be determined , similarly to step 406 ( fig4 ), to generate a microphone signal level value (“ mic level ”). at step 614 , the microphone signal level value is compared with a microphone threshold 616 , similarly to step 408 ( fig4 ). at step 618 it is determined whether voice activity is detected . at step 618 , if it is determined ( for example by signal level comparator 316 of fig3 ) that the microphone level is greater than the microphone threshold , then vad system 302 ( fig3 ) is set to an on state at step 622 . otherwise vad system 302 is set to an off state at step 620 . steps 620 and 622 are similar to respective steps 428 and 430 ( fig4 ). referring next to fig7 , a flowchart is shown of an exemplary method for controlling input ac gain and asm gain by signal processing system 206 ( fig3 ) including vad timer system 310 , according to an embodiment of the present invention . in fig7 , following cessation of detected user voice activity by vad system 302 , and following a “ pre - fade delay ,” the level of the asm signal provided to ecr 114 ( fig1 ) is decreased and the level of the ac signal provided to ecr 114 is increased . in an exemplary embodiment , the time period of the “ pre - fade delay ” ( referred to herein as t initial ) may be proportional to a time period of continuous user voice activity ( before cessation of the user voice activity ), and the “ pre - fade delay ” time period t initial may be bound by a predetermined upper limit value ( t max ), which in an exemplary embodiment is between about 5 and 20 seconds . at step 702 , the vad status ( i . e ., an on state or an off state ) is received ( at vad timer system 310 ). at step 704 it is determined whether voice activity is detected by vad system 302 , based on whether the vad status is in an on state or an off state . if voice activity is detected at step 704 ( i . e ., the vad status is an on state ), then a vad timer ( of vad timer system 310 ( fig3 ) is incremented at step 706 . in an example embodiment , the vad timer may be limited to a predetermined time t max ( for example , about 10 seconds ). at step 708 , the gain_ac is decreased and the gain_asm is increased ( via gain stages 304 and 306 in fig3 ). if voice activity is not detected at step 704 ( i . e ., the vad status is an off state ), then the vad timer is decremented at step 710 , from an initial value , t initial . the vad timer may be limited at step 712 so that the vad timer is not decremented to less than 0 . as discussed above , t initial may be determined from a last incremented value ( step 706 ) of the vad timer ( prior to cessation of voice activity ). the initial value t initial may also be bound by the predetermined upper limit value t max . if it is determined , at step 712 , that the vad timer is equal to 0 , step 712 proceeds to step 714 . at step 714 , the ac gain value is increased and the asm gain is decreased ( via gain stages 304 , 306 of fig3 ). if it is determined , at step 712 , that the vad timer is greater than 0 , step 712 proceeds to step 716 . at step 716 , the ac gain and asm gain remain unchanged . thus , the vad timer system 310 ( fig3 ) may provide a delay period between cessation of voice activity detection and changing of the gain stages for corresponding to the vad off state . although the invention has been described in terms of systems and methods for automatically passing ambient sound to an earphone device , it is contemplated that one or more steps and / or components may be implemented in software for use with microprocessors / general purpose computers ( not shown ). in this embodiment , one or more of the functions of the various components and / or steps described above may be implemented in software that controls a computer . the software may be embodied in non - transitory tangible computer readable media ( such as , by way of non - limiting example , a magnetic disk , optical disk , flash memory , hard drive , etc .) for execution by the computer . although the invention is illustrated and described herein with reference to specific embodiments , the invention is not intended to be limited to the details shown . rather , various modifications may be made in the details within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims and without departing from the invention .
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referring to the drawings , the embodiments of the present invention will be described herein below in detail . fig1 shows circuit data on a semiconductor integrated circuit including test points for implementing a test mode for design for testability ( hereinafter simply referred to as circuit data ) according to the first embodiment of the present invention . fig2 and 3 show information ( information about the test mode ) attached to circuit data on the test points ( hereinafter simply referred to as the test points ) that has been added to the circuit data on the semiconductor integrated circuit . as shown in fig1 , at least one test point is added to a specified node of which design for testability is required in the semiconductor integrated circuit . fig4 shows an apparatus for designing the semiconductor integrated circuit according to the first embodiment . fig8 is a flow chart diagram showing a method for designing the semiconductor integrated circuit by using the apparatus for designing the semiconductor integrated circuit . the circuit data , the test points in the circuit data , and the information attached to the test points are combined to provide design data . the group of combinational circuits shown in fig1 include : six combinational circuits cc 1 to cc 6 ; two or circuits or 2 and or 4 ; eleven and circuits and 1 to and 11 ; a selector sel 1 ; four flip - flops ff 1 to ff 4 ; and six input terminals in 1 , in 2 , and clk 1 to clk 4 . a description will be given first to the circuit structure between the combinational circuits cc 1 and cc 2 in the semiconductor integrated circuit shown in fig1 . to each of the inputs of the and circuits and 1 to and 3 , the output of the combinational circuit cc 1 is connected . to the inputs of the and circuit and 4 , the respective outputs of the and circuits and 2 and and 3 are connected . to the clock input of the flip - flop ff 1 , the input terminal clk 1 is connected . to the inputs of the or circuit or 2 , the output of the and circuit and 4 , the output of the flip - flop ff 1 , and the output of the flip - flop ff 4 are connected . to the inputs of the and circuit and 5 , the output of the and circuit and 1 and the output of the or circuit or 2 are connected . to the node between the output of the and circuit and 4 and one of the inputs of the and circuit and 5 , a test point tp 1 composed of the flip - flop ff 1 , the or circuit or 2 , and the input terminal clk 1 is added . a test point tp 4 composed of the flip - flop ff 4 , the or circuit or 2 , and the input terminal clk 4 is also added to the same node . a description will be given next to the circuit structure between the combinational circuits cc 3 and cc 4 . the selector sel 1 is controlled by the input terminal in 1 such that , when the input value of the input terminal in 1 is 1 , the input terminal in 2 is selected and that , when the input value thereof is 0 , the output value of the combinational circuit cc 3 is selected . to the clock input of the flip - flop ff 2 , the input terminal clk 2 is connected . to the input of the combinational circuit cc 4 , the output of the selector sel 1 is connected . to the node between the output of the combinational circuit cc 3 and the 0 - input of the selector sel 1 , a test point tp 2 composed of the flip - flop ff 2 and the input terminal clk 2 is added . subsequently , a description will be given to the circuit structure between the combinational circuits cc 5 and cc 6 . to each of the respective inputs of the and circuits and 6 , and 7 , and and 8 , the output of the combinational circuit cc 5 is connected . to the inputs of the and circuit and 9 , the respective outputs of the and circuits and 7 and and 8 are connected . to the clock input of the flip - flop ff 3 , the input terminal clk 3 is connected . to the inputs of the or circuit or 4 , the output of the and circuit and 9 and the output of the flip - flop ff 3 are connected . to the inputs of the and circuits and 10 , the output of the and circuit and 6 and the output of the or circuit or 4 are connected . to the inputs of the and circuit and 11 , the output of the combinational circuit cc 5 and the output of the and circuit and 10 are connected . to the input of the combinational circuit cc 6 , the output of the and circuit and 11 is connected . to the node between the output of the and circuit and 9 and one of the inputs of the and circuit and 10 , a test point tp 3 composed of the flip - flop ff 3 , the input terminal clk 3 , and the or circuit or 4 is added . fig2 shows information attached to the test points tp 1 and tp 2 added to the circuit data . fig3 shows information attached to the test points tp 3 and tp 4 added to the circuit data . each of the test points tp 1 to tp 4 holds “ test mode ” and “ positional information ” as information ( information about a test mode ) associated therewith . for each “ test mode ”, information composed of the “ type ”, “ use purpose ”, “ effect ”, “ clock frequency ”, “ logic synthesis constraint ”, “ deletable / undeletable ”, “ effect at test points ”, and “ list of test points ” is also held . a description will be given next to the test points tp 1 to tp 4 in the circuit data shown in fig1 . the type of the test mode which validates the test point tp 1 is “ logic bist ” and no “ positional information ” is held . in “ logic bist ” as the test mode for the test point tp 1 , “ use purpose ” is “ improvement in transition probability ” and “ effect ” is “ 0 . 117 % improvement in transition probability ”. in “ logic bist ” as the test mode for the test point tp 1 , “ clock frequency ” is 200 mhz , “ logic synthesis constraint ” is “ none ”, “ deletable / undeletable ” is “ deletable ”, “ effect at test points ” is “ 0 . 191 % improvement in transition probability ”, and “ list of test points ” related thereto is “{ tp4 }”. in the information shown in fig2 , “ effect at test points ” indicates test efficiency improved by combining a plurality of test points and the “ 0 . 191 % improvement in transition probability ” mentioned above improves the test efficiency . the test point related to the present test point tp 1 for the improved test efficiency is the test point tp 4 shown above in “ list of test points ”. “ effect at test points ” shown herein is “ weighting information related to test points ” the types of the test modes which validate the test point tp 2 are “ scan test ” and “ logic bist ” and no “ positional information ” is held . in “ scan test ” as one of the test modes for the test point tp 2 , “ use purpose ” is “ improvement in monitorability ” and “ effect ” is “ 10 nodes ”. in “ scan test ” as the test mode for the test point tp 2 , “ clock frequency ” is “ 30 mhz ”, “ logic synthesis constraint ” is “ false path ”, “ deletable / undeletable ” is “ undeletable ”, “ effect at test points ” is “ none ”, and “ list of test points ” related thereto is not held . in “ logic bist ” as the other test mode for the test point tp 2 , “ use purpose ” is “ improvement in monitorability ” and “ effect ” is “ 10 nodes ”. in “ logic bist ” as the test mode for the test point tp 2 , “ clock frequency ” is “ 200 mhz ”, “ logic synthesis constraint ” is “ none ”, “ deletable / undeletable ” is “ undeletable ”, “ effect at test points ” is “ none ”, and “ list of test points ” related thereto is not held . the type of the test mode which validates the test point tp 3 is “ scan test ” and no “ positional information ” is held . in “ scan test ” as the test mode for the test point tp 3 , “ use purpose ” is “ reduction in test pattern ” and “ effect ” is “ 30 pattern reduction ”. in “ scan test ” as the test mode for the test point tp 3 , “ clock frequency ” is “ 30 mhz ”, “ logic synthesis constraint ” is “ false path ”, “ deletable / undeletable ” is “ deletable ”, “ effect at test points ” is “ none ”, and “ list of test points ” related thereto is not held . the type of the test mode which validates the test point tp 4 is “ logic bist ” and no “ positional information ” is held . in “ logic bist ” as the test mode for the test point tp 4 , “ use purpose ” is “ improvement in transition probability ” and “ effect ” is “ 0 . 