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referring to fig1 - 3b , a performance testing apparatus for heat pipes in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises an immovable portion 20 and a movable portion 30 movably mounted on the immovable portion 20 . the immovable portion 20 is made of metal having good heat conductivity and is held on a platform of a supporting member ( not shown ) such as a testing table or so on . cooling passageways ( not shown ) are defined in an inner portion of the immovable portion 20 , to allow coolant flow therein . an inlet 22 and an outlet 22 communicate the passageways with a constant temperature coolant circulating device ( not shown ); therefore , the passageways , inlet 22 , outlet 22 and the coolant circulating device corporately define a cooling system for the coolant circulating therein to remove heat from the heat pipe in test . the immovable portion 20 has a cooling groove 24 defined in a top face thereof , for receiving a condensing section of the heat pipe to be tested therein and removing heat from the heat pipe . two temperature sensors 26 are inserted into the immovable portion 20 from a bottom thereof so as to position detecting portions ( not labeled ) of the sensors 26 in the cooling groove 24 . the detecting portions of the sensors 26 are capable of automatically contacting the heat pipe in order to detect a temperature of the condensing section of the heat pipe . in order to prevent heat in the immovable portion 20 from spreading to the supporting member , an insulating plate ( not shown ) is disposed between the performance testing apparatus and the supporting member . the movable portion 30 , corresponding to the cooling groove 24 of the immovable portion 20 , has a positioning groove 32 defined therein , whereby a testing channel 50 is cooperatively defined by the cooling groove 24 and the positioning groove 32 when the movable portion 30 moves to reach the immovable portion 20 . thus , an intimate contact between the heat pipe and the movable and immovable portions 30 , 20 defining the channel 50 can be realized , thereby reducing heat resistance between the heat pipe and the movable and immovable portions 30 , 20 . cooling passageways ( not shown ) are defined in an inner portion of the immovable portion 30 , for coolant to flow therein . an inlet 33 and an outlet 33 communicate the passageways with a constant temperature coolant circulating device ( not shown ); therefore , the passageways , inlet 33 , outlet 33 and the coolant circulating device cooperatively define a cooling system for the coolant to circulate therein to remove heat from the heat pipe during testing . two temperature sensors 36 are inserted into the movable portion 30 from a top thereof to reach a position wherein detecting portions ( not labeled ) of the sensors 36 are located in the positioning groove 32 and capable of automatically contacting the heat pipe to detect the temperature of the condensing section of the heat pipe . the movable portion 30 has a plurality of cylindrical posts 35 extending downwardly integrally from a bottom face thereof towards the immovable portion 20 . the cylindrical posts 35 are evenly located at two sides of the groove 32 of the movable portion 30 . corresponding to the posts 35 of the movable portion 30 , the immovable portion 20 has a plurality of positioning holes 25 defined in a top face thereof . the posts 35 are slidably inserted into the corresponding holes 25 . the posts 35 are entirely embedded in the holes 25 when the movable portion 30 moves to the immovable portion 20 ; therefore , the bottom face of the movable portion 30 contacts the top face of the immovable portion 20 . the posts 35 and the holes 25 concavo - convexly cooperate to avoid the movable portion 30 from deviating from the immovable portion 30 during test of the heat pipes , thereby ensuring the grooves 24 , 32 of the immovable , movable portions 20 , 30 to precisely align with each other . accordingly , the channel 50 can be accurately formed for precisely receiving the condensing section of the heat pipe therein for test . alternatively , the immovable portion 20 can have a plurality of posts while the movable portion 30 can have a plurality of holes corresponding to the posts . the channel 50 as shown in the preferred embodiment has a circular cross section enabling it to receive the condensing section of the heat pipe having a correspondingly circular cross section . alternatively , the channel 50 can have a rectangular cross section where the condensing section of the heat pipe also has a flat rectangular configuration . generally , in order to ensure that the heat pipe is in close contact with the movable and immovable portions 30 , 20 , a clamping member is applied to retain the movable portion 30 together with the immovable portion 20 . the immovable portion 20 is fixed on a supporting frame 10 . a driving device 40 is installed on the supporting frame 10 to drive the movable portion 30 to make accurate linear movements relative to the immovable portion 20 along a vertical direction , thereby realizing the intimate contact between the heat pipe and the movable and immovable portions 30 , 20 ; thus , heat resistance between the condensing section of the heat pipe and the movable and immovable portions 30 , 20 can be minimized . the supporting frame 10 comprises a seat 12 which in accordance with the preferred embodiment is an electromagnetic holding chuck , by which the testing apparatus can be easily fixed at any desired position which is provided with a platform made of ferroalloy . a first plate 14 is secured on the seat 12 ; a second plate 16 hovers over the first plate 14 ; a plurality of supporting rods 15 interconnect the first and second plates 14 , 16 for supporting the second plate 16 above the first plate 14 . the seat 12 , the first and second plates 14 , 16 and the rods 15 constitute the supporting frame 10 for assembling and positioning the immovable and movable portions 20 , 30 therein . the first plate 14 has the immovable portion 20 fixed thereon . in order to prevent heat in the immovable portion 20 from spreading to the first plate 14 , an insulating plate 28 is disposed between the immovable portion 20 and the first plate 14 . the first plate 14 has a top face defining a positioning concave 145 therein in which the insulating plate 28 is positioned . the insulating plate 28 defines a pond 285 in a top face thereof in which a bottom of the immovable portion 20 is positioned . the insulating plate 28 has an elongated slot 282 defined in a bottom face thereof , wherein the bottom face abuts the first plate 14 , and two through holes 284 vertically extend therethrough and communicate with the slot 282 . the through holes 284 and slot 282 are used for extension of wires ( not shown ) of the temperature sensors 26 to connect with a monitoring computer ( not shown ). the driving device 40 in this preferred embodiment is a step motor , although it can be easily apprehended by those skilled in the art that the driving device 40 can also be a pneumatic cylinder or a hydraulic cylinder . the driving device 40 is installed on the second plate 16 of the supporting frame 10 . the driving device 40 is fixed to the second plate 16 above the movable portion 30 . a shaft ( not labeled ) of the driving device 40 extends through the second plate 16 of the supporting frame 10 . the shaft has a threaded end ( not shown ) threadedly engaging with a bolt 42 secured to a board 34 of the movable portion 30 . the board 34 is fastened to the movable portion 30 . when the shaft rotates , the bolt 42 with the board 34 and the movable portion 30 is moved upwardly or downwardly . two through apertures ( not labeled ) are defined in the board 34 of the movable portion 30 for extension of wires ( not labeled ) of the temperature sensors 36 to connect with the monitoring computer . in use , the driving device 40 drives the movable portion 30 to make accurate linear movement relative to the immovable portion 20 . for example , the movable portion 30 is driven to depart a certain distance such as 5 millimeters from the immovable portion 20 to facilitate the condensing section of the heat pipe which needs to be tested to be inserted into the channel 50 or withdrawn from the channel 50 after the heat pipe has been tested . on the other hand , the movable portion 30 can be driven to move toward the immovable portion 20 to thereby realize the intimate contact between the condensing section of the heat pipe and the immovable and movable portions 20 , 30 during which the test is performed . accordingly , the requirement for the testing , i . e . accuracy , ease of use and speed can be realized by the testing apparatus in accordance with the present invention . it can be understood , positions of the immovable portion 20 and the movable portion 30 can be exchanged , i . e ., the movable portion 30 being located on the first plate 14 of the supporting frame 10 , the immovable portion 20 being fixed to the second plate 16 of the supporting frame 10 , and the driving device 40 being positioned adjacent to the movable portion 30 . alternatively , the driving device 40 can be installed to the immovable portion 20 . in a further alternative , each of the immovable and movable portions 20 , 30 has one driving device 40 installed thereon to move them toward / away from each other . in use , the condensing section of the heat pipe is received in the groove 24 of the immovable portion 20 when the movable portion 30 is moved away from the immovable portion 20 . then the movable portion 30 is moved to the immovable portion 20 with the posts 35 of the movable portion 30 being slidably inserted into the holes 25 of the immovable portion 20 to reach the position wherein the grooves 24 , 32 of the immovable and movable portions 20 , 30 accurately constitute the channel 50 . thus , the condensing section of the heat pipe is tightly fitted in the channel 50 . the sensors 26 , 36 are in thermal connection with the condensing section of the heat pipe ; therefore , the sensors 26 , 36 work to accurately send detected temperatures of the condensing section of the heat pipe to the monitoring computer . based on the temperatures obtained by the plurality of sensors 26 , 36 , an average temperature can be obtained by the monitoring computer very quickly ; therefore , performance of the heat pipe can be very quickly decided . referring to fig4 a and 4b , an immovable portion 20 and a movable portion 