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embodiments of the present invention will be described by way of example with reference to the architecture of a 3g network . however , it will be understood that it can be applied to any other suitable form of network . [ 0015 ] fig1 depicts the architecture of an all - ip ( internet protocol ) umts ( universal mobile telecommunications system ) system . boxes and ellipses in fig1 indicate network elements , which are annotated by their standard abbreviations . the network elements are connected by interfaces indicated by lines , whose types are indicated by their standard abbreviations next to the lines . network elements whose abbreviations carry the suffix “*)” in fig1 are duplicated in the figure for ease of layout , but belong to the same logical element in the umts reference model . in the system of fig1 items of terminal equipment ( te ) 1 can communicate with the umts network 2 via radio ( r ) interface 3 . by this means the tes can communicate with other tes that are connected directly to the umts network or are connected to other networks 4 that are connected to the umts network . the tes can also receive applications and services from application / service platform 5 . the core network section of the network includes a ggsn ( gateway support node 7 , an sgsn ( serving gprs support node ) 6 , and an s - cscf ( serving call state control function ) 10 . in addition the network has a ccf ( changing control function ) 8 , otherwise known as an online charging function ( ocf ). the general functions of most of the units in fig1 are well known and will not be described in detail here . the ccf 8 is responsible for collecting data on charges for the subscriber of terminal network 2 . in a preferred embodiment of the invention the ccf 8 is also responsible for generating a global charging identifier ( icid ). this feature of the invention will be explained in more detail herein after . each network may include a number of ccfs each of which serves a subset of subscribers to that network . a ccf can be a logical function that is part of the cps ( call processing server ) or service creation environment ( sce ). in the embodiment illustrated in fig1 the charging control information for generating charges for separate services provided to support a connection or call can be generated from a number of entities : 1 . the applications and services unit 5 ( scp or otherwise ): for example to make a charge to a user for the use of a supplementary or value - added service ( e . g . call forwarding , call transfer or recommendation of a restaurant local to the user ). 2 . the access network ( the sgsn 6 or ggsn 7 ): for provision to the user of access for his terminal to the umts network . 3 . the multimedia ip network ( 4 a ): for provision of access to a network and / or for access to specific data from the network and optionally for guaranteeing the quality of service in the network . 4 . legacy networks such as legacy mobile communication network 4 b and legacy pstn network 4 c : for provision of access to those networks . 5 . core network ( cps — a physical element which includes the s - cscf ( serving call control service function ) 10 and optionally the mgcf too ): for use by the umts core network for transfering of data . the charging means described herein makes use of charging data records ( cdr ) which are generated in the entities that levy charges and allow the charging control information to be passed in a coherent way . there are several forms of cdr , depending on the unit that generates the cdr . however , all the cdrs include an icid which allows the cdrs that have been generated in response to a single communication to be matched up . the icid provides a unique identifier for each connection / call . each cdr includes a global charging id field which includes the icid of the call to which the information in it relates . the generation of the global charging id in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described . fig2 is a signaling diagram that shows the signaling process for setting up a call from an initiating terminal ( te ) 1 to another terminal ( not shown ) via an s - cscf 10 , an application server ( as ) 5 and a ccf 8 . in order to set up a call , the session initiation protocol ( sip ) can be used . the sip has been developed to perform call / session control functions including assisting in establishing ip ( internet protocol ) sessions between subscribers . the sip protocol provides a number of standardized requests and responses by means of which the session control functions may be performed between terminals . the sip protocol is published as ietf rfc 2543 ( and revisions ), currently available from www . ietf . org . s - cscf receives an invite message from terminal equipment 1 when a call is placed . in response to receiving the invite message , the s - cscf 10 sends an accounting request ( acr ) ( start_record ) message to the ccf 8 . this message starts accounting session in ccf and in this case causes the generation of an icid . the message may contain information relating to the identity of the subscriber . the s - cscf may access a home subscriber server ( hss ) ( not shown ) to determine the identity of the ccf associated with the subscriber of te 1 . since the acr ( start_record ) message does not contain an icid , when the ccf receives the acr ( start_record ) message from s - cscf , the ccf will generate the icid for the call which is being set up . the ccf will then send an accounting answer ( aca ) message to the s - cscf which includes the generated icid . the s - cscf may then send an invite message with the icid for the call , together with the identity of the ccf to an as 5 . the icid is included in with the session initiation protocol ( sip ) signaling . 4 . as performs a one time event . this may be any service that uses event method charging . for example , the service may be such that data is added to session initiation protocol ( sip ) signaling that is made available to the called party . on performing the chargeable event , the as sends an acr ( event_record ) message to the ccf that includes the icid for the call . the ccf detects that the icid is included in the message and therefore does not generate a new one . in response to the acr message , the ccf sends an aca message to the as . the invite message is routed back from the as to s - cscf . the as may add information to the invite message . the invite message is sent towards the terminating party with the icid included in the sip signaling . the identity of the ccf may also be included in the invite message . by virtue of the method described above , the generation of the icid is therefore centralized at the ccf . once an icid has been generated in relation to a call that same icid is used by all the entities that generate charges for the call . the same icid included as the charging id field for each of their cdrs for the call . to allow this to happen the s - cscf causes the icid to be made available to other entities that may need to generate cdrs for the call . this can be done by including the icid in the invite message sent from the s - cscf , as described above . this may require the addition of an element to such protocols as they are presently formed , including the protocols that are used for communication with legacy networks such as global systems for mobile communicating ( gsm ) networks that may also need to generate cdrs . however , support for this feature allows the s - cscf to send the icid in an invite message to the other entities that may need to generate cdrs for the call , once it has received the icid from the ccf . when the call is complete the entities that need to generate charges for the call each generate cdrs that include the icid of the call . these are sent to the ccf of the subscriber who is bearing the charges . for an as that performs one time event , the cdr is sent when the call is complete or when the event is complete . when the ccf receives a cdr it checks whether it has previously received a cdr having the same icid as the newly received cdr . if it has not , the system forms a new transaction on the account of the user to whom the newly received cdr indicates a charge should be made . the new transaction is initially assigned to have value indicated in the cdr . when any more cdrs having the same icid are received their value is added to the same transaction . the total value of the transaction is debited from the user &# 39 ; s account . the transaction may be debited from the user &# 39 ; s account as a single item so that the charges derived from different sources for a single call are transparent to the user . the transaction may be itemized so that the user can see how the total charge is made up . the elements of the network that generate charges and that modify or use charging information support the transfer of charging information . in general , the protocols that are used between charge - generating network elements and between network elements that modify charging information may also support the transfer of the charging id . embodiments of the present invention have been described with specific reference to the umts and gprs systems . however , it is not limited to these systems . the applicant draws attention to the fact that the present invention may include any feature or combination of features disclosed herein either implicitly or explicitly or any generalization thereof , without limitation to the scope of any of the present claims . in view of the foregoing description it will be evident to a person skilled in the art that various modifications may be made within the scope of the invention .
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this invention involves a device and procedure for solving the problem of stabilizing the structure and placement of vaso - occlusive devices when they are placed in an aneurysm . these retaining devices prevent the migration of one or more occlusion devices such as coils from a target occlusion site , by forming a barrier at the entrance zone to the target site from a feeding vessel . the remainder of the retainer device which is remote from the mouth generally provides stability to the portion of the device which is in the mouth of the aneurysm . fig1 a and 1b show typical but simple variation of the device in which the retainer assembly ( 100 ) has a shape which approximates that of the aneurysm into which it is placed . specifically , the retainer device ( 100 ) has a plurality of array elements ( 102 ) or “ interior ” array elements ( 102 ) which extend from an electrolytic joint ( 104 ) and form a loop which comes around to join itself back in the vicinity of electrolytic joint ( 104 ). it is , of course , permissible to use joints other than electrolytic joints in place of ( 104 ), e . g ., joints which rely upon mechanical joining for structural certainty . however , joint ( 104 ) is desirably electrolytically severable because such joints are very functionally flexible in their deployment . that is to say , that should the aneurysm retainer somehow be malplaced , the fact that core wire ( 106 ) can be used to withdraw this device back into its delivery catheter or other suitable delivery tubular member , is a very big benefit . fig1 a , a side view of the inventive retainer ( 100 ), shows another aspect of this invention which is significant . in this variation , array member ( 102 ) has a proximal end ( 108 ) and a distal end ( 110 ). similarly , as a convention here , core wire ( 106 ) has a distal end ( 112 ) which is just proximal of the electrolytic joint ( 104 ). now as may be seen from fig1 a , joint ( 104 ) and core wire distal end ( 112 ) are both distally placed from the proximal end of the retainer assembly ( 108 ). this configuration has at least two benefits . first of all , the joint itself is not placed in the feed artery and should not cause the creation of an embolus in that vessel with the danger of subsequent blockage . furthermore , the plurality of array wires ( as may be shown from the top view in fig1 b ) form what might be characterized as a skeletal funnel a the top of the retainer device ( 100 ) and consequently in the aneurysm itself , placement or re - placement of the catheter in the retainer device so to permit introduction of the vaso - occlusive member ( not shown ) into the interior volume of the aneurysm retainer device is simplified . this variation of the invention as well as the others discussed below , are delivered through a tubular member such as a catheter . the shape of the device shown in fig1 a is the so - called secondary shape found after the retainer device ( 100 ) has been pushed from the distal end of the delivery . the retainer device ( 100 ) generally has a relatively linear shape as is pushed through catheter . this primary or delivery shape is essentially the shape of the interior of the catheter during the delivery step . after deployment , the device assumes its secondary shape as is seen in fig1 a . to undergo such massive changes in shape , it is usually preferable that the interior array elements ( 102 ) be produced of material such as a superelastic alloy . superelastic or pseudoelastic shape recovery alloys are well known in this art . for instance , u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 174 , 851 ; 3 , 351 , 463 ; and 3 , 753 , 700 each describe one of the more well known superelastic alloys , also known as nitinol . these alloys are characterized by their ability to be transformed from an austenitic crystal structure to a stress - induced martensitic ( sim ) structure at certain temperatures and then return elastically to the austenitic shape when the stress is removed . these alternating crystal structures provide the alloy with its superelastic properties . the alloy mentioned in the three patents just above , is a nickel - titanium alloy . it is readily commercially available and undergoes the austenitic - sim - austenitic transformation in a variety of temperatures between − 20 ° c . and + 30 ° c . these alloys are especially suitable because of their capacity to recover elastically — almost completely — to the initial configuration once the stress is removed . typically , in these services , there is little plastic deformation even at relatively high strains . this allows the retainer device ( 100 ) to undertake substantial bends both as it is collapsed to enter the tubular delivery device and as it undertakes further bending in passing through turns in the vasculature . in spite of this bending , it returns to its original shape once the bend has been traversed without retaining a kink or a bend . of the superelastic alloys currently available , we consider a preferred material to be nominally 50 . 6 ± 2 % nickel and most of the remainder , titanium . up to about 5 % of the alloy may be another member of the iron group of metals , particularly chromium and iron . the alloy shouldn &# 39 ; t contain more than about 500 parts per million of oxygen , carbon , or nitrogen . the transition temperature of this material is not particularly important , but it should be reasonably below the typical temperature of the human body so to allow it to be in its austinitic phase during use . the diameter of the wires or ribbons making up the array elements preferably are smaller than about 0 . 010 inches in diameter . as will be discussed below in conjunction with fig1 , the typical superelastic alloy is not always completely visible under fluoroscopy . consequently , it is often desirable to add some type of a covering to improve the radio - opacity of the device . radio - opaque metals such as gold and platinum are well known . although we have discussed the concept that these devices are desirably made from superelastic alloys , other metals may in certain circumstances be appropriate . such metals include a number of the stainless steels and other highly elastic , if not superelastic alloys . furthermore , it is within the scope of this invention that the array elements ( 102 ) be of polymeric material . polymeric materials are somewhat easier to work with in forming the device and may also suitable for maintaining the vaso - occlusive devices at an appropriate site within the aneurysm . such materials as polyethylene , polypropylene , polytetrafluoroethylene , various of the nylons , and the like would be easily chosen by one having ordinary skill in this art for the purposes shown herein . the electrolytic severable joint ( 104 ) may also be called a sacrificial link . core wire ( 106 ) is typically coated with an electrical insulator which is not susceptible to dissolution via electrolysis in blood or other ionic media . suitable coatings for core wire ( 106 ) include such insulating materials as the polyfluorocarbons ( e . g ., teflon ), polyurethane , polyethylene , polypropylene , polyimides or other suitable polymeric materials . sacrificial joint ( 104 ) is not coated with such an insulator and is of a material which is susceptible to electrolytic dissolution in blood . joint ( 104 ) may be a simple un - insulated continuation of , e . g ., stainless steel core wire ( 106 ), which has been insulated proximally of the joint . it should also be apparent that the sacrificial joint ( 106 ) is more susceptible to electrolysis than are the array elements ( 102 ). further discussion of construction of , placement of , and other physical details of such a joint may be found in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 122 , 136 to guglielmi et al . ; u . s . pat . no . 5 , 354 , 295 to guglielmi et al . ; u . s . pat . no . 5 , 624 , 449 , to pham et al ., and others . although the array elements ( 104 ) are generally shown to be regular and of the approximate same shape on each of the axis through the retainer device ( 100 ), such obviously need not be the case . it is within the scope of this invention that the retainer assembly be irregular in shape so to fit the shape of an irregular aneurysm . placement of such devices must be done with some care , but it is within the purview of one having ordinary skill in the art with some instruction . fig2 a shows another variation of the inventive retainer assembly ( 120 ) in which the array elements are of two different types . array element ( 122 ) is of the same general shape as those shown in fig1 a and fig1 b . array element ( 122 ) extends directly into the aneurysm . array elements ( 124 ) are paired to extend axially from the region of the joint ( 104 ). these axially extending loops ( 124 ) are also intended to fit within the aneurysm and provide directional stability to the placement of the retainer device ( 120 ). only a single axial array element ( 122 ) is shown in fig2 a and 2b . the invention is , obviously , not so limited . the generally perpendicular array elements ( 124 ) may have larger loops than those shown as well . again , this device is situated in its secondary form so that the remainder ( 126 ) of any element attached formerly joint ( 104 ) after dissolution by electrolysis of joint ( 104 ), will not extend into the feeder vessel for this aneurysm . this retainer assembly ( 120 ) may be used to help close an aneurysm which is of substantial length but nominal width . fig3 a and 3b show still another variation of the inventive device ( 140 ). this variation shows one internal array member ( 142 ), although multiple array members may be used . in addition , fig3 a and 3b show a number of external array members ( 144 ) which are intended to remain outside of the aneurysm when the aneurysm is deployed . these exterior or outer array members ( 144 ) are of the same general makeup and material as those shown in the earlier discussed figures . although the overall configuration of this device ( 140 ) as shown in fig3 a and 3b may be indented at the top in the same manner as the variations shown in fig1 a , 1 b , 2 a , and 2 b , this neck configuration is shown for purposes of completing the variations of this invention . the exterior array members ( 144 ) and the interior array member ( 142 ) may be attached to core wire ( 150 ) via a ferrule ( 146 ) perhaps by crimping or perhaps by welding the devices components together . an electrolytic joint ( 148 ) on core wire ( 150 ) is also shown . this variation of the invention is less desirable because of the possibility that the ferrule member ( 146 ) can be present in the flowing artery . fig4 a and 4b show another variation of the inventive device ( 160 ) having another number of exterior array members ( 162 ). it should be noted out that in some instances where the back wall of the aneurysm is determined to be especially weak and the neck of the aneurysm is considered to be the strongest retention point , that device such as is shown in fig3 a , 3 b , 4 a , and 4 b is quite useful . the presence of a single loop array element ( 164 ) within the aneurysm may be of benefit . fig5 a and 5b show a very simple variation ( 170 ) of the inventive device . this variation is a simple pair of array members ( 172 ) to be placed within the aneurysm . it too has a joining element ( 174 ) which may be the site from which interior elements ( 174 ) extend . the core wire ( 176 ) extends inward from the joining element ( 174 ) much as in the other arrangements discussed above . fig6 a and 6b show an very simple variation ( 180 ) of the inventive device . in this variation ( 180 ), the array elements ( 182 ) extend away from the region of the joint ( 184 ) and perhaps the joining element ( 186 ) and do not form a loop extending to the bottom of the aneurysm . this device is shown as having a small surface coil ( discussed in more detail with regard to fig1 below ). in this variation , it may be typical that the ends of the array arms ( 182 ) farthest away from joint ( 184 ) form the contact regions with the aneurysm wall and therefore provide stability to this retainer device ( 180 ). that is to say that unlike the retainers discussed above , wherein the retainer is kept from movement by contact with multiple sites inside the aneurysm , this device may merely contact the farther - most walls of that aneurysm . fig7 a and 7b show another variation of , generally , both features of the fig6 a and 6b device as well as those shown in fig1 a , 1 b , 2 a , and 2 b . that is to say that the inventive device ( 190 ) utilizes loops as array members ( 192 ) which may extend to the bottom of the aneurysm . the joint for electrolytic dissolution ( 194 ) is recessed into the proximal end of the device ( 190 ). the upper portions of the array wires ( 192 ) are covered with a radio - opaque wrap ( 196 ). it should be understood that the secondary shapes of the devices shown in fig1 a through 7b are secondary shapes which occur when the retainer device is placed in the open air — that is to say not within aneurysm . any placement of these devices in a human body will likely cause the secondary shape to distort . the shape which these devices actually take within an aneurysm , although preferably those shown in the drawings noted above , may not be as depicted . fig8 shows a close - up partial sectional view of desirable electrolytic joint configuration . in fig8 , the core wire ( 200 ) has over it , a plastic sleeve ( 202 ) which is cut at a bias or angle ( 204 ). the electrolytic joint ( 206 ) is small , discrete area which concentrates the flow of current into that area so to accelerate the dissolution of that joint . preferably the region just proximal of the joint ( 208 ) is also covered with an insulator . electrolytic joint ( 206 ) is placed as far distal as is reasonably possible during assembly so to prevent jagged edges and points after dissolution . in this variation , the joining block ( 210 ) is a plastic joint into which both the element ( 212 )— distal to joint ( 206 )— is embedded . array members ( 214 ) are also shown and they are , as well , embedded in plastic junction member ( 210 ). this arrangement may provide some benefit , in that when an electric current is applied to core wire ( 200 ), there is no tendency for the current to flow into the array elements ( 214 ) because they are insulated by junction block ( 210 ). this is believed to accelerate the dissolution of joint ( 206 ). fig9 shows another close - up partial sectional view of the distal end of core wire ( 200 ) with joint ( 206 ) and proximal covering ( 208 ). the major difference between the variation shown in fig8 and that shown in fig9 is that the array members ( 214 ) are crimped onto distal member ( 212 ), using a ferrule ( 220 ). such a ferrule ( 220 ) may simply mechanically attach array members ( 214 ) to core wire ( 200 ) or additional joining arrangements , e . g ., welding or the like may be employed . although soldering is not typically desirable because of the potential creation of a ragged joint on the proximal end of distal element ( 212 ), in some circumstances it may be permissible to solder it as well . fig1 shows a partial cut - away of an array arm ( 220 ) having an interior wire ( 222 ) and a radio - opaque coil ( 224 ) wrapped about its exterior . exterior wire ( 224 ) may also be an exterior ribbon or the like , if such is a more pleasing variation to the designer using the teachings of this invention . coil ( 224 ) is merely a radio - opacifier for the overall device ( 220 ). this device may be deployed in the following manner . fig1 a shows a berry aneurysm ( 200 ) emanating from the wall of an artery ( 202 ). a catheter ( 204 ) is shown having radio - opaque band ( 206 ) at its distal end . the distal end of catheter ( 204 ) extends into the mouth ( 208 ) of the aneurysm ( 200 ). fig1 b shows a retainer device ( 212 ) having a shape similar to those discussed above . this variation of the inventive retainer ( 212 ) has interior array members ( 214 ) and exterior array members ( 216 ). it should be also noted that the exterior array members ( 216 ) are exterior to the aneurysm ( 200 ) and the remaining array members ( 214 ) are interior to aneurysm ( 200 ). it should probably be apparent that the various array members should not pinch the aneurysm in any very meaningful or deleterious way , lest some type of rupture occur . in fig1 c , it can be seen that the voltage has been applied to core wire ( 218 ), and the electrolytic joint has been dissolved . the core wire ( 218 ) is then withdrawn from catheter ( 204 ) and discarded . it may be also seen in fig1 c that the region of the joint adjacent the retainer device ( 212 ) is recessed out of the flow of artery ( 202 ). in fig1 d , catheter ( 204 ) has been re - introduced into the neck of aneurysm ( 200 ) and a number of vaso - occlusive devices — in this case , coils ( 220 )— have been introduced into the volume formed by retainer assembly ( 212 ). fig1 e show the withdrawal of catheter ( 204 ) from the feed vessel with the implantation of vaso - occlusive coils ( 220 ) and their stabilizing retainer ( 212 ) complete . many alterations and modifications may be made by those of ordinary skill in this art , without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention . the illustrated embodiments have been shown on for purposes of clarity and the example should not be taken as limiting the invention as defined in the following claims , which are intended to include all equivalents , whether now or later devised .
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as used herein the terms “ formed essentially of tantalum ” or “ consisting essentially of tantalum ” means that the fibers comprise at least 99 . 0 percent by weight tantalum . referring to fig1 and 2 , the process starts with the fabrication of valve metal filaments , such as tantalum , by combining shaped elements of tantalum with a ductile material , such as copper to form a billet at step 10 . the billet is then sealed in an extrusion can in step 12 , and extruded and drawn in step 14 following the teachings of my prior pct applications nos . pct / u . s . 07 / 79249 and pct / u . s . 08 / 86460 , or my prior u . s . pat . nos . 7 , 480 , 978 and 7 , 146 , 709 . the extruded and drawn filaments are then cut or chopped into short segments , typically 0 . 15875 to 0 . 63500 cm inch long at a chopping station 16 . preferably the cut filaments all have approximately the same length . actually , the more uniform the filament , the better . the chopped filaments are then passed to an etching station 18 where the ductile metal is leached away using a suitable acid . for example , where copper is the ductile metal , the etchant may comprise nitric acid . etching in acid removes the copper from between the tantalum filaments . after etching , one is left with a plurality of short filaments of tantalum . the tantalum filaments are then washed in water , and the wash water is partially decanted to leave a slurry of tantalum filaments in water . the slurry of tantalum filaments in water is uniformly mixed and is then cast as a thin sheet using , for example , in fig2 a “ doctor blade ” casting station 22 . excess water is removed , for example , by rolling at a rolling station 24 . the resulting mat is then further compressed and dried at a drying station 26 . it was found that an aqueous slurry of chopped filaments will adhere together and was mechanically stable such that the fibers could easily be cast into a fibrous sheet , pressed and dried into a stable mat . notwithstanding , as long as the filaments are less than 5 microns diameter , more preferably 0 . 5 to less than 5 microns , they are quite flexible , and yet easily adhere together , forming a mechanically stable mat that can be handled and shaped . the filaments also have an extremely high surface area to mass ratio , making them ideally suitable for use as scaffolding for promoting both soft tissue growth and hard tissue growth . in choosing fiber size , the distinction between hard and soft tissue use of ta fibers is important . hard tissue bone implants are stressed membranes while soft tissue such as nerves , veins , heart and bladder and tissues , etc . are not . because specific surface ( ssa ) of a powder , i . e . the surface area of a powder expressed in square centimeters per gram of powder or square meters per kilogram of powder varies as at sizes , especially below 1 μ , specific surface ( ssa ) can increase extremely rapidly . see fig4 . take our example of 0 . 5 to 5 μ , the smaller fibers are 10 times higher in surface area . thus , the smaller sizes would require less ta overall , and is in the higher range in the nanometer scale at 500 nm . this is extremely important since ta is a permanent scaffold and is less intrusive which is important for soft flexible tissue such as nerves , veins , heart and bladder tissues , etc . preferably the filaments are below 1 micron diameter . to ensure an even distribution of the filaments , and thus ensure production of a uniform sheet - like structure , the slurry preferably is subjected to vigorous mixing by mechanical stirring and vibration . the porosity of the resulting tantalum fibrous sheet can be varied simply by pressing the sheet further . also , if desired , multiple layers may be stacked together to form thicker sheets . the resulting fibrous structure ( fig3 ) is flexible but has sufficient integrity so that it can be handled and shaped , without any binders , into an elongate scaffolding where it can then be used . the fibrous structure product made according to the present invention forms a porous surface of fibers having minimum spacings between fibers of approximately 100 to 500 microns having an extremely large surface area - to - volume , which encourages healthy ingrowth of bone or soft tissue . numerous other arrangement by carding the fibers , meshes , braids and other type arrangement can also be constructed .
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a method and system for specifying variable accuracy inter - picture timing in a multimedia compression and encoding system with reduced requirements for division operations is disclosed . in the following description , for purposes of explanation , specific nomenclature is set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention . however , it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that these specific details are not required in order to practice the present invention . for example , the present invention has been described with reference to the mpeg multimedia compression and encoding system . however , the same techniques can easily be applied to other types of compression and encoding systems . fig1 illustrates a high - level block diagram of a typical digital video encoder 100 as is well known in the art . the digital video encoder 100 receives an incoming video stream of video frames 105 at the left of the block diagram . the digital video encoder 100 partitions each video frame into a grid of pixelblocks . the pixelblocks are individually compressed . various different sizes of pixelblocks may be used by different video encoding systems . for example , different pixelblock resolutions include 8 × 8 , 8 × 4 , 16 × 8 , 4 × 4 , etc . furthermore , pixelblocks are occasionally referred to as ‘ macroblocks .’ this document will use the term pixelblock to refer to any block of pixels of any size . a discrete cosine transformation ( dct ) unit 110 processes each pixelblock in the video frame . the frame may be processed independently ( an intra - frame ) or with reference to information from other frames received from the motion compensation unit ( an inter - frame ). next , a quantizer ( q ) unit 120 quantizes the information from the discrete cosine transformation unit 110 . finally , the quantized video frame is then encoded with an entropy encoder ( h ) unit 180 to produce an encoded bitstream . the entropy encoder ( h ) unit 180 may use a variable length coding ( vlc ) system . since an inter - frame encoded video frame is defined with reference to other nearby video frames , the digital video encoder 100 needs to create a copy of how each decoded frame will appear within a digital video decoder such that inter - frames may be encoded . thus , the lower portion of the digital video encoder 100 is actually a digital video decoder system . specifically , an inverse quantizer ( q − 1 ) unit 130 reverses the quantization of the video frame information and an inverse discrete cosine transformation ( dct − 1 ) unit 140 reverses the discrete cosine transformation of the video frame information . after all the dct coefficients are reconstructed from inverse discrete cosine transformation ( dct − 1 ) unit 140 , the motion compensation unit will use that information , along with the motion vectors , to reconstruct the encoded video frame . the reconstructed video frame is then used as the reference frame for the motion estimation of the later frames . the decoded video frame may then be used to encode inter - frames ( p - frames or b - frames ) that are defined relative to information in the decoded video frame . specifically , a motion compensation ( mc ) unit 150 and a motion estimation ( me ) unit 160 are used to determine motion vectors and generate differential values used to encode inter - frames . a rate controller 190 receives information from many different components in a digital video encoder 100 and uses the information to allocate a bit budget for each video frame . the rate controller 190 should allocate the bit budget in a manner that will generate the highest quality digital video bit stream that that complies with a specified set of restrictions . specifically , the rate controller 190 attempts to generate the highest quality compressed video stream without overflowing buffers ( exceeding the amount of available memory in a video decoder by sending more information than can be stored ) or underflowing buffers ( not sending video frames fast enough such that a video decoder runs out of video frames to display ). in some video signals the time between successive video pictures ( frames or fields ) may not be constant . ( note : this document will use the term video pictures to generically refer to video frames or video fields .) for example , some video pictures may be dropped because of transmission bandwidth constraints . furthermore , the video timing may also vary due to camera irregularity or special effects such as slow motion or fast motion . in some video streams , the original video source may simply have non - uniform inter - picture times by design . for example , synthesized video such as computer graphic animations may have non - uniform timing since no arbitrary video timing is imposed by a uniform timing video capture system such as a video camera system . a flexible digital video encoding system should be able to handle non - uniform video picture timing . as previously set forth , most digital video encoding systems partition video pictures into a rectangular grid of pixelblocks . each individual pixelblock in a video picture is independently compressed and encoded . some video coding standards , e . g ., iso mpeg or itu h . 264 , use different types of predicted pixelblocks to encode video pictures . in one scenario , a pixelblock may be one of three types : 1 . i - pixelblock — an intra ( i ) pixelblock uses no information from any other video pictures in its coding ( it is completely self - defined ); 2 . p - pixelblock — a unidirectionally predicted ( p ) pixelblock refers to picture information from one preceding video picture ; or 3 . b - pixelblock — a bi - directional predicted ( b ) pixelblock uses information from one preceding picture and one future video picture . if all the pixelblocks in a video picture are intra - pixelblocks , then the video picture is an intra - frame . if a video picture only includes unidirectional predicted macro blocks or intra - pixelblocks , then the video picture is known as a p - frame . if the video picture contains any bi - directional predicted pixelblocks , then the video picture is known as a b - frame . for the simplicity , this document will consider the case where all pixelblocks within a given picture are of the same type . an example sequence of video pictures to be encoded might be represented as : i 1 b 2 b 3 b 4 p 5 b 6 b 7 b 8 b 9 p 10 b 11 p 12 b 13 i 14 . . . where the letter ( i , p , or b ) represents if the video picture is an i - frame , p - frame , or b - frame and the number represents the camera order of the video picture in the sequence of video pictures . the camera order is the order in which a camera recorded the video pictures and thus is also the order in which the video pictures should be displayed ( the display order ). the previous example series of video pictures is graphically illustrated in fig2 . referring to fig2 , the arrows indicate that pixelblocks from a stored picture ( i - frame or p - frame in this case ) are used in the motion compensated prediction of other pictures . in the scenario of fig2 , no information from other pictures is used in the encoding of the intra - frame video picture i 1 . video picture p 5 is a p - frame that uses video information from previous video picture i 1 in its coding such that an arrow is drawn from video picture i 1 to video picture p 5 . video picture b 2 , video picture b 3 , video picture b 4 all use information from both video picture i 1 and video picture p 5 in their coding such that arrows are drawn from video picture i 1 and video picture p 5 to video picture b 2 , video picture b 3 , and video picture b 4 . as stated above the inter - picture times are , in general , not the same . since b - pictures use information from future pictures ( pictures that will be displayed later ), the transmission order is usually different than the display order . specifically , video pictures that are needed to construct other video pictures should be transmitted first . for the above sequence , the transmission order might be : i 1 p 5 b 2 b 3 b 4 p 10 b 6 b 7 b 8 b 9 p 12 b 11 i 14 b 13 . . . fig3 graphically illustrates the preceding transmission order of the video pictures from fig2 . again , the arrows in the figure indicate that pixelblocks from a stored video picture ( i or p in this case ) are used in the motion compensated prediction of other video pictures . referring to fig3 , the system first transmits i - frame i 1 which does not depend on any other frame . next , the system transmits p - frame video picture p 5 that depends upon video picture i 1 . next , the system transmits b - frame video picture b 2 after video picture p 5 even though video picture b 2 will be displayed before video picture p 5 . the reason for this is that when it comes time to decode video picture b 2 , the decoder will have already received and stored the information in video pictures i 1 and p 5 necessary to decode video picture b 2 . similarly , video pictures i 1 and p 5 are ready to be used to decode subsequent video picture b 3 and video picture b 4 . the receiver / decoder reorders the video picture sequence for proper display . in this operation i and p pictures are often referred to as stored pictures . the coding of the p - frame pictures typically utilizes motion compensation , wherein a motion vector is computed for each pixelblock in the picture . using the computed motion vector , a prediction pixelblock ( p - pixelblock ) can be formed by translation of pixels in the aforementioned previous picture . the difference between the actual pixelblock in the p - frame picture and the prediction pixelblock is then coded for transmission . the coding of p - pictures typically utilize motion compensation ( mc ), wherein a motion vector ( mv ) pointing to a location in a previous picture is computed for each pixelblock in the current picture . using the motion vector , a prediction pixelblock can be formed by translation of pixels in the aforementioned previous picture . the difference between the actual pixelblock in the p - picture and the prediction pixelblock is then coded for transmission . each motion vector may also be transmitted via predictive coding . for example , a motion vector prediction may be formed using nearby motion vectors . in such a case , then the difference between the actual motion vector and the motion vector prediction is coded for transmission . each b - pixelblock uses two motion vectors : a first motion vector referencing the aforementioned previous video picture and a second motion vector referencing the future video picture . from these two motion vectors , two prediction pixelblocks are computed . the two predicted pixelblocks are then combined together , using some function , to form a final predicted pixelblock . as above , the difference between the actual pixelblock in the b - frame picture and the final predicted pixelblock is then encoded for transmission . as with p - pixelblocks , each motion vector ( mv ) of a b - pixelblock may be transmitted via predictive coding . specifically , a predicted motion vector is formed using nearby motion vectors . then , the difference between the actual motion vector and the predicted is coded for transmission . however , with b - pixelblocks the opportunity exists for interpolating motion vectors from motion vectors in the nearest stored picture pixelblock . such motion vector interpolation is carried out both in the digital video encoder and the digital video decoder . this motion vector interpolation works particularly well on video pictures from a video sequence where a camera is slowly panning across a stationary background . in fact , such motion vector interpolation may be good enough to be used alone . specifically , this means that no differential information needs be calculated or transmitted for these b - pixelblock motion vectors encoded using interpolation . to illustrate further , in the above scenario let us represent the inter - picture display time between pictures i and j as d i , j , i . e ., if the display times of the pictures are t i and t j , respectively , then d i , j = t i − t j from which it follows that note that d i , j may be negative in some cases . thus , if mv 5 , 1 is a motion vector for a p 5 pixelblock as referenced to i 1 , then for the corresponding pixelblocks in b 2 , b 3 and b 4 the motion vectors as referenced to i 1 and p 5 , respectively would be interpolated by note that since ratios of display times are used for motion vector prediction , absolute display times are not needed . thus , relative display times may be used for d i , j inter - picture display time values . this scenario may be generalized , as for example in the h . 264 standard . in the generalization , a p or b picture may use any previously transmitted picture for its motion vector prediction . thus , in the above case picture b 3 may use picture i 1 and picture b 2 in its prediction . moreover , motion vectors may be extrapolated , not just interpolated . thus , in this case we would have : such motion vector extrapolation ( or interpolation ) may also be used in the prediction process for predictive coding of motion vectors . the variable inter - picture display times of video sequences should be encoded and transmitted in a manner that renders it possible to obtain a very high coding efficiency and has selectable accuracy such that it meets the requirements of a video decoder . ideally , the encoding system should simplify the tasks for the decoder such that relatively simple computer systems can decode the digital video . the variable inter - picture display times are potentially needed in a number of different video encoding systems in order to compute differential motion vectors , direct mode motion vectors , and / or implicit b prediction block weighting . the problem of variable inter - picture display times in video sequences is intertwined with the use of temporal references . ideally , the derivation of correct pixel values in the output pictures in a video codec should be independent of the time at which that picture is decoded or displayed . hence , timing issues and time references should be resolved outside the codec layer . there are both coding - related and systems - related reasons underlying the desired time independence . in a video codec , time references are used for two purposes : to establish an ordering for reference picture selection , one may simply send a relative position value . for example , the difference between the frame position n in decode order and the frame position m in the display order , i . e ., n - m . in such an embodiment , time - stamps or other time references would not be required . to interpolate motion vectors , temporal distances would be useful if the temporal distances could be related to the interpolation distance . however , this may not be true if the motion is non - linear . therefore , sending parameters other than temporal information for motion vector interpolation seems more appropriate . in terms of systems , one can expect that a typical video codec is part of a larger system where the video codec coexists with other video ( and audio ) codecs . in such multi - codec systems , good system layering and design requires that general functions , which are logically codec - independent such as timing , be handled by the layer outside the codec . the management of timing by the system and not by each codec independently is critical to achieving consistent handling of common functions such as synchronization . for instance in systems that handle more than one stream simultaneously , such as a video / audio presentation , timing adjustments may sometimes be needed within the streams in order to keep the different streams synchronized . similarly , in a system that handles a stream from a remote system with a different clock timing adjustments may be needed to keep synchronization with the remote system . such timing adjustments may be achieved using time stamps . for example , time stamps that are linked by means of “ sender reports ” from the transmitter and supplied in rtp in the rtp layer for each stream may be used for synchronization . these sender reports may take the form of : wherein the wall - clock rate of the reference timestamps is known , allowing the two streams to be aligned . however , these timestamp references arrive both periodically and separately for the two streams , and they may cause some needed re - alignment of the two streams . this is generally achieved by adjusting the video stream to match the audio or vice - versa . system handling of time stamps should not affect the values of the pixels being displayed . more generally , system handling of temporal information should be performed outside the codec . as set forth in the previous section , the problem in the case of non uniform inter - picture times is to transmit the inter - picture display time values d i , j to the digital video receiver in an efficient manner . one method of accomplishing this goal is to have the system transmit the display time difference between the current picture and the most recently transmitted stored picture for each picture after the first picture . for error resilience , the transmission could be repeated several times within the picture . for example , the display time difference may be repeated in the slice headers of the mpeg or h . 264 standards . if all slice headers are lost , then presumably other pictures that rely on the lost picture for decoding information cannot be decoded either . thus , with reference to the example of the preceding section , a system would transmit the following inter - picture display time values : d 5 , 1 d 2 , 5 d 3 , 5 d 4 , 5 d 10 , 5 d 6 , 10 d 7 , 10 d 8 , 10 d 9 , 10 d 12 , 10 d 11 , 12 d 14 , 12 d 13 , 14 . . . for the purpose of motion vector estimation , the accuracy requirements for the inter - picture display times d i , j may vary from picture to picture . for example , if there is only a single b - frame picture b 6 halfway between two p - frame pictures p 5 and p 7 , then it suffices to send only : where the d i , j inter - picture display time values are relative time values . if , instead , video picture b 6 is only one quarter the distance between video picture p 5 and video picture p 7 then the appropriate d i , j inter - picture display time values to send would be : note that in both of the preceding examples , the display time between the video picture b 6 and video picture video picture p 7 ( inter - picture display time d 6 , 7 ) is being used as the display time “ unit ” value . in the most recent example , the display time difference between video picture p 5 and picture video picture p 7 ( inter - picture display time d 6 , 7 ) is four display time “ units ” ( 4 * d 6 , 7 ). in general , motion vector estimation calculations are greatly simplified if divisors are powers of two . this is easily achieved in our embodiment if d i , j ( the inter - picture time ) between two stored pictures is chosen to be a power of two as graphically illustrated in fig4 . alternatively , the estimation procedure could be defined to truncate or round all divisors to a power of two . in the case where an inter - picture time is to be a power of two , the number of data bits can be reduced if only the integer power ( of two ) is transmitted instead of the full value of the inter - picture time . fig4 graphically illustrates a case wherein the distances between pictures are chosen to be powers of two . in such a case , the d 3 , 1 display time value of 2 between video picture p 1 and picture video picture p 3 is transmitted as 1 ( since 2 1 = 2 ) and the d 7 , 3 display time value of 4 between video picture p 7 and picture video picture p 3 can be transmitted as 2 ( since 2 2 = 4 ). alternatively , the motion vector interpolation of extrapolation operation can be approximated to any desired accuracy by scaling in such a way that the denominator is a power of two . ( with a power of two in the denominator division may be performed by simply shifting the bits in the value to be divided .) for example , where the value p is a power of two and z 5 , 4 = p * d 5 , 4 / d 5 , 1 is rounded or truncated to the nearest integer . the value of p may be periodically transmitted or set as a constant for the system . in one embodiment , the value of p is set as p = 2 8 = 256 . the advantage of this approach is that the decoder only needs to compute z 5 , 4 once per picture or in many cases the decoder may pre - compute and store the z value . this allows the decoder to avoid having to divide by d 5 , 1 for every motion vector in the picture such that motion vector interpolation may be done much more efficiently . for example , the normal motion vector calculation would be : but if we calculate and store z 5 , 4 wherein z 5 , 4 = p * d 5 , 4 / d 5 , 1 then but since the p value has been chosen to be a power of two , the division by p is merely a simple shift of the bits . thus , only a single multiplication and a single shift are required to calculate motion vectors for subsequent pixelblocks once the z value has been calculated for the video picture . furthermore , the system may keep the accuracy high by performing all divisions last such that significant bits are not lost during the calculation . in this manner , the decoder may perform exactly the same as the motion vector interpolation as the encoder thus avoiding any mismatch problems that might otherwise arise . since division ( except for division by powers of two ) is a much more computationally intensive task for a digital computer system than addition or multiplication , this approach can greatly reduce the computations required to reconstruct pictures that use motion vector interpolation or extrapolation . in some cases , motion vector interpolation may not be used . however , it is still necessary to transmit the display order of the video pictures to the receiver / player system such that the receiver / player system will display the video pictures in the proper order . in this case , simple signed integer values for d i , j suffice irrespective of the actual display times . in some applications only the sign ( positive or negative ) may be needed to reconstruct the picture ordering . the inter - picture times d i , j may simply be transmitted as simple signed integer values . however , many methods may be used for encoding the d i , j values to achieve additional compression . for example , a sign bit followed by a variable length coded magnitude is relatively easy to implement and provides coding efficiency . one such variable length coding system that may be used is known as uvlc ( universal variable length code ). the uvlc variable length coding system is given by the code words : another method of encoding the inter - picture times may be to use arithmetic coding . typically , arithmetic coding utilizes conditional probabilities to effect a very high compression of the data bits . thus , the present invention introduces a simple but powerful method of encoding and transmitting inter - picture display times and methods for decoding those inter - picture display times for use in motion vector estimation . the encoding of inter - picture display times can be made very efficient by using variable length coding or arithmetic coding . furthermore , a desired accuracy can be chosen to meet the needs of the video codec , but no more . the foregoing has described a system for specifying variable accuracy inter - picture timing in a multimedia compression and encoding system . it is contemplated that changes and modifications may be made by one of ordinary skill in the art , to the materials and arrangements of elements of the present invention without departing from the scope of the invention .
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after considering the following description , those skilled in the art will clearly realize that the teachings of the present invention can be readily utilized in induction machines , such as motors , in order to apply biasing preloads of any desired magnitude and direction to their active magnetic or lubricated shaft support bearings without external energy sources . for example , the passive magnetic bearings of the present invention do not need external electrical power sources to generate magnetic fields as is required for known active magnetic bearings . similarly , auxiliary pressurized lubrication systems are not needed to create lubricated bearing preload biasing forces , as is required in known “ oil jacking ” solutions for hydrodynamic and rolling element bearings or known hydrostatic bearings . the permanent magnetic bearings may be substituted for or supplement secondary support lubricated bearings that are used in tandem with primary active magnetic support bearings in case of failure of or loss of electrical power to the active magnetic primary support bearing . fig1 schematically depicts an induction machine motor 20 , having a motor housing 22 , a stator 24 and a horizontally oriented rotor 26 . the rotor 26 is rotatively mounted in the motor housing by rotor shaft 28 , captured within a pair of bearing housings 30 . each bearing housing 30 has a shaft support bearing assembly 32 , which may incorporate a known active magnetic bearing and / or a known lubricated bearing . henceforth in this description reference will be made to lubricated support bearings , but it should be understood that active magnetic bearings may be substituted for them . the lubricated bearing may be a known radial journal bearing , an axial thrust bearing or both . the lubricated bearing 32 may be any known lubricated bearing , including by way of example rolling element anti - friction bearings , hydrodynamic bearings or hydrostatic bearings . a plurality of radially oriented permanent magnet bearings 40 are incorporated as part of the motor 20 . as shown , the permanent magnet bearings 40 are located within the bearing housings 30 in tandem with the lubricated bearings 32 , and exert magnetic force directly on the rotor shaft 28 . permanent magnet bearings 40 are also incorporated within the stator 24 and exert magnetic force on the rotor 26 laminations . the rotor 26 laminations are affixed to and transfer magnetic force to the rotor shaft 28 . in either magnetic bearing 40 location , resultant magnetic forces generated by the permanent magnet bearings are imparted on the rotor shaft and in turn into the lubricated bearings 32 , whether those magnetic bearings are incorporated in the bearing housing 30 or stator 24 or both . fig2 and 3 show an exemplary permanent magnetic bearing 40 mounted in a bearing block housing 30 that circumscribes the rotor shaft 28 . the bearing 40 includes a sector - shaped permanent magnet 42 that has a radial circumference of less than 180 ° , and preferably between approximately 40 ° and 60 ° . the magnet 42 is mounted within the stationary bearing block 30 a spaced distance from the spinning rotor shaft 28 . the permanent magnet 42 may be composed of known permanent magnet materials , including but not limited to neodynium iron boron , samarium cobalt , alnico , ferrite , ceramics , as well as other metal alloys or composite materials . permanent magnet material 42 must be selected for the appropriate operating temperature and may be selected from any of the known grades of magnets . the permanent magnet 42 may be more compact where using stronger magnets , which would be indicated by a high maximum b - h product . a sector - shaped stationary ferromagnetic core of electrical steel 44 envelops the outer diameter of the permanent magnet 42 , also within the bearing block 30 a spaced distance from the spinning rotor shaft 28 and with a radially - spaced gap 43 flanking both sides of the permanent magnet 42 , in order to assist with directional orientation of the magnetic field flux lines generated by the permanent magnet . the ferromagnetic core 44 is preferably constructed of a lamination stack oriented parallel to the axial ends of the permanent magnet 42 . the ferromagnetic core 44 axial and radial dimensions may be altered at the discretion of one skilled in the art . for example , while the core 44 is shown as semi - circular , it can be constructed as a full annular shaped core of 360 ° . similarly , the axial length of the core 44 can be less than or greater than the length of the permanent magnet 2 . fig4 - 6 show application of the permanent magnet bearing 40 to provide different preload orientations on rotor shaft 28 that in turn will cause the same preload orientations on the lubricated bearings ( or alternatively active magnetic bearings ) that are supporting the shaft . for simplicity of these figures , the lubricated bearings and other structural components of the induction machine are not shown . in fig4 , the magnetic field flux lines ( and hence the magnetic force orientation ) of the sector shaped permanent magnet 40 are radially outwardly directed by circumferential angle α , in an upwardly direction relative to the rotational axis of rotor shaft 28 ( denoted by radius r ). due to the orientation of the flux lines , the flux density is greatest in the upper region . hence as shown in fig4 the preload force ( denoted by the arrows f mu ) is upwardly directed . in contrast the magnetic field flux of the permanent magnet 40 of fig5 is downwardly directed , ( i . e ., attracting the rotor shaft ) the pre - load forces however remain unchanged ( denoted by the arrows f mu ). in fig6 a pair of opposed permanent magnets 42 a , 42 b generate opposing preload forces denoted by f mu and f md . the resultant force ( f mu + f md ) can be tuned by selection of respective field intensities and directional orientation , though generally in a horizontally oriented rotor shaft induction machine the upward preload is greater than or equal to the downward preload . additionally , since the forces generated are inversely related to their proximity between the rotor and stator , each magnet contributes a negative stiffness at this region to the rotordynamic operation of the system . the direction and magnitude of this negative stiffness can be tuned to counterbalance that of the primary bearing system , approaching a free - free condition . this effect can be positively applied to a system to attain higher rotor lateral critical speed . while two opposed magnetic bearings with permanent magnets 42 a and 42 b are shown in fig6 , a plurality of two or more such bearings can be combined at the discretion of one skilled in the art , depending on the desired preload force to be generated and the physical dimensional constraints of the induction machine . fig7 and 8 show a permanent magnet bearing 50 embodiment that generates axially oriented magnetic flux and attractive ( upwardly directed ) preload forces on a rotor shaft 26 . for simplicity of fig7 the bearing mounting block 30 is shown in phantom lines . the permanent magnet bearing 50 has a stationary permanent magnet 52 that has a generally rectangular block shape , and generates magnetic force in an axial direction relative to the shaft 26 . however , the permanent magnet 52 may also be constructed of any other desired shape , including the sector shape of that shown in fig2 . the magnet 52 is spaced a distance away from the spinning rotor shaft 28 . a pair of electrical steel cores 54 flank the axial ends of the permanent magnet 52 and are affixed in a stationary position within the bearing block , spaced from the spinning rotor shaft 28 . the cores 54 shape the magnetic field generated by the permanent magnet 52 , and are preferably constructed of a lamination stack oriented parallel to the axial ends of the permanent magnet . additional magnetic field shaping may be accomplished by placement of an electrical steel core 56 in a fixed position directly on the rotor shaft 28 , and thereby rotating with the shaft . if the axial preload permanent magnetic bearing is located in the induction machine stator 24 , the rotor 26 laminations may serve as the rotating steel core 56 . in fig9 a pair of permanent magnet axially oriented magnetic field preload bearings 50 are incorporated in an induction machine to impart tandem upwardly directed preloads f mu on the rotor 26 through use of a pair of opposed permanent magnets 52 a and 52 b . as in the case of radially oriented preload permanent magnetic bearings 40 of fig2 , the number and location of bearings and resultant preload force ( here in fig9 the resultant of f mu on each side of the shaft ) may be selected by one skilled in the art . in fig1 the vertical shaft induction machine 120 has a machine housing 122 including stator 124 and vertically oriented rotor 126 having a rotor shaft 128 that is rotatively captured in bearing housings 130 and 130 a . each of the bearing housings 130 , 130 a have lubricated journal bearings 32 , as well as radially oriented permanent magnet bearings 40 , such as those shown in fig2 . the bearing housing 130 a also includes axial thrust bearings to support the weight of the spinning rotor 126 that are shown as lubricated thrust bearing 132 a of known construction , and permanent magnet thrust bearing 150 . as shown in fig1 the rotor shaft 126 includes a thrust flange 127 that abuts against and provides a journal surface for the lubricated thrust bearings 132 and the lubricated journal bearings 32 . the rotor thrust flange 127 as shown also includes an optional electrical steel flange - like insert 156 . the permanent magnet axial thrust bearing embodiment 150 is shown in fig1 , and includes a mounting bracket formed in the bearing housing 130 a . an annular shaped permanent magnet 152 circumscribes the rotor shaft 128 and generates an upwardly directed magnetic field that is shaped by electrical steel core 152 and the electrical steel core 156 that is affixed to the rotating shaft 128 . the electrical steel core 156 is formed with a hub portion 155 a that is concentric with and spaced away from the inner diameter of the permanent magnet 152 and a flange portion 155 b radially projecting from the hub portion and in abutting contact with an axial face of the permanent magnet . the permanent magnet axial thrust bearing 150 can be used in applications other than to support weight of a vertically oriented rotor shaft . for example , they may be applied to horizontally oriented shaft rotors directly on the shaft as a substitute for the embodiment 50 shown in fig7 and 8 . alternatively they may be applied to the rotor laminations as is shown in the induction machine embodiment of fig1 by orienting the mounting bracket proximal and parallel to one or both ends of the rotor 26 lamination stack . in such an application the rotor laminations substitute for the electrical steel core 156 . fig1 schematically depicts the magnetic fields and resultant magnetic forces f r , f u that are imparted on the vertically oriented rotor 126 . as with other embodiments described herein , the resultant preload forces magnitudes and directions imparted on the vertical rotor shaft 128 can be selectively chosen for any given application . although various embodiments which incorporate the teachings of the present invention have been shown and described in detail herein , those skilled in the art can readily devise many other varied embodiments that still incorporate these teachings .
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a specific embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail hereinbelow by reference to the drawings . fig1 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention . an illustrated image processing apparatus roughly includes an image inputting section 1 , an image processing section 2 , a data accumulating section 3 , a search condition specifying section 4 , and a text searching section 5 . the image inputting section 1 is for inputting an image . for instance , the image inputting section 1 can be configured by use of an image reading apparatus , such as a scanner , for optically reading an image of an original . an image input by means of the image inputting section 1 may be any of a color image , a black - and - white image , and an image containing both color and black - and - white images . the color image may include two colors having black and one color other than black ( e . g ., red ), three colors including one other color in addition to the two colors , or full colors of four colors or more . when the image inputting section 1 is configured by the image reading apparatus , the data format of an image input from the image inputting section becomes a bit map format . however , when the image inputting section 1 is configured from a device which inputs image data received by a transceiving section having a network communication function , a card reader which reads image data from a compact storage medium such as a memory card , or means for reading image data from a large - capacity storage section , such as a hard disk drive or the like , provided internally or externally , the data format is not limited to a bitmap format but may be another data format . the present embodiment describes , as an example , a case where the image inputting section 1 is constituted of a color image reading apparatus including a color scanner . particularly , when the image inputting section 1 is configured by the image reading apparatus , a text part printed on a paper medium is converted into an electronic format , and the thus - converted text part can be utilized for a text search . the image processing section 2 subjects the image data input from the image inputting section 1 to predetermined image processing . by way of an example of a specific image processing function section , the image processing section 2 includes a t / i separating section 21 , an ocr processing section 22 , a division processing section 23 , a compression processing section 24 , and a file generating section 25 . the t / i separating section 21 separates the image input from the image inputting section 1 into a text part ( a text ) and a picture part ( an image ). the ocr processing section 22 subjects to ocr processing the text part of the image input from the image inputting section 1 . the division processing section 23 groups the text part of the image converted into text data by means of ocr processing according to the color of a text , to thus divide the text part . the color information of the text can be acquired from the attribute information of individual texts constituting the text part included in the image input from the image inputting section ( an image reading apparatus ) 1 . division processing involving grouping operation is carried out on a per - text basis in relation to the text part that has been converted into text data as mentioned previously . in connection with the color classifications of the texts used for grouping , provided that the color of the text is expressed in a ycbcr color space , plural threshold values are set for a y value , a cb value , and a cr value for color classification . on the basis of these threshold values , the ycbcr color space is classified into plural color domains , for example , a black color domain , a red color domain , a blue color domain , a yellow color domain , and a green color domain . the t / i separating section 21 divides the image input from the image inputting section 1 into a text part and a picture part , and the compression processing section 24 compresses these parts individually . the file generation section 25 generates single files from the text part and the picture part , which have been compressed by the compression processing section 24 , in accordance with a predetermined file format . the data accumulating section 3 accumulates the data that have been subjected to image processing in the image processing section 2 . this data accumulating section 3 is formed from , e . g ., a hard disk drive . the search condition specifying section 4 is for specifying conditions of a text search , and is formed from , e . g ., a user interface ( ui ) having a display section and an input section . this search condition specifying section 4 can specify the color of a text in addition to being able to specify a keyword ( word ) as conditions for the text search . the color of the text , which can be specified as a search condition , corresponds to the color classifications of the text made by the division processing section 23 . for instance , as mentioned previously , provided that the ycbcr color space is classified into the black color domain , the red color domain , the blue color domain , the yellow color domain , and the green color domain , the search condition specifying section 4 can specify any one or more colors ( a maximum of four colors in this embodiment ) from among the five colors , that is , black , red , blue , yellow , and green . when the color of the text is not specified as a condition of the text search , all colors , i . e ., five colors , become objects of a search . the text searching section 5 is for performing text search processing according to the conditions of the text search specified by the search condition specifying section 4 . a file including data , which are to become an object of a search , is specified by means of additionally specifying a filename through use of a user interface or indicating search execution with an image of the data contained in the file being displayed on the display section of the user interface . the result of the search performed by the text searching section 5 is displayed on the display section of the user interface . next , processing procedures employed when a text search is carried out through use of the image processing apparatus of the embodiment of the present invention will be described . processing pertaining to a text search is roughly divided into first processing and second processing . first , during first processing shown in fig2 , an image for one page ( one sheet of original ) or plural pages ( plural sheets of original ) is first input from the image inputting section 1 ( step s 11 ). subsequent processing may be sequentially performed on a per - page basis or in units including plural pages . next , the image input from the image inputting section 1 is separated by the t / i separating section 22 into a text part and a picture part ( step s 12 ). fig3 shows an example of one input image being divided into a text part and a picture part . in fig3 , five text parts 11 to 15 and two picture parts 16 , 17 are present in one input image ( for one page ). here , for convenience of explanation , the entire text part 11 is assumed to be formed from black characters , the entire text part 12 is assumed to be formed from red characters , the entire text part 13 from yellow characters , the entire text part 14 from blue characters , and the entire text part 15 from green characters . however , a single text part can be formed from characters of plural colors . subsequently , the text part of the image is subjected to ocr processing in the ocr processing section 22 , whereby the respective text parts 11 to 15 are converted into text data ( step s 13 ). thereby , individual characters constituting the respective text parts 11 to 15 are converted into character codes on a per - character basis . specifically , the t / i separating section 21 and the ocr processing section 22 constitute extraction means for extracting the text parts 11 to 15 from the image input from the image input section 1 . thus , the extraction means is constituted of the t / i separating section 21 and the ocr processing section 22 , whereby the text part can be extracted as text data even when the image data input from the image input section 1 are bitmap data ( scan data ). subsequently , the text parts 11 to 15 , which have already been subjected to ocr processing , are grouped and divided for each color of text by the division processing section 23 ( step s 14 ). here , as shown in , e . g ., fig4 , five groups such as a black - based group g 1 , a red - based group g 2 , a blue - based group g 3 , a yellow - based group g 4 , and a green - based group g 5 are assumed to have already been prepared as groups for color classification . as mentioned previously , as a result of plural threshold values being set in the ycbcr color space , the respective groups g 1 to g 5 are classified as partial domains in the ycbcr color space . the division processing section 23 samples color information about a text constituting each of the text parts 11 to 15 on a per - text basis , converts the color information from rgb to ycbcr through color conversion , and determines which domain ( which color group ) in the ycbcr color space contains the color . for instance , as shown in fig4 , when the five text parts 11 to 15 are subjected to division processing , the entire text ( the black text ) constituting the text part 11 is classified into the black - based group g 1 , the entire text ( the red text ) constituting the text part 12 is classified into the red - based group g 2 , the entire text ( the yellow text ) constituting the text part 13 is classified into the yellow - based group g 4 , the entire text ( blue text ) constituting the text part 14 is classified into the blue - based group g 3 , and the entire text ( green text ) constituting the text part 15 is classified into the green - based group g 5 . when texts constituting each text part are classified into groups according to the color of text , coordinate data showing the position of a text of interest in the input image have been assigned to a character code in each group in advance . the reason for assigning each of the texts to coordinate data in a one - to - one correspondence in advance is to enable reconstruction of an original image according to coordinate data even after the texts have been classified into the respective groups . when texts of plural colors are present in one text part separated by the t / i separating section , the texts constituting one text part are classified into the plural groups in a dispersed manner . subsequently , the text part and the picture part are compressed by the compression processing section 24 ( step s 15 ) the text part has already been grouped on a per - text - color basis through the preceding division processing . accordingly , after text parts belonging to the respective groups have been binarized on a per - group ( the color of a text ) basis , the text parts are subjected to compression processing in a g 4 compression scheme adopted for , e . g ., a facsimile . separately from the text part , the picture part is subjected to compression processing by means of a well - known method . the text part and the picture part , both of which belong to the respective group and which have been compressed in the manner mentioned above , are grouped into a single file by the file generating section 25 , to thus produce a file ( step s 16 ). for example , an mrc ( mixed raster content ) format can be adopted as a format for generating a file . next , the file generated by the file generating section 25 is accumulated ( stored ) in the data accumulating section 3 with a file name which is specified by the user or is automatically generated ( step s 17 ) in second processing shown in fig5 , search conditions used for causing the search condition specifying section 4 to effect a text search are specified ( step s 21 ). specifying the search condition is performed as a result of the user performing a predetermined input operation by way of the search condition specifying section 4 . at that time , specifying at least one keyword is indispensable as a condition for a text search . in addition to specification of a text search , the color of a text can be specified according to the user &# 39 ; s desire . it may be the case that only one color is specified as the color of the text , or plural colors may be specified simultaneously . next , a determination is made , as one condition for a text search , as to whether or not the color of a text has been specified in step s 21 ( step s 22 ). when the color of the text has been specified , the text searching section 5 specifies a group matching the specified text color , and a text search using the specified keyword is performed in relation to solely a text part belonging to this group ( steps s 23 , s 24 ). for instance , when the color of the text has been specified by a black color as conditions for a text search , a text search using a specified keyword is performed in relation to only a text part belonging to the group g 1 into which the black text is classified ( in other words , the text parts belonging to the other groups g 2 to g 5 are excluded from the object of a text search ). moreover , when the color of a text is specified by two colors as conditions for a text search , namely , a black color and a blue color , a text search using a specified keyword is carried out in relation to only the text part belonging to the group g 1 into which black texts are classified and a text part belonging to the group g 3 into which blue texts are classified ( in other words , the text parts belonging to the other groups g 2 , g 4 , and g 5 are excluded from the objects of a text search ). in contrast , when the color of the text has not been specified in step s 21 , the text searching section 5 performs a text search using a specified keyword in relation to all the groups g 1 to g 5 ( step s 25 ). subsequently , the result of the text search performed by the text searching section 5 is output ( displayed ) on , e . g ., a display section of the user interface ( step s 26 ). as mentioned above , according to the image processing apparatus and the image processing method using the apparatus , both of which pertain to the embodiment of the present invention , the text parts are extracted from the images input by way of the image input section 1 , and then grouped and divided according to the color of a text . at the time of an actual text search , the color of the text is specified along with the keyword under the search conditions , thereby performing a text search in relation to only the text parts belonging to the group matching the color of the text . in this case , the color of the text is visually easy to discriminate and handle for all users . hence , as a result of the color of this text being adopted as one of the conditions for a text search , the conditions for the text search can be specified appropriately and simply . when the color of the text is specified as a condition for a text search , the target range of a text search can be narrowed solely to a text part belonging to the group matching the specified color of the text . hence , the search time can be shortened significantly . in a case where a text search is carried out in relation to , e . g ., text parts of images of some of hundreds of pages , as a specific example , when the text parts of the images are formed from plural titles and sentences relevant to the respective titles , when the titles are formed from blue texts , when the majority of the sentences relevant to the title are formed from black texts , and when particularly important portions of the sentences are formed from red texts , the target range of a text search can be narrowed solely to the text part ( the blue text ) constituting the title , by means of specifying the color of the text by a blue color as a condition for a text search . consequently , even when the text parts of images of some hundreds of images are subjected to a text search , a desired search result can be acquired within an extremely short period of time . respective steps of the image processing method based on the flowchart can be implemented by means of program processing . consequently , the present invention can provide , as an image processing program to be executed by a computer , respective steps based on the flowchart , especially , an extraction step ( s 12 , s 13 ) for extracting a text part from an image , a division step ( s 14 ) for grouping and dividing the text parts extracted in the extraction step according to the color of a text , and a text search step ( s 23 , s 24 ) where , when a keyword and the color of a text are specified as conditions for a text search ( when yes is taken in step s 22 ), the text parts belonging to a group matching the specified color of a text , among the groups divided in the division step on a per - text - color basis , are subjected to a text search using a specified keyword . moreover , the image processing program can be provided while being recorded on a computer - readable recording medium , such as a cd - rom or a dvd - rom . under the image processing apparatus and the image processing method , both pertaining to the present invention , when text are extracted parts from images , the thus - extracted text parts are grouped and divided on a per - text - color basis , and a keyword and the color of a text are specified as conditions for a text part , a text search using a specified keyword is performed in relation to text parts belonging to a group matching the specified color of the text . in contrast with a case where the size of a text , a pitch between texts , and the type of a text are specified , specification of conditions for a text search become easier , and narrowing a target range of a text search to a group including the specified color of a text becomes possible . according to the present invention , conditions for a text search can be specified appropriately and simply when a text search is carried out , and a search time can be shortened significantly . the entire disclosure of japanese patent applications no . 2004 - 322013 filed on nov . 5 , 2004 and no . 2005 - 298488 filed on oct . 13 , 2005 including specification , claims , drawings and abstract are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety .
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fig1 is a schematic view showing an anti - reflective film consisting of eight layers for f 2 laser ( 157 nm ) in accordance with example 1 of the present invention . the anti - reflective film of the present example was prepared using an laf 3 film with a refractive index of 1 . 765 at a wavelength of 157 nm for a high refractive - index layer , and an mgf 2 film with a refractive index of 1 . 466 at a wavelength of 157 nm for a low refractive - index layer . table 1 shows the optical film thickness of each layer of the anti - reflective film for ultraviolet light with a designed central wavelength of λ 0 = 157 nm . the refractive - index layers were sequentially formed by use of a vacuum evaporation method so as to have the thicknesses shown in table 1 , respectively . in the present example , calcium fluoride was used as a substrate . the reflection characteristics of the anti - reflective film shown in table 1 were measured . in addition , for the purpose of comparison , an anti - reflective film of two layers consisting of an laf 3 layer and an mgf 2 layer each having a thickness of 0 . 25λ 0 was also prepared following the same procedure , and the reflection characteristics were measured . fig2 shows the results of the reflectance measurement of the anti - reflective film of the present example . in addition , fig3 shows the results of the reflectance measurement of the anti - reflective film consisting of two layers as the comparative example . it can be seen from fig2 that the anti - reflective film of the present example has good characteristics with a reflectance of 1 . 0 % or lower within a wide wavelength range of 143 nm to 189 nm , and particularly that in a wide wavelength range of 146 nm to 184 nm , the anti - reflective film has good characteristics with a reflectance of 0 . 3 % or lower . in contrast to this , it can be seen from fig3 that the comparative example shows good characteristics with a reflectance of 0 . 3 % or lower within a wavelength range of 151 nm to 164 nm . however , at wavelengths of less than 151 nm or more than 164 , the reflectance characteristics are degraded . in addition , fig4 shows the results of measurement for reflectance to an f 2 laser of a wavelength of 157 nm at various incidence angles of the anti - reflective film of the present example . it can be seen from fig4 that the anti - reflective film shows a reflectance of about 1 % at an incidence angle of 50 °, and therefore that the film shows good anti - reflection characteristics to a light with a large incidence angle . similarly , it has also been found that when a designed central wavelength λ 0 is within a wavelength range of 141 nm to 189 nm , and when the first to eighth layers as counted from the substrate have optical film thicknesses d 1 to d 8 respectively and satisfy the equations of : an anti - reflective film in accordance with the present example has a six - layer structure having high refractive - index layers and low refractive - index layers alternately stacked . the anti - reflective film was prepared using an laf 3 film with a refractive index of 1 . 765 at a wavelength of 157 nm for a high refractive - index layer , and an mgf 2 film with a refractive index of 1 . 466 at a wavelength of 157 nm for a low refractive - index layer . table 2 shows the optical film thickness of each layer of the anti - reflective film for ultraviolet light with a designed central wavelength of λ 0 = 157 nm . the refractive - index layers were sequentially formed by use of a vacuum evaporation method so as to have the thicknesses shown in table 2 , respectively . in the present example , calcium fluoride was used as a substrate . the reflection characteristics of the anti - reflective film shown in table 2 were measured . fig5 shows the results of the reflectance measurement of the anti - reflective film . it can be seen from fig5 that the anti - reflective film of the present example has good characteristics with a reflectance of 1 . 0 % or lower within a wide wavelength range of 143 nm to 181 nm , and particularly that in a wide wavelength range of 146 nm to 173 nm , the anti - reflective film has good characteristics with a reflectance of 0 . 2 % or lower . similarly , it has also been found that when a designed central wavelength λ 0 is within a wavelength range of 143 nm to 181 nm , and when the first to sixth layers as counted from the substrate have optical film thicknesses d 1 to d 6 respectively and satisfy the equations of : an anti - reflective film in accordance with the present example has a six - layer structure having high refractive - index layers and low refractive - index layers alternately stacked . the anti - reflective film was prepared using an laf 3 film with a refractive index of 1 . 765 at a wavelength of 157 nm for a high refractive - index layer , and an mgf 2 film with a refractive index of 1 . 466 at a wavelength of 157 nm for a low refractive - index layer . table 3 shows the optical film thickness of each layer of the anti - reflective film for ultraviolet light with a designed central wavelength of λ 0 = 157 nm . the refractive - index layers were sequentially formed by use of a vacuum evaporation method so as to have the thicknesses shown in table 3 , respectively . in the present example , calcium fluoride was used as a substrate . the reflection characteristics of the anti - reflective film shown in table 3 were measured . fig6 shows the results of the reflectance measurement of the anti - reflective film . it can be seen from fig6 that the anti - reflective film of the present example has good characteristics with a reflectance of 1 . 0 % or lower within a wide wavelength range of 142 nm to 210 nm , and particularly that in a wide wavelength range of 144 nm to 207 nm , the anti - reflective film has good characteristics with a reflectance of 0 . 7 % or lower . similarly , it has also been found that when a designed central wavelength λ 0 is within a wavelength range of 140 nm to 210 nm , and when the first to sixth layers as counted from the substrate have optical film thicknesses d 1 to d 6 respectively and satisfy the equations of : in examples 1 to 3 described above , an laf 3 film was used for a high refractive - index layer , and an mgf 2 film was used for a low refractive - index layer . however , the present invention is not limited thereto , and an ndf 3 film , a gdf 3 film , a dyf 3 film , a yf 3 film , and a pbf 2 film , other than an laf 3 film , can also be used for a high refractive - index layer . in addition , an alf 3 film , an naf film , an lif film , a caf 2 film , a baf 2 film , an srf 2 film , and an na 3 alf 6 film , other than an mgf 2 film , can also be used for a low refractive - index layer . in addition , in the above described examples 1 to 3 , calcium fluoride was used as a substrate , but quartz is also available . fig7 is a schematic view showing a main part of an exposure system ( aligner ) for producing a semiconductor device using an optical system . the optical system has an optical element having the anti - reflective film in accordance with example 1 , 2 or 3 described above . in the figure , reference numeral 1 denotes a light source for emitting ultraviolet light of a wavelength of 157 nm . reference numeral 2 denotes an illumination system for illuminating a reticle 4 with a light beam from the light source 1 . reference numeral 3 denotes a mirror . reference numeral 5 denotes a projection optical system for projecting a pattern on the reticle 4 to a wafer 6 . each of optical elements such as a lens used in the mirror 3 , the illumination system 2 and the projection optical system 5 has an anti - reflective film in accordance with the present invention applied on a surface thereof . thereby , reflection of the light beam at each surface is prevented to suppress the occurrence of a flare or ghost , thus providing an excellent projected pattern image . in the next place , a method of producing a semiconductor device using the exposure system shown in fig7 will be described . fig8 shows a production flow of a semiconductor device ( a semiconductor chip such as ic or lsi , a liquid crystal panel or ccd ). in step 1 ( circuit design ), a circuit of a semiconductor device is designed . in step 2 ( mask production ), a mask ( a reticle 4 ) having the designed circuit pattern formed thereon is prepared . on the other hand , in step 3 ( wafer manufacture ), a wafer ( wafer 6 ) is manufactured using a material such as silicon or the like . in step 4 ( wafer processing ) which is called a pre - process , an actual circuit is formed on the wafer using the above prepared mask and the wafer by means of lithography . next , step 5 ( assembly ), which is called a post - process , is a step of making a chip by the use of the wafer prepared in step 4 and includes an assembling step ( dicing and bonding ), a packaging step ( chip encapsulation ) and the like . in step 6 ( inspection ), the semiconductor device produced in step 5 is subjected to tests such as an operation check test and a durability test . a semiconductor device is thus completed through the above steps and is shipped ( step 7 ). fig9 shows a detailed flow of the above described wafer process . in step 11 ( oxidation ), the surface of the wafer ( wafer w ) is oxidized . in step 12 ( cvd ), an insulation film is formed on the surface of the wafer . in step 13 ( electrode formation ), an electrode is formed on the wafer through vapor deposition . in step 14 ( ion implantation ), ions are implanted into the wafer . in step 15 ( resist treatment ), a resist ( sensitized material ) is applied to the wafer . in step 16 ( exposure ), the wafer is exposed through an image of a circuit pattern of the mask ( reticle 4 ) with the exposure system . in step 17 ( development ), the exposed wafer is developed . in step 18 ( etching ), a portion except a developed resist portion is removed . in step 19 ( resist stripping ), the resist is removed which has become unnecessary after completion of the etching step . a circuit pattern is formed on the wafer by repeating these steps . as described above , according to the present invention , there can be provided an anti - reflective film of a 6 - layer or 8 - layer structure using fluoride thin films that is effective for a light of a wavelength of about 140 to 210 nm . further , it is possible to realize an anti - reflective film that has a low reflectance for a light incident at such a large angle as 30 degrees or more , without increasing the whole thickness of the film . this application claims priority from japanese patent application no . 2004 - 178534 filed on jun . 16 , 2004 , which is hereby incorporated by reference herein .
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fig1 illustrates arrangement 100 embodying the principles of the invention for communicating information , e . g ., audio information . in this illustrative embodiment , server 105 in arrangement 100 provides a music - on - demand service to client terminals through internet 120 . one such client terminal is numerically denoted 130 which may be a personal computer ( pc ). as is well known , internet 120 is a packet switched network for transporting information in packets in accordance with the standard transmission control protocol / internet protocol ( tcp / ip ). conventional software including browser software , e . g ., the netscape navigator or microsoft explorer browser is installed in client terminal 130 for communicating information with server 105 , which is identified by a predetermined uniform resource locator ( url ) on internet 120 . for example , to request the music - on - demand service provided by server 105 , a modem ( not shown ) in client terminal 130 is used to first establish communication connection 125 with internet 120 . depending on the telecommunication facility subscribed by the user of client terminal 130 , communication connection 125 may be limited by different connection speeds . for instance , a plain old telephone service ( pots ) connection typically affords a connection speed of about 28 . 8 kb / sec ; an integrated services digital network ( isdn ) connection typically affords a connection speed of about 64 kb / sec ; and a dual isdn connection typically affords a connection speed on the order of 100 kb / sec . after the establishment of communication connection 125 , in a conventional manner , client terminal 130 is assigned an ip address for its identification . the user at client 130 may then access the music - on - demand service at the predetermined url identifying server 105 , and request a selected musical piece from the service . such a request includes the ip address identifying client terminal 130 , and its connection speed . in prior art , in providing the music - on - demand service , a server needs to store versions of each musical piece corresponding to different connection speeds supported by the server . the audio quality ( distortion ) of a version of the musical piece increases ( decreases ) with the corresponding connection speed . thus , if a prior art server supports three connection speeds , e . g ., 28 . 8 kb / sec , 64 kb / sec and 100 kb / sec , the server needs to store three different versions of each musical piece available having the respective qualities . however , the storage of musical pieces in this manner is undesirably inefficient and occupies much memory space especially when a large number of musical pieces need to be made available . in addition , in delivering the service to a client terminal , the server typically sends the audio information in the form of packets through the internet . however , in the event that some of the packets are lost in transit because of imperfect network or channel conditions , which is likely , the quality of the received audio information would be significantly degraded . in accordance with the invention , multi - rate audio coding is implemented in server 105 to generate subrate representations of each musical piece to save memory space . different combinations of the subrate representations of a musical piece correspond to different connection speeds , and audio qualities of the musical piece . in general , the more subrate representations are communicated to a client terminal , the higher the audio quality of the musical piece recovered at the terminal and , of course , the higher the connection speed required of the terminal . for example , in this illustrative embodiment , three subrate representations are used in server 105 to serve each musical piece in accordance with the invention . one of the subrate representations represents core audio information contained in the musical piece , and is referred to as a “ c - representation .” the other two subrate representations represent first and second enhancement audio information contained in the musical piece , and are referred to as “ e 1 - representation ” and “ e 2 - representation ,” respectively . because of the design of the multi - rate coding in accordance with the invention , the audio signals recovered based on the c - representation alone , although viable , afford the minimum acceptable quality version of a musical piece ; the audio signals recovered based on the c - representation in combination with either e 1 - representation or e 2 - representation afford a relatively high quality version of the musical piece ; the audio signals recovered based on the c - representation in combination with both e 1 - representation and e 2 - representation afford the highest quality version of the musical piece . however , any audio signals recovered based only on the e 1 - representation and / or e 2 - representations are not viable . an embedded audio coder in accordance with the invention is used in server 105 to generate the c - representation requiring a bit rate of , say , 28 . 8 kb / sec for communication thereof ; the e 1 - representation requiring a bit rate of , say , 36 kb / sec ; and the e 2 - representation requiring a bit rate of , say , 36 kb / sec as well . these bit rates are selected such that if all of the representations are used , the quality of the recovered musical piece version is close to that of a 100 kb / sec version generated by a conventional non - embbeded audio coder . similarly , the quality of the recovered musical piece version based on a combination of the c - representation with the e 1 - representation or e 2 - representation is close to that of a 64 kb / sec version generated by the conventional non - embedded audio coder . apparently , the quality of the recovered musical piece version based on the c - representation alone is the same as that of a 28 . 8 kb / sec version generated by the conventional non - embedded audio coder . advantageously , server 105 only needs to store in its memory the 28 . 8 kb / sec c - representation , 36 kb / sec e 1 - representation and 36 kb / sec e 2 - representation of each musical piece , in lieu of the 28 . 8 kb / sec , 64 kb / sec and 100 kb / sec versions thereof as in prior art , to accommodate different connection speeds ( e . g ., 28 . 8 kb / sec , 64 kb / sec and 100 kb / sec ), thereby saving the memory space . the aforementioned embbeded audio coder implementing multi - rate coding in accordance with the invention will now be described . fig2 illustrates one such embbeded audio coder , denoted 203 , in server 105 . an analog signal a ( t ) representing a musical piece is fed to embedded audio coder 203 in providing the music - on - demand service . in response to such an analog signal , analog - to - digital ( a / d ) convertor 205 in coder 203 digitizes a ( t ) in a conventional manner , providing pcm samples of a ( t ). these pcm samples are fed to both filterbank 209 and perceptual model processor 211 . filterbank 209 divides the samples into time domain blocks , and performs a modified discrete cosine transform ( mdct ) on each block to provide a frequency domain representation therefor . such a frequency domain representation is bandlimited by low - pass filter ( lpf ) 213 to the 0 to 10 khz frequency range in this instance . the resulting mdct coefficients are grouped by quantizer 215 according to coder bands for quantization . these coder bands approximate the well known critical bands of the human auditory system , although limited to the 0 to 10 khz frequency range in this instance . quantizer 215 quantizes the mdct coefficients corresponding to a given coder band with the same quantizer stepsize . perceptual model processor 211 analyzes the audio signal samples and determines the appropriate level of quantization ( i . e ., stepsize ) for each coder band . this level of quantization is determined based on an assessment of how well the audio signal in a given coder band masks noise . quantizer 215 generates quantized mdct coefficients for application to loss - less compressor 219 , which in this instance performs a conventional huffman compression process on the quantized coefficients , resulting in the aforementioned c - representation on lead 261 . the output of compressor 219 is fed back to quantizer 215 through rate - loop processor 225 . in a conventional manner , the latter adjusts the output of quantizer 215 to ensure that the bit rate of the c - representation is maintained at its target rate , which in this instance is 28 . 8 kb / sec . in this illustrative embodiment , the e 1 - representation and e 2 - representation are generated by coder 203 for enhancing the quality of the musical piece which contain spectral information concerning relatively high frequency components of the audio signal , e . g ., in the 7 to 20 khz range . to that end , the quantized mdct coefficients from quantizer 215 are subtracted by subtracter 229 from the mdct output of filterbank 209 . the resulting difference signals are duplicated by duplicator 231 , and then bandlimited respectively by band - pass filters ( bpfs ) 223 and 233 to the 7 to 20 khz range . each of quantizers 243 and 253 receives a copy of the filtered difference signals and quantizes the received signals according to predetermined stepsizes . quantizers 243 and 253 may be scalar quantizers or multidimensional quantizers , and may comprise a complementary quantizer pair . complementary scalar quantizers are well known in the art , and described , e . g ., in v . vaishampayan , “ design of multiple description of scalar quantizers ,” ieee transactions on information theory , vol . 39 , no . 3 , may 1993 , pp . 821 - 834 . in general , a pair of complementary scalar quantizers may be defined by the following encoding functions f 1 and f 2 , respectively : f 1 ( x ) : ℜ -& gt ; { x i } i = 1 m1 , and f 2 ( y ) : ℜ -& gt ; { y j } j = 1 m2 , where represents the real axis , m 1 = 2 s1 and m 2 = 2 s2 , where s 1 and s 2 represent the bit rates for quantizers 243 and 253 , respectively . as is well known , associated with each of the quantized values x i and y j for f 1 , and f 2 , respectively , is a range or partition [ x , y ) on the real axis such that all the values in this range are quantized to x i or y j . in prior art , to take advantage of the correlation between x i and y j from f 1 , and f 2 having a complementary relationship , joint decoding , also known as “ center decoding ,” on ( x i , y j ) is performed in a de - quantizer to realize the optimum decoded value z k such that the resulting distortion or quantization error is minimized . the center decoding function , { overscore ( d )}, performed in the de - quantizer may be expressed as follows : d _ ( x , y ) : { ( x i , y j ) } i = 1 , j = 1 i = m1 , j = m2 -& gt ; { z k } k = 1 m _ . it should be noted that not all ( x i , y j ) are valid decodable combinations depending upon the overlap between their associated partitions . let q 1 , q 2 and { overscore ( q )} be the average distortions associated with f 1 , f 2 and center decoding function { overscore ( d )}, respectively , and let &# 39 ; s assume that f 1 and f 2 are equivalent , i . e ., s 1 = s 2 = s . if q 1 & lt ; 2 − 2s and q 2 & lt ; 2 − 2s , by minimizing { overscore ( q )} subject to the condition q 1 and q 2 ≦ q , where q is a predetermined distortion value , it can be shown that the value of { overscore ( q )} is always greater than the following limit : that is , use of the complementary scalar quantizers affords at most a 3 db gain , compared with the case where only an individual scalar quantizer is used . however , it has been recognized that the average distortion { overscore ( q )} associated with center decoding can be improved if the complementary quantizers used are multidimensional , rather than scalar as in prior art . in this illustrative embodiment , quantizers 243 and 253 are complementary multidimensional quantizers in accordance with the invention . preferably , they are non - homogeneous multidimensional lattice quantizers . in order to more appreciate the advantages of use of complementary non - homogeneous multidimensional lattice quantizers in accordance with the invention , let &# 39 ; s first consider a prior art homogeneous 2 - dimensional lattice quantizer using a square lattice in a 2 - dimensional region for quantization . fig3 a illustrates one such 2 - dimensional region which is defined by x 1 and x 2 axes and denoted 360 . region 360 in this instance has a square lattice and contains voronoi regions or cells , e . g ., cells 367 and 369 , whose length is denoted δ , where δ represents a predetermined value . as shown in fig3 a , these cells are homogeneously distributed throughout region 360 , and are each identified by a different code . as is well known , in the quantization process , the prior art quantizer assigns to an input sample point ( x 1 , x 2 ) the code identifying the cell in which the sample point falls , where x 1 εx 1 and x 2 εx 2 . for example , sample points having 0 ≦ x 1 & lt ; δ , and 0 ≦ x 2 & lt ; δ are each assigned the code identifying cell 367 . in addition , sample points having δ ≦ x 1 & lt ; 2δ , and δ ≦ x 2 & lt ; 2δ are each assigned the code identifying cell 369 . in practice , each code assignment is achieved by looking up a codebook . the above prior art quantizer imposes an average distortion proportional to δ 2 which in turn is proportional to 2 − 2s , where in the multidimensional case here s represents the number of bits / sample / dimension multiplied by the sample rate . as mentioned before , in the preferred embodiment , quantizers 243 and 253 are complementary non - homogeneous multidimensional lattice quantizers . for example , in the 2 - dimensional case , quantizers 243 and 253 use non - homogeneous rectangular lattices in 2 - dimensional regions 370 and 390 , respectively . in fig3 b , like region 360 , region 370 is defined by x 1 and x 2 axes . however , unlike region 360 , region 370 contains voronoi regions or cells , e . g ., cells 367 and 369 , which are in different shapes and thus non - homogeneous throughout region 370 . by way of example , the vertical boundaries of the rectangular cells in region 370 intersect the x 1 axis at x 1 = 0 , 0 . 5δ , 2 . 0δ , 2 . 5δ , 4 . 0δ . . . , with the separations between successive vertical boundaries alternating between 0 . 5δ and 1 . 5δ . on the other hand , the horizontal boundaries of the rectangular cells in region 370 intersect the x 2 axis at x 2 = 0 , 1 . 5δ , 2 . 0δ , 3 . 5δ , 4 . 0δ . . . , with the separations between successive horizontal boundaries alternating between 1 . 5δ and 0 . 5δ . in the quantization process , quantizer 343 assigns to an input sample point ( x 1 , x 2 ) the code identifying the cell in which the sample point falls . for example , sample points having 0 ≦ x 1 & lt ; 0 . 5δ , and 0 ≦ x 2 & lt ; 1 . 5δ are each assigned the code identifying cell 377 . in addition , sample points having 0 . 5δ ≦ x 1 & lt ; 2 . 0δ , and 1 . 5δ ≦ x 2 & lt ; 2 . 0δ are each assigned the code identifying cell 379 . a simple way of designing the rectangular lattice in region 390 of quantizer 253 , which is complementary to quantizer 243 , is to adopt the vertical and horizontal boundaries in region 370 as the horizontal and vertical boundaries in region 390 , respectively . fig3 c illustrates the resulting region 390 containing cells , e . g ., cells 391 and 399 , which are in different shapes , and thus non - homogeneous throughout region 390 . in the quantization process , quantizer 253 assigns to an input sample point ( x 1 , x 2 ) the code identifying the cell in which the sample point falls . for example , sample points having 0 ≦ x 1 & lt ; 1 . 5δ , and 0 ≦ x 2 & lt ; 0 . 5δ are each assigned the code identifying cell 397 . in addition , sample points having 1 . 5δ ≦ x 1 & lt ; 2 . 0δ , and 0 . 5δ ≦ x 2 & lt ; 2 . 0δ are each assigned the code identifying cell 399 . it can be shown that the average distortion for an individual one of quantizers 243 and 253 equals 1 . 25ε2 − 2s , where ε represents a constant which depends on the probability density function of the input signal to the quantizer , and s in this instance equals 36 kb / s . however , stemming from the fact that quantizers 243 and 253 are complementary quantizers , center decoding on the quantized values from quantizers 243 and 253 respectively can be performed in a de - quantizer . it can be shown that the resulting average distortion { overscore ( q )} associated with 2 - dimensional center decoding is no more than 0 . 25ε2 − 2s . that is , complementary quantizers 243 and 253 when implemented with the 2 - dimensional center decoding command a 6 db improvement in terms of distortion over their scalar counterparts . the equivalent lattices of three and higher dimensions of complementary quantizers may be obtained similarly to those of two dimensions described above . however , in three or higher dimensions , it is more advantageous to use a non - homogeneous , non - rectangular ( or non - hypercube ) lattice in each complementary quantizer . referring back to fig2 , the quantized signals from quantizer 243 are fed to loss - less compressor 245 which , like compressor 219 , achieves bit compression on the quantized signals , resulting in the e 1 - representation on lead 263 . the e 1 - representation is fed back to quantizer 243 through rate - loop processor 247 to ensure that the bit rate of the e 1 - representation is maintained at its target rate , which in this instance is s 1 = 36 kb / sec . similarly , the quantized signals from quantizer 253 are fed to loss - less compressor 255 which achieves bit compression on the quantized signals , resulting in the e 2 - representation on lead 265 . the e 2 - representation is fed back to quantizer 253 through rate - loop processor 257 to ensure that the bit rate of e 2 - representation is maintained at its target rate , which in this instance is s 2 = 36 kb / sec . leads 261 , 263 and 265 extend to storage 270 where the c - representation on lead 261 is stored in memory space 271 , the e 2 - representation on lead 263 is stored in memory space 273 , and the e 2 - representation on lead 265 is stored in memory space 275 . in response to the aforementioned request from client terminal 130 for transmission of the selected musical piece thereto , processor 280 causes packetizer 285 to generate a stream of packets including one or more of the stored representations of the selected musical piece , depending on the given connection speed . each packet in the stream is destined for client terminal 130 as it contains in its header , as a destination address , the ip address of terminal 130 requesting the music - on - demand service . specifically , if the given connection speed is 100 kb / sec , packetizer 285 retrieves from memory spaces 271 , 273 and 275 the c - representation , e 1 - representation and e 2 - representation of the selected musical piece , and packetizes the retrieved representations in accordance with the tcp / ip format . the resulting packet stream is forwarded by processor 280 to internet 120 . fig4 illustrates such a packet stream , wherein packets 411 , 413 and 415 generated by packetizer 285 respectively contain c - representation , e 1 - representation and e 2 - representation information corresponding to a first time segment of the musical piece ; packets 421 , 423 and 425 respectively contain c - representation , e 1 - representation and e 2 - representation information corresponding to a second time segment of the musical piece ; and so on so forth . to facilitate the assembly of the packets by client terminal 130 when it receives them , the header of each packet contains synchronization information . in particular , the synchronization information in each packet includes a pair of indexes where a sequence index indicating the time segment to which the packet corresponds , followed by a representation index indicating one of the representations with which the packet is associated . for example , field 401 in the header of packet 411 contains the index pair ( 1 , 0 ), with the sequence index “ 1 ” indicating that the packet corresponds to the first time segment , and the representation index “ 0 ” indicating that the packet is associated with the c - representation . similarly , field 403 in the header of packet 413 contains the index pair ( 1 , 1 ), with the sequence index “ 1 ” indicating that the packet corresponds to the first time segment , and the representation index “ 1 ” indicating that the packet is associated with the e 1 - representation . field 405 in the header of packet 415 contains the index pair ( 1 , 2 ), with the sequence index “ 1 ” indicating that the packet corresponds to the first time segment , and the representation index “ 2 ” indicating that the packet is associated with the e 2 - representation . similarly , the sequence index in each of packets 421 , 423 and 425 has a value “ 2 ” indicating that the packet corresponds to the second time segment . in addition , the representation indexes of packets 421 , 423 and 425 have values “ 0 ,” “ 1 ,” and “ 2 ”, respectively , indicating their respective associations with the c - representation , e 1 - representation and e 2 - representation . client terminal 130 processes the packet stream from server 105 in accordance with a routine which may be realized using software and / or hardware installed in terminal 130 . fig5 illustrates such a routine , denoted 500 , where at step 503 terminal 130 receives from server 105 information concerning the indexes identifying the different representations provided thereby to terminal 130 . in this example where the connection speed is 100 kb / sec , as mentioned before terminal 130 is provided with the c - representation , e 1 - representation and e 2 - representation of the musical piece which are identified by representation indexes “ 0 ,” “ 1 ,” and “ 2 ,” respectively . accordingly , upon receipt of the packet stream of fig4 , terminal 131 processes the packets on a time segment by time segment basis , and expects to receive three packets associated with the respective representations for each time segment i , 1 ≦ i ≦ n , where n is the total number of time segments which the musical piece comprises . in this illustrative embodiment , each time segment has the same predetermined length . specifically , at step 507 , for each time segment i , terminal 130 sets a predetermined time limit within which any packets associated with the time segment are received for processing . terminal 130 at step 511 examines the aforementioned index pair in the header of each received packet . based on the sequence index value and the representation index value of the received packets , terminal 130 at step 514 determines whether all of the expected packets for time segment i have been received before the time limit expires . if all of the expected packets have been received , routine 500 proceeds to step 517 where terminal 130 extracts the representation information contents from the respective packets . at step 521 , terminal 130 performs on the extracted information the inverse function to embedded audio coder 203 described above to recover a ( t ) corresponding to time segment i . in particular , in this example where the extracted information includes c - representation information , e 1 - representation information and e 2 - representation information , respectively , the aforementioned center decoding is performed on the e 1 - representation information and e 2 - representation information based on their correlation to minimize the average distortion in the recovered a ( t ). otherwise , if the aforementioned time limit expires before all of the expected packets are received for time segment i , terminal 130 at step 524 determines whether any received packets for the time segment includes the packet containing c - representation information . if it is determined that at least the packet containing c - representation information has been received , terminal 130 extracts representation information content ( s ) from the received packet ( s ) for time segment i , and based on the extracted information recovers a ( t ) corresponding to time segment i , as indicated at step 527 . in that case , the audio recovery may be based on only c - representation information corresponding to 28 . 8 kb / s quality , or on c - representation information in combination with either e 1 - representation information or e 2 - representation information corresponding to 64 kb / s quality . otherwise , if no packet containing c - representation information has been received , terminal 130 does not perform any recovery using the received packets for time segment i as any such recovery results in a non - viable a ( t ). rather , terminal 130 performs well known audio concealment for time segment i , e . g ., interpolation based on the results of audio recovery in neighboring time segments , as indicated at step 531 . if the given connection speed is 64 kb / sec or 28 . 8 kb / sec instead of 100 kb / sec in the above example , the above - described process similarly follows , although in the 64 kb / sec connection speed case only c - representation information and e 1 - representation information or e 2 - representation information are communicated by server 105 to client terminal 130 , and in the 28 . 8 kb / sec connection speed case only c - representation information is communicated . the foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the invention . it will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise numerous other arrangements which embody the principles of the invention and are thus within its spirit and scope . for example , in anticipation of packet losses because of imperfect network conditions , server 105 in the illustrative embodiment may implement path diversity by routing streams of packets containing equivalent amounts of audio information through different paths to the same client terminal . each packet in each stream corresponds to a different time segment of the audio signal to be recovered . for each time segment , the client terminal may use a packet from any one of the streams corresponding to the time segment to recover the audio signal . thus , despite packet losses , the quality of the recovered signal is maintained as long as the terminal receives one such packet for each time segment . for instance , to deliver an audio signal at 64 kb / sec , server 105 may transmit to the client terminal a first stream of packets containing c - representation information , a second stream of packets containing e 1 - representation information , and a third stream of packets containing e 2 - representation information which is equivalent to e 1 - representation because of use of complementary quantizers 243 and 253 , where the second stream and third stream may be routed through different networks to achieve path diversity . similarly , server 105 may implement time diversity by transmitting the streams of packets containing equivalent amounts of audio information one - after another through the same network with a predetermined delay . in addition , based on the disclosure heretofore , it is apparent that a person skilled in the art may generate equivalent c - representations , e . g ., c 1 - representation and c 2 - representation , using complementary quantizers to achieve path and / or time diversity of such c - representations . further , the multi - rate coding technique described above is applicable to communications of not only audio information , but also information concerning text , graphics , video , etc . still further , in the disclosed embodiment , the inventive multi - rate coding technique is illustratively applied to a packet switched communications system . however , the inventive technique equally applies to broadcasting systems including hybrid in - band on channel ( iboc ) am systems , hybrid iboc fm systems , satellite broadcasting systems , internet radio systems , tv broadcasting systems , etc . finally , server 105 is disclosed herein in a form in which various server functions are performed by discrete functional blocks . however , any one or more of these functions could equally well be embodied in an arrangement in which the functions of any one or more of those blocks or indeed , all of the functions thereof , are realized , for example , by one or more appropriately programmed processors .
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an embodiment of the present invention will be described by referring to the drawings . fig1 is one example of a block diagram of a document processing system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention . as shown in fig1 , the document processing system 100 includes a compound machine 2 , an information terminal 4 and a document processor 8 . the compound machine 2 or the information terminal 4 is connected to the document processor 8 through a network ( for instance , a local area network ) so as to communicate with the document processor 8 . in this embodiment , the document processing system 100 is employed in one organization ( for instance , an enterprise ). the compound machine 2 and the information terminal 4 are used by a user of a component or a member of the organization . the user logs in the document processor 8 from the compound machine 2 or the information terminal 4 to instruct various kinds of processes to the document processor 8 . in this embodiment , the user registers an electronic document in the document processor 8 from the compound machine 2 or the information terminal 4 , or inspects or edits the already registered electronic document . the compound machine 2 receives an operation of the user to transmit an instruction of various kinds of processes to the document processor 8 . for instance , when the electronic document is registered in the document processor 8 , the compound machine 2 transmits to the document processor 8 an instruction to register a document image read by a scanner . the information terminal is , for instance , a personal computer . the information terminal 4 also receives the operation of the user to transmit to the document processor 8 an instruction of various kinds of processes . for instance , when the electronic document is registered in the document processor 8 , the compound machine 2 transmits an instruction to register document information ( for instance , text data ) designated by the user to the document processor 8 . the document processor 8 is an ordinary server device having a web server function . the document processor 8 carries out the processes in accordance with the instructions received from the compound machine 2 or the information terminal 4 . further , the document processor 8 stores and manages various kinds of information . for instance , the document processor 8 stores the electronic documents respectively registered by the users and attribute information the users . here , the document processor 8 stores the rights of the users respectively held in the system as the attribute information of the users . here , the rights of the users are respectively registered by the manager of the document processor 8 . specifically , the manager selects and registers the rights respectively to be held by the users from a plurality of predetermined right candidates . the users may respectively register the rights of themselves from the information term9inal 4 . fig2 is a diagram showing one example of the structure of hardware of the document processor 8 . as shown in fig2 , the document processor 8 includes a central processing unit 40 , a main storage device 42 , an auxiliary storage device 44 , an output and input interface 46 , an input device 48 , a display 50 and a network interface 52 . the devices are respectively connected together through a data bus 54 so as to communicate . the central processing unit 40 is a cpu or an mpu and operates in accordance with a program previously stored in the main storage device 42 to control the devices respectively . further , the central processing unit 40 calculates by using information stored in the main storage device 42 to output a result to the main storage device 42 . the above - described program is not limited to a program stored in the main storage device 42 and may be stored in an information storing medium such as a cd - rom , a dvd - rom or the like , or may be provided from a network . the main storage device 42 is a memory element such as a ram , a rom or the like to store the above - described program . further , the main storage device 42 stores calculating information inputted from the central processing unit 40 or information inputted from the output and input interface . further , the main storage device 42 outputs the stored information to the display 50 or the network interface 52 via the output and input interface . the auxiliary storage device 44 is a hard disk to store the information stored in the main storage device 42 in accordance with a control signal from the central processing unit 40 . the input device 48 is a keyboard or a mouse to output input information to the main storage device 42 via the output and input interface in accordance with the control signal from the central processing unit 40 . the display 50 displays the information stored in the main storage device 42 in accordance with the control signal from the central - processing unit 40 . the network interface 52 is a network interface card to output information received from the network to the main storage device 42 or transmit the information stored in the main storage device 42 via the network in accordance with the control signal from the central processing unit 40 . fig3 is a block diagram of functions realized by the document processor 8 under the operation of the central processing unit 40 in accordance with the above - described program . here , functions related to the present invention of the functions realized by the document processor 8 will be mainly shown . a storing part 76 is realized mainly by the auxiliary storage device 44 . in the storing part 76 , a user data base , a document data base and a right candidate data base are stored . it is to be understood that other information than these data base is stored . in the user data base , information related respectively to the users is stored . fig4 is a diagram showing one example of the stored contents of the user data base . as shown in fig4 , the user data base includes a right data base and a statistical right data base . the right data base stores the records of the users respectively . the record of each user includes the certifying information of the user ( a user id , a certifying password ). further , the record of each user also includes the right held by the user as the attribute information of the user . the statistical right data base stores the record each of the users so as to be coordinated for each user . in the statistical right data base , the record of each of the users includes a right validity index and a state flag of each right candidate . in this embodiment , the right validity index designates numerical information in which a lower limit value ( here , it is set to “ 0 ”) and an upper limit value ( here , it is set to “ 100 ”) are determined . the state flag of the right candidate indicates whether or not the user holds the right candidate . for instance , referring to the right data base , since a user a holds a security right , the right of a head of a department and a patent right , in the record of the user a of the statistical right data base , the state flags of these right candidates indicate “ true ” and the state flags of other right candidates than the above - described right candidates indicate “ false ”. in the right candidate data base , information related to each of the right candidates is stored . fig5 is a diagram showing one example of the stored contents of the right candidate data base . as shown in fig5 , the right candidate data base includes a keyword data base and a statistical keyword data base . the keyword data base stores the record of each of the right candidates so as to be coordinated therewith for each right candidate . the record of each of the right candidates includes the keyword of the right candidate . the statistical keyword data base also stores the record of each of the right candidates so as to be coordinated therewith for each right candidate . in the statistical keyword data base , the record of each of the right candidates includes at least one keyword candidate , a keyword validity index of each keyword candidate and a state flag of each keyword candidate . in this embodiment , the keyword validity index designates numerical information in which a lower limit value ( here , it is set to “ 0 ”) and an upper limit value ( here , it is set to “ 100 ”) are determined . the state flag of each keyword candidate indicates whether or not the keyword candidate is included in the record of the same right candidate in the keyword data base . for instance , referring to the keyword data base , since two keywords of a “ certification ” and a “ password ” are included in the record of the security right , in the record of the security right held by the statistical keyword data base , the state flags of these keyword candidates indicate “ true ” and the state flag of other keyword candidate than the above - described keyword candidates ( here , “ security ”) indicates “ false ”. a processing part 60 is mainly realized by the central processing unit 40 . the processing part 60 certifies and specifies the user on the basis of the certifying information received by the network interface 52 . the processing part 60 carries out various kinds of processes in accordance with instructions for processes received by the network interface 52 . for instance , the processing part 60 stores the electronic document in the document data base or reads and updates the electronic document already stored in the document data base to process the electronic document . further , the processing part 60 receives an input based on the prescribed operation of the manager from the input device 48 to change the right held by each user . for instance , the processing part 60 additionally stores a new right in the record of the user held by the right data base or deletes the right from the record of the user . a frequently appearing word extracting part 62 extracts a noun ( a frequently appearing word ) that frequently appears in the electronic document from the electronic document processed by the processing part 60 . in this embodiment , the frequently appearing word extracting part 62 analyzes the electronic document processed by the processing part 60 to extract text data . for instance , when the electronic document is a document image , an ocr process is carried out to extract the text data . then , the frequently appearing word extracting part 62 carries out a well - known important sentence extracting process to extract the frequently appearing word that frequently appears a prescribed frequency or more . the frequently appearing word extracting part 62 may extract all nouns included in the electronic document irrespective of the degree of frequent appearance . the electronic document processed by the processing part 60 is referred to as a document to be processed , hereinafter . a keyword matching part 64 is realized mainly by the central processing unit 40 . the keyword matching part 64 determines whether or not the keyword stored in the keyword data base is included in the document to be processed . in this embodiment , the keyword matching part 64 determines whether or not the keyword corresponds to any of the frequently appearing words extracted by the frequently appearing word extracting part 62 for each keyword stored in the keyword data base . a right validity updating part 66 is realized mainly by the central processing unit 40 . the right validity updating part 66 increases the right validity index of the right candidate corresponding to the keyword determined to be included in the electronic document . in this embodiment , the right validity updating part 66 refers to the keyword data base to specify the right candidate corresponding to the keyword determined to correspond to any of the frequently appearing words , and refers to the statistical right data base to increase the right validity index of the right validity index of the specified right candidate in the record of the user certified by the processing part 60 . a right candidate determining part 68 is realized mainly by the central processing unit 40 . the right candidate determining part 68 refers to the statistical right data base to determine whether or not the right validity index of each right candidate is a first threshold value ( here , it is set to “ 50 ”) or larger for each user . in this embodiment , the right candidate determining part 68 refers to the record of the users certified by the processing part 60 in the stored contents of the statistical right data base to determine whether or not the right validity index is the first threshold value or larger for each right candidate . an inquiry part 70 is realized mainly by the central processing unit 40 . the inquiry part 70 inquires the manager about whether or not the right held by the user is changed for each user on the basis of the result of a decision by the right candidate determining part 68 . in this embodiment , when the inquiry part 70 refers to the right data base and the right candidate whose right validity index is determined to be the first threshold value or larger is not included in the record of the user certified by the processing part 60 , the inquiry part 70 shows an interface ( see fig9 a ) for inquiring the manager about whether or not the right candidate is added to the right held by the user on the display 50 . further , when the inquiry part 70 refers to the right data base and the right candidate whose right validity index is determined to be smaller than the first threshold value is included in the record of the user certified by the processing part 60 , the inquiry part 70 shows an interface ( see fig9 b ) on the display 50 to inquire of the manager whether or not the right candidate is deleted from the right held by the user . the inquiry part 70 displays an interface shown in fig9 c on the display 50 to inquire about the addition of the right candidate and the deletion of the right candidate at the same time . a keyword validity updating part 72 is realized mainly by the central processing unit 40 . when the right candidate whose right validity index is the first threshold value or higher is additionally stored in the record of any user in the right data base , the keyword validity updating part 72 increases the keyword validity index included in the record of the right candidate . a keyword updating part 74 is realized mainly by the central processing unit 40 . the keyword updating part 74 refers to the statistical keyword data base to select at least one keyword candidate from the record of the right candidate for each right candidate and stores the selected keyword candidate respectively in the keyword data base as the keyword of the right candidate . in this embodiment , the keyword updating part 74 refers to the record of the additionally stored right candidate to select the keyword candidate whose keyword validity index is a prescribed second threshold value ( here , it is set to “ 50 ”) or larger . then , when the keyword updating part 74 refers to the keyword data base and the selected keyword candidate is not included in the record of the additionally stored right candidate , the keyword updating part 74 additionally stores the selected keyword candidate in the record . now , one example of processes will be described that are carried out by the document processor 8 having the above - described functions when the document processor receives instructions of processes to the electronic document from the compound machine 2 or the information terminal 4 of the user by referring to flow chart diagrams of fig6 to 8 . here , a case is described as an example that the document processor 8 receives an instruction to register the electronic document , however , when the document processor 8 receives an instruction to read or update the already registered electronic document , the document processor 8 may carry out the same processes . here , it is assumed that the document processor 8 already specifies the user ( refer it to as an object user , hereinafter ) on the basis of the certifying information of the user . the document processor 8 processes the electronic document in accordance with an instruction of a process received from the compound machine 2 or the information terminal 4 . here , when the document processor 8 receives the instruction for registering the electronic document , the document processor 8 stores the electronic document in the document data base ( s 101 ). then , the document processor 8 analyzes the electronic document ( refer it to as a document to be processed , hereinafter ) processed in the step of s 101 to extract the frequently appearing word ( s 102 ). specifically , the document processor 8 analyzes the document to be processed to extract the text data . for instance , when the object to be processed is image data , the document processor carries out the ocr process to extract the text data . then , the document processor 8 carries out the known important sentence extracting process to extract the frequently appearing word that frequently appears a prescribed frequency or more . when the frequently appearing word that appears frequently a prescribed frequency or more is not extracted , the document processor 8 finishes the processes . then , the document processor 8 determines whether or not the keyword corresponds to any of the frequently appearing words extracted in the step of s 102 for each keyword stored in the keyword data base ( s 103 ). then , the document processor 8 refers to the statistical right data base to update the right validity index of each right candidate included in the record of the object user on the basis of the result of a decision in the step of s 103 ( s 104 ). specifically , the document processor 8 refers to the keyword data base to specify the right candidate corresponding to the keyword determined to correspond to any of the frequently appearing words , increases the right validity index of the specified right candidate by a prescribed value in the record of the object user held by the statistical right data base and decreases the right validity index of other right candidate than the specified right candidate by a prescribed value . for instance , a case will be considered in which when a user b registers the electronic document , the document processor 8 extracts the “ certification ” as the frequently appearing word . in this case , the document processor 8 refers to the keyword data base to specify the security right as the right candidate corresponding to the “ certification ” and increases the right validity index of the security right included in the record of the user b by the prescribed value . further , the document processor 8 respectively decreases the right validity index of other right candidate than the security right by the prescribed value . then , the document processor 8 selects one right candidate ( refer it to as a noted right candidate , hereinafter ). then , the document processor 8 refers to the record of the object user held by the statistical right data base to determine whether or not the right validity index of the selected noted right candidate is the first threshold or higher ( s 105 ). when the right validity index of the noted right candidate is the first threshold value or higher ( y of s 105 ), the document processor 8 determines whether the noted right candidate is not included in the record of the object user held by the right data base ( s 106 ). specifically , the document processor 8 refers to the record of the object user held by the statistical right data base to recognize whether or not the state flag of the noted right candidate shows “ false ”. then , when the noted right candidate is not included in the record of the object user held by the right data base ( y of s 106 ), the document processor 8 carries out a below - described right addition inquiry process shown in fig7 ( s 107 ) and advances to the step of s 110 . on the other hand , when the noted right candidate is included in the record of the object user held by the right data base ( n of s 106 ), the document processor 8 advances to the step of s 110 . on the other hand , when the right validity index of the noted right candidate is smaller than the first threshold value ( n of s 105 ), the document processor 8 determines whether or not the noted right candidate is included in the record of the object user held by the right data base ( s 108 ). specifically , the data processor 8 refers to the record of the object user held by the statistical data base to recognize whether or not the state flag of the noted right candidate shows “ true ”. when the right validity index of the noted right candidate is smaller than the first threshold value ( n of s 105 ), the document processor 8 may further determine whether or not the right validity index of the noted right candidate is smaller than other prescribed threshold values different form the first threshold value . in this case , other threshold values are considered to be set to the first threshold value or smaller . then , when the right validity index of the noted right candidate is smaller than other prescribed threshold values , the document processor 8 may advance to the step of s 108 . when the right validity index is other prescribed value or larger , the document processor 8 may advance to the step of ss 10 . in the step s 108 , when the noted right candidate is included in the record of the object user held by the right data base ( y of s 108 ), the document processor 8 carries out a below - described right deletion inquiry process ( s 109 ) shown in fig8 and advances to the step of s 110 . on the other hand , when the noted right candidate is not included in the record of the object user held by the right data base ( n of s 108 ), the document processor advances to the step of s 110 . in the step of s 110 , the document processor 8 determines whether or not the processes of s 105 to s 109 are carried out to all the right candidates . then , when the processes of s 105 to s 109 are not carried out yet to at least one of the right candidates ( n of s 110 ), the document processor 8 selects another noted right candidate to advance to the step of s 105 . on the other hand , when the processes of s 105 to s 109 are carried out to all the right candidates ( y of s 110 ), the document processor 8 finishes the processes . here , the document processor 8 sequentially carries out the processes of s 105 to s 109 respectively to the right candidates , however , these processes may be carried out in parallel respectively for the right candidates . now , the right addition inquiry process will be described by referring to fig7 . in this process , the document processor 8 initially inquires the manager about whether or not the noted right candidate is added to the right held by the object user ( s 201 ). specifically , the document processor 8 shows the interface see fig9 a ) on the display 50 . the document processor 8 monitors whether or not the manager receives an additional operation for checking a check box 90 and pressing down a button image 94 ( s 202 ). when the manager receives the additional operation ( y of s 202 ), the document processor 8 additionally stores the noted right candidate in the record of the object user held by the right data base ( s 203 ). further the document processor 8 updates the state flag of the noted right candidate from “ false ” to “ true ” in the record of the object user held by the statistical right data base . for instance , when a value of the right validity index of the right of a head of a department corresponding to the record of the user b becomes the first threshold value or larger from a state shown in fig4 , the document processor 8 inquires about whether or not the right of the head of the department is added to the right held by the user b . then , when the document processor 8 receives the above - described additional operation , the document processor 8 additionally stores the right of the head of the department in the record of the user b held by the right data base to change the state flag of the right of the head of the department to “ true ” from “ false ” ( see fig1 ). then , the document processor 8 increases the keyword validity index by a prescribed value in the record of the noted right candidate held by the statistical keyword data base ( s 204 ). specifically , the document processor 8 refers to the statistical keyword data base to compare each of the keyword candidates included in the record of the noted right candidate with each of the frequently appearing words extracted in the step of s 102 . thus , the document processor specifies the keyword candidate of the keyword candidates included in the record of the noted right candidate that corresponds to any of the frequently appearing words . then , the document processor 8 increases the keyword validity index of the specified keyword candidate by a prescribed value . as a result of the comparison , when the frequently appearing words extracted in the step of s 102 include a frequently appearing word that does not correspond to any of the keyword candidates , the document processor 8 may regard the frequently appearing word as a new keyword candidate of the noted right candidate and additionally store the new keyword candidate in the record of the noted right candidate . in this case , the document processor 8 additionally stores the keyword validity index of the additionally stored keyword candidate and the state flag . at this time , a lower limit value is set to a value of the additionally stored keyword validity index and “ false ” is set to the additionally stored state flag . then , the document processor 8 refers to the statistical keyword data base to determine whether or not the keyword validity index of the keyword candidate specified in the step of s 204 is the second threshold value or larger ( s 205 ). when the keyword validity index of the keyword candidate specified in the step of s 204 is smaller than the second threshold value ( n of s 205 ), the document processor 8 directly finishes the processes . on the other hand , when the keyword validity index of the keyword candidate specified in the step of s 204 is the second threshold value or larger ( y of s 205 ), the document processor 8 refers to the keyword data base to determine whether or not the keyword candidate is included in the record of the noted right candidate held by the keyword data base ( s 206 ). specifically , the document processor 8 refers to the record of the noted right candidate held by the statistical keyword data base to determine whether or not the state flag of the keyword candidate shows “ true ”. then , when the keyword candidate specified in the step of s 204 is included in the record of the noted right candidate held by the keyword data base ( y of s 206 ), the document processor 8 directly finishes the processes . on the other hand , when the keyword candidate specified in the step of s 204 is not included in the record of the noted right candidate held by the keyword data base ( n of s 206 ), the keyword candidate is regarded as a new keyword of the noted right candidate and the keyword candidate is additionally stored in the record of the noted right candidate ( s 207 ). at this time , the document processor 8 updates the state flag of the additionally stored keyword candidate from “ false ” to “ true ” in the record of the noted right candidate held by the statistical keyword data base . for instance , when a value of the keyword validity index of a keyword candidate “ security ” corresponding to the security right becomes the second threshold value or larger from a state shown in fig5 , “ security ” is additionally stored in the record of the security right held by the keyword data base and the state flag is changed from “ false ” to true ” ( see fig1 ). on the other hand , when the manager receives an addition negating operation for checking a check box 92 and pressing down the button image 94 ( n of s 2102 ), the document processor 8 sets the right validity index of the noted right candidate to any of values smaller than the first threshold value in the statistical right data base ( s 208 ). for instance , the right validity index may be set to a value half as small as the first threshold value . then , the document processor 8 decreases the keyword validity index by a prescribed value in the record of the noted right candidate held by the statistical keyword data base ( s 209 ). specifically , the document processor 8 refers to the statistical keyword data base to compare each of the keyword candidates included in the record of the noted right candidate with each of the frequently appearing words extracted in the step of s 102 . thus , the document processor specifies the keyword candidate of the keyword candidates included in the record of the noted right candidate that corresponds to any of the frequently appearing words . then , the document processor 8 decreases the keyword validity index of the specified keyword candidate by a prescribed value . then , the document processor 8 refers to the statistical keyword data base to determine whether or not the keyword validity index of the keyword candidate specified in the step of s 209 is smaller than the second threshold value ( s 210 ). it may be determined whether or not the keyword validity index of the keyword candidate specified in the step of s 209 is smaller than other prescribed threshold values different from the second threshold value . in this case , other prescribed threshold values may be possibly considered to be set to the second threshold value or smaller . then , when the keyword validity index of the keyword candidate specified in the step of s 209 is the second threshold value or larger ( n of s 210 ), the document processor 8 directly finishes the processes . on the other hand , when the keyword validity index of the keyword candidate specified in the step of s 209 is smaller than the second threshold value ( y of s 210 ), the document processor 8 determines whether the keyword candidate is not included in the record of the noted right candidate held by the keyword data base ( s 211 ). specifically , the document processor 8 refers to the record of the noted right candidate held by the statistical keyword data base to determine whether or not the state flag of the keyword candidate shows “ false ”. then , when the keyword candidate specified in the step of s 209 is not included in the record of the noted right candidate held by the keyword data base ( y of s 211 ), the data processor 8 directly finishes the processes . on the other hand , when the keyword candidate specified in the step of s 209 is included in the record of the noted right candidate held by the keyword data base ( n of s 211 ), the data processor 8 deletes the keyword candidate from the record of the noted right candidate ( s 212 ). at this time , the document processor 8 updates the state flag of the deleted keyword candidate to “ false ” from “ true ” in the record of the noted right candidate held by the statistical keyword data base . for instance , when a value of the keyword validity index of a keyword candidate “ certification ” corresponding to the security right is smaller than the second threshold value from a state shown in fig5 , “ certification ” is deleted from the record of the security right held by the keyword data base and the state flag is changed from “ true ” to “ false ” ( see fig1 ). the above - described processes show the contents of the right addition inquiry process . now , the right deletion inquiry process will be described by referring to fig8 . in this process , the document processor 8 initially inquires the manager about whether or not the noted right candidate is deleted from the right held by the object user ( s 301 ). specifically , the document processor 8 shows the prescribed interface ( see ( fig9 b ) on the display 50 . the document processor 8 monitors whether or not a deleting operation is received for checking a check box 96 and pressing down a button image 99 ( s 302 ). when the document processor 8 receives the deleting operation ( y of s 302 ), the document processor 8 deletes the noted right candidate from the record of the object user held by the right data base ( s 303 ). further , the document processor 8 updates the state flag of the noted right candidate from “ true ” “ to “ false ” in the record of the object user held by the statistical right data base . for instance , when a value of the right validity index of a programmer right corresponding to the record of the user b becomes a value smaller than the first threshold value from a state shown in fig4 , the document processor 8 inquires about whether or not the programmer right is deleted from the right held by the user b . then , when the document processor 8 receives the above - described deleting operation , the document processor 8 deletes the programmer right from the record of the user b held by the right data base to change the state flag of the programmer right from “ true ” to “ false ” ( see fig1 ). on the other hand , when the document processor receives a deletion negating operation for checking a check box 98 and pressing down the button image 99 ( n of s 302 ), the document processor 8 sets any of values of the first threshold value or larger to the right validity index of the noted right candidate in the record of the object user held by the statistical right data base ( s 304 ). for instance , the document processor 8 may set “ a value half as large as the sum of an upper limit value of the right validity index ad the first threshold value ” to the right validity index . the above - described processes show the right deletion inquiry process . here , the addition of the right and the deletion of the right are separately inquired , however , they may be inquired at a time . for instance , the interface shown in fig9 c may be displayed on the display 50 . the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the above - described embodiment . namely , in the above - described embodiment , as one example of the attribute information of the user , the right of the user is described . however , any information showing the attributes of the user may be employed . for instance , the attribute information may include information showing a job , a working place , a class of age , an urban and rural prefecture where the user lives , a position , etc . of the user . further , in the above - described embodiment , the manager of the document processor 8 is inquired about the addition or the deletion of the right , however , the user may be directly inquired about whether the right is added or deleted . for instance , the document processor 8 may display the interface shown in fig9 on the information terminal 4 of the user . further , in the above - described embodiment , the document processor 8 carries out the processes of s 105 to s 110 at a timing of carrying out the processes to the electronic document , however , a below - described method may be considered . that is , the document processor 8 may periodically carry out the processes of s 105 to s 110 . in this case , the processes of s 105 to s 110 may be possibly carried out to each user . further , when the processes of s 105 to s 110 are periodically carried out , a process for decreasing the right validity index ( that is , a part of s 104 , s 208 ) and the process of s 304 may be omitted . in this case , after the processes of s 105 to s 110 are carried out , values of all right validity index are considered to be initialized to a lower limit value 0 . the foregoing description of the embodiments of the present invention has been provided for the purposes of illustration and description . it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed . obviously , many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art . the embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications , thereby enabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and with the various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated . it is intended that the scope of the invention defined by the following claims and their equivalents .
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to facilitate the description of some embodiments of the invention , a model of a transmission link will first be presented . r ( k ) = ∑ l = 0 p h ( l ) c ( k - l ) + ∑ l = 0 p h ( l ) s ( k - l ) + ζ ( k ) where { h ( k )} kε { 0 , . . . , p } represent the different propagation channel taps . ζ ( k ) models the combination of thermal noise and interference from adjacent cells . ζ ( k ) is assumed to be additive white gaussian noise ( awgn ) with variance equal to σ 2 . the samples c ( k ) denote the transmitted pilot sequence and s ( k ) is used to represent the other signals from the different users in the serving cell . the cir is derived by correlating the received signal with the pilot sequence h ^ t ( l ) = 1 n ∑ k = 0 n - 1 r ( k ) c * ( k - l ) l = 0 , 1 , … , l - 1 where n is the spreading factor of the w - cdma pilot signal , l is the length of the channel estimation window and t represents the current cir estimation period . in general , l ≠ p . indeed , p is a function of the current propagation conditions , whilst l is chosen by design . the various processing stages of an embodiment of the proposed architecture are presented in fig2 . in this embodiment , a channel estimate containing l consecutive taps is estimated and , from that , the best m ( m & lt ; l ) consecutive taps are chosen as the raw channel estimates that are then processed further to produce a refined cir such as can then be employed by , for example , an lmmse equaliser implemented as a pre - filter rake architecture . the further processing of the raw channel estimates generally improves the accuracy of the cir ( hence the term refined cir ) by reducing the power of the estimation error . one method for achieving this is to use one or more filters that are either designed to match the expected channel conditions or to adapt to the changing channel conditions . in the present embodiment , filtering to produce a refined cir estimate is performed over only m taps whilst it remains possible to detect paths that appear in the l - m taps of the l raw tap values that lie beyond the m taps that are used to produce the refined cir estimate . in the present embodiment , wherein the filtering of the cir estimate is only performed over m taps , whilst it is still possible to detect paths that appear up to +−( l − m )/ 2 chips away from the current window . when new paths are detected outside the current window and it is judged advantageous to include those paths in the cir , a timing adjustment is made such that the best l taps are centralised within the channel estimation window . making a timing adjustment requires either discarding or repeating input samples and also requires the current cir to be moved to match the new estimation window . in order to avoid moving the receiver timing in response to variations in the noise level in the different channel taps , a filtered version of the channel power profile is used to select the best equalisation window . moving the channel estimation window can lead to problems in the channel estimation . if the channel estimation window is moved to often , the resulting channel estimates may become degraded . the present embodiment describes a hangover mechanism whereby further timing changes are disabled for a specified period after a timing change has been made . the received signal is first processed by unit 200 in order to generate raw channel estimates . these initial channel estimates can be generated , for example , by correlating the received signal with the known pilot sequence as described in the above equations . it should however be noted that the application of the present invention is not restricted to this case . it would be possible to use other techniques , such as linear least - square fitting ( digital communications , john g . proakis , 2 nd edition , mcgraw - hill international ), in order to derive these channel estimates . in case of transmit diversity , either open - loop or closed - loop , the unit 200 will generate a set of initial channel estimates for each transmit antenna . the raw channel estimates from antenna 1 are passed on to unit 201 that calculates the position of the best cir within the channel estimation window and the timing adjustment required to centralize this cir within the estimation window . to find the position of the best cir , the channel power is first calculated and then filtered by units 300 and 301 respectively . the resultant cir power delay profile is given by p t ( l )=( 1 − g ) p t - 1 ( l )+ g | ĥ t ( l )| 2 the smoothing factor , g , is introduced to ensure that the cir power delay profile is not unduly affected by the cir estimation error . the above equation describes the filtering operation when a first order iir implementation is used . it will be obvious to anyone skilled in the art that the proposed approach can easily be extended to other filter architectures . e ( i ) = ∑ l = i i + m p ( l ) i = 0 , … , l - m e max = max i [ e ( i ) ] with corresponding index i max . additionally , the energy of the currently central window e curr = e (└( l − m + 1 )/ 2 ┘) is selected . unit 303 determines the timing adjustment required to centralise the maximum energy window in the following manner δ t = { i max - ( ⌊ ( l - m + 1 ) / 2 ⌋ ) if e max & gt ; τ e curr 0 otherwise where τ is a threshold introduced to ensure that timing changes only occur if e max is sufficiently greater than e curr . unit 202 applies the required timing adjustment , δ t , only if δ t ≠ 0 and t d = 0 , where t d is a counter that is set to t 1 when a timing adjustment is applied and is decremented each channel estimation period until it reaches 0 . the choice of value for t 1 is made to prevent timing changes happening in rapid succession , which may have an adverse affect on the cir estimation . when a timing adjustment is applied , the input data is advanced / retarded by δ t . since the incoming data is continuously sampled , either discarding or repeating samples at the input achieves this . new raw channel estimates are produced based on this new timing . unit 203 selects the central m taps of the raw cir for processing by unit 204 that filters the raw cir to reduce the channel estimate errors . when a timing adjustment is applied , the state of the cir filter ( s ) requires shifting in time such to take into account the applied timing change . if this is not done , the estimated cir produced by unit 204 will contain errors for at least as long at the maximum group delay of the cir filter ( s ), which will result in significant performance degradation . on application of a timing adjustment , the filtered cir power delay profile p also requires shifting in time , which is achieved at the next channel estimate update period in the following manner note that the above description of this invention assumes that all the data is sampled at 1 sample per chip , however it is straightforward to extend this to apply to data that is sampled at higher rates .
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referring now specifically to the drawings , one embodiment of the present invention is shown generally in fig1 . in accordance with this embodiment , a time source in the form of a master clock 10 transmits a suitably coded signal to a geosynchronous earth satellite 11 which , in turn , transmits a coded time signal back to earth for reception by any suitable receiver which is within the transmission reception zone of the satellite . in fig1 a wristwatch 12 is shown in signal receiving position . however , an analog timepiece of any size or suitable construction may be used . in fig2 another embodiment of the present invention is shown and comprises a transmitter 15 which sends a coded time signal to a receiver 16 located at some predetermined , remote location . the time signal may be received directly from the transmitter 15 or may be retransmitted by the receiver 16 by landline or by repeater ( not shown ). fig3 shows an enlarged view of the timepiece in the form of a wristwatch 12 shown in fig1 . as can be seen in fig3 wristwatch 12 includes an antenna 19 which extends around the major portion of the periphery of wristwatch 12 , and may , for example , be embedded within the crystal . of course , since the timepiece shown is an analog one , it includes hands 12a and 12b which indicate the time . referring now to fig4 a timekeeping and correction circuit according to the present invention is shown in electrical schematic notation . since the circuit is shown schematically , it is not drawn to scale . moreover , in an actual embodiment the circuit would preferably be in the form of an integrated , solid state device which would be so small as to very easily fit within a wristwatch . the normal timekeeping mode operates through suitable coded signals received at antenna 19 . a receiver 22 of conventional design decodes and amplifies the signal which it receives and converts it into a direct current ( dc ) pulse . amplifier 22 is provided with its own dc power supply 23 which may be a small battery , as is indicated in fig4 or a dc converter operating off of ac current for larger , stationary timepieces . the dc pulse generated by receiver / amplifier 22 is driven to a timekeeping mode output 25 and through suitable conductive means to a micro - relay switch 26 . activation of switch 26 feeds the dc pulse to a known set - reset , flip - flop circuit 27 which activates a step motor 28 . step motor is mechanically connected to a conventional watch gear set 29 which moves the hands of the watch . pulses may be received every second , every ten seconds , every minute or any other suitable time interval . given the fact that this system is an electromechanical one , the interval must be sufficient to permit the mechanical activation and deactivation of the step motor 28 and gear set 29 during each pulse . the flip - flop circuit 27 is a type of bi - stable multi - vibrator circuit that has two imputs corresponding to the two stable states . the circuit contains two linear inverters coupled in such a way that the output of one provides the imput for the other . a separate dc power source 31 is provided for step motor 28 . since circuit 20 has separate power sources 23 and 31 , one may be of an optimal type to provide continual power in the case of the amplifier 22 , and the other to provide pulses of power in the case of step motor 28 . of course , when a single power source is adequate the circuit may be simplified accordingly . some minimal delay is expected in the activation and completion of the movement of the hands by gear set 29 . therefore , the timepiece 12 is set ahead slightly so that at the completion of each pulse and hand movement , the correct time is displayed . since the time source is completely external to timepiece 12 , there is no real need to provide a high degree of internal mechanical accuracy to timepiece 12 . rather , the important criterion is the accuracy of the time source 10 . since the time signal is received and processed instantaneously , a highly accurate electromechanical timepiece is possible . furthermore , in many instances accuracy to an absolute time standard is less important than proper synchronization of a number of timepieces . this invention serves this function reliably and inexpensively . in instances where even greater accuracy is required , automatic synchronization of timepiece 12 to the clock 10 can be easily provided . in general , the synchronization circuit is provided with a separate signal to &# 34 ; test &# 34 ; the timepiece 12 to see if it is still in synchronization with time source 10 . the separate synchronization signal is transmitted , for example from satellite 11 , at a relatively long time interval such as once each hour or once each day . synchronization itself takes place by mechanical movement of hands 12a and 12b . this is accomplished by means of a wheel 33 which is mounted within watch 12 for synchronized rotation with hands 12a and 12b . as is best shown in fig5 wheel 33 is provided with an indented cam surface 34 on its circumferential periphery . since wheel 33 rotates in synchronization with the hands , the cam 34 must be in a particular position relative to hands 12a and 12b . wheel 33 and cam 34 cooperate with a feather switch 35 which has two aligned switch contacts 35a and 35b which are normally biased apart . still referring to fig5 when wheel 33 is in its proper position indicating that timepiece 12 is properly synchronized with time source 10 , contacts 35a and 35b are spaced apart from each other , thereby interrupting an electrical circuit which will be described below . referring now to fig6 wheel 33 is shown in a position indicating that timepiece 12 is not in synchronization with time source 10 . as a result , probe 35b is not positioned in cam 34 but has ridden up onto the peripheral surface of wheel 33 and into contact with contact 35a . the circuit is closed , and the following synchronization process takes place . the synchronization signal is received at antenna 19 and directed to receiver / amplifier 22 . the signal is amplified and converted into a dc pulse having characteristics different from the timekeeping dc pulse . a time correction output 38 is provided and is tailored to the characteristics of this dc signal so that the signal is conveyed from output 38 to the feather switch 35 . if , as is shown in fig4 and 5 , wheel 33 is in its proper position indicating that timepiece 12 is synchronized with time source 10 , the circuit is interrupted and since no synchronization is necessary , no synchronization takes place . if , however , wheel 33 indicates that timepiece 12 is not synchronized with time source 10 , feather switch 35 is closed , as is shown in fig6 . in this case , the dc pulse is carried through feather switch 35 to a first micro - switch 40 . switch 40 in turn activates another micro - switch 42 which is connected into the time keeping circuit previously described . the dc pulse is conveyed through micro - switches 40 and 42 to flip - flop circuit 27 which activates step motor 28 . step motor 28 activates gear set 29 which drives hands 12a and 12b . since wheel 33 is connected to hands 12a and 12b it rotates as well . when the hands reach the point of synchronization with the time source 10 , contact 35b drops into cam 34 breaking the circuit , and stopping step motor 28 . of course , a magnetic proximity or other suitable switch could be utilized instead of feather switch 35 shown above . even though the disclosure of the invention contained in the application has emphasized a utility in small timepieces such as the wristwatch , the invention nevertheless has substantial applications in large timepieces such as wall , case or tower clocks . stepping motors can be manufactured in all sizes to generate torque sufficient to operate virtually any size clock . in addition , remote activation of clocks by a master time source could also be utilised to activate alarm , chiming or striking mechanisms and to control automatic devices of many different types . in situations where large timepieces are contained in buildings or shielded from proper reception of a signal transmitter , an antenna lead can easily be installed in an exterior position with the lead carrying the signal by wire to the timepiece . an apparatus and method for synchronizing an analog timepiece from a time source is described above . various details of the invention may be changed without departing from its scope . furthermore , the foregoing description of a preferred embodiment of the apparatus and method according to the present invention is provided for the purpose of illustration only and not for the purpose of limitation -- the invention being defined by the claims .
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fig1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a novel fluorescent lamp 101 according to the present disclosure . in one embodiment , the lamp is of standard size suitable for installation and use in conventional ceiling fixtures 100 and contains mercury in the form of a bismuth - zinc amalgam . in one embodiment , the amalgam is ternary — that is , the amalgam includes zinc , bismuth , and mercury ( and with such minor impurities as may be introduced in the manufacturing process ). in other embodiments , the amalgam includes bismuth , zinc , and mercury with a portion ( for example , less than 40 weight percent ) of other materials as may be appropriate ( including , but not limited to , antimony , indium , tin , gallium , germanium , silicon , lead , copper , nickel , silver , gold , palladium and platinum ). the amalgam is preferably better than 99 weight percent pure and generally free of oxygen and water . various embodiments of the amalgam are preferably between 5 - 60 weight percent mercury , with 10 - 80 weight percent zinc , and 0 . 5 - 90 weight percent bismuth . disclosed embodiments form rounder pellets with less mercury re - absorption than binary zinc - mercury amalgams . in a preferred embodiment , the composition range is 30 - 45 weight percent mercury , 35 - 60 weight percent zinc and 5 - 20 weight percent bismuth . in a more preferred embodiment , the composition is approximately 45 weight percent mercury , approximately 41 weight percent zinc , and approximately 14 weight percent bismuth . one particularly preferred embodiment includes approximately 45 weight percent mercury , approximately 41 . 5 weight percent zinc , and approximately 13 . 5 weight percent bismuth . solid and free flowing at room temperature , this composition is rounder than binary zinc - mercury amalgam . in an alternatively preferred embodiment , the composition includes approximately 35 weight percent mercury , approximately 57 weight percent zinc , and approximately 8 weight percent bismuth . another particularly preferred alternative embodiment of a bismuth - zinc - mercury composition includes approximately 35 . 2 weight percent mercury , approximately 57 . 0 weight percent zinc , and approximately 7 . 8 weight percent bismuth . it is free flowing and has excellent shape qualities when compared to binary zinc - mercury ( 50 weight percent mercury ). adding bismuth to binary zinc - mercury amalgam does not significantly change their mercury vapor pressure . as discussed elsewhere , the bismuth - zinc - mercury amalgam retains a mercury vapor pressure substantially similar to the vapor pressure of pure mercury . a description of the relevant phase diagrams indicates the insolubility of bismuth in mercury and in zinc . a binary bismuth - mercury phase diagram is a simple eutectic system with two solid phases that have no mutual solubility and that do not form intermetallic compounds . in the liquid phase , bismuth and mercury show one homogeneous liquid that extends from pure bismuth to pure mercury . mixtures of bismuth and mercury all freeze at approximately − 39 . 2 ° c . binary bismuth - zinc alloys also show little solubility in each other in the solid state . zinc is slightly soluble in bismuth but little or no bismuth can be dissolved in zinc . no intermetallic compounds form between zinc and bismuth . these two metals form a miscibility gap in the liquid state . the miscibility gap extends from approximately 16 weight percent zinc to 98 weight percent zinc . furthermore , it extends into the ternary bismuth - zinc - mercury system and creates a region that is generally impractical for pellet formation . bismuth - zinc amalgams have lower mercury contents than prior art amalgams ( for example , zinc - mercury amalgams containing 50 weight percent zinc and 50 weight percent mercury ) due to the addition of bismuth . larger pellets may be needed to contain the same amount of mercury as a binary zinc - mercury amalgam containing 50 weight percent zinc and 50 weight percent mercury . in some of the presently disclosed embodiments , the hg / zn ratio is greater than 1 . 0 . for prior art zinc - mercury amalgams , the hg / zn ratio is approximately 1 . 0 . fig2 is a bismuth - zinc - mercury equilibrium phase diagram at 20 ° c . as shown in phase diagram 200 , the amalgams as presently disclosed are a solid at 20 ° c . and include bismuth , zinc solid solution , and the intermetallic compound zn 3 hg . as discussed below , the amalgam may not have the predicted room temperature phases and may not be at equilibrium . the amalgam may be in a metastable , non - equilibrium state . bi — zn — hg pellets also advantageously dispense low amounts of mercury . this is due to the phase diagram construction illustrated in fig2 . a two - phase band 201 of solid zn 3 hg and solid bi extends from almost pure bi to 50 weight percent mercury ( pure zn 3 hg ). amalgams with low mercury content ( for example , 15 weight percent hg and below ) are readily manufactured ( for example , using the method disclosed by anderson ) and have low total mercury amounts . example 3 , described in detail elsewhere , illustrates a material with a large diameter and low mercury content . the pellet in the example contained about 2 . 2 mg hg and had a diameter of approximately 1 . 5 mm . the low end of the hg content in a practical application can be as low as 0 . 1 mg hg in approximately a 1 . 5 mm pellet . in fact , the hg content of any pellet of this sort ( zn — bi — hg ) can be made arbitrarily low . fig2 also shows a three - phase triangle 203 comprised of ( zn ) solid solution , bi , and zn 3 hg . this region includes lower mercury content . materials in this three - phase region may also be produced by the method of anderson or other suitable production methods . they may have low mercury content and be suitable for applications where low mercury content is desirable . in both cases , the mercury content and the pellet diameter are independently adjustable and are optionally used to obtain a desirable diameter and mercury content . fig2 also shows a two - phase region 205 existing between ( zn ) solid solution and bi . this region 205 is even lower in mercury content . mercury content in this region 205 ranges from approximately 0 . 4 weight percent at nearly pure bismuth to approximately 5 . 5 weight percent mercury near pure zinc . low bismuth regions 207 , 209 have varying mercury contents . because the amalgam is a solid at room temperature , the amount of amalgam that is to be introduced into a lamp may be easily quantified and dispensed . for example , small pellets of generally uniform mass and composition may be formed with any shape that is appropriate for the manufacturing process , although spherical and substantially spherical pellets are the most easily handled . pellet diameters are desirably between about 200 to 3000 microns . in various embodiments , spherical and substantially spherical pellets of generally uniform mass and composition are made by rapidly solidifying or quenching the amalgam melt . exemplary apparatus and processes are disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 216 , 178 ( anderson ), issued aug . 5 , 1980 , the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference . features and advantages of various disclosed embodiments are illustrated in greater detail in the following examples : 13 . 3 grams of bismuth pellets , 40 . 2 grams of zinc pellets and 46 . 5 grams of liquid mercury were melted and pelletized by the method disclosed in anderson . eighty - one of these pellets were subjected to a weight loss experiment . mercury was released from these pellets at 325 ° c . for 1 hour under a vacuum of about 0 . 3 torr . the pellets were weighed before and after the weight loss experiment and the difference in weight was measured . the percent change in mass was then calculated . the average weight loss from 81 ternary bismuth - zinc - mercury pellets was 45 . 3 weight percent . a single ternary amalgam pellet comprised of bismuth , zinc , and mercury in the amounts of example 1 was placed in a thermogravimetric analyzer to record the mercury loss with time . the amalgam pellet was heated to 300 ° c . and purged with argon gas at a pressure of 1 . 8 torr . the pellet weight was recorded . it had an initial weight of 9 . 451 mg and a final weight of 5 . 105 mg . the weight loss was 4 . 346 mg and the percent change in weigh was 46 . 0 percent . fig3 shows the weight loss curve from an individual bismuth - zinc - mercury amalgam pellet . in particular , fig3 illustrates the mercury evolution rate from a single bismuth zinc amalgam pellet at 300 ° c . and 1 . 8 torr of argon pressure . 76 grams of bismuth pellets , 12 grams of zinc pellets , and 13 grams of liquid mercury were melted and pelletized by the method disclosed in anderson . a single pellet of this composition was placed in a thermogravimetric analyzer . the amalgam pellet was heated to 300 ° c . and purged with argon gas at a pressure of 1 . 8 torr . the pellet weight was recorded . it had an initial weight of 17 . 553 mg and a final weight of 15 . 33 mg . the weight loss was 2 . 223 mg and the weight loss percentage was 12 . 6 percent . 57 . 0 g of zinc shot , 7 . 8 g of bismuth pellets and 35 . 2 g of mercury were melted and pelletized by the method disclosed in anderson . several pellets of this composition were crushed and placed in a thermostated cell . the cell was heated and mercury vapor was emitted from the pellet . the absorbance of the mercury vapor was measured and used to calculate its mercury vapor pressure . the results are shown in fig4 . fig4 illustrates the mercury vapor pressure above a bismuth - zinc amalgam containing 57 . 0 weight percent zinc , 7 . 8 weight percent bismuth , and 35 . 2 weight percent mercury . the mercury vapor pressure is plotted as a function of inverse temperature . a comparison to the literature values of pure mercury are shown for reference . the vapor pressure of the material is nearly identical to the vapor pressure of pure mercury . these pellets are free flowing at room temperature . fig5 is a graph of the mercury vapor pressure of the same bismuth - zinc amalgam given in fig4 . the mercury vapor pressure is plotted as a function of temperature on a linear scale ( log ( p bi — zn — hg ) vs . t ° c .). literature values of pure mercury are shown for reference . these processes can be used to manufacture spherical or substantially spherical pellets of predetermined and uniform mass (± 15 %) in the range from 0 . 25 - 125 milligrams . other suitable techniques for making the pellets , such as die casting or extrusion , may be used . using existing devices and suitable techniques , the pellets may be weighed , counted or measured volumetrically and introduced into the lamp . for example , a lamp that requires 9 mg of mercury may use 2 pellets , each containing 45 weight percent mercury and each weighing 10 mg . u . s . pat . no . 5 , 882 , 237 describes the microstructure of rapidly solidified binary zinc - mercury amalgams . binary zinc - mercury amalgams have a metastable , non - equilibrium structure . ternary bismuth - zinc amalgam pellets manufactured by the rapid solidification or quenching processes discussed above also have a structure that is different from that obtained by equilibrium freezing . in particular , they do not necessarily melt or freeze in accordance with the published bismuth - zinc - mercury phase diagram . bismuth - zinc - mercury amalgam pellets produced by the method disclosed in anderson show a metastable microstructure . four phases are present : zinc solid solution , bismuth , zn 3 hg ( γ phase ), and a mercury - rich intergranular phase . zinc solid solution is present and is concentrated near the perimeter of the pellet . this results from non - equilibrium solidification for an amalgam containing 45 weight percent mercury and 13 . 3 weight percent bismuth . an equilibrium microstructure would consist only of zn 3 hg and bismuth . a mercury - rich phase is also present and is concentrated in the interior regions of the pellet . this results from the non - equilibrium solidification found in the presently disclosed embodiments . the mercury - rich phase is primarily found in the intergranular regions of bismuth - zinc amalgams . the equilibrium phases , bismuth and zn 3 hg are uniformly spread throughout the pellet . pellet with compositions high in bismuth , compositions near point a ( of fig2 , corresponding to pure bi ) in fig3 , will have a predominance of bismuth , and pellets with compositions high in zinc and mercury will have large amounts of zn 3 hg . the composition of bismuth - zinc amalgams can also be understood by a triangle formed between pure bismuth , bi , point a , pure zn , point b ( of fig2 , corresponding to pure zn ), and point c ( of fig2 , corresponding to 67 weight percent hg , 33 weight percent zn ), a zinc - mercury binary amalgam containing approximately 32 . 8 atomic percent ( 60 weight percent ) mercury . table i reflects eccentricity measurements for 46 bismuth - zinc - mercury pellets . they are compared to zinc - mercury ( 50 weight percent mercury ). bismuth - zinc - mercury pellets are substantially rounder than zinc - mercury pellets . a side - by - side comparison of bismuth - zinc - mercury pellets with zinc - mercury pellets qualitatively indicates that zn — bi — hg pellets are rounder than zn — hg pellets : table i average average equivalent major minor eccen - sphere material no . axis / μm axis / μm tricity diameter / μm zn — bi — hg average 46 1236 1219 1 . 015 1224 std . dev . ( 1σ ) 18 20 0 . 009 18 zn — hg average 35 1353 1286 1 . 052 1307 std . dev . ( 1σ ) 38 37 0 . 033 31 in another embodiment , a spherical amalgam pellet including zinc and at least one other amalgamative metal ( including , but not limited to bismuth ) with no more than approximately 15 weight percent mercury has a diameter greater than about 0 . 5 mm . in alternative preferred embodiments , the pellet has no more than approximately 5 or 1 weight percent mercury to provide a low mercury dose . in other alternative embodiments , the diameter is greater than approximately 1 mm , 1 . 5 mm , or 1 . 2 - 1 . 7 mm . these pellets advantageously provide a low mercury dose in a relatively large pellet which is easier to arrange , trap , or attach at a particular position within a lamp . while preferred embodiments have been described , it is to be understood that the embodiments described are illustrative only and the scope of the disclosed embodiments is to be defined solely by the appended claims when accorded a full range of equivalence , many variations and modifications naturally occurring to those skilled in the art from a perusal hereof .
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while this invention is illustrated and described in a preferred embodiment , the device may be produced in many different configurations , forms and materials . there is depicted in the drawings , and will herein be described in detail , a preferred embodiment of the invention , with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as a exemplification of the principles of the invention and the associated functional specifications of the materials for its construction and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated . those skilled in the art will envision many other possible variations within the scope of the present invention . an assembled fluid filter 100 is illustrated in fig1 and is comprised of three major sub - assemblies : base plate 110 , filter housing 102 , and a filter and valve cartridge ( including elements 116 - 134 ). in a preferred embodiment , fluid filter 100 is attached to an engine block nipple ( not shown ) by threads inside center exit hole 112 . gasket 106 , which is preferably constructed of silicone based rubber , forms a seal against the machine mounting area ( not shown ). filter housing 102 , a hollow tube shaped canister , is sealed in a fluid - tight arrangement with base plate 110 by locking band 104 . preferably , filter housing 102 is constructed from automotive nylon ; however , injection molded poly , 20 gage cold rolled steel , or other functionally equivalent materials can also be used . also , the dimensions of filter housing 102 are not an integral part of the current invention ; all standard - size filter housings are contemplated . locking band 104 is preferably an over - center latch clamp , which is known in the art , and constructed of 20 gage cold rolled steel . the purpose of locking band 104 is to secure base plate 110 to filter housing 102 . furthermore , o - ring 108 ensures the seal is fluid - tight . other types of functionally equivalent clamping means are also contemplated which provide a secure seal between filter housing 102 and base plate 110 but can be removed without the need for special tools . base plate 110 is a contoured , annular disk , preferably constructed of 8 gage cold rolled steel , and has circular center exit hole 112 and a plurality of evenly spaced entry holes 114 . automotive nylon is an alternative , functionally equivalent , construction material which provides the strength and wear - resistance necessary for re - usable base plate 110 . the operation of filter 100 is not considered a novel feature of the present invention but its description is included to show the interaction of all elements of the present invention . in operation , a pump ( not shown ) provides pressurized fluid to entry holes 114 . with references to fig1 and 2 , the fluid enters filter 100 and fills cavity 138 beneath anti - drainback valve seat 126 . once the cavity is filled , the fluid pressure causes the fluid to pass through perforations 202 , displace anti - drainback valve diaphragm 128 , and enter filter housing 102 . washer 124 , constructed of sturdy plastic or steel , prevents diaphragm 128 from overflexing . fluid within housing 102 is forced through filter paper element 122 , enters column 136 through perforated filter element center column 134 , and exits column 136 through hollow by - pass valve receiving area 132 and ultimately center exit hole 112 . if filter paper element 122 becomes clogged , and can no longer pass unfiltered fluid , the resulting fluid pressure forces by - pass valve diaphragm 130 , with retainer 120 , to compress spring 108 which , in turn , allows fluid to pass through perforated by - pass valve housing 116 at entry holes 145 . this mechanism allows fluid , although unfiltered , to return to center exit hole 112 and maintain lubrication in the attached machine ( not shown ) even if filter paper element 122 no longer works . when the pump ( not shown ) stops pumping liquid through the system , the fluid will no longer push against anti - drainback valve diaphragm 128 . anti - drainback valve diaphragm 128 will then rest against perforated anti - drainback valve seat 126 forming a liquid - tight seal . the pressure of the fluid within housing 102 trying to exit filter 100 holds anti - drainback valve diaphragm 128 against anti - drainback valve seat 126 . the construction , materials and size of paper filter element 122 and by - pass valve assembly 116 , 118 , 120 , 130 , and 132 are well known industry standards with a number of functionally equivalent alternatives which are contemplated within the scope of this invention . fig2 illustrates an exploded view of the by - pass valve system and the anti - drainback valve system and more clearly shows the number of items that previously had to be individually assembled when replacing a filter cartridge in a reusable filter system . by - pass valve receiving area 132 holds spring 118 , by - pass valve retainer 120 , by - pass valve diaphragm 130 and perforated by - pass valve body 116 . as previously indicated , the operation and construction of a filter by - pass valve is well known . however , by - pass valve body 116 , which is press - fitted into by - pass valve receiving area 132 , has a novel tapered region at its bottom which allows washer 124 , anti - drainback valve diaphragm 128 , and perforated anti - drainback valve seat 126 to be easily attached by press - fitting . alternative attachment means include spot welding or the use of appropriate adhesive materials ; however , press - fitting is a simple manufacturing step and provides sufficient securing forces for all the elements . washer 124 , constructed of sturdy plastic or steel , prevents diaphragm 128 from overflexing while fluid is flowing through filter 100 . also included in washer 124 , is channel 204 which provides even more security for attaching anti - drainback valve diaphragm 128 . diaphragm 128 is preferably constructed of silicon based rubber and conforms in shape to perforated anti - drainback valve seat 126 . neoprene and other resilient materials are also possible construction materials for diaphragm 128 ; however silicon based rubber , the preferred material , does not become brittle as easily as most of these materials do within this environment . again , the shape and size of diaphragm 128 , depend on the shape and size of anti - drainback valve seat 126 ; but in relation to one another , diaphragm 128 is slightly larger than seat 126 so that its peripheral edges adequately seal against seat 126 thus preventing fluid from draining back out of baseplate 100 and returning to the machine ( not shown ) via entry holes 114 . anti - drainback valve seat 126 is a rigid , perforated support structure the serves a number of purposes . in a preferred embodiment , seat 126 is shaped like a cone ; however dome shaped or trapezoidal shaped seats are functionally equivalent . also , while the preferred construction material for seat 126 is sheet metal , automotive nylon or other sturdy plastic are also contemplated materials . the precise radius of seat 126 is not critical to its function . the two design criteria which must be met is that seat 126 extend past entry holes 114 so that fluid can enter filter 100 and that seat 126 not extend so far that it interferes with the clamping of housing 102 with base plate 110 . our preferred embodiment sizes seat 126 so that it reaches approximately half - way between entry holes 114 and the bottom inside edge of housing 102 . the number and size of perforations 202 in anti - drainback valve seat 126 are also not critical . too few holes or too small of holes cause a back pressure towards the pump ( not shown ) and too many holes or too large of holes damage the sturdiness and integrity of seat 126 . any arrangement , size and number of perforations which avoid these critical conditions are contemplated by this invention . a working example would be 48 holes evenly spaced in two concentric rings of 24 holes . with this number of holes , the appropriate diameter of each hole is approximately 0 . 125 inches . these design values provide a structurally sound valve seat that does not impede fluid flow for a typical - sized automobile engine . an assembled filter element and valve cartridge 300 is illustrated in fig3 . this cartridge , completely assembled , fits within filter housing 102 and base plate 110 . instead of disposing of an entire spin - on filter with residual oil , locking band 104 is removed to separate housing 102 and base plate 110 , and a used cartridge is removed and replaced by new cartridge 300 . thus only the used cartridge is disposed of . two elements introduced in fig3 are end cap 306 and element holder 304 . these two sheet metal pieces securely hold filter paper element 122 and add some rigidity to cartridge 300 . a key inventive feature of the present invention pertains to insuring that replaceable cartridge 300 can easily be correctly inserted into housing 102 and properly aligned . misalignment of cartridge 300 causes damage to anti - drainback valve seat 126 and by - pass valve body 116 when base plate 110 is forcibly clamped onto housing 102 . also , even if no damage occurs , both the by - pass valve and anti - drainback valve will not work unless their surfaces are properly sealed and positioned within housing 112 . fig4 a and 4 b illustrate a first self - alignment feature to assist with the inserting of cartridge 300 . base plate 110 has ridges 402 for engaging the bottom of perforated anti - drainback valve seat 126 . by seat 126 properly sitting on ridges 402 , replaceable cartridge 300 is properly centered and aligned within housing 102 . to further assist with this self - aligning step in the preferred embodiment , ridges 402 have sloped region 404 which is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of anti - drainback valve seat 126 . when seat 126 is somewhat close to being aligned , sloped region 404 guides seat 126 into precise alignment on base plate 110 . in the preferred embodiment , ridges 402 are a continuous circle around base plate 110 which engage the peripheral underside of anti - drainback valve seat 126 . however , other arrangements are just as effective at providing the self - aligning function ; segments of spaced ridges or recesses is an alternative embodiment that also aids in properly positioning cartridge 300 within housing 102 . fig5 illustrates the second self - aligning feature of the present invention . recessed region 502 , on the inside of housing 102 , receives complementary convex region 302 located on end cap 306 . in a preferred embodiment , the complementary surfaces are spherical in nature and centered in relation to fluid filter 100 . other functionally equivalent alternative shapes and arrangements are also contemplated ; however , the spherical shapes of the preferred embodiment provide the benefit of ease of manufacturing . the sloped nature of both concave region 502 and convex region 302 further assist in guiding cartridge 300 into proper position and alignment within housing 102 . a second function of recess 502 and endcap convex region 302 is the elimination of a separate endcap spring ( not shown ) that is present in current fluid filter designs . by eliminating this spring element , cartridge 300 truly becomes the only element that needs to be replaced when reusing fluid filter 100 and thereby prevents improper insertion and positioning of the spring during assembly . in the preferred embodiment , spherical housing recess 502 has a radius approximately 0 . 01 inches smaller than spherical endcap convex region 302 . this slight size difference is not enough to effect the self - aligning function and provides downward pressure on cartridge 300 that was previously provided by a separate endcap spring . the downward pressure assists in ensuring all appropriate sealing surfaces within housing 102 are fluid - tight . an alternative embodiment contemplated is to continue to use a separate endcap spring ( not shown ) in the design of fluid filter 100 . in this embodiment , endcap 306 would simply be manufactured as a straight piece ( as illustrated in fig1 ). however , when assembling this embodiment , an operator would have to ensure proper insertion and positioning of the endcap spring and rely solely on base plate 110 self - aligning ridges 402 to properly position cartridge 300 . a system and method has been shown in the above embodiments for the effective implementation of replaceable filter element cartridge that is pre - assembled and engages self - aligning features within a reusable filter housing . while various preferred embodiments have been shown and described , it will be understood that there is no intent to limit the invention by such disclosure , but rather , it is intended to cover all modifications and alternate constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims . for example , the present invention should not be limited by size , materials , connection methods , composition , or sealing elements .
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the following description discloses a cutting table which is used for quick and accurate alignment and cutting of workpieces , typically large banners . fig1 shows an oblique view of the preferred embodiment of the worktable or banner table . the top surface 10 is made of a hard material , such as steel or other metal , which is resistant to cutting . the top surface 10 has a plurality of cutting grooves 11 arranged in a rectangular grid pattern for guiding a cutting instrument . the rectangular grid pattern allows fast , accurate cutting of a large number of rectangular sizes of workpieces . the grooves are v - shaped and are spaced at regular intervals . the spacing of the grooves is dependent upon the application . for banners , the spacing is typically six inches . a plurality of apertures 12 penetrate the top surface 10 . the top surface 10 serves as the top side of a table top assembly 14 . the table top assembly 14 serves as a vacuum chamber , which provides vacuum to the apertures 12 . with a workpiece positioned on the table top assembly 14 and vacuum applied to the apertures 12 , a pressure differential is created across the workpiece which serves to hold the workpiece in place yet allow easy repositioning of the workpiece . a vacuum means 15 , such as a vacuum blower , is connected to the vacuum chamber 53 of fig5 of the table top assembly 14 by a plenum 20 . an electric switch 16 controls operation of the vacuum means . measuring guides 13 for measuring a dimension of the workpiece are attached along the edges of the table . in the preferred embodiment , at least two adjacent measuring guides 13 are raised to allow alignment of a workpiece , such as a banner , to a corner of the top surface 10 . one end of the table top assembly 14 contains two alignment holes 17 . a clamp 18 at one end of the table is used to attach to a clamp catch 19 at the opposite end of an adjacent table in order to join adjacent tables . fig2 is a front elevation of the preferred embodiment of the present invention showing one of the two alignment pins 26 . when inserted into the alignment holes 17 , alignment pins 26 achieve precise alignment to adjacent tables . precise alignment is necessary to ensure that a cutting blade remains in the cutting groove 11 when cutting across adjacent tables . fig3 is a left side elevation of fig1 showing two alignment pins 26 attached to end 30 . a clamp 18 is located on each side of the table top assembly 14 . fig4 is a right side elevation of fig1 showing two alignment holes 17 in opposite end 40 . a clamp catch 19 is located on each side of the table top assembly 14 . fig5 is a cross section of the table top assembly 14 showing two v - shaped cutting grooves 11 for guiding a cutting instrument and the penetration of the top surface 10 by two apertures 12 . a vacuum chamber support member 51 is penetrated by holes 52 to allow a uniform vacuum throughout the table top assembly 14 . fig6 is a plan view of the top of an alternative embodiment of the present invention where part of the top surface 10 is free of cutting grooves 11 and apertures 12 in order to provide an unencumbered auxiliary work area . fig7 is a detail plan view of the ends of two adjacent banner tables connected together by a clamping means comprising two clamps 18 on one table attached to two clamp catches 19 on the adjacent table . the clamping means ensure that adjacent ends of the tables are in contact to allow smooth cuts of the workpiece across the joint between adjacent tables . longitudinal cutting grooves 70 ( those cutting grooves 11 running lengthwise on the banner table ) extend to the table top surface 10 ends , so that they may be aligned with corresponding longitudinal cutting grooves 70 of an adjacent banner table . the top surface 10 must extend at least to the edge of the frame 24 below the top surface 10 as shown in fig2 for the banner tables to be placed together in the manner described . fig8 is a detail cross section of the table top assemblies depicted in fig7 showing the fit of an alignment pin 26 in an alignment hole 17 . the fit of the alignment pin 26 into the alignment hole 17 constitutes the alignment means for aligning the cutting grooves of adjacent tables . the distance from the end edge of the top surface 10 to the cutting grooves 11 closest to the ends of the table ( distance 80 ) is half the distance between adjacent cutting grooves 11 ( distance 81 ). this ensures that the distance between the last cutting grooves 11 of the two joined tables is equal to the distance between all other cutting grooves 11 on the tables . fig9 is a detail cross section of the end of a table top assembly 14 with a measuring guide 13 attached by removable fasteners , not shown . the measuring guide 13 is raised above the top surface 10 for fast alignment of the workpiece with the rectangular cutting grid . the measuring guide 13 is removable to provide a continuous flat working surface when the banner table is attached to an adjacent banner table . the aperture 12 that is covered by the measuring guide 13 becomes usable for holding down workpieces only when the measuring guide 13 is removed . accordingly the reader will see that the banner table comprises the following advantages : · it has a hard top surface which is resistant to cutting , · it is versatile due to the rectangular grid pattern of cutting grooves in the top surface , and · it can be expanded by connecting additional banner tables end to end . although the description above contains many specifications , these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention . for example , clamps and alignment pins and holes may be added to the device to clamp adjacent tables at all four ends of the table , etc . thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents , rather than by the examples given .