117 % improvement in transition probability ”. in “ logic bist ” as the test mode for the test point tp 4 , “ clock frequency ” is “ 200 mhz ”, “ logic synthesis constraint ” is “ none ”, “ deletable / undeletable ” is “ deletable ”, “ effect at test points ” is “ 0 . 191 % improvement in transition probability ”, and “ list of test points ” related thereto is “{ tp1 }”. as shown in fig4 , the apparatus for designing the semiconductor integrated circuit device is composed of : a data input unit k 101 for reading design data d 101 as input data ; a storage device 700 for storing the read data ; a test point deletion unit k 104 for deleting an unnecessary test point corresponding only to an unspecified test mode for a test mode d 102 as input data about a test mode specified by a computer ; and a data output unit k 105 for retrieving the design data from the storage device 700 and outputting it . the data input unit k 101 is composed of : a code analysis unit k 102 for analyzing the code of the design data ; and a database storage unit k 103 for storing the result of the analysis in the storage device 700 . the input data about the test mode specified by the computer indicates data showing specified conditions for given information included in the information about the test mode shown above . specifically , the given information includes “ positional information ” and information composed of “ type ”, “ use purpose ”, “ effect ”, “ clock frequency ”, “ logic synthesis constraint ”, “ deletable / undeletable ”, “ effect at test points ”, and “ list of test points ” which is included in “ test mode ” of the information about the test mode . the specified conditions indicate “ improvement in transition probability ” as “ use purpose ”, “ 0 . 117 % improvement in transition probability ” as “ effect ” and the like shown in fig2 and 3 and also include “ logic bist ” as “ type ”. fig8 is a flow chart diagram showing a procedure for test point design according to the first embodiment . first , in the flow chart , the design data d 101 ( design data structure ) composed of the circuit data on the semiconductor integrated circuit including the test points for the one or plurality of test modes and the information ( information about the test mode ) attached to the test points in the circuit data is inputted . in data read step s 101 , the reading of the design data d 101 is performed . the reading in data read step s 101 is performed in such a manner that the code analysis of the design data d 101 is performed first in code analysis step s 102 and the result of the analysis is stored in a database in database storage step s 103 . at this time , the information on the circuit data and the information attached to the test points are entirely analyzed and stored in the database . when “ logic bist ” ( specified type ) indicative of the type is specified as the test mode d 102 by the computer , any test point for which “ logic bist ” is not written as “ test mode ” in the information attached to the test point in the circuit data stored in the database is deleted in test point deletion step s 104 so that the test point tp 3 is deleted in the present embodiment . consequently , the flip - flop ff 3 , the or circuit or 4 , and the input terminal clk 3 are deleted from the circuit data and the output of the and circuit and 9 is connected to each of the inputs of the and circuit and 10 so that the design data d 104 outputted in data output step s 105 becomes the circuit shown in fig1 . when “ logic bist ” is specified in the test mode d 102 and a specified condition such that that “ effect at 1 test point ” is “ 0 . 15 %- or - more improvement in transition probability ” ( specified effect ) is inputted , any test point for which “ logic bist ” is not written as “ test mode ” in the information attached to the test point is deleted in test point deletion step s 104 so that the test point tp 3 is deleted . even when the type of “ test mode ” is “ logic bist ”, any test point of which “ effect ” in the information attached to the test point is a less - than - 0 . 15 % improvement in transition probability is deleted so that the test points tp 1 and tp 4 are deleted and the output design data d 103 becomes the circuit shown in fig1 . what results is a structure in which , in contrast to the circuit data in the input design data d 101 , each of the inputs of the and circuit and 5 is connected to the output of the and circuit and 4 and each of the inputs of the and circuit and 10 is connected to the output of the and circuit and 9 . when “ scan test ” is specified as the test mode d 102 mentioned above and when “ number of monitorable nodes is 15 or more ” is specified , any test point of which “ test mode ” is other than “ scan test ” is deleted so that the test points tp 1 and tp 4 are deleted . of the test points tp 2 and tp 3 of each of which “ test mode ” is “ scan test ”, the test point tp 2 of which “ use purpose ” is “ number of monitorable nodes is 15 or less ” is supposed to be deleted but its “ deletable / undeletable ” as indication information on whether or not the test point may be automatically deletable is “ undeletable ” so that the test point tp 2 remains without being deleted . as a result , the output design data d 103 has a structure as shown in fig2 in which , in contrast to the circuit data in the input design data d 101 , each of the inputs of the and circuit and 5 is connected to the output of the and circuit and 4 . when “ logic bist ” is specified as the test mode d 102 mentioned above and a specified condition such that “ effect at test points ” is “ 0 . 18 %- or - more improvement in transition probability ” ( specified effect ) is inputted , any test point for which “ logic bist ” is not written as “ test mode ” in the information attached to the test point is deleted so that the test point tp 3 is deleted . even when “ test mode ” is “ logic bist ”, any test point of which “ effect at test points ” is a 0 . 18 - or - less improvement in transition probability in the information attached to the test point is deleted . since “ effect at test points ” in the information held by each of the test points tp 1 and tp 3 remaining without being deleted is 0 . 191 , the test points tp 1 and tp 3 remain without being deleted and the circuit data in the output design data becomes the circuit design shown in fig1 . when “ logic bist ” is specified as the test mode d 102 mentioned above and a specified condition such that “ effect at test points ” is “ 0 . 20 %- or - more improvement in transition probability ” is inputted , the test points tp 1 and tp 3 are deleted since “ effect at test points ” in the information held by each of the test points tp 1 and tp 3 is 0 . 191 . as a result , the circuit data in the output design data becomes the circuit data shown in fig1 . fig5 shows an apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit according to the second embodiment of the present invention . fig9 is a flow chart diagram showing a procedure for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit by using the apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit . as shown in fig5 , the apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit device is composed of : a data input unit k 101 for reading design data d 101 as input data ; a storage device 700 for storing the read data ; and a data output unit k 105 for outputting design data d 103 . the data input unit k 101 is composed of : a code analysis unit k 102 for analyzing the code of the design data ; a test point deletion unit k 104 for deleting an unnecessary test point for the test mode inputted as a test mode d 102 ; and a database storage unit k 103 for storing design data after the deletion of the test point in the storage device 700 . fig9 is a flow chart diagram showing a procedure for test point design according to the second embodiment . first , in the flow chart , circuit data on a semiconductor integrated circuit including test points for one or a plurality of test modes is inputted as the design data d 101 and information attached to the test points in the circuit data is inputted as the test mode d 102 . in data read step s 101 , the reading of the design data d 101 is performed . the reading is performed in such a manner that the code analysis of the design data d 101 is performed first in code analysis step s 102 . when “ logic bist ”, e . g ., is specified as the test mode d 102 , any test point for which “ logic bist ” is not written as “ test mode ” in the information attached to the test point in the circuit data is deleted in test point deletion step s 104 . as a result , circuit data obtained by deleting the test point tp 3 from the circuit data is stored in a database in database storage step s 103 . then , in data output step s 105 , the circuit data on the circuit shown in fig1 is outputted as the design data d 103 . the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that test point deletion step s 104 is provided before database storage step s 103 . as a result , the test point deleted in test point deletion step s 104 is not stored in the database and therefore cannot be recovered . however , a used space in the memory of the storage device can be reduced . fig6 shows an apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit according to the third embodiment of the present invention . fig1 is a flow chart diagram showing a procedure for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit by using the apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit of fig6 . the apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit and the flow chart diagram showing the design procedure according to the present embodiment are basically the same as those described in the first embodiment so that a description will be given to portions different from those in the apparatus for designing the semiconductor integrated circuit and the flow chart diagram showing the design procedure described in the first embodiment . the apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit shown in fig6 is different from that described in the first embodiment in that a logic synthesis unit k 106 is provided therein . the provision of the logic synthesis unit k 106 allows the logic synthesis of the design data stored in the storage device 700 to be performed in logic synthesis step s 106 . when the input design data d 101 is on the rt level , therefore , it becomes possible to output the design data d 104 as a net list on the gate level . fig7 shows an apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention . fig1 is a flow chart diagram showing a procedure for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit by using the apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit . the apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit and the flow chart diagram showing the design procedure according to the present embodiment are basically the same as those described in the second embodiment so that a description will be given to portions different from those in the apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit and the flow chart diagram showing the design procedure described in the second embodiment . the apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit shown in fig7 is different from that described in the second embodiment in that a logic synthesis unit k 106 is provided therein . the provision of the logic synthesis unit k 106 allows logic synthesis to be performed in logic synthesis step s 106 . when the input design data d 101 is on the rt level , therefore , it becomes possible to output the design data d 104 as a net list on the gate level . fig1 shows an apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention . fig1 is a flow chart diagram showing a procedure for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit using the apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit . the apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit and the flow chart diagram showing the design procedure according to the present embodiment are basically the same as those described in the third embodiment so that a description will be given to portions different from those in the apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit and the flow chart diagram showing the design procedure described in the third embodiment . the apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit shown in fig1 is different from that described in the third embodiment in that , in contrast to the apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit described in the third embodiment which has the logic synthesis unit k 106 , the apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit according to the present embodiment has a logic synthesis unit k 107 including a test point optimization process for performing the optimization of the test points during the logic synthesis process . as shown in fig1 , the provision of the logic synthesis unit k 107 including the test point optimization process allows the circuit area optimization and timing optimization of a test point circuit to be performed in logic synthesis step s 107 including the test point optimization process and thereby allows the design data d 104 as a net list on the multi - gate level to be outputted . fig1 shows circuit data on a semiconductor integrated circuit including test points for one or a plurality of test modes according to the fifth embodiment . fig1 shows information attached to the test points in the circuit data . the group of combinational circuits shown in fig1 include eight combinational circuits cc 7 to cc 14 , four selectors sel 2 to sel 5 , four flip - flops ff 5 to ff 8 , and twelve input terminals in 3 to in 10 and clk 5 to clk 8 . a description will be given first to the circuit structure between the combinational circuits cc 7 and cc 8 in the semiconductor integrated circuit shown in fig1 . the selector sel 2 is controlled by the input terminal in 3 such that , when the input value of the input terminal in 3 is 1 , the input terminal in 4 is selected and that , when the input value thereof is 0 , the output value of the combinational circuit cc 7 is selected . to the clock input of the flip - flop ff 5 , the input terminal clk 5 is connected . to the node between the output of the combinational circuit cc 7 and the 0 - input of the selector sel 2 , a test point tp 5 composed of the flip - flop ff 5 and the input terminal clk 5 has been added . a description will be given next to the circuit structure between the combinational circuits cc 9 and cc 10 . the selector sel 3 is controlled by the input terminal in 5 such that , when the input value of the input terminal in 5 is 1 , the input terminal in 6 is selected and that , when the input value thereof is 0 , the output value of the combinational circuit cc 9 is selected . to the clock input of the flip - flop of the flip - flop ff 6 , the input terminal clk 6 is connected . to the node between the output of the combinational circuit cc 9 and the 0 - input of the selector sel 3 , a test point tp 6 composed of the flip - flop ff 6 and the input terminal clk 6 has been added . a description will be given next to the circuit structure between the combinational circuits cc 11 and cc 12 . the selector sel 4 is controlled by the input terminal in 7 such that , when the input value of the input terminal in 7 is 1 , the input terminal in 8 is selected and that , when the input value thereof is 0 , the output value of the combinational circuit cc 1 is selected . to the clock input of the flip - flop ff 7 , the input terminal clk 7 is connected . to the node between the output of the combinational circuit cc 11 and the 0 - input of the selector sel 4 , a test point tp 7 composed of the flip - flop ff 7 and the input terminal clk 7 has been added . subsequently , a description will be given to the circuit structure between the combinational circuits cc 13 and cc 14 . the selector sel 5 is controlled by the input terminal in 9 such that , when the input value of the input terminal in 9 is 1 , the input terminal in 10 is selected and that , when the input value thereof is 0 , the output value of the combinational circuit cc 13 is selected . to the clock input of the flip - flop ff 8 , the input terminal clk 8 is connected . to the node between the output of the combinational circuit cc 13 and the 0 - input of the selector sel 5 , a test point tp 8 composed of the flip - flop ff 8 and the input terminal clk 8 has been added . fig1 shows information attached to the test points tp 5 and tp 6 added to the circuit data . fig2 shows information attached to the test points tp 7 and tp 8 added to the circuit data . each of the test points tp 5 to tp 8 holds “ test mode ” and “ positional information ” as information ( information about the test mode ) associated therewith . each “ test mode ” holds information composed of “ use purpose ”, “ effect ”, “ clock frequency ”, “ logic synthesis constraint ”, “ deletable / undeletable ”, “ effect at test points ”, and “ list of test points ”. the test mode for the test point tp 5 is “ scan test ” and holds the coordinates ( 2 , 1 ) as “ positional information ”. in “ scan test ” as the test mode for the test point tp 5 , “ use purpose ” is “ improvement in monitorability ” and “ effect ” is “ 10 nodes ”. in “ scan test ” as the test mode for the test point tp 5 , “ clock frequency ” is “ 30 mhz ”, “ logic synthesis constraint ” is “ none ”, “ deletable / undeletable ” is “ deletable ”, and “ effect at test points ” is “ none ”. the test mode for the test point tp 6 is “ scan test ” and holds the coordinates ( 3 , 2 ) as “ positional information ”. in “ scan test ” as the test mode for the test point tp 6 , “ use purpose ” is “ improvement in monitorability ” and “ effect ” is “ 11 nodes ”. in “ scan test ” as the test mode for the test point tp 6 , “ clock frequency ” is “ 30 mhz ”, “ logic synthesis constraint ” is “ false path ”, “ deletable / undeletable ” is “ deletable ”, and “ effect at test points ” is “ none ”. the test mode for the test point tp 7 is “ scan test ” and holds the coordinates ( 5 , 6 ) as “ positional information ”. in “ scan test ” as the test mode for the test point tp 7 , “ use purpose ” is “ improvement in monitorability ” and “ effect ” is “ 11 nodes ”. in “ scan test ” as the test mode for the test point tp 7 , “ clock frequency ” is “ 30 mhz ”, “ logic synthesis constraint ” is “ none ”, “ deletable / undeletable ” is “ deletable ”, and “ effect at test points ” is “ none ”. the test mode for the test point tp 8 is “ scan test ” and holds the coordinates ( 2 , 2 ) as “ positional information ”. in “ scan test ” as the test mode for the test point tp 8 , “ use purpose ” is “ improvement in monitorability ” and “ effect ” is “ 10 nodes ”. in “ scan test ” as the test mode for the test point tp 8 , “ clock frequency ” is “ 200 mhz ”, “ logic synthesis constraint ” is “ none ”, “ deletable / undeletable ” is “ deletable ”, and “ effect at test points ” is “ none ”. fig1 is a flow chart diagram showing a procedure for test point design according to the fifth embodiment . first , the circuit data on the semiconductor integrated circuit including the test points for the one or plurality of test modes shown in fig1 and the information attached to the test points in the circuit data shown in fig1 and 20 are inputted as the design data d 101 . fig2 is the coordinate representation of “ positional information ” included in the information attached to the test points in the circuit data . in data read step d 102 , the reading of the design data d 101 is performed . when conditions such that the type of the test mode is “ scan test ” and “ test point merging distance is 5 or less in manhattan distance ” are specified in the test mode d 102 , any test point for which “ scan test ” is not written as “ test mode ” in the information attached to the test point in the circuit data stored in the database is deleted in test point deletion step s 102 . however , since the design data d 101 has no test point for which “ test mode ” is other than “ scan test ”, no test point is deleted in test point deletion step s 104 . then , in logic synthesis step s 105 as the next step including a test point optimization process , timing optimization is performed based on the logic synthesis constraints included in “ logic synthesis constraints ” in the information attached to the test points in the circuit data , while test point merging is performed under the condition that “ test point merging distance is 5 or less in manhattan distance ” specified as the test mode d 102 . a list of candidate test points which can be merged include the test points { tp 5 , tp 6 , and tp 7 } of which the input clocks have the same frequency . when the manhattan distance between a combination of each two of the mergeable test points in the list is determined , the manhattan distance | tp 5 - tp 6 | between the test points tp 5 and tp 6 is 2 , the manhattan distance | tp 5 - tp 7 | between the test points tp 5 and tp 7 is 8 , and the manhattan distance | tp 6 - tp 7 | between the test points tp 6 and tp 7 is 6 . since the condition specified in the test mode d 102 is “ test point merging distance is 5 or less in manhattan distance ”, the test points tp 5 and tp 6 which satisfy the condition are judged to be mergeable so that they are merged . since the design data d 104 outputted in data output step s 105 assigns the function of “ improvement in monitorability ” that has been performed by the flip - flop ff 5 to the flip - flop ff 6 as shown in fig2 , a circuit is provided from which the test point tp 5 composed of the flip - flop ff 5 and the input terminal clk 5 has been deleted , to which an xor circuit xor 1 has been added , and in which the outputs of the combinational circuits cc 7 and cc 9 are connected to the inputs of the xor circuit xor 1 , and the output of the xor circuit xor 1 is connected to the input of the flip - flop ff 6 . when “ scan test ” is specified as the test mode d 102 and “ clock source sharing ” is inputted , clocks having the same use purpose and the same frequency are shared . in the case with the design data d 101 , a list of the test points which can share a clock source are { tp 5 , tp 6 , and tp 7 }. in the design data d 104 outputted in data output step s 105 , the input terminals clk 6 and clk 7 are deleted and each of the clock inputs of the flip - flops ff 6 and ff 7 is connected to the input terminal clk 5 , as shown in fig2 . the manhattan distance described herein can be measured between any two nodes as follows . the differences between the values of the same coordinate components of the two nodes are determined individually and the absolute values of the differences between the same coordinate components are added up on a component - by - component basis . the sum of the absolute values of the differences therebetween is the manhattan distance . fig1 shows an apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention . fig1 is a flow chart diagram showing a procedure for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit by using the apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit . the apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit and the flow chart diagram showing the design procedure according to the present embodiment are basically the same as those described in the fifth embodiment so that a description will be given to portions different from those in the apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit and the flow chart diagram showing the design procedure described in the fifth embodiment . the apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit shown in fig1 is different from that described in the fifth embodiment in that the test point deletion unit k 104 is provided within the data input unit . by using the apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit to delete a test point in test point deletion step s 104 in a stage previous to database storage step s 103 , a used space in the memory of the storage device can further be reduced than in the fifth embodiment .