30 of a performance testing apparatus for heat pipes in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the present invention are illustrated . the alternative embodiment is similar to the previous preferred embodiment , and the main difference therebetween is that the movable portion 30 of the alternative embodiment has two elongated boards 35 a extending from a bottom face thereof and toward the immovable portion 30 . the two boards 35 a are located at two opposite sides of the groove 32 of the movable portion 30 . the immovable portion 20 defines two positioning slots 25 a in a top face thereof , corresponding to the boards 35 a . the boards 35 a are capable of slidably received in the corresponding slots 25 a so that the movable portion 30 can have an accurate linear movement relative to the immovable portion 20 . alternatively , the immovable portion 20 can extend boards while the movable portion 30 can define slots receiving the boards . additionally , in the present invention , in order to lower cost of the testing apparatus , the insulating plate 28 and the board 34 can be made from low - cost material such as pe ( polyethylene ), abs ( acrylonitrile butadiene styrene ), pf ( phenol - formaldehyde ), ptfe ( polytetrafluoroethylene ) and so on . the immovable portion 20 and the movable portion 30 can be made from copper ( cu ) or aluminum ( al ). the immovable portion 20 can have silver ( ag ) or nickel ( ni ) plated on an inner face defining the groove 24 to prevent oxidization of the inner face . likewise , the movable portion 30 can have sliver or nickel plated on an inner face defining the groove 32 . it is believed that the present embodiments and their advantages will be understood from the foregoing description , and it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages , the examples hereinbefore described merely being preferred or exemplary embodiments of the invention .
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referring to fig1 and 2 , there is illustrated the preferred embodiment of the present invention , designated generally as 10 , which is a weldless aluminum pallet comprising interlocking parts . the pallet 10 generally may have any design known in the industry as a “ stringer design ,” in that the pallet 10 has at least two outside stringers 11 and at least one inside stringer 12 , to which a plurality of slats 13 are attached . by way of example , the possible pallet 10 designs may include : single - faced , in which slats 13 are arranged to form a top load - bearing face , and the opposite or “ bottom ” slats 13 , if any , do not form a load - bearing face ; double - faced , in which slats 13 are arranged to form top and bottom load - bearing faces ; and reversible , in which the pallet 10 is double - faced and the top and bottom faces are identical . the faces are substantially planar in a plane parallel to the plane defined by lines x and y in fig2 . any pallet 10 design may further be flush , having slats 13 that do not hang over the outer edges of the outside stringers 11 ; or winged , having top slats 13 or top and bottom slats 13 extending beyond the outer edges of the outside stringers 11 . the preferred pallet 10 is a double - faced pallet 10 having 1 inside stringer 12 , 5 top slats 13 and 3 bottom slats 13 . a reversible pallet 10 having 7 top slats 13 and 7 bottom slats 13 is shown in fig3 . the designs shown in fig1 - 3 are flush pallets 10 . the dimensions of the pallet 10 are chosen to conform to a standardized pallet size . the preferred embodiment conforms to the international standard of 48 inches by 40 inches , wherein 48 inches is the stringer 11 , 12 length . the pallet 10 may have any desired height , typically chosen according to the desired use , but preferably the height is between 4 and 5 inches . the present inventive pallet 10 is made of aluminum , which may be pure aluminum or an aluminum alloy . preferably , the material is 6005 - t6 aluminum alloy , representing the most favorable combination of strength and cost - effectiveness . the selection of aluminum alloyed with magnesium and silicon is easier to extrude than other alloys , and can be hardened to near - steel strength . other alloys and degrees of tempering may be used . the preferred alloy allows the parts of the pallet 10 to be extruded with a wall thickness of as thin as 0 . 094 inches . because the weight of the pallet 10 is a significant concern , the present invention contemplates a preferred heavy - duty and a preferred light - duty design . the preferred heavy - duty pallet 10 has stringers 11 , 12 with 0 . 125 inch thick walls . the preferred light - duty pallet 10 has stringers 11 , 12 with vertical walls that are 0 . 094 inches thick . the horizontal exterior walls of the light - duty stringers 11 , 12 remain at 0 . 125 inches thick in order to receive the neck of the slats &# 39 ; 13 projections as described below . further , the light - duty stringers 11 , 12 may be up to an inch shorter than the heavy - duty stringers 11 , 12 to further reduce the weight of the pallet 10 . the light - duty pallet 10 may be about 50 %- 80 % of the weight of the heavy - duty pallet , most preferably about 75 %, depending on the chosen pallet design . referring to fig4 , 5 a , and 5 b , the slat 13 comprises a slat body 30 having an outer surface 31 and an inner surface 32 . the outer surface 31 represents a portion of the top or bottom face of the pallet 10 ; that is , the outer surfaces 31 of all of the top slats 13 form the top face of the pallet 10 , and the outer surfaces 31 of all of the bottom slats 13 form the bottom face of the pallet 10 . the outer surface 31 is substantially flat and may be planar , as shown in fig5 a . the outer surface 31 may alternatively be textured to increase the amount of friction between the face of the pallet and the goods placed thereon . the outer surface 31 may be serrated , as shown in fig5 b , or ribbed , or have nodes or treads formed thereon . preferably , the texture is one that can be formed during the extrusion process , as in the serration shown in fig5 b . alternatively , the texture may be added to the outer surface 31 after the extrusion process , such as by applying a textured coating . the inner surface 32 is planar and contacts the stringers 11 , 12 when the pallet 10 is formed . the slat body 30 may have any dimensions conducive to forming the pallet . the preferred height is 0 . 125 inches , giving the preferred slat 13 sufficient load - bearing capacity . the preferred width is about 5 inches . the length of the slat body 30 depends on whether the pallet 10 is flush or winged , with the preferred slat body 30 measuring 39 . 75 inches in length . at least one projection 33 extends out from the inner surface 32 substantially perpendicularly to the inner surface 32 . preferably , there is 1 projection 33 centrally located on the top surface 32 . the projection 33 is preferably integral with the slat body 30 and is extruded together with the slat body 30 . the projection 33 comprises a neck 34 connected to the top surface 32 , and a tongue 35 connected to the neck 34 . the projection 33 is configured to cooperate with a groove formed into the stringers 11 , 12 as described below , such that the slat 13 interlocks with the stringers 11 , 12 to form the pallet 10 . preferably , the neck 34 is about 0 . 125 inches square in cross - section . the tongue 35 is substantially wider than the neck 34 , having a cross - sectional shape that provides substantial contact with the surfaces of the groove in each stringer 11 , 12 to hold the slat 13 securely to the stringers 11 , 12 . the preferred cross - sectional shape of the tongue 35 is illustrated in fig5 a - b , being a circle having a radius of about 0 . 219 inches , with segments removed from the top and bottom of the circle so that the height of the tongue 35 is about 0 . 313 inches . the preferred height of the projection 33 is therefore about 0 . 438 inches . fig6 - 8 illustrate the preferred outside stringer 11 . the outside stringer 11 has two vertical walls — an outside wall 51 and an inside wall 52 . a horizontal top wall 53 and horizontal bottom wall 54 connect the outside wall 51 to the inside wall 52 , leaving the outside stringer 11 substantially hollow . it will be understood that for double - faced , reversible , and double - winged pallets 10 , the top wall 53 and bottom wall 54 are interchangeable ; that is , the outside stringer 11 is symmetrical about the midpoint of the vertical walls , so “ top ” and “ bottom ” merely identify the wall and do not require one wall to be disposed above or below the other . the outside stringer 11 is preferably 2 inches wide and between 4 and 5 inches high , including the height of the lips 58 described below . one or more ribs 55 may further connect the outside wall 51 to the inside wall 52 , adding structural stability to the outside stringer 11 . a notch 56 may be formed into the outside wall 51 . the notch 56 provides a place to insert a pallet 10 tag ( not shown ), such as a radio frequency identification (“ rfid ”) tag , or a wireless (“ wifi ”) tag . the pallet tag is placed in the notch 56 so that it does not protrude from the outside wall 51 . the notch 56 may be sized to accommodate the desired pallet tag . the preferred heavy - duty pallet 10 has a notch that is 2 . 375 inches wide and 0 . 406 inches deep , accommodating a confidex model 3000072 or similar rfid tag . the preferred light - duty pallet 10 has a notch that is 1 . 375 inches wide and 0 . 