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in the following description , numerous specific details are set forth , such as particular structures , components , materials , dimensions , processing steps and techniques , in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention . however , it will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that the invention may be practiced without these specific details . in other instances , well - known structures or processing steps have not been described in detail in order to avoid obscuring description of the present invention . throughout this application , the term “ semiconductor ” may be used from time to time to denote a semiconductor material or combination thereof including , for example , si , sige , sigec , sic , ge alloys , gaas , inas , inp and other iii / v or ii / vi compound semiconductors . the term “ semiconductor substrate ” may be used from time to time to denote a layered structure of semiconductor materials such as , for example , si / sige , si / sic , silicon - on - insulator ( soi ) or silicon - germanium - on - insulator ( sgoi ). a semiconductor substrate may be doped , undoped or contain doped and / or undoped regions therein ; may be strained , unstrained or contain strained and / or unstrained regions therein ; may have a single crystal orientation or regions of different crystallographic orientations therein ; and may have one or more isolation regions such as , for example , trench isolation regions or field oxide isolation regions , located therein . fig1 is a simplified illustration of a semiconductor device 10 , upon which one or more middle - of - the - line ( mol ) stud contact structures may be later formed in accordance with embodiments of the present invention . semiconductor device 10 may be , for example , a field effect transistor ( fet ). however , the present invention is not limited in this respect and may be applied in forming contact structures for other semiconductor devices such as , for example , capacitors , diodes , bipolar transistors , bicmos devices , memory devices and the like . hereinafter , semiconductor device 10 may be referred to as fet 10 for easy reference . fet 10 may be fabricated by any conventional semiconductor processing techniques that may be well known in the art . for example , deposition , lithography , etching , and ion implantation techniques , among others , may be used . fet 10 may be formed on a semiconductor substrate 12 to include a gate dielectric 18 , a gate conductor 20 , a pair of optional offset spacers 22 , and source / drain regions 24 . fet 10 may also include one or more contact areas 16 that are formed atop of source / drain regions 24 and / or gate contact 20 , upon which stud contact structure may be formed . contact areas 16 may include silicide such as nisi , cosi 2 , tisi , and / or wsi x . fig2 is a simplified illustration of a layer of dielectric material 26 formed on top of fet 10 . dielectric material 26 may include one or more stud contact openings 28 formed therein . as is shown in fig2 , stud contact openings 28 may extend to and expose the top surface of silicide contact areas 16 . stud contact openings may be formed through well - known technique , such as a reactive - ion - etching ( rie ) process , and in a shape of substantially vertical or have some tapering as shown in fig2 . stud contact openings 28 may have a high aspect ratio ( ratio of depth to width ) of greater than three ( 3 ), for example . however , the present invention is not limited in this respect and may be applied to other stud contact openings of a higher or lower aspect ratio . dielectric material 26 may be porous or non - porous . some examples of dielectrics material 26 may include , but are not limited to : sio 2 , a doped or undoped silicate glass , c doped oxides ( i . e ., organosilicates ) that include atoms of si , c , o and h , thermosetting polyarylene ethers , or multilayers thereof , silicon nitride , silicon oxynitride or any combination , including multilayers thereof . other dielectric material 26 may be used . according to one embodiment of the invention , at this stage of forming a stud contact structure , the exposed surface of the silicide contact area 16 as well the wall surfaces within the contact opening 28 may be subjected to a treatment process that is capable of removing any surface oxide or etch residue that may be present thereon . suitable treatment processes that can be employed in the present invention include , for example , ar sputtering and / or contacting with a chemical etchant . some negligible widening of the contact opening 28 may occur during this step of the present invention . next , as is shown in fig3 , an “ oxygen - getter ” layer 30 may be formed within stud contact opening 28 on the exposed wall portions thereof as well as atop the exposed surface of silicide contact areas 16 . oxygen - getter layer 30 may be a thin layer of ti , w , ta , or any other material that has a high affinity for oxygen , with ti being generally preferred . oxygen - getter layer 30 may be deposited by applying a sputtering process such as , for example , a physical vapor deposition ( pvd ) process . other processes of deposition such as a chemical vapor deposition ( cvd ) process may be used . the thickness of oxygen - getter layer 30 may vary depending on the deposition process used as well as the material used . typically , oxygen - getter layer 30 has a thickness from about 2 nm to about 40 nm , with a thickness from about 5 nm to about 10 nm being more typical . next , as is shown in fig4 , a diffusion barrier layer 40 may be formed . diffusion barrier layer 40 may be conformal and formed within stud contact openings 28 on surface of oxygen - getter layer 30 . diffusion barrier layer 40 may be deposited through a chemical vapor deposition ( cvd ) process . for example , diffusion barrier layer 40 may be formed by applying a tdmat ( tetrakis - dimethylamido titanium ) process or a tdeat ( tetrakis - diethylamido titanium ) process . diffusion barrier layer 40 may typically have a thickness from about 2 nm to about 10 nm with a thickness from about 5 nm to about 8 nm being more typical . the formation of diffusion barrier layer 40 may be optionally followed by a post - deposition forming gas plasma treatment . diffusion barrier layer 40 may prevent oxygen - getter layer 30 and portions of silicon underneath , which may be still exposed , from reacting with a gas of hf , which may be a byproduct during a subsequent cvd deposition of w and be corrosive to ti and si . fig5 illustrates that following formation of oxygen - getter layer 30 and diffusion barrier layer 40 , according to one embodiment of the present invention a tin layer 50 may be formed in stud contact openings 28 before w stud contact is filled therein . tin layer 50 , formed following processes in accordance with embodiments of the present invention as described below in detail , may reduce , eliminate , and / or prevent the creation of beta - w during the process of forming w stud contact and therefore significantly reduce contact resistance associated with the beta - w . according to one embodiment of the invention , tin layer 50 may be formed on top of diffusion barrier layer 40 through directional reactive sputtering ti , in an environment of mixed gases of ar and n 2 , onto stud contact openings 28 . in other words , tin layer 50 may be a pvd - deposited tin layer and therefore may be referred to from time to time as a pvd tin layer . pvd - deposited tin layer may be non - conformal , and may generally have a film thickness on the sidewalls less than that at the bottom of stud contact opening 28 . the film thickness at the bottom in turn may be less than that in the field area above stud contact opening 28 . for example , tin material may be directionally sputtered to produce a film or a layer of tin with a thickness ranging from about 10 å to about 150 å at the bottom , and from about 5 å to about 25 å on the sidewalls , of stud contact openings 28 . according to another embodiment of the invention , tin layer 50 may be formed on top of diffusion barrier layer 40 by directionally sputtering a layer of ti onto stud contact openings 28 initially . the deposition of ti may be followed by a post - deposition treatment process that consequently converts deposited ti into tin . according to one embodiment , the treatment process may be a forming gas annealing process using a mixed gases of about 5 - 10 % atomic h 2 and 90 - 95 % atomic n 2 , although the present invention is not limited in this respect and lower than 5 % or higher than 10 % of atomic h 2 ( and corresponding amount of n 2 ) may also be used to achieve similar results . the forming gas annealing process may be performed at a temperature of about 500 ° c . to about 650 ° c . for a time period of about 15 minutes to about 1 hour . however , the present invention is not limited in this respect and temperatures below 500 ° c . or higher 650 ° c ., and longer or shorter time period may possibly be used . according to yet another embodiment , the treatment process may be a plasma treatment in a forming gas environment of h 2 and n 2 , performed for a much shorter time period of about 5 second to about 30 seconds , to convert deposited ti into tin . other suitable methods of converting deposited ti into tin may be used as well . according to embodiments of the invention , the existence of pvd - tin layer 50 in stub contact openings 28 may reduce and / or eliminate the creation of beta - w during a process of cvd deposition of w in a subsequent step of forming w stud contact . the reduction and / or elimination of beta - w may improve the performance of w stud contact because beta - w is known of having a high resistance and otherwise may cause device performance degradation . additionally , pvd - tin layer 50 does not change as much as a cvd - tin , such as cvd - tin 40 , which allows a longer queue time window in - between liner / barrier deposition and cvd - deposition of w . fig6 illustrates that stud contact openings 28 are lined by a stack of ti / cvd - tin / pvd - tin layer , and then deposited with tungsten ( w ) to form w stud contact 60 . the deposition of w may be through any well known processes such as , for example , a cvd process . the deposition of w may overfill stud contact openings 28 to form a tungsten layer 61 . the deposition may be in two or more steps , for example , a nucleation step and a bulk - fill step as described above with equations 1 and 2 . fig7 illustrates a semiconductor structure with a finished middle - of - line stud contact structure in accordance with one embodiment of the invention . following the deposition step as shown in fig6 , excessive tungsten 61 that is above and over stud contact openings 28 may be removed by , for example , any conventional planarization technique such as a chemical mechanical polishing ( cmp ) process . next , liner stack of ti / cvd - tin / pvd - tin ( i . e ., pvd - tin layer 50 , cvd - tin layer 40 , and ti layer 30 ) that are on top of dielectric material 26 may be removed by for example applying a cmp process as well and by applying different types of slurry in the cmp process . different slurries may be suitable for removing different liners . fig7 further illustrate that a layer of interconnect structure 70 may be formed on top of dielectric material 26 and on stud contacts 60 . interconnect structure 70 may include an inter - level dielectric material 71 and conductive trench and / or via 72 . inter - level dielectric material 71 may be the same or different , preferably the same , dielectric as that of dielectric material 26 . interconnect structure 70 may be formed following conventional process . for example , a conventional via - before - line or a line - before - via process may be used . between interconnect structure 70 and dielectric material layer 26 , a dielectric capping layer ( not shown ) may be formed . fig8 is sample illustration of test results of x - ray diffraction patterns measured from a stack of contact films , suitable for stud contact structure , fabricated in accordance with one embodiment of the invention as well as x - ray diffraction patterns measured from a stack of contact films fabricated by a conventional method . the diffraction patterns clearly indicate the presence of beta - w diffraction peaks on a cvd w film which was deposited on a cvd tin directly . however , when the cvd w film is deposited on a pvd tin , no obvious peaks of beta - w were detected , indicating the absence of beta - w in the formed w film and therefore potential reduction in resistance . while the present invention has been particularly shown and described with respect to preferred embodiments thereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and other changes in forms and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . it is therefore intended that the present invention not be limited to the exact forms and details described and illustrated , but fall within the scope of the appended claims .
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embodiments of the keyboard according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . as shown in fig1 and 2 , a keyboard 10 of the present invention comprises : a substrate 34 ; a membrane 30 having contacts 32 a and 32 b for each key and a circuit , which is formed over the substrate 34 ; an elastic member 17 for each key formed over the contacts 32 a and 32 b of the membrane 30 ; a cover sheet 22 which covers a part of the membrane 30 where the elastic member 17 is not placed ; a keytop 12 for each key formed over the elastic member 17 ; and light - emitting means 39 for emitting light from the underside of the substrate 34 to the keytop 12 . the substrate 34 and membrane 30 are preferably made of light transmissive materials . for example , the substrate 34 is made of transparent or translucent acrylic resin or tempered glass . as used herein , a key 11 is preferably composed of the aforementioned keytop 12 and elastic material 17 . the membrane 30 comprises upper and lower light transmissive films 24 and 26 such as polyester film and a light transmissive spacer 28 sandwiched therebetween . on the films 24 and 26 , contacts 32 a and 32 b for each key and a circuit are formed of a conductive material such as conductive ink and the contacts 32 a and 32 b faces each other in a hollow 29 of the spacer 28 . the conductive ink is preferably light transmissive , but it does not have to be light transmissive when the contacts 32 a and 32 b and the circuit are too fine to block the optical path of light for illuminating the keytop 12 . the elastic material 17 is preferably composed of a rubber member 16 and a pantograph 14 . the keytop 12 is supported by the pantograph 14 . therefore , whichever part of the keytop 12 is pressed , the keytop 12 is pushed straight down . when the keytop 12 is pressed , a rubber member 16 is pushed downward with a pantograph 14 . a cup portion 18 of the rubber member 16 is thereby compressed , and a protrusion 20 pushes the contact 32 a of the upper film 24 downward . then the contact 32 a comes in contact with the contact 32 b of the lower film 26 . when a finger is moved off the keytop 12 , the rubber member 16 and the pantograph 14 generally revert to the original position , and the contact 32 a moves away from the contact 32 b . the substrate 34 and membrane 30 are preferably made of light transmissive materials . however , they do not need to be light transmissive in their entirety but may be light transmissive at least at portions corresponding to the top surfaces of the keytops where legends are given . the pantograph 14 and rubber member 16 constituting the elastic member 17 are also preferably made of light transmissive materials but may not necessarily be light transmissive if they allow sufficient light transmission to provide acceptable legend readability because of their small size or structure . the cover sheet 22 may be light transmissive in its entirety or locally at portions corresponding to the top surfaces of the keytops . alternatively , since the cover sheet 22 includes openings in which the rubber members 16 are placed , the cover sheet 22 may be opaque if the elastic member 17 is such as not to block light transmission through the openings . as shown in fig3 ( a ) and 3 ( b ), the light - emitting means is a backlight sheet 39 composed of a light source 40 , a light - guiding plate ( light - guiding member ) 36 for guiding light from the light source 40 in the direction shown by an arrow , a reflective sheet 38 for reflecting light , and diffusion layers 37 for diffusing light which is formed integral with the light - guiding plate 36 . the light source 40 may be a light - emitting diode or a fluorescent light . the diffusion layers 37 are circular in shape , and the sizes thereof increase with distance from the light source 40 , as shown in fig3 ( a ). although the amount of light decreases with distance from the light source 40 , the increasing sizes of the layers 37 enable efficient light diffusion and uniform radiation of light from the surface of the light - guiding plate 36 . a plurality of backlight sheets 39 are arranged in accordance with an area of the keyboard 10 . given that the backlight sheet 39 is 60 millimeters long and 20 millimeters wide , an arrangement of backlight sheets 39 in two rows and twelve per row constitutes the same area as the keyboard 11 , as shown in fig3 ( c ). for example , where a keytop 12 is 18 millimeters long and 18 millimeters wide , three keys 11 can typically be arranged on one backlight sheet 39 . the backlight sheets 39 are arranged in parallel . for example , a uniform radiation backlight sheet lub 1000 ( available from rohm co ., ltd ) is used as the backlight sheet 39 , it operates at 2 v and 0 . 02 a , and the backlight sheets consume 0 . 98 watts of power in total . the light source 40 is not limited to the one which is provided throughout the one side of the plate 36 , as shown in fig3 ( a ) to 3 ( c ), but it can be provided partially on the one side of the plate 36 , as shown in fig4 ( a ) in the case of large size backlight sheets 41 . such backlight sheets 41 may be arranged in two rows and three per row , as shown in fig4 ( b ). examples of the backlight sheet include a 4 - inch backlight sheet for monochrome lcd ( manufactured by omron corporation , for example ). this backlight sheet operates at 4 v and 0 . 02 a , and six backlight sheets 41 consume 0 . 48 watts of power in total . the power for the light source 40 is derived from a thermoelectric generating element 42 shown in fig5 . in the element 42 , p - type semiconductors 48 and n - type semiconductors 50 are connected in series via electrodes 46 a and 46 b . when a temperature difference occurs between an upper substrate 44 and a lower substrate 45 , a temperature difference also occurs between the electrode 46 a connected to the substrate 44 and the electrode 46 b connected to the substrate 45 . thus , electromotive force is generated due to the seebeck effect . since a plurality of p - type semiconductors 48 and n - type semiconductors 50 are connected in series via the electrodes 46 a and 46 b , electromotive force becomes large . as shown in fig1 the thermoelectric generating element 42 is provided between a micro processing unit ( mpu ) 52 and a heat sink 54 on a mother board 51 of a notebook computer , and generates electricity using a temperature difference between the mpu 52 and a heat sink 54 . the thermoelectric generating element 42 generates electricity to be consumed by the light sources 40 of the backlight sheets 39 . in another embodiment of the present invention , instead of the mpu 52 , a chip set for controlling data input and output in a notebook computer may be used . an example of the thermoelectric generating element 42 is a thermoelectric generating element teci - 12705 ( available form fujitaka co ., ltd ., for example ), which is capable of generating about 1 watt of power ( 0 . 2 amperes at 5 volts , 0 . 5 amperes at 2 volts , or 0 . 25 amperes at 4 volts ) when a temperature difference is about 10 degree celsius . this thermoelectric generating element can generate larger electricity than the backlight sheets 39 and 41 consumes , so that no battery of the notebook computer is used . an example of the mpu 52 is a pentium iii microprocessor ( available from intel corporation , for example ) and an example of the chip set is a chip set 440bx . a method of illuminating a keyboard 10 will be described . the mpu 52 generates heat by the use of the notebook computer , and the thermoelectric generating element 42 provided between the mpu 52 and the heat sink 54 generates electricity due to a temperature difference therebetween . the light source 40 of the backlight sheet 39 emits light using electricity generated by the thermoelectric generating element 42 . the light emitted from the light source 40 travels through the light - guiding plate 36 , as shown in fig3 ( a ) and 3 ( b ) by arrows . the light beams traveling through the plate 36 are scattered by the diffusion layer 37 . as shown in fig3 ( a ) and 3 ( b ), the scattered light beams emanate from the surface of the plate 36 and travel in every direction . furthermore , the light beams are also reflected by the reflective sheet 38 , so that all the light beams are radiated from the surface of the plate 36 into the air . although only the light source 40 emits light in the backlight sheet 39 , the scattered radiation of light beams from the surface of the plate 36 can make the whole of the plate 36 luminous . passing through the substrate 34 , membrane 30 , cover sheet 22 , and elastic member 17 , the light emanated from the surface of the plate 36 illuminates the keytops 12 . the keytops 12 may be made of a resin such as acrylic resin . the keytops 12 are formed so that non - legend areas of top key surfaces 56 are light transmissive as shown in fig6 ( a ) or legends 58 are light transmissive as shown in fig6 ( b ). therefore , the legends 58 on the keytop 12 can be recognized through the use of light . in the keyboard 10 of the present invention , the keytops 12 are illuminated by the backlight sheet 39 , as described above . therefore , the keys 11 can be seen even in a dimly - lit environment . further , the light source 40 of the backlight sheet 39 does not draw power from the battery of a notebook computer but from electricity generated by the thermoelectric generating element 42 , so that battery duration is not reduced by the backlight sheet 39 . as shown in fig7 the aforementioned keyboard 10 may be modified to include an electrically conductive member 68 in the cup portion 18 of the rubber member 62 , and a film - like circuit board 70 is used as a substitute for the membrane 30 . the key 60 shown in fig7 comprises : a substrate 34 ; the film - like circuit board 70 having contacts 66 for each key and a circuit , which is formed over the substrate 34 ; an elastic member 64 for each key which is formed over the contacts 66 of the board 70 and has an electrically conductive member 68 for providing electrically continuity between the contacts 66 ; a cover sheet 22 which covers a part of the board 70 where the elastic member 64 is not placed ; a keytop 12 for each key formed over the elastic member 64 ; and light - emitting means 39 for emitting light from the bottom of the substrate 34 to the keytop 12 . the substrate 34 , film - like circuit board 70 , and cover sheet 22 may be made of light transmissive materials . the backlight sheet 39 shown in fig3 ( a ) to 3 ( c ) is used as the light - emitting means 39 in fig7 . further , the power for the backlight sheet 39 is derived from the thermoelectric generating element 42 shown in fig5 . passing through the substrate 34 , film - like circuit board 70 , elastic member 64 , and cover sheet 22 , the light emanated from the surface of the light - guiding plate 36 illuminates the keytops 12 . the keytop 12 is formed so that the top key surface 56 except legends is made light transmissive as shown in fig6 ( a ) or legends 58 are made light transmissive as shown in fig6 ( b ). as in the case of the aforementioned keyboard 10 , the key 60 shown in fig7 can be seen by a user even in a dimly - lit environment . further , the backlight sheet 39 does not draw power from the battery of a notebook computer but from electricity generated by the thermoelectric generating element 42 , so that battery duration of a notebook computer is not reduced by the backlight sheet 39 . while the embodiments of the present invention have thus been described , it should be understood that the present invention can be materialized in other embodiments . for example , as shown in fig8 a light - emitting diode 74 can be provided to each key 72 . further , light from an arbitrary light source can be guided to the bottom of the key 72 through optical fibers to illuminate the keytop 12 . additionally , luminescent color of the light source 40 is not particularly limited . the color of the keytop 12 may vary depending on the luminescent color of the light source 40 or by the color of the light transmissive material of the keytop 12 . when the substrate 34 , cover sheet 22 and membrane 30 or circuit board 70 are transparent or translucent in their entirety , there may occur light leakage between the keys 11 . therefore , in order to prevent light leakage between the keys 11 , it is preferable to make one or more of them opaque at areas between the keys 11 . further , in addition to backlight sheets 39 and 41 shown in fig3 ( a ), 3 ( b ), 3 ( c ), 4 ( a ) and 4 ( b ), a backlight 76 such as that shown in fig9 can be also used . in the backlight 76 , the light emitted from one or more light sources 78 is uniformly radiated through a lighting curtain 82 and a diffusion sheet 84 which in combination act to produce uniformly distributed light . a fluorescent lump can be used as the light source 78 . in a further embodiment , an electro luminescence ( el ) panel 85 shown in fig1 can be used as another light - emitting means . in the el panel 85 , a fluorescent element 88 is sandwiched between a metal plate 89 and a transparent conductive film 87 . the fluorescent element 88 emits light through the application of voltage , and the emitted light is released from the surface of a transparent protective film 86 . in the key 11 shown in fig1 the keytops 12 are always illuminated by the backlight sheet 39 . however , when a notebook computer is used in a well - lit area , it is not necessary to illuminate the keytops 12 . therefore , where a notebook computer has a photosensor anywhere therein and is used in a well - lit area , it is possible to stop providing electricity to the light source 40 of the backlight sheet 39 . the electricity generated by the thermoelectric generating element 42 can then be used for recharging battery or as a power source to operate various electronic devices . alternatively , instead of a photosensor , a software program can be stored in a memory of a notebook computer for controlling light emission and shutoff of the light source 40 . the thermoelectric generating element 42 generates electricity through the use of the seebeck effect , however , it may serve as a cooling device using the peltier effect by flowing an electric current . therefore , when a notebook computer is used in a well - lit area , it is possible to cool the mpu 52 and the chip set using the peltier effect by flowing a current into the element 42 . further , where a desktop personal computer has to be used in a dimly - lit environment , a backlight sheet can be placed under a substrate of a keyboard so as to illuminate keytops . various changes , modifications and improvements can be made to the embodiments on the basis of knowledge of those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention .
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as best shown in fig1 a recuperator 10 is formed from a plurality of cells 12 . the recuperator 10 has a plurality of donor passages 14 and a plurality of recipient passages 16 defined therein . each of the plurality of cells 12 is made from a plurality of primary surface sheets 18 . in this application , a pair of the plurality of primary surface sheets 18 designated as 18 a and having a red color code and 18 b having a black color code is used in making each cell 12 . a plurality of spacer bars 20 and a plurality of guide vanes 22 are also used in making the cell 12 . the plurality of spacer bars 20 are divided into a plurality of donor spacer bars 20 d and a plurality of recipient spacer bars 20 r . and , each of the plurality of spacer bars 20 has a preestablished width “ w ” extending between a first surface 23 and a second surface 24 and a preestablished thickness “ t ” extending between a pair of edges 25 . the plurality of guide vanes 22 are divided into a donor guide vane 22 d having an inlet guide vane and an outlet guide vane and a recipient guide vane 22 r having an inlet guide vane and an outlet guide vane . as best shown in fig1 and 2 , each of the pair of primary surface sheets 18 a , 18 b is pleated and defines a donor side 26 and a recipient side 27 . each of the plurality of primary surface sheets 18 a and 18 b has a center portion 30 , a first wing portion 32 and a second wing portion 34 . in this application , the center portion 30 has a preformed serpentined trapezoidal configuration and each of the first and second wing portions 32 , 34 has a flattened generally triangular configuration . as an alternative , other configurations could be used without changing the jest of the invention . each of the plurality of primary surface sheets 18 a and 18 b define a plurality of edges 36 . the plurality of spacer bars 20 are position on the primary surface sheet 18 a and 18 b alone the respective one of the plurality of edges 36 in a plurality of precise preestablished locations . as shown in fig1 and 3 , one of the pair of primary surface sheets 18 a and 18 b , on the recipient side 27 , has the recipient inlet guide vane 22 r attached thereto in the first wing portion 32 in a precise preestablished location . and , the same one of the pair of primary surface sheets 18 a and 18 b , on the recipient side 27 , has the recipient outlet guide vane 22 r attached thereto in the second wing portion 34 . interposed the first wing portion 32 of the pair of primary surface sheets 18 a and 18 b is a recipient inlet passage 50 positioned at a first or inlet end 51 and interposed the second wing portion 34 of the pair of primary surface sheets 18 a and 18 b is a recipient outlet passage 52 positioned at a second or outlet end 53 . as shown in fig3 a plurality of welds 54 are used to complete the assembly of each of the plurality of cells 12 and is further used to assembly the recuperator 10 after each cell has been inspected and tested . as best seen in fig4 and 5 , a testing or inspection system , apparatus and / or line 60 is shown . the testing or inspection line 60 includes a table 62 having a pair of sealing mechanisms 64 being operatively sealable with the one of the plurality of cells 12 . an input station 65 is positioned near the table 62 and has a plurality of welded cells position thereon . an output station 66 is located near the table 62 and has an operational cell position 67 and a failed cell position 68 thereon . the table 62 is interconnected to a controller 69 by a plurality of leads 70 which extend from a plurality of sensors 71 , such as by wires . a source for pulling a vacuum , a vacuum pump 72 is connected to the controller 69 and the pair of mechanism 64 . for example , a pair of hoses 73 are fluidly connected to each of the pair of mechanism 64 and a portion of the plurality of leads 70 interconnect the controller 69 and the vacuum pump 72 . a plurality of switches 74 are operatively connected to the controller 69 and the vacuum pump 72 . a pair of safety devices 76 are operatively attached to the table 62 and the controller 69 and a readout station 78 is operatively attached to the inspection line 60 . as further shown in fig5 the table 62 has a bottom portion 80 and a top portion 82 hingedly connected by a plurality of hinges 84 . as an alternative , a single hinge 84 could be used . the top portion 82 has a generally ladder type configuration being formed by a pair of rails 86 spaced apart by a plurality of rungs 88 . interposed the plurality of rungs 88 are a plurality of openings 90 . a pair of handles 92 are attached to one of the pair of rails 86 opposite the plurality of hinges 84 and are space one from another . a transparent plate 94 is attached to the top portion 82 . as an alternative , the top portion 82 could be a transparent member . the transparent plate 94 has a substantially flat surface 96 . the table 62 has the top portion 82 shown in an open or loading position 98 in fig5 . the bottom portion 80 has a deck portion 100 having a substantially flat surface 102 . the deck portion 100 is elevated from a table top 103 of the table 62 in a conventional manner , such as a plurality of pillars . the table top 103 has a top surface 104 and bottom surface 105 . the deck portion 100 has a pair of ends 106 and a pair of sides 107 . a plurality of locators 108 are positioned in the deck portion 100 near the respective pair of ends 106 and the pair of sides 107 . in this application , the pair of mechanisms 64 are movably attached to the bottom portion 80 of the table 62 at an angle to each of the intersection of one of the pair of ends 106 and one of the pair of sides 107 . the pair of sealing mechanism 64 are movable to the bottom portion 80 between a plurality of positions to compensate for testing of a variety of shapes and configurations of cells 12 . the pair of mechanisms 64 are operatively aligned with each of the recipient inlet passage 50 and the recipient outlet passage 52 at the respective first end 51 and the second end 53 . the pair of mechanisms 64 are spaced from the respective one of the recipient inlet passage 50 and the recipient outlet passage 52 in an open or non testing position 110 . the plurality of switches 74 are physically located near one of the pair of ends 106 and at one of the pair of sides 107 opposite the one of the pair of side 107 having the plurality of hinges 84 attached thereto . the plurality of switches 74 are positioned in arms reach of an operator and have an off position 116 in which the pair of mechanisms 64 are positioned in the open or non testing position 110 . in this application , the pair of safety devices 76 are positioned near one of the pair of sides 107 being opposite the plurality of hinges 84 and near each of the pair of ends 106 . the pair of safety devices 76 are spaces apart but are within arms length of the operator . the readout station 78 can be one of a visual screen , an audible signal or a visual signal such as a green light for an operational or good cell 12 or a red light for a failed or bad cell 12 . the readout station 78 could also have a printout defining a result of the test or the results could appear on the visual screen for viewing by the operator or to be recorded by the operator . in fig6 the table 62 has the top portion 82 shown in a closed or testing position 120 . the plurality of switches 74 are shown in an on position 122 in which the pair of mechanisms 64 are positioned in the closed or testing position 124 and are sealingly positioned with respect to one of the recipient inlet passage 50 and the recipient outlet passage 52 by a cylinder 126 . the cylinder 126 and linkage 128 is best shown in fig7 and will be further defined later . a cylinder 130 is shown in an extended position . in a closed position , not shown , the cylinder 130 is used to assist in maintaining the top portion 82 in the open or loading position 98 . a lock 132 is shown in a locked position 134 . in fig5 the lock 132 is shown in an unlocked position 136 . as discussed above , in this application , the readout station 78 has a visual screen 138 and a printout mechanism 140 . the printout mechanism 140 includes a printer head 142 having a supply of ink being fed thereto in a conventional manner . the printer head 142 is movable between a plurality of positions to compensate for testing of a variety of shapes and configurations of the cells 12 . as shown in fig7 the pair of sealing mechanisms 64 includes a housing 150 having a plurality of passage 152 therein , only one being shown . a first end portion 154 of each of the plurality of passages 152 is operatively connected to one of the pair of hoses 74 . a second end portion 156 of each of the plurality of passages 152 is operative connected to a seal 158 . for example , the cylinder 126 and the linkage 128 maintain the seal 158 in contacting relationship with the housing 150 . the seal 158 has a generally “ t ” shaped cross sectional configuration . a top portion 162 of the “ t ” has a sealing surface 164 positioned at a first end 166 . the top portion 162 has a second end 168 spaced from the first end 166 a preestablished distance . the sealing surface 164 is in contacting relationship with the housing 150 about the plurality of passages 152 . a base portion 170 of the “ t ” has a first end 172 , shown in phantom , connected to the second end 168 of the top portion 162 and a second end 174 of the base portion 170 is spaced from the first end 172 a preestablished distance and has a sealing surface 176 thereon . a plurality of passages 178 , only one being shown . interface between the sealing surface 164 of the top portion 162 and the sealing surface 176 of the base portion 170 . with the pair of mechanisms 64 in the closed or testing position 124 the sealing surface 176 of each seal 158 is in sealing engagement with a respective one of the recipient inlet passage 50 and the recipient outlet passage 52 of the cell 12 being tested . and , with the pair of mechanisms 64 in the open or non testing position 110 the sealing surface 176 of each seal 158 is spaced from the respective one of the recipient inlet passage 50 and the recipient outlet passage 52 of the cell 12 to be tested or having been tested . each of the pair of pair of mechanisms 64 has one of the cylinders 126 attached to the bottom surface 105 of the table top 103 . a plurality of fasteners 180 threadedly engages into the table top 103 and maintain the respective cylinder 126 in place . the linkage 128 extends from a rod 182 of each cylinder 126 to an arm mechanism 184 . the arm mechanism 184 has a threaded hole 186 therein to which the rod 182 is attached . a locking nut 188 maintains the relative position of the cylinder 126 to the arm mechanism 184 . the arm mechanism 184 is attached to the respective one of the pair of mechanisms 64 and passes through one of a pair of slotted holes 190 in the table top 103 . a pair of slider bars 192 are attached to each of the housing 150 and slidably interfaces with the housing 150 and the top surface 104 of the table top 103 . a similar arrangement can be used to position the readout station 78 if desired . in operation , one of the plurality of welded cells 12 is taken from the plurality of cells 12 at the input station 65 and is positioned on the table 62 of the test or inspection line 60 . the donor side 26 of the primary surface sheet 18 a is positioned in contacting relationship with the flat surface 102 of the deck portion 100 of the bottom portion 80 . the plurality of locators 108 positioned near the respective ends 106 and the pair of sides 107 of the deck portion 100 assist in orientation of the individual cell 12 with respect to the pair of sealing mechanisms 64 containing the respective seal 158 . as the operator grasps the pair of handles 92 , the top portion 82 is pivotally closed about the plurality of hinges 84 . thus , the donor side 26 of the primary surface sheet 18 b is positioned in contacting relationship with the flat surface 96 of the transparent plate 94 of the top portion 82 . with the top portion 82 and the bottom portion 80 of the table 62 having the transparent plate 94 and the transparent deck 100 respectively , it is easy for the operator to insure that the cell 12 being tested or inspected is flat . with the cell 12 flat , the lock 132 is moved into the locked position 136 by the operator . the plurality of switched 74 are engaged to the on position 122 by the operator and the pair of safety devices 76 are depressed or actuated . with all switches 74 and devices 76 in the go position and the signal from the plurality of sensors 71 to the controller 69 activated , the rod 182 of each of the cylinders 126 is extended and each of the pair of mechanisms 64 is moved into the closed or testing position 124 . thus , the seating surface 176 of the seal 158 is in contacting and sealing relationship with one of the recipient inlet passage 50 and the recipient outlet passage 52 at there respective first end 51 and second end 53 . and , the sealing surface 164 of the seal 158 is in contacting and sealing relationship with the respective one of the pair of mechanisms 64 . for example , the rod 182 of the cylinder 126 is extended , such as by air pressure , and the linkage 128 connecting with the respective one of the pair of mechanisms 64 is moved from the open or non testing position 110 to the closed or testing position 124 . the vacuum pump 72 is actuated and a vacuum of about 250 , 000 pascals ( about 36 pounds per square inch ) is drawn within the recipient passage 16 between the recipient inlet passage 50 and the recipient outlet passage 52 . after attaining the preestablished vacuum the vacuum pump 72 is deactivated . a portion of the plurality of sensors 71 monitors the leakage from the recipient passage 16 and the rate of leakage is indicated by the readout station 78 . the results of the test is printed on one of the plurality of spacer bars 20 by the printout mechanism 140 . the lock 132 is unlocked by the operator and the top portion 82 of the table 62 is moved into the open or loading position 98 . the tested cell 12 is removed from the bottom portion 80 of the table 62 and is positioned on the output station 66 at either the operational cell position 67 if passing the test or the failed cell position 86 if failing the test . thus , the effectiveness of the recuperator 10 is increased by using only cells 12 that pass the test and are positioned in the operational cell position 67 of the output station 66 . the cells 12 which are positioned in the failed position 86 can be reworked or scrapped . with the testing or inspection system , apparatus and / or line 60 the effectiveness and efficiency of the recuperator 10 is increased . other aspects and advantages of this invention can be obtained from a study of the drawings , the disclosure , and the appended claims .
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referring now more particularly to the drawings , and specifically to fig1 thereof , a flexible walled bag or container is there generally designated 10 , including a pair of facing spaced side walls 11 , say of congruent , generally rectangular configuration , and a peripheral edge wall or gusset 12 extending circumferentially about and enclosing the space between the side walls . the side walls 11 and peripheral wall or gusset 12 may all be fabricated of flexible sheet material , such as wovern fabric , or the like , suitably reinforced as desired , and conventionally secured together , as by stitching , or other securing means . the peripheral wall or gusset sheet 12 is formed therealong with an opening or slot defined between adjacent gusset edges 15 , to which is secured a slide fastener or zipper 16 . the slide fastener 16 includes a pair of longitudinally coextensive runners 17 , each extending along a respective edge 15 of the gusset 12 and secured thereto , as by stitching 18 , or other suitable means . the runners 15 may each include an elongate strip or tape 20 , which is stitched to the gusset 12 extending along and projecting beyond a respective gusset edge 15 . on the extending , longitudinal edge of each tape 20 are teeth or other grippers 21 , the grippers of one tape being moveable into and out of releasable interengagement with the grippers of the other tape , in the manner of a slide fastener . the grippers 21 of the respective tapes 20 are longitudinally coextensive with each other and terminate at a location , see 22 in fig3 short of the adjacent ends 23 of the tapes 20 . thus , the tape end portions 25 beyond the gripper ends 22 define anchoring extensions or tails on the tapes , as will appear more fully hereinafter . a slider 26 is shown on the grippers 21 , in fig3 in the limiting position on the grippers in which the slide fastener 16 is closed . the slider is , of course , slidable out of the closed position shown in fig3 upwardly , to open the slide fastener . carried by the slider 26 is a slider pull or tab 27 , which may be swingably connected to the outer side of the slider , as by a pull connection or loop 28 . thus , the slider pull 27 is swingable relative to the slider 26 to project therefrom , generally normal to the slider ( as shown in fig3 ), and is further swingable in opposite directions to lie generally longitudinally along and on top of the slider . a pair of through holes or apertures 29 and 30 are formed in slider pull 27 , for a purpose appearing presently . a relatively stiff backing member or plate 32 is located on the inner side of the gusset sheet 12 in the region of the gripper ends 22 , the backing member or plate being advantageously of plastic , or other suitably stiff reinforcing material capable of being riveted and sewn . the backing member or plate extends laterally beyond and overlies the tapes 20 in the region of the gripper ends 22 , while terminating laterally short of the bag side walls 11 . in addition , the backing member or plate 32 extends longitudinally of the slide fastener inwardly or upwardly beyond the gripper ends 22 to an inner end region 33 , and extends downwardly or outwardly beyond the tapes 20 and the tape extensions 25 to an outer end region 34 . the backing plate 32 may be generally rectangular in outline configuration as seen in fig1 and may have its inner end region fixedly secured to the gusset sheet 12 , as by a pair of headed fasteners 35 , on opposite sides of the gusset edges 15 . that is , the fasteners 35 may each extend through and securely fasten one corner of the backing plate 32 to one tape 20 , and the overlying portion of gusset sheet 12 . additional backing member securing means , such as stitching 36 extends generally from the region of the gripper ends 22 along each side edge of the backing member 32 , longitudinally or downwardly , through the backing member , the overlying portion of gusset sheet 12 , and the intermediate tape extensions or tails 25 . there are advantageously provided additional lines of securement or stitching extending transversely between the laterally spaced stitching 36 , as the stitching 37 adjacent to and longitudinally outwardly of the gripper ends 22 , and the stitching 38 longitudinally outwardly beyond and remote from the gripper ends 22 . the transverse securement means or stitching 37 passes through the gusset sheet 12 and underlying tape extensions 25 , while the transverse stitching 38 extends through the gusset sheet 12 and the underlying backing member or plate 32 . from the foregoing , it will be appreciated that the backing member or plate 32 is effectively secured to the under or inner side of the gusset sheet 12 and the slide fastener 16 in the region of the gripper ends 22 , to effectively rigidify and reinforce the same . further , the tape extensions 25 are both clamped between the gusset sheet 12 and reinforcing member 32 and secured thereto , for effective anchoring therebetween . in addition to the foregoing structure , there is provided a slide fastener seal , generally designated 40 , which may advantageously be integrally fabricated , say of plastic , by molding , but may be formed otherwise of other materials , if desired . the seal 40 includes an elongate member or arm 41 , of generally rectangular cross section , having at one end a slider pull cover or receiver 42 , and having at its other end a transverse pivot , pin or rivet 43 . the cover or receiver 42 outstands from the arm 41 , generally normal thereto , being defined essentially by a pair of generally parallel , facing , spaced walls 45 and 46 , the former being more proximate to the arm 41 and the latter being more remote from the arm . the receiver walls 45 and 46 may be somewhat outwardly convergent in the direction away from the plane of the arm 41 , there being joined together by a laterally coextensive arcuate or bight portion 47 . the inner end region of the proximate receiver wall 45 is sharply bent , as at 48 into an extension 49 generally coplanar with and merging integrally into the adjacent portion of the arm 41 . as the wall portion 49 is of less thickness than the arm 41 , the wall portion is recessed into or offset outwardly from the inner side of the arm , as best seen in fig2 . the more remote receiver wall 46 is similarly sharply curved at its inner end , at bend 50 and extends therefrom longitudinally outwardly of the arm 41 by wall portion 51 , which is generally coplanar with inwardly extending wall portion 49 . in addition , an inturned lip or flange 52 is formed on the distal end of wall portion 51 . a closure or wall 53 extends between one adjacent pair of side edges of walls 45 and 46 , the far side edges as seen in fig2 the closure wall 53 extending generally from the bight 47 to an edge 54 extending between and approximately flush with the edge 52 and the inner surface of arm 41 . thus , the cover 42 is composed of the facing , spaced walls 45 and 46 , joined at their extremities by bight 47 , and closed along one side or edge by wall 53 , the other side or edge being entirely open , as seen in fig2 . adjacent to the bight portion 47 , the cover walls 45 and 46 are formed with a pair of aligned through openings 56 and 57 ; and , remote from the bight portion 47 the walls 45 and 46 , and their respective extensions or wall portions 49 and 51 , are formed with aligned through openings 58 and 59 . the aligned openings 58 and 59 are larger than the aligned openings 56 and 57 . the arm 41 may have its outer surface reinforced , as by longitudinal ribs 60 . additionally , the inner end region of the arm 41 may be strengthened by the provision of a boss or enlargement 61 , on the inner side of the arm and surrounding the pin 43 . in assembly of the seal 40 with the bag 10 , it is only necessary to provide a single hole for receiving the pin 43 , which is then headed , as at 62 to define a pivot or rivet . more specifically , a hole is pierced through the lower or outer end region 34 of the reinforcing or backing plate 32 , and the overlying portion of gusset sheet 12 , through which is inserted the pin 43 . an annular member or washer 63 may be engaged about the pin 43 before formation of the head 62 . it will now be appreciated that the seal 40 and the arm 41 are mounted to the bag 10 , for rotation about the axis of pivot 43 , which moves the receiver , and specifically the receiver walls 45 and 46 edgewise into and out of receiving or covering relation with respect to the pull tab 27 when the latter outstands from the slider 26 . the seal receiving or covering relation is shown in full lines in fig1 and is shown in uncovering relation in the phantom position . when the receiver or cover 42 is in its covering relation with respect to the slider pull 27 , the receiver apertures 56 and 57 are in registry with the pull aperture 29 , and the receiver apertures 58 and 59 are in registry with the pull aperture 30 . thus , suitable shackle means may be extended through one or both sets of registering apertures , as shown in phantom at 65 and 66 in fig1 . in practice , the smaller registering apertures 56 , 29 and 57 may conveniently receive a plastic , wire or other suitable seal , while the larger registering apertures 58 , 30 and 59 may conveniently receive the shackle of a padlock , if desired . the reinforcing member 32 effectively maintains proper positioning of the seal 40 with respect to the slide fastener 16 and specifically with respect to the slider 26 in its runner closing position at gripper ends 22 . from the foregoing it is seen that the present invention provides a slide fastener seal , particularly for gusseted and similar bags , which is extremely simple and economical to manufacture and assemble , and quick and easy in use by unskilled persons . although the present invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity of understanding , it is understood that certain changes and modifications ma be made within the spirit of the invention .
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fig1 shows a cross - section of a human head with anatomical structures including the nasal cavity n , bone b of the hard palate hp , the soft palate sp including the uvula uv at the posterior end thereof , the mouth m , the tongue t , the trachea tr , the epiglottis ep , the esophagus es , and the posterior pharyngeal wall ppw . in a human body , an air filled space between the nasal cavity n and the larynx lx is referred to as the upper airway . the most critical part of the upper airway associated with sleep disorders is the pharynx px . referring to fig2 , the pharynx has three different anatomical levels . the nasopharynx np is the upper portion of the pharynx located in the back of the nasal cavity n . the oropharynx op is the intermediate portion of the pharynx containing the soft palate sp , the epiglottis ep , and the curve at the back of the tongue t . the hypopharynx hp is the lower portion of the pharynx located below the soft tissue of the oropharynx op . the oropharynx op is the section of the pharynx that is most likely to collapse due to the high prevalence of soft tissue structure , which leaves less space for airflow . the hypopharynx hp lies below the aperture of the larynx and behind the larynx , and extends to the esophagus . as is well known to those skilled in the art , the soft palate and the tongue are both flexible structures . the soft palate sp provides a barrier between the nasal cavity n and the mouth m . in many instances , the soft palate sp is longer than is necessary and extends a significant distance between the back of the tongue t and the posterior pharyngeal wall ppw . the midline posterior end of the soft palate is referred to as the uvula , which is the soft tissue that extends downward from the soft palate over the back of the tongue . although the muscles relax throughout the body during sleep , most of the muscles of the respiratory system remain active . during inhalation , the diaphragm contracts and causes negative pressure to draw air a into the nasal cavity n and the mouth m . the air then flows past the pharynx px , through the trachea tr and into the lungs . the negative pressure causes the tissue of the upper airway to deform slightly , which narrows the airway passage . in apneic patients , the soft palate sp , the tongue t , and / or the epiglottis ep collapse against the posterior pharyngeal wall ppw to block airflow into the trachea . as the airway narrows , airflow through the pharynx becomes turbulent , which causes the soft palate sp to vibrate , generating a sound commonly known as snoring . during sleep , humans typically experience brief obstructions of airflow and / or small decreases in the amount of airflow into the trachea and lungs . an obstruction of airflow for more than ten seconds is referred to as apnea . a decrease in airflow by more than fifty percent is referred to as hypopnea . the severity of sleep disorders is measured by the number of apneas and hypopneas that occur during every hour of sleep . if apnea or hypopnea occurs more than five times per hour , most medical personnel diagnose the individual as having an upper airway resistance problem . many of these patients often exhibit symptoms related to sleep disorders including sleepiness during the day , depression , and difficulty concentrating . individuals having ten or more episodes of apnea or hypopnea during every hour of sleep are officially classified as having obstructive sleep apnea syndrome . as the airway is obstructed , the individual makes repeated attempts to force inhalation . many of these episodes are silent and are characterized by movements of the abdomen and chest wall as the individual strains to draw air into the lungs . typically , episodes of apnea may last a minute or more . during this time , oxygen levels in the blood will decrease . ultimately , the obstruction may be overcome by the individual generating a loud snore or awakening with a choking feeling . referring to fig2 , when an individual is awake , the back of the tongue t and the soft palate sp maintain their shape and tone due to their respective internal muscles . as a result , the airway a through the pharynx remains open and unobstructed . during sleep , however , the muscle tone decreases and the posterior surface of the tongue and the soft palate become more flexible and distensible . referring to fig3 , without normal muscle tone to keep their shape and to keep them in place either alone or as a group , the posterior surface of the tongue t , the epiglottis ep , and the soft palate sp tend to easily collapse to block the airway a . referring to fig4 , during sleep , the proximal end of the tongue t may block the airway a between the nasal passages n and the upper end of the trachea tr . the soft palate sp may also relax and have the uvula uv slide between the back of the tongue t and the posterior pharyngeal wall ppw . in one embodiment , the present invention provides an implant that changes the shape of the soft palate so that it does not move into the position shown in fig4 . the implant also desirably provides support to the tongue t so that it does not sag in a posterior direction against the posterior pharyngeal wall , as shown in fig4 . referring to fig5 a - 5e , in one embodiment , an implant 100 , such as a soft palate implant , includes a main body 102 that is implantable in a soft palate . the main body 102 has a posterior or distal end 104 , and an anterior or proximal end 106 that is adapted to be coupled and / or secured to a hard palate of a patient . the main body 106 of the implant 102 preferably includes a top surface 108 and a bottom surface 110 . the main body 102 of the implant 100 preferably has a length l and a width w that may vary depending upon patient anatomy . the main body 102 and the top and bottom surfaces 108 , 110 may be curved . the curvature of the main body 102 may vary depending upon patient anatomy , the specific problem affecting the patient and / or surgical requirements . in one embodiment , the curvature of the main body 102 may be varied as required to prevent the back of a patient &# 39 ; s tongue from pressing against the posterior pharyngeal wall . referring to fig5 a - 5e , in one embodiment , the proximal end 106 of the soft palate implant 102 includes a securing element 112 for securing the implant to a hard palate of a patient . in one embodiment , the securing element includes an upper anchoring tab 114 adapted to engage an upper surface of a hard palate , and a pair of lower anchoring tabs 116 , 118 adapted to engage a lower surface of a hard palate . referring to fig5 a and 5e , in one embodiment , the upper anchoring tab 114 desirably includes a leading end 120 and trailing end 122 that is connected to the main body 102 via a flexible connection 124 . the upper anchoring tab 114 includes an outer face 126 and an inner face 128 having anchoring barbs 130 . the anchoring barbs 130 are adapted to bite into an upper surface of a hard palate for anchoring the proximal end 106 of the soft palate implant 100 to the hard palate . the flexible connection 124 normally biases the upper anchoring tab 114 toward the opposing lower anchoring tabs 116 , 118 in a downward direction designated d 1 . the lower anchoring tabs include the first lower tab 116 having a leading end 132 and a trailing end 134 that is connected with the main body 102 via a flexible connection 136 . the flexible connection 136 normally biases the first lower tab 116 toward the upper tab 114 in an upward direction designated d 2 . the first lower tab 116 includes an outer surface 138 and an inner surface 140 having anchoring barbs 142 projecting therefrom . in one embodiment , the anchoring barbs 142 are adapted to bite into an underside surface of a hard palate . the first lower tab 116 also desirably includes through holes 144 that extend from the inner surface 140 toward the outer surface 138 . in one embodiment , the through holes 144 extend completely between the inner and outer surfaces 140 , 138 . in one embodiment , the through holes 144 are blind detents that extend only part of the way between the inner surface and the outer surface . the second lower tab 118 preferably includes a leading end 146 and a trailing end 148 that is coupled with a proximal end of the main body via a flexible connection 150 . the flexible connection 150 normally biases the second lower tab 118 toward the upper anchoring tab 114 in an upward direction designated d 2 . the second lower anchoring tab 118 includes an outer surface 152 and an inner surface 154 having bone anchoring barbs 156 projecting therefrom . the bone anchoring barbs 156 are preferably adapted to bite into an underside surface of a hard palate . the second lower anchoring tab 118 also includes through holes 158 adapted to receive posts at a distal end of an insertion tool as will be described in more detail below . referring to fig6 , in one embodiment , an insertion tool 200 for implanting the implant 100 shown in fig5 a - 5e includes a shaft 202 having a distal end 204 that secures and deploys the implant . the distal end 204 of the insertion tool 200 desirably includes an upper blade 210 having a leading end 212 and a trailing end 214 . the upper blade 210 includes a pair of aligned slits 216 a , 216 b that extend from the leading end 212 toward the trailing end 214 . the upper blade 210 includes a first set of through holes 218 a , 218 b adjacent the first slot 216 a , and a second set of through holes 220 a , 220 b adjacent the second slot 216 b . referring to fig6 , in one embodiment , the insertion tool 200 also preferably includes a lower blade 222 having a leading end 224 and a trailing end 226 . the lower blade 222 includes an inner surface 228 having a first set of lower anchoring tab securing posts 230 aligned with one another and extending along a first lateral edge 232 of the lower blade 222 and a second set of lower anchoring tab securing posts 234 aligned with one another and extending along a second lateral edge 236 of the lower blade 222 . in one embodiment , the aligned securing posts 230 , 234 on the lower blade 222 may be aligned with the through holes 218 , 220 extending through the upper blade 212 . in one embodiment , the lower blade 222 is adapted to be wedged away from the upper blade 210 for releasing the uvula implant from the distal end 204 of the insertion tool . in one embodiment , the insertion tool 200 includes a push bar 240 that is coupled with an actuator ( not shown ) located at a proximal end of the insertion tool . upon activation of the actuator ( not shown ), the push bar 240 preferably moves in a distal direction designated d 3 for wedging the leading end 224 of the lower blade 222 away from the upper blade 210 . in one embodiment , the push bar may wedge the upper blade away from the lower blade . referring to fig7 a - 7d , in one embodiment , the soft palate implant 100 is preferably securable to the distal end 204 of the insertion tool 200 . referring to fig7 a - 7d , in one embodiment , the insertion tool 200 includes an elongated shaft 202 having a distal end 204 and a proximal end 206 coupled with a housing 207 having an actuator or trigger 209 . referring to fig7 c and 7d , in one embodiment , the lower anchoring tabs 116 , 118 are held between the upper blade 210 and the lower blade 222 , with the barbs 142 projecting from the inner surfaces of the lower tabs 116 , 118 passing through the slots 216 adjacent the lateral edges of the upper blade 210 . in one embodiment , the upper and lower blades 220 , 222 pinch towards one another for holding the lower anchoring tabs 116 , 118 therebetween . the securing posts 234 on the lower blade 222 preferably pass through the through holes 144 , 158 of the lower anchoring tabs 116 , 118 for more securely holding the implant to the distal end 204 of the insertion tool 200 . referring to fig7 c and 7d , in one embodiment , when the lower anchoring tabs 116 , 118 are held between the upper and lower blades 210 , 224 , the upper anchoring tab 114 preferably lies above the upper blade 210 . in one embodiment , during an insertion operation , the insertion tool 200 secures the implant 100 so that the distal end 104 of the implant 100 may be guided into a surgical opening , such as an incision formed in the soft palate of a patient . in one embodiment , the push bar 240 is actuated so that it moves in the direction d 3 toward the distal end of the insertion tool 200 . as the push bar 240 moves toward the distal end , the upper and lower blades 210 , 222 are wedged away from one another for releasing the lower anchoring tabs 116 , 118 from the insertion tool . in one embodiment , the respective upper and lower anchoring tabs will preferably bias toward one another , whereby the barbs on the inner surfaces of the tabs bite into the respective upper and lower faces of the hard palate for anchoring the implant 100 to the hard palate . referring to fig8 a and 8b , in one embodiment , the distal end of the insertion tool 200 is adapted to secure a proximal end of the implant device 100 . the distal end of the insertion tool preferably releases the implant device after the device has been implanted in tissue . in one preferred embodiment , the insertion tool is used to implant the implant device in the soft palate of a patient and anchor a proximal end of the implant device to the patient &# 39 ; s hard palate . referring to fig8 a , in one embodiment , the upper and lower blades pinch the pair of lower tabs 116 , 118 therebetween , and the push bar 240 is in a retracted position . in fig8 b , the push bar 240 is advanced in a distal direction designated d 3 for wedging the lower blade 222 away from the upper blade 210 so as to release the pair of lower tabs 116 , 118 from the distal end of the insertion tool 200 . the insertion tool may then be retracted in the direction designated d 4 so as to release the implant device 100 and leave the proximal end of the implant device anchored to a structure , such as the hard palate of a patient . referring to fig9 a , in one embodiment , a surgical opening so is formed in the soft palate sp and an implant device 100 is inserted into the surgical opening for supporting the soft palate sp and the uvula uv . in one embodiment , the implant 100 is preferably held by the upper and lower blades at the distal end 204 of the insertion tool 200 . fig9 b shows a magnified view of the distal end 204 of the insertion tool 200 with the implant 100 inserted into the surgical opening so in the soft palate sp . in one embodiment , the shaft 202 of the insertion tool 200 is moved in the direction a 1 for inserting the implant 100 into the surgical opening so . the shaft 202 of the insertion tool 200 is then retracted in the direction a 2 so that the upper tab 114 overlies the top surface of the hard palate hp and the lower tabs 116 , 118 underlie the bottom surface of the hard palate . the push bar is then advanced to open the upper and lower blades of the tool for releasing the implant 100 from the distal end of the insertion tool . fig1 a - 10c and 10 a - 1 through 10 c - 1 show a simplified view of how the insertion tool is used for implanting the implant device in the soft palate . referring to fig1 a , after the soft palate implant 100 has been inserted into the surgical opening in the soft palate and while the upper and lower blades 210 , 222 hold the implant 100 , the insertion tool 200 is moved in a the direction a 2 so that the upper anchoring tab 114 overlies the top surface of the hard palate hp and the lower anchoring tabs 116 , 118 are positioned under the bottom surface of the hard palate hp . fig1 a - 1 shows a magnified cross - sectional view of the soft palate implant 100 and the insertion tool 200 shown in fig1 a . the implant 100 includes the upper anchoring tab 114 overlying a top surface of the hard palate hp and the lower anchoring tabs 116 , 118 underlying the bottom surface of the hard palate hp . initially , the lower anchoring tabs 116 , 118 remain secured between the upper blade 210 and the lower blade 222 of the insertion tool . the upper and lower blades 210 , 222 desirably pinch the lower anchoring tabs 116 , 118 therebetween for securing the lower tabs to the distal end of the insertion tool . the push bar 240 , which is later used for wedging the lower blade 222 away from the upper blade 210 , is preferably in the fully retracted position . referring to fig1 b , in one embodiment , an actuator at the proximal end of the insertion tool 200 is engaged for moving the push bar 240 in a distal direction designated d 3 . as the push bar 240 moves in the distal direction , the lower blade 224 is wedged away from the upper blade 210 so that the securing posts 234 on the lower blade 222 are retracted from the through holes extending through the lower anchoring tabs 116 , 118 . fig1 b - 1 shows an expanded view of fig1 b , whereby the lower blade 222 of the insertion tool 200 is wedged away from the upper blade 210 by the push bar 240 . the posts 234 on the lower blade 222 are retracted from the through holes in the lower anchoring tabs 116 , 118 of the implant 100 . the barbs on the pair of lower anchoring tabs 116 , 118 preferably pass through the slots in the upper blade for engaging the underside of the hard palate hp . after the upper and lower blades 210 , 222 have been wedged away from one another for releasing the implant 100 , the insertion tool 200 may be retracted in the direction designated a 2 . after being released from the distal end of the insertion tool , the upper and lowers tabs of the implant 100 preferably bias toward one another for pinching the hard palate hp therebetween . the barbs 130 , 142 on the inner surfaces of the opposing upper and lower anchoring tabs 114 , 116 , 118 preferably bite into the bone of the hard palate hp for anchoring the implant 100 to the hard palate hp . fig1 c and 10 c - 1 show the implant 100 after it has been anchored to the hard palate hp . the implant 100 includes the upper tab 114 anchored to the top surface of the hard palate hp , and the lower tabs 116 , 118 anchored to the underside surface of the hard palate hp . as shown in fig1 c - 1 , the barbs 124 on the upper anchoring tab 114 bite into the upper surface of the hard palate hp , while the barbs 142 on the lower anchoring tabs 116 , 118 bite into the underside surface of the hard palate hp . although barbs are shown for securing the implant to the hard palate , in other embodiments other fastening elements such as screws , pins , tacks , adhesives , wire , and sutures may be used for securing the implant to the hard palate . referring to fig1 a , some patients have a condition whereby the soft palate sp has a horizontal component h and a vertical component v that is angled relative to the horizontal component . in some instances , the vertical component v may be at an angle that approaches 90 ° or more relative to the horizontal component h . as is known to those skilled in the art , the existence of the vertical component reduces the size of the opening in the posterior portion of the nasopharynx , which may cause osa symptoms . in order to change the shape of the soft palate sp and / or provide a soft palate sp having a more continuous arc , an implant as disclosed herein may be implanted into the soft palate of a patient . fig1 b shows the soft palate sp of the fig1 a after the implant 100 has been implanted therein . the implant 100 includes a proximal end anchored to the hard palate hp of the patient and a distal end that extends to the uvula uv . the implant 100 preferably changes the shape of the soft palate so that it has a more preferred , continuous arc between the hard palate hp and uvula uv . the more continuous arc shape of the soft palate shown in fig1 b opens the posterior portion of the nasopharynx and provides more space between the soft palate sp and the posterior pharyngeal wall ppw . during sleep , the implanted device 100 may provide indirect support to the tongue t in an anterior direction for further opening in the posterior portion of the nasopharynx . referring to fig1 , in one embodiment , an implant 300 for supporting and / or changing the shape of the uvula includes a main body 302 and a fastening element provided at a proximal end of the main body . the main body includes a plurality of openings 305 extending therethrough that provide for bone or tissue in - growth . fig1 shows another embodiment of an implant 400 for supporting a uvula including a main body 402 having an outer mesh surface 405 for promoting bone and / or tissue in - growth . although the present invention is not limited by any particular theory of operation , it is contemplated that two or more implant devices may be implanted in a soft palate of a patient for supporting and / or changing the shape of the uvula of the patient for treating obstructive sleep apnea . referring to fig1 , in one embodiment , a system for treating obstructive sleep apnea may include a pair of implant devices 500 a and 500 b implanted in a soft palate sp , whereby each of the implants have distal ends supporting a uvula and proximal ends anchored to a hard palate . referring to fig1 , in one embodiment , a system for treating obstructive sleep apnea may include a plurality of implant devices 600 a , 600 b , 600 c ( e . g . three implant devices ) that are implanted in a soft palate sp , whereby each of the implants have distal ends supporting a uvula and proximal ends anchored to a hard palate hp . the implants extending through the soft palate may be parallel to one another or may be angled relative to one another . the lengths and / or sizes of the implants may vary . in one embodiment , a first implant may have a first length , and a second adjacent implant may have a second length that is different than the first length . in other embodiments , fastening elements other than barbs may be used for securing the proximal end of the implant to the hard palate . in one embodiment , one or more screws may be used for securing the implant to a hard palate . in another embodiment , surgical tacks may be used for securing the implant to the hard palate . in yet another embodiment , surgical wire or sutures may be used to securing the implant to the hard palate . bone needles may also be used for securing the implant to the hard palate . in one embodiment , the implant may have an outer surface that encourages tissue in - growth so as to stabilize the implant within the tissue and so as to minimize the opportunity for tissue erosion . the outer surface modification may be achieved by texturizing the outer surface , making the implant porous through the addition of holes ( e . g . drilled or pierced holes ), encapsulating the implant with a braided , surgical mesh , or fleece type material , and / or coating the implant with bone growth stimulating agents such as hydroxyapatite . although the present invention is not limited by any particular theory of operation , it is believed that providing a soft tissue implant supported by the distal end of the hard palate provides more positive positioning of the uvula and enables the uvula to provide greater resistance to distal tongue movement than when using implants that are not supported by the hard palate . the soft palate implant of the present invention preferably provides a balanced level of support for the uvula , providing tongue support when needed , but not inhibiting swallowing . the shape changing feature of the implant allows greater uvula support ( and thereby tongue support ) during times of rest and less support during waking hours . providing an outer surface on the implant having tissue in - growth capabilities reduces the chance of tissue erosion and provides greater lateral stability to the implant . in one embodiment , the ability to implant the device through the nasal passageways results in the implant location being more cranial , thereby minimizing tongue sensitivity to the presence of the implant . in one embodiment , the implant procedure does not damage the musculature within the soft palate and maintains mucosal surfaces , thereby enabling the natural musculature to continue to provide support in addition to that provided by the implant . in one embodiment , the soft palate implant may be formed from absorbable materials , non - absorbable materials , or a combination of absorbable and non - absorbable materials . the non - absorbable materials may include polymeric materials such as non - resorbable polymers , silicone , polyethylene terephalate , polytetrafluoroethylene , polyurethane and polypropylene , nitninol , stainless steel , and / or composite materials . suitable resorbable polymers may include polylactide , polyglycolide copolymers , polycaprolactone , and / or collagen . the implant may also include a biocompatible metal or alloy . the present invention provides a number of advantages over prior art methods and devices used for treating obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and hypopnea . first , the methods , systems and devices disclosed herein provide for simple surgical procedures that are minimally invasive . typically , the methods , systems and devices disclosed herein may be utilized during an outpatient procedure . in addition , the methods , systems and devices disclosed herein provide both immediate and long term results for treating obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and hypopnea . moreover , the methods , systems and devices disclosed herein do not require a significant level of patient compliance . in addition , the present invention does not anchor the tongue to a fixed hard structure , such as the mandible . thus , the present invention is significantly less likely to affect swallowing or speech , thereby providing a great improvement over prior art devices , systems and methods . the present invention also preferably uses materials having long - term biocompatibility . although various embodiments disclosed herein relate to use in humans , it is contemplated that the present invention may be used in all mammals , and in all animals having air passages . moreover , the methods , systems and devices disclosed herein may incorporate any materials that are biocompatible , as well as any solutions or components that minimize rejection , enhance tissue ingrowth , enhance the formation of mucosal layers , and improve acceptance of the device by a body after the device has been implanted . the headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims . as used throughout this application , the word “ may ” is used in a permissive sense ( i . e ., meaning having the potential to ), rather than the mandatory sense ( i . e ., meaning must ). similarly , the words “ include ”, “ including ”, and “ includes ” mean including but not limited to . to facilitate understanding , like reference numerals have been used , where possible , to designate like elements common to the figures . while the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention , other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof . as such , the scope of the present invention is to be limited only as set forth in the appended claims .
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reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention , examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings . hereinafter , preferred embodiments of a flat panel display and driving method for the same , capable of uniformly displaying luminance of a whole screen of a flat fed will be described in detail with reference to fig8 to 17 . [ 0060 ] fig8 is a block diagram showing a driving apparatus of the flat fed in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention . as shown in fig8 the flat fed in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention includes a data processing unit 102 for supplying data supplied from the outside , a reference voltage generation unit 106 for generating a reference voltage having a predetermined tilt according to a control signal , a frame memory 108 for temporarily storing data corresponding to a frame from the data processing unit 102 , first and second driving units 114 a and 114 b for supplying a data pulse by receiving the reference voltage and the stored data , a timing control unit 110 for generating a timing control signal for controlling timing of the scan pulse according to the control signal , a scan driving unit 112 for sequentially supplying a scan pulse to a panel 118 by controlling of the timing control signal , a control unit 104 for generating the control signal . hereinafter , the operation of the driving unit of the flat fed will be described in detail with reference to fig9 and 10 . [ 0062 ] fig9 is a view showing a reference voltage which is generated in the reference voltage signal generation unit shown in fig8 . [ 0063 ] fig1 is a view showing a data pulse which is applied to a data electrode by the driving unit shown in fig8 . firstly , the data processing unit 102 supplies the data supplied from the outside to the frame memory 108 . the frame memory 108 receives a control signal which is outputted from the control unit 104 , receives data corresponding to a frame from the data processing unit 102 and supplies the inputted data corresponding to a frame to the first and second data driving units 114 a and 114 b . the reference voltage generation unit 106 generates a reference voltage having a predetermined tilt by receiving a control signal which is outputted from the control unit 104 , as shown in fig9 . the control unit 104 generates a control signal to control the data processing unit 102 , reference voltage generation unit 106 , frame memory 108 and timing control unit 110 . on the other hand , the timing control unit 110 generates a timing control signal by receiving a control signal which is outputted from the control unit 104 and supplies the timing control signal to the scan driving unit 112 . the scan driving unit 112 sequentially supplies a scan pulse to the panel 118 by receiving the timing control signal . at this time , the data driving units 114 a and 114 b supply the data ( that is , data pulse ) which is stored in the frame memory 108 to the panel 118 by receiving a reference voltage having the predetermined tilt . the panel 118 displays a picture ( image ) corresponding to the gray scale value of the data pulse . a value of voltage of a data pulse which is supplied to the first and second data driving units 114 a and 114 b is obtained by adding the voltage value of the reference value . therefore , when data for displaying the whole screen of the fed as white is supplied to the first and second data driving units 114 a and 114 b , a different voltage is supplied to a data electrode d ( data line ) of the panel 118 , as shown in fig1 . that is , a higher voltage is applied along from the first data electrode d 1 to the nth data electrode dn . in other words , since a reference voltage having a predetermined tilt is supplied as in fig9 and a value obtained by adding the reference voltage and voltage of the data pulse is supplied to the panel 118 , a different voltage is supplied to the data electrode d as shown in fig1 . on the other hand , fig1 displays the data pulse when the gate electrode is used as a data electrode . if a cathode electrode is used as data electrode , a pulse whose polarity is reversed from fig1 is supplied . [ 0072 ] fig1 is a view showing a voltage value which is applied to a scan electrode by the driving apparatus shown in fig8 . as shown in fig1 , the voltage which is supplied to the scan electrode s 1 ˜ sm gradually become lower by the components of the scan electrodes s 1 ˜ sm and the voltage which is supplied to the data electrodes d 1 ˜ dn gradually become higher by the reference voltage which becomes gradually higher . therefore , an average voltage which is supplied from the scan electrodes s 1 ˜ sm and data electrodes d 1 ˜ dn becomes uniform in all pixel cells . that is , voltage drop of the scan electrodes s 1 ˜ sm can be compensated by supplying the reference voltage which becomes gradually higher and a picture having a uniform luminance is displayed in the panel 118 . on the other hand , the width ( pulse width modification ) and / or amplitude ( pulse amplitude modification ) of the data pulse which is applied to the data electrode d is set differently according to the gray scale . for instance , when a high gray scale is displayed , width and / or amplitude of the data pulse dp is set wide or high and width and / or amplitude of the data pulse dp is set narrow or low when a low gray scale is displayed . that is , in the pulse width modifying method or the pulse amplitude modifying method , in case the whole screen of the fed is displayed white , a higher voltage is applied along from the first data electrode d 1 to the nth data electrode dn as shown in fig1 , and accordingly the voltage dropping components of the scan electrode s is compensated . [ 0075 ] fig1 is a block diagram showing the reference voltage signal generation unit shown in fig8 in detail . as shown in fig1 , the reference voltage generation unit 106 includes an input unit 124 for receiving a voltage dropping value of the scan electrode , a reference voltage supply unit 120 for generating a reference voltage having a predetermined tilt to compensate the voltage dropping value , and a tilt control unit 122 which is installed between the input unit 124 and reference voltage supply unit 120 , for controlling the reference voltage generation unit . hereinafter , the operation of the reference voltage generation unit 106 will be described in detail . firstly , the input unit 124 receives a voltage dropping value of the scan line s from a user . at this time , the user measures voltages of a first crossing of a first data electrode d 1 and scan line , and a second crossing of a nth data electrode dn and scan line s , as shown in fig6 . in case a voltage of 5v is measured in the first crossing and a voltage of 4v is measured in the second crossing , the user inputs the voltage dropping value of the scan line s of 1v to the input unit 124 . the voltage dropping value of the scan line s which is inputted to the input unit is inputted to the tilt control unit 122 . the tilt control unit 122 controls the reference voltage supply unit 120 to generate a reference voltage having a voltage difference of 1v . at this time , the reference voltage supply unit 120 generates a reference voltage which is gradually raised so that a voltage which is supplied to the nth data electrode has a voltage difference of 1v from the voltage supplied to the first data electrode d 1 and supplies the reference voltage to the first and second data driving units 114 a and 114 b . [ 0080 ] fig1 is a block diagram showing the driving apparatus of the flat fed in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention . the flat fed shown in fig1 embodies a gray scale in the pulse amplitude pulse width modifying method . as shown in fig1 , the driving unit of the flat fed in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention includes a panel 118 for displaying an image , a data processing unit 102 for receiving data from the outside and supplying the data , a frame memory 108 for temporarily storing data outputted from the data processing unit 102 , first and second data driving units 114 a and 114 b for generating a data pulse by receiving data stored in the frame memory 108 , first and second voltage raising units 136 a and 136 b for raising voltage of the data pulse which is generated from the first and second data driving units 114 a and 114 b and supplying the raised data pulse to the panel 118 , a timing control unit 110 for generating a timing control signal according to a control signal , a scan driving unit 112 for sequentially supplying the scan pulse to the panel 118 by controlling of the timing control signal , and a control unit 104 for generating the control signal . hereinafter , the operation of the driving unit of the flat fed in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention . firstly , the data processing unit 102 supplies the data supplied from the outside to the frame memory 108 . the frame memory 108 receives data corresponding to a frame from the data processing unit 102 . the data corresponding to a frame , which is inputted to the frame memory 108 is supplied to the first and second data driving units 114 a and 114 b . the control unit 104 controls the data processing unit 102 , frame memory 108 and timing control unit 110 . the timing control unit 110 generates a timing control signal and supplies the timing control signal to a scan driving unit 112 . the scan driving unit 112 sequentially supplies a scan pulse to the panel 118 by receiving the timing control signal . the data driving units 114 a and 114 b supply the data stored in the frame memory 108 to the first and second voltage raising units 136 a and 136 b . the first and second voltage raising units 136 a and 136 b raise the voltage of the data pulse which is supplied from the first and second data driving units 114 a and 114 b and supply the raised data pulse to the panel 118 . at this time , an image corresponding to the value of the gray scale of the data pulse is displayed in the panel 118 . on the other hand , the voltage which is raised in the first and second voltage raising units 136 a and 136 b is determined differently according to the position of the data lines d 1 ˜ dn . that is , the first and second voltage raising units 136 a and 136 b apply a higher voltage along from the first data electrode d 1 to the nth data electrode dn . this will be described in detail with reference to fig1 . [ 0088 ] fig1 is a view showing the data pulse which is applied to the data electrode by the driving apparatus shown in fig1 . as shown in fig1 , when a data pulse for displaying the whole screen of the fed is supplied from the first and second data driving unit 134 a and 134 b , a higher voltage is applied along from the first data electrode d 1 to the nth data electrode dn in the panel 118 . that is , the amplitude of the data pulse is sequentially increased . if a higher voltage is applied along from the first data electrode d 1 to the nth data electrode dn , voltage drop of the scan electrode s can be compensated as shown in fig1 . [ 0091 ] fig1 is a block diagram showing a voltage raising unit which is shown in fig1 in detail . as shown in fig1 , the first and second voltage raising units 136 a and 136 b include an input unit 135 for receiving a voltage dropping value of the scan electrode from the outside , and a voltage compensating unit 137 for compensating a voltage of the data pulse which is supplied to the first and last data electrodes . hereinafter , the operation of the voltage raising unit 136 a and 136 b will be described in detail . firstly , the input unit 135 receives a voltage dropping value of the scan line s from the user . at this time , the user measures voltages of a first crossing of a first data electrode d 1 and scan line , and a second crossing of a nth data electrode dn and scan line s , as shown in fig6 . in case a voltage of 5v is measured in the first crossing and a voltage of 4v is measured in the second crossing , the user inputs the voltage dropping value of the scan line s of 1v to the input unit 135 . the voltage dropping value of the scan line s of 1v which is inputted to the input unit 135 is inputted to the voltage compensating unit 137 . the voltage compensating unit 137 raises the voltage of the data pulse so that the value inputted from the input unit 135 , that is , the voltage difference of the voltages supplied from the first data electrode d 1 to the nth data electrode dn becomes 1v . [ 0095 ] fig1 a is wave form view showing a driving wave form in accordance with the third embodiment of the present invention . the flat fed in the fig1 a embodies a gray scale in the pulse width modifying method . as shown in fig1 a , the flat fed in accordance with the third embodiment of the present invention has different width of a data pulse when the whole screen of the fed is displayed white . that is , the data pulse has a wider pulse width along from the first data electrode d 1 to the nth data electrode dn . at this time , the pulse width of the scan pulse is set identically as shown in fig1 b and 16c . that is , the pulse width of the scan pulse is set identically as the width of the data pulse which is applied to the nth data electrode dn . if the pulse width of the data pulse becomes wider along from the first data electrode d 1 to the nth data electrode dn , the voltage dropping component of the scan electrode s can be compensated . [ 0098 ] fig1 is a view showing a wave form of the scan pulse in accordance with the fourth embodiment of the present invention . as shown in fig1 , a scan pulse having a predetermined tilt is supplied to the scan electrodes s 1 ˜ sm of the flat fed in accordance with the fourth embodiment of the present invention . at this time , the tilt of the scan pulse is set so that a higher voltage can be applied along from the first data electrode d 1 to the nth data electrode dn . when the tilt of the voltage of the scan electrodes s 1 ˜ sm is set so that a higher voltage can be applied along from the first data electrode d 1 to the nth data electrode dn , the voltage dropping component of the scan electrode s can be compensated . as described above , a voltage dropping component of the scan electrode s can be compensated by setting the width and / or amplitude of the data pulse differently by the flat fed and driving method for the same in accordance with the present invention . also , the voltage dropping component of the scan line can be compensated by setting the scan pulse to have a predetermined tilt . the flat fed and the driving method for the same in accordance with the present invention can display a picture having a uniform luminance by compensating the voltage dropping component of the scan line . as the present invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof , it should also be understood that the above - described embodiments are not limited by any of the details of the foregoing description , unless otherwise specified , but rather should be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as defined in the appended claims , and therefore all changes and modifications that fall within the metes and bounds of the claims , or equivalence of such metes and bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the appended claims .
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as shown best in fig1 the power capacitor mounting structure 10 includes the enclosure 12 and the indicator means 14 . the enclosure 12 is constructed to house a plurality of power capacitors 16 and 18 which are connected to lower terminals 17 and upper terminals 21 on terminal block 20 and indicator means 14 , as shown best in fig2 and 4 through 6 . a three - phase cable from energy source 19 to terminal block 20 may be passed into enclosure 12 through a convenient opening in enclosure 12 , not shown . the indicator means 14 provides a visual indication that normal current drawn by capacitors 16 and 18 has been exceeded . the indicator means 14 also serves as an isolation switch for the associated capacitors 16 and 18 . more specifically , the enclosure 12 includes the tray 22 and cover 24 . the tray 22 has a top 26 , bottom 28 , left and right sides 30 and 32 , respectively , as shown in fig2 a back 34 and a front 36 . flanges 38 are provided at each end of the back 34 to facilitate mounting of the tray 22 in three mutually perpendicular positions . cooling fin structure 42 is also attached to the back 34 of the tray 22 , as required , by convenient means , not shown , such as screws or welding . an offset lip 44 , as best shown in fig4 is provided on the front 36 and side 30 against which the bottom of the cover 24 is positioned . a downwardly extending flange 48 is provided on the top 26 adjacent the front 36 and on the side 30 of the tray 22 behind which the top of the cover 24 is fitted . the cover 24 , as shown best in fig1 when in place is secured over the lip 44 and behind the flange 48 by releasable means such as screws 50 , shown best in fig4 . the cover 24 is a rigid l - shaped member , as best shown in fig1 . a partial partition 52 including the separate portions 54 and 56 are secured within the tray 22 by watertight means such as welding to the top , back , bottom and front of the tray . it will be noted that the partition 52 with the tray 22 provides a catch basin within the tray 22 which is operable to retain fluid from capacitors 16 and 18 which may leak , spill or otherwise come therefrom as a result of an explosion or the like of the capacitors with the enclosure 12 mounted in any of three relatively perpendicular positions ; that is , flat with the back 34 down , in an upright position with the bottom 28 down , and in a position with the side 36 down . thus , possible harmful effects of the fluid on surrounding personnel and structure may be substantially eliminated . fluid may be further retained within the catch basin provided by the partition 52 in conjunction with tray 22 by placing sponge material 58 within the catch basin . the sponge material will thus soak up any undesirable fluid , which may then be removed from the capacitor mounting structure 10 on removal of the sponge material therefrom . it will also be noted that the capacitor mounting structure 10 including the tray 22 and cover 24 , as shown in fig1 - 5 , permits construction of an entrance hole for incoming wires in either the top , front , rear , bottom , left side or right side of the enclosure . further , as shown best in fig1 the positioning of the capacitors 16 and 18 on the tray 22 provides easy access to the interior of the power capacitor structure for maintenance from the front and left side , and the dimensions of the structure are such that vertical movement within the enclosure is possible during maintenance . also note that in accordance with the structure shown in fig1 the live terminals within the power capacitor mounting structure 10 are inaccessible except for the unmistakably recognizable terminal block 20 . as a modification of the power capacitor mounting structure 10 , mechanical interlocks 84 may be provided in the electrical circuit shown in fig6 which may be actuated by the cover 24 so that the interlocks will be open unless the cover 24 is in place in the correct position . such safety interlocks may be located on the tray 22 adjacent the edges of the cover as desired for insuring proper location of the cover . the interlocks may include in one modification a microswitch and electrically operated contactor . as shown best in fig4 and 5 , the capacitors 16 and 18 are secured to the tray by a conventional strap 58 which may itself be secured to the back 34 of the tray 22 by convenient releasable means such as bolts and nuts , with the capacitors positioned over the catch basin structure provided by the tray 22 and partition 52 . the indicator means 14 , as shown , is secured in the front 36 of the tray 22 by convenient means such as bolts 60 , as desired . each indicator means 14 includes a separate indicator light 62 , fuse 64 , and resistor 66 , connected as shown best in fig6 with the fuse being in series with associated terminals of one or more capacitors and a phase of the source of power 19 through the terminal block 20 . the indicator light and resistor are connected in series with each other across the fuse 64 . thus , on opening of the fuse 64 due to excessive current between the associated phase of the power supply and terminal of the capacitors , the light 62 will be caused to light , giving an indication of the excess current being drawn by the associated capacitors . as shown best in fig1 - 5 , the indicator structure 14 is constructed so that it can be removed from the front 36 of the capacitor mounting structure without disconnecting any other portion of the assembly . further , the lens 68 of the indicator structure 14 may be removed by unscrewing it and the fuse removed and replaced through the lens 68 . thus , the indicator structure 14 also serves as an isolation switch for the associated phase of the power supply and terminal of the capacitors mounted in the capacitor mounting structure . the circuit diagram of fig6 will be considered in conjunction with the operation of the indicator means 14 . thus , under normal operating conditions , with three phases of a source of power being passed to the group of capacitor cells 16 and 18 , and possible additional groups of capacitors 70 and 72 , and 74 and 76 , through terminal block 20 , over conductors 78 , 80 and 82 , and with a separate fuse 64 , light 62 and resistor 66 , connected as shown in each of two of the phases of each group of capacitors , should excessive current be drawn through any of the capacitors 16 , 18 , 70 , 72 , 74 or 76 , one of the fuses 64 will open and the associated light 62 will go on to provide from the outside of the capacitor mounting structure 10 an indication of the excessive current in the capacitor so that corrective action can be taken at an early stage before temperatures and pressures build up in the capacitor which might cause damage to the capacitor mounting structure and to the other capacitors within the structure . it will be understood that other groupings of capacitors may be provided and that separate indicator structure may be provided for each phase of single - phase or multiple - phase electrical systems . the grouping together of capacitors into small groups where multiple capacitors are utilized permits a lower value fuse to be used in conjunction with the smaller group , whereby the sensitivity of the fuse is increased . in use , if it is desired to isolate a capacitor assembly or a particular portion thereof from the power supply , it is merely necessary to remove the lens 68 from the associated indicator means 14 and remove the fuse therefrom . accidents from accidentally closed switches during repair and the like may thus be prevented . further , it will be noted that with the indicator means 14 secured to the tray itself that the cover may be readily removed . in the capacitor mounting structure 100 illustrated in fig7 the cover 102 includes the front panel 104 which extends over substantially the entire front of the capacitor mounting structure and the top 106 constructed integrally therewith , including the rear flange 108 and side flanges 110 . the cover 102 further includes openings 112 therein positioned over the lenses 114 of the indicator light means 116 . the indicator light lenses 114 extend outwardly from the front panel 104 of the cover 102 and are dimensioned with respect thereto and the opening 112 therethrough so that it is impossible to remove cover 102 without first removing the indicator light lenses 114 . as shown best in fig1 , the fuses 118 are secured to the lenses 114 , whereby on removal of a lense a fuse 118 is removed therewith . with such modification , it would be impossible to remove the cover 102 from the capacitor supporting structure without first removing the fuses 118 therefrom as a safety measure . in the modified mounting structure 130 illustrated in fig1 , the indicator light means 132 are supported on a portion 134 of the cover 136 which is hingedly mounted at 138 . thus , in use the indicator light means 132 and the electrical circuit 139 may be exposed on pivoting of the portion 134 into the open position as shown in fig1 . with the indicator light means 132 and circuit 139 so exposed , inspection and maintenance thereof may be readily accomplished . as shown in the modified capacitor mounting structure 130 , the connections are made to the capacitors 140 at the opposite ends thereof and the top of the cover is not split and a portion thereof pivoted with the portion 134 of the cover 136 . if desired , it will be readily understood that a portion of the cover may also be pivoted and that the connection to the capacitors can be made at the opposite end thereof as desired . while one embodiment and modifications thereof have been considered in detail , it will be understood that other embodiments and modifications of the invention are contemplated . for example , the invention with little modification can be utilized for large , substation type capacitors as well as for unit cell construction . it is the intention to include all such embodiments and modifications of the invention as are defined by the appended claims within the scope of the invention .
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reference will now be made in detail to several embodiments of the present invention , examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings . it is noted that wherever practicable similar or like reference numbers may be used in the figures and may indicate similar or like functionality . generally , the present invention relates to a personal radio recorder system that acquires a wide - band signal containing individual channels and concurrently tunes and demodulates the individual channels . after demodulation , the set of individual channels may be compressed and stored . additionally , individual channels can be selected for real time , or time - shifted ( e . g . delayed ) playback . further , the individual channels and any associated channel information may be manipulated to allow more efficient access to user requested channel broadcasts . [ 0044 ] fig2 illustrates a block diagram of the multi - channel capture and playback system of the present invention . the capture and playback system includes a signal acquisition stage 210 , a channel extractor 220 , an external analog source input 233 , and analog to digital converter (“ adc ”) 235 , a demultiplexer 237 , a parallel compressor 230 , a file manager 240 , an alternate digital input stage 1 245 , removable storage 255 , alternate analog input stage 280 , alternate digital input stage 2 285 , and one or more output stages . for example , the output stages may be output stage 1 290 a , output stage 2 290 b , and output stage n 290 c . typically , the signal acquisition stage 210 is coupled to receive a wide - band signal through , for example , an antenna 100 . the signal acquisition stage 210 also couples with the channel extractor 220 . the channel extractor 220 is coupled to the parallel compressor 230 . the channel extractor 220 is also coupled to the file manager 240 via connection 227 . the parallel compressor 230 is coupled to a demultiplexer 237 via connection 238 . the demultiplexer 237 is also coupled to an adc 235 that receives input signals from the external analog source input 233 . further , the demultiplexer is coupled to alternate digital input stage 2 285 through connection 288 , and the file manager 240 via connection 239 . the parallel compressor 230 is coupled to the file manager 240 . the file manager 240 is also coupled to the removable storage 255 , the alternate digital input 1 245 , and one or more output stages . again , for example , the output stages may be output stage 1 290 a , output stage 2 290 b , and output stage n 290 c . the output stages are also coupled to receive input from the alternate analog input 280 and the alternate digital input stage 2 285 . in one embodiment of the multi - channel capture and playback system of the present invention the signal acquisition stage 210 receives a wide - band signal from an antenna 100 via connection 200 . the signal acquisition stage 210 converts the wide - band signal into a high - bandwidth digital data stream . the signal acquisition stage 210 may also amplify the wide - band signal in response to a gain control signal 214 from the channel extractor 220 . after conversion , the high - bandwidth digital data stream is sent to the channel extractor 220 via connection 212 . the channel extractor 220 demodulates the high - bandwidth digital data stream into a stream of one or more demodulated individual channel samples . the channel extractor 220 also extracts data , e . g . metadata , from the demodulated individual channels and sends a stream of aggregate metadata to the file manager 240 via connection 227 . the channel extractor 220 may also measure the magnitude of the individual channel samples and send a gain control signal 214 to the signal acquisition stage 210 . the stream of individual channel samples output from the channel assembler comprises a demodulated aggregate of individual channels . the demodulated aggregate of individual channels is then sent to the parallel compressor 230 . in response to a compression signal 244 from the file manager 240 , the parallel compressor 230 may compress one or more individual channels for more optimal storage . the compression signal 244 may signal the parallel compressor 230 not to compress the signal at all . in this case , the demodulated aggregate of individual channels will pass through the parallel compressor 230 unchanged . the compression signal 244 from the file manager 240 may also specify certain compression parameters such as compression ratio or compression technique . in one embodiment of the present invention , the parallel compressor uses adaptive differential pulse code modulation (“ adpcm ”) for compressing the individual channels . the parallel compressor may contain a compressor for each individual channel contained in the demodulated aggregate of individual channels thereby processing the channels in parallel . in another embodiment , the parallel compressor may use time division multiplexing to processes the channel samples for the entire spectrum through a single compressor in seriatim . in yet another embodiment , the parallel compressor may use a combination of time division multiplexing and parallel processing to achieve system efficiencies . further , many different compression techniques beyond adpcm are well known and may be employed to achieve various compression ratios and efficiencies . the parallel compressor 230 also may accept a digital signal from the demultiplexer 237 . the demultiplexer 237 receives a stream of alternate input programs from the adc 235 . the demultiplexer 237 may also receive a program from the alternate digital input stage 2 285 . further , the demultiplexer 237 may extract data , e . g . metadata from the programs and send a stream of aggregate metadata to the file manager 240 via connection 239 . the adc converts analog signals from the external analog source input 233 , or from the output stages , including output stage 1 290 a , output stage 2 290 b , and output stage 2 290 c . because the parallel compressor accepts inputs from these other sources , additional content can be input to the file manager for storage and manipulation . for example , output stage 1 290 a is coupled to the alternate analog input 280 . this alternate analog input 280 may be connected to an audio tape player . the content from the audio tape player may be routed to the parallel compressor 230 for compression and then sent to the file manager 240 . similarly , external analog sources , such as a cd player or mp3 player that connects via a headphone jack to the external analog source input 233 can also be input to the file manager 240 for storage and manipulation ( e . g ., filtering , categorizing , storage , and playback ). after compression , a stream of compressed audio programs is sent to the file manager 240 . the file manager 240 identifies each program by channel and the time the program was received . the file manager 240 may organize and store the programs . the file manager 240 may also include a user interface , further illustrated in fig9 for presenting information about the programs to the user and receiving inputs from the user . the file manager 240 may also accept one or more digital communications channels from another source through the alternate digital input stage 1 245 . this input may also be a multi - channel digital bus . the alternate digital input stage 1 245 may be used to input other types of digitally formatted content such as satellite radio and television . the alternate digital input stage 1 245 may also be used to input location information , such as that provided by the global positioning system (“ gps ”). further , the alternate digital input stage 245 may be used to connect to a gateway device such as a personal computer , wireless digital phone , or a wireless network device . similarly , the removable storage 255 may be used to transfer content and other information to and from the file manager 240 . the file manager 240 may also store channel broadcasts to the removable storage 255 , or copy stored broadcasts and content to the removable storage 255 . an alternate embodiment may have more than one alternate digital input stage 245 or removable storage 255 . for example , a two alternate digital input stages 245 may be coupled to a single file manager 240 : one alternate digital input stage 245 may be used to input other types of digitally formatted content , e . g . music , and data , e . g . metadata , and another digital input stage 245 may be used to connect with a gateway device . similarly , the file manager may be coupled to one or more removable storage devices 255 . the removable storage 245 may be any type of removable storage device , including but not limited to compact flash , smart media , sd memory , memory stick , minidisk , removable magnetic tape or hard drives , removable flash devices , or optical storage such as compact disks or dvds . more than one of these may be coupled to the file manager 240 as well as combinations of any of the aforementioned devices . additionally , the file manager 240 may playback individual or multiple channels of currently occurring broadcasts , or stored content or broadcasts , or a combination of current broadcasts and stored broadcasts or content . for example , consider the situation where the file manager 240 is currently receiving broadcasts a , b and c , and has previously stored content and broadcasts d , e and f . the file manager 240 may send broadcast a to output stage 1 290 a , broadcast b to output stage 2 290 b and broadcast c to output stage n 290 c . alternatively , the file manager may send stored content d to output stage 1 290 a , stored broadcast e to output stage 2 290 b , and stored broadcast f to output stage n 290 c . or , the file manager may send any combination of currently occurring broadcasts and stored content to the output stages . for example , the file manager may send presently occurring broadcasts to output stage 1 290 a , and output stage 2 290 b , and a previously stored broadcast to output stage n 290 c . in this example , three output stages have been illustrated . however , more or fewer output stages may be used in alternate embodiments of the present invention . turning now to fig3 one embodiment of the signal acquisition stage 210 of the multi - channel capture and playback systems of the present invention is illustrated . this embodiment includes an analog signal preconditioner 300 , an analog correction block 310 , a wide - band adc 320 , a digital correction block 330 , an analog gain control 340 , a gain control digital to analog converter (“ dac ”) 350 and a digital gain control 360 . the analog preconditioner 300 receives a wide - band signal via connection 200 . additionally , analog signal preconditioner 300 receives an analog gain control signal 342 . the analog signal preconditioner 300 is further coupled 302 to the analog correction block 310 . the analog correction block 310 is coupled 315 to a wide - band adc 320 . the analog correction block 310 is also coupled to the analog gain control via an analog signal measurement connection 312 . further , the analog correction block couples to the digital correction block via dither control signal 317 . the wide - band adc 320 is coupled to the digital correction block 330 . the digital correction block 330 couples to the digital gain control 360 via a digital gain control and measurement signal 332 . the digital gain control 360 also receives the digital gain control signal 214 . further , the digital gain control 360 connects via connection 362 to the gain control dac 350 , which in turn connects via connection 352 to the analog gain control 340 . as an example of the operation of the signal acquisition block 210 , a wide - band signal enters the analog signal preconditioner 300 from connection 200 . the analog signal preconditioner 300 may comprise filtering , variable gain , fixed gain , or any one or a combination of these basic elements . in one embodiment , the personal radio recorder in accordance with the present invention may be configured to receive the fm band in the united states . in this configuration , the wide band signal may require an initial amplification to increase the magnitude of the signal by a fixed amount . the analog signal preconditioner 300 may also filter out frequencies above and below the fm band leaving mostly frequencies from the band of interest , in this case the fm band . then the analog signal preconditioner 300 may send the wide - band signal to the analog correction block 310 . additionally , the analog signal preconditioner 300 may be used to increase the wide - band signal to a magnitude that is close to the maximum input range of the wide - band adc 320 . in some areas , and especially in mobile applications where the personal radio recorder may be constantly moving through areas of stronger and weaker wide - band signals , this feature is useful for compensating changes in the magnitude of the wide - band signal . in one embodiment , two different gain models may exist : one model for stationary gain control , and a second model for gain control while the personal radio recorder is moving , e . g . in a car or other automotive vehicle . in the later second model , the gain control may be designed using consideration such as the expected velocity , multi - path effects and other signal phenomena that occur due to the motion of the personal radio recorder . based on the appropriate model , the analog correction block 310 may measure the magnitude of the wide - band signal and report this measurement to the analog gain control 340 . the analog gain control 340 may then make some calculations and send the resulting analog gain control signal 342 to the analog signal preconditioner 300 where a variable gain element can amplify the signal in response to the analog gain control signal 342 . similarly , the gain adjustments described above may also be implemented using other gain control blocks such as the digital correction block 330 , the post demodulation gain control 630 or the post demultiplexer gain control 640 of fig6 . further , a combination of any of the adjustable gain control block may be used to achieve appropriate correction for changes in signal strength in fixed or moving applications . the analog correction block 310 may also be used to correct for distortions to the wide - band signal through various well - known techniques . in another embodiment , the analog correction block 310 may be used to add dither to the input signal to the wide - band adc 320 . various dithering techniques for increasing the performance of adc systems are well - known and may be used in the analog correction block 310 and the digital correction block 330 of the present invention . the wide - band signal is then sent from the analog correction block 310 via connection 315 to the wide - band adc 320 . in this embodiment , the wide - band adc 320 converts the wide - band signal into a high - bandwidth digital data stream . the wide - band adc may be a conventional , commercially available wide - band analog to digital converter , for example , ad6640 made by analog devices , inc . ( norwood , mass .). alternatively , the wide - band adc may be custom designed or may be comprised of an existing semiconductor core and implemented in an application specific integrated circuit (“ asic ”). the wide - band adc 320 can be sampled at a number of different rates to achieve demodulation . two examples will be familiar to those skilled in the art : nyquist rate sampling , and sub - nyquist sampling . the wide - band adc 320 clock rate can be determined as follows : first , the number of individual channels in the band is determined . second , the number of individual channels is multiplied by the bandwidth of each channel . third , to satisfy the nyquist theorem well known to those skilled in the art , the number is multiplied by at least a factor of two . the resultant number is the clock frequency for the wide - band adc 320 . for example , if the system is to produce 128 channels , each with a bandwidth of 10 khz , then a minimum clock frequency of 2 . 56 mhz should be input to the wide - band adc 320 ( 2 × 128 channels × 10 , 000 hz ). this would cause the wide - band adc 320 to output a high - bandwidth digital data stream comprising 2 , 560 , 000 digital data samples per second . those skilled in the art will recognize that the wide band adc 320 may also be configured to accomplish sub - nyquist sampling . to achieve this , the analog signal preconditioner 300 would include an analog input filter 420 that would be chosen such that only the desired frequency band or less would be input to the wide - band adc 320 . for example , the analog input filter 420 may be configured such that only frequencies 500 khz to 1 . 780 mhz would be input to the wide - band adc 320 . moreover , the signal acquisition stage 210 may also be designed to down - convert the incoming wide - band signal to an intermediate frequency . in this manner , two steps would provide the frequency conversion of the wide - band signal into the high - bandwidth digital data stream : a mixer , and the wide - band adc 320 . the mixer would down - convert the wide - band signal either into a base band to be sampled by the wide - band adc 320 , or into an intermediate frequency to be further down - converted by the wide - band adc 320 . other well - known methods of analog to digital conversion of wide - band signals may also be used . the wide - band adc 320 and the analog signal preconditioner 300 could be configured to sample at a rate higher than the desired frequency band , where the unwanted bands could be later filtered out or otherwise removed from the signal stream . for example , for the am band the wide - band adc 320 could be configured to convert frequencies from dc to 2 mhz , where the frequencies from dc to 500 khz would be discarded , ignored or otherwise filtered out later . alternatively , a windowing multiplier could be employed to effectively downshift the first channel at 550 khz to a lower frequency band . after the wide - band adc 320 converts the wide - band signal to a high - bandwidth digital data stream , the high - bandwidth digital data stream is sent to the digital correction block 330 . the digital correction block may be configured to correct distortion present in the high - bandwidth digital data stream . in one embodiment , the digital correction block 330 includes a digital look - up table that accepts an individual digital value from the high - bandwidth digital data stream and substitutes a value from the digital look - up table . this value from the digital look - up table may have more effective bits than the wide - band adc 320 . for example , the wide - band adc 320 may output digital samples sixteen bits wide , and the digital look - up table may output digital samples that have eighteen or twenty bits . the digital correction block 330 may also be configured to correct other errors , for example , the effects of digitization , dither , and de - emphasis . additionally , the digital correction block 330 may provide magnitude measurements to the automatic gain control system and may perform local automatic gain control . in a basic embodiment , the digital correction block 330 may measure the magnitude of the high - bandwidth digital data stream and report this measurement to the digital gain control 360 via connection 332 . the digital gain control 360 may perform calculations on the measurement and send a new value to the gain control dac 350 . the gain control dac 350 converts the value to an analog signal and sends it to the analog gain control 340 for further processing . the analog gain control 340 will then provide an analog gain control signal 342 to the analog signal preconditioner 300 for adjustment of the variable gain elements . in an alternative embodiment , the digital correction block 330 may be configured to maximize the magnitude of the high - bandwidth digital data stream to make more effective use of elements in other parts of the system . the digital correction block 330 would measure the magnitude or the high - bandwidth digital data stream and select a gain corresponding to a target magnitude for the high - bandwidth digital data stream . then the digital correction block 330 would multiply the high - bandwidth digital data stream by the selected gain . the digital correction block 330 may report the original magnitude of the high - bandwidth digital data stream to the digital gain control 360 for further gain control in other stages . after correction and amplification , the digital correction block 330 sends the high - bandwidth digital data stream to the channel extractor 220 via connection 212 . the digital gain control 360 may also receive gain control signals from the channel extractor 220 via connection 214 . the digital gain control 360 may use these signals in conjunction with the measurements from the digital correction block 330 or may exclusively use one or the other . those of skill in the art will recognize that multiple combinations of the gain control elements presented in this embodiment of the present invention may be used to obtain beneficial results . in an alternate embodiment , the digital gain control 360 may direct the digital correction block 330 to provide the measurement signal or a derivative of the measurement signal to the parallel compressor 230 in the form of a feed - forward gain control signal . this signal may be communicated through connection 212 , or through some parallel signal path . similarly , the digital gain control 360 received gain control measurement signals from other elements in the channel extractor 220 via the gain control signal 214 to be discussed later . the digital gain control may provide these signals to the parallel compressor 230 in a like manner as the signal from the digital correction block 330 . alternate embodiments of the signal acquisition block 210 may contain separate signal chains for different frequency bands of interest . for example , in one embodiment , the signal acquisition block 210 may contain one analog signal precondition 300 , analog correction block 310 , and automatic gain control 340 for each band of interest . where the bands of interest are the am and fm bands , the signal acquisition block 210 may contain an am analog signal preconditioner , fm analog signal preconditioner , an am analog correction block , an fm analog correction block , an am analog gain control block , and an fm analog gain control block . similarly , other embodiments may have separate wide - band adcs 320 for each band of interest , for example , one for am , another for fm , and another for short wave . in yet another embodiment , the entire signal chain depicted in fig3 may be duplicated for each band of interest . those of skill in the art will recognize the various features and benefits from using separate signal chains for different frequency bands . in one embodiment of the analog signal preconditioner 300 depicted in fig4 the analog signal preconditioner 300 is comprised of an analog input amplifier 410 , an analog input filter 420 , and a variable gain analog amplifier 430 . the analog input amplifier 400 receives the wide - band signal via connection 200 and is coupled to the analog input filter 420 . the analog input filter 420 is coupled 425 to the variable gain analog amplifier 430 . the variable gain analog amplifier 430 receives an analog gain control signal 214 and outputs an amplified and filtered wide - band signal via connection 212 . the analog input amplifier 410 amplifies the wide - band signal by a predetermined fixed value . an amplified wide - band signal is sent to the analog input filter 420 . the analog input filter 420 filters out unwanted frequencies . for example , in the us , the fm signal band ends at 108 mhz . the analog input filter 420 may be configured to filter out frequencies above 108 mhz . the analog input filter 420 then sends the amplified and filtered wide - band signal to the variable gain analog amplifier 430 . the variable gain analog amplifier 430 selects a gain in response to the analog gain control signal 342 . the variable gain analog amplifier 430 multiplies the wide band signal sent from the analog input filter 420 by the selected gain . [ 0081 ] fig5 illustrates a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the channel extractor 220 . one function of the channel extractor 220 is to demodulate the high - bandwidth digital data stream into one or more individual channels . in one embodiment , the channel extractor 220 contains three main functional blocks : a channel extractor input interface 505 , at least one processing block 1 510 a , and a channel assembler 550 . the processing block may further include an input sample buffer 520 a , an arithmetic engine 530 a , and an output sample buffer 540 a . the output 212 of the signal acquisition stage 210 is coupled to the channel extractor input interface 505 . the channel extractor input interface is coupled to at least one processing block 1 510 a . the input of the processing block is coupled to the input sample buffer 520 a . the input sample buffer is coupled to the arithmetic engine 530 a . the arithmetic engine 530 a is coupled to the output sample buffer 540 a . the output sample buffer 540 a forms the output of the processing block 1 510 a . the output of the processing block 1 510 a is coupled to the channel assembler 550 . the channel assembler 550 provides the output 225 of the channel extractor 220 . in operation , the channel extractor input interface 505 may be used to select two or more time domain samples from the high - bandwidth digital data stream and perform other preparations as further described below . the two or more time domain samples may then be converted to one or more frequency domain samples by processing block 1 510 a . the one or more frequency domain samples are demodulated and assembled into a stream of one or more individual channels by a channel assembler 550 . a more detailed discussion of each block follows . at the input connection 212 , the high - bandwidth digital data stream comprises a digital stream of time domain samples . for example , the stream may be comprised of a stream of samples , t , each having a number of bits dictated by the wide - band a / d converter 320 and the digital correction block 330 such that they form a stream of time domain samples : t 0 , t 1 , t 2 , t 3 , t 4 , t 5 , t 6 , t 7 , t 8 , t 9 , t 10 , t 11 , t 12 , t 13 , t 14 , t 15 , t 16 , t 17 . . . t n . the channel extractor input interface 505 dissects the digital stream of time domain samples into sets of two or more time domain samples , such as t 0 , t 1 , t 2 , t 3 , t 4 , t 5 , t 6 , t 7 , t 8 , for input to the processing block 1 510 a . each time sample , t n , is paired with an imaginary component i n . after pairing the real samples with the imaginary samples , each sample may be multiplied by a window coefficient , w n . the window function may or may not be used depending upon the particular embodiment . in the preferred embodiment , the window function may be any one of the well - known types used in the field of art , such as hamming , von hann , blackman , fejer , or kaiser , as well as others . after the samples and their imaginary counterparts have been multiplied by the window function coefficient , the set of two or more time domain samples and two or more imaginary counterparts are sent to the processing block 610 a . the size of the set of two or more time domain samples varies depending upon bandwidth and resolution constraints . for example , to increase the throughput of the systems , multiple processing blocks may be used in a parallel , pipelined - style architecture . referring to fig5 an example of n processing blocks is shown , where n may be any integer value . for convenience , reference is made to an example of system where n = 4 . in this example , the channel extractor input interface 505 will select a first set of time domain samples from the stream of time domain samples and after adding an imaginary component and multiplying by the window function , the first set of samples is sent to processing block 1 610 a . for instance , if the stream of time domain samples is represented by samples t 0 , t 1 , t 2 , t 3 , t 4 , t 5 , t 6 , t 7 , t 8 , t 9 , t 10 , t 11 , t 12 , t 13 , t 14 , and t 15 then the first set of samples may be represented by t 0 , t 1 , t 2 and t 3 . immediately following the sending of the first set of samples , the channel extractor input interface 505 sends a second set of samples , t 4 , t 5 , t 6 , and t 7 to a processing block 2 510 b . then , the channel extractor input interface 505 sends a third set of samples , t 8 , t 9 , t 10 , and t 11 to processing block 3 510 c . finally , the channel extractor input interface 505 sends a third set of samples , t 12 , t 13 , t 14 , and t 15 to a fourth processing block . in this manner , the stream of time domain samples can be processed through the processing blocks in a fraction of the time required to process the stream of time domain samples through only the processing block 1 510 a . it is noted that more or fewer processing blocks may be used to gain the required throughput while minimizing other considerations such as cost and space . similarly , to increase the performance , e . g . selectivity , noise reduction , or resolution of the channel extractor 220 , the stream of time domain samples may be processed by the processing blocks in a manner in which each sample is processed by more than one processing block and used by the channel assembler 650 for interpolation . for example , consider the time domain samples represented by the series t 0 , t 1 , t 2 , t 3 , t 4 , t 5 , t 6 , and t 7 . the channel extractor input interface 505 may send samples t 0 , t 1 , t 2 , and t 3 to the processing block 1 510 a and samples t 4 , t 5 , t 6 , and t 7 to processing block 3 510 c . processing block 2 510 b would receive samples t 2 , t 3 , t 4 , and t 5 . after the first processing block , in this example processing block 1 510 a , completes processing samples t0 , t 1 , t 2 , and t 3 , the channel extractor input interface 505 will advance the high - bandwidth digital data stream to select as the next group of time domain samples t 6 , t 7 , t 8 , t 9 , t 10 , t 11 , t 12 , and t 13 . processing will continue as previously described . in this manner , all samples after t 1 will be processed by two different processing blocks . this example results in an overlap value of two . the following discussion has assumed a particular size for the two or more time domain samples and an overlap factor of two . it is noted that the size of the two or more time domain samples will vary according to the bandwidth of the frequency band of interest and the individual channels . similarly , overlap factors may be as low as one or as high as three or higher depending on resolution requirements . after the channel extractor input interface 505 processes the high - bandwidth digital data stream , the time domain samples are sent to the processing block 1 510 a . the processing block 1 510 a converts the time domain samples into one or more frequency domain samples . in one embodiment , the conversion is performed through the use of a radix - 2 implementation of a fast fourier transform . the time domain samples are placed in an input sample buffer 520 a . a modulo counter addresses and selects two time domain samples in the input sample buffer 520 a or stored intermediate results , and a coefficient from a coefficient table for processing by an arithmetic engine 530 a . the arithmetic engine 530 a performs butterfly mathematical operations required by the radix - 2 implementation and the final results are placed in the output sample buffer 540 a . the contents of the output sample buffer 540 a are clocked out of the output sample buffer 540 a by the modulo counter to become two or more frequency domain samples . the processing block 1 510 a can be implemented in a number of ways . one function of the processing block 1 510 a is to convert the time domain samples into one or more frequency domain samples . those skilled in the art will recognize that many functions may be used to implement the processing block 1 510 a including discrete fourier transform and fast fourier transform (“ fft ”) functions . these may include implementation such as radix - 2 , radix - 4 , mixed radix , optimization for real inputs and other non - fft techniques including digital filters , filter banks , combination with numerically controlled complex oscillators , or other digital signal processing techniques that are conventional . the frequency domain samples comprise a set of frequency bins , i . e ., brackets of bandwidth of the desired frequency band . for example , if the desired frequency band contains 128 channels , each with a bandwidth of 10 khz , the bandwidth of the desired frequency band is 1 . 28 mhz . to satisfy sampling theorem requirements , the sampling frequency of the wide - band a / d converter 320 is doubled , resulting in a high - bandwidth digital data stream comprising individual digital time domain samples at 2 . 56 mhz . in this example , each input sample buffer 520 a would be loaded with 256 samples from the time domain samples . for this example where the processing block 1 510 a has been implemented using a type of fft known as decimation in frequency , the resulting frequency domain samples will be comprised of a zero - frequency ( e . g . dc ) sample , 127 frequency domain samples , and 128 complex conjugates of the frequency domain samples . at any point after the arithmetic engine 530 a performs the conversion , the complex conjugates may be discarded . the frequency domain samples now resident in the output sample buffer 540 a are sent to the channel assembler 550 . at this point , the frequency domain samples each comprise a complex number containing two values : an in - phase component (“ i ”); and quadrature component , (“ q ”). for example , for a band with 8 channels , the frequency domain samples may be represented as follows : f 0 , f 1 , f 2 , f 3 , f 4 , f 5 , f 6 , f 7 . sample f 2 , for instance , comprises the i - q components for f 2 : i f2 and q f2 . it is noted that the i and q components of the frequency domain samples may be demodulated to obtain a magnitude for each frequency sample . this magnitude of each frequency sample is the instantaneous individual channel magnitude . by combining a stream of sequential channel magnitudes , the audio signal from each individual channel may be constructed . it is noted that demodulation occurs in the channel assembler 550 , which is further described below . demodulation of different types of i - q modulation is well known in the art . for example , fig6 illustrates an embodiment of the channel assembler 550 for demodulating the stream of frequency domain samples . the channel assembler 550 in this embodiment includes a combiner 602 , an i - q demodulator 600 , a dc restoration block 610 , a post demodulation gain control 620 , a sub - channel demultiplexer 630 and a post demultiplexer gain control 640 . the outputs from the processing blocks are coupled to the combiner 602 . the combiner 602 is coupled to the i - q demodulator 600 . the i - q demodulator 600 is coupled to the dc restoration block 610 . the dc restoration block 610 is coupled to the post demodulation gain control 620 . the post demodulation gain control 620 is coupled to the digital gain control signal 214 and the sub - channel demultiplexer 630 . the sub - channel demultiplexer 630 is coupled to the post demultiplexer gain control 640 via two connections . one connection outputs a demodulated aggregate of individual channels and the other outputs a stream of aggregate metadata . the post demultiplexer gain control 640 is coupled to the digital gain control signal 214 , the demodulated aggregate of individual channels output 225 of the channel assembler 550 and the stream of aggregate metadata output 227 of the channel assembler 550 . in operation , the frequency domain samples are received by the combiner 602 . the combiner assembles the frequency domain samples from n processing blocks into a stream of frequency domain samples . the assembly depends upon the configuration of the processing blocks . for example , where the processing blocks are configured in a pipelined style architecture as described above , the combiner may simply interleave the samples sequentially . where the processing blocks are operating with an overlap , the combiner 602 may perform an averaging of overlapped samples or may decimate the samples in order to assemble the stream . then the stream of individual frequency domain samples are sent to the i - q demodulator 600 . for each individual frequency domain sample , e . g ., f , the i - q demodulator 600 calculates the magnitude of the individual channel using the i f and q f components . in an embodiment for am , the individual channel magnitude c f is determined by the formula : after the i - q demodulator 600 determines the individual channel magnitude , a dc offset is corrected in the dc restoration block 610 . similarly , an alternate embodiment may demodulate fm signals . in this case the i - q demodulator 600 would use the following formula to determine the individual channel magnitude : although some fm demodulation techniques do not ordinarily require dc restoration , it is helpful in the present invention to remove the error caused by a difference between the local timing reference and the timing reference for a particular fm station . in general , the station transmitter frequency is specified to high accuracy and the effective tuning frequency derived from the master oscillator of the receiver should be exactly equal . any frequency error between these two sources will produce a dc term in demodulation that may be removed by the dc restoration block 610 . after dc restoration , the magnitude of the channels is measured by the post demodulation gain control 620 . the post - demodulation gain control 620 may either measure individual channels , or measure multiple channels and perform a mathematical computation to determine an appropriate aggregate magnitude . in an alternative embodiment , the post - demodulation gain control 620 may make a combination of individual and multiple channel measurements . then the post - demodulation gain control 620 may select a gain corresponding to the ratio of the magnitude measurement and a target magnitude . the post - demodulation gain control 620 may multiply the stream of individual channels by this gain and may report the measurements or selected gain or a combination of both to the digital gain control 360 via the digital gain control signal 214 . after the post - demodulation gain control 620 , the stream of individual channels is sent to the sub - channel demultiplexer 630 . many individual channels may be comprised of sub - channels within the base channel . for example , in the united states , channels in the fm band include multiple sub - channels of audio signals as well as sub - channels of metadata . this metadata may include text data providing information about the audio signals on the corresponding sub - channels or other communications signals . using the audio sub - channels of the fm band as an example , a stereo fm channel would include at least a l + r and l − r sub - channel . the sub - channel demultiplexer 630 de - multiplexes the l + r , then demodulates a pilot tone and the l − r channel using well known techniques . the sub - channel demultiplexer 630 is also responsible for demodulating any other sub - channels in addition to audio sub - channels . these sub - channels may contain text or other information , e . g . metadata , of use to the file manager 240 , or the user . after demultiplexing of all sub - channels , the sub - channel demultiplexer 630 outputs two streams . one stream includes the audio program in a demodulated aggregate of individual channels , and the other output is a stream of aggregate metadata . both these output streams are sent to the post demultiplexer gain control 640 , which may measure the magnitude of individual sub - channels , an aggregate of multiple sub - channels or a combination . the post demultiplexer gain control 640 may then select a gain based on the ratio of the magnitude measurement and a target magnitude . any of these measurements or values may be reported to the digital gain control 360 via the digital gain control signal 214 . the post demultiplexer gain control 640 may then multiply one or both streams by the gain . the demodulated aggregate of individual channels is then sent to the parallel compressor 230 via connection 225 ; the stream of aggregate metadata is sent directly to the file manager 240 via connection 227 . the parallel compressor 230 receives the demodulated aggregate of individual channels from the channel extractor 200 via connection 225 . the parallel compressor may also receive a stream of alternate input programs from the demultiplexer 237 . the parallel compressor 230 may be activated and controlled by a compression signal 244 from the file manager 240 . the file manager 240 may send such parameters such as desired compression ratio , compression technique , or disable compression in which case the demodulated aggregate of individual channels would pass through the parallel compressor unchanged . similarly , the parallel compressor 230 can be removed from the system completely . the parallel compressor 230 may use any compression technique known in the art , including adpcm , wma , mpeg , and others . in one embodiment , the individual channels will be compressed in the parallel compressor 230 by use of time division multiplexing techniques . alternate embodiments may employ parallel encoding of individual channels . a third embodiment may use a combination of time division multiplexing and parallel encoding schemes . turning to fig7 the file manager 240 comprises a host processor 700 , a user interface 710 , a real time clock 720 , high performance memory 730 , and fixed storage 740 . in an alternative embodiment , the user interface 710 may be external to the file manager 240 . the file manager 240 may be configured to accept inputs from multiple user interfaces such as user interface 710 . further , the real time clock 720 may be external to the file manager 240 in an alternative embodiment . the fixed storage is divided into a number of sections used for different purposes . the embodiment of fixed storage 740 illustrated in fig7 includes a live pause buffer 750 , a content archive 760 , metadata storage 780 , operational instructions and data storage 790 , and a section for miscellaneous storage 770 . it is noted that the sectors and / or partitions of the fixed 740 and removable storage 255 may have predetermined size or may be varied . the file manager 240 receives the stream of compressed audio channels through connection 232 and couples the stream of compressed audio channels to the fixed storage 740 . the stream of compressed audio channels is coupled specifically to the live pause buffer 750 section of the fixed storage 740 . the host processor 700 couples bi - directionally to the fixed storage 740 , the high performance memory 730 , the user interface 710 , and the real time clock 720 . the host processor 700 also couples to the alternate digital input stage 1 245 via connection 247 , the removable storage 255 through connection 257 , the channel extractor 220 through connection 227 , the demultiplexer 237 through connection 239 and the output stages , e . g . output stage 1 290 a through output stage n 290 c , through one or more appropriate connections 242 . the host processor 700 couples to the parallel compressor via connection 244 for sending compression parameters . the file manager 240 receives the stream of compressed audio channels from the parallel compressor 230 . the host processor 700 identifies each program by the channel and time that program was received using the real time clock 720 . the host processor 700 also receives the stream of aggregate metadata from the channel extractor via connection 227 and from the demultiplexer 237 via connection 239 associated with the stream of compressed audio channels and correlated to an external database such as a radio station &# 39 ; s website . the host processor 700 may use this metadata for identification of each program . the user may also enter identifying information corresponding to a program or content through the user interface 710 . additionally , where the parallel compressor 230 is not used to compress the demodulated aggregate of individual channels or the stream of alternate input programs , the file manager 240 may extract the metadata itself instead of relying on the demultiplexer 237 or the channel extractor 220 for metadata extraction . further , the host processor 700 may use voice recognition techniques well understood in the art to identify the broadcast or content by identifying the voice itself or by recognition of the words being spoken or sung or simply to distinguish between speech and song . the identifying information is used to create an index file that is stored separately from the actual content and programs . the index file comprises the identifying information for each program and unit of content and a corresponding pointer . the pointer indicates the point in fixed storage 740 or removable storage 255 where the program or content corresponding to the identifying information may be located . further , the index file may contain snippets of the stored content . these snippets may include a few seconds of the content . the snippets can be accessed and played to provide the listener with a preview of the content . this technique may be useful to the user for scrolling through a list of programs and identifying a program to playback . similarly , the snippets may be used by the file manager to provide an automated scanning function ; the file manager may play a sequence of snippets in time or channels , allowing the user to select a particular program for playback corresponding to the snippet currently being played back . additionally , the index file may include playlist selected by the user . a playlist is a list of content or programs that the user prefers to be played back together and in a certain order . further , the index file may also include items that are flagged for transfer to or download from a gateway device such as a personal computer . for example , a user may flag a particularly poor quality broadcast for download in order to obtain a better quality copy from external sources such as the internet . the index file may also contain a list of pointers to broadcasts and content that match the description of certain categories . for example , the list may contain pointers to songs and other broadcasts involving a particular genre of music . or , the list may contain pointers to categories of content and broadcasts such news or music . these lists may be compiled by the user , automatically compiled by the host processor 700 , through a third party through the gateway device , or a combination of both . the index file may be stored in the metadata storage 780 section of the fixed storage 740 . the host processor 700 may , upon the occurrence of an event such as power - on or reset , cause the index file to be read from the fixed storage into a section of the high performance memory 730 . the high performance memory may be some memory device such as dram that ordinarily has faster access times than the fixed storage 740 . because read and write access may be faster in the high performance memory 730 than the fixed storage 740 , performance advantages will result from copying the index file and other information that will be accessed routinely by the host processor 700 , such as the operational instructions and data for the host processor 700 . the channels are then stored in either fixed storage 740 or removable storage 255 . fixed storage 740 may include any type of fixed storage known in the art including , but not limited to , ram , nvram , flash memory , magnetic storage such as a hard drive or tape , or optical storage . the host processor 700 may also initiate transfers of content and / or data between the fixed storage 740 and removable storage 255 . fixed storage 740 may be partitioned into a number of sections , each section to store a different type of information , content , instructions or broadcasts . the fixed storage 740 may include a live pause buffer 750 . the live pause buffer 750 is a circular time shift buffer . for example , the stream of compressed audio channels may be input directly to the live pause buffer 750 via connection 232 . the live pause buffer 750 will store the stream of compressed audio channels concurrent with the broadcast of the corresponding channels . however , at some point the live pause buffer may become full . at this point , the live pause buffer may continue storing programs and content being presently broadcast by overwriting the oldest programs or content in the live pause buffer 750 . the overwriting may continue indefinitely , without using any additional storage space than that originally allotted for the live pause buffer 750 . for example , the live pause buffer 750 may be sized to hold two hours of broadcasts from every channel or some other user selectable amount of time . after the first two hours have been stored , the live pause buffer 750 will continue storing present broadcasts by overwriting the broadcasts that were stored two hours earlier . in this manner , the last two hours of broadcasts from every channel are available for playback at any given time . the fixed storage 740 may also include a content archive 760 . the content archive 760 may store individual programs or content from other sources for an indefinite period of time . alternatively , the content archive 760 or pointer table entry in the index file may be configured to remove certain programs or content from the content archive 760 after a predetermined period of time elapsed . for example , the content archive 760 may be set to delete content or programs that have been in the content archive for 90 days . the content archive 760 may be used to store programs and content selected by the user for long - term storage . these may include programs and content that the user has placed in a playlist so that as long as the playlist remains active , the content or programs on the playlist will remain in the content archive 760 . the content archive 760 may also be used to store content transferred from the gateway device or from a digital or analog source through the alternate digital input stage 1 245 or the adc 235 or through the appropriate input . the fixed storage 740 may also include a number of other areas for storing information . one area may be for storage of operational instructions and data 790 . this area may be used to store the instructions and other data that the host processor 700 requires for operation of the personal radio recorder . the operational instructions and data 790 may be loaded into the high performance memory 730 upon the occurrence of some event , such as power - on or reset . another area may be the metadata storage 780 . the metadata storage 780 may be used to store the index file and information contained in the sub - channels of various broadcast channels . the metadata area 780 may also be used to store tags and flags . tags may be originated by a user action , whereas flags may be originated from a system level action or embedded in the program itself . tags refer to playlists or bookmarks created by the user and are
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referring in detail to the figures , a cabinet or vault 10 for subterranean storage of electronic equipment is shown . as depicted in fig1 , the cabinet 10 includes an enclosure 11 that is preferably formed as a metal weldment . in a preferred embodiment , the enclosure 11 is a stainless steel weldment . use of a metal , such as stainless steel , advantageously allows the surrounding earth to aid in the dissipation of heat from the vault 10 and , also , advantageously enables the vault 10 to be smaller , without sacrificing strength or equipment security . as a result , the vault 10 can advantageously be placed next to or under vertical structures , such as a light standard , in existing public rights of way . alternatively , the enclosure 11 may be formed of reinforced ultra violate inhibitent plastic injection molded material and may be made to any size necessary to accommodate the electronic equipment to be stored . the enclosure 11 includes vertical side walls 12 coupled to a bottom plate or base 13 . as depicted in fig4 - 6 , interior walls 14 and 15 divide the interior of the enclosure into a main or radio equipment compartment 16 and vent and other equipment compartments 17 and 18 . a top plate 20 ( fig1 ) is coupled to the walls 12 and 14 at the top of the vault 10 and includes an equipment access opening 21 through which telecommunication and other electronic equipment can be loaded into the vault 10 or accessed for repair and maintenance . a lid 24 and rubber gasket 22 , which are discussed in greater detail below , seal the access opening 21 . the equipment compartments 18 and vent air compartments 17 include releasably or hingedly coupled covers or lids 19 and 23 . the covers 19 and 23 may be opened to provide access to the vent and equipment compartments 17 and 18 . the vent compartment lids 23 preferably includes lowered air vents 26 covered with an air permeable mesh , preferably metal , to keep out debris and check valves 25 which are part of a water evacuation system discussed below . the lids 19 and 23 may include a handle ( not shown ), a releasably lockable hinge or shock absorber - type hinge ( not shown ) to maintain the lids 19 and 23 in a generally vertical position , a security locking system ( not shown ), and a magnetic seal similar to those used on refrigeration units ( not shown ). the equipment compartment lids 19 preferably provide locked access for lift control and equipment maintenance . referring to fig2 - 6 , the cabinet 10 of the present invention preferably includes a rack 30 mounted inside the enclosure 11 to place telecommunications equipment in the enclosure 11 and to allow easy access by maintenance personnel when repairs are needed . the rack 30 includes four ( 4 ) generally vertically positioned posts 31 and bottom horizontally disposed frame member 33 , coupled to the posts 31 , and an equipment platform 32 coupled to the posts 31 and disposed above the bottom frame member 33 . a transceiver or radio cabinet 50 and equipment brackets 51 , comprising battery backup and charger 52 and control and load panels and main disconnect switch 53 and the like mounted thereto , are preferably mounted on the platform 32 . the lid 24 is preferably coupled to the posts 31 . the posts 31 , cross - members 33 , platform 32 and lid 24 are preferably sized such that the outer extremities of the rack 30 are positioned closely adjacent to the inner walls of the cabinet 10 . four ( 4 ) guide rails or posts 35 are preferably positioned within the cabinet 10 adjacent the interior walls and the corner posts 31 of the rack 30 to guide the vertical ascent and descent of the rack into and out of the cabinet 10 . as shown in fig4 and 5 , the cabinet 10 preferably includes a scissor - like lift mechanism 40 to raise and lower the rack 30 . the lift mechanism is operably and releasably couplable to the bottom frame member 33 of the rack 30 and is preferably motorized , but may , in the alternative , be spring loaded . the spring force would be sufficient to cause a fully loaded unrestrained rack 30 to rise out of the enclosure 11 as shown in fig5 . the spring force is preferably 25 to 50 pound greater than a fully loaded rack 20 , thus requiring a maintenance worker to apply 25 to 50 pounds of offset downward force to position the rack 30 and electronic equipment in the enclosure 11 . if motorized , controls ( not shown ) would be provided to expand ( see fig5 ) and contract ( see fig4 ) the lift mechanism 40 to raise or lower the rack 30 . in an alternative embodiment , a pulley and weight system , as described in u . s . patent application ser . no . 09 / 614 , 496 , which is incorporated herein by reference , may be substituted for the lift mechanism 40 . the weights are of sufficient weight such that a fully loaded unrestrained rack 30 is caused to rise out of the enclosure 11 . an offset force of 25 to 50 pounds is necessary to reposition the rack 30 in the enclosure 11 . as shown in fig2 and 4 - 6 , rack stops 42 are provided within the enclosure 11 to position the rack 30 within the enclosure . rack arms 44 are coupled to the bottom frame member 33 and are sized and positioned to abut the rack stops 42 to limit the upward and downward travel of the rack 30 . referring to fig4 - 6 , the cabinet 10 includes a water evacuation system which is capable of venting any pooled water from the bottom of cabinet 10 . the evacuation system includes several float - type sump pump 60 located in the bottom of the cabinet 10 . a piping system ( not shown ) extends from the pumps 60 to exhaust valves 25 mounted to the vent compartment lids 17 shown in fig1 and 2 . the exhaust valves 25 are commonly known one - way , pressure - type check valve . although the construction of the cabinet 10 advantageously allows the surrounding earth to aid in the dissipation of heat from the cabinet 10 , this cooling effect may be insufficient in certain climate conditions or as a result of equipment power consumption . a reduction in humidity or condensation within the cabinet may also be desirable for increased component life even when the temperature within the cabinet is being maintained at a desirable level , i . e ., at or below about 100 ° fahrenheit . to accommodate these potential cooling requirements , the cabinet 10 , as shown in fig4 - 9 , includes a cooling system that preferably comprises separate cooling or vent compartments 17 , each sharing a common wall 14 with the radio or main equipment compartment 16 . the cooling compartments 17 comprises a lid or top panel 18 and an opening or cooling vent 70 in the common wall 14 , preferably positioned toward the top of the common wall 14 to allow hot air and moisture to vent from the main compartment 16 to the cooling compartments 17 . the cooling compartment 17 has air vents 26 in the top panel 23 , exposed to surface air . the vents 26 are preferably louvered so that rain or water entering the cooling compartment 17 cannot fall through the opening 70 in the common wall 14 . should rain or other water enter the interior 71 of the cooling compartment 17 such that it rises to the level of the cooling vent 70 , a closure system 72 , as depicted in fig7 and 8 , is provided to seal the cooling vent 70 . the closure system 72 preferably comprises a door 73 and a flotation device 74 . the door 73 is mounted in moveable relation with the common wall 14 and is adapted to seal the cooling vent 70 in the common wall 14 . as shown in fig9 , the door 73 is slidably mounted within a pair of opposing tracks or guides 76 . the tracks 76 are mounted on the common wall 14 and run vertically adjacent to the sides of the cooling vent 70 in the common wall 14 . the tracks 76 preferably extend from the top of the cooling vent opening 70 toward the bottom of the cooling compartment 17 beyond the bottom of the opening 70 . as shown in fig7 and 8 , the door 73 slides or travels up from the bottom of the cooling compartment 17 to completely seal the opening 70 in the common wall 14 as the water level in the interior 71 of the compartment 17 rises . the flotation device 74 comprises a floatable pad 77 attached to the door 73 on the inside 71 of the cooling compartment 17 . preferably , the pad 77 is formed from styrofoam , but may be formed from other suitable material or may comprise an inflatable bladder . the pad 77 is substantially the same height and width as the door 73 and approximately one - inch thick , and preferably has a buoyancy value sufficient to raise the door 73 as water fills the compartment 17 . to increase the surface area and , thus , the buoyancy of the pad 77 , a series of channels or cutouts 78 are formed in the pad 77 . if water floods the cooling compartment 17 , the door 73 simultaneous rises as the water level rises in the interior 71 of the cooling compartment 17 . with the aid of the water forcing the door 73 against the common wall 14 , the door 73 forms a water tight seal between the main compartment 16 and the cooling compartment 17 . however , in the absence of rain or flooding , the door 73 is open , allowing venting of heat and moisture from the cabinet 10 . in an alternative embodiment , the closure mechanism 70 may include a float and pulley system ( not shown ) adapted to raise the door 73 as the water level in the cooling compartment 17 rises . also , a gasket or the like may be positioned between the door 73 and the common wall 14 to further facilitate a water tight seal between the main compartment 16 and the cooling compartment 17 . unlike conventional designs , the vault or cabinet 10 of the present invention can be placed in virtually any city , near any existing vertical structure , e . g ., a light standard , which is mounted on or near a sidewalk , while being fully disguised , and tending to pose no hazards to pedestrians , who might otherwise trip on an exposed unit . the cabinet 10 of the present invention also advantageously includes an equipment flood evacuation system to prevent the expensive and sensitive telecommunication and other electronic equipment housed in the main equipment compartment 16 from becoming submerged and , thus likely destroyed , if the main compartment 16 of the cabinet 10 were to flood with water . the evacuation system preferably includes a flotation device 80 coupled to the rack 30 to raise the rack 30 as the water level within the main compartment 16 rises . preferably , the evacuation system is configured to lift the telecommunication and other electronic equipment ( 50 - 53 ) clear out of the main compartment 16 while leaving a portion of the rack 30 within the compartment . as depicted in fig4 - 6 , the rack flotation device preferably comprises a floatable pad or block 80 disposed between the equipment platform 32 and the bottom frame member 33 of the rack 30 . preferably , the block 80 is formed from styrofoam , but may be formed from other suitable material or may comprise an inflatable bladder . the block 80 preferably has a buoyancy value sufficient to raise a fully loaded rack 30 as water fills the compartment 16 . to increase the surface area and , thus , the buoyancy of the block 80 , a series of channels or cutouts ( not shown ) similar to those discussed in regard to the pad 77 above may be formed in the block . in operation , if water floods the main compartment 16 , the rack 30 simultaneous rises as the water level rises in the interior of the main compartment 16 . with the lid 24 of the cabinet 10 fixed to the rack 30 , the rack 30 can freely rise out of the cabinet 10 without human intervention with aid of the water forcing the rack 30 upward . as with the lift mechanism 40 , the ascent of the rack 30 is guided by the guide rails 35 and limited by the rack stops and arms 42 and 44 . however , in the absence of flooding , the rack 30 remains within the main compartment 16 with the lid 24 pressing against the gasket 22 to form a water tight seal between the exterior of the cabinet 10 and the main compartment 16 . in order to insure a water tight seal , the gasket 22 is preferably about three to six ( 3 to 6 ) inches wide . in an alternative embodiment , the evacuation system may include a float and pulley system ( not shown ) adapted to raise the rack as the water level in the main compartment 16 rises . turning to fig1 and 11 , an alternative embodiment of the vault 100 is depicted . as shown in fig1 , a break - away lid 224 is releasably coupled to the equipment rack 30 allowing the lid 224 to give in the case of contact with something such as someone &# 39 ; s foot or hand . preferably , the break - away lid 224 is attached to the equipment rack 30 with a spring loaded coupling comprising a bolt or other fastener 230 coupled to the lid 224 and a spring 232 coupled to the bolt 230 and rack post 31 . one skilled in the art would recognize that the bolt 230 could be coupled to the post 31 and the spring could be coupled to the bolt 230 and the lid 224 . as depicted in fig1 , the bolt 230 and spring 232 assembly are preferably recessed within the post 31 . the springs 232 are preferably sized to counter weigh the weight of the lid 224 . for instance , if the lid 232 weighed 200 lbs ., the springs 232 would exert a 200 lbs . counter force against the lid 224 . as depicted in fig1 and 12 - 13 , another alternative embodiment of the vault 100 includes a grated lid or top 224 to control heat management of the vault 100 without having to use external or internal cooling systems . the grated lid 224 prevents rain or other water from failing directly into the main chamber 16 and allows air to flow into vault vent chambers 17 and out of the main equipment chamber 16 due to a chimney effect to maintain electronic equipment housed in the vault 100 at its ambient air temperature . to increase the chimney effect , it may be preferable to lower the location of the cooling vents 70 in the common walls 14 . preferably , the grated lid 224 includes a plurality of elongate vents or slots 240 extending the width of the lid 224 . each slot is defined by a pair of vertical walls 244 and 246 and includes a diverter or sloping wall 245 extending off of the first wall 244 and sloping towards the second wall . the diverter 245 diverts water into a gutter or channel 242 extending off of the second wall . the gutter is preferably sloped towards one side of the lid 224 and channels the water toward a sloped faced vault skirt 225 and out or off of the lid 224 . the gutter 242 includes a generally horizontal bottom wall 241 and an upwardly sloping side or retaining wall 243 directed toward the first wall 244 of the vent 240 . alternatively , the gutter 242 may comprise a single curved wall . a slotted plate or connective member 248 is coupled to all of the vertical walls 244 and 246 to form the grated lid 224 . as shown in fig1 , the vault 100 preferably includes a skirt 225 located substantially at grade level . the skirt 225 preferably includes a sloped face 227 to ease transition from grade level to a slightly elevated lid 224 . in the grated lid embodiment , the sloped face 227 and internal wall 223 are preferably perforated to allow water channeled from the gutter 242 of the grated lid 224 to flow off or out of the lid 224 . while the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms , a specific example thereof has been shown in the drawings and is herein described in detail . it should be understood , however , that the invention is not to be limited to the particular form disclosed , but to the contrary , the invention is to cover all modifications , equivalents , and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the appended claims .
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in the following detailed description , reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof , and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced . these embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention , and it is to be understood that structural , logical , or procedural changes may be made to the specific embodiments disclosed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . refer now to fig1 through 3 , which illustrate an embodiment of the present invention . a treadmill 10 has a desired length l and width w of a walking surface 15 . two safety rails 20 are mounted longitudinally along both lateral sides of the treadmill 10 . they are mounted on vertical supports 22 above the treadmill walking surface 15 at a height h within an arm &# 39 ; s reach of the user when the treadmill 10 is in use . the safety rails 20 may be grasped by the user to obtain stability on the treadmill 10 . the safety rails 20 are also used for anchoring a safety belt 25 that may be worn around a user &# 39 ; s waist to inhibit the user from falling down onto the running surface of the treadmill . the safety belt 25 will be described in further detail below . along the left and right lateral sides of the treadmill 10 , there are respective left and right work surfaces 30 , 40 . a control panel 45 for the treadmill 10 is shown recessed into the right work surface 40 , although it may be located elsewhere within arm &# 39 ; s reach of the user . at the front of the treadmill , there is a front work surface 50 . the front work surface 50 may be tilted , as shown in fig2 , in an adjustable fashion such that a user may face work materials at a selected angle . along the perimeter of all work surfaces 30 , 40 , 50 , there is a pencil stop ledge 35 . all of the work surfaces 30 , 40 , 50 are placed at a height z above the surface 15 that is convenient to the user for working . the left and right work surfaces 30 , 40 have a depth v and length y and the front work surface 50 has a depth d and a length x sufficient for placing desired office working materials such as papers , books , office supplies , a telephone , and a computer . fig4 illustrates a plan view of the safety belt 25 in an engaged position . the safety belt 25 has a belt portion 125 for wearing around the user &# 39 ; s waist , and has a first plate 111 that , on a first side , attaches the belt portion 125 to an attachment cord 112 which is anchored to the safety rail 20 . on a second side of the belt portion , padding 113 may be provided to prevent the plate 111 from rubbing against the user and increase the comfort of the user . the safety belt 25 also has a draw string 114 for adjusting the length of the belt portion 125 according to the width of the user &# 39 ; s waist . if the user &# 39 ; s waist is thicker , the draw string 114 may be adjusted to accommodate the user &# 39 ; s waist . if the user &# 39 ; s waist is thinner , the draw string 114 may be pulled to narrow the safety belt 125 to accommodate the user &# 39 ; s waist , and tied to hold the adjustment . the safety belt 25 also includes a locking mechanism 115 attached to a second plate 121 for locking the safety belt onto the user &# 39 ; s waist . to remove the safety belt 25 , the locking mechanism 115 may be disengaged , by flipping the locking mechanism 115 over , as shown in fig5 , thereby releasing the second plate 121 to unlock the safety belt 125 . fig6 through 8 and fig1 are views of a portion of the safety rail 20 . the safety rail 20 has a trench 225 opening to the top surface of the rail 20 . the trench 225 has within it holes 226 at spaced at a predetermined distance p from each other . a j - bracket attachment 130 curls over the rail 20 and has a stopper 135 that engages a lip portion 137 to inhibit the attachment 130 from being entirely removed from the rail 20 during use . the attachment 130 also has a tab 131 that sits within the trench 225 . when the attachment 130 is moved along the rail 20 and placed at a desired location along the rail 20 , the tab 131 sits within a hole 226 in the trench 225 , anchoring the attachment 130 at that location . to move the attachment 130 to a different location along the trench 225 , the attachment 130 may be disengaged by lifting the attachment 130 so that the tab 131 is fully withdrawn from the hole 226 and the attachment 130 may slide along the rail 20 to another hole 226 , as shown in fig9 . fig1 and 12 illustrate another embodiment of the present invention . a treadmill 110 is shown having pipe handrails 120 mounted longitudinally along both lateral sides of the treadmill 110 . the pipe handrails 120 are mounted above the treadmill 110 at a height k . the safety belt 325 is suspended from the handrails 120 by a pair of slide rings 124 which slide along the pipe handrails 120 . when worn around a user &# 39 ; s waist , the safety belt 325 provides additional protection against the user falling down onto the running surface of the treadmill 110 . the safety belt 325 is anchored by the attachment cord 112 to the pipe handrails 120 at a height k sufficient to inhibit the torso of a fallen user from severely impacting the treadmill surface 315 . this embodiment is particularly desirable for inhibiting heavier users from falling down and making injurious bodily contact with the running surface 315 of the treadmill 110 . the dimensions and materials of the attachment cord 112 , the vertical supports 22 , the rails 120 , the rings 124 and the belt 325 , and associated structure are engineered to have sufficient strength to accomplish this purpose . the pipe handrail 120 has an outer diameter φ 1 and may be raised to a height along the treadmill such that it will support a user from falling down onto the surface 315 of the treadmill 110 . the height k and length of the attachment cord 112 may be adjustable for accommodating different size users . for example , the vertical supports 22 may have telescoping sections that can be fixed at different heights with hole and pin arrangements ( not shown ). a slide ring 121 having an inner diameter φ 2 attaches to a safety belt and slides freely along the pipe handrail 120 . the inner diameter φ 2 of slide ring 121 is greater than the outer diameter φ 1 of the pipe handrail 120 . it should be noted that although the pipe handrail 120 and slide ring 121 are both illustrated with a generally circular configuration , the invention is not limited to such a configuration . the pipe handrail may have a square , elliptical , rectangular or other configuration and the slide ring may have the same or a different configuration while maintaining an inner dimension that is larger than the outer dimension of the pipe handrail so that the slide ring may slide back and forth along the pipe handrail . if a computer monitor 55 , other computer accessories , and / or a telephone 56 are desired on the work surfaces 132 , 140 , 150 , the work surfaces 132 , 140 , 150 may optionally be provided with holes through which wiring may connect to a hard drive that may be stored under the work surface or other wall sockets . the work surfaces 132 , 140 , 150 may also be provided with recesses for placement of the surface - top accessories . while various embodiments of the present invention have been described above , it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example , and not limitation . it will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art that various changes in form and detail can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . thus , the present invention should not be limited by any of the above - described exemplary embodiments .
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fig1 is an example of the configuration of a computer system which has a scan - out function as described above . in this figure , 1 is a service processor ( svp ), 2 is a system console interface unit ( sci ), 3 is a central processing unit ( cpu ), 4 is a channel processor ( chp ), 5 is a memory control unit ( mcu ) and 6 is a main memory unit ( msu ). fig2 is an example of the structure of a scan address line and a scan - out data line . in this figure , 2 is an sci , 3 is a cpu , 10 to 12 are scan dividing circuits , 13 is a scan ( or scan - out ) address register ( sadr ), 14 and 15 are multiplexers ( mpx ), 16 is a flip - flop group or gate circuit group to be scanned , 17 is a scan address line and 18 is a scan - out data line . fig3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of this invention . in this figure , 2 to 6 and 13 are the same as those shown in fig1 and fig2 . reference numerals 20 to 22 are parity generators , 23 is a comparator , 24 is a flip - flop , 25 and 26 are adders , 27 is a count register , and 28 is a decoder . reference numerals 29 to 31 are switching gate circuits , 32 and 33 are control gate circuits , 34 is an initial setting address line , 35 is a count value initial setting line , 36 is an error signal line , 37 is a scan address line , and 38 is a clock signal line . reference numeral 39 is a scan address line extended from an other sci and 40 is a parity bit signal line to another sci . these two lines 39 and 40 are provided if there are two sci &# 39 ; s in the computer system . fig4 is a time chart of an embodiment illustrated in fig3 . the scan - out operation will first be described by referring to fig1 and fig2 . the svp 1 shown in fig1 sends a scan - out address to sci 2 in order to read scan - out data . this scan - out address is written into the sadr 13 in sci 2 and then sent to cpu 3 and other units . thereafter , for example in cpu 3 , part of the bits of the scan - out address are input to the multiplexer 15 , which selects one of the scan dividing circuits 10 to 12 . the other part of the bits of the scan - out address are input to a multiplexer 14 in each scan dividing circuit 10 to 12 , thereby selecting the flip - flop group or gate group 16 in the scan dividing circuits 10 to 12 . contents of designated circuits to be diagnosed are sent to sci 2 as scan - out data . this scan - out data is further sent to svp 1 from sci 2 . an embodiment of this invention will be described by referring to fig3 . first , the scan address data is written into the scan address register ( sadr ) from svp 1 through the initial setting addresss line 34 . simultaneously , the contents of the count register 27 is initially set ( for example , at all &# 34 ; 0 &# 39 ; s &# 34 ;) by the count value initial setting line 35 . the data in the scan address register ( sadr ) 13 is input to the parity generator 20 via the switching gate circuit 29 and a corresponding parity bit is generated . this parity bit is then input to one input of the comparator 23 . meanwhile , the data sent from svp 1 through the initial setting address line 34 is input to the parity generator 22 and a corresponding parity bit is generated . this parity bit is input to the other input of comparator 23 . the comparator 23 compares both parity bits in order to check whether data was correctly stored in the scan address register ( sadr ) 13 or not . if there is an error , an error signal indicating mismatching of both parity bits sets to the flip - flop 24 of an error latch circuit . the error signal output by the flip - flop 24 is sent to svp 1 by the error signal line 36 . next , the address of each scan - out circuit to be diagnosed , as defined by 14 bits ( 13 - 15 and 21 - 31 ) in the scan address register ( sadr ) 3 enters the parity generator 20 through the switching gate circuit 29 and the corresponding parity bit is generated . this parity bit is input to the one input of the comparator 23 . simultaneously , this scan - out address is input to the parity generator 21 provided in each of the units cpu 3 , chp 4 , mcu 5 and msu 6 through the switching gate circuit 31 and the corresponding parity bit is generated . the parity bit generated by the parity generator 21 is sent to sci 2 and then input to the other input of the comparator 23 through the switching gate circuit 30 within sci 2 . here , it is compared with the parity bit input from the parity generator 20 . if they do not coincide , an error signal is latched by the flip - flop 24 , an error latch circuit . this error signal is sent to svp 1 through the error signal line 36 . in this embodiment , a count register 27 is composed of 4 bits , the control gate 33 is opened by the clock signal at an interval of 50 ns supplied by the clock signal line 38 , and thereby a count operation is carried out using an adder 26 . when the contents of count register 27 becomes &# 34 ; 0111 &# 34 ;, the set clock signal is generated by the decoder 28 , and the set operation of flip - flop 24 is carried out . when the contents of count register 27 circulates and the carry out signal is generated by the adder 26 , the control gate 32 opens , and the contents of the scan address register ( sadr ) 13 are updated after being incremented by 1 in the adder 25 . thereby , the next scan - out address is generated and sent to each of the units cpu 3 , chp 4 , mcu 5 and msu 6 . thereafter , the scan addresses are sequentially generated in sci 2 in the same way and the scan - out operation is executed . the error check processing of the scan - out address is executed for each transmission of the scan - out address . the time chart of fig4 illustrates the timing of these operations . updating of the scan address register ( sadr ) 13 is carried out every 800 ns which is 50 ns ( clock period )× 16 ( maximum counter value of counter register 27 ). regarding the scan - out data sent from each device , there is a fluctuation in the amount of time which passes until the scan - out data is sent to sci 2 because of physical differences and their position relative to sci 2 . in the case of the example of fig4 the minimum time until transmission of the scan - out data after transmission of the scan - out address is 200 ns and the maximum time is 300 ns . namely , there is a fluctuation of 100 ns . for this reason , as explained above , the set clock signal input to the flip - flop 24 is generated when the value of the count register 27 becomes &# 34 ; 0111 &# 34 ; after transmission of the scan - out address , or after 350 ns . each unit , after receiving a scan - out address , branches the scan address signal as illustrated in fig2 and then supplies the scan address signal to a plurality of circuits . therefore , the error detecting function of a diagnostic circuit can be fulfilled by providing many parity bit generators ( corresponding to parity generator 21 in fig3 ) at the respective branching destinations . as described above , this invention is capable of detecting an error in the output data of the scan - out circuit . therefore , a notable effect can be obtained , namely not only can adequate maintenance work be completed , but also a serious problem due to alternative execution of an instruction using erroneous data can be prevented .
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the present invention will be described below in reference to a slit valve coupled with a transfer chamber and a process chamber . exemplary transfer chambers , process chambers , and load lock chambers are available from akt , a subsidiary of applied materials , inc ., located in santa clara , calif . it is contemplated that the invention is equally applicable to other transfer chambers , processing chambers , and load lock chambers , including those produced by other manufacturers . additionally , it is to be understood that while the description discusses a slit valve coupled with a transfer chamber and a processing chamber , the slit valve may be coupled between any two chambers including transfer chambers , process chambers , load lock chambers , and combinations thereof . fig1 is a schematic diagram of a slit valve 108 disposed between a transfer chamber 102 and a process chamber 104 . a processing system 100 may comprise one or more process chambers 104 coupled to a transfer chamber 102 . a slit valve 108 may be disposed between the transfer chamber 102 and the process chamber 104 . it is to be understood that while only one process chamber 104 has been shown coupled with the transfer chamber 102 , multiple process chambers 104 may be coupled with the transfer chamber 102 . at each point where a process chamber 104 couples with the transfer chamber 102 , a slit valve 108 may be coupled therebetween . similarly , when any two chambers are coupled together , a slit valve 108 may be coupled therebetween . the process chamber 104 may be any suitable process chamber 104 for processing substrates such as a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition ( pecvd ) chamber , a physical vapor deposition ( pvd ) chamber , or other chamber . the substrates processed may be semiconductor substrates , flat panel display substrates , solar panel substrates , or any other substrate . within each process chamber 104 , one or more substrates may be processed . fig2 is a front view of an interface 200 between a slit valve and a transfer chamber looking through the transfer chamber according to one embodiment of the invention . when the slit valve is open , an opening 202 is present between the transfer chamber and the process chamber to permit passage of one or more substrates therebetween . the slit valve may be sealed to the transfer chamber by one or more o - rings 208 . one or more spacers 204 may be present between the transfer chamber and the slit valve . additionally , one or more fasteners 206 may be coupled between the slit valve and the transfer chamber . the one or more fasteners 206 may be disposed along a common axis 210 . fig3 is a front view of an interface 300 between a slit valve and a transfer chamber looking through the transfer chamber in which the slit valve has not been thermally expanded and / or vacuum deformed according to one embodiment of the invention . as noted above , one or more o - rings 306 may be disposed between the slit valve and the transfer chamber to seal the transfer chamber to the slit valve . additionally , one or more spacers 322 may be present between the transfer chamber and the slit valve . the one or more spacers 322 move with the slit valve when the slit valve moves relative to the transfer chamber . the one or more spacers 322 reduce the opportunity for the slit valve and the transfer chamber to rub against each other and generate particles that may contaminate any substrates . when the slit valve is opened , one or more substrates may pass through the opening 302 between the transfer chamber and the processing chamber . one or more fastening mechanisms 304 may additionally couple the transfer chamber to the slit valve . in one embodiment , each fastening mechanism may be aligned with a corresponding spacer 322 . each fastening mechanism 304 may be disposed within a slot 308 , 310 , 312 , 314 , 316 , 318 disposed through the transfer chamber . it is to be understood that while six slots 308 , 310 , 312 , 314 , 316 , 318 have been shown , more or less slots 308 , 310 , 312 , 314 , 316 , 318 may be present . for example , one or more slots may be present below the opening 302 between the process chamber and the transfer chamber . additionally , one or more slots may be present on the other side of the center 320 of the interface 300 . during substrate processing , the processing chamber or adjacent chamber may be heated to a temperature greater than about 300 degrees celsius . due to conduction , the slit valve may also be heated . in one embodiment , the slit valve may be conductively heated to a temperature of about 120 degrees celsius to about 200 degrees celsius . in another embodiment , the slit valve may be conductively heated to a temperature of about 120 degrees celsius to about 130 degrees celsius . because the slit valve is heated , the slit valve may expand . once the slit valve cools , it may then contract . conversely , the transfer chamber , because it may not be directly coupled to the process chamber but instead may be directly coupled to the slit valve , may not experience a significant amount of thermal expansion / contraction . hence , the slit valve may expand and contract relative to the transfer chamber . due to the expansion and contraction of the slit valve relative to the relatively stationary transfer chamber , the slit valve may be permitted to slide along the interface 300 between the transfer chamber and the slit valve . similarly , when a vacuum is drawn in the process chamber , the slit valve may deform relative to the transfer chamber due to the vacuum pressure exerted on the slit valve . due to the thermal expansion / contraction and / or vacuum deformation , the slit valve may expand and / or contract relative to the transfer chamber . thus , the fastening mechanisms 304 and spacers 322 may move with the slit valve as the slit valve expands and contracts relative to the transfer chamber . the further the distance away from the center 320 of the interface 300 , the greater than amount of expansion that the slit valve may have and hence , the greater the amount of movement that the fastening mechanisms 304 and spacers 322 may have . therefore , the slots 308 , 310 , 312 , 314 , 316 , 318 in the transfer chamber may be successively larger the further distance away from the center 320 of the interface 300 . slot 308 closest to the center 320 of the interface 300 has a width represented by arrows a and may have little room for movement of the fastening mechanism 304 due to the proximity of the slot 308 to the center 320 . the center of the fastening mechanism 304 in slot 308 may be positioned a distance g from the center 320 of the interface 300 . slot 310 , which has a width represented by arrows b , may be spaced a greater distance h from the center 320 of the interface 300 than slot 308 . the width b of slot 310 may be greater than the width a of slot 308 . slot 312 , which has a width represented by arrows c , may be spaced a greater distance i from the center 320 of the interface 300 than slot 310 . the width c of slot 312 may be greater then the width b of slot 310 . slot 314 , which has a width represented by arrows d , may be spaced a greater distance j from the center 320 of the interface 300 than slot 312 . the width d of slot 314 may be greater then the width c of slot 312 . slot 316 , which has a width represented by arrows e , may be spaced a greater distance k from the center 320 of the interface 300 than slot 314 . the width e of slot 316 may be greater then the width d of slot 314 . slot 318 , which has a width represented by arrows f , may be spaced a greater distance l from the center 320 of the interface 300 than slot 316 . the width f of slot 318 may be greater then the width e of slot 316 . thus , the further the distance from the center 320 of the interface 300 , the larger the slot . fig4 is a front view of the interface 300 between the slit valve and the transfer chamber of fig3 in which the slit valve has been thermally expanded and / or vacuum deformed according to one embodiment of the invention . the fastening mechanisms 304 have moved relative to the transfer chamber due to the thermal expansion and / or vacuum deformation of the slit valve . the movement of the fastening mechanisms 304 relative to the transfer chamber is shown by the distance that the fastening mechanisms 304 have moved within the slots 310 , 312 , 314 , 316 , 318 of the transfer chamber . the fastening mechanism 304 in slot 308 may not have appreciably moved relative to the transfer chamber due to its proximity to the center 320 of the interface 300 . hence , the fastening mechanism 304 in slot 308 remains substantially at distance g from the center 320 of the interface 300 . however , the fastening mechanisms 304 in each of the other slots 310 , 312 , 314 , 316 , 318 have moved relative to the transfer chamber due to the thermal expansion of the slit valve . the center of the fastening mechanism 304 disposed in slot 310 may be a distance m from the center 320 of the interface 300 . the distance m is greater than the distance h . the center of the fastening mechanism 304 disposed in slot 312 may be a distance n from the center 320 of the interface 300 . the distance n is greater than the distance i . the center of the fastening mechanism 304 disposed in slot 314 may be a distance p from the center 320 of the interface 300 . the distance p is greater than the distance j . the center of the fastening mechanism 304 disposed in slot 316 may be a distance r from the center 320 of the interface 300 . the distance r is greater than the distance k . the center of the fastening mechanism 304 disposed in slot 318 may be a distance s from the center 320 of the interface 300 . the distance s is greater than the distance l . additionally note that the spacers 322 have also moved . the spacers 322 slide along the transfer chamber during expansion / contraction / deformation . by permitting the slit valve to move relative to the transfer chamber , the o - ring 306 may remain sealed to the transfer chamber . absent the ability to move in relation to the transfer chamber , the slit valve may buckle due to the need to expand when conductively heated , damage the o - ring , and unseal from the transfer chamber . fig5 is a cross sectional view of an interface 500 between a transfer chamber 502 and a slit valve 504 according to one embodiment of the invention . an o - ring 508 may be disposed between the transfer chamber 502 and the slit valve 504 . the o - ring 508 may be partially disposed within a groove 518 in the slit valve 504 . one or more spacers 506 may be disposed between the slit valve 504 and the transfer chamber 502 . the one or more spacers 506 may be countersunk into the slit valve 504 and extend a distance t outside the slit valve . the one or more spacers 506 may comprise a low friction and low thermal conductivity material . in one embodiment , the low friction and low thermal conductivity material may comprise ceramics , engineering plastic , polyamide , polyimide , nib coated metal , ws 2 coated metal , and combinations thereof . in one embodiment , the metal comprises stainless steel . the low thermal conductivity of the material reduces the amount of heat conducted from the slit valve to the transfer chamber . the low friction permits the spacers 506 to slide along the side 520 of the transfer chamber that interfaces with the slit valve 504 . the spacer 506 may slide along the side 520 of the transfer chamber 502 when the slit valve 504 moves due to thermal expansion / contraction and / or vacuum deformation . the spacer 506 may also slide along the side 520 of the transfer chamber 502 when the slit valve contracts . the one or more spacers 506 may be disposed on the atmospheric side of the o - ring 508 . because the spacers 506 are on the atmospheric side of the o - ring 508 , any particles generated by the spacers 506 and / or the side 520 of the transfer chamber 502 as the spacers 506 slide along the side 520 of the transfer chamber 502 may not enter into the processing space contained within the transfer chamber 502 and processing chamber and contaminate the process . the spacers 506 may help to maintain a distance t between the transfer chamber 502 and the slit valve 504 . maintaining a distance t between the transfer chamber 502 and the slit valve 504 reduces the likelihood that the slit valve 504 and the transfer chamber 502 may rub against each other when the slit valve 504 thermally expands / contracts and / or vacuum deforms . if the slit valve 504 and the transfer chamber 502 rub against each other , particles may flake off the slit valve 504 , transfer chamber 502 , or both . the particles may contaminate the substrate . the distance t may be set based upon the expected thermal expansion / contraction and / or vacuum deformation of the slit valve 504 . the distance t may be of sufficient distance to permit an effective vacuum seal between the slit valve 504 and the transfer chamber 502 while reducing the likelihood of the transfer chamber 502 and slit valve 504 rubbing against each other . a fastening mechanism 510 may additionally couple the slit valve 504 to the transfer chamber 502 . the fastening mechanism 510 may comprise a threaded portion 516 threadedly coupled with the slit valve 504 . a smooth portion 522 may be disposed within the slot 524 extending through the transfer chamber 502 . the smooth portion 522 may move within the slot 524 as the slit valve 504 thermally expands and / or vacuum deforms and slides along the side 520 of the transfer chamber 502 . the fastening mechanism 510 may comprise a cap portion 512 having a flange portion 514 . the flange portion 514 may rest against a side 526 of the transfer chamber 502 . the flange portion 514 may prevent the fastening mechanism 510 from over tightening and pinching the slit valve 504 to the transfer chamber 502 . the combination of the spacer 506 and the flange 514 resting against a side 526 of the transfer chamber 502 may help to maintain the distance t between the transfer chamber 502 and the slit valve 504 . the combination of the spacer 506 and the flange 514 resting against a side 526 of the transfer chamber 502 may also help to seal the o - ring 508 between the transfer chamber 502 and the slit valve 504 . by compensating for expected thermal expansion / contraction and / or vacuum deformation of the slit valve during processing , a slit valve may not buckle or rub against an adjacent chamber and produce harmful contaminants . without the buckling of the slit valve or rubbing against adjacent chambers , an effective seal may be maintained between the slit valve and the chamber . while the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention , other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof , and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow .
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referring now to fig1 , a pulp pre - processor 10 of the present invention may use three pulp sources 12 , 14 and 16 being generally tanks containing cellulose fibers in water , for example , held in suspension by agitating impellers ( not shown ). each of the pulp sources 12 , 14 and 16 connects by means of pipes 18 to respective metering devices 20 , 22 and 24 which may , for example , be valve and pump combinations or metering pumps operating to control the volume of flow from the pulp sources 12 , 14 and 16 into a mixing cabinet 26 , joined to the metering devices 20 , 22 and 24 by pipes 28 . online pulp fiber analyzers 30 , 31 and 32 sample the pulp flowing through each of pipes 28 from metering devices 20 , 22 and 24 on a real - time basis to provide statistical distributions of fiber parameters including at least one or all of : fiber length , fiber curl and / or fiber coarseness . suitable pulp fiber analyzers 30 , 31 , and 32 may be the “ kajaani fsa online fiber length analyzer ” commercially available from metso automation of helsinki , finland . the operation of pulp fiber analyzers of this type is described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 311 , 550 , hereby incorporated by reference . the mixing cabinet 26 may include a mixing impeller 34 so as to mix and suspend the pulp from each of the pulp sources 12 , 14 , and 16 as metered through metering devices 20 , 22 , and 24 . the combined pulp is then pumped from the cabinet 26 by metering device 36 to the head box of a papermaking machine 38 or a holding tank . a fourth pulp fiber analyzer 40 may sample the pulp exiting the mixing cabinet 26 , for example between the cabinet 26 and metering device 36 to monitor the combined fiber distributions . each of the pulp fiber analyzers 30 , 31 , 32 , and 40 provide signals to a central controller 42 which in turn provides control signals controlling each of metering devices 20 , 22 , 24 , and 36 . the controller 42 may further receive commands from a terminal 44 , for example , defining a desired pulp distribution and variance . a central controller 42 suitable for use in the present invention may be a logix series controller commercially available from rockwell automation of milwaukee , wis ., or other suitable device . referring to fig1 and 2 , in the first embodiment , pulp source 14 may supply recycled paper pulp having varying fiber parameter distribution 56 reflecting a varying source of recycled fiber and affects on the fiber caused by recycling . in this example , pulp sources 12 and 16 provide augmenting pulp sources having distributions 54 and 58 intended to correct the fiber distribution 56 of the pulp of pulp source 14 . for example , pulp sources 12 may be softwood fiber having a relatively higher concentration of long fibers greater than 3 millimeters , whereas pulp source 16 may supply hardwood fiber having a relatively higher concentration of short fibers and longest fibers of around 1 millimeter , meaning that the distribution of fibers in pulp sources 12 is skewed toward longer fibers with respect to the distribution of fibers of pulp source 16 . examples of soft woods include jack pine , ponderosa pine , and redwood . examples of hardwoods include sugar maple , silver birch , and aspen . referring now to fig2 , a controller 42 executes a stored control program 46 that receives a command data set 48 from a user , for example , entered through terminal 44 . the command data set 48 provides , for example , a target distribution 50 showing a desired percent of fibers in each of a number of fiber length bins , for example , at every millimeter from one to seven millimeters . typically , the target distribution 50 will provide for error bands 52 indicating a desired tolerance in the distribution obtained . the controller 42 also receives corresponding distributions 54 , 56 and 58 from each of the pulp fiber analyzers 30 , 31 and 32 , providing histograms counting numbers of fibers in each bin or providing weighted fiber counts ( weighting the fibers according to their representative mass ). in either case , the distributions 54 , 56 , and 58 provide the same domain and range as the desired distribution . the controller will also receive a distribution 60 representing a sampling of the output of the tank from pulp fiber analyzers 40 . as will be understood , this distribution 60 will normally be very close to the target distribution 50 based on the control action of the controller 42 executing the stored control program 46 to provide control signals 62 to each of the metering devices 20 , 22 , and 24 . referring now also to fig3 , the control program 46 starts , as indicated by process block 64 , by accepting the command data set 48 . this command data set 48 may be entered manually based on empirically discovered formulas for paper or may be selected from a pre - existing library of formulas . at process block 64 , the distribution 56 from the online pulp fiber analyzer 31 monitoring the recycled pulp source 14 is read and at succeeding process block 68 , amounts of augmenting pulp from pulp sources 12 and 16 are calculated based on current measurements of those pulps , taken at process block 70 , using online pulp fiber analyzers 30 and 32 . the positioning of the pulp fiber analyzer 31 may be upstream of the metering devices 20 , 22 , and 24 and of the introduction of the pulp into the mixing cabinet 26 to provide for sufficient calculation time to control metering devices 20 , 22 , and 24 for the right augmenting fiber addition the calculation of the necessary amounts of augmenting pulp from pulp sources 12 and 16 may be done by characterizing each of the distributions by one or more moments and using an algebraic decomposition , for example , as described in ring , gerard , j . f . ; bacon , aric j ., “ multiple - component analysis of fiber length distributions ”, tappi journal , vol . 78 , no . 7 , pp . 224 - 231 ( 1997 ). particularly when multiple - augmenting fiber sources are used , other calculation techniques may also be used , for example , those employing hill climbing techniques , or monte carlo or simulated annealing techniques . the predicted distribution of the mixed fibers will be a bin - by - bin summing of the distributions of each of the pulp sources 12 , 14 , and 16 weighted by their percentage representation in the mix established by the control of metering devices 20 , 22 , and 24 . the mix of the pulp from the pulp sources 12 , 14 and 16 may be further adjusted according to the monitored outflow distribution from fiber analyzer 40 per process block 73 to accommodate errors between the target distribution 50 and the output of the fiber analyzer 40 caused by the action of the mixing chamber or other systematic offsets . referring now to fig4 , the calculation of process block 68 produces multiple solutions 74 on a solution surface 72 . these multiple solutions may , for example , lie within the error bands 52 about a given target distribution 50 , or may be the result of different combinations of pulp from different tanks , providing competing solutions . under these circumstances , a particular solution 74 ′ may be selected so as to maximize the amount of recycled fiber used in the stock per process block 76 or alternately to maximize use of the most cost - effective fiber source and to minimize more costly fiber sources . finally , at process block 78 , metering devices 20 , 22 , and 24 are set . upon completion of the setting of the metering devices 20 , 22 , and 24 , the control program 46 cycles again to process block 66 to repeat these steps . metering device 36 may be controlled according to the desired delivery rate of pulp but may also be adjusted to control the dwell time of pulp within the mixing cabinet 26 to improve the mixing as may be determined by monitoring variations in the pulp distribution 60 . in alternative embodiments , other physical fiber parameters such as curl or coarseness maybe be monitored by the pulp fiber analyzers 30 , 31 and 32 instead of fiber length , and pulp sources 12 and 16 may hold pulp sources selected to provide appropriately skewed fiber distributions to allow for correction of curl or coarseness . referring now to fig5 , a simplified embodiment of the invention may , for example , include two pulp sources 14 and 12 and a single pulp fiber analyzer 31 . in this case , the pulp in pulp source 12 is pre - characterized , for example , by pulp fiber analyzer 31 before start of the pre - processing , after which the pulp fiber analyzer 31 is switched over to pulp source 12 for real - time monitoring of the pulp source 14 . the initial distribution of the fibers in pulp source 12 is provided to the controller 42 and it is assumed the pulp from pulp source 12 is essentially homogenous and invariant . otherwise , a similar control strategy as that described above may be adopted , however , with a lesser ability to correct for distribution deficiencies in the recycled pulp source 14 . even so , the simplified pulp pre - processor 10 of fig5 , by providing precise metering of the augmenting pulp from pulp sources 12 , can potentially provide a high - quality and uniform - quality paper pulp with a large percentage of recycled fibers and efficient conservation of un - recycled fibers from pulp source 12 . referring now to fig6 , a multi - dimensional pulp pre - processor 10 may make use of a pulp source 14 and six augmenting pulp sources 12 a through 12 f , each with corresponding metering devices 20 and pulp fiber analyzers 30 , all under the control of controller 42 . in this case , each of the augmenting pulp sources 12 a through 12 f may be selected to have polar distributions of a given physical pulp parameter , for example , long fiber length , short fiber length , high fiber curl , low fiber curl , fine fibers and coarse fibers . the controller 42 may thus affect multiple control loops to correct the distribution of pulp source 14 for any of these parameters . this pulp pre - processor 10 provides bi - directional parameter control and thus potentially can handle a wide range recycled pulp from pulp source 14 providing uniform output pulp while incorporating a large percentage of recycled pulp into the resultant mixed pulp . it will be understood that alternatively , each of the pulp sources 12 a through 12 f may represent different polar combinations of pairs of the parameters so that appropriate combinations of the pulp from these tanks can still effect arbitrary bi - directional correction of any distribution of fiber parameters the pulp sources 12 a through 12 f may be selected from pulps of particular wood species or may , in fact , be pulp sources that have been pre - processed to accentuate the desired characteristics . for example , a pulp source with a fiber length distribution weighted toward long fibers can be prepared through centrifugal separation or other known techniques . it will be understood that the present process is not limited strictly to use with recycled fibers but may also be used to provide for extremely uniform pulp for exacting papermaking processes or to handle variations in un - recycled pulp sources . further it will be recognized that multiple fiber analyzers can in fact be implemented with a single computational or optical unit shared among pulp streams so that separate real time measurements are nevertheless obtained . it is specifically intended that the present invention not be limited to the embodiments and illustrations contained herein , but include modified forms of those embodiments including portions of the embodiments and combinations of elements of different embodiments as come within the scope of the following claims .
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the present invention discloses systems , methods , and devices which eliminate the requirement for a physical rectifier assembly by instead including a full wave rectifier inside an integrated circuit package . the integrated circuit package also has the majority of other necessary circuitry within it . each group of leds is driven by a single integrated circuit that contains enough rectifier capacity for that group of leds . as the physical length of the led light array is expanded for other configurations , the rectifier capacity increases since the integrated circuits contain the rectifier within each , and as the product is scaled larger , the rectification resource expands as required . since the majority of the electronic circuitry is contained within the integrated circuit , inventory parts count , circuit board real estate , and price are reduced . the only limitation on the size of the light ( led ) array is defined by the wire size used within the particular fixture assembly , used to feed ac power forward . the present invention thus removes any restriction due to a fixed power capacity rectifier component . when there is a single fixed power rectifier , it is rated for a particular power rating , which cannot be exceeded . this limits the size of the lighting topology . the light array can be powered by forward fed power lines which are arranged in a ‘ star ’ configuration . a star configuration , in this case , means that all groups are powered in parallel from the ac power source . the invention is also designed for use with an external dimmer . this invention is based on the concept of the use of two main types of components a power conditioning module 56 and “ light modules ” 55 , plus an input connection 52 . the input connection 52 may be an ordinary ac outlet plug , a pair of wires , either stripped or unstripped , or some other type of termination hardware suitable to bring in power to the complete assembly . the power module 56 consists of any line protection components and discrete transient and circuit protection circuitry that is necessary to prevent any damage to any of the invention &# 39 ; s components due to transient voltage excursions that may occasionally occur on an ac power line . the other components , any number of which may be combined together , is a light module 55 (“ cell ”) comprising leds and electronics . light modules 55 may be designed and coupled as required based on the particular size and configuration of the entire light array desired . fig1 shows a string of ‘ n ’ light modules 55 connected to a single power conditioning module 56 . the light modules 55 may , for example , repeat every four inches . physically , each light module can linearly follow the previous light module , or all of the modules can be connected in a parallel ( star ) configuration . power to each light module is provided through the ac power conditioning module 56 via an ac power bus line 53 and an ac power bus return line 54 . the ac power conditioning module 56 may comprise a single surge protection device , such as an mov , and a capacitor mounted across the ac power input or other additional components as required . this power conditioning module 56 protects from potential undesirable over - voltage conditions that may damage the light modules 55 . the two ac power bus lines 53 and 54 extend throughout the entire length of the circuit . if required , short lengths of the array ( groups ) can be fitted with a connector such that multiple sections which consist of a group of light modules 55 can be added , as required for the application , without having to select a different power conditioning module . the value of any fuse can be changed for larger configurations . fig2 illustrates how an led 50 is driven by an ideal current source 52 . a current source may comprise an ideal voltage source in series with a resistor , or it may comprise a voltage source with other types of current - limiting devices , such as feedback controlled transistors . in one embodiment of the present invention , a feedback controlled transistor concept is implemented to power a string of leds with a controlled current source . a feedback controlled current source is a preferred type of current source geometry , rather than a series resistor current source , which does not ensure a fixed value of current , in the event that the line voltage undergoes a power surge . fig3 shows the current path of the ac power 62 which comes in as an alternating current . first , the current passes through a full wave rectifier 57 . then , the current passes through an led array 60 , then through a current controller 64 ( and overdrive protector ), and then through a current sense resistor ( or current monitoring resistor ) 58 , finally returning to the full wave rectifier 57 . the current passing through the current sense resistor 58 creates a voltage , which is fed back 61 to the current controller 64 to reduce the current value to reach a proper quiescent current flow based on the circuit design . thus , the integrated circuit comprises a full wave rectifier 57 and a current controller 64 ( and overdrive protector ) with feedback circuitry 61 . in addition , esd protection ( electrostatic discharge protection ) circuitry 90 is included within the integrated circuit to protect the circuitry in the event of a transient or static discharge during handling . fig4 shows more detail of the feedback ( control ) circuitry 61 shown in fig3 . the voltage developed across the current sense resistor 58 is designated as v f 82 . this developed voltage 82 is applied to an analog inverting stage 66 , and the resulting voltage , designated as v feedback 83 , is applied back to the current controller 64 . as v f increases , v feedback decreases , thus reducing the current passing through the led array 60 , current controller 64 , and current sense resistor 58 . a design incorporating feedback circuitry ( control circuitry ) thus establishes a stabilized current at a pre - determined equilibrium point . the control circuitry may further comprise a voltage inverter transistor circuitry . fig5 is a further view of an embodiment of the invention including details of the circuitry within the current controller 64 . all protection devices have been removed from this view for the purposes of clarity . the current control operation can be divided into four consecutive phases within half ac power &# 39 ; s cycle : the off period , the rising current period , the regulated current period , and the falling current period . the off period occurs when the full wave rectifier 57 voltage is below the total voltage drop across the led array 60 . in this stage , the led current is equal to zero and the mos transistor 67 gate to source voltage decreases based on the specific physical characteristics of the whole circuit and its previous regulated current condition . the rising current period occurs when the full wave rectifier 57 voltage reaches the total voltage drops across the led array 60 plus the mos transistor 67 threshold voltage . at this time , the mos transistor 67 gate to source voltage increases through the pull - up resistor 69 . consequently , the mos transistor 67 current increases until it reaches the regulated current state condition . the regulated current condition is achieved when the majority of the current passing through the led array 60 , the mos transistor 67 , and the current sensing resistor 58 reaches a constant value . in this phase , the current develops a voltage across the current sensing resistor 58 , v f 82 , which forward biases an npn transistor 68 through a resistor 70 . the resulting base current of the npn transistor 68 proportionally increases the collector current supplied by the output voltage of the led array 60 flowing through its pull - up collector resistor 69 , decreasing the rate of change of the v feedback voltage 83 that is then applied to the gate of the mos transistor 67 , which reduces the rate of change of the current flowing in the led array 60 . this circuit configuration results in a constant current equilibrium condition that is mostly characterized by the ratio between the npn transistor &# 39 ; s 68 base to emitter voltage value and the current sensing resistor 58 value . the constant voltage applied at the gate of the mos transistor 67 determine a saturation current through the led array 60 that is controlled and stabilized independent of the instantaneous voltage value applied during the sine wave excursions , and independent of variations due to line voltage fluctuations during this phase . in the last phase , known as the falling current period , the full wave rectifier 57 voltage again reaches a value below the total voltage drop across the led array 60 . at this point , the main circuit current decreases until it reaches the zero value , returning to the off stage . the illustration in fig5 shows the same structure as fig4 , with additional detail shown by actual components illustrated instead of circuit blocks . the inverting stage consists of transistor 68 ( e . g ., a field effect transistor , fet ), the associated collector load resistor 69 , and a base drive resistor 70 . the current controller is the transistor 67 . as the current flow through the led array 60 increases , when the instantaneous sine wave voltage goes up , the current flow through the current sense resistor 58 increases . this increased current flow through the resistor 58 raises the voltage at point 82 . this increased voltage at point 82 increases the base current though transistor 68 . more base current through transistor 68 causes an increased collector current flow through transistor 68 . this increased current flow through it &# 39 ; s ′ collector resistor 69 results in a voltage drop across resistor 69 which causes the value of v feedback 83 to drop . as v feedback 83 drops at the gate of transistor 67 , the current flow through transistor 67 drops . this negative feedback design results in the circuitry quickly attaining a quiescent state for a constant current flow through the led array 60 . as the instantaneous sine wave voltages increases and decreases , this circuitry keeps the current through the led array 60 constant . fig6 shows the circuitry of fig4 and fig5 in even finer detail with the inclusion of an overdrive ( serge ) protection circuit . during normal operation , the voltage is such that there is no current conduction through zener diode 73 and limiting resistor 74 . if there is a dangerous voltage spike , voltage surge or excursion that exceeds the zener breakdown voltage rating of zener diode 73 , the zener diode starts conducting current through resistor 74 . the voltage that develops across resistor 74 and zener diode 73 causes the voltage at the base of transistor 68 to increase . this causes an increase in the base current of transistor 68 . this increased base current in transistor 68 results in an increased collector current in transistor 68 . increased collector current in transistor 68 draws additional current through resistor 69 which increases the voltage drop across resistor 69 . this increased voltage drop across resistor 69 drops the gate voltage of transistor 67 which reduces the current flow through transistor 67 and the led array 60 , preventing damage due to the voltage surge . the overdrive protection circuit &# 39 ; s main function is to clamp the gate voltage of transistor 67 to the source voltage of the mos transistor 67 below the mos breakdown voltage and its power dissipation capability , by saturating the zener diode 73 and a current limiter resistor 74 . in addition , capacitor 72 shunts the feedback transistor 68 . this reduces a transient spike in the v feedback 83 causing the mos transistor 67 to instantaneously turn , which would lead to a heavy flow of current through the circuit . another important feature of the invention is its inherent thermal protection capability . the npn transistor &# 39 ; s 68 location and characteristics in the integrated circuit are designed to reduce the led array &# 39 ; s 60 current when the overall system junction temperature increases , due to the total power dissipation of the system ( full wave rectifier 57 , led array 60 , mos transistor 67 ), above the normal operation condition . the npn transistor &# 39 ; s 68 saturation current depends mostly to its junction temperature and affects its base to emitter voltage ( v be ). for example , the current sensing resistor 58 ( r isense ) is set to 60 ohms , the integrated circuit junction temperature reaches an equilibrium point of 100 ° c . and the npn transistor &# 39 ; s 68 v be is equal to 600 mv when the ambient temperature is 25 ° c . at this point the regulated current value is equal to 10 ma ( 600 mv / 60 ohms ). if the ambient temperature increases to 45 ° c . ( δt = 45 ° c .− 25 ° c .= 20 ° c .) and the npn transistor &# 39 ; s 68 v be temperature coefficient ( v betcoff ) is − 6 mv /° c ., the led array &# 39 ; s 60 regulated current will be reduced to 8 ma as per the following equation : regulated current =[ v be @ 25 ° c . +( v betcoff * δt )]/ r isense =[ 600 mv +(− 6 mv /° c . * 20 ° c . )]/ 60 ohms = 8 ma the decrease in current reduces the overall system power dissipation . in order to optimize this temperature control feature , transistor 68 can be designed in the layout architecture to physically be close or even adjacent to transistor 67 so as transistor 67 heats up , transistor 68 also heats up and will reduce the v be voltage , which will cool down transistor 67 , as transistor 67 reduces its through current . in addition , the current sensing resistor &# 39 ; s 58 temperature coefficient can be used also to enhance the above thermal overload protection schema . this will eventually reach a thermal / electrical equilibrium which will prevent damage from occurring due to an overheat condition , possibly precipitated by environmental temperature change or mounting location effects . fig7 is a more detailed block diagram of the entire apparatus , as shown in fig1 . the ac terminal connector 52 ( e . g ., a line plug ) feeds a fuse device 75 , and then surge protection circuitry 76 is used to ameliorate the effects of voltage transients and esd events . typical surge protection can be a capacitor and an mov across the line after the fuse . an mov is a metal - oxide varistor , which is a two leaded component with a non - linear resistance . at high voltages , the mov has low resistance and at low voltage has a high resistance . when a transient voltage , which is a high voltage , comes through the mov , its resistance decreases and it shunts the high voltage to ground , keeping the light modules 55 from experiencing a high voltage . other types of protection devices can be used which perform the same function . the fuse is used to open up the circuit if there is an input voltage level fault or a component or wiring fault that causes too much current to flow , which would be a fire hazard . a physical fuse or a circuit breaker device can be used to protect the invention by opening and stopping current flow if a current value beyond the design parameters is experienced . since an mov and other devices take a finite time to activate , a capacitor shunting them tends to keep the voltage from surging for a brief time , which is long enough for the other device to activate and protect . in the example in fig7 , there are a total of n modules , where n is a number between 1 and the maximum amount of stages that can be supplied safely by the wiring and fusing . it is to be noted that the use of a fuse is dependent upon the electrical codes for the particular product . the power bus line 53 and power bus return line 54 supply each of the modules . these modules consist of an integrated circuit 63 , which has a current path that flows from the rectified power source within the integrated circuit 63 , through the mos pass transistor 67 , and into an led array 60 . the current then flows to the current sense resistor 58 and back to the power bus return line 54 . in addition , there are some discrete circuit components 77 for protection of the circuitry from rapid current rise , as well as transient and esd protection . each of the light modules 55 are identical to each other but different from the power module 76 . fig8 displays some waveforms that occur during normal circuit operation . trace 78 is the output voltage of the full wave rectifier 57 . the current through the current sense resistor 58 is shown as trace 80 , which shows that there is no current flow during the lower voltage portions of the sine wave . once a threshold voltage , vf leds , is reached , at the point that the total voltage drop across the led array 60 ( σvfi led ) plus the mos transistor 67 threshold voltage ( vmosthr ) is exceeded ( vd total ), the current slowly approaches the quiescent value and is flat even though the sine wave line voltage is increasing . this is due to the feedback nature of the circuitry and its action as a constant current source . current conduction will only occur once the instantaneous sine wave voltage exceeds the sum of voltage drops across the led array 60 . trace 79 shows the drain voltage 85 from the mos transistor 67 ( see fig5 and 6 ). trace 81 shows the source voltage 86 ( see fig5 and 6 ), which reflects the voltage across the current sense resistor 58 . once the input power &# 39 ; s ac waveform has reached a sufficient level such that current can flow through the led array 60 and the circuitry can operate , the source voltage 86 remains relatively constant . this is because it is directly proportional to the current through the current sense resistor 58 . this is the desired type of operation where only a fixed value of current is designed to flow . the circuitry of this invention is compatible with external dimming circuitry . external dimmers operate by adjusting the duty cycle of the current flow for near maximum light output by permitting nearly fulltime current conduction through the light emitter ( led array in this invention ). this gives near maximum brightness of the led array . as the circuit is dimmed , the dimmer control electronics reduces the percentage of time that current is allowed to flow . this is done synchronously with the ac - mains voltage &# 39 ; s sine wave . the less percent of the time that current flows , the dimmer the light appears . typically , the dimmer is switched on during different phases of the sine wave , dependent on the setting of the dimmer control and the desired brightness level of the lamp . for maximum brightness the dimmer circuitry switches on about 25 % ( near 45 ° phase angle ) of the sine wave and stays on to either a complementary angle on the sine wave or until the sine wave &# 39 ; s 180 ° phase angle occurs when the voltage is at its zero crossing point , dependent on the type of dimmer circuit . as the dimmer control is operated to progressively dim the light , the circuitry turns the light on at a later and later phase angle . the more dimming that is desired by the user , the less time the dimmer circuitry allows current to flow through the light , and this reduces the visual brightness of the light . when a dimmer is used with the invention , the invention appears electronically as a constant current load for the dimmer . when the dimmer switches current on , at a particular sine wave phase angle , the invention allows constant current to flow through the led array when the ac voltage is above vd total . the dimmer looks electrically to the invention &# 39 ; s circuitry as a switch that is switching on and off , in synchronism with the main &# 39 ; s sine wave voltage and this switched current flow gets regulated by the invention &# 39 ; s circuitry to a constant current switching on and off through the inventions regulator circuitry and the leds array . another important aspect of the invention is that the inrush current is limited by the internal control circuitry and because there are not large capacitors to charge during the on time stage . fig9 a - 9d show schematics 87 , 88 and physical views 89 , 90 of the leds and led array components . each led assembly 89 is a mid - power , high voltage type of led that consists of a multitude of led junctions assembled into a single physical package . fig9 a shows a typical equivalent circuit for a single assembly 87 , that consists of a group of individual led elements connected together serially so as to yield a higher series voltage drop . fig9 b shows four of the led assemblies connected in series 88 to form an led array 60 , as referred to herein . fig9 c shows the physical appearance 89 of a typical led assembly . fig9 d shows six led assemblies situated in an array 90 suitable for a single light module application , exemplifying another type of led array 60 . all of the leds in each module are chosen to have similar color and brightness by a matching process called binning by the manufacturer , in order to control the consistency of color temperature and illumination over the entire physical product . the present invention thus relates to an integrated circuit for powering an led array , the circuit comprising : a full wave rectifier positioned within said integrated circuit , a field effect transistor ( fet ) for current control , a current monitoring resistor , a surge protection circuit , and a control circuitry , said control circuitry comprising a constant current source and a voltage inverter transistor circuitry . in some aspects , the integrated circuit is further coupled to an led array , forming a light module . in some aspects , the integrated circuit further comprises a connection to one or more light modules . in some aspects , the circuit is modifiable such that a quantity of light modules is adjustable without affecting any type of external full wave rectifier ( since the full wave rectifier exists within each light module containing an integrated circuit itself ). in some aspects , the circuit is powered only by a single power module , regardless of the number of leds or light modules connected . in some aspects , each light module is identical to each other light module . in some aspects , the circuit internally converts an ac voltage to a full wave rectified ac voltage , thus making the circuit suitable for efficient use as an led drive source . in some aspects , the circuit is further coupled to an external dimmer . in some aspects , the circuit operates on an ac voltage . in some aspects , the circuit supplies a constant current to an led array . in some aspects , the circuit further comprises a thermal overload protection circuitry . in some aspects , the circuit further comprises a power bus line and a power bus return line . in some aspects , the circuit further comprises esd protection . in some aspects , the circuit &# 39 ; s surge protection comprises a metal - oxide varistor ( mov ) and a capacitor . in some aspects , the circuit creates a constant current equilibrium condition through the led array ( as described in greater detail above ). the present invention also entails an led strip comprising the integrated circuit described herein . furthermore , the present invention also regards a method of building an integrated circuit for powering one or more led arrays , the method comprising the steps of : positioning a full wave rectifier within an integrated circuit , and positioning a field effect transistor ( fet ) within the same integrated circuit ( thus removing the need for any external full wave rectifier ). in some aspects , the method further comprises connecting a current sense resistor to the integrated circuit . in some aspects , the method further comprises connecting a surge protection circuit to the integrated circuit . in some aspects , the method further comprises connecting a control circuitry to said integrated circuit , where the control circuitry comprises a constant current source and a voltage inverter transistor circuitry . while the present invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments , those of normal skill in the art will appreciate the modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope and the spirit of the present invention . such modifications and variations are envisioned to be within the scope of the appended claims .
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the embodiments disclosed herein are only examples of the many possible advantageous uses and implementations of the innovative teachings presented herein . in general , statements made in the specification of the present application do not necessarily limit any of the various claimed embodiments . moreover , some statements may apply to some inventive features but not to others . in general , unless otherwise indicated , singular elements may be in plural and vice versa with no loss of generality . in the drawings , like numerals refer to like parts through several views . it should be understood that the following description includes the terms “ printer ” and “ printing ” for illustrative purposes and without limitation on the various disclosed embodiments . printing , imprinting , and other types of marking may be conducted by a printer or imprinter without departing from the scope of the disclosed embodiments . types of printing and imprinting may include , but are not limited to , ink printing , laser printing , engraving , and so on . a self - propelled printer , configured to leave markings on a surface , may include one or more wheels , for example , omni - wheels and a controller to control the various functions of the self - propelled printer / imprinter . the controller receives printing data in an appropriate format and renders the printing data for the purposes of printing on the surface . the controller typically receives information regarding the location of a head of the self - propelled printer over the surface . in some embodiments , the controller may be further capable of determining the location of the head on the surface autonomously via sensing devices included in the self - propelled printer . according to an embodiment , the controller causes the motion of the self - propelled printer / imprinter over the surface in an efficient path that avoids unnecessary passage over areas that will not be printed upon as well as passage over recently printed - upon areas . surfaces which may be imprinted upon include , but are not limited to , paper , cloth , floor , tile , a wood , a ceiling , a wall , a window , a glass concrete , and so on . fig1 a through 1d show various stages of an exemplary and non - limiting printing of a page 110 by a self - propelled printer 120 according to an embodiment . in fig1 a , the self - propelled printer 120 is positioned at the upper left corner of the page 110 . it should be noted that the page 110 may be any surface including , but not limited to , paper , cloth , floor , tile , concrete , and so on . as a non - limiting example , the page 110 is a sheet of paper . upon receiving printing instructions , the self - propelled printer 120 begins to move along the page 110 in a downward direction toward the bottom of the page , printing at the maximum possible width of the self - propelled printer 120 . fig1 b shows the self - propelled printer 120 after printing slightly beyond the middle of the left hand side of the page 110 , thereby leaving behind printed area 130 . fig1 c shows the position of the self - propelled printer 120 after printing the entire left side of the page 110 . after printing the entire left side of the page 110 , under the control of a controller ( not shown ) responsible for controlling the motion of the self - propelled printer 120 , the self - propelled printer 120 moves horizontally . after moving horizontally , the self - propelled printer 120 begins printing in the opposite direction , i . e ., toward the top of the page 110 . fig1 d shows the self - propelled printer 120 at its resting point after completion of printing of both side of the page 110 . it should be noted that , in these exemplary figures , the resting point of the self - propelled printer 120 is at the top right of the page 110 , without any limitation on the disclosed embodiments . the self - propelled printer may start or end at any position on the page 110 and move respective thereon to print the entire area to be printed without departing from the disclosed embodiments . moreover , though the directions are described as going from the top of the page downward , then horizontally and upward should not be viewed as a limitation . accordingly , the self - propelled printer 120 may move in multiple or different directions as may be deemed necessary . fig2 a through 2c show an exemplary and non - limiting printing of a page 110 by a self - propelled printer 120 according to an embodiment . the starting position of the self - propelled printer 120 is the same as in the previous example ( i . e ., the top left corner of the page 110 ) as shown in fig2 a . in this case , however , the controller ( not shown ) of the self - propelled printer 120 is instructed to print solely an ellipse 220 on the page 210 . as shown in fig2 b , the controller of the self - propelled printer 120 instructs the self - propelled printer 120 to move toward the position where the ellipse 220 should be printed . according to various embodiments , it is not necessary for the self - propelled printer 120 to move across the entire page systematically and only print when reaching the desired printing location . rather , the self - propelled printer 120 can move directly to the area ( s ) of page 210 to be printed upon , thereby conserving time and energy that would otherwise be spent on moving around the entire page 210 . fig3 illustrates an exemplary and non - limiting block diagram of a self - propelled printer 300 according to an embodiment . in one embodiment , the self - propelled printer 300 comprises a power supply 310 such as , for example , a non - rechargeable battery or a rechargeable battery , that allows for the self - propelled printer 300 to operate without being wired to a power source . however , in other embodiments , power may be supplied from an external power source including , but not limited to , a universal serial bus ( usb ) cable ( not shown ), that may be further used to provide data to the self - propelled printer 300 . the self - propelled printer 300 also includes a processor 320 and a memory 330 . the memory 330 is communicatively connected to the processor 320 by , for example , a bus 380 . this communicative connection allows the processor 320 to read instructions stored in the memory 330 as well as to read data from and write data to the memory 330 . in one embodiment , processing on the self - propelled printer 300 is limited and most of the processing is performed on the device sending the printed material . for example , a smartphone having installed thereon an appropriate driver operative with respect to the self - propelled printer may perform the majority of processing for the self - propelled printer . a transceiver 340 connected to an antenna 345 provides a communication link enabling the processor 320 to receive data therefrom through the bus 380 that is communicatively connected to the transceiver 340 . communication can be accomplished via , e . g ., wifi , bluetooth ®, infrared ( ir ) and other radio frequency ( rf ) communications , and any other wireless communication links . the transceiver 340 may be used in conjunction with a usb cable , for example , as an alternate means of communication , or in place thereof . it should be understood that embodiments lacking the transceiver 340 may be utilized without departing from the scope of the disclosed embodiments . a print head 360 that provides one or more slots for placement of ink cartridges is further connected to the bus . the ink cartridges contain ink that is used for the purpose of printing . ink contained in the ink cartridges may be , but is not limited to , black ink , colored ink , invisible ink , chemicals , medicines , edible ink , etc . it should be noted that the embodiment described with respect to fig3 includes ink cartridges merely for the sake of example and without limitation on the various disclosed embodiments . other forms of marking may be used without departing from the scope of the disclosed embodiments . such forms of marking may or may not come packaged in cartridges . printing is performed under the control of the processor 320 . in another embodiment , instead of cartridges , a user may inject ink into certain cavities of the print head 360 . while fig3 is described with respect to ink cartridges , it is merely described as such for simplicity sake and does not limit any of the various disclosed embodiments . other printing techniques , for example and without limitation , thermal printing , are also possible without departing from the scope of the disclosed embodiments . the advantages of the self - propelled printer 300 become further evident when the motor controls used to control the motion of the self - propelled printer 300 are discussed . specifically , the motors control unit 370 is communicatively connected to the bus 380 and operates under the instructions of the processor 320 . fig4 depicts an exemplary and non - limiting diagram of a top view 400 a and a cross - section view 400 b of an omni - wheel 400 used to control the motion of a self - propelled printer ( e . g ., the self - propelled printer 120 ) according to an embodiment . the omni - wheel 400 is capable of moving in all directions depending on the movement of wheels 410 - 1 through 410 - 8 ( hereinafter referred to individually as a wheel 410 and collectively as wheels 410 ) that are mounted on the body 420 and may contain therein the necessary motors for the operation of the omni - wheel 400 . it should be noted that the embodiment described with respect to fig4 has 8 wheels 410 merely for illustrative purposes and without any limitations on the disclosed embodiments . more or fewer wheels 410 may be used without departing from the scope of the disclosed embodiments . for illustration purposes , the self - propelled printer 300 is mounted on the wheel as shown in fig4 . by causing , for example , wheels 410 - 1 and 410 - 5 to turn in the same direction , the omni - wheel 400 will move in a vertical direction along the paper , while if wheels 410 - 2 and 410 - 6 turn in the same direction , the omni - wheel 400 will move in a diagonal direction . while a single omni - wheel 400 is shown herein , other embodiments are possible where two or more omni - wheels are mounted to the self - propelled printer 300 . returning to fig3 , it is the task of the motors control unit 370 to control the motors that propel the self - propelled printer 300 ( e . g ., the motors of the wheels 410 ). in one embodiment , the self - propelled printer 300 further comprises one or more sensors that enable the self - propelled printer 300 to determine its position including , but not limited to , changes in position with respect to its motion , the location of the print head 360 with respect to the page , and the like . it should be understood that other sensors may be used such as , for example , color sensors to determine the color of the surface upon which the self - propelled printer 300 is operating over . a color sensor may be used , for example , to determine crossing from a printing surface to another surface based on changes in detected colors . while an omni - wheel solution is discussed herein , it should be noted that the invention may be realized using other wheel structures as well as structures such as continuous track mechanisms . such alternative mechanisms should provide the self - propelled printer 300 with the capability of moving in at least x and y directions on a surface . fig5 shows an exemplary and non - limiting flowchart 500 describing the operation of a self - propelled printer ( e . g ., the self - propelled printer 300 ) according to an embodiment . in s 510 , the self - propelled printer receives data for printing . data for printing may include , but is not limited to , the size and shape of area ( s ) on a surface to be printed upon , color ( s ) to be used in printing , a size and shape of the surface to be printed upon , a type of the surface to be printed upon ( e . g ., paper , cloth , etc . ), and so on . in s 520 , the position of a print head ( e . g ., the print head 360 ) of the printer with respect to the surface to be printed upon ( e . g ., the page 110 ) is determined . the determination of the position may be done manually by a user through a user interface , or by using sensors ( e . g ., the sensors 350 ) of the self - propelled printer . the sensors may be motion sensors , navigation sensors , and other sensors used as inputs that have an impact on the guiding of the self - propelled printer 300 . in s 530 , the self - propelled printer 300 renders printing data respective of the data for printing and the position of the print head . the rendering not only determines which ink dots to make on the paper , but also determine an efficient manner of approaching the areas to be printed upon while avoiding unnecessary passage over areas that do not currently require printing . by attempting to approach only areas that will be printed upon , the self - propelling printer may print more quickly and efficiently . as a non - limiting example of efficiently approaching an area to be printed , consider the page 210 as described with respect to fig2 a . the self - propelled printer 120 is located diagonally from the sole area to be printed upon , the ellipse 220 . based on detection of the self - propelled printer 120 &# 39 ; s current location ( the top left corner of the page ), it is determined that the self - propelled printer 120 &# 39 ; s center is one inch north and one inch west of the center of the ellipse 220 . accordingly , it is determined that a direct line to the ellipse 220 would involve moving roughly 1 . 4 inches at a 45 degree angle south from east . once at the location of the ellipse 220 , the self - propelled printer 120 moves so as to mark the ellipse 220 with ink . in s 540 , print instructions are performed by the self - propelled printer . in s 550 , it is checked whether additional printing is necessary and if so execution continues with s 510 ; otherwise , execution terminates . it should be understood that , although the description herein refers to a paper as the surface that is printed upon , other materials such as , for example , a variety of cloths , may also be considered a printing surface . while the embodiments discussed hereinabove were particular to a print head in a self - propelled printer , other embodiments are possible without departing from the scope of the invention . different printing mechanism may be used , including but not limited to thermal printing and laser printing . the self - propelled printer may be further adapted to operate as an imprinter , for example , for the purpose of engraving into a surface rather than printing thereon . surfaces may further vary and include , but are not limited to , paper , cloth , tiles , floors , concrete , and other surfaces capable of being printed or imprinted upon . while an omni - wheel was described herein , other motion capable surfaces are possible such as , but not limited to , a wheel and a traction chain . the various embodiments may be implemented as hardware , firmware , software , or any combination thereof . moreover , the software is preferably implemented as an application program tangibly embodied on a program storage unit or tangible computer readable medium consisting of parts , or of certain devices and / or a combination of devices . the application program may be uploaded to , and executed by , a machine comprising any suitable architecture . preferably , the machine is implemented on a computer platform having hardware such as one or more central processing units (“ cpus ”), a memory , and input / output interfaces . the computer platform may also include an operating system and microinstruction code . the various processes and functions described herein may be either part of the microinstruction code or part of the application program , or any combination thereof , which may be executed by a cpu , whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown . in addition , various other peripheral units may be connected to the computer platform such as an additional data storage unit and a printing unit . all or some of the servers maybe combined into one or more integrated servers . furthermore , a non - transitory computer readable medium is any computer readable medium except for a transitory propagating signal . the display segments and mini - display segments may be shown on a display area that can be a browser or another other appropriate graphical user interface of an application , for example , an internet mobile application , either generic or tailored for the purposes described in detail hereinabove . all examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art , and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions . moreover , all statements herein reciting principles , aspects , and embodiments , as well as specific examples thereof , are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof . additionally , it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future , i . e ., any elements developed that perform the same function , regardless of structure .
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copolyamides of the above polyamide with other polyamide - forming comonomers can also be used herein . these other nylon forming comonomers may be incorporated provided these comonomers do not adversely affect the water solubility of the resulting polyamide . these added comonomers may include other polyamide forming comonomers such as lactams , polyether diamines , polyether diacids , alkylene diamines , and alkylene dicarboxylic acids . the solubility in water of these nylons is influenced not only by the amount of the polyetherdiamines and the nature of the dicarboxylic acids but the molecular weight as well . additives such as heat and uv stabilizers , anti - oxidants , plasticizers , lubricants , and catalyst may be used if desired to enhance the properties of the polymer or aid the polymerization process . those having skill in the art to which this invention pertains will readily appreciate how much and in what manner these additives may be incorporated . the water - soluble packaging articles disclosed herein may be fashioned in any of a variety of forms including without limitation films , bags , pouches , bottles , and jars , and as a binder for water - soluble tablets and briquettes and similar applications . in the latter application , the binder on exposure to water disintegrates , thereby providing for a release of the previously bound material into water . there is also disclosed and claimed herein processes for the manufacture of these various packaging materials . the polyamide described above is formed as a film . the film is then shaped into a container suitable for placement of the chemical or other material of interest to be contained . once the material is deposited into the container , the container is sealed to retain the material within it . those having skill in this field will readily appreciate the various techniques for film formation , and container shaping and sealing . another process disclosed and claimed herein pertains to the manufacture and use of these polyamides as binders for tablets , briquettes and the like . the material to be packaged is presented , after which the polyamide is interspersed therewithin . the resulting product is shaped into a solid formation of interest . formative techniques for the tablets and briquettes are again well understood by those having skill in this field , and generally include the initial development of a paste or slurry and subsequently removing the water and / or applying pressure to provide a solidified material . prior to solidification the material can be shaped in designs and configurations of interest . the nylon polymerization was carried out using standard nylon polymerization process that is well - known in the art ( see kohan , m . i ., “ nylon plastics handbook ” hansen / gardner publications , inc . [ 1995 ] pages 17 – 20 & amp ; 34 – 45 ). as is well known in the art , the stoichiometry of the ingredients was determined and controlled using ph measurements . the molecular weight during polymerization , as indicated by relative viscosity ( rv ), was controlled by controlling ph , use of atmospheric , nitrogen , or vacuum finishing after pressure reduction . usually , the molten polymer is quenched in water and then cut into pellets . however , because these nylons are water - soluble the molten polymer is either allowed to cool under ambient conditions or dropped onto a bed of ground dry ice for cooling . the relative viscosity in formic acid ( rv ) of an 8 . 4 % solution was determined at 25 c using a brookfield viscometer . the solubility in room temperature water ( 22 c ) at 10 % concentration was determined by mixing 10 weight percent of the polymer with 90 weight percent demineralized water and stirring at room temperature . the solution was allowed to sit at room temperature and the solution was observed for any sign of precipitation . in a beaker provided with a stirrer , 300 ml . of demineralized water and 222 . 0 g of triethyleneglycol diamine ( h 2 n — ch 2 — ch 2 — o — ch 2 — ch 2 — o — ch 2 — ch 2 — nh 2 ) were mixed and heated to 60 – 70 c with stirring . to the mixture was added slowly 345 . 0 g dodecanedioic acid . an additional 200 ml of de - mineralized water was added . when all the dodecanedioic acid was dissolved the ph was adjusted to 7 . 15 by addition of 4 . 1 g of triethyleneglycol diamine ( tegd ). the solution was then introduced into a 3 , 785 ml autoclave where the solution was heated slowly until the pressure in the autoclave reached 250 psig . at this point , steam was slowly vented while heating was continued . when the batch temperature reached 225 c , the steam venting was increased so as to lower the pressure to atmospheric pressure in 45 minutes but at a rate such that the batch temperature would continue to increase as it was being concentrated . the polymer was then subjected to 21 . 0 ″ of vacuum for 60 minutes . at the end of 60 minutes the batch temperature was 270 c . the autoclave was then pressured with nitrogen and forced out of the autoclave and into a pan . the polymer was allowed to cool to room temperature . the polymer had an rv of 15 . 7 . using the same procedure ( but with minor variations in temperature , vacuum and hold time as appropriate by those of skill in the art , to obtain the desired molecular weight ) as comparative example a , comparative examples b and c were prepared using the appropriate ingredients . results are shown below . in a beaker provided with a stirrer , 300 ml . of de - mineralized water and 444 . 0 g of tegd were mixed and heated to 60 – 70 c with stirring . to the mixture was added slowly 438 . 0 g of adipic acid . an additional 100 ml of de - mineralized water was added . when all the adipic acid was dissolved the ph was adjusted to 7 . 25 by addition of 7 . 2 g of tegd . the solution was then introduced into a 3 , 785 ml autoclave where the solution was heated slowly until the pressure in the autoclave reached 250 psig . at this point , steam was slowly vented while heating was continued . when the batch temperature reached 225 c , the steam venting was increased so as to lower the pressure to atmospheric pressure in 45 minutes but at rate such that the batch temperature would continue to increase as it was being concentrated . the polymer was then subjected to 19 . 5 ″ of vacuum for 60 minutes . at the end of 60 minutes the batch temperature was 270 c . the autoclave was then pressured with nitrogen and forced out of the autoclave and into a pan . the polymer was allowed to cool to room temperature . the polymer had an rv of 12 . 9 . in a beaker provided with a stirrer , 1997 . 0 g of de - mineralized water and 740 . 0 g of tegd were mixed with stirring . to the mixture was added slowly 730 . 0 g of adipic acid . when all the adipic acid was dissolved 0 . 37 g of sodium hypophosphite monohydrate ( shp monohydrate ) was added . the ph of the salt solution was 7 . 10 . an 830 . 0 g portion of the salt was then introduced into a 3 , 785 ml autoclave where the solution was heated slowly until the pressure in the autoclave reached 250 psig . at this point , steam was slowly vented while heating was continued . when the batch temperature reached 225 c , the steam venting was increased so as to lower the pressure to atmospheric pressure in 45 minutes but at a rate such that the batch temperature would continue to increase as it was being concentrated . the polymer was then held at atmospheric conditions for 20 minutes . at the end of 20 minutes the batch temperature was 255 c . the autoclave was then pressured with nitrogen and forced out of the autoclave and into a pan with ground dry ice . the polymer had an rv of 14 . 0 . example 3 and example 4 were prepared under the same procedure as example 2 with the exception that vacuum was used for the finishing step . the results are shown below . examples 1 to 4 and comparative examples a , b , and c demonstrate that the incorporation of ether amine segments in the polymer alone is not sufficient to achieve water solubility . the proper selection of the dicarboxylic acid structure is necessary to obtain water soluble nylons . in a beaker provided with a stirrer , 300 ml of de - mineralized water and 278 . 2 g of tegd were mixed and heated to 60 – 70 c with stirring . to the mixture was added slowly 274 . 5 g of adipic acid . when the adipic acid has dissolved , 269 . 0 g of caprolactam solution with an 81 . 86 weight percent concentration was added . the ph was then adjusted to 7 . 35 by addition of 4 . 1 g of tegd . the solution was then introduced into a 3 , 785 ml autoclave where the solution was heated slowly until the pressure in the autoclave reached 250 psig . at this point , steam was slowly vented while heating was continued . when the batch temperature reached 225 c , the steam venting was increased so as to lower the pressure to atmospheric pressure in 45 minutes but at a rate such that the batch temperature would continue to increase as it was being concentrated . the polymer was then subjected to 22 . 0 ″ to 22 . 5 ″ of vacuum for 60 minutes . at the end of 60 minutes the batch temperature was 268 c . the autoclave was then pressured with nitrogen and forced out of the autoclave and into a pan . the polymer was allowed to cool to room temperature . the polymer had an rv of 17 . 7 . the results are shown below . ( 2 ) soluble but went to solution much slower than example 5 examples 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , and comparative example d illustrate that the ratio of comonomers affect the solubility of the copolymers in water . example 5 and example 6 also demonstrate that the rv ( molecular weight ) of the polymer also affects the rate of solution . the higher molecular weight results in slower dissolution rate . using the same procedure as in previous examples , and controlling rv as previously discussed herein various copolymers with nylon 66 , 46 , and 2 - methylpetamethylenediamine , 6 were prepared . the results are shown below . examples 9 , 10 , 11 , and comparative examples e , f , g , and h illustrate again that the solubility in water of copolymers is dependent on the type and amount of comonomer used . in a beaker provided with a stirrer , 500 ml of demineralized water and 264 . 0 g of 1 , 2 - bis ( gamma - aminopropoxy ) ethane ( h 2 n — ch 2 — ch 2 — ch 2 — o — ch 2 — ch 2 — o — ch 2 — ch 2 — ch 2 — nh 2 ) were mixed and heated to 60 – 70 c with stirring . to the mixture was added slowly 219 . 0 g of adipic acid . when the adipic acid has dissolved the ph was adjusted to 7 . 12 by adding 26 . 0 g of 1 , 2 - bis ( gamma - aminopropoxy ) ethane ( bgae ) and 5 . 0 g of adipic acid . . those having skill in the art will readily appreciate that different grades of bgae ( and as described later , poe - dpa 220 ) are available , and these have differing levels of monoamines and triamines associated with them . however these byproducts have minor effects in adjusting the ph level so that the ph of interest is readily attained . this may have an effect on the polymerization process , and some adjustments to this process may be necessary to achieve the desirable molecular weight , again as is well appreciated by the person of skill . the solution was then introduced into a 3 , 785 ml autoclave where the solution was heated slowly until the pressure in the autoclave reached 250 psig . at this point , steam was slowly vented while heating was continued . when the batch temperature reached 225 c , the steam venting was increased so as to lower the pressure to atmospheric pressure in 45 minutes but at a rate such that the batch temperature would continue to increase as it was being concentrated . the polymer was then subjected to 21 – 22 ″ of vacuum for 60 minutes . at the end of 60 minutes the batch temperature was 258 c . the autoclave was then pressured with nitrogen and forced out of the autoclave and into a pan . the polymer was allowed to cool to room temperature . the polymer had an rv of 7 . 7 . in a beaker provided with a stirrer , 500 ml of de - mineralized water , 246 . 4 g of bgae , and 82 . 0 g of caprolactam solution with an 82 . 68 weight percent concentration were mixed and heated to 60 – 70 c with stirring . to the mixture was added slowly 204 . 4 g of adipic acid . when the adipic acid has dissolved the ph was adjusted to 7 . 09 by adding 19 . 5 g of bgae . the solution was then introduced into a 3 , 785 ml autoclave where the solution was heated slowly until the pressure in the autoclave reached 250 psig . at this point , steam was slowly vented while heating was continued . when the batch temperature reached 225 c , the steam venting was increased so as to lower the pressure to atmospheric pressure in 45 minutes but at a rate such that the batch temperature would continue to increase as it was being concentrated . the polymer was then subjected to 21 ″ of vacuum for 60 minutes . at the end of 60 minutes the batch temperature was 264 c . the autoclave was then pressured with nitrogen and forced out of the autoclave and into a pan . the polymer was allowed to cool to room temperature . the polymer had an rv of 8 . 7 . in a beaker provided with a stirrer , 500 ml of de - mineralized water , 211 . 2 g of bgae , and 164 . 0 g of caprolactam solution with an 82 . 68 weight percent concentration were mixed and heated to 60 – 70 c with stirring . to the mixture was added slowly 175 . 2 g of adipic acid . when the adipic acid has dissolved the ph was adjusted to 7 . 15 by adding 12 . 0 g of bgae . the solution was then introduced into a 3 , 785 ml autoclave where the solution was heated slowly until the pressure in the autoclave reached 250 psig . at this point , steam was slowly vented while heating was continued . when the batch temperature reached 225 c , the steam venting was increased so as to lower the pressure to atmospheric pressure in 45 minutes but at a rate such that the batch temperature would continue to increase as it was being concentrated . the polymer was then subjected to 18 – 19 ″ of vacuum for 60 minutes . at the end of 60 minutes the batch temperature was 264 c . the autoclave was then pressured with nitrogen and forced out of the autoclave and into a pan . the polymer was allowed to cool to room temperature . the polymer had an rv of 10 . 7 . the results are shown below . examples 12 , 13 , and comparative example i show that replacement of tegd with bgae also affords a water - soluble polyamide . furthermore , copolymers of bgae , 6 behaves similarly with the copolymers of tegd , 6 . in a beaker provided with a stirrer , 300 ml of de - mineralized water and 176 . 0 g of poe - dpa220 were mixed and heated to 60 – 70 c with stirring . this diprimary amine has the following structure ( h 2 n — ch 2 — ch 2 — ch 2 —[ polyoxyethylene ]— ch 2 — ch 2 — ch 2 — nh 2 ) where the polyoxyethylene unit is ( o — ch 2 — ch 2 — o — ch 2 — ch 2 — o ) and has a molecular weight of 220 . to the mixture was added slowly 116 . 8 g of adipic acid . the ph of the solution was 6 . 9 . to the solution was then added 0 . 074 g of sodium hypophosphite monohydrate . the salt solution was then introduced into a 3 , 785 ml autoclave where the solution was heated slowly until the pressure in the autoclave reached 250 psig . at this point , steam was slowly vented while heating was continued . when the batch temperature reached 225 c , the steam venting was increased so as to lower the pressure to atmospheric pressure in 45 minutes but at a rate such that the batch temperature would continue to increase as it was being concentrated . the polymer was then held at atmospheric pressure for 20 minutes . at the end of 20 minutes the batch temperature was 249 c . the autoclave was then pressured with nitrogen and forced out of the autoclave and into a pan of dry ice . the polymer had an rv of 7 . 8 and was soluble in water at room temperature . in a beaker provided with a stirrer , 200 ml of de - mineralized water and 88 . 0 g of poe - dpa220 were mixed and heated to 60 – 70 c with stirring . to the mixture was added slowly 58 . 4 g of adipic acid . the ph of the solution was adjusted to 6 . 72 by addition of 5 . 0 g of poe - dpa220 . to the solution were added 117 . 6 g of a caprolactam solution with a concentration of 74 . 69 weight percent , 186 . 8 g of nylon 6 , 6 salt with a concentration of 31 . 35 weight percent , and 0 . 88 g of sodium hypophosphite monohydrate . the salt solution was then introduced into a 3 , 785 ml autoclave where the solution was heated slowly until the pressure in the autoclave reached 250 psig . at this point , steam was slowly vented while heating was continued . when the batch temperature reached 225 c , the steam venting was increased so as to lower the pressure to atmospheric pressure in 45 minutes but at a rate such that the batch temperature would continue to increase as it was being concentrated . the polymer was then held at atmospheric pressure for 18 minutes . at the end of 18 minutes the batch temperature was 260 c . the autoclave was then pressured with nitrogen and forced out of the autoclave into a pan of dry ice . the polymer had an rv of 12 . 5 . using the same procedure as comparative example j and controlling rv as previously described herein , comparative examples k and l were prepared using poe - dpa514 ( molecular weight of 514 ) and poe - dpa1114 ( molecular weight of 1114 ). the results are shown below . comparative examples j , k , and l are polymers containing polyether amines and are described in u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 323 , 639 and 5 , 688 , 632 as water - soluble . these comparative examples show that the water - soluble nylon described in the u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 323 , 639 and 5 , 688 , 632 are not water soluble and are not useful for the purposes of this invention . the solubility of films in 23 c and 50 c water were determined on compression molded films of tegd , 6 homopolymers and tegd , 6 / 6 copolymers . a 2 ″× 2 ″ sample of the film was attached to a 2 ″× 2 ″ window cut into an aluminum sheet . this was then immersed in 1000 ml of well - stirred water maintained at 23 c and 50 c . the time it takes for the film sample to start disintegrating and the time it takes to completely dissolve are observed and recorded . results are shown below : the results above demonstrate the excellent water solubility of the films . the solubility at 50 c is significantly better than at 22 c . the results of example 25 on the 50 / 50 copolymer with the highest rv demonstrate that solubility is adversely affected by increasing molecular weight . this is a confirmation of the results of example 6 . the various polymers in examples 31 to 48 were prepared using the same procedures already illustrated in examples 1 to 14 and comparative examples a to l but with minor variations in temperature , vacuum and hold time as explained earlier . films of these polymers were then prepared and their solubility in water were determined as in examples 15 to 30 . the results are tabulated below : films were prepared and the solubility was determined as in examples 15 to 30 . the results are shown below : “ mostly dissolved ” means a breakdown of material as observed , but part of the material did not dissolve . the results above show that solubility alone is not sufficient criterion for packaging applications . the rate of dissolution is much more important for the intended packaging applications . it will be readily apparent that any number of variations and modifications to the subject matter disclosed herein can be made , and are contemplated as within the scope and purview of the invention herein .
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when preoxidized fibers are carbonized by the method of the present invention or carbonized in the apparatus of the present invention , the flowing of the decomposition gases produced in the higher - temperature zone into the lower - temperature zone can be prevented or reduced , thereby tar mist deposition on the inner wall surface or fiber surfaces can also be prevented or reduced . furthermore , it is also possible to prevent or reduce the decomposition gases from contacting the surface of the fibers being carbonized . thus , carbon fibers of consistently good quality can be produced over an extended period . the apparatus of the present invention is effectively used for carbonizing preoxidized fibers in a temperature range of about 300 ° to 900 ° c . where the formation of thermal decomposition gases is particularly noticeable . illustrative fibers that can be effectively treated by the method or by the apparatus of the present invention include preoxidized fibers obtained from acrylic or cellulose fibers that generate thermal decomposition gases when they are subjected to the ordinary carbonization step . these fibers are fed to the heating chamber usually in the form of a strand or tow made up of about 100 to 500 , 000 filaments , or in a fabric or nonwoven cloth form . any number of strands or tows may be guided through a single heating furnance at the same time . when fibers are supplied as strands , the apparatus of the present invention is able to increase the strand spacing to about twice as large as that permissible with an apparatus having neither inert gas injecting portion nor gas outlet provided below the gas injection portion . the method and the apparatus of the present invention is hereunder described in greater detail by reference to the accompanying drawings . fig1 is a schematic cross section of one embodiment of the apparatus . in this figure , fibers 1 to be treated are introduced into a heating chamber 2 for carbonizing the fibers . the inner space of the heating chamber 2 serves both as a carbonizing chamber and as the passage way for the fibers . the upper end of the heating chamber is provided with a fiber inlet 3 and is open to air . the lower end of the heating chamber is provided with a fiber outlet 7 which communicates with a sealing mechanism ( not shown ). the heating chamber 2 is surrounded by heating elements 4a , 4b and 4c . at the upper end of the heating chamber , an ascending gas stream establishes a seal to prevent the entrance of the atmosphere into the chamber . it is preferred to provide a gas outlet 5 below the fiber inlet 3 at the upper portion of the chamber . the function of this gas outlet 5 is to maintain an inert gas atmosphere in the interior of the heating chamber 2 by displacing external gases ( e . g . air and water vapor that have entered the chamber through the fiber inlet together with the fibers ) with the ascending flow of the gas that has been introduced into the chamber from below . when the ascending flow of gas introduced into the furnace from below is drawn out of the system through the fiber inlet 3 , the gas in the furnace is quenched at the inlet 3 and its nearby area , whereupon the decomposition gases in the furnace gas form a tar mist which builds up on the surface of the fibers or the fiber inlet to cause various defects such as the breakage of the fibers or the adhesion between filmanets . this can be effectively prevented by disposing the gas outlet 5 between the fiber inlet 3 and the first heating element 4a positioned below it . the gas outlet 5 is provided at such a position ( i . e . distance from the fiber inlet 3 ) that the above - stated two objects are achieved : ( 1 ) the greatest portion of the decomposition gases in the heating chamber is drawn out of the system through the outlet 5 , and ( 2 ) the air in the bundle of fibers introduced into the heating chamber is substantially completely replaced by an inert gas by the time the fibers have travelled from the fiber inlet 3 and the gas outlet 5 . if necessary , the fiber inlet 3 may be heated to prevent the build - up of tar mist in that area . the lower end of the heating chamber is provided with a fiber outlet 7 which communicates with a sealing mechanism ( not shown ). above the fiber outlet 7 is positioned an inert gas inlet 6 . an inert gas is usually supplied in the rate from 0 . 02 - 0 . 50 nm / sec ( calculated to the rate at the normal state ). preoxidized fiber is supplied to the heating chamber having the construction described above , where it is carbonized in the inner space ( carbonizing chamber ) and subsequently recovered through the sealing mechanism at the lower end . the sealing mechanism may be in any suitable from such as a liquid seal , roller seal or an inert gas curtain seal . the fibers coming out of the carbonizing chamber are either wound on a take - up roll or continuously supplied to another furnance held at higher temperatures . the heating elements 4a , 4b and 4c are so designed that the temperature within the heating chamber increases gradually in the travelling direction of the fibers . the stream of inert gas ( which was not drawn out of the chamber ) flows in the heating chamber in the direction opposite the travelling direction of the fibers . in this embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention , inert gas injecting portions 8a and 8b are provided between the inert gas inlet 6 at the bottom of the heating chamber and the gas outlet 5 at the upper portion . each of the inert gas injecting portions may be composed of a single hole ( usually in the form of a horizontally elongated slit ) or it may comprise a plurality of slit - like openings arranged side by side horizontally as shown in fig2 . with reference to fig1 one insert gas injection portion is in the uppermost section of the chamber , one is at substantially the midpoint of the chamber and one is downstream thereof . the insert gas injecting portion may be formed on only one of the two opposing faces of the heating chamber wall , or it may be formed on both walls as shown in fig1 and 2 . more effective removal of decomposition gases and the displacement of the furnance gas with an inert gas may be accompolished by disposing another injecting portion 8c above and in close proximity with the gas outlet 5 as shown in fig1 . fig2 is an enlarged schematic view of inert gas injecting portions 8 and 8 &# 39 ;, gas outlets 10 and 10 &# 39 ;, and the nearby area . suitable inert gases are , for example , nitrogen , argon , helium and mixtures thereof . the inert gas is injected through 8a and 8b after having heated by preheating elements 9a and 9b ( and 9c if injecting portion 8c is also provided ) to the temperature in the furnace or a higher temperature but not higher than the temperature in the furnace by more than 200 ° c . the inert gas injected into the heating chamber through the inert gas injecting portions traverses the heating chamber to form a curtain of inert gas around each fiber thus providing a shield from the gas stream coming up from the lower part of the heating chamber . the ascending internal gas obstructed by the curtain of inert gas is drawn from the system through gas outlets 10a and 10b ( and 5 when 8c is provided ). the interior of the heating chamber is usually held at a pressure of approximately 2 to 100 mmh 2 o , so by connecting the gas outlets 10a , 10b and 5 to pressure regulating valves 11a , 11b and 11c , the pressure within the heating chamber can be held constant as the gas is ejected from these outlets . accordingly , no air will be drawn into the chamber through the fiber inlet 3 . like the inert gas injecting portion ( s ), the gas outlet ( s ) may be provided in one of the opposing faces of the chamber wall ( as in fig1 ) or in both walls ( as in fig2 ). in the former case , the outlet ( s ) may be formed below and in close proximity with the inert gas injecting portion or they may be formed in an area of the chamber wall which is the opposite side to the wall where the injection holes are formed and which is below and in close proximity with the injection holes . the gas outlets are preferably provided at a position as close as possible to the injection holes . if the fibers to be carbonized are in the form having a very great density ( strand spacing in the case of strand ) in the heating chamber , the hole arrangement shown in fig2 is suitable , and if the density is small , any arrangement may be used . referring to fig2 the inert gas injected through the injecting portions 8 , 8 &# 39 ; toward the fibers 1 forms a gaseous curtain around each fiber to obstruct the flow of the ascending gas , which is drawn out of the furnace through outlets 10 and 10 &# 39 ;. at least one layer ( usually more than one layer ) of inert gas injecting portion is formed within the heating chamber , and a number of gaseous curtains equal to number of layer of the injecting portions are formed . one layer of injecting portion is usually formed between each of heating elements 4a , 4b and 4c in the furnace , and at least two layers of injecting portions preferably formed . the purpose of the present invention is satisfactorily achieved by not more than five layers of injecting portions . usually , fibers arranged into one vertical plane are supplied to the chamber . when fibers are supplied to the chamber as strands the strand spacing ( number of strands per meter of width of the fiber plane ) is usually from 50 to 400 strands / m ( provided strands of 1 , 000 - 50 , 000 filaments / strand are used ) and when fibers are supplied as tows they are usually spread to 2 , 000 , 000 to 10 , 000 , 000 denier / m . when fibers are supplied as fabric or non - woven cloth of not more than 500 g / m 2 can be effectively treated in the apparatus of the present invention . the fibers travel through the heating chamber under a tension which is at least sufficient to prevent them from contacting the wall of the chamber . the tension generally ranges from 1 to 600 mg / d , preferably from 50 to 300 mg / d . the travelling speed of the fibers depends on the length of the heating chamber and the temperature within that chamber . the speed usually ranges from 0 . 02 to 0 . 20 m / sec . the inert gas is injected at a flow rate sufficient to permit the ascending gas to be drawn out of the furnace through the gas outlets so that the concentration of the decomposition products in the ascending gas is preferably reduced to less than about 50 %. for this purpose , when the inert gas is injected from the both sides of walls of the chamber wherein strands are arranged side by side , the flow rate of the inert gas in the direction vertical to the fiber surface generally ranges from 0 . 3 to 3 nm / sec , preferably from 0 . 5 to 1 . 5 nm / sec . the inert gas is preferably injected in such a direction that a horizontal gaseous curtain is formed within the heating chamber ; therefore , it is directed into the heating chamber either horizontally or slightly downwardly . part of the inert gas introduced is drawn out of the furnace together with the decomposition gases and the remainder ascends the furnace . in the apparatus of the present invention , the fibers are carbonized by being heated in a temperature which is gradually raised from about 300 ° c . to a temperature of not more than about 950 ° c ., usually , about 900 ° c . when the apparatus of the present invention is used to produce carbon fibers , the decomposition gases formed within the heating chamber can be discharged from the furnace with reduced chance of contacting the fibers being carbonized or the gas in the upper part of the furnace which is in the lower temperature zone . as a result , the amount of the decomposition gases that build up on the surface of the fibers or the wall of the furnace as a tar mist is reduced to such an extent that carbon fibers of good quality can be consistently produced over an extended period . one embodiment of the present invention where carbon fibers are produced from acrylonitrile fibers with the apparatus of fig1 is hereunder described . a strand or tow of preoxidized acrylonitrile fibers having a bonded oxygen content of 6 - 15 wt %, preferably 8 to 12 wt % is fed to the furnace through inlet 3 , which is preferably preheated to 250 °- 350 ° c . to prevent tar deposition . the fibers pass through the upper part of the heating chamber that is being heated usually at approximately a temperature having an incline of from 300 ° to 500 ° c . by heating element 4a , and by the time when they reach the gas outlet 5 , the gas , particularly air , contained in the bundle of fibers is replaced by the internal gas that has been present in the heating chamber , and is then discharged from the system through outlet 5 . the replacement of the confined air by the internal gas must be thorough for the fibers which are usually supplied in the form of the bundle comprising 100 to 500 , 000 filaments . the fibers then pass through a zone where a curtain of an inert gas such as nitrogen , argon or helium is formed . thereafter , they enter a second hot zone which is usually heated to have an incline of a temperature from about 500 ° to 700 ° c . by heating element 4b . the inert gas is preheated to the temperature of the zone below the gas inlet or a higher temperature that does not exceed that temperature by more than 200 ° c . the purpose of this preheating is to prevent the decomposition gases from being quenched by the introduced inert gas to form a mist and for minimizing the fluctuation of the temperature in the furnace . the inert gas should be blown against the fibers gently to prevent the formation of fiber fuzz or fluffs . in the second hot zone , the fibers are subjected to a heat treatment at about 500 °- 700 ° c . for a period of about 10 to 60 seconds . thereafter , they are passed through another curtain of inert gas , then to a third hot zone which is usually heated to a temperature having an incline of from about 750 ° to a temperature of 900 ° c . or more than 900 ° c . but not more than 950 ° c . by heating element 4c . the fibers are retained in this zone for about 5 to 40 seconds . the temperatures provided by heating elements 4a , 4b and 4c vary stepwise but the temperature within the heating tube gradually increases from top to bottom . finally , the fibers are recovered from the system through fiber outlet 7 and a sealing mechanism . a preferred sealing mechanism is the combination of a curtain of nitrogen gas and a roller seal . the recovered fibers that have been carbonized to a small extent ( so called pre - carbonized ) are then fed to a furnace which is held at a higher temperature of about 900 ° to 1 , 500 ° c . in an inert gas atmosphere , and by holding them in that furnace for a period of about 35 to 200 seconds , carbon fibers having the following properties are obtained . ultimate tensile strength : 415 - 450 kg / mm 2 , coefficient of variation ( cv )= 4 % or less the apparatus of the present invention can be operated continuously , for example , for 480 hours , with 300 bundles of 12 , 000 preoxidized filaments being fed simultaneously . the resulting carbon fibers have high quality in that they have few fluffs and cohering filaments and have uniform strength properties . as another advantage , decomposition gases formed in the apparatus can be recovered in high concentration , so the emission gas from the apparatus can be easily disposed in an incinerator . when the same apparatus was operated continuously for about 320 hours without injecting an inert gas into the heating chamber and without drawing the internal gas from the furnace through several outlets , the furnace was partly obstructed by the fiber fluffs and tar mist deposited on the wall of the zone heated at temperatures between 300 ° and 700 ° c . the resulting product was fluffy , had a tensile strength of less than 350 kg / mm 2 ( cv = 9 % or more ) and was not uniform in its strength . fig3 shows an apparatus of another embodiment of the present invention . this apparatus is the same as that shown in fig1 except that the apparatus of fig3 has an additional heating chamber 12 which is provided downwardly in contact with the heating chamber 2 . in the heating chamber 12 further carbonization of the fiber is conducted . in the heating chamber 12 the temperature is kept at a higher temperature than that of the heating chamber 2 . the fibers which have been heated in the heating chamber 2 to a temperature up to 900 °- 950 ° c . are continuously path through the heating chamber 12 . in the heating chamber 12 the fibers are heated in an inert gas atmosphere and at a temperature having a incline of from a temperature higher than the temperature of the heating chamber 2 to a temperature of not more than 1500 ° c . the thus carbonized fibers are recovered from the outlet 7 . a strand ( comprising 12 , 000 filaments ) of fibers prepared from a copolymer consisting of 98 % by weight of acrylonitrile and 2 % by weight of methylacrylate , and having an individual fineness of 0 . 9 denier was preoxidized in the air at 265 ° c . for 0 . 38 hour , at 275 ° c . for 0 . 20 hour and at 283 ° c . for 0 . 15 hour under a tension so that shrinkage of the fiber reached 50 % of the free shrinkage at that temperature . the thus obtained preoxidized fibers had bonded - oxygen of 9 . 8 % by weight . the tow of preoxidized fibers was carbonized using the apparatus shown in fig1 . the strand was fed to the furnace through inlet 3 , which was preheated to 350 ° c . the strand spacing was 140 strands / m . the temperature of the upper zone was heated to have an incline of a temperature of from 300 ° to 500 ° c . by the heating element 4a , in the same manner the middle zone was heated to 500 °- 700 ° c . by the heating element 4b and the lower zone was heated to 700 °- 900 ° c . by the heating element 4c . nitrogen gas was used as the inert gas . the gas which introduced from the gas inlet 6 was heated to 600 ° c ., the gases which were injected from 8c , 8a and 8b were heated to 400 ° c ., 600 ° c . and 750 ° c ., respectively . the flow rate of the gas in the chamber 2 was 0 . 15 nm / sec . flow rates at fiber surfaces at 8c , 8a and 8b were 1 . 00 nm / sec , 0 . 75 nm / sec and 0 . 50 nm / sec , respectively . the carbonization of the fiber was conducted under a tension of 80 mg / d . the speed of the fiber was 0 . 11 m / sec and the residence time was 66 sec . the interior pressure of the heating chamber was maintained at 3 - 7 mmh 2 o and decomposition gases were discharged from gas outlets 10a , 10b and 5 . the recovered fibers that have been carbonized ( pre - carbonized ) were then fed to a furnace which was heated to a temperature having an incline of from 900 ° to 1420 ° c . and which was kept under n 2 gas atmosphere , and the fibers were held in that furnace for 60 seconds . for comparison the same experiment was conducted except that the inert gas was not injected from 8a , 8b and 8c and the decomposition gas was not discharged from 10a and 10b . the thus obtained carbon fibers had the following properties as shown in the following table . ______________________________________ the present invention comparison______________________________________tensile strength 450 kg / mm . sup . 2 350 kg / mm . sup . 2 ( kg / mm . sup . 2 ) tensile modulus of 24 . 0 × 10 . sup . 3 24 . 0 × 10 . sup . 3 kg / mm . sup . 2elasticity ( kg / mm . sup . 2 ) kg / mm . sup . 2elongation at failure 1 . 88 1 . 46continuous stable more than about 200 hoursmanufacturing period 480 hours ( period during whichcontinuous manufacturingcarbon fibers can beconducted without causingfuzzy strands or breakageof fibers ) ______________________________________ while the invention has been described in detail and with reference to specific embodiments thereof , it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope thereof .
| 3 |
a description will now be given , with reference to fig1 , of an interposer , which is a semiconductor device substrate according to a first embodiment of the present invention . fig1 is an enlarged cross - sectional view of the interposer 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention . the interposer 1 shown in fig1 comprises a silicone substrate 2 , a multilayer wiring layer 4 formed on the top surface of the silicone substrate 2 and a plurality of mounting terminals 6 projected from the undersurface of the silicone substrate 2 . a semiconductor element is mounted on the upper side of the wiring layer 4 of the interposer 1 so that a semiconductor package is formed . the semiconductor package is flip - chip mounted onto a circuit board via the mounting terminals 6 that protrude from the undersurface of the silicone substrate 2 . the mounting terminals 6 are formed of a conductive layer , and the outside configuration thereof is a pyramidal shape as shown in fig2 . the top part of the pyramidal shape is projected from the undersurface of the silicone substrate 2 . each of the mounting terminals 6 has a configuration corresponding to a configuration ( a reverse pyramidal shape ) of a recess , which is obtained by a difference in the etching rate between the plane ( 111 ) and other planes , as shown in fig3 a and 3b , by etching the silicone substrate 2 from the plane ( 100 ) side . a method of forming the mounting terminals 6 is explained in detail later , the multilayer wiring layer 4 formed on the top surface side of the silicone substrate 2 has a multilayer structure containing conductive layers 8 - 1 , 8 - 2 and 8 - 3 formed as wiring patterns and insulating layers 10 - 1 , 10 - 2 , 10 - 3 and 10 - 4 which insulate between conductive layers . the conductive layers 8 - 1 , 8 - 2 and 8 - 3 and a conductive layer 6 - 1 which extends from the root parts of the mounting terminals 6 are connected by vias 12 . thereby , connection pads 14 formed in the conductive layer 8 - 3 of the uppermost layer are electrically connected to the corresponding mounting terminals 6 . it should be noted that the multilayer wiring structure of the above - mentioned multilayer wiring layer 4 is the same as a multilayer wiring structure of an existing organic fine substrate , and the detailed explanation thereof will be omitted . additionally , a silicone oxide film 16 is formed as an insulating layer on the top surface of the silicon substrate and an inner surface of each recess in which the mounting terminal is formed . the silicone oxide film 18 is also formed as an insulating film on the undersurface of the silicone substrate 2 . it should be noted that an organic insulating film may be formed instead of the silicone oxide film . it should be noted that , in the present embodiment , the thickness of the silicone substrate 2 is about 30 μm , and the thickness of the conductive layer which constitutes the mounting terminal 6 is equal to or greater than 5 μm . the pitch of the mounting terminals 6 is about 200 μm ( 150 μm ), and the projecting length of the end of each of the mounting terminals 6 from the back surface of the silicone substrate 2 is about 40 μm . a description will now be given , with reference to fig4 and fig5 a through 5i , of a manufacturing method of the interposer 1 according to the present embodiment . fig4 is an illustration for explaining a manufacturing process of the interposer 1 . fig5 a through 5i are cross - sectional views of the interposer 1 in the steps shown in fig4 . first , the silicon substrate of a thickness of 650 mc having a silicon oxide film thereon is prepared , and a resist layer is formed , in step 1 , on a top surface of the silicon substrate . then , openings corresponding to a configuration of each recess 2 a in which the mounting terminal 6 is formed by patterning the resist layer . next , in step 2 , the silicon substrate 2 is etched using etchant such as 40 % koh solution so as to form the recesses 2 a ( refer to fig5 a ). in the present embodiment , the silicone substrate 2 having a surface parallel to the crystal plane ( 001 ) is used . therefore , when the silicon substrate 2 is etched from a front surface side , the recesses 2 a having a reverse pyramidal shape are formed due to the difference in the etching rate between the crystal plane ( 111 ) and other crystal planes of the silicone substrate ( for example , ( 110 ):( 111 )= 180 : 1 ). next , in step 3 , the resist is removed , and the silicon oxide film ( sio 2 ) is formed , in step 4 , as an insulating layer on the front surface of the silicon substrate 2 . since the silicon oxide film is formed by heat treatment , the silicon oxide film is formed on the entire surface of the silicon substrate 2 including the front surface , inner surfaces of the recesses 2 a and the back surface of the silicon substrate 2 . the formation of the silicon oxide film may be performed by a chemical vapor deposition ( cvd ) method . then , in step 5 , a seed metal layer of a thickness of , for example , 1 μm or less is formed on the silicon oxide film formed on the front surface of the silicon substrate 2 and the inner surfaces of the recesses 2 a by sputtering or electroless plating ( refer to fig5 b ). the seed metal layer is preferably formed by sputtering of chromium ( cr ) or titanium ( ti ). next , in step 6 , a resist layer is formed on the seed metal layer and the resist layer is patternized so that the mounting terminals 6 and the conductive layer 6 - 1 are formed . then , in step 7 , a conductive layer which is made of a metal is formed on the seed metal layer . in the present embodiment , the conductive layer is formed of copper by cu electrolytic plating ( refer to fig4 c ). the conductive layer corresponds to the mounting terminals 6 and the conductive layer 6 - 1 , and the thickness of the conductive layer is about 5 μm . since the conductive layer is formed along the inner surface of each recess 2 a , the outside configuration of the mounting terminal 6 becomes pyramidal shape . next , the resist is removed in step 8 , and the seed metal layer which exists under the removed resist is removed by etching in step 9 . since the seed metal layer has a small thickness , light etching may be sufficient . then , in step 10 , an insulating layer 10 - 1 is formed on the front surface side of the silicon substrate 2 , and through holes are formed at positions where the vias 12 are formed ( refer to fig5 e ). the insulating layer 10 - 1 is formed by spin coating of polyimide or benzo - cyclo - butene ( bcb ). next , in step 11 , a seed metal layer is formed by sputtering on the insulating layer 10 - 1 , and a resist layer is formed and patternized on the seed metal layer in step 12 . then , in step 13 , a conductive layer 8 - 1 which corresponds to a circuit pattern is formed by metal plating ( copper electrolytic plating ). at this time , the vias 12 which connect electrically the conductive layer 8 - 1 and the conductive layer 6 - 1 are also formed simultaneously . then , the resist is removed in step 14 and the seed metal is etched in step 15 ( refer to fig5 f ). the multilayer wiring layer 4 is formed by repeating the above - mentioned steps 10 through 15 ( refer to fig5 g ). after forming the necessary multilayer structure , nickel plating and gold plating are applied , in step 17 , to connection pads 14 formed in the uppermost layer ( a conductive layer 8 - 3 in the present embodiment .). next , in step 17 , the back surface of the silicon substrate 2 is ground using an abrasive or a grinding stone ( back grinding ). at this time , the grinding is proceeded slightly before the top ends of the mounting terminals 6 formed in the silicone substrate 2 . then , in step 18 , only the silicon substrate 2 and the silicon oxide film are selectively removed by dry etching using a plasma gas so as to expose the top ends of the mounting terminals 6 ( refer to fig5 h ). in this process , the silicon oxide film ( which was formed in step 4 ) adhering to the top ends of the mounting terminals 6 is also removed simultaneously . additionally , the thickness of the silicon substrate 2 is finally set to about 30 μm . then , in step 19 , a silicon oxide film 18 as an insulating film is formed on the back surface of the silicon substrate 2 by cvd . in the above - mentioned process , in order to form a plurality of the interposers 1 on a wafer - like silicon substrate 2 collectively , the interposer 1 shown in fig1 is completed by dicing the silicon substrate 2 so as to individualize the interposer 1 . here , as shown in fig6 a , the silicon substrate 2 may be in a state where the back surface is exposed without forming the silicon oxide film 18 in step 19 . the reason for forming the insulating film in step 19 is for avoiding a short circuit between the exposed top ends of the mounting terminals 6 and the back surface of the silicon substrate 2 . however , since the silicon oxide film 16 is interposed as an insulating layer between the mounting terminals 6 and the silicon substrate 2 , the insulation can be maintained at certain level even if the back surface of the silicon substrate 2 is not covered by the insulating layer . moreover , as shown in fig6 b , an organic insulating film 18 a may be formed by a spin - coating method or the like instead of the silicone oxide film 18 . a description will now be given of an example of forming a semiconductor package using the above - mentioned interposer 1 . fig7 is a cross - sectional view of a semiconductor package , which is formed by mounting a semiconductor device to the mounting terminals 6 of the interposer 1 . solder bumps 22 are formed on electrode terminals 20 a of the semiconductor device 20 , and the solder bumps 22 are joined to the mounting terminals 6 of the interposer 1 . since each of the mounting terminals is the top end of the pyramid and is made sharp , the mounting terminals 6 can be made protrude into the solder bumps 22 by merely pushing the solder bump 22 , thereby achieving a good electric contact . it should be noted that gold bumps may be used instead of the solder bumps . in this state , an under - fill material 24 is filled between the interposer 1 and the semiconductor device 20 so as to fix the interposer 1 to the semiconductor device 20 . moreover , as shown in fig8 , the mounting terminals 6 may be directly connected to electrode pads 20 a of the semiconductor device 20 . in this case , a soft metal film is used for the metal ( mounting terminals 6 ) on the electrode surface , and the interposer 1 is fixed by the under - fill material after the soft metal film is brought into contact with the electrode pads 20 . even in this case , a good electric contact can be obtained between the mounting terminals 6 and the electrode pads 20 due to the action of the mounting terminals 6 having sharp top ends . furthermore , the semiconductor package shown in fig7 and 8 can be further mounted on a package substrate 30 so as to form a semiconductor package . fig9 is a cross - sectional view of the semiconductor package , which is formed by mounting the semiconductor package of fig7 onto the package substrate 30 . as for the package substrate 30 , various substrates can be used such as a glass ceramic substrate , an alumina substrate , a build - up substrate , an fr - 4 substrate and an organic substrate like a bt substrate . moreover , after the interposer 1 as a relay substrate is mounted on the package substrate 30 , the semiconductor package containing the interposer 1 is fixed to the package substrate 30 by filling an under - fill material 28 between the interposer 1 and the package substrate 30 . as shown in fig9 , the semiconductor package can be formed by using the interposer 1 as a relay substrate without providing fine wirings on the package substrate even if the number of electrode pads of the semiconductor element is large and the electrode pads have fine structure . fig1 is a cross - sectional view of a semiconductor package , which is formed by flip - chip mounting the semiconductor device 20 on the side of the connection pads 14 of the interposer 1 . the electrode pads 20 a of the semiconductor device 20 and the connection pads 14 of the interposer 1 are connected to each other by the solder ball 26 . the solder balls 26 may be previously provided to the electrode pads 20 a of the semiconductor device 20 , or may be provided to the connection pads 14 of the interposer 1 . in the case of the semiconductor package shown in fig1 , the semiconductor package is mounted to a circuit board such as a motherboard using the mounting terminals 6 . fig1 is a cross - sectional view of the semiconductor package , which is formed by wire - bonding the semiconductor device 20 to the connection pads 14 of the interposer 1 . the semiconductor device 20 is mounted on the multilayer wiring layer 4 of the interposer 1 in a face - up state and is fixed by a silver paste 32 or the like . then , the electrode pad 20 a of the semiconductor device 20 and the connection pads 14 of the interposer 1 are electrically connected to each other by bonding wires 34 such as gold wires . although the semiconductor device 20 and the gold wires 34 are encapsulated by a bonding seal resin 36 , it can be encapsulated by transfer mold method . it should be noted that , although fig1 and 11 show the examples in which a single semiconductor element is mounted , a plurality of semiconductor elements may be mounted . fig1 is a cross - sectional view of a semiconductor package , which is formed by mounting the semiconductor package shown in fig1 further to the package substrate 30 . in the example shown in fig1 , the mounting terminals 6 of the interposer 1 and the connection pads 30 a of the package substrate 30 are connected via solder bumps 38 . the solder bumps 38 may be provided to the mounting terminals 6 beforehand , or provided to the connection pads 30 a of the package substrate 30 . moreover , gold ( au ) bumps may be used instead of the solder bumps . by forming the solder bumps 38 on the connection pads 30 a beforehand , sufficient electrical connection can be obtained only by pressing the mounting terminals 6 onto the solder bumps so as to protrude the ends of the mounting terminals 6 into the solder bumps . fig1 is a cross - sectional view of the semiconductor package shown in fig1 in which the mounting terminals 6 are directly connected to the connection pads 30 a of the package substrate 30 without using solder bumps . in this case , sufficient electrical connection can be obtained by making the top ends of the mounting terminals 6 protrude into the connection pads of the package substrate 30 . a description will now be given , with reference to fig1 and fig1 a through 15h , of a semiconductor device substrate according to the second embodiment of the present invention . fig1 is an enlarged cross - sectional view of an interposer 40 according to the second embodiment of the present invention . fig1 a through 15h are cross - sectional views of the interposer 40 shown in fig1 during the manufacturing process . in fig1 and 15a through 15 h , parts that are the same parts shown in fig1 are given the same reference numerals , and descriptions thereof will be omitted . the interposer 40 according to the second embodiment of the present invention has a structure in which a multilayer wiring layer 4 a is formed on the back surface side of the silicon substrate 2 in the interposer 1 shown in fig1 . therefore , the top ends of the mounting terminals 6 protrude into the multilayer wiring layer 4 a , and portions formed along the inner surfaces of the recesses 2 a of the silicon substrate 2 serve as external connection terminals . in the manufacturing process shown in fig1 a through 15h , the process shown in fig1 a through 15d corresponds to the process shown in fig5 a through 5d . however , in fig1 c , the conductive layer is formed only in the parts used as the mounting terminals 6 , and the conductive layer 6 - 1 is not formed . in the present embodiment , the back grinding and chemical etching are performed immediately after the mounting terminals 6 are formed on the silicon substrate 2 , as shown in fig1 e . this process can be performed in the same manner as the process shown in fig5 h . thereby , the top ends of the mounting terminals are in the state where they protrude from the back surface of the silicon substrate 2 . next , as shown in fig1 f , the silicon oxide film 18 is formed on the back surface of the silicon substrate 2 as an insulating film . an organic insulating film may be formed instead of the silicone oxide film . then , as shown in fig1 g , a conductive layer 42 is formed on the back surface of the silicon substrate 2 by using a mask which is formed by a patternized resist on the back surface of the silicon substrate 2 . the conductive layer 42 is formed as pattern wiring connected to the top ends of the mounting terminals 6 . then , as shown in fig1 h , the multilayer wiring layer 4 a is formed on the conductive layer 42 so as to form the connection pads 14 in the uppermost part , and the interposer 40 shown in fig1 is completed . it to should be noted that although the multilayer wiring layer 4 a shown in fig1 has the three - layer structure , the layer 4 a may have the four - layer structure as in the multilayer wiring layer 4 shown in fig1 or may be a layered structure having an arbitrary number of layers . fig1 is a cross - sectional view of the interposer 40 a , which is a variation of the interposer shown in fig1 . in the interposer 40 a , the conductive layer 8 - 1 of the multilayer wiring layer 4 a - 1 and the mounting terminals 6 are connected through the vias 12 without providing the conductive layer 42 . fig1 is a cross - sectional view of a semiconductor package incorporating the interposer 40 shown in fig1 . the semiconductor device 20 is mounted on the package substrate 30 via the interposer 40 . that is , and electrode pads 20 a of the semiconductor device 20 are connected to the connection pads 14 of the interposer 40 by the solder bumps 22 , and the semiconductor device 20 and the interposer 40 are fixed to each other by the under - fill material 24 filled therebetween . additionally , the mounting terminals 6 of the interposer 40 and the connection pads 30 a of the package substrate 30 are connected through the solder bumps 26 , and the interposer 40 and the package substrate 30 are fixed to each other by the under - fill material filled therebetween . since the solder balls are accommodated inside the pyramidal shaped mounting terminals 6 , the contact area is large which gives a positive contact . in the above - mentioned embodiments , the silicon substrate is used as a substrate of the interposer , and pyramidal shaped recesses are formed by etching so as to form the mounting terminals having the corresponding pyramidal shape . the present invention is not limited to the silicon substrate , and any substrate can be used if it is easy to form a recess having a pyramidal shape including a triangular pyramid , a pentagonal pyramid or other polygonal pyramid . moreover , the configuration of the recess is not limited to the pyramidal shape , and a circular cone configuration where the degree of point angle is comparatively large may be used . the present invention is not limited to the specifically disclosed embodiments , and variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention .
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the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description with accompanying drawings . hereinafter , the preferred present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings . when adding reference numerals into constituents in each drawing set forth herein , like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout even they are shown in other drawings . also , when explaining the present invention , if it is judged that the specific explanation of the related well - known constitution or function may make the gist of the present invention obscure , the detailed explanation thereof will be omitted . fig3 is a block diagram showing an apparatus for diagnosing abnormal conditions according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig3 , there is provided a method for diagnosing abnormal conditions generated from a system , which provides one or more measuring devices capable of observing abnormal conditions on a computer screen , wherein the system includes a user input arrangement unit 100 , an acquisition difficulty calculation unit for each abnormal symptom 110 , a diagnosis importance calculation unit for each abnormal symptom 120 , a boolean logic application unit for each abnormal symptom 130 , and an abnormal condition diagnosis certificate displaying unit 140 . the user input arrangement unit 100 receives data required for an apparatus for diagnosing abnormal conditions from a user , wherein the data include “ abnormal conditions to be diagnosed ”, “ main abnormal symptoms to be observed for each abnormal condition ”, “ generation frequency for each abnormal condition ”, “ and logic between the main abnormal symptoms ” and the like . the user input arrangement unit 100 standardizes the data received from the user and represents the relationship among the input data using tables . see tables 1 and 2 below . table 2 shows an example where abnormal symptoms that must be simultaneously generated for a given abnormal condition are standardized . it can be appreciated that the abnormal symptoms s 3 and s 4 must be simultaneously generated under the abnormal conditions shown in table 1 . referring to table 1 , it can be appreciated that there are seven abnormal conditions ( a 1 to a 7 ), eleven abnormal symptoms ( s 1 to s 11 ) that may be observed when the abnormal conditions are generated , generation frequencies for the abnormal conditions ( 0 . 3 , 0 . 1 , and 0 . 08 ) and acquisition difficulties for each abnormal symptom ( d 1 to d 11 ) the number of the abnormal conditions and the abnormal symptoms is not limited to that shown in table 1 . the abnormal conditions ( a 1 to a 7 ) generally refer to all conditions deviated from a normal condition defined by a user . the abnormal symptoms ( s 1 to s 11 ) that may be observed when the abnormal conditions ( a 1 to a 7 ) are generated generally refer to specific symptoms capable of representing each abnormal condition . and , the generation frequencies for each abnormal condition refer to normalization results of the generation frequencies for each abnormal condition input by the user . the normalization means that the generation frequencies for each abnormal condition are divided by the sum total of the generation frequencies of all abnormal conditions to finally allow the sum of the generation frequencies of all abnormal conditions to be 1 . 0 . also , the acquisition difficulties for each abnormal symptom ( d 1 to d 11 ) are to quantitatively calculate how easily or difficultly the corresponding abnormal symptom may be observed by the user . if each measuring device capable of knowing each abnormal symptom exists on the computer screen , the acquisition difficulty of a specific abnormal symptom varies depending on how easily the measuring device capable of observing the corresponding abnormal symptom can be distinguished from other measuring devices . the acquisition difficulties for each abnormal symptom ( d 1 to d 11 ) can be calculated by the acquisition difficulty calculation unit for each abnormal symptom 110 . the acquisition difficulty calculation unit for each abnormal symptom 110 divides an entire screen into a first screen from which the measuring device capable of observing the corresponding abnormal symptom is excluded and a second screen on which only the measuring device capable of observing the corresponding abnormal symptom is included . the acquisition difficulty calculation unit for each abnormal symptom 110 forms screen information structure graphs for the entire screen and each divided screen and then calculates a second order entropy for each screen . and , for the user input arrangement results shown in table 1 , in order to quantitatively evaluate the acquisition difficulties for each abnormal symptom , the complexity for the computer screen design is quantified using an excess entropy technique ( see s . n . mohanty , “ entropy metrics for software design evaluation ” and “ the journal of systems and software , vol . 2 , pp . 39 - 46 , 1981 , and m . h . van emden “ hierarchical decomposition of complexity ”, machine intelligence , vol . 5 , pp . 361 - 380 , 1970 ), and then the distinctiveness of the measuring devices according to the complexity of the screen design is quantified ( see a . tversky , “ features of similarity ”, psychological review , vol . 84 , pp . 327 - 352 , 1977 ). in other words , the distinctiveness according to the screen configuration can be calculated using the second order entropy of the screen information structure graph for the entire screen , the second order entropy of the screen information structure graph for the first screen , the second order entropy of the information structure graph for the second screen , and the excess entropy . for example , two computer screens a , b each displaying four measuring devices may be considered as shown in fig4 . in fig4 , “ measuring device d ” shown on the screen b on which the abnormal symptoms can be observed is much more easily conceived rather than “ measuring device d ” shown on the screen a . this is because of the reason that the “ measuring device d ” on the screen b has a different shape from other measuring devices whereby having a high distinctiveness , whereas the “ measuring device d ” on the screen a has the same shape as other measuring devices to have a relatively low distinctiveness . also , the excessive entropy may be described in detail through a venn diagram of fig5 . referring to fig5 , assuming that the screen b is a combined screen of two virtual screens ( b - 1 , b - 2 ), in view of entropy the distinctiveness d ( b - 2 ) on the screen b - 2 will be defined using the equation below . referring to equation 1 described above , it can be appreciated that as the signals used in dividing the screen b - 2 are more , the distinctiveness of the screen b - 2 is increased . however , as the noise is more , the distinctiveness of the screen b - 2 is decreased . in other words , such a distinctiveness is determined by the excess entropy c ( s ), which corresponds to the common signals between the screen b - 1 and screen b - 2 constituting the screen b . the excess entropy can be defined using equation 2 below . therefore , entropies for each screen are calculated in order to calculate the distinctiveness , and the second order entropy of a graph is used therefor ( see j . s . davis and r . j . leblanc , “ a study of the applicability of complexity measures ”, ieee transactions on software engineering , vol . 14 , no . 9 , pp . 1366 - 1372 , 1988 and 20 ., k . s . lew et al ., “ software complexity and its impact on software reliability ”, ieee transactions on software engineering , vol . 14 , no . 11 , pp . 1645 - 1655 , 1988 ). after arranging the properties of each measuring device as shown in fig6 , the second order entropy can draw up screen information structure graphs as shown in fig7 based thereon . the screen information structure graphs can represent the relationship between the measuring devices included in each screen and the properties of each measuring device using a tree structure . for example , as shown in fig6 , the screen b - 2 has “ measuring device d ” and the “ measuring device d ” has properties of “ shape 2 ” and “ label d ”, such that the screen b - 2 may be constituted in a screen information graph structure of fig7 . the screen b - 1 may be constituted in a screen information graph structure wherein the property of “ shape 1 ” is shared by all three measuring devices . fig8 shows a screen information structure graph for an entire screen b on which various measuring devices are displayed . fig9 shows screen information structure graphs divided into a screen b - 1 on which measuring devices other than “ measuring device d ” observing abnormal symptoms are included and a screen b - 2 on which the “ measuring device d ” obtaining an acquisition difficulty is included . the second order entropies of the entire screen and each divided screen h ( b ), h ( b - 1 ) and h ( b - 2 ) are obtained using the screen structure information graph of the entire screen b and the screen structure information graphs of each divided screen b - 1 and b - 2 . the excess entropy c ( s ) is obtained using equation 2 described above with these values . as shown in table 3 below , the distinctiveness of the screen b - 2 , that is , the distinctiveness of “ measuring device d ”, can be obtained by substituting the obtained values h ( b ), h ( b - 1 ), h ( b - 2 ) and c ( s ) in equation 1 described above , wherein it refers to the acquisition difficulty of the corresponding abnormal symptom . and , when obtaining the distinctiveness of other measuring devices , the acquisition difficulties of abnormal symptoms can be obtained in the same manner . for example , when a measuring device capable of observing an abnormal symptom is “ measuring device c ”, as shown in fig1 , the entire screen b of fig8 is divided into a screen b - 3 on which measuring devices other than the “ measuring device c ” are included and a screen b - 4 on which the “ measuring device c ” obtaining an acquisition difficulty is included . and then , the second order entropies of the entire screen and each divided screen h ( b ), h ( b - 3 ) and h ( b - 4 ) are obtained using the screen structure information graph for the entire screen b and the screen structure information graphs for each divided screen b - 3 and b - 4 , and the excess entropy c ( s ) is obtained using equation 2 described above with these values . the values h ( b ), h ( b - 3 ), h ( b - 4 ) and c ( s ) obtained as above are substituted in equation 1 described above , such that the distinctiveness of the screen b - 4 , that is , the distinctiveness of “ measuring device c ”, can be obtained as shown in table 3 . and , the measuring devices a and b have the same shape with the measuring device c , such that the measuring devices a and b have the same distinctiveness with the measuring device c . referring to table 3 described above , it can be appreciated that the distinctiveness of “ measuring device d ” can be more easily distinguished by a degree of 58 % compared to other measuring devices . it can be also appreciated that such a result corresponds to the intuitive observation felt by ordinary people . therefore , when the distinctiveness for each measuring device calculated in this manner is introduced into “ the acquisition difficulties for each abnormal symptom ” of table 1 , the difficulty of information acquisition according to the complexity of the screen may be considered . the distinctiveness obtained in this manner becomes the values meaning the acquisition difficulty of the corresponding abnormal symptom . the diagnosis importance calculation unit for each abnormal symptom 120 , which calculates diagnosis importance values for all abnormal symptoms included in table 1 , calculates the diagnosis importance to determine check orders of abnormal symptoms for a user &# 39 ; s effective diagnosing of abnormal conditions , wherein the importance calculation will be described using equation 3 below . ( wherein p : when j th symptom is observed , the probability that the j th symptom can divide abnormal conditions = 1 . 0 −( sum of relative generation frequencies of abnormal conditions indicated as “ x ” for the j th symptom ). p y : when j th symptom is observed , the probability that the j th symptom can indicate the generation of certain abnormal condition = 1 . 0 −( sum / p of relative generation frequencies of abnormal conditions indicated as “ yes ” for the j th symptom ). p n : when j th symptom is observed , the probability that the j th symptom can not indicate the generation of certain abnormal condition = 1 − p y the boolean logic application unit for each abnormal symptom 130 uses the importance calculated in the diagnosis importance calculation unit for each abnormal symptom 120 but introduces boolean logic for the abnormal symptoms having the same importance to respond to the abnormal symptoms generated through the sequential diagnosis technique , thereby selecting abnormal conditions . the boolean logic application unit for each abnormal symptom 130 may be explained with reference to fig1 and 12 . fig1 shows processes to select the abnormal conditions responding to the abnormal symptoms generated through the sequential diagnosis technique . referring to fig1 , if an abnormal condition diagnosis starts , as shown in 9 a ( 9 a refers to the result performed in a diagnosis importance calculation unit for each abnormal symptom ), a diagnosis importance for each symptom of an s 2 symptom is the highest so that whether an s 2 symptom is generated or not is checked in order to diagnose the abnormal conditions ( s 910 ). if the s 2 symptom is generated from the step s 910 , whether the s 1 symptom is generated or not is checked ( s 920 ), and if s 1 symptom is generated , abnormal condition a 3 is selected . if the s 1 symptom is not generated , abnormal condition a 2 is selected . if the s 2 symptom is not generated in the step s 910 , any one of abnormal symptoms related to { a 1 , a 4 , a 5 , a 6 and a 7 } than abnormal symptoms related to { a 2 and a 3 } can be selected and checked . in step s 930 , as shown in 9 b ( 9 b refers to the result performed in a diagnosis importance calculation unit for each abnormal symptom ), a diagnosis importance for each symptom of s 5 and s 6 symptoms is the highest so that whether an s 5 or s 6 symptom is generated or not is checked in order to diagnose the abnormal conditions . however , the object of application in the sequential diagnosis technique is to provide a binary tree capable of diagnosing abnormal conditions . accordingly , there is no need to clarify the processing technique for the symptoms having the same diagnosis importance , that is , it is sufficient to consider only one symptom among the repeated symptoms , such that only whether the s 5 symptom preceding the s 6 symptom is generated can be checked . if the s 5 symptom is generated in the step s 930 , whether an s 9 symptom is generated or not is checked ( s 940 ). if the s 9 symptom is generated in the step s 940 , abnormal condition a 6 is selected , and if the s 9 symptom is not generated in the step s 940 , whether an s 7 or s 8 symptom is generated or not is checked ( s 950 ). in the sequential diagnosis technique only whether the s 7 symptom preceding the s 8 symptom is generated or not is checked as described in the step s 930 . therefore , if the s 7 symptom is not generated in the step s 950 , abnormal condition a 7 is selected , and if the s 7 symptom is generated in the step s 950 , abnormal condition a 5 is selected . at this time , the abnormal symptoms indicated as “ x ” for the a 5 are symptoms that may be observed or may not be observed when the a 5 is generated , such that they do not need to be directly considered for selecting the a 5 . if the s 5 symptom is not generated in the step s 930 , any one of abnormal symptoms related to two abnormal conditions related to { a 1 and a 4 } other than abnormal symptoms related to { a 5 , a 6 and a 7 } can be selected and checked . as shown in 9 c ( 9 c refers to the result performed in a diagnosis importance calculation unit for each abnormal symptom ), a diagnosis importance for each symptom of s 3 and s 4 symptoms is the highest so that whether an s 3 or s 4 symptom is generated or not is checked in order to diagnose the abnormal conditions ( s 960 ). however , when using the sequential diagnosis technique as described in the step s 930 , only whether the s 3 symptom preceding the s 4 symptom is generated or not is checked . if the s 3 symptom is generated in the step s 960 , abnormal condition a 4 is selected , and if the s 3 symptom is not generated in the step s 960 , abnormal condition a 1 is selected . the diagnosis importance calculations for the abnormal symptoms are repeated until all of the abnormal conditions can be checked from the step s 910 to the step s 960 , and the final result obtained using the sequential diagnosis technique may be obtained as any one of the shown a 1 to a 7 . in the present invention , seven abnormal conditions of a 1 to a 7 are shown , however the number thereof is not limited thereto . fig1 shows a diagram introducing boolean logic to abnormal symptoms having the same importance when abnormal symptom s 5 , s 7 or s 3 is not shown due to masking effects in the sequential diagnosis technique , where abnormal symptoms having the same diagnosis importance are not considered , as shown in 9 b , 9 c and 9 e of fig1 , in order to solve the problem that the abnormal conditions for the abnormal symptoms cannot be selected . for example , for a storage tank in which a water level should be always maintained above a predetermined level , when the masking effects assumes that a controller automatically controlling flow rate of liquid flowed into a storage tank according to the current water level of the storage tank is connected to the storage tank and assumes that the abnormal symptom s 7 and the abnormal symptom s 8 are “ water level of the storage tank is decreasing ” and “ flow rate flowed into the storage tank is increasing ”, respectively , if the abnormal condition a 5 is defined as “ breakage of the storage tank ”, it is improper to check a 5 only with the s 7 . in other words , although the s 7 may be observed under the a 5 situation , when the controller automatically increases the flow rate as the water level of the broken storage tank lowers , the s 7 may be hidden due to the increased flow rate . accordingly , s 8 in addition to the s 7 should be additionally considered in order to select the exact abnormal condition . therefore , in order to solve the problem of the masking effects described above , in the abnormal boolean logic application unit 130 introducing boolean logic for the abnormal symptoms having the same importance , if the abnormal symptoms do not have an ‘ and ’ relationship ( s 3 and s 4 of 2 b in fig2 ) with the abnormal symptoms s 5 and s 6 , s 7 and s 8 , s 3 and s 4 having the same diagnosis importance as shown in 9 b , 9 c and 9 e , the abnormal symptoms are connected to 9 f and 9 g so as to have ‘ or ’ logic , and if not , the abnormal symptoms are connected to 9 h so as to have ‘ and ’ logic . reviewing the portion in fig1 not overlapping with fig1 , as shown in 9 b , the diagnosis importance for each symptom of s 5 and s 6 symptoms is the highest so that whether the s 5 or s 6 symptom is generated or not is checked in order to diagnose the abnormal condition . at this time , whether the s 5 symptom is generated or not is first checked ( s 932 ), and if the s 5 symptom is not generated , whether the s 6 symptom is generated or not is checked ( s 934 ). in the steps of s 932 and s 934 , if any one of the s 5 symptom and the s 6 symptom is generated , whether an s 9 symptom is generated or not is checked ( s 940 ). if the s 9 is generated , a 6 is selected , and if the s 9 is not generated , whether an s 7 or s 8 symptom is generated or not is checked as shown in fig9 g . and , in the steps of s 932 and s 934 , if both the s 5 symptom and the s 6 symptom are not generated , any one of abnormal symptoms related to two abnormal conditions related to { a 1 and a 4 } other than abnormal symptoms related to { a 5 , a 6 and a 7 } can be selected and checked . in other words , the s 5 and the s 6 are connected in order to have the ‘ or ’ logic , making it possible to perform more exact diagnosis compared to the case when the abnormal symptom s 5 is not generated due to the masking effects . and , the steps of s 932 and s 934 can be applied to the steps of s 952 and s 954 shown for the s 7 and s 8 in the same manner 9 g . in 9 h , when the s 3 is generated , an abnormal condition diagnosis certificate does not immediately show an abnormal condition a 4 but checks whether s 4 is generated or not ( s 964 ). if the s 4 is generated , the abnormal condition a 4 is selected , and if the s 4 is not generated , a 1 is selected . in other words , the abnormal condition a 4 is shown only when both the s 3 and the s 4 are generated , and the abnormal condition a 1 is selected in other cases so that the s 3 and s 4 can have the and logic in 9 h , making it possible to perform more exact diagnosis . tables 4 , 5 and 6 below show examples to which boolean logic is applied , wherein in each of the tables , diagnosis item 1 represents a case when the corresponding symptom is generated and diagnosis item 0 represents a case when the corresponding symptom is not generated . the table 4 represents a case when s 5 and s 6 have ‘ or ’ logic , wherein it can be appreciated that when any one of the s 5 and s 6 is generated , the result becomes 1 . in other words , it can be appreciated that if the result becomes 1 , a step to check whether the s 9 is generated or not is performed , and if the result becomes 0 , a step to check whether the s 3 is generated or not is performed . the table 5 represents a case when s 7 and s 8 have ‘ or ’ logic , wherein it can be appreciated that when any one of the s 7 and s 8 is generated , the result becomes 1 . in other words , it can be appreciated that if the result becomes 1 , a step to select the abnormal condition a 5 is performed , and if the result becomes 0 , a step to the abnormal condition a 7 is performed . the table 6 represents a case when s 3 and s 4 have ‘ and ’ logic , wherein it can be appreciated that when any one of the s 3 and s 4 is not generated , the result becomes 0 . in other words , it can be appreciated that if the result becomes 0 , a step to select the abnormal condition a 1 is performed , and if the result becomes 1 ( both the s 3 and s 4 are generated ), a step to the abnormal condition a 4 is performed . the abnormal condition diagnosis certificate displaying unit 140 provides the abnormal condition diagnosis certificate showing the abnormal condition selected by the boolean logic application unit for each abnormal symptom 130 to a user . in other words , the abnormal condition diagnosis certificate displaying unit 140 converts and displays the results obtained by the diagnosis importance calculation unit for each abnormal symptom 120 and the boolean logic application unit for each abnormal symptom 130 into a flow chart type . fig1 shows an example of an abnormal condition diagnosis certificate converted into a flowchart type and displayed to a user , wherein direct current or alternate current power supply for a tank , operation of a pump , flow rate of the tank , a water level , pressure , temperature and concentration are shown using abnormal conditions a to h . although the present invention has been described in detail reference to its presently preferred embodiment , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and equivalents can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention , as set forth in the appended claims .
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[ 0025 ] fig1 is a view showing the arrangement of a color electrophotographing apparatus as an image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention . this color electrophotographing apparatus has an image forming unit 1 . the image forming unit 1 has a flexible photosensitive belt 2 serving as an image carrier . the photosensitive belt 2 is looped between a plurality of first to third rollers 3 a to 3 c with a predetermined tension to travel in the direction of arrows . a charging device 4 , laser exposure device 5 , and developing devices 6 y to 6 k are disposed around the photosensitive belt 2 along its traveling direction . the charging device 4 charges the photosensitive belt 2 at a predetermined potential . the laser exposure device 5 serves as an image forming device for forming an electrostatic latent image on the charged photosensitive belt 2 . the developing devices 6 y to 6 k visualize the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive belt 2 by supplying yellow ( y ), magenta ( m ), cyan ( c ), and black ( k ) toners as developers to it . furthermore , an intermediate transfer drum 7 , discharge lamp 10 , and cleaner device 9 are disposed around the photosensitive belt 2 along its traveling direction . the intermediate transfer drum 7 serves as a rotatable transfer device for temporarily holding the toner image formed on the photosensitive belt 2 . the cleaner device 9 removes the toner left on the photosensitive belt 2 . that portion of the photosensitive belt 2 which extends between the first and second rollers 3 a and 3 b opposes the developing devices 6 y to 6 k through a predetermined gap . that portion of the photosensitive belt 2 which extends between the second and third rollers 3 b and 3 c is in tight contact with the outer surface of the intermediate transfer drum 7 . either one of the first to third rollers 3 a to 3 c is connected to a driving motor ( not shown ). upon rotation of the driving motor , the first to third rollers 3 a to 3 c are rotatably driven in the direction indicated by arrows at a predetermined speed . a sheet cassette 12 for storing sheets p as media with a predetermined size is provided below the image forming unit 1 . the sheet cassette 12 has a feed roller 13 for taking up the sheets p one by one . the sheet p taken up by the feed roller 13 is conveyed upward along a convey path 14 extending in the vertical direction . a convey roller pair 17 , an aligning roller pair 18 , a transfer roller 16 serving as a transfer device , a fixing apparatus 20 , and a delivery roller pair 21 are sequentially disposed along the convey path 14 in the convey direction of the sheet p . the convey roller pair 17 clamps and conveys the sheet p . the aligning roller 18 temporarily stops the sheet p conveyed to it , corrects tilt of the sheet p with respect to the convey direction , and causes the leading end of the sheet p to coincide with the leading end of the toner image on the intermediate transfer drum 7 . the transfer roller 16 opposes the intermediate transfer drum 7 and transfers the toner image formed on the intermediate transfer drum 7 onto the sheet p . the fixing apparatus 20 fixes the toner image transferred to the sheet p . the delivery roller pair 21 delivers the sheet p . a delivery tray 23 for receiving the sheet to be delivered is provided on the delivery side of the delivery roller pair 21 . full - color printing operation of the above color electrophotographing apparatus will be described . first , the surface of the photosensitive belt 2 , the rear surface of the photosensitive layer of which is grounded to 0 v , is uniformly charged by the charger 4 to − 700 v . then , the laser exposure device 5 is driven in response to a yellow image signal from a control unit ( not shown ) to form a yellow latent image on the photosensitive belt 2 . the potential of this electrostatic latent image is about − 100 v . before forming the yellow latent image , the yellow developing unit 6 y is moved toward the photosensitive belt 2 . in synchronism with this , a developing roller 31 y is rotated , and a voltage of − 300 v is applied to it . upon movement of the developing unit 6 y , when the developing roller 31 y comes into contact with the photosensitive belt 2 , the latent image is developed , and a yellow toner image is formed on the photosensitive belt 2 . the yellow toner image on the photosensitive belt 2 is electrostatically transferred to the intermediate transfer drum 7 to which a voltage of + 1 kv is applied , and the toner left on the photosensitive belt 2 is scraped with the blade of the cleaner device 9 . the surface charges left on the photosensitive belt 2 are removed by the discharge lamp 10 . the surface of the photosensitive belt 2 is charged again , and a magenta latent image is formed this time , in the same manner as described above . this latent image is developed by the magenta developing unit 6 m to form a magenta toner image , which is overlaid on the yellow toner image on the intermediate transfer drum 7 . the same cycle is repeated for cyan ( c ) and black ( k ) to form , on the intermediate transfer drum 7 , a color image in which toner images of four colors are overlaid . at this time , the sheet p is supplied from the sheet cassette 12 and fed along the convey path 14 . the sheet p is sandwiched by the convey roller pair 17 , conveyed to the resist roller pair 18 , aligned , and fed to a portion between the intermediate transfer drum 7 and transfer roller 16 . a voltage of + 2 kv to 3 kv is applied to the transfer roller 16 . hence , the toner images of four colors formed on the intermediate transfer drum 7 are transferred to the sheet p at once . after that , the sheet p on which the toner images of four colors are transferred is fed to the heat roll type fixing unit 20 . the toner images are fixed by fusion onto the sheet p , to form a color image on the sheet p . the toner left on the intermediate transfer drum 7 is removed by the cleaner device 9 using a brush to which a voltage of + 1 . 5 kv is applied . [ 0041 ] fig2 is a view showing the arrangement of the fixing apparatus 20 . the fixing apparatus 20 has a fixing roller 25 and press roller 26 . the fixing roller 25 serves as a heating roller , and the press roller 26 is brought into tight contact with the lower portion of the fixing roller 25 . the fixing roller 25 has a heater lamp 27 serving as a heat source in it . temperature sensors 28 and 29 are disposed in the vicinities of the fixing roller 25 and press roller 26 . the temperature sensors 28 and 29 serve as a detection device for detecting the surface temperatures of the fixing roller 25 and press roller 26 . the temperature sensors 28 and 29 are connected to a control device 31 through a transmission circuit . the control device 31 is connected to a driving motor 32 through a control circuit . the driving motor 32 rotatably drives the fixing roller 25 and press roller 26 . the control device 31 variably controls the rotational speed of the fixing roller 25 and press roller 26 through detection temperatures transmitted from the temperature sensors 28 and 29 . the sheet p passes between the fixing roller 25 and press roller 26 with its color image - side surface and its surface opposite to the color image side being in contact with the fixing roller 25 and press roller 26 , respectively . hence , the sheet p is heated and pressed , so the color image is fixed to the sheet p . [ 0045 ] fig3 shows the quality of the image fixing properties depending on the temperature changes of the fixing and press rollers 25 and 26 . even when the fixing roller 25 had reached a predetermined temperature , if the temperature of the press roller 26 was low , defective fixing such as toner separation occurred . fig4 to 6 show results obtained by measuring the temperatures of the fixing roller 25 and press roller 26 while changing their rotational speed when the fixing apparatus 20 is to be warmed up from room temperature . more specifically , temperatures were measured in cases wherein the rotational speed of the rollers 25 and 26 was higher and lower , respectively , than the rotational speed of the rollers 25 and 26 determined as the reference in the image forming apparatus . how the temperatures rose was thus examined . [ 0048 ] fig4 shows temperature changes occurring when the fixing and press rollers 25 and 26 are rotated at a speed lower than the reference speed . in this case , the temperature of the fixing roller 25 rose faster than when it was rotated at the reference speed , while the temperature of the press roller 26 rose slowly . [ 0049 ] fig5 shows temperature changes occurring when the fixing and press rollers 25 and 26 are rotated at the reference speed . [ 0050 ] fig6 shows temperature changes occurring when the fixing and press rollers 25 and 26 are rotated at a speed faster than the reference speed . in this case , the temperature of the press roller 26 rose faster than when it was rotated at the reference speed . a description will be made on cases wherein verification was performed in the actual state by utilizing the results shown in fig4 to 6 . in practice , in continuous image fixing , when the press roller 26 or fixing roller 25 had not reached the reference temperature at which fixing was possible , particularly after the image was fixed , control operations as shown in fig7 to 9 were performed . [ 0053 ] fig7 shows a state wherein , when the fixing roller 25 has reached the predetermined temperature and the temperature of the press roller 26 is low , the rotational speed of the rollers 25 and 26 is increased before the sheet p reaches the fixing apparatus 20 . according to fig7 the press roller 26 could be heated to the reference temperature or higher within a predetermined period of time with which the sheet p reaches the fixing apparatus 20 . this is probably due to the following reason . as the rollers 25 and 26 were rotated at a high speed , the contact distance between them increased . accordingly , more heat shifted from the fixing roller 25 with the heater lamp 27 to the press roller 26 . “ post - fixing rotation ” described in fig7 and fig8 to 10 to be described later refers to a state wherein the rollers 25 and 26 rotate immediately after the toner image is fixed to the sheet p . “ pre - rotation ” refers to a state wherein a process such as development or transfer takes place . “ fixing ” refers to a state wherein the toner image is actually being fixed on the sheet p with the fixing apparatus 20 . [ 0055 ] fig8 shows a case wherein , when the press roller 26 has reached the predetermined temperature and the temperature of the fixing roller 25 is low , the rotational speed of the rollers 25 and 26 is increased . according to fig8 the fixing roller 25 could rise to the predetermined temperature within a predetermined period of time . this is probably due to the following reason . as the rollers 25 and 26 were rotated at a low speed , the contact distance between them within a predetermined period of time was shortened . accordingly , the press roller 26 was less deprived of heat , and the fixing roller 25 itself was heated well , so the temperature rise rate of the fixing roller 25 increased . as described above , the rotational speed of the rollers 25 and 26 is changed until the sheet p reaches the fixing apparatus 20 in accordance with the states of the fixing roller 25 and press roller 26 with respect to the predetermined temperatures . thus , the rollers 25 and 26 can be efficiently set to the predetermined temperatures at which fixing is possible . when the temperatures of both the fixing roller 25 and press roller 26 are lower than the reference temperature , the rollers 25 and 26 are rotated at an ordinary recording rotational speed to increase their temperatures . the rotational speed of the rollers 25 and 26 must be appropriately selected in accordance with the materials of the rollers 25 and 26 , the output from the heat source 27 , and the heating method . [ 0059 ] fig9 shows a case wherein , when the fixing roller 25 has reached the predetermined temperature and the temperature of the press roller 26 is low , the rollers 25 and 26 are rotated at the ordinary speed without increasing their speed as in fig7 . in this case , the temperature rise of the press roller 26 was slow , and the press roller 26 could not be heated to the reference temperature before the sheet p reached the fixing apparatus 20 . accordingly , defective fixing sometime occurred . [ 0061 ] fig1 shows a case wherein , when the press roller 26 reaches the predetermined temperature and the fixing roller 25 has a low temperature , the fixing roller 25 and press roller 26 are rotated at the ordinary speed without decreasing their speed as in fig8 . in this case , the temperature of the fixing roller 25 did not rise in time , and defective fixing sometimes occurred . in the first embodiment described above , the rotational speed of the fixing and press rollers 25 and 26 is controlled during ordinary image forming operation . in the second embodiment , the rotational speed of fixing and press rollers 25 and 26 is controlled after a copy start command is received and until a first sheet p reaches a fixing apparatus 20 . for example , assume that the fixing roller 25 maintains a certain predetermined temperature but the press roller 26 cannot rise to a necessary temperature with the ordinary rotational speed . in this case , the rotational speed of the rollers 25 and 26 is increased while steps such as pre - fixing development and transfer are performed , so the press roller 26 reaches the necessary temperature . conventionally , fixing is performed while the fixing roller 25 maintains a certain predetermined temperature . sometimes , when the image of the sheet p which is sent first to the fixing apparatus 20 is fixed , defective fixing occurs . to examine the cause for this , the temperatures of the fixing roller 25 and press roller 26 were measured . the temperature of the press roller 26 while the sheet p passed was low . the reason for this was clarified as follows . before a copy start command was received , rotation of the fixing and press rollers 25 and 26 was stopped , and the temperature of the press roller 26 decreased . with only “ pre - rotation ” after the copy start command was received , the temperature of the press roller 26 did not rise to a value sufficiently high for fixing . in view of this , while detecting the temperature of the press roller 26 , when the detected temperature was low , the rollers 25 and 26 were rotated at a high speed during “ pre - rotation ” after the copy start command . then , the press roller 26 reached the predetermined temperature for image fixing , and fixing was performed well . in this manner , when the temperature of the press roller 26 was detected upon reception of the copy start command and the rotational speed was changed before the image reached the fixing apparatus 20 , the press roller 26 could reach a temperature sufficiently high for fixing . the third embodiment refers to the standby mode wherein image fixing is not performed . in the standby mode , the temperature of a press roller 26 which is not in contact with an image to be fixed is detected . if the temperature is not a predetermined value , a fixing roller 25 is rotated intermittently to maintain the temperature of the press roller 26 at a certain constant level , as shown in fig1 . more specifically , in the standby mode , when rotation of the rollers 25 and 26 is stopped , the temperature of the press roller 26 is detected . if the temperature is equal to the predetermined value or less , the rollers 25 and 26 are rotated . the press roller 26 is thus maintained at a temperature to which it can rise within a predetermined fast copy time . “ predetermined temperature ” refers to a temperature from which , when a copy start command is output , the press roller 26 can reach a temperature at which fixing can be performed with the predetermined fast copy time . when the fixing and press rollers 25 and 26 are rotated , heat of the fixing roller 25 is conducted to the press roller 26 . conventionally , in the standby mode , the temperature of the press roller 26 was not detected , but only the temperature of the fixing roller 25 was detected and maintained at a constant value . after that , when image fixing was performed with a predetermined fast print time interval , defective fixing sometimes occurred in the first print obtained immediately after the standby mode . in order to find the cause for this , the temperature of the press roller 26 was measured . during image fixing , the temperature of the press roller 26 was low , which was not sufficiently high for fixing . the reason for this was clarified as follows . in the standby mode , the temperature of the press roller 26 was excessively low . accordingly , image fixing was subsequently performed before heat was not sufficiently absorbed in print “ pre - rotation ” by contact with the fixing roller 25 . the standby temperature of the press roller 26 , which was necessary to reach the temperature necessary for fixing , within the predetermined fast print time , was obtained from the temperature necessary for fixing . the rollers 25 and 26 were intermittently rotated in the standby mode in order to maintain the standby temperature . in this embodiment , this temperature was reached when the rollers were rotated through almost two to three revolutions in the standby mode . after that , this operation was performed when necessary while detecting the temperature of the press roller 26 . in this manner , the image could be fixed well within the predetermined fast print time . in the above embodiments , the photosensitive belt 2 and intermediate transfer drum 7 were used as the image carrier and intermediate transfer body , respectively . however , the present invention is not limited to this , and a photosensitive drum and an intermediate transfer belt may be used as the image carrier and intermediate transfer body , respectively . alternatively , a photosensitive drum and intermediate transfer drum may be used as the image carrier and intermediate transfer body , or a photosensitive belt and intermediate transfer belt may be used as the image carrier and intermediate transfer body . any combination will do as far as the toner images can be transferred in an overlaid manner and transferred onto a medium at once . additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art . therefore , the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described herein . accordingly , various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents .
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as shown in fig1 , zeroplus has a unique multi - access architecture . calls are managed by internet “ gatekeepers .” users can make telephone connections to or from internet - based computers 103 , 157 and 159 , and also make connections to or from conventional analog telephones 101 and 155 . for illustrative purposes it is assumed that user computer a 103 initiates the call , and user computer b 157 or user computer c 159 receives the call . the roles of caller and receiver can be interchanged among these user computers . a zeroplus gatekeeper 115 a receives zeroplus on net calls over the internet or another network from an initiating user computer a 103 , or over a telephone line through the pstn from an initiating conventional telephone 101 . the gateway converts the analog telephone signals into data packets for transmission on the network . gatekeeper 115 determines exactly how to route the call through either internet 129 , or some combination of conventional telephone networks . a call directed to an on - net computer ip address is routed through internet 129 to the destination user computers b 157 or c 159 . a call directed to an off - net conventional telephone is routed from the internet through a regional gateway 131 to one of several regional or local telephone carrier destination “ hubs ” 143 , and then to the receiving conventional telephone 155 . traditional telephone networks require large , complex business and technical departments whose job it is to add and connect new users and to bill existing users . the zeroplus system allows new users to be rapidly connected to the system by logging onto the internet and completing an on - line form . this information is then stored in the zeroplus database where it can be retrieved to verify assigned user telephone numbers , define a user profile and generate on - line billing by matching usage with user data stored in the database . this eliminates much of the workforce typically required in traditional telephony , significantly reducing the cost of user acquisition and maintenance . on a traditional telephone network , users are not connected until a technician receives the customer information on a work order and determines and implements the required connections to the telephone network . this often involves a delay of days or weeks . zeroplus users are given immediate access to the zeroplus system by virtue of its ability to store registration data , to interact in real time with the system database and to immediately assign and validate a telephone number . upon completion of the new user processing , users are immediately e - mailed a personal pin code so they can begin using the service . provided they have zeroplus software loaded and launched on their systems , have entered their user access number , and are allowed to make the call by the gate keeper , zeroplus users have immediate access to any on - net zeroplus user computer or off - net pstn telephone number . conventional telephones usually connect to the pstn through a physical connection made between a set of copper wires and a class 5 switch at the pstn central office . on the zeroplus network , users are connected via an analog modem , cable modem , digital subscriber line ( dsl ) modem , integrated services digital network ( isdn ) modem , 802 . 11 wireless modem , or any other digital network access that is now , or in the future will become , available . an important benefit of the zeroplus telephone numbering scheme is that , through the use of a primary rate interface ( pri ) digital gateway and the zeroplus numbering scheme , every digital call center switch and integrated voice response ( ivr ) system in existence can route zeroplus calls . this means that call centers can benefit from their existing investment in call center technology to route calls from the pstn . unlike competing systems that use nicknames and e - mail addresses , when zeroplus calls are received , existing switches , pbx , or ivr systems can be configured to route zeroplus calls to call center agents just like calls that have originated from the pstn . signing up for zeroplus service is simple and user friendly . new zeroplus users visit the zeroplus website to sign up and initiate service . a registration page collects information about customers to create a database of user and routing information . during the sign - up process , a sequence of messages is displayed to the user . the various messages and user interfaces described herein are illustrative examples of how the sign - up process is conducted . after potential users request an internet phone number , a legal contract appears which the registrant is asked to carefully consider and either accept or decline . at the end of the contract , two buttons appear , inviting the registrant the option of indicating “ i accept ” or “ i decline .” after accepting , the first field entered will be the user &# 39 ; s e - mail address . after inputting the e - mail address , a search is done to ensure that the entered e - mail address does not already have an assigned a phone number . if it does , the user will be notified of the ineligibility for a new zeroplus telephone number for that entered e - mail address . otherwise , the process will continue . entry for two friends or business acquaintances who should be contacted regarding the service . an e - mail will automatically be generated to those e - mail addresses , such as , “ first name , last name has asked us to inform you that he / she has just received his / her internet phone number from www . zeroplus . com . if you wish to talk to first name for free , whenever online , please visit us and get your own zeroplus number !” after inputting the information , two buttons appear at the end of the fields , one for “ give me my internet phone number ” and the other for “ clear fields .” after the user has submitted the customer information , the service searches the database to verify that the requested number has not been previously registered . if it has not , the service responds by offering the customer the desired telephone number , which displays a screen , for example , which says , your new internet phone number is “ 0 + home phone .” do you want to keep this number or would you like us to offer another one ? if you wish to select another number , it must start with 0 + xxx as the first four numbers . a “ keep this number ” or “ propose another number ” button appears at the bottom of the page . if a user wants to propose a special telephone number , the user is limited to telephone numbers within their current area code . if the person wants to select another number , a screen appears that says , the screen should show 0 + xxx - ______ ______ , where the last seven digits can be selected by the user , and the xxx is their current area code . after the information has been entered , two buttons appear at the end of the fields , one for “ submit my internet telephone number ” and the other for “ clear fields .” the service searches for the number , and if it &# 39 ; s available , tells the user : congratulations ! your new internet telephone number is 0 + xxx - ______ ______ . please write it down . if the requested number is not available , the program scrolls through the number database until it finds the next available sequential number , and offers that number to the user : the number you requested is not available . the next closest number is 0 + xxx - ______ ______ . would you like to keep this number ? “ keep this number ” and “ propose another number ” buttons appear at the bottom of the page . this process continues until the user has chosen a permanent internet telephone number . some numbers will be blocked by this system . if a customer requests an 800 , 888 , 100 , 200 , 300 , 400 , 500 , 600 , 700 , 877 , or 900 number , a screen appears indicating : the 0 + ______ ______ number you requested has been reserved for the holder of the existing telephone number . if you or your company own this existing number and wish to use it as your internet phone number , please call us at 1 - 800 - ______ ______ two buttons should appear , saying “ propose another number ” or “ back to home page ” sending the person back to the original link . the final screen for completion asks whether the user wants his or her number listed in the 0 + directory (“ white pages ”). the user selects one of three choices : “ i wish to have my internet telephone number listed in the 0 + directory , along with my name , city , state , and country .” “ i wish to have my internet telephone number listed in the 0 + directory , along with my name only .” i do not wish to have my internet telephone number listed in the 0 + directory the final screen also provides users with the option be notified of additional features that are available from the zeroplus service . the customer selects one of two choices : “ please notify me by e - mail when new zeroplus services are available ” in addition to a discrete telephone number , each user will be required to have a unique nickname , which is equivalent to an e - mail address . the user should be able to propose a nickname , find out if it has been taken , and if it has , have the opportunity to propose another nickname . the screens are developed similarly to those listed under “ zeroplus number proposal .” after the user has selected their internet telephone number , he / she will automatically be able to download the client gui . any system requirements will be listed , and a button will be clicked to “ download 0 + software .” as this information is collected and logged into the database , a directory system enables users to look up a person &# 39 ; s internet telephone number on zeroplus &# 39 ; “ white pages ” by inputting names , addresses , city , state , etc . when for example , user computer a 103 logs in , it notifies the gatekeeper of its ip address . each gateway accepts calls that are routed to it based on the routing tables that are set up on the gatekeeper . every time an administrator adds a new gateway , the routing tables must be updated to ensure that the gateway will handle all pstn - bound calls in a particular set of area codes . the gateway will only handle calls that the administrator has routed to it . if a zeroplus user dials a local pstn to place a call at least partially routed over the internet , he or she will be greeted by a voice asking for the zeroplus number followed by the pin code . once the caller enters that information and press the pound (#) key , the caller will be asked for the number that they wish to call . at this point they are given the option of dialing either zero ( 0 ) plus the number ( e . g . “ 0 301 601 0000 ”), or one ( 1 ) plus the number ( e . g . “ 1 301 601 0000 ”) followed by the pound (#) key . if the user dials a zeroplus number the gatekeeper will be contacted and provide the ip address of the zeroplus member &# 39 ; s personal computer ( pc ). if the leading number dialed is “ 1 ,” the gatekeeper provides the ip address of the gateway responsible for terminating calls to that area and city code . one plus numbers &# 39 ; routes are determined by the administrator &# 39 ; s entry into the routing tables . zeroplus numbers are routed according to the ip address assigned by the isp when the user logged into the isp &# 39 ; s service . a dialed number is converted into an ip address by a simple process . the caller enters zero (“ 0 ”) plus a ten digit telephone number into a client zeroplus application by either of two methods . one is by clicking the number buttons on the application gui which simulates the touch - tone pad on a standard telephone . the other method is to use the numbers on the computer keyboard to dial the desired telephone number . either method assumes that the user has established a network connection and launched the zeroplus client application . once the telephone number of the called party is entered into the application by either of the two methods above , the user can either press the & lt ; enter & gt ; key on the keyboard or click the “ talk ” button on the zeroplus gui . this action initiates a message , with the called party &# 39 ; s telephone number and the requested current ip address , to the gatekeeper 115 . the gatekeeper will look up the called party &# 39 ; s telephone number on the database server and , using data therein , determine the current or last known ip address for the called party &# 39 ; s telephone number . the gatekeeper sends a message with the called party ip address back to the calling party &# 39 ; s client . at this juncture , the calling party &# 39 ; s client launches the standard call setup messages directly to the called party &# 39 ; s ip address . if the called party is online , the client will respond in kind with the standard setup message responses and , once negotiated , the voice session will be opened in both directions . if the called party is not online and has call forwarding engaged , the calling party &# 39 ; s client will attempt to forward the call based on forwarding information sent when it first requested the number translation . accordingly , fig2 shows an access dialing sequence 201 dialed by a user to connect to the plan internet gateway , and sequences 211 and 221 , used to connect with the call recipient . an on - line computer accesses the gateway by dialing sequence 201 beginning with element 203 , which is a leading “ 0 ” digit , followed by the caller &# 39 ; s registered zeroplus internet telephone number 205 and a corresponding user pin code 206 . after sequence 201 gains access to the gateway 115 , the caller can place calls using sequence 211 to obtain an on - net computer - to - computer call . to complete a desired connection , the gatekeeper 115 accesses a database ( not shown ) which tracks the ip addresses corresponding with the destination number . the destination number selected by the calling user is then associated with the ip address of the destination computer 157 . alternately , an on - net caller can use sequence 221 to place a call to an off - net conventional telephone 155 . the only difference between sequence 211 and sequence 221 is that on - network calls in sequence 211 are proceeded with a “ 0 ” while off - network calls to conventional telephones in sequence 221 are proceeded with a “ 1 .” thus , to dial an off - net telephone number , a zeroplus user simply dials sequence 221 (“ 1 ” plus the destination telephone number ) from the zeroplus graphical user interface ( gui ) client software , thus sending the information to the internet telephony gateway best situated to deliver the call cost effectively , which is usually the gateway closest to the destination . in this way , the simplified dialing plan has originated a call from a data network such as the internet 129 to the pstn . thus , the access code for gateway calling consists of a combination of both the registered zeroplus telephone number and a member pin . number portability is made available by the zeroplus system by deriving both zeroplus access numbers and desired destination numbers from the users &# 39 ; conventional telephone numbers . upon entering their gateway access code , users will be prompted for the telephone number they wish to reach . again , this can be any on - net “ 0 ” plus telephone number or an off - net “ 1 ” plus telephone number . calls can be placed in various modes , including pc - to - pc , pc - to - phone , phone - to - pc , and phone - to - phone . further , pc - to - pc calls can feature call waiting , call forwarding , call transfer , three - way calling , and voice mail . user computer a 103 , user computer b 157 and user computer c 159 are referred to as stations a , b , and c in this section . this description assumes that all parties / stations ( a , b , c , and d ) have data connectivity and have already logged into zeroplus , and that an ip address is already associated with each these stations . note that station d does not explicitly appear on the diagrams . as shown in fig3 , in pc - to - pc calls , station a 103 dials station b &# 39 ; s 157 or 159 zeroplus number . the zeroplus application sends an admission request message which contains the calling number ( station a ) and the called number ( station b ) to the gatekeeper 115 . the gatekeeper responds with an admission confirm containing ip addresses which route to station b . when station b receives a setup message , it sends an authorization request to the gatekeeper . the gatekeeper responds to station b with an authorization confirm . since it is available to accept the call , station b then responds to station a &# 39 ; s setup message with an alerting message , and begins to ring . station a begins to ring when it receives the alerting message from station b . when station b answers the call , a connect message is sent to station a and a voice channel is opened from station b to station a . when station a receives the connect message from station b , it responds to the connect message with a connect acknowledgement and opens a voice channel from station a to station b . various signaling message formats are used between end - point stations , gateways and the gatekeeper . all these messages formats are specially defined for this inventions . gatekeeper request — fig5 shows the gatekeeper request message information elements format . when the user logs in , a gatekeeper request message is sent from the station to the gatekeeper to request user validation . gatekeeper confirm — fig6 a shows the gatekeeper confirmation message information elements ( section 1 ) format . fig6 b shows the gatekeeper confirmation message information elements ( section 2 ) format . the gatekeeper sends a gatekeeper confirm back to the end station in response to a gatekeeper request if the user information is valid . gatekeeper reject — fig7 shows the gatekeeper rejection message information elements format . the gatekeeper sends a gatekeeper reject back to the end station in response to a gatekeeper request if the user information is invalid . admission request — fig8 shows the admission request message information elements format . when a calling station initiates a call , it collects a farend number . this number along with the calling number is passed to the gatekeeper in the admission request message . admission confirm — fig9 a shows the admission confirmation message information elements ( section 1 ) format . fig9 b shows the admission confirmation message information elements ( section 2 ) format . the gatekeeper sends an admission confirmation message back to the calling station in response to an admission request message if the gatekeeper successfully translates the called number . admission reject — fig1 shows the admission reject message information elements format . the gatekeeper sends an admission reject message back to the calling station in response to an admission request message if the gatekeeper is unsuccessfully in translating the called number . bandwidth request — fig1 shows the bandwidth request message information elements format . a gateway sends a gatekeeper a bandwidth request message to request a bandwidth change to the class of service . bandwidth confirm — fig1 shows the bandwidth confirmation message information elements format . the gatekeeper sends a gateway a bandwidth confirm message in response to a bandwidth request message if the gatekeeper can allocate bandwidth of the class of service for this call . bandwidth reject — fig1 shows the bandwidth reject message information elements format . the gatekeeper sends the gateway a bandwidth reject message in response to a bandwidth request message if the gatekeeper cannot allocate bandwidth of the class of service for this call . faxcall — fig1 shows the faxcall message information elements format . the gateway ( that detected the fax call ) sends a faxcall message to the farend gateway to inform the farend gateway to change its class of service ( or compression ). trunks busy — fig2 shows the gk trunks busy message 0x4e information elements format . this message is sent from a gatekeeper to a gateway to request “ busying out ” or disabling the remaining available channels because bandwidth constrains the network . trunks busy ack — fig2 shows the gk trunks busy ack message 0x4f information elements format . fig2 shows the gk trunks busy ack message 0x4e information elements format . these messages are sent from a gateway to a gatekeeper to acknowledge the busy trunks request message . trunks unbusy — fig2 shows the gk trunks unbusy message 0x4c information elements format . this message is sent from a gatekeeper to a gateway to request “ unbusying out ” or enabling all “ busied out ” channels because of bandwidth availability . fig2 shows the gk trunks unbusy ack message 0x4d information elements format . these messages are sent from a gateway to a gatekeeper to acknowledge the unbusy trunks request message . heartbeat — fig2 shows the heartbeat message information elements format . a station sends a heartbeat message to the gatekeeper regularly after it receives a gatekeeper confirm message after the station logs in . the message tells the gatekeeper that the station is currently up and running and also tells the gatekeeper the station is currently on call . to further illustrate the invention , various calling features are described in terms of zeroplus messages . fig2 illustrates the case in which station b unconditionally forwards received calls to station c . station a dials station b &# 39 ; s zeroplus number . the zeroplus application sends an admission request containing the calling number ( station a ) and the called number ( station b ) to the gatekeeper . the gatekeeper responds with an admission confirm message containing ip addresses which route to station b . since station b is in forward mode , the admission confirm message also contains forwarding information ( unconditionally forwarded to station c ). since station b is unconditionally forwarded , station a &# 39 ; s zeroplus application sends a setup message to station c . when station c receives the setup message , it sends an authorization request to the gatekeeper , which responds to station c with an authorization confirm . since station c is available to accept the call , it then responds to station a &# 39 ; s setup message with an alerting message and begins to ring . station a produces a ringback sound when it receives the alerting message from station c . when station c answers the call , a connect message is sent to station a and a voice channel is opened from station c to station a . when station a receives the connect message from station c , it responds with a connect acknowledgement and opens a voice channel from station a to station c . fig2 illustrates the case in which station b forwards incoming calls when busy to station c . station a dials station b &# 39 ; s zeroplus number . the zeroplus application sends an admission request containing the calling number ( station a ) and the called number ( station b ) to the gatekeeper . the gatekeeper responds with an admission confirm message containing ip addresses which route to station b . since station b is in forward mode , the admission confirm message also contains forwarding information ( forwarded on busy to station c ). station a &# 39 ; s zeroplus application sends a setup message to station b . station b is already on a call with station d ( not shown ) when it receives station a &# 39 ; s setup message . therefore , station b responds to station a &# 39 ; s setup message with a release complete and continues on the call with station d . upon receiving the release complete message , station a determines that station b is currently busy and uses the forwarding information received in the initial admission confirm message from the gatekeeper to send another admission request to the gatekeeper . the gatekeeper responds with an admission confirm message . when station a receives the admission confirm message from the gatekeeper , it sends a setup message to station c . when station c receives the setup message , it sends an authorization request to the gatekeeper , which responds to station c with an authorization confirm . since it is available to accept the call , station c then responds to station a &# 39 ; s setup message with an alerting message and begins to ring . when station a receives the alerting message from station c , a ringback sound is heard . when station c answers the call , it sends a connect message to station a and opens a voice channel from station c to station a . when station a receives the connect message from station c , it responds with a connect acknowledgement and opens a voice channel from station a to station c . fig2 a and 28 b illustrate the case in which station b does not answer , and forwards calls to station c . station a dials station b &# 39 ; s zeroplus number . the zeroplus application sends an admission request containing the calling number ( station a ) and the called number ( station b ) to the gatekeeper . the gatekeeper responds with an admission confirm containing ip addresses which route to station b . since station b is in forward mode , the admission confirm message also contains forwarding information ( forwarded on no answer to station c ). station a &# 39 ; s zeroplus application sends a setup message to station b . station b is currently no on a call . upon receiving station a &# 39 ; s setup message , station b sends an authorization request to the gatekeeper , which responds with an authorization confirm to station b . since station b is available to accept this call , it sends station a an alerting message and begins to ring . upon receiving the alerting message from station b , station a emits a ringback sound . after five rings , since station a has received information to forward calls on no answer , to station c . therefore , station a stops ringing and sends a disconnect message to station b to begin disconnecting the call . station a also sends an end - of - call and an admission request message to the gatekeeper . to complete disconnecting the call between stations a and b , in response to station a &# 39 ; s disconnect message , station b sends a release message and also stops ringing . when station a receives station b &# 39 ; s release message , it responds by sending a release complete message to station b , which completes disconnecting the call from station a &# 39 ; s perspective . receiving station a &# 39 ; s release complete message completes disconnecting the call from station b &# 39 ; s perspective . the gatekeeper responds with an admission confirm message to station a . when station a receives the admission confirm message from the gatekeeper , it sends a setup message to station c . when station c receives the setup message , it sends an authorization request to the gatekeeper , which responds with an authorization confirm to station c . since station c is available to accept the call , it then responds to station a &# 39 ; s setup message with an alerting message and begins to ring . when it receives the alerting message from station c , station a commences ring back . when station c answers the call , it sends a connect message to station a and opens a voice channel from station c to station a . when station a receives the connect message from station c , it responds with a connect acknowledgement and opens a voice channel from station a to station c . fig2 illustrates the case in which on no response , station b forwards calls to its station to station c . station a dials station b &# 39 ; s zeroplus number . the zeroplus application sends an admission request containing the calling number ( station a ) and the called number ( station b ) to the gatekeeper . the gatekeeper responds with an admission confirm containing ip addresses which route to station b . since station b is forwarded , the admission confirm message also contains forwarding information ( forwarded on no response to station c ). station a &# 39 ; s zeroplus application sends a setup message to station b . station b is currently not logged into zeroplus . after three seconds , station a resends the setup message to station b . after another three seconds , station a &# 39 ; s zeroplus application determines that there is no response from station b . since station a has forwarding on no response information for station b , it sends another admission request to the gatekeeper . the gatekeeper responds with an admission confirm message to station a . when station a receives the admission confirm message , it sends a setup message to station c . when station c receives the setup message , it sends an authorization request to the gatekeeper , which responds with an authorization confirm to station c . since it is available to accept the call , station c then responds to station a &# 39 ; s setup message with an alerting message and begins to ring . when it receives the alerting message from station c , station a commences ringback . when station c answers the call , it sends a connect message to station a and opens a voice channel from station c to station a . when station a receives the connect message from station c , it responds with a connect acknowledgement and opens a voice channel from station a to station c . fig3 a and 30 b illustrate the case in which station b has the call - waiting feature enabled , is talking to station a , and receives an incoming call from station c . station a dials station b &# 39 ; s zeroplus number . the zeroplus application sends an admission request containing the calling number ( station a ) and the called number ( station b ) to the gatekeeper . the gatekeeper responds to station a with an admission confirm message containing ip addresses which route to station b . when station a receives the admission confirm message , it sends a setup message to station b . since station b is currently not on a call , when it receives the setup message from station a it sends an authorization request to the gatekeeper , which responds with an authorization confirm to station b . since it is available to accept the call , station b then responds to station a &# 39 ; s setup message with an alerting message and begins to ring . when it receives the alerting message from station b , station a commences ringback . when station b answers the call , it sends a connect message to station a and opens a voice channel from station b to station a . when station a receives the connect message from station b , it responds with a connect acknowledgement and opens a voice channel from station a to station b . while station a and station b are conducting their call , station c dials station b &# 39 ; s zeroplus number . the station c zeroplus application sends an admission request containing the calling number ( station c ) and the called number ( station b ) to the gatekeeper . the gatekeeper responds to station c with an admission confirm message containing ip addresses which route to station b . when station c receives the admission confirm message , it sends a setup message to station b . station b is currently on a call with station a . since station b has the call - waiting feature enabled , when it receives the setup message from station c , station b sends an authorization request to the gatekeeper . the gatekeeper responds with an authorization confirm to station b . since it is available to accept the call , station b then responds to station c &# 39 ; s setup message with an alerting message . at this time , station b hears the call - waiting tone . when it receives the alerting message from station b , station c begins ringback . station b clicks on the gui flash button to answer the call from station c . upon receiving the suspend message from station b , station a closes the voice channel from itself to station b and responds with a suspend acknowledgement message . upon receiving the connect message from station b , station c opens a voice channel from itself to station b and responds with a connect acknowledgement message to station b , thus answering the new call . fig3 a , 31 b and 31 c illustrate the case in which station b has the transfer feature enabled . station a dials station b &# 39 ; s zeroplus number . the station a zeroplus application sends an admission request containing the calling number ( station a ) and the called number ( station b ) to the gatekeeper . the gatekeeper responds to station a with an admission confirm message containing ip addresses which route the call to station b . when station a receives the admission confirm message from the gatekeeper , it sends a setup message to station b . since station b is currently not on a call , when it receives the setup message from station a it sends an authorization request to the gatekeeper . the gatekeeper responds to station b with an authorization confirm . since it is available to accept the call , station b then responds to station a &# 39 ; s setup message with an alerting message and begins to ring . when it receives the alerting message from station b , station a begins to ringback . when station b answers the call , it sends a connect message to station a and opens a voice channel from station b to station a . when station a receives the connect message from station b , it responds with a connect acknowledgement and opens a voice channel from station a to station b . next , the station a user verbally requests to be transferred to station c . the station b user clicks on the transfer button . this event sends a suspend message to station a and closes the voice channel from station b to station a . upon receiving the suspend message from station b , station a closes the voice channel from itself to station b and responds with a suspend acknowledgement . station b acknowledges receipt of the suspend acknowledgement message from station a . clicking the gui transfer button at station b also initiates dialing the second leg of the transfer . the gui prompts the station b user to enter a number to dial . station b then enters station c &# 39 ; s zeroplus number and clicks on the dial button , which initiates station b transferring to station c . station b &# 39 ; s zeroplus application sends an admission request containing the calling number ( station b ) and the called number ( station c ) to the gatekeeper . the gatekeeper responds to station b with an admission confirm message containing ip addresses which route to station c . when station b receives the admission confirm message , it sends a setup message to station c . since station c is currently not on a call when it receives the setup message it sends an authorization request to the gatekeeper , which responds with an authorization confirm to station c . since it is available to accept the call , station c then responds to station b &# 39 ; s setup message with an alerting message and begins to ring . when it receives the alerting message from station c , station b begins ringback . station b completes the blind transfer by clicking the transfer button before station c has answered . station b sends a transfer message containing station c &# 39 ; s number to station a . upon receiving the transfer message from station b , station a does the following : responds to station b with a transfer acknowledgement message , and sends the gatekeeper an end of call and an admission request message . when station b receives the transfer acknowledgement message , it sends an end of call message to the gatekeeper for each of the transfer legs . station b has completed its part of the transfer . the gatekeeper sends to station a an admission confirm message containing ip addresses which route to station c . when station a receives the admission confirm message , it sends a setup message to station c . when it receives the setup message from station a , station c sends an authorization request to the gatekeeper . the gatekeeper responds to station c with an authorization confirm . station c determines that the setup message from station a is due to a transfer , then , since it is available to accept the call , responds to station a &# 39 ; s setup message with an alerting message and continues to ring . when it receives the alerting message from station c , station b begins to ring . when station c answers the call , a connect message is sent to station a and a voice channel is opened from station b to station a . when station a receives the connect message from station b , it responds to the connect message with a connect acknowledgement and opens a voice channel from station a to station b . fig3 a , 32 b and 32 c illustrate the case in which station b has the transfer feature enabled . station a dials station b &# 39 ; s zeroplus number . the station a zeroplus application sends an admission request containing the calling number ( station a ) and the called number ( station b ) to the gatekeeper . the gatekeeper responds to station a with an admission confirm message containing ip addresses which route to station b . when station a receives the admission confirm message , it sends a setup message to station b . since station b is currently not on a call , when it receives the setup message from station a it sends an authorization request to the gatekeeper . the gatekeeper responds with an authorization confirm to station b . since it is available to accept the call , station b then responds to station a &# 39 ; s setup message with an alerting message and begins to ring . when it receives the alerting message from station b , station a begins ringback . when station b answers the call , it sends a connect message to station a and opens a voice channel from station b to station a . when station a receives the connect message from station b , it responds to the connect message with a connect acknowledgement and opens a voice channel from station a to station b . next , station a verbally requests to be transferred to station c . station b clicks on the transfer button , which sends a suspend message to station a and closes the voice channel from station b to station a . upon receiving the suspend message from station b , station a closes the voice channel from itself to station b and responds with a suspend acknowledgement . station b acknowledges the receipt of the suspend acknowledgement message from station a . clicking the station b &# 39 ; s transfer button also initiates dialing the second leg of the transfer . the gui prompts the station b user to enter a number to dial . the station b user then enters station c &# 39 ; s zeroplus number and clicks on the dial button , which initiates station b dialing station c . station b &# 39 ; s zeroplus application sends an admission request containing the calling number ( station b ) and the called number ( station c ) to the gatekeeper . the gatekeeper responds to station b with an admission confirm message containing ip addresses which routes to station c . when station b receives the admission confirm message from the gatekeeper , it sends a setup message to station c . since station c is currently not on a call when it receives the setup message from station b , it sends an authorization request to the gatekeeper . the gatekeeper responds with an authorization confirm to station c . since it is available to accept the call , station c then responds to station b &# 39 ; s setup message with an alerting message and begins to ring . when it receives the alerting message from station c , station b begins ringback . when station c answers the call , it sends a connect message to station b and opens a voice channel from station b to station c . when station b receives the connect message from station c , it responds with a connect acknowledgement and opens a voice channel from station c to station a . after station c has answered , the station b user completes the consultative transfer by clicking the transfer button . station b sends a transfer message containing station c &# 39 ; s number to station a . upon receiving the transfer message , station a does the following : responds with a transfer acknowledgement message to station b , and sends the gatekeeper an end of call and an admission request message . when station b receives the transfer acknowledgement message , it sends an end of call message to the gatekeeper for each of the transfer legs . station b has completed its part of the transfer . next , the gatekeeper sends to station a an admission confirm message containing ip addresses which route to station c . when station a receives the admission confirm message , it sends a setup message to station c . when it receives the setup message station c sends an authorization request to the gatekeeper , which responds with an authorization confirm to station c . station c determines that the setup message from station a is due to a transfer and then , since it is available to accept the call , responds to station a &# 39 ; s setup message with a connect message . station c closes the voice channel from itself to station b and reopens a voice channel from itself to station a . when station a receives the connect message from station c , it sends a connect acknowledgement to station c and opens a voice channel from itself to station c . the system also manages calls to or from conventional telephones . the gateway gatekeeper and gateway seamlessly bridge calls from the internet destined to the pstn and calls from the pstn to the internet , or pstn to pstn via internet . when a call goes from pstn to pstn , the gateway responsible for the specific area and city code at the point of origin handles that portion of the call , and a gateway responsible for the destination area and city code handles the termination side of the call . each side of the call is treated as a separate call which is bridged together over internet or other data network that both gateways have in common . note that a gatekeeper also includes a gateway , in addition to its call management functions . the gateway also is used for the pstn side of a pc - to - telephone and a telephone - to - pc call . whenever the pstn or another switch , pbx , ivr or other call center device is utilized in the origination and / or the termination of a call , a gateway must also be used at any point where traditional telecommunication technology is involved . for phone - to - phone calls , neither party uses a pc . both sides are handled by gateways as previously explained . for pc - to - phone or phone - to - pc calls , zeroplus software is required only on the pc side of the call , and a gateway will handle the other side of the call . pc - to - pc calls require that both parties have zeroplus software . the gatekeeper determines which is the “ best way ” to route calls . the gatekeeper has routing tables much like those in traditional telecommunications switches . these routing tables are addressed any time a calling party addresses a call request to the gatekeeper . there are two completely different routing methodologies . one is for on - net calls ( i . e . calls originating from and terminating at zeroplus clients on the internet ). the second is a more sophisticated routing methodology for calls originating on the internet and terminating off - net , i . e . calls where the calling party is connected via the internet and the called party is reached via a one (“ 1 ”) plus termination through a gateway to the pstn . in this situation the gatekeeper routing tables determine the least cost route to terminate the call . the “ best way ” is a combination of the least cost route and available resources . in the event that all resources are available ( i . e . all gateways for termination of off - net traffic in all cities still have ports available to handle the call ), the default route will be the least cost one . for example , if a call is destined for area code 512 ( austin , tex .) and there is a gateway on the network that provides local service in austin , the least cost route would terminate the call in austin without applying any long distance leg . but , if the austin gateway were to have all ports busy at the time of the call attempt , it would be necessary to terminate the call through another gateway on the network . in this case a routing table would route the call anywhere except texas due to the large premium on calls that originate and terminate in texas . it actually costs less to terminate a call in oklahoma and pay a discount long distance rate to back haul the call to texas . the programming of the routing tables emulates that which is standard and ordinary in the telecommunications industry today . programming the routing tables does not require a programmer , only an administrator who minimizes costs associated with calls destined for different areas of the country . the gatekeeper database has routing information and tables of data related to the ip addresses . the gatekeeper determines the ip addresses of any device addressed by the service . in the case of the end - user , once data connectivity has been established , it allows the computer to be assigned an ip address by the internet service provider ( isp ), and the user launches the zeroplus application . when the application starts up it opens a dialog box and requires the user to input his or her ten digit zeroplus number and the associated four digit pin . after the user enters the appropriate information into the dialog box and clicks the ok button , the application sends to the gatekeeper a validation request containing the zeroplus number , pin , and current ip address of the station . the gatekeeper looks up the zeroplus number in the database and verifies that both the pin and the zeroplus number are correct , sends a validation accepted message to the zeroplus application and updates the user &# 39 ; s account with the current ip address . the gatekeeper also sends back information associated with the current features ( i . e . call forwarding , call waiting , three way calling , call transfer , voice mail ) to which the member has access . for example , if the member has “ call forward set on no answer ” assigned to his / her office zeroplus telephone number , the zeroplus telephone number of that zeroplus station will be passed back to the application . if the user has call transfer , three - way calling , and call waiting capability , the gatekeeper will include information in the message to the application notifying it to accept requests for these features . if the member has subscribed to voice mail , the ip address of the voice mail server or its “ phone number ” will be passed to the application . upon receipt of a confirmation , the end station will commence sending “ heartbeat ” messages to the gatekeeper so that the gatekeeper will know that the station is still “ logged on .” traditional telephone network users are restricted to telephone devices which are physically connected to a set of wires within a fixed structure , such as a home . with portable telephones such as cellular phones , the equipment is mobile but the telephone number is not . mobile cellular telephone numbers are device - specific to a particular cell telephone . cell telephone users lose number portability because they have to use a specific cell telephone registered for that telephone number . the zeroplus architecture provides a device - independent telephone number access strategy . this enables mobile users to use their portable telephone number during travel without necessarily taking their physical portable telephone with them . zeroplus users with at least 28 . 8 kbps access to a digital data network and a computer with the zeroplus gui have access to all incoming calls and are able to make outgoing calls on their current zeroplus account . members may use zeroplus with telephones when they do not have access to their computer . inbound calls placed to the user computer are not forwarded to conventional telephones unless they subscribe to and use the call forward - feature of the service to forward their zeroplus calls to an off - net telephone number . to originate zeroplus calls without access to their computers , members dial a pstn access number and follow the instructions to connect either on - net or off - net calls . billable calls are posted to their zeroplus accounts . traditional telephone network users have grown accustomed to a variety of add - on features and lip - grades available on the pstn . the zeroplus system , through its robust combination of technology , hardware , software and connectivity to the pstn , also makes a large suite of features available to users . upgrades ( for an added fee ) include call forwarding , call waiting , call transfer , caller id , “ follow me ” service , voice mail and conference calls , as described previously . the zeroplus plan also provides connection shortcuts to frequently called numbers . the list is called the “ zp pals ” list . once the gatekeeper has sent the validation acceptance message , it can access what zeroplus users this member has in his / her zp pals list and what zp pals have this member in their list . it sends a message to the “ logging in ” station containing the zp pals list , what the ip address is for each of the “ pals ” that are online , and what members are interested in the online status of this station . an exception to this is that the gatekeeper will not return ip addresses for members if “ call blocking ” applies . this feature prevents other users from determining online status or placing calls to the blocked zeroplus number . the end station will then display the zp pals who have gatekeeper - supplied current ip addresses with the “ online indicator ” and send each of them , along with the members having this user in their zp pals list , a message telling them the member is online . zp pals on the list without an ip address will be displayed with the “ offline indicator .” the end station will notify all “ interested parties ” when it is shutting down so that the other stations will know to update the status for the user on this station to “ offline .” in the event that the gatekeeper fails to receive a “ heartbeat ” from a station it believes to be online , it will send all interested parties notification that the station is “ offline ,” update the status it has on that station to reflect the fact that it is offline , and close out any calls that might be active for that station . this is to address the problem that computers do “ crash ” occasionally or lose internet connectivity . it is not sufficient to rely on a “ clean ” shutdown for the end stations . zeroplus provides phone number location independence . the zeroplus number and pin code as well as the zp - pals list , feature set , and possible affiliate partner logos are all location independent . for example , if a member signs in through an affiliate partner , such as talk city and has a home telephone number which is “ 1 301 555 1212 ,” the corresponding zeroplus number “ 0 301 555 1212 ” will be assigned to their home computer . upon logging onto zeroplus , the gatekeeper checks and validates the account and then notifies the zeroplus application of all of the services that the user has available . the application would also be provided with the user &# 39 ; s zp - pals list , and the current status ( i . e . on - line or off - line ) of each of those individuals . if a zeroplus member is visiting a family which has a multimedia computer but is not a zeroplus member and does not have the application resident on their hard drive , then the only thing that the member would have to do would be to download the application and log in using his / her zeroplus number and pin . once the user logs into that computer , all normal zeroplus capabilities would be available at that computer . the zeroplus number and all associated account features are completely portable and hardware independent . while traditional home telephone numbers require a fixed port on a switch , or the number has to be forwarded to another fixed port on a switch . zeroplus numbers are completely hardware and port independent . the numbers are routed , not switched . what has been described is a private dialing plan wherein conventional telephone numbers are used as the basis for creating caller access numbers and the number dialed to reach the recipient . although described with respect to a particular exemplary embodiment , principles of the invention may be exploited in other dialing systems and telephonic communication methods . accordingly , the embodiments described herein should be regarded as merely illustrative of the invention and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention .
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with reference to the drawings , wherein like numerals represent like parts , fig1 shows an isometric view of a bearing sleeve 10 or ball - bearing outer race of an embodiment of the present invention wherein the outer quasi - cylindrical face 20 is provided with a broad concave shaped outer surface 30 able to accept more than one lay of string . the distance c is the axial width of a contained bearing 40 in the case of a bearing sleeve , or of the inner race and the ball - race with dust - covers in the case of being a ball - bearing outer race . fig2 shows another view of the same embodiment , rotated horizontally through some 45 or so degrees from the previous figure , which shows the extension 50 of the outer surface 20 to accommodate a friction braking member ( not shown ) to be seated in groove 52 . another embodiment of a bearing sleeve 10 is illustrated in fig3 and 4 . with reference to fig5 and 6 , a yo - yo 100 which employs the bearing sleeve 10 includes yo - yo halves 102 and 104 connected by a threaded axle 110 which mounts a bearing 40 disposed between the halves . the bearing sleeve 10 is preferably in the form of a spool . outer surface 30 is generally symmetric about an axial midpoint m . the spool is symmetric about an axis of rotation a which is the central axis of the yo - yo . the axial distance of the concave surface d is defined between axially extreme circular edges 32 and 34 which have a radius greater than the distance from the axis to the string bearing surface . the inner cylindrical surface of the spool has an axial length c . the axial distance d is preferably greater than the length c . the distance d is also greater than the radial spacing or thickness t between the outer concave string bearing surface and the inner surface . the yo - yo halves further respectively include recesses 106 and 108 adjacent their inner central portions for receiving the axially extreme portions of the spool . the axial distance d preferably exceeds the axial width c by at least 10 % of the roller bearing width c . one embodiment of the present invention is a bearing sleeve 10 or bearing outer race that facilitates an effective string gap ( greater than that previously provided ) of around 0 . 18 ″ or 4 . 5 mm to achieve complicated binds and double binds wherein the wider effective string gap must be wide enough to fit multiple lays of string : in the case of a double bind manoeuvre , of a double string lay crossed twice by a single string . the axial width c of the inner race of the bearing 40 or the contained bearing in the case of a bearing sleeve is maintained at a minimum width . in another embodiment of the present invention , where considerations of stability demand it , more than one ball - bearing may be used in a bearing sleeve . in an embodiment of the present invention where the primary string attachment to the yo - yo is restrained at the midpoint of the bearing sleeve 10 it is believed that it is possible to create yo - yo play possibilities for a more orderly and effective lay of strings by profiling the cylindrical outer face of the bearing or bearing sleeve . further effectiveness is achieved by shaping the bearing sleeve 10 or outer race in a manner that encourages the most efficient lay of string in the confines of a space created by an effective string gap of 4 . 0 to 4 . 5 mm ( 0 . 16 ″ to 0 . 18 ″) optionally in conjunction with or by means of a bearing surface that encourages the lay of strings away from the string snagging means 120 . this is achieved by the concave surface 30 having the gradual slope or gradient m which urges the string toward the midpoint m . the preferred gradient m is approximately 13 °. the yo - yo can still be recalled by a flick of the player &# 39 ; s wrist at this expanded effective string gap and effective greater string lay space created by the present invention . it is foreseeable that the effective string gap width of the present invention can be further extended by improved yo - yo string snagging means 120 . it is also possible to increase the effective string gap by reducing the caliper of the yo - yo string ( not illustrated ). many factors combine to set a range of minimum and maximum effective bearing and bearing sleeve inside and outside diameters . the size of the player &# 39 ; s hand determining the overall yo - yo diameter y and the yo - yo axle determining the diameter of the ball bearing inner race inside diameter b are two primary design limitations for high performance spinning yo - yos . the size of players &# 39 ; hands in the united states where modern yo - yo design evolved has dictated the external diameter y of the yo - yo to between 54 mm and 62 mm . string rewind inefficiencies start to progressively become evident above the typical united states ½ ″ bearing external diameter ( o . d .) or 12 . 7 mm . by using a bearing sleeve or by thickening the outer race of the ball - bearing of the present invention , the external diameter of the effective bearing surface may be extended to this approximate diameter yet utilize a small enclosed ball bearing , or ball race with a small diameter inner race , to promote a high speed long spinning yo - yo . typically , in ball - bearings of this scale , the radial thickness of the inner race is 25 - 33 % of the radial thickness of the annulus of the ball - bearing assembly , the outer race the same , and the ball race itself between 33 % and 50 %. the present invention envisages increasing the thickness of the effective outer race beyond 33 % to up to 60 - 70 % of the annular thickness of the bearing assembly . this enables various string - restraining modalities of shape such as the outer surface described above to be incorporated within the thickness of the outer race . the effective outer race of the bearing comprises the major radial interval of the radius s of the bearing / bearing sleeve assembly and may comprise upwards of fifty per cent of the radial thickness s of the annular bearing assembly . the effective outer race r of the bearing in the present context is taken to mean either a unitary piece of suitable machined or moulded material , suitably dimensioned so as to constitute a functional ball - bearing assembly in combination with an inner race and a ball - race in accordance with the present invention , or a bearing sleeve , suitably shaped and dimensioned , mounted on a suitably dimensioned prior art ball - bearing . of course , a unitary bearing spool of suitable shape and dimensions , made of a suitable material such as acetyl , teflon ® or nylon materials and having the axial extension of its outer face greater than the axial extension of its inner face closest to the axle may be provided to achieve a similar thickening effect , also within the scope of the present invention . the above mentioned multi - lay string tricks require the wider string gap setting as well as high speed capacity to complete sequences of the above mentioned trick routines . the present invention may be shaped to allow these ideal settings of internal and external diameters of the effective bearing housing to optimize play performance and deliver comfort to the player . it is further understood that the efficient combination of the ratio of sizes of the fore - mentioned variables allows the design of a lighter yo - yo that further reduces the strain experienced by top performers who must play and perform for hours . the term string is used throughout this present patent specification to effectively include other cord like materials and other cord end shapes , knots , ties or attachments that facilitate attachment or other superior string performance functions . the yo - yo “ string ” may be an extruded or moulded material . the present invention , by incorporating a bearing sleeve 10 or 10 ′ of light - weight material , allows the economical construction of a wider setting yo - yo with small internal diameter ball - or roller - bearings and small internal diameter surface friction thereby maximizing spin time and at the same time allowing a larger external diameter string bearing surface to optimize yo - yo recall . the above - mentioned efficiency ratios then allow for the reduction of yo - yo weight near the axis of rotation while still achieving the required complex string trick routines . by contrast , prior art ( u . s . pat . no . 6 , 565 , 408 marcantonio ) has disclosed a bearing sleeve where the width is limited to the width of the enclosed bearing and has restraining flats . the corresponding width is further limited by the perceived need to utilize star burst configurations ( radial ribs ) on the yo - yo inner faces . prior art u . s . pat . no . 4 , 895 , 547 ( amaral ) has effectively shown that the ideal width between the two star burst patterns of the medial faces of the yo - yo halves to be about 0 . 073 ″ to 0 . 090 ″. in practical design the bearing width is therefore limited to the ⅛ ″ ( 0 . 125 ″), i . e . 3 . 15 mm , width range . using a bearing 3 . 15 mm ( ⅛ ″) wide , seated in a bearing pocket in each yo - yo half , with the medial faces of the yo - yo halves set at 2 . 8 mm and with the intrusion of a starburst pattern snaring means raised 0 . 3 mm from each medial face , the effective string gap of the amaral prior art is 2 . 2 mm . by contrast , in the present invention , an increase of 10 per cent in the axial width of the bearing sleeve 10 or outer race of the bearing to 3 . 465 mm , in conjunction with non - intrusive snaring means 120 , yields an increase in the effective string gap of 0 . 915 mm , or 42 %. at a 20 per cent increase to 3 . 78 mm , again with non - intrusive snaring means , the effective string gap is increased to 3 . 43 mm , an increase of 1 . 23 mm or 56 %. it can be extrapolated that considerable gains are also made at differentials below 10 per cent , also within the scope of the present invention . by holding the axial width of the inner race and the ball race constant , there is no increase in friction . the discussed range of settings was arrived at based on a standard eight ply 100 % cotton string . the caliper of this string can vary depending on many string manufacturing factors , such as adjusting the tension between the string plies . an eight ply white string not under tension is approximately 1 mm in caliper . it follows that discussed the prior art does not envisage more than the primary string and one extra lay from a trick mount , such as “ the elevator ” ( old school ! ), since at an effective string gap of 2 . 2 mm , a third thickness of string , making 3 . 0 mm of string thickness , would necessarily snag . it is understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative and that other embodiments may be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention .
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referring in more detail to the drawings , fig1 shows the invention in its operative position as applied to a one wall stall shower . drain base 16 is connected to vertical wall 15 and a standard shower head 14 mounted on wall 15 and a standard shower curtain bar 12 mounted by end supports about 66 inches directly above the leading edge of the drain base 16 with shower curtain 13 surrounding the drain base 16 to prevent water from escaping from the showering area . the high impact rigid rod 2 is mounted in brackets 1 and 3 that are mounted on wall 15 , 30 inches below bar 12 this will prevent the shower curtain from coming in on the showering area . fig2 shows the invention in its operative position as applied to a two wall stall shower . drain base 19 is connected to vertical walls 17 and 18 , and standard shower head 14 , mounted on the walls 17 and 18 is a standard shower bar 12 mounted by end supports about 66 inches directly above the leading edge of the drain base 19 with shower curtain 13 hanging from bar 12 . the high impact rigid rod 2 is put in to the brackets 1 and 3 that are mounted on walls 17 and 18 30 inches below bar 12 , this will prevent the shower curtain from coming into the showering area . fig3 shows the invention in its operative position as applied to a standard over the tub shower installation . tub 23 is connected by three vertical walls 20 , 21 and 22 and a standard shower bar 12 mounted by end supports between walls 20 and 22 about 66 inches directly above the leading edge of tub 23 . with shower curtain 13 hanging from bar 12 , the high impact rigid rod 2 is mounted in brackets 1 and 3 that are mounted on walls 20 and 22 , 30 inches below bar 12 , this will prevent the shower curtain from coming into the showering area . fig4 a fragmented view of fig2 shows the invention in one of its storage positions hanging from bar 12 by shower curtain ring 11 supporting hanger 7 that is connected by a single bolt 8 and washer 9 to the high impact rigid rod 2 this device only supports the rod 2 in storage position . fig5 a fragmented view of fig2 illustrating a shower bow with the same type of storage hanger as fig4 in its functional configuration by turning the rod 2 , and putting it in the brackets 1 and 3 . in the open position it will form a horizontal self supporting arch . fig6 is a dissected view of the shower bow with the same type of storage hanging device as fig4 and fig5 . brackets 1 and 3 are of the type illustrated in fig1 . a high impact rigid rod 2 the diameter of which can be of any configuration . washers 9 allow 7 and 2 to swivel . a bolt 8 connects 7 , 9 and 2 at pivot point . a nut 10 that connects to 8 , the hanger 7 is 1 / 8 by 3 / 4 inch . by 30 inches . it can be of flexible or rigid material . the ring 11 may be one of the shower curtain rings already present and serve the function of supporting the shower curtain as well as the hanger 7 or additional ring supporting only the hanger . fig7 a fragmented view of fig2 illustrating a shower bow hanging from the shower curtain bar 12 in another storage position . the hook type of hanger 4 is connected to the high impact rigid rod 2 at 2 inches from one end . fig8 a fragmented view of fig2 illustrating a shower bow with the same type of hanger as fig7 in its functional configuration . by lifting the rod 2 up and off bar 12 and putting it in the brackets 1 and 3 it will form a horizontal self supporting rigid arch . fig9 is a dissected view of the shower bow with the same type of hanger device as fig7 and fig8 and 3 are brackets of the type illustrated in fig1 . fig1 , a fragmented view of fig2 illustrating a shower bow hanging from the storage slot in the bracket showing still another type of hanger . the bracket 5 is the same type illustrated in fig1 . it has a storage slot and it is mounted 30 inches below bar 12 , rod 2 is put in the slot for storage . fig1 , a fragmented view of fig2 illustrating a shower bow with the same type of hanger as fig1 in its functional configuration . rod 2 is removed from the storage slot in bracket 5 or 6 and put into brackets 5 and 6 . in the open position it will form a horizontal self supporting rigid arch . fig1 is a dissected view of the shower bow with the same type of storage hanging device as fig1 and fig1 . brackets 5 and 6 are of the same type illustrated in fig1 . fig1 a and 13b are enlarged views of brackets the same type as in fig1 thru fig9 the opening 24 in 3 and 1 are the same diameter configuration as rod 2 illustrated in fig1 thru fig9 . opening 24 goes in 1 inch at a 30 % angle and down at a 10 % angle . fig1 a and 14b are enlarged views of brackets the same type as in fig1 thru fig1 the opening 24 in 6 and 7 are the same diameter configuration as rod 2 illustrated in fig1 thru fig1 opening 24 goes in 1 inch at a 30 % angle and down at a 10 % angle . 26 is a storage slot of the same configuration as rod 2 and is vertical . fig1 is an enlarged fragmented view of vertical wall 27 illustrating a one piece molded shower wall liner 29 showing a built in or molded in brackets 28 and storage slot 30 .
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the environmentally safe filtration control agents for drilling fluids may use powdered grass , date seed powder , or grass ash powder as an additive . during the drilling of wells for oil and gas , drilling fluids ( drilling muds ) are circulated so that the fluids remove cuttings , lubricate the drilling tool , maintain hydrostatic pressure in the borehole during drilling , seal off unwanted formations that hinder production from the drilled well etc . these drilling fluids include various additives that impart desirable properties to the mud for a smooth drilling operation to take place . the additives present in the mud form a thin , low permeability filter of some form , which is desired on the sides of the borehole to control the filtration characteristic of the drilling fluid . the liquid which enters the formation while the filter layer is being established is known as surge or spurt loss , whereas the liquid that enters after the filter layer is formed is known as the drilling fluid filtrate . both filtrations are undesirable and need to be taken care of by the quick buildup of a firm filter cake . as stated , fluid loss is a common occurrence in drilling operations and may lead to undesirable phenomena such as : ( 1 ) poor circulation and less efficient removal of cuttings ; ( 2 ) damaging the near wellbore region by the invasion of drilling fluid into the formation ; ( 3 ) requiring additional cost in rig time , manpower and material to replenish and restore circulation ; and in extreme cases , ( 4 ) leading to insufficient downhole hydrostatic pressure , which may lead to a blowout . curing losses effectively and quickly is still a matter of concern from many companies and operators . under these conditions , the normal procedure is to add fluid loss agents , which alone may decrease the losses while drilling to an acceptable level . in a first embodiment , the environmentally safe filtration control agent for drilling fluids comprises powdered grass . x - ray fluorescence ( xrf ) analysis was conducted on the powdered grass sample , which revealed the elemental composition shown in table 1 . the xrf analysis showed that the grass sample consists of calcium , potassium , chlorine , sulfur , silicon , iron , phosphorous and manganese , with calcium contributing the highest weight percent to the sample . the graphical result of the xrf is shown in fig1 . the use of powdered grass as a filtration control agent for drilling fluids is illustrated by the following examples . grass was dried in a sunny area for a week and then ground in a grinding machine . the powdered material was then passed through a series of u . s . standard series sieves of the fine series having a particle range in proportions shown in table 2 . a base mud is prepared using a commercially available viscosifier , bentonite . bentonite is added to water under high speed stirring and different weights of powdered grass corresponding to different sieve sizes will be added to this mixture . the rheological properties density , viscosity , filtration loss , ph concentration etc . of this newly developed drilling mud is then studied . owing to the particle sizes selected , the inventors are of the opinion that powdered grass could be used as a fluid loss control additive and could be a potential replacement for toxic chemicals used in the oil industry . this series of experiments is conducted on powdered grass having a particle size of 300 microns . it is evident from table 3 that as the concentration of grass powder in the drilling fluid increases , the rheology is modified . the apparent viscosity , plastic viscosity and yield point increases . the gel strength at 10 minutes is altered , gaining a maximum value of 16 lb / 100 ft 2 at 1 . 0 ppb concentration . a good gel strength value indicates that the mud has cuttings carrying capacity . thus , grass can be used as a rheological modifier for drilling fluid applications . table 4 shows the filtration characteristics of the mud with increasing grass concentration . it is observed that as the concentration is increased , the filtration properties of the muds are improved and the percentage water reduction achieved is about 25 % at 1 . 0 ppb concentration . making filtration as the basis for optimization , it is recommended that 1 . 0 ppb be the best optimum concentration , thus , it can be stated that powdered grass can be used as a filtration control agent for drilling fluids . from table 5 , it is seen that the addition of grass into the drilling mud decreases the ph of the mud . this is another applicability of grass powder to perform as an alkalinity control agent for drilling fluids . this series of experiments is conducted on powdered grass having a particle size of 90 microns . it is evident from table 6 that as the concentration of grass powder in the drilling fluid increases , the rheology is modified . the apparent viscosity , plastic viscosity and yield point increases . the gel strength at 10 minutes is altered , gaining a maximum value of 16 lb / 100 ft 2 at 1 . 0 ppb concentration . a good gel strength value indicates that the mud has cuttings carrying capacity . thus , grass powder can be used as a rheological modifier for drilling fluid applications . table 7 shows the filtration characteristics of the mud with increasing grass concentration . it is observed that as the concentration is increased , the filtration properties of the muds are improved and the percentage water reduction achieved is 23 % at 1 . 0 ppb concentration . making filtration as the basis for optimization , it is recommended that 1 . 0 ppb be the best optimum concentration . thus , it can be stated that powdered grass can be used as a filtration control agent for drilling fluids . from table 8 , it is seen that the addition of grass into the drilling mud decreases the ph of the mud . this is another applicability of grass powder to perform as an alkalinity control agent for drilling fluids . this series of experiments is conducted on powdered grass having a particle size of 35 microns . it is evident from table 9 that as the concentration of grass powder in the drilling fluid increases , the rheology is modified . the apparent viscosity , plastic viscosity and yield point increases . the gel strength at 10 minutes is altered , gaining a maximum value of 17 lb / 100 ft 2 at 1 . 0 ppb concentration . a good gel strength value indicates that the mud has cuttings carrying capacity . thus , grass can be used as a rheological modifier for drilling fluid applications . table 10 shows the filtration characteristics of the mud with increasing grass concentration . it is observed that as the concentration is increased , the filtration properties of the muds are improved , and the percentage water reduction is achieved is 19 % at 1 . 0 ppb concentration . making filtration as the basis for optimization , it is recommended that 1 . 0 ppb be the best optimum concentration . thus , it can be stated that powdered grass can be used as a filtration control agent for drilling fluids . from table 11 , it is seen that the addition of grass into the drilling mud decreases the ph of the mud . this is another applicability of grass powder to perform as an alkalinity control agent for drilling fluids . the fruit of the date palm tree is an important crop in the middle eastern countries and is composed of a fleshy pericarp and seed . the seed constitutes about 10 to 15 % of the date fruit weight . the date seed is often considered as a byproduct of dates processing plants , which produce pitted dates , date syrups and date confectioneries . the production of date fruits throughout the world is estimated to be 6 . 9 million tons , from which 863 thousand tons of date seeds are extracted . about 18 % of the world &# 39 ; s total production of date fruits is contributed by saudi arabia and are used mainly for animal feeds , such as for camel , sheep , and even the poultry industry . analysis of saudi arabian date seeds indicated that these contain high amounts of protein , crude fat , and fibers . it is also a proven fact that date seeds serve as a natural source of phenolic compounds and as an antioxidant . recently , it was found that date palm seed extracts inhibited the corrosion of mild carbon steel in steel pipelines and performed better when corroded with hydrochloric acid than sulfuric acid . x - ray fluorescence ( xrf ) analysis was conducted on the date seed sample , which revealed the elemental composition shown in table 12 . the xrf analysis showed that the date seeds sample consists of potassium , calcium , iron , chlorine , silicon , sulfur , phosphorous and manganese , with potassium contributing the highest weight percent in the sample . the graphical result of the xrf is shown in fig2 . the use of date seed powder as a filtration control agent for drilling fluids is illustrated by the following examples . date seeds were ground in a grinding machine . the powdered material was then passed through a series of u . s . standard series sieves of the fine series having a particle range in proportions shown in table 13 . a base mud is prepared using a commercially available viscosifier , bentonite . bentonite is added to water under high speed stirring and different weights of date seed powder corresponding to different sieve sizes are added to this mixture . the rheological properties density , viscosity , filtration loss , ph concentration etc . of this newly developed drilling mud is then studied . owing to the particle sizes selected , the inventors are of the opinion that date seed powder could be used as a fluid loss control additive and could be a potential replacement for toxic chemicals used in the oil industry . this series of experiments is conducted on date seed powder having a particle size of 600 microns . it is evident from table 14 that as the concentration of date seed powder in the drilling fluid increases , the rheology is modified . the apparent viscosity and the plastic viscosity increase , while the yield point increases and then comes back to its original value . the gel strength at 10 minutes is altered , gaining a maximum value of 15 lb / 100 ft 2 at 1 . 0 ppb concentration . a good gel strength value indicates that the mud has cuttings carrying capacity . thus , date seed powder can be used as a rheological modifier for drilling fluid applications . table 15 shows the filtration characteristics of the mud with increasing date seed powder concentration . it is observed that as the concentration is increased , the filtration properties of the muds are improved and the percentage water reduction achieved is about 13 . 33 % at 1 . 0 ppb concentration . making filtration as the basis for optimization , it is recommended that 0 . 75 ppb be the best optimum concentration . thus , it can be stated that date seed powder can be used as s filtration control agent for drilling fluids . from table 16 , it is seen that the addition of date seed powder into the drilling mud decreases the ph of the mud . this is another applicability of date seed powder to perform as an alkalinity control agent for drilling fluids . this series of experiments is conducted on date seed powder having a particle size of 300 microns . it is evident from table 17 that as the concentration of date seed powder in the drilling fluid increases , the rheology is modified . the apparent viscosity and the plastic viscosity increase , while the yield point remains almost constant . the gel strength at 10 minutes is altered , gaining a maximum value of 16 lb / 100 ft 2 at 2 . 0 ppb concentration . a good gel strength value indicates that the mud has cuttings carrying capacity . thus , date seeds powder can be used as a rheological modifier for drilling fluid applications . table 18 shows the filtration characteristics of the mud with increasing date seed powder concentration . it is observed that as the concentration is increased , the filtration properties of the muds are improved and the maximum percentage water reduction achieved is 20 % at both 1 . 5 ppb and 2 . 0 ppb concentration . making filtration as the basis for optimization , it is recommended that 1 . 5 ppb be the best optimum concentration . thus , it can be stated that date seed powder can be used as a filtration control agent for drilling fluids . from table 19 , it is seen that the addition of date seed powder into the drilling mud decreases the ph of the mud . this is another applicability of date seed powder to perform as an alkalinity control agent for drilling fluids . this series of experiments is conducted on date seed powder having a particle size of 125 microns . it is evident from table 20 that as the concentration of date seed powder in the drilling fluid increases , the rheology is modified . the apparent viscosity and the plastic viscosity increase , while the yield point remains almost constant , and then decreases at the last concentration . the gel strength at 10 minutes is altered , gaining a maximum value of 15 lb / 100 ft 2 at 2 . 0 ppb concentration . a good gel strength value indicates that the mud has cuttings carrying capacity . thus , date seeds can be used as a rheological modifier for drilling fluid applications . table 21 shows the filtration characteristics of the mud with increasing date seed powder concentration . it is observed that as the concentration is increased , the filtration properties of the muds are improved and the maximum percentage water reduction is achieved . this concentration is recorded as 12 % at 2 . 0 ppb concentration . making filtration as the basis for optimization , it is recommended that 2 . 0 ppb be the best optimum concentration . thus , it can be stated that date seed powder can be used as a filtration control agent for drilling fluids . from table 22 , it is seen that the addition of date seed powder into the drilling mud decreases the ph of the mud . this is another applicability of date seed powder to perform as an alkalinity control agent for drilling fluids . the basis of obtaining the most optimum particle size is based on the filtration characteristics exhibited by the muds formulated with date seed powder . it is observed that the best filtration values are obtained from the 300 micron sample with a concentration of 1 . 5 ppb . in a third embodiment , the environmentally safe filtration control agent for drilling fluids comprises grass ash powder . x - ray fluorescence ( xrf ) analysis was conducted on the powdered grass ash sample , which revealed the elemental composition shown in table 23 . the xrf analysis showed that the grass ash sample consists of silicon , calcium , potassium , chlorine , magnesium , sulfur , iron , phosphorous , aluminum , titanium , and manganese , with silicon contributing the highest weight percent to the sample . the graphical result of the xrf is shown in fig3 . the use of grass ash powder as a filtration control agent for drilling fluids is illustrated by the following examples . grass was dried in a sunny area for a week and then burnt in a furnace to obtain grass ash . the grass ash was then ground in a grinding machine . the powdered material was then passed through a series of u . s . standard series sieves of the fine series having a particle range in proportions shown in table 2 . a base mud is prepared using a commercially available viscosifier , bentonite . bentonite is added to water under high speed stirring and different weights of grass ash powder corresponding to different sieve sizes are added to this mixture . the rheological properties density , viscosity , filtration loss , ph concentration etc . of this newly developed drilling mud is then studied . owing to the particle sizes selected , the inventors are of the opinion that grass ash powder could be used as a fluid loss control additive and could be a potential replacement for toxic chemicals used in the oil industry . this series of experiments is conducted on grass ash powder having a particle size of 300 microns . it is evident from table 25 that as the concentration of grass ash powder in the drilling fluid increases , the rheology is modified . the apparent viscosity , plastic viscosity and yield point increases . the gel strength at 10 minutes is altered , gaining a maximum value of 19 lb / 100 ft 2 at 1 . 0 ppb concentration . a good gel strength value indicates that the mud has cuttings carrying capacity . thus , grass ash can be used as a rheological modifier for drilling fluid applications . table 26 shows the filtration characteristics of the mud with increasing grass ash powder concentration . it is observed that as the concentration is increased , the filtration properties of the muds are improved and the percentage water reduction achieved is about 18 . 67 % at 1 . 0 ppb concentration . making filtration as the basis for optimization , it is recommended that 1 . 0 ppb be the best optimum concentration . thus , it can be stated that grass ash powder can be used as s filtration control agent for drilling fluids . from table 27 , it is seen that the addition of grass ash powder into the drilling mud increases the ph of the mud . this is another applicability of grass ash powder to perform as an acidity control agent for drilling fluids . this series of experiments is conducted on grass ash powder having a particle size of 90 microns . it is evident from table 6 that as the concentration of grass ash powder in the drilling fluid increases , the rheology is modified . the apparent viscosity and the plastic viscosity of the fluid increase , and the yield point also increases . the gel strength at 10 minutes is altered , gaining a maximum value of 24 lb / 100 ft 2 at 1 . 0 ppb concentration . a good gel strength value indicates that the mud has cuttings carrying capacity . thus , grass ash powder can be used as a rheological modifier for drilling fluid applications . table 29 shows the filtration characteristics of the mud with increasing grass ash powder concentration . it is observed that as the concentration is increased , the filtration properties of the muds are improved , and the maximum percentage water reduction achieved greater than 20 % at 1 . 0 ppb concentration . making filtration as the basis for optimization , it is recommended that 1 . 0 ppb be the best optimum concentration . thus , it can be stated that grass ash powder can be used as a filtration control agent for drilling fluids . from table 30 , it is seen that the addition of grass ash powder into the drilling mud decreases the ph of the mud . this is another application of grass ash powder , to perform as an acidity control agent for drilling fluids . this series of experiments is conducted on powdered grass ash having a particle size of 26 microns . it is evident from table 31 that as the concentration of grass ash powder in the drilling fluid increases , the rheology is modified . the apparent viscosity , plastic viscosity and yield point increases . the gel strength at 10 minutes is altered , gaining a maximum value of 28 lb / 100 ft 2 at 1 . 0 ppb concentration . a good gel strength value indicates that the mud has cuttings carrying capacity . thus , grass ash powder can be used as a rheological modifier for drilling fluid applications . table 32 shows the filtration characteristics of the mud with increasing grass ash powder concentration . it is observed that as the concentration is increased , the filtration properties of the muds are improved , and the maximum percentage water reduction is achieved is 20 . 67 % at 1 . 0 ppb concentration . making filtration as the basis for optimization , it is recommended that 1 . 0 ppb be the best optimum concentration . thus , it can be stated that grass ash powder can be used as a filtration control agent for drilling fluids . from table 33 , it is seen that the addition of grass ash powder into the drilling mud increases the ph of the mud . this is another application of grass ash powder , to perform as an acidity control agent for drilling fluids . the basis of obtaining the most optimum particle size is based on the filtration characteristics exhibited by the muds formulated with grass ash powder . it is observed that the best filtration values are obtained from the 90 micron sample with a concentration of 1 . 0 ppb . it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above , but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims .
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identical elements are identified by the same reference numerals throughout the drawings . in fig1 , a preferred embodiment of a manual power sander is shown , which is embodied as an orbital sander and which has a housing 11 , in which in the usual way there is a drive unit 12 of a platelike tool holder 13 ; the drive unit 12 is connected in terms of force to an eccentric 35 . a sander plate 14 is secured in the tool holder 13 and is driven to execute circular motions via the eccentric 35 . as the drive unit 12 , it is also possible to use a compressed air turbine , a suction turbine , or a dc motor . a motor fan 34 for ventilating the drive unit 12 is also provided in the housing 11 . between the tool holder 13 and the housing 11 , there is an extraction hood 36 , in which a dust fan 37 is located . the tool holder 13 is secured to the extraction hood 36 via rocker legs 38 . for vibration reduction , a compensatory weight is provided , which is part of the eccentric 35 and is not shown in further detail . in an alternative embodiment , not shown , the compensatory weight may also be part of the dust fan 37 . above the sander plate plane 16 , a handle 10 , which comprises a knoblike thickening , is located approximately centrally with respect to the sander plate 14 . the requisite contact pressure of the tool holder 13 on the workpiece that is required for grinding can be introduced by the user via the handle 10 and extends along a force direction 17 that is perpendicular to the sander plate plane 16 . the handle 10 has a substantially encompassing , groovelike finger depression 39 , which furnishes an improved hold for the user &# 39 ; s fingers . the combination of the knoblike handle 10 and the finger depression 39 makes for improved manipulation of the power sander . a second grip element 41 is embodied in closed form and serves the purpose of actually holding and guiding the power sander using the other hand . an on / off switch 42 is located below the grip element 41 . a cord 43 for supplying electrical power leads out of the second grip element 41 . the housing part 19 that includes both the handle 10 and the grip element 41 and the housing 11 that includes the drive unit 12 are embodied separately from one another and are joined together according to the invention via at least one vibration isolation element 18 . the vibration isolation element 18 is shown in detail in fig2 . the vibration isolation element 18 includes a middle part 20 with two lateral flectionally elastic pillar elements 21 , 22 located perpendicular to the middle part 20 . overall , the vibration isolation element 18 is u - shaped . the vibration isolation element 18 is expediently formed at least in some regions of a rigid material , such as polyoxymethylene , polyamide 6 , polycarbonate , steel , or zinc . the pillar elements 21 , 22 each include three partial pillars 27 , 28 , 29 , 31 , 32 , 33 , as a result of which the flectionally elastic properties of the pillar elements 21 , 22 are reinforced . an alternative vibration isolation element 18 , not shown , comprises at least one of the partial pillar elements 27 , 28 , 29 , 31 , 32 , 33 . in fig1 , an unloaded state of the manual power sander is shown , in which the pillar elements 21 , 22 are located perpendicular to the sander plate plane 16 and parallel the force direction 17 . on a free end 23 near the sander plate , the pillar elements 21 , 22 are secured in receptacles 25 on the handle end of the handle 10 . on a free end 24 remote from the sander plate , the pillar elements 21 , 22 can be secured in receptacles 26 on the drive end of the housing 11 , particularly via a clamp connection or screw connection . the pillar elements 21 , 22 , because of their geometric design , are elastic with respect to deformations perpendicular to the force direction 17 , or in other words perpendicular to a longitudinal axis 40 of the pillar elements 21 , 22 . however , compressive and tensile loads can be transmitted in the longitudinal axis 40 of the columns . the rodlike pillar elements 21 , 22 , in the unloaded state , are oriented virtually parallel to the force direction 17 and are thus perpendicular to the sander plate plane 16 . if pressure is now exerted on the sander plate 14 in the on state via the handle 10 , 41 in order to initiate the sanding operation , this pressure acts as tensile stress in the pillar elements 21 , 22 . with increasing tensile stress or increasing contact pressure of the sander plate 14 in the pillar elements 21 , 22 , the lateral deflection of the handle 10 relative to the housing 11 is made more difficult , thus lessening the isolation of the handle 10 from the rest of the sander . as a result , the housing part 19 of the handle 10 , 41 is pulled downward in the force direction 17 , and a lateral deflection of the handle 10 relative to the housing 11 is made more difficult . the oscillation amplitude of the handle 10 in the loaded state is thus reduced . simultaneously , however , the isolation of the handle 10 from the housing 11 and the rest of the power sander is also lessened . this kind of decreasing isolation with increasing sander plate contact pressure results in better guidance and manipulability of the power sander . fig3 shows a second , preferred exemplary embodiment of a manual power sander embodied as an orbital sander . it is essentially equivalent to the manual power sander of fig1 , and it differs from the manual power sander of fig1 in that the vibration isolation provided is designed differently . for that purpose , the housing 11 , in its end region near the handle 10 , has a radial protrusion 51 extending all way the around , which on its outer region 52 has both an upper contact face 53 and a lower contact face 54 , both of them oriented predominantly perpendicular to the force direction 17 . in an inner region 55 , near the housing 11 , the radial protrusion 51 has an upper contact face 56 and a lower contact face 57 , which are each oriented at an angle to the contact faces 53 and 54 and merge with them ; the inner region 55 has a substantially wedge - shaped cross section that becomes smaller radially outward , with an axis of symmetry oriented parallel to the sander plate plane . in a further advantageous embodiment , the angle between the contact faces 56 and 57 varies over the circumference , with diametrically opposed contact faces 56 , 63 and 57 , 66 always being oriented parallel to one another . in the present embodiment , the housing part 19 is split in two , so that it is formed of two housing parts 19 ′ and 19 ″. the housing part 19 ′ has an annular protrusion 60 , which on its free end 61 has a contact face 62 , which is located parallel and coaxial to the upper contact face 53 of the radial protrusion 51 of the housing 11 , and a contact face 63 adjoining it , which merges with the contact face 62 and is located parallel and coaxial to the contact face 56 of the radial protrusion 51 of the housing 11 , so that the contact faces 53 , 56 and 62 , 63 are concentric with and spaced apart from one another . the housing part 19 ″ likewise has a protrusion 64 extending all the way around , on which contact faces 65 and 66 are embodied that are concentric with the contact faces 54 and 57 . the contact faces 53 , 56 , 62 and 63 , and the contact faces 54 , 57 , 65 and 66 each form a respective vibration isolation element receptacle 67 and 68 . an elastic , preferably volumetrically consistent ring element 69 and 70 is located as a vibration isolation element 71 in each of the vibration isolation element receptacles 67 , 68 , respectively , and has a point - symmetrical , circular cross section . the ring elements 69 and 70 , or rings 69 and 70 , are clamped between the corresponding housing parts 19 ′ and 19 ″, respectively , and the radial protrusion 51 of the housing 11 . fig4 shows a portion of the vibration isolation device of fig3 in a detail view . the axis 80 is a normal to the sander plate plane 16 and can be identical to the axes 18 of rotation of the drive unit 12 and / or to the axis of symmetry of the ring 69 or of the contact faces 56 , 63 ; the spacing of the contact face 56 from the axis 80 need not be identical at every point , but instead may vary over the circumference . in the neutral state , that is , with the tool not switched on and without forces that act in the direction of the force direction 17 , the goal is for the axes of symmetry of the contact faces 56 and 63 and the axis of symmetry of the ring 69 to coincide . this is equally true for the contact faces 57 and 66 and the ring 70 , which are not shown here . during operation , the contact face 62 conducts the contact pressure , originating at the handle 10 and exerted axially or in other words parallel to the force direction 17 onward via the ring 69 to the contact face 53 of the radial protrusion 51 of the housing 11 . the contact face 63 conducts the radial forces , that is , the forces perpendicular to the axis 80 , that originate in the handle 10 to the contact face 56 of the radial protrusion 51 of the housing 11 via the ring 69 . the contact faces 62 and 53 may for instance be embodied conically also . the contact faces 53 , 56 , 62 and 63 do not completely enclose the cross section of the ring 69 and do not coincide with the surfaces , facing them , of the ring 69 . by suitable dimensioning of the rings 69 and / or 70 and / or of the vibration isolation element receptacles 67 and 68 , a radial prestressing , extending all the way around , of the ring 69 can be attained , which leads to a neutral position of the handle 10 on the rest of the power sander . the handle 10 can thus — quasi - spring - elastically — oscillate in the plane parallel to the sander plate plane 16 ; a radial deflection leads to an oppositely oriented restoring force through the rings 69 and / or 70 into the neutral outset position . thus an advantageous isolation of the handle 10 from the rest of the power sander is made possible in a plane parallel to the sander plate plane 16 . an axial load , or in other words in the direction of the force direction 17 , leads to a radial expansion of the volume of the ring 69 , making a radial deflection of the handle 10 relative to the rest of the power sander more difficult . for an increasing contact pressure , this means a decreasing isolation or an increasing coupling between the handle 10 and the rest of the power sander . if the resultant direction of the contact pressure exerted by the user is not identical to the axis of symmetry of the ring 69 or 70 and / or of the lateral contact faces 56 and 63 or 57 and 66 , the result is unequal reinforcement and thus a nonhomogeneous radial isolation , which compensates for the likewise unequal sanding reaction forces . this embodiment likewise has the aforementioned advantages in a drop test , since upon impact on the handle 10 , some of the positional energy is converted into deformation energy of the ring 69 and / or 70 . naturally , an advantageous embodiment with a plurality of vibration isolation elements in the form of annular segments or balls is also possible , these elements being located in corresponding vibration isolation element receptacles distributed over the circumference of the housing 11 . preferably , the rings 69 and / or 70 are made from a material such as polyurethane , isoprene rubber , natural rubber , butadiene rubber , styrene - butadiene rubber , nitrile rubber , butyl rubber , chloroprene rubber , silicone rubber , and / or ethylene - propylene - diene rubber .
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in the following description , numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention . however , one having ordinary skill in the art should recognize that the invention may be practiced without these specific details . in some instances , well - known circuits , structures , signals , computer program instruction , and techniques have not been shown in detail to avoid obscuring the present invention . referring to fig1 , one embodiment of a computing system 100 with a microprocessor 120 comprising multiple instantiated cores 102 a - 102 h is shown . in one embodiment , microprocessor 120 may be a standalone processor within a mobile laptop system , a desktop , an entry - level server system , a mid - range workstation , or other . for such an embodiment , microprocessor 120 may internally utilize a system bus controller for communication , which may be integrated in crossbar switch 104 or it may be a separate design . a system bus controller may couple microprocessor 120 to outside memory , input / output ( i / o ) devices such as computer peripherals , a graphics processing unit ( gpu ), or other . in such an embodiment , logic within such a system bus controller may replace or incorporate the functionality of a memory controller and interface logic 108 . in another embodiment , microprocessor 120 may be included in multiple processing nodes of a multi - socket system , wherein each node utilizes a packet - based link for inter - node communication . in addition to coupling processor cores 102 a - 102 h to l3 caches 106 a - 106 h , crossbar switch 104 may incorporate packet processing logic . generally speaking , such logic may be configured to respond to control packets received on outside links to which microprocessor 120 may be coupled , to generate control packets in response to processor cores 102 a - 102 h and / or cache memory subsystems , to generate probe commands and response packets in response to transactions selected by interface logic 108 for service , and to route packets for which microprocessor 120 may be included in a node that is an intermediate node to other nodes through interface logic 108 . interface logic 108 may include logic to receive packets and synchronize the packets to an internal clock used by packet processing logic . as used herein , elements referred to by a reference numeral followed by a letter may be collectively referred to by the numeral alone . for example , processor cores 102 a - 102 h may be collectively referred to as processor cores , or cores , 102 . in one embodiment , microprocessor 120 has eight instantiations of a processor core 102 . each processor core 102 may utilize conventional processor design techniques such as complex branch prediction schemes , out - of - order execution , and register renaming techniques . each processor core 102 may support execution of multiple threads . multiple instantiations of a same processor core 102 that is able to execute multiple threads may provide high throughput execution of server applications while maintaining power and area savings . each core 102 may include circuitry for executing instructions according to a predefined instruction set . for example , the sparc instruction set architecture ( isa ) may be selected . alternatively , the x86 , alpha , powerpc , or any other instruction set architecture may be selected . generally , processor core 102 may access a cache memory subsystem for data and instructions . each core 102 may contain its own level 1 ( l1 ) and level 2 ( l2 ) caches in order to reduce memory latency . these cache memories may be integrated within respective processor cores 102 . alternatively , these cache memories may be coupled to processor cores 102 in a backside cache configuration or an inline configuration , as desired . the l1 cache may be located nearer a processor core 102 both physically and within the cache memory hierarchy . crossbar switch 104 may provide communication between the cores 102 and l3 caches 106 . in addition , cores 102 may be coupled to double data rate dual in - line memory modules ( ddr dimm ) that reside on a circuit board outside microprocessor 120 . in one embodiment , ddr dimm channel ( s ) may be on - chip in order to couple the cores 102 to the ddr dimm off - chip . each l3 cache 106 may be coupled to a memory controller or a dynamic random access memory ( dram ) channel for communication to dram that resides off - chip . also , an interface to a system bus may be coupled to the each l3 cache 106 . each core 102 may include one or more features capability registers ( fcrs ) for storing data used to enable or disable features and for storing supporting information for the respective enabled features . for example , fcrs may store encoded manufacturing information , such as a chip serial number ; store information to identify and enable a redundant chip block , such as a large static random - access memory ( sram ), in order to increase yield ; and store enable bits to enable one or more cryptographic processes . other features are possible and contemplated . the assignment of a fcr comprising one or more bits of storage to a particular feature may be predetermined in one embodiment . the assignment may be hardwired in hardware or set by basic input output software ( bios ) during boot - up of a system . therefore , the assignments may be set only once , which may be done for security reasons , although , bios may be altered , or updated , at a later time . the information to be stored in a fcr within each core 102 may have restrictions on both the source of the information and the window of time to update the fcr . for example , a fuse read - only memory ( rom ) 110 may be utilized to convey information to the fcrs for storage . each row , or entry , of the fuse rom 110 may comprise a plurality of fields , such as an address or other identifier ( id ) to identify an associated fcr within each core 102 , row parity or other validating information , and the data to be stored in the fcr and later utilized by core 102 . information to be utilized by each core 102 may be programmed into the fuse rom during manufacture and testing of a semiconductor chip . for security reasons , the ability to program the fuse rom 110 may be limited to prior to shipping microprocessor 120 . turning now to fig2 , one embodiment of a fuse circuit 200 is shown . fuse circuit 200 may be any circuit capable of selectively blowing , programming , setting , or otherwise opening one or more fuses . a fuse is a resistor that has a particular resistance in an unblown state , such as 150 ohms , and another resistance in a blown state , such as 10 kilo - ohms . any type of fuse may be used in fuse circuit 200 . in one embodiment , fuse 210 in fig2 is an electronic fuse ( efuse ). an efuse includes material that breaks down or is otherwise altered through the application of a voltage for a particular time period . in order to blow , or program , efuse 210 , circuit 200 may apply a relatively high voltage , vfuse , across efuse 210 for an appreciable time , such as 10 milliseconds , that causes a sustained high current to flow through both efuse 210 and nmos transistor 206 . a program input line 202 is configured to receive a signal or pulse for programming , or setting , fuse 210 . this signal may be supplied from an end - user via a chip input / output ( i / o ) pin or an output pin of a sequential element . in one embodiment , this signal is a logic high value , such as the supply voltage value vdd , held for a predetermined sustained time . biasing circuitry 204 relays a logic high value to nmos transistor 206 in a manner to assure a proper voltage level and timing required to selectively blow efuse 210 upon the desired assertion of program input 202 . asserting the gate of nmos transistor 206 at a logic high value causes a current driven by vfuse , which may be a same or greater value than vdd , to traverse efuse 210 and thereby blow efuse 210 . alternatively , when the program input line 202 is asserted low , the gate of nmos transistor 206 is asserted at a logic low value , or a value near ground . therefore , there is no path for current to traverse from vfuse to ground , and efuse 210 is not blown . biasing circuitry 204 may include transistors to assure a delay upon start - up that limits the possibility that efuse 210 will be blown during boot - up when program input 202 may be unstable . when efuse 210 is completely blown , a voltage near ground , or a logic low value , is asserted at the output of efuse 210 and the input of sense amplifier 220 . sense amplifier 220 receives a reference voltage vref 212 as an input in addition to an enable signal on enable signal line 214 . the voltage value asserted on the line vref 212 may be an output of a voltage divider using the supply voltage vdd as in input . in the case that efuse 210 is blown , sense amplifier 220 senses a positive differential between its inputs as the fuse circuitry conveys a logic low value to the sense amplifier 220 and output 222 is asserted a logic high value . the signal on output 222 may be buffered before being routed to a sequential element . this output may be associated with a configuration bit . in contrast , when efuse 210 is not blown , the output of efuse 210 and the associated input of sense amplifier 220 is asserted at a voltage level near vfuse , or a logic high value . sense amplifier 220 senses a negative differential between its inputs and output 222 is asserted a logic low value . one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize a variety of circuit topologies that may be implemented and / or utilized in relation to one or more embodiments of the present invention . referring now to fig3 , one embodiment of a fuse array 300 is shown . fuse array 300 comprises a plurality of entries 312 , 314 , and 316 . more or less different types of entries may be utilized in other embodiments . the difference between the entries corresponds to the information stored therein . for example , entry 316 may have an address field 320 , a security field 322 , and a data field 324 . entries 312 and 314 may have similar fields of different widths , or have additional fields . for example , entries 314 may be used for repair of srams , whereas entries 316 may be used for enabling on - chip cryptographic acceleration . array 300 may be incorporated in a fuse farm that includes a fuse controller coupled to fuse array 300 . such a fuse controller may include a jtag interface for testing , a system interface for providing an end - user interface for programming fuse array 300 , a power management interface , and so forth . also , such a fuse controller may be coupled to registers for storing entry information read from fuse array 300 . these stored values may be subsequently relayed to cores 102 of fig1 during a boot - up process . access logic for reading and writing entries 312 , 314 , and 316 may include an address index 302 that indexes fuse array 300 . during a write operation , in one embodiment , the next available empty row , or empty entry , may be indexed for programming the corresponding efuses 210 within the row . an empty row may be referred to as a non - programmed row , or a non - programmed entry . data derived during a manufacturing and testing stage may be read from registers and conveyed to fuse array 300 by a fuse controller . this data may be applied to the program signal lines 202 of fuse circuits 200 within a corresponding entry of fuse array 300 . in one embodiment , the address field 320 may be written with an identifier that identifies a configuration register corresponding to a redundant sram within a core 102 that needs to be enabled to repair another failing sram . in another embodiment , the address field 320 may be written with an identifier that identifies a configuration register corresponding to one or more cryptographic processes to be enabled for hardware acceleration within cores 102 . a security field 322 may be written with a row parity value in order to later invalidate the row if it is subsequently overwritten . data field 324 may be written with supporting information such as a key value for a cipher algorithm or an address range for sram repair . for a read operation , address index 302 may be used by access logic to index a particular entry , or row , within fuse array 300 . the corresponding data may be conveyed to storage registers coupled to a fuse controller . in one embodiment , during a boot - up process of microprocessor 110 , the fields 320 - 324 may be read out serially by a linear shift register and later conveyed to corresponding configuration registers within each core 102 . these configuration data may only need to be read during a boot - up process and the time requirement to convey this information to each core 102 may be relaxed . also , by serially shifting out the information from fuse array 300 , no parallel buses are utilized , which reduces on - chip real estate and potential noise on signal lines . it is noted that for a given valid programmed entry within fuse array 300 corresponding to a particular set of one or more features , a subsequent valid programmed entry corresponding to the particular set of one or more features , such as particular cipher algorithms , overrides the given valid programmed entry . for example , the contents of the subsequent valid programmed entry may overwrite the contents of the given valid programmed entry stored in a corresponding configuration register within each core 102 when a serial linear shifting process has completed during a boot - up process . turning now to fig4 , one embodiment of a method 400 for efficient restriction of export controlled features is illustrated . the components embodied in the computer system described above may generally operate in accordance with method 400 . for purposes of discussion , the steps in this embodiment are shown in sequential order . however , some steps may occur in a different order than shown , some steps may be performed concurrently , some steps may be combined with other steps , and some steps may be absent in another embodiment . in block 402 , during a manufacturing and testing stage prior to shipping microprocessor 110 , an original sense , or initial state , of each efuse 210 in fuse array 300 is chosen . for example , typically the original sense of a corresponding efuse 210 is it enables a feature , such as on - chip hardware support of a cryptographic process . however , in this invention , the original sense of a corresponding efuse 210 is it disables a feature . therefore , this corresponding efuse 210 is programmed to enable cryptographic functionality rather than disable it . an original sense as above prevents an end - user in the field from programming additional bits in an efuse row 316 , which invalidates the row , or renders the row unusable , due to a mismatching row parity value stored in security field 322 , and , thus , re - enabling cryptographic functionality that had been disabled during manufacturing . combinatorial logic within each core 102 that receives the stored content from corresponding configuration registers coupled to the fuse array 300 may interpret features without a valid programmed entry in the fuse array 300 as being disabled . in addition , combinatorial logic may interpret features with a valid programmed entry in the fuse array 300 and an unblown corresponding fuse as being disabled . it is also possible to re - program an efuse array by blowing additional bits in rows already programmed . this ability is used during manufacturing to correct mistakes or to invalidate rows , or render rows to be unusable . for example , some efuses allow for rows to be marked as , or rendered , unusable by blowing additional bits to make the row parity incorrect . such a row would be discarded by hardware in cores 102 when the cores 102 read the efuse array to determine chip configuration . thus , if an efuse 210 is required to be blown in order to disable cryptographic access , then an efuse entry disabling a cryptographic function could be rendered invalid by programming additional bits in the row . now the corresponding cryptographic function is re - enabled in the field , which is undesirable . therefore , it is desired to choose an original sense wherein an unblown corresponding efuse 210 disables a cryptographic function , process , or feature . an entry in fuse array 300 is programmed in block 404 during a manufacturing and testing stage as described earlier . if a mistake is made or a different configuration later needs to be inspected or tested ( conditional block 406 ), then the corresponding entry needs to be invalidated in block 408 . in one embodiment , additional bits of the entry are blown in order to make the corresponding row parity value incorrect and the entry is invalidated . alternatively , an entry may be invalidated by programming an invalid id into the entry . a number of such techniques are possible and are contemplated , and those skilled in the art will appreciate there are many ways a given entry may be invalidated or otherwise indicated to be invalid . a next available entry is next indexed in block 412 . this next available entry may be a next immediate subsequent entry , or it may be an entry located farther away , but it is the next available empty row of fuse array 300 . if a mistake is not made ( conditional block 406 ) and all of the desired fuse array 300 entries are programmed ( conditional block 410 ), but a particular predetermined point - in - time is not reached ( conditional block 414 ), then more tests may be run on microprocessor 110 in block 416 . one example of a predetermined point - in - time is the preparation of the shipping of microprocessor 110 into the field to customers . also , a predetermined point - in - time may be subsequent to completing a desired programming of the fuse array 300 , wherein the desired programming is a programming of the fuse array 300 configured to , at a time of shipping the fuse array 300 to a customer , restrict the customer from utilizing at least one predetermined feature of the available on - chip features . control flow of method 400 then returns to conditional block 416 . if a particular predetermined point - in - time is reached ( conditional block 414 ), such as testing of microprocessor 110 is complete and preparation begins for the shipping of microprocessor 110 into the field , then any unused , or non - programmed , entries in fuse array 300 are invalidated in block 418 . in one embodiment , a fuse array 300 may allow for multiple rows to be programmed for the same destination or function , as denoted by a same address field 320 , with the latter row replacing the former row . for example , a linear shift register simply replaces the contents of the former row with the contents of a second row at a later time during a boot - up process . this allows replacement of an incorrect row with a second correct row during manufacturing or testing without having to mark the first row as invalid . this allows an entry in fuse array 300 to be programmed without regard to the ordering of the entries . however , without invalidating empty rows in block 418 of method 400 , the above capability also allows an end - user in the field to program additional empty rows in fuse array 300 in order to replace previous rows that disable certain cryptographic functionality . this issue can be resolved by invalidating all unused rows in the fuse array 300 in block 418 before shipping . in addition , in previous designs , the fuse array 300 may be subsequently bypassed in order to allow for changes to the manufacturing configuration during subsequent testing . the fuses can be bypassed by using the joint test action group ( jtag ) interface . chip - specific jtag commands can be issued which set bits in a fuse shadow register , which overrides the value of the fuse . it may be a simple matter to disable this capability for certain or all efuses 210 , by deleting the hardware to override these efuses 210 and their corresponding configuration values . choosing an original sense for an efuse 210 to disable a particular cryptographic function and invalidating empty rows in fuse array 300 allows microprocessor 110 to be exported with reliable restriction of cryptographic or other features . then microprocessor 110 may be taped out and shipped in block 420 . in the field , after shipment of microprocessor 110 , during program execution , hardware within each core 102 may utilize the value of an on - chip fcr , which may be renamed to a cryptographic capability register ( ccr ) for cryptographic functions . for example , a given efuse 210 in fuse array 300 may enable access to a particular cipher ( e . g ., aes ) or a set of related ciphers ( sha - 1 , sha - 256 ). the value of this particular efuse 210 may be read serially during boot - up as described earlier . the collective set of efuse values that control cipher access can be grouped into the ccr . by default , cryptographic access is disabled . the values stored in the ccr within core 102 may restrict hypervisor - level , operating system - level , and user - level access to the underlying on - chip hardware acceleration capability provided by a modular arithmetic unit ( mau ), a cipher / hash unit ( chu ), or other for cryptographic functions . for example , if the hardware accelerator circuitry is accessed by means of a control word queue ( cwq ), a blown efuse bit value stored in the ccr may enable access to all ciphers . the hardware simply considers the value of the ccr bit when it decodes instructions that attempt to access the cwq registers . if the fuse bit is blown , the access is enabled . if the fuse bit is not blown , the access results in an exception . similarly , if the cryptographic acceleration is accessed by user - level instructions , such as by an instruction to perform an aes encryption , a fuse bit stored in the ccr may be associated with each such instruction or set of instructions . combinatorial logic within core 102 may utilize the stored value in the ccr when decoding the instruction . if the corresponding fuse bit was blown , hardware successfully decodes the instruction and performs the related operation ( e . g ., encrypting an aes block ). otherwise , hardware decodes the instruction as illegal , and generates an exception , such as an illegal opcode trap . it is noted that the above - described embodiments may comprise software . in such an embodiment , the program instructions that implement the methods and / or mechanisms may be conveyed or stored on a computer readable medium . numerous types of media which are configured to store program instructions are available and include hard disks , floppy disks , cd - rom , dvd , flash memory , programmable roms ( prom ), random access memory ( ram ), and various other forms of volatile or non - volatile storage . although the embodiments above have been described in considerable detail , numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated . it is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications .
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fig1 is a block view of functions of an ip telephone 10 equipped with call control apparatus of this embodiment . as shown in the drawings , the ip telephone 10 is configured from a base unit 20 and handset 40 and functions as terminal apparatus having a telephone function as shown in the following . the base unit 20 is principally configured from an interface circuit 21 , controller 22 , signal processor 23 , codec 24 , audio amplifier 25 , audio amplifier 26 , receiver buffer 27 , and transmission buffer 28 , etc . the audio amplifier 26 is connected to a microphone 42 built - into the handset 40 and an audio signal inputted to the microphone 42 is amplified by the audio amplifier 26 and inputted to the codec 24 . on the other hand , an audio signal outputted by the codec 24 is amplified by the audio amplifier 25 and provided via speaker 41 as an amplifier output . the codec 24 contains an a / d converter and a d / a converter , converts an analog audio signal outputted from audio amplifier 26 to a digital audio signal ( audio data ) and supplies this audio data to the signal processor 23 , and converts audio data outputted by the signal processor 23 to an analog audio signal for output to the audio amplifier 25 . the signal processor 23 is an audio data compression / expansion circuit containing a dsp ( digital signal processor ) etc . for compressing audio data supplied from a codec 24 for storage in a transmission buffer 28 , expanding audio data supplied by the controller 22 after compression processing , and supplying the audio data after expanding to the codec 24 . the interface circuit 21 is a circuit containing a mac ( media access control ) circuit , and a phy ( physical protocol ) circuit , for subjecting transmission code transmitted from a transmission path such as ip networks to decoding processing for storage in the receiver buffer 27 and encoding audio data supplied by the controller 22 for transmission to a transmission path . controller 22 is a circuit for executing call control etc . that reads out audio data stored in the transmission buffer 28 so as to put this audio data into the form of packets at predetermined frames and supply the audio data in the form of packets to the interface circuit 21 , and extract audio data from the received data stored in receiver buffer 27 and supply this audio data to the signal processor 23 . base unit 20 is also equipped with a dial buffer 29 for storing dial data , a hook switch ( detection section ) 30 for detecting whether the handset 40 is on - hook / off - hook , a dial key 31 for inputting dialing , a call key 32 for requesting a call , an lcd display 33 for displaying dial data etc ., and a memory 34 for storing a numbering plan data table , etc . the numbering plan data table is a table for storing a correlation relationship of a first n digits of numbers ( prefix numbers ) for a telephone number decided based on numbering plan , and all digit numbers of a telephone number decided based on numbering plan ( refer to fig2 ), for a plurality of types of numbering plans . the value of n is preferably a number of digits where this numbering plan can be uniquely identified and the value of n may therefore be different depending on the numbering plan . in the example shown in fig2 , n = 1 is adopted for the entire numbering plan in order to uniquely identify each numbering plan using the number of the first digit whichever the numbering plan . further , as shown in the “ overseas ” numbering plan shown in the drawing , in the event that the total number of digits for a telephone number is indeterminate , a configuration is adopted where this is made to correspond to “ indeterminate ” data indicating that the digits are indeterminate . it is preferable for the memory 34 to be re - writable memory , and in this event , it is preferable to adopt a configuration where it is possible to update a numbering plan data table using a user input or communication from outside . fig3 is a plan view of the base unit 20 . as shown in the same drawing , in addition to the hook switch 30 , dial key 31 , call key 32 and lcd display 33 described above , a volume adjustment key , setting key , cancel key , transfer / hook key , speaker key , and hold key etc . are provided at the base unit 20 . fig4 is a flowchart describing call processing executed by the controller 22 . call processing is started up , for example , in the event that an off - hook state is gone to as a result of operation of the hook switch 30 etc ., or in the event that a state where input of a telephone number by a user is gone to . it is possible for the order of each step ( including partial steps that are not assigned numerals ) to be arbitrarily changed providing that this is within a range that does not conflict with the processing content , or each step may be executed in parallel . further , various control processes other than call processes are executed by the controller 22 but in principle these processes are the same as for the related art and are not described in detail here . initially , a number of digits counter and an estimated input number of digits are set to zero and a maximum value for an internal timer is set at a timer counter as initial settings ( step s 1 ). next , the presence or absence of a key input is determined ( step s 2 ). in the event that there is no key input , it is determined whether or not ( internal timer value − timer counter )& gt ; timeout value ( for example , four seconds ) is satisfied ( step s 3 ). in the event that this is satisfied , call processing is gone to , and in the event that this is not satisfied , step s 2 recurs . the timeout value may be a variable . for example , in the event of a numbering plan where the total number of digits is “ indeterminate ” in the numbering plan data table , a configuration is adopted where a specific timeout value is stored so as to correlate with the numbering plan , and this value is read out and used . in the event that a key input is detected in step s 2 , the type of key pressed is checked ( step s 4 ). in the event that the pressed key is a call key 32 , the call pressing is gone to . on the other hand , in the event that the pressed key is a dial key 31 , dial data is stored in ( added to ) the dial buffer 29 ( step s 5 ). further , 1 is added to the number of digits counter and it is taken that the timer counter = the internal timer value ( step s 6 ). next , the estimated input number of digits is checked ( step s 7 ). in step 7 , in the event that the estimated input number of digits = 0 , the estimated input number of digits has not yet been acquired . the memory 34 is therefore referred to , and a determination is made as to whether or not there is a prefix number amongst the prefix numbers stored in the numbering plan data table matching with the dial data ( pressed number ) ( step s 8 ). in the event that n is a prefix number of 2 or more , comparison is made with the series of dial data stored in the dial buffer 29 . in the event that a prefix number matching with the dial data exists in the numbering plan data table , it can be determined that the telephone number for which input is currently progressing matches with a numbering plan corresponding to the matching prefix number . the total number of digits ( all of the number of digits of the matching numbering plan ) corresponding to the matching prefix number is then acquired from the numbering plan data table and set in the estimated input number of digits ( step s 9 ). it is desirable to adopt a configuration where , in the event that a matching prefix number exists , information ( for example , a message such as “ an attempt is being made to call an extension ”) indicating the matching numbering plan is displayed at the lcd display 33 . on the other hand , in the event that there is no matching prefix number , “ indeterminate ” is set to the estimated input number of digits ( step s 10 ). step s 7 is then returned to after setting the total number of digits for the matching numbering plan or “ indeterminate ” at the estimated input number of digits . in step s 7 , in the event that the estimated input number of digits =“ indeterminate ”, step s 2 is returned to . in step s 7 , in the event that the estimated input number of digits is neither “ 0 ” nor “ indeterminate ”, a determination is made as to whether or not the number of digits counter = estimated input number of digits ( step s 11 ). in the event that this is established , it is determined whether input of the telephone number is complete and signal processing is gone to , while on the other hand , in the event that this is not established , step s 2 is returned to . the call processing can be configured in the same way as for the ip telephone of the related art , so that , for example , processing for setting dial data stored in the dial buffer 29 as a call destination number and transmitting the call message etc . is executed . further , although not shown in the drawings , in the event that the pressed key is not the call key 32 or the dial key 31 , processing that is the same as for the related art is executed according to the type of key pressed . for example , in the event that the pressed key is a cancel key , the dial buffer 29 is cleared and either step s 1 is proceeded to or the call processing is halted . according to this embodiment , a configuration is adopted where the total number of digits for the numbering plan matching with the telephone number currently being inputted is acquired , this is taken as the estimated number of digits to be inputted for the telephone number currently being inputted , and call processing is proceeded to automatically at the stage where the number of digits for the inputted telephone number and the estimated number of digits inputted match . this means it is possible to go to call processing in a straightforward and rapid manner without a call key operation or time out determination being necessary , with the exception of cases where the total number of digits for a numbering plan is “ indeterminate ”. the present invention is by no means limited to the above embodiment and application in various modifications is possible . for example , a description is given taking the ip telephone 10 as an example but the call control apparatus of the present invention is also applicable to digital telephones and mobile telephones such as isdn telephones where dial data is transmitted collectively .
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the present invention relates to illumination and image processing and specifically to illumination with a narrow bandwidth illuminator to capture and produce color images . reference is now made to fig1 , which is a block diagram of a low power color image capturing system 10 , in accordance with an embodiment of the current invention . low power color image capturing system 10 includes a narrow bandwidth illuminator 15 , an image capturing device 20 , a processor 25 , and a power source 30 . image capturing device 20 is oriented to capture an image of an object ( not shown in the figure ) illuminated by narrow bandwidth illumination from illuminator 15 . in the specification and claims hereinbelow , the terms “ captured image ” and “ raw image ” are meant to refer to the same thing , namely the image captured by the image capturing device . the raw image is therefore differentiated from an image resultant from processing of the raw image as described hereinbelow . processor 25 controls and coordinates operation of narrow bandwidth illuminator 15 , image capturing device 20 , and power source 30 , indicated by the solid lines in the figure . power source 30 provides power for narrow bandwidth illuminator 15 , image capturing device 20 , and processor 25 as indicated by the dotted lines in the figure . narrow bandwidth illuminator 15 is designed to use minimal power , both in terms of the output device power and because it is typically operated only when illumination is necessary . narrow bandwidth illuminator 15 may be , inter alia , a green led . an exemplary green led having characteristics of narrow bandwidth illuminator 15 is the luxeon k2 star green led , whose wavelength characteristics are indicated on page 19 of the luxeon technical datasheet ds51 , 2008 , found at http :// www . philipslumileds . com / pdfs / ds51 . pdf ( found hereinbelow as the appendix ), whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference . additional characteristics of narrow bandwidth illuminator 15 are noted hereinbelow . image capturing device 20 may be , inter alia , a cmos camera , a ccd camera or other device known in the art to capture images in at least the visible spectrum . processor 25 includes , inter alia , an algorithm 35 to process the image captured by the image capturing device . characteristics of algorithm 35 are further described hereinbelow . processor 25 may additionally or optionally include additional modules ( not shown in the figure ) for communication ( wired or wireless ) with other remotely located command and / or telemetry devices 38 which may utilize the captured images . power source 30 is usually a battery ; however the power source may also be some other means of limited power . power source 30 is designed to be compact and to supply power to the system for an extended time period , such as months or even years . as such , the system has an overall low power characteristic due primarily to limitations of power source 30 . reference is now made to fig2 , which is a spectral response diagram 40 showing a response function 46 of the narrow bandwidth illuminator of fig1 , in accordance with an embodiment of the current invention . spectral response diagram 40 has an abscissa 48 , indicated as “ wavelength ” and an ordinate 50 , indicated as “ intensity ”, as known in the art . in one embodiment of the current invention response function 46 of the narrow bandwidth illuminator is characteristic of visible green illumination , meaning illumination having a spectral response of a wavelength range of approximately 470 to 620 nanometers . one way to determine response function 46 is to illuminate a white target ( e . g ., a surface with known and / or fixed color and emission characteristics , the white target not shown in the figure ) by narrow bandwidth illuminator 15 and to capture one or more raw images from the target . the image or images are then analyzed to yield response function 46 . the response function exhibits a peak intensity value of i p at a wavelength of p . the intensity of the response function drops significantly from i p at wavelengths longer and shorter than p , yielding characteristic tails 52 covering substantially most of the visible spectrum , the tails exhibiting finite intensity values that are significantly less than i p , as indicated in the figure , at an intensity value i nb a narrow bandwidth ( nb ) is defined as the wavelength bandwidth of the response function , characterized by intensity values less than or equal to i p . one definition of nb is the bandwidth defined by intensity values of at least 50 % of i p , although other definitions for nb may also be applied . reference is now made to fig3 , which is a spectral response diagram 105 showing response function 46 of fig2 , in accordance with an embodiment of the current invention . apart from differences described below , response function 46 , abscissa 48 , ordinate 50 , and tails 52 are identical in notation , configuration , and functionality to those shown in fig2 and elements indicated by the same reference numerals and / or letters are generally identical in configuration , operation , and functionality as described hereinabove . calculated spectral response 118 is shown , having an intensity value substantially equal to i p . spectral response 118 is calculated by algorithm 35 of fig1 , by applying different gains for each pixel of the raw image evaluated at respective wavelengths as indicated schematically in the diagram by the arrows . a shorter arrow indicates a smaller gain and a longer arrow indicates a larger gain . essentially , lower or no gain values are applied to intensity values of wavelengths of response function 46 substantially equal to i p whereas higher gain values are applied to intensity values of wavelengths of response function 46 substantially less than i p , such as at the tails . the result is that each pixel of the captured image is subject to selective amplification that compensates for non - uniformities of illumination wavelengths , thus transforming the image to have additional colors / wavelengths characteristic of an image produced with “ white light ” illumination , as described hereinabove . in other words , a color image exhibiting the spectral response of calculated spectral response 118 is obtained , the image having substantially full color intensities over substantially all visible wavelengths . the resultant image is also referred hereinbelow and in the claims as a “ modified image ”. reference is now made to fig4 , which is a spectral response diagram 205 showing response function 46 of fig2 and 3 in accordance with an embodiment of the current invention . apart from differences described below , response function 46 , abscissa 48 , ordinate 50 are identical in notation , configuration , and functionality to those shown in fig2 and 3 and elements indicated by the same reference numerals and / or letters are generally identical in configuration , operation , and functionality as described hereinabove . calculated spectral response 218 is shown , having an intensity value approximately equal to i p and with a range of intensities , intensities which may be greater or smaller than i p , indicated as r . spectral response 118 is calculated by algorithm 35 of fig1 , as described hereinabove , by applying different gains at respective wavelengths as indicated schematically in the diagram by the arrows . it will be appreciated that the above descriptions are intended only to serve as examples , and that many other embodiments are possible within the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims .
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referring now to fig1 where the preferred embodiment for the present invention is generally referred to with numeral 10 , it can be observed that it basically includes root form implant fixture 20 and abutment member 100 . root form implant fixture 20 includes anchorage section 30 and engagement section ( neck ) 40 . anchorage section 30 includes shaft 32 with threads 34 having sufficient separation of its threads to permit the bone in which it is inserted to occupy the space in between for best anchorage results . shaft 32 can also be of the type known in the art as the fin type , as shown in fig3 under numeral 32 , wherein several disks are rigidly , and positioned in a spaced apart parallel relationship with respect to each other , mounted to shaft 32 &# 39 ;. another type of shaft 32 &# 39 ; is the one shown in fig4 and it corresponds to a cylinder with a helical grooves . as shown in fig1 engagement section 40 is integrally built at one of the ends of shaft 32 and it includes cylindrical portion 60 , beveled portion 70 and multi - face portion 80 , all adjacent to each other in that order . multi - face portion 80 has a hexagonal shape , in the preferred embodiment . central and longitudinally extending cavity 90 extends through the center of cylindrical , beveled and multi - face portions 60 , 70 and 80 , as well as part of shaft 32 , as best seen in fig2 . in the preferred as well as the alternate embodiment shown in fig2 cavity 90 narrows down ( tapers ) as it extends toward anchorage section 30 . at the end of cavity 90 , in the alternate embodiment shown in fig2 there is a threaded bottom part 92 . it should be noted that for both , the preferred embodiment shown in fig1 and the alternate embodiment of fig2 the same cavity 90 is used even if the abutment &# 39 ; s post 120 of the preferred embodiment lacks a mating thread . abutment member 100 has head 110 with elongated post 120 that is built in , as seen in fig1 . the angle of head 110 with respect to the longitudinal axis of member 100 varies depending on the correction for parallelism that may be necessary . in the figures applicant has shown abutments with 0 degrees of connection to facilitate the description of the invention . lack of parallelism is undesirable and it arises when fixtures 20 are not positioned parallel to each other . elongated post 120 , in the preferred embodiment shown in fig1 is smooth and bites against internal walls of central cavity 90 thereby locking it in place . the metal to metal biting engagement of post 120 and internal walls of cavity 90 provides a retention of abutment 100 and hermetic seal for any unoccupied space inside cavity 90 thereby preventing the collection of saliva , blood or any other decaying substance . in fig2 alternate abutment member 100 &# 39 ; includes threaded pin 130 &# 39 ; rigidly mounted at the distal end of post 120 &# 39 ;. threaded pin 130 &# 39 ; cooperatively engages with threaded bottom part 92 of cavity 90 . the second and third alternate embodiments shown in fig3 and 4 for fixtures 20 &# 34 ; and 20 &# 39 ;&# 34 ; are basically similar to those shown in fig1 and 2 except that shafts 32 &# 34 ; and 32 &# 39 ;&# 34 ; of anchorage sections 30 &# 34 ; and , 30 &# 39 ;&# 34 ; are of the fin and helical groove types , respectively . a fourth alternate embodiment is shown in fig6 and is generally referred to with numeral 10 &# 34 ;&# 34 ;. root form implant fixture 20 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; used with dental implant device 10 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; is identical to the one used with devices 10 and 10 &# 39 ;. fixture 20 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; can be of any type ( threaded , fin or cylinder ). abutment head 110 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; is removably mounted over fixture 20 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; and in cooperative non - rotational engagement thereon . inwardly chamfered rim 112 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; matingly comes in complementary abutting contact with beveled portion 70 &# 34 ;&# 34 ;. this flat face to face engagement of rim 112 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; and beveled portion 70 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; will create a hermetic seal that will prevent the infiltration of saliva , bacteria , exudate or soft tissue invagination or any other foreign bodies . internal multi - faced socket 114 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; similarly matingly and cooperatively engages with multi - face portion 80 &# 34 ;&# 34 ;, thereby preventing rotation of abutment 110 &# 34 ;. post 120 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; is coaxially inserted through central opening 111 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; of abutment head 110 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; and pin member 130 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; at one end protrudes through rim 112 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; to engage with cavity 90 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; in fixture 20 &# 34 ;&# 34 ;. this engagement is accomplished in the same manner as described for the preferred and the first alternate embodiments . the only difference being that post 120 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; is also provided with an internal socket 122 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; to permit rotating it and causing sleeve 124 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; to come in contact with counterbore surface 116 &# 34 ;&# 34 ;, thereby holding abutment head 110 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; down . screw member 200 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; is designed to hold the prosthesis ( fixed or removable ) to abutment head 110 &# 34 ;&# 34 ;, as best seen in fig7 . the foregoing description conveys the best understanding of the objectives and advantages of the present invention . different embodiments may be made of the inventive concept of this invention . it is to be understood that all matter disclosed herein is to be interpreted merely as illustrative , and not in a limiting sense .
| 0 |
fig1 schematically illustrates a gas turbine engine 20 . the gas turbine engine 20 is disclosed herein as a two - spool turbo fan that generally incorporates a fan section 22 , a compressor section 24 , a combustor section 26 and a turbine section 28 . generally , the fan section 22 drives air along a bypass flowpath and into the compressor section 24 . the compressor section 24 drives air along a core flowpath for compression and communication into the combustor section 26 , which then expands and directs the air through the turbine section 28 . the gas turbine engine 20 is received within a nacelle assembly 60 , to establish a bypass flow path b and a core flow path c . a thrust reverser 62 ( illustrated schematically ) may be located within the nacelle assembly 60 for selective deployment into the bypass flow path b to provide a thrust reversing function . although depicted as a turbofan in the disclosed non - limiting embodiment , it should be understood that the concepts described herein are not limited to use with turbofans as the teachings may be applied to other types of turbine engines as well as other structures , for example , but not limited to low bypass engine case structures . the example nacelle assembly 60 includes a core nacelle 64 at least partially surrounded by a fan nacelle 66 . the core nacelle 64 typically includes an exhaust nozzle 68 . the exhaust nozzle 68 in the disclosed non - limiting embodiment includes an inner sleeve 70 and an outer sleeve 72 typically manufactured of titanium alloy ( also shown in fig2 ). referring to fig3 , the inner sleeve 70 generally includes a perforated inner skin 74 and an outer skin 76 while the outer sleeve 72 generally includes an inner skin 78 and an outer skin 80 with a honeycomb structure 82 therebetween . it should be appreciated that various other components , materials and constructions thereof will also benefit herefrom . under some operational conditions , a contaminate such as oil from , for example , a bearing compartment 30 ( illustrated schematically in fig1 ) may escape through worn seals as the engine cools and pool on the inner sleeve of the exhaust nozzle 68 . it should be appreciated that other bearing compartments in other engine locations , as well as other engine architectures may also be subject to fluid penetration . furthermore , although oil is utilized as the example contaminate herein , other contaminates inclusive of , but not limited to , oil byproducts , kerosene based fuels , glycols , polyalkylinglycols ( pag ), transmission fluids , cleaning fluids etc ., as well as mixtures thereof may also be at issue . oil also frequently coagulates and can pick up particulate debris and form a generally non -“ fluid ” layer such as typically described as “ grime ” which may be considered contaminates as defined herein . in addition , other contaminates typical of manufacturing processes , may also be considered contaminates as defined herein . with reference still to fig3 , the perforated inner skin 74 facilitates the evaporation of the example oil contaminate from within the inner sleeve 70 during engine operation , however , thermal cycling of the oil and the exhaust nozzle 68 may cause thermal stress that may lead to cracks in the outer skin 76 . once the oil penetrates the inner sleeve 70 , especially via a puncture or crack damage , the oil or contaminate pools on or inside the outer sleeve 72 . the outer sleeve 72 is not perforated , so the oil remains trapped between the inner sleeve outer skin 76 and the inner skin 78 of the outer sleeve 72 . the outer sleeve 72 may then crack due to the same thermal cycling such that oil may further penetrate into the honeycomb structure 82 . the oil within the honeycomb structure 82 may thereby impair weld repairs of the outer sleeve 72 . with reference to fig4 , a method 100 to immobilize an entrapped contaminant , according to one disclosed non - limiting embodiment , initially includes identification of the fluid contaminate ( step 102 ). it should be appreciated that although the outer sleeve 72 is utilized in this disclosed non - limiting embodiment , other components with an entrapped contaminant will also benefit herefrom , especially those where the fluid entrapment is not accessible by conventional cleaning methods . identification of the fluid contaminate may proceed via a scan from , for example , a fourier transform infrared ( ftir ) spectroscopy to obtain a measure spectrum 200 ( see fig5 ). a hand - held ftir unit such as 4200 flexscan series ftir manufactured by agilient technologies of santa clara , calif ., usa can expedite the process through performance of an on - site assessment of the contaminants in situ . it should be appreciated that other identification systems inclusive of but not limited to , thermal gravimetric analysis ( tga ), chromatography , inductively coupled plasma ( icp ) and / or other such chemical identification process that provides the desired chemical identification . in one example , the fourier transform infrared spectroscopy ( ftir ) inspection of the contamination utilizes a spherical diamond atr probe , and a znse crystal with a scan of wave numbers ranging from 4000 - 800 cm − 1 with a minimum of 32 scans per spectra with 2 to 3 representative spectra measured per contaminant sample . the 2 to 3 representative measured spectra are cross - compared to ensure accurate sampling and proper technique . that is , the 2 - 3 representative spectra assure a proper spectrum is obtained . the 2 - 3 representative spectra are taken to ensure the accuracy of the spectra from each sample . they are then cross - compared to ensure their fidelity . this is performed on the actual part samples and on the control species , oil , skydrol , etc . before used as qualification data . each “ scan ” or “ spectra ” using ftir actually scans the sample 32 times before recording / reporting a spectra . this can be adjusted from 16 up to 150 depending on the user &# 39 ; s discretion , type of sample and ambient environmental conditions . for example , field scans of an unknown material in an uncontrolled environment typically require the higher number of scans to ensure relevant and accurate spectra . the measured spectrum 200 is then compared to one or more control spectra 202 ( fig5 ) to identify the contaminant ( s ) such as gear oil or hydraulic fluid ( step 104 ) in the chemical fingerprint wave number range of 2000 - 800 cm − 1 . chemical fingerprint is determined by peak locations , relative signal intensity at those locations and peak to peak ratios between unique identifiers . the 4000 - 2000 cm − 1 need not be used as it does not present unique chemical identifiers to distinguish between organic compounds . contaminates or mixtures thereof that are specifically identified may then be thermally processed to clean for weld repair as further described . that is , the weld repair is performed with specific regard to the identified contamination . in one non - limiting example , certain characteristic peaks are identified in the scanned spectrum , if those peaks align with or are centered on specific wave numbers within the spectrum that correspond to a specific contamination , then that contamination is ‘ identified ’ in that test section . with the suspected presence of contaminate mixtures , a correlated range of mixtures is used as the reference , or a second analysis technique , especially chromatography or tga may be used a test section 90 is then removed ( step 106 ; see fig6 ). this test section 90 may then be further segmented 90 a , 90 b , 90 c to provide multiple samples for multiple tests . the test section 90 may be from a damaged area which is to be weld repaired . the outer sleeve 72 is then thermally processed with the section 90 ( step 108 ) via a specific thermal cycle . the specific thermal cycle is used to perform a controlled evaporation of the volatiles and a controlled coking of remaining contaminants . consideration is given to accessibility of the entrapped contaminant ( s ) whereby additional venting holes are created and / or damage is locally removed to facilitate gas flowpath to relieve pressure variants caused by thermal cycling . the specific thermal cycle is performed at a heating rate to mitigate pressure variants , and a temperature above the evaporation temperature of the contaminate but below the alpha case formation temperature of the parent substrate , such as titanium , and / or thermal limitation criteria of other substrates , e . g . high temperature steel ( s ). that is , the temperature of the specific thermal cycle should be limited to prevent chemical reaction between contaminate and substrate . alpha case is typically an alpha - stabilized enriched phase occurring on titanium and its alloys when exposed to heated air or oxygen . alpha case is brittle , and tends micro - cracking of the substrate which reduces the parent substrate &# 39 ; s performance and its fatigue properties . alpha case can be avoided by processing in a vacuumed environment . additionally , pressure and / or vacuum may be used to mitigate internal pressure variants of bonded components and / or lower evaporation temperatures of the contaminant ( s ). controlled evaporation typically maintains the pressure increase from evaporation to not exceed the rate at which the pressure can be released from the component . the heating rate , external pressure and any additionally installed venting paths may be used to facilitate the controlled evaporation — in the case of the welded patch , the open hole for the patch also operates as a vent . the specific thermal cycle is determined , in part , by the type of contaminate identified via ftir analysis in step 104 . the specific thermal cycle is performed at a temperature above an evaporation temperature of the contaminate but below the alpha case formation temperature or the temperature at which the contaminate chemically reacts with or diffuses in to the substrate . alpha case is an oxygen - enriched phase that may be of particular concern on titanium and its alloys when exposed to heated air or oxygen or in the presence of carbon sources . alpha case is brittle , and tends to be prone to microcracks which propagate in to the substrate and will reduce the metal &# 39 ; s performance and its fatigue properties . alpha case can be avoided by processing in a vacuumed or inert environment . vacuum has additional advantage when the dominant cleaning requirement can be accomplished by controlled evaporation . the thermal processing may be performed within a furnace having an inert atmosphere of , for example , argon at temperatures of 700 - 750 f ( 371 - 400 c ) for a titanium alloy component . the internal honeycomb cells are thereby saturated with inert gas sufficient to prevent formation of deleterious alpha case . it should be appreciated that other temperatures and environments may be utilized for substrates other than titanium . typically , the furnace is cleaned after each contaminate soaked component is thermally processed or stress relieved . for the example gear oil soaked outer sleeve 72 , the volatile evolution and coking processes from the specific thermal cycle do not result in excessive pressures within the honeycomb 82 due to pressure communication features in the honeycomb . the remaining coked oil is condensed ( semi - evaporated state )) and thermally decomposed to reduce or prevent weld line intrusion thereby negating porosity , low - notch toughness and brittleness effects at the weld line typically caused by aforementioned contaminants . the interior surfaces of at least one test section 90 may then be tested by metallographic methods ( step 110 ). the testing is performed to , for example , ensure there is no alpha case , oxygen rich layer , or soft alpha beyond predetermined limits for a sound weld . it should be appreciated that various tests including destructive tests may be performed . the outer sleeve 72 is then weld repaired ( step 112 ). it should be appreciated that other repairs may also then be performed without degradation of the skins , honeycomb or weldments . components subject to such contaminants are thereby readily weld repaired due to the immobilization of the contaminants . it should be appreciated that although the method is described with respect to the example outer sleeve 72 , the method may be utilized with different thermal cycles for other fluids or other substrates beyond titanium to immobilize entrapped contaminants within various components and thereby permit weld or braze repairs to be performed . other components include but are not limited to lower aft pylon fairings of similar substrates where such contaminants exist . although the different non - limiting embodiments have specific illustrated components , the embodiments of this invention are not limited to those particular combinations . it is possible to use some of the components or features from any of the non - limiting embodiments in combination with features or components from any of the other non - limiting embodiments . it should be understood that relative positional terms such as “ forward ,” “ aft ,” “ upper ,” “ lower ,” “ above ,” “ below ,” and the like are with reference to the normal operational attitude of the vehicle and should not be considered otherwise limiting . it should be understood that like reference numerals identify corresponding or similar elements throughout the several drawings . it should also be understood that although a particular component arrangement is disclosed in the illustrated embodiment , other arrangements will benefit herefrom . although particular step sequences are shown , described and claimed , it should be understood that steps may be performed in any order , separated or combined unless otherwise indicated and will still benefit from the present disclosure . the foregoing description is exemplary rather than defined by the limitations within . various non - limiting embodiments are disclosed herein , however , one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that various modifications and variations in light of the above teachings will fall within the scope of the appended claims . it is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims , the disclosure may be practiced other than as specifically described . for that reason the appended claims should be studied to determine true scope and content .
| 5 |
while the game of blackjack may have many rules permutations and game play rules based on the location , the invention will be described with reference to a particular embodiment , and a layout as shown in fig1 . it will be understood that the present invention can be implemented as an additional feature in many forms of blackjack and related games , including any suitable variant of 21 or pontoon , and the invention is not limited to this specific implementation . to anyone knowledgeable in the art of game design , it will be apparent that significant modifications of rules and implementation can be made from those outlined below , whilst retaining the core inventive concept . indeed , the present invention in many respects is independent of the specific rules for the standard blackjack game as such . it will also be understood that the present invention could be applied to a fully manual casino game of blackjack , a game with electronic betting but manual dealing of cards , a simulated game for play in a casino or similar environment , or a fully on - line type game . in a preferred form , for a manual dealing game , an electronic arrangement is used to manage the jackpot aspects of the present invention . for our example , the game will use 4 standard decks of 52 cards ( no joker cards ), that are distributed from a card ‘ shoe ’. for this discussion , it can be assumed that the standard rules of blackjack are applied to the standard game part of play . the shoe may be stand alone or the output of a card shuffler . the cards that are key to winning the progressive jackpot in this example are the ace and king of diamonds , of which there will be 4 of each ( one for each deck ). one of each of these cards will be marked , such that they stand out from the others . alternatively , one of the decks used could be distinctive in appearance , and the ace and king of diamonds in that deck constitute the special cards . in this example , the game will have 3 levels of jackpots that are won when a player achieves a blackjack combination off the initial 2 cards drawn involving a king of diamonds and an ace of diamonds . the level of jackpot won depends upon the combination of cards which are drawn : jackpot level combination required mega jackpot marked ace and king of diamonds major jackpot one marked ace or king of diamonds and one standard king or ace of diamonds mini jackpot • standard ace and king of diamonds it will be appreciated that the present invention could be implemented with only one jackpot level , or with more or less levels as desired . the evaluation steps in this process are different from a standard blackjack game and require some new software features , as well as some modifications to the rules and procedures to ensure the integrity of the game . referring to fig3 , the steps that can be followed in operating a game of blackjack are as follows : a . if no side bet is wagered , player is ineligible to win progressive jackpot 2 . all side bets are digested by the system and a pre - determined contribution is added to the jackpot value , between ‘ startup ’ value and ‘ increment ’ value . 3 . cards are dealt to players and dealer in standard fashion ( 2 to each ) 4 . card values and combinations and evaluated by dealer for possible win a . if player is dealt a blackjack of ace and king of diamonds , then a progressive jackpot is won b . if no player wins jackpot , progressive element for that hand is complete 5 . rest of the hand is played out in standard blackjack fashion 6 . at the completion of the hand , and the jackpot has been won , the jackpot will be reset to the startup value . if not , it will remain until the next game commences and side bets are evaluated . 7 . prior to the commencement of the next hand , all cards are shuffled . in this form , between the startup value and increment value , a reduced increment is added per player contribution to the jackpot value , so as to pay for the initial startup value ( when there are in fact no player contributions as yet ), and thereafter increments at a higher rate . this arrangement is used in other progressive jackpot systems , for example in slot machines , and is well understood by those skilled in the art . in order to effectively implement this example , the game must be set up to have a method that evaluates all side bets and contributes a pre - determined amount to the jackpot and divides that between the ‘ startup ’ component and the ‘ increment ’ component . as the ‘ startup ’ value is set when there are in fact initially no player contributions , it is necessary to allocate a proportion of the amount that would otherwise be allocated to the jackpot increment to ‘ paying back ’ 0 the ‘ startup ’ component . it is difficult to see how this could be achieved in practice without an additional hardware component on standard dealer determined table games . this device evaluates the side bet and distributes the proceeds to the jackpot prize . the electronic version includes this feature in the software . in a suitable design , the size of the jackpot bet may be a prescribed standard value . in this case , whether a player has placed a bet in the jackpot area can be determined by a pressure sensitive pad , opto - electronic pickup or the like , with verification of correct value by the dealer . this then facilitates the bet being automatically correctly apportioned . the dealer need only collect the gaming chips after the initial deal , if the jackpot has not been won , much the same as for a conventional insurance bet . one possible arrangement is shown schematically in fig2 . this shows an arrangement , similar in concept to that use for a progressive jackpot system in a gaming or slot machine environment . central controller 12 may be functionally very similar to the controller of a slot machine jackpot system . central controller 12 is connected to a plurality of blackjack tables 10 , 10 a , 10 b , and so forth . each table includes a table controller unit 13 , a display 14 and table layout components 15 . the table controller unit 13 provides secure communications with the central controller 12 to send details of table wagers , send details of winning outcomes , receive data for display , and other communications are required . the communications preferably use the existing casino or venue monitoring infrastructure , for example a lan , wireless network , or the like . the display 14 is driven by the table controller to show details of the current jackpot , messages to induce customers to play , and so forth . the images are sent from the central controller 12 . the table layout components will differ depending upon how the capture and recordal of side bets wagers are recorded . in a simple form , only a fixed bet value may be permitted , and the dealer inputs on a key pad that ( say ) 2 players have placed a side bet , and proceeds to play the main game . this is communicated back to the central controller 12 , to allow the jackpot to be incremented . alternatively , the players may have individual or shared access to apparatus at the table to input their own side bets at the commencement of the hand . these wagers are communicated to the central controller 12 to allow for the jackpot to be incremented . the apparatus may conveniently be a sensor to determine placement of a chip in a specific location . it is strongly preferred that the players may make a jackpot wager of only a specific fixed value . in the implementation proposed , the chance of winning is proportional to the cards dealt , not the wager , and so there is no advantage in making additional wagers . a system could be implemented which takes account of such variable wagers , as is known for slot machines . in the casino environment this would not be convenient from a logistical perspective . however , in the context of on - line or fully electronic betting on a simulated game , this could be implemented . in the event that the jackpot is won , the croupier similarly inputs this on the keypad , and the jackpot won ( of whatever level ) is paid at the level achieved at that time . this allows the jackpot to continue to accumulate based on wagers and activity at other tables . the actual payout is preferably carried by a supervisor , and the funds finally removed from the pool at that time . an alternative implementation , on a real or simulated game utilising solely electronic wagering , would simply provide a position to place a wager on the jackpot side bet , and the contribution to the jackpot can be handled by the respective software . various aspects used in other jackpot games may be used , for example , the table display may show an estimated rather than accurate immediate value . it will be understood that the present invention could be implemented on a single table , many tables at one venue , or tables spread across more than one venue . in terms of mathematical design , appropriate models must be used to calculate the frequency of the allocated combination being won . this takes into account how the game is played and how many decks are being used . the combination required is related to the number of decks chosen , while the average prize is determined by frequency and the contribution from the side bet to the jackpot prize . for the 4 deck , 52 card example , the odds of winning a mega jackpot ( ignoring previously drawn cards ) is about one in 80 , 000 , and the odds of winning a mini jackpot are about 1 in 20 , 000 . it will be apparent that unlike most blackjack features , the odds and rtp are highly dependant upon the number of decks used , and this aspect must be closely controlled by the operator . there are certain elements of the game that must be controlled to ensure the integrity and fairness of the game . in our example , this is the number of decks used and the frequency of cards being shuffled . if insufficient shuffling occurs , particularly in a manually shuffled game , then a point may be reached where a player becomes aware that there are no remaining ( in our example ) kings of diamonds , and so no one will place a side bet . alternatively , they may become aware that there is a relatively rich selection of the targeted cards remaining . as it is envisaged that the jackpot is accumulated across multiple tables , to increase the level of activity on the jackpot , it is important that play on each table be generally equivalent . for these reasons , it is preferred that continuous shuffling be used . in a manually shuffled game , if the jackpot is won , it is preferable to reshuffle all cards on that table at the conclusion of that round of play . while the preferred embodiment is a 2 card combination from the initial draw , there are any numbers of viable alternatives that can be used in this sort of invention . some include ; 3 card combination . in this version , if the player has the targeted cards , as well as another card , then the jackpot is still won . this variant will then impact on player strategy , as if a player has one winning combination card and another card , the player has to decide whether to draw another card in the hope of getting the required card combination to win the progressive jackpot value . more than one combination and variations of those based on suit or card value multiple side bet options — a different bet for a range of outcomes that may see multiple side bet wins depending on the combinations required . multiple progressive levels based on frequency . fig1 illustrates one potential layout for use in one implementation of the present invention . the layout can be seen be to a largely conventional blackjack layout . however , additional spaces for placing side bets are arranged adjacent to the card dealing space for each player . as described above , it is preferred that these spaces include ( in the table or under it ) a sensor to determine the presence of a gaming chip . this may be simply a proximity or instruction sensor of some kind , a hall effect device , or a sensor based on a special property of the chips . such sensors have been deployed in other casino table games , and a wide variety of alternatives are disclosed in the art . the table may further provide some confirmation or indication to the player that a side bet has been placed , for example an indicator light . it will be understood that a similar layout may be used for games played in an electronic betting format , or on - line . the game may optionally allow other players or observers to place side bets on another player &# 39 ; s hand and side bet , as it commonly permitted in conventional blackjack . in this case , it may be necessary to provide specific spaces for such wagers by observers , as in a sensor based system generally only one of the bets will be sensed .
| 6 |
as shown in the exploded diagram of fig1 , the floor liner of the present invention includes layer 1 of non - woven poly fabric , and layer 2 of poly - coated kraft paper . reference numeral 3 indicates the uncoated kraft paper side , which faces layer 1 . reference numeral 4 indicates the layer of poly coating that has been applied to the kraft paper . an example of a material which can be used as the poly - coated kraft paper is product no . s - 5227 , obtainable from the uline company , of waukegan , ill . ( www . uline . com ). this product is a roll of poly - coated kraft paper , having a weight of 50 lb , the roll having dimensions of 36 inches × 600 feet . the product is described as virgin kraft paper coated with 10 lb gloss poly on one side . other materials can be used in the invention , however , and the invention should not be deemed limited to this example . the thicknesses of the layers , especially that of the poly coating , are not shown to scale in fig1 . indeed , the poly coating on the kraft paper is very thin compared to the thickness of the kraft paper . the coated side of the kraft paper is shiny . the purpose of the coating is to seal the paper at least partially , so as to prevent grease from leaking through the floor liner and onto the surface of the floor . layer 1 can be any non - woven fabric . the preferred material is the product commonly known as “ landscape fabric ”. in one example , this material can be the non - woven fabric sold under the trademark preen , by lebanon seaboard corporation , of lebanon , pa . the invention is not limited to the use of the above - described fabric , however . the function of the non - woven fabric is to retain relatively large amounts of grease , thereby allowing the grease to harden , and facilitating its eventual removal by replacement of the liner . the layers 1 and 2 are joined together by an adhesive , preferably one applied by spraying , as indicated in fig1 . the composite structure , formed by combining layers 1 and 2 , is a generally flexible sheet , having a fabric texture on one side , and a shiny kraft paper texture on the other . in one example , the adhesive used was the product sold under the trademark general purpose 45 spray adhesive , by the 3m company . however , the invention is not limited to a particular adhesive . the floor liner of the present invention preferably includes cut - outs 5 formed at its corners , as shown in the top view of fig2 . the purpose of the cut - outs is to make it feasible to use a floor liner having an area somewhat greater than that of the equipment under which the liner will be laid . more specifically , by making the floor liner large enough to extend beyond one or more side walls of the equipment , the liner can catch drippings flowing down said walls . since most such equipment has legs at the corners , the cut - outs prevent interference with those legs . thus , the floor liner can be laid down , in a flat condition , and without buckling , while still being wide enough to extend beyond the footprint of the equipment , so as to capture grease flowing down along the side walls . fig3 - 6 illustrate the major steps of a process of making a floor liner according to one embodiment of the present invention . first , one measures the area occupied by the cooking or other equipment , under which the floor liner is to be placed . a piece of poly - coated kraft paper is cut from a large roll , to conform to the size of the desired opening . additional material is preferably added on each side to accommodate the cut - outs to be formed . the size of the additional material may be four inches , in one example , but the invention is not limited to a particular dimension . next , the black , non - woven poly fabric is cut , to match the size of the coated paper . the black non - woven poly fabric will eventually be the top layer , while the poly coated paper will be the bottom layer . the two layers are bonded together by using a general spray adhesive , and are pressed together , by hand or otherwise , to form a tight bond . the result is liner 30 of fig3 . next , two opposite sides of the liner are folded back . in performing this step , is convenient to draw lines 31 and 32 , as shown in fig3 , which is displaced from the edge by twice the desired width of the fold . then , the edge is folded over , as shown in fig4 . for example , if the width of the fold is selected to be one inch , the line will be drawn two inches from the edge of the sheet . note that , in these figures , the coated kraft paper is facing upward . also , the folds are formed for only two opposing sides of the sheet . when the folds have been completed , as shown in fig5 , two edges of the sheet effectively have a double thickness , along the width of the folds . the purpose of the fold is to give the liner more strength in the front and back , so that it will lie more firmly on the floor . finally , cut - outs are formed in each corner of the liner . fig6 shows the liner with cut - outs 60 , with the fabric side facing up . in one example , the cut - out may have the dimensions of 4 inches × 6 inches . these dimensions can be varied , within the scope of the invention . the floor liner 71 is then provided with metallic tracks , which support the feet of the equipment under which the liner sits . fig7 shows three such tracks 70 , which are generally flat pieces of metal . the tracks allow the cooking or other equipment to be pushed back into place without moving or wrinkling the liner . the tracks are simply laid on top of the floor liner . no separate attachment step is needed . in one embodiment , the tracks are made of 18 - gauge stainless steel , and are sized to be six inches wide , and one inch longer than the liner . this arrangement allows the wheels of the cooking or other equipment to be rolled on the track first , before encountering the liner . the number of tracks may be chosen to correspond to the number of wheels provided with the cooking or other equipment . the invention is not limited to a particular material , and is not to be deemed limited by the dimensions given above . fig8 shows an item of cooking equipment 81 , with its wheels 82 resting on metal tracks 83 which sit on top of the floor liner 84 of the present invention . fig9 shows a similar view , except that this view shows more detail of the wheels and less detail of the cooking equipment . note that some of the tracks include a flange 85 which extends generally perpendicularly to the floor . the preferred arrangement is to provide the tracks 91 without the flange , as is shown in fig9 , but either version can be used , within the scope of the invention . the process described above may be replaced by a more automated process . for example , one can bond a continuous sheet or roll of coated kraft paper with a continuous sheet or roll of non - woven fabric . the bonded structure can then be cut into the desired size . finally , the cut - outs and folds are formed , to produce the desired floor liner . a more preferred embodiment is illustrated in the top view of fig1 . in this embodiment , the opposing edges of the liner are not folded over . instead , there is provided a u - shaped track , comprising three metal strips 101 , 102 , 103 . the strips are welded together , such that the u - shaped track defines a unitary structure . the u - shaped track is laid down onto the floor liner , and holds the liner in place , while also providing means for supporting the wheels of a kitchen appliance . in particular , the strips 101 and 103 define tracks for the wheels of a kitchen appliance ( such as the appliance shown in fig8 and 9 ). the cross - piece 102 , being located along the front edge of the liner , holds that edge down , against the floor , and thereby eliminates the need to fold that edge over . the floor liner of the present invention therefore substantially enhances the cleanliness of a commercial or institutional kitchen . the liner catches and absorbs most or all of the grease or other materials dropped from a stove or other appliance . when the liner has become saturated , meaning that it can no longer effectively absorb more grease , it can be easily removed and replaced by another liner . the invention can be modified in various ways , as will be apparent to the reader skilled in the art . for example , the exact configuration of the metal tracks can be varied , to accommodate different configurations of kitchen equipment . the choice of kraft paper , and the choice of the non - woven fabric , can be varied . the shape of the floor liner can be altered to suit the requirements of space , and to suit different configurations of kitchen equipment . such modifications should be considered within the spirit and scope of the following claims .
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fig1 illustrates switch 100 in one embodiment of the present invention . switch 100 includes switching backplane 102 driven by switching modules 104 , 106 , and 108 , where switching module 104 is coupled to host device 110 , switching module 106 is coupled to host device 112 , and switching module 108 is coupled to host device 114 . additionally , switching modules 104 and 106 are coupled to each other by control path 116 and switching modules 106 and 108 are coupled to each other by control path 118 . each module 104 , 106 , and 108 interfaces with backplane 102 over data path 120 , 122 , and 124 , respectively , to transmit packet data to backplane 102 and receive packet data from the backplane 102 . for example , host device 110 preferably determines whether a destination device is on the same ip or ipx network by comparing its layer 3 addresses to the destination layer 3 address . if the destination address comparison indicates that the destination device is on the same network , an address resolution protocol ( arp ) message is sent from host 110 to retrieve the layer 2 address of the destination , and bridging is used to transmit the packet data . if the destination device is not on the same network , an arp message is sent to retrieve the layer 2 default media access control ( mac ) address of the first router which will lead to the destination device , and routing is used to transmit the packet data . in the latter case , while the layer 2 default mac address constantly changes to reflect the next router address leading to the destination device , the layer 3 up destination address preferably stays constant to reflect where the packet is going . fig2 is a block diagram of switching module 200 , which may be similar to switching module 104 of fig1 . switching module 200 preferably has a source learning capability , which will be described in reference to fig2 . module 200 includes access controller 202 coupled to switching controller 204 . access controller 202 receives packets from host devices , operates on them , and transmits them to switching controller 204 . access controller 202 also receives packets from switching controller 204 , operates on them , and transmits them to host devices . switching controller 204 is not only coupled to access controller 202 but is coupled to queue controller 206 as well . switching controller 204 , similar to access controller 202 , receives packets from access controller 202 , processes them , and transmits them to queue controller 206 . switching controller 204 also receives packets from queue controller 206 , processes them , and transmits them to access controller 202 . queue controller 206 includes unicast packet buffer ( upb ) 218 , multicast packet buffer ( mpb ) 220 and lock table 222 . queue controller 206 is coupled to many elements , including source address resolution element ( sare ) 208 , destination address resolution element ( dare ) 210 , unicast queue 212 , multicast queue 214 , queue identification ( qid ) 216 , and source learning element 224 ( where source learning element 224 is coupled to software table 226 and pseudocam ( pcam ) 228 , which may be implemented in hardware , software , or both ). queue controller 206 preferably receives a data packet from switching controller 204 , sare 208 determines whether the source address is known for the packet , dare 210 determines whether the destination address is known for the packet , and qid 216 assigns a port number , priority , and bandwidth to the packet . then , queue controller 206 stores the packet in unicast queue 212 or multicast queue 214 to be transmitted when its priority for the particular port is reached . one embodiment of the present invention is a novel source learning technique using multiple switching modules coupled together on a single backplane . the single backplane architecture preferably allows for source learning and transmitting determinations to be made for packets having different source and destination conditions in a single - path . packets with a known source address and a known destination address preferably are not sent to a source learning element and are transmitted to a unicast queue for transmission and forwarding . packets with an unknown source address and a known destination address preferably are sent to the source learning element for source learning and concurrently transmitted to a unicast queue for transmission and forwarding . packets with a known source address and an unknown destination address preferably are not sent to the source learning element and are transmitted to a multicast queue for transmission and forwarding . packets with an unknown source and an unknown destination preferably are sent to the source learning element for source learning and concurrently transmitted to a multicast queue for transmission and forwarding . therefore , the source learning technique in this embodiment preferably processes the following four categories of packets in a single flow path : ( 1 ) known source address and known destination address ; ( 2 ) unknown source address and known destination address ; ( 3 ) known source address and unknown destination address ; and ( 4 ) unknown source address and unknown destination address . in the case where the destination address is known , flow integrity typically is not an issue since the unicast queue normally is the only queue being used . in other embodiments , the source learning technique may use more than one flow path to process the four categories of packets . referring to fig3 , a packet is received at queue controller 206 ( 302 ) from switching controller 204 . upon receiving the packet , a lookup operation is performed to determine the source address in sare 208 ( 304 ). if the source address is not found ( 306 ), the packet is tagged for source learning in source learning element 224 ( 308 ). if the source address is found ( 306 ), a lookup operation is performed to determine the destination address in dare 210 ( 310 ). if the destination address is not found ( 312 ), the packet is defined for flooding ( 314 ) and source learning element 224 is notified ( 316 ) so that it can search for the destination address in the switching modules . if the destination address is found ( 312 ), as is the case here , the packet may follow one of the following three paths depending on the state of the destination address : last multicast packet path , first unicast packet path , and neither last multicast nor first unicast packet path . these paths ensure flow integrity for the packets . as a result , all multicast packets preferably are transmitted to this destination address before any unicast packets are transmitted there . once the packet is found to have both its source and destination addresses associated with a port , queue controller 206 preferably performs a check to see if the flow state is marked as the last multicast packet ( 318 ). if the flow state is marked as the last multicast packet , thus indicating that the packet is defined for flooding ( 320 ), a lock bit is set in multicast packet buffer ( mpb ) 220 ( 322 ) internal to queue controller 206 , and the flow state is changed from “ last multicast packet ” to “ first unicast packet ” ( 324 ). in such state , the packet is still flooded . thus , referring to fig5 , qid 216 preferably defines the port for flooding and subsequently finds the priority and bandwidth to be applied to the packet ( 502 ). additionally , to ensure that all multicast packets are transmitted to this destination address before any unicast packets are transmitted there , a lock bit in lock table 222 internal to queue controller 206 is set ( 504 ) when the lock bit is set in mpb 220 ( 506 ). if the lock bit is not set in mpb 220 , the lock bit is not set in lock table 222 ( 506 ). in either case , the packet is thereafter stored in multicast queue 214 until the bandwidth is available at the specified priority for the port ( 508 ). once bandwidth is available at the specified priority for the port , the packet is transmitted ( 510 ), the lock bit is cleared in lock table 222 ( 510 ) and the packet is tested to see if the source address is known ( 512 ). in this case , nothing more is done since the source address is known ( 514 ). if the source address were unknown , the packet would be sent to source learning element 224 ( 516 ). referring to fig3 , if the flow state is not marked as the last multicast packet ( 318 ), a test is performed to see if the flow state is marked as the first unicast packet ( 326 ). if , as in this case , the flow state is marked as the first unicast packet , a lock bit is set in a unicast packet buffer ( upb ) 218 ( 328 ). next , qid 216 preferably defines the port , priority , and bandwidth for the packet ( 330 ) and the packet is stored in unicast queue 212 until bandwidth is available at the specified priority for the port ( 332 ). once bandwidth is available at the specified priority for the port , a check preferably is performed to see if the lock bit in upb 218 is clear ( 334 ). if the lock bit in upb 218 is clear , the packet is transmitted ( 336 ). as is the case here , the lock bit in the upb 218 is set , and consequently , a test is performed to see if the lock bit in lock table 222 is clear ( 338 ). if the lock bit in lock table 222 is clear , the packet is transmitted ( 336 ). if the lock bit in lock table 222 is not clear , the packet is buffered until it is cleared by the transmission of the last multicast packet ( 340 ). once the last multicast packet has been transmitted , then this packet is transmitted ( 336 ). referring to fig3 , if the flow state is not marked as a last multicast packet or first unicast packet , the packet is forwarded to qid 216 so that the port , priority , and bandwidth can be defined for the packet ( 330 ) and the packet will be stored in unicast queue 212 until bandwidth is available at the specified priority for the port ( 332 ). once bandwidth is available at the specified priority for the port , a check preferably is performed to see if the lock bit in upb 218 is clear ( 334 ). if the lock bit in upb 218 is clear , as is the case here , the packet is transmitted ( 336 ). if the lock bit in the upb 218 is set , a test is performed to see if the lock bit in lock table 222 is clear ( 338 ). if the lock bit in lock table 222 is clear , the packet is transmitted ( 336 ). if the lock bit in lock table 222 is not clear , the packet is buffered until the lock bit in lock table 222 is cleared by the transmission of the last multicast packet ( 340 ). once the last multicast packet has been transmitted , then this packet is transmitted ( 336 ). referring to fig3 , a packet is received at queue controller 206 ( 302 ) from switching controller 204 . upon receiving the packet , a lookup operation is performed to determine the source address in sare 208 ( 304 ). if the source address is found ( 306 ), a lookup operation is performed to find the destination address ( 310 ). if the source address is not found ( 306 ), as is the case here , the packet is tagged for source learning in source learning element 224 ( 308 ). referring to fig4 , after the packet is tagged for source learning ( 308 ), it is further processed so that a destination lookup ( 402 ) can be performed in dare 210 . if the destination address is not found ( 404 ), the packet is defined for flooding ( 406 ) and source learning 224 is notified so that it can search for the destination address ( 408 ). if the destination address is found , which is the case here , the packet may follow one of the following three paths depending on the state of the destination address : last multicast packet path , first unicast packet path , and neither last multicast nor first unicast packet path . these paths ensure flow integrity for the packets . as a result , all multicast packets preferably are transmitted to this destination address before any unicast packets . once the packet is found to have an unknown source address and a known destination address , queue controller 206 preferably performs a check to see if the flow state is marked as the last multicast packet ( 410 ). if the flow state is marked as the last multicast packet , thus indicating that the packet is defined for flooding ( 412 ), a lock bit is set in mpb 220 ( 414 ) internal to queue controller 206 and the flow state is changed from last multicast packet to first unicast packet ( 416 ). in such state , the packet is still flooded . thus , referring to fig5 , qid 216 preferably defines the port for flooding and subsequently finds the priority and bandwidth to be applied to the packet ( 502 ). additionally , to ensure that all multicast packets are transmitted to this destination address before any unicast packets are transmitted to this destination address , a lock bit in lock table 222 internal to queue controller 206 is set ( 504 ) when the lock bit is set in mpb 220 ( 506 ). if the lock bit is not set in mpb 220 , the lock bit is not set in lock table 222 ( 506 ). in either case , the packet is thereafter stored in multicast queue 214 until bandwidth is available at the specified priority for the port ( 508 ). once bandwidth is available at the specified priority for the port , the packet is transmitted ( 510 ), the lock bit is cleared in lock table 222 ( 510 ) and the packet is tested to see if the source address is known ( 512 ). in this case , the source address is unknown and the packet is sent to source learning 224 ( 516 ) so that its source address can be associated with its particular port . referring to fig7 , a request is received by source leaning 224 to learn a source address ( 702 ). upon processing the request , a layer 2 source mac which relates to a port is stored in a software table 226 ( 704 ). this software table 226 may be used for many things , for example , source learning 224 may use it to inform its own and / or other switching modules of a new source address and / or source learning 224 may use it to allow access for its own and / or other modules to read and / or write to the software table 226 . thereafter , source learning software in source learning element 224 will place the source mac in a hardware table pseudo cam 228 ( 706 ) and then will wait for another request to perform source learning . if the source address were known , the packet would not be sent to source learning element 224 ( 514 ) and nothing more would be done . referring to fig4 , if the flow state is not marked as the last multicast packet ( 410 ), a test is performed to see if the flow state is marked as the first unicast packet ( 418 ). if , as in this case , the flow state is marked as the first unicast packet , the lock bit is set in upb 218 ( 420 ). next , qid 216 defines the port , priority , and bandwidth for the packet ( 422 ) and the packet will be stored in unicast queue 212 until bandwidth is available at the specified priority for the port ( 424 ). once bandwidth is available at the specified priority for the port , a check preferably is performed to see if the lock bit in upb 218 is clear ( 426 ). if the lock bit in upb 218 is clear , the packet is transmitted ( 428 ) and sent to source learning element 224 ( 430 ). as is the case here , the lock bit in the upb 218 is set , and consequently , a test is performed to see if the lock bit in lock table 222 is clear ( 432 ). if the lock bit in lock table 222 is clear , the packet is transmitted ( 428 ) and sent to source learning 224 ( 430 ). if the lock bit in lock table 222 is not clear , the packet is buffered until the lock bit in lock table 222 is cleared by the transmission of the last multicast packet ( 434 ). once the last multicast packet has been transmitted , then this packet is transmitted ( 428 ) and sent to source learning element 224 ( 430 ). the packet is sent to source learning 224 ( 700 ) so that its source address can be associated with its particular port . referring to fig7 , a request is received by source learning 224 to learn a source address ( 702 ). upon processing the request , a layer 2 source mac which relates to a port is stored in a software table 226 ( 704 ). this software table 226 may be used for many things , for example , source learning 224 may use it to inform its own and / or other switching modules of a new source address and / or source learning 224 may use it to allow access for its own and / or other modules to read and / or write to the software table 226 . thereafter , source learning software in source learning element 224 will place the source mac in a hardware table pseudo cam 228 ( 706 ) and then will wait for another request to perform source learning . referring to fig4 , if the flow state is not marked as a last multicast packet or first unicast packet , the packet preferably is forwarded to qid 216 so that the port , priority , and bandwidth can be defined for the packet ( 422 ) and the packet is stored in unicast queue 212 until bandwidth is available at the specified priority for the port ( 424 ). once bandwidth is available at the specified priority for the port , a check preferably is performed to see if the lock bit in upb 218 is clear ( 426 ). if the lock bit in upb 218 is clear , as is the case here , the packet is transmitted ( 428 ) and sent to source learning element 224 ( 430 ). if the lock bit in the upb 218 is set , a test is performed to see if the lock bit in lock table 222 is clear ( 432 ). if the lock bit in lock table 222 is clear , the packet is transmitted ( 428 ) and sent to source learning element 224 ( 430 ). if the lock bit in lock table 222 is not clear , the packet is buffered until the lock bit in lock table 222 is cleared by the transmission of the last multicast packet ( 434 ). once the last multicast packet has been transmitted , then this packet is transmitted ( 428 ) and sent to source learning element 224 ( 430 ). the packet is sent to source learning 224 ( 700 ) so that its source address can be associated with its particular port . referring to fig7 , a request is received by source learning 224 to learn a source address ( 702 ). upon processing the request , a layer 2 source mac which relates to a port is stored in a software table 226 ( 704 ). this software table 226 may be used for many things , for example , source learning 224 may use it to inform its own and / or other switching modules of a new source address and / or source learning 224 may use it to allow access for its own and / or other modules to read and / or write to the software table 226 . thereafter , source learning software in source learning element 224 will place the source mac in a hardware table pseudo cam 228 ( 706 ) and then will wait for another request to perform source learning . referring to fig3 , a packet is received at queue controller 206 ( 302 ). upon receiving the packet , a lookup operation is performed to determine the source address 208 ( 304 ). if the source address is not found ( 306 ), the packet is tagged for source learning in source learning element 224 ( 308 ). if the source address is found ( 306 ), as is the case here , a lookup operation is performed to determine the destination address in dare 210 ( 310 ). if the destination address is found ( 312 ), a check is performed to see if the flow state is marked as a last multicast packet ( 318 ). if the destination address is not found ( 312 ), as is the case here , the packet is defined for flooding ( 314 ) and source learning element 224 is notified so that it can search for the destination address in the switching modules ( 316 ). referring to fig6 , source learning element 224 receives a request to find the destination address ( 602 ). once the request has been received , source learning element 224 uses its software to look in its own modules and others to find the destination address ( 604 ). if the destination address is not found ( 606 ), the flood of packets are allowed to continue ( 608 ), a request to find the destination is again received ( 602 ), the software is used to search for the destination address ( 604 ), and a test is performed to see if the destination address was found this time ( 606 ). this process preferably continues until the destination address is found . if the destination address is found , qid 216 defines a port , priority , and bandwidth for the packet ( 610 ), an entry is created in pcam 228 for the new destination address ( 612 ), and the flow state is set to last multicast ( 614 ) so that the last remaining packet is transmitted to this destination over multicast queue 214 before the first unicast packet is transmitted to this destination over unicast queue 2122 . referring to fig5 , after the packet is defined for flooding ( 314 ) and source learning element 224 is notified so that it can search for the destination address in the switching modules ( 316 ), qid 216 defines the port for flooding and subsequently finds the priority and bandwidth to be applied to the packet ( 502 ). additionally , to ensure that all multicast packets are transmitted to this destination address before any unicast packets are transmitted there , a lock bit in lock table 222 internal to queue controller 206 is set ( 504 ) when the lock bit is set in mpb 220 ( 506 ). if the lock bit is not set in pub 220 , then the lock bit in lock table 222 is not set ( 506 ). in either case , the packet is thereafter stored in a multicast queue 214 until bandwidth is available at the specified priority for the port ( 508 ). once bandwidth is available at the specified priority for the port , the packet is transmitted ( 510 ), the lock bit is cleared in lock table 222 ( 510 ), and the packet is tested to see if the source address is known ( 512 ). in this case , the source address is known and nothing more is done ( 514 ). if the source address is unknown , the packet is sent to source learning element 224 ( 516 ) so that the source address can be associated with its particular port . referring to fig3 , a packet is received at queue controller 206 ( 302 ). upon receiving the packet , a lookup operation is performed to determine the source address 208 ( 304 ). if the source address is found ( 306 ), a lookup operation is performed to determine the destination address ( 310 ). if the source address is not found ( 306 ), as is the case here , the packet is tagged for source learning in source learning element 224 ( 308 ). referring to fig4 , after the packet is tagged for source learning ( 308 ), it is further processed so that a destination lookup ( 402 ) can be performed in dare 210 . if the destination is found , the packet may follow one of three paths , depending on the state of the destination address . if the destination address is not found ( 404 ), as is the case here , the packet is defined for flooding ( 406 ) and source learning 224 is notified so that it can search for the destination address ( 408 ). referring to fig6 , source learning element 224 receives a request to find the destination address ( 602 ). once received , source learning element 224 uses its software to look in its own modules and others to find the destination address ( 604 ). if the destination address is not found ( 606 ), the flooding of packets is allowed to continue ( 608 ), a request to find the destination is again received ( 602 ), the software is used to search for the destination address ( 604 ), and a test is performed to see if the destination address was found this time ( 606 ). this process preferably continues until the destination address is found . if the destination address is found , qid 216 defines a port , priority , and bandwidth for the packet ( 610 ), an entry is created in pcam 228 for the new destination address ( 612 ), and the flow state is set to last multicast ( 614 ) so that the last remaining packet is transmitted over multicast queue 214 before the first unicast packet is transmitted over unicast queue 212 . referring to fig5 , after the packet is defined for flooding ( 314 ) and source learning element 224 is notified so that it can search for the destination address in the switching modules ( 316 ), qid 216 will define the port for flood and will subsequently find the priority and bandwidth to be applied to the packet ( 502 ). additionally , to make sure all multicast packets are transmitted to this destination address before any unicast packets are transmitted to this destination address , a lock bit in lock table 222 internal to queue controller 206 is set ( 504 ) when the lock bit is set in mpb 220 ( 506 ). if the lock bit is not set in mpb 220 , then the lock bit in lock table 222 is not set ( 506 ). in either case , the packet is thereafter stored in a multicast queue 214 until bandwidth is available at the specified priority for the port ( 508 ). once bandwidth is available at the specified priority for the port , the packet is transmitted ( 510 ), the lock bit is cleared in lock table 222 ( 510 ), and the packet is tested to see if the source address is known ( 512 ). in this case , the source address is unknown and the packet is sent to source learning 224 ( 516 ) so that its source address can be associated with its particular port . referring to fig7 , a request is received by source learning 224 to learn a source address ( 702 ). upon processing the request , a layer 2 source mac which relates to a port is stored in a software table 226 ( 704 ). this software table 226 may be used for many things , for example , source learning 224 may use it to inform its own and / or other switching modules of a new source address and / or source learning 224 may use it to allow access for its own and / or other modules to read and / or write to the software table 226 . thereafter , source learning software in source learning element 224 will place the source mac in a hardware table pseudo cam 228 ( 706 ) and then will wait for another request to perform source learning . if the source address were known , the packet would not be sent to source learning element 224 ( 514 ) and nothing more would be done . it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the invention can be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential character hereof . the present description is therefore considered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive . the scope of the invention is indicated by the appended claims , and all changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalents thereof are intended to be embraced therein .
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the vibration plate according to fig1 and 2 has a ground - contact plate 1 on which an oscillation generator 2 is fastened . in the case of the exemplary embodiment , the oscillation generator is a double - shaft oscillation generator with two unbalanced shafts which are arranged parallel to one another and one beside the other in a horizontal plane , extend perpendicular to the advancement direction of the vibration plate and whose mutual phase can be changed under control by the operator , in a manner which is not illustrated specifically , during operation of the generator , such that the vector of the directed oscillation which is generated by said shafts can be changed continuously between a position in which a positive angle is enclosed by the vector and the vertical and a position in which a negative angle is enclosed by the vector and the vertical , with the result that the vibration plate can be operated , as desired , with forward motion , when stationary , and with rearward motion . it would also be possible to achieve forced forward motion and rearward motion of the vibration plate if use were made , instead of the double - shaft oscillation generator 2 , of a single - shaft oscillation generator , a so - called eccentrically loaded rotating shaft , in which the direction of rotation of the unbalanced shaft can be switched over . supported on the ground - contact plate 1 , via springs 3 , e . g . buffers made of elastic material , is a top mass 4 , which includes a motor 6 , e . g . an internal combustion engine , which is fastened on the frame 5 of the top mass 4 and drives the oscillation generator 2 in a manner which is not illustrated specifically , e . g . via a belt drive . as the design dictates , the top mass 4 is of a considerably greater weight than the bottom mass , which essentially comprises the ground - contact plate 1 and the oscillation generator 2 , and it thus remains virtually at rest in relation to the bottom mass , which vibrates with a considerable amplitude during operation . the vibration plate according to fig1 and 2 can be guided manually by means of a control bar 7 . an essentially rigid sole - retaining means 8 is fastened releasably , e . g . screw - connected by screws 9 , at one of its ends on that end face of the top mass 4 which is leading when the apparatus is moving forward , and said sole - retaining means extends from the top mass 4 , in the vicinity of the ground - contact plate 1 , until it is located in front of the latter at the end face . fastened at this particular end of the sole - retaining means 8 is one end of a sole mat 10 which is made of elastic material and extends from the sole - retaining means 8 beneath the ground - contact plate 1 , over the entire length of the latter . the sole mat 10 , which , in the case of the exemplary embodiment illustrated , is thus fastened at its end face which is leading when the vibration plate is moving forward , is provided on the sole - retaining means 8 symmetrically with respect to the vertical longitudinal center plane lm of the ground - contact plate 1 . the angle α at which the sole mat 10 extends beneath the ground - contact plate 1 from the point at which it is fastened on the sole - retaining means 8 is selected as a function of the material properties , for example the modulus of elasticity and the thickness , such that the sole mat 10 is also carried along with a pushing action in the advancement direction of the vibration plate , i . e . in this case when the latter is moving rearward , and thus remains in the stretched - out position beneath the ground - contact plate 1 .
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referring more particularly to the drawings , fig1 illustrates a fragmentary portion of an updraft carburetor of the type used on normally aspirated aircraft engines , with the carburetor being indicated generally by the reference numeral 10 , and with the aircraft engine not being shown . as is well known in the art , the carburetor 10 includes a mounting flange 11 for mounting thereof to an engine ( not shown ), and is provided with the usual fuel reservoir bowl 12 and fuel inlet boss 13 to which a suitable fuel inlet line 14 is connected . a typical carburetor of this type , such as the one manufactured by the marvel schebler company , a division of the borg warner corp . of decatur , ill . and including those carburetors identified by the model nos . ma3 , ma4 and ma4 - 5 , also includes a mixture control valve in the form of a rotary gate valve 15 by which the fuel - air mixture ratio setting of the carburetor is controlled . for completeness of this description , the mixture control valve 15 of the carburetor 10 will now be described in detail , with it being understood that this description will not include the description of the mechanism of the present invention as that latter description will follow the description of the mixture control valve 15 . as seen best in fig1 and 6 , the mixture control valve 15 of the carburetor 10 includes an elongated shaft 16 rotatably mounted in the top or cover casting 17 of the carburetor 10 with the shaft 16 having one end extending into the fuel bowl 12 , with that end of the rotatable shaft 16 having a tubular sleeve 18 mounted thereon . the sleeve 18 is fixed for rotation with the shaft 16 and has an axially extending slot 19 formed therein . the sleeve 18 , which will hereinafter be referred to as the rotatable sleeve , is coaxially nestably positioned in upwardly opening bore of a fixed sleeve 20 which is mounted in the bottom of the fuel bowl 12 so as to be in communication with the internal fuel passages ( not shown ) of the carburetor 10 . the fixed sleeve 20 is also provided with an axially extending slot 22 so that rotation of the rotary sleeve 18 in the bore of the fixed sleeve 20 will appropriately position the slots 19 and 22 relative to each other so as to meter the flow of fuel from the bowl 12 into the fuel delivery passages ( not shown ) of the carburetor 10 . the other end of the rotatable shaft 16 extends from the cover 17 of the carburetor 10 and has a crank lever 24 demountably attached thereto , with a spring 25 ( fig3 ) being coaxially mounted on that extending end of the shaft 16 between the cover 17 and the lever 24 to bias the mixture control valve 15 into a desired operating position . the crank lever 24 has a body portion 26 with a bore 27 formed therethrough and is provided with a slot 28 extending radially from the bore 28 between a pair of laterally extending ears 29 and 30 . a suitable screw 31 , having a locking washer 32 , is loosely carried in a bore 33 ( fig2 ) formed transversely through the ear 29 , and is threadingly mounted in a threaded bore 34 ( fig3 ) transversely formed in the ear 30 so that threaded movement of the screw 31 will move the ears 29 and 30 toward or away from each other to demountably clamp the rotatable shaft 16 in the bore 27 of the crank lever 24 . a stop pin 36 is integrally formed on the laterally extending ear 30 so as to depend therefrom . as will hereinafter be described , the mixture control valve 15 is rotatable through an arc of somewhat less than 90 ° between full lean and full rich fuel - air mixture settings , and the stop pin 36 limits the rotary movement of the mixture control valve 15 by moving between two separated points of engagement with the carburetor body . the crank lever 24 also has a laterally extending control arm 38 by which rotary movements of the mixture control valve 15 are produced and controlled from a remote location as will hereinafter be described in detail . in the absence of any mechanism connected to the control arm 38 , as will hereinafter be described , the mixture control valve 15 rotates in a clockwise direction toward the lean fuel - air mixture setting which is indicated on the carburetor body by the letter l in fig1 . such rotation is caused by gravitational forces and the normal engine vibrations acting on the crank lever 24 to move the laterally extending control arm 38 and stop pin 36 about the angularly disposed longitudinal axis of the rotatable shaft 16 . as is customary in installations of the carburetor 10 , the mixture control valve 15 is controlled by a conventional friction type cable assembly ( not shown ) which is coupled to the control arm 38 and extends into the cockpit of the airplane ( not shown ). in accordance with the present invention , the usual control cable ( not shown ) is replaced by a special control cable which is indicated generally by the reference numeral 40 in fig1 . the control cable 40 includes the usual elongated wire 41 which is suitably coupled on one end thereof to the control arm 38 such as by the locking means 42 . the wire 41 is slidably mounted in a flexible tubular housing 43 which is fixed to a cable locking housing 44 mounted on a suitable surface such as the instrument panel 45 of the aircraft . the opposite end of the wire 41 is coupled in the usual well known manner to the notched shank 46 of a pull knob 47 . such control cables are well known in the art and are of the positive locking type , which upon approximately a 90 ° rotation of the knob 47 will be free for sliding movement into or out of the cable locking housing 44 . rotation of the knob 47 back to its original position will lock the knob 47 , its shank 46 and the wire 41 against unwanted movement . as hereinbefore described , cable failure creates a safety hazard in that the mixture control valve 15 will move to the lean fuel - air mixture setting upon such failure . in accordance with the present invention , such a safety hazard is eliminated by providing a biasing means which operates to cause the mixture control valve 15 to move toward the full rich fuel - air mixture setting . fig1 and 3 illustrate the preferred form of the biasing means as a concentrically wound coil spring 50 which is coaxially positioned to circumscribe the extending end of the rotatable shaft 16 . the outwardly positioned portion 51 of the coil spring 50 is bent so that it extends substantially radially therefrom and conforms to the irregular top surface to the carburetor cover casting 17 and is formed with a loop 52 on the end thereof . the portion 51 and end loop 52 form an anchor tail for the coil spring 50 which is secured in place by one of the screws 53 which are used to attach the carburetor cover casting 17 to the fuel bowl portion 12 . the inwardly disposed portion of the coil spring 50 is bent upwardly ( fig3 ) into a loop 55 which is positioned in the radial slot 28 of the crank lever 24 so as to wrap around the shank of the screw 31 which is employed to clampingly secure the crank lever 24 to the rotatable shaft 16 . the extreme free end 56 of the coil spring 50 is positioned so that it is received and captively retained in a transverse bore 57 formed adjacent the extending end of the rotatable shaft 16 . the coil spring 50 configured and mounted as described above will urge the mixture control valve 15 toward the full rich fuel - air mixture setting which is indicated by the letter r on the carburetor body in fig1 . it will be understood that the coil spring 50 can be wound so that the mixture control valve 15 will move to the full rich setting , or can alternately be wound so that the mixture control valve 15 will rotate to a position somewhat less than full rich , such as a three - quarter rich setting . it will , therefore , be seen that the fail - safe mixture control mechanism of the present invention comprises biasing means for urging the mixture control valve 15 toward the full rich fuel - air mixture setting and a positive locking cable means for setting and positively holding the mixture control valve 15 at a desired setting . reference is now made to fig4 and 5 wherein a second embodiment of the biasing means is shown to include a linear actuator which is indicated generally by the reference numeral 60 . the linear actuator 60 includes a cylindrical housing 61 in which a piston 62 is slidingly reciprocally mounted , and the piston has a piston rod 63 integrally formed thereon . the piston rod 63 is provided with an eye 64 on the extending end thereof which circumscribes the stop pin 36 of the crank lever 24 . the piston rod 63 is urged to the extended position , solid lines in fig4 by a first spring 65 mounted in the housing 61 so as to exert a biasing force on one side of the piston 62 . a damper spring 66 is mounted within the cylindrical housing 61 so as to engage the opposite side of the piston 62 to provide a dash - pot effect . the bore of the cylindrical housing 61 may be filled with any suitable fluid such as air , oil or the like which will migrate from one side of the piston 62 to the other during operation of the linear actuator 60 by means of a suitable orifice 67 formed through the piston 62 . the linear actuator 60 is mounted on the carburetor 10 by a bracket 68 which has a suitable loop structure 69 formed on one end thereof which grippingly engages the periphery of the cylindrical housing 61 . the opposite end 70 of the bracket 68 is grippingly held between fuel inlet line fittings 14 and the fuel inlet boss 13 of the carburetor 10 . reference is now made to fig6 wherein a third embodiment of the biasing means is shown as a coil spring 74 which is mounted internally of the carburetor 10 . as is customary , the cover casting 17 of the carburetor 10 has the fuel float assembly 75 ( partially shown ) pivotably suspended therefrom by a pivot pin 76 carried in a suitable yolk 77 . the yolk 77 is affixed to the under surface of the cover casting 17 by screws 78 ( one shown ). one end of the spring 74 is formed with a loop 79 which is captively retained under one of the screws 78 , and the spring coils downwardly from the loop 79 coaxially around the rotatable shaft 16 of the mixture control valve 15 . the other end 80 of the coil spring 74 is affixed to the rotatable shaft 16 by being captively retained in a transverse bore 81 formed in the rotatable sleeve 18 of the mixture control valve . while the principles of the invention have now been made clear in an illustrated embodiment , there will be immediately obvious to those skilled in the art , many modifications of structure , arrangements , proportions , the elements , materials , and components used in the practice of the invention , and otherwise , which are particularly adapted for specific environments and operation requirements without departing from those principles . the appended claims are therefore intended to cover and embrace any such modifications within the limits only of the true spirit and scope of the invention .
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gesture control is gaining attention in the medical market due to advantages such as touch - free control , which is important for maintaining sterility , intuitive control , improved workflow and the like . gesture control robustness , however , depends on the amount of sensor data and the type of sensor : e . g a camera - based system suffers line - of - sight issues . that is to say , the camera must have an unobstructed view on the tracked object , e . g . the arm or hand of a person . an ultrasound based system is useful only for short range applications . for most sensor approaches it is difficult to track , for example , the entire arm of an operator . fig1 schematically illustrates one principle used in the present invention where an optical fiber is used as an optical shape sensing device . in practice , optical fiber 20 may be any type of optical fiber suitable for optically tracking elongated device . examples of optical fiber 20 include , but are not limited to , a flexible optically transparent glass or plastic fiber incorporating an array of fiber bragg gratings integrated along a length of the fiber as known in the art , and a flexible optically transparent glass or plastic fiber having naturally variations in its optic refractive index occurring along a length of the fiber as known in the art ( e . g ., a rayleigh scattering based optical fiber ). optical fiber 20 may be a single core fiber or preferably , a multi - core fiber . overall fig1 schematically illustrates the principles of a system 10 for optical frequency domain reflectometry using a tuneable light source 30 and a fiber - optic interferometer . the output of the light source 30 travels through a splitter 40 which directs a part of the signal into a reference arm 50 and the remaining part of the signal into a sample arm 60 which illuminates and receives the light reflected at the area 70 . the interference between the signal returned from the reference arm and the signal returned from the sample - arm is detected with a square - law photo detector 80 while the wavelength of the monochromatic source is swept and the path lengths of the reference and sample arm are held constant . the axial reflectivity profile ( a - line ) is obtained by discrete fourier transform ( dft ) of the sampled detector signals . in practice , elongated device 20 may be any type of device suitable for embedding an optical fiber therein for purposes of optically tracking the elongated device . examples of elongated device 20 include , but are not limited to , an endoscope of any type , a catheter and a guide wire . further the elongated device 20 may be embedded or attached to a garment . in practice , optical interrogation console 30 , including the light source , may be any device or system structurally configured for transmitting light to optical fiber 20 or 60 and receiving reflected light from optical fiber 20 or 60 . in one embodiment , optical interrogation console 30 employs an optical fourier domain reflectometer and other appropriate electronics / devices as known in the art . fig2 schematically illustrates a garment 100 worn by a health care person to be monitored . the garment 100 comprises an optical shape sensing device 110 affixed to and running throughout the garment 100 so that shape changes and / or movement of a part of the garment 100 is reflected as a shape change in the optical shape sensing device 110 , wherein the optical shape sensing device 110 is sewed up in , or affixed to , the garment 100 so as to monitor motion . this allows unobstructed monitoring of the person using the garment 100 whereby detection of specific movement patters is possible . in fig2 the garment 100 is a surgical gown and the optical shape sensing device 110 is located in one arm of the surgical gown . fiber - optic shape sensing 110 when contained in a flexible substrate such as textile of a garment can be used to track gestures of an operator wearing the sensing enabled garment . if the shape sensor is embedded e . g . in the arm sleeve of the operating apron , the entire arm can be tracked without any sensor limitation such as line - of - sight , or operating field size . the relative accuracy of optical shape sensing ( oss ) is good enough even at extended tether lengths of more than three meters for gesture control and movement pattern recognition , allowing for enough cable length to connect garment 100 . the garment 100 may be connected to equipment via the operating table 120 or directly to a control system . preferably the connection is via a cable 130 as there may be risks involved when using a wireless connection , but it is not excluded that the garment 100 , or optical shape sensing device 110 , may be connected wirelessly . another advantage of optical shape sensing especially compared to the more established time of flight ( tof ) technology is that even small deformation can be tracked . this is particularly important as one current problem of tof based gesture control is that large movements have to be performed to do the control which is difficult to accept in the operating room . this is not always desirable in operating theaters . the optical shape sensing device 110 comprises a flexible body having a cross - section being comparatively small relative to the length of the device , and the optical shape sensing device 110 is configured to determine a shape of flexible body relative to a reference , the shape sensing device 110 configured to collect information based on its configuration to track movement and / or current shape of the flexible body . this is also possible via the arrangement illustrated in fig1 . gestures can also be detected based on detecting maneuvers of tracked medical devices . e . g . a shape sensing enabled catheter could be used to trigger an infusion if the physician performs specific actions such as clockwise rotation by 180 degrees or fast movements detectable by applying pattern recognition approaches . fig3 is a schematic illustration of a surgical instrument 200 comprising an optical shape sensing device 210 disposed within the surgical instrument 200 and configured to determine a shape and / or position of the surgical instrument 200 relative to a reference , the optical shape sensing device 200 configured to collect information based on its configuration to during a procedure . in an advantageous embodiment the surgical instrument 200 is a flexible instrument including a catheter and / or a guidewire . such instruments are commonly used by surgeons and the added feature of being able to control functions of the instrument without having to let go of the instrument is an improvement of the safety when operating . as with the garment 100 , the surgical instrument 200 further comprises a connector for connecting to a control computing device 230 generating gesture events based on position information from the optical shape sensing device . preferably the instrument 200 is connected to a system via a cable 240 . for further improvement of safety is it possible to restrict the system so that the shape sensing 210 can be used for identification purposes : e . g . only when the tracked hand of the interventional cardiologist holds the end of a tracked ablation catheter the ablation procedure can be activated while all other personnel touching the catheter cannot activate it . fig4 schematically illustrates a gesture pattern recognition system 300 comprising a garment 310 to be worn by a human to be monitored , the garment 310 comprising an optical shape sensing device 320 affixed to and running throughout the garment 310 so that shape changes and / or movements of a part of the garment 310 are reflected as shape changes in the optical shape sensing device 320 , wherein the optical shape sensing device 320 are sewed up in , or affixed to , the garment 310 so as to monitor motion , the shape gesture pattern recognition system 300 comprising a processor 330 receiving a signal from the optical shape sensing device 320 and the shape gesture pattern recognition system 300 generating a gesture event based on the signal from the optical shape sensing device 320 . the system is especially suitable for use in a surgical room setting . the optical shape sensing device 320 allows for tracking of movement of the person wearing the garment 310 and the system as a whole may then be used for monitoring if / when the person wishes to issue a command or instruction to a computing device , such as an image display device . the system 300 provides accurate and robust monitoring of movement without limitations of line of sight . a similar system may be defined , with reference fig3 , wherein a surgical instrument 200 comprising an optical shape sensing device 210 disposed within the surgical instrument 200 and configured to determine a shape and / or position of the surgical instrument 200 relative to a reference , is used . the optical shape sensing 210 device is then connected 240 to a processor 230 in the shape gesture pattern recognition system to collect information based on a signal from the optical shape sensing device 210 relating to the configuration of the instrument 200 to during a procedure , the shape gesture pattern recognition system creating gesture events based on the signal . the person using the system may then issue commands to the pattern recognition system so as to operate further functions in the instrument or an external system such as an image viewing system . fig5 schematically illustrates steps of a method 400 for controlling a gesture pattern recognition system comprising an object with an optical shape sensing device , wherein the shape gesture pattern recognition system is configured to determine a shape and / or position of the object relative to a reference , the method comprising the steps of detecting 410 a gesture pattern of the object , determining 420 if the gesture pattern of the object corresponds to one of a set of recognized gestures , if the gesture pattern is recognized generating a gesture event based on the recognized gesture , and operating 430 a device based on the gesture event . the method may be used in connection with a garment 310 and the optical shape sensing device 320 is then integrated or affixed to the garment 310 , the method may then further comprise detecting gesture patters of the person wearing the garment . alternatively the method 400 may be used in connection with a surgical instrument 200 comprising an optical shape sensing device 210 disposed within the surgical instrument and configured to determine a shape and / or position of the surgical instrument relative to a reference , the optical shape sensing device configured to collect information based on its configuration to during a procedure . all embodiments described herein may further comprise a further step or device for initiating the gesture control . this could e . g . be a voice recognition system for detecting when an intended command is to be issued by the person wearing the garment or operating the instrument . this allows for improved security as the system or method will not misinterpret movements not related to a command as actual commands . while the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description , such illustration and description are to be considered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive ; the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments . other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention , from a study of the drawings , the disclosure , and the appended claims . in the claims , the word “ comprising ” does not exclude other elements or steps , and the indefinite article “ a ” or “ an ” does not exclude a plurality . a single processor or other unit may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims . the mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage . a computer program may be stored / distributed on a suitable medium , such as an optical storage medium or a solid - state medium supplied together with or as part of other hardware , but may also be distributed in other forms , such as via the internet or other wired or wireless telecommunication systems . any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope .
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in accordance with the invention , the heat insulation has an at least largely evacuated cavity with at least one radiation shield which is inserted into the heat flow . the evacuated cavity then prevents or impedes a heat flow from the storage cells to the outside by convection , while the radiation shield prevents heat losses due to radiation or at least reduces them to a large extent . the thermal conductivity of such a heat insulation is about 100 - times lower than for a heat insulation of glass wool with the same thickness . this is true particularly if , according to another embodiment of the invention , several radiation shields are inserted into the heat flow one after the other with spacing . in order to obtain the above - mentioned good heat retardation , the cavity should be evacuated at least so far that the residual gas pressure in the cavity is less than about 10 - 4 m bar . the following rule may be applied : the residual gas pressure may be chosen so that the mean free path of the atoms and molecules of the gas is approximately equal to the spacing of the radiation shields from each other . in order to maintain the vacuum , it may be advantageous to arrange a getter in the cavity . the cavity is advantageously formed between at least two boundary walls which surround the storage cell and between which the radiation shield is arranged . quite generally , it is best if the boundary walls consist of metal , particularly of metals with low thermal conductivity such as steels alloyed with nickel , or glass . thin foils of bare metal with low emittivity are preferably used as a radiation shield . such metals are , for instance , aluminum or nickel . in order to avoid contact of the boundary walls and / or further radiation shields , spacers are inserted at some points . to simplify the fabrication of the thermal insulation and to increase its stability , it is advantageous if the thermal insulation is composed of at least two , preferably equal insulation sections . cup - shaped insulation sections are particularly preferred , so that they can be fastened to each other at their rims . if the thermal insulation has electrically conducting boundary walls , then the insulation sections are advantageously connected to each other via at least one interposed electrical insulation . thereby , the supply and take - off of current to and from the storage cells becomes very simple because the electrical connection of these storage cells to the outside can be accomplished via the electrically conducting insulation sections . in another advantageous embodiment of the thermal insulation according to the invention , the entire battery interior to be insulated is an evacuated cavity with at least one outside wall . the storage cells are therefore arranged directly in the evacuated cavity which is tightly closed off from the outside by an outside wall . the radiation shield can advantageously be arranged in the cavity itself and conformed or fitted to the profile of the outside wall and spaced therefrom , or the radiation shield can be placed directly around the storage cell , spaced therefrom , and conformed or fitted to its profile . also with this embodiment in a simple construction , the outside wall consists substantially of at least two parts which are put together gastight , are advantageously cup - shaped and are connected to each other at their rims in a gastight manner . in many cases it is desirable to also be able to cool off a very well heat - insulated storage battery as rapidly as possible , for instance , for inspection and / or repair purposes . therefore , a particularly preferred further embodiment of the invention is one in which a gas can be admitted to the cavity . this gas largely cancels the effect of the thermal insulation , so that a strong heat flow from the storage cell to the outside takes place and the storage battery is thus cooled down very quickly . admitting gas to the cavity must , of course , be reversible , i . e ., it must be possible to remove the gas from the cavity to set the storage battery in operation , so as to restore the required insulating properties to the thermal insulation . in order to achieve this , it is advantageous to store the gas at the operating temperature of the storage cell in a solid - material storage device , to drive it out into the cavity by increasing the temperature of the solid - material storage device and to reabsorb it in the solid - material storage device upon cooling down . the solid - material storage device is advantageously equipped with a heater which can be controlled to vary the temperature of the storage device . such solid - material storage devices capable of absorbing gases in their crystal lattices and to so store them are known . if such a solid - material storage device is heated up , the gases are released by the crystal lattices and reabsorbed when cooled down to the starting condition . hydrogen can be used as a suitable gas in the present case and a body of palladium can serve as the solid - material storage device . it is preferred to make the thermal insulation with the profile of a circular cylinder , the outside diameter of which is approximately equal to the height of the heat insulation . an advantageous ratio of the surface to the volume surrounded by the insulation , is also obtained if the thermal insulation has approximately the shape of a cube . an advantageous ratio between the cost of the structure and the insulating effect is obtained if the cavity encloses more than six and fewer than twelve storage cells . for good utilization of space it is advantageous to arrange one storage cell approximately in the region of the vertical central axis of the cavity . further advantages of the invention will be seen from the following description of embodiment examples in conjunction with schematic drawings . like parts are provided with the same reference symbols in the individual figures . the electrochemical storage battery shown in fig1 and 2 has thermal insulation in the form of a circular cylinder 10 , which surrounds the interior 12 of the battery , where the cylindrical storage cells 14 are arranged . for the sake of simplifying the presentation , the storage cells are indicated here only in outline . the height of the storage cells is about 200 to 400 mm with a diameter of about 20 to 50 mm . the height of the thermal insulation 10 approximately corresponds to its diameter , whereby a favorable ratio of the surface of the thermal insulation to the volume enclosed by the thermal insulation is obtained . the thermal insulation is composed of two insulation sections 16 , 18 with a horizontal parting gap . each of these insulation sections 16 and 18 is cup - shaped and has two boundary walls 20 and 22 uniformly spaced , which are joined together at the cup rims . the two boundary walls 20 , 22 then enclose the cavity 24 which is evacuated to an extent that a residual gas pressure of less than 10 - 4 m bar prevails therein . in the cavity 24 are further provided several , and in particular , more than ten radiation shields 26 which are spaced from each other and from the boundary walls 20 , 22 and extend over the entire area of the cavity 24 , as can be seen from fig1 and 2 . as a rule , the radiation shields are flat and follow the profile of the boundary walls 20 , 22 , the spacing of which is approximately constant ; however , it is also possible to make the radiation shields corugated or wrinkled . in any event , it is important that the radiation shields do not touch each other and / or the boundary walls but have small spacing of , for instance , less than 1 mm . to ensure this spacing , spacers with low thermal conductivity can be inserted at some points , the number of which should be as small as possible in order to avoid thermal bridges . the spacing of the boundary walls is obtained from the number of the radiation shields and the spacings provided . the material of the boundary walls 20 , 22 is advantageously a metal with low thermal conductivity , i . e ., an iron alloy which contains nickel and chromium . thin polished metal foils which may consist , for instance , of aluminum are used as radiation shields . the cup - shaped insulation sections 16 and 18 each have at their rims outward - pointing flanges 28 which serve for fastening the two insulation sections 18 and 16 to each other , by means of fastening means , not shown . electrical insulation 30 in the form of an insulating ring is placed between the flanges 28 , so that there is no electrical connection of any kind between the insulation section 18 and the insulation section 16 . the storage cells 14 arranged in the interior of the battery are supported on the inner boundary wall 22 with the interposition of electrically conducting blocks 32 . here , the blocks 32 serve at the same time for the electrical connection of the outside surfaces of the storage cells 14 , which outside surfaces represent one electrical pole of the storage cells , to the lower insulation section 18 . the second electrical poles of the storage cells 14 , which are at the upper ends , are connected to each other via an electric wire 34 and are connected via the lead 36 to the inner boundary wall of the upper insulation section 16 in an electrically conducting manner . this makes possible a simple supply and take - off of current to the storage cells 14 via the insulation sections 16 and 18 . no separate leads which would have to go through the thermal insulation 10 , are necessary . the outer boundary wall 20 of the upper insulation section 16 has a bulge , so that the cavity 24 has an extension 38 . a solid - material storage device 40 in the form of a metal body , with a heater 42 as an electrical heating coil is accommodated in this extension 38 . a gas is embedded in the crystal lattice of the solid - material storage device . the gas can be driven out by heating . this process is reversible , i . e ., the driven - out gas is reabsorbed by the crystal lattice if the solid - material storage device is cooled down to its original temperature . palladium can serve for the solid - material storage device and hydrogen can be used as the gas . the lower insulation section 18 has an embodiment variant with respect to the arrangement of the solid - material storage device 40 . the solid - material storage device 40 is accommodated here in a tubular receptacle 44 , the interior of which is in communication with the cavity 24 via a pipe 46 . this embodiment variant is intended particularly for retrofitting . in a storage battery , both insulation sections 16 and 18 will , of course , be equipped with the same type of solid - material storage device , i . e ., both insulation sections will be made identical , which simplifies production . the storage cells 14 , which in the present embodiment example are of the sodium - and - sulfur type , require a temperature of about 300 ° c . for operation . in conjunction with the radiation shields 26 , the evacuated cavity 24 of the thermal insulation 10 provides excellent heat retardation , which is about 100 - times better than the heat retardation with a layer of rock wool or glass wool of the same thickness . the danger of undesired cooling - off is therefor very small . since a temperature rise to undesirably high values can occur during charging or discharging of the storage cell 14 due to its internal electric resistance , provision must be made to give off this excess heat to the environment in a simple manner . it must likewise be possible to cool down the storage cell 14 as quickly as possible for repair and / or inspection work . this purpose is served by the gas - charged solid - material storage devices 40 . this gas is embedded in the solid - material storage devices 40 at the operating temperature of the storage battery and the thermal insulation is thus fully effective . if now heat is to be given off by the storage cells to the outside , the solid - material storage devices 40 are heated up by means of the heaters 42 , so that the stored gas is driven out of the crystal lattice and enters the cavity 24 . in the process , it also fills , of course , the spaced formed between the individual radiation shields . this gas largely cancels the effect of the thermal insulation 10 by causing heat transport between the inner boundary wall 22 and the outer boundary wall 20 through convection , so that heat is removed from the storage cells 14 to the outside . for this purpose , it is necessary , of course , that the interior 12 of the battery also contains a gas , usually air , so as to make good heat transfer from the storage cells 14 to the inner boundary wall 22 possible . if the storage cells 14 are cooled down to the desired extent and the thermal insulation is to become effective again , the electric heater 42 is switched off again , so that the solid - material storage device 40 can cool down and reabsorb the gas in its crystal lattice . as a result , the cavity 24 is evacuated again and develops its full insulating effect . a cross section through an embodiment variant of a storage battery is shown in fig3 in which the cross section is taken similarly to the section ii -- ii of fig1 . the difference from fig1 or 2 is that the storage battery according to fig3 has a cube - like outline and the individual storage cells are arranged in rows in the interior 12 of the battery , while the storage cells 14 as per fig1 and 2 are arranged about a storage cell arranged in the center of the battery interior 12 . in fig4 and 5 , a further embodiment variant of a storage battery with thermal insulation 10 is shown . the outer boundary wall 50 is formed here by two identical cup - shaped metallic parts which are flanged at their horizontal rims 52 and are welded together to form a gastight joint . as in the embodiment example according to fig1 the radiation shields 60 are spaced from each other as well as spaced from the boundary wall 50 . an inner boundary wall such as is necessary in the embodiment example as per fig1 is not used in the present embodiment example , since in the present embodiment example , the entire interior 12 of the battery is evacuated and therefore serves as the evacuated cavity 54 . the storage cells 14 are arranged in this cavity 54 and are supported on the bottom of the thermal insulation 10 by means of the metallic conducting blocks 32 . the blocks 32 serve at the same time for supply and take - off of the electric current to one pole of the storage cells 14 . the current is fed here via the outer boundary wall 50 , as in the embodiment example according to fig1 . in order to prevent the thin radiation shields from being pushed together by the weight of the storage cells , spacers should be inserted , of course , between the individual radiation shields and the outer boundary wall , especially in the area of the blocks 32 . individual spacers are of advantage also in the other regions to hold the radiation shields in the intended position . the second poles of the storage cells 14 are connected to each other by an electric wire 34 , from which a section 58 leading to the outside is branched off . the line section 58 is inserted into the thermal insulation 10 in a gastight manner and brought out through an insulator 56 . a solid - material storage device 40 with its heater 42 is further provided in order to fill the evacuated cavity 54 with gas , in case it should be necessary under certain operating conditions to give off heat to the outside . fig6 shows an embodiment variant of the storage battery according to fig4 in a cross section which corresponds approximately to the section v -- v . here , too , the entire interior of the battery is evacuated and thus forms the cavity 54 . as in the embodiment example as per fig4 and 5 , this cavity 54 is closed off from the outside by the boundary wall 50 . in the present embodiment example , the radiation shields 62 are arranged around the individual storage cells 14 , as can clearly be seen from fig6 . regarding the fabrication and mounting of the radiation shields , this embodiment has advantages , since these radiation shields are made smaller than in the embodiment example of fig4 and 5 and can therefore be produced more easily . the advantages of the storage battery according to the invention come to bear particularly if the storage battery requires high temperatures for operation , such as is the case , for instance , in storage batteries of the sodium - and - sulfur type ( operating temperature about 300 ° c .). a very effective protection against heat losses is achieved , which can be cancelled if necessary . added to this is the fact that the weight and overall volume of the thermal insulation are small , which is of particular merit for vehicle batteries .