| 6 |
the distribution of cooling air among the cards depends upon the pressure loss characteristics in supplying cooling air to the respective cards . assuming that the packages respectively have pressure loss values δp t1 to δp tn with air flow rates w 1 to w n , respectively , the pressure loss δp t of each cards can be represented by ## equ1 ## on the other hand , the cooling air flow rates w applied to the respective cards are determined so as to balance or make equal the pressure loss values δp t1 to δp tn in the respective cards . that is to say , cooling flow rates w 1 to w n distributed to the respective cards are determined so as to satisfy the equation : for determining the cooling air flow rates distributed to the respective cards , therefore , it is necessary to know the pressure loss characteristics of the respective cards . we have found that it is possible to estimate the cooling air flow rates distributed to the respective cards by obtaining the pressure loss characteristics of the respective cards based on the average air - flow sectional areas thereof . on the basis of the cooling air flow rates thus determined , pressure adjustment means are disposed in the air flow passages of the cards . fig2 shows a structure in which cards 3 having electronic components 1 and 2 , for example , disposed thereon are mounted in parallel on a mother board 4 . respective cards are cooled by a cooling air 5 . as described above , the flow rate of the cooling air 5 is defined by the pressure loss characteristics of the card and the efficiency of the fan . fig3 shows a typical relationship between the air flow rate values w and the pressure loss value δp t of each of the respective cards . as seen from fig3 the respective cards have different pressure characteristics 6a to 6c . as described before , the cooling air is distributed to the respective cards in such a manner that the pressure losses δp t of the cooling air for the respective cards are rendered equal to each other . for determining the pressure loss characteristic , the concept of average air - flow sectional area is introduced . fig4 a is a plan view of the card 3 . the electronic components 1 are mounted on the card 3 in rows r 1 to r n along the direction of the air flow 5 . fig4 b shows an air - flow sectional area a1 of the first row r 1 . fig4 c is a side view of the card of fig4 a . and the back edge of an adjacent card . an average air - flow sectional area a is of fig4 a and the back edge of an adjacent card obtained by averaging air - flow sectional areas a 1 , a 2 , . . . a n measured at the respective rows according to the following equation : ## equ2 ## an average air flow velocity u is depending upon the average air - flow sectional a ( m 2 ) and the cooling air flow rate w ( m 3 / hr ), applied to the card and represented by ## equ3 ## fig5 shows the pressure loss δp t as a function of the average air flow velocity u . as described above , therefore , the cooling air flow rate w is distributed to the respective cards on the basis of the pressure loss characteristic , and hence on the basis of the average air - flow sectional area a . the cards 3 are usually different from each other in the number , type and arrangement of electronic components 1 and 2 mounted thereon . the cooling air 5 is applied to the cards from the lower side by a fan ( not shown in the embodiment of fig1 ). thus , the cards 3 having different pressure loss characteristics are mounted on the mother board 4 . in order to attain a desired cooling air flow rate 5 for each card , a pressure adjustment device 13 shown in fig6 is provided at a cooling air inlet 10 and / or a cooling air outlet 11 of each card for adjusting the pressure loss characteristics of the card . the pressure loss characteristics of each card can be freely adjusted by using the pressure adjustment device . in this embodiment , therefore , the cooling air flow rate 5 of each card can be freely adjusted by adjusting the pressure adjustment device 13 according to the pressure loss characteristics depending upon the average air - flow sectional area of the card . an example of the pressure adjustment device is shown in fig6 in the form of a plate formed with a number of through holes 20 . the cooling air flow rate is adjusted by selecting the ratio of the total area of the holes to the total area of the plate . in the above described structure according to the present invention , the pressure loss characteristic of each card can be calculated from the average air - flow sectional area of the card . accordingly , the cooling air flow rate of each card can be estimated by calculation . since the pressure loss characteristic can be calculated , the cooling air flow rate can be suitably adjusted by adjusting suitable the pressure loss characteristics of each card .
| 7 |
a two - phase study was undertaken of cyp17 , cyp3a4 , and srd5a2 , to evaluate the relationship between their genotypes / haplotypes and prostate cancer . phase i of the study first searched for single nucleotide polymorphisms ( snps ) in these genes by re - sequencing 24 individuals from coriell polymorphism discovery resource ( coriell cell repositories , camden , n . j . ), approximately 100 men from prostate cancer case - control sibships , and by leveraging public databases . eighty - seven snps were discovered and genotyped in 276 men from case - control sibships . those snps exhibiting preliminary case - control allele frequency differences , or distinguishing ( i . e ., ‘ tagging ’) common haplotypes across the genes , were identified for further study ( 24 snps total ). in phase ii of the study , the 24 snps were genotyped in an additional 841 men from case - control sibships . finally , associations between genotypes / haplotypes in cyp17 , cyp3a4 , and srd5a2 and prostate cancer were evaluated in the total case - control sample of 1 , 117 brothers . a family - based association study population of 1 , 117 men ( 637 cases , 480 controls ) was recruited between january 1998 and january 2001 from the major medical institutions in the greater cleveland area and from the henry ford health system in detroit . the study was approved by the collaborating institution &# 39 ; s review boards , and informed consent was obtained from all participating men . characteristics of the study population have been described ( casey et al . ( 2002 ) nat genet 32 , 581 - 583 ). men diagnosed with histologically confirmed prostate cancer at age 73 or younger were invited to join the study if they had a living unaffected brother who was either older than the proband , or at most eight years younger than the age at diagnosis of the proband . this age restriction was selected in an attempt to increase the potential for genetic factors affecting disease , and to help make certain that the controls were not unaffected due simply to being of a younger age . to help confirm that the controls were not diseased , the prostate specific antigen ( psa ) levels in their blood was tested . individuals in the study with psa levels above 4 ng / ml were retained as ‘ controls ’ unless a subsequent diagnosis of prostate cancer was made , at which time they were reclassified as cases . keeping them in the study was important because automatically excluding men with elevated psa levels regardless of their ultimate prostate cancer status can lead to biased estimates of association ( lubin & amp ; hartge ( 1984 ) am j epidemiol 120 , 791 - 793 ; poole ( 1999 ) am j epidemiol 150 , 547 - 551 ). information on the cases &# 39 ; gleason score ( a measure of prostate cancer cellular differentiation ) and tumor stage ( tnm , tumor - node - metastasis stage ) was determined from their medical records . the study population was comprised of 90 % caucasians ( european americans ), and the remainder primarily african american ( 9 %). polymorphisms were discovered by sequencing individuals from prostate cancer sibships ( 67 cases and 43 controls for cyp17 and cyp3a4 , and 51 cases and 41 controls for srd5a2 ). of the 110 individuals sequenced for cyp17 and cyp3a4 , 106 were caucasian , 2 were hispanic , and 2 were african - american . of the 92 individuals sequenced for srd5a2 , 84 were caucasian and 8 were african american . in addition , the 24 individuals from the coriell cell repository polymorphism discovery resource ( collins et al . ( 1998 ) genome res 8 , 1229 - 1231 ) were sequenced against the three genes . pcr primers covering coding regions , splice sites , 5 ′ and 3 ′ regions , and parts of introns of cyp3a4 ( reference sequence no . 39 ), cyp17 ( reference sequence no . 40 ), and srd5a2 ( reference sequence no . 41 ), were designed using the primer3 program ( http :// www . genome . wi . mit . edu / cgi - bin / primer / primer3 . cgi ). pcr products were sequenced using energy transfer dye terminators on the amersham bioscience &# 39 ; s megabace1000 ( amersham biosciences , sunnyvale , calif .) using standard protocols . sequence analysis was performed by assigning quality values ( phred ; university of washington , seattle , wash . ), assembling contigs ( phrap ; university of washington ), automated identification of candidate heterozygote snps ( polyphred , university of washington ), automated identification of candidate homozygote snps ( high is quality mismatch , amersham biosciences , sunnyvale , calif .) and by operator confirmation ( consed , university of washington ). all polymorphisms were confirmed by single nucleotide primer extension ( snupe ) assay ( amersham biosciences , sunnyvale , calif .) in addition to novel polymorphisms discovered in this study , several publicly available snps from the dbsnp ( http :// www . ncbi . nlm . nih . gov / snp /), utah genome center ( ugc ) ( http :// www . genome . utah . edu / genesnps / genes /), the human cytochrome p450 allele nomenclature committee ( hcanc ) ( http :// www . imm . ki . se / cypalleles /), the human gene mutation database ( hgmd ) ( http :// archive . uwcm . ac . uk / uwcm / mg / hgmd0 . html ) and the human genic bi - allelic sequences ( hgbase ) release 8 ( http :// hgbase . interactiva . de /) were searched for cyp17 , cyp3a4 , and srd5a2 . for the androgen receptor gene , several publicly available snps from dbsnp , hgbase and the androgen receptor mutation database ( armd ) ( http :// ww2 . mcgill . ca / androgendb /) were included . in phase i , 276 individuals from prostate cancer sibships were genotyped for 29 snps ( 11 novel , 18 known ) in cyp17 , 33 snps ( 18 novel , 15 known ) in cyp3a4 , and 25 snps ( 5 novel , 20 known ) in srd5a2 . the individuals included 153 cases and 123 brother controls , 70 % european americans and 30 % african americans . the information from the 276 men was then used to determine initial case - control frequency differences and haplotype tagging . the results were then used to determine which snps should be genotyped in the remainder of the study population ( i . e . in phase ii of the study ). in phase ii , a total of 24 snps were genotyped in 841 individuals , giving information on a total of 1117 individuals for phase ii . genotyping was performed utilizing the single nucleotide primer extension ( snupe ) assay on the megabace1000 ( amersham biosciences , sunnyvale calif .) capillary electrophoresis platform ( amersham biosciences ). the primer3 program ( http :// www . genome . wi . mit . edu / cgi - bin / primer / primer3 . cgi ) was used to design pcr primers to amplify regions containing the snps of interest . pcr fragments were purified with 0 . 