25 inches deep , accommodating a confidex model hao122b75 or similar rfid tag . the outside stringer 11 may have a plurality of screw bosses 57 formed onto the inner surfaces of the outside wall 51 , inside wall 52 or both . the screw bosses 57 each receive a fastener used to secure a cap 61 onto either end of the outside stringer 11 . the outside wall 51 may comprise one or two lips 58 that extend vertically past the top wall 53 , bottom wall 54 , or both walls 53 , 54 . the lips 58 serve to abut the ends of the slats 13 , retaining the slats 13 in position and preventing the slats 13 from hanging over the edge of the outside stringer 11 . a lip 58 is preferably the same height as a slat 13 so it does not project above the face of the pallet 10 . the number and orientation of the lips 58 will depend on the pallet 10 design : a single - faced flush pallet 10 may have a lip 58 on the top , and may also have a lip 58 on the bottom if slats 13 are to be attached thereto ; a double - faced or reversible flush pallet 10 may have lips 58 on the top and bottom ; a single - winged pallet 10 may have a lip 58 on the bottom ; and a double - winged pallet 10 will not have any lips 58 . a plurality of grooves 62 are formed into the outside stringer 11 . the grooves 62 project vertically inward from at least the top wall 53 , and also from the bottom wall 54 if slats 13 are used to form a bottom face . as shown in fig6 and 8 , one groove 62 is needed for each slat 13 , so that the preferred outside stringer 11 has five grooves 62 in the top wall 53 and three grooves 62 in the bottom wall 54 . a groove 62 is shaped to receive the projection 33 on a slat 13 , so that the projection 33 fits tightly in the groove 62 . specifically , the groove 62 substantially encloses the tongue 35 , coming into close proximity or contact with the neck 34 so that the tongue 35 can only move along its axis , which is parallel to line x in fig2 , and cannot rotate within the groove 62 . in the preferred embodiment , the groove 62 comprises a circular punch 63 passing through the inside wall 52 , and a channel 64 passing through the top wall 53 or bottom wall 54 . the channel 64 starts at the inside wall 52 and extends to the lip 58 if there is one , or to the outside wall 51 if there is no lip 58 . a second punch 63 may pass through the outside wall 51 if there is no lip 58 . the grooves 62 are preferably uniformly spaced along the length of the outside stringer 11 , with the grooves 62 for front and back slats 13 being located 2 . 5 inches inward from the ends of the outside stringer 11 so that the front and back slats 13 are flush with the ends of the stringers 11 , 12 . fig9 - 10b illustrate the preferred inside stringer 12 . the inside stringer 12 has vertical walls 81 and horizontal walls 82 that form a rectangle . preferably , the inside stringer 12 is 2 inches wide and between 3 . 75 and 4 . 75 inches high . like the outside stringer 11 , the inside stringer 12 may have screw bosses 57 for attaching caps 61 to the ends , and a rib 55 for reinforcing the structure . preferably , the inside stringer 12 has a second rib 55 to add further stability , due to the added force exerted on the inside stringer 12 by heavy loads . grooves 62 are formed into the inside stringer 12 as described above , so that the grooves 62 are aligned with the grooves 62 in the outside stringers 11 . the stringers 11 , 12 and slats 13 may be molded , extruded , or otherwise die cast . extrusion is preferable due to the workability of the preferred alloy and the much lower cost of producing extrusion dies over producing molds . the pallet 10 parts may be produced using as few as 2 extrusion dies , depending on the chosen pallet 10 design . for example , a double - wing pallet 10 has identical outside stringers 11 and inside stringer 12 , so only 2 dies are needed — 1 for the stringers 11 , 12 and 1 for the slats 13 . preferably , however , there are 3 extrusion dies because the pallet 10 is flush , the design benefiting from two lips 58 on each outside stringer 11 . referring to fig1 , three extrusion dies are used in a method of making the preferred pallet 10 . the preferred aluminum alloy is extruded 100 through the dies , creating 8 feet of outside stringer 11 material , 4 feet of inside stringer 12 material , and 26 . 5 feet of slat 13 material . the parts are then cut 105 to length : 2 outside stringers 11 are cut to 48 inches in length , 1 inside stringer 12 is cut to 48 inches in length , and 8 slats 13 are cut to 39 . 75 inches in length . the grooves 62 are then formed 110 into the stringers 11 , 12 , with 5 grooves 62 on the top and 3 grooves 62 on the bottom . most preferably , the grooves 62 are formed 110 using a 2 - part process . first , the punches 63 , preferably about 0 . 875 in diameter , are formed into the inside walls 52 of the outside stringers 11 , and into both vertical walls 81 of the inside stringer 12 . then , the channels 64 are formed , each having a width of about 0 . 125 inches . the channels 64 on the outside stringers 11 extend from the punches 63 to the lips 58 , and the channels 64 on the inside stringer 12 extend fully along the horizontal walls 82 from punch 63 to punch 63 . the grooves 62 may be formed one at a time , but preferably grooves 62 that are horizontally aligned on a stringer 11 , 12 are formed simultaneously using a computer numerical controlled (“ cnc ”) machine tool . this is done to minimize the chance of misalignment of the grooves 62 , so that the slats 13 may interlock precisely with the stringers 11 , 12 . once the grooves 62 are formed 110 , a first slat 13 is taken up and its projection 33 is slid 115 through one of the grooves 62 in the inside stringer 12 . then , the proximal end of the first slat &# 39 ; s 13 projection 33 is inserted 120 into the groove 62 in the first outside stringer 11 that aligns with the groove 62 used on the inside stringer 11 . the projection 33 is inserted 120 until the slat body 30 abuts one of the lips 58 . the sliding 115 and insertion 120 are then repeated 125 with the other slats 13 , until each groove 62 in the inside stringer 12 and first outside stringer 11 contains a projection 33 from a slat 13 . then , the second outside stringer 11 is placed 130 over the slat 13 projections 33 at the slats &# 39 ; distal ends , by feeding the projections 33 into the grooves 62 on the second outside stringer 11 . the parts may then be secured in place by tapping 135 screw holes in the front slats 13 a and rear slats 13 b . see fig1 and 2 . in the preferred embodiment , only 12 screws are needed : 1 screw for each stringer 11 , 12 in each of the 2 front slats 13 a and 2 rear slats 13 b . preferably , two of the screw holes are tapped 135 within 0 . 25 inches of each end of the slats 13 a , 13 b so that the screw may catch a portion of a screw boss 57 to improve its hold in the outside stringers 11 . the third screw hole is preferably tapped 135 at the midpoint of the slat 13 a , 13 b so that the inside stringer 12 is secured substantially centrally between the slats 13 . once the screw holes are tapped 135 , screws 83 are screwed into the slats 13 a , 13 b and stringers 11 , 12 to finish the pallet 10 . optionally , caps 61 may be attached to the ends of the stringers 11 , 12 . the caps 61 are preferably attached using screws that extend into the screw bosses 57 . while there has been illustrated and described what is at present considered to be the preferred embodiment of the present invention , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the true scope of the invention . therefore , it is intended that this invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed , but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims .
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fig1 illustrates the probe portion of a locator according to the invention . this probe includes an elongated housing 16 which is shown resting on the bottom of a body of water 11 which may be a river or the like . a pipe 12 is shown in cross section as it lies buried in sub - soil 13 under the body of water 11 . the probe of the locator is made up of the elongated housing 16 that has three signal detectors 17 , 18 and 19 mounted inside of the housing 16 . the detectors 18 and 19 are oriented vertically when the housing in an horizontal position , as illustrated . it may be noted that the detector 17 is located beside the detector 18 and detector 17 is oriented at an angle of 45 ° aimed back from the forward end of the housing 16 . the detectors 18 and 19 are located spaced a predetermined distance ( see arrow 22 ) apart . as will appear more fully below , this distance 22 is designed to be equal to a preselected contemplated depth of the pipe 12 beneath the floor of the body of water 11 . at the forward end of the housing 16 there is a chain 24 attached to a bracket 25 for use in towing the probe along the bottom of body of water 11 . there are electrical connectors 26 which go to the individual detectors 17 , 18 and 19 and carry the signals generated in these detectors from the housing 16 to a boat ( not shown ) or other means for towing the housing 16 across the bottom of the body of water 11 . each of the detectors 17 , 18 and 19 are substantially like the detector coil - and - core structure described in the above mentioned u . s . pat . no . 3 , 988 , 663 . it will be appreciated that the connectors 26 are co - axial cables in order to eliminate any cross talk or pick - up of undesirable stray signals . also , the housing 16 is made of non - metallic material so that the ac signals being detected by the detector coils 17 , 18 and 19 may pass readily therethrough . as indicated in fig2 each of the coils 17 , 18 and 19 is connected to a wien - bridge amplifier means 29 , 30 and 31 respectively . these bridge amplifiers are identical and are each like the corresponding element , i . e . the wien - bridge amplifier circuit , shown and described in the indicated u . s . pat . no . 