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the organosilicon compounds used in the invention preferably involve those containing units of the formula r can be identical or different , and is a hydrogen atom or an optionally substituted , sic - bonded , aliphatically saturated hydrocarbon moiety , r 1 can be identical or different , and is a sic - bonded , aliphatically unsaturated hydrocarbon moiety , y can be identical or different , and is a hydroxy moiety or hydrolyzable moieties moiety , with the proviso that the sum a + b + c is smaller than or equal to 4 . the organosilicon compounds used in the invention preferably are organopolysiloxanes , i . e . compounds containing the units of the formula ( i ), where a + b + c is smaller than or equal to 3 . examples of hydrocarbon radicals r are alkyl , radicals such as the methyl , ethyl , n - propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , isobutyl , tert - butyl , n - pentyl , isopentyl , neopentyl , and tert - pentyl radicals , hexyl radicals such as the n - hexyl radical , heptyl radicals such as the n - heptyl radical , octyl radicals such as the n - octyl radical , and isooctyl radicals such as the 2 , 2 , 4 - trimethylpentyl radical , nonyl radicals such as the n - nonyl radical , decyl radicals such as the n - decyl radical , dodecyl radicals such as the n - dodecyl radical , octadecyl radicals such as the n - octadecyl radical ; cycloalkyl radicals such as cyclopentyl , cyclohexyl , and cycloheptyl radicals , and methylcyclohexyl radicals ; aryl radicals such as the phenyl , biphenyl , naphthyl , and anthryl , and phenanthryl radicals ; alkaryl radicals such as o -, m -, and p - tolyl radicals , xylyl radicals , and ethylphenyl radicals ; aralkyl radicals such as the benzyl radical , and the α - and β - phenylethyl radicals . examples of substituted hydrocarbon radicals r are halogenated alkyl radicals such as the 3 - chloropropyl , the 3 , 3 , 3 - trifluoropropyl , and the perfluorohexylethyl radicals , and halogenated aryl radicals such as the p - chlorophenyl and the p - chlorobenzyl radicals . the radical r preferably is a hydrogen atom or optionally substituted hydrocarbon radical having from 1 to 8 carbon atoms . if the radical r is an optionally substituted hydrocarbon radical it is most preferable that it is a methyl , ethyl , phenyl , or 3 , 3 , 3 - trifluoropropyl radical , in particular the methyl radical . examples of the radicals r 1 are the vinyl , allyl , methallyl , 1 - propenyl , 1 - butenyl , and 1 - pentenyl radicals , and the 5 - hexenyl , butadienyl , hexadienyl , cyclopentenyl , cyclopentadienyl , cyclohexenyl , ethynyl , propargyl , and 1 - propynyl radicals . it is preferable that the radical r 1 involves is an alkenyl radical having from 2 to 8 carbon atoms , most preferably the vinyl radical . it is preferable that the radical y is a hydroxy radical , an organyloxy radical such as a methoxy , ethoxy , n - propoxy , isopropoxy , n - butoxy , isobutoxy , sec - butoxy , tert - butoxy , or 2 - methoxyethoxy radical ; an acyloxy radical such as the acetoxy radical ; an amino radical such as the methylamino , dimethylamino , ethylamino , diethylamino , and cyclohexylamino radicals ; an amido radical such as the n - methylacetamido and benzamido radicals ; an aminoxy radical such as the diethylaminoxy radical ; an oximo radical such as the methylethylketoximo and methylisobutylketoximo radicals ; or an enoxy radical such as the 2 - propenoxy radical . it is more preferable that the radical y is a hydroxy radical or — or 1 moieties radical , where r 1 is defined as above , or an acetoxy or oximo radical , and in particular the hydroxy radical , or a methoxy , ethoxy , or acetoxy radical , and most preferably the ethoxy or acetoxy radical . examples of organosilicon compounds used in the invention are linear siloxanes , such as dimethylpolysiloxanes , phenylmethylpolysiloxanes , trifluoropropylpolysiloxanes , and ethylpropyl - polysiloxanes , dimethyl / methylvinylpolysiloxanes having from 2 to 100 vinyl groups , methylvinylpolysiloxanes , diphenyl / phenylvinylpolysiloxanes having from 2 to 100 vinyl groups , phenylvinylpolysiloxanes , and ethylmethyl / ethylvinylpolysiloxanes . the viscosity of organosilicon compounds used in the invention is preferably from 10 , 000 to 10 9 mpa · s , more preferably from ˜ 100 - 100 , 000 to 10 7 mpa · s , and in particular from 10 6 to 9 · 10 6 mpa · s , measured in each case at 25 ° c . the compositions of the invention preferably comprise amounts of from 30 to 90 parts by weight of organosilicon compounds , more preferably from 40 to 80 parts by weight , and most preferably from 60 to 75 parts by weight , based in each case on 100 parts by weight of the composition of the invention . the aluminum oxide used in the invention preferably comprises fine - particle fumed aluminum oxide , i . e . aluminum oxide produced via flame hydrolysis of anhydrous aluminum chloride or of another anhydrous hydrolyzable aluminum compound . the aluminum oxide can , if desired , also take the form of a mixture with other metal oxides , but this is not preferred . the production of aluminum oxide via flame hydrolysis is well known . reference may be made in this connection to wo2005061385a and wo2005113442a , for example . the aluminum oxide powder used in the invention is preferably produced via flame hydrolysis by vaporizing aluminum chloride , if appropriate in a mixture with other volatile metal compounds , e . g . chlorides of ti , si , zr , zn , mg , y , v , w , ta , ce , or b where the vapor is passed with the aid of a carrier gas , e . g . dry air , into a mixing chamber and mixed with h 2 and an excess of air , if appropriate with introduction of heat , and the mixture is then ignited on passage into the reaction chamber . the solid aluminum oxide formed , if appropriate in a mixture with other metal oxides , is isolated and then — if desired — treated with steam . the specific surface area ( bet ) of the aluminum oxide powder used in the invention is preferably from 50 to 400 m 2 / g , more preferably from 70 to 300 m 2 / g , and in particular from 80 to 150 m 2 / g . the average primary particle size of the aluminum oxide powder used in the invention is preferably from 10 to 20 nm , more preferably from 12 to 14 nm . the surface of the aluminum oxide used in the invention can , if desired , have been chemically modified , but this is not preferred . the aluminum oxide powder used in the invention involves a commercially available product . the compositions of the invention preferably comprise amounts of from 0 . 1 to 20 parts by weight of aluminum oxide powder , more preferably from 0 . 2 to 14 parts by weight , and most preferably from 0 . 3 to 3 parts by weight , based in each case on 100 parts by weight of the composition of the invention . the compositions of the invention can comprise not only organosilicon compounds and aluminum oxide but also further substances , such as water , boric acid , and other pulverulent substances differing from aluminum oxide , examples being fillers . examples of fillers used if appropriate are reinforcing and / or nonreinforcing fillers . examples of reinforcing fillers , i . e . fillers whose bet surface area is at least 50 m 2 / g , are fumed silica , precipitated silica , and carbon black , such as furnace black and acetylene black . the silica fillers mentioned can have hydrophilic character or can have been hydrophobized by known processes , preference being given here to silica fillers with hydrophilic character . the reinforcing filler used if appropriate preferably is hydrophilic fumed silica whose bet surface area is from 50 to 400 m 2 / g , more preferably from 150 to 300 m 2 / g . examples of nonreinforcing fillers are quartz , diatomaceous earth , calcium silicate , zirconium silicate , zeolites , metal oxide powders , such as titanium oxides , iron oxides , or zinc oxides , or mixed oxides of these , barium sulfate , calcium carbonate , calcium sulfate , silicon nitride , silicon carbide , boron nitride , aluminum hydroxide ( ath ), mica , talc , kaolin , metal titanates and metal zirconates , and also polytetrafluoroethylene powders . other fillers that can be used are fibrous components , such as glass fibers and synthetic fibers . the bet surface area of these fillers is preferably below 50 m 2 / g . the compositions of the invention preferably comprise reinforcing filler or a mixture composed of reinforcing and nonreinforcing filler . the compositions of the invention are preferably filled with a sufficient amount of filler differing from aluminum oxide to achieve the desired consistency , which depends on the intended application . the compositions of the invention preferably have a plasticine - like consistency , and high viscosity and plasticity (= sheet integrity ), or take the form of pellets . the compositions of the invention can be crosslinkable or non - crosslinkable compositions . the compositions of the invention have particularly good suitability for the production of cables , of cable insulation , of cable sheathing , of moldings , of profiles , of dimensionally stable unvulcanized profiles , and of textile coatings with good sheet integrity . the compositions of the invention can involve any desired types hitherto known of compositions that can be crosslinked to give elastomers and that are based on organosilicon compounds , examples being single - or two - component organopolysiloxane compositions that can be vulcanized at room temperature ( known as rtv compositions ) or at an elevated temperature ( known as htv compositions ), and the crosslinking here can take place through condensation , or an addition reaction of si - bonded hydrogen onto an aliphatic multiple bond , or peroxidically via formation of radicals or via exposure to radiation . the crosslinkable compositions here can be free from fillers differing from aluminum oxide , but can also comprise active or non - active fillers differing from aluminum oxide , and it is preferable that fillers differing from aluminum oxide are present . the nature and amount of the components usually used in these compositions are known . by way of example , reference may be made in this connection to u . s . pat . no . 5 , 268 , 441 , de - a 44 01 606 , de - a 44 05 245 , and de - a 43 36 345 . the aluminum oxide used in the invention here can be mixed as desired with the other components of the crosslinkable compositions of the invention . it can by way of example be incorporated in a final step by mixing into the otherwise finished silicone rubber formulation , or it can be incorporated during the production of the silicone rubber mixture . however , the aluminum oxide can also be premixed into one or more of the components used . each of the components used to produce the compositions of the invention can involve a single type of such a component or else a mixture composed of at least two different types of such a component . the mixing process for production of the compositions of the invention is preferably simple mechanical mixing . as a function of consistency and viscosity of the main material , the mixing process can take place on roll mills , in kneaders , in dissolvers , in z mixers , in ball mills , or in simple mixers , preference being given here to roll mills , kneaders , and z mixers . the mixing process is preferably carried out at ambient pressure , simply for reasons of simplicity . however , mixing at reduced or increased pressure is also possible . again for reasons of simplicity , the mixing process is preferably carried out at ambient temperature . however , mixing is also possible at increased temperature or with cooling . if desired , pelletization may follow . this can take place in a known manner after combination of the individual components of the composition of the invention , using customary pelletizers , such as a pelletizing die and a rotating knife . the invention further provides a process for the production of pellets based on organosilicon compounds , characterized in that organosilicon compounds and aluminum oxide with a specific surface area of at least 50 m 2 / g and with an average primary particle size of from 1 to 50 nm are mixed with one another in a mixing apparatus and the pellets are then shaped using pelletizers . it is preferable that the pelletizer involves an extruder , e . g . a single - screw , twin - screw , or ram extruder , or a gear pump , in each case equipped with a pelletizing die and a rotating knife . the production of the pelletizable composition of the invention can , if desired , also be carried out by means of heated continuous mixing equipment . the composition can be pelletized directly from the mixing device . the composition can also be pelletized in a second step after intermediate treatment , e . g . coloring , or addition of any desired additives . the process of the invention for production of pellets is preferably carried out at a temperature of from 20 to 50 ° c . and at the pressure of the ambient atmosphere , i . e . from about 900 to 1100 hpa , but the pressure in the pelletizer can be up to 500 , 000 hpa . the pellets of the invention are preferably given a light coating of talc directly after chopping by the rotating knife , and are preferably cooled as quickly as possible to 20 ° c . the average particle size of the pellets of the invention or the pellets produced in the invention is preferably from 1 to 100 mm , more preferably from 2 to 9 mm . the pellets of the invention preferably have a typical cylindrical pellet structure whose diameter is preferably from 1 to 100 mm , more preferably from 2 to 9 mm , their length preferably being from 1 to 100 mm , more preferably from 2 to 9 mm . the compositions of the invention have the advantage of being easy to produce and easy to process . the process of the invention has the advantage of permitting production of pellets with good free - flow properties . the pellets of the invention have the advantage of being stable in storage and therefore providing at least 6 months of fully satisfactory processability . another advantage of the pellets of the invention is that they can be conveyed automatically and can be processed on any of the conventional plants for the processing of silicone rubber ( press vulcanization , transfer presses , extrusion , injection molding , calendering , etc .). further advantages are increased sheet integrity in the unpelletized condition , improved calenderability (= less tack on rolls and calenders ), and suitability for use with foods . the pellets of the invention can then be used for any of the purposes for which pellets based on organosilicon compounds have been used hitherto . in this connection , mention may be made by way of example of the production of profiles , of cables , of hoses , of sheets , of films , of foam , and of moldings . if the compositions of the invention involve pellets or involve mixtures of good sheet integrity , these can have been rendered crosslinkable or non - crosslinkable . in the non - crosslinkable state , these pellets can be used as additives as described in de - a 10330287 . in the crosslinkable state , the pellets comprise one of the crosslinking systems usual for silicone rubbers . the compositions of the invention can be crosslinked under conditions identical with those for crosslinkable compositions known hitherto and based on organosilicon compounds . any of the familiar processes for the processing of silicone rubbers can be used as production process here . examples of these are calendering , compression molding , injection molding , and extrusion . the present invention further provides moldings produced via crosslinking of the compositions of the invention . the moldings of the invention can involve moldings the same as those hitherto produced from crosslinkable compositions based on organosilicon compounds . examples of the moldings of the invention are pellets , hoses , films , gaskets , injection - molded parts , profiles , cables , sheets , and pipe linings , and also coatings . the compositions of the invention based on organosilicon compounds can involve compositions that can be stored if water is excluded and that on ingress of water at room temperature can be crosslinked via condensation to give elastomers ( crosslinking type i ). the compositions of the invention that can be crosslinked via condensation preferably involve those which comprise ( b ) an organosilicon compound having at least three si - bonded hydrolyzable moieties , ( d ) aluminum oxide whose specific surface area is at least 50 m 2 / g and whose average primary particle size is from 1 to 50 nm , for the purposes of the present invention , the term “ condensable ” moieties also covers moieties which may also include an optional preceding hydrolysis step . the compositions of the invention that can be crosslinked via condensation can involve single - component compositions or else two - component compositions , where one component in the latter does not simultaneously comprise the constituents ( a ), ( b ), and ( c ). organosilicon compound ( a ) used having condensable groups can comprise organopolysiloxanes containing units of the formula ( i ), with the proviso that the sum a + b + c is smaller than or equal to 3 , and at least one moiety y is present per molecule , preferably at least two . where r 2 is identical or different , optionally substituted , monovalent hydrocarbon moieties , and m is a whole number whose value is at least 20 , preferably a number from 50 to 100 , 000 . although formula ( ii ) does not show this , other siloxane units can also be present in addition to the diorganosiloxane units ( sir 2 2 o ), examples being those of the formulae r 2 sio 3 / 2 , r 2 3 sio 1 / 2 , and sio 4 / 2 , where r 2 is in each case defined as stated above . however , the amount for these siloxane units other than diorganosiloxane units is preferably at most 10 mol percent , in particular at most 1 mol percent , based in each case on the weight of the organopolysiloxanes ( a ). examples of moieties r 2 are the examples stated above for moiety r and r 1 . the radical r 2 preferably is a radical having from 1 to 18 carbon atoms , and more preferably a propyl , hexyl , or octyl radical , and in particular , the methyl radical . the organosilicon compounds used having at least three si - bonded hydrolyzable groups ( b ) preferably comprise silanes of the general formula and / or partial hydrolyzates of these having from 2 to 10 silicon atoms per molecule , r 3 can be identical or different and is defined as for r 2 , z is identical or different hydrolyzable groups , such as an amino , amido , aminoxy , or oximo group , e . g . — on ═ c ( ch 3 )( c 2 h 5 ), alkoxy groups , e . g . methoxy and ethoxy , and alkoxyalkoxy groups , e . g . ch 3 — o — c 2 h 5 — o —, or alkenyloxy groups , such as h 2 c ═( ch 3 ) co —, and acetoxy groups . moiety r 3 preferably involves propyl , hexyl , octyl , vinyl , or methyl moieties , particular preference being given here to vinyl and methyl moieties . the amount used of the organosilicon compound ( b ) is preferably from 2 to 10 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of organosilicon compound ( a ). the condensation catalyst ( c ) preferably involves ( organo ) metallic compounds , such as the salts of carboxylic acids , and the alcoholates and the halides of the metals pb , zn , zr , ti , sb , fe , cd , sn , ba , ca , and mn , e . g . stannous octoate , dibutyltin dilaurate , octyltin triacetate , dioctyltin dioctoate , dioctyltin diacetate , didecyltin diacetate , dibutyltin diacetate , dibutyltin dibromide , dioctyltin dilaurate , trioctyltin acetate , titanium alcoholate , and organotitanium compounds having at least one si — o — ti bond . the amount of condensation catalyst ( c ) preferably used is from 0 . 1 to 2 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of organosilicon compound ( a ). as a function of the respective application , further substances ( e ) can be added to the compositions of the invention that can be vulcanized to give elastomers , with the proviso that the additives ( e ) differ from component ( a ), ( b ), ( c ), and ( d ). examples of these further substances ( e ) are fillers , e . g . the substances described above for improving surface properties , examples being adhesion promoters , processing aids , such as plasticizers , pigments , soluble dyes , odorants , fungicides , purely organic resins , corrosion inhibitors , oxidation inhibitors , heat stabilizers , solvents , agents for influencing electrical properties , e . g . conductive carbon black , flame retardants , light stabilizers , and agents for prolonging skinning time , but component ( e ) here preferably involves fillers , plasticizers , and adhesion promoters . examples of plasticizers which can be used as component ( e ) are polydimethylsiloxanes whose viscosity is at most 1000 mm 2 / s at 25 ° c . and which have termination by trimethylsilyl groups or by hydroxy groups , another example being diphenylsilanediol . examples of adhesion promoters are aminosilanes , such as aminoethylaminopropyltriethoxysilane , or polysiloxanes which contain aminoethylaminopropylsiloxy groups . examples of heat stabilizers are transition metal fatty acid salts , such as iron octoate or cerium octoate , titanium butoxide , transition metal silanolates , such as iron silanolate , and also cerium ( iv ) compounds , or oxides , e . g . iron oxide or titanium oxide , and mixtures of these , and also various carbon blacks . the compositions of the invention that can be crosslinked via condensation preferably do not comprise any further substances beyond components ( a ) to ( e ). the compositions of the invention that are based on organosilicon compounds and that can be crosslinked via condensation can be produced by known processes , for example via simple mixing of the individual components . the mixing preferably takes place at room temperature and it is preferable that ingress of water is avoided during this mixing process . however , this mixing process can also , if desired , take place at higher temperatures , e . g . at a temperature in the range from 25 to 80 ° c . the usual water content of air is sufficient for the crosslinking of the compositions of the invention . the crosslinking can , if desired , also be carried out at temperatures higher than room temperature , e . g . at from 25 to 120 ° c ., or at temperatures lower than room temperature , e . g . at from − 10 to 25 ° c . the crosslinking can also be carried out at concentrations of water which exceed the normal water content of air . the compositions of the invention have the advantage of being easy to produce . the compositions of the invention based on organosilicon compounds can involve those that can be crosslinked via an addition reaction of si - bonded hydrogen onto an aliphatic carbon - carbon multiple bond ( crosslinking type ii ). the addition - crosslinkable compositions of the invention based on organosilicon compounds preferably comprise ( 1 ) organosilicon compounds which have sic - bonded moieties having aliphatic carbon - carbon multiple bonds , ( 2 ) organosilicon compounds having si - bonded hydrogen atoms , or , instead of ( 1 ) and ( 2 ), ( 3 ) organosilicon compounds which have sic - bonded moieties having aliphatic carbon - carbon multiple bonds and which have si - bonded hydrogen atoms , ( 4 ) catalyst promoting the addition reaction of si - bonded hydrogen onto an aliphatic multiple bond , ( 5 ) aluminum oxide powder whose specific surface area is at least 50 m 2 / g and whose average primary particle size is from 1 to 50 nm , if the compositions of the invention involve an addition - crosslinking 2 - component silicone rubber composition , the two components of the silicone rubber compositions of the invention can comprise all of the constituents in any desired combination and quantitative proportion , with the proviso that one component cannot simultaneously comprise the constituents ( 1 ), ( 2 ), and ( 4 ) or , respectively , ( 3 ) and ( 4 ). the organosilicon compounds ( 1 ) preferably involve linear , cyclic , or branched siloxanes containing units of the formula ( i ), with the proviso that the sum a + b + c is smaller than or equal to 3 , c is preferably 0 , and at least two moieties r 1 are present per molecule . the organosilicon compounds ( 1 ) most preferably are linear organopolysiloxanes of the structure ( r 1 r 2 sio 1 / 2 ) x ( r 3 sio 1 / 2 ) 1 - x ( r 1 rsio ) 0 - 50 ( r 2 sio ) 30 - 8000 ( r 1 r 2 sio 1 / 2 ) x ( r 3 sio 1 / 2 ) 1 - x , where r and r 1 can be identical or different , and are subject to one of the abovementioned definitions , and x can be identical or different and is 0 or 1 , with the proviso that at least two moieties r 1 are present . examples of organopolysiloxanes ( 1 ) used in the invention are trimethylsilyl - terminated polymethylvinylsiloxanes and vinyldimethylsilyl - terminated polymethylvinyl / dimethylsiloxanes . the organosilicon compounds ( 2 ) used which have si - bonded hydrogen atoms preferably comprise linear , cyclic , or branched siloxanes containing units of the formula ( i ), with the proviso that the sum a + b + c is smaller than or equal to 3 , c is preferably 0 , and an average of at least two moieties r per molecule are an si - bonded hydrogen atom . the viscosity of the organosilicon compounds ( 2 ) is preferably from 50 to 10000 mpas at 25 ° c . particular examples of polyorganosiloxanes ( 2 ) are copolymers composed of dimethylhydrosiloxane units , methylhydrosiloxane units , dimethylsiloxane units , and trimethylsiloxane units , copolymers composed of trimethylsiloxane units , dimethylhydrosiloxane units , and methylhydrosiloxane units , copolymers composed of trimethylsiloxane units , dimethylsiloxane units , and methylhydrosiloxane units , copolymers composed of methylhydrosiloxane units and trimethylsiloxane units , copolymers composed of methylhydrosiloxane units , diphenylsiloxane units , and trimethylsiloxane units , copolymers composed of methylhydrosiloxane units , dimethylhydrosiloxane units , and diphenylsiloxane units , copolymers composed of methylhydrosiloxane units , phenylmethylsiloxane units , trimethylsiloxane units , and / or dimethylhydrosiloxane units , copolymers composed of methylhydrosiloxane units , dimethylsiloxane units , diphenylsiloxane units , trimethylsiloxane units , and / or dimethylhydrosiloxane units , and also copolymers composed of dimethylhydrosiloxane units , trimethylsiloxane units , phenylhydrosiloxane units , dimethylsiloxane units , and / or phenylmethylsiloxane units . it is preferable to use an organosilicon compound ( 2 ) containing three or more sih bonds per molecule . if a constituent ( 2 ) is used which has only two sih bonds per molecule , the organosilicon compound ( 1 ) preferably comprises at least three aliphatic carbon - carbon multiple bonds per molecule . it is therefore preferable that the organosilicon compound ( 2 ) is used as crosslinking agent . the content of si - bonded hydrogen in the organosilicon compound ( 2 ) is preferably from 0 . 002 to 1 . 7 % by weight of hydrogen , more preferably from 0 . 1 to 1 . 7 % by weight of hydrogen . the amount of the polyorganosiloxane ( 2 ) present in the curable silicone rubber composition is preferably such that the molar ratio of sih groups to moieties having an aliphatic carbon - carbon multiple bond of component ( 1 ) is from 0 . 5 to 6 , more preferably from 1 . 5 to 2 . 5 . if organosilicon compounds ( 3 ) are used , they preferably are what are known as mq resins whose viscosity is preferably from 0 . 01 to 500 , 000 pa · s , more preferably from 0 . 1 to 150 , 000 pa · s , in each case at 25 ° c . any of the hydrosilylation catalysts known hitherto can be used in the compositions of the invention , as constituent ( 4 ), which promotes the addition reaction ( hydrosilylation reaction ) between si - bonded hydrogen and the moieties having an aliphatic carbon - carbon multiple bond . examples of hydrosilylation catalysts ( 4 ) are metals , such as platinum , rhodium , palladium , ruthenium , and iridium , preferably platinum , and these may , if appropriate , have been fixed on fine - particle carrier materials , such as activated charcoal , aluminum oxide , or silicon dioxide , other examples being compounds and complexes of the metals mentioned . the hydrosilylation catalyst ( 4 ) can also be used in microencapsulated form , where an example of the fine - particle solid which is insoluble in the polyorganosiloxane and which comprises the catalyst is a thermoplastic ( polyester resins , silicone resins ). the hydrosilylation catalyst can also be used in the form of an inclusion compound , for example in a cyclodextrin . it is preferable that platinum , or else its compounds and complexes , is / are used as catalyst ( 4 ). the amount of the catalyst ( 4 ) depends on the desired crosslinking rate and on the respective use , and also on economic factors . the amounts of the catalysts ( 4 ) present in the compositions of the invention are such that the resultant platinum content is preferably from 0 . 1 to 500 ppm by weight (= parts by weight per million parts by weight ), more preferably from 1 to 100 ppm by weight , and in particular from 1 to 50 ppm by weight , based in each case on the total weight of the crosslinkable composition . the amount of aluminum oxide ( 5 ) preferably used in the invention is from 0 . 1 to 20 parts by weight , more preferably from 0 . 2 to 14 parts by weight , and in particular from 0 . 3 to 3 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of composition that can be crosslinked via an addition reaction . the curable compositions of the invention can comprise not only components ( 1 ) to ( 5 ) but also any of the further substances ( 6 ) used hitherto for the production of addition - crosslinkable compositions , with the proviso that the further substances ( 6 ) differ from components ( 1 ) to ( 5 ). examples of further substances ( 6 ) are reinforcing fillers , nonreinforcing fillers , resinous polyorganosiloxanes differing from the siloxanes ( 1 ), ( 2 ), and ( 3 ), dispersing agents , solvents , adhesion promoters , pigments , dyes , plasticizers , organic polymers , heat stabilizers , inhibitors , and stabilizers . examples of familiar inhibitors which can be used as component ( 6 ) are acetylenic alcohols , such as 1 - ethynyl - 1 - cyclohexanol , 2 - methyl - 3 - butyn - 2 - ol , and 3 , 5 - dimethyl - 1 - hexyn - 3 - ol , 3 - methyl - 1 - dodecyn - 3 - ol , polymethylvinylcyclosiloxanes , such as 1 , 3 , 5 , 7 - tetravinyltetramethyltetracyclosiloxane , tetravinyldimethyldisiloxane , trialkyl cyanurates , alkyl maleates , such as diallyl maleates , dimethyl maleate , and diethyl maleate , alkyl fumarates , such as diallyl fumarate and diethyl fumarate , organic hydroperoxides , such as cumene hydroperoxide , tert - butyl hydroperoxide , and pinane hydroperoxide , organic peroxides , organic sulfoxides , organic amines , diamines , and amides , phosphanes , and phosphites , nitrites , triazoles , diaziridines , and oximes . the inhibitor content of the compositions of the invention is preferably from 0 to 50 , 000 ppm , more preferably from 50 to 2000 ppm . examples of fillers , plasticizers , and heat stabilizers are the examples given above in the context of the condensation - crosslinkable compositions . the compositions of the invention can — in particular as a function of the viscosity of the constituents , and also filler content — have a pasty consistency , or be pulverulent , or else can be the type of conformable , high - viscosity compositions known among the compositions frequently called htv by persons skilled in the art . in particular , if the compositions of the invention have high viscosity , they can be provided in the form of pellets . known processes can be used to produce the organopolysiloxane compositions of the invention , an example being uniform mixing of the individual components . the form taken by the individual components can by this stage be entirely or to some extent that of pellets . the compositions of the invention that can be crosslinked via an addition reaction preferably comprise no further substances beyond components ( 1 ) to ( 6 ). the compositions of the invention that can be crosslinked via an addition reaction of si - bonded hydrogen onto an aliphatic multiple bond can be crosslinked under conditions identical with those for the compositions known hitherto that can be crosslinked via a hydrosilylation reaction . this preferably involves temperatures of from 100 to 600 ° c . and a pressure of from 900 to 1100 hpa . however , it is also possible to apply higher or lower temperatures and pressures , as a function of the processing method . the compositions of the invention , and also the crosslinking products produced therefrom in the invention , can be used for any other purposes for which elastomers and , respectively , organopolysiloxane compositions that can be crosslinked to give elastomers have been used hitherto . the compositions of the invention have the advantage that they are easy to produce and are stable over a long period . another advantage of the compositions of the invention is that pellets of various compositions and shore hardnesses can be mixed with one another . the compositions of the invention based on organosilicon compounds can involve peroxidically crosslinkable compositions ( crosslinking type iii ). the compositions of the invention that can be crosslinked peroxidically , based on organosilicon compounds , preferably comprise ( a ) organosilicon compounds containing units of the general formula ( i ), with the proviso that the sum a + b + c is smaller than or equal to 3 , ( b ) an agent bringing about crosslinking by way of free radicals , ( c ) aluminum oxide powder whose specific surface area is at least 50 m 2 / g and whose average primary particle size is from 1 to 50 nm , it is preferable that the organosilicon compounds ( a ) involve organopolysiloxanes containing units of the formula ( i ) in which at least 70 % of all of the si - bonded moieties are defined as sic - bonded alkyl moieties , in particular methyl moieties , where the units of the formula ( i ) preferably involve diorganosiloxane units . the end groups of the organosilicon compounds ( a ) can be trialkylsiloxy groups , in particular the trimethylsiloxy moiety or the dimethylvinylsiloxy moiety ; however , it is also possible that one or more of these alkyl groups has / have been replaced by hydroxy groups or by alkoxy groups , such as methoxy moieties or ethoxy moieties . examples of organopolysiloxanes ( a ) used in the invention are the examples given above for organosilicon compounds ( 1 ). the organosilicon compounds ( a ) can involve liquids or high - viscosity substances . the viscosity of the organosilicon compounds ( a ) at 25 ° c . is preferably from 10 3 to 10 8 mm 2 / s . component ( b ) can generally involve an agent that brings about or initiates , by way of free radicals , the crosslinking process , and which has been used hitherto in peroxidically crosslinkable compositions , preference being given here to peroxides , in particular organic peroxides . examples of component ( b ) are peroxides such as dibenzoyl peroxide , bis ( 2 , 4 - dichlorobenzoyl ) peroxide , dicumyl peroxide , and 2 , 5 - bis ( tert - butylperoxy )- 2 , 5 - dimethylhexane , and also mixtures of these , preference being given here to bis ( 2 , 4 - dichlorobenzoyl ) peroxide , and 2 , 5 - bis ( tert - butylperoxy )- 2 , 5 - dimethylhexane . the amounts of component ( b ) present in the organopolysiloxane compositions of the invention that can be crosslinked to give elastomers are preferably from 0 . 4 to 2 . 0 percent by weight , more preferably from 0 . 7 to 1 . 5 percent by weight , based in each case on the total weight of the peroxidically crosslinkable composition . the amount of aluminum oxide ( c ) used in the invention is preferably from 0 . 1 to 20 parts by weight , more preferably from 0 . 2 to 14 parts by weight , and in particular from 0 . 3 to 3 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of peroxidically crosslinkable composition . as a function of the respective application , further substances ( d ) can be added to the compositions of the invention that can be vulcanized to give elastomers , with the proviso that the additives ( d ) differ from component ( a ) to ( c ). examples of these further substances ( d ) are fillers , plasticizers , pigments , and stabilizers , such as heat stabilizers . examples of fillers , plasticizers , and heat stabilizers are the examples given above in connection with the condensation - crosslinkable compositions . if the peroxidically crosslinkable compositions of the invention comprise filler as component ( d ), the amounts involved are preferably from 1 to 200 parts by weight , particularly preferably from 30 to 100 parts by weight , based in each case on 100 parts by weight of organosilicon compound ( a ). the peroxidically crosslinkable compositions of the invention preferably comprise no further substances beyond these . known processes can be used to produce the peroxidically crosslinkable organopolysiloxane compositions of the invention , an example being simple mixing of the individual components . the peroxidically crosslinkable compositions of the invention can be crosslinked under conditions identical with those for the peroxidically crosslinkable compositions known hitherto . the compositions of the invention , and also the elastomers produced therefrom in the invention , can be used for any of the purposes for which elastomers , or organopolysiloxane compositions that can be crosslinked to give elastomers , have been used hitherto . the compositions of the invention have particularly good suitability for the production of cables , of cable insulation , of cable sheathing , of moldings , of profiles , of dimensionally stable unvulcanized profiles , and of textile coatings with good sheet integrity . the compositions of the invention have the advantage that in the form of pellets they can be conveyed automatically and in the form of extrudate or of milled sheet they have good firmness and sheet integrity . the compositions of the invention based on organosilicon compounds can involve compositions that can be crosslinked via radiation ( crosslinking type iv ). ( i ) organosilicon compounds containing units of the formula ( i ), with the proviso that the sum a + b + c is smaller than or equal to 3 , and vinyl groups are present , ( ii ) aluminum oxide whose specific surface area is at least 50 m 2 / g , and whose average primary particle size is from 1 to 50 nm , ( vii ) further substances selected from the group consisting of plasticizers , stabilizers , antioxidants , flame retardants , light stabilizers , and pigments , these crosslinkable compositions of the invention preferably involve single - component compositions . to provide these single - component compositions , the respective constituents used can be mixed with one another in any desired manner known hitherto . the compositions of the invention are preferably produced and stored under conditions substantially free from radiation and , if appropriate , substantially free from water , in order to avoid premature reaction of the compositions . examples of organopolysiloxanes ( i ) used in the invention are the examples given above for organosilicon compounds ( 1 ). the amount preferably used of aluminum oxide ( ii ) in the invention is from 0 . 1 to 20 parts by weight , particularly from 0 . 2 to 14 parts by weight , in particular from 0 . 3 to 3 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of composition that can be crosslinked via radiation . the crosslinking agent ( iii ) used if appropriate can comprise any of the crosslinking agents used hitherto in compositions that can be crosslinked via radiation ; these preferably comprise a radiation - curable , aliphatic carbon - carbon multiple bond . it is preferable that crosslinking agents ( iii ) are vinyl - and allylsilanes , olefins , acrylates , and methacrylates , more preferably acrylates and methacrylates , and in particular mono - and difunctional acrylates and methacrylates . examples of crosslinking agents ( iii ) used if appropriate are monofunctional oligo ( ethers ) and monomeric acrylates and methacrylates , such as 2 -( 2 - ethoxyethoxy ) ethyl acrylate , 2 - phenoxyethyl acrylate , caprolactone acrylate , cyclic trimethylolpropane formal acrylate , ethoxylated nonylphenol acrylate , isobornyl acrylate , isodecyl acrylate , lauryl acrylate , octyldecyl acrylate , stearyl acrylate , tetrahydro - furfuryl acrylate , tridecyl acrylate , 2 - phenoxyethyl methacrylate , ethoxylated hydroxyethyl methacrylate , isobornyl methacrylate , lauryl methacrylate , methoxypolyethylene glycol ( 350 ) monomethacrylate , methoxypolyethylene glycol ( 550 ) monomethacrylate , polypropylene glycol monomethacrylate , stearyl methacrylate , tetrahydrofurfuryl methacrylate ; difunctional oligo ( ethers ) and monomeric acrylates and methacrylates , such as 1 , 6 - hexanediol diacrylate , alkoxylated diacrylates , alkoxylated hexanediol diacrylates , diethylene glycol diacrylate , dipropylene glycol diacrylate , ester diol diacrylate , ethoxylated bisphenol a diacrylates , polyethylene glycol ( 200 ) diacrylate , polyethylene glycol ( 400 ) diacrylate , polyethylene glycol ( 600 ) diacrylate , propoxylated neopentyl glycol diacrylate , tetraethylene glycol diacrylate , tricyclodecanedimethanol diacrylate , triethylene glycol diacrylate , tripropylene glycol diacrylate , 1 , 3 - butylene glycol dimethacrylate , 1 , 4 - butanediol dimethacrylate , 1 , 6 - hexandiol dimethacrylate , diethylene glycol dimethacrylate , ethoxylated bisphenol a dimethacrylates , ethylene glycol dimethacrylate , polyethylene glycol ( 200 ) dimethacrylate , polyethylene glycol ( 400 ) dimethacrylate , polyethylene glycol ( 600 ) dimethacrylate , tetraethylene glycol dimethacrylate , triethylene glycol dimethacrylate ; trifunctional and higher polyfunctional oligo ( ethers ) and monomeric acrylates and methacrylates , such as dipentaerythritol pentaacrylate , ditrimethylolpropane tetraacrylate , ethoxylated trimethylolpropane triacrylates , pentaerythritol tetraacrylate , penta - erythritol triacrylate , propoxylated glycerol triacrylates , propoxylated trimethylolpropane triacrylate , trimethylolpropane triacrylate , tris ( 2 - hydroxyethyl ) isocyanurate triacrylate , trimethylol - propane trimethacrylate ; epoxy acrylates , such as bisphenol a epoxy acrylate , epoxidized soybean oil acrylate , epoxy novolac acrylate oligomer , fatty acid - modified bisphenol a epoxy acrylate ; silanes containing sic - bonded vinyl , allyl , acryloxy , methacryloxy groups and also their partial hydrolyzates and cohydrolyzates ; if the crosslinkable compositions of the invention comprise crosslinking agents ( iii ), the amounts involved are from preferably 0 . 05 to 70 parts by weight , particularly preferably 0 . 2 to 30 parts by weight , based in each case on 100 parts by weight of crosslinkable composition . the photopolymerization initiators ( iv ) used if appropriate can comprise any of the initiators known to the skilled worker , or a mixture thereof . examples of initiators ( iv ) used if appropriate are benzyl dimethyl ketal , 2 - hydroxy - 2 - methylphenylpropan - 1 - one , 1 - hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl ketone , isopropylthioxanthone , bisacylphosphine oxide , 1 -[ 4 -( 2 - hydroxyethoxy ) phenyl ]- 2 - hydroxy - 2 - methylpropan - 1 - one , benzoin n - butyl ether , polymeric hydroxyketones , such as oligo ( 2 - hydroxy - 2 - methyl - 1 , 4 -( 1 - methylvinyl ) phenylpropanone ), acenaphthylquinone , α - aminoacetophenone , benzanthraquinone , benzoin methyl ether , benzoin isopropyl ether , benzoin isobutyl ether , benzophenone , benzyl dimethyl acetal , benzyl 1 - methyl - 1 - ethyl acetal , 2 , 2 - diethoxy - 2 - phenylacetophenone , 2 , 2 - diethoxyacetophenone , 2 - dimethoxy - benzoyldiphenylphosphine oxide , 2 , 2 - dimethoxy - 2 - phenyl - acetophenone , 2 - ethylanthraquinone , ethyl 2 , 4 , 6 - trimethylbenzoylphenylphosphinate , hydroxyacetophenone , 2 - hydroxy - 2 - methylpropiophenone , 2 - hydroxy - 2 - methyl - 4 ′- isopropylisopropiophenone , 1 - hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl ketone , 4 ′- morpholinodeoxybenzoin , 4 - morpholinobenzophenone , α - phenylbutyrophenone , 2 , 4 , 6 - trimethylbenzoyldiphenylphosphine oxide , and 4 , 4 ′- bis ( dimethylamino ) benzophenone . a photopolymerization initiator can also be used in conjunction with coinitiators , examples being ethyl - anthraquinone with 4 , 4 ′- bis ( dimethylamino ) benzophenone , benzoin methyl ether with triphenylphosphine , benzyl dimethyl ketal with benzophenone , diacylphosphine oxides with tertiary amines , or acyldiarylphosphine oxides with benzyl dimethyl acetal . if the crosslinkable compositions of the invention comprise photopolymerization initiator ( iv ), the amounts involved are from preferably 0 . 01 to 5 parts by weight , more preferably 0 . 05 to 3 parts by weight , based in each case on 100 parts by weight of crosslinkable composition . examples of fillers are the examples given above in connection with the condensation - crosslinkable compositions . if the compositions of the invention comprise fillers ( v ), preferred amounts involved are from 1 to 200 parts by weight , and with preference from 30 to 100 parts by weight , based in each case on 100 parts by weight of organosilicon compound ( i ). the adhesion promoter ( vi ) used if appropriate can comprise any of the adhesion promoters used hitherto in compositions crosslinkable via radiation . examples of adhesion promoters ( v ) are silanes having sic - bonded vinyl , acryloxy , or methacryloxy groups , and also their partial and co - hydrolyzates , and acrylates , such as 2 -( 2 - ethoxyethoxy ) ethyl acrylate , 2 - phenoxyethyl acrylate , cyclic trimethylolpropane formal acrylate , 1 , 6 - hexanediol diacrylate , pentaerythritol tetraacrylate , tetrahydrofurfuryl methacrylate , methoxypolyethylene glycol ( 550 ) monomethacrylate , and stearyl methacrylate . if the compositions of the invention comprise adhesion promoters ( vi ), preferred amounts involved are from 0 . 01 to 5 parts by weight , with preference from 0 . 5 to 4 parts by weight , based in each case on 100 parts by weight of crosslinkable composition . examples of further substances ( vii ) are plasticizers , such as trimethylsilyl - terminated polydimethylsiloxanes and hydrocarbons having about 16 to 30 carbon atoms , stabilizers , such as 2 - ethylhexyl phosphate , octylphosphonic acid , polyethers , antioxidants , flame retardants , such as phosphoric esters , light stabilizers , and pigments , such as titanium dioxide and iron oxides . the further substances ( vii ) used if appropriate preferably involve plasticizers , such as trimethylsilyl - terminated polydimethylsiloxanes and hydrocarbons having about 16 to 30 carbon atoms , stabilizers , such as 2 - ethylhexyl phosphate , octylphosphonic acid , polyethers , flame retardants , such as phosphoric esters , and pigments , such as titanium dioxide and iron oxides , particular preference being given here to stabilizers and pigments . if constituent ( vii ) is used , the amounts involved are preferably from 0 . 01 to 30 parts by weight , particularly preferably from 0 . 05 to 25 parts by weight , based in each case on 100 parts by weight of crosslinkable composition . the compositions of the invention can comprise polymerization inhibitors ( viii ). to improve handling , it is preferable to admix small amounts of inhibitors ( viii ) with the compositions of the invention , for example in order to inhibit premature crosslinking of a ready - to - use formulation during its storage . examples of inhibitors used if appropriate are any of the familiar inhibitors used hitherto in processes proceeding by way of free radicals , examples being hydroquinone , 4 - methoxyphenol , 2 , 6 - di - tert - butyl - 4 - methylphenol , or phenothiazine . if inhibitors ( viii ) are used , the amounts are preferably from 10 to 10 , 000 ppm , more preferably from 50 to 1 000 ppm , based in each case on parts by weight of the crosslinkable composition . the compositions of the invention in particular comprise no further constituents other than component ( i ), ( ii ), if appropriate ( iii ), ( iv ), ( v ), ( vi ), ( vii ), and ( viii ). the crosslinkable compositions of the invention are produced by methods known to the person skilled in the art , for example by means of extruders , kneaders , roll mills , or dynamic or static mixers . the compositions of the invention can be produced continuously or batchwise . it is preferable to produce them continuously or by a combined continuous / batchwise method . the compositions of the invention can be crosslinked via irradiation with ultraviolet light ( uv light ), laser , or sunlight . the compositions of the invention are preferably crosslinked via uv light . preferred uv light is that having wavelengths in the range from 200 to 400 nm . the uv light can by way of example be produced in xenon lamps , in low - pressure mercury lamps , in medium - pressure mercury lamps , or in high - pressure mercury lamps , or in excimer lamps . other suitable light for photocrosslinking is that whose wavelength is from 400 to 600 nm , i . e . that known as “ halogen light ”. however , suitable energy sources for the crosslinking of the compositions of the invention can also involve x - rays , gamma rays , or electron beams , or can involve simultaneous use of at least two different types of such radiation . in addition to the high - energy radiation , it is possible to introduce heat , and this includes introduction of heat by means of infrared light . however , this introduction of heat is certainly not a requirement and is preferably omitted , in order to reduce energy cost . the irradiation wavelengths and irradiation times should be matched to the photopolymerization initiators used and to the compounds to be polymerized . the compositions of the invention are preferably crosslinked at room temperature . the crosslinking can , if desired , also be carried out at temperatures higher or lower than room temperature , for example at from − 50 to 15 ° c . or at from 30 to 150 ° c . the crosslinking is preferably carried out at a pressure of from 100 to 1100 hpa , in particular at the pressure of the ambient atmosphere , i . e . about 900 to 1100 hpa . the compositions of the invention can be used wherever compositions that can be crosslinked via radiation have been used hitherto . the advantages of the compositions of the invention are the same as those mentioned above in connection with the crosslinkable compositions of type ( i ) to ( iii ). in the examples below , all data given in parts and percentages is based on weight unless otherwise stated . unless otherwise stated , the examples below are carried out at the pressure of the ambient atmosphere , i . e . at about 1000 hpa , and at room temperature , i . e . about 20 ° c ., or at the temperature established on combination of the reactants at room temperature , without additional heating or cooling . all of the viscosity data given in the examples are intended to relate to a temperature of 25 ° c . an extruder serves as manufacturing equipment for all of the examples , with a rotating knife placed on the die if the intention is to produce pellets . for improved sheet integrity , the mixture is used without pelletization . the following materials are admixed , in a kneader operated at 150 ° c ., with 100 parts of a diorganopolysiloxane end - capped by trimethylsiloxy groups and composed of 99 . 93 mol % of dimethylsiloxane units and of 0 . 07 mol % of vinylmethylsiloxane units , with viscosity 8 · 10 6 mpa · s : firstly 50 parts of fumed silicon dioxide which is generated pyrogenically in the gas phase and whose specific surface area is 200 m 2 / g , and then 1 part of dimethylpolysiloxane whose viscosity is 96 mpa · s end - capped by trimethylsiloxy groups , and then 7 parts of a dimethylpolysiloxane whose viscosity is 40 mpa · s having an si - bonded hydroxy group in each of the terminal units , and then again 1 part of dimethylpolysiloxane whose viscosity is 96 mpa · s end - capped by trimethylsiloxy groups , and 1 % by weight of an aluminum oxide powder whose specific surface area is at least about 100 m 2 / g and whose average primary particle size is 13 nm ( commercially available as aeroxide ® alu c from degussa ag , germany ). this mixture can then be pelletized or used in the form of a mixture with good sheet integrity . the mixture has high sheet integrity . this is characterized in that two strips of thickness 1 cm and width 5 cm can be left in contact with one another for a number of days (= sheet integrity system ) without blocking . if the aluminum oxide is omitted , blocking occurs . when the strips are subjected to tension , substantially higher ultimate tensile strength is found in the mixture comprising aluminum oxide . the following materials are admixed , in a kneader operated at 150 ° c ., with 100 parts of a diorganopolysiloxane end - capped by trimethylsiloxy groups and composed of 99 . 93 mol % of dimethylsiloxane units and of 0 . 07 mol % of vinylmethylsiloxane units , with viscosity 8 · 10 6 mpa · s : firstly 50 parts of fumed silicon dioxide which is generated pyrogenically in the gas phase and whose specific surface area is 200 m 2 / g , and then 1 part of dimethylpolysiloxane whose viscosity is 96 mpa · s end - capped by trimethylsiloxy groups , and then 7 parts of a dimethylpolysiloxane whose viscosity is 40 mpa · s having an si - bonded hydroxy group in each of the terminal units , and then again 1 part of dimethylpolysiloxane whose viscosity is 96 mpa · s end - capped by trimethylsiloxy groups , and 1 % by weight of an aluminum oxide powder whose specific surface area is at least about 100 m 2 / g and whose average primary particle size is 13 nm ( commercially available as aeroxide ® alu c from degussa ag , germany ). this mixture is now mixed on a roll mill with 1 . 5 % of 2 , 4 - dichlorodibenzoyl peroxide ( 50 % strength paste in silicone oil ). the mixture has high sheet integrity . this is characterized in that two strips of thickness 1 cm and width 5 cm can be left in contact with one another for a number of days (= sheet integrity system ) without blocking . if the aluminum oxide is omitted , blocking occurs . when the strips are subjected to tension , substantially higher ultimate tensile strength is found in the mixture comprising aluminum oxide . the following materials are admixed , in a kneader operated at 150 ° c ., with 100 parts of a diorganopolysiloxane end - capped by trimethylsiloxy groups and composed of 99 . 93 mol % of dimethylsiloxane units and of 0 . 07 mol % of vinylmethylsiloxane units , with viscosity 8 · 10 6 mpa · s : firstly 50 parts of fumed silicon dioxide which is generated pyrogenically in the gas phase and whose specific surface area is 200 m 2 / g , and then 1 part of dimethylpolysiloxane whose viscosity is 96 mpa · s end - capped by trimethylsiloxy groups , and then 7 parts of a dimethylpolysiloxane whose viscosity is 40 mpa · s having an si - bonded hydroxy group in each of the terminal units , and then again 1 part of dimethylpolysiloxane whose viscosity is 96 mpa · s end - capped by trimethylsiloxy groups , and 1 % by weight of an aluminum oxide powder whose specific surface area is at least about 100 m 2 / g and whose average primary particle size is 13 nm ( commercially available as aeroxide ® alu c from degussa ag , germany ). this mixture is now mixed on a roll mill with 0 . 7 % of dicumyl peroxide ( 98 %). the roll mill is heated to 40 ° c . for the homogenization process . after cooling , the mixture has high sheet integrity . this is characterized in that two strips of thickness 1 cm and width 5 cm can be left in contact with one another for a number of days (= sheet integrity system ) without blocking . if the aluminum oxide is omitted , blocking occurs . when the strips are subjected to tension , substantially higher ultimate tensile strength is found in the mixture comprising aluminum oxide . the following materials are admixed , in a kneader operated at 150 ° c ., with 100 parts of a diorganopolysiloxane end - capped by trimethylsiloxy groups and composed of 99 . 93 mol % of dimethylsiloxane units and of 0 . 07 mol % of vinylmethylsiloxane units , with viscosity 8 · 10 6 mpa · s : firstly 50 parts of fumed silicon dioxide which is generated pyrogenically in the gas phase and whose specific surface area is 200 m 2 / g , and then 1 part of dimethylpolysiloxane whose viscosity is 96 mpa · s end - capped by trimethylsiloxy groups , and then 7 parts of a dimethylpolysiloxane whose viscosity is 40 mpa · s having an si - bonded hydroxy group in each of the terminal units , and then again 1 part of dimethylpolysiloxane whose viscosity is 96 mpa · s end - capped by trimethylsiloxy groups , and 1 % by weight of an aluminum oxide powder whose specific surface area is at least about 100 m 2 / g and whose average primary particle size is 13 nm ( commercially available as aeroxide ® alu c from degussa ag , germany ). this mixture is then mixed on a roll mill with 1 . 2 % of 2 , 5 - bis ( tert - butylperoxy )- 2 , 5 - dimethylhexane in the form of 50 % strength paste in silicone rubber ( obtainable commercially as “ varox ”). the mixture has high sheet integrity . this is characterized in that two strips of thickness 1 cm and width 5 cm can be left in contact with one another for a number of days (= sheet integrity system ) without blocking . if the aluminum oxide is omitted , blocking occurs . when the strips are subjected to tension , substantially higher ultimate tensile strength is found in the mixture comprising aluminum oxide . the following materials are admixed , in a kneader operated at 150 ° c ., with 100 parts of a diorganopolysiloxane end - capped by trimethylsiloxy groups and composed of 99 . 93 mol % of dimethylsiloxane units and of 0 . 07 mol % of vinylmethylsiloxane units , with viscosity 8 · 10 6 mpa · s : firstly 50 parts of fumed silicon dioxide which is generated pyrogenically in the gas phase and whose specific surface area is 200 m 2 / g , and then 1 part of dimethylpolysiloxane whose viscosity is 96 mpa · s end - capped by trimethylsiloxy groups , and then 7 parts of a dimethylpolysiloxane whose viscosity is 40 mpa · s having an si - bonded hydroxy group in each of the terminal units , and then again 1 part of dimethylpolysiloxane whose viscosity is 96 mpa · s end - capped by trimethylsiloxy groups , and 1 % by weight of an aluminum oxide powder whose specific surface area is at least about 100 m 2 / g and whose average primary particle size is 13 nm ( commercially available as aeroxide ® alu c from degussa ag , germany ). this mixture is then mixed in an internal mixer with 0 . 7 % of dicumyl peroxide ( 98 %). the roll mill is heated to 40 ° c . for the homogenization process . the mixture has high sheet integrity . this is characterized in that two strips of thickness 1 cm and width 5 cm can be left in contact with one another for a number of days (= sheet integrity system ) without blocking . if the aluminum oxide is omitted , blocking occurs . when the strips are subjected to tension , substantially higher ultimate tensile strength is found in the mixture comprising aluminum oxide . the following materials are admixed , in a kneader operated at 150 ° c ., with 100 parts of a diorganopolysiloxane end - capped by trimethylsiloxy groups and composed of 99 . 93 mol % of dimethylsiloxane units and of 0 . 07 mol % of vinylmethylsiloxane units , with viscosity 8 · 10 6 mpa · s : firstly 50 parts of fumed silicon dioxide which is generated pyrogenically in the gas phase and whose specific surface area is 200 m 2 / g , and then 1 part of dimethylpolysiloxane whose viscosity is 96 mpa · s end - capped by trimethylsiloxy groups , and then 7 parts of a dimethylpolysiloxane whose viscosity is 40 mpa · s having an si - bonded hydroxy group in each of the terminal units , and then again 1 part of dimethylpolysiloxane whose viscosity is 96 mpa · s end - capped by trimethylsiloxy groups , and 1 % by weight of an aluminum oxide powder whose specific surface area is at least about 100 m 2 / g and whose average primary particle size is 13 nm ( commercially available as aeroxide ® alu c from degussa ag , germany ). this mixture is then mixed in an internal mixer with 1 . 2 % of 2 , 5 - bis ( tert - butylperoxy )- 2 , 5 - dimethylhexane in the form of 50 % strength paste in silicone rubber ( obtainable commercially as “ varox ”). the mixture has high sheet integrity . this is characterized in that two strips of thickness 1 cm and width 5 cm can be left in contact with one another for a number of days (= sheet integrity system ) without blocking . if the aluminum oxide is omitted , blocking occurs . when the strips are subjected to tension , substantially higher ultimate tensile strength is found in the mixture comprising aluminum oxide . the following materials are admixed , in a kneader operated at 150 ° c ., with 100 parts of a diorganopolysiloxane end - capped by trimethylsiloxy groups and composed of 99 . 93 mol % of dimethylsiloxane units and of 0 . 07 mol % of vinylmethylsiloxane units , with viscosity 8 · 10 6 mpa · s : firstly 50 parts of fumed silicon dioxide which is generated pyrogenically in the gas phase and whose specific surface area is 200 m 2 / g , and then 1 part of dimethylpolysiloxane whose viscosity is 96 mpa · s end - capped by trimethylsiloxy groups , and then 7 parts of a dimethylpolysiloxane whose viscosity is 40 mpa · s having an si - bonded hydroxy group in each of the terminal units , and then again 1 part of dimethylpolysiloxane whose viscosity is 96 mpa · s end - capped by trimethylsiloxy groups , and 1 % by weight of an aluminum oxide powder whose specific surface area is at least about 100 m 2 / g and whose average primary particle size is 13 nm ( commercially available as aeroxide ® alu c from degussa ag , germany ). one half of the mixture is then mixed on a roll mill with 0 . 9 % of 1 , 3 - divinyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetramethyldisiloxaneplatinum complex ( 1 % strength in silicone polymer ) ( component a ). the other half of the mixture is then mixed on a roll mill with 2 % of si — h crosslinking agent ( preparation and 1 % of inhibitor ( ethynylcyclohexanol preparation in silicone rubber )) ( component b ). the mixture has high sheet integrity . this is characterized in that two strips of thickness 1 cm and width 5 cm can be left in contact with one another for a number of days (= sheet integrity system ) without blocking . if the aluminum oxide is omitted , blocking occurs . when the strips are subjected to tension , substantially higher ultimate tensile strength is found in the mixture comprising aluminum oxide . these mixtures from inventive examples 1 - 6 can be mixed individually or together . in all cases , pellets can be produced by extrusion through a pelletizing die using a rotating knife . pellets composed of component a and component b of the last example can be premixed in a mixing drum and then processed as for a single - component system . as an alternative , they can be introduced separately into a processing machine , which brings about the mixing . the peroxidically crosslinked pellets can have been colored in advance , or can , shortly prior to processing , be processed using a pigment master batch produced as in inventive example 1 . ready - to - process mixtures using a peroxidic or addition crosslinking system can be pelletized without difficulty in the form of single - or multicomponent systems . the procedure described in inventive examples 1 - 7 is repeated with the modification that no aluminum oxide powder is added . the crosslinkable compositions obtained cannot be pelletized , but merely adhere to the pelletizing die and knife . the mixtures are tacky and have no sheet integrity .
| 2 |
deuterium ( d or 2 h ) is a stable , non - radioactive isotope of hydrogen and has an atomic weight of 2 . 0144 . hydrogen naturally occurs as a mixture of the isotopes 1 h ( hydrogen or protium ), d ( 2 h or deuterium ), and t ( 3 h or tritium ). the natural abundance of deuterium is 0 . 015 %. one of ordinary skill in the art recognizes that in all chemical compounds with a h atom , the h atom actually represents a mixture of h and d , with about 0 . 015 % being d . thus , compounds with a level of deuterium that has been enriched to be greater than its natural abundance of 0 . 015 %, should be considered unnatural and , as a result , novel over their non - enriched counterparts . all percentages given for the amount of deuterium present are mole percentages . it can be quite difficult in the laboratory to achieve 100 % deuteration at any one site of a lab scale amount of compound ( e . g ., milligram or greater ). when 100 % deuteration is recited or a deuterium atom is specifically shown in a structure , it is assumed that a small percentage of hydrogen may still be present . deuterium - enriched can be achieved by either exchanging protons with deuterium or by synthesizing the molecule with enriched starting materials . the present invention provides deuterium - enriched posaconazole or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof . there are forty - two hydrogen atoms in the posaconazole portion of posaconazole as show by variables r 1 - r 42 in formula i below . the hydrogens present on posaconazole have different capacities for exchange with deuterium . hydrogen atom r 1 is easily exchangeable under physiological conditions and , if replaced by a deuterium atom , it is expected that it will readily exchange for a proton after administration to a patient . the remaining hydrogen atoms are not easily exchangeable for deuterium atoms . however , deuterium atoms at the remaining positions may be incorporated by the use of deuterated starting materials or intermediates during the construction of posaconazole . the present invention is based on increasing the amount of deuterium present in posaconazole above its natural abundance . this increasing is called enrichment or deuterium - enrichment . if not specifically noted , the percentage of enrichment refers to the percentage of deuterium present in the compound , mixture of compounds , or composition . examples of the amount of enrichment include from about 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 12 , 16 , 21 , 25 , 29 , 33 , 37 , 42 , 46 , 50 , 54 , 58 , 63 , 67 , 71 , 75 , 79 , 84 , 88 , 92 , 96 , to about 100 mol %. since there are 42 hydrogens in posaconazole , replacement of a single hydrogen atom with deuterium would result in a molecule with about 2 % deuterium enrichment . in order to achieve enrichment less than about 2 %, but above the natural abundance , only partial deuteration of one site is required . thus , less than about 2 % enrichment would still refer to deuterium - enriched posaconazole . with the natural abundance of deuterium being 0 . 015 %, one would expect that for approximately every 6 , 667 molecules of posaconazole ( 1 / 0 . 00015 = 6 , 667 ), there is one naturally occurring molecule with one deuterium present . since posaconazole has 42 positions , one would roughly expect that for approximately every 280 , 014 molecules of posaconazole ( 42 × 6 , 667 ), all 42 different , naturally occurring , mono - deuterated posaconazoles would be present . this approximation is a rough estimate as it doesn &# 39 ; t take into account the different exchange rates of the hydrogen atoms on posaconazole . for naturally occurring molecules with more than one deuterium , the numbers become vastly larger . in view of this natural abundance , the present invention , in an embodiment , relates to an amount of an deuterium enriched compound , whereby the enrichment recited will be more than naturally occurring deuterated molecules . in view of the natural abundance of deuterium - enriched posaconazole , the present invention also relates to isolated or purified deuterium - enriched posaconazole . the isolated or purified deuterium - enriched posaconazole is a group of molecules whose deuterium levels are above the naturally occurring levels ( e . g ., 2 %). the isolated or purified deuterium - enriched posaconazole can be obtained by techniques known to those of skill in the art ( e . g ., see the syntheses described below ). the present invention also relates to compositions comprising deuterium - enriched posaconazole . the compositions require the presence of deuterium - enriched posaconazole which is greater than its natural abundance . for example , the compositions of the present invention can comprise ( a ) a μg of a deuterium - enriched posaconazole ; ( b ) a mg of a deuterium - enriched posaconazole ; and , ( c ) a gram of a deuterium - enriched posaconazole . in an embodiment , the present invention provides an amount of a novel deuterium - enriched posaconazole . examples of amounts include , but are not limited to ( a ) at least 0 . 01 , 0 . 02 , 0 . 03 , 0 . 04 , 0 . 05 , 0 . 1 , 0 . 2 , 0 . 3 , 0 . 4 , 0 . 5 , to 1 mole , ( b ) at least 0 . 1 moles , and ( c ) at least 1 mole of the compound . the present amounts also cover lab - scale ( e . g ., gram scale ), kilo - lab scale ( e . g ., kilogram scale ), and industrial or commercial scale ( e . g ., multi - kilogram or above scale ) quantities as these will be more useful in the actual manufacture of a pharmaceutical . industrial / commercial scale refers to the amount of product that would be produced in a batch that was designed for clinical testing , formulation , sale / distribution to the public , etc . in another embodiment , the present invention provides a novel , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof . wherein r 1 - r 42 are independently selected from h and d ; and the abundance of deuterium in r 1 - r 42 is at least 2 %. the abundance can also be ( a ) at least 5 %, ( b ) at least 10 %, ( c ) at least 14 %, ( d ) at least 19 %, ( e ) at least 24 %, ( f ) at least 29 %, ( g ) at least 33 %, ( h ) at least 38 %, ( i ) at least 43 %, ( j ) at least 48 %, ( k ) at least 52 %, ( l ) at least 57 %, ( m ) at least 62 %, ( n ) at least 67 %, ( o ) at least 71 %, ( p ) at least 76 %, ( q ) at least 81 %, ( r ) at least 86 %, ( s ) at least 90 %, ( t ) at least 93 %, ( u ) at least 98 %, and ( v ) 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides a novel , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 1 is at least 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides a novel , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 2 - r 11 is at least 10 %. the abundance can also be ( a ) at least 20 %, ( b ) at least 30 %, ( c ) at least 40 %, ( d ) at least 50 %, ( e ) at least 60 %, ( f ) at least 70 %, ( g ) at least 80 %, ( h ) at least 90 %, and ( i ) 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides a novel , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 12 is at least 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides a novel , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 13 - r 16 is at least 25 %. the abundance can also be ( a ) at least 50 %, ( b ) at least 75 %, and ( c ) 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides a novel , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 17 - r 24 is at least 13 %. the abundance can also be ( a ) at least 25 %, ( b ) at least 38 %, ( c ) at least 50 %, ( d ) at least 63 %, ( e ) at least 75 %, ( f ) at least 88 %, and ( g ) 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides a novel , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 25 - r 28 is at least 25 %. the abundance can also be ( a ) at least 50 %, ( b ) at least 75 %, and ( c ) 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides a novel , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 29 - r 35 is at least 14 %. the abundance can also be ( a ) at least 29 %, ( b ) at least 43 %, ( c ) at least 57 %, ( d ) at least 71 %, ( e ) at least 86 %, and ( f ) 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides a novel , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 36 - r 37 is at least 50 %. the abundance can also be ( a ) 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides a novel , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 38 - r 40 is at least 33 %. the abundance can also be ( a ) at least 67 %, and ( b ) 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides an isolated novel , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof . wherein r 1 - r 42 are independently selected from h and d ; and the abundance of deuterium in r 1 - r 42 is at least 2 %. the abundance can also be ( a ) at least 5 %, ( b ) at least 10 %, ( c ) at least 14 %, ( d ) at least 19 %, ( e ) at least 24 %, ( f ) at least 29 %, ( g ) at least 33 %, ( h ) at least 38 %, ( i ) at least 43 %, ( j ) at least 48 %, ( k ) at least 52 %, ( l ) at least 57 %, ( m ) at least 62 %, ( n ) at least 67 %, ( o ) at least 71 %, ( p ) at least 76 %, ( q ) at least 81 %, ( r ) at least 86 %, ( s ) at least 90 %, ( t ) at least 93 %, ( u ) at least 98 %, and ( v ) 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides an isolated novel , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 1 is at least 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides an isolated novel , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 2 - r 11 is at least 10 %. the abundance can also be ( a ) at least 20 %, ( b ) at least 30 %, ( c ) at least 40 %, ( d ) at least 50 %, ( e ) at least 60 %, ( f ) at least 70 %, ( g ) at least 80 %, ( h ) at least 90 %, and ( i ) 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides an isolated novel , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 12 is at least 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides an isolated novel , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 13 - r 16 is at least 25 %. the abundance can also be ( a ) at least 50 %, ( b ) at least 75 %, and ( c ) 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides an isolated novel , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 17 - r 24 is at least 13 %. the abundance can also be ( a ) at least 25 %, ( b ) at least 38 %, ( c ) at least 50 %, ( d ) at least 63 %, ( e ) at least 75 %, ( f ) at least 88 %, and ( g ) 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides an isolated novel , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 25 - r 28 is at least 25 %. the abundance can also be ( a ) at least 50 %, ( b ) at least 75 %, and ( c ) 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides an isolated novel , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 29 - r 35 is at least 14 %. the abundance can also be ( a ) at least 29 %, ( b ) at least 43 %, ( c ) at least 57 %, ( d ) at least 71 %, ( e ) at least 86 %, and ( f ) 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides an isolated novel , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 36 - r 37 is at least 50 %. the abundance can also be ( a ) 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides an isolated novel , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 38 - r 40 is at least 33 %. the abundance can also be ( a ) at least 67 %, and ( b ) 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides novel mixture of deuterium enriched compounds of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof . wherein r 1 - r 42 are independently selected from h and d ; and the abundance of deuterium in r 1 - r 42 is at least 2 %. the abundance can also be ( a ) at least 5 %, ( b ) at least 10 %, ( c ) at least 14 %, ( d ) at least 19 %, ( e ) at least 24 %, ( f ) at least 29 %, ( g ) at least 33 %, ( h ) at least 38 %, ( i ) at least 43 %, ( j ) at least 48 %, ( k ) at least 52 %, ( l ) at least 57 %, ( m ) at least 62 %, ( n ) at least 67 %, ( o ) at least 71 %, ( p ) at least 76 %, ( q ) at least 81 %, ( r ) at least 86 %, ( s ) at least 90 %, ( t ) at least 93 %, ( u ) at least 98 %, and ( v ) 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides a novel mixture of , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 1 is at least 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides a novel mixture of , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 2 - r 11 is at least 10 %. the abundance can also be ( a ) at least 20 %, ( b ) at least 30 %, ( c ) at least 40 %, ( d ) at least 50 %, ( e ) at least 60 %, ( f ) at least 70 %, ( g ) at least 80 %, ( h ) at least 90 %, and ( i ) 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides a novel mixture of , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 12 is at least 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides a novel mixture of , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 13 - r 16 is at least 25 %. the abundance can also be ( a ) at least 50 %, ( b ) at least 75 %, and ( c ) 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides a novel mixture of , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 17 - r 24 is at least 13 %. the abundance can also be ( a ) at least 25 %, ( b ) at least 38 %, ( c ) at least 50 %, ( d ) at least 63 %, ( e ) at least 75 %, ( f ) at least 88 %, and ( g ) 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides a novel mixture of , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 25 - r 28 is at least 25 %. the abundance can also be ( a ) at least 50 %, ( b ) at least 75 %, and ( c ) 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides a novel mixture of , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 29 - r 35 is at least 14 %. the abundance can also be ( a ) at least 29 %, ( b ) at least 43 %, ( c ) at least 57 %, ( d ) at least 71 %, ( e ) at least 86 %, and ( f ) 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides a novel mixture of , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 36 - r 37 is at least 50 %. the abundance can also be ( a ) 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides a novel mixture of , deuterium enriched compound of formula i or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof , wherein the abundance of deuterium in r 38 - r 40 is at least 33 %. the abundance can also be ( a ) at least 67 %, and ( b ) 100 %. in another embodiment , the present invention provides novel pharmaceutical compositions , comprising : a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and a therapeutically effective amount of a deuterium - enriched compound of the present invention . in another embodiment , the present invention provides a novel method for treating a disease selected from invasive infections by candida species , fusarium species , and / or aspergillus comprising : administering to a patient in need thereof a therapeutically effective amount of a deuterium - enriched compound of the present invention . in another embodiment , the present invention provides an amount of a deuterium - enriched compound of the present invention as described above for use in therapy . in another embodiment , the present invention provides the use of an amount of a deuterium - enriched compound of the present invention for the manufacture of a medicament ( e . g ., for the treatment of invasive infections by candida species , fusarium species , and / or aspergillus ). the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof . this invention encompasses all combinations of preferred aspects of the invention noted herein . it is understood that any and all embodiments of the present invention may be taken in conjunction with any other embodiment or embodiments to describe additional more preferred embodiments . it is also to be understood that each individual element of the preferred embodiments is intended to be taken individually as its own independent preferred embodiment . furthermore , any element of an embodiment is meant to be combined with any and all other elements from any embodiment to describe an additional embodiment . the examples provided in the definitions present in this application are non - inclusive unless otherwise stated . they include but are not limited to the recited examples . the compounds of the present invention may have asymmetric centers . compounds of the present invention containing an asymmetrically substituted atom may be isolated in optically active or racemic forms . it is well known in the art how to prepare optically active forms , such as by resolution of racemic forms or by synthesis from optically active starting materials . all processes used to prepare compounds of the present invention and intermediates made therein are considered to be part of the present invention . all tautomers of shown or described compounds are also considered to be part of the present invention . “ host ” preferably refers to a human . it also includes other mammals including the equine , porcine , bovine , feline , and canine families . “ treating ” or “ treatment ” covers the treatment of a disease - state in a mammal , and includes : ( a ) preventing the disease - state from occurring in a mammal , in particular , when such mammal is predisposed to the disease - state but has not yet been diagnosed as having it ; ( b ) inhibiting the disease - state , e . g ., arresting it development ; and / or ( c ) relieving the disease - state , e . g ., causing regression of the disease state until a desired endpoint is reached . treating also includes the amelioration of a symptom of a disease ( e . g ., lessen the pain or discomfort ), wherein such amelioration may or may not be directly affecting the disease ( e . g ., cause , transmission , expression , etc .). “ therapeutically effective amount ” includes an amount of a compound of the present invention that is effective when administered alone or in combination to treat the desired condition or disorder . “ therapeutically effective amount ” includes an amount of the combination of compounds claimed that is effective to treat the desired condition or disorder . the combination of compounds is preferably a synergistic combination . synergy , as described , for example , by chou and talalay , adv . enzyme regul . 1984 , 22 : 27 - 55 , occurs when the effect of the compounds when administered in combination is greater than the additive effect of the compounds when administered alone as a single agent . in general , a synergistic effect is most clearly demonstrated at sub - optimal concentrations of the compounds . synergy can be in terms of lower cytotoxicity , increased antiviral effect , or some other beneficial effect of the combination compared with the individual components . “ pharmaceutically acceptable salts ” refer to derivatives of the disclosed compounds wherein the parent compound is modified by making acid or base salts thereof . examples of pharmaceutically acceptable salts include , but are not limited to , mineral or organic acid salts of the basic residues . the pharmaceutically acceptable salts include the conventional quaternary ammonium salts of the parent compound formed , for example , from non - toxic inorganic or organic acids . for example , such conventional non - toxic salts include , but are not limited to , those derived from inorganic and organic acids selected from 1 , 2 - ethanedisulfonic , 2 - acetoxybenzoic , 2 - hydroxyethanesulfonic , acetic , ascorbic , benzenesulfonic , benzoic , bicarbonic , carbonic , citric , edetic , ethane disulfonic , ethane sulfonic , fumaric , glucoheptonic , gluconic , glutamic , glycolic , glycollyarsanilic , hexylresorcinic , hydrabamic , hydrobromic , hydrochloric , hydroiodide , hydroxymaleic , hydroxynaphthoic , isethionic , lactic , lactobionic , lauryl sulfonic , maleic , malic , mandelic , methanesulfonic , napsylic , nitric , oxalic , pamoic , pantothenic , phenylacetic , phosphoric , polygalacturonic , propionic , salicyclic , stearic , subacetic , succinic , sulfamic , sulfanilic , sulfuric , tannic , tartaric , and toluenesulfonic . table 1 provides compounds that are representative examples of the present invention . when one of r 1 - r 42 is present , it is selected from h or d . table 2 provides compounds that are representative examples of the present invention . where h is shown , it represents naturally abundant hydrogen . 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 that as specifically described herein .
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embodiments of the inventions can be constructed from off - the - shelf components . in all of the embodiments disclosed below , different materials could be used for the sound speaker , including but not exclusively : various plastics , resins , papers , fabrics , plant fibers , ceramics , and metals . in the embodiments disclosed below , additional different materials could be used for the sound speaker , such as rayon , nylon , polyester , silk , cotton , wool , and other fabrics . the metal pieces would typically be made from a metal or some metal alloy , but could alternatively be made from other resilient materials , such as plastics , and other equivalent manmade materials . one embodiment of the invention can be also be used in addition to any personal electronics , including a mp3 player , an ipod shuffle , a radio receiver , an optical disc player , a magnetic disc player , a cellphone , or an equivalent device . one embodiment of the invention provides a sound speaker . a sound speaker is used to excite the surface it rests upon , instead of the air around it . the figures below will illustrate this surface sound technology by showing how the exciter creates sound waves from basic surfaces . embodiments of this speaker can be packaged into small portable devices that are compatible with any smartphone or tablet with an audio port . one embodiment of the invention holds its own lithium battery supply for more portability and incorporates a simple on / off interface with corresponding led &# 39 ; s for display of power / charge status . various embodiments of the invention can utilize an exciter that is commercially available from the following manufacturer — hiwave , with corporate headquarters in cambridge , uk , and the following us supplier — parts express , with corporate headquarters in springboro , ohio . in various embodiments of any type of a sound speaker shown below , a display can be implemented by liquid crystal display ( lcd ), organic light emitting diode ( oled ), light emitting diode ( led ), or an equivalent display technology . in various embodiments , the display can display one or more of the following : battery charge level , estimated remaining battery life , sound intensity , clock time , and / or equivalent parameters . fig1 illustrates a sound speaker , in accordance with one embodiment of the invention . fig1 shows a led diffuser 101 , a button 102 used to activate entire unit , a top enclosure 200 , a lip overhang 204 , a bottom enclosure 300 , and a circular cut - out 301 . fig2 illustrates a top view of a top enclosure of a sound speaker , in accordance with one embodiment of the invention . fig2 shows a top hole 201 where a button ( shown in fig1 ) and led diffuser ( shown in fig1 ) will be protruding , a cutout 203 where an audio jack ( not shown ) will protrude , and a lip overhang 204 . fig2 has various advantages . using a three - legged shape , the enclosure is able to house three separate batteries ( shown in fig1 as 702 ) instead of one large battery . in this way , the enclosure has a lower profile and incorporates more milli - ampere hours than similar portable resonator speakers . the symmetry of the enclosure also adds to the look and feel of the device while also providing a balanced weight that will sit on the exciter in order to minimize movement of the speaker on a surface due to excessive vibration . fig3 illustrates bottom view of a top enclosure of a sound speaker , in accordance with one embodiment of the invention . fig3 shows a top hole 201 , a cutout 203 , posts 205 where fasteners will attach , posts 206 where small fasteners will attach , protruding sections 207 to prevent an led diffuser ( not shown ) from rotating . fig4 illustrates a bottom view of a bottom enclosure of a sound speaker , in accordance with one embodiment of the invention . fig4 shows a bottom enclosure 300 , circular cut - outs 301 , a hole 302 cut out where an exciter ( not shown ) will protrude , a cutout 303 to allow an audio jack ( not shown ) to be exposed , and bottom feet 304 . fig5 illustrates a top view of a bottom enclosure of a sound speaker , in accordance with one embodiment of the invention . fig5 shows a hole 302 cut out where an exciter ( not shown ) will protrude , a cutout 303 to allow an audio jack ( not shown ) to be exposed , posts 305 to secure the position of an enclosure ( not shown ) for the exciter ( not shown ), binding posts 306 with holes for attachment to fasteners ( not shown ), a lip 307 to keep an exciter ( not shown ) at an optimum height , an increased volume 308 for holding weights ( not shown ) for optimum weighting for sound amplitude and clarity , and a circular slot 309 for a screen ring ( not shown ) to be inserted into the bottom surface . fig6 illustrates a top view of an exciter enclosure of a sound speaker , in accordance with one embodiment of the invention . fig6 shows an exciter enclosure 400 , holes 401 for fasteners ( not shown ), a hole 402 for an exciter ( not shown ), and an arch 403 . fig7 illustrates a bottom view of an exciter enclosure of a sound speaker , in accordance with one embodiment of the invention . fig7 shows an exciter enclosure 400 , holes 401 for fasteners ( not shown ), a hole 402 for an exciter ( not shown ), and a ring 404 . fig8 illustrates a top view of a box and sound speaker , in accordance with one embodiment of the invention . fig8 shows an entire speaker component 600 and a box 800 used a speaker for an exciter ( not shown ). fig9 illustrates a bottom view of a box and sound speaker , in accordance with one embodiment of the invention . fig9 shows an entire speaker component 600 , an exciter 704 , and a box 800 used a speaker for the exciter 704 . fig1 illustrates a top view of a top enclosure of a sound speaker , in accordance with one embodiment of the invention . fig1 shows a led diffuser 101 , a button 102 used to activate entire unit , and a top enclosure 200 . fig1 illustrates a side view of a sound speaker , in accordance with one embodiment of the invention . fig1 shows a top enclosure 200 , a bottom enclosure 300 and an exciter 704 . fig1 illustrates a sectional view of a sound speaker , in accordance with one embodiment of the invention . fig1 shows a led diffuser 101 , a button 102 used to activate entire unit , an exciter enclosure 400 , an electronics substrate 701 , batteries 702 , an exciter 704 , an optional screen ring 705 , and an optional screen 706 used to keep dirt out of the component . fig1 illustrates an exploded view of a sound speaker , in accordance with one embodiment of the invention . fig1 shows ( starting from the top ) a top enclosure 200 , a led diffuser 101 , a button 102 used to activate entire unit , an electronics substrate 701 , small fasteners 703 to attach the electronics substrate 701 to the top enclosure 200 , batteries 702 , an exciter enclosure 400 , and exciter 704 , a screen ring 705 , a screen 706 held by the screen ring 705 , and a bottom enclosure 300 with a cut - out 303 for an audio jack ( not shown ), and large fasteners 707 to attach the bottom enclosure 300 to the top enclosure 200 . one embodiment of the invention would incorporate the components of fig1 through fig1 . the components are tabulated below . 600 — entire speaker component . 101 — led diffuser used to allow leds on printed circuit board 701 to emit light through and give off a glowing ring on top surface 200 . 102 — button used to activate entire unit . 200 — top enclosure where button 102 , led diffuser 101 , printed circuit board 701 are secured to by fasteners 703 . 201 — top hole where button 102 and led diffuser 101 will be protruding through . 203 — cutout where audio jack on printed circuit board 701 will be protruding through . 204 — lip overhang to resemble the front end of a car . 205 — posts where large fasteners 707 will be attached . 206 — posts where small fasteners 703 will be attached . 207 — protruding sections to prevent led diffuser 101 from rotating . 300 — bottom enclosure used to hold screen screen 706 , screen ring 705 , exciter 704 , exciter enclosure 400 , and batteries 702 . 301 — circular cut - outs to fit fasteners 707 and secure bottom enclosure 300 to top enclosure 200 . 302 — hole cut out where an exciter 704 will protrude . 303 — cutout on bottom enclosure 300 to allow an audio jack on an electronics substrate 701 to be exposed . 304 — bottom feet on bottom enclosure 300 to allow for a slight elevation . 305 — posts used to secure the position of an exciter enclosure 400 . 306 — binding posts and holes used to allow fasteners 707 to attach an electronics substrate 701 and attach a bottom enclosure 300 to a top enclosure 200 . 307 — lip used to keep exciter 704 at an optimum height for sound clarity . 308 — increased volume in bottom surface 300 to attain an optimum weight for sound amplitude and clarity . 309 — circular slot for screen ring 705 to be inserted into bottom surface 300 400 — exciter enclosure used to house an exciter 704 and attach a bottom enclosure 300 . 401 — holes in the exciter enclosure . 402 — hole in the exciter enclosure . 403 — arch in the exciter enclosure . 404 — ring in the exciter enclosure . 701 — printed circuit board 702 — batteries 703 — small fasteners used to secure printed circuit board 701 on to posts 206 on top surface 200 . 704 — exciter used to resonate surface it comes into contact with . 705 — screen ring used to hold screen 706 . 706 — screen used keep dirt out of component . 707 — large fasteners used to secure bottom enclosure 300 onto posts 205 on top enclosure 200 . 800 — box or surface used as speaker to exciter . in one embodiment , the sound signal is carried by one wire , and the electrical ground is carried by two wires . in another embodiment , simply two wires ( one wire for the sound signal and one wire for ground ) are used . in alternative embodiments more signal wires can be used . in one embodiment , there is a controller module that has an on - off switch and a charger port for charging a plurality of internal batteries . one embodiment of the invention receives a sound from any device ( e . g ., such as the iphone / ipod touch / ipad , android , a pc , or an equivalent ). many apps created by third parties are available to utilize these signals . various embodiments of the invention can utilize compelling interfaces and fun , useful apps for people to interface their sound signals to technology . the energy source in various embodiments can be one or more batteries , a photovoltaic electrical module , an electrical recharger , or some other equivalent electrical energy source with a capacity for supplying an appropriate amount of voltage and current . one embodiment of the invention uses one or more electrochemical batteries ( e . g ., lithium ion batteries , typically rated at 3 . 6 volts under normal conditions and 4 . 2 volts when fully charged , or other equivalent electrochemical batteries , either single charge or rechargeable , or other equivalent power sources ). most of the electrical power provided by such batteries will be used for supply power to operate the electronics . fig1 illustrates a flowchart to make sound speaker , in accordance with one embodiment of the invention . the method starts in operation 1402 . operation 1406 is next and includes placing a speaker ring in a bottom enclosure of a speaker . operation 1408 is next and includes attaching an exciter to the speaker ring in the bottom enclosure of a speaker . operation 1410 is next and includes placing an exciter enclosure over the exciter and attaching the exciter enclosure to the exciter . operation 1412 is next and includes placing one or more buttons and one or more led diffuser rings near the top enclosure hole of the exciter enclosure . operation 1414 is next and includes attaching an electronics substrate to the top of the exciter enclosure . in one embodiment , the electronics substrate also has one or more displays to display estimated remaining battery life , sound intensity , clock time , and / or other equivalent parameters . operation 1416 is next and includes installing at least one connector to the sound speaker to make an electrical coupling between the electronics of the sound speaker to at least one source of electrical energy that can supply electricity to the electronics of the sound speaker . the source of electricity would be a plurality of batteries in one embodiment of the invention . operation 1418 is next and includes attaching all the parts of the sound speaker together to make a complete unit . the method ends in operation 1420 . in an alternative embodiment , an additional operation precedes operation 1406 . operation 1404 includes attaching a speaker screen material to a speaker ring . fig1 illustrates a flowchart to make sound speaker , in accordance with another embodiment of the invention . the method starts in operation 1502 . operation 1508 is next and includes placing a speaker ring in a bottom enclosure of a speaker . operation 1510 is next and includes removing an adhesive sticker on an exciter to expose an adhesive surface on the exciter and attach it to the speaker ring in the bottom enclosure of a speaker . operation 1512 is next and includes placing an exciter enclosure over the exciter and attaching the exciter enclosure to the exciter . operation 1514 is next and includes placing one or more buttons and one or more led diffuser rings near the top enclosure hole of the exciter enclosure . operation 1516 is next and includes attaching an electronics substrate to the top of the exciter enclosure . in one embodiment , the electronics substrate also has one or more displays to display estimated remaining battery life , sound intensity , clock time , and / or other equivalent parameters . operation 1518 is next and includes attaching all the parts of the sound speaker together to make a complete unit . the method ends in operation 1520 . in an alternative embodiment , this method includes two additional operations before operation 1508 . operation 1504 follows operation 1502 and includes cutting out a circular screen from speaker screen material . operation 1506 is next and includes attaching the speaker screen material to a speaker ring . fig1 illustrates an isometric view of a sound speaker , in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the invention . fig1 shows an entire speaker component 600 . fig1 illustrates an isometric view of a sound speaker , in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the invention . fig1 shows an entire speaker component 600 . fig1 illustrates an isometric view of a sound speaker , in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the invention . fig1 shows an entire speaker component 600 . other embodiments of the invention are possible . for example , the sound speaker could be composed of several laminations of various materials for different applications . another embodiment of the invention could provide multiple adjustable connectors to accommodate different sizes and lengths of electronics , energy sources , and cords . the exemplary embodiments described herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting . therefore , those skilled in the art will recognize that other embodiments could be practiced without departing from the scope and spirit of the claims set forth below .
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referring initially to fig1 , a reinforced panel in accordance with the present invention is shown and is generally designated 10 . as shown , the panel 10 includes a plurality of mutually parallel ridges 12 , and a plurality of mutually parallel ridges 14 . further , the ridges 14 are transverse to the ridges 12 and intersect them at an angle “ α ”. fig1 also shows that the ridges 12 and 14 are mounted on the surface 16 of a common base layer 18 . for purposes of disclosure , the ridges 12 a and 12 b are shown as only being exemplary of additional such ridges 12 . likewise , the ridges 14 a and 14 b are also only exemplary . further , although the term “ ridge ” is most frequently used herein to describe the structure shown and indicated by the numerical designators “ 12 ” or “ 14 ”, it is to be appreciated that the ridges 12 / 14 are , functionally , “ stiffening members ” for the panel 10 and are , structurally , “ continuations ” of the base layer 18 . consequently , the terms “ ridge ”, “ stiffening member ” and “ continuation ” may be used interchangeably herein . also , as will be appreciated by the skilled artisan , the ridges 12 / 14 will form an ortho - grid when the angle “ α ” is a right angle . otherwise , the ridges 12 / 14 will form an iso - grid . turning now to fig2 , the structural construction of a preferred embodiment for a ridge 12 / 14 is shown in detail . in fig2 it will be seen that the ridge 12 has a substantially u - shaped , cross - sectional configuration ( shown inverted in fig2 ). this configuration includes a base portion 20 . also , extending substantially parallel from the base portion 20 are legs 22 a and 22 b that , together with the base portion 20 , define a channel 24 . as shown , the legs 22 a and 22 b are distanced from each other by a distance “ w ”, and the base portion 20 is distanced from the base layer 18 by a distance “ h ”. for purposes of the present invention , the respective distances “ w ” and “ h ” can be varied as desired for the particular application . still referring to fig2 , a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a unidirectional ply 26 that extends in the plane of the base layer 18 and interconnects the leg 22 a with the leg 22 b . more specifically , each of the legs 22 a and 22 b terminate at a respective edge 28 a and 28 b , and it is these edges 28 a and 28 b that engage with the unidirectional ply 26 . turning to fig3 , it will be seen that the unidirectional ply 26 is characterized by having a plurality of tows 30 that are aligned substantially in parallel with each other during the manufacture of the ply 26 . consequently , the maximum tension force that can be resisted by the unidirectional ply 26 will be a force that is applied in the direction of the aligned tows 30 . thus , during the construction of a ridge 12 ( e . g . ridge 12 a in fig1 ) the unidirectional ply 26 is positioned at a distance “ h ” from the base portion 20 of the ridge 12 ( see fig2 ), with the tows 30 of ply 26 aligned substantially parallel to the axis 32 of the channel 24 . in an alternate embodiment for the panel 10 of the present invention , shown in fig4 , the ridge 12 includes legs 22 a and 22 b that are each formed with a foot 34 a and 34 b at the respective edges 28 a and 28 b of the legs 22 a and 22 b . further , an overlap layer 36 a is positioned over the foot 34 a and is secured to the leg 22 a , as well as the base layer 18 . similarly , an overlap layer 36 b is positioned over the foot 34 b and is secured to the leg 22 b , as well as the base layer 18 . in another alternate embodiment for the panel 10 of the present invention , shown in fig5 , the embodiment shown in fig4 is modified by cutting the base layer 18 along the middle of the channel 24 . this creates a pair of opposed flaps 38 a and 38 b . these flaps 38 a and 38 b are then folded into the channel 24 and into contact with the side of respective legs 22 a and 22 b . for yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention , refer to fig6 . there it will be seen that a second unidirectional ply 26 ′ is added onto the base portion 20 of a stiffening member ( ridge ) 12 . specifically , as shown in fig6 , this additional ply 26 ′ is affixed to the base portion 20 and is positioned substantially at the distance “ h ” from the unidirectional ply 26 on base layer 18 . consequently , the ply 26 and the ply 26 ′ will alternatively resist tension forces that are imposed during a bending of the panel 10 . with the exception of the additional unidirectional ply 26 ′, the ridge 12 that is shown in fig6 is similar in all other important respects to the ridge 12 shown in fig2 . although the disclosure above has been directed primarily to a single ridge 12 , it is to be appreciated that the disclosure applies equally to all ridges 12 / 14 of the reinforced panel 10 . moreover , for all embodiments of the present invention ( i . e . ridges 12 shown in fig2 , 4 , 5 and 6 ), the construction material for the base panel 18 and for the ridges 12 / 14 is a composite material . preferably , this composite material is a combination of carbon fibers and epoxy resin . also , for all embodiments of the present invention , it is intended that after the composite material components have been assembled as disclosed above , the entire combination is co - cured . the consequence of this is a reinforced panel 10 that is essentially of a one - piece , unitary structure wherein the cooperative resistance of the base portion 20 and the base layer 18 ( along with ply 26 and ply 26 ′ in the preferred embodiments ( see fig2 and fig6 )) provide stiffness and rigidity for the panel 10 . while the particular reinforced composite panel as herein shown and disclosed in detail is fully capable of obtaining the objects and providing the advantages herein before stated , it is to be understood that it is merely illustrative of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention and that no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown other than as described in the appended claims .
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this invention relates to methods and devices for producing and combining photo - type images in precise registration so as to improve and enhance the final image , for example , masking an image to reduce or increase contrast and improve the rendition of fine detail . other usages will become obvious to one skilled in the art as the description proceeds . for one embodiment of this invention , a two - channel system , the arrangements of parts and their operation will now be explained . referring to fig1 we start with the primary original scene or object at 1 . this primary object can be a transparency , real object , or image ( either virtual or real ) produced by an optical system . for purposes of this description , a transparency 1 will be used as an example . this transparency at 1 is illuminated for purposes of reimaging at locations 2 and 3 by light source 4 . other illumination systems may be used in the operation of this invention . multiple images of transparency 1 through the transmission of light rays are formed at positions 2 and 3 by lens 5 and beam splitting prism 6 . other means for producing multiple images are shown in fig3 - 8 . the light rays from the primary scene is considered to be in the primary channel until it is divided by prisms , mirrors or multiple lenses , etc ., and then the light rays forming each secondary image is considered to be a secondary channel in these multichannel systems . a photo - sensitive surface , such as a conventional silver halide photographic film is placed at positions 2 and 3 . the holders for the film are shown in fig2 . other types of photo - sensitive media which may be incorporated are non - silver halide films such as diazo or 3m films , which are processed in situ by gas or heat , electrostatic photographic processes which could also be processed without the necessity of a darkroom , electrooptical images involving such processes as liquid crystal techniques which can be processed electronically and finally in fact any type of unconventional imaging process . in the example being described here , a conventional photographic film or plate is placed at positions 2 and 3 by means of film or plate holder 7 , shown in detail in fig2 and described later . other means of transporting film , plates , or photo - sensitive surfaces to the positions 2 and 3 so that they are in register one with each other are well known to one trained in the art . positioning images and film so that they maintain precise registration one with the other is very important and many devices and techniques are possible to obtain this , such as mechanical movements of the image planes around any or all six degrees of freedom . in the present case , care in construction to maintain image planes precisely perpendicular to the optical axis and at properly precise distances does much to achieve precise image registration . registration pins 8 on the camera body engage holes or recesses in the film or plate holder ( see fig2 ) at the interface to provide a precise means for returning the plate or film holder to precisely the same position each time it is returned to the apparatus . registration pins 9 ( fig1 ), 13 ( fig2 ) in one part of the film or plate holder fitting into positioning holes in the film or plate and into the other part of the holder to insure that the film or plate upon return is precisely positioned in the proper place after processing . the film or plate 10 ( fig2 ) fits in between the two parts of the holder 7 at positions 1 , 2 and 3 ( fig1 ). referring now to fig2 we see in detail how this is accomplished . the film or plate 10 is held against the surface of plate 11 by element 12 which contains registration pins 13 that go through corresponding positioning holes in the film and fit precisely into the holes or recesses 14 in the plate 11 , thus preventing any lateral movement . loading of the film holder 7 is usually done in a darkroom and dark slides or opaque shields 15 and 16 are both inserted in the holder 7 on opposite sides of the film or plate 10 . the two principle parts of the film holder 7 are held together by four bolts or other means while outside the darkroom . registration with the image plane at positions 2 and 3 in fig1 is further insured by the registration holes or recesses 17 which precisely engage registration pins 8 on a camera projector described in fig1 . the dark slide 15 is removed for exposing the film and inserted for removal to the darkroom . the film is removed and after processing the film is again placed on the registration pins 13 , the film holder is closed and again placed on the camera projector registration pins and both dark slides are removed to permit illumination and projection of the image . the images at positions 2 and 3 of fig1 are exposed by controlling the time , intensity and color of the light at 4 . filters at positions 18 and 19 coupled with lens aperture 20 at lens 5 and light source 4 as well as the reflecting surface of prism 6 determines the relative quality and intensity of the light at images 2 and 3 . exposure time can be controlled by shutter such as 81 anywhere in the primary channel and / or secondary channels . exposure can also be controlled by a control device 21 controlling the intensity and duration of the illumination from the light source 4 . practically any kind of light sensitive image forming process may be involved in this invention by placing the light sensitive surface and finished image at the image planes 2 and / or 3 . with some processes it is necessary to remove the exposed surface from positions 2 and 3 for processing either chemically , electrically or by heat or other means . in some cases , it is possible to process the image in situ ( see fig6 ) without disturbing the positional relationships of the images at 1 , 2 and 3 with respect to the final processed images thus insuring registration of all images without resorting to registration pins , reference surfaces and so forth . the processed images produced at 2 and / or 3 can be most conveniently thought of as transparent to be illuminated by light sources 22 and 23 which are controlled in time and / or intensity by controlling devices 24 and 25 . the light source 4 and controlling device 21 at position 1 are only used while exposing the masks . it is not necessary for some operations that images be at both positions 2 and 3 nor is it necessary in some applications that the images at 2 and / or 3 be transparent . they could be reflective type images illuminated from the front rather than the rear . it is also possible that they could be self - illuminated images produced electronically such as a cathode ray tube like those used in television , or other display tubes such as plasma arcs and so forth . it is also not necessary that the images produced at 2 and / or 3 be produced from the original scene at position 1 . upon projection the images at 2 and 3 act as masks controlling and enhancing the images at 1 . further control of the image at 1 can be enhanced or achieved by modifying or changing the filters 18 and 19 . it is also possible to do additive masking by placing the original scene at either position 2 or 3 rather than 1 and placing the masking film at either the 2 or 3 position . a mask can be made by placing a retroreflector , a mirror , or a diffuse reflector and so forth at position 1 instead of a transparency ( see fig4 ). in this mode of operation after processing and illumination by light sources 22 and 23 the additively combined images of 2 and 3 appear at image plane 1 to be viewed or recorded by any applicable means . it therefore follows that by such means as lights 22 and 23 , filters 18 and 19 , the mask or masks at 2 and 3 and controlling devices 24 and 27 , the optical properties such as contrast , intensity and color of the projected image at 1 can be controlled . there are numerous applications of this multichannel system well known to one experienced in the art , such as contrast control , of black and white or color photographs , adding backgrounds , posturization , chroma cueing , color correction for restoring faded color images , dodging color pictures , color pictures made from black and white originals , false color , color enhancement , rotoscope , motion picture special effects , controlling results from multi - spectral cameras , controlling wide dynamic range of brightness in photographic scenes , multi - color pictures rather than just two or three colors , adding filter effects such as diffraction grating stars , image combination , abstract color design , matt box effects , additive color printing , and so forth . several of the above applications require the use of more than 2 secondary channels such as illustrated in fig1 . possible forms of this invention involving 2 , 3 , 4 , and 8 channels are shown in fig3 , 5 , 6 , 7 and 8 . these means and combinations of them as well as other means can also be used to produce any number of channels . an additional non - image forming channel can always be added without an image such as is shown in fig1 for illuminating the object at position 1 . for this option , a removable semireflective surface such as a pelicle or semireflecting mirror 25 is located between the image or film 1 and the lens 5 in fig1 which semireflection surface is used to partially illuminate the image 1 by means of illuminator 26 which is controlled by controller 27 . fig3 is a three - channel system and will be recognized as similar to the well known &# 34 ; one - shot color camera &# 34 ;. in this invention , however , when provided with registration means , 28 , illumination means , 29 , and means 30 for controlling the amount of light and filters at 31 for controlling the quality of the light at the image planes 32 , 33 , 34 , and 35 both when producing masks and in using the processed masks a new and different invention results which is the subject of this invention . the semireflecting mirrors at 36 or pellicles divide the image of 32 formed by lens 37 to form the images at 33 , 34 and 35 . the same mirrors recombine these images when processed and illuminated by lights 29 . a removable lens at 38 can be used by removing light source 29 , either for forming an image to be enhanced or for projecting an enhanced image for viewing or recording . the system is similar in operation and has all the features of the two - channel system previously described . fig4 illustrates a four - channel system subject to all the conditions of the two and three - channel system previously described . this four - channel system is simply a four - lens system ( lenses at 39 ) with appropriate baffles 40 to separate the four images 41 , 42 , 43 and 44 of the same original scene at 45 . an illumination means 46 is used as in the two and three - channel systems . illumination controls are shown at 47 . although an illumination means 46 could be used for scene 45 , a retroreflector 48 is shown which can be used instead of the illuminator for a transparency at 45 . this retroreflector 48 is used in making masks for additive masking when the original transparency is at either 41 , 42 , 43 or 44 . masks are produced at any or all of the other three positions . filters for controlling light quality are shown at 49 . in this four - channel system the registration means is shown as a set of screws 50 ( four for each film or plate holder 51 ) for moving the film or plate in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis for translation on both x and y axes as well as rotation . the other degrees of freedom are held constant by rigid construction of the camera and film or plate holders . either refocusing to modify optical path length and thus magnification or changing filter glass thickness can assist in correcting out of registration due to film dimensional instability . this four - channel system is similar to the old multilens camera or a combination of two stereo cameras therefore , the original scene , if it is placed at 45 , should be in a single plane in order to avoid lack of registration due to stereoscopic parralax . fig5 is a diagrammatic view taken along the line 5 -- 5 transversely of fig4 illustrating all four image planes 41 , 42 , 43 and 44 of fig4 and how adjusting screws 50 of fig4 ( shown on one image only ) can be used to adjust registration of all images each with the others . another system forming multi - images is the well known multi - faceted prism illustrated in fig6 . in this case , a simple prism 52 with a split front surface divides the light from the scene at 53 to form with lens 54 two images at 55 and 56 . these images are separated and protected from scattered light by partition or baffle 57 . this arrangement could be provided with registration means as described previously . no special registration means is required , however , if an &# 34 ; in situ &# 34 ; development means , as indicated by ammonia sprayer 58 for the diazo process , is used . the spray nozzle is located so as not to obstruct the secondary optical channel . illumination means 59 , light control means 60 and filters 61 are indicated . one version of this prism system is used in u . s . pat . no . 2 , 273 , 112 for a color camera projector . fig7 and 8 illustrate an eight - channel system which is primarily a four - channel system as shown in fig4 and 5 with four beam splitting prisms used in place of the one used in fig1 . one prism is added in each secondary channel to provide eight channels . the original scene 62 is imaged by four lenses 63 and each image is split by prisms 64 to form eight images 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 and 72 . these images are separated and protected from scattered light by opaque partitions 73 . the arrangement described in fig7 and 8 also illustrate how a registering roll film or motion picture film feed subsystem with film supply 74 , mechanical registration pins 75 and take - up spool 76 could be used instead of single film holder fig2 . illumination means 77 , light control means 78 and filters 79 are also shown as well as synchronization means 80 for keeping all film exposures in step . other ways of producing multi - channel imaging systems are obvious to one skilled in the art . it should be understood that the just described embodiments merely illustrate principles of the invention in selected preferred forms . many modifications , additions and deletions may , of course , be made there to without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims .
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the present invention relates to human spinal disc replacement systems . those of skill in the art will recognize that the systems and methods described herein may be readily adapted for other modular implant systems for anatomic replication of orthopedic joints by man made implant systems . referring to fig1 , a perspective view illustrates one embodiment of an implant 50 , which may be referred to as a total disc implant , implanted in a portion of the spine . in this embodiment of the invention , the total disc implant includes two end plates 100 , 200 , two bearings 300 , 400 , and two snap fasteners 500 ( not visible in fig1 ) which releasably hold the bearings to the end plates . the implant 50 is designed for placement between spinal vertebrae to replace degenerated intervertebral disk material . more specifically , the implant 50 of fig1 is designed to be inserted between the vertebral bodies 22 , 42 of the first and second vertebrae 20 , 40 , respectively , after removal of the intervertebral disc ( not shown ). the vertebral bodies 22 , 42 are rasped and flat surfaces on them are prepared to fit the end plates 100 , 200 . the procedure to implant the total disc implant may be conducted from any of three approaches : anterior , right lateral , or left lateral . in addition , should there be any subsequent procedure for adjustment of the implant 50 or replacement of any component thereof , such procedure may be carried out from any one of the three approaches . fig2 illustrates the implant 50 in a disassembled state , so that all components are visible . during the implantation procedure , the end plates 100 , 200 are pressed into place onto the vertebral bodies , with the inferior end plate 100 in a caudal position on vertebral body 22 , and superior end plate 200 in a cephalic position on vertebral body 42 . the end plates 100 , 200 may be implanted in either order ( inferior first or superior first ). once implanted , the two end plates 100 , 200 appear as mirror images of one another with their bearing facing sides facing one another . next , the inferior 300 and superior bearings 400 are attached to the end plates , using the snap fasteners 500 as releasable connectors . a set force delivered by the implantation instrumentation ( not shown ) presses each snap fastener 500 into place . the inferior bearing 300 is attached to the inferior end plate 100 with one snap fastener 500 between them , and the superior bearing 400 is attached to the superior end plate 200 with another snap fastener 500 between them . like the end plates , the bearings 300 , 400 may also be attached in either order . fig3 illustrates a bone - facing side of one end plate . in the illustration , the end plate depicted is the inferior end plate 100 , and so the bone - facing side 102 is in the caudal direction . in this embodiment of the invention the superior end plate 200 is identical to the inferior end plate 100 in every way except in orientation once implanted in the body . thus , when the superior end plate 200 is implanted , its bone - facing side will be in the cephalic direction . with this exception due to orientation noted , fig3 and 4 and the description of the end plate below also apply to the superior end plate 200 . however , it is appreciated that in alternative embodiments of the invention , the end plates may or may not be identical in size , shape , or configuration . as viewed in fig3 and 4 , the inferior end plate 100 is quadrilateral in form , with rounded corners , and is bilaterally symmetrical . it has a bone - facing side 102 , a bearing - facing side 104 , an anterior end 106 , a posterior end 108 , a right end 110 and a left end 112 . the end plate is slightly wedge - shaped , with the height of the anterior end 106 slightly greater than the posterior end 108 . this is to match the natural lordotic angle of the lumbar vertebrae as closely as possible . in alternative embodiments , it is appreciated that the end plates 100 , 200 need not have a quadrilateral configuration but can be square , circular , or have any other polygonal or irregular configuration . furthermore , it is appreciated that the end plates 100 , 200 can be configured at any desired wedge angle or can have substantially parallel top and bottom surfaces . the inferior end plate 100 has a bone engaging face 114 and a bearing engaging face 116 which are connected by a support member 118 . projecting from the bone engaging face 114 is a plurality of anchoring members in the form of bone engaging spikes 120 . each bone engaging spike 120 is columnar in form and projects perpendicularly in the caudal direction from the bone engaging face 114 . the caudal end of each bone engaging spike 120 tapers and terminates in an acute angle . this angled tapering creates a point which facilitates seating the inferior end plate 100 in the adjacent vertebral body 22 during the implantation process ; the point will more easily penetrate the vertebral body 22 than would a blunt end . a hollow grafting channel 122 runs through the center of each bone engaging spike 120 . each grafting channel 122 originates on the bearing engaging face 114 , runs through the support member 118 , and ends at the pointed termination of the bone engaging spike 120 . this hollowed point configuration may be compared to the point of a hypodermic needle , and further facilitates the penetration of the vertebral body 22 by the bone engaging spikes 120 . the grafting channels 122 also allow for the growth of bony columns from the vertebral body 22 through the channels , thereby fusing the inferior end plate 100 to the vertebral body 22 . fig5 illustrates the bearing - facing side 104 of the inferior end plate 100 . near the corner formed by the posterior end 108 and the left end 112 is a peg port 124 . the peg port 124 is a circular opening originating on the bearing - engaging face 116 and recessed into the support member 118 . partway through the support member 118 , the width of the peg port 124 constricts and the port continues as a grafting channel 122 , exiting through a bone engaging spike 120 on the bone - facing side 102 . a similar peg port 124 is located near the right posterior corner . centered on the anterior end 106 of the bearing - facing side 104 is a pocket 126 . similar pockets are centered on the right end 110 and the left end 112 . each pocket 126 is a rectangular segment cut from the edge of the bearing - engaging face 116 and extending caudally into the support member 118 . once the cutaway area is below the bearing - engaging face 116 , the slot widens on either lateral side , and deepens perpendicularly into the support member 118 , toward the center of the end plate . the pockets 126 are places where implantation instruments ( not shown ) may grip or otherwise connect with the end plates during the implantation procedure . the number , size , configuration and placement of pockets may vary in other embodiments of the invention . as seen in fig3 , 4 and 5 , a snap port 130 is located on the end plate 100 , laterally centered but slightly displaced toward posterior end 108 . the snap port 130 is an opening from the bearing - facing side 104 to the bone - facing side 102 , circumscribed by a tapered wall 132 . the tapered wall 132 angles outward toward the bone - facing side 102 , such that the cross - sectional area of the snap port 130 on the bearing - facing side 104 is smaller than the cross - sectional area of the same snap port 130 on the bone - facing side 102 . fig6 is a perspective view of the superior end plate 200 . note that as discussed earlier , the superior end plate 200 is identical to the inferior end plate 100 in every way except in orientation once implanted . however , as illustrated , this does mean that the right end 210 and left end 212 of the superior end plate 200 are reversed from the right end 110 and left end 112 of the inferior end plate 100 . once the end plates 100 , 200 are implanted , the bearings 300 , 400 are inserted and attached to the end plates . fig7 illustrates the caudal side of the inferior bearing 300 . the inferior bearing 300 is of the same approximate quadrilateral shape and dimension as the inferior end plate 100 . it has a caudal side 302 , a cephalad side 304 , an anterior end 306 , a posterior end 308 , a right end 310 and a left end 312 . on the caudal side 302 is an end plate - engaging face 314 . centered along the anterior end 306 is an instrument port 316 , which is an opening originating on the end plate engaging face 314 , passing through a support member 318 , and terminating on an inferior articulation surface 330 . additional instrument ports 316 are centered on the right end 310 and the left end 312 . protruding from the end plate - engaging face 314 near the posterior right and left corners are two pegs 320 . the pegs 320 fit into the peg ports 124 shown in fig5 , when the inferior bearing 300 is attached to the inferior end plate 100 . the fitting of the pegs 320 into the peg ports 124 assist in reducing shear stress on the implant . occupying the central area of the inferior bearing 300 is a cap 322 , surrounded by a trough 324 . the cap is a quadrilateral protrusion from the end plate engaging face 314 , and the surface of the cap 322 , while parallel to the end plate engaging face 314 , is slightly elevated from it . the trough 324 which surrounds the cap is recessed from the end plate engaging face 314 into the support member 318 . the outer boundary of the trough is a tapered wall 326 . the tapered wall 326 angles inward from the bottom of the trough 324 to the top , such that the cross sectional area of the trough 324 at its deepest point is larger than its cross sectional area where it meets the surface of the end plate engaging face 314 . fig8 displays the cephalad side 304 of the inferior bearing 300 . the cephalad side has an inferior articulation surface 330 from which arises a rounded dome 332 . the dome 332 is centered laterally on the cephalad side 304 of the inferior bearing 300 , but is slightly displaced toward the posterior end 308 . fig9 illustrates the cephalad side 402 of the superior bearing 400 . it has a cephalad side 402 , a caudal side 404 , an anterior end 406 , a posterior end 408 , a right end 410 and a left end 412 . on the cephalad side 404 is an end plate - engaging face 414 . centered along the anterior end 406 is an instrument port 416 , which is an opening originating on the end plate engaging face 414 , passing through a support member 418 , and terminating on a superior articulation surface 430 . additional instrument ports 416 are centered on the right end 410 and the left end 412 . protruding from the end plate - engaging face 414 near the posterior right and left corners are two pegs 420 . the pegs 420 fit into the peg ports 224 shown in fig6 , when the inferior bearing 400 is attached to the superior end plate 200 . the fitting of the pegs 420 into the peg ports 224 assist in reducing shear stress on the implant . occupying the central area of the superior bearing 400 is a cap 422 , surrounded by a trough 424 . the cap 422 is a flat - topped protrusion from the end plate engaging face 414 , and the surface of the cap 422 , while parallel to the end plate engaging face 414 , is slightly elevated from it . the trough 424 which surrounds the cap is recessed from the end plate engaging face 414 into the support member 418 . the outer boundary of the trough is a tapered wall 426 . the tapered wall 426 angles inward from the bottom of the trough 424 to the top , such that the cross sectional area of the trough 424 at its deepest point is larger than its cross sectional area where it meets the surface of the end plate engaging face 414 . the caudal side 404 of the superior bearing 400 is illustrated in fig1 . a rounded cup 432 is recessed into the support member 418 of the caudal side 404 . the cup 432 is centered laterally on the caudal side 404 , but is slightly displaced toward the posterior end 408 . a ridge 434 encircles the cup 432 . the ridge is raised substantially from the support member 418 . a smooth superior articulation surface 430 overlays the ridge 434 and the cup 432 such that where they meet , there is no discernable transition between the two features . as seen in fig2 , the snap 500 serves as the connector between the inferior end plate 100 and the inferior bearing 300 , and between the superior end plate 200 and the superior bearing 400 . fig1 , 12 and 13 illustrate the snap 500 alone . in this embodiment of the invention , the snap 500 is quadrilateral and generally dish - like in form , with a bone - facing side 502 which is a substantially flat plane , and a bearing facing side 504 which is a flat plane circumscribed by a raised rim 506 . it is appreciated that in alternative embodiments of the invention , the snap feature may be quadrilateral , circular or any other shape or configuration . the outer edge of the rim 506 is formed by a dual - tapered wall 508 . as seen best in fig1 , the dual - tapered wall 508 is equally wide at the bone - facing side 502 and at the bearing - facing side 504 , but constricts at the midpoint between the two sides 502 , 504 . fig2 best illustrates how all the components of the implant 50 fit together . during or after manufacture , but before the implantation procedure , one snap 500 is fitted over the cap 322 of the inferior bearing 300 , and a second snap 500 is fitted over the cap 422 of the superior bearing 400 . as the rim 506 of the snap 500 is pressed into the trough 324 of the inferior bearing 300 , the dual - tapered wall 508 compresses to pass into the trough 324 , then expands out into place such that the dual - tapered wall 508 fits against the tapered wall 326 of the trough . because the widest part of the dual - tapered wall 508 is wider than the opening of the trough 324 , the snap 500 is locked into place , and can only be removed from the inferior bearing 300 with significant force . the second snap 500 is attached to the superior bearing 400 in the same manner . the inferior end plate 100 is implanted in the vertebral body 22 , and the superior end plate 200 is implanted in the vertebral body 42 . the inferior bearing 300 is pressed into place in the inferior end plate 100 . the bone - facing side 502 of the snap 500 , now protruding from the caudal side 302 of the inferior bearing 300 , is pressed into the snap port 130 of the inferior end plate 100 . as the bone - facing side 502 of the snap 500 is pressed into the snap port 130 , the dual - tapered wall 526 compresses to pass into the snap port 130 , then expands out into place such that the dual - tapered wall 526 fits against the tapered wall 132 of the inferior end plate 132 . because the widest part of the dual - tapered wall 526 is wider than the opening of the snap port 130 , the snap 500 is locked into place , and can only be removed from the inferior end plate 100 with significant force . the superior bearing 400 and its snap 500 are attached to the superior end plate 200 , in the same manner as described above for the inferior end plate 100 and bearing 300 . then the inferior articulation surface 330 is allowed to contact the superior articulation surface 430 . although in this description , the inferior bearing and its snap were attached first , followed by the superior bearing and its snap , it is appreciated that the bearings may be attached in either order . it is also appreciated that should there be any subsequent procedure for replacement or adjustment of any of the end plates , bearings or snaps , such procedure may be carried out from any one of the three approaches ; anterior , left lateral or right lateral . other embodiments of the invention can provide the same function while employing alternate snap connections . fig1 depicts a disassembled total disc implant 60 , which employs an alternate snap feature to lock the bearings to the end plates . in this embodiment , the inferior bearing 300 is connected to the inferior end plate 100 via a ring - shaped snap 500 . similarly , the superior bearing 400 is connected to the superior end plate 200 by the same ring - shaped snap 500 . the mechanism by which the snap locks the bearings to the end plates is equivalent to the snap feature described in the first embodiment ; in both embodiments the snap feature compresses to pass through a constrictive feature , and then expands out to lock the components in place . if fusion of the vertebrae is required , an embodiment of the invention including a fusion block may be implemented . fig1 depicts an interbody disc fusion implant 70 , in a disassembled state . in this embodiment , the implant consists of an inferior end plate 100 , a superior end plate 200 , two ring - shaped snaps 500 and a fusion cage 600 . the interbody disc fusion implant 70 may be implanted from an anterior approach , a right lateral approach , or a left lateral approach . it may be implanted as part of the initial implantation procedure , or it may replace inferior and superior bearings , upon their removal . fig1 illustrates the fusion cage 600 . in this embodiment of the invention , the fusion cage 600 is quadrilateral and box - like in shape . it has a caudal side 602 , a cephalad side 604 , an anterior end 606 , a posterior end 608 , a right end 610 and a left end 612 . it is symmetrical such that the right and left ends 610 , 612 are mirror images of one another and the caudal and cephalad sides 602 , 604 are also mirror images . a plurality of notches 630 , designed for gripping by implantation instruments ( not shown ) are at the edges of the caudal and cephalad sides 602 , 604 . a plurality of grafting holes 614 perforates each end of the fusion cage . before , during or after positioning of the end plates between the vertebral bodies , the fusion cage 600 is at least partially packed with an osteogenic substance . in this application , “ osteogenic substance ” is broadly intended to include natural bone , such as autogenous bone graft or bone allograft , synthetic bone , growth factors and cytokines ( including bone morphogenic proteins ), and / or combinations thereof . after implantation , growth of bone material through the grafting holes will assist in the fusion of the fusion cage and end plates to the vertebrae . a larger grafting port 616 is centered on the fusion block , with its openings on the caudal and cephalad sides . recessed into the surface of the fusion block 600 and circumscribing the grafting port 616 , is a trough 618 . around each opening of the grafting port , but to the inside of the trough 618 , is a raised rim 620 . the raised rim 620 protrudes from surface of the fusion block 600 . the inner wall 622 of the raised rim 620 is smooth and is a continuous part of the grafting port 616 . the outer wall 624 of the raised rim 620 constricts between the top of the rim and where it joins the trough 618 . this constriction is designed to hold the snap ring 500 , seen in fig1 . referring to fig1 , an alternative embodiment of a total disk implant is shown . the implant 1050 comprises an inferior end plate 1100 , a superior end plate 1200 , an inferior bearing 1300 , a superior bearing 1400 , and two snap fasteners 1500 . as with the implant 50 , the implant 1050 is designed for placement between spinal vertebrae to replace degenerated intervertebral disk material . methods for placement , assembly and implantation of the implant 1050 are the same as those described for the implant 50 . referring to fig1 , an enlarged view of a bone - facing side of the end plate 1100 is shown . the end plates 1100 , 1200 are identical to one another , differing only in their orientation as they are placed between the vertebral bodies . end plate 1100 will be described in detail , but it is appreciated that the same description applies to the end plate 1200 . the end plate 1100 has a bone - facing side 1102 , and a bearing - facing side 1104 . an irregularly shaped snap port 1130 occupies the center of the end plate 1100 , creating an opening from the bone - facing side 1102 to the bearing - facing side 1104 . a plurality of bone - engaging spikes 1120 are located on the bone - facing side 1102 , each adjacent to a grafting channel 1122 . each bone - engaging spike 1120 is of a crescent shape , protruding from the bone - facing side 1102 and terminating with an acute edge . several small diameter bone - engaging spikes 1121 , with small grafting channels 1123 are interspersed with the bone - engaging spikes 1120 and grafting channels 1122 . the large size of the grafting channels 1122 creates favorable conditions for bone ingrowth once the implant 1150 is in place . also , the crescent shapes of the bone - engaging spikes 1120 allow for good engagement with the vertebral body , but without requiring an excessive amount of force to press into place . the spikes 1122 , 1121 also provide shear resistance once the end plate 1100 is implanted in the vertebral body . the snap port 1130 occupies much of the surface area of the end plate 1100 . the large opening size of the snap port 1130 maximizes space available for bone ingrowth . the irregular shape of the snap port 1130 allows more contact area for the snap connection , and offers more torsional resistance than a regularly shaped , round port . the snap port 1130 is encircled by a wall 1132 . at several points on the wall 1132 , a recess 1134 is indented into the wall 1134 . referring to fig1 , an enlarged view of the bearing - facing side 1104 of the end plate 1100 is shown . the end plate 1100 has an anterior end 1106 and a posterior end 1108 . the grafting channels 1122 , 1123 open out on the bearing facing side 1104 , as does the snap port 1130 . three pockets 1126 are indented into sides of the end plate 1100 , on the anterior end 1106 and the two lateral sides . the pockets 1126 are shaped to engage with the instruments used to insert the end plate 11100 . referring to fig2 , a caudal side of the inferior bearing 1300 is shown . the inferior bearing 1300 has a caudal side 1302 , a cephalad side 1304 , an anterior end 1306 and a posterior end 1308 . three instrument ports 1316 perforate the inferior bearing 1300 , one on the anterior end 1306 and one on each lateral side . a rounded cap 1322 protrudes from the center of the caudal side 1302 , and is surrounded by a trough 1324 . the trough 1324 is surrounded by a wall 1326 . indented into each lateral side of the wall 1326 is a long recess 1328 . referring to fig2 , the cephalad side 1304 of the inferior bearing 1300 is shown . the three instrument ports 1316 open out on the cephalad side 1304 . a round dome 1332 rises from the surface of the cephalad side 1304 . referring to fig2 , a cephalad side of the superior bearing 1400 is shown . the superior bearing 1400 has a cephalad side 1402 , a caudal side 1404 , an anterior end 1406 , and a posterior end 1408 . three instrument ports 1416 perforate the inferior bearing 1400 , one on the anterior end 1406 and one on each lateral side . a rounded cap 1422 protrudes from the center of the caudal side 1402 , and is surrounded by a trough 1424 . the trough 1424 is surrounded by a wall 1426 . indented into each lateral side of the wall 1426 is a long recess 1428 . referring to fig2 , the caudal side 1404 of the superior bearing 1400 is shown . the three instrument ports 1416 open out on the caudal side 1404 . a circular ridge 1434 rises from the caudal side 1404 of the superior bearing 1400 . in the center of the circle formed by the ridge 1434 , a cup 1432 is depressed into the superior bearing 1400 . the cup 1432 on the superior bearing 1400 and the dome 1432 on the inferior bearing 1300 form the bearing surfaces when the implant 1050 is implanted . referring to fig2 , a bone - facing side 1502 of one snap fastener 1500 is shown . the bone - facing side 1502 is flat and has a generally square shape , with a central body 1506 and an irregular outer edge 1508 . the snap fastener has an anterior end 1510 , a posterior end 1512 , and two lateral sides 1514 . two connection slots 1516 perforate the snap fastener , each generally parallel to a lateral side 1512 of the body 1506 . four connection ports 1518 are located just inside the outer edge 1508 , one each on the anterior and posterior ends 1510 , 1512 , and one on each lateral side 1514 . there is a gap 1520 in the outer edge 1508 adjacent to each connection port 1518 , such that the outer edge 1508 is not continuous but each connection port 1518 has an opening to the outside of the fastener 1500 . formed onto the outer edge 1508 immediately adjacent to each gap 1520 is a tab 1522 , each tab 1522 being a protrusion from the outer edge 1508 , extending in the same plane as the body 1506 . referring to fig2 , an enlarged side view of a snap fastener 1500 is shown , in order to depict the tabs 1522 in greater detail . each tab 1522 has a sloped bone - facing side 1532 and a sloped bearing - facing side 1534 . the slope of the bearing - facing side 1534 is steeper than the slope of the bone - facing side 1532 . this is so that when the tabs 1522 are snapped into the recesses 1134 in the walls 1132 of the end plate 1100 , more force is required to remove the snap fastener 1500 from the end plate 1100 than it takes to snap the snap fastener 1500 to the end plate 1100 or 1200 . referring to fig2 , a bearing - facing side 1504 of the snap fastener 1500 is shown . in the center of the body 1506 , a raised rim 1536 surrounds a rectangular dish 1538 . protruding on each lateral side of the rim 1536 is a long tab 1540 . the long tabs 1540 are configured to fit into the long recesses 1328 , 1428 on the bearings 1300 , 1400 when the snap fastener 1500 is snapped to the bearing . returning to fig2 , each long tab 1540 has a bone - facing side 1542 and a bearing - facing side 1544 . the slope of the bone - facing side 1542 is 90 degrees , and the slope of the bearing - facing side 1544 is less steep , approximating 45 degrees . this is so that when the snap fastener 1500 is snapped on to the inferior or superior bearing 1300 , 1400 , it will require considerably less force to snap the fastener 1500 on the bearing than to remove it . when the snap fastener 1500 is snapped on to the end plate 1100 , the bone - facing side 1532 of the tab 1522 pushes against the bearing - facing side 1104 of the end plate 1100 , and the outer edge 1508 flexes slightly until the tab 1522 is forced into the recess 1134 . since the slope on the bearing - facing side 1534 of the tab 1522 is steeper , it would take much more force to remove the tab 1522 from the recess 11134 . the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics . it is appreciated that various features of the above - described examples can be mixed and matched to form a variety of other alternatives , each of which may have a different bearing set , fusion block , or snap connection system according to the invention . as such , the described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive . the scope of the invention is , therefore , indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description . all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope .
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referring now to the drawings and the embodiments illustrated therein , an exerciser or apparatus embodying the present invention is shown in the attached figures and is generally referred to as numeral 20 ( fig1 ). exerciser 20 includes an upright frame 22 upon which upper and lower mechanisms 24 and 26 , respectively , are supported . a motor 28 operates primary endless drive chain 30 and secondary endless drive chain 32 to drive mechanisms 24 and 26 at a coordinated and variable speed ( fig4 ). upright frame 22 ( fig1 and 4 ) is a rigid framework constructed of tubular beams for strength . frame 22 includes a planar base 34 made of two side members 36 and front and rear cross members 40 , 42 which are interconnected to form a rigid support structure . side members 36 have protruding portions 44 that extend forward of front cross member 40 . primary side upright members 48 , 50 attach to the forward end of protruding portions 44 and extend diagonally upwardly and rearwardly a vertical distance above the height of a typical person and at a angle which promotes the comfortable operation of exerciser 20 , as discussed below . a pair of support beams 52 extend between side members 36 of base 34 and upright members 48 , 50 to rigidly fix the angular position of upright members 48 , 50 . a rearwardly offset middle cross member 56 and a top cross member 58 rigidly interconnect upright members 48 , 50 to complete the rigid frame . upper mechanism 24 includes upper and lower axles 60 and 62 which extend horizontally between upright members 48 , 50 and attach to upright members 48 , 50 for rotational movement within bearings 64 , 66 , 68 and 70 . bearings 64 , 66 , 68 and 70 may attach to the front of upright members 48 , 50 to facilitate assembly and to establish a proper angle for mechanism 24 , but alternative designs are possible . upper bearings 64 and 66 are slideably adjustable by adjustment mechanisms 65 and 67 on upright members 48 , 50 so that endless chains 72 , 74 which extend between axles 60 , 62 on sprockets 76 , 78 , 80 and 82 can be properly tightened . lower axle 62 further includes a secondary drive chain 32 ( fig4 ) for powering upper mechanism 24 . a safety shield 92 is positioned between upright members 48 , 50 and between axles 60 and 62 ( fig1 ). it is contemplated that shield 92 will include upper and lower portions 93 that cover axles 60 , 62 , although several alternative arrangements are possible . for example , lower axle 62 could be constructed with a split shaft so that the central area is entirely open ( i . e . similar to axles 98 and 100 of lower mechanism 26 ). side shields 94 ( fig1 ) are positioned around the front of endless chains 72 , 74 as they extend along the useful segment of the path of rungs 88 to protect against accidental rubbing or contacting of chains 72 , 74 . these shields increase both the safety and aesthetics of upper mechanism 24 . hand supports or rungs 88 attach between endless chains 72 , 74 by use of brackets 90 ( fig7 ). rungs 88 have a diameter which is conducive for grasping by the hands of an operator . sprockets 76 , 78 , 80 and 82 are properly sized so that endless chains 72 , 74 and specifically rungs 88 have a clearance for an operator &# 39 ; s fingers between them and shield 92 as rungs 88 traverse downwardly in front of shield 92 . rungs 88 establish a path as they travel in an oblong pattern diagonally downwardly from axle 60 to axle 62 in front of shield 92 during a useful segment , around lower axle 62 , upwardly behind shield 92 , and around upper axle 60 . in the preferred embodiment , six to eight round rungs are used , although it is contemplated that various numbers and shapes of rungs can be used . lower mechanism 26 is adapted for use with an operator &# 39 ; s lower body . lower mechanism 26 includes an upper axle 96 and right and left lower axles 98 and 100 . upper axle 96 extends horizontally between and is rotationally mounted within bearings 102 , 104 , which are adjustably mounted on the backside of upright members 48 , 50 as shown . bearings 102 and 104 are slideably adjustable by adjustment mechanisms 103 and 105 . lower axles 98 and 100 are axially aligned and rotationally mounted within bearings 103 , 105 which are mounted on upright members 48 , 50 near a lower end thereof . by mounting upper axle 96 on the backside of upright members 48 , 50 and lower axles 98 , 100 on the front side thereof , lower mechanism 26 is oriented at a smaller angle from horizontal than upper mechanism 24 . thus , lower mechanism 24 is better adapted for use by the operator &# 39 ; s lower body , as discussed below . it is contemplated that lower axles 98 and 100 will be foreshortened to leave an open area between them to eliminate an area that may serve to bruise the operators ankles . endless chains 106 and 108 extend around sprockets 110 , 112 , 114 and 116 located on axles 96 , 98 and 100 , and can be tightened by movement of slideably adjustable bearings 102 , 104 on upright members 48 , 50 . sprockets 110 , 112 , 114 , and 116 of lower mechanism 26 are larger than sprockets 76 , 78 , 80 , and 82 of upper mechanism 24 to facilitate movement of platforms 118 around lower mechanism 26 . foot supports or platforms 118 extend horizontally between and attach to endless chains 106 , 108 by use of brackets 90 . an angle iron 122 extends between brackets 90 and attaches under platforms 118 to properly horizontally orient the upper surface 124 of platforms 118 during its useful segment of movement 123 . platforms 118 establish a path as they travel in an oblong pattern diagonally downwardly from upper axle 96 , around aligned lower axles 98 and 100 , upwardly toward upper axle 96 , and around axle 96 . it is contemplated that platforms 118 can be made of several different materials , but in the preferred embodiment will be made of a reinforced plastic material . flexible sheets 126 are attached to the bottom 125 of and between platforms 118 to form a barrier to the operators feet and legs to prevent them from entering the area between and behind platforms 118 during their movement through the useful segment 123 of their path ( fig6 ). sheets 126 also improve aesthetics by closing off the area behind lower mechanism 24 . sheets 126 flexes and folds as needed as platforms 118 move around lower mechanism 24 . during the diagonal downward movement of platforms 118 , sheets 126 are stretched tightly enough to reduce the chance of objects being put into and between platforms , but loosely enough to prevent binding of endless chains 106 , 108 . it is contemplated that sheets 126 could be replaced with a hinged configuration such as is often used in escalators . inner side shields 128 ( fig1 ) cover endless chains 106 , 108 along the forward edge of upright members 48 , 50 to protect against rubbing or contacting of chains 106 , 108 . these shields increase both safety and aesthetics . lower mechanism 26 is positioned at a smaller angle to horizontal than upper mechanism 24 so that lower mechanism 26 provides clearance for the knees of a user during the useful segment of travel by platforms 118 along their respective path . in the preferred embodiment , this angle is between about 45 ° and 60 °, which is similar to the rise of steps in bleachers and the like . the angle of upper mechanism 22 to horizontal is between about 60 and 75 °, which is similar to the angle of a ladder propped against a wall . it is contemplated that various angles can be used , and also that exerciser 20 can be made to allow adjustment of the angles as desired , by adjusting the angle of the base relative to the floor , or support surface , or by shimming any of the bearings inwardly or outwardly such as is shown by arrows a and b in fig4 . a powering mechanism includes a motor 28 fastened to base 34 . in the embodiment shown , motor 28 is a dc motor which drives a worm - gear speed reduction device 13 which rotates a drive sprocket 134 . motor 28 is a variable speed 1 / 3 hp dc motor operating at 1750 rpm . speed reduction device 132 is a worm - gear reducer operating at 30 : 1 reduction rate , while sprockets 134 , 138 , 140 and other sprockets on upper and lower mechanisms 24 , 26 are matched and sized to achieve the speed desired . a one - way friction clutch 133 attached to device 132 prevents the weight of a person on the exerciser from driving the platforms 118 and motor 28 at a speed faster than is desired . an endless primary drive chain 30 extends from sprocket 134 to sprocket 138 and drives axle 96 . motor 28 is adjustably positionable to tighten chain 30 . in addition to driving lower mechanism 24 , axle 96 supports a drive sprocket 140 and endless secondary drive chain 32 operably connected to drive axle 62 . a tensioning device 144 attached to upright member 50 maintains the necessary tension on endless chain 32 . similar tensioning devices could be used on the other endless chains as may be required . a control panel 146 is mounted to one side of upper mechanism 22 on brackets 148 at a convenient height for use by an operator positioned on exerciser 20 . the control panel 146 shown , houses a control circuit 147 ( fig8 ) including an on / off switch 150 , a variable speed control 152 , and a timer 154 . speed control 152 is a rheostat which cooperates with dc motor 28 to controllably vary the speed of rungs 88 and platforms 118 . timer 154 allows a person using exerciser 20 to time their workout . it is contemplated that control panel 146 could include various readouts and mechanisms ( not shown ) such for measuring speed , pulse rate , calories burned , and the like . it is also contemplated that a programmable device 156 could be used to preset an exercise routine such as a warm - up speed for a few minutes , a faster intermediate speed for several minutes , and a warm - down speed . having described the components and parts of the preferred embodiment of the exerciser , its use and operation should be obvious to one skilled in the art . briefly , exerciser 20 is positioned in a convenient location and is plugged into an electrical outlet . an operator desiring to use exerciser 20 first makes sure the unit is turned off , the variable speed is turned to a slow speed , and the rungs 88 and platforms 118 are not moving . the operator then steps onto a platform 118 and grasps a rung 88 . the on / off switch 150 is flipped to the &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; position , and variable speed control 152 is rotated until rungs 88 and platforms 118 begin to move . the operator begins to grasp successive rungs 88 in a hand - over - hand motion as the rungs are presented in front of the operator , and simultaneously begins to step on successive platforms 118 also presented in below the operator . since both the arms and legs of the operator are active , the operator &# 39 ; s body is in &# 34 ; total suspension &# 34 ; such that the operator cannot become lazy or &# 34 ; cheat &# 34 ; by supporting part of their weight on a safety rail or other devices . at the same time , the operator is in control and need not fear falling since both the hands and feet can be actively used to stay in a balanced position . further , since the operator &# 39 ; s arms and legs are used , the exercise provided is a full body exercise which is aerobically balanced . if the operator desires a more vigorous pace , the speed of rungs 88 and platforms 118 are increased by use of variable speed control 152 . also , timer 154 indicates the length of time remaining in the workout . if an operator should stumble or not keep up , shields 92 , 94 , 128 and flexible sheets 126 help reduce the risk of undesirable entanglement with rungs 88 and platforms 118 . additionally , shield 92 is designed with a blunted lower end 93 ( fig1 ) which tends to gently force an operator &# 39 ; s wrist off of rungs 88 as rungs 88 move around axle 62 from the front to the rear , thus causing the operator to release their grasp of rungs 88 during this movement . platforms 118 also tend to tip as they round lower axle 98 , which deposits the operator onto the floor is the operator does not move to the next platform in time . in a first alternative embodiment , an exerciser 20 &# 39 ; includes one or more photocells 156 ( fig9 ). photocells 156 could be positioned at the lower end of upper or lower mechanisms 24 , 26 to sense if the operator is falling behind and is therefore lower on exerciser 20 than is desired . photocell 156 could be electrically connected to slow down or turn off the exerciser depending upon safety devices utilized or deemed necessary . it is contemplated that photocells 156 could also be placed in other positions . in a second alternative embodiment , an exerciser 20 &# 34 ; includes a pair of hinges 158 ( fig1 ) between upper 10 and lower portions of upright members 48 , 50 . hinges 158 would be positioned on the front side of upright members 48 , 50 so that upper mechanism 22 could be folded forwardly onto lower mechanism 24 in a compact arrangement for shipping . when ready for use , lower mechanism 24 would be tipped upwardly into position and locked rigidly in place by latches 162 on the backside of upright members 48 , 50 . endless chain 32 would then be installed between drive sprocket 140 and axle 62 to ready exerciser 20 for use . changes and modifications in the specifically described embodiment can be carried out without departing from the principals of the invention , which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims , as interpreted according to the principals of patent law including the doctrine of equivalents .
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many types of musical instruments are played by the fingering of a keyboard . these instruments include not only those having the conventional type of keyboard , such as a piano , organ or harpsichord , but also those requiring other types of key fingering such as a saxophone , clarinet , etc ., in which discrete keys must be depressed for the playing of particular notes . the present invention , although most advantageously used with a keyboard having a large number of keys , such as a piano , may also be adapted for use with these other keyed instruments . it is not necessary that more than the keyboard portion of the instrument be used with the invention . the actual music generating portion of most instruments and therefore the major cost of the instrument can be eliminated while still retaining substantial instructional capability . in some cases this may be preferred because the student is forced to read the music rather than detect errors by ear . the preferred embodiment of the invention has an electrical switch means which is mechanically linked to each key on the keyboard for the purpose of detecting each key depression . it also has a plurality of alphanumeric displays and a plurality of two - state displays , such as light emitting diodes or led &# 39 ; s , which have an off state and an on state . a different one of these two - state displays is associated with or in spatial correspondence with each key of the keyboard . the purpose of such two - state displays is to designate the particular key or keys which should be played by the student . preferably each two - state display is physically located immediately adjacent a different , associated key and is illuminated to designate its adjacent key . alternatively , a duplicate representation of a keyboard may be used with the two - state displays to designate the keys . the preferred embodiment also has a signalling means such as a tone generator . all of these elements of the preferred embodiment are connected to digital data processing circuitry which includes both stored instructions and a memory having some stored sequence of musical steps . among other things the digital data processing circuitry compares each of the stored musical steps in sequence to the key depressions made by the student and signals whether or not each of the stored steps and the depressions are identical . referring now to the figure , each of the key sensing switches , such as switch 11 which are mechanically linked to the keys of the keyboard , are series connected to a diode . the diode - switch pairs for each key are connected in a switch matrix array 10 . one led , such as led 13 , is physically located either immediately adjacent each key of the keyboard or on the duplicate representation of the keyboard so that each such two - state , illuminable led display is in spatial correspondence with each key of the keyboard . these led displays are electrically connected in a display matrix array 12 . also connected in the display matrix array 12 are the individual segments for the alphanumeric displays . the figure shows an 8 × 12 switch matrix array 10 to accomodate 88 musical instrument keys and some special purpose or control switches . it also shows an 8 × 11 portion of the display matrix array 12 to accomodate 88 led displays , one for each key , and an 8 × 5 portion of the display matrix array 12 for the individual segments of the alphanumeric displays . although various quantities of alphanumeric display digits may be utilized , i have illustrated the use of five digits each having seven segments and a decimal point . the special purpose switch , referred to in the above paragraph , may be a special function selector switch means which is connected in the switch matrix array in order to permit the instrument keys to be used for manually selecting additional modes of operation . it would be used in the conventional manner so that the computer , through its software could , upon sensing depression of such a special switch means , transfer control to another program or subroutine within the program . the figure also illustrates a signalling means 14 in the form of a tone generator and a microcomputer indicated generally as 16 . the remaining circuitry illustrated in the figure provides an interfacing , digital data circuit means which is connected to the displays , the switch means and the signalling means for interfacing data transfer from the key switch means 10 to the microcomputer 16 and from the microcomputer 16 to the display matrix 12 and the signalling means 14 and for controlling the displays and the signalling means 14 . the microcomputer 16 is not shown in detail since so many of these devices have become available and their operation is so well known to those skilled in the art . while it probably would be more cost effective to utilize conventionally available microcomputer components to custom design a microcomputer for the preferred embodiment of the invention , there are also readily available , off - the - shelf microcomputer systems which may be used in the embodiment of the invention . for example , i have constructed an embodiment of the invention utilizing a kim i microcomputer manufactured by mos technology company . the microcomputer is connected through its cassette interface logic 20 to an auxiliary or external memory such as a magnetic , audio cassette tape player 22 , floppy disc or other such auxiliary memory device familiar to those skilled in the art . as is conventional in the microcomputer art , this auxiliary or external memory may be used to provide data and instructions for the microcomputer and if an external memory with both read and write capability is used , such as a magnetic tape , it may also be used for storing data transferred from the microcomputer 16 . as is conventional in the microcomputer art , the microcomputer 16 comprises a central processing unit 24 and control logic 26 which is interconnected through a data , address , and control bus 28 to a programmable , bidirectional , peripheral interface 30 having sixteen terminals , a random access memory 32 and read only memories 34 , 36 , 38 and 39 for the storage of program instructions . the microcomputer is also provided with an oscillator 40 for providing clock pulses . one set of lines from the key switch matrix array 10 is connected to outputs c0 through c11 of a 4 to 16 decoder 42 . the decoder 42 translates the four - bit binary input at its inputs a , b , c and d to an output or true level at one of its 16 outputs c0 through c15 . the decoder 42 is selected or enabled at its input g , and may , for example be a sn74154 available from texas instruments . the other set of lines of the key switch matrix array 10 is connected to data input / output terminals a0 through a7 of the microcomputer interface adapter 30 . the microcomputer is able to scan the key switches and determine which of the switches have been closed by the playing of the key by the student or instructor . this is accomplished by strobing in sequence the first set of key switch matrix lines connected to outputs c0 through c11 of the decoder 42 and during each strobe , imputing at inputs a0 through a7 and storing the levels which appear at these inputs . each closed switch will cause the strobe level to be applied to its connected data input terminals a0 through a7 . the diodes prevent the formation of &# 34 ; sneak paths &# 34 ; which would cause erroneous strobe levels to appear at other input terminals during the scanning . therefore the blocking diodes , in series with each sensing switch , permit simultaneous sensing of any combination of switches while preventing crosstalk between the switch columns . one unique feature of the present invention is that the same input / output terminals a0 through a7 which are used for sensing the key switches are also used for transferring data out to the display matrix array 12 , thus utilizing the full potential of the bi - directional port . this is accomplished by transferring the display data to a random access display buffer memory 46 consisting of a pair of 4 × 16 , sn 7489 rams available from texas instruments . then , sequentially and in a continuous endless cycle the display data are applied to the display matrix array 12 . the figure illustrates that the outputs s1 through s4 of each of the display buffer memory 46 ram devices connected through sn 7407 drivers 47 and 48 available from texas instruments to a first set of lines of the display matrix array 12 . the inputs d1 through d4 of each of the sn 7489 rams in the display buffer memory 46 are also connected to the i / o terminals a0 through a7 so that when these ram chips are selected by the output c13 of the decoder 42 and switched to the writing mode , they will store the data presented by the microcomputer at the i / o terminals a0 through a7 . the remaining circuitry , not including the signalling means 14 , is connected to outputs c12 , c14 and c15 of the decoder 42 to the address inputs a , b , c and d of the display buffer memory 46 and to the second ( vertical in the figure ) set of lines of the display matrix array 12 for the purpose of continuously cycling the display data which is stored in the display buffer memory 46 to apply it to the leds and alphanumeric display segments connected in the display matrix array 12 . for this purpose a row decoder 50 , which is a sn 74159 available from texas instruments , has its 16 outputs connected through inverting and driving transistor switches , indicated generally as 52 , to the second ( vertical ) lines of the display matrix array 12 . the emitters of these transistors 52 may be connected through a display enable switch 54 to a power supply so that the displays can be disabled when desired for instructional purposes . an address counter 56 , which is a sn74161 available from texas instruments , has its four binary address outputs q1 through q4 connected to the inputs a , b , c and d of the row decoder 50 as well as the inputs a , b , c and d of the display buffer memory 46 . in this manner , corresponding columns of display elements and the data intended for those display elements have the same address and are simultaneously addressed . connected to each of the 8 data outputs from the display buffer memory 46 is an or gate 58 with an inverter 60 connected to its output . the or gate is an sn7430 and the inverter 60 is an sn7410 , both available from texas instruments . they function to detect whether or not any bit is present in a column of addressed display data for purposes of illuminating a display element . if no bit is present , then the address counter 56 is incremented to address the next column of data and power is not applied to the corresponding column of displays . however , if a bit is present , the address counter 56 is held in the same address , the corresponding column of display elements is enabled , and a time delay count is initiated . a hold counter 62 is provided for performing the time delay count and therefore timing the delay during which a column of display elements are enabled . the four count - output ports q1 through q4 of hold counter 62 are connected through an or gate 64 , which is an sn7425 , available from texas instruments , to the inhibit input g of the row decoder 50 . the or gate 64 , functions to inhibit the output from the row decoder 50 whenever the count of the hold counter is 0000 or 1111 . in this manner when the hold counter is not counting , the row decoder is disabled and therefore the displays are not energized . however , during the counting of the hold counter 62 the row decoder and therefore the displays are enabled . the carry output of the hold counter 62 is connected through an inverter 65 , formed on the same sn7425 , to an input of a nor gate 66 which is a part of the sn7410 device available from texas instruments . the nor gate 66 also has an input connected to the output c14 of the decoder 42 and another input connected to a nand gate 68 also formed on the sn7410 . the nand gate 68 has one input connected to the output of the inverter 60 , and another input connected to the output of a jk flip - flop 70 . the jk flip - flop 70 is a storage element for controlling the mode of operation of the display . one input of the jk flip - flop 70 is connected to the output c15 of the decoder 42 for selecting the automatic scanning mode in which data from the display buffer memory 46 is cyclically applied to the corresponding display elements connected in the display matrix array 12 . the other input of the jk flip - flop 70 is connected to the output c12 of the decoder 42 for selecting the reset mode in which the data is not cycled to the displays . instead , the address counter 56 is reset to 0000 for the purpose of writing new data into the display buffer memory 46 . therefore , because of the nor gate 66 and the nand gate 68 connected thereto , the address counter 56 , which has its clock input connected to the output of the nor gate 66 , is incremented each time a true level appears at the output c14 of the decoder 42 , or whenever a carry is produced at the hold counter 62 , or whenever the jk flip - flop 70 is in the automatic scanning mode and no bit is present at the addressed column of data appearing at the output pins s1 through s4 of the display buffer memory 46 . the signalling means 14 has a one shot 74 which is an sn74123 available from texas instruments . the one shot 74 has its input connected to output c12 of the decoder 42 and provides an output pulse of selected pulse width which is adjustable by potentiometer 80 . this pulse can of course be used to control a variety of signalling means including audible signals and light signals . it may for example cause a beep or a light flash whenever the student depresses the correct keys . alternatively it may be used to cause the substantial decrease in the output level or volume of an electronic instrument . for this purpose i illustrate the coupling of the output pulse from the one shot 74 through an inverter 76 and an override switch 78 to another such circuit . i also illustrate the application of the output pulse from the one shot 74 to a tone generating circuit 81 which may include an audio oscillator , speaker and an electronic switch controlled by the output of the one shot 74 . the preferred embodiment of the invention described above has three modes of operation . however , it should be understood that other modes of operation , and particularly other types of exercises , will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this description . in the first of the three modes of operation , a composition or exercise may be entered into memory by an instructor via the instruments keyboard for subsequent use by the student . for this purpose , a footpedal switch means may be connected to the microcomputer for inputting data indicating that keys corresponding to a complete musical step are depressed . the microcomputer may further comprise means for storing each musical step in sequence for providing the stored musical steps of the stored composition . the foot pedal may be one of the special function switches which is referred to above and would be sensed under control of program 2 and utilized to strobe that data indicated by depressed keys into the computer memory in the conventional manner of strobing data from depressed keys . at this point prepared data can be stored on cassette also . in the second mode , a composition or exercise , which has previously been entered into ram memory either by an instructor or from the cassette tape , may be played by the student and be monitored by the preferred embodiment of the invention to determine whether the student is playing the composition or exercise correctly . in the third mode of operation , the preferred embodiment displays random notes in octave and literal notation upon the alphanumeric display and determines whether the student plays each note correctly . it may simultaneously modify a decimal readout count by incrementing it for each correct note or decrementing it for each incorrect note . the instructions for these three modes may be permanently stored in three rom memories indicated as program 0 for the random note display exercise , program 1 for the playing of an exercise by the student and program 2 for the preparation of a composition or exercise by the instructor . a fourth rom memory 34 is also provided for transferring data representing the notes of a composition either from the audio cassette player to ram memory 32 or from the ram memory 32 to the audio cassette player 22 . since rom 34 , identified as program 3 may be purchased from the manufacturers of the kim 1 microcomputer and bears no . 6530 - 003 , the instruction for this rom are not described . the operation of the preferred embodiment of the invention may begin with the assumption that a musical composition has been recorded on the tape of the audio cassette player 22 . each note for an 88 key piano is recorded as an 8 - bit word or byte . seven bits of the byte define a particular note and the 8th bit is used to indicate whether or not the note is the last note of a chord . therefore , operation would begin by the transfer of the 8 - bit words representing a composition or an exercise to the ram memory 32 under control of the cassette interface program 34 stored in rom 3 . after an entire composition has been written into the ram memory 32 , control is then transferred to rom 1 so that the student may begin to play the composition under control of the keyboard play program 38 . in this mode , each note is , in sequence , translated into a format for output to the display buffer memory 46 . to do this i prefer to assign 88 bits of ram memory to define an image of the 88 key piano keyboard . each byte representing a note is translated to store a bit in the particular one of the 88 memory cells representing the particular note or key . this translation continues until all keys to be simultaneously depressed have had their corresponding bits stored in the 88 - bit memory area . after these bits have been written into the 88 - bit memory which forms the keyboard image , the microcomputer applies a 5 - bit word at its outputs b0 through b4 which decode to an appropriate output at output c12 of the decoder 42 to reset the interface circuitry . this reset output sets the jk flip - flop 70 to prevent the automatic cycling of output data and clears the address counter 56 to 0000 . thereafter , the first 8 bits from the 88 - bit keyboard image portion of the ram memory are presented to data output terminals a0 through a7 and written into the display buffer memory 46 . after the first 8 bits are written into the display buffer memory 46 , outputs b0 through b4 of the microcomputer 16 cause an output to appear at output c14 of the decoder 42 which increments the address counter 56 to the next address . thereupon the next 8 bits are presented at outputs a0 through a7 and similarly written into the display buffer memory 46 . this procedure continues until all 88 - bits have been written into the display buffer memory 46 . after display buffer memory 46 has had the notes which should be played written into it , the microcomputer provides , at its outputs b0 through b4 , a five - bit word which decodes to apply an output level at output c15 of the decoder 42 which in turn switches the jk flip - flop 70 to a state which starts the automatic cycling of the note data to the displays of the display matrix 12 . the microcomputer 16 can then go about the task of doing other things while the data in the display buffer memory 46 is automatically cycled to the display matrix array 12 . this automatic cycling is accomplished in the following manner . the eight bits in the display buffer memory 46 which are addressed by the current address appearing at the outputs q1 through q4 of the address counter 56 , will appear at the outputs s1 through s4 of each of the two rams making up the display buffer memory 46 . whenever the jk flip - flop 70 is set to its automatic scanning state and no display bits appear at the outputs of display buffer memory 46 , then each clock pulse applied from the microcomputer oscillator 40 to the nand gate 68 will appear at the output of the nand gate 68 and be applied to the nor gate 66 . such a clock pulse will be applied to the clock input of the address counter 56 and will increment the address counter . this incrementing will continue to occur for each clock pulse until a bit for display appears at the output of the display buffer memory 46 . the appearance of any bit at the output of the display buffer memory 46 will shift the state of the output of the or gate 58 to initiate counting of the hold counter 62 . counting by the hold counter 62 will enable the row decoder 50 by means of the output of the or gate 64 . thereafter each clock pulse from the microcomputer oscillator 40 will increment the hold counter 62 but will not increment the address counter 56 because of the output of the inverter 60 . the hold counter 62 will continue counting for 16 microcomputer clock pulses during which time the row decoder 50 is enabled at the current address being held in the address counter 56 . during counts 1 through 14 of hold counter 62 the particular display or displays for which an output bit appears at the output of the display buffer memory 46 will be illuminated . inhibiting the row decoder during counts 0000 and 1111 of hold counter prevents &# 34 ; ghosting &# 34 ; of one row of led &# 39 ; s into another during transition periods of the address counter . when the hold counter 62 completes its count such that a carry is produced , the carry is applied through the inverter 65 to the nor gate 66 to increment the address counter 56 to the next address . this procedure than continues in an endless cycle in which the row decoder 50 is enabled and the hold counter counts for 14 counts each time at least one bit appears for display at the output of the display buffer memory 46 . a number of ram memory cells are assigned to the task of maintaining a count of the number of chords of a composition which have been played . this count represents the student &# 39 ; s place in the musical composition and is appropriately translated and written into the display buffer memory 46 along with the particular note data for display on the two - state keyboard display . therefore , the microcomputer increments this counter register formed in the ram memory each time a chord is written into the display buffer memory 46 . after the data is written into the display buffer memory 46 , the microcomputer 16 then scans the keyboard switches and compares the actual state of the keys to the correct state of the keys as represented by the key data stored in the 88 - bit image memory portion of the ram 32 . to sense the keys , the microcomputer provides a four - bit word at its outputs b0 through b3 which decodes to an output at output c10 of decoder 42 . this strobe output will then appear at any of the i / o terminals a0 through a7 of the microcomputer which are connected to closed key switches . these 8 - bit key data appearing at input terminals a0 through a7 are then compared to the data in the corresponding 8 - bits of ram memory which are assigned to these 8 keys . if the data is not identical , the microcomputer softwave counter is reset to continue in this comparison loop until the compared data is identical . if the compared data is identical , the microcomputer 16 then decrements the word appearing at outputs b0 through b3 to similarly apply the strobe to output c9 of the decoder 42 . the above described procedure is then repeated . whenever the compared data is not identical , the microcomputer software counter is reset to loop through the key sensing steps until all compared data is identical . if this comparison finally shows that the played keys are identical to the keys of the comparison which should be played and that no extra keys are played , the microcomputer 16 then applies a word at its outputs b0 through b3 which decodes to a reset output at decoder output c12 to reset the interfacing circuit so that new display data may be written into the display buffer memory 46 . the one - shot 74 is also activated by the reset output to produce a tone or other indication that the student has depressed the correct keys . if , however , the student depresses the wrong keys the same note data remains in the display buffer memory 46 and the key switch matrix 10 continues to be sensed until the appropriate play is made by the student . the following three sets of instructions are those which i have used in constructing an embodiment of the invention described above using a kim - 1 microcomputer . this set of instructions is disclosed for the purpose of providing at least one set of instructions which will cause the embodiment illustrated in the figure to operate as described above . these programs operate from the kim 1 ram but could easily be relocated to rom memory . however , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that a very substantial number of additional programs with variations may be developed from the above disclosure by a person of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention . __________________________________________________________________________program 1 - for playing an exercise by studentaddress 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 a b c d e f__________________________________________________________________________0000 4c 0c 00 a9 00 85 010010 85 00 85 02 d8 ea a9 02 85 07 a4 02 c8 d0 02 e60020 07 b1 06 85 03 c9 ff f0 e3 c9 fe f0 2c 29 7f d00030 oc a2 07 a9 00 9d 83 17 ca 1d fa 30 1c a9 07 250040 03 aa a9 00 38 2a ca 10 fc 48 a9 38 25 03 4a 4a0050 4a aa 68 5d 83 17 9d 83 17 a5 03 10 bf 84 02 a90060 10 18 f8 65 01 85 01 85 04 a9 00 85 08 65 00 d80070 85 00 85 05 a0 02 a9 00 a2 03 26 04 26 05 2a ca0080 10 f8 aa d0 04 c5 08 f0 05 e6 08 bd e7 1f 99 800090 17 88 10 e2 a9 30 8d 02 17 a9 ff 8d 01 17 8d 0300a0 17 20 00 01 ee 02 17 a2 0a bd 80 17 8d 00 17 2000b0 00 01 ee 02 17 20 00 01 ce 02 17 ca 10 eb a9 2700c0 8d 02 17 a2 07 a9 ff 5d 83 17 9d 93 17 ca 10 f500d0 20 11 01 f0 fb 20 1f 1f 20 11 01 f0 f3 20 11 0100e0 d0 fb 20 1f 1f 20 11 01 d0 f3 4c 1a 0000f00100 a9 20 4d 02 17 8d 02 17 a9 20 4d 02 17 8d 02 170110 60 a9 07 8d 02 17 aa a9 00 8d 01 17 bd 93 17 4d0120 00 17 d0 08 ca ce 02 17 10 f2 a9 00 600130 a9 00 8d fa 17 a9 1c 8d fb 17 a9 4c 85 00 a9 0c0140 85 01 a9 00 85 02 4c 73 180150__________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________program 2 - program for preparation , from instruments keyboard , of data for use in program 1address 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 a b c d f__________________________________________________________________________0000 4c 10 000010 a9 1c 8d fb 17 d8 a9 00 85 fa 85 fb 85 03 8d f50020 17 8d 01 17 8d fa 17 a9 02 8d f6 17 85 04 a9 ff0030 8d 03 17 8d 88 17 20 1f 1f 20 fe 1e d0 f8 20 1f0040 1f 20 fe 1e f0 f8 20 1f 1f 20 fe 1e f0 f0 20 6a0050 1f c9 13 f0 e1 c9 12 f0 4c 20 80 01 a9 ff 91 030060 20 80 01 a9 1d 85 fa 85 fb 85 03 8d f7 17 a5 040070 8d f8 17 20 1f 1f 20 fe 1e f0 f8 20 1f 1f 20 fe0080 1e f0 f0 20 6a 1f c9 13 d0 03 4c 00 18 a2 03 060090 f9 ca 10 fb 05 f9 85 f9 8d f9 17 20 1f 1f 20 fe00a0 1e d0 f8 f0 ce a0 01 a2 07 8e 02 17 a9 ff 4d 0000b0 17 9d 80 17 dd 88 17 f0 01 c8 ca 10 ec 88 d0 0a00c0 20 80 01 a9 fe 91 03 4c 50 01 a2 00 86 05 a0 0700d0 b9 80 17 0a 90 03 e8 b0 fa d0 f8 b9 80 17 59 8800e0 17 0a 90 04 e6 05 b0 f9 d0 f7 88 4c 00 01 0000f00100 10 ce e4 05 10 12 20 80 01 98 91 03 e0 00 f0 400110 a2 07 9d 88 17 ca 10 fa a2 07 bd 80 17 5d 88 170120 9d b6 17 ca 10 f4 a2 05 bd b8 17 90 b0 17 ca 100130 f7 a9 4f 85 06 a2 07 a9 07 85 05 1e b0 17 90 070140 20 80 01 a5 06 91 03 c6 06 c6 05 10 ee ca 10 e70150 a0 00 a9 80 11 03 91 03 a2 07 bd 80 17 9d 88 170160 ca 10 f7 a9 10 8d 02 17 a9 00 8d 02 17 38 f8 650170 fa 85 fa 90 02 e6 fb d8 4c 36 000180 e6 03 d0 17 e6 04 a9 04 c5 04 do 0f a9 00 85 fa0190 85 fb a9 4c 85 f9 68 68 4c 4f 1c a0 00 60__________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________program 0 - random note exerciseaddress 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 a b c d e f__________________________________________________________________________0000 a9 00 8d fa 17 a9 1c 8d fb 17 4c 30 000010 00 00 ed f6 f1 b8 f7 fc b9 d3 f9 f1 bd 0d 0f 100020 12 14 15 17 00 000030 d8 a9 00 85 00 85 01 85 02 85 04 a9 02 85 03 850040 05 a9 00 a2 07 9d 83 17 ca 10 fa a6 03 b5 1d 850050 07 a6 04 f0 09 ca f0 04 c6 07 10 02 e6 07 a6 050060 18 a9 0c 65 07 85 07 ca 10 f7 a9 38 25 07 4a 4a0070 4a aa a9 07 25 07 a8 38 a9 00 2a 88 10 fc 90 830080 17 a6 03 b5 16 85 24 a5 04 0a aa b5 10 85 26 e80090 b5 10 85 27 a6 05 e8 e8 bd e7 1f 85 29 a2 02 b400a0 00 b9 e7 1f 9d 80 17 ca f5 a9 30 8d 02 17 a900b0 ff 8d 01 17 8d 03 17 20 b5 01 ee 02 17 a2 0a bd00c0 80 17 8d 00 17 20 b5 01 20 50 01 ea ce 02 17 ca00d0 10 ed a9 27 8d 02 17 20 60 01 d0 fb 20 57 01 c900e0 12 f0 4f 20 60 01 f0 f4 4c 00 010100 20 60 01 f0 c7 a9 00 8d 01 17 a0 07 8c 02 17 b90110 83 17 4d 00 17 c9 ff d0 1c 88 10 f0 a2 00 a9 0a0120 f6 00 d5 00 f0 03 4c 41 00 a9 00 95 00 e8 e0 030130 d0 ec 4c 30 00 a2 02 a9 00 d5 00 d0 06 ca 10 f70140 4c 9d 00 a2 00 d6 00 10 f7 a9 09 95 00 e8 10 f50150 ee 02 17 20 b5 01 60 a9 00 8d 41 17 20 6a 1f 600160 c6 03 10 06 a9 06 85 03 c6 04 10 04 a9 02 85 040170 c6 05 10 04 a9 03 85 05 a9 ff 8d 41 17 8d 43 170180 a9 14 8d 42 17 a2 05 a9 00 8d 40 17 ce 42 17 ce0190 42 17 b5 24 8d 40 17 a0 ff 88 d0 fd ca 10 e8 a901a0 00 8d 01 17 a0 07 8c 02 17 8d 00 17 c9 ff d0 0401b0 88 10 f3 c8 60 a0 01 a9 20 4d 02 17 8d 02 17 8801c0 10 f5 60__________________________________________________________________________ it is to be understood that while the detailed drawings and specific examples given describe preferred embodiments of the invention , they are for the purpose of illustration only , that the apparatus of the invention is not limited to the precise details and conditions disclosed , that various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention which is defined by the following claims .