5 u of shrimp alkaline phosphatase ( amersham biosciences ) and 10 u of exonuclease i ( amersham biosciences ) by incubating at 37 ° c . for 40 min and at 85 ° c . for 15 min . the single base extension ( sbe ) reaction was set with 1 pmol of hplc purified sbe primer , 2 - 4 μl of snupe premix ( amersham biosciences ), 2 - 4 μl of sterile water , and 1 μof purified pcr fragment , and incubated at 25 cycles of 96 ° c . for 10 sec , 50 ° c . for 5 sec , and 60 ° c . for 10 sec . for phase i of the study , snupe reactions were set in 96 - well plates at 10 μl volume and purified with autoseq ™ 96 plates ( amersham biosciences ) prior to injecting into the megabace1000 system . for phase ii of the study , snupe reactions were set in 384 - well plates at 5 - 6 μl volume , diluted with 3 - 4 μl of sterile water and purified with 1 u of shrimp alkaline phosphatase ( amersham biosciences ) by incubating at 37 ° c . for 45 min and at 85 ° c . for 15 min prior to injecting into the megabace4000 system . in cases where low signal was anticipated ( due to faint pcr ), snupe reactions were desalted using a custom 384 - well filter plate incorporating modified size - exclusion technology ( millipore corporation , billerica , mass .). the scierra genotyping lws ™ ( amersham biosciences ) system was utilized for the tracking and management of samples and laboratory activity for phase ii of the study . specific software ( snpride ) was developed for the automated design of snupe primers . using a purified pcr fragment containing the snp of interest as a template , a third , internal primer was designed so that the 3 &# 39 ; end anneals adjacent to the polymorphic base - pair , and during the snupe reaction a fluorescently labeled dideoxynucleotide ( terminator ) was added onto the primer . a separate software package has been developed ( snp profiler ™, amersham biociences ) that automatically processes the signal data and outputs the maximum likelihood snp genotypes . the system includes a user interface for editing and verification . three snps , srd5a2_snp20 ( v89l ), srd5a2_snp22 ( a49t ) and cyp17 - _snp29 (− 34 & gt ; c ) were analysed by restriction enzyme digestion ( cicek et al ., unpublished data ). a large number of haplotypes inferred during initial rounds of haplotyping implied erroneous genotype data . a phylogenetic study of inferred haplotypes was performed to reveal the relationships between different haplotypes . all haplotypes differing from another haplotype by only one snp , and being represented by only one individual , were subject to inspection . genotype data for the individual at stake were reanalysed by snp profiler ™ ( amersham biosciences ) to exclude the possibility of an incorrect genotype . rounds of phylogenetic study of haplotypes , followed by reanalysing suspicious genotypes and inferring new haplotypes were applied until no more incorrect genotypes could be found . three to six rounds were applied for each of the genes . alleles within each of the three candidate genes were in strong linkage disequilibrium with one another . thus , for each gene , haplotypes were estimated using the resulting genotypes , by disease status and within major ethnic groups using the software phase . this program uses markov chain monte carlo to estimate haplotypes , imputes information for missing genotypes , and incorporates a statistical model for the distribution of unresolved haplotypes based on coalescent theory ( stephens et al . ( 2001 ) am j hum genet 68 , 978 - 989 ). haplotypes and haplotype tagging snps were first determined among the 276 men genotyped for phase i of the study , where tagging snps was necessary to define the most common haplotypes ( e . g ., & gt ; 5 %). after completing genotyping on the entire study population ( phase ii of the study ), the resulting data were used to estimate haplotypes . case versus control allele frequencies were first compared within major ethnic groups . then the association between the resulting genotypes / haplotypes and prostate cancer risk was evaluated by calculating odds ratios ( or , estimates of relative risk ) and 95 % confidence intervals from conditional logistic regression with family as the matching variable , using a robust variance estimator that incorporates familial correlations . this is a standard approach for analyzing sibling matched case - control data , although sibling sets without any controls do not contribute any information ( 197 cases total here ) ( breslow and day ( 1980 ) iarc sci publ 32 , 335 - 338 ). in the analyses of cyp17 , cyp3a4 , and srd5a2 a log - additive coding was used which treats the most common polymorphism ( or haplotype ) as the null - risk referent group and assumes that the relative risk of carrying one polymorphism ( or haplotype ) is the square - root of the risk of carrying two . since haplotypes were estimated for these three genes , the probabilities of observed haplotypes were used in the analyses ( schaid et al . ( 2002 ) am j hum genet 70 , 425a434 ). to control for potential confounding , age was adjusted for in all regression models . in addition to looking at the main effects of each snp or haplotype , the analyses were also stratified by the case &# 39 ; s disease aggressiveness , where high aggressiveness was defined by tnm stage ≧ t2b or gleason score ≧ 7 ; and low aggressiveness by tnm stage & lt ; t2b and gleason score & lt ; 7 . all statistical analyses were undertaken with the s + software ( version 6 . 0 , insightful corp , 2001 ). a total of 34 novel snps were detected : 11 in cyp17 , 18 in cyp3a4 , and 5 in srd5a2 ( table 2 ). in addition , 11 snps were “ rediscovered ” from the public databases . including these 11 snps , 53 snps were selected in total from the databases : 18 in cyp17 , 15 in cyp3a4 , and 20 in srd5a2 . these were chosen based on the intention to obtain an even distribution of snps across the genes and the availability in the databases at that time ( january - april 2001 ). twenty - one snps were chosen from dbsnp , 27 from genesnps , 12 from hgmd , 8 from hgvbase , and 2 from hcanc ( the total number of snps listed here exceeds 53 as several snps were present in multiple databases ). table 3 lists all 87 snps ( 34 novel , 53 from databases ), with their origins , exact locations and allele frequencies . among the 34 novel snps , 26 ( 76 %) were discovered in both the coriell and case - control populations . three snps were only observed in the coriell data , and the remaining five were found only in the prostate cancer sibships . of these five , three were relatively rare ( allele frequencies 0 . 2 - 1 . 5 %), suggesting that they may not have been discovered in the coriell population simply due to its small sample size ( n = 24 ). nevertheless , the other two snps that were only found in the prostate cancer sibships ( cyp3a4_snp12 and cyp17_snp42 ) showed higher allele frequencies ( 7 . 5 % and 21 . 8 %, respectively ), suggesting that they might be specific to the prostate cancer case - control population . the 87 snps were geneotyped in a total of 276 males from prostate cancer sibships ( 29 in cyp17 , 33 in cyp3a4 , and 25 in srd5a2 ). eleven snps gave ambiguous genotyping results . this might have been due to unoptimized genotyping reactions or primer self - priming due to secondary structures and unspecificity of pcr and / or snupe primers , especially within the cytochrome p450 gene family . of the remaining 76 snps , a similar percentage of those novel ( 41 %, or 12 / 29 ) and known ( 38 %, or 18 / 47 ) had allele frequencies & gt ; 10 %. however , 19 / 47 ( 40 %) of the known snps were found to be monoallelic in the 276 men , suggesting that they are either extremely rare , population specific , or artifacts . in light of these results , the 11 snps with ambiguous genotype results , the 19 snps that appeared monoallelic in all samples tested , and an additional four that were seen only in the coriell diversity set but not in the prostate cancer sibships were excluded . also excluded was one snp because & gt ; 15 % of data was missing ( due to a low success rate for pcr and snupe reaction ). finally , 12 snps were excluded because their minor allele frequencies were less than 5 % in all of the following four subgroups : european americans , african americans , cases , and controls ( table 3 ). following these exclusions , a total of 40 snps remained for consideration in the phase ii association study ( 14 in cyp17 , 16 in cyp3a4 , and 10 in srd5a2 ) ( table 3 ). using the preliminary genotype information , haplotypes estimated with a frequency ≧ 5 % in at least one of the four major subgroups ( i . e ., european american , african american , cases , or controls ) were identified . each gene had a single “ common ” haplotype , with a frequency ranging between 42 and 51 percent ( not shown ). haplotype tagging snps were identified and used as a basis for inclusion in phase ii of the study . in addition , non - tagging snps exhibiting suggestive case versus control allele frequencies were considered ( table 3 ). altogether 24 snps were selected for phase ii . the 24 tagging and suggestive snps were genotyped in an additional 841 men , giving information on a total of 1117 individuals for phase ii . case versus control allele frequency differences by ethnic group are presented in table 3 . haplotypes estimated with a frequency ≧ 3 % in at least one of the four major subgroups of the study population were identified . the major haplotypes for cyp17 , cyp3a4 , and srd5a2 along with their frequencies are presented in fig2 . in the association analyses , no associations between cyp17 genotypes / haplotypes and prostate cancer were detected . when looking at cyp3a4 , snp1 was found to be associated with an approximately 50 % reduction in risk ( or = 0 . 53 , 95 % ci = 0 . 29 - 0 . 99 ; p - value = 0 . 05 ) ( table 4a ). furthermore , the haplotype analysis revealed an association with an approximately 55 % decrease in prostate cancer risk and cyp3a4_hap4 ( or = 0 . 46 , 95 % ci = 0 . 21 - 1 . 02 ; p - value = 0 . 05 ) ( table 5a ). two snps in srd5a2 were also found to be associated with an approximately 50 % increase in prostate cancer risk : srd5a2_snp26 ( or = 1 . 57 , 95 % ci = 1 . 08 - 2 . 30 ; p - value = 0 . 02 ), and srd5a2_snp20 ( v89l ) ( or = 1 . 56 , 95 % ci = 1 . 08 - 2 . 25 ; p - value = 0 . 02 ) ( table 4a ). these snps , however , 5 were in almost complete linkage disequilibrium . when the study population was stratified by high and low aggressiveness of prostate cancer , several interesting associations emerged ( see table 4b and 5b ). first , five snps in cyp3a4 showed statistically significant associations with low aggressiveness : cyp3a4_snp11 ( cyp3a4 * 1b ) ( or = 0 . 20 , 95 % ci = 0 . 06 - 0 . 