3 , 988 , 663 . consequently , a null or minimum signal is obtained from each of the detector coils when it is directed with its axis in alignment toward the pipe 12 . the pipe is the source of ac signals being emitted therefrom . then , in order to make the depth determination in accordance with this invention , there are additional electronic circuit means connected to the outputs of the wien - bridge amplifier elements 29 , 30 and 31 . thus there are schmitt triggers 34 , 35 and 36 connected respectively to the pick up coil outputs from the related amplifiers 30 , 29 and 31 . these schmitt triggers are arranged to trip upon a given minimum signal , so that when a null is detected the corresponding trigger will be tripped . there are individual relays 39 , 40 and 41 illustrated in fig4 a , which are actuated when the respective triggers 34 , 35 and 36 are tripped . connected to the output from the relay 39 of the trigger 34 , there is a ramp generator 44 which has output connections to each of two sample - hold circuits 47 and 48 . outputs from the sample - hold circuits 47 and 48 go to a pair of buffers 51 and 52 respectively , which have outputs connected to a multiply - and - divide circuit 55 . the output of circuit 55 provides an analog signal which may energize a meter 56 that is calibrated in terms of the depth in feet to the pipe 12 , which depth is being measured . there may , of course , be a printer 60 connected to the meter 56 in order to make a permanent record of the analog signal which indicates the depth . fig4 a and 4b taken together illustrate a specific circuit diagram which shows elements that may be employed in carrying out the functions indicated by the block diagram of fig2 . the corresponding blocks indicated in fig2 are shown in fig4 a and 4b with dashed line separations , and the corresponding references numbers employed in fig2 are indicated in fig4 a and 4b . thus , the pick - up coil 18 in fig4 a is connected to the input of the amplifier wien - bridge unit 30 , while pick - up coil 17 is connected to the input of the wien - bridge amplifier unit 29 . similarly the pick - up coil 19 is connected to the input of the wien - bridge unit 31 . the outputs of the wien - bridge amplifier units 30 , 29 and 31 are connected to the inputs of the schmitt triggers 34 , 35 and 36 , respectively . these triggers include ( at the outputs thereof ) the relays 39 , 40 and 41 respectively , as indicated above . these relays act to carry out the timing and the sample - hold functions which will be described in greater detail below . the schmitt trigger unit 34 has its relay 39 connected to actuate the ramp generator 44 , and generator 44 has the above indicated output circuit connections to the sample - hold circuits 47 and 48 . these sample - hold circuits , in turn , have outputs connected to the buffers 51 and 52 which are between the sample - hold circuits 47 and 48 and the indicated multiply - divide circuit 55 . fig2 has a schematic indication of a reset switch 63 . in the more detailed showing , it is actually a multipole switch 63 as shown in fig4 b . the operation of a locator may be explained with reference to fig3 . individual signal conditions are represented along the ordinate of the fig3 graph , as indicated by the captions , and the abscissa represents time . as a depth measurement is made the probe housing 16 ( fig1 ) is towed along the bottom of the body of the water 11 and across the direction of the pipeline 12 . the reset switch 63 is closed at the beginning of a run and this sets the ramp voltage at zero . it also readies the schmitt triggers for actuation when null conditions take place . as the reference detector 18 approaches the vertical above the pipe 12 , the amplitude of the signal developed will vary , as indicated by a curve 66 . it will be understood from the explanations provided in the above mentioned u . s . pat . no . 3 , 988 , 663 , that the signal amplitude will reach a minimum , or null signal condition at a time t1 which is when the coil 18 is directly in line with the pipe 12 . this null output will trip the schmitt trigger unit 34 and and so actuate its relay 39 . the relay 39 has contacts 67 that are opened when the relay is actuated and that start the ramp generator 44 by commencing the charging of a capacitor 65 under control of a transistor 64 . the ramp generator signal is indicated by a straight curve 68 shown in fig3 . as the probe housing 16 continues to move along , the signal detector 17 will produce an output signal which varies like the signal produced by detector 18 . however this occurs at a later time , as indicated by a curve 71 which is shown along the ordinate marked &# 34 ; signal detector ( 1 ).&# 34 ; this signal will dip to its null condition at a later time t2 , which takes place when the detector 17 is aligned with the pipe 12 . the second null signal will trip the schmitt trigger 35 that is connected to the wien - bridge amplifier unit 29 , which in turn has received the detector signals from the coil 17 . when the schmitt trigger relay unit 35 has been tripped , the relay 40 is actuated and the sample - hold circuit 47 will be actuated by the closing of contacts 70 on the relay 40 , so as to retain the voltage of the ramp generator at the time t2 . this sampled signal is indicated by a flat curve 74 which is held for the remainder of the operation , to determine the pipe depth . it may be noted that since the distance 22 ( see fig1 ) between the detectors 18 and 19 is a preselected depth at which the pipe 12 might be located , the signal 71 ( fig3 ) from the detector 17 will occur somewhere on the ramp generator rise 68 before the detector 19 reaches its alignment over the pipe 12 . thus , the housing 16 continues along over the bottom of the body of water 12 , the detector 19 will reach the position of vertical alignment over the pipe 12 last ( so long as the pipe depth is less than preselected ), and at that time its signal 77 will null , i . e . provide a minimum signal . this null will take place at a time t3 , indicated in fig3 and the null signal condition will trip the schmitt trigger relay unit 36 . consequently , the relay 41 will be actuated and by closing contacts 76 ( fig4 a ), it will cause a transfer to the sample - hold circuit 48 of the voltage on the ramp generator at that time t3 . such voltage is represented by a flat curve 80 ( fig3 ) which holds and is passed on to the multiply - divide circuit 55 , through the buffer 52 . at the same time , a constant reference voltage which is indicated by a flat curve 83 ( fig3 ) is also applied to an input of the multiplier divider circuit 55 . such constant voltage is determined by a potentiometer 85 illustrated in fig4 b . it will be understood that when the second sample - hold signal ( represented by the curve 80 ) is received by the multiply - divide circuit 55 ( at time t3 ) the circuit will carry out the multiplication and division so as to multiply the predetermined constant signal 83 , by the first sample - hold signal 74 and divide the product by the second sample - hold signal 80 . this provides an output that is proportaional to the depth of the pipe 12 . such output signal is represented by a flat curve 88 along the ordinate of fig3 which carries the caption &# 34 ; v out yz / x &# 34 ;. of course , this output may be calibrated in terms of the depth of the pipe 12 . and , should the pipe depth be greater than the distance 22 , the relative occurrence of the sample - hold signals will be reversed without changing the results . it will be understood that this depth measurement is accomplished by moving the housing 16 at a constant speed along the bottom of the body of water 11 as it crosses the pipe 12 , so that the distances involved are proportional to the time . consequently , as indicated by the foregoing explanation referring to fig3 the time measurement may be employed as being proportional to distance . furthermore , since the system determines the ratio of the indicated ramp generator signal amplitudes , so long as the speed remains constant over the distance 22 ( fig1 ) or the pipe depth if greater , the determination will be accurate . also , since the distance between the detectors 18 and 19 ( or the pipe depth ) is not extremely great , the speed change , if any , will be relatively minor and will not affect the accuracy of the measurement to a substantial degree . it will be clear to anyone skilled in the art that the various elements indicated in the circuit diagram of fig4 a and 4b , may be commercial items which are available as integrated circuits . for example , an integrated circuit unit 89 which is used in the multiply - divide circuit 55 , may be one designated by the commercial identification ad 530 . also , it may be noted that the multiply - divide circuit 55 includes a reference voltage source 87 from which is derived the constant signal 83 ( fig3 ). after reading of the depth of pipe 12 has been noted , and / or recorded by the printer 60 , the reset switch 63 will be actuated . that wlll open normally closed contacts 90 and 91 , which will release the relay 39 and both the relays 40 and 41 , respectively . then the system is reset and ready for another run . it may be noted that the normally closed contacts 90 are in a holding circuit for the relay 39 , while similarly , the contacts 91 are in both of the holding circuits for relays 40 and 41 . it will be appreciated that a depth locator instrument according to this invention , may be employed to determine a distance from a datum level of any sort , so long as the instrument housing or probe is moved along such datum level . it is , of course , particularly well suited to the indicated use of measuring depths of pipe lines beneath bodies of water such as rivers or the like . while a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in considerable detail in accordance with the applicable statutes , this is not to be taken as in any way limiting the invention but merely as being descriptive thereof .
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in the present invention , an additional voltage level v low is used to improve the generation of dark levels . although best suited for conformal gems devices , the invention may also be applied to other electromechanical grating devices such as the grating light valve ( glv ) made by silicon light machines . when v low is applied to a conformal gems device , a partially actuated state is generated , as illustrated in fig7 . the electrostatic force generated by v low produces a slight deformation in the elongated ribbon element 23 b and generates a weak grating with period λ . the elongated ribbon element 23 b therefore stays suspended well above the underlying structure , i . e ., above the standoffs 29 . in this partially actuated state , the majority of the incident beam 30 is reflected into the 0th order light beam 32 , with a small portion of the incident beam diffracted into the various non - zero diffracted orders (+ 1st order 35 a , − 1st order 35 b , + 2nd order 36 a and − 2nd order 36 b ). typically , v low is selected to be a few volts less than the pull - down voltage v pd , where the ribbon element 23 b snaps into contact with the standoffs 29 . fig8 which is a plot of normalized intensity versus applied voltage for a digital input signal , illustrates the selection of v low and v high for a particular conformal gems device . here , v high ˜ 22v , v pd ˜ 20v and v low ˜ 16v . when the voltage is at v high , the reflected 0 th order is almost completely extinguished and most of the incident light is diffracted into the non - zero orders . on the other hand , at v low , most of the incident light is reflected with only a small percentage present in the non - zero orders . this small percentage can be used to produce finer and more predictable dark levels . fig9 illustrates a dual - level pwm waveform 51 for the present invention also showing the corresponding diffracted light intensity . the two voltage amplitudes v high and v low generate associated intensity levels i high and i low , respectively . to obtain a desired gray level within each modulation window 54 , the controller 80 selects the voltage amplitude ( either v high or v low ), the voltage pulse width , and ( optionally ) the polarity . at transitions in the dual - level pwm waveform 51 from 0 v to ± v high , the elongated ribbon elements of a conformal gems device actuate into contact with the standoffs , thereby causing diffraction of most of the incident light into the non - zero orders . at transitions from 0 v to ± v low , the device partially actuates and diffracts a small percentage of light into the non - zero orders . as before , gray levels are obtained from the integrated light intensity 52 within a modulation window 54 . since the stress on the ribbon element is less in the partially actuated state than in the fully actuated state , and since the majority of image content is relatively dark , the use of a dual - level pwm waveform has the added benefit of reducing device aging . a gray scale 61 produced by the dual - level pwm waveform 51 , of fig9 is shown in fig1 . the two voltage amplitudes v high and v low each have associated curves that relate gray level to pulse width . for bright levels in an image , the controller 80 selects the voltage amplitude selected to be v high , whereas for dark levels it is v low . at a given pulse width , for pulses wider than approximately 0 . 