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the present invention will be described as it applies to its preferred embodiment . it is not intended that the present invention be limited to the described embodiment . it is intended that the invention cover all modifications and alternatives which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention . the present invention includes an improvement to the prior art field dressing tool 10 as shown in fig1 and 2 . the tool 10 is formed about axis 14 . tool 10 has a tip 12 at a first end thereof that is distal from a handle 20 . a series of substantially triangular barbs 16 are formed in angularly dispersed portions around tip 12 to extend radially outwardly from the rear portion of tip 12 . as in fig1 , the tool 10 is formed with four barbs 16 , although different numbers of barbs can be used . the tip 12 has a diameter , and the barbs 16 extend in opposite sides of the axes 14 to a width that is greater than the diameter . the diameter of the tip 12 should be sized for being inserted into the anus of a slain animal , such as a deer . the barbs 16 having a width at least twice as great as the diameter of the tip 12 has been found suitable . a shank 18 is substantially a coaxial extension of tip 12 along the axis 14 . the shank 18 terminates in the handle 20 that is formed transverse to the axis 14 . the shank 18 is formed substantially long to allow insertion of the tip 12 and barbs 16 into the anus of the animal by at least 3 - 4 inches while the handle 20 is being held by the user outside the body of the animal . as shown in the figures , the shank 18 and tip portion 12 are formed as an orthogonal cross of ribs 22 and connects at its proximal end to the handle 20 , formed in cross section ( not shown ) in the form of the letter “ h ”. the handle 20 can also be a linear extension of the shank 18 . as an alternative , the tip portion 12 can take on a generally hemispherical shape . to field dress an animal , the tip 12 is inserted into the anus of the animal as the handle 20 is pushed to move the barbs 16 into the body cavity . once the barbs 16 are beyond the anus , the handle is rotated sufficiently to cause the exposed points of the barbs 16 to ensnare the wall of the rectum . the handle 20 is then pulled back to remove the barbs 16 and the tip 12 of the tool 10 from the body cavity of the animal , thereby extracting a portion of the intestine . the exposed portion of the intestine is then tied or clamped to prevent accidental spilling of body waste materials . the improved tool for field dressing big game animals will now be described . the structure of the tool 30 is illustrated in fig3 - 5 . similar to the prior art tool 10 previously described , the tool 30 of the present invention is formed on an axis 34 and includes a tip portion 32 that is distal from a handle 40 . the tip portion 32 can also have a generally hemispherical shape . triangular barbs 36 are disposed around the tip 32 and extend radially outwardly from the rear portion of the tip 32 . a shank 38 extends from the tip portion 32 along the axes 34 . the shank 38 terminates in the handle 40 that is formed transverse to the axes 34 . the shank 38 and handle 40 are formed on an orthogonal cross of ribs 42 . as compared with the prior art tool 10 , the tool 30 of the present invention is longer in length and includes a barrier member 44 that extends away from the shank and is disposed between the opposite ends of the tool 30 . it is preferred that the barrier member 44 maintain a spaced - apart relationship with the handle 40 to allow the user &# 39 ; s hand to comfortably fit between the handle 40 and the barrier member 44 while gripping the handle 40 . it is also preferred that the barrier member be positioned sufficiently rearward of the tip 32 and barbs 36 so that the tool can be inserted into the anus of the slain animal by approximately 3 - 6 inches while the handle is being held by the user outside the body of the animal . the barrier member 44 as shown is generally perpendicular to the shank 38 and has a planer surface extending therefrom . those skilled in the art will appreciate that similar configurations at different angles and with some curvature could be used . the barrier member 44 acts as a stop to limit the length of the tool that can be inserted into the anus of the animal . in addition , the user can firmly grip the handle 40 while keeping the barrier member 44 snug against the animal , which gives the user greater control over the tool 30 . those skilled in the art will appreciate that the barrier member can take various shapes and forms . the preferred embodiment shows a barrier member 44 that is an annular flange having a diameter approximately 3 : 2 times greater than the diameter or width of the shank 38 . however , the barrier member could take on other shapes and need not be a continuous structure . important to the present invention is that the barrier member effectively limit the length of the tool 30 that is inserted into the anus of the animal . in its preferred form , the tool 30 as designed for field dressing deer has a length of approximately 8 inches with the barrier member 44 disposed 2 inches from the handle 40 . it is preferred that the tool 30 is manufactured by an injection molding process and that all of the parts of the tool are integrally formed , with the choice of plastics resin to be determined by the manufacturer . the method of using the field dressing tool 30 will now be illustrated with reference to fig6 - 9 , which are side elevation views of the rear portion of a large game animal , here a deer 50 . each of the figures show select internal organs depicted in dashed lines . the animal &# 39 ; s rectum 52 , which is the last section of the intestine , connects to the anus 54 at the animal &# 39 ; s rump 56 . the internal end of the rectum 52 continues as intestines that ultimately terminate at the stomach ( not shown ). the field dressing tool 30 is positioned in fig6 in alignment with anus 54 with the tip 32 adjacent to the anus 54 . the tool 30 is to be pushed in the direction indicated by arrow a until the tip 32 and barbs 36 have passed the anus 54 and entered the rectum 52 in the position as shown in fig7 . when the tool 30 is fully inserted into the rectum 52 , the barrier member 44 abuts the rump 56 of the deer 50 at the anus 54 . the barrier member effectively limits how far the tip portion 32 and barbs 36 can be inserted into the rectum 52 . this avoids causing unnecessary damage to the wall of the intestines . the barrier member 44 also maintains a spaced - apart relationship with the handle 40 , which allows the user to comfortably maintain a grip on and control over the tool 30 . it also avoids direct contact between the user &# 39 ; s hand and the anus 54 . as shown in fig7 , rectum 52 is stretched radially to accommodate and engage barbs 36 therein . the barrier member 44 limits the length of the tool 30 that can be inserted through the anus 54 and into the rectum 52 . the tool 30 is next rotated as indicated by arrow b through an angle of approximately 180 °. because the barbs 36 are formed along a series of perpendicular planes that pass through the axis 34 of the tool 30 , rotation of the tool 30 can be either in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction . with the extended sharp points of the barbs 36 stretched over the membrane comprising the rectum 52 , rotation of the tool 30 causes the barbs 36 to dig into and ensnare the wall of the rectum 52 . now referring to fig8 , the tool 30 is withdrawn in the direction indicated by arrow c from the animal &# 39 ; s anus 54 , drawing a section of the rectum 52 outside of the anus 54 . to provide ample space to tie or clamp the end of the rectum 52 , the tool 30 is pulled out of the anus 54 by approximately 10 - 12 inches . the tool 30 is then removed from the rectum 52 by cutting the intestinal wall either before or after the clamping or tying is done , as described below . as shown in fig9 , the extended section of the rectum 52 is tied into a knot 58 . as an alternative , a clamp ( not shown ) is applied and pulled tight enough to prevent solid waste from escaping through the rectum 52 during the remaining field dressing process . twisting the rectum 52 outside the body cavity of the animal prior to clamping serves to further prevent waste leakage . once the intestines are tied or clamped to prevent waste leakage , the field dressing process continues . the extended section of the rectum 52 is repositioned in the body cavity either by pushing the extended section through the anus 54 or pulling the extended section from within the body cavity after the cavity has been opened . the intestines and the balance of the digestive track are then removed through the abdominal opening along with the urinary track . the present invention contemplates numerous additions , alternatives , and options . that which has been disclosed is merely exemplary . the present invention is not to be limited to or by the specific embodiment disclosed herein . the invention is only to be limited by the claims appended hereto .
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in the following detailed description of the invention , reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part of the disclosure , and in which are shown by way of illustration , and not of limitation , exemplary embodiments by which the invention may be practiced . in the drawings , like numerals describe substantially similar components throughout the several views . further , it should be noted that while the detailed description provides various exemplary embodiments , as described below and as illustrated in the drawings , the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described and illustrated herein , but can extend to other embodiments , as would be known or as would become known to those skilled in the art . reference in the specification to “ one embodiment ,” “ this embodiment ,” or “ these embodiments ” means that a particular feature , structure , or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention , and the appearances of these phrases in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment . additionally , in the following detailed description , numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention . however , it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that these specific details may not all be needed to practice the present invention . in other circumstances , well - known structures , materials , circuits , processes and interfaces have not been described in detail , and / or may be illustrated in block diagram form , so as to not unnecessarily obscure the present invention . furthermore , some portions of the detailed description that follow are presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations within a computer . these algorithmic descriptions and symbolic representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the essence of their innovations to others skilled in the art . an algorithm is a series of defined steps leading to a desired end state or result . in the present invention , the steps carried out require physical manipulations of tangible quantities for achieving a tangible result . usually , though not necessarily , these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals or instructions capable of being stored , transferred , combined , compared , and otherwise manipulated . it has proven convenient at times , principally for reasons of common usage , to refer to these signals as bits , values , elements , symbols , characters , terms , numbers , instructions , or the like . it should be borne in mind , however , that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities . unless specifically stated otherwise , as apparent from the following discussion , it is appreciated that throughout the description , discussions utilizing terms such as “ processing ,” “ computing ,” “ calculating ,” “ determining ,” “ displaying ,” or the like , can include the actions and processes of a computer system or other information processing device that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical ( electronic ) quantities within the computer system &# 39 ; s registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system &# 39 ; s memories or registers or other information storage , transmission or display devices . the present invention also relates to an apparatus for performing the operations herein . this apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes , or it may include one or more general - purpose computers selectively activated or reconfigured by one or more computer programs . such computer programs may be stored in a computer - readable storage medium , such as , but not limited to optical disks , magnetic disks , read - only memories , random access memories , solid state devices and drives , or any other types of media suitable for storing electronic information . the algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus . various general - purpose systems may be used with programs and modules in accordance with the teachings herein , or it may prove convenient to construct a more specialized apparatus to perform desired method steps . in addition , the present invention is not described with reference to any particular programming language . it will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the invention as described herein . the instructions of the programming language ( s ) may be executed by one or more processing devices , e . g ., central processing units ( cpus ), processors , or controllers . exemplary embodiments of the invention , as will be described in greater detail below , provide apparatuses , methods and computer programs for the allocation of an area of a logical volume to a virtual volume . fig3 illustrates an example of a hardware configuration of an information system in which the method and apparatus of the invention may be applied . the system comprises an application server 100 , a san ( storage area network ) 120 , a lan ( local area network ) 140 , and a storage subsystem 160 . the application server 100 comprises a cpu ( central processing unit ) 101 , a memory 102 , a hdd ( hard disk drive ) 103 , a san interface 104 , and a lan interface 105 . the cpu 101 reads programs from the memory 102 and executes the programs . the memory 102 reads programs and data from the hdd 103 when the application server 100 starts and stores the programs and the data . the hdd 103 stores programs and data . the san interface 104 connects the application server 100 and the san 120 . the lan interface 105 connects the application server 100 and the lan 140 . the san 120 connects the application server 100 and the storage subsystem 160 . the application server 100 uses the san 120 to send application data to the storage subsystem 160 and receive application data from the storage subsystem 160 . the application server 100 uses the lan 140 to send management data to the storage subsystem 160 and receive management data from the storage subsystem 160 . the lan 140 connects the application server 100 and the storage subsystem 160 . the storage subsystem 160 comprises a san interface 161 , a lan interface 162 , a cpu 163 , a memory 164 , a disk interface 165 , a hdd 166 , and a ssd ( solid state drive ) 167 . the san interface 161 connects the storage subsystem 160 and the san 120 . the lan interface 162 connects the storage subsystem 160 and the lan 140 . the cpu 163 reads programs from the memory 164 and executes the programs . the memory 164 reads programs and data from the hdd 166 and the ssd 167 when the storage subsystem 160 starts and stores the programs and the data . the disk interface 165 connects the storage subsystem 160 , the hdd 166 , and the ssd 167 . the hdd 166 stores programs and data . the ssd 167 stores programs and data . fig4 illustrates an example of the memory 102 in the application server 100 and the memory 164 in the storage subsystem 160 of fig1 according to the first embodiment . the memory 102 comprises an os ( operating system ) program 201 and an application program 202 . the os program 201 executes the application program 202 . the application program 202 ( e . g ., database program ) reads data from the storage subsystem 160 , processes data , and writes the results to the storage subsystem 160 . the memory 164 in the storage subsystem 160 comprises a disk control program 221 , raid ( redundant arrays of inexpensive ( or independent ) disks ) group information 222 , raid information 223 , logical volume information 224 , pool information 225 , virtual volume information 226 , and a page selection program 227 . the disk control program 221 receives a read command and a write command from the application server 100 , reads data from the hdd 166 and the ssd 167 , and writes data to the hdd 166 and the ssd 167 using the raid group information 222 , the raid information 223 , the logical volume information 224 , the pool information 225 , and the virtual volume information 226 . fig5 shows an example of raid group information 222 according to the first embodiment . the raid group information 222 includes columns of a raid group name 301 , a media name 302 , a raid level 303 , a media type 304 , and a capacity 305 . for example , the row 306 shows that “ rg a ” comprises “ hdd a ,” “ hdd b ,” “ hdd c ,” and “ hdd d ,” the raid level of “ rg a ” is “ raid 5 ,” “ rg a ” comprises “ hdd 15 , 000 rpm ,” and the capacity of “ rg a ” is “ 100 .” there is only one media type in the first embodiment . fig6 shows an example of raid information 223 according to the first embodiment . the raid information 223 includes columns of a raid group name 401 , a page number 402 , a location 403 , a raid group address 404 , a data media name 405 , a data media address 406 , a parity media name 407 , and a parity media address 408 . for example , the row 409 and the row 410 show that the address from “ 0 ” to “ 9 ” on “ page 200 ” on “ rg a ” is allocated to the address from “ 0 ” to “ 9 ” on “ hdd a ” and located on “ 0 %” from the beginning of “ rg a ,” the address from “ 10 ” to “ 19 ” on “ page 200 ” on “ rg a ” is allocated to the address from “ 0 ” to “ 9 ” on “ hdd b ” and located on “ 0 %” from the beginning of “ rg a ,” and the parity of “ page 200 ” on “ rg a ” is located on the address from “ 0 ” to “ 9 ” on “ hdd c .” the page selection program 227 calculates the location 403 when the raid information 223 is updated . for example , the address of “ page 201 ” on “ rg a ” is from “ 20 ” to “ 39 ” and the capacity 305 of “ rg a ” is “ 100 .” therefore the location 403 of “ page 201 ” is “ 20 %” ( 20 / 100 ). fig7 shows an example of the logical volume information 224 in the form of a table . the logical volume information 224 includes columns of a logical volume name 501 , a logical volume address 502 , a raid group name 503 , and a raid group address 504 . for example , the row 505 shows that the address from “ 0 ” to “ 99 ” of “ l - vol a ” is allocated to the address from “ 0 ” to “ 99 ” in “ rg a .” fig8 shows an example of the pool information 225 in the form of a table . the pool information 225 includes columns of a pool name 601 , a logical volume name 602 , a virtual volume name 603 , and a capacity 604 . for example , the row 605 shows “ pool a ” comprises “ l - vol a ” and “ l - vol b ,” the area of “ pool a ” is used by “ v - vol a ,” and the capacity of “ v - vol a ” is “ 200 .” fig9 shows an example of the virtual volume information 226 in the form of a table . the virtual volume information 226 includes columns of a virtual volume name 701 , a virtual volume address 702 , a page number 703 , a logical volume name 704 , a logical volume address 705 , and a page number 706 . for example , the row 707 shows that the address from “ 0 ” to “ 19 ” on “ v - vol a ” is “ page 0 ,” the address from “ 0 ” to “ 19 ” on “ l - vol a ” is “ page 100 ,” and “ page 0 ” is allocated to “ page 100 .” fig1 shows an example of the read command 800 and the write command 820 . the read command 800 includes a command type 801 , a volume name 802 , and a volume address 803 . the read command 800 is sent from the application program 202 to the storage subsystem 160 . the write command 820 includes a command type 821 , a volume name 822 , a volume address 823 , and data 824 . the write command 820 is sent from the application program 202 to the storage subsystem 160 . fig1 shows an example of a diagram illustrating relationships between virtual volumes and logical volumes , between logical volumes and raid groups , and between raids group and hdds . for example , the address from “ 40 ” to “ 59 ” on “ v - vola ” is mapped to the address from “ 20 ” to “ 39 ” on “ l - vol a .” the address from “ 20 ” to “ 39 ” on “ l - vola ” is mapped to the address from “ 20 ” to “ 39 ” on “ rg a .” the address from “ 20 ” to “ 29 ” on “ rg a ” is mapped to the address from “ 10 ” to “ 19 ” on “ hdd a .” the address from “ 30 ” to “ 39 ” on “ rg a ” is mapped to the address from “ 10 ” to “ 19 ” on “ hdd c .” fig1 is an example of a flow diagram showing that the disk control program 221 receives the read command 800 or the write command 820 from the application program 202 , and the disk control program 221 sends the result of read or write . in step 1001 , the disk control program 221 receives the read command 800 or the write command 820 from the application program 202 . in decision step 1002 , if the command that the disk control program 221 received in step 1001 is the write command 820 , then the process goes to decision step 1003 ; if not , then the process goes to decision step 1006 . in decision step 1003 , if an area specified by the volume name 822 and the volume address 823 of the write command 820 is allocated in the virtual volume information 226 , then the process goes to step 1005 ; if not , then the process goes to step 1004 . in step 1004 , the disk control program 221 allocates an unallocated area of a logical volume to the virtual volume specified by the volume name 822 and the volume address 823 , and updates the virtual volume information 226 . in step 1005 , the disk control program 221 gets the volume name 822 and the volume address 823 from the write command 820 , gets the logical volume name 704 and the logical volume address 705 from the virtual volume information 226 , gets the raid group name 503 and the raid group address 504 from the logical volume information 224 , gets the data media name 405 and the data media address 406 from the raid information 223 , gets the parity media name 407 and the parity media address 408 from the raid information 223 , reads an area specified by the data media name 405 and the data media address 406 , calculates a parity and writes the data 824 of the write command 820 to an area specified by the data media name 405 and the data media address 406 , and writes the parity to an area specified by the parity media name 407 and the parity media address 408 . for example , when the volume name 822 is “ v - vol a ” and the volume address 823 is an address from “ 40 ” to “ 43 ”, the data 824 is written to an address from “ 10 ” to “ 13 ” on “ hdd a ,” the disk control program 221 reads an address from “ 10 ” to “ 19 ” on “ hdd a ” and an address from “ 10 ” to “ 19 ” on “ hdd c ,” calculates a parity , and writes the parity to an address from “ 10 ” to “ 19 ” on “ hdd b .” in decision step 1006 , if an area specified by the volume name 802 and the volume address 803 of the read command 800 is allocated in the virtual volume information 226 , then the process goes to step 1008 ; if not , then the process goes to step 1007 . in step 1007 , the disk control program 221 returns “ 0 ” to the application server 100 because the area specified by the volume name 802 and the volume address 803 is not written . in step 1008 , the disk control program 221 gets the volume name 802 and the volume address 803 from the read command 800 , gets the logical volume name 704 and the logical volume address 705 from the virtual volume information 226 , gets the raid group name 503 and the raid group address 504 from the logical volume information 224 , gets the data media name 405 and the data media address 406 from the raid information 223 , reads an area specified by the data media name 405 and the data media address 406 , and returns the data . fig1 is an example of a flow diagram showing that the page selection program 227 selects a page and the disk control program 221 allocates the page to a virtual volume in step 1004 of fig1 . in step 1101 , the page selection program 227 gets a target address from the volume name 822 and the volume address 823 of the write command 820 . in step 1102 , the page selection program 227 calculates a location in the target virtual volume based on the volume name 822 and the volume address 823 . for example , when the volume name 822 is “ v - vol a ,” the volume address 823 is from “ 40 ” to “ 43 ,” and the capacity 604 of “ v - vol a ” is “ 200 ,” the location in the “ v - vol a ” is “ 20 %” (= 40 / 200 ). in step 1103 , the page selection program 227 selects a near page which is nearest to the location calculated in step 1102 from the raid information 223 . for example , the page selection program 227 calculated the location and the location was “ 20 %.” therefore the page selection program 227 selects “ page 201 ” where the location 403 of the raid information 223 is “ 20 %.” in step 1104 , the disk control program 221 allocates the address from “ 20 ” to “ 39 ” on the “ l - vol a ” to the address specified by the volume name 822 and the volume address 823 because the address of the page selected in step 1103 is from “ 20 ” to “ 39 ” on the “ rg a ” from the logical volume information 224 . the following describes only differences between the second embodiment and the first embodiment . fig1 illustrates an example of the memory 102 in the application server 100 and the memory 164 in the storage subsystem 160 of fig3 according to the second embodiment . the memory 164 comprises a disk control program 221 , raid group information 222 , raid information 223 , logical volume information 224 , pool information 225 , virtual volume information 226 , a page selection program 227 , and performance information 228 . the performance information 228 is not provided in the first embodiment of fig4 . fig1 shows an example of raid group information 222 according to the second embodiment . unlike the raid group information of the first embodiment ( fig5 ), there are several media types in the second embodiment . fig1 shows an example of raid information 223 according to the second embodiment . unlike the raid information of the first embodiment ( fig6 ), there are several media types in the second embodiment . fig1 shows an example of performance information 228 according to the second embodiment . the performance information 228 includes columns of a rank 1501 and a media name 1502 . for example , the row 1503 shows that “ ssd mlc ” is the highest performance media . fig1 shows an example of a diagram illustrating calculation of a location according to the second embodiment . there are three media types in the raid group information 222 in fig1 . the highest performance media type is “ ssd mlc ” according to the performance information 228 and the capacity is “ 100 ” according to the raid group information 222 in fig1 . the second highest performance media type is “ hdd 15 , 000 rpm ” according to the performance information 228 and the capacity is “ 200 ” according to the raid group information 222 in fig1 . the third highest performance media type is “ hdd 10 , 000 rpm ” according to the performance information 228 and the capacity is “ 100 ” according to the raid group information 222 in fig1 . therefore , for example , the address of “ page 501 ” on “ rg b ” is from “ 20 ” to “ 39 ” and the sum of capacity 305 in fig1 is “ 400 ” (= 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 ). the location 403 of “ page 501 ” is “ 35 %” ( 100 + 20 * 2 / 400 ). the page selection program 227 calculates the location 403 when the raid information 223 is updated . of course , the system configuration illustrated in fig3 is purely exemplary of information systems in which the present invention may be implemented , and the invention is not limited to a particular hardware configuration . the computers and storage systems implementing the invention can also have known i / o devices ( e . g ., cd and dvd drives , floppy disk drives , hard drives , etc .) which can store and read the modules , programs and data structures used to implement the above - described invention . these modules , programs and data structures can be encoded on such computer - readable media . for example , the data structures of the invention can be stored on computer - readable media independently of one or more computer - readable media on which reside the programs used in the invention . the components of the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication , e . g ., a communication network . examples of communication networks include local area networks , wide area networks , e . g ., the internet , wireless networks , storage area networks , and the like . in the description , numerous details are set forth for purposes of explanation in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention . however , it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that not all of these specific details are required in order to practice the present invention . it is also noted that the invention may be described as a process , which is usually depicted as a flowchart , a flow diagram , a structure diagram , or a block diagram . although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process , many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently . in addition , the order of the operations may be re - arranged . as is known in the art , the operations described above can be performed by hardware , software , or some combination of software and hardware . various aspects of embodiments of the invention may be implemented using circuits and logic devices ( hardware ), while other aspects may be implemented using instructions stored on a machine - readable medium ( software ), which if executed by a processor , would cause the processor to perform a method to carry out embodiments of the invention . furthermore , some embodiments of the invention may be performed solely in hardware , whereas other embodiments may be performed solely in software . moreover , the various functions described can be performed in a single unit , or can be spread across a number of components in any number of ways . when performed by software , the methods may be executed by a processor , such as a general purpose computer , based on instructions stored on a computer - readable medium . if desired , the instructions can be stored on the medium in a compressed and / or encrypted format . from the foregoing , it will be apparent that the invention provides methods , apparatuses and programs stored on computer readable media for the allocation of an area of a logical volume to a virtual volume . additionally , while specific embodiments have been illustrated and described in this specification , those of ordinary skill in the art appreciate that any arrangement that is calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments disclosed . this disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations of the present invention , and it is to be understood that the terms used in the following claims should not be construed to limit the invention to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification . rather , the scope of the invention is to be determined entirely by the following claims , which are to be construed in accordance with the established doctrines of claim interpretation , along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled .
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the base thermoplastic elastomer used in the present invention may be any of the a - b -- b - a ) n block copolymers where a represents a monovinyl aromatic compound block , b represents a conjugated diene block and n is an integer of 1 to 20 . obviously , this includes both linear triblock and radial or star - block copolymers . the copolymers contain 25 to 55 percent by weight , preferably 30 to 50 percent by weight , or a monovinyl aromatic compound and 45 to 75 percent by weight , preferably 50 to 70 percent by weight , of a conjugated diene having 4 to 8 carbon atoms . the monovinyl aromatic compound is preferably styrene , but may be alkyl substituted styrenes which have similar copolymerization charcteristics , such as , alphamethylstyrene and the ring substituted methylstyrenes , ethylstyrenes and t - butylstyrene . the amount of monovinyl aromatic compound useful in the invention is between 25 and 55 percent by weight , and preferably 30 to 50 by weight , based on the total weight of monomers utilized . the hydrocarbyllithium initiators useful in the polymerization are the known alkyllithium compounds , such as methyllithium , n - butyllithium , sec - butyllithium ; the cyclo - alkyllithium compounds , such as cyclo - hexyllithium ; and the aryllithium compounds , such as phenyllithium , p - tolyllithium and naphthyllithium . the amounts of hydrocarbyllithium added should be between 0 . 2 and 10 . 0 millimoles per mole of monomer . the total amount of initiator used depends on the molecular weight and number of polymer chains desired . the conjugated dienes are those having from 4 to 8 carbon atoms in the molecule , such as 1 , 3 - butadiene , isoprene , 2 , 3 - dimethyl - 1 , 3 - butadiene , piperylene and mixtures thereof . the polymerization is conducted in an inert hydrocarbon solvent such as isobutane , pentane , cyclohexane , benzene , toluene , xylene and the like . the polymerization is carried out in the absence of air , moisture or any other impurity which is known to be detrimental to anionic catalyst systems . the temperature of polymerization may be conventionally from 0 ° to 120 ° c ., and preferably between 40 ° and 80 ° c . the polyfunctional coupling agents may be the polyvinyl aromatic compounds such as divinylbenzene , which although only difunctional , as monomers , can polymerize to form polyfunctional agents in situ and serve as coupling agents . suitable are the ortho -, meta -, or para - divinylbenzenes , or mixtures thereof . in the case of difunctional agents which polymerize during the coupling reaction , such as divinylbenzene , the amounts of agent to be used must be determined for the conditions of reaction , since the number of equivalent functional sites is variable . however , the amounts will vary only from 0 . 5 to 3 . 5 parts by weight , and preferably 0 . 8 to 2 . 0 parts by weight , of divinylbenzene per 100 parts by weight of total monomers . the extender oils useful in this invention , usually referred to as paraffinic / naphthenic oils , are usually fractions of refined petroleum products . commercial extender oils include the shellflex ® oils manufactured by shell chemical company and the tufflo ® oils manufactured by arco petroleum products company . these oils are used in amounts between 50 and 200 parts per hundred of elastomer ( phr ). the polystyrene material may be selected from the low molecular weight polystyrenes , poly - α - methylstyrenes , polyvinyltoluenes , polyindene resins , coumarone - indene resins and mixtures of these . the amount of polystyrene material used may vary from 0 - 250 phr , preferably 50 - 200 phr . the inorganic fillers are well known in the art of both shoe sole compounds and adhesives . these include talc , clays , silica , titanium dioxide , calcium carbonate and other pigmenting additives such as carbon black . the amount of filler used depends on the final use of the compounded elastomer , but generally varies from 0 - 200 phr , preferable 25 - 150 phr . the stabilizers used may be any one or a combination of more than one of the known antioxidants , ultraviolet stabilizers and heat stabilizers . these are used in minor amounts of between 0 and 3 . 0 phr , preferably from 0 . 1 to 2 . 0 phr . in the process of this invention , the base thermoplastic elastomer is prepared by polymerizing the appropriate monomers in an inert solvent . then , without cooling the polymer / solvent mixture , the mixture is immediately transferred to a mixing tank and the mineral oil , reinforcing resins , inorganic fillers , antioxidants and stabilizers are added and dispersed with mixing . the dispersion is then pumped directly to a devolatilizing extruder and extruded into a strand while removing the inert solvent from the mixture through the devolatilizing parts of the extruder . the resulting devolatilized strand of shoe sole compound is then chopped into pellets which are suitable for use in shoe sole molding applications . if only the oil is added to the elastomer / solvent mixture prior to devolatilization , the product is an oil - extended thermoplastic elastomer useful for later compounding . the following examples are given to illustrate the invention , but not to limit the claims . all parts and percentages are by weight unless otherwise specified . a one gallon stirred reactor was charged with 2 , 000 g of purified cyclohexane and heated to 60 ° c . a trace of diphenylethylene ( 0 . 2 g ) was added to te cyclohexane by means of a hypodermic needle . a solution of sec - butyllithium in cyclohexane was added to the reactor portionwise until a permanent orange - yellow color was obtained . the solution was then backtitrated with cyclohexane until the color just disappeared . the solvent and reactor were now ready for the polymerization of monomer . into the closed reactor was charged 13 . 7 m moles of sec - butyllithium and 307 g of styrene and the reactor held at 60 ° c . for 20 minutes . analysis of the solution by u . v . analysis showed that less than 0 . 01 % by weight of the styrene monomer remained . number average molecular weights ( m n ) of the polystyrene blocks were determined by gel permeation chromatography to be 28 , 000 . at this point , 361 g of butadiene was added to the reactor and the whole mixture held for 60 minutes to complete the polymerization of the butadiene . the diblock arms thus formed were analyzed by refractive index and found to be 46 % by weight styrene and 54 % butadiene . there was then added 14 . 7 g of divinylbenzene of 53 % purity and the whole was held for 1 - 2 hours at 70 ° c . to complete the linking reaction . the system was terminated by the addition of 1 g of methanol . the resulting star - block polymer was found to have about 8 linear arms . each arm has m n of about 60 , 900 , made up of a polystyrene block of m n 28 , 000 and a polybutadiene block of m n 32 , 900 . the divinylbenzene was used in an amount of 1 . 2 parts per hundred of monomer ( phm ). the polymer / solvent mixture was transferred to a mixing tank where 670 g cyclohexane was added to produce a solution containing 20 % solids . the mixture was maintained at 65 ° c . while 334 g of a mineral oil , shellflex 311 ( a naphthenic mineral oil sold by shell chemical company ) was added and completely dissolved into the polymer / solvent mixture . the resulting solution was then pumped into a devolatilizing extruder where the solvent was removed through the devolatilizing vents while the oil - extended elastomer was extruded as a strand and pelletized . the resulting pellets contain a 2 : 1 ratio of elastomer : oil and were labeled &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; for future reference . the star - block elastomer was prepared as in example i up through the point of termination of the polymerization with methanol . the polymer solution was transferred to a 5 gallon polyethylene liner , diluted further with acetone and the polymer was precipitated by adding isopropanol under high speed stirring . the polymer was then treated with 0 . 5 part polygard hr , a commercial antioxidant , and 0 . 5 part 2 , 6 - ditert - butyl - 4 - methylphenol per 100 parts by weight of polymer . the wet polymer was dried at 50 ° c . in an oven under vacuum at less than 100 microns of mercury to form neat elastomer . oil - extended , star - block copolymer was prepared by placing the neat elastomer in a 1 gallon screw cap jar and redissolving in sufficient cyclohexane to produce a 15 % by weight solids solution . enough oil to give a mixture of 50 parts of oil per hundred parts of elastomer ( phr ) was then added and the jar was rolled until the oil and elastomer were completely mixed . the mineral oil added was shellflex 311 , a naphthenic mineral oil sold by shell chemical company . the oil - elastomer - cyclohexane solution was dried in a vacuum oven following the same procedure used for drying neat polymer , above . the oil - extended product was labeled &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; for future reference . this product also had a 2 : 1 ratio of elastomer : oil . the physical properties of the oil - extended elastomers i and a were determined and were found to be as follows : table i______________________________________sample i a______________________________________tensile strength , 300 % elong . ( psi ) 240 270tensile strength , break ( psi ) 2210 2080elongation , break (%) 990 945permanent set at 10 minutes (%) 31 . 1 27 . 1______________________________________ as can be seen , the properties of the two oil - extended elastomers are essentially equivalent . the method of the invention produces a product at considerable savings in manufacturing effort and cost , yet having comparable properties . a one gallon stirred reactor was charged with 2 , 000 g of purified cyclohexane and heated to 60 ° c . a trace of diphenylethylene ( 0 . 2 g ) was added to te cyclohexane by means of a hypodermic needle . a solution of sec - butyllithium in cyclohexane was added to the reactor portionwise until a permanent orange - yellow color was obtained . the solution was then backtitrated with cyclohexane until the color just disappeared . the solvent and reactor were now ready for the polymerization of monomer . into the closed reactor was charged 13 . 7 m moles of sec - butyllithium and 307 g of styrene and the reactor held at 60 ° c . for 20 minutes . analysis of the solution by u . v . analysis showed that less than 0 . 01 % by weight of the styrene monomer remained . number average molecular weights ( m n ) of the polystyrene blocks were determined by gel permeation chromatography to be 28 , 000 . at this point , 361 g of butadiene was added to the reactor and the whole mixture held for 60 minutes to complete the polymerization of the butadiene . the diblock arms thus formed were analyzed by refractive index and found to be 46 % by weight styrene and 54 % butadiene . there was then added 14 . 7 g of divinylbenzene of 53 % purity and the whole was held for 1 - 2 hours at 70 ° c . to complete the linking reaction . the system was terminated by the addition of 1 g of methanol . the resulting star - block polymer was found to have about 8 linear arms . each arm has m n of about 60 , 900 , made up of a polystyrene block of m n 28 , 000 and a polybutadiene block of m n 32 , 900 . the divinylbenzene was used in an amount of 1 . 2 parts per hundred of monomer ( phm ). the polymer / solvent mixture was transferred to a mixing tank where 670 g cyclohexane was added to produce a solution containing 20 % solids . the mixture was maintained at 65 ° c . while 334 g of a mineral oil , shellflex 311 ( a naphthenic mineral oil sold by shell chemical company ) was added and completely dissolved into the polymer / solvent mixture . after a uniform solution was obtained , the organic soluble ingredients ( i . e ., 22 . 0 phr polystyrene , 11 . 5 phr resin 18 - 290 , 0 . 3 phr irganox 1010 , 0 . 3 phr tinuvin p and 0 . 3 phr dltdp ) were added in amounts shown in the formulation below . then the inorganic fillers ( 19 . 2 phr hi - sil 233 ) were added and stirring continued until a uniform dispersion was obtained . the resulting dispersion was then pumped into a 0 . 8 &# 34 ; devolatilizing extruder where the solvent was removed through the devolatilizing vents while the shoe sole compound was extruded at 138 ° c . as a strand and pelletized . the resulting pellets were designated &# 34 ; compound ii &# 34 ;. the star - block elastomer was prepared as in example i up through the point of termination of the polymerization with methanol . the polymer solution was transferred to a 5 gallon polyethylene liner , diluted further with acetone and the polymer was precipitated by adding isopropanol under high speed stirring . the polymer was then treated with 0 . 5 part polygard hr , a commercial antioxidant , and 0 . 5 part 2 , 6 - ditert - butyl - 4 - methylphenol per 100 parts by weight of polymer . the wet polymer was dried at 50 ° c . in an oven under vacuum at less than 100 microns of mercury to form neat elastomer . oil - extended , star - block copolymer was prepared by placing the neat elastomer in a 1 gallon screw cap jar and redissolving in sufficient cyclohexane to produce a 15 % by weight solids solution . enough oil to give a mixture of 50 parts of oil per hundred parts of elastomer ( phr ) was then added and the jar was rolled until the oil and elastomer were completely mixed . the mineral oil added was shellflex 311 , a naphthenic mineral oil sold by shell chemical company . the oil - elastomer - cyclohexane solution was dried in a vacuum oven following the same procedure used for drying neat polymer , above . a shoe sole compound , b , was prepared by melt - blending ingredients as follows : ______________________________________ ingredient parts ( by weight ) ______________________________________elastomer / oil ( 2 : 1 ratio ) 100 . 0shellflex 311 oil 53 . 7crystal polystyrene 22 . 0resin 18 - 290 11 . 5hi - sil 233 19 . 2tinuvin p 0 . 3irganox 1010 0 . 3dltdp 0 . 3______________________________________ the crystal polystyrene used was cosden 500s , a crystal polystyrene containing 6 % oil sold by cosden chemical co . resin 18 - 290 is a poly - α - methylstyrene resin of molecular weight 960 and softening point of about 141 ° c ., sold by amoco chemicals corporation . hi - sil 233 is an amorphous silica sold by ppg industries . irganox 1010 is a hindered phenol antioxidant sold by ciba - geigy corp . dltdp is the stabilizer , dilaurylthiodiproprionate , sold by cincinnati milacron . tinuvin p is a light stabilizer sold by ciba - geigy corp . the resulting shoe sole compound had the same final composition as the &# 34 ; compound ii &# 34 ; made by the process of this invention . the properties of the shoe sole compounds were measured on compression molded plaques which were prepared at 140 ° c . the ross flexural test was determined by astm - d - 1052 . the shore a hardness values were determined on an a - 2 durometer 10 seconds after initial contact with the plaque . the tensile strengths and elongation were determined by by astm - d412 at a test rate of 20 in / min . the melt index was determined by astm - d1238 - 65t at 190 ° c . under a load of 2 . 16 kg . the results are shown in table ii . table ii______________________________________sample compound ii compound b______________________________________shore a hardness 48 46ross flextural test 7 . 78 4 . 20 (× 10 . sup .- 5 ) adhesion 48 45 - 55 * tensile strength , 300 % 325 380 elong ( psi ) tensile strength , break ( psi ) 335 390elongation , break (%) 430 430melt index ( e ) 4 . 1 6 . 6______________________________________ * nominal values on similar materials . once again the process of this invention gave compound ii directly from the polymerization reactor which has properties comparable to compound b made by separation of neat elastomer , oil - extending , reheating to melt blend the elastomer , oil and and formulation ingredients and pelletizing .
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referring initially to fig1 a solid state radiation detector 10 utilizes a layer 11 having a pair of opposed layer surfaces 11a and 11b . the electrical conductance measurable between the opposed surfaces is responsive to absorption of radiation quanta . in particular , for detection of x - ray flux , layer 11 is fabricated of solid materials such as lead oxide , cadmium selenide , selenium and the like . in the presently preferred embodiment , selenium is utilized as the x - ray - responsive photoconductive material , due to the very low dark conductivity thereof . selenium , having at atomic number of only 34 , is not an optimum x - ray absorber ; however , the ease of deposition , as by evaporation and the like proceses , and the previously mentioned very low dark conduction ( very high dark resistance , on the order of 10 15 ohm - centimeters ) overcome the less - than - optimum radiation absorption characteristics of the material . the selenium layer 11 is deposited to a thickness a of about 500 microns ( 20 milli - inches ) upon one surface of a first electrode 12 having a thickness t 1 from about 500 angstroms to about 6 milli - inches . advantageously , electrode 12 is a nickel - tungsten member , although , gold , indium oxide , tin oxide , indium tin oxide , nickel - coated tungsten , aluminum and nickel may be equally as well utilized . it is preferable , although not necessary , that a thin layer , having a thickness t of about 1 , 000 angstroms , of zinc sulfide be fabricated upon electrode 12 prior to the fabrication of the photoconductive layer 11 thereon . similarly , it is preferable , although not necessary , that a similar layer 16 of zinc sulfide be fabricated upon the remaining surface 11b of the photoconductive layer . a second electrode 18 is fabricated either directly upon photoconductive layer surface 11b or , if film 16 of zinc sulfide is utilized , upon the surface of layer 16 furthest from photoconductive layer surface 11b . electrode 18 is fabricated of any of the aforementioned materials , or of a metalized plastic material , to a thickness t 2 of between about 500 angstroms to about 4 milli - inches . in one preferred embodiment , second electrode 18 is fabricated of aluminum with a nickel - coated steel electrode being used as first electrode 12 . the resistivity of the selenium layer is about 10 15 ohm - cm and a 0 . 05 cm thick layer will have a dark resistance of about 2 . 5 × 10 13 ohms . the absorption coefficient of selenium , for x - radiation at about 100kev ; is about 2 / cm , whereby the product of the layer thickness a and the absorption coefficient is about 0 . 1 for 100kev . x - ray quanta . the detector is positioned to receive x - ray quanta at some small angle θ to the normal n to one end plane 11c thereof , with absorption of the x - ray quanta occurring along the length b of the detector . preferably , length b is from about 0 . 35 cm . to about 1 cm ., with the larger values being preferred to reduce beam - hardening tracking errors . it will be seen that the response of the detector to scattered radiation quanta is minimized by reducing the angle θ at which quanta may enter the detection layer ; the angle θ is related to the ratio of layer thickness a to layer length b and is optimized if surface 11c is substantially traverse to the planes of the opposed layer surfaces 11a and 11b . the width c of the quanta - receiving detector face is about two centimeters . the conversion efficiency of the detector is on the order of 2 × 10 - 16 coulombs per x - ray quanta , yielding a dark current shot noise level on the order of one x - ray equivalent in a one milli - second interval . a potential source 20 is coupled to first electrode 12 with a positive potential of magnitude v , with respect to ground potential . second electrode 18 is coupled to the input 25a of an operational amplifier 25 having its output 25b coupled both to input 25a through a feedback resistance r f and to electrical ground potential through an equivalent load resistance r 1 . the electrical output signal of the detector is proportional to the magnitude of the radiation - responsive photoconductance and is taken from operational amplifier output 25b . typically , magnitude v of potential source 20 is on the order of 5 , 000 volts , while the dark resistance of the detector , as previously mentioned , is on the order of 2 . 5 × 10 13 ohms , whereby a dark current of about 0 . 2 nanoamperes flows through the series circuit of the detector and the equivalent input resistance req of the amplifier . in operation , reception of radiation quanta , through detector surface 11c and into the volume of layer 11 , increases electrical conductivity of layer 11 between electrodes 12 and 18 . the increased conductive ( or decreased resistance ) increases the current flow through the detector layer and causes an increase in the magnitude of the output signal from the current - measuring amplifier 25 . the output signal is thus varied in amplitude responsive to the intensity of radiation flux incident on the detector . referring now to fig2 a solid state detector array 30 includes an insulative substrate 35 having a plurality n of electrodes 37a - 37n fabricated upon a first surface 35a thereof , with each electrode being parallel to , but spaced from , each of the other electrodes . a thin film 39 of zinc sulfide may be fabricated over all of the parallel , spaced - apart electrodes 37 . a layer of 42 of radiation - responsive photoconductive material is fabricated upon a portion of insulative substrate surface 35a ( or upon film 39 , if used ) to cover the area bounded by all of the plurality of electrodes 37 . the surface of photoconductive material layer 42 furthest from substrate 35 may be covered by a thin film 44 of zinc sulfide , and a conductive first electrode 46 is fabricated upon either the zinc sulfide layer 44 or , if layer 44 is not utilized , directly upon the surface of photoconductive layer 42 furthest from the substrate . advantageously , first electrode 46 may extend across one edge of the photoconductive layer and onto a portion of the substrate 35 , for mechanical stability . a potential source 20 &# 39 ;, of magnitude v , is coupled to electrode 46 to place a bias potential of positive polarity thereon to bias the photoconductive ( e . g . selenium ) layer 42 . each detector of the array is defined by the photoconductive layer bounded by electrode 46 and by one of electrodes 37 . each elongated one of electrodes 37a - 37n has a width of about 3 to 4 milli - inches with an electrode - to - electrode spacing s of about 5 milli - inches . the length l of each electrode is about 1 centimeter and the height h of the selenium photoconductor layer is on the order of 20 milli - inches . thus , the array comprises a plurality of abutting detectors of about 5 milli - inches width , at the radiation - receiving surface . each individual one of electrodes 37a - 37n is coupled to the input of a like plurality of operational amplifiers 50a - 50n , each having an associated feedback resistance r f , l - r f , n coupled between the input and output thereof , and an equivalent load resistance r l , 1 - r l , n coupled from the output thereof to ground . each of the plurality of individual output signals o 1 - o n appear at the output of the respective operational amplifiers 50a - 50n , responsive to a change in the photoconductance p of the column of photoconductive material between electrode 46 and that one of electrodes 37a - 37n associated with the operational amplifier from which a particular output is taken . thus , if x - ray quanta impinge upon detector layer face 42a at an angle θ &# 39 ; to the normal n &# 39 ; thereto , and within the acceptance angle of the detector , each of the radiation quanta is absorbed in the volume of photoconductive layer associated with one of electrodes 37a - 37n and increases the photoconductivity between that one of electrodes 37 and electrode 46 , causing an increase in that associated one of output signals o 1 - o n , respectively . while the present invention is described with reference to several presently preferred embodiments , many variations or modifications will now become apparent to those skilled in the art . it is my intent , therefore , to be limited only by the scope of the appending claims , and not by the specific details set forth herein .
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referring now to fig3 a diagram is shown of one embodiment of a unified message delivery system . the system provides for a service that allows the user to define where messages are routed across multiple devices , which portions of messages are routed to which devices , etc . the system allows for ready integration with an enduser &# 39 ; s primary e - mail service and is end - user configurable . as compared to fig1 in which the electronic message delivery path proceeds through the internet directly to one of a multiplicity of servers or gateways , in the system of fig3 an intermediate pre - processing service 301 is inserted into the message delivery path . the intermediate pre - processing service 301 preferably comprises an noc including an array of mail handling machines , a database , a file store , web servers and utility machines . the intermediate pre - processing service 301 is in turn connected to the various servers and gateways of fig1 including , for example , a user &# 39 ; s primary isp 303 , if any . such connection typically also occurs through the internet ( 305 ). the collection of servers and gateways 307 provide e - mail access for a variety of wired and wireless client devices 309 , which may include , for example , a main e - mail system ( typically a home or office desktop computer ), a free web - based mail system ( e . g ., yahoo or the like ), a pda ( e . g ., palm vii ), a cell phone and a pager . a typical user will use two or more of the foregoing electronic message delivery options and some users will use most or all of these options . by established user - defined preferences , the user is able to control the flow of messages to the various devices . preferences are configured using web browser software to create or modify a user profile . user profiles are stored in a relational database ( not shown ) accessible to the intermediate pre - processing service . note that end - user configuration may occur via any web - enabled device , either wired or wireless . wireless web access may be supported using technologies presently - known in the art such as palm &# 39 ; s “ web clipping ” technologies , the uplink server suite of phone . com of redwood city , calif ., wireless application protocol ( wap ) - enabled cellphones , etc . to take a concrete example , there may be three e - mail messages delivered to the intermediate pre - processing service 301 for a particular user , an urgent message , a message from the user &# 39 ; s boss , and a message from the user &# 39 ; s friend . in this example , the e - mail from the user &# 39 ; s friend might be delivered to the user &# 39 ; s main e - mail system and to the user &# 39 ; s free web mail system the e - mail from the user &# 39 ; s boss might be delivered to the user &# 39 ; s pda . the urgent message might be delivered to the user &# 39 ; s cell phone and to the user &# 39 ; s pager . [ 0028 ] fig3 illustrates the different manner of operation of the message delivery system of fig3 including the intermediate pre - processing service 301 , as compared to the conventional electronic message delivery path of fig1 . say , for example , that user a , ( e . g ., sue @ standford . edu ) wishes to send a e - mail to user b ( e . g ., tom @ aol . com ). sue uses an e - mail program to create , address and send the e - mail . the mail is sent from sue &# 39 ; s computer to the local mail server for sue &# 39 ; s computer , which may reside on sue &# 39 ; s local area network or at an isp . the local mail server queries a domain name server ( dns ) 311 to obtain the ip address for tom @ aol . com . normally , the local mail server uses the ip address returned by dns to send the e - mail to the destination e - mail server for tom &# 39 ; s computer , ( e . g ., mail . aol . com ). the e - mail is then delivered to tom &# 39 ; s computer . in one embodiment of the present system , the normal electronic message delivery path is broken and the intermediate pre - processing service 301 is inserted into the electronic message delivery path . this result is easily accomplished by modifying the appropriate dns record ( such as the mx — mail exchange — record , for example ) to point to the intermediate pre - processing service 301 instead of the destination e - mail server ( e . g ., 303 ). in this manner , the electronic message delivery path is modified such that the intermediate pre - processing service 301 handles all of the electronic messages that would otherwise have been handled by the destination e - mail server . given the ease with which the intermediate pre - processing service may be inserted into the message delivery path , the enrollment of internet service providers ( isps ) in cooperative messaging service agreements with the operator of the intermediate pre - processing service ( electronic messaging service provider , or emsp ) may be automated to a great extent . for example , the isp may visit the web site of emsp , indicate assent to terms and conditions , and specify billing information and a service start date . prior to the service start date , the isp advises subscribers and arranges for its dns entries to be modified appropriately as of the service start date . prior to the start date , users are advised by e - mail of additional available message center services . each user is assigned a user name and password in order to access a message center web site . when the user first visits the message center web site , the user creates a profile that will be used thereafter to select and configure value - added service ( e . g ., junk e - mail filtering and virus checking ) and to control message delivery . within the profile , the user may designated a particular e - mail server as the user &# 39 ; s main e - mail system . profiles place users in control of their mail experience . alternatively , a service provider can create a default profile of services and the user can visit the message center web site to modify the default configuration . when the intermediate pre - processing service 301 receives an e - mail , it look ups the addressee &# 39 ; s user profile . the intermediate pre - processing service then performs value - added processing of the message . for example , the intermediate pre - processing service may apply user - selected junk e - mail filters and user - selected virus checkers for checking attachments . junk - e - mail blocking may be based on both content and ip routing information . “ clean ” e - mail is delivered to the user &# 39 ; s mail server as normal . suspect messages , instead of being deleted without notification to the user , is held in a quarantine area , and the user is notified . the user can then , if desired , download messages flagged as suspect by accessing the message center web site . alternatively or in addition , the intermediate pre - processing service may deliver to the message to one or more wireless devices in accordance with the user profile , e . g ., by forwarding the message to one or more servers or gateways 307 the addresses of which have been specified by the user in the user &# 39 ; s profile . prior to forwarding the message to a server or gateway , the intermediate pre - processing service 301 may perform any necessary reformatting to meet the requirements of a particular recipient device . in general , a user may configure an arbitrary number of communication “ channels ,” each channel including a destination and , optionally , one or more message modification procedures including filters , reformatters , etc . that may affect message presentation , be required for message transport , etc . the intermediate pre - processing service 301 may perform myriad other types of services . one example of such services involves certain attachments , e . g ., rich media items such as mp3 , jpeg , mpeg , etc . such items are notorious “ bandwidth hogs ” and can easily clog up the message delivery system . rather than simply delete such items , however , the intermediate pre - processing service 301 allows such items to be intelligently managed . one option is to treat rich media in like manner as junk e - mail . that is , rich media items , instead of being delivered with the e - mail messages to which they are attached , are delivered to the message center web site , and the user is notified . the user can then view / play or ignore the items as desired . another option is to produce replacement attachments , i . e ., “ thumbnail ” versions of the rich media items . an option may be provided for the original full attachment ( s ) to be delivered to the user with a subsequent system - generated e - mail message . for example , a link may be embedded in the thumbnail along with appropriate text advising the user to click on the link to receive the full attachment . in one embodiment , clicking on the link takes the user to a complete , high resolution image residing in the user &# 39 ; s personal message center . note that the functionality of the intermediate pre - processing service may be implemented at isps rather than at a central noc without any sacrifice of functionality or any noticeable effect on the end user . in this instance , dns information remains unchanged . in this scenario , however , isps must be persuaded to invest in additional hardware and / or software . referring to fig4 a generalized block diagram is shown of one embodiment of the intermediate pre - processing service 301 of fig3 . one or more messaging servers 401 , e . g ., e - mail servers , are provided , realizing a receive and store function 403 and a forward function 405 . the forward function incorporates various value - added services such as filtering , formatting , routing , multicasting , etc . due to the multicasting feature of the forward block 405 , a single incoming message may result in the forwarding of some greater number of outgoing messages . the forward block 405 communicates with storage 407 , which may include one or more relational databases or file servers . storage 407 includes profile and local dns information 409 for each subscriber , as well as a “ quarantine ” area 411 for storing filtered messages , e . g ., messages determined to be unfit to forward . subscribers are provided access to storage 407 through one or more web servers 413 , allowing subscribers to configure their profiles , view filtered messages , etc . referring to fig5 a , a more detailed block diagram is shown of the intermediate pre - processing service 301 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention . multiple hosts are defined on both the inbound mail server and the outbound mail server . each host runs a copy of an appropriate mail program such as freebsd qmail . in one alternate embodiment , a machine or a cluster of machines operates as a mail - receiving machine and a mail - delivering machine . this machine will accept a connection from a sending smtp server and begin receiving data . simultaneously , the machine will begin receiving the message data , querying the database for a specific user configuration , processing messages based on configuration , opening a connection to a receiving smtp server , and delivering it . standard mail server software is not required for this alternate embodiment . incoming mail is routed to an available host by a load balancer 505 , or load - sharing switch / router , of a type commonly available from cisco and other network equipment manufacturers . the server cluster 501 can include a server running a relational database management system such as oracle , for example . the host queries the database to identify the user and user preferences . the host then processes the message as specified in the user profile . for spam checking , each host runs a copy of an appropriate spam filter . virus checking can be done using a virus scanning application such as that available from trend . good e - mails are addressed with one or more addresses in accordance with information specified in the user profile and sent to the outbound mail server cluster to be sent out . to deliver a message addressed to user @ isp . com , our intermediate preprocessing lookup service looks up user @ postini - mail . isp . com and delivers this allows the isp to update the final delivery location without requiring the intermediate preprocessing service to make any changes . the e - mail is sent to the isp mail server 511 and possibly to other servers or gateways in accordance with the user profile . bad e - mails are saved “ in quarantine ” on a message center web site , and a notification e - mail is sent to the user . in the illustrated embodiment , the inbound mail server cluster is connected to a file store 521 . the file store is in turn connected to a web server 523 . when a user logs on to the web server , a web page is displayed that includes a link for displaying a summary of quarantined messages and / or attachments . by clicking on a selected item , the user is able to view the item and , depending on the attachment type , may be able to view the attachment . if the user so chooses , the user may be allowed to download an item suspected to contain a virus after the user has been given appropriate warning . [ 0045 ] fig5 b shows an alternate diagram of a system of the present invention . [ 0046 ] fig6 shows an example of a web form screen display that may be filled out by the user to configure message delivery for that user and subsequently modified to modify the configuration . in the example shown , a subsequent screen display is shown after one of the mail filter items is selected . in accordance with a further feature of the invention , devices may be provided with a background software routine that periodically notifies the messaging system , automatically , of the time of last user input to the device . this information may be used to dynamically route messages to increase the likelihood of early receipt by the user . for example , a user may specify messages to normally be delivered to the user &# 39 ; s cellphone between the hours of 8 - 9am , 12 - 1pm and 6 - 7pm , and to the user &# 39 ; s work between the hours of 9 - 12am and 1 - 6pm , in accordance with the user &# 39 ; s normal routine . on a particular afternoon , however , the user may be away from the office and may have used his / or her cellphone to receive or make one or more calls , or to access information , etc . if the user has selected a “ find me ” configuration option , then this usage information may be used to intelligently route messages to the user &# 39 ; s cellphone , for example . the value - added electronic messaging system detailed in the foregoing description provides an elegant solution to the multiple e - mail box conundrum . user - centric in design , the system is end - user configurable and uses an intuitive web metaphor . based on a scalable architecture , the system works with existing e - mail accounts and does not require hardware or software integration . [ 0049 ] fig7 is a diagram of one embodiment of the system of the present invention emphasizing end user configuration and mail processing . it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the invention can be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential character thereof . the presently disclosed embodiments are therefore considered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive . the scope of the invention is indicated by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description , and all changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalents thereof are intended to be embraced therein . 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 ,” the 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 the claims found herein . 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 claimed in this disclosure . multiple inventions may be set forth according to the limitations of the multiple claims associated with this disclosure , and the claims accordingly define the invention ( s ), and their equivalents , that are protected thereby . in all instances , the scope of the claims shall be considered on their own merits in light of the specification , but should not be constrained by the headings set forth herein .
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fig1 shows a plan view of a display system for displaying reaction forces comprising a measurement plate 1 which stands on the ground via force sensors 2 , which in the present case are arranged on the four corners of the measurement plate 1 . the foot positions of a human is shown standing on the measurement plate 1 . a projection device 3 is arranged opposite to the measurement plate 1 and in the present case is in the form of a laser projection device . the laser projection device 3 is moveably arranged on a movement device 31 . the movement directions are indicated by the double - headed arrow . the force sensors 2 are coupled to an evaluation unit ( not illustrated ) by means of which the position of the center of gravity of the body 5 of the person standing on the measurement plate 1 is determined on the measurement plate 1 . the evaluation unit calculates the movement path of the laser projection device 3 and aligns it so that the laser beam 32 , in the form of a bar of light , is projected onto the body of the person located on the measurement plate 1 . in the present example , the person is standing on the measurement plate 1 with both feet so that in essence only vertically acting ground reaction forces are recorded by the force sensors 2 . accordingly , the laser beam 32 and the projected bar of light are substantially aligned vertically . however , should horizontal forces be measured , the display system according to the invention provides for the projection device 3 to be pivoted in such a way that the orientation is shown in addition to the location of the point of contact of the ground reaction force . for this purpose , the laser beam 32 or the projection device 3 can be turned or tilted about an axis parallel to the illustrated laser beam 32 . an alternative embodiment of the display system is illustrated in fig2 , where in place of a moveably mounted laser projector 3 , a data projector 4 projects a light beam 41 within the emission region 42 of the data projector 4 ( also referred to as a beamer ) onto the human located on the measurement plate 1 . a substantially vertical orientation of the bar of light 41 is expected in the case of a standing person , as is the case in fig1 . this bar of light 41 is arranged on the center of gravity of the body 5 . a video camera 8 , which can record the projection of the bar of light 41 during the measurement of the ground reaction force , is installed above the data projector 4 , preferably on the latter &# 39 ; s optical axis . as long as the video camera 8 lies on one optical plane with the data projector 4 , preferably one above the other and with the same optical effective distance , there is no parallax error so that the display is sufficiently accurate . fig3 illustrates the display system in accordance with fig2 , in which the person stands on the measurement plate 1 with only one foot . the force induction points 6 through the feet , possibly prosthesis feet , are thus located for one on the measurement plate 1 and for the other next to it . due to a possibly acting horizontal force , the beam of light 41 projected from the data projector 4 to the center of gravity of the body 5 is no longer vertical but is tilted , starting from the force induction point 6 on the measurement plate 1 and corresponding to the orientation of the ground reaction force vector , so that the orientation of the ground reaction force vector is displayed and projected onto the body . this projection can be recorded by the video camera 8 . by these means it is possible to record a walking human with one foot treading on the measurement plate 1 and the other one treading next to it . during the progression of the step or the steps , the ground reaction forces can then be projected onto the human body and dynamically observed repeatedly and in detail using the video image . the video image recorded by the video camera 8 can be played back by the bearer 4 , possibly onto a screen or a wall located behind the measurement plate 1 . fig4 illustrates the display system according to fig3 , in which the light beam 41 , which represents the ground reaction force vector , is projected onto a person . the projection can be geometrically modulated or modulated in color in order to indicate the magnitude of the ground reaction force vector , or whether the ground reaction forces are within an acceptable or prescribed range . using this , it is possible to determine whether a prosthesis has been adjusted correctly , that is to say whether an expedient prosthesis set up is present . furthermore , it is possible to undertake changes on the prosthesis while the ground reaction force vector is being projected on the person standing on the measurement plate 1 . during the change in the prosthesis set up , the bar of light 41 or laser beam is then tilted by a measure relating to the change in ground reaction force . in order to avoid parallax errors to the greatest possible extent , the view of the prosthesis is advantageously from the direction of the projector 4 . fig4 illustrates a projection error 9 which is caused due to the uneven projection surface on the human body ; the numerically determined and optically correct projection surface 46 lies in the plane perpendicular to the measurement plate 1 and passes through the force induction point 6 . this projection error 9 is generally small and can be neglected . the length modulation can be calculated using the intercept theorem and knowledge of the force induction points 6 due to the various force sensors 2 and their evaluation . fig5 shows a side view of a patient with the center of gravity of the body 5 , the body - gravity line 51 being perpendicular and the ground reaction force 7 which is aligned at an angle to the horizontal . the bar of light is projected along the orientation of the ground reaction force 7 . fig6 and 7 show different designs of the measurement plate 1 and the composition of the ground reaction force 7 from a vertical component 72 and a horizontal component 71 which contact at the center of gravity of the body 5 . the ground reaction force 7 is calculated and the orientation of the vertical component 72 and horizontal component 71 is measured using the force sensors 2 which are multi - component force sensors . in accordance with fig6 , a plurality of force sensors 2 are arranged at the corners of the measurement plate 1 and in accordance with fig7 , one multi - component measurement sensor 2 is arranged centrally on the measurement plate 1 . all force sensors 2 determine the vertical and horizontal forces during the static or dynamic load . as a result , it is possible to observe the static and dynamic force profile acting on the patient and the prosthesis while standing or walking . when using a data projector 4 , it is possible to superpose additional information such as the magnitude of the respective components or adjustment suggestions in addition to the bar of light or the laser beam .
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the essence of the method of the invention will be clear from the following description of the capacitor control circuit structure in connection with the drawings . while this invention is illustrated and described in preferred embodiments , the capacitor control circuit structure may be produced in many different configurations , sizes , forms and materials . referring now to the drawings , fig1 is a typical ac - dc step down rectification circuit using an original capacitor module consisting of a single one electrolytic capacitor to smooth the dc voltage after rectification in the prior art . fig3 provides a capacitor control circuit structure 10 constructed consistent with a first embodiment of the invention , which is used in the step down rectification circuit of fig1 to take the place of the original electrolytic capacitor module . in this embodiment , the capacitor control circuit structure 10 comprises first and second electrolytic capacitor modules ecap 1 and ecap 2 , a general purpose microcontroller ( mcu ) 12 as a capacitor module controller , an external eeprom memory device 14 , a voltage regulator 16 for powering the mcu 12 , a first transistor tr 1 with two of its terminals in respective connection with the first capacitor module ecap 1 and the common ground of the circuit and the third terminal with a first pin 1 of the mcu 12 , and a second transistor tr 2 with two of its terminals in respective connection with the second capacitor module ecap 2 and the common ground of the circuit and the third terminal with a second pin 2 of the mcu 12 . the first and second electrolytic capacitor modules ecap 1 and ecap 2 have the same configurations and same function as the original electrolytic capacitor module shown in fig1 . the mcu 12 is electronically coupled to the electronic circuit . since the operating voltage of the mcu 1 may be different from the output voltage of the ac - dc step down rectification circuit , the voltage regulator 16 is included in the capacitor control circuit structure 10 to provide the adequate operating voltage for the mcu 12 . as illustrated , the capacitor modules ecap 1 and ecap 2 are not simply connected in parallel . because if they are connected in parallel and / or in series , the two electrolytic capacitor modules will both function to smooth the voltage together and age together simultaneously . therefore by simply connecting two electrolytic capacitor modules in parallel and / or in series , there would be no improvement on the operation lifetime of the capacitor modules . the mcu 12 and the transistors tr 1 and tr 2 are included such that the two capacitor modules ecap 1 and ecap 2 are alternately actuated to operate for an equal time period in the step down rectification circuit . thus , the operation lifetime of the two capacitor modules in this capacitor control circuit structure will be doubled in the circuit . fig4 is a flow chart showing the control algorithm of the capacitor control circuit structure 10 . when the electric power is applied , the mcu 12 turns on the transistor tr 1 by applying a logic 1 at its pin 1 , which only allows the transistor tr 1 to connect the capacitor module ecap 1 to form a closed loop with the step down rectification circuit so as to smooth the dc voltage . simultaneously the mcu 12 starts an internal countdown timer with a countdown period of , for example , 60 minutes . at the end of the 60 minute countdown , the mcu 12 turns on the transistor tr 2 by applying the logic 1 at its pin 2 , which only allows the transistor tr 2 to connect the capacitor module ecap 2 to form a closed loop with the step down rectification circuit so as to smooth the dc voltage . the mcu 12 may be configured to permit the connection of both of the two capacitor modules ecap 1 and ecap 2 to the circuit for a short time period , for example 10 seconds , in order to minimize the introduction of any electrical switching noises during the switching between the different capacitor modules . at the termination of the 10 seconds , the mcu 12 turns off the transistor tr 1 by applying a logic 0 to its pin 1 . namely , after 60 minutes of operation in the circuit , the capacitor module ecap 1 is disconnected while the capacitor module ecap 2 alone is connected to the step down rectification circuit to provide the function of smoothing the rectified voltage . the mcu 12 then resets its internal 60 minute countdown timer and restarts the countdown for another 60 minutes . at the termination of the second 60 minute countdown , the mcu 12 reconnects the capacitor module ecap 1 by switching the connection to the transistor tr 1 before the capacitor module ecap 2 is disabled . the above steps will be repeated again and again so long as the electric power is applied to the circuit . in order to keep track of which capacitor module is currently connected to operate in the circuit and the remaining countdown time for that capacitor module , the mcu 12 or the external memory device such as an eeprom may be configured to store the data about the operation records and updates of the capacitor modules from time to time , for instance every 10 seconds , during the normal operation of the electronic circuit . in the present embodiment , if the power is shut down , either intentionally or un - intentionally , the external eeprom memory device 14 would have saved the data about which capacitor module is in operation before the shut down and how much the countdown time is left , so that the mcu 12 will be able to reconnect the same capacitor module that is in use before the power is shut down to allow said capacitor module to complete its countdown and service in the rectification circuit after the power is resumed , based on the data saved in the eeprom memory device 14 . by means of this logic control provided by the capacitor control circuit structure 10 , each of the two electrolytic capacitor modules ecap 1 and ecap 2 is enabled to smooth the voltage alternately and in succession , and equally shares the operation time in the rectification circuit . therefore if the original electrolytic capacitor module shown in fig1 has an operation lifetime of 2000 hours at 105 degree celsius , the operation lifetime provided by the capacitor control circuit structure 10 will effectively be doubled to 4000 hours by using the two electrolytic capacitor modules ecap 1 and ecap 2 . referring to fig5 , there is illustrated a prior art typical ac - dc switch mode converter circuit commonly used in led lamps for illumination . in this circuit , the household ac voltage , for example 220 volts , is directly rectified into a dc voltage using a full wave bridge circuit consisting of four diodes , d 1 , d 2 , d 3 and d 4 . a capacitor module including two electrolytic capacitors ecap 1 and ecap 2 in series connection is used to smooth the dc voltage which is then used to power a switch mode dc - dc converter circuit , thereby driving an array of leds to generate adequate lights for illumination purpose . it would be noted that the cost of the capacitor module used in this converter circuit to smooth the rectified dc voltage is relatively small compared to the total electronic costs . for example , the cost of the capacitor module is less than 1 % of the total costs of a led lamp . yet the capacitor module in the converter circuit can have a significant impact on the electrical performance and the light output of the led lamp . as shown in fig5 , the ac - dc switch mode converter circuit consists of a rectification circuit and a switch mode dc - dc converter circuit . the rectification circuit is used to rectify the household ac voltage into the dc voltage , which in turn is used to power the switch mode dc - dc converter circuit that drives the array of leds . the switch mode dc - dc converter circuit is well known in the art and is not the essence of the invention , and therefore will not be described in detail herein . table 1 shows the normal electrical performance and the light output of a led lamp circuit as shown in fig5 , and table 2 shows the degraded electrical performance and the light output of the same led lamp circuit with the esr of the two electrolytic capacitors in the rectification circuit turned infinitely large to simulate the worst - case scenario of aging in the electrolytic capacitors . the above two tables reveal that , as the esr in the two electrolytic capacitors ecap 1 and ecap 2 are turned infinitely large , there is a significant increase in the total electrical current consumption of the circuit , from the normal 0 . 09 amp in table 1 to 0 . 104 amps in table 2 , while the light output decreases from 190 lux to 170 lux . it clearly shows that , as the esr increases , the total electrical current of the circuit increases and the power consumption also increases because power consumption is the product of the operating voltage and the total electric current in a circuit , but on the other hand the light output decreases . although the cost of the capacitor module including the two electrolytic capacitors ecap 1 and ecap 2 is relatively insignificant to the overall costs of the circuit of fig5 , it does have a significant impact on the performance of the circuit . fig6 provides a capacitor control circuit structure 20 constructed according to a second embodiment of the invention , which is used in the converter circuit of fig5 to take the place of the original electrolytic capacitor module . the capacitor control circuit structure 20 of this embodiment is structurally same as the capacitor control circuit structure 10 shown in the first embodiment above , but differs in the capacitor modules to be employed . as illustrated , the capacitor control circuit structure 20 comprises first , second and third capacitor modules 27 , 28 and 29 , wherein the first capacitor module 27 comprises two electrolytic capacitors ecap 1 and ecap 2 in series connection in the module ; the second capacitor module 28 comprises two electrolytic capacitors ecap 3 and ecap 4 in series connection in the module ; and the third capacitor module 29 comprises two electrolytic capacitors ecap 5 and ecap 6 in series connection in the module . the first , second and third capacitor modules 27 , 28 and 29 are of the same configuration and same function as the original electrolytic capacitor module shown in fig5 . a transistor tr 1 , tr 2 , tr 3 for a respective one of the capacitor modules 27 , 28 , 29 allows for selective connection of the respective capacitor module to the rectification circuit mediated by the mcu 22 . a voltage regulator 26 is included to power the capacitor control circuit structure 20 . fig7 is a flow chart showing the control algorithm of the capacitor control circuit structure 20 . when the electric power is applied , the ac - dc rectification circuit , through the four diodes d 1 , d 2 , d 3 and d 4 , rectifies a household ac voltage for example 220 volts into a dc voltage . the mcu 22 turns on the transistor tr 1 , which in turn connects the first capacitor module 27 to operate in the rectification circuit to smooth the dc voltage . the mcu 22 then initializes an internal countdown timer with a countdown period of 60 minutes , for example . at the end of the 60 minute countdown , the mcu 22 turns on the transistor tr 2 , which in turn connects the second capacitor module 28 to operate in the rectification circuit . the mcu 22 may be configured to permit the connection of both of the two capacitor modules 27 , 28 to the rectification circuit for a short time period , for example 10 seconds , to minimize any switching noise during the switching between the different capacitor modules . at the termination of the 10 seconds , the mcu 22 turns off the transistor tr 1 by applying a logic 0 to its pin 1 , such that , after 60 minutes of operation in the circuit , the capacitor module 27 is disconnected while the capacitor module 28 alone is connected to the rectification circuit to provide the function of smoothing the rectified voltage . the mcu 22 then resets its internal countdown timer and restarts the countdown for another 60 minutes for the second capacitor module 28 . at the end of this 60 minute countdown , the mcu 22 permits both the capacitor modules 28 , 29 to be in concurrent operation for about 10 seconds before turning off the capacitor module 28 . at the end of the 10 second countdown , the mcu 22 turns off the transistor tr 2 and the transistor tr 3 is still on to connect the capacitor module 29 to the rectification circuit to smooth the voltage . the mcu 22 then resets its internal countdown timer and restarts the counter for another 60 minutes for the third capacitor module 29 . at the end of another 60 minutes countdown , the mcu 22 turns on the transistor tr 1 which in turn reconnects the capacitor module 27 to the rectification circuit . again , the mcu 22 may permit both the capacitor modules 27 , 29 to be in concurrent operation for about 10 seconds before turning off the capacitor module 29 . the above steps will be repeated again and again . like the first embodiment discussed above , the external eeprom memory device 24 is configured to store and update the data about the operation records and updates of the three capacitor modules 27 , 28 , 29 regularly , for instance every 10 seconds , during the normal operation of the electronic circuit . if the power is shut down , either intentionally or un - intentionally , the external eeprom memory device 14 would have saved the data about which capacitor module is in operation before the shut down and how much the countdown time of that capacitor module is left , allowing the mcu 22 to reconnect the same capacitor module that is in use before the power is shut down to enable said capacitor module to complete its countdown and service in the rectification circuit after the power is resumed , based on the data saved in the eeprom memory device 24 . by means of this logic control provided by the capacitor control circuit structure 20 , each of the three capacitor modules 27 , 28 , 29 will smooth the voltage alternately and in succession , and equally shares the operation time in the rectification circuit . therefore , assuming that the capacitor module shown in fig5 has an operation lifetime of 2000 hours at 105 degree celsius , the operation lifetime provided by the capacitor control circuit structure 20 will effectively be tripled to 6000 hours by using the three capacitor modules 27 , 28 and 29 . fig8 illustrates an illustrative diagram of an expected operation lifetime of the capacitor control circuit structure 20 . as can be seen , the three capacitor modules 27 , 28 and 29 operate in the circuit alternately and in succession at an equal interval of time . as a consequence , the operation lifetime of the three capacitor modules under the logic control of the capacitor control circuit structure 20 is the sum of the lifetime of the three capacitor modules 27 , 28 and 29 . in the capacitor control circuit structure 10 or 20 , the external eeprom memory device 14 or 24 is used to record the data about which capacitor module is currently in use and the remaining operation time of that capacitor module in the rectification circuit when the power is down either intentionally or unintentionally . hence upon the resumption of power the capacitor module that was last in use can be actuated to be reconnected to complete its remaining operation time in the rectification circuit , so as to assure each capacitor module indeed equally shares the operation time to maximize their operation lifetime in the electronic circuit for different kinds of applications . fig9 and 10 provide a capacitor control circuit structure 30 constructed according to a third embodiment of the invention , which may be used in the circuit of fig5 continuously for an extended period of time ( for example more than 10 hours ) or in the non - stop - use scenarios . the capacitor control circuit structure 20 may take the place of the original capacitor module shown in fig5 . for the simplicity and clarity , the capacitor control circuit structure 30 of this embodiment comprises first and second capacitor module 37 , 38 which are of the same configuration and same function as the original capacitor module in fig5 , wherein the first capacitor module 37 comprises two electrolytic capacitors ecap 1 and ecap 2 in series connection in the module ; and the second capacitor module 38 comprises two electrolytic capacitors ecap 3 and ecap 4 in series connection in the module . likewise , a transistor tr 1 , tr 2 for a respective one of the capacitor modules 37 , 38 allows for selective connection of the respective capacitor module to the rectification circuit mediated by the mcu 32 . a voltage regulator 36 is included to power the capacitor control circuit structure 30 . the capacitor control circuit structure 30 differs significantly from the ones discussed in the first and second embodiments above in that no memory device , either internal or external , is present in the capacitor control circuit structure 30 . in the capacitor control circuit structure 30 , each of the capacitor modules 37 , 38 are configured to operate for a predetermined time period of 2t units . however , every time the power is turned on , the first capacitor module 37 is always actuated to operate for half of the predetermined time period , i . e . a time period of t units . then the second capacitor module 38 takes over to operate for the predetermined time period of 2t units , and at the end of the 2t units , the operation of the capacitor control circuit structure 30 switches back to the first capacitor module 37 for the next 2t units . thereafter the two capacitor modules 37 , 38 would be actuated by the mcu 32 to take turns to operate for the predetermined time period of 2t units . in this way , the amounts of time for each of the two capacitor modules to operate are expected to be generally equal . the basic principle that the capacitor modules 37 , 38 of the capacitor control circuit structure 30 operate for the substantially equal time period to maximize their operation lifetime in the capacitor control circuit structure 30 is described with reference to fig1 and 12 as follows . let &# 39 ; s suppose that , at the time when the power is turned off , each of the capacitor modules 37 , 38 takes turns to operate for 2t units of time for n instances beginning from the point of time t , and t is defined as the amount of time elapsed since operation of the rectification circuit last switched from one capacitor module to the other . therefore 0 ≦ t ≦ 2t . also suppose that x and y are the amounts of time the rectification circuit is operated by the capacitor modules 37 , 38 respectively when the power is turned off . in each instance , the capacitor modules 37 , 38 each operates for the time period 2t units in the rectification circuit , therefore the length of each instance is 4t units ( i . e . 2t units by the capacitor module 37 + 2t units by the capacitor module 38 ). the equation for the number of the instances is set up as following : n is the number of operation instances of the capacitor control circuit structure , x is the amount of operation time of the first capacitor module 37 when the power is turned off , y is the amount of operation time of the second capacitor module 38 when the power is turned off , and t is half of the predetermined time period set for each of the capacitor modules 37 , 38 . if the first capacitor module 37 is operating in the rectification circuit when the power is turned off and both the capacitor modules 37 , 38 have operated in the rectification circuit for 2t units n times , then the total operation time of the first capacitor module 37 in the rectification circuit is x = t + 2t + 2t + . . . + 2t + t = t + n ( 2t )+ t ; and the total operation time of the second capacitor module 38 in the rectification circuit is y = 2t + 2t + . . . + 2t =( n + 1 ) 2t , which is illustratively shown in table 3 below and would be better understood with reference to fig1 . therefore , x − y =[ t + n ( 2t )+ t ]−[( n + 1 ) 2t ]= t − t . this amount of time shows by how much the operation time of the first capacitor module 37 exceeds the operation time of the second capacitor module 38 in the cases where the rectification circuit is operated by the first capacitor module 37 at the time when the power is turned off . if the second capacitor module 38 is operating in the rectification circuit when the power is turned off and both the capacitor modules 37 , 38 have operated in the rectification circuit for 2t units n times , then the total operation time of the first capacitor module 37 in the rectification circuit is x = t + 2t + 2t + . . . + 2t = t + n ( 2t ); and the total operation time of the second capacitor module 38 in the rectification circuit is y = 2t + 2t + . . . + 2t + t = n ( 2t )+ t , which is illustratively shown in table 4 below and would be better understood with reference to fig1 . therefore , x − y =[ t + n ( 2t )]−[ n ( 2t )+ t ]= t − t . this amount of time shows by how much the operation time of the second capacitor module 38 exceeds the operation time of the first capacitor module 37 in the cases where the rectification circuit is operated by the second capacitor module 38 at the time when the power is turned off . under the normal operation , the likelihood that the rectification circuit is operated by either of the capacitor modules 37 , 38 when the power is turned off is expected to be equal in view of e ( x − y )= 0 . 5 ( t − t )+ 0 . 5 ( t − t )= 0 , thus the amounts of time the rectification circuit is operated by each capacitor module in the rectification circuit are expected to be equal . even in the worst case scenario , if the parameter t is set to be small , for example 5 minutes , the difference of the equations x − y = t − t and x − y = t − t would be insignificant . by operating in the electronic circuit for the substantially equal time period , all the capacitor modules in the capacitor control circuit structure 30 are endowed with the maximum operation lifetime . now turning back to fig9 and 10 , the capacitor control circuit structure 30 is provided for use in the ac - dc converter circuit of fig5 . when the electric ac power is applied , the full wave bridge rectification circuit that consists of diodes d 1 , d 2 , d 3 and d 4 rectifies the ac voltage into a dc voltage . the mcu 32 then turns on the field effect transistor tr 1 to connect the first capacitor module 37 that includes the two electrolytic capacitors ecap 1 and ecap 2 in series connection to the rectification circuit so as to smooth the voltage . the mcu 32 then starts to count down for half of the predetermined time period of t unit of time , for example t is set to be 5 minutes . at the end of this 5 minutes count down , the mcu 32 turns on the field effect transistor tr 2 which in turn connects the second capacitor module 38 to operate in the rectification circuit . then the mcu 32 turns off the transistor tr 1 and disconnects the first capacitor module 37 from the rectification circuit such that only the second capacitor module 38 is now connected to operate in the rectification circuit . the mcu 32 then starts to count down for the predetermined time period of 2t unit of time . as mentioned above , t is set to equal to 5 minutes , therefore 2t unites of time is 10 minutes . at the end of this 10 minutes countdown , the mcu 32 turns on the transistor tr 1 and connects the first capacitor module 37 to operate in the rectification circuit before the second capacitor module 38 is disconnected from the rectification circuit . then mcu 1 starts to countdown for 2t units of time , and the sequence continues until the electric power is turned off . although the capacitor control circuit structure 30 uses the mcu 32 , other logical devices including programmable counters are possible . according to the capacitor control circuit structure 30 , the two capacitor modules 37 , 38 are controlled to take turns to operate in the rectification circuit , and each of them shares approximately half of the operation time in the rectification circuit . by means of this logic control , each of the two capacitor modules 37 , 38 is enabled to smooth the voltage alternately and in succession , and equally shares the operation time in the rectification circuit . therefore , assuming that the original capacitor module in fig5 has an operation lifetime of 2000 hours at 105 degree celsius , the operation lifetime of the capacitor control circuit structure 30 will effectively be doubled to about 4000 hours by using the two capacitor modules 37 , 38 . the three embodiments of the invention described above utilize two different methods to regulating the operation of the capacitor modules to extend their operation lifetime . these methods assure that the capacitors modules employed in the capacitor control circuit structure equally shares their operation time in the electronic circuit to maximize each of the capacitor module &# 39 ; s operation life in the circuit . in some applications the capacitor control circuit structure can simply be configured to alternately switch between the capacitor modules in use sequentially at a relatively short time interval of every 10 seconds for example . although such an alternating switching will fail to assure each of the capacitor modules equally share their operation time in a circuit , such that in a long run , one capacitor module may have operated in the circuit for a more extended time period and hence aged sooner than the other capacitor modules in a circuit , the operation lifetime of the capacitor control circuit structure as a whole is still extended to some extent . this is still within the scope of the invention . thus , the present invention provides a method which can cost - effectively extend the operation lifetime of a capacitor module for use in the electronic circuit employing the capacitor module . having sufficiently described the nature of the present invention according to some preferred embodiments , the invention , however , should not be limited to the structures and functions of the embodiments and drawings . it is stated that insofar as its basic principle is not altered , changed or modified it may be subjected to variations of detail . numerous variations and modifications that are easily obtainable by means of the skilled person &# 39 ; s common knowledge without departing from the scope of the invention should fall into the scope of this invention .
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referring now to fig1 shown there is a cross - sectional view of a typical integrated circuit device 10 , including a silicon substrate 12 , field oxide elements 14 for isolation between transistors and polysilicon gates 16 . a bpsg ( boron phosphorus doped glass ) oxide 18 extends over the substrate 12 and elements 14 and 16 , while a first group of metal lines 20 are located over the bpsg oxide 18 , and are separated by a first dielectric layer of intermetal oxide 22 , having an sog dielectric layer 24 positioned in the oxide layer 22 . a second layer of intermetal oxide 26 is applied over the metal lines 20 , the first oxide layer 22 and the sog layer 24 . above the second layer of oxide 26 is a second group of metal lines 28 which may be disposed at right angles to the first lines 20 . a passivation oxide 30 is deposited over the second group of metal lines 28 . it will be seen that the passivation oxide 30 is not completely planar , but is formed , as a result of the deposition , with grooves or depressions 32 which extend downwardly between the metal lines 28 . fig2 shows the integrated circuit device 10 of fig1 with a low dielectric constant passivation layer 34 added , in accordance with the present invention . it will be noted that the layer 34 fills the grooves 32 in the passivation oxide 30 between the metal lines 28 , in addition to extending over the entire upper surface of the integrated circuit device 10 . the plastic material which is normally used for packaging devices such as the integrated circuit device 10 is thus prevented from penetrating into the grooves 32 in the passivation oxide 30 , where it might cause cross talk between adjacent metal lines 28 . the process for applying the passivation sog layer 34 to the integrated circuit device 10 will now be described with reference to the flow diagram of fig3 . as shown in fig3 and as represented by block 40 , the process is initiated by the providing of an integrated circuit device , such as the device 10 of fig1 on which a passivation film or oxide may have been applied . following this , and as represented in block 42 , a low dielectric constant material 34 is spun or otherwise applied on top of the upper surface of the integrated circuit device 10 , which surface may comprise the passivation oxide 30 . as is well known , in the spin on glass ( sog ) process , sog is dispersed on a stationary wafer , and the wafer is then spun so that the sog is distributed on the wafer by centrifugal force . the final thickness of the layer is based , at least in part , upon the spin rate . the following materials are among those which have a low dielectric constant and can be spun on top of the passivation oxide 30 : polyimide , spin - on - glass ( sog ), glass resins of various compositions , and teflon ( trademark ). the range in dielectric constant for these materials is from 2 to 5 . the dielectric constants of the sogs , glass resins and teflon materials do not appreciably increase with moisture incorporation . the thickness of the spun - on coating may vary from approximately one tenth micron to approximately twenty microns , depending on various considerations , such as the material being used . following the spinning on of material , the method includes a curing step , as represented by block 44 . this curing can be accomplished in a furnace , or by other means , such as a bake oven or a hot plate oven . the temperature employed will normally vary from approximately 100 degrees celsius to approximately 500 degrees celsius , and the duration of the curing may vary widely , from a duration of approximately ten seconds to a duration of approximately seven hours . the curing process can take place in one of a number of different atmospheres , including air , oxygen , argon , nitrogen or forming gas , which comprises 10 % hydrogen and 90 % nitrogen . a typical curing operation may employ a temperature of 400 degrees celsius for a duration of one hour in an atmosphere of nitrogen . when the curing has been completed , photomasking and etching steps may be performed ( blocks 46 and 48 ). this is done to open areas in the sog layer and the passivation oxide layer to facilitate bonding from the package to the integrated circuit device . next , the resist emulsion from the steps represented by blocks 46 and 48 is removed , as represented by block 50 . this step may not be necessary if the photoresist is completely consumed in the etching step . finally , as represented in block 52 , the integrated circuit device 10 is annealed to remove any damage and defects which may be present in the gate oxides . it should be noted that this alloying or annealing step can be done prior to the application of the passivation oxide 30 , or in some instances not at all . the low dielectric constant coating material can also be used as a layer to relieve the stress which is imparted to the die or wafer by the application of the plastic thereto , if the layer exceeds one micron in thickness . if teflon - based material is used , it may have to receive a special treatment after the final cure operation to enable the plastic encapsulating material to stick to the wafer . the teflon surface may have to be roughened . a relatively thick layer of the low dielectric constant material would also serve as a barrier to alpha particles which can cause errors in the integrated circuit device . for this , a layer in excess of five microns would be needed . although the invention has been described with particular reference to a preferred embodiment thereof , variations and modifications of the present invention can be effected within the spirit and scope of the following claims .
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fig1 is a rear elevation of a collapsible liquid tank 10 in accordance with this invention shown positioned within the body of a trailer used to transport the tank and other cargo . the tank 10 is attached between and supported by upper 12 and lower 14 frame members that are suspended from a gantry 16 that includes a plurality of short vertical supports 17 along each side and an upper gantry platform comprising a plurality of cross beams 18 attached to the upper frame 12 . the lower frame 14 is connected to the upper portion of the gantry by cables 34 ( see fig2 ) that permit the frame members to be selectively lowered into a liquid receiving configuration as shown in fig1 or raised to the upper portion of the gantry for storage as shown in fig1 - 12 . as can also be seen more clearly in fig2 , 9 a and b , 11 and 12 , the gantry includes intermediate left and right horizontally arranged support rails 19 , 21 , on which the ends of the plurality of transverse support beams 1 8 rest when the tank is in the deployed configuration . the liquid storage tank has an outlet port 20 that may be connected to a hose 22 for emptying the tank while it remains situated within the trailer . optionally , a plurality of straps ( not shown ) can be attached between fittings on the floor of the trailer and the upper frame of the tank to retain the tank in position during transport . fig2 shows the upper portion of the gantry 16 and the upper platform in more detail . the upper frame 12 includes a rectangular outer portion to which the tank material 26 is attached as shown in more detail below and a plurality of transverse members 18 forming the platform 18 secured to the rectangular frame 12 . the transverse members 18 are spaced closely enough to permit support plates 30 to be attached thereto for permitting service persons to walk along the upper surface of the platform to access the cleaning portal 32 opening into the tank and of sufficient size to receive a cleaning person , or automatic or manual cleaning apparatus . as can be seen in fig2 and also in fig9 a and 9b , the ends of the transverse members 18 rest on the upper surface of the horizontal supports 19 and 21 . the upper frame 12 is attached to the transverse members and is supported thereby when the tank is in the deployed position as shown in fig2 . the lower frame member 14 is supported by the tank material , and preferably rests on or near the floor of the trailer as shown in fig1 . the gantry includes a plurality of short vertical support members 17 , a long double support member 37 , 43 at each corner , and a single support member 15 along each side disposed between the double support members . the double support members 37 support the pulleys 42 around which the lifting cables 34 , 36 are entrained . the single support members support the horizontal support rails 19 and 21 , and also act as guides for the transverse members 18 , which , as can be seen in fig2 and 9 , engage the vertical support members 37 , 43 , 15 on different sides to prevent the upper frame member 12 from swinging to and fro . cables 34 , 36 are attached to a motorized winch 40 and entrained over pulleys 42 mounted to the upper platform of the gantry and then downwards to the lower support frame 14 for the tank . fig3 is an enlarged view of the cleaning portal 32 showing a cover 56 mounted to a pivot arm 58 swung out of position to permit a cleaning hose to be inserted into the portal 32 . a latch 60 or a plurality of latches positioned around the periphery of the cleaning portal secure the cover in a closed position for transport . preferably , the portal 32 is sufficiently large to allow a person to enter , or to allow a cleaning apparatus to be inserted into the tank . fig4 shows the tank of this invention in an empty state in which the outer container is not expanded . note that although the outer container is not expanded , the liquid impermeable elastic bladder 64 , not visible in this view , but visible in fig7 a , is relatively smooth on the inside surface , thus facilitating cleaning of the tank . fig5 is a side elevation similar to fig1 showing the tank in the full condition . the tank 10 includes a substantially inelastic flexible fabric outer container 26 and a liquid impermeable elastic bladder 64 not visible in fig4 or fig5 . by providing an outer container 26 that is shaped to allow a slight bulging when filled , the stresses on the outer container are substantially reduced from the stresses that would be present in a rigid container or a container not allowing a slight bulge . fig6 shows a corner of the upper frame 12 illustrating the manner in which the inner and outer tank materials 64 , 26 are connected to the frame . the fabric container 26 and the elastic bladder 64 obscure the upper frame 12 in fig6 . the fabric container 26 is preferably provided with a folded over sealed edge 70 forming a compartment through which a rope 72 in the nature of a drawstring or cord or the like is passed to make the upper edge of the fabric container slightly thicker than the fabric itself to prevent it from slipping . the container 26 and the inner bladder 64 are secured to the upper frame 12 by elongated u - shaped battens 74 preferably metal , or a similar structure through which bolts 76 or other fasteners are passed as more clearly shown in the detailed view of fig8 . fig7 a and 7b are partially exploded partially sectioned end views of a collapsible liquid storage tank 10 in accordance with this invention . fig7 a shows battens 74 attached to the upper tank support frame 12 and the lower frame 14 , and a sectioned view of the inelastic flexible fabric container 26 and the liquid impermeable elastic bladder 64 . as can be seen from fig7 a , the substantially inelastic flexible fabric container 26 , which is preferably made from kevlar or a similar inelastic material , has a longer peripheral section than the unexpanded water impermeable elastic bladder 64 . in this way , the elastic bladder 64 can be readily cleaned when the tank is empty as shown in fig7 b . preferably , but not necessarily , the elastic bladder 64 is at least slightly stretched when the tank is empty so that it presents a smooth surface for cleaning . when the tank is filled , the elastic bladder 64 ( but not the substantially inelastic flexible fabric container 26 ) stretches . the extent of stretching of the elastic bladder 64 is limited by the inelastic flexible fabric container 26 . it is not necessary to provide reinforcing materials in the elastic bladder . the inelastic fabric container limits the amount of expansion . this allows a relatively less expensive unreinforced bladder to be employed than has been possible heretofore . allowing the bladder to stretch to the bowed shape of the inelastic fabric container shown in fig1 reduces the stresses on the fabric container and the bladder , thereby allowing the support frame to be made lighter so as to increase the useful load that can be carried by the tank . preferably , the inelastic fabric container 26 and the elastic bladder 64 are secured to the upper and lower frames by a securing rail or batten 74 attached to the frame by a bolt or similar fastener as shown in fig8 . the upper attachment is shown exploded for clarity . fig8 is an exploded view of the upper attachment portion showing the portion of the frame , the u - shaped attachment plate or batten , the bolt 76 and nut 78 in more detail . the inelastic flexible fabric container upper edge portion is preferably provided with an enlarged bead 70 to prevent the fabric layer from slipping out of the clamp . the elastic bladder 64 is preferably provided with a similar bead 86 . as shown in fig8 , the bolt extends through the batten 74 , the fabric container 26 , the bladder 64 , and the upper frame . as can be seen , both the fabric container and the elastic bladder are held in position by the pressure between the frame element and the batten , as well as by the enlarged edges 70 , 86 that prevent the fabric and the bladder from slipping through the space between the frame and the batten . the elastic bladder 64 also preferably has a top portion welded to the side portion to provide substantially complete containment of the fluid contents . as shown in fig9 - 11 , the cables 34 , 36 extend from winch 40 around the pulleys 42 attached to top caps 35 bridging the dual gantry end supports 43 to attachment points 44 on the lower frame 14 . when the cables 34 , 36 are retracted to put the tank in the storage position , the lower frame 14 is raised from a position on the floor of the trailer to a position adjacent the top of the gantry 16 . the upper frame 12 and transverse members 18 , which are preferably not attached to the cables , are raised with the lower frame 14 when the lower frame is lifted . the ends of transverse members 18 engage the vertical support portions 37 , 43 , 15 of the gantry 16 to keep the upper frame 12 at least loosely aligned with the gantry . left and right horizontal support rails 19 , 21 support the transverse cross members 18 from which the upper frame 12 is suspended at a position intermediate the top of the gantry 16 and the bottom of the trailer . the rails are attached to the approximate midpoint of the vertical support members of the gantry 16 or alternatively , cables may be attached to the upper frame 12 that permit the upper frame 12 to be lowered into a position only part - way down the gantry structure . fig9 a and 9b are side elevations of the storage tank of this invention shown in its lowered position , but not filled with liquid . the gantry , vertical supports , and lifting arrangement can be seen in this figure . the cables are entrained around pulleys and attached to an upper portion of the lower frame member 14 for raising the frame member to move the tank from the deployed condition to the stowed condition as shown and described below in connection with fig1 and 11 . fig9 a shows the liquid storage tank of this invention and a deployed configuration . the cables 34 extending over pulleys 42 from winch 40 are fully extended so that the lower frame member 14 essentially rests on the floor of the trailer or at least proximate thereto . the upper frame member 12 is supported by cross members 18 , the ends of which rest on side rails 19 and 21 . the walkway 30 is supported on the upper surfaces of the cross members 18 . the gantry structure can be easily visualized from this view . the dual vertical supports 37 and 43 extend from the floor of the trailer to top caps 35 . supports 37 and 43 , as well as the supports on the other side of the structure , not visible in fig9 a and 9b , are preferably strong enough to support the full weight of the empty tank when it is raised from the deployed configuration to the stored configuration . aluminum or steel tubes , round or other configuration , may be used . a plurality of shorter vertical supports 17 extend from a bottom rail 90 mounted or resting on the floor of the trailer to intermediate horizontal support rails 19 and 21 . note that the intermediate rails 19 and 21 may be formed in one or more pieces that are attached to the tops of the vertical supports and / or interrupted and welded thereto . as can be seen from fig9 a and 9b , the transverse members 18 are spaced such that different members are disposed on different sides of the vertical gantry members 37 , 15 , 43 . this arrangement substantially prevents the tank frame from swinging longitudinally , that is in the left - right direction as seen in fig9 a and 9b , as the tank is raised and lowered . side to side movement , as shown for example in fig4 and 5 , is largely restricted by the side frames . as can be seen in fig9 b , when the tank is lifted , the cables raise bottom frame member 14 , and at the same time collapse the tank 10 from the bottom up until the top frame member 12 , cross members 18 , and walkway 30 are all lifted as a unit to the top of the gantry . this lifting can also be seen in fig1 and 11 where the cables cannot be seen . fig1 and 1 i 1 show a storage tank 10 in accordance with this invention being raised from a configuration in which liquids are stored in the tank ( see fig9 a ) to a stored configuration in which cargo can be placed in the trailer beneath the collapsed tank . the tank in the liquid receiving configuration is shown in fig4 , 5 , and 9 , for example . fig1 shows an intermediate position in which the lower frame 14 has been raised by cables 34 , 36 to a position where the liquid containing portion has been collapsed and the bottom frame 14 engages the upper gantry platform beams 18 from below . as the lower frame 14 continues to be lifted upward by the cables , it carries the upper frame 12 and upper platform beams 18 with it until it reaches the storage position shown in fig1 . fig1 shows the tank structure raised into a storage position with the dry cargo 80 loaded onto the trailer beneath the collapsed tank . as can be seen , the upper 12 and lower tank 14 frames are drawn into position closely adjacent to each other and adjacent the upper platform beams 18 of the support gantry .
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referring to the drawing figures , fig1 illustrates an exemplary demo dock 10 , or docking station 10 , prior to docking of a digital camera 20 therein , and fig2 illustrates another exemplary embodiment of the demo dock 10 after docking of the digital camera 20 . in one embodiment , the demo dock 10 may incorporate dock firmware 11 as a detectable feature 11 that is detectable by the digital camera 20 that is inserted therein or coupled thereto ( i . e ., docked ), identifying that the dock is a demo dock 10 . for example , a particular communication protocol used to communicate between the camera 20 and the demo dock 10 may comprise the detectable feature 11 . alternatively , in other embodiments , any mechanical or electrical feature 11 or characteristic that is detectable by the digital camera 20 may be used to distinguish the demo dock 10 from a normal dock . for example , a special key or protrusion on the demo dock 10 or its electrical connector 12 , for example , may be sensed by the camera 20 to identify that it is coupled to a demo dock 10 . when the camera 20 is removed from the demo dock 10 , it begins an interactive in - hand customer sales presentation implemented via demo firmware 21 residing in the camera 10 that utilizes its liquid crystal display ( lcd ) 22 and speaker 23 ( generally designated ) to inform the user of the various features and benefits of the camera 20 . the customer may be encouraged to interact with the demo by pressing selected navigation buttons 24 . one or more navigation buttons 24 may also be designated as an exit button 24 . pressing an exit button 24 terminates the demo and causes the camera 20 to revert to factory settings defining normal operation . when the camera 20 is placed back into the demo dock 10 , the firmware 21 residing therein prepares it for the next demo by resetting camera settings to demo defaults to ensure that the camera 20 does not remain in a nonstandard state that could be confusing to other customers . this resetting action also defeats deliberate attempts at camera sabotage . the camera 20 may also erase some of the oldest pictures stored in its memory , if necessary , to guarantee that there is always sufficient space for the next user to take several pictures . after resetting itself , the camera 20 would then start a dock demo by displaying images and / or playing audio designed to arouse the curiosity of customers walking by and encourage them to pick up and investigate the camera 20 . the camera 20 may be reset any time after it is placed in the demo dock 10 until the time the user exits demo mode . for example , the camera 20 may be reset when it is first placed in the dock 10 , or when it is removed from the dock 10 , or when the user exits demo mode . if the demo dock 10 is connected to a tv , for example , the dock demo implemented by the demo firmware 21 may be automatically routed to the tv screen , rather than requiring the user to press a tv button 24 as is the case for a normal dock . this allows retailers to painlessly set up a point - of - purchase demo on a large display screen that would draw much more attention and be easier to read than a demo running on the liquid crystal display 22 of the camera 20 . it is desirable that it not be too hard for a retailer or customer to put a camera 20 into demo mode or it is not likely to happen . the above - described demo dock 10 provides a simple way to put the camera 20 into demo mode without affecting normal operation of the camera 20 . it is not desirable to have every camera 20 default to demo mode or customers may have problems getting it out of demo mode after purchase . this is not an issue with the demo dock 10 , because customers will not be able to buy the demo dock 10 , so they will never see the demo mode at home . it is not desirable to have the camera 20 left in a nonstandard or confusing state after a customer has played with it . every time the camera 20 is placed into the demo dock 10 , it resets itself to demo defaults . this also overcomes deliberate attempts at sabotage . cameras 20 on display at retail stores typically sit idly sleeping on a shelf until a user picks them up and turns them on . when a camera 20 detects that it is sitting on a demo dock 10 it may be configured to automatically launch a dock demo on its liquid crystal display 22 , or on a connected tv , to attract attention . fig3 is a flow diagram that illustrates operation of exemplary firmware 21 for use with the demo 10 dock and the digital camera 20 . actions implemented by the exemplary firmware 21 are as follows . the firmware 21 detects 31 that the camera 20 has been placed in a demo dock 10 . when the camera 20 is removed from the demo dock 10 , the firmware 21 presents 32 an interactive demonstration using audio - visual capabilities of the camera 20 . the firmware 21 activates 33 certain navigation buttons 24 of the camera 20 to allow interaction with the demonstration . the firmware 21 terminates 34 the demonstration when an exit button 24 is depressed or when the camera 20 is returned to the demo dock 10 . when the camera 20 is in or returned to the demo dock 10 , the firmware 21 resets 35 camera settings to demo defaults . when the camera 20 is returned to the demo dock 10 , the firmware 21 may optionally present 36 a dock demo that displays images and / or plays audio to arouse the curiosity of customers and encourage them to pick up and investigate the camera 20 . also , when the camera 20 is returned to the demo dock 10 , and if the demo dock 10 is connected to a tv , the dock demo may be automatically routed 37 to the tv for presentation . fig4 is a flow diagram that illustrates an exemplary method 40 of using the demo dock 10 and the digital camera 20 . the demo dock 10 is configured 41 to have a dock connector 12 for connection to the digital camera 20 , and a detectable feature 11 that identifies the demo dock 10 . the digital camera 20 is configured 42 to be connectable to the demo dock 10 and include demo firmware 21 that is operative to present a demonstration of the camera 20 when it is removed from the dock 10 and reset the camera 20 for normal operation when the demonstration is ended . the camera 20 is removed 43 from the demo dock 10 . upon removal , the firmware 21 presents 44 an interactive demonstration using audio - visual capabilities of the camera 20 , and activates certain navigation buttons 24 to allow interaction with the demonstration . the customer interacts 45 with the camera 20 to learn about the features and operation of the camera 20 . the customer terminates 46 the demonstration by selecting an exit button 24 , which resets the camera 20 to demo defaults . when the camera 20 is in the demo dock 10 , the firmware 21 may be made operative to present 47 a dock demo that displays images and / or plays audio to arouse the curiosity of customers and encourage them to pick up and investigate the camera 20 . also , when the camera 20 is in the demo dock 10 , and the demo dock 10 is connected to a tv , the dock demo may be automatically routed 48 to the tv for presentation . thus , a demo dock and related methods and algorithms that provide for a point - of - purchase dock demo to attract attention have been disclosed . it is to be understood that the above - described embodiments are merely illustrative of some of the many specific embodiments that represent applications of the principles described herein . clearly , numerous and other arrangements can be readily devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention .
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with reference to the drawings , starting from a semiconductor substrate 1 , for example of p type , thick oxide isolation regions 2 are formed over the substrate . by way of example , the isolation regions 2 can be shallow trenches filled in with oxide . if desired , at this stage a dopant can be implanted into the substrate 1 to form buried wells for the memory cells . this is for example the case of triple - well flash eeprom memories . then an oxide layer 3 is formed over the surface of the substrate 1 . oxide layer 3 , having a thickness of 100 - 200 å , will form the gate oxide for the high - voltage transistors , i . e ., those transistors which shall handle the high voltages required by the memory cells . after having formed the oxide layer 3 , a mask is applied to the substrate surface , and a p type dopant , typically boron in a dose of 1 × 10 12 - 1 × 10 13 at / cm 2 , is selectively implanted in the region of the substrate 1 where the memory cells are to be formed . this implant is used to adjust the threshold voltage of the memory cells . by means of the same mask , the oxide layer 3 is selectively removed from the region of the substrate 1 where the memory cells are to be formed . after this steps , the structure is that shown in fig2 where 4 is a region wherein the dopant for cells &# 39 ; threshold voltage adjustment has been introduced and from the surface of which the oxide layer 3 has been removed . then , as shown in fig3 an oxide layer 5 thinner than oxide layer 3 is formed over region 4 . oxide layer 5 has a typical thickness of 70 - 110 å and will act as a gate oxide for the memory cell ( tunnel oxide in the particular case of eeprom or flash eeprom memory cells ). then , a first polysilicon layer 6 is deposited over the surface of the chip . a mask is then applied and the first polysilicon layer is then selectively etched to define floating gates 7 for the memory cells . at the same time , gate electrodes 8 , 9 for the high - voltage transistors are defined in the first polysilicon layer 6 . the first polysilicon layer 6 is also left over the regions of the substrate 2 wherein low - voltage , high - performance transistors for the logic circuitry are to be formed . after this step , the structure is that shown in fig4 . then , a mask 10 is applied and an n type dopant , typically phosphorus , is selectively implanted in a dose of 1 - 5 × 10 12 at / cm 2 to form n type wells 11 for containing p - channel high - voltage transistors . if necessary or desired , a further implant can be performed for the adjustment of the threshold voltage of the p - channel high - voltage transistors . these implants must be carried out at an energy sufficient to make the dopants penetrate under the oxide layer 3 and polysilicon gate 8 . suitable implantation energies are 150 - 250 kev and 250 - 400 kev . by means of the same mask 10 , a p type dopant , typically bf 2 is implanted into the n type wells 11 in a dose of 1 × 10 13 - 1 × 10 14 at / cm 2 , to form lightly doped source and drain regions 12 , 13 of the p - channel high - voltage transistors , at the side of the gate electrode 8 . this implant is performed at a lower energy compared to the previous implant ( s ), not to make the p type dopant penetrate under the gate electrode 8 . a suitable energy is 30 - 70 kev . after these steps , the structure is that shown in fig5 . a similar mask 14 is then applied . mask 14 covers the regions of the chip where the p - channel high - voltage transistors , the memory cells and the low - voltage , high - performance transistors of the logic circuitry are to be integrated . using mask 14 , a p type dopant such as b is then selectively implanted into substrate 2 to form p type wells 15 for the n - channel high - voltage transistors . a suitable dose is for example 1 × 10 12 - 1 × 10 13 at / cm 2 and a suitable implantation energy is 150 - 300 kev . by means of the same mask 14 , an n type dopant such as p is implanted into the p type wells 15 in a dose of 1 × 10 13 - 1 × 10 14 at / cm 2 and at an energy of 50 - 100 kev to form lightly doped n type source and drain regions 16 , 17 for the n - channel high - voltage transistors . after these steps the structure is that shown in fig6 . then , as shown in fig7 a dielectric layer 18 is deposited over the surface of the chip . preferably , dielectric layer 18 is a triple layer of oxide - nitride - oxide . afterwards , a mask 19 is applied to the chip . mask 19 covers the regions of the chip wherein the memory cells and the high - voltage transistors are to be integrated . mask 19 leaves uncovered the regions of the chip wherein low - voltage high - performance transistors of the logic circuitry are to be integrated . this mask is normally provided in manufacturing processes for floating - gate memories ; conventionally , this masks only covers the regions of the chip for the floating - gate memory cells , leaving all the remaining of the chip surface uncovered . according to this invention , the mask also covers the regions for the high - voltage transistors . then , using the above mask , an etching process is carried out to selectively etch and remove the dielectric layer 18 and the first polysilicon layer 6 from the region of the chip dedicated to the low - voltage high - performance transistors of the logic circuitry . after these steps , the resulting structure is that shown in fig8 . as shown in fig9 a mask 20 is applied to the chip . mask 20 covers the regions dedicated to the memory cells and the high - voltage transistors , as well as regions of the chip dedicated to the integration of n - channel low - voltage transistors for the logic circuitry . mask 20 leaves uncovered the regions of the chip dedicated to p - channel low - voltage transistors of the logic circuitry . an n type dopant , such as p , is then selectively implanted in a sequence of implantation steps into the substrate 2 using mask 20 to form an n type well 21 for the low - voltage p - channel transistors . suitable implantation dose and energies are 1 × 10 12 - 1 × 10 13 at / cm 2 and 50 - 500 kev depending on the kind of implant . mask 20 is then removed . as shown in fig1 , a complementary mask 22 is applied to the chip . a p type dopant such as b is then implanted in a sequence of implantation steps into the substrate 2 to form p type well 23 for the low - voltage n - channel transistors of the logic circuitry . suitable implantation dose and energies are 1 × 10 12 - 1 × 10 13 at / cm 2 and 30 - 300 kev . then , the oxide layer 3 is removed from the regions of the chip dedicated to the low - voltage high - performance transistors of the logic circuitry , and a further gate oxide layer 24 is grown over the substrate 2 in such regions , i . e ., over the n type and p type wells 21 , 23 . gate oxide 24 has a preferable thickness of 40 - 60 å . a second polysilicon layer 25 is then deposited over the whole surface of the chip . after these steps , the resulting structure is that shown in fig1 . the second polysilicon layer 25 is then submitted to a first selective etching , to define gate electrodes 26 , 27 for the low - voltage n - and p - channel transistors of the logic circuitry . during this etching , the second polysilicon layer 25 is not removed from the region of the chip dedicated to the memory cells . that means that the second polysilicon layer is removed from the high - voltage transistors . the resulting structure is shown in fig1 . then , a mask 28 is applied to the chip , as shown in fig1 . mask 28 covers the regions of the chip dedicated to the high - voltage transistors , as well as the regions of the chip dedicated to the low - voltage transistors . mask 28 also covers portions of the region dedicated to the floating - gate memory cells . using mask 28 , a selective etching is carried out to remove the second polysilicon layer 25 and thus define control gate electrodes 29 of the memory cells . the etching process also provides for the self - aligned etching of the dielectric layer 18 and the first polysilicon layer 6 , thus completely defining the gate structure of the memory cells . using the same mask 28 , an n type dopant such as as is implanted into region 4 to form source and drain regions 30 , 31 of the memory cells . suitable implant dose and energy are 1 - 5 × 10 15 at / cm 2 and 40 - 100 kev . after these steps , the resulting structure is that shown in fig1 . mask 28 is then removed . preferably , a reoxidation of the source and drain regions is performed at this stage . the resulting structure is that shown in fig1 . a mask 32 is then applied to the chip . mask 32 leaves uncovered the regions of the chip dedicated to the n - channel low - voltage transistors of the circuitry . using mask 32 an n type dopant such as p or as is implanted into the low - voltage p type wells 23 to form lightly doped source and drain regions 33 , 34 ( lightly - doped drain or ldd regions ) for the low - voltage n - channel transistors of the circuitry . suitable dose and energy are 1 × 10 13 - 1 × 10 14 at / cm 2 ( for both p and as ) and 40 - 70 kev for p , or 70 - 120 kev for as . after these steps , the resulting structure is that shown in fig1 . mask 32 is then removed , and a complementary mask 35 is applied to the chip . mask 35 leaves uncovered the regions of the chip dedicated to the low - voltage p - channel transistors of the logic circuitry . similarly , a p type dopant such as b or bf 2 is implanted into the low - voltage n type wells 21 to form lightly doped p type source and drain regions 36 , 37 ( ldd regions ) for the low - voltage p - channel transistors of the circuitry . suitable dose and energy are 1 × 10 13 - 1 × 10 14 at / cm 2 ( for both b and bf 2 ) and 5 - 10 kev for b , or 30 - 50 kev for bf 2 . after these steps , the resulting structure is that shown in fig1 . afterwards , a layer of a dielectric material , such as teos , is deposited over the entire chip . the layer of dielectric material is then submitted to an etching process to form sidewall spacers 39 at the sides of all the gate structures , as shown in fig1 . then a mask 40 is applied to the chip . as shown in fig1 , mask 40 leaves uncovered the regions of the chip for the low - voltage n - channel transistors of the logic circuitry . using mask 40 , a relatively heavy dose of an n type dopant such as as is implanted into the low - voltage p type wells 23 to form heavily doped source and drain regions 41 , 42 for the low - voltage n - channel transistors of the circuitry . suitable dose and energy are 1 - 5 × 10 15 at / cm 2 and 50 - 120 kev . after these steps , the resulting structure is that shown in fig1 . mask 40 is then removed , and a complementary mask 43 is applied that leaves uncovered the regions of the chip dedicated to the low - voltage p - channel transistors of the logic circuitry . using mask 43 , a relatively heavy dose of a p type dopant such as b is implanted into the low - voltage n type wells 21 to form heavily doped source and drain regions 44 , 45 for the low - voltage p - channel transistors of the logic circuitry . suitable dose and energy are 1 - 5 × 10 15 at / cm 2 and 5 - 10 kev . fig1 shows the structure after these steps . mask 43 is then removed . the resulting structure is that shown in fig2 . the process goes on with conventional steps , such as back - lapping , rapid thermal processes , salicide formation ( with preliminary application of a salicide protection mask ), interlevel dielectric formation , contact opening definition , metal deposition and definition etc . etc . one of the main aspects of the present invention is the use of the same polysilicon layer ( the first polysilicon layer ) for forming both the floating gates of the memory cells and the gate electrodes of the high - voltage transistors , in the context of a manufacturing process for embedding a memory device in a low - voltage high - performance circuitry . in other words , a same mask is used to define the floating gates of the memory cells and the gate electrodes of the high - voltage transistors . besides , this approach allows also to separate completely source and drain implants for high - voltage transistors from source and drain implants for low - voltage transistors without any additional extra mask . the above aspect confers a modular nature to the manufacturing process . the steps for the formation of the memory cells and the high - voltage transistors are grouped together to form a first block of steps , which are carried out first . the steps for the formation of the low - voltage , high - performance circuitry are grouped together to form a second block of steps , which are carried out after the first block of steps . this differs from the conventional processes for the manufacturing of floating - gate non - volatile memory cells , in which the steps for the formation of the memory cells and the high - voltage components are intermixed with the steps for the formation of the low - voltage components . the block of steps for the formation of the memory cells and the high - voltage components does not depend on the specific technology to be used . the process according to the present invention allows to easily integrate a memory , particularly a non - volatile memory requiring relatively high voltages , in a process for a low - voltage , high - performance logic circuitry . the integration of the memory requires a minimum of additional masks . for example , in the embodiment previously described , six ( seven in the case the buried well is to be provided ) additional masks are required for the integration of a memory and the related high - voltage circuitry in a process for a low - voltage circuitry . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the process flow previously described is not the only one that can be devised to implement the invention . several variations can be contemplated . the approach according to the invention can be applied whatever the type of memory cell , without any penalty on the memory cell &# 39 ; s characteristics ( dimensions and performances ). as an alternative to the previously described process , suitable when the memory cells do not require too high voltages , the source and drain regions of the high - voltage transistors could be formed by means of the same masks and implants used to form he source and drain regions for the low - voltage transistors . this means the source and drain regions for the high - voltage transistors will not be formed immediately after the formation of the high - voltage m and p wells ( as in fig5 ), but later , in the steps shown in fig1 to 19 , modifying the layout of masks 32 , 35 , 40 , 43 . also the high - voltage transistors will have an ldd structure . from the foregoing it will be appreciated that , although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration , various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention . accordingly , the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims .
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according to one embodiment of the present invention , the novel milk - fermented product derived from an animal milk that undergoes fermentation of kefir grains or strains isolated from kefir grains , at least including a peptide group , wherein the peptide group comprises peaks of reference number 1 to 7 shown in any one of fig1 to fig1 . furthermore , by fermentation reaction , the big molecule proteins in the animal milk can be efficiently processed into the small fragmented peptides such as the peaks of reference number 1 to 7 shown in any one of fig1 to fig1 , and the each small fragmented peptide has never been discovered from non - fermented animal milk . according to previous studies , the strains isolated from kefir grains include lactic acid bacteria and yeasts , wherein lactic acid bacteria more include lactobacillus , lactococcus , streptococcus , leuconostoc and acetobacter , and yeasts more include saccharomyces , candida , kluyveromyces , issatchenkia , pichia and torulopsis . according to other embodiments of the present invention , the novel milk - fermented product has positive effects such as improvement of osteoporosis , prevention of bone mineral density loss and enhancement of calcium absorption . therefore , the novel milk - fermented product may be applied in organisms , and also may be obtained the peptide group such as the peaks of reference number 1 to 7 shown in any one of fig1 to fig1 by purification and isolation . the peptide group may be a food ingredient , such as a fermented milk product ; the peptide group may combine with a nutrient ingredient as a nutriment , such as a nutriment with calcium ion ; the peptide group may be with at least one medically acceptable carrier and / or excipient to be fabricated to a medical compound by any traditional method for treating osteoporosis or preventing bone mineral density loss . furthermore , the medical compound may be administered in different forms depending on the demands of oral delivery , such as granules , pills , pastille , powder , and liquid . in order to clearly describe the present invention , the following non - limiting examples with figures are provided to further illustrate the present invention . use a certain volume of animal milk as a material milk that undergoes a fermentation reaction with a certain amount of kefir grains to produce a fermented milk , which is the novel milk - fermented product disclosed in the invention . in this example , plural c57bl / 6j inbred female mice , which are purchased from national taiwan university laboratory animal center , are used . the 8 - week - old mice that have undergone ovariectomy to mimic the postmenopausal mice with osteoporosis are further separated into three groups . in addition , there is another group in which the mice have undergone surgery without removing ovaries as a sham control . in this example , the first group is the sham control with normal food supply ; the second group is the osteoporosis mice with normal food supply ; the third group is the osteoporosis mice fed with the fermented milk ; and the fourth group is the osteoporosis mice that are fed with fermented milk and additional calcium . the mice in each group are sacrificed after a certain amount of weeks , and the weekly weight changes of the mice in each group are shown in fig1 . the fermented milk and the fermented milk with additional calcium have the activities of improving osteoporosis after sacrificing the mice from each group , the trabecular bones of the growth plate around the knees are examined by micro ct and electron microscope . the ┘ g - ct scanning images and ┘ g - ct scanning 3d images of the cross section of the growth plate around the knees in each mouse group are shown in fig2 and fig3 respectively , wherein the results of the first group are shown in fig2 a and fig3 a , the results of the second group are shown in fig2 b and fig3 b , the results of the third group are shown in fig2 c and fig3 c , and the results of the fourth group are shown in fig2 d and fig3 d . the ┘ g - ct scanning images and the high magnification ┘ g - ct scanning images of the vertical section of the growth plate around the knees in each mouse group are shown in fig4 and fig5 respectively , wherein the results of the first group are shown in fig4 a and fig5 a , the results of the second group are shown in fig4 b and fig5 b , the results of the third group are shown in fig4 c and fig5 c , and the results of the fourth group are shown in fig4 d and fig5 d . the electron microscope scanning images of the vertical section of the growth plate around the knees in each mouse group are shown in fig6 , wherein the result of the first group is shown in fig6 a , the result of the second group is shown in fig6 b , the result of the third group is shown in fig6 c , and the result of the fourth group is shown in fig6 d . the results of fig2 to fig6 are further analyzed and calculated , and the statistic results , including the ratio of bone volume to total tissue volume , bone mineral density ( bmd ), trabecular number ( tb . n ) and trabecular separation / spacing ( tb . sp ), are shown in fig7 to fig1 respectively . according to the comparisons between fig2 to fig6 , the second mouse group with normal food supply shows obviously loose bone structure and a lower trabecular number compared to the first mouse group . the bone structures of the third mouse group fed with fermented milk and the fourth mouse group fed with fermented milk and additional calcium show no difference compared with the first mouse group . after further analyzing fig7 to fig1 , it more obviously shows that the ratio of bone volume to total tissue volume , the bone mineral density and the trabecular number in second group are all significantly decreased , and the trabecular separation / spacing is increased . these all indicate severe bone mineral density loss , increased bone absorption and lost bone structure in the second mouse group . in comparison with the second mouse group , the ratio of bone volume to total tissue volume , the bone mineral density and the trabecular number are all significantly increased and the trabecular separation / spacing is effectively reduced in the third mouse group fed with fermented milk and the fourth mouse group fed with fermented milk and additional calcium . these results of the third and fourth mouse groups show no difference from the first mouse group . therefore , according to this example , we know that the fermented milk and the fermented milk with additional calcium indeed improve osteoporosis and increase bone mineral density . each batch of the fermented milk from example 1 is collected and further separated by hplc with sec columns under certain conditions : the determination wave length is 215 nm , elution buffer composed of 100 mm phosphoric acid aqueous , 1m sodium chloride and 1 mm edta ph6 . 5 , and the flow rate is 0 . 5 ml / min . the separation result by hplc from each batch of the fermented milk is respectively as shown in fig1 to fig1 . after comparing fig1 to fig1 , it is found that each batch of the fermented milk can be separated into a peptide group such as the peaks of reference no . 1 to no . 7 shown in fig1 to fig1 . in other words , it is indicated that the peptide group such as the peaks of reference no . 1 to no . 7 shown in any one of fig1 to fig1 is reproducible in the fermented milk . furthermore , the retention time for the peaks of reference no . 1 to no . 7 in each of fig1 to fig1 are shown as table 1 . due to the reproducibility of the peptide group such as the peaks of reference no . 1 to no . 7 shown in fig1 to fig1 in the fermented milk , here is taken fig1 for example to compare with the hplc result of the standard protein . and the result of the comparison is shown in fig2 , wherein fig2 a and fig2 b represent fig1 and fig1 respectively . it is indicated the molecular weights of the peptides such as the peaks of reference no . 1 to no . 7 shown in fig2 are all less than 2 kd . in other words , the peptide group from the fermented milk such as the peaks of reference no . 1 to no . 7 shown in fig1 to fig1 is composed of the small fragmented peptides . the small fragmented peptides of reference no . 1 to no . 7 shown in fig1 to fig1 have anti - osteoporotic activity as shown in fig2 , a certain amount of non - fermented material milk is separated by hplc under the same conditions in example 4 . due to the reproducibility of the peptide group such as the peaks of reference no . 1 to no . 7 shown in fig1 to fig1 in the fermented milk , here is taken fig1 for example to compare with the hplc result of the material milk . and the result of the comparison between fig1 and fig2 is shown in fig2 , wherein fig2 a and fig2 b represent fig1 and fig2 respectively . moreover , as shown in fig2 , the proteins separated from the non - fermented material milk , compared to the fermented milk , are all composed of big molecules , and it doesn &# 39 ; t have any small fragmented peptides such as the peaks of reference no . 1 to no . 7 shown in fig2 a . according to the results of example 4 to example 6 , the small fragmented peptides in the fermented milk such as the peaks of reference no . 1 to no . 7 shown in fig1 to fig1 do not exist in the non - fermented milk . since the fermented milk can significantly improve osteoporosis and increase bone mineral density , it should be considered that the peptide group such as the peaks of reference no . 1 to no . 7 shown in any one of fig1 to fig1 is with anti - osteoporotic activity . the fermented milk processed by spray drying comprises the peptide group in this example , after spray drying the fermented milk , a certain amount of the powdered fermented milk is separated by hplc under the same conditions in example 4 . and the hplc chromatograph is shown in fig2 . since the peptide group such as the peaks of reference no . 1 to no . 7 shown in fig1 to fig1 is presented in the each batch of the fermented milk of example 2 , here is taken fig1 for example to compare with fig2 . and the result of the comparison between fig1 and fig2 is shown in fig2 , wherein fig2 a and fig2 b represent fig2 and fig1 respectively . as shown in fig2 , the spray dried fermented milk still contains the small fragmented peptides such as the peaks of reference no . 1 to no . 7 shown in fig1 to fig1 . in another word , it is indicated that the small fragmented peptide group will not be destroyed by process of the fermented milk . taking all examples described above together , the inventors have clearly demonstrated that the novel milk - fermented product at least having a peptide group comprising peaks of reference no . 1 to no . 7 as shown any one of in fig1 to fig1 , wherein these peptide group consists of the small fragmented peptides with anti - osteoporotic activity for not only increasing the ratio of bone volume to total tissue volume , bone mineral density and trabecular number but also decreasing trabecular separation / spacing . furthermore , it still has the above effects after adding calcium to the fermented milk . the above - mentioned specification is only for details describing the examples of the invention . thus , without departing from the spirit and the scope of the present invention , any modification or change on the embodiments of the invention or any equivalent thereof by anyone skilled in the art shall fall the protected scope of the present invention .
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the description which follows , and the embodiments described therein , are provided by way of illustration of examples of particular embodiments of the principals of the present invention . these examples are provided for the purpose of explanation , and not of limitation , of those principals and of the invention . in the description which follows , like parts are marked throughout the specification and drawings with the same respective reference numerals . referring to fig1 , the scrubber device 1 generally may comprise a scrubber body 2 having an inlet 3 for the introduction of exhaust gases and an outlet 4 from which the exhaust gases are discharged . body 2 may be cylindrical or of other appropriate shape . a generally conical or v - shaped tank portion 5 forms a reservoir for a scrubbing liquid . tank 5 contains a scrubbing liquid which , depending upon the nature of the exhaust gases and the application of the scrubber , may be a solvent for gas born contaminants , and in many applications may preferably be water . it has been found that in maritime applications , sea water is an effective scrubbing solution . both the scrubbing liquid and residue from the scrubbing operation may be evacuated from scrubber 1 through the drain pipe 6 . as may be seen in fig2 , a secondary tank 7 may be positioned around tank 5 to collect overflowing scrubbing liquid . a secondary outlet 8 may be used to remove excess liquid from tank 7 . not shown are ancillary piping for supply of scrubbing liquid to the scrubber device . as may be seen in fig2 , the internal components of the scrubber 1 are illustrated in vertical cross section . exhaust gases , for example gases from the exhaust of an internal combustion engine , enter scrubber 1 at inlet 3 , in the direction indicated by arrow g . exhaust gases typically contain both particulate matter ( soot ) and gaseous impurities resulting from combustion . the particulates maybe carbonaceous , or hydrocarbon , while the gas may include so x and no x and in particular may include so 2 . the gases are conveyed through inlet passage 10 defined by wall 11 . passageway 10 may be tubular , having a length l 1 and a diameter d 1 . at the exit of passage 10 , the exhaust gases enter a hot plenum 20 defined by cylindrical , convoluted or multi - lobed side walls 21 . as may be seen from fig3 , the side walls are preferably of a convoluted or star shape to increase the surface area of the plenum . there are eight star convolutions or arms of generally v - shape extending radially outwardly in the illustration of fig3 , but depending on the specific application requirements and size there may be only four arms , or many more . a tubular ( circular ) hot plenum could be used as shown in phantom as 21 ′, but with the consequent reduction of surface area . the v - shaped arms are truncated by end walls 21 a on each arm . preferably , end wall 21 a is directly connected to the outer wall to the scrubber . the passageway of hot plenum 20 is closed at its inlet end by an end wall 22 of is appropriate shape , ( i . e . a star - shaped cross section , for the star plenum 21 , or a cone for a circular plenum 21 ′) thereby defining an upper chamber 23 . gases exiting inlet 10 are redirected by the end 22 of chamber 23 and flow in a counter - flow direction ( downwardly in fig2 ) along the passageway of hot plenum 20 . chamber 23 is of sufficient length to minimize back pressure on the exhaust supply resulting from redirection of the gas flow down plenum 20 . the chamber also serves to reduce resonance in the scrubber . walls 21 of the hot star - shaped plenum terminate at a peripheral horizontal edge 24 or lip 24 within the periphery of scrubbing liquid tank 5 . an outlet plenum 30 surrounds the hot plenum 20 and is generally confined by the cylindrical outer wall of the scrubber . outlet plenum 30 is defined by an outer wall 31 and the star - shaped inner wall 21 of hot plenum 20 , and therefore exhibits a greater surface area of wall 21 . in the preferred embodiment of the scrubber design , end walls 21 a of hot plenum wall 21 may be sealed against wall 31 , but alternatively , they may simply be braced intermittently against wall 31 . if sealed , then a plurality of passages 30 a are defined for the outer plenum until joining into a single plenum adjacent the exit 4 . conversely , if only intermittently braced , then the plurality of passageways 30 a are in fact interconnected to create a single outer plenum with a convoluted inner surface . in a scrubber using a circular wall 21 ′, outlet plenum 30 is annular . an apertured distributor plate ( not shown ) may be used at the base of plenum 30 , to re - direct exhaust gases through a series of apertures into the annular outlet plenum 30 . plenum 30 directs the exhaust gases in a direction counter - flow to that of hot plenum 20 , and conveys scrubbed gases out through to exit 4 . as may be seen from fig2 and 3 , the exhaust gases are directed through inlet passage 10 , then counter flow through hot plenum 20 then again counter - flow through outlet plenum 30 to exit the scrubber at outlet 4 . the scrubbing liquid is contained in bath 5 and has a liquid level at rest , wl , which covers the horizontal peripheral lip 24 and the mixing vanes discussed hereafter . as may be seen from fig2 , 3 , and 4 , at the somewhat triangular shaped inlet end 33 of outlet plenum 30 ( defined by peripheral lip 24 of the hot plenum wall 21 and outer wall 31 ), sets of mixing vanes 40 are interposed in the passage way to partially obstruct the passage of exhaust gases through the scrubbing liquid and into the outlet plenum . as may best be seen in fig4 , with reference to fig3 , mixing vanes 40 comprise a series of several horizontal flat vanes partially overlapping one another and spaced apart to form an inclined or stepped array through which exhaust gases are passed . the array of vanes is inclined upwardly and outwardly to force gases to reverse direction in order to pass inwardly through the spacing between the vanes . the array of vanes is submerged below the liquid level in tank 5 . during operation of the scrubber , the pressure of the exhaust gases on the surface of the scrubbing liquid wl causes the liquid level to depress at the exit of hot plenum 20 to a level wl ′ thereby raising the liquid within triangular inlet 33 of passageways 30 a of outlet plenum 30 to level wl ″. the gases descending in hot plenum 10 then reverse direction and pass under peripheral lip 24 of the hot plenum and stream or bubble through the scrubbing liquid . the gases may even create a gas void under the array of mixing vanes , as shown by the curved liquid level wl ′ in fig5 . the exhaust gases then turn again to pass through the array of mixing vanes 40 . the number of individual vanes 41 of the mixing vane array 40 depends upon the size of the scrubber system but generally range from 12 to 15 vanes . vanes 41 may typically be ¾ inches wide in horizontal dimension , and one - eighth inch thick , with a spacing between vanes of one eighth to three quarters inch . each vane is set back approximately 50 % of its width from the vane below . the vanes cause redirection and acceleration of the gases , resulting in turbulence and formation of fine bubbles of exhaust gas within the scrubbing liquid . the resulting bubbles then proceed within mixing zone 42 of outlet plenum 30 . particulate matter such as soot , of carbon or hydrocarbon composition , is carried down hot plenum passageway 20 and is absorbed in the scrubbing liquid , to slowly descend to the bottom of tank 5 . radial baffles 43 within the tank aid in retaining a degree of quiescence to permit settlement on the particles . soluble gases in the exhaust stream , such as so x and no x are dissolved in the scrubbing liquid , not only by merely percolating through the liquid bath but principally at the liquid / gas interface of the tiny bubbles created during the turbulent , agitated flow of gases through the mixing vanes . it will be understood that the duration of time during which the gases are immersed in scrubbing liquid , or retained within the bubbles , effects the level of dissolution of pollutant gases . in mixing zone 42 the bubbles of exhaust gas arise above the surface of the scrubbing liquid , where they coalesce and break up . within passageway 30 or 30 a , jets or nozzles 44 may be utilized to spray scrubbing liquid into the path of the exhaust gases , further causing coalescence and break up of the bubbles of gas , while also wetting down the walls 21 and 31 of passage way 30 for further contact exchange of gas contaminants with the scrubbing liquid . if desired , similar jets may be used in the lower sections of plenum 20 to pre - wet and cool the hot exhaust gases . further along the passageway 30 a are located a set of mist eliminator vanes 45 . these vanes are designed to strip any remaining scrubbing liquid from the moisture laden , saturated stream of exhaust gases and entrained droplets . the array of mist eliminator vanes 45 is similar to and may be a mirror image of the array of mixing vanes 42 . they comprise a series of overlapping staggered flat vane members 46 . each vane 46 is generally ¾ inches wide , one - eighth inch thick and spaced at one - eighth to ¾ inch separation . the spacing between vanes 46 is sufficiently close to obtain good contact between the moisture laden gases and the vanes , but sufficiently separated to avoid an increased gas velocity which may strip deposited moisture from the vanes . the liquid stripped from the gas stream by mist eliminators 45 drains down the side walls of passageway 30 a and returns to the bath 5 . ridges on the passageway walls of mixing zone 42 may be used to direct the drainage direction , and even induce further gas exchange at the surface of the walls . the scrubbing liquid ( i . e . water , etc .) removed by the mist eliminators and wall contact drips into the bottom of the tank , where radial surge or wave baffles inhibit agitation and allow settlement of particulate matter . such particulate matter and excess treating liquid may be removed from the conical bottom of the tank . the liquid may then be cooled , treated and reintroduced into the system . upon exiting the mist eliminator vanes , the exhaust gases have been cooled to the temperature of the scrubbing liquid of the bath 5 . typically , this will be in the order of 40 ° c . if recycled liquid is used . the exhaust gases are substantially depleted of suspended scrubbing liquid , but are generally 100 % saturated . as may be seen from fig2 and fig5 , after the exhaust gases have been passed through mist eliminators 45 , they proceed through the balance of passages 30 a , surrounded in greater part by wall 21 of hot plenum 20 . wall 21 is hot from exposure to hot exhaust gases in the range of 250 °– 450 ° c . exiting into chamber 23 from inlet passage 10 . it maybe expected that walls 21 of the upper chamber 23 can be heated in the range of 250 to 300 ° c . by the incoming exhaust gases . after the exhaust gases have been cooled and scrubbed in the scrubbing liquid and mixing zone , and stripped of excess liquid in the mist eliminator vanes 45 , the exhaust gas stream is reduced to a saturated gas without any significant entrained liquid component . the saturated exhaust gases are then re - heated radiantly as well as by conduction and convection from the heat transfer surface of common wall 21 . depending on gas flow rates and the length of the exposed wall portion 21 of the hot plenum , the gases will be re - heated at least 30 ° c . and may be re - heated up to 200 ° c . as a result , the moisture in the exhaust gases , when exiting the exhaust plenum , will be normally well below the saturation point and typically at 75 % saturation , thus eliminating or substantially reducing condensation of liquids on downstream piping , and preventing / reducing visible fogging in the atmosphere . consequently the resulting gas emission does not display a heat signature or a visible moisture cloud , and is substantially reduced in both particulate and gaseous contaminants . it will be understood that ideal flow rates of the exhaust gases are not always maintained , and occasional surges in flow rate will be experienced . the present invention adjusts for sudden increased flow rate by providing passage 47 extending between the bath 5 ( below edge 24 ) and the apex of the mixing vanes 40 . further , in the event that a surge in gas flow rate forces the scrubbing liquid through the mixing vanes 40 and into mixing chamber 42 , the liquid may then overflow through an annular drain 48 located at the outer perimeter of the passage way 30 a as indicated by arrow d . the net effect is to make the scrubber more reliable in varying flow situations , a common problem for other wet scrubber designs . the present design operates with a minimal back pressure or head of one to six inches of water . the overall pressure drop of the system is less than six inches of water , principally from the hydrostatic pressure of the liquid bath level . the scrubber is an effective means for removal of so 2 and particulate matter resulting from combustion of fuels , such as diesel fuel . levels of 80 % particulate removal and 95 % so 2 removal have been achieved by this apparatus and method it will also be apparent to one skilled in the art that a continuous flow and exchange of scrubbing liquid is required . liquid may be introduced through the spray jets , but preferably is also introduced in a regular flow rate into bath 5 by a liquid source , not shown . the exact exhaust gas parameters in any given situation will be determinative of the size , flow rate and temperatures used in a scrubber of the present invention . an example of one set of parameters using a star - shaped hot plenum , with the exhaust gases of a one megawatt engine ( 1500 horse power ) are set out in the table below : a further example of scrubber parameters using a circular hot plenum , in a 7500 h . p . engine is listed below . the foregoing embodiments were operated with a back pressure head of 6 inches of water . the benefits of such minimized pressure head will be fully apparent to persons skilled in the art and is a dramatic improvement of other high efficiency scrubbers which employ pressure heads orders of magnitude larger . in operation , exhaust gases ranging from 200 ° c . to 490 ° c . which include soot and reaction gases such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide , are cooled to the temperature of the scrubbing liquid bath , the particulate matter is stripped in the bath and significant percentages of sulphur dioxide are stripped from the exhaust gas stream by dissolution in the scrubbing liquid . applicant has found that in excess of 90 % of sulphur dioxide may be stripped from the exhaust gas by this invention , and 20 % of no x maybe stripped . such high percentage of no x removal is in part due to the ph level of the scrubbing liquid caused by the dissolution of so 2 . typically , in the example described above , the ph level is running in a range of 2 – 3 , which is an excellent absorber of no x . applicant has also found that up to 90 % of the soot and 20 % of the hydrocarbon particulates are removed in the scrubbing liquid . the foregoing description has been intended to indicate the nature of the invention , its operation and advantages , without being limited of size , shape , temperature or operational rates . variations from the description and example may be readily understood by a person skilled in the art and incorporated without departing from the scope of this invention .
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there are shown in the drawings , and herein will be described in detail , specific embodiments of the present invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the principles of the invention , and is not intended to limit the invention to that illustrated and described herein . many variations and modifications of the system and apparatus are possible and are within the scope of this invention . referring to fig1 a natural gas to syngas flow diagram is shown to illustrate one general embodiment of the present invention . a hydrocarbon containing feed stream 1 ( such as methane , natural gas ) and an oxygen containing feed stream 2 ( such as air ) are used as reactants and passed through a syngas reactor 10 to produce a syngas product stream 12 . syngas is primarily hydrogen and carbon monoxide , however , oxygen , carbon dioxide , water and light hydrocarbons may also be present . in the preferred embodiment , a slipstream 16 of the syngas product stream 12 is obtained at point 14 . the syngas slipstream 16 is passed through a secondary reactor 20 that promotes a reaction between carbon monoxide and water . the secondary reactor 20 produces a hydrogen rich gas stream 22 that can then be combined with the syngas product stream 18 at point 24 to form an adjusted syngas stream 26 . the combined stream 26 is a hydrogen adjusted syngas product that can be used as a reactant in any number of subsequent processes . it should be appreciated that many variations or additions can be incorporated that are within the scope of the invention , e . g ., upstream of the secondary reactor 20 , a recycling stream containing co , hydrogen , light hydrocarbons , etc . may be blended into the syngas stream . in addition , a slip stream of syngas product stream 12 may be used for other purposes . alternatively , a slip stream of stream 22 from reactor 20 may be delivered to other sections of the process as a hydrogen rich gas supply . syngas reactor 10 can comprise any of the synthesis gas technology ( reactor designs ) known in the art . the hydrocarbon - containing feed is almost exclusively obtained as natural gas . however , the most important component is generally methane . methane or other suitable hydrocarbon feedstocks ( hydrocarbons with four carbons or less ) are also readily available from a variety of other sources such as higher chain hydrocarbon liquids , coke , hydrocarbon gases , etc ., all of which are known in the art . similarly , the oxygen - containing gas may come from a variety of sources and will be somewhat dependent upon the nature of the reaction being used . for example , a partial oxidation reaction requires diatomic oxygen as a feedstock while steam reforming requires only steam . it should be appreciated that the present invention requires that at least a portion of the syngas be prepared from a partial oxidation reaction . regardless of their sources , the hydrocarbon - containing feed and the oxygen - containing feed are reacted under catalytic conditions . the catalyst compositions useful for synthesis gas generation reactions are well known in the art . they generally include a catalytic metal and one or more promoters on a support structure . the literature is replete with catalyst compositions and preparation techniques that are useful in the present invention , i . e ., partial oxidation catalysts . these are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art . the support structures often dictate the type of catalyst bed that must be used . for example , fixed beds typically comprise monoliths and large particle sized supports . small particle sized supports tend to be more useful in fluidized beds . the synthesis gas feedstocks ( hydrocarbon and oxygen gasses ) are generally preheated , mixed and passed over or through the catalyst bed . as the mixed feedstocks contact the catalyst the synthesis reactions take place . the synthesis gas product contains primarily hydrogen and carbon monoxide , however , many other minor components may be present including steam , nitrogen , carbon dioxide , etc ., as well as unreacted feedstock , such as methane and / or oxygen . still referring to fig1 when the synthesis gas product , i . e ., syngas , is passed from syngas reactor 10 to secondary reactor 20 , it should be appreciated that the syngas may undergo various treatments prior to introduction into secondary reactor 20 . secondary reactor 20 is preferably a water gas shift ( wgs ) reactor . a water gas shift reaction is one in which carbon monoxide reacts with water in the presence of a catalyst to produce carbon dioxide and hydrogen as shown in reaction ( 3 ). this reaction is moderately exothermic with heat of reaction of − 41 . 4 kj / mol - co . thus , in one embodiment , syngas slip stream 16 is passed into a wgs reactor and the carbon monoxide in stream 16 reacts with water when the two reactants come in contact with the wgs catalyst . the water is typically added as steam that mixes with the incoming syngas prior to exposure to the wgs catalyst . wgs reactors can be operated from about 200 ° c . to about 1100 ° c ., preferably from about 200 ° c . to about 450 ° c . the performance of a water gas shift reactor is independent of the operation of reactor 10 . the operation of reactor 20 can be selected based on the gas stream pressure of stream 12 and stream 26 as desired for the process . this pressure can range from atmosphere to 300 atmosphere . the temperature selected will ultimately depend on the wgs catalyst composition , the amount of conversion desired and the temperature of the incoming reactant gases . typically , the lower the temperature the better the equilibrium conversion . examples of wgs catalysts suitable for the present invention include but are not limited to iron based catalysts , such as fe 3 o 4 / cr 2 o 3 , or copper based catalysts , such as cuo / zno / al 2 o 3 , the cu based catalysts are low temperature type catalysts , but tend to be unstable . the best operation temperature range for cu based catalyst is from 180 ° c . to 260 ° c . above that range , catalysts start to deactivate due to sintering of active component , cu . the fe based catalysts are very stable , but have lower activities that require higher temperatures . typically the operation temperature of fe - based catalyst is in the range of 300 - 550 ° c . thus , in a preferred embodiment of the present invention , the wgs catalyst in reactor 20 comprises both a high temperature and a low temperature catalyst composition in either successive wgs reactors ( not shown ) or as a single catalyst mixture in a single wgs reactor . syngas typically exits a syngas reactor at greater than 900 ° c . the temperature is typically immediately reduced to about 600 ° c . accordingly , a more preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises passing the syngas slip stream 16 over a high temperature wgs catalyst at 300 - 560 ° c . followed by a cooling system then to a low wgs catalyst at 180 - 260 ° c . to achieve the most hydrogen yield possible . the secondary reactor 20 produces a hydrogen rich stream 22 with as much as 98 % conversion of the carbon monoxide to hydrogen . hydrogen rich stream 22 can then be used to adjust the hydrogen to carbon monoxide ratio of the primary syngas product stream 12 . adjustment of the hydrogen concentration can result in hydrogen to carbon monoxide ratios of from about 1 . 6 to about 10 . any excess hydrogen can be used in other processes , such as hydrotreating the fischer - tropsch products , regeneration or activation of syngas or fischer - tropsch catalysts , or any other process that requires hydrogen . hydrogen balance of the whole process can be adjusted through the adjustment of the flow ratio of the stream 16 versus stream 20 . another consideration is the buildup of carbon dioxide in the hydrogen rich stream 22 as a second product from the water gas shift reaction . the carbon dioxide will not have a deleterious affect on the fischer - tropsch or other downstream reaction and , thus , the entire hydrogen rich stream 22 can be introduced into the syngas stream 18 to produce the adjusted syngas stream 26 . because carbon dioxide is inert to the fischer - tropsch process , it can be removed from the fischer - tropsch tailgas . removal of carbon dioxide is well known in the art and is not critical to the present invention . likewise , if the carbon dioxide were a reactant and would interfere with subsequent processes its removal could be carried out prior to the introduction of hydrogen stream 22 at point 24 . syngas stream 26 typically will have to be transitioned to be useable in a fischer - tropsch or other synthesis reactors , which operate at lower temperatures of about 200 ° c . to 400 ° c . the syngas is preferably cooled , dehydrated ( i . e ., taken below 100 ° c . to knock out water ) and compressed during the transition phase . in this transition of syngas from the syngas reactor 10 to synthesis reactor 30 ( fig2 ), the syngas temperature may go through a temperature window of 50 ° c . to 1500 ° c . therefore , reactor 20 can be selectively placed within the transitional phase continuum where the temperature is appropriate . now referring to fig2 the combined , hydrogen - adjusted syngas product 26 stream is shown entering a synthesis reactor 30 . synthesis reactor 30 is preferably a fischer - tropsch reactor . the fischer - tropsch reactor 30 can comprise any of the fischer - tropsch technology and / or methods known in the art . the fischer - tropsch feedstock is hydrogen and carbon monoxide , i . e ., syngas . according to the present invention , the hydrogen to carbon monoxide molar ratio is preferably deliberately adjusted to a desired optimum ratio , preferably about 2 : 1 to about 2 . 5 : 1 , but can vary between 0 . 5 : 1 and 4 : 1 . the syngas stream 24 is then introduced into the fischer - tropsch reactor 30 . fischer - tropsch catalysts are well known in the art and generally comprise a catalytically active metal , a promoter and a support structure . the most common fischer - tropsch catalyst compositions are fe - based catalysts and co - based catalysts . the support is generally alumina , titania , zirconia or mixtures thereof . fischer - tropsch reactors can use fixed and / or fluid type catalyst beds as well as slurry bubble columns . the literature is replete with particular embodiments of fischer - tropsch reactors as well as additional fischer - tropsch catalyst compositions on various supports . as the mixed feedstocks contact the catalyst the hydrocarbon synthesis reactions take place according to equation ( 4 ). the fischer - tropsch product contains a wide distribution of hydrocarbon products from c 5 to greater than c 100 . for example , fuels with boiling points in the middle distillate range , such as kerosene and diesel fuel , and hydrocarbon waxes may be produced from the synthesis gas . in another preferred embodiment , the present invention comprises using the improved syngas product stream described above as a reactant feed for further synthesis reactions such as fischer - tropsch or alcohols synthesis . as used herein , reference to fischer - tropsch reactions is made only by way of example . the present invention should not be limited to fischer - tropsch synthesis reactions . in addition , it should be appreciated that the syngas may undergo various treatments prior to introduction into the secondary reactor 20 and / or prior to the introduction into any final synthesis reactor . the treatments will depend on the process being used , such treatments include but are not limited to : temperature manipulation , water knock out , compression and expansion of the gases , etc . these treatments and their necessity for particular processes are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art . for example , the present invention is susceptible to embodiments of different forms or order and should not be interpreted to be limited to the particular structures , methods or compositions described herein . in particular , various embodiments of the present invention provide a number of different configurations of the overall gas to liquid conversion process . in addition , the fischer - tropsch reactor could be replaced with an alcohols synthesis reactor or any other reactor that can use an adjustable syngas product stream as a reactant or otherwise . accordingly , the scope of protection is not limited to the embodiments described herein , but is only limited by the claims , the scope of which shall include all equivalents of the subject matter of the claims . while preferred embodiments of this invention have been shown and described , modification thereof can be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or teaching of this invention . the embodiments described herein are exemplary only and are not limiting . many variations and modifications of the system and apparatus are possible and are within the scope of this invention . for example , the present invention is susceptible to embodiments of different forms or order and should not be interpreted to be limited to the particular structures , methods or compositions described herein . in particular , various embodiments of the present invention provide a number of different configurations of the overall gas to liquid conversion process . for example , the fischer - tropsch synthesis reactor could be a methanol reactor or the wgs reactor could be a series of high and low temperature wgs reactors located in parallel or in series , the steps are not limited to a stepwise order but can also be carried out simultaneously . accordingly , the scope of protection is not limited to the embodiments described herein , but is only limited by the claims , which follow , the scope of which shall include all equivalents of the subject matter of the claims .
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referring now to fig1 and 2 , there is show a preferred embodiment of a frost blanket 10 constructed in accordance with the present invention overlying an area of earth 1 ( i . e . a flower bed ) having vegetation 2 ( see fig1 ) grown / growing thereon . the frost blanket 10 includes a sheet of material 12 having folded edge portions 14 that form piping 16 . a weight ( s ) 18 is positioned within the piping 16 and assist in holding the frost blanket 10 in position over the vegetation 2 . notably , while the frost blanket 10 is shown in position over “ residential ” style landscaping plants ( i . e ., shrubs , flowering plants , fruit trees , ornamental plants , etc . ), it will be appreciated that the frost blanket 10 of the present invention has a wide range of uses , including use in connection with the protection of rural ( i . e ., farmland ), residential and commercial ( i . e ., experimental ) crops , commercial landscaping or the like . the sheet of material 12 is preferably a textile material . as such , the sheet 12 may be constructed from cotton , wool or any other available fabric or fabric blends ( include synthetic fabrics ). alternatively , the sheet 12 may be constructed of a polymeric material ( e . g ., plastic ). such polymeric materials will preferably have a plurality of micro - perforation that permits the material to “ breath ” in a manner similar to a natural ( or suitable synthetic ) textile . the sheet 12 may be colored any color or combination of colors according to the needs of the user . for example , the sheet 10 may also be colored or coated ( using means know in the art ) such that it either absorbs ( black ) or deflects ( white ) heat . additionally , the sheet 12 may be colored earth tones ( or the like ) such that the sheet 12 would blend in with the surrounding terrain or architecture . the ends or edge portions 14 of the sheet are folded over and sewn together to form a piping 16 that extends around the parameter 19 of the sheet 12 . alternatively , the piping 16 may be staggered ( see fig2 ) such that it extends only around portions of the edge 14 of the sheet 12 ( e . g ., the piping 16 may intermittently ( or irregularly ) arrayed along the parameter 19 of the sheet 12 . the weight ( s ) 18 is positioned within the piping 16 . preferably , the weight ( s ) 18 is a flexible weight such as sand , metal beads or a fluid ( i . e ., water ) that is encapsulated by the piping 16 . if a fluid is used as the weight 18 , the fluid may , for example , be stored within bags ( or the like ) that are dimensioned to fit within the piping 16 . additionally , metal rods , discs or even metal magnets may be used as the weight 18 . the weight 18 should be heavy enough to hold the blanket 10 in position over the designated vegetation ( see fig1 ) during windy environment conditions , but light also enough that the blanket 10 does not compress , crush or brake the vegetation it is intended to protect . referring now to fig3 the blanket 10 is constructed from a sheet 12 that has a generally circular pattern having piping 16 and a weight ( s ) 18 along the parameter 19 . accordingly , it is understood that the blanket 10 may be constructed in a variety of shapes ( i . e ., square , rectangle , circle , oval , star , trapezoid , parallelogram , etc .) or sizes ( i . e ., 10 ′× 10 ′, 10 ′× 100 , 25 ′× 150 ′). referring now to fig4 there is shown an alternative embodiment of the frost blanket 100 of the present invention wherein the piping 16 is positioned or extends into the interior area 20 of the sheet 12 . a weight ( s ) 18 is positioned within the piping 16 as a means of securing the sheet 12 over the vegetation ( not shown ). having thus described my invention , various modifications and improvements will become apparent to those having skill the art that do not depart from the spirit of the invention .
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referring to fig1 , there is shown a simplified block diagram of a technique which generates sound signals using both time and frequency - domain processed signals , processes stationary and non - stationary portions of a sound signal differently and makes use of an adaptive frame - size according to embodiments of the present invention . as shown , a device 1 comprises frequency - domain processor 2 , time - domain processor 3 , control unit 4 and mixer 5 . in one embodiment of the present invention , each of these elements are adapted to operate as follows . upon receiving an input sound signal via pathway 100 the control unit 4 is adapted to generate first and second weights ( i . e ., electronic signals or values which are commonly referred to as “ weights ”) from the input sound signal and a scaling factor input via pathway 101 . the weights , designated as a and b , are output via pathways 402 and 403 to the mixer 5 . the input sound signal is also input into the processors 2 , 3 . the time - domain processor 3 is adapted to generate and output a time - domain processed , time - scaled signal (“ first signal ”) via pathway 300 to mixer 5 . frequency - domain processor 2 is adapted to : transform a time - domain signal into a frequency domain signal ; process the signal ; and then convert the signal back into a time - domain , time - scaled signal . thereafter , processor 2 is adapted to output this frequency - domain processed , time - domain , time - scaled signal (“ second signal ”) via pathway 200 to the mixer 5 . upon receiving such signals from the processors 2 , 3 the mixer 5 is adapted to apply the first weight a to the first signal and the second weight b to the second signal in order to adjust such signals . mixer 5 is further adapted to combine the so adjusted signals and then to generate and output a time - scaled , sound signal via pathway 500 . in this way , the present invention envisions combining both time - domain and frequency - domain processed signals in order to process both speech and music - based , input sound signals . by so doing , the limitations described previously above are minimized . operation of the control unit 4 and processors 2 , 3 will now be described in more detail . as shown , the control unit 4 comprises a sound discriminator 42 , signal statistics unit 43 and weighting generator 41 . upon input of a sound signal via pathway 100 the discriminator 42 and signal statistics unit 43 are adapted to determine whether the input signal is a speech or music - based signal . thereafter , the weighting generator 41 is adapted to generate weights a and b . as envisioned by the present invention , if the signal is a speech signal the value of the weight a will be larger than the value of the weight b . conversely , if the input signal is a music signal the value of the weight b will be larger than the value of the weight a . in effect , the weights a and b determine which of the signals 200 , 300 will have a bigger influence on the ultimate output signal 500 heard by a user or listener . in this manner , the control unit 4 balances the use of a combination of the first signal 300 and second signal 200 depending on the type of sound signal input into device 1 . continuing , suppose a user ( i . e ., listener ) of device 1 wishes to vary the speed of the speech or music signal he or she is listening to . enter the scaling factor . it is the scaling factor which acts to adjust the speed at which the signal is heard . as envisioned by the present invention , the control unit 4 is adapted to adjust the first and second weights a and b based on the scaling factor input via pathway 101 . before continuing , it should be noted that the scaling factor input via pathway 101 may be manually input by a user or otherwise generated by a scaling factor generator ( not shown ). according to one embodiment of the present invention , as the value of the scaling factor increases the control unit 4 is adapted to increase the second weight b and decrease the first weight a . conversely , as the value of the scaling factor decreases the control unit 4 is further adapted to decrease the second weight b and increase the first weight a . this adjustment of weights a and b based on a scaling factor is done in order to select the proper “ mixing ” of signals 200 , 300 generated by processors 2 , 3 . in other words , if the value of weight a is large then the ultimate signal 500 output by mixer 5 will be heavily influenced by the signal originating from time - domain processor 3 ; if the value associated with weight b is large then the output 500 generated by mixer 5 will be heavily influenced by the signal generated by frequency - domain processor 2 . this mixing of both signal types allows techniques envisioned by the present invention to take advantage of the benefits offered by both as the scaling factor changes . in a further example , suppose a user of device 1 wishes to slow down the speed of a sound signal . to do so , she would normally increase the scaling factor . according to the present invention , such an increase in the scaling factor affects the weights a and b . more particular , such an increase results in an increase in weight b and a decrease in weight a . this leads to an output sound signal 500 which is influenced more by a signal generated by the frequency - domain processor 2 than one generated by the time - domain processor 3 . in one simplified embodiment of the concepts just discussed , device 1 is adapted to adjust weights a and b only when an input sound signal transitions from a speech to a music signal or vice - versa . for example , if a speech signal is detected , a “ full ” weight is assigned to the first signal ( e . g ., a = 1 ; b = 0 ); while if music is detected , the full weight is assigned to the second signal ( e . g ., a = 0 , b = 1 ). in these special cases , when one of the weights is equal to zero , no processing by the respective processor occurs ( e . g ., when a = 0 , b = 1 no time - domain processing occurs , only frequency domain processing ). this may occur when the input signal comprises substantially speech or music . in sum , the mixer 5 substantially acts as a switch either outputting the time - domain processed or the frequency - domain processed signal ( i . e ., first or second signal ). it should be noted that although the discussion above and below focuses on speech and music - like sound signals , devices envisioned by the present invention will also process other sound signals as well . in such a case the input signal is classified as either a speech or music signal ( i . e ., if the signal is more speech - like , then it is classified as speech ; otherwise , it is classified as a music signal ). the special case described above requires only a limited amount of synchronization ( i . e ., delay matching ) between the time and frequency - domain processed signals , namely , at the transitions from speech to music and vice - versa . it should be understood , however , that in other embodiments of the present invention ( i . e ., where a and b are both non - zero ) synchronization has to be performed almost constantly . in addition to utilizing both time and frequency - domain processed signals , the present invention envisions further improvement of a time - scaled ( i . e ., speed adjusted ) output sound signal by treating stationary and non - stationary signal portions differently and by using an adaptive frame - size . in one embodiment of the present invention , processors 2 , 3 are adapted to detect whether an instantaneous input sound signal comprises a stationary or non - stationary signal . if a non - stationary signal is detected , then time - scaling sections 22 , 32 within processors 2 , 3 are adapted to selectively withhold time - scaling ( i . e ., these signal portions are not time - scaled ). in other words , only stationary portions are selected to be time - scaled . by selecting stationary signal portions for time - scaling and not non - stationary portions , the original characteristics of “ impulsive ” sounds and “ onset ” sounds ( both of which are non - stationary ) are maintained . this is important in order to generate time - scaled speech which sounds original in nature to a listener . though sections 22 , 32 do not apply time - scaling to non - stationary signal portions they are nonetheless adapted to process non - stationary signal portions using alternative processes such that the signals generated comprise characteristics which are substantially similar to an input sound signal . as briefly mentioned above , devices envisioned by the present invention also make use of an adaptive frame size . in general , the frame - size determines how much of the input signal will be processed over a given period of time . the frame - size is typically set to a range of a few milliseconds to some tens of milliseconds . it is desirable to change the frame - size depending on the stationary nature of the signal . referring back to fig1 , frequency - domain processor 2 comprises a frame - size section 21 . the frame - size section 21 is adapted to generate a frame - size based on the stationary and non - stationary characteristics of an input music signal or the like . that is , when the signal input via pathway 100 is a music signal , the frame - size section 21 is adapted to detect both the stationary and non - stationary portions of the signal . the frame - size section 21 is further adapted to generate a shortened frame - size to process the non - stationary portion of the signal and to generate a lengthened frame size to process the stationary portion . this variable frame - size is one example of what is referred to by the inventor as an adaptive frame - size . at substantially the same time that the adaptive frame - size is being generated by section 21 , the input signal is being processed by a frequency - domain , time - scaled section 22 . this section 22 is adapted to generate the time - scaled second signal using techniques known in the art . in addition , however , according to the present invention , section 22 is influenced by a scaling factor input via pathway 101 . the resulting signal is sent to a delay section 23 which is adapted to add a delay to the second signal and to process such a signal using the adaptive frame - size generated by section 21 . it is this processed signal that becomes the second signal which is eventually adjusted by weight b . as mentioned before , delays are necessary to synchronize the outputs of the time - domain and frequency - domain processors 2 , 3 . without synchronization , the two signals ( time - domain and frequency domain processed signals ) would not be aligned in time resulting in an output sound signal 500 which contains an echo . both time - domain and frequency - domain processors may produce delays that vary over time . for time - domain processing , the delay may vary due to slight , short - term changes in the scaling factor . although a user may set a target scaling factor , the actual scaling factor at a given moment in time may differ from such a target . to offset such an effect and still achieve a target scaling factor set by a user , sections 22 , 32 are adapted to time - scale stationary signal portions by an amount slightly greater than a user &# 39 ; s target scaling factor . besides slight short - term variations in the scaling factor , significant short - term variations may also occur during time - domain and frequency - domain processing . for example , sounds such as ‘ t ’,‘ k ’,‘ p ’ may not be scaled at all , while short - term stationary “ phonemes ”, such as ‘ a ’,‘ e ’, ‘ s ’ may be scaled more to achieve an average scaling factor that equals a target scaling factor . on the other hand , for frequency - domain processing , the delay period is determined by the frame - size . a short frame - size introduces less delay than a large frame - size . if the outputs of the frequency - domain and time - domain processors 2 , 3 are mixed using weights a and b that are non - zero , these delays have to match ( although a variation of a few milliseconds maybe tolerated , for example , when short - term stationary phonemes are being processed ; but note that such variations introduce spectral changes and tend to degrade sound quality ). referring again back to fig1 , the time - domain processor 3 also generates first signal 300 based on an adaptive frame - size . instead of using the stationary nature of an input signal to adjust a frame - size , pitch characteristics are used . in more detail , time - domain processor 3 comprises : a time - domain , time - scaling section 32 adapted to generate a time - domain , time - scaled signal from the input signal and the scaling factor input via pathway 101 ; and a time - domain , frame - size section 31 adapted to generate a frame - size based on the pitch characteristics of the input signal . this signal is sent to a delay section or unit 33 . section 33 is adapted to process the signal using a frame - size generated by section 31 . instead of immediately outputting a resulting signal , the delay section 33 is adapted to add a delay in order to generate and output a delayed , time - domain , time - scaled signal ( i . e ., the first signal referred to above ) via pathway 300 substantially at the same time as the second signal is output from frequency - domain processor 2 via pathway 200 . in an alternative embodiment of the present invention , one of the delay units 23 , 33 is adapted to control the other via pathway 320 or the like to ensure the appropriate delays are utilized within each unit to prevent echoing and the like . time - scaled , speed - adjusted signals generated by using an adaptive frame size have lower amounts of reverberation as compared with signals generated using conventional techniques . features of the present invention have been illustrated by the examples discussed above . modifications may be made to these examples without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention , the scope of which is determined by the claims which follow :
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for purposes of this application the definition of these terms is as follows : “ binder ” means a composition of matter within a coating formulation that helps to both adhere pigment to the paper substrate and to help bind pigment particles to each other “ brightness ” means a measurement of the ability of a sample to reflect monochromatic ( 457 nm ) light as compared to a known standard , using magnesium oxide ( mgo ). brightness is a term used to describe the whiteness of pulp or paper , on a scale from 0 % ( absolute black ) to 100 % ( relative to a mgo standard , which has an absolute brightness of about 96 %) by the reflectance of blue light ( 475 nm ) from the paper . “ co - binder ” means a constituent of an oba coating which is present in small amount , less than 10 pph relative to the particulate weight , and is used for the purpose of improving some aspect of the coating formulation or final coated product . “ dye ” means a material used in an oba containing coating formulation to alter the optical properties of a substrate . “ glycerol based polymers ” means any polymers containing glycerol monomer units such as polyglycerols , polyglycerol derivatives , and a polymer consisting of glycerol monomer units and at least another monomer units to other multiple monomers units . “ glycerol ” in the “ glycerol based polymers ” means any glycerol based monomers which can be polymerized into plyglycerols with or without additional steps before or after the polymerization such as glycerol , glycidol , glycerol carbonate and chlorohyrins . “ oba ” means a dye or pigment based optical brightening agent which is a component of a coating formulation commonly applied to a paper substrate . fluorescent dyes or pigments that absorb ultraviolet radiation and reemit it at a higher frequency in the visible spectrum ( blue ), thereby effecting a white , bright appearance . “ particulates ” means a finely ground solid powder that may or may not be water - soluble . “ pigment ” means a solid material used in an oba containing coating formulation to alter the optical properties of a substrate . “ pulp ” means the fibrous raw materials used to make paper , the fibrous raw materials are usually of vegetable origin , are commonly cellulose fibers , are commonly wood based , but may be synthetic or of other origin , and may contain pieces of wood . “ solvent ” means a liquid medium used to facilitate transfer of particles , the particles may or may not be dissolved in the liquid medium . “ substrate ” means a sheet of paper , a sheet of paper precursor , a mass of fibers , or any other material that can be or has been treated by the inventive oba containing coating . “ whiteness ” means a measurement of the cie ( commission of internationale de l &# 39 ; eclairage ) whiteness of a sample as derived from the cie tristimulus values , corresponding to the cie 1964 standard observer and the cie illuminant d65 . in the event that the above definitions or a definition stated elsewhere in this application is inconsistent with a meaning ( explicit or implicit ) which is commonly used , in a dictionary , or stated in a source incorporated by reference into this application , the application and the claim terms in particular are understood to be construed according to the definition in this application , and not according to the common definition , dictionary definition , or the definition that was incorporated by reference . in at least one embodiment of the invention , a paper substrate is coated with an oba containing coating that improves its optical properties . in at least one embodiment , the coating comprises at least one stilbene based oba such as tetrasulfonated diamino stilbene . the coating also contains a glycerol based polymer . in at least one embodiment the coating also comprises water and / or a solvent . diamino stilbene obas are often classified by the number of sulfonated groups on the molecule . the commonly used materials are either disulfonated , tetrasulfonated , and hexasulfonated . the tetrasulfonated derivative is usually the least expensive and preferred among papermakers . tetrasulfonated derivatives however are limited in the maximum dosage allowable due to the undesirable greening effect . stilbene &# 39 ; s use as a dye or pigment is described for example in u . s . pat . no . prior 5 , 885 , 340 . without being limited to theory it is believed that the glycerol based polymer promotes the formation of a structure that enhances the effectiveness of the stilbene oba dye or pigment . u . s . pat . no . 6 , 133 , 215 describes how polyglycerol combined with distryl biphenyl molecules form an enhanced complex and it is believed that a similar mechanism is at work when the glycerol based polymer is combined with tetrasulfonated diamino stilbene . for optimal performance , obas need to maintain a planar and trans configuration of the olefin moiety in the stilbene structure . it is believed that the glycerol base polymer promotes this preferred configuration of the oba through hydrogen bonding . in addition , glycerol based polymers serve to reduce the migration of obas into the base sheet and thus provide enhanced brightness and whiteness attributes . in at least one embodiment the oba containing coating further comprises at least one item selected from the list consisting of : styrene - butyl acrylonitrile latex ( sba ), calcium carbonate , organic acids or the salts forms , polyvinyl alcohol , starch , acid functional group based polymers , nonionic polysaccharides , polyalkene derivatives of stilbene , and any combination thereof . in at least one embodiment the oba containing coating is formulated and used in the manner described in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 057 , 570 , 6 , 030 , 443 , published us patent application 2003 / 144408 , and international application wo 2006 033321 . in at least one embodiment , the calcium carbonate is gcc ( ground calcium carbonate derived from natural rock / not synthesized ). in at least one embodiment , the molecular weight of the glycerol based polymers are 1000 - 15 , 000 daltons or even higher . in at least one embodiment , the molecular weight of the glycerol based polymer is 1000 - 6 , 000 daltons . when a paper substrate is coated with an oba containing layer , the coating must improve the optical properties of the paper , it must not unduly impair the strength of the resulting paper . in at least one embodiment this is facilitated by having the paper substrate have a density of 20 - 200 g / m 2 and the oba coating on each side is 2 - 80 g / m 2 . the coating can be applied by any number of methods including but not limited to a metered size press , a rod and a blade or air coater . the following examples are presented to describe embodiments and utilities of the invention and are not meant to limit the invention unless otherwise stated in the claims . eighteen samples were prepared to compare the optical properties of various oba formulations . the samples were applied to one - side of a wood - free base sheet substrate ( 70 g / m 2 ), such the dried coating composition was 13 g / m 2 . the coatings contained tetrasulfonated diamino stilbene or hexasulfonated stilbene obas . the coatings contained 64 % solid . the solids of the control sample contained gcc and 10 parts per hundred sba . a pvoh bearing sample contained gcc and 9 parts per hundred sba , and 1 pph pvoh ( mowiol type 4 - 98 , by kuraray europe gmb ). a glycerol based polymer bearing solution contained 9 pph sba and 4 pph a glycerol based polymer . the oba was dosed on a product basis in the range of 1 - 4 pph . table 1 illustrates that the polyglycerol based samples resulted in the best brightness , superior whiteness , and a more preferred red shade ( as indicated by the larger a * value ). while this invention may be embodied in many different forms , there are described in detail herein specific preferred embodiments of the invention . the present disclosure is an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the particular embodiments illustrated . all patents , patent applications , scientific papers , and any other referenced materials mentioned herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety . furthermore , the invention encompasses any possible combination of some or all of the various embodiments described herein and incorporated herein . all ranges and parameters disclosed herein are understood to encompass any and all subranges subsumed therein , and every number between the endpoints . for example , a stated range of “ 1 to 10 ” should be considered to include any and all subranges between ( and inclusive of ) the minimum value of 1 and the maximum value of 10 ; that is , all subranges beginning with a minimum value of 1 or more , ( e . g . 1 to 6 . 1 ), end ending with a maximum value of 10 or less , ( e . g . 2 . 3 to 9 . 4 , 3 to 8 , 4 to 7 ), and finally to each number 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , and 10 contained within the range . the above disclosure is intended to be illustrative and not exhaustive . this description will suggest many variations and alternatives to one of ordinary skill in his art . all these alternatives and variations are intended to be included within the scope of the claims where the term “ comprising ” means “ including , but not limited to ”. those familiar with the art may recognize other equivalents to the specific embodiments described herein which equivalents are also intended to be encompassed by the claims . this completes the description of the preferred and alternate embodiments of the invention . those skilled in the art may recognize other equivalents to the specific embodiment described herein which equivalents are intended to be encompassed by the claims attached hereto .