67 ; p - value = 0 . 009 ), cyp3a4_snp47 ( or = 0 . 19 , 95 % ci = 0 . 06 - 0 . 62 ; p - value = 0 . 006 ), cyp3a4_snp1 ( or = 0 . 21 , 95 % ci = 0 . 05 - 0 . 86 ; p - value = 0 . 03 ), cyp3a4_snp25 ( or = 6 . 54 , 95 % ci = 0 . 99 - 43 . 10 ; p - value = 0 . 05 ) and cyp3a4_snp15 ( or = 0 . 41 , 95 % ci = 0 . 22 - 0 . 79 ; p - value = 0 . 007 ). second , an association was observed between cyp3a4_hap4 and low aggressiveness ( or = 0 . 06 , 95 % ci = 0 . 008 - 0 . 50 ; p - value = 0 . 009 ) ( table 5b ). finally , an inverse association was observed between srd5a2_hap3 and high aggressiveness ( or = 0 . 52 , 95 % ci = 0 . 29 - 0 . 91 ; p - value = 0 . 02 ) ( table 5b ). table 6 provides annotation of cyp3a4 , cyp17 and srd5a2 genomic sequences . all of the snps disclosed in the present invention have utility in the prognosis and diagnosis of prostate and breast cancer . although this invention has been described in terms of certain preferred embodiments , other embodiments which will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the disclosure herein are also within the scope of this invention . accordingly , the scope of the invention is intended to be defined only by reference to the appended claims . all documents cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety . # snp was discovered in the coriell diversity set and was not present in the 276 individuals from prostate cancer sibships ( still obviously a real snp since it &# 39 ; s seen in the diversity set ) @ ambiguous genotyping results ; snp was excluded from all further analyses . however , most likely real snps the numbering system for the location of snps is according to the common mutation nomenclature ( den dunnen and antonarakis ( 2000 ) human mut 15 , 7 - 12 ; http :// www . dmd . nl / mutnomen . html # dna ). a explanations : (*), snp did not show up in our study population ; ( r ), rediscovered ; (+), we had sequence coverage but did not rediscover the snp ; (+& lt ;), we had sequence coverage but did not rediscover the snp , most likely due to the low minor allele frequency ; (−), we did not have sequence coverage explaining why we did not rediscover the snp ; ( cds ), novel snp discovered originally in the # coriell diversity set ; ( cap ), novel snp discovered originally in the prostate cancer sibships ; ( c + c ), novel snp discovered originally in both populations b underlined bases indicate the allele for which frequencies are given c excluded from haplotyping in phase i and from consideration for phase ii based on ( a ) being monoallelic in the prostate cancer sibships , ( b ) yielding ambiguous genotyping results , ( c ) low success rate , ( d ) allele frequency & lt ; 5 %. included in phase ii association analyses based on ( 1 ) being a haplotype tagging snp , ( 2 ) case - control difference in phase i , ( 3 ) previous publications supporting association , ( 4 ) snp conveniently # located within the same pcr fragment as another included snp d i , allele frequencies based on 276 samples ; ii , allele frequencies based on 1117 samples a from conditional logistic regression , with matching on family , and a variance estimator that incorporates sibling correlations . b all results are from dominant models that compare homozygous and heterozygous carriers of variant versus the homozygous wildtype ( or = 1 . 0 ). statistically significant allele associations obtained from analysis stratified by aggressiveness a a from conditional logistic regression , with matching on family , and a variance estimator that incorporates sibling correlation . all non - stratified haplotype association results for cyp17 , cyp3a4 , and srd5a2 a . a from conditional logistic regression , with matching on family , and a variance estimator that incorporates sibling correlation . statistically significant haplotype associations obtained from analysis stratified by high aggressiveness ( i . e ., high tnm stage or gleason score ) and low aggressiveness ( i . e ., low tnm stage and gleason score ) a a from conditional logistic regression , with matching on family , and a variance estimator that incorporates sibling correlation .
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turning now to a preferred embodiment of the invention , fig1 illustrates a drill 10 in accordance with the present invention . it is contemplated that the drill 10 is made of a sintered metallic hard material such as solid carbide . however , the drill may be comprised of high speed steel or any other suitable material and is not limited as such . the drill 10 comprises a first end , or shank 12 , opposite a second end , or point 14 , having a body 16 therebetween , and a rotational axis 19 through the center of the drill 10 . the shank 12 is gripped by a rotating device ( not shown ) to drive the drill 10 . the body 16 comprises at least two spiral grooves , or flutes 18 in the form of a helix along opposite sides of body 16 which provides chip evacuation during rotation similar to an auger action . although the flute helix angle shown is 30 degrees , the invention is not limited to a 30 degree helix angle . in between the flutes 18 are lands 20 which are reduced in diameter except at the leading edge called the margin 22 . the reduction in diameter reduces friction between the workpiece and the drill 10 . the margin 22 , forms a full diameter to aid in supporting and guiding the drill 10 . the lands 20 terminate at the point 14 of the drill 10 . the point 14 of the drill 10 is generally cone - shaped and is formed at a cone angle or included angle θ . referring now to fig2 the point 14 comprises two lips or cutting edges 30 formed at the interface of the clearance 32 and the flutes 18 . the cutting edges 30 are formed as a curved or helical lip which helps reduce stress during operation similar to the racon drill point . the cutting edges 30 form a positive rake angle ( not shown ) due to the interface of the helical flutes 18 and the cone - shaped point 14 which is best shown in fig3 which depicts the axial rake angle a and fig4 which shows the radial rake angle β . referring again to fig2 the point further comprises a primary clearance surface 32 behind each cutting edge 30 which is formed at a primary clearance angle ( not shown ) such that only the cutting edges 30 are in contact with the material to be cut . a secondary clearance surface 52 may also be formed adjacent the primary clearance surface 32 at a steeper angle ( not shown ) to provide additional clearance behind the cutting edges 30 . the clearance surfaces 32 , 52 prevent additional friction during the cutting operation and provide additional room for facilitating the removal of chips cut from the material . the drill 10 may also include flush channels 34 typically formed through the entire length of the drill 10 and terminating at the clearance surfaces 32 , 52 of the point 14 . the flush channels 34 carry coolant fluid to help cool the drill 10 and to flush and transport chips out of the hole through the flutes 18 . the point 14 of drill 10 further comprises the area between the flutes 18 which is generally referred to as the web 36 . the intersection of the clearance 40 and the cone produces a straight line chisel 38 and forms a negative rake angle with the conical surface . as previously mentioned , the negative rake angle chisel 38 does not cut efficiently . in order to minimize the effect of the chisel 38 , the present invention utilizes a web - thinning , v shaped notch , or gash 40 which reduces the length of the chisel 38 . the v shaped notch 40 , referred hereafter as the v - notch 40 , is generally shaped like a “ v ” and will be discussed in further detail below . in one embodiment of the present invention , the point 14 comprises cutting edges 32 having a land 60 on at least a portion of the cutting edge 32 in order to further improve the cutting performance of the tool 10 . a land 60 is a straight or tapered edge prep of the relief wall and rake face as it is frequently desirable to provide a chamfer along the cutting edge 30 of a cutting tool 10 in order to reduce stress concentration encountered during use , thereby preventing edge chipping and increasing tool life . although a k - land 60 is shown , the present invention is not limited to a particular type of edge preparation or land . the edge prep , or land 60 , is defined by the angle it makes with the rake face of the cutting tool , and its width , i . e ., the distance in the plane of the tool &# 39 ; s rake face from the beginning of the land portion thereon to the edge generated by the intersection of the land portion and the clearance surface 32 of the tool . similarly , a corner break 61 may be provided at the interface of the margin 22 and the point 14 . the corner break 61 as shown is a chamfer or clip , but may also be formed as a radius . the corner break 61 helps prevent corner edge chipping and premature wear , thereby increasing the life of the tool 10 . the corner break 61 also helps reduce heat concentrations that are associated with a sharp edge . referring now to fig4 another feature of the cutting edges 30 is that in addition to the lip formed as a positive rake angle in the direction normal to the point surface 14 , a radial outward portion of the cutting edge 30 is formed as a positive rake angle β in a radial direction . the positive radial rake angle β results in chip formation and chip movement radially inward as opposed to typical drill point geometries which are designed to move the chips radially outward . the v - notch 40 , is shaped like a “ v ” having a radiused trough 42 at the bottom of the v - notch 40 and a first generally planar side 44 on a leading side of trough 42 and a second generally planar side 46 on the opposite side , or trailing side of the trough 42 as also shown in fig5 . the first side 44 and second side 46 are at an angle φ with respect to each other . like the prior art web - thinning techniques , the v - notch also reduces the length of the cutting edges 30 as the leading side 44 of the v - notch 40 is cut into a portion of the cutting edge 30 such a reduction also reduces the width of the chips making it easier to evacuate the chips , as best shown in fig4 . however , the v - notch 40 of the present invention is formed such that the trough 42 of the v - notch 40 is at a compound angle with respect to axis 19 such that the leading edge 44 of the v - notch 40 forms a positive rake angle . as shown in fig1 and 6 , trough 42 is formed longitudinally as a compound curve at a skew angle λ between the centerline b of trough 42 and a line a perpendicular to the axis 19 of the drill 10 . the trough 42 is also formed at a tilt angle 8 with respect to axis 19 normal to the skew angle λ as shown in fig6 . the resulting formation of the positive rake angle on the v - notch 40 actually extends the effective positive rake angle cutting edge length of drill 10 . the multiple cutting edges 30 , 44 , aggressively bite into the material to be drilled as the drill 10 rotates . additionally , the positive rake angle cutting edge 44 results in enhanced self - centering of the drill tool 10 by providing an aggressive geometry which bites into