1 μsec , the gray level corresponding to v = v low is approximately one tenth of the level for v = v high . the non - monotonic region 50 of fig6 can be bypassed by using v = v low with the appropriate pulse width to generate the gray levels of interest . a transition region , where the gray levels can be formed with either v high or v low , can be used to provide headroom for calibration between the two gray level curves so as to produce a smooth continuous gray scale . it is instructive to compare the clock rate of the dual - level pwm waveform 51 of the present invention with conventional ( single - level ) pwm waveform 45 for a high - quality projection display based on linear arrays of conformal gems devices . in this example , the system is chosen to have hdtv resolution with 1 , 920 scanned lines ( 1 , 080 by 1 , 920 pixels ), a frame rate of 60 hz and a gray scale capability of 13 linear bits per color per frame ( 8 , 192 gray levels ). for the case of ordinary pwm , the pulse width increment must be somewhat less than 1 /( 1 , 920 * 60 * 8 , 192 ) seconds ˜ 1nanoseconds to allow for some overhead for scanning . the digital electronics in the controller , therefore , need to generate an effective pwm clock of approximately 1 ghz . this effective clock frequency can be reduced substantially by implementing dual - level pwm , while maintaining the same system specifications . for example , by choosing v high and v low so that the ratio of the intensity levels is i low / i high ˜ 10 , the effective pwm clock frequency can be reduced to approximately 100 mhz . a multi - level pwm waveform ( not shown ) with more than two voltage amplitudes can be used to further improve the gray scale 63 of an image , as illustrated in fig1 for the case of tri - level pulse width modulation . in this example , the application of v high causes the elongated ribbon elements to fully actuate into contact with the standoffs , whereas v low1 and v low2 & lt ; v low1 produce two different states of partial ribbon actuation . the gray scale 63 then consists of bright levels formed using v high , dark levels ( labeled dark levels 1 in fig1 ) formed using v low1 and very dark levels ( labeled dark levels 2 in fig1 ) formed using v low2 . transition regions can again be used at the intersections between the usable ranges of the different gray level curves . the arrows in fig1 , which point towards increasing gray levels , illustrate one example of a continuous gray scale 63 formed from three segments on the three curves . fig1 shows a block diagram of an electronic architecture for implementing dual - level pwm in an image - forming system , which could be a projection display or a printing system . a data source 100 provides a ( serial ) data stream 105 that has been appropriately preprocessed for generating an image from a linear array of electromechanical grating devices , preferably an array of conformal gems devices . since each electromechanical grating device 120 of the linear array has its own device driver 108 , a serial - to - parallel converter 102 is needed to demultiplex the data stream 105 into the appropriate parallel data channels 115 . for example , in the hdtv system mentioned above , there would be 1080 parallel data channels 115 in order to address 1080 electromechanical grating devices 120 , although only one of these parallel data channels 115 is shown in fig1 . the pulse - width - modulated output from each device driver 108 is determined by a pulse width generator 106 which controls the width of each voltage pulse via a clock 104 , and a voltage selector 110 which selects the amplitude and polarity of each voltage pulse . the result is a dual - level pwm waveform similar to the waveform shown in fig9 . in the embodiments described above , the selection of voltage amplitude is done independently for every pixel image . the voltage amplitude applied to each electromechanical grating device of the linear array can be therefore selected independently . this approach provides the most flexible and is most light efficient . if there is sufficient illumination available from the light source , the voltage amplitude may be varied in a periodic fashion . for example , the waveform could transition from v high to v low to − v high to − v low on a line - by - line basis or frame - by - frame basis . although simpler to implement , this approach wastes nearly half of the incident light . the invention has been described in detail with particular reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof , but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention .
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referring now to the drawings and in particular to fig1 a system for carrying out the present invention is generally designated by the numeral 10 . the system basically comprises an insulated reservoir 11 for containing liquefied natural gas ( hereinafter referred to as &# 34 ; lng &# 34 ;). an insulated conduit 12 is connected between the outlet of the reservoir 11 and the inlet of a high pressure storage tank 13 to be filled with gas . a control valve 14 is connected between the conduit 12 and the outlet of the reservoir 11 . another control valve 15 is connected between the conduit 12 and the inlet of the tank 13 . a small pump 16 having a meter 17 for measuring the volume of lng transmitted by the pump is operatively connected into the conduit 12 between the reservoir 11 and the tank 13 . a weigh scale 18 may be optionally used beneath the tank 13 to confirm the readings of the meter 17 , or may serve as the primary measure of lng added , rather than the meter 17 . the tank 13 can be filled with lng in either a vertical or horizontal position . if mounted on a vehicle it would ordinarily be horizontal . in operation of the invention using the system shown in the embodiment of fig1 a precisely controlled amount of lng is pumped by the pump 16 from the reservoir 11 through conduit 12 to the tank 13 . the tank 13 is a heavy walled pressure vessel of a know volume and which is deigned to carry an internal pressure in the range of 2 , 000 to 3 , 000 psi ( 140 to 210 kg / cm 2 ). lng is a cryogenic liquid which can exist only at very low temperatures and cannot be liquefied by merely pressuring the material to very high pressures at ambient temperatures . natural gas ( predominantly methane ) does not have a critical pressure at ambient temperatures , but achieves critical pressures at temperatures so low that , for practical purposes , it is usually liquefied at temperatures at or below its boiling point at atmospheric pressure , which is - 265 ° f . (- 151 . 5 ° c .) or less . the specific gravity of lng is 0 . 42 which corresponds to a density of 3 . 6 pounds per gallon ( 0 . 416 kg / cm 2 ). operation of the invention relies upon computations based on gas laws , the most fundamental of which relate pressure ( p ), volume ( v ) temperature ( t ) and amount of gas in mols ( n ) as used in the equation pv = nrt , where r is a constant which applies to all gases . using english units for temperature ( degrees rankine ), volume ( cubic feet ) and pressure in atmospheres ( absolute ), it is only necessary for present purposes to utilize the value derived from this equation which tells us that one pound - mol of natural gas , 16 pounds ( 7 kg ) occupies 359 cu ft ( 10 , 160 l ) at a standard temperature of 32 ° f . ( 0 ° c . ), ( 273 ° k .) or ( 492 ° r .) and a pressure of one atmosphere , 14 . 5 psi ( 1 . 02 kg / cm 2 ). from the use of this formula , simple relationships between pressure and volume of any given amount of gas can be derived . therefore , in order to utilize the system illustrated in fig1 one can , by using the previously described formula , calculate the amount of lng which must be transferred from the reservoir 11 to the gas tank 13 to provide a specified amount of gas at a desired pressure when the interior of the tank is at a certain temperature . for example , a mol of natural gas , weighing 16 lbs ( 7 kg ), ( neglecting the small amounts of higher molecular weight components ) will occupy 2 . 38 cu ft ( 67 . 5 l ) at 150 atmospheres absolute , 2 , 200 psi ( 150 kg / cm 2 ) absolute , which is a typical pressure for a vehicle tank . from this it follows that a 6 . 0 cu ft ( 169 . 5 l ) tank , ( a typical size used on buses ) would accommodate 40 . 4 lbs ( 18 kg ) of natural gas at the design pressure of 2 , 200 psi ( 150 kg / cm 2 ) absolute . the amount of lng to be injected into the tank 13 is , therefore , 11 . 3 gallons ( 43 l ) or 1 . 52 cu ft . in the foregoing example the tank being filled contains no residual gas and therefore is at ambient pressure . in many instances the tank to be filled will contain some residual gas from a previous filling and , therefore , will contain some pressure above ambient in such instance the amount of lng required to re - pressure the tank to its design pressure when full of gas may be calculated from the following equation : ## equ1 ## where p d is design pressure , p g is gauge pressure ( in atmospheres ) and w is the weight of lng to be introduced into the tank . thus , if the gauge pressure were 14 atmospheres , 205 psi , ( 14 . 