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fig1 illustrates the remote disaster recovery system , which is generally indicated by numeral 10 , according to one embodiment of the present invention . disaster recovery system 10 comprises a plurality of end - user computer systems 15 , one of which being illustrated , safe - side server 25 which is capable of supporting multiple end - user computer systems such as 15 and provide it services ( e . g ., recovery , restoration , installation etc .) via internet 30 or any other suitable data network to each of the computer systems 15 when necessary , and removable media ( rm ) 5 , such as a compact disk ( cd ) or a portable device ( e . g ., a disk - on - key ), connected to computer system 15 ( for example , via a usb bus ), for each corresponding computer system 15 , to initiate the installation process by performing two boot operations as will be described hereinafter , when information on corresponding hard disk ( hd ) 12 is corrupted and is inoperable , e . g ., by malicious software or by hardware failure . the safe - side server 25 is used for new installations , reinstallations , backup services and restoration and image construction and storage . while recovery software is transmitted by prior art methods via the internet to a computer system only if the hard disk or and its operating system is operational , the method of the present invention bypasses hard disk 12 when the software of the latter is inoperable . rm 5 is provided with a software module hereinafter referred to as a “ live operating system ”, which is an operating system such as , knoppix which is a bootable live operating system on cd , dvd or thumb - drive , consisting of a representative collection of software , automatic hardware detection , and support for many graphics cards , sound cards , scsi ( small computer system interface ) and usb devices and other peripheral devices . the live operating system , after being bootstrapped by rm 5 onto random access memory ( ram ) 7 , is able to interface with central processing unit ( cpu ) 8 , to initiate a network topology detection operation to establish a network connection . likewise , the live operating system is able to interface with input device 13 and monitor 14 of computer system 15 by means of cpu 8 so that a user may enter and receive data in a similar fashion as what was carried out in conjunction with the original operating system of computer system 15 . the network connections are secured and encrypted segments 14 and 16 of a secured point to point connection , such as a virtual private network ( vpn ) channel , which connects computer system 15 via internet 30 with the safe - side server 25 . advanced and privileged operations can be performed using the method proposed by the present invention , since it operates external to the operating system that exists on the computer systems 15 , and therefore , is not limited to the authorizations defined by the existing operating system . after secured connection is established , safe - side server 25 receives a unique hardware signature identification ( e . g ., a uuid ) request from the live os . the safe side server checks whether or not the computer system 15 is known as a subscriber , and provides a list of matching operations for said computer system 15 . then the end user of computer system 15 selects the desired operation , e . g ., installation or reinstallation of an os , software packages and data . if , for example , an installation operation is selected , then the live os runs pvm 28 which is virtualized over the cpu 8 , memory and network connection and / or a bootable device . the partial vm is bootstrapped from a software package prepared by the safe side server 25 . safe side server 25 prepares the software packages required by combining generic installation packages 37 with the subscriber &# 39 ; s licenses , configuration and settings , or computes the settings for computer system 15 ( e . g ., time zone definitions ), that are stored in a subscriber &# 39 ; s database 29 , that can reside on the safe side server 25 or in another accessible location . fig1 also illustrates the boot operation that is performed by the pvm . while the vpn channel continues to be established between rm 5 and safe - side server 25 , this boot operation is adapted to install the features of a desired operating system , whether an operating system substantially identical to the original operating system , or if desired , different from the original operating system , onto hard disk 12 of computer system 15 . fig3 illustrates a scenario when a remote installation is required , according to one embodiment of the invention . following corruption of the hard disk or of the operating system of a target computer , i . e ., the computer on which an operating system is to be installed , at step 51 the live os performs a bootstrapping operation from the rm 5 onto the ram 7 . at the next step 54 the live os performs hardware failure testing , so as to determine which services can be provided and / or to bypass failures , if possible . at the next step 57 , the connectivity to the internet is tested and if exists , at the next step 59 a secured channel to a predefined server ( in this example , the safe - side server 25 ) is established . at the next step 61 , the hardware signature of the computer system 15 is sent to the safe - side server 25 . at the next step 62 , the hardware options are received and then at step 63 , the user selects from the proposed options . at step 64 , the safe - side server 25 prepares installation package for that hardware . at the next step 66 the pvm 28 is loaded onto the ram 7 and is bootstrapped from the prepared software package on the safe side server 25 . at step 67 , the os installation runs inside the pvm 28 and installs on the hd 12 . if the installation process was successful , at the next step 68 the computer system 15 is rebooted from the newly installed os on the hd 12 . fig3 illustrates several possibilities of network topologies , by which an operating system may be installed on a target computer by means of safe - side server 25 and the system of the present invention . several connectivity options may be present within computer system 15 . such connectivity options may be : 1 . computer system 15 has a network interface card ( nic ) 32 that connects to a local network and receives network connectivity , such as a dhcp service . 2 . computer system 15 has a network interface card ( nic ) 32 that connects to a modem , either a cable modem , a digital subscriber line ( dsl ) modem 9 or any other . 3 . computer system 15 has a usb connection to modem 9 . 4 . computer system 15 has a wireless interface networking card . in option 1 , networking is present . in options 2 and 3 networking / internet connectivity is not present , so computer system 15 initializes and dials via modem 9 to one of a list of predefined internet accounts , until establishing connectivity with safe side server 25 . in option 4 , a wireless networking is attempted and if credentials are required , then the end user is prompted for these credentials . modem 9 can be connected to the isp ( internet service provider ) via either copper twisted pair 45 as a dsl modem or by means of a coaxial line 46 as a cable modem . the wireless connection can be of type bt ( blue tooth ), wifi ( wireless fidelity ), wimax or any other data connection . in any of the network topologies , switch ( es ) 35 and router ( s )/ firewall ( s ) 36 may be used . when a wireless network is used , a base station 44 converts the wireless communication to a wired connection . in another embodiment of the invention , the aforementioned method may be implemented to store data from the hard disk of the computer system to data files of the safe - side server 25 . if the storage of the computer system becomes corrupted , the stored data files may be retrieved via the vpn channel . fig4 is a flowchart of a preferred embodiment of the present invention . at the first step 501 , the user inserts the removable boot media that contains the live os and program files and boots the machine from said media . at the next step 502 , the essential hardware components ( e . g ., ram , cpu and hd ) are tested by the live os . at the next step 503 , the live os checks if an error is found ( for example , bad sectors in the hd ). if found , at the next step 504 , an assessment is made whether or not this error can be corrected or bypassed . for example , bad sectors in the hd can be marked and skipped , as well as addresses of bad modules of the ram . at the next step 505 , the user is prompted with proposed solutions ( for example , if a module of the ram is found problematic , the user may be asked to replace it ). at the next step 506 , if the error can be bypassed , the user is asked to confirm proceeding to the next step . otherwise , the process is terminated at step 507 a , while recommending what step should be taken . if confirmed , or no errors were found with the hardware , at the next step 507 , the network connectivity is probed and identified and if exists , at step 508 the nic &# 39 ; s response to dynamic host configuration protocol ( dfhcp — is a communications protocol that lets network administrators to centrally manage and automate the assignment of internet protocol ( ip ) addresses in a data network ) is checked . at this point , it is possible to check whether or not the data network is connected to the internet , so as to obtain access to the safe - side server , at step 510 . alternatively , probing for a modem can be performed . if found , at step 511 the modem is initiated and made ready for dial - up . if no network interface was found or connectivity could not be established , at step 509 the usb devices of the machine are scanned and probed , in order to find modems . at step 512 , the modem dials to obtain access , using an account that is selected from a pre - stored list in the removable boot media . once access to the safe - side server is obtained , at step 513 , a secured connection such as a vpn channel ( peer - to - peer ) is established between the live os and the safe - side server 25 . at step 514 , a “ hardware signature ” of the user &# 39 ; s computer ( which may be a number used to uniquely identify a hardware device ) is sent over the secured channel to the safe - side server 25 . at the next step 515 , the system checks if the hardware signature already exists in the safe - side server 25 , so as to determine if the user is subscribed or is a new user . if the hardware signature does not exist ( i . e ., the user is not already subscribed ), at the next step 516 the user &# 39 ; s computer is scanned for determining compatibility with available services and is registered in the safe side server 25 . at the next step 517 , several available options for a new computer are offered to that user , for example , to scan his computer for viruses / malware , selling and installing ( or reinstalling ) of legal software ( new os , new applications , etc .). at the next step 518 , the system checks if the user &# 39 ; s selection requires payment . at the next step 519 purchasing and payment are performed . if the hardware signature already exists ( i . e ., the user is subscribed ), at step 521 the information about the user &# 39 ; s computer is retrieved . at the next step 522 , the system checks for predefined default actions to be taken in predetermined events ( for example , full installation in case that the hd has been replaced ); if such a predefined default action exists , step 520 automatically follows . at the next step 523 , the live os scans the current configuration of the user &# 39 ; s machine and sends it for comparison with the stored configuration , so as to determine whether an improved services package may be offered to that user . at the next step 524 , the available options for that computer are presented to that user , for example , to scan his computer for viruses / malware , reinstallation , data restoration , defragmentation , etc .). at the next step 525 , the system checks if the user &# 39 ; s selection requires payment . at step 519 purchasing and payment are performed . at the next step 520 the selected action begins to be performed . if a maintenance option is selected at the next step 526 , the system checks at the next step 527 if the maintenance action requires using a pvm . if not , at the next step 528 the proper software is optionally downloaded and run from the safe - side server 25 , while using the most updated version ( e . g ., for malware scanning such scanning may be performed using the live os to achieve better performance by performing “ external ” scan , which is more reliable ). at the next step 529 the system shows the user a progress indication and at the next step 530 the system shows the results and current status . at the next step 531 the system checks if the user requested additional actions . if not , the maintenance process is terminated at step 532 . if he did request additional actions ( for example , in case when not all the viruses have been detected and removed , the user may prefer to format the hd and reinstall ), the system goes back to step 515 . if the maintenance action requires using a pvm , at the next step 533 the live os updates the safe - side server with the information that corresponds to the user &# 39 ; s computer . for example , hardware components that might require additional or specialized drivers ( e . g ., nics , video cards , chipsets , printers , etc .). at the next step 534 the system starts running the pvm and then at step 535 the pvm boots from the safe side server 25 over a virtual nic ( e . g ., pxe boot ), a virtual bootable device or over other form . at the next step 536 the appropriate image that was built by the safe - side server 25 for that specific user &# 39 ; s computer is provided for the pvm boot operation and the process is redirected to step 530 . if an installation option is selected , at step 537 the system checks at the next step 538 if the hardware signature exists in the safe - side server 25 . if not ( i . e ., the user is not subscribed or his default definitions have been changed ), at the next steps 539 and 540 , the user selects a desired os and desired hd partitioning scheme , respectively . if the hardware signature exists in the safeside server 25 ( i . e ., the user is subscribed and his default definitions have not been changed ), at steps 541 and 542 , the user is asked if he wishes to keep the default os and hd partitioning , respectively . at the next step 543 the hd is partitioned according to the selected os . at the next step 544 the pvm is created , while at least the cpu , ram and nic are virtualized . at the next step 545 , the pvm boots from the safe side server 25 over the virtual nic , or virtual bootable device or other . at the next step 546 the process is redirected to step 536 . while some embodiments of the invention have been described by way of illustration , it will be apparent that the invention can be carried out with many modifications , variations and adaptations , and with the use of numerous equivalents or alternative solutions that are within the scope of persons skilled in the art , without departing from the spirit of the invention or exceeding the scope of the claims .
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referring particularly to the drawings , there is shown in fig1 the assembled tool instrument 10 which includes the locking mechanism of this invention . the tool instrument 10 has a housing 12 with the housing 12 being formed of a pair of spaced apart housing members 14 and 16 . the housing member 14 has a smoothly contoured exterior surface which is also true for housing member 16 . each of the housing members 14 and 16 are basically in the shape of thin plates which are elongated . in fig2 and 3 , housing member 14 , although showing square holes 18 and 20 , can be any shape that produces interference and prevents shafts 28 from rotating . similarly , housing 16 corresponds with like holes to support the opposite end of shaft 28 . the constructional arrangement in association with each of the square holes 18 and 20 is identical so therefore the following description relative to square hole 20 will be applicable also to square hole 18 . located within and connecting with the square hole 20 is a round hole 22 . the round hole 22 is centrally located relative to the square hole 20 . one end of a coil spring 24 is mounted within the round hole 22 . the opposite end of the coil spring 24 fits within a round hole 26 which is formed within a shaft 28 . it is to be understood that there is a separate shaft 28 for each coil spring 24 and for each square hole 18 and 20 . the exterior surface of the shaft 28 has a plurality of non - engagement sections which is defined as circular sections 30 , 32 and 34 . each circular section 30 , 32 and 34 is of the same diameter although this is not mandatory . in between the circular section 30 and circular section 32 is an engagement section 36 which is basically polygonal shaped and has a plurality of interconnected planar surfaces , all of the same length , located in a circular pattern . a similar such engagement section 38 is located between the circular section 32 and 34 . at the outer end of the shaft 28 there is a similar engagement section 40 that connects only with the circular section 34 . all the engagement sections 36 , 38 and 40 are of the same size and the same dimensions . however , again , such is not mandatory but such is preferred for ease in manufacture . the outer end of the shaft 28 is formed into a polygonal shaped protuberance 42 . the inner end of the shaft 28 is formed into a polygonal shaped sleeve 44 that surrounds the round hole 26 . the sleeve 44 is to matingly fit in the polygonal hole 20 that is shown square in shape . housing member 16 is equipped with square holes 84 that connect with each hole 58 that prevent push buttons 56 from rotating when connection is made between the surfaces of each hole 84 with square surface 86 of each push button 56 . push button 56 is equipped with a square hole 87 that engages with protuberance 42 located on shafts 28 that provide support for tools 60 as well as prevent shafts 28 from rotating . surrounding the square hole 20 is a circular boss 48 . surrounding the circular boss 48 is an annular groove 50 . a washer 52 is to be mountable within the groove 50 . the round portion 57 of the push bush button 56 is mounted within a hole 58 formed within the housing member 16 . it is to be understood that there are actually two in number of holes 58 with a push button 56 being mounted within each hole . a part of the round portion 57 protrudes exteriorly of the housing member 16 . referring particularly to fig4 of the drawings , there is shown six in number of elongated tools 60 . each tool 60 will have a head 62 that will be in a particular desired configuration , such as a screwdriver head , an allen key or other similar type of tool head . as shown in fig4 , the head 62 is in the shape of a phillips head type screwdriver head with the tools 60 ranging in size from a small screwdriver type head to a quite large screwdriver head . each tool 60 has an inner end that is formed into a through hole 64 . the through hole 64 is not circular and includes a first means for engagement in the form of a series of planar surfaces 66 arranged in a circular pattern . the first means of engagement 66 is basically of a polygonal configuration . the size and shape of the first means of engagement 66 is such that the engagement sections 36 , 38 and 40 can matingly connect with the first means for engagement 66 in a locking manner . in order to connect together into a single unit the housing members 14 and 16 , there is mounted on the inner wall of housing member 14 a plate 68 . plate 68 includes a pair of spaced apart holes 70 and 72 . there is also a plate 74 fixedly mounted on the inside surface of the housing member 16 . mounted on the surface of the plate 74 are spaced apart protuberances 76 and 78 . in assembling of the tool set 10 of this invention , three in number of the tools 60 , forming two separate banks of tools 60 , are mounted about each shaft 28 and then the sleeve 44 of each shaft is placed within a respective square hole 20 . the spring has been previously mounted between the round holes 26 and 22 . the push button 56 is mounted on protuberance 42 . the housing members 14 and 16 are located at its desired spatial relationship generally about one inch apart with protuberance 76 being tightly press fitted within hole 70 and protuberance 78 being tightly press fitted within hole 72 . the tool instrument 10 is now formed into a single unit . it is to be noted that three of the tools 60 point in one direction and are located parallel to each other and three of the other tools 60 are pointing in an opposite direction and also are parallel to each other . when all six of the tools 60 are located within the internal chamber 80 which is formed between the housing members 14 and 16 , all the tools 60 will be essentially parallel to each other . in the normal at - rest position , each engaging section 36 , 38 and 40 will connect with a first means for engagement 66 of a through hole 64 . therefore , each tool 60 is fixedly locked in position relative to the housing 12 . let it now be assumed that the user is to extract one of the tools 60 and to utilize the head 62 in conjunction with a fastener , which is not shown . although six in number of tools 60 are illustrated in fig4 , any number of tools greater or less than six could be used . in order to extract the single tool 60 , the user will decide which tool from which bank of the tools 60 is desired . once the particular bank is selected , the user will press the push button 56 in direction depicted by arrow 82 for that particular bank . when the push button 56 is pressed , the shaft 28 is lineally moved from the position in fig2 to the position in fig3 . this will locate the engaging section 36 in the space between a pair of the tools 60 , locate the engaging section 38 between another pair of the tools 60 and locate the engaging recess 40 directly adjacent the washer 50 . the result is the circular section 30 is located within a through hole 64 of one tool 60 with circular section 32 being located within a through hole 64 of another tool 60 and circular section 34 connecting with a through hole of the remaining tool 60 . this means that each of the tools 60 in this bank of tools is capable of being freely pivoted to any one of the dotted line positions shown in fig1 . however , the user will normally not remove all three implements of the bank of tools 60 although the user would be capable of doing such . typically , the user will remove a single tool 60 and locate it in either the dotted right angled position shown in fig1 , the dotted obtuse position shown in fig1 , or the dotted straight line position shown in fig1 . when the desired position has been obtained , the user will release push button 56 and the bias of the spring 24 will force the shaft 28 in the left direction , which is directly opposite the pushing in direction represented by arrow 82 . this will then reengage the engaging sections 36 , 38 and 40 with the first means for engagement 66 of the tools 60 that are mounted on the shaft 28 . this means that the tool 60 that is in the outwardly extended position , represented by the dotted lines of fig1 , is locked in that position . after usage of the tool 60 , the user is to then push on push button 56 in the direction of arrow 82 which will permit the tool 60 to be moved back within the internal chamber 80 , and when the push button 56 is released , the tool 60 is again locked in position .
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hereinbelow , the distributed vector processing of the s transform is presented illustrating the processing of 2d image data . it is evident to those of skill in the art based on the explanation below that the distributed vector processing of the s transform according to the invention is not limited thereto but is also applicable for the processing of a wide range of multi - dimensional data , for example , video data or multidimensional environmental data . using the fourier convolution theorem , the s transform of an image i ( x , y ) is defined by : s ( x , y , k x , k y ) = ∫ - ∞ + ∞ ∫ - ∞ + ∞ h ( α + k x , β + k y ) g ( α , β ; k x , k y ) α β , where h ( k x , k y ) is the fourier transform of the image function i ( x , y ) and g ( α , β ; k x , k y ) is a frequency adapted gaussian window . the above formulation of the st allows use of the fast fourier transform ( fft ) for more efficient computation . the computation of the s transform is then implemented based on the following steps : step 1 . fast fourier transforming the image function i ( x , y ) as follows : h ( α , β )= fft ( i ( x , y )); for each frequency ( k x , k y ) where k x , k y ≠ 0 performing the following steps 2 to 5 ; step 2 . calculating a localizing 2d gaussian window at the current frequency ( k x , k y ): g ( α , β ; k x , k y ) = - 2 π α 2 k x 2 · - 2 π β 2 k y 2 ; step 3 . shifting the fourier spectrum h ( α , β ) to h ( α + k x , β + k y ); step 4 . computing l ( α , β ; k x , k y )= h ( α + k x , β + k y )· g ( α , β ; k x , k y ), where “.” indicates pointwise matrix multiplication ; step 5 . inverse fast fourier transforming l ( α , β ; k x , k y ) from the α - β plane into the x - y plane giving the two dimensional s transform s (*,*, k x , k y ) at the current frequency ( k x , k y ). s (*,*, k x , k y ) provides the spatial information of the occurrence of the frequency ( k x , k y ). in the above loop of steps 2 to 5 , three basic computational tasks are performed : a pointwise matrix multiplication h ( α + k x , β + k y )· g ( α , β ; k x , k y ); and , for a n by n image i ( x , y ), these tasks are o ( c ) operations — accomplished with pointer operations —, o ( n 2 ) operations , and o └ n 2 log ( n )┘ operations , respectively . of these tasks , the inverse fourier transform is of the highest order . since steps 2 to 5 are repeated for each frequency ( k x , k y ), n 2 inverse fourier transforms have to be performed yielding an overall computational complexity for the 2d st of o └ n 4 log ( n )┘. the st of a 2d image function i ( x , y ) retains the spectral variables k x and k y as well as the spatial variables x and y , resulting in a complex - valued function of four variables , i . e . a four dimensional . therefore , the storage space needed for storing the st of a 2d image is o ( n 4 ). for example , a 256 × 256 pixel image at eight bits per pixel requires 64kb to store — over twenty images fit on an ordinary floppy disk . in comparison , the st of the same image requires 256 2 more storage space — 4gb or approximately six compact disks . actually , as the st is generally performed using complex floating point data this requirement is multiplied by a factor of up to 8 . these memory requirements pose substantial problems not only for long - term storage but also for the execution of the s transform . few computers possess enough ram to perform the st for larger images without swapping data to a hard disk — an inherently slow process . in order to enable use of the s transform for practical applications in a clinical setting , the present invention discloses a method and system for computing the s transform — and in particular for computing steps 2 to 5 of the above process — having a substantially increased computation speed . in a first approach , the above process is tuned to take maximum advantage of the hardware on which it is executing . further , an iteration with respect to a frequency ( k x , k y ) in the loop comprising steps 2 to 5 is fully independent , i . e . the current iteration does not need any results from a previous iteration . therefore , each s spectrum s (*,*, k x , k y ) at a current frequency ( k x , k y ) is calculated with only the fft of the original image data as input . this allows computation of the steps 2 to 5 using parallel and / or distributed processing . as is evident , efficient implementation of a process such as the s transform shown above is not a trivial task . different programming languages have strengths and weaknesses and details of implementation often differ on the language used . in a first step the above st process has been implemented using idl as basis for comparing other implementations written in c . idl is a high level language facilitating implementation compared to code written in c . however , the ease of implementation is at the cost of a corresponding opacity in the computation often resulting in inefficiencies . an st process implemented in idl utilizing a built in idl fft function is used as a reference . the fft of a 256 × 256 image takes approximately 0 . 075 seconds on a mac g4 867 using rsi idl 5 . 4 . based on this information , an s transform of the same data — requiring 256 2 ffts — is expected to take approximately 1 . 5 hours . the st of a 512 × 512 image is expected to take about 36 hours . implementation of the st using idl introduces significant inefficiencies . for example in step 3 , the fourier spectrum — a two dimensional n by n structure — is shifted in both the k x and k y directions . in the above analysis , this step has been asserted o ( c ) because it is possible to accomplish it in constant time , regardless of n . in the idl implementation a very convenient shift () function is utilized in the computation of step 3 . unfortunately , the computing time for the idl shift () function is approximately proportional o ( n 2 ). since in the st process a large number of shifts are performed , the shift function is substantially more efficiently implemented generating and storing , for example in the case of a 2d image , four copies of the fourier spectrum and using pointer operations . since in present computer technology all data are stored using id arrays “ strides ” are implemented for performing the pointer operations . the stride indicates the number of positions to be advanced in the id array to find a subsequent element along a given axis of a respective multi - dimensional data set . employment of this technique obviates the need of moving every data point to a new position for performing the shift function , therefore , substantially reducing computing time at the cost of a small amount of additional memory used . similarly , several of the gaussian window calculations are redundant allowing storage of a set of pre calculated vectors , which are then combined to create a gaussian window as needed during the iteration . another opportunity for reducing computing time is the use of motorola &# 39 ; s altivec co - processor included in the macintosh g4 processor . the altivec co - processor is a powerful parallel vector processor for accelerating multimedia and signal processing tasks . the altivec co - processor performs operations on a 128 bit vector allowing flexible division into several elements . using a floating point data type the altivec co - processor is capable of performing an operation on four values simultaneously . as well , common signal processing operations have been optimized for the altivec co - processor . in a st processing method according to the invention , a fft library optimized for the altivec co - processor has been adapted for optimally performing multiple successive ffts for computing a st of an image as shown in the flow diagram of fig1 . fig2 illustrates a comparison of the computing time for performing a fft in the st process using idl fft with the altivec optimized implementation . the altivec optimized fft is significantly faster than the idl implementation with increasing difference for larger data sets . for example , for a 256 × 256 image , the altivec implementation is approximately five times faster . although optimization for a given hardware platform provides significant improvement in computing time , those improvements are ultimately limited . further significant reduction of computing time is achieved by exploiting the potential for independent calculation of each iteration step respective to a s (*,*, k x , k y ) plane according to the invention . each s (*,*, k x , k y ) plane is calculated with no dependence on the other s (*,*, k x , k y ) planes , therefore , allowing parallel execution on different processors . referring to fig3 and 4 , a system and method for st processing according to the invention is shown . here , the parallel computation is achieved using a multiprocessor computer 100 . the multiprocessor computer comprises , for example , 2 processors 102 and 104 sharing resources such as memory 106 and disk drives 108 . further , the multiprocessor computer comprises a communication port 110 for receiving , for example , multidimensional data such as imaging data from an mri system . alternatively , the multidimensional data are provided using a portable storage medium such as a floppy disk or compact disk . after processing the st data are , for example , provided for storage in a database , not shown . in multiprocessor computers , such as the multiprocessor computer 100 , the processors 102 and 104 share resources such as memory 106 and disk drives 108 but are capable of independent operation . in a dual processor computer , as shown in fig3 it is possible to assign half of the calculations of the st process to each of the processors 102 and 104 . computation is then executed in parallel , theoretically dividing the computation time approximately in half , plus some overhead for setting up the calculation . however , as noted earlier the st process has significant memory requirements . since all the processors in a multiprocessor computer share memory , they are generally not capable of reading or writing to the same memory simultaneously . a significant part of the st calculation involves communication and storage of results , thus limiting the performance increase gained by using a multiprocessor computer with shared resources . this limitation is overcome using a multiprocessor computer 200 as shown in fig5 for the st computation according to the invention . here , each processor 202 and 204 operates in conjunction with its assigned memory 206 and 207 , respectively , allowing simultaneously reading and writing of data . therefore , each of the processors 206 and 207 is capable of independently calculating the st and storing the resulting st data into its respective memory substantially increasing overall computing performance . referring to fig6 and 7 , another system 300 and method for st processing according to the invention is shown . here , the parallel computation is achieved using a plurality of computers 302 , 304 , 306 , and 308 , generally referred to as nodes . the computers 302 , 304 , 306 , and 308 are connected by a network 310 forming a cluster . for example , multidimensional image data received from a mri system 312 via the network 310 are distributed to the computers 302 , 304 , 306 , and 308 for computing the st using computer 308 as a master node . the results are then transmitted via the network 310 to the computer 308 where the data are collected to form a complete st data set . optionally , the results are collected using a central disk server 314 . each node 302 , 304 , 306 , and 308 possesses its own memory , disks and at least one processor allowing more resources to be applied for st computing . further , each node has dedicated access to its ram . however , communication issues arise as meaningful analysis of the st likely requires results produced by the various nodes of the cluster to be assembled in one location . since each s (*,*, k x , k y ) plane is calculated with no dependence on the other s (*,*, k x , k y ) planes it is possible to distribute the computation of the st by assigning the computation for a range of ( k x , k y ) values to a node . in order to increase cluster performance , nodes are added to the cluster . distributed computation of the st process has been performed using standard mpi communications protocols and portable c code . apart from the altivec fft , which is easily replaced by a native function , it is possible to execute the distributed st code on a wide range of platforms . furthermore , it is possible to combine a variety of different architectures such as mac and x86 computers in a cluster . this flexibility allows assembling of a powerful computer cluster using already present hardware . for example , available workstations in a lab or clinical setting are connected and configured to participate in cluster computation whenever they are idle . in fig8 results obtained from distributed st processing according to the invention using two identical mac g4s running at 867 mhz . a 100 mb / s non - dedicated ethernet network connected the machines . as shown in fig8 though the cluster is achieving nearly a factor of two increase in raw computation speed over a single processor implementation , the need to return the results to a single computer introduces problems . the distributed computation of the st including the return of results is slightly slower than a single processor version . the relative contribution of communication and processing to total st computation time is summarized in fig9 . the total communication necessary to perform a distributed st is proportional to the total amount of memory required to store the st data — o ( n 4 ). further , there is some overhead to assign tasks to each node making the distributed st computation slow for small image data sets . using the simple distributed st process above , a node completes one task , before starting another , i . e . each node completes all st calculations assigned to it and then communicates the results to a master node . however , it is possible to communicate the result of one ( k x , k y ) calculation after it is completed while simultaneously performing the next ( k x , k y ) computation . combining calculation and communication increases overall performance of the cluster resulting in a performance closer to the “ no return ” results in fig8 . a change in the network architecture also yields significant improvements . a factor of 10 increase in performance is possible by replacing the 100 mb / s ethernet with a gigabit ethernet . however , this improvement is constant and does not scale with the number of nodes . an optimization that does scale with the number of nodes is achieved by using a central disk server that does not participate in the processing but only collects the results from each node . preferably , this server has both the external bandwidth in the form of ethernet segments and internal bandwidth to its hard drives in order to receive data from many nodes at once . segmented ethernet is a mature technology , and such servers are widely available . for example , a high bandwidth server is created by simply adding multiple network interface cards to a computer . while the master node used in the above example is only able to handle full speed communication from one node at a time , a high bandwidth disk server &# 39 ; s capacity is increased simply by increasing the number of ethernet segments it has access to . this situation is analogous to the processing improvement a distributed cluster obtains from additional nodes . the strength of a distributed computing cluster using a segmented network and a disk server of appropriate bandwidth is easy scalability . fig1 illustrates theoretical results of the performance of distributed st computation for various cluster sizes , assuming a fully segmented gigabit ethernet network with adequate server bandwidth for the number of nodes in use . for example using a 20 node cluster of mac g4 867 , the time needed to calculate and store the st data for a 512 × 512 image is approximately 15 minutes compared to 36 hours needed using a single processor computer , thus allowing application of the s transform in a clinical setting . numerous other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims .
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[ 0022 ] fig1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a staged optical component polishing system 100 . the staged optical component polishing system 100 is a self - contained system having the necessary processing utilities supported on a mainframe structure 101 which can be easily installed and which provides a quick start up for operation . the optical component processing system 100 shown generally includes three polishing apparatuses 108 that provide three optical component polishing stages , namely , a coarse polishing stage 102 where optical components are given an initial coarse polish , a fine polishing stage 104 where optical components are given a finer polish than the initial coarse polish , and a finish polishing stage 106 where optical components are given a final finish polish . the optical components are polished at each stage using a web of polishing material having a polishing surface thereon including materials such as silicon - carbide , diamonds , silicon - dioxide , and the like . in one aspect , after the coarse and fine polishing stages , the component is cleaned with de - ionized water . subsequently , an inert pressurized gas such as co 2 is used as a cleaning agent to remove the fine residue adhering to the optical surfaces produced during the polishing process . the substrate processing system 100 also includes a back end ( not shown ) which houses the support utilities needed for operation of the system 100 , such as compressed air used to power portions of the system 100 , de - ionized water used for cleaning , vacuum , and electrical power distribution . while the processing system illustrates three polishing stages , the arrangement and combination of the individual polishing stages may be altered for purposes of performing specific polishing steps . for example , the coarse polishing stage may be configured to provide a finish polish step . in one aspect , the polishing processes are controlled by a process controller 105 such as programmable logic controller ( plc ) or other suitable device coupled to the three optical polishing apparatuses 108 via input / output ( i / o ) cable 90 . in general , the processing system controller 105 includes , or is coupled to , a central processing unit ( cpu ), and a memory . the memory contains a polishing control program that , when executed on the cpu , instructs the polishing apparatuses 108 to perform a polishing process . the polishing control program conforms to any one of a number of different programming languages . for example , the program code can be written in programmable logic controller ( plc ) code ( e . g ., ladder logic ), c , c ++, basic , pascal , or a number of other languages . [ 0024 ] fig2 , and 4 , are a substantially front , side , and back perspective views , respectively , illustrating one embodiment of a polishing apparatus 108 . the polishing apparatus 108 may be used to polish the interconnect surfaces of optical components such as ferrules . the term ferrule is used herein to denote a fiber - optic cable connector . ferrules generally have three parts , a flange portion usually made of a rigid material such as stainless steel to allow the ferrule to be mechanically coupled to an optical subassembly , a body , and an optical transmission portion having a small center opening used to receive a fiber optic cable therein . the body of the ferrule is typically made of materials such as zirconia , alumina , and the like , adapted to support the fiber optic cable . ferrule connectors are available in several different light transmission modes such as single mode used to transmit one signal per fiber , or multimode used to transmit many signals per fiber , depending on the number of wavelengths contained within the transmission . the polishing apparatus 108 includes a body 112 , a support 118 , and a mounting plate 115 . in one aspect , the body 112 , support 118 , frame 101 , and mounting plate 115 are mounted to each other using conventional fasteners such as screws , bolts , nuts , and the like , and in another aspect may be a single component . while in one aspect , the support 118 is vertically mounted on the mounting plate 115 to define a vertical polishing position for an orbital assembly 120 to help in the removal of polishing debris , it is contemplated that the orbital assembly 120 may mounted in any position to perform the same polishing function . in one aspect , a collection tray 160 is disposed under the orbital assembly 120 to collect debris and fluids during processing . the tray 160 is coupled to a drain 161 that is fluidly coupled to a waste collection system or container ( not shown ). the orbital assembly 120 includes a polishing assembly 130 and a spacer 132 flexibly coupled to the polishing assembly 130 and rigidly mounted to the support 118 . the polishing assembly 130 is positioned to allow the optical component to be polished at generally an orthogonal direction relative the support 118 . the polishing assembly 130 includes a right and left side plate 134 , 136 , respectively , adapted to support a polishing table 138 , a polishing material supply apparatus 140 , and a polishing material receiver 142 . in one aspect , the polishing table 138 is formed from a rigid material having a low coefficient of friction such as teflon ® impregnated aluminum , stainless steel , or other materials having a low friction surface thereon . in another aspect , the low friction surface may be applied to the polishing table 138 as a coating thereon . the polishing table 138 also includes a polishing surface recess 139 formed therein . in operation , a web of polishing material 165 is disposed over the polishing table 138 proximate the recess 139 and between the polishing material supplier 140 and polishing material receiver 142 . in one aspect , a sub - pad 156 typically composed of a flexible material such as rubber , vinyl , resin , plastic , and the like , that provides a flexible but firm polishing surface , is disposed in the recess 139 . the sub - pad 156 is also adapted to provide a desired amount of flexure and resistance under the polishing material 165 against the component to form a desired radius of curvature for the optical surface being polished . in one aspect , the sub - pad 156 is adapted to form a radius of curvature dependant upon the pressure developed between the surfaces being polished , polishing material 165 , and the sub - pad 156 . for example , a lighter pressure between an optical component being polished , polishing material 165 , and the sub - pad 156 provides for a flatter ( i . e ., smaller ) radius of curvature whereas a greater pressure provides for a rounder ( i . e ., larger ) radius of curvature . in another aspect , to provide for a greater polishing pressure to form a desired radius of curvature while decreasing the polishing time required , the sub - pad 156 includes a firmer surface having more flexure resistance thereon . it is contemplated that the compliance and resilience of the sub - pad 156 may be selected to provide any desired radius of curvature , flexure , and processing time . in one aspect , the polishing material supply apparatus 140 is adapted to support a roll of polishing material 165 thereon and includes a brake 152 . the brake 152 applies a frictional force to the polishing material supply apparatus 140 which keeps the roll of polishing material 165 taught . the polishing material supply apparatus 140 further includes a supply clutch 154 to control the dispensing of the polishing material 165 from the polishing material supply apparatus 140 . the polishing material receiver 142 is coupled to a receiver clutch 164 mounted to the left side plate 136 . the receiver clutch 164 constrains the web of polishing material movement to only one direction from the polishing material supply apparatus 140 to the polishing material receiver 142 . the polishing material receiver 142 is rotated by a drive linkage 166 coupled to a drive apparatus 143 to take up and thereby advance the polishing material 165 across the polishing table 138 and sub - pad 156 . in one aspect , the supply clutch 154 , the receiver clutch 164 , and brake 152 are operated together to control the advancement of the web of polishing material 165 while maintaining a taught web of polishing material 165 across the polishing table and sub - pad 156 . an air inlet / outlet 147 is disposed on the right side plate 134 , in communication with the polishing table 138 , and coupled to air conduction channels ( not shown ) that extend through the polishing table 138 . the air conduction channels are coupled to holes 151 disposed around the recess 139 within a groove 158 . a vacuum pressure may be provided to the groove 158 via the air inlet / outlet 147 through the holes 151 to hold the web of polishing material 165 to the sub - pad 156 and polishing table 138 during a polish process . in one aspect , the holes 151 may be distributed throughout the recess 139 and / or the groove 158 to allow the recess 139 under vacuum to hold the web of polishing material 165 to the sub - pad 156 and polishing table 138 . in another aspect , air pressure may be provided from the air inlet / outlet 147 to the holes 151 during a polish material cleaning / renewing process to force the polishing material 165 away from the polishing table 138 releasing debris and / or allowing the polishing material 165 to be dispensed from the polishing material supply apparatus 140 to the polishing material receiver 142 . a component support 182 , used to support optical components during processing , is mounted by a support 175 to a polishing force apparatus 144 . the polishing force apparatus 144 is used to position and force optical components held by the component support 182 against the polishing material 165 and sub - pad 156 . the polishing force apparatus 144 may be any apparatus such as a motor driven actuator adapted to move the component support 182 generally perpendicular toward and away from the polishing table 138 , and as needed , during a polishing operation , maintains pressure of the optical component against the polishing material 165 and sub - pad 156 . the polishing force apparatus 144 may be slidably mounted to a polishing position apparatus 146 which is mounted to an upper end 122 of the support 118 . the polishing position apparatus 146 may be any apparatus such as a motor driven actuator adapted to laterally move the component support 182 generally parallel to the polishing table 138 and across the surface of the polishing material 165 . in one aspect , the component support 182 is independently mounted to the frame 101 to provide vibration isolation from the polishing assembly 130 . in another aspect , the polishing force apparatus 144 and polishing position apparatus 146 are mounted to the support 118 via flexible mounting fasteners such as rubber , vinyl , plastic , nylon , and the like , adapted to provide vibration damping therebetween . in one aspect , the component support 182 includes a fluid nozzle 185 that is mounted to the support 175 . the fluid nozzle 185 receives fluids such as polishing slurries , de - ionized water , and the like , from a fluid supply ( not shown ) and delivers the fluids through a nozzle extension 186 . the nozzle extension 186 is aligned to spray a stream of fluids upon the surface of the polishing material 165 . in one aspect , the component support 182 further includes a sensor assembly 188 , adapted to measure the polishing pressure of the optical component against the polishing material 165 during a polishing process and provide a signal to the process controller 105 indicative of the polishing pressure . in operation , the polishing force apparatus 144 , sensor assembly 188 , and process controller 105 form a polishing pressure feedback system to maintain a generally constant pressure between the optical component , polishing material 165 , and the polishing table 138 throughout the polishing process . [ 0033 ] fig5 is an exploded view of the polishing apparatus 108 of fig2 illustrating the eccentric shaft 176 and polishing assembly 130 . fig1 - 4 are referenced as needed in the discussion of fig5 . the polishing assembly 130 is coupled to an orbital actuator 170 to move the polishing assembly 130 in an orbital motion about a polishing plane that is generally orthogonal to the surface of the optical component being polished . the orbital actuator 170 includes a drive frame 180 supporting a motor 174 coupled to an eccentric shaft 176 extending generally perpendicular through the support 118 . the support 118 includes a central opening 205 therein for receiving the eccentric shaft 176 therethrough . the central opening 205 is sized to allow the eccentric shaft 176 to move in an orbital motion within the central opening 205 without touching the support 118 . one end of the eccentric shaft 176 is rotatably coupled to the polishing assembly 130 via a bearing 172 . an opposite end of the eccentric shaft 176 is coupled to the shaft of the motor 174 via a flexible coupling 198 . one or more counter balances 178 are disposed on the eccentric shaft 176 to offset the centrifugal and centripetal forces developed by the non - uniform mass distribution of the polishing assembly 130 during operation , thereby minimizing vibration . as the eccentric shaft 176 axially spins , it orbitally rotates about a motor shaft center 215 . as the bearing 172 generally provides some rotational friction , the polishing assembly 130 is rotationally urged about the shaft 176 in the direction of the shaft rotation . to rotationally constrain the polishing assembly 130 , while allowing the polishing assembly 130 to simultaneously move with the orbital rotation of the eccentric shaft 176 , four flexible supports 210 a - d are rotatably mounted on one end to the spacer 132 and on an opposite end to the polishing assembly 130 . the spacer 132 and support 118 form a counterbalance cavity 230 to hold the one or more counterbalances 178 therein . thus , in operation , the polishing assembly 130 moves in an orbital fashion about the shaft 176 while maintaining a generally parallel position with respect to the support 118 . [ 0036 ] fig6 and 7 are front views illustrating one embodiment of the component support 182 comprising a pair of grippers 184 ( e . g ., jaws ) adapted to hold the optical component 227 to be polished in a desired position generally orthogonal to the polishing table 138 . in one aspect , the grippers 184 include two blades 220 a and 220 b adapted to hold an optical component 227 therebetween . the two blades 220 a , 220 b include a component notch 179 a and 179 b that when brought together form a component groove 225 sized to hold various types of optical components therein and is adapted to hold the central axis of the optical component in a polishing position . in another aspect , the grippers 184 are operated pneumatically . in another aspect , the blades 220 a and 220 b include an air nozzle 177 to provide air pressure to clean the optical component and polishing material 165 of residue . fig8 is a side view of the grippers 184 illustrating the grippers 184 holding an optical component 227 proximate the polishing table 138 and sub - pad 156 . [ 0038 ] fig9 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method 900 of a polishing sequence . fig1 - 8 are referenced as needed in the following discussion of fig9 . the method 900 begins when , for example , a polishing process is initiated at step 902 . at step 904 , the method 900 initializes the polishing apparatus 108 . at step 906 , the method 900 checks to see if the polishing material 165 is available , sets the polishing table vacuum on to hold the polishing material 165 securely to the polishing table 138 using the groove 156 , and starts the optical component pick up sequence by retrieving the settings for the polishing force apparatus 144 and the polishing position apparatus 146 from , for example , the process controller 105 via data line 90 . subsequently , at step 908 , method 900 determines if the polishing table vacuum ( not shown ) is working to supply a vacuum to grove 158 . if the polishing table vacuum is not working then the method 900 aborts the operation at step 914 . if the polishing table vacuum is working properly , then the method 900 proceeds to step 910 . at step 910 , the grippers 184 are opened . at step 912 , the method 900 determines if the grippers 184 are opened sufficiently to hold the optical component . if the grippers 184 are not open sufficiently then method 900 aborts at step 914 . if the grippers 184 are open sufficiently then method 900 proceeds to step 916 . at step 916 , the method 900 sets the polishing force apparatus 144 and the polishing position apparatus 146 to an optical component pickup position and closes the grippers 184 around the optical component . at step 920 , the method 900 determines if the grippers 184 are closed sufficiently to allow picking up the optical component . if the grippers 184 are not closed sufficiently , then method 900 aborts the process at step 914 . if the grippers 184 are closed sufficiently to pickup and hold the optical component , the optical component is picked up . in one aspect , the gripper tension is determined by the amount of air - pressure used to close the grippers 184 around the component . at step 922 , the method 900 retrieves the polishing sequence from the process controller 105 and sets the polishing time , polishing force for the polishing force apparatus 144 , orbital rotation speed of the orbital actuator 170 , de - ionized water fluid flow rate , and the stroke speed of the polishing position apparatus 146 . at step 924 , the motor 174 and liquid dispensers ( not shown ) are started . in one aspect , the motor 174 spins the eccentric shaft 176 at about 2000 rpm to about 4000 rpm . at step 726 , the method 700 moves the grippers 184 holding the optical component to the position generally orthogonal the polishing table 138 and using the polishing force apparatus 144 forces the component surface being polished against the polishing surface of the polishing material 165 and the sub - pad 156 , to establish the appropriate polishing force . in one aspect , the polishing force includes a minimum and maximum value whereby if the minimum or maximum values are exceeded the process controller alarms the system to abort the polish process . the polishing position apparatus 146 is set to a beginning position . in one aspect , the optical component is then polished for a predetermined time between about zero and two minutes while the polishing position apparatus 146 is advanced generally parallel to and proximate the polishing material 165 , exposing the surface of the optical component being polished to a new portion of the orbiting polishing surface . at step 728 , the polishing sequence is ended . the method 700 retracts the grippers 184 from the polishing position , sets the liquid dispensing to off , stops the motor 174 , turns on an air blow through holes 151 to clean the surface of the polishing table 138 and release the polishing material 165 . the method 700 then places the grippers 184 into a unload component position to unload the optical component . once the optical component has reached an appropriate delivery location , the grippers 184 are opened to deliver the optical component to a receiving tray ( not shown ). subsequently , the polishing apparatus 108 is prepared for the next component at step 930 . at step 930 , the method 900 advances the polishing material 165 via the polishing material receiver 142 to provide a clean polishing surface for the next optical component . once the polishing material 165 is advanced , the polishing table vacuum is initiated to hold the material to the polishing table 138 and air jets 177 are activated to clean the polishing material surface of contaminates . thus , the polishing apparatus 108 is set to polish the next optical component . the process regime from fig9 can be used for one or more stages of polishing . in one aspect , as illustrated in fig1 three stages of polishing are established by mounting three polishing apparatuses 108 in series to provide three stages of polishing . the first stage of polishing may be a coarse stage whereby the polishing material 165 used includes a more abrasive polishing surface relative to the subsequent polishing stages . the second stage of polishing receives the optical component polished by the first stage and polishes the optical component surface use a markedly less abrasive polishing surface than the first stage . the final stage of polishing accepts the optical component from the second stage and polishes the component with a markedly less abrasive surface than the second stage . thus , each stage represents one polishing process that when combined provides a precisely polished optical component surface . in one aspect , a transfer carrier and transfer system ( not shown ) are used to shuttle the optical components between stages . although various embodiments which incorporate the teachings of the invention have been shown and described in detail herein , those skilled in the art can readily devise many other varied embodiments within the scope of the invention . for example , it is contemplated that the polishing apparatus 108 may be configured with polishing material 165 that has different polishing surfaces thereon . therefore , by adjusting the polishing material 165 , a single polishing apparatus 108 may be adapted to perform more than one type of polishing process . for example , a coarse polish surface may be on a first section of polish material , a fine on a second section of polish material , and a finish polish surface on a third section of the polish material . in addition , the various polish surfaces may be set side - by - side so that as the optical component is incrementally moved by the polishing position apparatus 146 , the optical component 165 moves through each polishing process in a single stroke . in another aspect , the sub - pad 156 can be adapted to have several areas of differing radius of curvature for the same pressure . for example , the sub - pad 156 may have four quadrants whereby each quadrant provides for a different radius of curvature with the same pressure applied between the optical surface being polished , the polishing material 165 , and sub - pad 156 . thus , by matching optical components to a quadrant having the desired radius of curvature for a given pressure and process time , the same polishing apparatus may be used to maintain an optimal throughput while polishing any number of different optical surfaces requiring different radiuses of curvature . in another aspect , the sub - pad 156 and the polishing material 165 are adapted to polish a multi - connector cable where the body of the ferrule includes a plurality of individual optical surfaces , each having their own radius of curvature requirements . the sub - pad 156 is adapted to receive the individual optical surfaces thereon . while the foregoing is directed to the preferred embodiment of the present invention , other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof , and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow .
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as used herein , the phrase “ facial improvements ” includes a reduction in the signs of aging including , but not limited to , a reduction in wrinkles , fine lines , and / or age spots . the phrase “ facial improvements ” also refers to an increase in skin elasticity , softness , smoothness , dewiness , shininess , and / or firmness . “ facial improvements ” further refers to moisturizing of facial skin , treatment of wrinkles , fine lines , age spots and / or the signs of aging , but does not include cleaning of facial skin . as used herein , the phrase “ facial cosmetics ” refers generally to products used for facial improvement commonly sold in professional cosmetic stores ( e . g ., nieman marcus ). as used herein the term “ treat ” includes treating , preventing , ameliorating , or inhibiting a skin condition , including age spots , fine lines , wrinkles , signs of aging , or generally resulting in at least one facial improvement , including an increase in skin elasticity , softness , smoothness , dewiness , shininess , firmness , moisture content and fewer lines , wrinkles and / or age spots . as used herein , the phrase “ aqueous composition ” refers to aqueous liquid mixtures that are not emulsions , creams , ointments or lotions , and are , preferably , clear , transparent solutions . as used herein , the phrase “ nonvolatile , slowly absorbed , water miscible , liquid organic substance ” refers to liquid organic substances with high boiling points , such as 150 ° c . or higher , that will not evaporate on the surface of facial skin and can be homogeneously mixed with water at any ratio . such substances include , but are not limited to , glycerin , polyethylene glycol 400 , polyethylene glycol 600 and other polyethylene glycols with different mean molecular weights . preferably , the liquid organic substance is one that is slowly absorbed by the facial skin surface for about 4 hours to about 18 hours , preferably from about 8 to about 15 hours . as used herein , “ slowly absorbed ” is qualitatively defined as the water miscible , liquid organic substance being able to physically remain on the facial skin surface for a long period of time . this is determined by the presence of a layer of the aqueous composition remaining on the facial skin . for example , since glycerin will not evaporate at 37 ° c ., its disappearance from the skin surface indicates its absorption through the facial skin . an aqueous composition containing 50 % propylene glycol , a nonvolatile , water miscible , liquid organic substance , disappears from the facial surface in less than two hours , while a composition containing 50 % glycerin or polyethylene glycol 400 or 600 remains on the facial skin for about 4 hours and up to about 18 hours . preferred compositions useful for carrying out the methods of the invention may consist of one or more water - miscible , liquid organic substances and water , including an aqueous composition of glycerin and water . due to its very high boiling point ( 290 ° c . ; the merck index , 12 th edition , s . budavari et al ., merck & amp ; co ., inc ., whitehouse station , n . j . ( 1996 )), glycerin from an aqueous glycerin and water composition applied as a thin layer to the facial skin will not evaporate ; instead , it will be very slowly absorbed into the skin over a period of from about 4 hours to about 18 hours ( see example i ). since applied glycerin can be substantially absorbed , although slowly , into the percutaneous tissue , a substantial amount of water can be simultaneously absorbed by the facial skin ( through passive diffusion of the hydrated glycerin ( water attached to the glycerin molecule ). additionally , the high concentration of water in an aqueous glycerin can be absorbed into the facial skin through a concentration - gradient - driven diffusion process . furthermore , a high concentration of glycerin on the surface of the facial skin will form a protective , mechanical layer to prevent or minimize loss of body water due to evaporation from the facial skin for a long period time as above described . the absorbed water and the prevention of water evaporation plays a very important role in maintaining the integrity and normal function of the facial skin . additionally , glycerin can effectively retain water from an aqueous glycerin solution applied on the facial skin surface . thus , an aqueous cosmetic product containing glycerin and / or another water - miscible , slowly absorbed liquid organic substance and water applied to the facial skin surface can serve as a powerful , constant moisturizing vehicle and thereby make the facial skin instantly , as well as for many hours ( see above ) shiny and dewy ( see example i ). these results are in sharp contrast with conventional commercial facial cosmetic products where the effects of the product last only about 0 . 5 to about 2 hours ( see example i ; the difference is up to about 36 - fold ). in one embodiment of the present invention , the applied water serves as a highly effective anti - wrinkle and / or anti - line agent . additionally , since glycerin can be metabolized into glucose , glycerol - 3 - phosphate , pyruvic acid , water and carbon dioxide with the release of energy ( medical physiology , ( 2000 )), the large amount of glycerin used in one embodiment of the present invention can serve as a nutrient and an energy source for maintenance and improvement of facial skin cells for many hours , as above described , by providing the aforementioned metabolic products . an appropriate combination of the two active ingredients , a water - miscible , slowly absorbed , liquid organic substance , such as glycerin , and water , can be used for application to the facial skin for moisturization and for treatment of dry facial skin ( facial skin with reduced moisture as compared to normal facial skin ), lines and wrinkles ( a line or crease in the facial skin , such as those caused by sun exposure or old age ) and for treatment of dark spots or age spots ( facial skin disorder seen with aging or sun exposure ) where there are flat patches of increased pigmentation on the facial skin . additionally , the above two active ingredients can be administered to the facial skin to reduce the signs of aging ( gradual changes in the structure , function and appearance of facial skin , such as drier facial skin , wrinkles and age spots , that occur with the passage of time and do not result from disease , accident or wound ). they can also be used in a method for increasing the elasticity of facial skin ( the facial skin &# 39 ; s ability to stretch ) and improving the texture ( smoothness or firmness ) and appearance ( plump , shiny , whiter , dewy , smooth and fresh ) of facial skin . also , the glycerin and / or another water - miscible liquid organic substance that have been absorbed by the facial skin can function as moisturizing agents underneath the facial skin surface and improve the texture and appearance or quality of the facial skin . the aqueous composition of the present invention can contain various amounts of water - miscible liquid organic substance ( s ) and water . for example , a mixture of glycerin and water , both being endogenous substances in humans , can range from about 10 % to about 95 % by volume glycerin , and preferably about 45 % to about 55 % by volume glycerin . in another embodiment , the glycerin and water composition may be in the range of about 50 % glycerin and about 50 % water by volume . although less desirable , pure glycerin or other water - miscible , slowly absorbed liquid organic substances ( e . g ., liquids that can absorb water from the air ) can also be used alone for achieving similar cosmetic benefits . any agents that improve or treat facial skin when ingested orally or applied topically may also be easily and inexpensively added to the aqueous composition above described . these agents may include , for example , nutrients such as vitamin a , e or c , minerals , amino acids , anti - oxidants , sunscreen agents , or one or more skin peeling compounds ( e . g ., alpha - hydroxyisobutyric acid ). additionally , one or more preservatives ( e . g ., isobutylparaben ) or fragrances may also be added to the aqueous composition . such agents are preferably hypo - allergenic . a viscosity - enhancing agent , such as carboxymethylcellulose or a derivative thereof or polyacrylic acid polymer in a concentration of about 0 . 1 % to about 2 % by weight may also be added to the aqueous composition . the aqueous composition can be directly applied to the facial skin by any appropriate method , such as a spray bottle , a droplet bottle , a moisturized cotton ball or pad . although the aqueous composition is primarily useful for facial application , the composition may also be applied to any other part of the human body where skin improvement benefits are desired . the present method differs from commercially available facial cosmetic and facial skin - care products . first , in most commercially available facial skin - care products , glycerin or other water - miscible organic liquid substances are only present as very minor components in the products and the presence and function of water is not emphasized . for example , the lack of recognition of the great importance of glycerin and water in facial cosmetics is clearly illustrated on the label of a cream product marketed by neutrogena corporation ( los angeles , calif .). the label of neutrogena &# 39 ; s 26 - ingredient anti - wrinkle cream with spf 15 lists glycerin and water as inactive ingredients . additionally , many widely used facial cosmetic and facial skin - care products , such as ointments , creams , gels and lotions , typically contain some 15 to 30 exogenous , foreign ( not endogenous or natural ) to the human body ingredients . when applied to the facial skin surface , water in these commercial products often evaporates very rapidly and a “ dry film ” is left on the surface . this is in sharp contrast with the clear , transparent , aqueous compositions of the present invention . surprisingly , after just one application of a 50 % aqueous glycerin composition ( 50 % ags ) or a 50 % aqueous polyethylene glycol 400 composition ( 50 % aps ) to the facial skin , the facial skin feels moist for many hours . thus , the moisturizing efficiency and effectiveness on the surface , as well as inside , of the facial skin are a dramatic improvement in the appearance of the facial skin ( up to 36 fold better ) over the currently available commercial products ( see example i ). use of the aqueous facial composition twice daily can virtually produce facial improvements and / or benefits for the entire day . the aqueous glycerin composition of the invention is much easier to prepare , for example , by merely a one - step mixing of the liquid organic substance and water . the resulting composition is more stable ( both chemically and physically stable ) over a wide range of temperatures than commercially available creams , ointments , emulsions , gels and lotions . thus , in addition to the advantageous cosmetic benefits provided by the methods of the invention , the use of an aqueous composition of the present invention provides advantages in cost , ease of preparation , and ease of product handling and storage compared to commercial creams , ointments , emulsions , gels , and lotions . the present invention will now be illustrated by the following non - limiting examples . facial cosmetic effects observed after a single application of aqueous glycerin composition ( ags ), aqueous polyethylene glycol 400 composition ( aps ) or commercial facial cosmetics a 50 % ( by volume ) aqueous glycerin composition ( 50 % ags ; e . g ., 100 ml glycerin mixed with 100 ml distilled water ) was prepared . this composition was applied in the morning as a thin layer on the left - side of the face of two human subjects . a commercial cream , elizabeth arden — ceramide time complex moisture cream that contains 37 ingredients with a retail price of $ 46 for a 48 - gram bottle , was applied to the right - side of the face of the same two subjects . both sides of the face immediately appeared shiny , moist and dewy . however , the right - side of the face lost the shiny , moist and dewy appearance in both subjects within about two hours after application of the cream . the left - side of the face maintained its shiny , moist and dewy appearance for about 12 to 18 hours in both subjects . these results clearly demonstrate that a simple 50 % ags is much more effective ( almost 10 fold ) in producing a shiny , moist and dewy appearance than the much more expensive commercial cosmetic cream . the above superiority of the 50 % ags was demonstrated repeatedly . no adverse effects were reported . the performance of the 50 % ags was also similarly compared in two human subjects with another commercial facial cosmetic cream , loreal plenitude — turning point ( loreal retail division of costar inc ., new york ). loreal plenitude — turning point contains 20 different ingredients . when compared , the shiny , moist and dewy appearance of the subjects facial skin lasted for about 15 hours after one application of the 50 % ags , while loreal plenitude — turning point lasted only about one hour . short acting effects , lasting for only about 30 minutes were also demonstrated with other commercial facial cosmetic products including lotions . therefore , the difference in the length of time for the above cosmetic effect is up to about 36 - fold between 50 % ags and commercial cosmetic products . a 50 % ( by volume ) aqueous polyethylene glycol 400 composition ( 50 % aps ) was also similarly prepared . this composition was applied in the morning to two human subjects . effects similar to those observed with the above 50 % ags were observed . no adverse effects were reported . facial cosmetic effects after two months of application of the 50 % aqueous glycerin composition ( 50 % ags ) the 50 % ags was applied twice daily ( once in the morning and once before bedtime ) for about two months to the right - side face of two human adults , one male and one female . the right side and left side of the subject &# 39 ; s faces were compared . in the male subject , the right side was determined to be more tender , shiny , fuller , and firmer . additionally , the lines beneath the right eye were also found to be smaller , shallower and lighter . similarly , the right side of the face of the female subject was determined to be more shiny , more tender , “ whiter ”, and practically free of dark spots as compared with the left side of the face of the female subject . the above discovery clearly demonstrated the high effectiveness of the simple 50 % ags in achieving desirable facial cosmetic improvements . surprising facial cosmetic results after five years of application of the 50 % aqueous glycerin composition ( 50 % ags ) to a post - menopausal woman a female subject used various brand - name facial cosmetic products ( creams and lotions ) twice daily for about three decades . at age 55 and at the beginning of menopause , she started to use 50 % ags twice daily ( once in the morning and once prior to bedtime ). at age 60 , both sides of her face were determined to look younger and much whiter , more shiny , more elastic and firmer than about five to eight years ago . the above results clearly demonstrated the very dramatic effect of such a simple glycerin and water composition in improvement of facial skin appearance and on reversing the signs of aging after long - term application to a post - menopause woman . the test subject did not receive any replacement hormone therapy during the entire study . the present study may be particularly significant because dryness of skin and the related effects are known to occur in woman after menopause . it is to be understood that the above descriptions are intended to be illustrative , and not restrictive . for example , when necessary , other water - miscible high boiling - point liquids like propylene glycol , polyethylene glycol 400 and polyethylene glycol 600 may also be included in the glycerin and water formulation . many other equivalents will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reading and understanding the above description . additionally , one skilled in the art will be able to ascertain , with no more than routine experimentation , many equivalents to the specific embodiments described herein . these equivalents are intended to be encompassed by the following claims .
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the present invention relates to the identification of integrated circuits that are likely to have a latent or undetected defect , based at least in part on their position relative to integrated circuits having detected defects . with reference to fig1 there is shown a representational view of a portion of a substrate 10 having individual integrated circuits 12 . each one of the integrated circuits 12 is located at one of the positions designated as the intersection of one of the rows 1 - 5 and one of the columns a - e , as depicted in fig1 . the substrate 10 as shown has preferably been tested by a tester , as referenced in block 100 of fig2 to determine which of the integrated circuits 12 have defects , and the number of such defects each integrated circuit 12 has . this information preferably includes complete functional and parametric information for each of the integrated circuits 12 so tested in other words , the tester collecting the data is preferably set to an override fail setting , so that even if a fail is detected in an integrated circuit , the tester continues to collect the full regimen of data from the integrated circuit , such as may be viably enabled with built - in self test ( bist ) testing . most preferably , this information is collected while the integrated circuits 12 are still united on the substrate 10 , or in other words before the substrate 10 is dice into individual integrated circuits 12 . however , if proper tracking of the identification and location of the various integrated circuits 12 is maintained , then the method of the present invention as described below can be accomplished after the integrated circuits 12 are diced , and even after such integrated circuits 12 are packaged . however , other influences such as financial constraints tend to limit application of the preferred embodiment of the invention to the integrated circuits 12 while still in wafer form . in accordance with the invention , a post test analysis of the defect information determined by the tester is analyzed to predict which of the integrated circuits 12 have undetected or latent defects . the post test analysis could be accomplished more or less in real time as the required data , as discussed in more detail below , is acquired . however , in a preferred embodiment the post test analysis is performed off tester so that , among other reasons , the cost associated with the use time of the tester can be kept as low as reasonable . the post test analysis is preferably accomplished as by computer algorithms configured to evaluate the test data in accordance with the invention . in a preferred embodiment , the number of defects in each integrated circuit is first calculated . for the purposes of example , the number of defects for each integrated circuit a 1 - e 5 are determined as given in fig1 . the defect information is analyzed in accordance with the invention to identify whether a subject integrated circuit , which preferably does not have any detected defects , is likely or unlikely to in fact have latent defects , as given in block 102 of fig2 . in a preferred embodiment , this identification is made by analyzing the number of defects present in a subset of integrated circuits located within close proximity to the subject integrated circuit as they reside on the substrate 10 , as given in block 104 of fig2 . most preferably the subset of integrated circuits includes the nearest neighbors to the subject integrated circuits , which are those eight integrated circuits that border the subject integrated circuit . however , in alternate embodiments other subsets of integrated circuits may be used , such as the four lateral nearest neighbors , the four diagonal nearest neighbors , or the twenty - four nearest neighbors . the subset of integrated circuits determined to be within close proximity to the subject integrated circuit may be selected according to one or more of a number of different criteria . for example , it has been determined by the inventors that defects in integrated circuits 12 on a substrate 10 do not tend to be randomly distributed across the surface of the substrate 10 . rather , certain types of defects tend to be clustered within portions of the substrate 10 . thus , the relative size and shape of such portions of clustered defects can be empirically determined , and the size and shape of the subset of integrated circuits can be set based at least in part on that empirical determination . for example , the integrated circuit 12 located at position b 3 is bordered by the following integrated circuits having the number of detected defects as set forth below : preferably , the defects detected in the subset of integrated circuits bordering the subject integrated circuit are analyzed to determine a defect parameter , as given in block 106 of fig2 . the defect parameter can take on a number of different forms depending upon the ultimate goals and tolerances of the method implemented . for example , the defect parameter can comprise just one or both of an average and a standard deviation for the number of defects of the subset of integrated circuits . further , the average calculated could be a mean , median , or mode value . in a most preferred embodiment , the defect parameter is an arithmetic mean of the number of defects for the subset of integrated circuits . further , the defect parameter may take into consideration just a subset of the test data for the subset of integrated circuits . in other words , certain portions of the test data for the subset of integrated circuits may be more useful for the prediction of latent defects in the subject integrated circuit than other portions of the test data for the subset of integrated circuits further still , the defect parameter may be determined by using a first subset of test data from a first subset of integrated circuits , which is then combined with a second subset of test data from a second subset of integrated circuits . thus , there are a variety of methods by which both the subset of integrated circuits and the defect parameter may be determined , all in accordance with the present invention . to continue the example started above , the total number of defects present in the subset of eight nearest neighbor integrated circuits bordering the subject integrated circuit located at position b 3 is sixteen . thus , the average number of defects per integrated circuit in the subset , or in other words the arithmetic mean , is two . thus , in the preferred embodiment , the defect parameter for this example is two . this defect parameter is compared to a threshold to determine the likelihood that the integrated circuit located at position b 3 has latent defects , as given in blocks 110 and 112 of fig2 . in a preferred embodiment the threshold is a predetermined parameter , such as is determined empirically from historical data . for example , if it is determined that subject integrated circuits having defect parameters , such as described above , that are equal to or greater than two tend to have latent defects , then the threshold is preferably set to two . in the example started above , the subject integrated circuit would then be classified as an integrated circuit having a latent defect , because the defect parameter calculated for the subject integrated circuit is equal to the threshold , as given in block 114 of fig2 . however , the threshold need not be a predetermined value . alternately , the threshold is dynamically determined . for example , the threshold may be based on an average for all integrated circuits 12 located on the substrate 10 . alternately , the threshold may be based on a running average for integrated circuits 12 located within a certain portion of the substrate 10 . thus , the invention is not limited to a threshold that is determined prior to testing the integrated circuits 12 on the substrate 10 . furthermore , the threshold may change according to one or more of a number of different parameters . for example , the threshold may be reduced for subject integrated circuits that are intended for certain applications . for example , subject integrated circuits intended for military applications or other applications where human life may be at risk may have a lower threshold than subject integrated circuits intended for less stringent applications , such as compact disk players intended for the general consumer market preferably the prices are higher for subject integrated circuits that pass more stringent thresholds , and the prices may be commensurately lower for subject integrated circuits that pass less stringent thresholds . the threshold is preferably based at least in part on the same type of information used to determine the defect parameter . the threshold may change according to other constraints as well . for example , when a process for producing integrated is first implemented , and the types and propensity of latent defects in the integrated circuits 12 produced are not well characterized , then it may be desirable to set the threshold at a relatively low value so as to reduce the number of subject integrated circuits that are shipped in commerce that have latent defects . after a period of time when the process has been better characterized and is more stable , the threshold may be raised as confidence increases that there has been a general reduction in the number of latent defects in the integrated circuits 12 produced by the process . thus , there are a number of different ways and a number of different considerations that may selectively be used in formulating the threshold in accordance with the invention . in another example , the subject integrated circuit located at location d 3 is bordered by the following integrated circuits having the following number of detected defects : as observed , the total number of defects present in this subset of integrated circuits bordering the subject integrated circuit located at position d 3 is four , making the average number of defects per surrounding integrated circuit one half . if , as per the example started above , the threshold is two , then the subject integrated circuit located at position d 3 is not classified as having a latent defect , as given in block 116 of fig2 . in the examples given above , the defect parameter is based on the arithmetic mean of the number of defects in the subset of integrated circuits surrounding the subject integrated circuit . however , it is appreciated that , as mentioned above , the defect parameter can be based on other values . for example , the defect parameter is in one embodiment the standard deviation of the number of defects in the subset of integrated circuits surrounding the subject integrated circuit in this example , if the standard deviation for the subset is equal to or greater than a given threshold , then the subject integrated circuit is classified as having a latent defect . thus , the invention advantageously enables the classification of a subject integrated circuit as having a high probability of a latent or undetected defect based on the number of detected defects in a subset of surrounding integrated circuits . the foregoing embodiments of this invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description . they are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed . obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings . the embodiments are chosen and described in an effort to provide illustrations of the principles of the invention and its practical application , and to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as is suited to the particular use contemplated . all such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are fairly , legally , and equitably entitled .
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the wild annual broad leaf ( dicotyledonaceaous ) species cephalaria joppensis ( hereinafter “ cj ”) ( see u . s . department of agriculture , grin taxonomy of plants ) grows in many of the mediterranean districts of israel and other eastern and central mediterranean countries . it is modest in its requirements for water , rain fed under mediterranean climate condition , and also in adjacent semiarid districts . although the mediterranean climate is typified by an arid summer , cj flourishes into the summer and also flowers at the warm , dry season , completing the growth cycle well into the end of the dry season . cj can be grown wherever wheat is grown . phenological aspects of the herbaceous cj and their practical implications . to accommodate the cj to provide inputs for satisfying animal husbandry needs , several varieties were selected from wild populations , specifically in order to provide a prolonged harvesting period . the phenological aspects of the wild type are such that while dry matter accumulation in spring progresses , a by - product of the aging starts to accumulate , namely lignification process progresses , concomitantly eventually increasing the percentage of lignified tissue in the crop . optimizing of harvesting time requires to find the time in which dry mass versus lignification is at practical peak . another limit to harvesting is the fruiting . the fact is that the fruit of cj are bitter and deter animals from feeding upon the herb , therefore harvest must be accomplished before fruiting . to accommodate the crop to commercial use , varieties are being developed with various degrees of earliness to mature and flower , for providing a prolonged harvesting period . in accordance with the present teachings , several feed preparations for ruminants are made possible using the harvested canopy of the cj , typically by applying customary preparation methods , for obtaining a valuable addition to the list of existing dietary inputs for ruminants . domesticated cj constitutes an alternative dicotyledonaceous ( broad leaf ) crop in crop rotation of the agricultural field crop system . 1 . hay ( dried or wilted preparations ). the crop is harvested , left in the field to dry in the sun , usually for at least one week . when dry , it is collected in bales , and can be carried away to be used as fodder . baled hay can be stored either in the field or in barns for several months . typically , hay contains at least 85 % dry matter . cj has proved to be a workable field crop in this respect , like any conventional source of hay , and edible by ruminants ( s feeding experiment number 4 ). 2 . silage . the green crop is harvested , chopped , and while still wet it is compressed to exclude as much air as possible . subsequently it is put in plastic bags , or covered in bunkers or silos , at anaerobic conditions during which time sugars are broken down to acids ( notably lactic acid ) the ph drops and the organic substance is preserved for various time periods . once a package of silage is opened and exposed to air , deterioration ensues , and the remaining shelf life is then typically 1 week . one option for this latter aspect is to ferment the fresh cut and chopped cj in plastic bales either as a single component as is or as a component mixed with water , molasses , whey , or silage material as known in the art ( such as wheat and / or maize and / or sorghum ). such cj silages can be kept packed as long as 6 months . when unpacked such silages can be mixed with additional feed components to form total mixed rations ( tmrs ) forming a complete dietary system , or fed as is to productive ruminants . alternatively , freshly harvested cj , or cj based silages at about 22 % to about 50 % dry material ( hereinafter dm ) content , are packed in polyethylene bales a priori mixed with other components to form a tmr for productive ruminants , before it is packed anaerobically and ensiled in plastic bags . such ensiled tmr has proven to provide fodder with a nutritive value similar to tmr which includes wheat silage as known in the art . such tmr can include cj at a level of about 10 % to 100 % of dietary roughage . as an example , in israel , tmrs for lactating cows can contain about 30 % to about 40 % roughage feeds to contribute about 17 % to about 21 % roughage ndf ( neutral detergent fiber , see below ). if the ensilage is composed of less than 100 % roughage , it can be made as a product in which cj is mixed with other silage types , and / or additives such as molasses , wet soybean hull residues and whey and then mixed with regular tmr components ( e . g ., minerals , vitamins and protein sources ). such cj - based tmrs can be further characterized by high nutritive value , long shelf - life outdoor of at least 6 months , and relatively high stability under aerobic exposure . ndf can be the fiber source essential for health and appropriate digestion of productive ruminants . the following examples are provided to illustrate further and to facilitate the understanding of the present teachings and are not in any way intended to limit the invention . crop raising and early diagnostics regarding some characteristics of the raised crop . it was determined that good growth conditions for cj as a commercial forage crop can include as follows : sowing rate —( 15 , 000 - 20 , 000 g seeds per ha ); sowing season ( november - january ), ( under mediterranean climatic regime , the rainy season ); pre - emergence treatments against weeds : linurex ( 2000 cm 3 / ha ), stomp ( 5500 cm 3 / ha ), and alanex ( 4000 cm 3 / ha ); and post emergence treatment against weeds : kerb - 50 ( 2000 g / ha ). the names and rates of the herbicides as given are exemplary and do not constitute an endorsement of their use . harvest time : at the beginning of flowering stage ( april - july ) for ensilage , direct ensilage or pre - wilting for hay production . experiments in which cj was used solely or in combination as a feed preparation . the following experiments were made in order to determine the value of cj based ensiled ruminant feed , and compare it with other sources of roughage as known in the art , notably wheat and sorghum silages . the results of feed preparation experiment 1 are reported in table 2 . i — control - commercial tmr of the prior art based on wheat and corn silages at the ratio of 1 : 1 as the source of roughage in the tmr . ii — fresh cut cj as a sole roughage in the ensiled tmr . iii — fresh cut cj mixed with wheat silage at the ratio of 1 : 1 as the source of roughage in the ensiled tmr . iv — fresh cut cj mixed with sorghum silage at the ratio of 1 : 2 as the source of roughage in the tmr . v — control - wheat silage mixed with sorghum silage at the ratio of 1 : 2 as the source of roughage in the tmr . feeding experiment 1 . table 4 . a report of dry matter digestibility by sheep of silages providing tmr containing a component of cj raised as crop in 2009 , as described above , reference is made to table 3 . i — control - commercial tmr of the prior art based on wheat and corn silages at the ratio of 1 : 1 as the source of roughage in the tmr . ii — fresh cut cj as a sole roughage in the ensiled tmr . iii — fresh cut cj mixed with wheat silage at the ratio of 1 : 1 as the source of roughage in the ensiled tmr . iv — fresh cut cj mixed with sorghum silage at the ratio of 1 : 2 as the source of roughage in the tmr . v — control - wheat silage mixed with sorghum silage at the ratio of 1 : 2 as the source of roughage in the tmr . feeding experiment 3 . in another feeding experiment , cj was raised as a crop grown on an area of 10 ha in yoqneam , israel , with no supplementary irrigation . a potential yield of 16 tons dm per ha was obtained . in some locations in the plot lodging of the stems occurred , in which case a potential yield of 12 tons dm per ha was obtained . feeding experiment 4 . in this experiment , cj raised in a commercial field was harvested at the stage of early flowering , and the cut crop was wilted for a week in the field . subsequently , the wilted hay was collected and packed by a compress - chopper , in bales weighing about half a ton each . a control group of animals housed in a cowshed included a 100 cows was fed using a prior art tmr containing 15 % of the dry matter derived from vetch and wheat hay for a period of 30 days . the experimental group , containing also 100 cows with similar initial performance , was fed a similar tmr containing 15 % of the dry matter cj hay , i . e . replacing the entirety of the hay of the prior art . the results show that the experimental group delivered 38 . 9 kg milk per cow per day and the control group delivered 39 . 0 kg milk per cow per day , not a significant difference . also the total milk solids of each group were not significantly different . with respect to the inclusion of harvested cj in a tmr , the proportions of harvested cj vary depending on the ruminant to be fed and / or its biological status , for example , whether lactating or in a dry period . the following table summarizes such proportions of various productive ruminants in the u . s . and europe . * different tmrs can be used in different geographical regions for growing bulls , lambs and kids . in israel , for lambs and kids , only 5 % of tmr are forages ( roughage ) while in growing bulls about 15 %- 25 % are forages . in contrast , in europe , forages can be included up to 30 % of tmr for these animals . the nutritive value of cj is similar to that of wheat : tdn ( total digestible nutrients ) is about 58 %; me ( metabolizable energy ) is 2 . 09 mcal / kg ; and ne l ( net energy for lactation ) is 1 . 28 mcal / kg . to summarize the characteristics of cj , as demonstrated in the experiments above , in view of the cj species being a potential feed crop for ruminants , and successful replacer of wheat silage or hay and leguminous forages , the following stand out : ( 1 ) based on the data in table 1 , cj has a higher dm production per hectare than wheat , as known in israel , with new varieties of cj developed , outperforming the current varieties in this respect ; ( 2 ) the nutritive value of cj as roughage for dairy cows equals that of wheat silage ( referring to tables 3 - 5 and experiment 4 above ); ( 3 ) the practice according to which fresh cut cj is mixed with other components , bailed and ensilaged in plastic offers a specific advantage in that the entire silage , whether tmr or not , is easily transportable and made ready to use conveniently . throughout the application , where compositions are described as having , including , or comprising specific components , or where processes are described as having , including , or comprising specific process steps , it is contemplated that compositions of the present teachings also consist essentially of , or consist of , the recited components , and that the processes of the present teachings also consist essentially of , or consist of , the recited process steps . in the application , where an element or component is said to be included in and / or selected from a list of recited elements or components , it should be understood that the element or component can be any one of the recited elements or components , or the element or component can be selected from a group consisting of two or more of the recited elements or components . further , it should be understood that elements and / or features of a composition , an apparatus , or a method described herein can be combined in a variety of ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the present teachings , whether explicit or implicit herein . for example , where reference is made to a particular structure , that structure can be used in various embodiments of apparatus of the present teachings and / or in methods of the present teachings , unless otherwise understood from the context . in other words , within this application , embodiments have been described and depicted in a way that enables a clear and concise application to be written and drawn , but it is intended and will be appreciated that embodiments may be variously combined or separated without parting from the present teachings and invention ( s ). for example , it will be appreciated that all features described and depicted herein can be applicable to all aspects of the invention ( s ) described and depicted herein . it should be understood that the expression “ at least one of ” includes individually each of the recited objects after the expression and the various combinations of two or more of the recited objects unless otherwise understood from the context and use . the use of the term “ include ,” “ includes ,” “ including ,” “ have ,” “ has ,” “ having ,” “ contain ,” “ contains ,” or “ containing ,” including grammatical equivalents thereof , should be understood generally as open - ended and non - limiting , for example , not excluding additional unrecited elements or steps , unless otherwise specifically stated or understood from the context . the use of the singular herein , for example , “ a ,” “ an ,” and “ the ,” includes the plural ( and vice versa ) unless specifically stated otherwise . where the use of the term “ about ” is before a quantitative value , the present teachings also include the specific quantitative value itself , unless specifically stated otherwise . as used herein , the term “ about ” refers to a ± 10 % variation from the nominal value unless otherwise indicated or inferred . where a percentage is provided with respect to a component of a tmr or with respect to the tmr , the percentage should be understood to be a percentage based on weight , unless otherwise understood from the context . for example , 85 % of the dry matter of the tmr is harvested cj means that 85 % by weight of the tmr is harvested cj . it should be understood that the order of steps or order for performing certain actions is immaterial so long as the present teachings remain operable . moreover , two or more steps or actions may be conducted simultaneously . at various places in the present specification , values are disclosed in groups or in ranges . it is specifically intended that the description include each and every individual subcombination of the members of such groups and ranges and any combination of the various endpoints of such groups or ranges . for example , an integer in the range of 0 to 40 is specifically intended to individually disclose 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , and 40 , and an integer in the range of 1 to 20 is specifically intended to individually disclose 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , and 20 . the use of any and all examples , or exemplary language herein , for example , “ such as ,” “ including ,” or “ for example ,” is intended merely to illustrate better the present teachings and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless claimed . no language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non - claimed element as essential to the practice of the present teachings . the present teachings encompass embodiments in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof . the foregoing embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects illustrative rather than limiting on the present teachings described herein . scope of the present invention is thus indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description , and all changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced therein .
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as anticipated , the system according to the invention is , above all , characterized in that is shows high versatility and flexibility as it is applicable not only to the construction of self - standing buildings ( see f . i . fig1 ) but also for the covering or closure of bodies and spaces and the like already provided of roof , and roof lines structures ( fig1 and 12 ). just to better fix ideas , in the figures from 1 to 1 c are shown ( in schematic front views ) system of the first type having components c with three sub - components u 1 , u 2 , u 3 : u 1 , vertical basic sub - component of the pier type ; u 2 , shoulder sub - component ; and u 3 , roof - line sub - component . later on it will be seen from fig1 , 12 and 13 that u 3 can be optional and thus be omitted . coming back to the self - erecting buildings comprising components c with three sub - components u 1 , u 2 and u 3 , it can be evicted from the relative figures the further characteristics of flexibility , modularity and composability of the system according to the invention . indeed already in fig1 the three sub - components u 1 , u 2 and u 3 are formed of one standard single element es for neither too high nor too wide buildings . in fig1 a the sub - component u 1 of component c 1 is formed of two pier elements ( at a parity of shoulder mono elements ) e 1 and e 2 in u 1 , and of one element e 5 in u 3 ( for the roof ); the building is thereby widened ( over those of fig1 and 1a ). in fig1 c both u 1 ( pier ) and u 2 ( shoulder ) have additional elements ( e 2 respectively e 4 ) whereby the relative systems shall be used for very wide and relatively high buildings . characteristically all elements e 1 are standard . the standard element of the base are shown in fig2 , 2 a and 2 b and ( in perspective from below ) of fig3 , 3 a , 3 b , each element being formed of a base body bs having parallelepiped or circular cross - sections . preferably the elements es of sub - components u 2 and u 3 consist of two portions 3 and 4 , respectively 5 and 6 showing angles higher than 90 °. as it can be better seen from fig3 , 3 a and 3 b all three elements e of u 1 , u 2 and u 3 have , typically , the same structure , i . e . have a body ( which we will call vessel or “ small basin ” for illustrative simplicity ) ve u - shaped with a bottom fv , two lateral walls l 1 and l 2 and ( there between , an integral central core a . as it can be better seen from the enlarged cross - section of fig4 , said external side - walls l 1 and l 2 have the form of a flag having a flag - staff portion ste showing a height hs ( fig4 ) and a width equal to the thickness sp , on which there is another widened flag portion b . at each terminal 1 , 2 of es , a total structure is seen , which can be defined as formed by a core a between two channels defined by the outer faces 7 and 8 external to a and by the internal faces of walls l 1 , l 2 . characteristically the external face of vessel or small basin ve ( u shaped body ) and of the core a is covered by a layer or shell of composite material pc having a thickness “ sp ”, whereas the inside portion of core a and of the interstices between the common bottom fv and the walls l 1 and l 2 is filled with foamed polymeric material pe ; it has been critically found that the volumes and ( at a parity of foamed polymeric filler pe and of shell pc ), the weights and therefore the values of the stress resistances , shearing stress etc . of core a ( having a width wa and a height ha ) must correspond to the double of the volumes ( weights and resistances ) of the lateral bodies l 1 and l 2 and of the bottom fv - fc i . e . substantially ( at a parity of depth ) in other words the volume ( apparently , major ) of the core a i . e . waha must substantially correspond to the double volume of the bodies external to a , thus those of the flag portions , of the stems l 1 and l 2 and of the bottom fc - fv . consequently , at a parity of film layer , of filler and of volumes it is so possible to obtain a marked equivalence of mechanical characteristics between resistance zone of horizontal extremity o 1 , o 2 , o 3 , o 4 of fig6 a as well as an equivalence of stiffening and resistance to shearing stress forces of the ( dashed ) vertical resistant zones v 1 , v 2 , v 3 , v 4 , v 5 ( fig6 b ). therefore the centroid medial position of fig6 a must be exactly on the passage transition tp from the stem to the flag bottom of walls l 1 , l 2 . practically it is as if the medial line ct be seated on the bottoms 30 - 31 of the flag zone ba 1 of l 1 and ba 2 of l 2 . accordingly a resistance on all the system walls is obtained which is compatible with several schemes of loads or stress , even maintaining a same typology of cross - section , f . i . of the type shown in the drawings . this allows a high productive easiness in the production center of the base sub - components . in other words same sub - components can be used to realize different systems . preferably the shell or film layer pc is formed of one of the composite cloths or fabrics of toray , f . i . according to u . s . pat . no . 6 , 599 , 610 ( stitched laminates ) and the filler pe is selected among the polyurethane , polyepoxy -, polystirene resins and the like , preferably foamed , with the addition of the polymeric glue , f . i . polyurethane . manufactured articles are thereby obtained which totally consist of synthetic materials and thus are very light , equilibrated and highly resistant to the stress to which are submitted . according to an advantageous feature , the two film layers ( external pce and internal pci ) are mutually connected through a series of strips str of the same material pc to increase the under - load stability of the whole shell . in the fig5 , 5 a , 5 b , 5 c , the coupling between two elements e n - 1 and en is shown , which are drawn near to each other by fitting together the internal faces ba 1 , ba 2 of the flag widened heads . from the contact correct “ apposition ” of said two elements a quarry cav is obtained in which is ( preferably ) inserted the head 17 attached to the stem 16 of a reinforcing body rf ( fig5 c ). this connection operation between two standard elements e n - 1 and en is also shown in perspective view in the fig7 and 7a . in fig7 are represented the two separated elements e n - 1 and en , the internal wall l 1 of e n - 1 being in front of wall l 2 of en . the flag zones ba 1 and ba 2 of said two elements e n - 1 and en are put in contact so to form cavity cav wherein the reinforcing body rf ( f . i . the film layer or shell ) is inserted . the perspective view of fig8 shows the connection of two elements e n - 1 and en both represented with their full faces fp 1 , fp 2 overturned to get f . i . the continuous locus of the exposed faces external to the manufactured article , in contrast to fig1 in which the article shows externally the whole continuous face . to render more comprehensive the “ soldering ” between elements , in fig8 are represented internal portions e n - 1 of protruding from the continuous face fp 1 , and inserting into the similar portions of fp 2 receding from the external surface fp 2 . thanks already to this insertion with form retention , a good connection resistance is obtained which however is increased by using resinous glueing pastes and / or by the insertion of at least one small cable 20 ( made of polymeric material such as aramid , dyneema and the like ) within the proper holes in the elements en . even if the gluing per se and the insertion of the polymeric cable 20 can be contemporaneously utilized , the adoption of the sole cable is preferable because it allows a rapid disassembly of the structure . the correct alignment of the two elements is assured by pins 21 positioned on the contact surface ; said pins assure advantageously also the continuity of the stress between the jointed pieces . in the fig9 and 9a is shown a system of reinforcing ribs desirable in the cases of building bodies having big spans f . i . higher than 10 meters . the rib component consists of sub - components u ′ 2 and u ′ 3 made of substantially similar elements compatible with those of the not reinforced structure t . the elements e ′ shown loose and detached under the vault vol of frame t in fig9 , are compacted in situ as in fig9 a generating the assembled rib structure cost forced under the internal roof of the starting frame t . advantageously also here the element types of the possible sub - component u ′ 1 and of the certain u ′ 2 , u ′ 3 are compatible with the different system “ typologies ” ( f . i . of fig1 ) which are thereby reduced to three . in fig1 is emblematically represented a self erecting body structure obtained with n components all having the three sub - components u 1 , u 2 and u 3 of fig1 - 1c , said n components being assembled by the connections of the fig4 , 5 - 5 b , 6 - 6 b , 7 - 7 a , 8 preferably “ ribbed ” as in fig9 in the case of big spans . from said fig1 appears that the full ( smooth ) faces ep 1 , fp 2 . . . fpn of the bottoms of elements en of fig9 ( equivalent to the bottoms fv of fig4 ) are inside the manufactured article . obviously an inverted configuration can be used in correspondence of different requirements ( changes , utilization etc .). in the fig1 and 12 , manufactured articles ( f . i . roofing ) are shown whose components c ′ do not have the optional roofing sub - components , obtained now with elements e ′ 3 , e ′ 4 of shoulders ( sp ) of u ′ 2 ( fig1 - 1c ). in the top perspective of fig1 ( f . i . to cover sport implants , washer vessels and the like ) the ridge ( sub - component u ′ 3 ) is quite absent . the structures of fig1 ( on rectilinear trace ) and of fig1 ( on circular or elliptic trace ) show a further inventive characteristic of extreme utility in the sense that at least some components like c ′ 1 - c ″ 1 and c ′ 1 n - c ″ n in fig1 , the component group are made of mobile gores , f . i . can be turned around the end of the last pier element e ′ 1 of u ′ 1 , respectively e ′ n of u ′ n opening thereby provisional gaps for the machine movement , for the space ventilation , for their configuration etc . among the manufacture articles which can be quickly realized with the system according to the invention , we can mention :— stores , car garages , schools , laboratories , civil and military facilities , hospital especially field hospitals , first and second line structures etc . among the advantages of the manufacture articles obtained with the system according to the invention ( in particular with the aid of components having three sub - components ) we limit our self to mention the 18 following ones : 1 . a module consisting of flat , strong , resistant walls can be placed side by side and connected with other modules . 2 . capacity of considerable loads , high specific resistance , thanks to the innovative tubular conception ( fig6 b ) of the load bearing shell structure , ( instead of separate skins as in the conventional sandwich panels ). 3 . possibility of pillar - less high bays up to 25 meters , even under snow and wind . 4 . air - sealed structure which can be de - pressurized for the odours or pressurized against external pollutants . 5 . rapid assembly and disassembly ( about 200 m 2 / 8 hours / 3 persons ). 6 . dry assembly thanks to dry restrained joints or gluing . 7 . simple manual assembly with the aid of form joints needing small fixture but without lifting means . 8 . self mounting :— the particular lightness and stoutness allows to hoist the pre - assembled portals and to use them as support for the further pieces . 9 . light and easy transportation ( 8 - 12 kg / m 2 ). 10 . modularity :— it can be manufactured with different highness and width to comply with several requirements ( fig1 - 1c ). 11 . high thermic insulation with savings of energy . 12 . natural balistic protection ( against projectiles ) because of the particular form of the structure . indeed a projectile has to pass through at least two film layers . 13 . electric energy generation by means of solar panels integrated in the external coating without variations of weights and forms . 14 . integrated electromagnetic shielding without weight and form variations . 15 . possible total transparency to the electro - magnetic waves ( no form and weight variation ). 16 . the tubular cross - section of the base module provides a natural space for the lighting , the ventilation and tubular implants . 17 . high chemical resistance ( naturally inert and not - oxidizable ). 18 . easy repairing by substitution of the single damaged elements . in the specific case of cleaners , ( depurators ) coverings , the structures of the invention made of composite materials ( polyurethanes , carbon - and glass - fibers etc . ), obtained with components having two sub - components and showing high resistance and lightness which allow the embodiment of covers and boundary lines of a single span up to ( f . i .) 20 meters , show the following advantages and inconveniences . no interference with the underlying plants like the moving bridges , weir zones etc . indeed the structure of the invention runs above them and is totally free . the construction systems imparts stability , resistance and insulating power of the material , which cannot be obtained with the conventional glass resin roof tiles . big structures of high dimensions can be obtained with containment of pressed gas , thus in total security ( explosion resistant structures ). easy access under the cover for the inspection and maintenance of the machineries . high insulation power of the cover ( sandwich structure ) which consents the temperature stabilization to the optimal values for f . i ., the best biological ( during the transition seasons and winter ). the reflecting finish in combination with the high insulation power keeps to a minimum the heating effect of the summer solar irradiation . energetic recovery :— possibility to integrate heaters / recovers of heat / photovoltaic cells in the structure skin ( without external overall dimensions [ encumber ]). drawbacks : possible higher external encumber to avoid interface with the below implants and consent a free passage under the cover . for clear illustration scruple , the invention has been described with particular reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings which are nevertheless , susceptible of those variations , substitutions , additions and the like which , being in the hand reach of a mean technician of this field , are to be considered as falling within the scope of the following claims .
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in fig1 and 2 a funnel shaped receiver 11 is formed on the end of a conduit 10 . on the other end of the conduit 10 is a coupling 13 having a mounting means 12 for mounting the coupling 13 , conduit 10 and receiver 11 to an upstanding neck 21 of a bottle 20 . in the preferred embodiment the mounting means 12 comprises an internal screw thread which mates with an external screw thread 22 formed on the upstanding neck 21 . a packing 23 may be inserted between the upstanding neck and the coupling as shown in fig2 . when the bottle 20 is removed from the coupling , a conventional nipple is capable of being mounted to the neck 21 . an adaptor 30 is detachably mounted to the coupling 13 of the conduit 10 as also shown in fig2 . the adaptor 30 comprises tubular connecting member 31 . a connecting portion 32 formed at one end of the connecting member 31 is adapted to engage a connecting portion 14 of the coupling 13 thereby securing the adaptor 30 to the coupling . a connecting recess 33 is provided in the other end of the tubular connecting means 31 . the connecting recess 33 may be engaged by a connection member 51 of a diaphragm type pump 50 or by a connection member 61 of a bulb type hand pump 60 . the inner structure of the diaphragm type electric suction pump 50 is conventional and comprises a reciprocated diaphragm , and inlet and exhaust valves to create a differential pressure between the atmosphere and an inner suction space . this pressure difference ( suction ) is subjected to the breast via the adaptor 30 , coupling 13 and conduit 10 open to the coupling and receiver 11 . likewise , the bulb type hand suction pump 60 may be used . a squeeze bulb 63 having an exhaust valve 62 can be squeezed to produce suction . also provided on the adaptor 30 is a pressure adjusting means 40 . the pressure adjusting means 40 serves essentially three functions . first , it automatically relieves the suction exerted on the breast by either of the suction pumps 50 , 60 when that suction exceeds a predetermined maximum , the maximum being below an amount that would cause pain or discomfort . second , the pressure adjusting means provides for adjustability of the predetermined maximum . and third , the pressure adjusting means may be manually actuated to quickly relieve the suction in , for example , an emergency situation . as illustrated in fig3 the pressure adjusting means 40 comprises a valve seat 42 slidably mounted in a hollow tube 41 along splines 44 of the tube . the valve seat is fixed in place between a cam member 46 having an inclined face 46a contacting a projection 42b of the valve seat and a spring 45 . an o - ring 49 forms a seal between the valve seat 42 and the inner periphery of the tube 44 . a valve 43 is loosely received within the valve seat 42 . a spring 47 urges the valve 43 against a first air inflow hole 42a extending through the valve seat and communicating with the atmosphere . an auxilliary hole provided in the tubular connecting means 31 is open to and communicates with the space in which the valve 43 is received within the valve seat 42 . this auxilliary hole only communicates with the air inflow hole 42a when the valve 43 is urged away from the valve seat 42 and air inflow hole 42a due to the loose fit of the valve 43 within the valve seat 42 . another air inflow hole 46b extends through the cam member 46 and is open to the air inflow hole 42a and the atmosphere . a release member 48 for instantly pressing the valve 43 out of contact with the valve seat 42 is provided loosely in the air inflow hole 46b of the cam member 48 such that air from the atmosphere may enter the hole 46b . the release member 48 has a pointed pin 48 which will contact the valve 43 through the air inflow hole 42a to urge the valve 43 off of the valve seat 42 when the release member is pushed . in operation , the suction pumps 50 or 60 create suction which is applied to the breast through an air passageway in the tubular connecting means of the adaptor 30 and receiver 11 as mentioned above . when this suction increases beyond a predetermined maximum valve , e . g . one that is just about to cause pain or discomfort , the valve seat 43 also subject to the suction through the above - mentioned auxilliary hole formed in the tubular means 31 , is urged by the suction and atmospheric pressure acting on the valve through air inflow hole 42a off of the valve seat 42 and air inflow hole 42a against the force exerted by spring 47 . accordingly , air from the atmosphere enters the adaptor 30 through the hole formed in the tubular means 31 and air inflow holes 42a and 46b due to the differential pressure between the vacuum created in the adaptor by the suction pump and atmospheric pressure . thus , the addition of air at atmospheric pressure counteracts the suction generated by the suction pump , and the suction on the breast is reduced . once an equilibrium is established the spring will then urge the valve 43 back against the valve seat 42 and the air inflow hole 42a whereby the above - mentioned operation is repeated . because such an intermittent motion is imparted to the valve 43 , the resulting fluctuation in suction exerted on the breast will have a stimulating effect to accelerate the secretion of milk . the static position of the valve seat 43 may be adjusted such that different predetermined maximum amounts of suction will be required to move the valve 43 off of the valve seat 42 and air inflow hole 42a . this is accomplished by rotating the cam member 40 mounted to the tube 41 . thus the inclined cam surface 46a is rotated over the projection 42b of the valve seat 42 whereby the valve seat is guided by splines 44 along the inside of the tube 41 by or against the force exerted by a spring 45 . therefore , spring 47 is adjusted to expand or contract with the movement of the valve seat 42 as urged by the valve 43 contacting the valve seat . thus the initial displacement of the springs 47 is adjustable and accordingly the force ( predetermined maximum suction ) required to urge the valve 43 off of the valve seat 42 against the force of the spring 47 is made variable since the spring force to be counteracted by the predetermined maximum suction is dependent on the initial displacement of the spring . finally , when unexpected pain has been felt or the milking operation is finished the release member 48 may be pressed to instantaneously move the valve 43 off of the valve seat 42 to communicate the adaptor 30 with the atmosphere and reduce the suction on the breast . other advantages of the present invention include that the adaptor 30 and suction pump 50 or 60 may be removed and the most soiled parts 10 , 11 , 12 and 20 may be washed frequently . this capability reduces the need for washing the adaptor including the adjustment means and / or the pump which would shorten the life thereof . also only damaged parts need to be replaced since the apparatus can be easily taken apart and reconstructed . obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the foregoing description . it is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described .
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( 2 ) the backbone is almost constantly pointing at a fixed direction ( see [ 1 ]). the above physical rules dictate the motion of the golfer &# 39 ; s upper body . deduced from these rules , to obtain a golfer &# 39 ; s upper body mechanics , we only need to calculate : how to calculate the backbone positions of the player 100 is shown in fig1 and fig2 . fig1 contains a sequence of golf swing frame pictures two fixed locations m 1 and m 2 are marked on the golfer &# 39 ; s backbone and are connected with a line ( see fig1 ). the same process is repeated for all the frames . we will then have a set of lines note that for the reason of simplicity m 1 and m 2 are not drawn on all the frames . once we have the geometry of ( b 1 , b 2 . . . b 5 ), the next step is to get the ( x , y , z )- coordinates of ( b 1 , b 2 . . . b 5 ). to get the ( x , y , z )- coordinates we need both the front and side views . 201 and 203 of fig2 shows the ( x , y ) components of b 1 . 202 and 204 of fig2 shows the ( y , z ) components of b 1 . add the z - component of ( y , z ) to ( x , y ) and we will have the ( x , y , z )- coordinates of b 1 . repeat the same process for all the frames and we will have all the ( x , y , z )- coordinates of b 1 , b 2 . . . b 5 . with the backbone positions defined , we can now calculate the upper body rotation angles around the backbone . in 301 of fig3 for each frame photo we select two fixed locations m 3 and m 4 on the shoulder . connect m 3 and m 4 with a line . repeat the same process for all the frames . we will then have a set of lines : let a 1 be the upper body rotating angle of the first frame . note that to calculate a 1 , is equivalent to calculate the rotating angle which rotates line s 1 to s 2 around the backbone b 1 ( see 302 of fig3 ). also note that the calculation of a 1 is straight forward . there is no need to calculate the z - component of s 1 and s 2 . we only need to treat the z - component of s 1 as zero and ignore the z - component of s 2 . repeat the same process for all the frames . we will then have all the angles in fig4 , we redraw all the backbones bi ( i = 1 , 2 . . . 5 ) by giving ( 1 ) equal distance on x - direction and ( 2 ) the length of bi equals ai . the diagram we obtained is called the body acceleration diagram diag - body 402 ( fig4 ) and it represents the upper body mechanics of the golfer . the upper body acceleration diagram can be used to determine if the golfer moves his / her upper body correctly . the determination is done by comparing the diagram generated by the golfer with a correct one stored in database . see diag - bodyd 401 ( fig4 ). the diagram stored in database is either known as the expert knowledge or predefined conditions . 401 of fig4 is a correct acceleration diagram stored in database and 402 is an incorrect acceleration diagram generated by the golfer . from the comparison of these two diagrams , the system can obviously make a suggestion to the player that he / she needs to rotate his / her upper body more during the down swing . same as the upper body , the hip mechanics of a golf swing ( i . e . the angle that the hip rotates around the backbone ) can also be calculated in the same way . the only difference is that to calculate the angles we use the waist lines instead of the shoulder lines ( s 1 , s 2 . . . s 5 ). fig5 shows how to construct the waist lines . select two fixed locations m 1 and m 2 on the waist , and then connect m 1 and m 2 with a line w 1 . note that only w 1 is drawn in fig5 . for the simplicity of drawing , w 2 , w 3 . . . w 5 are not shown . ( rules - b ) ( a ) during a golf swing , the club head stays in a plane and this plane is known as the swing plane ([ 1 ]). ( b ) the golfer &# 39 ; s hand ( or arm ) will also stay in a slightly different plane . in 601 of fig6 pl is the swing plane of the club head and pn is the plane normal of pl . the ( x , y z )- coordinates of pn are shown in 601 and 602 of fig6 . in 701 of fig7 , two fixed points m 1 and m 2 are selected on the club . connect m 1 and m 2 we will have a line . repeat the same process and we will have a set of lines note that for simplicity only c 1 and c 2 are drawn . in 702 of fig7 , we define the angle an 1 as the rotating angle from c 1 to c 2 around the plane normal pn . similar to the calculation of the said body angle a 1 , the calculation of an 1 is also straight forward . repeat the same calculation and we will have all the club angles in fig8 we construct a diagram by giving the y - values at xi equals ani , where i = 1 , 2 . . . 5 . the diagram we obtained here is called the club acceleration diagram diag - cha 802 , shown in fig8 . similar to body acceleration , the club acceleration diagram can also be used to determine if the golfer moves his / her club correctly . the determination is done by comparing the diagram generated by the golfer with a correct one stored in database . see diagram diag - chad 801 ( fig8 ). the diagram stored in database is either known as the expert knowledge or predefined conditions . fig8 shows a correct acceleration diagram diag - chad 801 stored in database and an incorrect acceleration diagram diag - cha 802 generated by the golfer . from the comparison of these two diagrams , once again the system can obviously make suggestion to the player that he / she needs to accelerate the club more during the down swing . the hand ( or arm ) mechanics can also be calculated in the same way as the club rotation . the only differences are : ( a ) hand ( or arm ) rotates around a slightly different plane pl ′. the plane normal pn ′ of pl ′ is very close to pn . the ( x , y , z )- coordinates of pn ′ can also be obtained in the same way as pn . ( h 1 , h 2 . . . h 5 ) or arm lines instead of club lines ( c 1 , c 2 . . . c 5 ). fig9 shows how to construct lines ( h 1 , h 2 . . . h 5 ) and ( am 1 , am 2 . . . am 5 ). three fixed locations m 1 , m 2 and m 3 are selected . line h 1 is constructed by connecting m 1 and m 2 and the line am 1 is constructed by connecting m 1 and m 3 . note that only h 1 and am 1 are drawn in fig9 . for simplicity , the rest of lines are not drawn . similarly , once the hand ( or arm ) mechanics are calculated , we can also construct the hand ( or arm ) acceleration diagram diag - cha 802 ( fig8 ). furthermore the system can then make suggestion to the player by comparing the diagram generated by the golfer with the one stored in database . see diag - chad 801 ( fig8 ). once again the diagram stored in database is either known as the expert knowledge or predefined conditions . fig1 shows the data flow of the system . video photos 1001 are the input to the system . physical rules 1002 are used for calculation . the body mechanics are calculated in 1003 . the results of 1003 are passed to 1004 for swing analysis . the results of 1004 are used by 1005 to give advices to the golfer . note that in calculating the body mechanics of a golf swing , rules rules - a and rules - b are used as the foundation of the calculation . for other sports such as baseball or tennis the player &# 39 ; s body mechanics will satisfy a different set of physical rules . to calculate the body mechanics , these different rules should be used .
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the formulations include particles of drug and , optionally , excipient , optional excipient or pharmaceutical carrier . the formulations can be nanoparticles , microparticles , or microaggregates of nanoparticles . the aggregates can be coated . the formulations can be in the form of a powder for inhalation , or dispersed in a solution or encapsulated for delivery via a route other than pulmonary , such as nasal , buccal , oral , or injection , although pulmonary is preferred . particles are preferably formed of drug to be delivered in combination with excipient by spray drying a solution of drug and excipient . the spray drying conditions determine the size of the particles , as well as the density . the size and density determine whether the particle is inhaled into the lung . the diameter of particles in a sample depend upon factors such as particle composition and methods of synthesis . the distribution of size of particles or aggregates in a sample can be selected to permit optimal deposition within targeted sites within the respiratory tract . an fpf td & lt ; 3 . 3 μm represents the percentage of aerosols that should deposit in the lower respiratory tract , whereas an fpf td & lt ; 5 . 8 μm represents the percentage of aerosols that should deposit in the middle to lower respiratory tract . unless stated otherwise , the particles or aggregates described herein will have an fpf td & lt ; 5 . 8 μm . in a preferred embodiment , the particle or particle aggregates are aerodynamically light , having a preferred size , e . g ., a volume median geometric diameter ( vmgd or geometric diameter ) of at least about 5 microns . in another embodiment , the vmgd is from about 5 microns to about 15 microns . the particles in the example below have a diameter of about 4 . 2 microns . in another embodiment , the particles have a vmgd ranging from about 10 μm to about 15 μm , and as such , more successfully avoid phagocytic engulfment by alveolar macrophages and clearance from the lungs , due to size exclusion of the particles from the phagocytes &# 39 ; cytosolic space . phagocytosis of particles by alveolar macrophages decreases precipitously as particle diameter increases beyond about 3 μm and less than about 1 μm ( kawaguchi et al ., biomaterials 7 : 61 - 66 , 1986 ; krenis and strauss , proc . soc . exp . med ., 107 : 748 - 750 , 1961 ; and rudt and muller , j . contr . rel ., 22 : 263 - 272 , 1992 ). in other embodiments , the aggregates have a median diameter ( md ), mmd , a mass median envelope diameter ( mmed ) or a mass median geometric diameter ( mmgd ) of at least 5 μm , for example from about 5 μm to about 30 μm . the nanoparticles contained within the aggregates have a geometric diameter of approximately less than about 1 μm , for example , from about 25 nanometers to approximately 1 μm . such geometric diameters are small enough that they escape clearance from the body by macrophages , and can reside in the body for long periods of time . suitable particles or aggregates can be fabricated or separated , for example , by filtration or centrifugation , to provide a particle sample with a preselected size distribution . for example , greater than about 30 %, 50 %, 70 %, or 80 % of the particles or aggregates in a sample can have a diameter within a selected range of at least about 5 μm . the selected range within which a certain percentage of the particles or aggregates must fall may be , for example , between about 5 and about 30 μm , or optimally between about 5 and about 25 μm . in one preferred embodiment , at least a portion of the particles or aggregates have a diameter between about 5 μm and about 15 μm . optionally , the particle sample also can be fabricated wherein at least about 90 %, or optionally about 95 % or about 99 %, have a diameter within the selected range . the diameter of the particles or aggregates , for example , their vmgd , can be measured using an electrical zone sensing instrument such as a multisizer iie , ( coulter electronic , luton , beds , england ), or a laser diffraction instrument ( for example , helos , manufactured by sympatec , princeton , n . j .) or by sem visualization . other instruments for measuring particle diameter are well known in the art . experimentally , aerodynamic diameter can be determined by employing a gravitational settling method , whereby the time for an ensemble of particles to settle a certain distance is used to infer directly the aerodynamic diameter of the particles . an indirect method for measuring the mass median aerodynamic diameter ( mmad ) is the multi - stage liquid impinger ( msli ). the aerodynamic diameter , d aer , can be calculated from the equation : where d g is the geometric diameter , for example the mmgd and ρ is the particle mass density approximated by the powder tap density . particles are preferably formed using spray drying techniques . in such techniques , a spray drying mixture , also referred to herein as “ feed solution ” or “ feed mixture ,” is formed to include nanoparticles comprising a bioactive agent and , optionally , one or more additives that are fed to a spray dryer . spray drying is a standard process used in the food , pharmaceutical , and agricultural industries . in spray drying , moisture is evaporated from an atomized feed ( spray ) by mixing sprayed droplets with a drying medium ( e . g ., air or nitrogen ). this process dries the droplets of their volatile substance and leaves non - volatile components of “ dry ” particles that are of a size , morphology , density , and volatile content controlled by the drying process . the mixture being sprayed can be a solvent , emulsion , suspension , or dispersion . many factors of the drying process can affect the properties of the dry particles , including the type of nozzle , drum size , flow rate of the volatile solution and circulating gas , and environmental conditions ( sacchetti and van oort , spray drying and supercritical fluid particle generation techniques , glaxo wellcome inc ., 1996 ). typically , the process of spray drying involves four processes , dispersion of a mixture in small droplets , mixing of the spray and a drying medium ( e . g ., air ), evaporation of moisture from the spray , and separation of the dry product from the drying medium ( sacchetti and van oort , spray drying and supercritical fluid particle generation techniques , glaxo wellcome inc ., 1996 ). the dispersion of the mixture in small droplets greatly increases the surface area of the volume to be dried , resulting in a more rapid drying process . typically , a higher energy of dispersion leads to smaller droplets obtained . the dispersion can be accomplished by any means known in the art , including pressure nozzles , two - fluid nozzles , rotary atomizers , and ultrasonic nozzles ( hinds , aerosol technology , 2 nd edition , new york , john wiley and sons , 1999 ). following the dispersion ( spraying ) of the mixture , the resultant spray is mixed with a drying medium ( e . g ., air ). typically , the mixing occurs in a continuous flow of heated air . the hot air improves heat transfer to the spray droplets and increases the rate of evaporation . the air stream can either be exhausted to the atmosphere following drying or recycled and reused . air flow is typically maintained by providing positive and / or negative pressure at either end of the stream ( sacchetti and van oort , spray drying and supercritical fluid particle generation techniques , glaxo wellcome inc ., 1996 ). when the droplets come into contact with the drying medium , evaporation takes place rapidly due to the high specific surface area and small size of the droplets . based on the properties of the drying system , a residual level of moisture may be retained within the dried product ( hinds , aerosol technology , 2 nd edition , new york , john wiley and sons , 1999 ). the product is then separated from the drying medium . typically , primary separation of the product takes place at the base of the drying chamber , and the product is then recovered using , e . g ., a cyclone , electrostatic precipitator , filter , or scrubber ( masters et al ., spray drying handbook . harlow , uk , longman scientific and technical , 1991 ). the properties of the final product , including particle size , final humidity , and yield depend on many factors of the drying process . typically , parameters such as the inlet temperature , air flow rate , flow rate of liquid feed , droplet size , and mixture concentration are adjusted to create the desired product ( masters et al ., spray drying handbook , harlow , uk , longman scientific and technical , 1991 ). the inlet temperature refers to the temperature of the heated drying medium , typically air , as measured prior to flowing into the drying chamber . typically , the inlet temperature can be adjusted as desired . the temperature of the drying medium at the product recovery site is referred to as the outlet temperature , and is dependent on the inlet temperature , drying medium flow rate , and properties of the sprayed mixture . typically , higher inlet temperatures provide a reduction in the amount of moisture in the final product ( sacchetti and van oort , spray drying and supercritical fluid particle generation techniques , glaxo wellcome inc ., 1996 ). the air flow rate refers to the flow of the drying medium through the system . the air flow can be provided by maintaining positive and / or negative pressure at either end or within the spray drying system . typically , higher air flow rates lead to a shorter residence time of the particles in the drying device ( i . e ., the drying time ) and lead to a greater amount of residual moisture in the final product ( masters et al ., spray drying handbook , harlow , uk , longman scientific and technical , 1991 ). the flow rate of the liquid feed refers to the quantity of liquid delivered to the drying chamber per unit time . the higher the throughput of the liquid , the more energy is needed to evaporate the droplets to particles . thus , higher flow rates lead to lower output temperatures . typically , reducing the flow rate while holding the inlet temperature and air flow rate constant reduces the moisture content of the final product ( masters et al ., spray drying handbook , harlow , uk , longman scientific and technical , 1991 ). the droplet size refers to the size of the droplets dispersed by the spray nozzle . typically , smaller droplets provide lower moisture content in the final product with smaller particle sizes ( hinds , aerosol technology , 2 nd edition , new york , john wiley and sons , 1999 ). the concentration of the mixture to be spray dried also influences the final product . typically , higher concentrations lead to larger particle sizes of the final product , since there is more material per sprayed droplet ( sacchetti and van oort , spray drying and supercritical fluid particle generation techniques , glaxo wellcome inc ., 1996 ). systems for spray drying are commercially available , for example , from armfield , inc . ( jackson , n . j . ), brinkmann instruments ( westbury , n . y . ), buchi analytical ( new castle , del . ), niro inc ( columbia , md . ), sono - tek corporation ( milton , n . y . ), spray drying systems , inc . ( randallstown , md . ), and labplant , inc . ( north yorkshire , england ). the final moisture content of the spray dried powder can be determined by any means known in the art , for example , by thermogravimetric analysis . the moisture content is determined by thermogravimetric analysis by heating the powder , and measuring the mass lost during evaporation of moisture ( maa et al ., pharm . res ., 15 : 5 , 1998 ). typically , for a sample that contains cellular material ( e . g ., bacteria ), the water will be evaporated in two phases . the first phase , referred to as free water , is primarily the water content of the dry excipient . the second phase , referred to as bound water , is primarily the water content of the cellular material . both the free and bound water can be measured to determine if the powder contains a desired moisture content in either the excipient or cellular material ( snyder et al ., analytica chimica acta , 536 : 283 - 293 , 2005 ). the spray dryer used to form the particle can employ a centrifugal atomization assembly , which includes a rotating disk or wheel to break the fluid into droplets , for example , a 24 vaned atomizer or a 4 vaned atomizer . the rotating disk typically operates within the range from about 1 , 000 to about 55 , 000 rotations per minute ( rpm ). alternatively , hydraulic pressure nozzle atomization , two fluid pneumatic atomization , sonic atomization or other atomizing techniques , as known in the art , also can be employed . commercially available spray dryers from suppliers such as niro , apv systems , denmark , ( e . g ., the apv anhydro model ) and swenson , harvey , ill ., as well as scaled - up spray dryers suitable for industrial capacity production lines can be employed , to generate the particles as described herein . commercially available spray dryers generally have water evaporation capacities ranging from about 1 to about 120 kg / hr . for example , a niro mobile minor ® spray dryer has a water evaporation capacity of about 7 kg / hr . the spray driers have a 2 fluid external mixing nozzle , or a 2 fluid internal mixing nozzle ( e . g ., a niro atomizer portable spray dryer ). suitable spray - drying techniques are described , for example , by k . masters in “ spray drying handbook ,” john wiley & amp ; sons , new york , 1984 . generally , during spray - drying , heat from a hot gas such as heated air or nitrogen is used to evaporate the solvent from droplets formed by atomizing a continuous liquid feed . other spray - drying techniques are well known to those skilled in the art . in a preferred embodiment , a rotary atomizer is employed . an example of a suitable spray dryer using rotary atomization includes the mobile minor ® spray dryer , manufactured by niro , denmark . the hot gas can be , for example , air , nitrogen or argon . preferably , the particles are obtained by spray drying using an inlet temperature between about 90 ° c . and about 400 ° c . and an outlet temperature between about 40 ° c . and about 130 ° c . suitable organic solvents that can be present in the mixture to be spray dried include , but are not limited to , alcohols , for example , ethanol , methanol , propanol , isopropanol , butanols , and others . other organic solvents include , but are not limited to , perfluorocarbons , dichloromethane , chloroform , ether , ethyl acetate , methyl tert - butyl ether and others . another example of an organic solvent is acetone . aqueous solvents that can be present in the feed mixture include water and buffered solutions . both organic and aqueous solvents can be present in the spray - drying mixture fed to the spray dryer . in one embodiment , an ethanol water solvent is preferred with the ethanol : water ratio ranging from about 20 : 80 to about 90 : 10 . the mixture can have an acidic or an alkaline ph . optionally , a ph buffer can be included . preferably , the ph can range from about 3 to about 10 . in another embodiment , the ph ranges from about 1 to about 13 . the total amount of solvent or solvents employed in the mixture being spray dried generally is greater than about 97 weight percent . preferably , the total amount of solvent or solvents employed in the mixture being spray dried generally is greater than about 99 weight percent the amount of solids ( nanoparticles containing bioactive agent , additives , and other ingredients ) present in the mixture being spray dried generally is less than about 3 . 0 weight percent . preferably , the amount of solids in the mixture being spray dried ranges from about 0 . 05 % to about 1 . 0 % by weight . agents to be delivered include therapeutic , prophylactic and / or diagnostic agents ( collectively , “ bioactive agents ”) for treatment of respiratory infectious diseases such as tb , severe acute respiratory syndrome ( sars ), influenza , and small pox . suitable bioactive agents include agents that can act locally , systemically or a combination thereof . the term “ bioactive agent ,” as used herein , is an agent , or its pharmaceutically acceptable salt , which when released in vivo , possesses the desired biological activity , for example therapeutic , diagnostic and / or prophylactic properties in vivo . examples of bioactive agents include , but are not limited to , synthetic inorganic and organic compounds , proteins , peptides , polypeptides , dna and rna nucleic acid sequences or any combination or mimic thereof , having therapeutic , prophylactic or diagnostic activities . compounds with a wide range of molecular weight can be used , for example , compounds with weights between 100 and 500 , 000 grams or more per mole . in one preferred embodiment , the bioactive agent is an antibiotic for treatment of a respiratory infection such as tuberculosis , such as capreomycin , pa - 824 , rifapicin , rifapentine , and quinolones ( e . g . moxifloxacin ( bay 12 - 8039 ), aparfloxacin , gatifloxacin , cs - 940 , du - 6859a , sitafloxacin , hsr - 903 , levofloxacin , wq - 3034 ), ciprofloxacin , and levofloxacin . capreomycin is a relatively hydrophilic antibiotic molecule . it is currently used as a second - line defense molecule , in the prevention of tb . capreomycin shows a one to two log decrease in colony forming units (“ cfu ”) after one month against non - replicating tb in vitro , so there is potential for latent tb treatment , as reported by heifets , et al . ann . clin . microbiol . antimicrobiol . 4 ( 6 ) ( 2005 ). pa - 824 is a bactericidal antibiotic which targets a flavenoid f420 and also prevents mycolic acid synthesis and lipid biosynthesis . rifapentine inhibits rna polymerase by binding to the β subunit of the protein and acts as a bactericidal antibiotic . in another preferred embodiment , the bioactive agent is a vaccine , such as a bcg vaccine , which is effective against tb , or flu antigens . for treatment of viral respiratory infections , the bioactive agent is preferably an antiviral alone or in combination with vaccine . four antiviral medications are commonly prescribed for the a category of influenza viruses , amantadin , rimantadine , zanamavir and the widely - stockpiled oseltamivir . these are neuraminidase inhibitors , which block the virus from replicating . if taken within a couple of days of the onset of illness , they can ease the severity of some symptoms and reduce the duration of sickness . multi - drug resistant tuberculosis ( mdr - tb ) is emerging as a significant public health threat , creating an unmet medical need that requires the development of new treatment approaches . in a preferred embodiment very high drug doses are delivered to the site of primary infection for rapid sterilization of the lung mucosa and reduction in the duration of mdr - tb therapy . the formulation for treatment of drug resistant forms of infection may include very high loading of one or more antibiotics or a combination of antibiotic and vaccine . the nanoparticles can contain up to about 100 % ( w / w ) bioactive agent . in the preferred embodiment , the particles contain at least 50 . 00 %, 60 . 00 %, 75 . 00 %, 80 . 00 %, 85 . 00 %, 90 . 00 %, 95 . 00 %, 99 . 00 % or more , of bioactive agent ( dry weight of composition ). in the case of capreomycin and other similar drugs , the preferred dosage loading is at least 50 wt %, more preferably 80 wt %. the amount of bioactive agent used will vary depending upon the desired effect , the planned release levels , and the time span over which the bioactive agent will be released . as used herein , an additive is any substance that is added to another substance to produce a desired effect in , or in combination with , the primary substance . as generally used herein , an “ excipient ” means a compound that is added to a pharmaceutical formulation in order to confer a suitable consistency . for example , the particles can include a surfactant . as generally used herein , the term “ surfactant ” refers to any agent which preferentially absorbs to an interface between two immiscible phases , such as the interface between water and an organic polymer solution , a water / air interface , a water / oil interface , a water / organic solvent interface or an organic solvent / air interface . surfactants generally possess a hydrophilic moiety and a lipophilic moiety , such that , upon absorbing to microparticles , they tend to present moieties to the external environment that do not attract similarly - coated particles , thus reducing particle agglomeration . surfactants may also promote absorption of a therapeutic or diagnostic agent and increase bioavailability of the agent . the particles and components thereof can be drug , drug and excipient , or drug in a polymer , which can be biodegradable or nonbiodegradable , or a material such as silica , sterols such as cholesterol , stigmasterol , . beta .- sitosterol , and estradiol ; cholesteryl esters such as cholesteryl stearate ; c 12 - c 24 fatty acids such as lauric acid , myristic acid , palmitic acid , stearic acid , arachidic acid , behenic acid , and lignoceric acid ; c 18 - c 36 mono -, di - and triacylglycerides such as glyceryl monooleate , glyceryl monolinoleate , glyceryl monolaurate , glyceryl monodocosanoate , glyceryl monomyristate , glyceryl monodicenoate , glyceryl dipalmitate , glyceryl didocosanoate , glyceryl dimyristate , glyceryl didecenoate , glyceryl tridocosanoate , glyceryl trimyristate , glyceryl tridecenoate , glycerol tristearate and mixtures thereof ; sucrose fatty acid esters such as sucrose distearate and sucrose palmitate ; sorbitan fatty acid esters such as sorbitan monostearate , sorbitan monopalmitate and sorbitan tristearate ; c 16 - c 18 fatty alcohols such as cetyl alcohol , myristyl alcohol , stearyl alcohol , and cetostearyl alcohol ; esters of fatty alcohols and fatty acids such as cetyl palmitate and cetearyl palmitate ; anhydrides of fatty acids such as stearic anhydride ; phospholipids including phosphatidylcholine ( lecithin ), phosphatidylserine , phosphatidylethanolamine , phosphatidylinositol , and lysoderivatives thereof ; sphingosine and derivatives thereof , spingomyelins such as stearyl , palmitoyl , and tricosanyl spingomyelins ; ceramides such as stearyl and palmitoyl ceramides ; glycosphingolipids ; lanolin and lanolin alcohols ; and combinations and mixtures thereof . in a preferred embodiment , liquid to be spray dried optionally includes one or more phospholipids , such as , for example , a phosphatidylcholine , phosphatidylethanolamine , phosphatidylglycerol , phosphatidylserine , phosphatidylinositol or a combination thereof . in one embodiment , the phospholipids are endogenous to the lung . specific examples of phospholipids are shown in table 1 . combinations of phospholipids can also be employed . in addition to lung surfactants , such as , for example , the phospholipids discussed above , suitable surfactants include but are not limited to cholesterol , fatty acids , fatty acid esters , sugars , hexadecanol ; fatty alcohols such as polyethylene glycol ( peg ); polyoxyethylene - 9 - lauryl ether ; a surface active fatty acid such as palmitic acid or oleic acid ; glycocholate ; surfactin ; a poloxamer ; a sorbitan fatty acid ester such as sorbitan trioleate ( span 85 ), tween 80 ( polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate ); tyloxapol , polyvinyl alcohol ( pva ), and combinations thereof . methods of preparing and administering particles including surfactants , and , in particular phospholipids , are disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 855 , 913 to hanes et al . and in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 985 , 309 to edwards et al . the particles can further comprise an amino acid , including but not limited to , leucine , isoleucine , alanine , valine , phenylalanine , glycine and tryptophan . combinations of amino acids can also be employed . suitable non - naturally occurring amino acids include , for example , beta - amino acids . both d , l configurations and racemic mixtures of hydrophobic amino acids can be employed . suitable amino acids can also include amino acid derivatives or analogs . as used herein , an amino acid analog includes the d or l configuration of an amino acid having the following formula : — nh — chr — co —, wherein r is an aliphatic group , a substituted aliphatic group , a benzyl group , a substituted benzyl group , an aromatic group or a substituted aromatic group and wherein r does not correspond to the side chain of a naturally - occurring amino acid . as used herein , aliphatic groups include straight chained , branched or cyclic c1 - c8 hydrocarbons which are completely saturated , which contain one or two heteroatoms such as nitrogen , oxygen or sulfur and / or which contain one or more units of unsaturation . aromatic or aryl groups include carbocyclic aromatic groups such as phenyl and naphthyl and heterocyclic aromatic groups such as imidazolyl , indolyl , thienyl , furanyl , pyridyl , pyranyl , oxazolyl , benzothienyl , benzofuranyl , quinolinyl , isoquinolinyl and acridinyl . a number of suitable amino acids , amino acids analogs and salts thereof can be obtained commercially . others can be synthesized by methods known in the art . synthetic techniques are described , for example , in green and wuts , “ protecting groups in organic synthesis ”, john wiley and sons , chapters 5 and 7 , 1991 . the amino acid or salt thereof can be present in the particles in an amount from about 0 % to about 60 weight %, preferably , from about 5 weight % to about 30 weight %. methods of forming and delivering particles which include an amino acid are described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 586 , 008 . the spray dried particles can include nanoparticles containing one or more bioactive agents or other materials . nanoparticles can be produced according to methods known in the art , for example , emulsion polymerization in a continuous aqueous phase , emulsion polymerization in a continuous organic phase , milling , precipitation , sublimation , interfacial polycondensation , spray drying , hot melt microencapsulation , phase separation techniques ( solvent removal and solvent evaporation ), nanoprecipitation as described by a . l . le roy boehm , r . zerrouk and h . fessi ( j . microencapsulation , 2000 , 17 : 195 - 205 ) and phase inversion techniques . additional methods for producing include evaporated precipitation , as described by chen et al . ( international journal of pharmaceutics , 2002 , 24 , pp 3 - 14 ) and the use of supercritical carbon dioxide as an anti - solvent ( as described , for example , by j .- y . lee et al ., journal of nanoparticle research , 2002 , 2 , pp 53 - 59 ). nanocapsules can be produced by the method of f . dalencon , y . amjaud , c . lafforgue , f . derouin and h . fessi ( international journal of pharmaceutics ., 1997 , 153 : 127 - 130 ). u . s . pat . nos . 6 , 143 , 211 , 6 , 117 , 454 and 5 , 962 , 566 ; amnoury ( j . pharm . sci ., 1990 , pp 763 - 767 ); julienne et al ., ( proceed . intern . symp . control . rel . bioact . mater ., 1989 , pp 77 - 78 ); bazile et al . ( biomaterials 1992 , pp 1093 - 1102 ); gref et al . ( science 1994 , 263 , pp 1600 - 1603 ); colloidal drug delivery systems ( edited by jorg kreuter , marcel dekker , inc ., new york , basel , hong kong , pp 219 - 341 ); and wo 00 / 27363 , describe the manufacture of nanoparticles and incorporation of bioactive agents , for example , drugs , in nanoparticles . intact ( preformed ) nanoparticle can be added to the solution ( s ) to be spray dried . alternatively , reagents capable of forming nanoparticles during the mixing and / or spray drying process can be added to the solutions to be spray dried . the excipient / carrier can be present in the particles in an amount ranging from about 5 weight percent (%) to about 95 weight %. preferably , it can be present in the particles in an amount ranging from about 20 weight % to about 80 weight %. optionally the particles or aggregates are coated . suitable coatings include proteins and surfactants . coatings may be used to target to specific tissues or cells , or to increase bioadhesion . the particles or aggregates can also include other additives , for example , buffer salts . preferably , the bioactive agent is delivered to a target site , for example , a tissue , organ or entire body , preferably the lungs , in an effective amount . as used herein , the term “ effective amount ” means the amount needed to achieve the desired therapeutic or diagnostic effect or efficacy . the actual effective amounts of bioactive agent can vary according to the specific bioactive agent or combination thereof being utilized , the particular composition formulated , the mode of administration , and the age , weight , condition of the patient , and severity of the symptoms or condition being treated . dosages for a particular patient can be determined by one of ordinary skill in the art using conventional considerations , e . g ., by means of an appropriate , conventional pharmacological protocol . in one embodiment , the bioactive agent is coated onto the nanoparticle . although described primarily with reference to pulmonary administration , it is understood that the particles may be administered nasally , orally , vaginally , rectally , topically , or by injection . the formulations are administered to a patient in need of treatment , prophylaxis or diagnosis . administration of particles to the respiratory system can be by means such as known in the art . for example , particles ( agglomerates ) can be delivered from an inhalation device . in a preferred embodiment , particles are administered via a dry powder inhaler ( dpi ). metered - dose - inhalers ( mdi ), nebulizers , or instillation techniques also can be employed . preferably , delivery is to the alveoli region of the pulmonary system , the central airways , or the upper airways . various suitable devices and methods of inhalation which can be used to administer particles to a patient &# 39 ; s respiratory tract are known in the art . for example , suitable inhalers are described in u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 995 , 385 , and 4 , 069 , 819 to valentini et al ., u . s . pat . no . 5 , 997 , 848 to patton . other examples include , but are not limited to , the spinhaler ® ( fisons , loughborough , u . k . ), rotahaler ® ( glaxo - wellcome , research triangle technology park , n . c . ), flowcaps ® ( hovione , loures , portugal ), inhalator ® ( boehringer - ingelheim , germany ), the aerolizer ® ( novartis , switzerland ), the diskhaler ( glaxo - wellcome , rtp , nc ) and others , known to those skilled in the art . preferably , the particles are administered as a dry powder via a dry powder inhaler . in one embodiment , the dry powder inhaler is a simple , breath actuated device . an example of a suitable inhaler which can be employed is described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 766 , 799 . a receptacle is used to enclose or store particles and / or respirable pharmaceutical compositions comprising the particles for subsequent administration . the receptacle is filled with the particles using methods as known in the art . for example , vacuum filling or tamping technologies may be used . generally , filling the receptacle with the particles can be carried out by methods known in the art . in one embodiment , the particles that are enclosed or stored in a receptacle have a mass of at least about 5 milligrams up to about 100 milligrams . in another embodiment , the mass of the particles stored or enclosed in the receptacle comprises a mass of bioactive agent from at least about 1 . 5 mg to at least about 20 milligrams . in one embodiment , the volume of the inhaler receptacle is at least about 0 . 37 cm 3 to 0 . 95 cm 3 . alternatively , the receptacles can be capsules , for example , capsules designated with a particular capsule size , such as 2 , 1 , 0 , 00 or 000 . suitable capsules can be obtained , for example , from shionogi ( rockville , md .). blisters can be obtained , for example , from hueck foils , ( wall , n . j .). other receptacles and other volumes thereof suitable for use in the instant invention are also known to those skilled in the art . preferably , particles administered to the respiratory tract travel through the upper airways ( oropharynx and larynx ), the lower airways which include the trachea followed by bifurcations into the bronchi and bronchioli and through the terminal bronchioli which in turn divide into respiratory bronchioli leading then to the ultimate respiratory zone , the alveoli or the deep lung . in a preferred embodiment , most of the mass of particles deposits in the deep lung . in another embodiment , delivery is primarily to the central airways . delivery to the upper airways can also be obtained . aerosol dosage , formulations and delivery systems also may be selected for a particular therapeutic application , as described , for example , in gonda , i . “ aerosols for delivery of therapeutic and diagnostic agents to the respiratory tract ,” in critical reviews in therapeutic drug carrier systems , 6 : 273 - 313 , 1990 ; and in moren , “ aerosol dosage forms and formulations ,” in : aerosols in medicine . principles , diagnosis and therapy , moren et al ., eds , elsevier , amsterdam , 1985 . bioactive agent release rates from particles can be described in terms of release constants . the first order release constant can be expressed using the following equations : where k is the first order release constant . m (∞) is the total mass of bioactive agent in the bioactive agent delivery system , e . g . the dry powder , and m ( t ) is the amount of bioactive agent mass released from dry powders at time t . equation ( 1 ) may be expressed either in amount ( i . e ., mass ) of bioactive agent released or concentration of bioactive agent released in a specified volume of release medium . c ( t ) = c (∞) *( 1 − e − k * t ) or release ( t )= release (−∞) *( 1 − ee − k * t ) ( 2 ) where k is the first order release constant . c (∞) is the maximum theoretical concentration of bioactive agent in the release medium , and c ( t ) is the concentration of bioactive agent being released from dry powders to the release medium at time t . drug release rates in terms of first order release constant can be calculated using the following equations : k =− 1 n ( m (∞) − m ( t ))/ m (∞) / t ( 3 ) release rates of bioactive agents from particles can be controlled or optimized by adjusting the thermal properties or physical state transitions of the particles . the particles can be characterized by their matrix transition temperature . as used herein , the term “ matrix transition temperature ” refers to the temperature at which particles are transformed from glassy or rigid phase with less molecular mobility to a more amorphous , rubbery or molten state or fluid - like phase . as used herein , “ matrix transition temperature ” is the temperature at which the structural integrity of a particle is diminished in a manner which imparts faster release of bioactive agent from the particle . above the matrix transition temperature , the particle structure changes so that mobility of the bioactive agent molecules increases resulting in faster release . in contrast , below the matrix transition temperature , the mobility of the bioactive agent particles is limited , resulting in a slower release . the “ matrix transition temperature ” can relate to different phase transition temperatures , for example , melting temperature ( t m ), crystallization temperature ( t c ) and glass transition temperature ( t g ) which represent changes of order and / or molecular mobility within solids . experimentally , matrix transition temperatures can be determined by methods known in the art , in particular by differential scanning calorimetry ( dsc ). other techniques to characterize the matrix transition behavior of particles or dry powders include synchrotron x - ray diffraction and freeze fracture electron microscopy . as used herein , the term “ nominal dose ” means the total mass of bioactive agent which is present in the mass of particles targeted for administration and represents the maximum amount of bioactive agent available for administration . the formulations described herein are particularly suited to treatment of respiratory diseases such as tb , sars , meningococcal meningitis , rsv , influenza , and small pox . in the preferred embodiment , the patients to be treated have chronic or long term infection , or drug resistant infection . in the case of an antibiotic such as capreomycin , a dosage equivalent to a dosage in the range of 30 - 100 mg , more preferably 30 - 60 mg , given orally , is administered once or twice daily for fast release , and once a week for slow release . leucine is the preferred excipient . the present invention will be further understood by reference to the following non - limiting examples . multi - drug resistant tuberculosis ( mdr - tb ) is emerging as a significant public health threat , creating an unmet medical need that requires the development of new treatment approaches . direct , topical delivery of antibiotics to infected lungs is used to obtain the primary goal of targeting high drug doses to the site of primary infection for rapid sterilization of the lung mucosa and reduction in the duration of mdr - tb therapy . dry powder aerosols containing 50 - 80 % capreomycin , that exhibit similar physical and aerosolization properties , have been made . aerosols with geometric diameters ranging from 2 - 10 μm and aerodynamic diameters in the 5 - 6 μm range were formed by spray drying . optimization of processing parameters increased powder yields up to 60 % prior to large batch scale - up . the aerosols show excellent storage capacity at refrigerated , room temperature , and accelerated ( 40 ° c .) conditions , with both the chemical and physical properties remaining stable for up to 2 months of storage . aerosols were prepared by heating an 80 : 20 capreomycin : leucine solution ( 36 g in 5000 ml of 50 % ethanol ) to 60 ° c . and spray drying the solution using a niro spray dryer at a feed flowrate of 80 ml / min , an atomizer flowrate of 28 - 31 g / min and a process gas flowrate of 79 - 82 kg / hr . inlet temperature was varied from 189 - 192 ° c . to achieve an outlet temperature of ˜ 65 ° c . in a second example , a solution containing 28 . 8 g capreomycin sulfate ( lilly , control no . 7rt71r ) and 7 . 2 g l - leucine ( sigma l - 8912 , lot 044k0381 ) in 2500 ml milli - q water and 2500 ml of 200 proof ethanol ( pharmco 111acs200 , batch 04259 - 14 , lot 0409144 ) was heated to 60 ° c . and spray dried using a niro spray dryer at a feed flowrate of 80 ml / min , an atomizer flowrate of 28 - 31 g / min and a process gas flowrate of 79 - 82 kg / hr . inlet temperature was varied from 189 - 192 ° c . to achieve an outlet temperature of ˜ 65 ° c . each spray - dried powder was initially characterized for morphology , geometric size , and aerosolization properties . particle morphology was observed by scanning electron microscopy with a leo 982 field emission scanning electron microscope ( sem ) ( zeiss ). particle size was measured by laser diffraction using a helos diffractometer and a rodos variable - shearing dry powder disperser ( sympatec ) at applied regulator pressures of 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , and 4 bar . the aerodynamic properties of the powders dispersed from an inhaler device were assessed with cascade impaction using gravimetric analysis via an 8 - stage mark ii andersen cascade impactor ( aci - 8 , thermo electron , waltham , mass .) to measure fine particle fraction of the total dose ( fpf td ). the fpf td reported measures the fraction of aerosols with aerodynamic diameters less than 3 . 3 or 5 . 8 μm . an fpf td & lt ; 3 . 3 μm represents the percentage of aerosols that should deposit in the lower respiratory tract , whereas an fpf td & lt ; 5 . 8 μm represents the percentage of aerosols that should deposit in the middle to lower respiratory tract . the bulk density of the particles was determined by tap density measurements . briefly , particles were loaded into 0 . 3 ml sections of a 1 - ml plastic pipette , capped with nmr tube caps , and tapped approximately 300 - 500 times until the volume of the powder did not change . the tap density was determined from the difference between the weight of the pipette before and after loading , divided by the volume of powder after tapping . capreomycin content in the powders was determined by hplc . capreomycin content in each powder was determined by hplc analysis in 22 : 78 methanol : phosphate buffer with 0 . 3 wt % heptafluorobutyric acid using a c18 reverse - phase column ( agilent zorbax ® eclipse xdb - c18 ) at 1 . 0 ml / min and 25 ° c . the powder was aliquoted into 15 glass scintillation vials (˜ 200 mg each ) in a glove box at 10 . 5 % rh , then tightly capped . 3 vials each were placed in 4 plastic desiccated chambers containing drierite . the chambers were stored at room temperature under dark conditions , at room temperature exposed to sunlight , at 4 ° c . ( refrigerated ), and at 40 ° c . and 75 % rh in a humidity chamber as an accelerated stability condition . the final 3 vials were placed uncapped at 40 ° c . and 75 % rh in a humidity chamber . timepoints are 0 , 1 , 2 and 6 weeks , 2 months , and 3 months . at each timepoint , the powders &# 39 ; physical and chemical properties were characterized . dry powder aerosols containing various percentages of capreomycin and leucine were formed by spray drying . the mass - mean diameter of each formulation , as determined using a helos / rodos laser diffraction system at a regulator pressure of 1 . 0 bar , is shown in table 2 . no significant difference in diameter was seen with a change in regulator pressure . this suggests that aerosol flight characteristics for these powders are independent of a patient &# 39 ; s inspiratory flowrate . sem images of dry powder aerosols containing 80 % and 90 % capreomycin demonstrate that as the percentage of capreomycin in the dry powder aerosols was increased up to 80 %, a decrease in average diameter was seen ( table 2 ). at 90 % capreomycin , an aerosol containing two diameters of spheres were observed by laser diffraction and sem . this dual population led to an increase in average diameter of the powder . fpf td for the 50 - 80 % capreomycin - containing aerosols were not significantly different . however , the 90 % capreomycin aerosol showed about a 30 % decrease in fpf td . since aerosols containing the largest amount of capreomycin possible , but with good flight properties , is needed , 80 % capreomycin - containing aerosols were used for further studies . initial scale - up of powder production resulted in a 48 . 7 % yield . these aerosols , used for stability and pharmacokinetic studies , had an average geometric diameter of 4 . 2 μm , with an aerodynamic diameter range of 4 - 6 microns . a geometric standard deviation ( gsd ) of 1 . 8 μm was determined from w . c . hinds . aerosol technology . john wiley & amp ; sons , inc ., new york , 1999 : gsd =( d 84 % / d 16 % ) 0 . 5 eqn . ( 1 ) where d n is the diameter at the n th percentile of the cumulative distribution , and showed that the aerosol was nearly monodisperse . no significant difference in diameter was seen with a change in regulator pressure . this suggests that aerosol flight characteristics for these powders are independent of a patient &# 39 ; s inspiratory flowrate . the resulting particles had high drug loadings . repeated spray drying on different days showed good reproducibility with respect to particle size and morphology . gross visual stability tests at 4 ° c ., room temperature and 40 ° c . showed no size or morphology changes after 2 and one - half weeks . the fpf td of aerosols stored at 40 ° c . for 6 weeks decreased by 40 %. however , the fpf td under other storage conditions remained stable for up to 2 months . the content of capreomycin in formulations stored in closed vials at 4 ° c ., rt , and 40 ° c . remained stable for up to three months . when placed in direct contact with a 40 ° c . and 75 % rh atmosphere , the aerosols adsorbed significant amounts of water , leading to a decrease in capreomycin content per mass of aerosol . a three month physical and chemical stability analysis of the 80 % capreomycin - containing aerosols was conducted under refrigerated ( 4 ° c . ), room temperature ( rt , approximately 25 ° c . ), and accelerated ( 40 ° c .) conditions . fig1 a , 1 b , and 1 c show the stability of the aerosol geometric diameter , fine particle fraction ( fpf td ), and chemical content over time . no significant change was seen in the geometric diameter under all conditions ( fig1 a ). the fpf td of aerosols stored at 40 ° c . for 6 weeks decreased by 40 % ( fig1 b ). however , the fpf td under other storage conditions remained stable for up to 3 months . the content of capreomycin in formulations stored in closed vials at 4 ° c ., rt , and 40 ° c . remained stable for up to 3 months ( fig1 c ). when placed in direct contact with a 40 ° c . and 75 % rh atmosphere , the aerosols adsorbed significant amounts of water , leading to a decrease in capreomycin content per mass of aerosol . in summary , an injectable hydrophilic tb drug molecule , capreomycin , was formulated into a dry powder aerosol form for inhalation . due to the large doses of antibiotics required for treatment , a dry powder aerosol with high drug loading ( 80 % capreomycin ) that exhibits excellent aerosolization properties ( fpf td & lt ; 5 . 8 μm of 48 %) was prepared . no significant difference in geometric diameter was seen with a change in applied regulator pressure , suggesting that aerosol flight characteristics for these powders are independent of a patient &# 39 ; s inspiratory flowrate . significantly , these aerosols show excellent storage capacity at refrigerated , room temperature , and accelerated ( 40 ° c .) conditions , with both the chemical and physical properties remaining stable for up to three months of storage . it is understood that the disclosed invention is not limited to the particular methodology , protocols , and reagents described as these may vary . it is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only , and is not intended to limit the scope which will be limited only by the appended claims .
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hereinafter , the present invention is described with reference to embodiments shown in the attached drawings . however , it should be noted that those descriptions are just provided for illustrative purpose , rather than limiting the present invention . further , in the following , descriptions of known structures and techniques are omitted so as not to obscure the concept of the present invention . in the drawings , various layer structures according to embodiments of the present invention are schematically shown . however , they are not drawn to scale , and some features may be enlarged while some features may be omitted for clarity . shapes , sizes and relative locations of respective regions and layers shown in the drawings are just illustrative , and deviations therefrom may occur due to manufacture tolerances and technical limits . those skilled in the art can also devise regions / layers of different shapes , sizes and relative locations as desired . the present invention is based on the following observation . some semiconductor - metal compounds would have the so - called “ retrograde melting ” property , that is , transition from the solid phase to the liquid phase when being cooled from melted state . examples of such semiconductor include silicon ( si ) and / or germanium ( ge ), and examples of such metal include copper ( cu ), nickel ( ni ) and / or iron ( fe ). for example , a compound obtained by introducing at least one of cu , ni and fe materials into si ( where si has a melting point of about 1414 ° c .) will exhibit the “ retrograde melting ” property when being cooled ( below about 900 ° c ., for example ), so that liquid droplets occur therein . when the liquid droplets occur due to retrograde melting , other metal impurities dissolved in si tend to move into the liquid portion ( which is called solid - liquid segregation ). in other words , the liquid droplets generated within si serve as a “ vacuum cleaner ” which absorbs the impurities . hereinafter , methods for manufacturing a semiconductor wafer according to various embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings . in the following embodiments , the semiconductor material is exemplified by si which is most commonly used in the semiconductor processes . further , the metal material comprises at least one of cu , ni and fe materials . however , it is to be noted that the present invention is not limited thereto . for example , the semiconductor material may comprise ge , gan , gaas , or the like . and it is not necessary for the metal material to include all of cu , ni and fe , which may comprise only some of them , or may comprise other metal materials , for example , transition metal elements such as mn and zn which can exhibit , together with the semiconductor material , retrograde melting property . fig1 - 5 are schematic diagrams showing structures obtained in various steps in a flow of manufacturing a wafer according to a first embodiment of the present invention , respectively , wherein in each of the diagrams , portion ( a ) is a top view , and portion ( b ) is a section view taken along line a - a ′ in portion ( a ). as shown in fig1 , in the first embodiment , the processes in the method are performed on a prepared wafer 1001 . that is , the wafer has been subjected to various processes such as shallow trench isolation ( sti ) formation , and thus it is possible to make various semiconductor devices thereon . the wafer 1001 may comprise various types such as semiconductor on insulator ( soi ) wafer , bulk silicon wafer , gan wafer , gaas wafer , or the like . next , as shown in fig2 , a metal layer 1002 is formed on a surface of the wafer 1001 . the metal layer 1002 may comprise at least one of cu , ni and fe elements for example , the metal layer 1002 may comprise a mixture of at least one of cu , ni and fe elements formed by multi - target sputtering , or a metal stack formed by sputtering multiple layers of metals sequentially . then , the structure shown in fig2 is heated to a sufficiently high temperature ( above 1000 ° c ., for example ) so that the metal material ( cu , ni and fe ) of the metal layer 1002 may dissolve into the semiconductor material ( si ) of the underlying wafer 1001 . here , the heating temperature should be lower than the melting point of si ( about 1414 ° c .) so that si may not melt . this procedure is shown in fig3 , where the dissolving of the metal elements into the wafer 1001 is indicated by the arrows shown in the figure . therefore , in a portion 1001 ′ of the wafer 1001 close to the surface , a compound of si and at least one of cu , ni and fe elements is formed . here , preferably , the dissolving of the metal material from the metal layer 1002 into the wafer 1001 becomes oversaturated due to the big amount of the metal . that is , the amount of the metal material dissolved into si is more than that under stable conditions . subsequently , as shown in fig4 , the whole structure is cooled down gradually , for example , below 900 ° c ., so that retrograde melting occurs . specifically , when the structure is cooled down below 900 ° c ., liquid droplets may be generated in the wafer 1001 due to the retrograde melting of the compound containing si , cu , ni and fe , so that the portion 1001 ′ may transform from a solid state to a slurry - like mix of solid and liquid . as shown by arrows in fig4 ( b ), impurities ( metal elements ) in the underlying portion of the wafer are absorbed into the liquid portion , and thus the wafer is purified . of course , although most of the impurities are absorbed , a certain amount of impurities may still be distributed therein . the dashed line 1003 in fig4 ( b ) shows a “ balance line ” above which the concentration of the metal elements is greater than that in the wafer body . the balance line may be measured on site , or may be obtained statistically by a plurality of tests made in advance . finally , as shown in fig5 , the metal layer 1002 and the portion 1001 ′ including the compound of si , cu , ni and fe and having the metal elements absorbed therein are removed . preferably , a portion of the wafer 1001 close to the surface is removed along the balance line 1003 . the removal may be performed by means of dry etching , chemical mechanical polishing ( cmp ) or the like . thus , the wafer 1001 shown in fig5 is completed . most of the impurities in the wafer 1001 are absorbed due to the retrograde melting as described above , and thus the wafer is purified . fig6 - 11 are schematic diagrams showing structures obtained in various steps in a flow of manufacturing a wafer according to a second embodiment of the present invention , respectively , wherein in each of the diagrams , portion ( a ) is a top view , and portion ( b ) is a section view taken along line a - a ′ in portion ( a ). as shown in fig6 , in the second embodiment , the processes in the method are performed on a wafer 2001 . in fig6 , two hard mask layers 2002 and 2003 are also formed on the wafer 2001 . for example , the first hard mask layer 2002 may comprise silicon oxide , and the second hard mask layer 2003 may comprise silicon nitride . next , as shown in fig7 , shallow trenches 2004 are formed by etching into the hard mask layers 2002 and 2003 . the etching may be carried out by various means such as dry etching . the depth of the trenches into the wafer 2001 ( as shown by an arrow in fig7 ( b )) to may vary between 10 nm and 1000 nm . sidewalls of the trenches are vertical . then , as shown in fig8 , a metal layer 2005 is filled into the trenches 2004 . the metal layer 2005 may comprise at least one of cu , ni and fe elements . the filling of the trench may be performed by means of deposition , for example , cvd , pvd method . next , the structure shown in fig8 is heated to a sufficiently high temperature ( above 1000 ° c ., for example ) so that the metal elements ( cu , ni and fe ) of the metal layer 2005 may dissolve into the silicon of the wafer 2001 . here , the heating temperature should be lower than the melting point of the silicon ( about 1414 ° c .) so that the silicon may not melt . this procedure is shown in fig9 , where arrows show the dissolving of the metal elements into the wafer 2001 . therefore , in a portion of the wafer surrounding the trenches 2004 , a compound of si , cu , ni and fe is formed . here , preferably , the dissolving of the metal material into the wafer 2001 becomes oversaturated due to the big amount of the metals in the metal layer 2005 . that is , the amount of the metal material dissolved into the silicon is more than that under stable conditions . subsequently , as shown in fig1 , the whole structure is cooled down gradually , for example , below 900 ° c ., so that retrograde melting occurs . specifically , when the structure is cooled down below 900 ° c ., the portion of the wafer 2001 including the compound of si , cu , ni and fe may transform from a solid state to a slurry - like mix of solid and liquid . as shown by arrows in fig1 ( b ), impurities in the wafer are absorbed into the liquid portion , and thus the wafer is purified . finally , as shown in fig1 , the hard mask layers 2002 and 2003 , and the metal layer 2005 are removed . the removal may be performed by means of dry etching , cmp or the like . preferably , a portion of the wafer 1001 close to the surface is removed along a balance line . for example , the portion of the wafer above the balance line may be subjected to oxidation , for example , thermal oxidation , to form an oxide , which may be removed by means of etching or the like . thus , the wafer 2001 shown in fig1 is completed . most of the impurities in the wafer 2001 are absorbed due to the retrograde melting as described above , and thus the wafer is purified . further , the process according to this embodiment is compatible with the sti process . specifically , trenches 2006 may be formed in the wafer 2001 . for example , it is possible to form stis by filling insulator materials ( for example , silicon oxide ) into the trenches 2006 . fig1 - 16 are schematic diagrams showing structures obtained in various steps in a flow of manufacturing a wafer according to a third embodiment of the present invention , respectively , wherein in each of the diagrams , portion ( a ) is a top down view , and portion ( b ) is a cross section view taken along line a - a ′ in portion ( a ). as shown in fig1 , in the third embodiment , the processes in the method are performed to the wafer 3001 , like the second embodiment likewise , two hard mask layers 3002 and 3003 are also formed on the wafer 3001 . for example , the first hard mask layer 3002 may comprise silicon oxide , and the second hard mask layer 3003 may comprise silicon nitride . next , as shown in fig1 , openings 3004 are formed in the first and second hard mask layers 3002 and 3003 . for example , the openings 3004 may be formed corresponding to locations where stis are designed to form . here , unlike the second embodiment , the openings 3004 may not cut into the wafer 3001 . in this embodiment , the metal materials such as cu , ni and fe may be introduced into the wafer 3001 by means of ion implantation , as shown by arrows in fig1 ( b ), so that a portion 3005 containing cu , ni and fe is formed in the wafer 3001 . the depth of the metal implantation may be adjusted by controlling the implantation energy and dose . then , the structure shown in fig1 is heated to a sufficiently high temperature ( above 1000 ° c ., for example ) so that the metal elements ( cu , ni and fe ) of the portion 3005 may dissolve into the silicon . here , the heating temperature should be lower than the melting point of the silicon ( about 1414 ° c .) such that the silicon may not melt . this procedure is shown in fig1 , where arrows show the dissolving of the metal elements into the silicon . therefore , in a portion of the wafer 3001 surrounding the portion 3005 , a compound of si , cu , ni and fe is formed . here , preferably , the dissolving of the metal material into the wafer 3001 becomes oversaturated due to the big amount of the metals . that is , the amount of the metal materials dissolved into the silicon is more than that under stable conditions . subsequently , as shown in fig1 , the whole structure is cooled down gradually , for example , below 900 ° c ., so that retrograde melting occurs . specifically , when the structure is cooled down below 900 ° c ., the portion of the wafer 3001 including the compound of si , cu , ni and fe may transit from a solid state to a slurry - like mix of solid and liquid . as shown by arrows in fig1 ( b ), impurities in the wafer are absorbed into the liquid portion , and thus the wafer is purified . finally , as shown in fig1 , the hard mask layers 3002 and 3003 , and the portion 3005 affected by ion implantation are removed . the removal may be performed by means of dry etching , cmp or the like . preferably , a portion of the wafer close to the surface is removed along a balance line . for example , the portion of the wafer above the balance line may be subjected to oxidation , for example , thermal oxidation , to farm an oxide , which may be removed by means of etching or the like . thus , the wafer 3001 shown in fig1 is completed . most of the impurities in the wafer 3001 are absorbed due to the retrograde melting as described above , and thus the wafer is purified . further , trenches 3006 are formed in the wafer 3001 . for example , stis may be formed by filling insulator materials ( for example , silicon oxide ) into the trenches 3006 . fig1 - 21 are schematic diagrams showing structures obtained in various steps in a flow of manufacturing a wafer according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention , respectively , wherein in each of the diagrams , portion ( a ) is a top down view , and portion ( b ) is a cross section view taken along line a - a ′ in portion ( a ). as shown in fig1 , in the fourth embodiment , the processes in the method are performed in a wafer 4001 , like the third embodiment . likewise , two hard mask layers 4002 and 4003 are also formed on the wafer 4001 . for example , the first hard mask layer 4002 may comprise silicon oxide , and the second hard mask layer 4003 may comprise silicon nitride . next , as shown in fig1 , openings are formed in the first and second hard mask layers 4002 and 4003 . for example , the openings may be formed corresponding to locations where stis are designed to form . here , unlike the second embodiment , the openings may not cut into the wafer 4001 . in this embodiment , the openings are filled with a metal layer 4002 including at least one of cu , ni and fe elements . the filling may be performed by means of deposition . then , the structure shown in fig1 is heated to a sufficiently high temperature ( above 1000 ° c ., for example ) so that the metal elements ( cu , ni and fe ) of the metal layer 4004 may dissolve into the silicon of the wafer 4001 . here , the heating temperature should be lower than the melting point of the silicon ( about 1414 ° c .) so that the silicon may not melt . this procedure is shown in fig1 , where arrows show the dissolving of the metal elements into the wafer . therefore , in a portion of the wafer 4005 adjacent to the metal layer 4004 , a compound of si , cu , ni and fe is formed . here , preferably , the dissolving of the metal material into the wafer 4001 becomes oversaturated due to the big amount of the metals . that is , the amount of the metal material dissolved into the silicon is more than that under stable conditions . subsequently , as shown in fig2 , the whole structure is cooled down gradually , for example , below 900 ° c ., so that retrograde melting occurs . specifically , when the structure is cooled down below 900 ° c ., the portion 4005 of the wafer 4001 including the compound of si , cu , ni and fe may transform from a solid state to a slurry - like mix of solid and liquid . as shown by arrows in fig2 ( b ), impurities in the wafer are absorbed into the liquid portion , and thus the wafer is purified . finally , as shown in fig2 , the hard mask layers 4002 and 4003 , and the portion 4005 of the wafer having the impurities absorbed therein are removed . the removal may be performed by means of dry etching , cmp or the like . preferably , a portion of the wafer close to the surface is removed along a balance line . for example , the portion of the wafer above the balance line may be subjected to oxidation , for example , thermal oxidation , to form an oxide , which may be removed by means of etching or the like . thus , the wafer 4001 shown in fig2 is completed . most of the impurities in the wafer 4001 are absorbed due to the retrograde melting as described above , and thus the wafer is purified . further , trenches 4006 may be formed in the wafer 4001 . for example , stis may be formed by filling insulator materials ( for example , silicon oxide ) into the trenches 4006 . according to the embodiments of the present invention , the metal materials such as cu , ni and fe elements may dissolve into si of the wafer by heating ( above 1000 ° c ., for example ), so that a compound of si and at least one of cu , ni and fe elements is formed . then , retrograde melting may occur to the formed compound when structure is gradually cooled down ( below 900 ° c ., for example ) to form a slurry - like mix of solid and liquid , which absorbs the impurities from the wafer . as a result , the wafer is purified . in the above description , details of patterning and etching of the respective layers are not provided . it is to be understood by those skilled in the art that various means in the prior art may be utilized to form the layers and regions in desired shapes . further , to achieve the same structure , those skilled can devise different methods from those described above . although the respective embodiments are described above respectively , it does not necessarily mean that advantageous features of those embodiments cannot be used in combination . the present invention is described above with reference to the embodiments thereof . however , those embodiments are provided just for illustrative purpose , rather than limiting the present invention . the scope of the invention is defined by the attached claims as well as equivalents thereof . those skilled in the art can make various alternations and modifications without departing from the scope of the invention , which all fall within the scope of the invention .