the material adjacent the chisel . the negative or neutral prior art web thinning techniques allowed the drill point to “ walk ” along the surface of the material to be cut , thus moving the drill away from the desired location , or resulted in bell - mouthing of the drill hole entrance . the trailing side 46 of the v - notch 40 is generally cut into either the primary clearance surface 32 ( when the drill is formed with only one clearance surface ) or in the secondary clearance 52 as shown in the figures of the present invention . the trailing side 46 forms an additional clearance surface , shown adjacent the secondary clearance surface 52 at a tertiary clearance angle ( not shown ) and helps improve chip removal from the drill 10 . accordingly , the flush channels 34 work in conjunction with the drill point geometry to efficiently remove chips from the hole . the drill point geometry pushes the chips radially inward toward the flutes 18 while the flush liquid flows along the clearance surfaces 32 , 52 , through the v - notch 40 and into the flutes 18 and out of the hole . the v - notch 40 location and shape help in chip formation and removal . leading edge 44 of the v - notch 40 cuts the material , the chips are curled as they hit the trailing side 46 of the v - notch 40 . as previously mentioned , the cutting edges 30 have a positive axial rake angle α , a positive radial rake angle β , and are curved as the edges 30 move radially inward . the v - notch also has a positive rake angle and a shape conducive to curling and breaking the chips . these curl up the chips formed in front of the cutting edges 30 , 44 , and help break them up and send them down the flutes and ultimately out of the hole . the process is aided by coolant holes 34 , one formed through the clearance surfaces 32 , 52 , just ahead of the v - notch . pressurized coolant pumped down the holes 34 flushes the chips off the cutting edges 30 , 44 , and out of the hole . in the point geometry configuration of the present invention , the chisel edge 38 lies totally behind the cutting edge 30 that precedes it , next to the v - notch 40 . this configuration provides an easy exit path for the material plowed up ahead of the chisel edge 38 , which can flow down the clearances surfaces 32 , 52 , behind the cutting edge 30 and into the adjacent v - notch 40 . although the present invention has been described above in detail , the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken as a limitation on the present invention . accordingly , the scope and content of the present invention are to be defined only by the terms of the appended claims .
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the description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description , and is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed . many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art . the embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention , the practical application , and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated . the present invention is directed to a mechanism for performing load balancing of requests to application instances on one or more server computing devices . these requests may be generated by other servers , client computing devices , or other computing devices that may act as sources of requests for application resources on a server computing device . as such , the present invention is especially suited for use in a distributed data / processing environment . therefore , fig1 - 3 are provided hereafter to provide a general overview of an exemplary distributed data processing system , and the computing devices therein , in order to give a context for an exemplary environment in which the present invention may be implemented . no limitation on the environments in which the present invention may be utilized is intended or implied by the description and depictions of fig1 - 3 . fig1 depicts a pictorial representation of a network of data processing systems in which the present invention may be implemented . network data processing system 100 is a network of computers in which the present invention may be implemented . network data processing system 100 contains a network 102 , which is the medium used to provide communications links between various devices and computers connected together within network data processing system 100 . network 102 may include connections , such as wire , wireless communication links , or fiber optic cables . the depicted example , servers 104 are connected to network 102 along with storage unit 106 . in addition , client 112 is connected to network 102 . client 112 may be , for example , a personal computer or network computer . in the depicted example , servers 104 provide data , such as boot files , operating system images , and applications to client 112 . client 112 maybe a client to one of the servers 104 , for example . network data processing system 100 may include additional servers , clients , and other devices not shown . in the depicted example , network 102 of the may include the internet representing a worldwide collection of networks and gateways that use the transmission control protocol internet protocol ( tcp / ip ) suite of protocols to communicate with one another . at the heart of the internet is a backbone of high - speed data communication lines between major nodes or host computers , consisting of thousands of commercial , government , educational and other computer systems that route data and messages . of course , network 102 also may be implemented as a number of different types of networks , such as for example , an intranet , a local area network ( lan ), or a wide area network ( wan ). fig1 is intended as an example , and not as an architectural limitation for the present invention . referring to fig2 , a block diagram of a data processing system that may be implemented for anyone of the servers 104 in fig1 , is depicted in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . data processing system 104 may be a symmetric multiprocessor ( smp ) system including a plurality of processors 202 and 204 connected to system bus 206 . alternatively , a single processor system may be employed . also connected to system bus 206 is memory controller / cache 208 , which provides an interface to local memory 209 . i / o bus bridge 210 is connected to system bus 206 and provides an interface to i / o bus 212 . memory controller / cache 208 and i / o bus bridge 210 may be integrated as depicted . peripheral component interconnect ( pci ) bus bridge 214 connected to i / o bus 212 provides an interface to pcl local bus 216 . a number of modems may be connected to pci local bus 216 . typical pci bus implementations will support four pci expansion slots or add - in connectors . communications links to clients 112 in fig1 may be provided through modem 218 and network adapter 220 connected to pci local bus 216 through add - in connectors . additional pci bus bridges 222 and 224 provide interfaces for additional pci local buses 226 and 228 , from which additional modems or network adapters may be supported . in this manner , data processing system 104 allows connections to multiple network computers . a memory - mapped graphics adapter 230 and hard disk 232 may also be connected to i / o bus 212 as depicted , either directly or indirectly . those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardware depicted in fig2 may vary . for example , other peripheral devices , such as optical disk drives and the like , also may be used in addition to or in place of the hardware depicted . the depicted example is not meant to imply architectural limitations with respect to the present invention . the data processing system depicted in fig2 may be , for example , an ibm eserver pseries system , a product of international business machines corporation in armonk , n . y ., running the advanced interactive executive ( aix ) operating system or linux operating system . with reference now to fig3 , a block diagram illustrating a data processing system is depicted in which the present invention may be implemented . data processing system 112 is an example of a client computer . data processing system 112 employs a peripheral component interconnect ( pci ) local bus architecture . although the depicted example employs a pci bus , other bus architectures such as accelerated graphics port ( agp ) and industry standard architecture ( isa ) may be used . processor 302 and main memory 304 are connected to pci local bus 306 through pci bridge 308 . pci bridge 308 also may include an integrated memory controller and cache memory for processor 302 . additional connections to pci local bus 306 may be made through direct component interconnection or through add - in boards . the present invention addresses the issue of oscillatory behavior in load balancing weights . our goal is to change weights in a dynamic load balancing environment in a manner that will reduce oscillations in server farm performance while assuring that weights are still capable of reacting to problems in a timely fashion . this technique may be applied to existing load balancing advisors with very little change to the base weight calculation or it may be integrated directly into the load balancing advisor &# 39 ; s implementation . fig4 shows an example of a load balancing environment where the present invention can be used . in this figure , the incoming requests from clients 112 are forwarded over network 102 to the content servers ( 104 ) by the load balancer ( 115 ). conventional load balancers , such as those from cisco or nortel may used . fig4 , illustrates an environment where a weight refinement proxy ( 125 ) sits between the workload manager or weight generation component ( 130 ) and the load balancer ( 115 ). one such example of a workload manager is ibm &# 39 ; s enterprise workload manager . in this case , the load balancer would be made to think that the weight refinement proxy is the workload manager , and the weight refinement proxy will act as a load balancer to the workload manager . this would allow the weight refinement proxy to receive the weights from the workload manager and refine them according to the methods of this invention before rendering them to the load balancer . alternatively , if the present invention is integrated into the weight generation component , it will be integrated to the algorithm of the workload manager or weight generation component ( 130 ), and the weight refinement proxy would not be needed . two aspects of the invention that will be described below are : determined weights to using weight history , and determining weights using a metric know as the relative workload of the computing environment . the first mention aspect above of the present invention will be described in the context of an interval - based management loop to generate weights to use as load balancing recommendations . in this context , a workload manager will compute new load balancing weights at every interval . when describing our approach to incorporating weight history into existing weights , the following terms must