5 kg / cm 2 ), the amount of lng needed in the 6 . 0 cu ft ( 169 . 5 l ) tank of the foregoing example would be 38 . 1 lbs ( 16 . 6 kg ) or 10 . 3 gallons ( 39 l ), rather than the 11 . 3 gallons ( 42 . 8 l ) that would be required to sufficiently pressurize a substantially empty tank . in the embodiment shown in fig2 the overall fuel system is indicated by the numeral 20 . the system 20 contains a reservoir 21 for storing lng for transfer to a large bulk supply tank 22 through an insulated conduit 23 . connected into the conduit 23 is a pump 24 having a meter for measuring the amount of lng pumped through the conduit 23 . also connected into the conduit is a valve 26 near the outlet of the reservoir 21 and a similar valve 27 near the inlet of the tank 22 . a valve 28 is positioned at the outlet of the tank 22 to control the flow of gas to a main service line 29 from which extends a plurality of branch service lines 29a , 29b and others ( not shown ) which are respectively connected to a plurality of vehicle fuel tanks 30 through a valve 31 which is located at each tank inlet . the valves 31 can be standard on / off type valves or can be pressure sensitive valves which restrict the pressure flowing into the tanks 30 to the desired maximum pressure within the tanks . each of the fuel tanks is equipped with a pressure gauge 32 . the bulk storage tank 22 is also equipped with a pressure gauge 33 to measure the pressure within the tank . when charging the bulk tank 22 with lng , if desired , the vaporization of the lng can be accelerated by applying to the tank , a suitable heating means , such as coil heater 22a mounted inside the tank 22 and connected to a heat transfer medium such as steam or hot water from a source ( not shown ). in most operational situations , the concept shown in fig2 of filling a large bulk storage tank with lng which is vaporized into gas is preferable to inserting lng directly into the vehicle fuel tank and permitting it to vaporize in the fuel tank . as an example of the concept shown in fig2 a 100 cu ft ( 2 , 830 l ) tank with a design operating pressure of 4 , 500 psi ( 316 kg / cm 2 ) absolute ( 305 atmospheres ) would hold 1 , 380 lbs ( 602 kg ) of compressed gas , would be initially charged with 37 . 8 gallons ( 143 l ) of lng and would be capable of charging at least 12 vehicle fuel tanks such as the tanks 30 having a capacity of 6 . 0 cu ft ( 169 . 5 l ) when empty , assuming the pressure in the bulk tank 22 was drawn down to the 2 , 200 psi ( 150 kg / cm 2 ) pressure of the vehicle fuel tanks . it would , however , be impractical to draw down the pressure of the bulk tank to such a low pressure , because the rate of filling the vehicle tanks decreases rapidly when the bulk tank pressure drops so low . when filling the vehicle tanks 30 it is not necessary to accurately measure the volume of gas fed to each tank since the pressure gauge 32 for each tank would normally determine the shut - off pressure , and the flow of gas into the vehicle tank could be automatically shut off by a pressure sensitive device ( not shown ). since the gas temperature changes as it expands on reaching the lower pressure in the vehicle tank , it is necessary to compensate for this temperature change when determining the shut - off pressure of the vehicle tank . referring now to the embodiment of fig3 the numeral 33 indicates a tank similar to the tank 13 in fig1 or the tank 22 in fig2 . the tank 33 is fitted with a cylindrical perforate thin walled insert or distributing member 34 of aluminum or other suitable material which extends from the tank inlet to the interior of the tank . the member 34 forms an inner chamber which preferably occupies a volume of no more than 25 % of the internal volume of the tank 33 . the walls of the member 34 contain a plurality of small pin hole perforations 35 which permit lng to slowly seep from the chamber of the member 34 into the interior of the tank 33 surrounding the insert . in operation , lng is pumped from a source such as the tank 11 in fig1 through an insulated conduit 36 , through valve a 37 and into the member 34 . the valve 37 is closed and the lng dribbles into the interior of the tank 33 surrounding the member 34 where it contacts the walls of the tank 33 and vaporizes due to the temperature of the tank walls . thus it can be seen that the member 34 impedes exposure of the lng to the tank walls and therefore slows down the cooling of the tank walls and the rate at which the internal pressure builds up within the tank 33 . the use of aluminum distribution members such as 34 as described herein , enables the use of low cost steel tank walls without the concern for the tendency of the steel to develop cracks from the rapid cooling when contacted directly by a large volume of cryogenic liquid . since steel tanks are both less expensive and stronger than aluminum tanks , use of the aluminum distribution members as cryogenic liquid receiving chambers or &# 34 ; ante chambers &# 34 ; will improve the economics and operational efficiencies of fueling stations by permitting the use of steel tanks . referring now to the embodiment of fig4 another system for carrying out the invention is indicated generally by the numeral 40 . the system 40 comprises an insulated supply tank or reservoir 41 for containing lng . an insulated conduit 42 is connected between the outlet of the reservoir 41 and the inlet of an insulated high pressure intermediate or charging tank 43 . a control valve 44 is connected between the conduit 42 and the outlet of the reservoir 41 . another control valve 45 is connected between the conduit 42 and the inlet of the charging tank 43 . the outlet of the charging tank 43 is connected through a valve 46 which in turn is connected to an insulated conduit 47 which connects through a valve 48 to the inlet of the gas storage tank 49 which may in some instance be a fuel tank of a vehicle . the charging tank 43 has a pressure inlet 50 located at the top of the tank in communication with the vapor space at the upper interior of the tank . the inlet 50 is connected through a valve 51 , a conduit 52 and then through another valve 53 to a pressurizing tank 54 having a pressure gauge 55 . the pressurizing tank 54 will preferably have the capability of carrying a pressure of over 1 , 000 psi ( 70 . 3 kg / cm 2 ), which should be sufficient pressure to rapidly drive lng from the charging tank 43 into the gas tank 49 as will be explained later in further detail . the insulated charging tank 43 selected for use in each situation can be a specific size which is large enough to hold the correct measured amount of lng which will be needed to fill the particular size of tank 49 being charged with lng to be vaporized . this approach would be an alternative to using a meter or weigh scale . different sizes of charging tanks ( for example 1 , 4 and 10 gallons ( 3 . 79 , 15 . 2 and 37 . 9 l ) or other sizes ) may be retained on hand to satisfy the requirements of filling different sizes of empty or partially empty fuel tanks . in operation , when a gas tank such as the tank 49 is to be filled , the valves 44 and 45 are opened allowing lng to flow by gravity or with low pressure assistance from the lng supply tank or reservoir 41 through the insulated conduit 42 into the charging tank 43 . when the tank 43 is full , except for a small vapor space at the top , the valves 44 and 45 are turned off . the valves 46 and 48 are opened and at approximately the same time the valves 51 and 53 are opened to permit the high pressure gas within the pressurizing tank 54 to pass through the high pressure line 52 and into the vapor space at the top of the tank 43 and drive the lng out of the tank 43 through the insulated conduit 47 into the gas tank 49 . when the tank 49 has received a sufficient amount of lng , the valves 46 , 48 , 51 and 53 are all closed and the necessary pressure is then permitted to build up in the tank 49 due to the warming of the lng . the tank 49 can then be disconnected and replaced with another empty tank and the process can then be repeated . while the embodiments shown in fig1 through 4 have been described in conjunction with the use of lng , the concepts and apparatus described previously can also be applied to other cryogenic gases such as liquefied nitrogen and oxygen . practically all commercial uses of these two gases are based on their separation from air which is first liquefied cryogenically , allowing them to be separated by fractional distillation . thus , such gases must go through the liquefied state as an unavoidable step in the process of their eventual use in the gaseous form . many gases are supplied from high pressure steel tanks requiring the liquefied nitrogen or oxygen to be he first gasified by heating and then compressed to the high pressures ( usually over 2 , 000 psi ( 140 kg / cm 2 ) required before shipping the tanks to the customer . reducing the investment and operating costs of tank filling stations would have the same attractions to owners of such stations as it would for the owners of lng fueling stations . if the example used in connection with filling the 6 . 0 cu ft ( 169 . 5 l ) tank 13 shown in fig1 instead of being applied to lng , were to be applied to liquefied nitrogen having the properties of boiling point =- 321 ° f . (- 196 . 1 ° c . ), specific gravity at boiling point = 0 . 808 , corresponding to a density of 6 . 8 lbs per gallon ( 0 . 785 kg / l ), then the amount of liquefied nitrogen to be admitted to the tank would be 69 . 8 lbs ( 30 . 4 kg ), or 10 . 2 gallons ( 38 . 5 l ), in order to build up to the design pressure of 2 , 200 psi ( 150 kg / cm 2 ) when warmed to ambient temperatures . a similar computation can be made for liquefied oxygen which has a boiling point at atmospheric pressure of - 297 ° f . (- 182 . 8 ° c .) and specific gravity of 1 . 14 . it is further evident that the use of large high pressure bulk tanks as described in fig2 and the use of thin walled perforate distribution members or &# 34 ; ante - chambers &# 34 ; as described in fig3 for use with lng , would also be applicable to liquefied nitrogen , oxygen or other cryogenic gases . while the examples cited herein are calculated for specific conditions of pressure , volume , amount of gas and assumed temperature (&# 34 ; ambient &# 34 ;) in each case , it is within the scope of this invention that amounts of gas charged in actual operating conditions will be adjusted for such factors as the expected temperature range where the high pressure cylinder is to be used , permissible safety factor for the cylinders being used and the like . thus , a cylinder charged to read 2 , 200 psi ( 150 kg / cm 2 ) in a cold 0 ° f . (- 17 . 8 ° c .) environment may quickly reach a substantially higher pressure if mounted near the vehicle &# 39 ; s exhaust system . accordingly , normal practice would be to charge the maximum amount of gas permissible , consistent with safety factors of the equipment , expected temperature environment , and other service conditions that may be encountered . these and various other modifications can be made herein without departing from the scope of the invention .