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the present invention includes a method by which legacy code applications may be transformed into services for the grid . throughout the following description , such method is referred to as gemlca ( grid execution management for legacy code architecture ). the present invention provides a client front - end ogsi grid service layer that offers a number of interfaces to submit and check the status of computational jobs , and get the results back . the present invention has an interface described in wsdl that can be invoked by any grid services client to bind and use its functionality through simple object access protocol ( soap ). soap is an xml - based protocol for exchanging information between computers ( xml is a subset of the general standard language sgml ). the general architecture to deploy existing legacy code as a grid service by means of the present invention is as preferred based on ogsi and gt3 infrastructure but can also be applied to other service - oriented architectures . a preferred embodiment provides the following characteristics : offers a set of ogsi interfaces , described in a wsdl file , in order to create , run and manage grid service instances that offer all the legacy code program functionality . interacts with job managers , such as fork , condor , pbs or sun grid engine , allocates computing resources , manages input and output data and submits the legacy code program as a computational job . administers and manages user data ( input and output ) related to each legacy code job providing a multi - user and multi - instance grid service environment . ensures that the execution of the legacy code maps to the respective client grid credential that requests the code to be executed . presents a reliable file transfer service to upload or download data from the grid service master node . offers a single sign - on capability for submitting jobs , uploading and downloading data . a grid service client can be off - line waiting for compute jobs to be completed , and can request jobs status information and results any time before the gemlca instance termination time expires . reduces complexity for application developers by adding a software layer to existing ogsi services and by supporting an integrated grid execution life - cycle environment for multiple users / instances . the grid execution life cycle includes : upload of data , submission of job , check the status of computational jobs , and get the results back . the present invention is a grid architecture with the main aim of exposing legacy code programs as grid services without re - engineering the original code and offering a user - friendly interface . the conceptual architecture is shown in fig1 , and the architecture is shown specifically in fig6 . in fig1 , blocks grid host environment ( gt3 ), compute servers , correspond roughly to the connectivity , fabric layers of fig7 . the preferred embodiment of the invention is represented by the gemlca resource block that interacts with the client block to provide services to the end user . the invention , represented by the gemlca resource block , has a three layer architecture , that is shown specifically in fig6 . : the first , front - end layer offers a set of grid service interfaces that any authorized grid client can use in order to contact , run , and get the status and any result back from the legacy code . this layer hides the second , core layer section of the architecture that deals with each legacy code environment and their instances as grid legacy code processes and jobs . the back end layer , is related to the grid middleware where the architecture is being deployed . the implementation is based on gt3 but this layer can be updated to any standard , such as wsrf . in order to access a legacy code program , the user executes a grid service client that creates , a legacy code instance with the help of the legacy code factory . following this , the gemlca resource submits the job to the compute servers through gt3 mmjfs using a job manager , such as condor . the invention is composed of a set of grid services that provides a number of grid interfaces in order to control the life cycle of the legacy code execution . this architecture can be deployed in several user containers or tomcat application contexts . legacy code deployment fig2 . in the present invention , a legacy code interface description file ( lcid ) is created in xml , for each legacy code that is to be made available . this is done at the initial setting up or administration stage . this lcid file shown in fig2 consists of three sections . the glcenvironment section contains the name of the legacy code and its main binary file , job manager ( condor or fork ), maximum number of jobs allowed to be submitted from a single legacy code process , and minimum and maximum number of processors to be used . the next section describes the legacy code in simple text format , and finally the parameter section exposes the list of parameters , each one describing its name , friendly name , input or output , order , mandatory , file or command line , fixed , and regular expression to be used as input validation . the process of creating the lcid file may be automated , making it even easier for the end user to deploy legacy applications as grid services . thereafter the xml file is stored and is made available to the resource when a job is submitted gemlca security and multi - user environment the invention uses the grid security infrastructure ( gsi ) [ j . gawor , s . meder , f . siebenlist , v . welch , gt3 grid security infrastructure overview , february 2004 . http :// www - unix . globus . org / security /. gt3 - security - overview . doc ] to enable user authentication and to support secure communication over a grid network . a client needs to sign its credential and also to work in full delegation mode in order to allow the architecture to work on its behalf . there are two levels of authorisation : the first level is given by the grid - map file mechanism [ l . ramakrishnan . writing secure grid services using globus toolkit 3 . 0 . september 2003 , http :// www - 106 . ibm . com / developerworks / grid / library / gr - secserv . html ]. if the user is correctly mapped , the second level comes into play , which is given by a set of legacy codes that a grid client is allowed to use . this set is composed of a combination of a general list of legacy codes , available to anyone using a specific resource , and a user mapped list of legacy codes , only available to grid clients mapped to a local user by the grid - map file mechanism . the invention administers the internal behaviour of legacy codes taking into account the requirements of input files and output files in a multi - user environment , and also complies with the security restrictions of the operating systems where the architecture is running . in order to do that , the invention uses itself in a protected mode composed of a set of system legacy codes in order to create and destroy a unique process and job stateful environment only reachable by the local user mapped by the grid - map file mechanism . grid client interaction with gemlca interfaces fig3 . fig3 shows the interaction employed by the invention , between a grid client and a gemlca resource exposing legacy code programs : 1 ) selects gemlca resource and gets general or user legacy code list . 2 ) returns list of general or user legacy code . 3 ) selects legacy code and asks for its interfaces . 4 ) checks legacy code , creates a lcprocess and returns interfaces . 5 ) changes / sets input parameter and uploads input files . 6 ) creates a lcprocess environment ( that is a description of legacy code parameters according to the xml file ) with a set of input data . 7 ) submits job 1 . 8 ) creates a lcjob 1 environment ( this is an instantiation of process environment and has state information of what is needed to know about the job ) within lcprocess environment and submits lc to job manager . 9 ) submits job 2 — this is another instance of the legacy code process 1 0 ) creates a lcjob 2 environment within lcprocess environment and submit lc to job manager . 11 ) gets status job 1 . 12 ) returns status lcjob 1 . 13 ) downloads outputs job 1 . 14 ) returns output lcjob 1 . 15 ) kills job 1 . 16 ) kills lcjob 1 and destroys lcjob 1 environment . 17 ) destroys process . 18 ) kills lcjob 2 and destroys lcjob 2 and lcprocess environment . a unique set of stubs is used by the grid client in order to interact with any exposed legacy code . when a client selects a legacy code , gemlca creates a lcprocess and its stateful environment using the default values , if any , for each input and output parameter . each lcprocess can be customized to accept a maximum number of lcjobs to be submitted from its interfaces . gemlca also provides a set of interfaces for the grid client in order to query and retrieve the lcprocess status , the list and number of lcjobs in each lcprocess , and the output results of each job . finally , a particular lcjob can be killed or a lcprocess destroyed . detailed description of the architecture fig4 . 5 and 6 : fig4 and 5 show the implementation of the invention and its life cycle . the condor management system is used by a computer cluster as the job manager to execute legacy parallel programs . as shown in fig4 , the grid architecture is divided into blocks grid service client , gemlca host , condor cluster . the invention is represented by the gemlca resource block , and the gemlca file structure . the arrows 2 , 3 , 5 correspond generally to the representation in fig3 . the scenario for submitting legacy code using the architecture of the invention is composed of the following steps — see the arrows enumerated in fig4 . : ( 1 ) the user signs the certificates to create a grid proxy . the user grid credential will later be delegated by the gemlca grid services from the client ( in a file that accompanies the job ) to the globus master managed job factory service ( mmjfs ) for the allocation of resources . ( 2 ) a grid service client , using the grid legacy code process factory ( glcprocessfactory ), creates a grid legacy code process ( glcprocess ) instance where the initial process legacy code environment is set and created using the gemlca file structure ( fig2 ). ( 3 ) the grid client sets and uploads the input parameters needed by the legacy code program exposed by the glcprocess and deploys a job using a resource specification language ( rsl ) file and a multiuser / instance environment to handle input and output data . the rsl file is an xml file defined by the globus toolkit with parameters of environmental values . ( 4 ) if the client credential is successfully mapped , mmjfs contacts the condor job manager that allocates resources and executes the parallel legacy code in a computer cluster . ( 5 ) as far as the client credentials are not expired and the glcprocess is still alive , the client can contact gemlca for checking job status and retrieve partial or final results any time . finally , when the grid service instance is destroyed , the multi - user / instance environment is cleaned . fig5 summarises the gemlca life cycle of the invention on a sequence diagram . referring now to fig6 , the preferred embodiment of the invention is a three - layer architecture that enables any general legacy code program to be deployed as an ogsa grid service . the layers can be introduced as : the front - end layer called grid services layer is published as a set of grid services , which is the only access point for a grid client to submit jobs and retrieve results from a legacy code program . this layer offers the functionality of publishing legacy code programs already deployed on the master node server . a grid client can create a glcprocess and a number of glcjob per process that are submitted to a job manager . this allows the user extra flexibility by adding the capability of managing several similar instances of the same application using the same grid service process and varying the input parameters . the internal core layer is composed of several classes that manage the legacy code program environment and job behaviour . the gt3 backend layer that is closely related to globus toolkit 3 and offers services to the internal layer in order to create a globus resource specification language file ( rsl ) [ see http :// www . globus . org / gram / rsl . html ] and to submit and control the job using a specific job manager . this layer essentially extends the classes provided by globus version 3 offering a standard interface to the internal layer . the layer disconnects the architecture &# 39 ; s main core from any third party classes , such as gt3 . more specifically , referring to fig6 , glclist class is one of the front - end layer grid services that publishes ( by access to the xml files ) a list of already deployed and available legacy code programs and their description . there are two types of legacy codes : the “ general ones ” that are available to anyone with grid credentials enabled and mapped using gridmap file ( a known feature ) in the gemlca resource and the “ user ones ” that are only available to grid clients mapped to the owner of the legacy code . each legacy code is deployed together with a legacy code interface description file ( lcid ) ( fig2 ) that contains information related to the legacy code program in xml format , such as the job manager that is able to support this program , minimum and maximum number of processors required and its universe . also , this file describes the list of parameters and its properties : name , friendly name , input / output , order , mandatory , file or command line , initial value , fixed . this configuration file is represented and managed by the glcenvironment class . using the glclist grid service , a client can retrieve a list of available legacy code programs . a client that meets the security requirements can create a glcprocess instances invoking the glcprocessfactory . the factory uses the legacy code configuration file to create and set the default program environment . a glcprocess object represents a legacy code process in this architecture . this process cannot be submitted to any job manager if the glcenvironment and all the mandatory input parameters have not been created and updated . a client grid service can submit a job using the default parameters or change any non - fixed parameter before submission . any time that a process is submitted , a new glcjob object is created together with a different glcenvironment . the process glcenvironment gives the maximum number of jobs that a single client can submit within a process . each job represents a process instance . the glcjob uses the glcenvironment to create an rsl file using glcrslfile that is used to submit the legacy code program to a specific job manager . a grid service client can check the general process status or specific job behaviour using the glcprocess instance . also , a client can destroy a glcprocess instance or a specific glcjob within the process . thus fig6 shows that the front end layer has the functionalities , firstly to return the available legacy code applications for selection by an end user , and then to set the parameters for the legacy code process . one process may create many jobs . a job is submitted to the core layer , and results received from the core layer are passed back to the end user . the core layer has the internal administrative functions of setting the environment for a job , and for creating and handling grid services , and processing instances . the back end layer interacts with the known middleware connectivity layer , as shown in fig1 and 4 , by passing the job , together with an rsl file describing job parameters . the invention described above was demonstrated by deploying a manhattan road traffic generator , several instances of the legacy traffic simulator and a traffic density analyzer into grid services . all these legacy codes were executed from a single workflow and the execution was visualised by a grid portal . the workflow consists of three types of legacy code components : 1 . the manhattan legacy code is an application to generate madcity compatible network and turn input - files . the madcity network file is a sequence of numbers , representing a road topology , of a real road network . the number of columns , rows , unit width and unit height can be set as input parameters . the madcity turn file , is a sequence of numbers representing the junction manoeuvres available in a given road network . traffic light details are included in this input file . 2 . madcity [ a . gourgoulis , g . terstyansky , p . kacsuk , s . c . winter , creating scalable traffic simulation on clusters . pdp2004 . conference proceedings of the 12th euromicro conference on parallel , distributed and network based processing , la coruna , spain , 11 - 13th feb . 2004 ] is a discrete time - based traffic simulator . it simulates traffic on a road network and shows how individual vehicles behave on roads and at junctions . the simulator of madcity models the movement of vehicles using the input road network file . after completing the simulation , the simulator creates a macroscopic trace file . 3 . a traffic density analyzer , which compares the traffic congestion of several simulations of a given city and presents a graphical analysis . the workflow was configured to use five gemlca resources each one deployed on the uk ogsa test bed sites and one server where the p - grade portal is deployed . the first gemlca resource is installed at the university of westminster ( uk ) and runs the manhattan road network generator ( job 0 ), one traffic simulator instance ( job 3 ) and the final traffic density analyzer ( job 6 ). four additional gemlca resources are installed at the following sites : sztaki ( hungary ), university of portsmouth ( uk ), the cclrc daresbury laboratory ( uk ), and university of reading ( uk ) where the traffic simulator is deployed . one instance of the simulator is executed on each of these sites , respectively job 1 , job 2 , job 5 and job 4 . the madcity network file and the turn file are used as input to each traffic simulator instance . in order to have a different behaviour in each of these instances , each one was set with different initial number of cars per street junction , one of the input parameter of the program . the output file of each traffic simulation is used as input file to the traffic density analyzer . the described workflow was successfully created and executed by the grid portal installed at the university of westminster .
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the discovery of ace inhibitory potency in the compounds of the present invention provides a unique approach to the design of inhibitory compounds . although many prior art inhibitors are proline derivatives , substitution of other amino acids for proline has also yielded potent inhibitors . arginine , phenylalanine and alanine are all effective substitutes for proline , so that a trend is not discernible . the substitution of l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline for proline has been studied in several systems . substitution of l - 3 , 4 - δpro in the 7 position of bradykinin yields a bradykinin derivative which has significantly reduced physiological activity . see fisher , g . h . et al ., arch . biochem . biophys . 189 , 81 ( 1978 ). on the other hand , substitution of l - 3 , 4 - δpro at the 3 , 5 or 9 position in ace inhibitor bpp 9a enhances its inhibitory activity . in copending application ser . no . 958 , 180 , applicants found that the compounds having δpro , which are disclosed in said application , have high inhibitory potency and antihypertensive effectiveness . however , at present , no rationale can be advanced to explain the diversity of observed results following substitution of δpro for proline . similarly , no clear picture has emerged of the effects of other proline derivatives or analogs substituted at various loci on ace inhibitors . to date , the effect of the amino acid to the left of the sulfur in the above - shown formula , has not been determined . it is thought that this amino acid functions as an additional recognition site for the enzyme . if this is true , it would be expected that a compound with an amino acid here would be a better inhibitor . it was not known which , if any , amino acids would be effective in this position and which if any would enhance the inhibitory activity of a given compound . applicants have found that various amino acids are effective and that the hydroxyprolines , proline , l -, and d , l -, 3 , 4 - dehydroproline , and thiazolidine - 4 - carboxylic acid derivatives are all effective anti - hypertensive agents and have high inhibitory potency for ace . the present invention will be further described by the following examples . in these examples , the thin - layer chromatography ( tlc ) was performed using silica gel plates . the numerical solvent systems for use in the tlc procedures are as follows . ( 1 ) is methanol : chloroform , 1 : 1 ( parts by volume ). ( 2 ) is benzene : water : acetic acid , 9 : 1 : 9 ( parts by volume . ( 3 ) is acetic acid : water : n - butanol 26 : 24 : 150 ( parts by volume ). ( 4 ) is n - butanol : pyridine : acetic acid : water , 15 : 10 : 3 : 12 ( parts by volume ). ( 5 ) is chloroform : methanol : ammonium hydroxide , 60 : 45 : 20 ( parts by volume ). the buffers for paper electrophoresis were : ph 1 . 9 - formic acid : acetic acid : water , 3 : 2 : 25 ( parts by volume ); ph 5 . 0 - diethylene glycol : acetic acid : pyridine : water , 100 : 6 : 8 . 5 : 885 ( parts by volume ). the tert - butyloxycarbonyl derivatives of the amino acids are commercially available . for most experiments described herein , the enzyme was assayed in 0 . 05 m hepes buffer , ph 8 . 0 containing 0 . 1 m nacl and 0 . 75 m na 2 so 4 . the substrate employed was benzoyl - glyhisleu at a final concentration of 1 × 10 - 4 m , ( k m ≈ 2 × 10 - 4 m ), together with abou of [ 3 h ]- benzoyl - glyhisleu ( 25 ci / mmole ). enzyme was diluted in the above buffer such that 40 μl buffered enzyme was capable of hydrolyzing 13 % of substrate in a 15 - minute incubation at 37 ° c . to initiate the assay , 40 μl of enzyme and 10 μl of water or inhibitor dissolved in water were preincubated for five minutes at 37 ° c . substrate , 50 μl , was then added to initiate reaction and the solution was incubated for 15 minutes at 37 ° c . to terminate the reaction , 1 ml of 0 . 1 m hcl was added , following which 1 ml of ethyl acetate was added . the mixture was agitated on a rotary mixer and centrifuged briefly to separate the phases . an aliquot , 500 μl , of the ethyl acetate layer was transferred to a liquid scintillation vial containing 10 ml of riafluor , trademark new england nuclear corporation , boston , mass . for determination of i 50 values , enzyme activity in the presence of inhibitor at a series of different concentrations was compared to activity in the absence of inhibitor . a plot of inhibitor concentration versus percent inhibition yielded the i 50 value . 3 - acetylthiopropanoic acid , 0 . 865 g , was dissolved in 2 ml redistilled tetrahydrofuran ( thf ) and cooled to 0 ° c . a cooled solution of dicyclohexylcarbodiimide , 1 . 2031 g in 2 ml of thf was added , following which a cooled solution of l - proline - t - butyl ester , 1 g , was added . the reaction mixture was stirred at 0 ° c . for one hour , then at 4 ° c . overnight . the reaction mixture was then filtered and the precipitate was washed with ethyl acetate . solvents of the filtrates were removed under reduced pressure in a rotary evaporator . the residue was dissolved in ethyl acetate which was then washed three times with cold 1 n citric acid , twice with saturated nacl , twice with cold 1 n nahco 3 and three times with saturated nacl . the solution was dried over anhydrous mgso 4 and filtered . the solvent was removed under reduced pressure in a rotary evaporator at 30 ° c . yielding a clear colorless oily product in approximately 87 % yield . the product migrated as a single spot in thin layer chromatography in five solvent systems . the product from example 2 , 3 - acetylthiopropanoyl - l - proline - t - butyl ester , 0 . 5 g , was mixed with 4 . 5 ml of 5 . 5 n methanolic ammonia at room temperature under nitrogen for one hour to remove the acetyl group . the solvent was then removed at 25 ° c . with a rotary evaporator . after the product was taken up in methanol and reevaporated twice more in the rotary evaporator , the clear oily residue was dissolved in ethyl ether , washed twice with 5 % potassium bisulphate and once with saturated nacl , dried over mgso 4 and filtered . residual solvent was removed in vacuo to yield a clear oily product , migrating as a single spot on thin layer chromatography in three separate solvent systems . the t - butyl ester protecting group was removed by reaction with trifluoroacetic acid in anisole . by substituting 2 - acetylthiopropanoic acid , 3 - acetylthio - 2 - d - methylpropanoic acid , or 3 - acetylthio - 2 - d , l - methylpropanoic acid for the 3 - acetylthiopropanoic acid in example 2 and substantially following the procedures of examples 2 and 3 , the following compounds are obtained . by removing the t - butyl ester protecting group with trifluoroacetic acid in anisole as a first step , the dicyclohexylamine salt can be formed to assist in the resolution of isomers . the acetyl protecting group can be removed in a second step using methanolic ammonia , as described in example 3 . l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline ( δ 3 pro ), 1 mmole , is dissolved in dmf and the solution is cooled to - 15 ° c . the solution is neutralized by adding 1 equivalent of n - ethyl morpholine . in a separate reaction vessel at - 10 ° c ., one equivalent of 3 - acetylthio - 2 - methyl - propanoic acid in an equal volume of dmf is mixed with 1 . 1 equivalent of 1 , 1 &# 39 ;- carbonyldiimidazole , and the solution is stirred for one hour . the first solution containing δ 3 pro is mixed with the second , containing 3 - acetylthio - 2 - methyl propanoic acid while maintaining the temperature at - 10 ° c . the combined solution is stirred for 1 hour at - 10 ° c . the solution is then allowed to warm slowly to room temperature . the solvent is removed on a rotary evaporator under reduced pressure at 40 ° c . ethyl acetate ( 25 ml ) is added and the solution is cooled to 0 ° c . two ml of 1n citric acid is added , the two phases are mixed and then allowed to separate . the phases are separated with a separating funnel , and the organic phase is washed twice more with 2 ml 1n citric acid , two times with saturated nacl and finally dried over anhydrous mgso 4 . the mgso 4 is removed by filtration , and the solvent is removed with a rotary evaporator . the residue is dissolved and recrystallized from a non - polar solvent such as benzene to yield 3 - acetylthio - 2 - d , l - methylpropanoyl - l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline . when the 2 - d - methyl isomer is desired , the residue is dissolved in acetonitrile ( approximately 3 ml ) and the solution is warmed to 40 ° c . one equivalent of dicyclohexylamine is added , and the solution is allowed to stand at room temperature overnight . the crystals are colected by filtration and are washed three times with acetonitrile . when further purification is required , the material can be recrystallized from isopropanol . the acetyl protecting group can be removed as in example 3 . by substituting d , l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline , l - 3 - hydroxyproline , l - 4 - hydroxyproline , or l - thiazolidine - 4 - carboxylic acid for the l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline in example 7 and substantially following the procedures of example 7 the following compounds are obtained . ______________________________________example compound______________________________________ 8 3 - mercapto - 2 - d - methylpropanoyl - d , l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline 9 3 - mercapto - 2 - d - methylpropanoyl - l - 3 - hydroxyproline10 3 - mercapto - 2 - d - methylpropanoyl - l - 4 - hydroxyproline11 3 - mercapto - 2 - d - methylpropanoyl - l - thiazolidine - 4 - carboxylic acid______________________________________ similarly , by substituting 3 - acetylthiopropanoic acid or 2 - acetylthiopropanoic acid for the 3 - acetylthio - 2 - methyl propanoic acid of examples 7 - 11 , the l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline , d , l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline , l - 3 - hydroxyproline , l - 4 - hydroxyproline and l - thiazolioine - 4 - carboxylic acid derivatives are obtained , following substantially the described procedures . a solution of 133 mg of n . sup . α - tertiary - butyloxycarbonyl - l - phenylalanine ( n . sup . α - boc - l - phe ) in 0 . 5 ml redistilled dimethylformamide ( dmf ) was cooled in an ice - dry ice - acetone bath at - 20 ° c . to this solution was added a cold solution of 87 mg of 1 , 1 &# 39 ;- carbonyldiimidazole in 1 . 0 ml of dmf . the solution was stirred at - 10 ° c . for two hours and then was added to a cold solution of 119 . 5 mg of 3 - mercapto - 2 - d - methylpropanoyl - l - proline in 1 ml of dmf which was neutralized with n - ethyl morpholine . the reaction mixture was stirred at - 10 ° c . for an additional hour and then slowly warmed to room temperature . the solvent was removed under reduced pressure at 40 ° c . and ethyl acetate was added to the residue . the mixture was cooled in an ice bath and washed with 0 . 1 n hcl and then three times with saturated nacl solution . the solvent was removed with a rotary evaporator after drying over anhydrous mgso 4 . the product was purified by liquid chromatography on sephadex g - 10 using a 1 . 2 cm by 95 cm column and eluted with thf : isopropanol , 3 : 7 ( parts by volume ). the peak fractions were pooled and the solvent removed under reduced pressure yielding 165 mg of the named product . this product was found to be homogeneous using paper electrophoresis at ph 5 . 0 and using tlc with solvent systems 1 , 2 and 3 . by substituting n . sup . α - boc - glycine , n . sup . α - boc - alanine , n . sup . α - boc - tryptophan , n . sup . α - boc - tyrosine , n . sup . α - boc - isoleucine , n . sup . α - boc - leucine , n . sup . α - boc - histidine or n . sup . α - boc valine for the n . sup . α - boc - l - phe in example 13 and substantially following the procedures of example 13 , the following compounds are obtained . ______________________________________example compound______________________________________14 n . sup . α --[ 3 -( n . sup . α -- butyloxycarbonylglycylthio )- 2 - d - methylpropanoyl ]- l - proline15 n . sup . α --[ 3 -( n . sup . α -- butyloxycarbonyl - l - tryptophylth io )- 2 - d - methylpropanoyl ]- l - proline16 n . sup . α --[ 3 -( n . sup . α -- butyloxycarbonyl - l - tyrosylthio ) - 2 - d - methylpropanoyl ]- l - proline17 n . sup . α --[ 3 -( n . sup . α -- butyloxycarbonyl - l - isoleucylthi o )- 2 - d - methylpropanoyl ]- l - proline18 n . sup . α --[ 3 -( n . sup . α -- butyloxycarbonyl - l - leucylthio )- 2 - d - methylpropanoyl ]- l - proline19 n . sup . α --[ 3 -( n . sup . α -- butyloxycarbonyl - l - histidylthio )- 2 - d - methylpropanoyl ]- l - proline20 n . sup . α --[ 3 -( n . sup . α -- butyloxycarbonyl - l - valylthio )- 2 - d - methylpropanoyl ]- l - proline21 n . sup . α --[ 3 -( n . sup . α -- butyloxycarbonyl - l - alanylthio )- 2 - d - methyl propanoyl )- l - proline ) ______________________________________ similarly , the l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline , d , l , 3 , 4 - dehydroproline , l - 3 - hydroxyproline , l - 4 - hydroxyproline , and l - thiazolidine derivatives are obtained by substituting the products of examples 3 - 12 for the 3 - mercapto - 2 - d - methyl - propanoyl - l - proline in examples 13 - 21 and substantially following the procedure of example 13 . a cool solution of 2 . 06 gm of dicyclohexylcarbodiimide in 10 ml of dichloromethane was added to a solution of 1 . 4114 gm of cyclopentanecarboxylic acid in 5 ml of dichloromethane at - 5 ° c . it was followed by the addition of 4 . 28 gm of l - phenylalanine benzoyl ester touluenesulfonate salt in 10 ml of dmf which was neutralized with 1 . 36 ml of n - ethyl morpholine . the reaction mixture was stirred at 0 ° c . for one hour and then at room temperature for three hours . dicyclohexylurea was removed by filtration and 50 ml of ethyl acetate was added to the filtrate . the organic phase was washed until neutral , dried over anhydrous mgso 4 and filtered . the solvent was removed with a rotary evaporator . the residue was crystallized from isopropanol and hexane yielding 2 . 35 gm of white crystals having a melting point of 88 - 89 ° c . elemental analysis of these crystals yielded the following . the benzyl ester was removed by hydrogenolysis with 2 gm of 10 % palladium on carbon in absolute alcohol . the catalyst was removed by filtration and the ethanol was removed by a rotary evaporator . the residue was crystalized from ether and hexane yielding 1 . 15 gm white crystals of the named product having a melting point of 107 °- 108 ° c . elemental analysis of these crystals yielded the following . the product was found to be homogeneous using paper electrophoresis at ph 1 . 9 and at ph 5 . 0 and using tlc with solvent systems , 1 , 2 and 3 . the named product may be abbreviated as n . sup . α - cpc - l - phe . a solution of 52 . 5 mg of the compound from example 22 in 0 . 5 ml redistilled dimethylformamide ( dmf ) was cooled in an ice - dry ice - acetone bath at - 20 ° c . to this solution was added a cold solution of 34 mg of 1 , 1 &# 39 ;- carbonyldiimidazole in 1 . 0 ml of dmf . the solution was stirred at - 10 ° c . for two hours and then mixed with a cold solution of 45 . 6 mg of 3 - mercapto - 2 - d - methylpropanoyl - l - proline in 1 ml of dmf which was neutral n - ethyl morpholine . the reaction mixture was stirred at - 10 ° c . for an additional hour and then slowly warmed to room temperature . the solvent was removed under reduced pressure at 40 ° c . and ethyl acetate was added to the residue . the mixture was cooled and washed with 0 . 1 n hcl and then three times with saturated nacl solution . the solvent was removed with a rotary evaporator after drying over anhydrous mgso 4 . the product was purified by lh - 20 1 column chromatography using a 1 . 2 cm by 95 cm column and eluted with isopropanol . the peak fractions were pooled and the solvent was removed under reduced pressure yielding 60 . 5 mg of the named product . this product was found to be homogeneous using tlc in solvent systems 1 , 2 , 3 and 5 . by substituting the benzoyl ester toluenesulfonate salts of glycine , l - alanine , l - tryptophan , l - tyrosine , l - isoleucine , l - leucine , l - histidine or l - valine for the l - phe salt in example and substantially following the procedures of examples 22 and 23 , the following compounds are obtained . ______________________________________exam - ple compound______________________________________25 n . sup . α --[ 3 -( n . sup . α -- cyclopentylcarbonylglycylthio )- 2 - d - methylpropanoyl ]- l - proline26 n . sup . α --[ 3 -( n . sup . α -- cyclopentylcarbonyl - l - tryptophyl thio )- 2 - d - methylpropanoyl ]- l - proline27 n . sup . α --[ 3 -( n . sup . α -- cyclopentylcarbonyl - l - tyrosylthi o )- 2 - d - methylpropanoyl ]- l - proline28 n . sup . α --[ 3 -( n . sup . α -- cyclopentylcarbonyl - l - isoleucylt hio )- 2 - d - methylpropanoyl ]- l - proline29 n . sup . α --[ 3 -( n . sup . α -- cyclopentylcarbonyl - l - leucylthio )- 2 - d - methylpropanoyl ]- l - proline30 n . sup . α --[ 3 -( n . sup . α -- cyclopentylcarbonyl - l - histidylth io )- 2 - d - methylpropanoyl ]- l - proline31 n . sup . α --[ 3 -( n . sup . α -- cyclopentylcarbonyl - l - valylthio ) - 2 - d - methylpropanoyl ]- l - proline32 n . sup . α --[ 3 -( n . sup . α -- cyclopentylcarbonyl - l - alanylthio )- 2 - d - methylpropanoyl ]- l - proline______________________________________ similarly , the l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline , d , l - 3 , 4 - dehydroproline , l - 3 - hydroxyproline , l - 4 - hydroxyproline and l - thiazolidine - 4 - carboxylic acid derivatives are obtained by substituting the products of examples 3 - 12 for the 3 - mercapto - 2 - d - methylpropanoyl - l - proline in examples 24 - 32 and substantially following the procedure of example 24 . the inhibitory potency of n . sup . α -[ 3 -( n . sup . α - boc - l - phe - thio )- 2 - d - methylpropanoyl ]- l - proline ( a ) and n . sup . α - cpc - l - phe - thio )- 2 - d - methylpropanoyl ]- l - proline ( b ) in vitro was measured in the assay system described in example 1 . the enzyme preparation was ace purified from human urine as described by ryan , j . w ., et al ., tissue and cell 10 , 555 ( 1978 ). the i 50 for ( a ) was found to be 3 . 4 × 10 - 8 m and for ( b ), 7 . 5 × 10 - 9 m . rats ( 190 - 290 g body weight ) were fasted overnight and then anesthetized with intraperitoneal pentobarbital , 50 - 60 mg / kg . tracheostomy was performed and the animals were ventilated mechanically . a cannula was inserted into a femoral vein for injection of angiotensin i , and a second cannula was inserted into a common carotid artery for direct measurement of arterial blood pressure . heparin , 1 , 000 units , was injected via the femoral vein to prevent coagulation . blood pressure was measured with a pressure transducer connected to a polygraph . the rats were injected with 400 ng / kg of angiotensin i in 20 μl of 0 . 9 g % nacl ; an amount of angiotensin i sufficient to raise mean arterial blood pressure by 35 mm hg . after the responsiveness of a given rat to angiotensin i was established , the named compound at 23 μmole / kg ( drug dissolved in 0 . 15 ml of h 2 o plus 10 μl of 1 n nahco 3 ), was given via a stomach tube . at timed intervals , the effects of 400 ng / kg of angiotensin i on mean arterial blood pressure were tested . results are shown below : ______________________________________time after oral blood pressure response toadministration 400 ng / kg of angiotensin i ( minutes ) (% of control ) ______________________________________ - 5 100 ( 35 mm hg )+ 2 716 6316 4923 4337 4348 4064 2671 2684 3796 37109 40124 54140 51157 63171 77______________________________________ anesthetized rats were prepared as described in example 35 . after the responsiveness of a given rat to angiotensin i was established , the named compound , at 2 μmol / kg , in a volume of 15 μl of 0 . 01 n sodium bicarbonate , was injected via a femoral vein . at timed intervals , the effects of angiotensin i , 400 ng / kg , on mean arterial blood pressure were tested . results are shown below : ______________________________________time after intravenous blood pressure response toadministration 400 ng / kg angiotensin i ( minutes ) (% of control ) ______________________________________ - 5 100 ( 32 mm hg )+ 0 . 5 03 199 1913 2218 3122 3134 5047 6365 78103 75113 94______________________________________ the procedure of example 35 was followed . the angiotensin i response was 37 mm hg and the oral dose administered was 20 μmol / kg . results are shown below : ______________________________________time after intravenous blood pressure response toadministration 400 ng / kg angiotensin i ( minutes ) (% of control ) ______________________________________ - 5 100 ( 37 mm hg )+ 3 10011 4322 2729 2434 2251 19______________________________________ while the invention has been described in connection with specific embodiments thereof , it will be understood that it is capable of further modifications and this application is intended to cover any variations , uses , or adaptations of the invention following , in general , the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the invention pertains and as may be applied to the essential features hereinbefore set forth , and as follows in the scope of the appended claims .
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the present invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings , in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown . fig1 is a functional block diagram illustrating a color adjusting apparatus 1 for adjusting the color of images reproduced in an image reproduction device , according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention . the color adjusting apparatus 1 , according to the current embodiment , includes an image signal conversion unit 11 , an average saturation calculation unit 12 , a graphic equalization ( eq ) generation unit 13 , a user input unit 14 , an image signal processing unit 15 , an on - screen display ( osd ) synthesis unit 16 , and an image display unit 17 . the image signal processing unit 15 further includes a digital signal processor ( dsp ) 151 and a hue / saturation adjustment unit 152 . an input image signal 18 , according to the current embodiment , includes a still image or moving pictures formed with a plurality of frames . also , the input image signal may be any one of a yuv signal , ycbcr signal , and an rgb signal . the input image signal 18 is converted into a reproduction image signal ( for example , r , g , and b color components ) by the dsp 151 and then , is transferred to the osd synthesis unit 16 . according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention , the dsp 151 may generate an image signal to be reproduced by using a signal 19 that is output from the image signal conversion unit 11 , instead of using the input image signal 18 . the image signal conversion unit 11 receives the input image signal 18 , and converts the input image signal 18 into any one or more color components of the rgb color space . for example , one or more color components of the rgb color space , red , green , blue , cyan , magenta and yellow ( r , g , b , c , m and y ) are selected . accordingly , if the input image signal 18 is a yuv signal or ycbcr signal , the image signal conversion unit 11 converts the input image signal 18 to obtain the color components r , g , b , c , m and y , and if the input image signal 18 is an rgb signal , the image signal conversion unit 11 generates the c , m and y color components by using the input image signal 18 , and outputs the resulting signal as a signal 19 . the average saturation calculation unit 12 calculates the average value of saturations of the color components received from the image signal conversion unit 11 . that is , the average value of saturations is obtained in units of frames in relation to each of the r , g , b , c , m and y components . the eq generation unit 13 generates graphic equalization by using the average values of saturation of the color components obtained from the average saturation calculation unit 12 . the user input unit 14 is a unit for a user to adjust the hue and / or saturation of a reproduction image . examples of the user input unit 14 may be a remote controller reception unit , and a control panel attached to an image device . while the user watches graphic eq displayed on the image display unit 17 , the user can make a color adjustment request ( or hue and / or saturation adjustment request ) of a reproduction image , and then , the user input unit 14 transmits a color adjustment control signal corresponding to the color adjustment request to the hue / saturation adjustment unit 152 . in order to adjust the hue and / or saturation of a reproduction image signal according to the color adjustment control signal received from the user input unit 14 , the hue / saturation adjustment unit 152 transmits an adjustment value ( or gain ) of hue and / or saturation corresponding to the color adjustment control signal , to the dsp 151 as an image signal . the dsp 151 converts the input image signal into a reproduction image signal appropriate for the image display unit 17 by referring to the adjustment value of hue and / or saturation . the osd synthesis unit 16 overlays the reproduction image signal of a frame received from the dsp 151 , and the graphic eq received from the eq generation unit 13 , thereby combining the signals into one image , and transmitting the image to the image display unit 17 . fig2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of adjusting the color of images reproduced in an image reproduction device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention . the method of adjusting the color , according to the current exemplary embodiment , can be performed simultaneously while an image is being reproduced , in operation 21 . that is , first , the input image signal 18 is processed in the image signal conversion unit 11 , the dsp 151 , and the osd synthesis unit 16 , to be displayed on the image display unit 17 . in operation 22 , graphic eq is displayed on the image display unit 17 . that is , while the user is watching a reproduction image displayed on the image display unit 17 , if the user requests for graphic eq to be displayed by using a remote controller or the like , the average saturation calculation unit 12 calculates in units of frames an average saturation in relation to each color component signal obtained from the image signal conversion unit 11 . the eq generation unit 13 generates graphic eq by using the average saturation calculated by the average saturation calculation unit 12 . the thus generated graphic eq is combined with a reproduction image by the osd synthesis unit 16 and displayed on the image display unit 17 . since the average saturation calculation unit 12 calculates the average saturation of the input image signal in units of frames , the graphic eq displayed on the image display unit 17 is updated in units of frames . accordingly , the user can observe the saturation ( or element ) of each color component of the reproduction image in real - time . fig6 is a diagram illustrating an image 61 in which graphic eq 62 is displayed , according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention . in operation 23 , which is an operation for requesting color adjustment , while the user is watching a reproduction image , if the user decides that color adjustment of the reproduction image is necessary , the user can request for color adjustment by using a remote controller or the like . in this case , the scope ( or type ) of color adjustment that the user can choose includes partial color component adjustment and all color component adjustment . if the user wants to adjust only part of the color components , such part of the color components that is desired to be adjusted , new hues and saturations of the color components should be input . however , if the user wants to adjust all color components , new hues and saturations , which are desired to be adjusted , should be input . the color adjustment request will be explained conceptually with reference to a ci coordinate system ( chrominance circle ) illustrated in fig5 a and 5b . fig5 a and 5b are reference diagrams conceptually explaining the color adjustment request as based on a ci coordinate system , according to an embodiment of the present invention first , an example in which the user would like to only adjust part of the color components will now be explained . the users may request adjustment of hues and / or saturations of part of the color components r , g , b , c , m and y , for example , those of the g and m components . the hue can be changed by rotating the phase of the g component by 30 degrees in a clockwise direction , as illustrated in fig5 a , and the saturation can be changed by extending the magnitude of the g component in the radiating direction . a new g component g ′, after the adjustment , is illustrated in fig5 a . also , in relation to the m component , by rotating the m component by 20 degrees counterclockwise ( hue component ) and reducing the magnitude ( saturation ) of the m component , a new m component m ′ is obtained . an example in which the user adjusts all color components at one time will now be explained conceptually . if the user inputs the hues and saturations that are desired to be adjusted , the coordinates of all color components ( r , g , b , c , m and y ) are rotated by the same angle in the same direction , and the magnitudes of all the color components are also increased by the same value as illustrated in fig5 b . the coordinates of all color components before the adjustment are expressed as r , g , b , c , m and y , respectively , and the coordinates of all color components after the adjustment are expressed as r ′, g ′, b ′, c ′, m ′, and y ′, respectively . if there is a color adjustment request from the user , in operation 23 , the color adjustment apparatus 1 determines first the scope ( or type ) of the color adjustment that the user wants , in operation 24 . if the determination result , in operation 24 , indicates that the user wants adjustment of part of the color components , a color component adjustment control signal , for adjustment of part of the color components in operation 23 , is transmitted to the eq generation unit 13 from the user input unit 14 . the eq generation unit 13 updates graphic eq by referring to the color component adjustment control signal transmitted in operation 25 . that is , the magnitude of the element ( hue or saturation ) of each component of the graphic eq illustrated in fig4 a and 4b is changed in proportion to the adjustment value ( or gain ) of the hue and / or saturation for each color component requested by the user . fig4 a and 4b are graphs illustrating examples of graphic eq according to an embodiment of the present invention . the graphic eq illustrated in fig4 a shows the distribution of sums of hues and saturations for each color component ( r , g , b , c , m , and y ). in this case , the sum of a hue and saturation may be a simple sum of a hue and saturation value , however , may also be a value obtained by multiplying a hue and saturation value by different weights and then adding the results . also , the graphic eq illustrated in fig4 b requires two graphs illustrating the magnitudes of the hue and saturation , respectively , of each color component . in operation 26 , the color adjustment request of the user is applied to an image signal to be actually reproduced . that is , the dsp 151 converts the input image signal 18 into a reproduction image signal by applying the adjustment value ( or gain ) of the hue and / or saturation for each color component received from the hue / saturation adjustment unit 152 , and transmits the converted signal to the image display unit 17 . by doing so , the user can watch an image of which the colors have been adjusted by the user . if the determination result , in operation 24 , indicates that the user wants adjustment of all color components , the user input unit 14 transmits a color adjustment control signal to the eq generation unit 13 . the eq generation unit 13 updates graphic eq by referring to the color adjustment control signal . that is , in proportion to the adjustment value ( or gain ) of the hue and / or saturation , requested in operation 23 , the eq generation unit 13 adjusts the magnitude of each component the graphic eq as illustrated in the graphs of fig4 a and 4b , in operation 27 . in operation 28 , the color adjustment request of the user is applied to an image signal to be actually reproduced . that is , the dsp 151 converts the input image signal 18 into a reproduction image signal by applying the color adjustment control signal received from the hue / saturation adjustment unit 152 , and transmits the converted signal to the image display unit 17 . by doing so , the user can watch an image of which the colors have been adjusted by the user . fig3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of adjusting the color of images reproduced in an image reproduction device according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention . each operation of the current embodiment is the same as its corresponding operation illustrated in fig2 . however , in the embodiment illustrated in fig2 , operations 25 and 26 and operations 27 and 28 are selectively performed , while operations 33 through 35 and operations 36 through 38 illustrated in fig3 are all performed . in another embodiment of the present invention , the order of performing operations 33 through 35 and operations 36 through 38 illustrated in fig3 may be reversed . the present invention can also be embodied as computer readable codes on a computer readable recording medium . the computer readable recording medium is any data storage device that can store data which can be thereafter read by a computer system . examples of the computer readable recording medium include read - only memory ( rom ), random - access memory ( ram ), cd - roms , magnetic tapes , floppy disks , and optical data storage devices . other storage media may include carrier waves ( such as data transmission through the internet ). the computer readable recording medium can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion . while the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof , it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims . the preferred embodiments should be considered in descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation . therefore , the scope of the invention is defined not by the detailed description of the invention but by the appended claims , and all differences within the scope will be construed as being included in the present invention .
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embodiments of an address bus control system of this invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings . fig1 is an address map illustrating address space of an address bus and hardware modules . the whole address space 1 defined by an address bus is partitioned into a system space 2 , discrimination space 3 , and function space 4 , the system space 2 being assigned a system core function of a cpu or the like . an address space 5a of a hardware module is divided into a discrimination interface space 6a and a function interface space 7a . the discrimination interface space 6a is provided so that a cpu can read module attributes such as the type of the module , the capacity of the function space 4 allocated to the module , and the like . similar to the hardware module address space 5a , other hardware module address spaces 5b and 5c also have discrimination interface spaces 6b and 6c , and function interface spaces 7b and 7c . fig2 is a functional block diagram of the system shown in fig1 . a terminal equipment 8 has a controller including a central processing unit ( cpu ) 10 , the terminal equipment having the address space 1 shown in fig1 . cpu 10 is connected to an address bus 11 and a data bus 19 and to hardware modules 14a , 14b , and 14c via connectors 12a , 12b , and 12c , respectively . each of connector id ( identifier ) generators 13a , 13b , and 13c for outputting a connector id is connected to the corresponding one of the hardware modules 14a , 14b , and 14c via the connectors 12a , 12b , and 12c , respectively . the connector id generators 13a , 13b and 13c will be described next . the connector id is used for identifying the connector to which a hardware module is connected . specifically , each connector id has a number specific to each connector so that a plurality of connectors mounted on the terminal equipment 8 have one - to - one correspondence with hardware modules at the connectors . fig3 shows examples of the connector id with respect to the connector generators 13a , 13b , and 13c , and the connectors 12a , 12b , and 12c . the connector id generators 13a , 13b , and 13c apply + 5 v or a ground potential to particular pins 1 , 2 , and 3 of each connector 12a , 12b , 12c , to thereby supply a connector id to each hardware module . each connector has therefore a connector id specific thereto . each hardware module reads this connector id to confirm to which connector it is being connected . the hardware modules 14a , 14b , and 14c shown in fig2 have the hardware module address spaces 5a , 5b , and 5c shown in fig1 respectively . for example , the hardware module 14a is provided with a function interface 18a for the data transfer control of a hard disk 20 . similarly , the hardware module 14b is provided with a function interface 18b for the data transfer control of a floppy disk 21 , and the hardware module 14c is provided with a function interface 18c for the data transfer control of a display 22 . the operation of each hardware module is basically similar , so the operation of the hardware module 14a will be described by way of example . the hardware module 14a has a comparator 15a , a discrimination interface 16a , another comparator 17a , and a function interface 18a . the comparator 15a compares an address pattern on the address bus 11 supplied via the connector 12a with the connector id from the connector id generator 13a . if the address pattern indicates the discrimination space of the hardware module 14a , then the comparator 15a outputs an enable signal a ( a signal enabling connection of the discrimination interface to the data bus ). namely , the hardware module is supplied with an address pattern from the address bus 11 , the address pattern being the address of the hardware module to be accessed by cpu 10 . the range of addresses of the discrimination space on the address bus 11 is previously set in accordance with each connector id . for example , the discrimination space for the hardware module 14a connected to the connector 12a is set to a range from ( c0000000 ) to ( c000000f ), the discrimination space for the hardware module 14b connected to the connector 12b is set to a range from ( c0000010 ) to ( c000001f ), and so on . as the assigned discrimination space is accessed by cpu 10 , the discrimination interface 16a of the hardware module 14a is connected to the data bus 19 . the discrimination interface 16a which received the enable signal a outputs attribute data to the data bus 19 via the connector 12a , so that cpu 10 can recognize that the hardware module at the connector 12a is a hard disk 20 . the discrimination interface 16a has a function to store a start address of an assigned function space . data transfer between cpu 10 and the hard disk 20 via the function interface 18a and data bus 19 is carried out within the function space at addresses determined by the start address ( which cpu 10 designates ) and the capacity specific to the hardware module 14a . the comparator 17a outputs an enable signal b only when the address pattern on the address bus 11 falls within the address space ( range ) defined by the start address stored in the discrimination interface 16a and the capacity required by the function interface 18a . upon reception of the enable signal b , the function interface 18a controls an application , i . e ., the hard disk 20 for the data transfer to and from the data bus 19 . fig4 shows examples of address allocations for the system shown in the functional block diagram of fig2 . an address map 23 indicates the hardware modules 14c and 14a shown in fig2 are assigned spaces within the function space 4 , an address map 24 indicates that the hardware modules 14c and 14b are assigned a space , and an address map 25 indicates that only the hardware module 14c is assigned a space . the operation of the system will be described in more detail . in fig1 the discrimination spaces 6a , 6b , and 6c of the hardware modules correspond to discrimination spaces 3 indicated by arrows . this correspondence is realized by each connector id . if cpu 10 sends an address of the discrimination space 3 to the address bus 11 , data can be written / read as desired to / from the corresponding one of the discrimination interface spaces 6a , 6b , and 6c . for example , if cpu 10 sends any one of the addresses ( 10 ) to ( 12 ), the discrimination interface space 6a can be accessed . this access operation will be described with reference to fig2 . the connector id generator 13a outputs a signal indicating that the hardware module 14a is being connected to the connector 12a . the comparator 15a uses this signal to recognize the address pattern to be discriminated , i . e ., the addresses from ( 10 ) to ( 12 ). a correspondence between the address pattern and the connector id may be prepared in advance in the form of a rule . for example , a connector id &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; is allocated with discrimination space addresses ( 10 ) to ( 12 ), a connector id &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; is allocated with discrimination space addresses ( 13 ) to ( 15 ), and so on . alternatively , the following equations may be used for address allocation : if cpu 10 accesses an address ( 10 ), the comparator 15a detects that the pattern on the address bus 11 is ( 10 ), and outputs the enable signal a . in this manner , data transfer is allowed between cpu 10 and the discrimination interface 16a via the data bus 19 . in this embodiment , the discrimination interface 16b is allocated with addresses ( 13 ) to ( 15 ), and the discrimination interface 16c is allocated with addresses ( 16 ) to ( 18 ). the function interface spaces 7a and 7b correspond to function spaces 4 shown in fig1 . this means that if cpu 10 accesses the function space 4 , the corresponding one of the function interface spaces indicated by arrows can be accessed . the function interface space 7c has no corresponding area in function space 4 , which means that cpu 10 is not allowed to access it . assignment of the function space 4 to the function interface spaces 7a , 7b and 7c can be determined arbitrarily by cpu 10 by accessing the discrimination space 3 . this assignment operation will be described with reference to fig2 . first , cpu 10 accesses the discrimination space to read the attribute of each hardware module 14a , 14b , 14c from each discrimination interface 16a , 16b , 16c , thereby recognizing the configuration of each hardware module . as the attribute data of the hardware module 14a , for example , there are the data representative of the type of a hard disk and the data representative of indicating that the capacity required for the function space has addresses ( 2f ). next , cpu 10 writes a start address , e . g ., ( 60 ) of an assignable function space into the discrimination interface 16a of the hardware module 14a which has the function interface 18a to be used thereafter . for example , if a start address ( 60 ) is to be written in the discrimination interface 16a at the address ( 12 ), an address pattern ( 12 ) appears on the address bus 11 , whereas a pattern ( 60 ) appears on the data bus 19 . upon reception of the address pattern ( 12 ), the comparator 15a outputs the enable signal a so that the discrimination interface 16a stores therein the data ( 60 ). in this manner , writing the start address is completed . then , the comparator 17a is supplied with the start address ( 60 ) from the discrimination interface 16a and outputs the enable signal b to the function interface 18a only when an address pattern on the address bus 11 is one of the addresses from ( 60 ) to ( 8f ). in the above manner , when cpu 10 accesses the address space 4 at addresses from ( 60 ) to ( 8f ), an access to the function interface 18a and hence to the hard disk 20 is allowed . if cpu 10 clears the start address written in the discrimination interface 16a , the comparator 17a will not output the enable signal b for any address pattern . this is illustratively shown in fig1 wherein assignment of the function interface 7a to the function space 4 is not present . cpu 10 shown in fig2 can thus freely allocate and clear a space address of the function space for each function interface 18a , 18b , 18c , by accessing each discrimination interface 16a , 16b , 16c . next , the operation by cpu 10 of recognizing the configuration of a hardware module and allocating and clearing an address of the function space for a hardware module will be described with reference to fig5 to 10 . the flow chart shown in fig5 includes steps 100 to 400 . at step 100 ( configuration recognition step ), cpu 10 recognizes the configuration of a hardware module at a connector when the hardware module is coupled to the connector and the power is turned on . at step 200 , the display 22 and hard disk 20 for example are assigned function spaces . at step 300 , the function space assigned to the hard disk 20 is cleared , and the floppy disk 21 is newly assigned a function space . at step 400 , the function spaces assigned to the display 22 and floppy disk 21 are cleared , and the display 22 is again assigned a function space . the assignment at step 200 corresponds to the address map 23 shown in fig4 the state at step 300 corresponds to the address map 24 , and the state at step 400 corresponds to the address map 25 . the configuration recognition will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in fig6 . at step 101 , cpu 10 sends one or all of the addresses ( 10 ) to ( 12 ) of the discrimination space to the address bus 11 for reading the attribute , using a read / write line ( not shown ). in this condition , the comparator 15a of the hardware module 14a outputs the enable signal a so that the discrimination interface 16asends its own attribute ( hard disk 20 ) to cpu 10 via the data bus 19 . cpu 10 therefore recognizes that the hardware at the connector 12a is the hard disk 20 . similarly , at step 102 it is recognized that the hardware module at the connector 12b is the floppy disk 21 , and at step 103 it is recognized that the hardware module at the connector 12c is the display 22 . the flow chart shown in fig7 illustrates the operation of assigning the function spaces to the display 22 and hard disk 20 . at step 201 the address of the function space for the display 22 is allocated . as described previously , cpu 10 sends the address ( 16 ) to the address bus 11 for writing a start address ( 30 ), using a read / write line ( not shown ). since this address ( 16 ) is specific to the hardware module at the connector 12c , the comparator 15c sends the enable signal a to the discrimination interface 16c . when the address ( 16 ) is sent to the address bus , cpu 10 outputs to the data bus 19 the start address ( 30 ) of the function space to be assigned to the display 22 . when the discrimination interface 16c receives the enable signal a , it is connected to the data bus 19 so that the start address ( 30 ) is written and stored in the discrimination interface 16c . in the above case , the start address ( 30 ) is allocated to the address ( 16 ). it is also possible to allocate a plurality of start addresses , for example , to allocate a start address ( 60 ) or ( 90 ) to the address ( 16 ), and so on . similarly , at step 202 a start address ( 60 ) is stored in the discrimination interface 16a . the flow chart shown in fig8 illustrates the operation of clearing the address of the function space assigned to the hard disk 20 at step 200 and newly assigning the function space to the floppy disk 21 . the details of clearing the set address at step 301 are shown in fig1 . first , at step 501 , cpu 10 sends ( for writing address data ) an address pattern ( 10 ) to the address bus 11 . the comparator 15a outputs the enable signal a at step 502 to connect the discrimination interface 16a to the data bus 19 . next , at step 503 when cpu 10 outputs data ( 0 ) to the data bus , the discrimination interface 16a writes therein the data &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; at step 504 . this address data ( 0 ) is for the system space . since there is no hardware module at the address &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, it can be considered that the function space for the hard disk 20 was virtually cleared . at step 302 , the function space is assigned to the floppy disk 21 in a similar manner to that described above . the flow chart shown in fig9 illustrates the operation of clearing the addresses of the function space assigned to the display 22 and floppy disk 21 and assigning again the function space to the display 22 . clearing the assigned function space is carried out in the manner described above , so the operation of assigning again the function space will be described . the operations at step 403 are as follows . first , cpu 10 sends ( for writing address data ) an address ( 160 ) to the address bus 11 . the comparator 15a outputs the enable signal a to connect the discrimination interface 16a to the data bus 19 . next , cpu 10 outputs a start address ( 40 ) of the function space to be assigned again to the data bus , and the discrimination interface 16a writes therein the start address ( 60 ). fig4 shows examples of assigning address spaces to the hardware modules of the system shown in fig2 . in the address space 23 , the function space from address ( 30 ) to address ( 5f ) is assigned to the display , and the function space from address ( 60 ) to address ( 8f ) is assigned to the hard disk . cpu 10 writes data in the function space from address ( 30 ) to address ( 5f ) to display the data on the display 22 , and writes data in the function space from address ( 60 ) to address ( 8f ) to write the data in the hard disk 20 . in order to assign the function space , the start address is written at the addresses ( 10 ) to ( 12 ) for the hard disk , and at the addresses ( 16 ) to ( 18 ) for the floppy disk . no start address is written at the addresses ( 13 ) to ( 15 ) in the case of the address space 23 . next , if the floppy disk 21 is intended to be accessed after the read / write completion of the hard disk 20 , cpu 10 accesses the start address data at the addresses ( 10 ) to ( 12 ) and cancels it . then , the address space 24 is obtained . in this address space 24 , if the address ( 61 ) for example is accessed , the floppy disk 21 can be accessed in place of the hard disk 20 . in a similar manner , the address space 25 can be obtained which has a function space assigned only to the display 22 . as seen from the above embodiment , although the capacity of the function space of the address space has addresses ( 70 ), the sum of function spaces required by the function interfaces of the hardware modules has addresses ( 88 ). the three function interfaces can nevertheless be assigned space - divisionally and time divisionally to the function space 4 . fig1 is a functional block diagram of another embodiment of this invention . the different point from the system shown in fig2 is that instead of using the connector id generator for generating a connector id , a particular address line is used . in this embodiment , although the discrimination space within the address space is limited , the circuit arrangement becomes simple . furthermore , although a cpu has been used as a bus master for the simplicity of description , other devices such as those used during dma may be used for similar address allocation .
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according to the present invention , interactive machine learning algorithms are provided which are designed to learn from developer actions . based on specific data , the algorithms of the present invention will provide recommendations on how their application should compile to a target platform . according to a preferred embodiment , the present invention preferably consists of three parts : a point and click ui , a device api wrapper and a learning machine . the point and click ui may allow developers to create visual relationships between apis and gui components . preferably , developers may configure their app and its connection to apis ( device and remote ) directly from the point and click ui . the device api wrapper is preferably configured as a custom lightweight , performance - optimized wrapper , which connects directly to device and remote apis . preferably , the wrapper scales easily because it uses natural machine language ( nml ) to adapt to apis as they evolve . fig1 , an exemplary flowchart diagram of how data flows system - wide , will now be discussed . as shown in fig1 , an embedded version of selected components 100 is provided including : taught data compiler , socket switcher , and skeleton gui architecture atape . the gui framework runs on a device and parses small natural machine language ( nml ) files . when the files are parsed , remote data connection information is extracted and the gui framework asynchronously reaches out to designated web servers and compiles all static data for the application . any gui configuration that requires on - demand asynchronous communication will connect to the appropriate web servers upon user interaction . preferably , this gui framework consists of all necessary gui components for any type of application . it also may contain a socket switcher for persistent connections to remote server directly from the application . as further shown in fig1 , a client device may include any internet connected device such as a smart phone , television , refrigerator , etc . 100 . as shown , memory 101 in the device 100 is anticipated to be used and databases 102 created by the application 103 are stored in memory 101 . the exemplary architecture as shown further includes : native application 103 running on the client device 100 ; a socket switcher 104 that manages socket connections between the native application 103 ; proxy protocol servers 105 and an nml parser 105 coded in the native language of the client device 100 that matches nml , tags to their related gui components for display . the nml is preferably delivered through a socket 104 , stored on the device 102 , and transported between the native application 103 and a web server 107 . as further shown in fig1 , the exemplary architecture further includes : a virtual computing environment 106 that scales the size of its infrastructure automatically to the needs of the system running on it ; a web server 107 running on a virtual machine 106 ; a software layer ( api ) 108 that allows for remote communications to remote client devices 100 ; a system that generates nml 109 from developer input that is then sent to a remote client device 100 ; and parsed in a native application 103 ; a database 110 that stores user information for the web server 107 ; a memory cache to store nml files used for communication between remote applications 103 and a web server 107 ; historical documents 112 saved by the nml generator 109 ; a remote messenger 113 that accepts requests from the nml generator 109 and manages authentication and connection to all remote data sources 117 ; servers that convert nml to data 114 of a specific protocol for delivery to remote client devices 100 ; an nml parser 115 extracts the data to convert and the remote data source information from the incoming nml sent from the remote messenger 113 ; an embedded remote messenger 116 ( the same as 113 except embedded in an application 103 ) used for all remote communication and sockets for the proxy server ; and a remote data source 117 . with reference now to fig2 , an exemplary method in which the system pulls the nml from the local database , converts it to xml and assigns gui values based on nml targets will now be discussed . as shown , the exemplary process begins when the system pulls the nml from a local database 201 . the system thereafter parses the nml , to extract remote data source information 202 . preferably , all relevant remote data source ( api ) information is extracted from the document and the api data extracted are references to full api data sets in the database . those full data sets are then pulled from a database of nml files 204 and the system configures itself to connect successfully to the api 203 . the api data is then preferably taken from the files and automatically verified when the system attempts to retrieve full data sets from the database 205 without interruption and the system handles the responses as they come in . preferably , a socket from the client application is then opened to prepare a persistent connection to the remote data source 207 . once the socket makes a persistent connection with the remote data source 208 and the incoming data is received parsed 209 . thereafter , the system connects synchronously to the remote source 210 and then collects all data returned from the remote data source . that data is then stored in a database 211 . preferably , the data may be stored on a database on a local server 212 . the system will then evaluate if the data is returned from the remote data source as an xml protocol 213 . if the data is not xml , it is converted to xml 214 . data targeted by the nml is assigned to the gui component based on the structure outlined in the nml document 215 . the gui is displayed by the system 216 . with reference now to fig3 , a flowchart diagram describing a persistent socket will now be discussed . as shown in fig3 , a persistent socket connection with a local server is opened 301 and the system evaluates whether or not the socket is sending or receiving data 302 . then a request for data is sent to the server 303 and the socket sends a stream of data to the server 304 . as further shown , the server then attempts to find nml already associated with the requested / sent data 305 . in the persistent memory that stores cached nml and data documents for rapid retrieval 306 , the system then evaluates whether or not there is already a document in memory 307 . if there is nothing in memory for this data set , the system will create the nml for the data 308 and chunks of data are generated to stream back to the requesting application 309 . accessing the persistent memory store of cached chunks 310 , the system will evaluate if there is already a document in memory and then pull all the chunks from memory 311 . the data chunks may then be streamed back to the server in rapid - fire succession 312 . with reference now to fig4 , a flowchart diagram describing how an application goes from a simple nml document and is displayed as an application gui and will now be discussed . as shown in fig4 , the application nml that resides on the device is parsed . the necessary gui components are configured based on the nml description 402 . this includes preparing the gui components for data injection and display . it also involves extracting the remote data connection information . preferably , the gui components are connected to the remote data source using the developer credentials 403 . thereafter , all data is collected from the remote source and prepared for transformation and nml targeting 404 . the data is then sent to a database on a local server 405 . in the persistent memory storage of current nml documents 406 , the system may evaluate whether there is a document already in memory 407 and whether the document is xml 408 . if not , the document is preferably converted to xml 409 . data targeted by the nml is then assigned to the gui component based on the structure outlined in the nml document 410 and the gui is displayed 411 . with reference now to fig5 , a flowchart diagram displaying the conversion from a data document to a linear matrix grid of points will now be discussed . as shown in fig5 , a database of previous versions of data used in the application 501 is formed from data gathered from the historical documents for the application 502 . the documents are visually compared to find differences in the most current 503 and the differences are mapped into a linear matrix 504 . since every document represents a layer in a physical space , the data can be treated as physical objects . the multi - dimensional linear matrix of data changes is then stored in a database 505 . with reference now to fig6 , a flowchart diagram outlining the invention used to discover differences in historical data documents in relation to a data source and its most recent document will now be discussed . as shown in fig6 , a database of previous versions of data used in the application 601 and the historical documents for the application are gathered 602 . a linear matrix grid for the documents is then generated 603 and the visual differences in data history are parsed by viewing all documents in history overlaid by each other 604 . the system can then use visual recognition to target points of difference . the changes , if any , are verified to be new by validating the differences against the most current document 605 and stored in an nml database 606 . all differences in the documents are then mapped to a multi - dimensional grid known as a matrix 607 . points in the matrix preferably represent the differences in the documents . one document represents a dimensional layer in the matrix . accordingly , if 5 documents are being compared , a 5d matrix is created to track all differences in those 5 documents . after the matrix is saved 608 , visual pattern recognition technology may be used to recognize the differences in the matrix 609 . data is then updated where needed as found by the matrix 610 and the developer is notified of any changes 611 . with reference now to fig7 , an exemplary process for processing nml data will now be discussed . as shown in fig7 , nml is gathered 701 from nml database 702 and the nml is passed onto the taught data translator 703 . the system thereafter will preferably evaluate whether or not the nml connects to a remote data source 704 . if it does connect to the remote data source 705 , then all data is collected 706 from the persistent memory storage 707 . data targeted by the nml is then assigned to the gui component based on the structure outlined in the nml document 708 . if the system can make a recommendation 709 based off data stored in the persistent memory storages 710 , then a recommendation is made to the developer based on a custom mathematical algorithm 711 . learning machines learn what developers build and suggest the best components to the developer depending on popularity , lack of errors , overall use system wide , and a number of other variables and constants . the recommendation is verified with the developer 712 . if the developer accepts the recommendation 713 , the recommendation is added to queue for rank evaluation so the system learning machines can parse it and readjust its rank 714 and the system continues to build the gui 715 . with reference now to fig8 , a part of the development process where learning machines make recommendations to developers about the best gui to use for their application will now be discussed . as shown in fig8 , the nml is parsed to extract device api and remote data connection information 801 from the nml database 802 . the device api manager is then connected to validate the device api information 803 and the device apis as defined by the nml are connected 804 . the data from device api is then returned to device api manager 805 . the data targeted by the nml is assigned to the gui component based on the structure outlined in the nml document 806 . the system evaluated may then make a recommendation 807 based on data from the persistent memory storage 808 . if it can , than a recommendation is made to the developer based on a custom algorithm 809 . learning machines learn what developers build and suggest the best components to the developer depending on popularity , lack of errors , overall use system - wide , and a number of other variables and constants . the recommendation is verified with the developer 811 . if the developer accepts the recommendation 812 , than the recommendation is added to queue for rank evaluation 813 and the system continues to build the gui 814 . with reference now to fig9 , a pixel data transformer to collect and parse the pixel data to generate nml tags for every pixel in a screen shot to create a matrix which can be stored or streamed will now be discussed . as shown in fig9 , media from the device is sent to a web server 901 to generate screen shots of the media 902 . if it is a video , it will generate screen shots for every frame . pixel data is preferably collected from every screen shot 903 . the pixel data is then parsed and generates nml tags for every pixel of the screen shot 904 from the nmp database 905 . pixels are preferably treated by the system as a physical space on the screen . the system preferably targets the physical space the pixel takes up as opposed to simply reading its pixel value . according to a preferred embodiment , a grid may be drawn over the screen which is the system &# 39 ; s frame of reference . if the medium is video , than a multi - dimensional matrix may be created to store all the pixel data . in this matrix , a screen shot is one dimension and a pixel is a grid point in that dimension of the matrix . if the media does not need to be streamed back to the requesting application , than the generated nml is stored for later use 907 . if the media needs to be streamed back to the requesting application , than the nml is streamed back to the application 908 . with reference now to fig1 , a flowchart diagram outlining the flow of data from an application through the methods outlined in fig1 will now be discussed . as shown in fig1 , a socket connection is required by the application based on the api information in the nml database 1001 is initiated as an exemplary first step . thereafter , the application nml is parsed 1002 from the nml database 1003 . all socket information is then extracted from the nml 1004 and all protocol information is then extracted 1005 . thereafter , a protocol request is preferably sent to the web server 1006 and the web server then returns information regarding whether the proxy server and the application can connect in order to use the requested protocol 1007 . once the application is connected to proxy server 1008 , a persistent socket is opened in the connection with the proxy server 1009 and data is streamed 1010 through the connection . with reference now to fig1 , a flowchart diagram outlining a preferred method as outlined in fig1 will now be discussed . as shown in fig1 , a persistent socket is initially opened 1101 and the incoming data stream of nml is parsed 1102 . the data streaming from the nml is then verified against a database 1103 and the targeted information is extracted 1104 . the targeted data is converted into a proxy server specific protocol 1105 and a connection is made with a remote data socket 1106 . data is then streamed through the remote data socket 1107 and a response stream is received back from the remote data socket 1108 . the response data is then converted to xml 1109 . the xml is then converted to nml based on nml data configuration 1110 and the nml is split into individual tags as packets which are then compressed 1111 . the compressed packets are then preferably streamed back to the application one at a time in rapid file succession 1112 . with reference now to fig1 , api data visualized based on its hierarchy will now be discussed . as shown in fig1 , a representation of a gui list 1200 is populated with either an xml tag name or a tag &# 39 ; s attribute 1201 . a value taken from the id tag 1202 is assigned to each tag or tag attribute . as further shown in fig1 , a transition from a list to another list or from a list to a list item &# 39 ; s value 1203 is indicated by the arrow . if the list item leads to a value and not another list , then the item will be displayed as a selectable object such as a button or check box . multiple category tags may be combined into a list of their own 1204 . each category tag then leads to a list of its attributes and its value . an example of a list of attributes and only one value 1205 is shown here . the value item will display as a selectable object such as a button or check box . another example of a value of an attribute or xml tag 1206 . other examples and variations may be used as well . with reference now to fig1 , three popular data formats having similar hierarchies will now be discussed . as shown in fig1 , three popular data formats may include : rdf , a format for open data based on xml 1300 ; a generic object 1301 , a type of object is similar to a php object or even a json object ; and a generic xml format 1302 . with reference now to fig1 , a list depicting how any data can be visualized based on its hierarchy will now be discussed . as shown , data for the list 1400 is preferably taken from the designated tags 1401 - 1404 . accordingly , as shown , data in the example list 1400 may be taken as shown from tag 1401 , one : tag 1402 , two : tag 1403 , and further from three : tag 1404 . with reference now to fig1 , a flowchart for application creation using the present invention will now be discussed . as shown in fig1 , the developer would create a list in where each list item would lead to a display page . this process creates an api mapping file . first the developer chooses the component type , in this case a list 1500 . thereafter the developer then maps each of the list &# 39 ; s properties to a value 1501 . this shows a list of available data values . this step is repeated until all properties are mapped to a value . a list of values is then taken from a data source 1502 . a choice of display components is used to display the data for each list item 1503 . this step is only necessary when creating a list , such as a list of properties for the display component 1504 . each property will thereafter need to be mapped to a value . a list of values is then taken from a data source 1505 . with reference now to fig1 , an automatic discovery of remote services and apis ( adrs - api ) will now be discussed . an automatic discovery of remote services and apis ( adrs - api ) is an api definition search engine . as shown in fig1 , a workflow diagram shows how adrs - api handles a request to search a domain . as shown an application preferably requests an api connection 1600 . thereafter , a check is preferred to determine if the request contains a url for the api 1601 . preferably , if the request api is described in the database 1602 , and a check is made for an api definition file 1603 thereafter a web page is loaded from the url 1604 and the page is crawled 1605 to extract all urls related to the api or that have the same domain name 1606 . thereafter , the system checks the api method and method parameter references on the page 1607 and extracts api definitions from the page 1608 . thereafter , the descriptions are saved in the database 1609 and the definitions are saved to an api definition file 1610 . thereafter , the system preferably checks if the request api is described in the database 1611 , and checks for an api definition file 1612 . finally , the configuration is sent to the requesting application 1613 . while the above descriptions regarding the present invention contain much specificity , these should not be construed as limitations on the scope , but rather as examples .
| 7 |
the present invention is directed to a stacked capacitor having a hardmask formed between the capacitor dielectric and the lower electrode of the capacitor , and a method for forming the structure . because of the novel hardmask , the stacked capacitor may be formed over a low - k dielectric material which otherwise would be subject to attack during the stripping processes conventionally used to remove carbon - based photoresist masking materials commonly used in the semiconductor manufacturing industry . such masking materials are used in forming the stacked capacitor . low - k dielectric materials are favored in the semiconductor manufacturing industry because they permit adjacent conductive wires formed using damascene processing techniques to be placed in close proximity to one another because of the resulting lowered parasitic capacitance between adjacent conductive wires formed within a low - k dielectric material . now referring to the drawing , fig1 is a cross - sectional view showing conductive wires formed within a low - k dielectric material as in the prior art . conductive wires 40 are formed within trenches 38 which are formed within low - k dielectric material 30 . trenches 38 are formed , and conductive wires 40 are produced , according to conventional damascene processing . the term “ damascene ” is derived from the name of an ancient process used to fabricate a type of in - laid metal jewelry first seen in the city of damascus . in the context of integrated circuits , damascene means formation of a patterned layer imbedded on and in another layer such that the top surfaces of the two layers are coplanar . planarity is essential to the formation of fine - pitch interconnect levels because lithographic definition of fine features is achieved using high - resolution steppers having small depths of focus . the damascene process is used in some aspects of semiconductor fabrication and involves inlaying a metal into a predefined pattern , typically in a dielectric layer . the process is performed by defining the desired pattern into a dielectric film ; depositing metal over the entire surface by either physical vapor deposition , chemical vapor deposition , or evaporation ; then polishing back the top surface in such a way that the top surface is planarized and the metal pattern is only located in the predefined regions of the dielectric layer . the damascene process is often used to manufacture metal wiring lines , including the bit - lines for a dynamic random access memory ( dram ) capacitor . the “ dual damascene ” process , in which conductive lines and stud via metal contacts are formed simultaneously , is described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 789 , 648 issued to chow . it should be understood that the generally rectangular cross - sectional shape of trenches 38 are intended to be exemplary only . in alternative embodiments , trenches 38 may be v - shaped grooves or tiered , dual damascene structures . in the preferred embodiment , conductive wires 40 may be copper ( cu ) or an alloy of copper . in alternative embodiments , however , conductive wires 40 may be aluminum , nickel , tungsten , silver , gold , or their alloys . using damascene processing technology , it can be seen that the structure is a planarized structure in which the upper surface 33 of low - k dielectric material 30 and the upper surface 43 of conductive wire 40 form a substantially planar surface . low - k dielectric material 30 may be formed over etch stop layer 20 using conventional methods . etch stop layer 20 may be any material conventionally used in damascene processing which will form the bottom surface of damascene openings and therefore act as an etch stop layer . the underlying substrate 10 may be a semiconductor substrate such as a silicon wafer commonly used in the semiconductor manufacturing industry , or underlying substrate 10 may be a suitable film formed over such a substrate . low - k dielectric material 30 has a dielectric constant , k , of less than 4 according to exemplary embodiments . conventionally used silicon dioxide films typically have a dielectric constant , k , ranging from 4 . 0 to 4 . 2 . therefore , low - k dielectric material 30 is a dielectric material having a dielectric constant , k , that is less than the dielectric constant of conventionally formed oxides . according to various exemplary embodiments , low - k dielectric material 30 may be polyimide , various organic siloxane polymers , an organosilicate glass , or a carbon - doped silicate glass . according to other exemplary embodiments , low - k dielectric material 30 may be one of the following : various silicon dioxides having dielectric constants less than 4 , a polyarlyene ether , a hydrogen - doped silicate glass , a silsesquioxane glass , spin - on glass , fluorinated or non - fluorinated silicate glass , diamond - like amorphous carbon , nano - porous silicate , silsesquioxane polymer , or any other similar low dielectric constant material known in the art to be a useful dielectric material . in alternative embodiments not shown in fig1 conductive wire 40 may include a barrier layer film formed below the wire or alongside the wire structure within trench 38 . in another alternative embodiment also not shown in fig1 conductive wire 40 may additionally include an upper section formed of a barrier layer film . according to yet another alternative embodiment ( not shown ), low - k dielectric material 30 may be a composite film including an upper portion adjacent upper surface 33 . the upper portion of the composite film forming such a low - k dielectric material 30 may be another low - k dielectric material such as a film used as a hardmask film in a previous patterning level . examples of such low - k dielectric materials used as hardmask films may include any of the various low - k dielectric materials described previously . in another alternative embodiment also not shown in fig1 low - k dielectric material 30 may be a composite film consisting of a low - k dielectric film having one of various other hardmask films formed over the low - k dielectric film . the hardmask films may be formed of various materials and may have various dielectric constants . for example , the hardmask film may be a high - k silicon nitride film or a standard - k oxide film . now turning to fig2 a film 50 is formed over the structure shown in fig1 . according to the preferred embodiment , film 50 is a tantalum nitride ( tan ) film which is to be used as a bottom electrode in the stacked capacitor of the present invention . according to various alternative embodiments , film 50 may be formed of suitable electrode materials other than tan . nevertheless , film 50 will be referred to as lower tan electrode film 50 . lower tan electrode film 50 has a top surface 53 and a thickness 55 . in the exemplary embodiment , lower tan electrode film 50 may be formed using a sputter deposition technique and has a thickness 55 within the range of 20 - 40 nanometers . conventional sputtering techniques may be used to form lower tan electrode film 50 . examples of other suitable electrode materials include ta , w , tasin , ti , tin , tisin , and other suitable barrier layer films used in conjunction with copper , or in conjunction with another conductive film used to form conductive wire 40 . fig3 shows the structure shown in fig2 after three additional films have been sequentially added . over lower tan electrode film 50 , a hardmask film 60 is formed . hardmask film 60 may be formed using physical vapor deposition ( pvd ) and has a thickness of approximately 100 nanometers in the preferred embodiment . other thicknesses and methods of formation may be used alternatively , however , for hardmask film 60 . according to various exemplary embodiments , hardmask film 60 may be an aluminum film , a silicon film , or a copper - doped aluminum film . the pvd process used to form hardmask film 60 may be a conventional pvd process known in the art . hardmask film 60 has a top surface 63 . a capacitor dielectric film 70 is formed over top surface 63 of hardmask film 60 . capacitor dielectric film 70 may be formed using plasma - enhanced chemical vapor deposition ( pecvd ), or other deposition techniques . capacitor dielectric film 70 may be a silicon dioxide , or “ oxide ” film , or a silicon nitride film . various other suitable dielectric films such as barium strontium titanate may be used alternatively . the thickness 75 of capacitor dielectric film 70 may be on the order of 1 , 000 nanometers in an exemplary embodiment , but other thicknesses may be used alternatively . capacitor dielectric film 70 has a top surface 73 . an upper tan electrode film 80 is formed over capacitor dielectric film 70 . upper tan electrode film 80 may be formed according to the same methods used to form lower tan electrode film 50 . upper tan electrode film 80 has a thickness 85 , which is greater than thickness 55 of lower tan electrode film 50 , and a top surface 83 . in alternative embodiments , materials other than tantalum nitride may be used to form the upper electrode film , provided that such materials are the same material as the lower electrode film or provided that they do not etch at a significantly greater rate than the lower electrode film under the etching process conditions which will be used to etch the lower electrode film . nonetheless , the upper electrode film will be referred to as upper tan electrode film 80 . generally , thickness 85 of upper tan electrode film 80 is twice as great as thickness 55 of lower tan electrode film 50 . according to an exemplary embodiment , thickness 85 ranges from 60 - 80 nanometers . now turning to fig4 a masking pattern is formed over top surface 83 of upper tan electrode film 80 . a masking pattern may be formed with a photoresist film 90 using conventional patterning techniques such as those available in the art . after the masking pattern is formed and developed , the masking pattern has protected regions 92 and unprotected ( or exposed ) regions 94 . within protected regions 92 , photoresist film 90 is intact . conventional photoresist films 90 are carbon - based materials . within unprotected regions 94 , photoresist film 90 has been developed away . a capacitor is to be formed within protected region 92 and it can be seen that protected region 92 is formed over one of the conductive wires 40 which are formed within low - k dielectric material 30 . with the masking pattern in place , successive layers are then removed from unprotected regions 94 by etching , to form the capacitor structure . fig5 shows the structure after unprotected sections of upper tan electrode film 80 and capacitor dielectric film 70 , which lie in unprotected regions 94 , have been removed by etching . the upper tan electrode film 80 and capacitor dielectric film 70 etch processes are plasma - chemistry etch processes which use an etch chemistry including argon and cf 4 . conventional plasma etching methods , such as rie plasma , may be used . in an exemplary embodiment , upper tan electrode film 80 and capacitor dielectric film 70 are sequentially removed using a single , continuous etching process . it can be seen that upper surface 63 of hardmask film 60 serves as the etch stop layer . the argon / cf 4 chemistry of the etch process and the etching conditions used render the etching process a selective process which does not appreciably etch hardmask film 60 . therefore , a significant amount of overetch time may be used to ensure that upper tan electrode film 80 and capacitor dielectric film 70 are completely removed from unprotected regions 94 , without risk that hardmask film 60 will be attacked . upper tan electrode film 80 and capacitor dielectric film 70 remain intact within protected regions 92 beneath the photoresist film 90 . now turning to fig6 hardmask film 60 has been removed from unprotected regions 94 . a plasma etching process using a chlorine chemistry , for example , to etch a hardmask film formed of silicon or aluminum , is applied . the plasma etching process applied to remove exposed portions of hardmask film 60 from unprotected regions 94 may be a conventional etching process . it is possible to apply an etching process that uses a power below 100 watts . the chlorine - based plasma etching process is selective to underlying lower tan electrode layer 50 which serves as the etch stop layer during the hardmask etching process . a “ selective ” etching process is one in which the process conditions , including the chlorine , are chosen to ensure that lower tan electrode film 50 is not appreciably etched during the etching process used to remove hardmask film 60 from exposed regions 94 . consequently , a sufficient overetch time may be used to ensure the complete removal of hardmask film 60 . in alternative embodiments , in which the lower electrode film is formed of a material other than tan , the hardmask etching process conditions are chosen so that the hardmask etching process is selective and does not appreciably etch the alternative underlying lower electrode film . fig7 shows the structure illustrated in fig6 after masking photoresist film 90 has been removed . the process used to strip or remove photoresist film 90 may be a stripping process conventionally available in the art . according to exemplary embodiments , this process may include oxidizing using a gaseous plasma , or it may include a wet chemical strip in dilute hydrofluoric acid or a dilute mixture of sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide . each of the exemplary processes that may be used to strip photoresist film 90 would also attack exposed portions of low - k dielectric material 30 . the presence of lower tan electrode film 50 precludes exposure of upper surface 33 of low - k dielectric material 30 , however , during the photoresist film removal process . therefore , the presence of lower tan electrode film 50 prevents the attack of low - k dielectric material 30 during the stripping process used to remove photoresist film 90 . the removal of photoresist film 90 exposes upper surface 83 of upper tan electrode film 80 within protected regions 92 . it is an advantage of the present invention that photoresist film 90 can be safely removed using a process which does not attack underlying low - k dielectric material 30 . fig8 shows the stacked capacitor structure 99 after lower tan electrode film 50 has been removed from unprotected regions 94 . lower tan electrode film 50 is removed using an etching process . the etching process may be a plasma etching process using argon and cf 4 , as described in conjunction with the removal of originally exposed portions of upper tan electrode film 80 and capacitor dielectric film 70 , and as shown in fig6 . because the original thickness 85 ( as shown in fig7 ) of upper tan electrode film 80 is greater than the thickness 55 of lower tan electrode film 50 , the etching process is allowed to continue until lower tan electrode film 50 is completely removed from exposed regions 94 , thereby exposing upper surfaces 43 and 33 of conductive wire 40 and low - k dielectric film 30 , respectively . because thickness 85 of upper tan electrode film 80 is chosen to be much greater than thickness 55 of lower tan electrode film 50 , portions of upper tan electrode film 80 remain intact to form the upper capacitor electrode even after lower tan electrode film 50 is completely removed by etching . in an alternative embodiment in which the electrode films are formed of materials other than tan , the electrode films are chosen in conjunction with the process that will be used to etch the lower electrode film to ensure that the upper electrode film is not completely removed during the etch process used to etch the lower electrode film . it is an aspect of the present invention that hardmask film 60 , shown in fig5 renders unnecessary removal of the sequence of films including upper tan electrode film 80 , capacitor dielectric film 70 , and lower tan electrode film 50 in one continuous process . therefore , during the etching process used to remove lower tan electrode film 50 , only a single , relatively thin film must be removed and the effects of non - uniformities in film thickness and within the etching process are minimized . this advantage allows the etching process to be tailored , and the overetch percentage to be minimized , such that the etching process can be confidently stopped after the complete removal of lower tan electrode film 50 without requiring a large overetch percentage . this advantage ensures , in turn , that upper tan electrode film 80 , which is exposed in protected region 92 during the etching of lower tan electrode film 50 , will not be completely removed by etching . the resulting thickness 185 of upper tan electrode film 80 within protected region 92 will be less than original thickness 85 as shown in fig7 . the reduction in film thickness will typically correspond to thickness 55 of lower tan electrode film 50 which is completely removed by etching . in an alternative embodiment , the thickness of the upper electrode film may not be diminished appreciably . as formed , stacked capacitor 99 includes upper tan electrode film 80 , capacitor dielectric material 70 , hardmask film 60 , and lower tan electrode film 50 . stacked capacitor 99 is formed over a structure including conductive wires 40 formed within low - k dielectric material 30 . stacked capacitor 99 contacts conductive wire 40 in a contact region 48 . in this manner , stacked capacitor 99 may be interconnected to other features of the semiconductor device being formed on substrate 10 . it should be understood that the structure shown in fig8 is exemplary only , and that the stacked l capacitor may be alternatively formed over other underlying structures . an aspect of the present invention is the advantage that it provides for a semiconductor device manufactured using a particular integration scheme . such a scheme has a low - k dielectric material which is subject to attack by the processes conventionally used to strip carbon - based photoresist masking materials and uses an etch process for the removal of electrode and capacitor dielectric films which has a poor selectivity and may attack underlying features . in a structure not including the hardmask film of the present invention , a composite film including an upper tan electrode film , a capacitor dielectric film , and a low tan electrode film will be etched according to a single , continuous , conventional etching process which may include argon and cf 4 in the etching chemistry . because of non - uniformities within the relatively thick composite film thickness and within the etching process itself , a large percentage of overetch must be used when a single continuous process is used to remove the stack of films having a relatively high composite film thickness . this overetch increases the etch attack of the underlying substrate , particularly the low - k dielectric material having portions which may be exposed during a significant portion of the overetch . the absence of a hardmask film also prevents the removal of the photoresist film during the sequence used to remove the composite film , because such removal may result in the complete removal of the upper electrode film as a high overetch percentage will be necessary to ensure complete removal of the lower electrode film . the hardmask film and process sequence of the present invention provide for a sufficient overetch time to be used to sufficiently clear all of the upper tan electrode film and capacitor dielectric film and also for the photoresist film to be removed , without risk of attacking the underlying low - k dielectric material . furthermore , using conventional processing techniques , the underlying structure including the low - k dielectric material and the conductive wire will be exposed to rie processes for a greater time . during this time , the rie may include a physical ion milling component which may effectuate the back - sputtering of the conductive material from the conductive wire . such back - sputtering may result in shorting between adjacent conductive wires , and may also result in shorting between the upper and lower electrodes of the capacitor , thereby destroying the capacitor . the foregoing description of exemplary embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustrating and describing the main points of the concepts of the invention . the present invention is not limited , however , to those embodiments . for example , other materials may be used to form the electrodes of the stacked capacitor of the present invention . likewise , the underlying structure over which the stacked capacitor is formed may be varied and may not include a low - k dielectric material , according to alternative embodiments . although illustrated and described above with reference to certain specific embodiments , the present invention is nevertheless 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 spirit of the invention .
| 7 |
the following illustrates the present invention by typical examples . the optical purity of optically active 1 - phenyl - 1 , 3 - propanediols in the examples was determined by either of following two methods . when r - and s - diols could be separated with an optical resolution column , the optical purity was determined by liquid chromatography using the optical resolution column . as the optical resolution column , chiral cel ob ( manufactured by daicel co ., ltd ., trade name ) was preferably used . when r - and s - diols could not be separated with an optical resolution column , the optical purity was determined by using capillary gas chromatographic analysis of diastereomers that had been systhesized from 1 - phenyl - 1 , 3 - propanediols and (-)- menthone according to the following scheme . ## str4 ## fig5 shows the chromatogram of capillary gas chromatographic analysis of diastereomers ( in the above scheme , x is methoxy ) synthesized from racemic 1 -( 4 - methoxyphenyl )- 1 , 3 - propanediol and (-)- menthone . the peaks derived from each diastereomer are completely separated and the optical purity is determined from these peaks . to 100 ml of toluene , 100 g of r - 1 - phenyl - 1 , 3 - propanediol having optical purity of 57 . 7 % ee was dissolved by heating , and the solution was cooled to room temperature at atmospheric pressure and in the absence of seeding , to crystallize one of r and s - 1 - phenyl - 1 , 3 - propanediol corresponding to an enantiomeric excess side . precipitated crystals were collected by suction filtration to collect the crystals and dried under reduced pressure to obtain 54 g of r - 1 - phenyl - 1 , 3 - propanediol as colorless needles . yield 54 %. 1 h - nmr ( 90 mhz , cdcl 3 , internal standard tms ); δ : 7 . 34 ( s , 5h ), 4 . 94 ( q , 1h ), 3 . 84 ( t , 2h ), 2 . 65 ( brs , 2h ), 2 . 07 - 1 . 92 ( m , 2h ). further , the optical purity determined by liquid chromatography using an optical resolution column above - mentioned in method 1 was 100 % ee . ( determination conditions , column : chiral cel ob ( 25 cm × 0 . 46 cm , daicel co ., ltd . ), solvent : hexane / isopropanol ( 9 / 1 ), flow rate : 0 . 5 ml / min ) fig1 shows a liquid chromatography analysis chart of r - 1 - phenyl - 1 , 3 - propanediol having optical purity of 57 . 7 % ee that was used as a starting material , and fig2 shows a liquid chromatography analysis chart of r - 1 - phenyl - 1 , 3 - propanediol having optical purity of 100 % ee that was prepared . after 100 g of s - 1 - phenyl - 1 , 3 - propanediol having optical purity of 74 . 8 % ee was dissolved by heating in 600 ml of mixed solvent of heptane / ethyl acetate ( 9 / 5 ), the solution was allowed to cool to room temperature at atmospheric pressure and in the absence of seeding , to crystallize one of r and s - 1 - phenyl - 1 , 3 - propanediol corresponding to an enantiomeric excess side . precipitated crystals were collected by suction filtration to collect the crystals and dried under reduced pressure to obtain 71 g of s - 1 - phenyl - 1 , 3 - propanediol as colorless needles . yield 71 %. 1 h - nmr ( 90 mhz , cdcl 3 , internal standard tms ); δ : 7 . 34 ( s , 5h ), 4 . 94 ( q , 1h ), 3 . 84 ( t , 2h ), 2 . 65 ( brs , 2h ), 2 . 07 - 1 . 92 ( m , 2h ). further , the optical purity determined by liquid chromatography using an optical resolution column above mentioned in method 1 was 100 % ee . ( determination conditions , column : chiral cel ob ( 25 cm × 0 . 46 cm , daicel co ., ltd . ), solvent : hexane / isopropanol ( 9 / 1 ), flow rate : 0 . 5 ml / min ) fig3 shows a liquid chromatography analysis chart of s - 1 - phenyl - 1 , 3 - propanediol having optical purity of 74 . 8 % ee that was used as a starting material , and fig4 shows a liquid chromatography analysis chart of s - 1 - phenyl - 1 , 3 - propanediol having optical purity of 100 % ee that was prepared . after 27 g of r - 1 -( 4 - fluorophenyl )- 1 , 3 - propanediol having optical purity of 78 . 5 % ee was dissolved by heating in 40 ml of toluene , the solution was allowed to cool to room temperature at atmospheric pressure and in the absence of seeding , to crystallize one of r and s - 1 - phenyl - 1 , 3 - propanediol corresponding to an enantiomeric excess side . precipitated crystals were collected by suction filtration to collect the crystals and dried under reduced pressure to obtain 12 g of r - 1 -( 4 - fluorophenyl )- 1 , 3 - propanediol as colorless needles . yield 44 %. 1 h - nmr ( 90 mhz , cdcl 3 , internal standard tms ); δ : 7 . 42 - 6 . 93 ( m , 4h ), 4 . 95 ( m , 1h ), 3 . 86 ( q , 2h ), 2 . 93 ( d , 1h ), 2 . 29 ( t , 1h ), 2 . 06 - 1 . 85 ( m , 2h ). further , the optical purity determined by above - mentioned method 2 was 100 % ee . ( determination conditions , column : g - 205 ( 1 . 2 μm × 40 m , kagaku - hin kensa kyokai ), carrier gas : helium ( 20 ml / min ), injection temperature : 300 ° c ., column temperature : 200 ° c . ( 1 min . )- 280 ° c . ( 5 ° c ./ min ). after 33 g of s - 1 -( 4 - fluorophenyl )- 1 , 3 - propanediol having optical purity of 65 . 5 % ee was dissolved by heating in 55 ml of toluene , the solution was allowed to cool to room temperature at atmospheric pressure and in the absence of seeding , to crystallize one of r and s - 1 - phenyl - 1 , 3 - propanediol corresponding to an enantiomeric excess side . the precipitated crystals were collected by suction filtration to collect the crystals and dried under reduced pressure to obtain 10 g of s - 1 -( 4 - fluorophenyl - 1 , 3 - propane diol ) as colorless needles . melting point : 47 . 7 °- 50 . 5 ° c . 1 h - nmr ( 90 mhz , cdcl 3 , internal standard tms ); δ : 7 . 42 - 6 . 93 ( m , 4h ), 4 . 95 ( m , 1h ), 3 . 86 ( q , 2h ), 2 . 93 ( d , 1h ), 2 . 29 ( t , 1h ), 2 . 06 - 1 . 85 ( m , 2h ). further , the optical purity determined by above - mentioned method 2 was 100 % ee . ( determination conditions , column : g - 205 ( 1 . 2 μm × 40 m , kagaku - hin kensa kyokai ), carrier gas : helium ( 20 ml / min ), injection temperature : 30 ° c ., column temperature : 200 ° c . ( 1 min . )- 280 ° c . ( 5 ° c ./ min ). after 14 g of s - 1 -( 4 - methoxyphenyl )- 1 , 3 - propanediol having optical purity of 60 . 0 % ee ([ α ] d 26 - 30 . 5 ° ( c1 . 09 , chcl 3 )) was dissolved by heating in 80 ml of mixed solvent of heptane / ethyl acetate ( 9 / 4 ), the solution was allowed to cool to room temperature at atmospheric pressure and in the absence of seeding , to crystallize one of r and s - 1 - phenyl - 1 , 3 - propanediol corresponding to an enantiomeric excess side . precipitated crystals were collected by suction filtration to collect the crystals and dried under reduced pressure to obtain 5 . 3 g of s - 1 -( 4 - methoxyphenyl - 1 , 3 - propanediol ) as colorless needles . yield 38 %. [ α ] d 31 - 59 . 7 ° ( c0 . 432 , chcl 3 , internal standard tms ), 1 h - nmr ( 90 mhz , cdcl 3 , internal standard tms ); δ : 7 . 10 ( q , 4h ), 4 . 86 ( q , 1h ), 3 . 79 ( t , 2h ), 3 . 78 ( s , 3h ), 2 . 98 ( brs , 2h ), 2 . 03 - 1 . 83 ( m , 2h ). further , the optical purity determined by above - mentioned method 2 was 100 % ee . ( determination conditions , column : g - 205 ( 1 . 2 μm × 40 m , kagaku - hin kensa kyokai ), carrier gas : helium ( 20 ml / min ), injection temperature : 300 ° c ., column temperature : 200 ° c . ( 1 min . )- 280 ° c . ( 5 ° c ./ min ).
| 2 |
the present invention relates to a system facilitating coordination and communication between users of a parking system . the system may be adapted for use with any type of vehicle and with any type of user . the user could be a driver . the user may also be a passenger or an owner of a vehicle . the present invention facilitates coordination between users by communicating information about a first user to one or more other users . the system also communicates information about one or more other users to the first user . the system would allow a user to search for a parking spot near a location of choice . the parking system could return available parking spots to the user , some of which may be advertised by other users in the system . the available parking spots might be displayed on a map . the user may then book a spot either from another user or from other parking sources within the system . individual departing users may through the system post parking spots that will be vacated when they depart from a spot , such as a street parking spot . thus , the system can include street parking spots , including free parking . the system can allow an arriving user to select a parking spot from a departing user , and for the two to agree to a transaction of exchange . note that while street parking is an especially useful type of parking for this system , the type of parking used in the system need not be limited by type : it could include streets , public and private lots , garages , driveways , etc ., which could be in different embodiments . in one preferred embodiment , the transaction of exchange between users could be incentivized by a swap of points between the users , points that could be used in the parking system to acquire other parking spots . users may be able to adjust their settings , depending on whether they want for instance to restrict their searches to free parking spots , and whether they want to restrict their searches to only other users with which they have mutual friends . there may be other settings , and those skilled in the art will note that other embodiments may be envisioned with different search filters and other settings . as will be described in more detail below , the information exchanged between users may include , but need not be limited to : profile data , vehicle information , location , mutual friends , parking spot information , rating information , route information , and current direction of travel . a system 1 for facilitating the parking system is shown in fig1 . the system 1 includes a web server 2 , a data store 3 and a plurality of user interface devices , such as for example , a tablet computer 4 , a laptop or desktop computer 5 , or a smartphone 6 . the user interface devices may connect to the internet 7 wirelessly via a wi - fi router 8 , an lte data or cellular connection 9 or some other wireless communication method . alternatively , a desktop computer 5 may connect to the internet 7 directly via a hardwired network connection 10 . another embodiment could include a computer program and screen that is part of a vehicle itself . many of the features provided by the present invention are most useful when a user is out in a car . accordingly , a preferred user interface device will generally be a smartphone 6 , or some other mobile computing device . the remainder of the present description will refer to the user input device as a smartphone 6 ; however , those skilled in the art will recognize that the user interface device may be any suitable computing device capable of sending and receiving data over the internet 7 as well as receiving input data from the user and displaying output data to the user , even including a vehicle itself . each user &# 39 ; s smartphone 6 includes a software application adapted to present a plurality of interactive user interface pages to the user . as will be described more fully below , the user interface pages are adapted to elicit input data from users . the software application executed by the user &# 39 ; s smartphone is further adapted to communicate the data about the user to the web server 2 over the internet 7 , where it is stored in the data store 3 . the data about the user collected by the smartphone and transmitted to the web server 2 and stored in the data store 3 , as well as data about other users pulled from the data store 3 and transmitted to and displayed by the user &# 39 ; s smartphone 6 is most easily understood by reviewing the user interface presented to the user by the user &# 39 ; s smartphone 6 . turning to the user interface , fig2 is a login screen 11 that the application executed on the user &# 39 ; s smartphone display screen causes to be displayed on the user &# 39 ; s smartphone display screen when the user opens the parking application on the device . the login screen includes a username text field 12 , a password text field 13 , a go button 14 , and a sign up button 15 . the user interface allows the user to enter text in the username and password text fields 12 and 13 , as is well known in the art . once the user has entered his or her username and password into the username and password text fields 12 , 13 , the user may select the go button 14 to log on to the application and access a previously established user account . the system verifies the username and password entered by the user . if the username and password correspond to a previously established account , the user &# 39 ; s smartphones 6 displays a home page 16 as shown in fig3 . if the user is new to the application and has not yet established a user account , the user may select the sign up button 15 . fig4 - 6 are user interface pages associated with the creation of a new user account . the user &# 39 ; s smartphone displays the first sign up page 17 shown in fig4 when the user selects the sign up button 15 from the login screen 11 of fig2 . the sign up page 17 includes a number of text fields for receiving information about the user . the text fields on the first sign up page 17 may include but are not limited to : first name 18 , last name 19 , username 20 , password 21 , email 22 , date of birth 23 , gender 24 , home address 25 , city , state 26 , zip code 27 . a prompt at the top of the page 17 instructs the user to enter the appropriate information into the various text fields 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , and to select the next button 28 . upon entering the appropriate information in the text fields 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , and selecting the next button 28 , the user &# 39 ; s smartphone 6 displays the second sign up page 29 as shown in fig5 . the text fields in the second sign up page include but are not limited to : vehicle information including type of car 30 , color of car 31 , and license plate # 32 . the prompt at the top of the second sign up page 29 instructs the user to enter the appropriate information into the text fields , and then to answer the question of the second vehicle yes 33 or no 34 . if no 34 is selected , then the user &# 39 ; s smartphones 6 displays the congratulations page 35 shown in fig7 . if yes 33 is selected from the second sign up screen 29 , then the user &# 39 ; s smartphone 6 displays a third sign up page 36 . the text fields in the third sign up page 36 include : type of car 37 , color of car 38 , and license plate # 39 . the prompt at the top of the third sign up page 36 instructs the user to enter the appropriate information in the text fields 37 , 38 , 39 , and to select the next button 40 . upon entering the appropriate information in the text fields 37 , 38 , 39 , and selecting the next button 40 , the user &# 39 ; s smartphone 6 displays the congratulations page 35 . returning now to the home screen 16 as shown in fig3 , when a user selects the find a parking spot button 41 , the user &# 39 ; s smartphone 6 displays the find parking page 42 as shown in fig8 . the text fields in the find parking page 42 include but are not limited to : address 43 , date 44 , start time 45 , and end time 46 . a prompt at the top of the find parking page 42 will instruct the user to fill in the appropriate text in the fields 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , and to select the go button 47 . a home button 48 is available at the top of the find parking screen 42 . if the home button 48 is selected , it will cause the user &# 39 ; s smartphone to display the home screen 16 as shown in fig3 . returning to the find parking screen 42 as shown in fig8 , if the user fills in the appropriate texts in the fields 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , and then selects the go button 47 , then the user &# 39 ; s smartphone will display the map of available parking spots screen 49 as shown in fig9 . the map of available parking spots will contain data from the data store 3 . the map of available parking spots screen 49 may include a map 50 , arrows displaying available parking spots 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , and an arrow pointing to the address searched for 57 . the prompt 58 instructs users to touch a parking spot arrow to view its details . upon selecting parking spot 51 , the user &# 39 ; s smartphone displays a map pop - up screen 59 as shown in fig1 . this page 59 may include a pop - up 60 that displays details of parking spot 51 . note that if the user had selected spot 52 instead of spot 51 from the map of available parking spot page 49 of fig9 , then a similar pop - up would be displayed in the pop - up screen 59 , containing information on spot 52 instead of spot 51 , and similarly for any other spot selected in the map screen 49 . note that as instructed by the prompt on the map pop - up screen 59 , the user may also click on an alternative spot such as spot 62 , and on this screen 59 a pop - up appropriate to spot 62 would display in place of the old pop - up 60 . the pop - up 60 displayed on the map pop - up screen 59 may include but is not limited to such information as : address and location specifics , time of spot availability , time the user is willing to wait , and number of points needed for the spot . when the user selects the continue button 61 , then the user &# 39 ; s smartphone displays the spot details page 63 as shown in fig1 . the spot details page may include but is not limited to the date of the parking spot , the location of the parking spot , the time the spot is available , the time the user is willing to wait , the points for the spot , and whether the user has a connection such as mutual friends . if the user selects the parker info button 64 , the user &# 39 ; s smartphone displays the parker information page 66 as shown in fig1 . this page may include details about the parker such as name ( in this case brooke c . ), mutual friends , gender , rating information , a picture , as well as the parking spot details that may include , date , time , time the parker is willing to wait , location , and points for the spot . it the user selects the return to map button 67 , the user &# 39 ; s smartphone will display the map of available parking spots screen 49 , as shown in fig9 . alternatively , if the user ( who in this case we shall name “ fred . b .”) instead clicks the request spot button 68 on the parker information screen 66 of fig1 , or clicks the request spot button 65 on the spot details screen 63 of fig1 , then the user &# 39 ; s smartphone will display the request spot screen 69 as shown in fig1 . this screen 69 may include the parking spot details such as date , location , time available , time parker willing to wait , points for spot in one embodiment , price of spot in another embodiment , and information . the screen 69 may also include the number of points available on the user &# 39 ; s account in an embodiment that includes points as a medium of transaction ( other embodiments could include other forms of currency such as actual currency , bitcoin , electronic currency , credit cards , paypal , or other forms of payment not listed here ). in one preferred embodiment the screen 69 may include a button 70 for the user to add more points to his or her account , and when this button is clicked , the user &# 39 ; s smartphone would display a page to purchase more points , which may be in the form of any embodiments commonly known in the art of electronic payments . when the user (“ fred ”) has sufficient points to complete the transaction to acquire the spot from the other user , “ brooke c .” in our example , and the user “ fred ” clicks the button send spot request 71 on the request spot screen 69 of fig1 , then the spot request is sent to the other user , in this example brooke c . once the send spot request button 71 is selected , the user fred &# 39 ; s s smartphone displays a confirmation page 72 shown in fig1 , which informs the user fred that his spot request was sent , in this case to “ brooke c .”. when the user fred clicks the home button 73 , the user fred &# 39 ; s smartphone 6 displays the home screen 16 as shown in fig3 . next we shall turn to the user who is posting a parking spot ( in our example , this is “ brooke c .”). one of the buttons on the home screen 16 of fig3 is the post a parking spot button 74 . when the user selects this button 74 , the user &# 39 ; s smartphone 6 displays the post a parking spot page 75 as shown in fig1 . the prompt on the screen directs the user to drag the arrow 76 to the location of his or her parking spot on the map , or to enter the address of the parking spot in the text field 77 . once the user has followed the instructions of the prompt of this screen 75 and either dragged the arrow or entered an address , and pressed the continue button 78 , it causes the user &# 39 ; s smartphone 6 to display a spot confirmation screen 79 , as shown in fig1 . this screen 79 has a prompt to confirm the location of the parking spot , and two buttons ‘ yes . continue ’ 80 , and ‘ no . go back ’ 81 . when the user clicks the no button 81 , the user &# 39 ; s smartphone 6 displays the first post a parking spot page 75 as shown in fig1 , where the user is able to again drag the arrow on the map or enter an address . alternatively , if the user on the spot confirmation screen 79 of fig1 selects the yes button 80 , then the user &# 39 ; s smartphone displays the spot details page 82 as shown on fig1 . the spot details page 82 includes a number of text fields for receiving information about the user &# 39 ; s parking spot . the text fields on the spot details page 82 may include but are not limited to : date of parking spot availability 83 , address of parking spot 84 , time parking spot available 85 , time user is willing to wait for the arriving parker 86 . there will also be a directions field for what side of the street the parking spot is on 87 — north , south , east , or west , where the user can select the appropriate direction . a prompt at the top of the page 82 instructs the user to enter the appropriate information into the various fields 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 and to select the continue button 88 , which causes the user &# 39 ; s smartphone to display the congratulations page 89 as shown in fig1 . the congratulations page 89 can confirm that the spot has been posted , and the details of the spot including but not limited to the date , location , time , time to wait , and points for the spot . when the user clicks the home button 90 , the user &# 39 ; s smartphone 6 displays the home screen 16 of fig3 . let us again assume , as before , that the user who has just posted a spot is “ brooke c .” for purposes of example , the other hypothetical user “ fred b .” has requested a spot posted by “ brooke c .” by clicking as described earlier on the button send spot request 71 on the request spot screen 69 of fig1 . at this point turning again to brooke c &# 39 ; s screen , the departing parker user , brooke c . will receive a notification and her smartphone 6 may display the receiving request screen 91 of fig1 . this screen 91 can detail which user has requested her spot ( in this case “ fred b .”), the date , location , time fred b . expects to arrive , points ( or price ) for the spot , fred b &# 39 ; s rating , mutual friends , and a link to fred b &# 39 ; s profile . the user brooke may click on fred &# 39 ; s profile link 92 to view his profile and mutual friends , which would lead to a profile page similar to the parker information screen 66 , as shown in fig1 , except the profile information would be of fred instead of brooke . returning to the receiving request screen 91 of fig1 , the user brooke when she decides if she would like to transact with fred , may click on one of two buttons , the accept transaction button 93 , or the deny transaction button 94 . if user brooke clicks the deny transaction button 94 , then her smartphone will display a simple screen stating the transaction has been denied . if user brooke instead clicks the accept transaction button 93 on the receiving request screen 91 , her smartphone will display an accepting transactions page 95 as shown in fig2 . this page can congratulate the user brooke and summarize the details of the spot including date , location , time of arrival , vehicle type of user fred &# 39 ; s car , and points for spot . here , user brooke may click on the home button 96 to return to the home screen 16 as shown in fig3 . note that now our user brooke has an active transaction . from the home screen 16 of fig3 , user brooke may click on the view active transactions button 97 , which would cause her smartphone to display the active transactions page 98 as shown in fig2 . this page can contain details of the transaction including date , time , arrival time , and points for the spot . near the bottom of the page is a contact user button ( in this case “ contact fred b .”) 99 . if the hypothetical user brooke clicks the “ contact fred ” button 99 , the user brooke &# 39 ; s smartphone displays the contact user page 100 as shown in fig2 . here the phone button 101 will direct the smartphone 6 to the user fred &# 39 ; s phone number . the user brooke could also press the back button 104 to return to the previous screen . alternatively , the user brooke could enter text in the field beneath the message prompt 102 and click the send message button 103 , which would send a message to the web server 2 , which in turn would retransmit the message to the user fred , and also display a confirmation to user brooke &# 39 ; s smartphone that the message was sent . returning to the active transactions page 98 of fig2 , user brooke c . can click the view user &# 39 ; s real - time location button 105 ( in this case fred b &# 39 ; s location ), which will cause user brooke c &# 39 ; s smartphone to display the real - time route page 106 as shown in fig2 . here a map can show fred b &# 39 ; s car as an icon 107 traversing a path along the map , and arrows 108 will indicate the direction of travel . clicking the contact button 109 of fig2 will direct the user brooke &# 39 ; s smartphone to display the contact screen 100 as shown in fig2 , from which the user brooke may phone or email the other user fred . returning again to the active transactions page 98 of fig2 , when the cancel transaction button 136 is clicked , then the user brooke &# 39 ; s smartphone will display the cancel transaction page 109 as shown in fig2 . the top of this screen 109 will prompt the user to select one of the buttons below : yes . cancel the transaction 110 , do not cancel 111 , contact fred 112 , home screen 113 , or my profile 114 . if the user selects contract fred 112 on the cancel transaction screen 109 , the user &# 39 ; s smartphone will display the contact screen 100 as shown in fig2 . if the user brooke on screen 109 clicks the ‘ yes . cancel the transaction ’ button 110 , her smartphone will display a cancel confirmation page 115 , which can explain that the transaction has been canceled and that the other user fred . b . will be notified automatically . alternatively , if the user brooke on screen 109 of fig2 clicks the do not cancel button 111 , the transaction with fred . b . will not be canceled , and user brooke c .&# 39 ; s smartphone will display the active transactions page 98 of fig2 . on nearly all of the screens in this application , one should note that a home screen button would be present , as for example , in home button 113 of the cancel transaction screen 109 of fig2 , or the home button 90 of the spot posted screen 89 of fig1 , or the home button 137 of the active transactions screen 98 of fig2 , or home buttons 138 , 149 , 48 , 90 , 140 , 141 , 142 , 149 , etc . even if the home screen button is not specifically listed on every screen figure does not mean there could not be one . similarly , the my profile button 114 of the cancel transaction screen 109 of fig2 or the my profile button 116 of the active transactions screen 98 of fig2 , or the my profile button 117 on the home screen 16 of fig3 , could be present on any screen to aid the user in editing his or her profile . when the user clicks the my profile button 114 , 116 , or 117 , the user &# 39 ; s smartphone displays the my profile page 118 as shown in fig2 . here the page may display such information as name 126 , age 127 , username 125 , interest in types of parking spots 120 , users interested in exchanging spots with 119 , and points 121 . these settings could be adjusted by the user clicking on the edit button 123 , and then clicking on any of the profile fields ( such as picture 124 , username 125 , exchange spots 119 , interested in parking spots setting 120 , etc .) and typing text or selecting a radio button where applicable . for instance , if a user wants to only exchange spots with other users with which the user has mutual friends , the exchange spots setting 119 could be changed from ‘ all users ’ to a more restrictive setting of users that are friends or users that have mutual friends with the user . similarly , the interested in parking spots setting 120 could be adjusted depending on if the user is interested in paid garage parking , lot parking , street parking , and / or free parking . the number of points field in one embodiment 121 would display the number of points the user currently has in his or her account . in other embodiments this page might display other forms of currency . the purchase more link 122 may be clicked by the user , causing the user &# 39 ; s smartphone to display a payment page , which may include electronic payment services such as paypal or a simple credit card transaction or subscription , in different embodiments , as those skilled in the art will be familiar with . the profile page 118 may also display a picture of the user 124 , which the user may change as desired by clicking on the picture 124 . after a scheduled parking swap transaction time has passed , both parties to the transaction may be prompted for a confirmation . each user &# 39 ; s smartphone will display the parking swap confirmation page 127 shown in fig2 . this page will have a prompt asking the user if the swap was successful . if the user clicks the yes button 128 or the no button 129 , the user will be directed to the rate user page 130 shown in fig2 . here the user may be prompted to click on the stars to select a star rating 131 for the other user ( in this case “ fred . b ”), and to write in the comments 132 how the transaction went . once all fields are completed on the rate user screen 130 of fig2 , and the submit button 133 is pressed , and if the yes button 128 had also been clicked on the previous parking swap confirmation page 127 of fig2 , then the user &# 39 ; s smartphone will display the congratulations page 134 . the congratulations page 134 will congratulate the user on the successful transaction and list the points involved in the transaction . alternatively , if all the rate user page 130 fields of fig2 were completed and the submit button 133 clicked by the user , but the user had clicked the no button 129 on the previous parking swap confirmation page 127 of fig2 , then the user &# 39 ; s smartphone would display a similar page to 134 of fig2 , except it would not display congratulations but would merely in text relate the transaction in terms of points exchanged or reduced . once the continue button 135 is clicked on screen 134 , it would cause the user &# 39 ; s smartphone to display the home screen 16 of fig3 . note that various settings can be changed by the user . when the settings button 143 is clicked on the home screen 16 as shown in fig3 , then the user &# 39 ; s smartphone will display the settings page 145 as shown in fig3 . when the first edit button 147 is clicked , then the user &# 39 ; s smartphone displays a search settings screen 148 as shown in fig3 . ( note another way to arrive at this screen : when the user clicks the ‘ change search settings ’ link 146 of the find parking screen 42 , shown in fig8 , the user &# 39 ; s smartphone will also display the search settings screen 148 as shown in fig3 .). here on the search settings screen 148 of fig3 the user may select from one or more check boxes to answer the screen prompt of where the user is interested in parking : garages 150 , parking lots 151 , street parking paid 152 , and street parking free 153 . the user may also select check boxes to answer the prompt of parking spots the user is interested in , including all users 154 , users with mutual friends 155 , and the parking application itself 156 . the spots available from the application itself could include spots that are not necessarily posted by specific users but that the parking program has acquired knowledge of from other sources , such as for instance , paid garages , lots , etc ., and added to the data store 3 . the screen could also include a selection on the mileage distance surrounding the search address that the user would like a search to include when displaying parking spots 157 . this can be updated by clicking the underlined text and filling in the appropriate number . once the user has finished editing the settings on this page 148 , and the user selects the save button 158 , then the user &# 39 ; s smartphone displays the settings saved page 163 , as shown in fig3 . returning again to the settings screen 145 as shown in fig3 , when the user clicks the second edit button 165 , the user &# 39 ; s smartphone 6 displays the posting settings page 161 , as shown in fig3 . ( note another way of arriving at this screen : when the edit posting settings link 144 is clicked on the spot details screen 82 of fig1 , then the user &# 39 ; s smartphone will also display the posting settings page 161 of fig3 ). on the posting settings page 161 the user has the choice of selecting one of two radio buttons to answer the prompt at the top of the screen describing who the user is interested in posting parking spots for : all users 159 , or users with mutual friends 160 . note that alternate embodiments may have further choices . once the user has made this selection of button 159 or button 160 and clicked the save button 162 , then the user &# 39 ; s smartphone 6 will display the settings saved page 163 , as shown in fig3 . here the page will inform the user that the changes have been saved . the user may click the return to settings button 164 , which would cause the user &# 39 ; s smartphone to display the settings page 145 as shown in fig3 . alternatively , the user may click the home button 142 on the settings saved page 163 as shown in fig3 , which would cause the user &# 39 ; s smartphone 6 to display the home page 16 , as shown in fig3 . note that when a user posts a parking spot , this information is communicated to the web server 2 . similarly , when a user books a parking spot , this information is communicated to the web server 2 . furthermore the information related to the user &# 39 ; s online status including gps updates and direction of travel on the day of a parking transaction may be forwarded to other users . in the real - time route page 106 of fig2 , for instance , real - time gps updates may be relayed from the web server 2 . note also that data from the data store 3 could also be stored in a cloud as is well known in the art . embodiments of the present invention could include self - driving vehicles , where users could be passengers in such cars , owners of such cars , or the self - driving vehicles could be the users of the system themselves . in one embodiment , the user interface screen could be part of the vehicle itself and gps information collected by way of the vehicle itself , rather than from a smartphone . the foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the invention . various modifications and alterations to the described embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the teachings herein . it will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise numerous techniques which , although not explicitly described herein , embody the principles of the invention and are thus within the scope of the invention , as defined by the claims .
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fig1 is a schematic of overall coding for load data ( ld : load data ) and identification data ( id : identification data ) sent on a jointly used channel in a communication system . transferred data ( td : transferred data ) here consists of load data ( ld ) that is linked to the identification data id in order to make it apparent for which recipient the transferred data td is intended . load data ld and identification data id is linked as part of overall coding , in most cases channel coding ( cc : channel coding ). channel coding is understood as referring to the matching of digital values to the physical transmission medium , referring to , for instance , coding followed immediately by rate matching . overall coding refers in this case to the coding , rate matching , and linking of the load and identification data . it is not , however , absolutely essential for all the listed steps to be carried out . overall coding also can , for instance , include coding alone with no rate matching . although the scheme shown in fig1 is known per se , the prior art and the present invention differ with respect to the procedure employed for overall coding . individual procedural blocks within overall coding cc are shown broken down in fig2 . the load data ld is first subjected to coding c_ld . redundancy is added to the load data ld in the course of such coding , for which , in particular , convolutional codes are used , as a result of which the sent data td can be recovered more reliably on the recipient &# 39 ; s side . the code respectively employed for coding is characterized by its code rate r = k / n , where k is the number of data bits or message bits to be transmitted and n is the number of bits present after coding . as a rule , the efficiency of the code is greater the lower the code rate . however , a problem associated with the coding is that the data rate is reduced by the factor r . in order to match the data rate of the coded data stream to the respectively possible transmission rate , rate matching rm_ld is performed in the transmitter whereby , in keeping with a specific pattern , bits are either removed from or repeated in the data stream . the removal of bits is referred to as “ puncturing ” and their repetition is referred to as “ repeating ”. the identification data id is analogously first subjected to coding c_id and then to rate matching rm_id . the identification data and load data are then linked to each other in a linking operation l , through which the data td being transferred is formed . although the procedure shown in fig2 is known in terms of its principle , the prior art and the present invention differ in the way rate matching is implemented for the load data ld and identification data id . fig3 illustrates the implementation of overall coding of hs - scch part 1 according to the current umts standard specification ( fdd , release 5 ). the load data ld is here formed by the channel information bits x ccs , 1 , x ccs , 2 , . . . , x ccs , 7 . the channel information bits are referred to in specialist technical circles as “ channelization code set bits ”. modulation scheme bit x ms , 1 also flows into the load data . such load data is encoded via a rate 1 / 3 convolutional encoder according to the standard established in 1999 ( release 99 ). eight tail bits appended to the end of the bit block prior to coding enable simpler and more reliable decoding on the recipient &# 39 ; s side . the multiplexer mux enables channel information bits x ccs and the modulation scheme bit x ms to be interrogated in an alternating manner . the totality of data present after the multiplexer &# 39 ; s operations is referred to as x 1 . 16 bits are thus present at the input side of the coder or encoder or , as the case may be , prior to the coding operation c_ld , whereas 48 bits are present at the output side of the encoder encod or , as the case may be , after the coding operation c_ld , owing to the rate 1 / 3 . let this coded bit block be designated z 1 . the index 1 signifies that it is a quantity concerning part 1 of the hs - scch . part 1 of this control channel contains data which the recipient must decode immediately in order to process incoming data on the hs - dsch ( hs - dsch = hs downlink shared channel ) accordingly . the presence of the data of part 2 is correspondingly less time - critical . however , only 40 bits are available on the physical channel , which is to say the actual transmission channel , for transmission for part 1 of the control channel hs - scch . in order to arrive from 48 bits to the 40 bits which can be physically transmitted in part 1 , rate matching is performed according to the following rate matching pattern ( pattern 1 ): from the bit block or the sequence z 1 proceeding from the coding operation c_ld , the bits are punctured at positions 1 , 2 , 4 , 8 , 42 , 45 , 47 , 48 . if use is made of a notation with a second index j , which identifies the bit position and , in the case shown , runs from 1 to 48 , then the bits being punctured can be specified as z 1 , 1 , z 1 , 2 , z 1 , 4 , z 1 , 8 , z 1 , 42 , z 1 , 45 , z 1 , 47 , z 1 , 48 . the first index indicates as previously that it is part 1 of the hs - scch . in this notation , the sequence r 1 , 1 , r 1 , 2 , . . . r 1 , 40 will then be present in fig3 after the rate matching operation . the control channel hs - scch is monitored by a number of mobile stations or mobile radio devices ( ue : user equipment ). to identify the respectively addressed mobile station ue or , as the case may be , so that such mobile station can decode part 1 , and also so that a mobile station which is not addressed will recognize this fact , the load data , consisting of channel information data and of the modulation scheme , is identified via the identification data or , as the case may be , via a specific mask dependent on the mobile station &# 39 ; s identification number . in the case illustrated here , what is termed a scrambling code ( mask ) specific to the mobile station &# 39 ; s identification number is generated on the mobile station &# 39 ; s 16 - bit identification number ( ue id ) via rate 1 / 2coding according to the standard established in 1999 ( release 99 ). the mobile station &# 39 ; s identification number ue id is assigned to the mobile station in the relevant cell by the respective base station . scrambling is understood as “ personalizing ” of the information . this is done via what are termed “ scrambling codes ”, by which the signal is modified in order to separate or to split signals intended for individual terminals or base stations from each other . to generate the scrambling code , the 16 bits of the mobile station &# 39 ; s identification number ue id x ue , 1 , . . . x ue , 16 and the appended eight tail bits are coded according to the 1999 standard ( release 99 ) via the rate 1 / 2convolutional coder ( c_id ). ( 16 + 8 )× 2 = 48 bits of a sequence b are then also present at the output of the convolutional coder . in order to arrive here at the length of 40 bits , for rate matching rm_id the rate matching algorithm taken from the 1999 standard ( release 99 ) is used for puncturing ( rm_id ), during which operation bits b 1 , b 7 , b 13 , b 19 , b 25 , b 31 , b 37 , b 43 in the sequence b , consisting of bits b 1 , b 2 , . . . b 48 , where the index indicates the bit position , are punctured . the necessary reduction from 48 to 40 bits is produced with the sequence c , consisting of bits c 1 , c 2 , . . . c 40 , formed in this way . different rate matching patterns are therefore used for the branch of the load data ld and the branch of the identification data id for rate matching , rm_ld and rm_id respectively , of such data . the reasons for this are as follows : the number of bits present in the branch with the identification data id or , as the case may be , in the branch with the load data ld is generally not the same after the coding stage . the cause of this may lie both in the number of output bits , which is to say in the number of bits in the mobile station &# 39 ; s identification number or , as the case may be , channel information bits or modulation information bits , and in the rate of coding . different rate matching will then be necessary . coding in the coding stage c ld or , as the case may be , c id serves inter alia to interlace the bits so that the original bit sequence x i or , as the case may be , x ue can be restored on the recipient &# 39 ; s side even if transmission conditions are poor . interlacing that is good in these terms will , of course , appear different for different input data x ue or , as the case may be , x i (= x ccs or x ms ), in particular also when different coding rates are used . individual bits consequently have different significance after the coding stage . such different significance depends on the number of coding stage input bits with which an output bit of the coding stage is associated . the greater the number of input bits flowing into the output bit , the more significant will be the output bit for restoring the original data . in one rate matching pattern , when data is punctured it is now preferable to puncture those bits having in present terms lesser significance . in other words when different coding is employed , such as with different convolutional coders , followed by rate matching , different rate matching patterns result in different distance properties in terms of the hamming distances of the resulting code sequences or , as the case may be , codewords , and hence determine the efficiency of the coding . the use of different rate matching patterns and the computing and storage requirements associated therewith pose only a minor problem in the base station as suitable hardware is available there for managing even highly complex computing processes . however , this does not apply to the receiving mobile station . as already mentioned , the present invention seeks to make overall coding , rate matching in particular , less complex than it is at present , which is to say according to the specification according to release 5 . a feature of the present invention is to perform rate matching for identification data id and load data ld according to a common rate matching pattern . basically , two approaches to a solution are conceivable here : i ) using a common rate matching pattern but performing rate matching separately for load data ld and identification data id . ii ) using a common rate matching pattern and performing rate matching in common . fig4 shows a procedural flow embodied according to approach ii ); likewise , for the example of the control channel hs - scch . in this case , the identification data id , here designated identification bit sequence x ue , and the channel information data , here x ccs and x ms , are already linked to each other according to the respective coding c_ld or , as the case may be , c_id , then subjected to common rate matching . such linking is performed via , for instance , an xor function if the two values a bit can in each case assume are defined with 0 and 1 . if the values − 1 and 1 are assumed , linking can be performed via a multiplication operation . it is , however , also possible to use other types of bit - by - bit linking . the data proceeding from the coding operation is designated , analogously to fig3 , z 1 in fig4 . as a departure from fig3 , the bit block or , as the case may be , bit sequence or sequence r 1 here designates the data prior to common rate matching but after linking . the following advantages are achieved by a procedure according to approach i ) or ii ): as rate matching is only performed with one rate matching pattern , decoding in the recipient device , such as the mobile station ue , is commensurately simpler . reduced complexity is already achieved if rate matching is performed separately according to the same pattern for identification data id and load data ld ( approach i ). if rate matching is combined according to approach ii ), this will result in further simplification . a further feature of the present invention is the provision of a rate matching pattern that is suitable as a common scheme approximately equally for load data ld and identification data id . an aspect here , inter alia , is for the hamming distance after linking to be as large as possible ; for example , so that the linked data can be reconstructed as faithfully as possible if transmission was faulty . a large hamming distance is desirable here also , in order , furthermore , to preserve the information content of the load data as well as possible . these and other criteria such as , for instance , the signal - to - noise ratio , are , however , not necessarily mutually independent , a fact that can result , inter alia , in the attempt to find an “ optimized ” rate matching pattern leading to a number of different rate matching patterns which , expressed mathematically , also could be designated as secondary minima of the optimizing problem . among others , some variants have particular advantages for the common rate matching pattern : bits r 1 , 1 , r 1 , 7 , r 1 , 13 , r 1 , 19 , r 1 , 25 , r 1 , 31 , r 1 , 37 , r 1 , 43 are punctured in the sequence r 1 , 1 , r 1 , 2 , . . . , r 1 , 48 , thereby producing the sequence s 1 , 1 , s 1 , 2 . . . s 1 , 40 . an advantage of this is that only a small amount of matching is required in the system currently in use . this puncturing pattern can , like other rate matching patterns , be shifted by , for example , an offset 0 & lt ;= k & lt ; 6 . as such , bits r 1 + k , r 7 + k , r 19 + k , r 25 + k , r 31 + k , r 37 + k , r 43 + k are punctured in the case of the 1999 standard ( release 99 ). b ) the puncturing pattern optimized for the load data of part 1 of the hs - scch “ pattern 1 ” [ 1 ] is used as the puncturing pattern : bits r 1 , 1 , r 1 , 2 , r 1 , 4 , r 1 , 8 , r 1 , 42 , r 1 , 45 , r 1 , 47 , r 1 , 48 of the sequence r 1 , 1 , r 1 , 2 , . . . , r 1 , 48 are punctured , thereby producing the sequence s 1 , 1 , s 1 , 2 . . . s 1 , 40 . this variant is advantageous as it optimally codes the hs - scch data and , furthermore , because the sequences for masking the data in the code space are distanced further from each other , which is to say have a larger what is termed “ hamming distance ”, than in the case of puncturing according to the release 99 puncturing algorithm . the term “ hamming distance ” is understood to be the number of bits by which two equally long codewords differ . this is used for error detection by comparing received data units with valid characters . any correction required is performed applying the probability principle . c ) a new puncturing pattern which simultaneously optimizes the coding characteristics of the data of part 1 of the hs - scch and the detection possibilities of masking with the ue id , can be achieved through optimization whereby the secondary conditions are pre - defined by the data structure in the identification data branch and in the load data branch . as already explained , the proposed simplification of rate matching offers a major advantage particularly on the recipient &# 39 ; s side , thus in a mobile station , for example , owing to less complex decoding . differences in decoding as performed at present and as can be performed according to the present invention are explained below . fig5 shows an exemplary implementation in the receiving device as required by the present specification ( release 99 ). the transferred data td is received via the air interface ai . such transferred data td is demodulated in the demodulator demod . after being demodulated , such data is , on the one hand , routed directly to a bit error counter , and on the other hand , linked to the masking data via , for example , an xor linking or multiplication operation . such masking data is generated in the mobile station from the mobile station &# 39 ; s identification number ue id , which is coded then subjected to rate matching ( rm 2 ). linking to the demodulated , transferred data td takes places immediately thereafter . rate matching rm 2 of the masking data is necessary in order to match the bit lengths of the masking data to the bit length of the received data td . rate matching rm 1 − 1 is rescinded for the linked signal prior to decoding dec . such data is decoded and , to check whether the information was intended for the respectively receiving mobile station , is coded again and subjected to further rate matching rm 1 before being linked to the masking data again . the result of this relinking operation likewise flows into the bit error counter . error detection is based here on a processing of 40 bits , which is to say as many bits as are transmitted over the air interface ai for each hs - scch subframe consisting of three time slots . fig6 shows two exemplary implementations which can be used with rate matching performed according to the present invention . in the top illustration ( dec_ 40 ), bit error detection in the bit error counter is likewise based on 40 bits . as the same rate matching pattern is used in the transmitter for identification data id and load data ld , rate matching is first performed immediately ahead of the bit error counter jointly with the transferred data td received over the air interface . in this way , there is a saving in one rate matching operation compared to the prior art ; namely , as can be seen in fig5 , rate matching of the masking data prior to linking with the received data . specifically , the following steps are shown in the top example in fig6 : the transferred data td is received over the air interface ai . such data is split up after a demodulation operation demod and flows on the one hand in a first branch directly into a bit error counter . rate matching rm − 1 is rescinded or cancelled in the other branch , followed by linking to the masking data generated by coding the mobile station identification number . in contrast to the implementation shown in fig5 , no rate matching of the masking data is necessary as rate matching of the transferred data was already rescinded prior to linking . the linked data undergoes decoding in a decoding operation dec . on the one hand , the required data is then available ; on the other hand , such data is subjected to coding in a further coding operation and linked to the masking data again . this is done for the purpose of error detection in the bit error counter into which the data flows after the relinking operation and a rate matching operation rm . to summarize , it means a saving in one rate matching operation is achieved compared to the implementation shown in fig5 . this is made possible by the use of a common rate matching pattern for load data ld and masking data id in the transmitter . if different rate matching patterns were used , common rate matching in the rate matching unit rm in fig6 ahead of the bit error counter would not lead , for instance , to the original signal . even clearer improvements , such as the saving of two rate matching operations , are achieved in the implementation shown in the lower illustration in fig6 . in the lower illustration ( dec_ 48 ), bit error detection is based on 48 bits . in this case , it is only necessary to rescind rate matching . further rate matching is not required . specifically , the following steps are performed in the lower illustration in fig6 : the transferred data td is received over the air interface ai . rate matching rm - i is then cancelled , an operation which is necessary because , on the one hand , the data is routed in a first branch directly to the bit error counter in which bit error detection takes place based on 48 bits . on the other hand , the data is linked in a second branch to the masking data generated in the mobile station from the mobile station identification number ue id . the required data is then available after linking and immediately ensuing decoding dec . analogously to the top example , for ensuing error detection the data is again subjected to coding cod , then linked to the masking data . in contrast to the top example shown in fig6 , rate matching after linking is not necessary as there are 48 bits on the basis of which error detection is also performed . no rate matching is therefore required in this implementation . the joint use of rate matching patterns has been explained , in particular , for the hs - scch , but it is not restricted to this . load data masking is also used for other control channels , as a consequence of which the present invention can be used . there are further applications basically for any channels in which different data streams are linked to each other for transmission and rate matching is required . although the present invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments , those of skill in the art will recognize that changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth by the hereafter appended claims . r1 - 02 - 0605 , “ coding and rate matching for hs - scch ”, tsg ran wg1 meeting # 25 , paris , 09 - 12 . 04 . 2002 .
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referring now to the drawings in greater detail , in particularly to fig1 there is schematically shown a representation of a conventional programmable delay circuit 10 with exemplary of known elements . in such designs of this type , a plurality of delay elements 11 serially connected to a signal source not shown . each of the delay elements 11 and the signal source are connected to a multiplexer 12 . in operation , a signal is launched serially into the delay elements 11 from the source . when the programmed delay time is achieved , a select signal is generated which controls the multiplexer 12 and generates an output signal with the appropriate time delay . it has been found that the minimum delay adjustment of a digital programmable delay is limited by the speed of devices and the minimum achievable delay of the delay element . further a large multiplexer is required when a wide range of delay setting is needed as the type shown in fig1 the present invention is shown in fig2 which is a hierarchical design 15 having a plurality of stages 17 . each stage 17 includes a pre - driver , a delay element , an early passgate group , and a late passgate group . the stages are serially connected and are all connected in parallel to a decoding circuit 25 which is programmed by a predetermined delay setting . in operation a source signal is inputted to the pre - driver which generates a clock ( clk ) early signal to the early passgate group and a signal to the delay element . in turn the delay element provides a signal to the next adjoining stage &# 39 ; s pre - driver and the sequence is repeated through all the stages . in each stage , the late passgate group receives a clock ( clk ) delayed signal from the passgate group of the subsequent stage . both the early and late passgates in each stage receives an input control signal from the decoding circuit and outputs a signal to either to the previous late passgate group or at the first stage generates an output to the final output driver . the present invention can be adapted for high performance large chips with multiple clock meshes or domains , where the timing of the clock signals may need to fine - tuned under many situations . for example , clock timing may need to be adjusted on a per chip basis due to non - uniform device speed or processing variations across the same chip to minimize clock skews . chip design may have clock skews at different configurations when the voltages or clock speeds and the need for dynamic adjustments . being able to make fine adjustment as a small percentage of the clock cycle time is critical in improving chip performance . accordingly the present invention uses a clock interpolation circuit to achieve high delay resolution . therefore the first step is to consider the total devices sizes of the passgate which is sized to be adequate to drive the load attached to the output that redrives the clock signals out . in the next step , the passgates as shown in fig3 are subdivided into “ n ” passgates equally . if n passgates are used for each group , each passgate will have l / n relative to the original devices sizes determined in the first step . by doing so , the total loading on node n 1 and node n 2 will be independent of the number of division , n , chosen . so identical clock / signal slew / delay may be maintained . only tri - state passgates with individual controls like the two examples shown in fig4 can be used to pass either the earlier or delayed clock . the outputs of the passgates are shorted together . the passgates should have the same input capacitive loading whether the passgates are turned on or off . this is important so that the drivers driving node n 1 and n 2 will see a constant load and the clock slew and delay at node n 1 and n 2 can be maintained at different mux settings . fig4 shows the tri - state passgate circuits . a control signal for a particular passgate is re - buffered twice with inverters . the re - buffered control signal , control_b and control_int , are used to control the passgate so that any noise at the incoming control signal may be filtered out . it &# 39 ; s critical to keep the noise at control_b and control_int down so they don &# 39 ; t propagate to output nodes . it &# 39 ; s also critical to use tri - state passgate so inactive passgates do not fight with active ones . note in fig3 each passgate should get an independent control , a 1 - an , b 1 - bn . but at any given time , there should be exactly n out of the 2n controls are turned high if each passgate has the same drive strength . the other n controls should be low . this way we can keep constant drive strength from the passgates to drive the output node and so maintain identical slew . if drive strength of the passgates are not identical , only the settings of the controls that results in the same drive strength should be used . node n 2 is delayed version of node n 1 . since some tri - state passgates redriving n 1 and n 2 , respectively , may be turned on at the same time , the waveform of the output node will be the average of the driving effect of all the turned - on passgates . t d0 is the minimum delay achieved by turning on only passgates in group 1 , by changing the ratio of number passgates turned on in group 1 and group 2 , clocks / signals with delay between t d0 and t d0 + t d where the minimum delay resolution is approximately l / n * t d , n may be increased to further reduce per - step delay at the expense of more control signals but not total passgate device sizes . the delay of the non - inverting element , t d , maybe chosen to fit the needs of the applications . the delay , t d , general should not be too large so that the redrivers in the passgates from different groups will be fighting each other for too long and create large dc current . when longer delay is needed , multi - stage programmable delay circuit described hereinafter should be used . to create truly linear delay vs . the control settings , the waveform at node n 1 and n 2 should be as similar as possible . the predriver in fig3 should be sized to have the drive strength as the delay element . a dummy load - matching delay element should be added to n 2 to maintain the capacitive loading on n 2 the same as that of n 1 . one major advantage of this invention is that no matter what delay setting is chosen , the output clock slew will stay constant . keeping slew constant is critical to linearity of the programmable delay . it &# 39 ; s convenient to use the same device sizes for all individual passgates like the examples shown above . by doing so , it &# 39 ; s easier to make sure the sum of active passgate device sizes stay constant at all settings and thus achieve good linearity . but it is also possible to use passgates of different sizes . for example combining two or more passgates into one to save number of control signals . one example is to use passgates of sizes 1x , 2x , 4x , 8x . any driver strength from 0x to 15x may be achieved with these 4 passgates . the decoding circuits that generate these control signals need to be carefully designed so the total drive strength from associated passgate groups stay constant . in the actual implementation , the linearity of delay vs . control settings may be further enhanced by tuning the device size of each passgate differently as shown in fig5 . to keep the output signal slew consistent when changing the delay settings , it is important to tune the passgate and final driver sizes so the signal rise / fall times at the output are larger than the per stage delay , t d . to extend the programmable delay range , multi - stage structure may be employed as shown in fig6 . the concerns about this structure are that the total capacitive loading on the output node increases with the number of stages . the device sizes of the passgates need to be increased and returned . if high number of stage is required for long maximum delay the whole circuit size may not be reasonable . this structure is not scalable for long maximum delay . a scalable hierarchical structure shown in fig2 may be used to circumvent the above problem . in this structure , the circuits are divided into stages . each stage has only two passgate groups . to ensure that the clocks / signals feeding the early and late passgate groups of the same stage have the same phase , the predriver and the delay element should be both inverting or non - inverting . like the circuit in fig3 , the device size of the pre - driver should be tuned to match the device sizes of the passgate groups so that clk early and clk late have similar waveforms . additional delay may be added to the predriver if needed . the controls of passgate groups from the decoding circuits are implemented as following : 1 . only one stage can be active at a time . the active stage will have controls like the one in fig3 to achieve clock averaging between the early and late clocks of the active ; stage ; 2 . all stages before the active stage will have their early passgate group turned off and its late passgate group completely on ; 3 . the stage immediate after the active stage becomes a dummy stage will have their early passgate group complete on and late passgate group completely off ; and 4 . all stages after the dummy stage becomes inactive stages . their settings are not important because the return clocks generated by these stages will be gated off by the dummy stage . due to requirement of number 3 above , there has to be a dummy stage as the last stage to provide the path for delayed clock . fig7 illustrates the active clock paths when stage 3 is active in a 4 stage system . the delays of various elements in fig7 are denoted as : the minimum and maximum delays when a particular stage is active are ( where n is the number of independently controlled passgates in each passgate group ) active minimum maximum stage delay delay resolution 1 tpr + tp 2 * tpr + td + 2 * tp ( tpr + td + tp )/ n 2 2 * tpr + td + 3 * tpr + 2 * td + ( tpr + td + tp )/ n 2 * tp 3 * tp 3 3 * tpr + 2 * 4 * tpr + 3 * ( tpr + td + tp )/ n td + 3 * tp td + 4 * tp — j j * tpr + ( j − 1 ) * ( j + 1 ) * tpr + j * ( tpr + td + tp )/ n td + j * tp td + ( j + 1 ) * tp one variation of this structure is that different number of control may be used on different stages to achieve variable resolution on each stage , as shown in fig8 . this way , more control may be given to the delay range used most often for a particular application . for more flexibility , programmable delay elements can be used to create delays between adjacent stages as shown in fig9 . this way one can focus on a certain range of delays more precisely and potentially save circuit areas . another possibility in this design is to provide separate controls for the p and n devices in the tri - stage passgates to vary the rising and falling slew of the output clock waveform independently for clock duty cycle adjustment as illustrated in fig1 . since the structure in fig6 is usable for small number of stages , one can use the structure in fig6 as the last stage to save some device areas as shown in fig1 . in some applications , it may be desired to minimize the minimum delay through the programmable delay circuits . in those cases , we can eliminate either the pre - driver or the final driver or both at the cost of less linearity and slightly inconsistent output rise and fall times as shown in fig1 . to save power , the clock may turn off after the dummy stage and not sent to inactive stages . it should be noted that all equivalent nodes in all stages have identical capacitive loads and driver device sizes . this will ensure the waveforms matches at all stages and enhance linearity of the programmable delay ; and circuits with small and large delay ranges may all be synthesized from the base module with the same structure from logic , circuit , and layout point of view . while the preferred embodiment to the invention has been described , it will be understood that those skilled in the art , both now and in the future , may make various improvements and enhancements which fall within the scope of the claims which follow . these claims should be construed to maintain the proper protection for the invention first described .
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to achieve the aforementioned objectives the invention has developed a novel traction device for heat - sensitive ink ribbon which allows to use the entire ribbon , by means of a simple and inexpensive device . with this purpose the device of the invention includes novel means for rewinding and tensioning the ribbon , characterised in that they include a moving support provided with guiding means for the ribbon , so that the ribbon executes an additional motion . in addition means are provided which brake the cylinder of origin so that when the ribbon is driven in the forward direction with the origin cylinder braked , the ribbon makes the support advance against the action of an elastic element which complements said support , thereby reducing the additional path traveled by the ribbon , so that after marking the driving means force a backwards motion of the ribbon . this backwards motion implies that the support moves back under the action of the elastic element , to place the marking head in a segment prior to the end of the marking already performed , equivalent to the space traveled by the ribbon during the time taken by the header to descend when making another mark . thus , when this new mark is made the header will meet the ribbon just after the last marking performed , so that the entire ribbon is used in the marking . in this manner the forwards - backwards motion of the ribbon does not affect in any way the cylinder of origin , which remains braked , thus greatly simplifying the forwards - backwards motion of the ribbon . the braking means for the origin cylinder are driven by the moving support , so that after performing one or several markings with the corresponding advances and returns the support will release the braking means , to unroll a length of ribbon as requested by the traction means in a forward direction . the braking means of the cylinder of origin acts when the moving support reaches a set advance position in which in contacts said braking means and these release the cylinder of origin . thus while maintaining the advance of the traction means , the ribbon is unrolled by successive brakings - releases of the origin cylinder . afterwards the traction rotation is inverted making the support return due to the action of the spring , so that the origin cylinder is again locked . the entire process is repeated successively , and all while maintaining the ribbon tense by means of the elastic element which aids the moving support . in order to attain this functionality the braking means of the origin cylinder are determined by a swivelling lever aided by a spring provided with a shoe , so that the spring keeps the shoe presses against the shaft of the origin cylinder . the lever is placed in the path of the support , so that when the support contacts with it the lever swivels against the action of the spring , causing - the release of the origin cylinder . this situation allows unwinding of the origin cylinder when the ribbon is tractioned . the elastic element which complements the support is a spring . said support is retained in guides in which it slides during its forward and backward motion . additionally , a stop is provided which limits the run of the support during its backwards motion , in order to ensure the correct operation of the device . the guide means for the ribbon provided in the support consist of a cylinder which aids the advance and return of the ribbon . these and further characteristics of the invention will be made apparent in view of the accompanying drawings , where for purposes of illustration only the following is shown . fig1 shows an elevation view of an embodiment for the traction device for heat sensitive ink ribbon of the invention , in which the origin cylinder is represented in a discontinuous line to reveal the entire braking mechanism of the shaft of said cylinder . fig2 to 5 show a schematic representation of the marking process using the device of the invention . a description of the invention follows with reference to the figures described above . the traction device of the invention comprises a removable frame ( 17 ) mounted on a machine with heat sensitive marking devices which require heat - sensitive ribbon for said marking process . in removable frame ( 17 ) is included an origin cylinder ( 1 ) which carries the heat - sensitive ink ribbon ( 2 ), which is guided by rollers ( 3 ) to a traction cylinder ( 4 ) which is related by a transmission belt ( 15 ) to a rewinding cylinder ( 5 ). when the removable frame ( 17 ) is mounted on the marking machine its heads are next to the lower horizontal segment ( 18 ) of the heat - sensitive ink ribbon ( 2 ) ( not shown in the figure as they are an the object of the invention ). additionally the removable frame ( 17 ) has a moving support ( 6 ) retained by guides ( 8 ) and which includes a roller ( 7 ) on which is guided the heat - sensitive ink ribbon ( 2 ), so that the latter follows an additional path ( 16 ). the moving support ( 6 ) is complemented by a spring ( 13 ) which pulls on it so that the tension of the heat - sensitive ink ribbon ( 2 ) is always maintained . at the rear end of the run of the moving support ( 6 ) is provided a stop ( 9 ) which limits its run . additionally , a lever ( 10 ) is provided which is retained by a shaft ( 12 ) and which includes a shoe ( 11 ). lever ( 10 ) is complemented by a spring ( 14 ), so that said spring keeps the shoe ( 11 ) pressed against the shaft ( 1 ′) of the origin cylinder ( 1 ), and such that an end of lever ( 10 ) is placed at the end of the advance path of the moving support ( 6 ). thus , to begin with the ribbon is mounted so that the el moving support ( 6 ) is in contact with stop ( 9 ) so that the origin cylinder ( 1 ) is braked . marking is performed by placing head ( 19 ) on point ( a ) ( fig2 ) while the cylinder ( 4 ) causes the advance of the heat - sensitive ink ribbon ( 2 ), which pulls on the moving support ( 6 ), which overcomes the resistance of the spring ( 13 ) and moves along the guides ( 8 ), reducing the additional path ( 16 ). during the advance of the ribbon the marking takes place ( a - b ) ( fig3 ). afterwards the rotation of the cylinder ( 4 ) is inverted , while maintaining the origin cylinder ( 1 ) braked so that as the support ( 13 ) is pulling on the support ( 6 ) the ribbon is forced to return until the header is placed at point ( c ). the distance ( c - b ) corresponds to the distance advanced by the ribbon in the time required for the header to descend and contact the said ribbon ( 2 ). therefore , after the header is located on point ( c ) a new marking takes place , with the advance of the ribbon and the descent of the header ( 19 ), which contacts the ribbon at point ( b ), exactly where the previous marking ended , at which point begins the marking ( b - d ). this process is repeated to perform successive markings , so that there are no unused segments of ribbon between markings . during the process described the moving support ( 6 ) runs from the position where it is in contact with stop ( 9 ) until it presses on lever ( 10 ), which lever is jointed to shaft ( 12 ), causing the release of shaft ( 1 ′) of the origin cylinder ( 1 ). thus the ribbon is unrolled in an amount required by the traction . since the origin cylinder is braked again as soon as the moving support ( 6 ) stops pressing on the lever ( 10 ), to unroll the required length of ribbon the traction must act in the advance direction , with consecutive brakings - releases of the origin cylinder until the required ribbon is unrolled . said brakings - releases occur so quickly that they can hardly be appreciated by the eye . after the required length of ribbon is unrolled the traction rotation direction is inverted so that the moving support ( 6 ) travels back towards the stop ( 9 ) as far as determined by the action of the spring ( 13 ), all such that the ribbon tension is maintained . in addition , during this return motion of the support ( 6 ) it stops acting on the lever ( 10 ), so that by action of the spring ( 14 ) the shoe ( 11 ) again contacts the shaft ( 1 ′) of the origin cylinder ( 1 ), again causing the braking of said cylinder ( 1 ). the several brakings are attained quite efficiently as the inertia of the cylinder ( 1 ) during its unrolling is small . it should be remarked that for high marking speeds the cylinder inertia is a significant parameter , as if it acquires a high inertia braking is hindered and thus the precision of the device is reduced . the above described process is repeated sequentially until exhausting the heat - sensitive ink ribbon ( 2 ) wound on cylinder ( 1 ). therefore , the device of the invention allows to fully use the ribbon by means of a simple , precise and inexpensive mechanism .
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a lighting fixture 10 includes a housing space 12 to receive a sensor module 14 , as shown in fig1 . an additional embodiment of a lighting fixture 16 includes a sensor module 18 provided with a housing space 20 to receive a transmitter module 22 , as shown in fig2 . a point - of - purchase sales display 23 for use in a retail setting includes a product display board 24 and preferably an adjacent parts bin 26 . display board 24 is shown set up over parts bin 26 in an area where a customer 28 can access the display and parts bin . as shown in fig3 , a display board 24 may be divided into five main regions 30 a - e , each region for displaying different subcomponents of a lighting fixture assembly . regions 30 a - e display various styles of lighting fixtures and various styles of both sensor and transmitter modules . each region 30 a - e preferably includes appropriate signage designating what subcomponents are displayed in that particular region . each of the various lighting fixtures 10 , 16 displayed on the display board 24 is preferably supplied with electrical power so as to demonstrate the different capabilities of sensor modules 14 , 18 and transmitter module 22 . an identification code 32 is preferably associated with each subcomponent displayed on the display board 24 . parts bin 26 includes a plurality of compartments 34 corresponding to the number of different parts available as indicated on the display board 24 . each compartment 34 is labeled with an identification code 32 that corresponds with one of the identification codes 32 on the display board 24 . each compartment contains the same subcomponent displayed on the display board 24 associated with that identifier . as shown in fig4 , the display board 24 also includes a set of instructions 36 visible and readable by a consumer 28 standing near the display 23 . instructions 36 detail a set of distinct steps on how to use the display . the consumer is first directed to choose a first subcomponent , such as a lighting fixture 10 , 16 . the consumer is then directed to select a second subcomponent , if desired , such as a sensor module 14 , 18 . the consumer is then directed to select one or more additional subcomponents , if desired , such as a transmitter module 22 . these instructions , along with the hereinbefore described sales display 23 , enable a consumer to simply and easily select an uncontrolled or controlled lighting fixture . a method of presenting a lighting fixture 10 , 16 with interchangeable subcomponents for sale to the retail public includes using the sales display 23 in conjunction with lighting fixtures 10 , 16 in a publicly accessible retail setting . initially , a retailer sets up the sales display 23 in an area of a retail store where a consumer 28 can easily conceive the display board 24 , activate sensor modules 14 , 18 and transmitter module 22 , and access compartments 34 in parts bin 26 . for example , a retailer might set up the sales display 23 in an open aisle area accessible to the public in a retail store . the retailer may then stock each of the compartments 34 with the appropriate subcomponents corresponding to the subcomponents shown in the display 23 as hereinbefore described . a consumer 28 interested in purchase is allowed to approach the display 23 are the consumer may read the instructions 36 . the consumer 28 then follows the instructions and selects the subcomponent or suhcomponents he or she wishes to purchase . the consumer 28 then reads the identification code 32 on the display board 24 associated with the selected subcomponent or subcomponents , identifies the appropriate compartment 34 with the same identification code or codes 32 , and removes one of the corresponding subcomponents contained within the compartment 34 for each selected subcomponent . the foregoing description discloses and describes merely exemplary methods and embodiments of the present invention . as will be understood by those familiar with the art , the invention may be embodied in other specific forms and utilize other materials without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof . accordingly , the disclosure of the present invention is intended to be illustrative , but not limiting , of the scope of the invention , which is set forth in the following claims .
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