be defined : old_weight i : the weight assigned to member i in the previous weight generation interval . new_raw_weight i : the un - refined weight generated for member i for the current weight generation interval . raw weights are calculated using existing weight generators . sub_delta i : an amount that is to be reallocated from member i during this weight generation interval . add_delta i : the amount reallocated to member i during this weight generation interval . weightpool : the total amount of weight aggregated from all members to be reallocated . final_weight i : the final weight assigned to member i . the strategy , as illustrated in the flowchart of fig5 , incorporates history into the final weights sent to the load balancer . however , there are several cases where the weight history is no longer relevant or it is simply incompatible . these cases are referred to as reset conditions and they include ( but are not limited to ) the following : when the algorithm is producing the first set of weights when group members are added / removed when group members are quiesced / reactivated when new load balancing algorithms or modes are engaged . if during the management loop , it is determined that there is a reset condition ( 510 ), the new raw weights will be used as the final weights ( 525 ). other ways of handling the reset conditions would be to reinitialize all weights to a common value or some function of historic averages or trends . if there is no reset condition , the old weights are changed in accordance with the distribution indicated by the new raw weights . this process involves the following steps : 1 . calculate and remove an amount of weight ( sub_delta i ) from each group member &# 39 ; s old weight ( 515 ). one way of calculating this amount is by taking away a fixed percentage of each member &# 39 ; s old weight : more intelligent methods of computing sub_delta will be described below . 2 . add all sub_delta i values to form weightpool ( 520 ) 3 . calculate the portion of the weightpool ( add_delta i ) that will be attributed back to each of the respective members . when redistributing the weightpool in this fashion , it should be divided in accordance to the distribution suggested by the new raw weights for this particular interval ( 530 ). for example , add_delta , for member i can be computed by proportionally dividing the weightpool in the following manner : 4 . add add_delta i to the reduced old weight of member i ( computed in 515 ) to form the final_weight i ( 535 ). this process could be described mathematically as the following : while the implementation of fig5 described above will reduce the amount of variability in load balancing weights and introduce an aspect of history in the weights used , the inventors have discovered that the magnitude and effect of a weight change is also dependant on the current workload . even when the workload is large , if the capacity of the server farm is much larger , significant weight changes may be safe . if the workload is high when compared with the capacity of the server farm , the managing applications could cause oscillatory performance by even moderately favoring a particular machine , discovering it is now swamped and then favoring a new machine . to avoid this type of behavior , one must consider the magnitude of the current workload relative to the server farm capacity when deciding how much to change the weights . to describe this approach , the following variables are defined : relative_workload : metric characterizing the current workload with respect to the system &# 39 ; s capacity to handle this workload . the objective of the following text is to determine this relative_workload metric and use it to change the amount of the weights that will be reallocated during each weight computation interval . a description of computing new weights in this fashion would resemble the flowchart and description in fig5 with more intelligent logic for the computation of sub_delta i ( 515 ). the new method of calculating sub_delta i is described in fig6 and the paragraph below . described above as an implementation of step 515 , sub_delta i can be computed by multiplying old_weight i by weightdelta ( 610 ), a parameter which determines how sensitive the change in weights will be to the current conditions . in this implementation , if weightdelta is zero , the weights would never change ( no sensitivity to current conditions ). conversely , as weightdelta approaches 1 , the weights will begin to mirror the exact conditions seen when statistics are sampled ( in some cases this may be too sensitive ). an earlier description used a constant value for weightdelta ( 615 , 620 ). for static weightdelta values , conservative numbers within the range of 5 to 10 % may be appropriate . to determine a more appropriate value for weightdelta , the relative_workload metric ( 615 , 625 ) is used . once the relative_workload metric is computed , weightdelta can then be computed dynamically as a function of the relative_workload ( 625 , 630 ). an example of this computation is noted below : weightdeltamax = the largest weight change the implementer permits . this is again a factor of how conservative the implementor is . a typical value for weightdeltamax is 75 % ( 0 . 75 ). the implementer should prevent value of the relative workload from falling below 1 . 0 in the above formula to adhere to the weightdeltamax cap . c = constant used to assist in the computation of the weightdelta . c was chosen to be 1 in this embodiment , however , other values may be used . the new values of sub_delta i can then be computed by multiplying old_weight i by the new dynamic weightdelta value ( 635 ). the relative_workload metric is a representation of the relationship between the current workload and the system &# 39 ; s capacity to handle this workload . this metric can be expressed at a high level by the following formula : this value can be particularly difficult to compute because there are not easy ways to calculate the “ server farm capacity ” as it pertains to a specific application at any point in time . even if computed , the metrics that many may use to calculate the “ server farm capacity ” may not be in terms of or comparable to the “ workload volume .” lastly , the capacity could change if other applications are started or stopped in the server farm as well as when resources are dynamically provisioned to the farm . instead of trying to compute this metric , it is estimated . essentially , measurement or computation of other statistics that have some relationship to the relative_workload metric may be used or substituted in its place . it is important to note , that while we describe a number of methods to estimate the relative_workload metric , this invention is not limiting its claims to these methods . one way of estimating the relative workload metric is to monitor application level work queues . the application queue sizes are a direct result of the workload and the capacity of the farm . in a load balancing environment where there are many copies of the application , each application instance may have its own work queue . in this case we need to form a consolidated queue metric by statistically combining the queue sizes from each application queue with respect to the weights used when distributing the work . an example of this calculation would start with determining the weight - based coefficient to use for each application queue size : the rest of the consolidated queue metric would look like the following : this queue metric is not exactly the same as the relative workload metric ; however , it is related . when the queue metric is higher , the relative workload metric is higher . its relationship to the relative_workload is characterized in the following formula where x is a constant : a second method of estimating the relative workload metric is to work backwards and monitor the oscillatory performance caused when weights change . performance metrics would be maintained over several weight updates and the sampled performance would be compared . the performance deviation ( standard deviation computation ) of the different load balanced paths during this time period can be used as an oscillation metric . an example of such a calculation is found below : perfdev ( i ) = % perfchange ( i ) % weightchange ( i ) some performance metrics that may exhibit this behavior are the current number of transactions being processed or the response times of the transactions during that time period . each perfdev ( i ) can be statistically combined to form a consolidated deviation metric for the server farm ( using a weighted average , etc .). a similar calculation using resource oriented statistics ( cpu utilization , etc .) could also be used . the performance deviation may be multiplied an appropriate constant , such as 1 , to determine the relative workload . a third method of estimating relative_workload is by using the system &# 39 ; s or application &# 39 ; s cpu delay . this metric is an indication of how busy the system is while processing the current work . if the cpu delay gets smaller , the relative workload should be smaller . as the cpu delay grows bigger , the workload is becoming larger than the system &# 39 ; s ability to handle it . the cpu could be multiplied by appropriate constants to insure that the relative work load assumes a certain range of values . alternatively , fig7 describes a different method of taking relative_workload into account when computing new weights . this alternative process begins as the process in fig5 began , by determining if the system was in a reset condition ( 710 ). if the system is determined to be in a reset condition , the final_weight of each member would be set to its corresponding new raw_weight , or some other preset value ( 725 ). if the system is determined to not be in a reset condition , the process proceeds to computing and removing sub_delta i from each member &# 39 ; s old_weight by using a constant value of weightdelta ( 715 ): all sub_delta i will be added together to form weightpool ( 720 ). the add_delta values would then be computed as the portion of the weightpool that will be attributed back to each of the respective members . when redistributing the weightpool in this fashion , it should be divided in accordance to the distribution suggested by the new raw weights for this particular interval ( 730 ). for example , add_delta , for member i can be computed by proportionally dividing the weightpool in the following manner : the value add_delta i is then contrasted with the value subtracted from the weight of member i , sub_delta i to form a weight change bound ( 735 ) which represents the maximum change in weight for the member i . this process could be described mathematically as the following : to make the actual change relative to the workload and its relationship to the server farm capacity , we will only change the weight by a factor of the weightchange_bound and the relative_workload ( 740 ): c was chosen to be 1 in this embodiment , however , other values may be used .
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