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the reference numeral 1 in fig1 refers to a portion of the upper part of a building having a flat roof 3 which has laterally upwardly extended masonry sections 5 to form a retention basin 7 for the retaining of rainwater which is temporarily retained during a rainfall . the construction of the flat roof is not shown in detail since it does not constitute an object of the present invention . nor is there shown in the drawing the inclination of the roof 3 which causes the water collecting on it to flow to an outlet 9 from which it can feed by a drain pipe 11 ordinarily present in the building 10 to a sewer line ( not shown ) buried in the ground , or to a drain . in the examples shown in fig1 to 5 , the outlet 9 is flush with the upper edge of the roof so that no weakening of the roof takes place in the region of the outlet 9 by a collecting basin , such as shown , for instance , in fig6 . on the upper end 15 of the drain pipe 11 which passes through the flat roof 3 there is present a vortex throttle 17 which , in the example shown in fig1 to 3 , consists of two plates 19 and 21 which are arranged parallel to each other , the two plates 19 , 21 being connected to each other by two arcuate vertically standing guide plates 23 and 25 . each of the two plates 23 and 25 comprise a fourth part of the circumference and , adjoining same , a linear section . between one end in each case of the linear section 31 and one end of the linear section 29 there is a slot or opening 33 of the width a . the slot - shaped openings 33 and the two plates 19 and 21 form an inlet for the feeding of the water to the drain pipe 11 which is located in the center of the vortex throttle 17 and connects upon a pipe socket 16 . in the lower plate 21 there is accordingly arranged a corresponding recess 22 which is connected to the upper end 15 of the drain pipe 11 . a replaceable run - off diaphragm 12 having a pipe part 16 can be placed on or inserted in the recess 22 and by means of it the maximum run - off quantity passing through can furthermore as well as subsequently be adjusted or changed . a pipe socket 35 of the height h can also be placed in the upper plate 19 , it forming a direct connection into the inside of the vortex throttle 17 and lying coaxial to the upper end 15 of the drain pipe 11 . the upper edge 37 of the pipe socket 35 lies at the height h max , which corresponds to the maximum retention height in the retention basin 7 . in order to protect against foreign substances which float on the collected retained water and might clog the vortex throttle , a semicircular length of pipe 38 such as shown for instance in fig1 and 14 or an immersion bell 40 such as shown for instance in fig1 can be placed on the upper end of the pipe socket 35 . the immersion bell 40 has an outer wall 42 and a cover section 44 . between the upper end of the pipe 35 and the cover section 44 there is a slot corresponding at least to the cross section of the pipe 35 . foreign substances floating on the surface of the water are held back by the wall surface 42 and the water can flow below the wall 42 into the pipeline 35 . the vortex throttle 17 may be made of steel or plastic . in a preferred embodiment , the upper plate 19 can be lifted off for instance by loosening wing nuts 39 which are arranged on corresponding screw bolts which are passed through the plate and arranged on the vertical plates 23 and 25 , so as to permit cleaning of the inside of the vortex throttle 17 . instead of arcuate guide plates 23 , singly or multiply bent guide plates 24 , 26 or guide plates welded together from sections can be connected , in the manner described , to the two plates 19 and 21 . in fig7 and 8 the guide plates 24 are each bent twice and have linearly extending sections 24 , 26 . the openings 33 can be developed fixed or , as shown in fig2 variable ( no illustration ). when there is only a slight flow of water , i . e . upon a light rain , all the entering water can pass continuously through the openings 33 into the inside of the vortex throttle 17 and from there through the pipe 11 into the sewer . as soon as the amount of water arriving becomes greater , revolving water vortices are formed within the vortex throttle 17 , they limiting the discharge as a function of the cross section a of the opening 33 and the development of the two vertically bent plates 23 and 25 or the plates 24 in fig7 to 10 and the cross section of the drain pipe 11 or of the discharge diaphragm 12 possibly arranged over it . in this way , the excess water arriving is stored above the vortex throttle 17 in the retention basin 7 and a constant amount discharges at all times . if the water level exceeds the height h max so that there is the danger of an over - flooding of the roof , water can pass directly through the pipe socket 35 from above , through the vortex throttle 17 to the drain pipe 11 and from there , for instance , into the sewer . instead of a pipe socket 35 placed on the vortex throttle 17 as emergency relief or overflow , a length of pipe 41 ( shown in broken line in fig1 ) which terminates at the same height can also be connected directly to the drain pipe 11 or to an additional pipe leading to the sewer ( not shown ). in order to prevent a clogging of the slot 33 , the entire vortex throttle 17 is preferably surrounded by a removable grate 43 . the grate 43 can surround the vortex throttle 17 completely on its sides and on top ( fig1 ) or it can be developed as a round or rectangular basket 48 which is open on top ( fig1 ). in order to get along with only a slight number of vortex throttles 17 in stock , it is possible , with a small maximum amount of run - off and a vortex throttle 17 which is dimensioned too large for the amount of water to be led away , at least one of the openings 33 can be closed by a cover ( not shown ) or be reduced in size or closed by the displaceable slide 34 ( fig2 ). in the embodiment according to fig4 to 6 , instead of the vortex throttle consisting of two bent plates 25 , 27 and two plates 19 and 21 lying spaced one above the other , there is used a cylindrical vortex throttle 45 of known construction , such as used in catch basins , in which the water enters through a tangentially debouching inlet opening 47 and can discharge , throttled , through the central discharge opening 49 . the manner of operation of the vortex throttles 45 shown in fig4 to 6 is identical to those in fig1 to 3 . these vortex throttles 45 can also be protected against dirt by a basket or grate 43 . the vortex throttles 17 , 45 can also be inserted directly in a gravel bed on the flat roof 3 . the manner of operation of vortex throttles is described for instance in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 198 , 214 . therefore , no further description is given here with regard to the manner of operation and the design of vortex throttles . as an alternative to the vortex throttles 17 , 45 which are placed directly on the surface of the flat roof 3 , they can of course also be arranged within a sump 55 recessed in the flat roof 3 ( fig6 ). for a temporary retention of rainwater which arrives in larger quantity than can be taken up by the sewage treatment plant , a vortex throttle 45 , such as shown in fig1 , can also be used . this vortex throttle 45 does not have an emergency overflow passing through it ; rather , the latter must be provided independently and at some other place on the roof . in the developments of the vortex throttles shown in fig1 , 13 and 14 , emergency overflow pipes 35 are provided which are arranged coaxial to the throttle 45 . in the simplest embodiment , shown in fig1 , the emergency overflow line is open on top . in the embodiment according to fig1 , a semi - circular elbow 52 is placed on the end of the pipe socket 35 of the emergency overflow line , it preventing foreign substances which float on the surface of the retained water from passing into the emergency overflow line and clogging it . in the event of the subsequent installation of a vortex throttle 17 on the roof of an existing building 10 in the case of which the upper end 15 of the drain pipe 11 has a substantially larger cross section than the diameter of the discharge - side opening on the vortex throttle 17 , the latter can be fastened to an adapter 54 which consists of a plate 62 to which a collar 64 is fastened and can be inserted into the upper end 15 of the pipe 11 ( fig1 ). the vortex throttle 77 shown diagrammatically in fig1 has in inlet 79 which debouches into the upper cover surface . this vortex throttle 77 can be used either in a sump , as shown in fig6 or on a roof with continuous retention of the height a . the vortex throttle 69 shown in fig1 can be provided with a radial inlet socket 71 or have , in addition , a tangential inlet 73 . the tangential inlet 73 can be located at a higher level than the inlet socket 71 . this makes it possible , in the event of the possible clogging of the lower inlet 71 , for it to act as emergency inlet with throttling properties . in front of the lower inlet 71 , instead of a grate 43 which surrounds the entire vortex throttle 69 as shown in fig1 a strainer 75 can be provided . the strainer 75 consists in this case of a tubular section which is closed at its end and is made from perforated plate or of gridshaped material . the use of the vortex throttle 69 shown in fig1 is similar to those already described . in the case of flat roofs 3 with permanent retention of water up to the height h 3 ( see fig1 the outlet - side opening of the vortex throttle 55 is arranged above the height h 3 . the vertically arranged vortex throttle 55 may have a development corresponding to the vortex throttle 45 shown in fig4 the water inlet opening 47 being located below the height h 3 . of course , a vortex throttle 17 , such as shown in fig2 , 8 and 9 could also be used if one of the two inlet openings , namely the upper one , is closed . the emergency overflow line 35 is arranged in the vertical extension of the drain pipe 11 and can have a hood or immersion bell 40 , as described and shown in fig1 , in order to prevent the admission of foreign substances floating on the water . an immersion wall 67 can also be arranged around the inlet 47 of the vortex throttle 55 . the immersion wall 67 consists of vertical metal sheets or plastic plates which prevent the introduction of floating foreign objects into the water inlet opening 47 . in the event of only slight amounts of rain , the water collecting on the roof 3 can pass through the immersed inlet opening 47 unthrottled into the drain pipe 11 and from there into the sewer . however , if the level rises above the height h 3 up to the height h 4 , which lies above the top of the outlet - side opening of the vortex throttle 55 , then vortices are formed in the vortex throttle 55 and limit the passage of water to the extent pre - established by the development of the vortex throttle 55 . accordingly , there is a rise in the water level with constant throttled discharge up to the height h max . if the water level rises further due to intense rainfalls , water can be fed unthrottled through the emergency overflow line 35 to the drain pipe 11 . as an alternative , it is also possible to conduct the emergency overflow water to a pipe , not shown here , which discharges directly into a waterway , circumventing a sewage treatment plant . in the development of the invention according to fig1 , which shows the arrangement of the individual parts only diagrammatically , the vortex throttle 55 or its outlet - side opening 47 lies at the height h 3 which corresponds to the intended height of the continuous retention . upon a further increase of the water level , the water can flow unthrottled to the drain pipe 11 as long as the level does not exceed the height h 4 . if the height h 4 is exceeded , then the action of the vortex throttle 55 commences , i . e . the water which flows from now on to the vortex throttle 55 is discharged in the amount determined by the development of the vortex throttle 55 , which amount cannot be exceeded . upon a further rise above the height max , the water can discharge via the emergency overflow line . the front end 59 of the emergency overflow line 35 which dips into the water level h max , in its turn , prevents floating foreign bodies from entering into the drain pipe 11 and clogging it . if the vortex throttle 55 in the embodiment of the invention shown in fig1 is arranged at the level of the roof 3 , its manner of operation corresponds to that shown in fig1 .
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a general three - dimensional view of the multiportal device with linked cannulae of the invention for percutaneous surgery ( hereinafter referred to as “ multiportal device ”) is shown in fig5 . in the embodiment shown in this drawing , the multiportal device , designated in general by reference numeral 20 , consists of three linked cannulae 22 , 24 , and 26 . it is understood that three cannulae are shown only as an example and that the principle of the invention is equally applicable to the embodiments with two or more than three cannulae . the device per se is very simple and consists of a required number of cannulae , 22 , 24 , and 26 in the illustrated case , pre - linked at their distal ends 22 a , 24 a , and 26 a , respectively , with flexible elements such as wires or threads 28 and 30 . more specifically , both threads 28 and 30 are passed through the central cannula 22 and their ends that project through the distal end 22 a are secured to the walls of the neighboring cannulae 24 and 26 respectively . as shown in fig5 , in order to prevent interference of the threads inside the cannula 22 with the surgical instruments guided through the cannula 22 and protect the threads from entanglement or the like , both threads 28 and 30 are additionally guided through individual small - diameter tubes 32 and 34 , respectively , which have diameters significantly smaller than the inner diameter of the cannula 22 and which are attached to the inner wall of the cannula 22 . in order to prevent full penetration of the threads 28 and 30 below the proximal end 22 b of the cannula 22 , each thread has a stopper 36 and 38 , respectively , e . g ., in the form of a large knot . in the embodiment of fig5 , the lower ends of the threads 38 and 30 are secured to the walls of the respective cannulae 24 and 26 , preferably close to their distal ends 24 a and 26 a . connection can be made by fusion , welding , riveting , etc . the connection should not interfere with the insertion of surgical tools through the respective cannula . a percutaneous surgical procedure with the use of the device 20 of the invention will now be described with reference to fig6 through 13 , which illustrate sequential steps of the surgery , e . g ., intervertebral disc discectomy . after being diagnosed as having a prolapsed disc causing a nerve root impingement of the type shown in fig3 and 4 , the patient is positioned on a radiolucent table ( not shown ) in a prone position . first , a surgeon inserts a special needle 40 , which usually has a bore ( not shown ), as shown in fig6 . the needle 40 is rigid enough to stay straight and helps the surgeon to get to a desired position inside the patient &# 39 ; s body 42 under the fluoroscopic guidance ( not shown ). a guidewire 44 ( fig7 ) made of suitable stainless steel , of about 1 . 0 to 1 . 25 mm in diameter is advanced through the needle 40 through the skin of the patient &# 39 ; s body 42 at a predefined entry point 46 under the fluoroscopic observation . the guidewire 44 is advanced until it reaches the target position specified by the surgeon . after the guidewire 44 is in the right position , the needle 40 is removed from the patient &# 39 ; s body ( fig8 ), and a surgeon does an incision around the entry point 46 in order to be able to insert other tools . at this time , a cannulated obturator 48 ( fig9 ) with a lumen , diameter of which is slightly larger than the diameter of the guidewire 44 , is passed over the guidewire 44 through the patient &# 39 ; s skin until a distal end of the obturator 48 reaches the same position as the guidewire 44 . at this step , the guidewire 44 may or may not be removed . in fig1 is shown a large - diameter cannula 50 , which may accommodate all working cannulae . in the illustrated embodiment working cannulae 22 , 24 , and 26 bound into a single pack shown in fig1 . the large - diameter cannula 50 is fitted onto the obturator 48 ( fig1 ), and then advanced over the obturator 48 until the distal end of the cannula 50 reaches the position of the distal end of the obturator 48 . at this time , both the obturator 48 and the guidewire 44 ( if it has still not been removed ) are removed . the position of the cannula 50 inserted into the patient &# 39 ; s body 42 , with the obturator 48 and the guidewire 44 removed is shown in fig1 . as mentioned above , the working cannulae 22 , 24 , 26 are packed into a single unit , e . g ., by fixing them together with a binding element such as a rubber band 52 shown in fig1 . in this drawing , the entire pack is designated by reference numeral 54 . the cannula pack 54 is inserted into the large - diameter cannula 50 till the distal ends of the working cannulae 22 , 24 , 26 reach the distal end of the large - diameter cannula 50 . the large - diameter cannula 50 is then removed from the patient &# 39 ; s body 42 and hence from the cannula pack 54 ( this step is not shown ). the surgeon then releases working cannulae 22 , 24 , 26 from the binding element such as the rubber band 52 . however , as shown in fig1 , the distal ends 22 a , 24 a , 26 a of the respective working cannulae 22 , 24 , 26 remain linked together with the flexible elements 28 and 30 . the surgeon can freely manipulate the working cannulae for using them in association with various surgical tools ( not shown ). in other words , the flexible elements 28 and 30 which are passed through the working cannulae 22 , always link the distal ends of the cannulae 22 , 24 , 26 , while leaving for the cannulae a freedom of movement along the flexible elements 28 and 30 . when it is necessary to reorient the cannulae and rejoin their distal ends , it is sufficient to pull up the proximal ends of the flexible elements 28 and 30 . this operation can be done without any x - ray monitoring . since all the working cannulae are inserted into the same incision , their removal from the patient &# 39 ; s body 42 after completion of the surgery presents no problem . another embodiment of the multiportal device with linked cannulae is shown in fig1 to 17 , where fig1 is a three - dimensional exploded view of the device consisting of three cannulae linked at their distal ends by flexible elements such as wires or threads , fig1 is a three - dimensional view illustrating the device of fig1 in a working position with distal ends of the cannulae being locked together , fig1 is the same as fig1 with the distal ends of the cannulae being unlocked for manipulation , and fig1 is a sectional view along the line xvii — xvii of fig1 illustrating a possible version of the guide channel for threads formed in the cannula wall . more specifically , as shown in fig1 , a multiportal device of the invention , which in general is designated by reference numeral 60 , consists of three cannulae 62 , 64 , and 66 . one of these cannulae , e . g ., the cannula 62 has at least one long longitudinal groove 68 and at least one short longitudinal groove 70 , both grooves being started from the upper edge of the cannula 62 . the cannula 62 is also provided with a tubular latch 72 telescopically insertable with a sliding fit into the proximal end of the cannula 62 . the latch 72 is provided with at least one short pin 74 extending outward radially from the outer wall of the tubular latch 72 and selectively insertable into the aforementioned grooves 68 and 70 . as in the previous embodiment shown in fig5 , 11 , 13 , the respective distal ends 62 a , 64 a , and 66 a of the cannulae 62 , 64 , and 66 are linked together with the use of flexible elements such as wires or threads 76 and 78 . the threads 76 and 78 are guided through the cannula 62 and their distal ends are passed through openings 80 and 82 formed in the sidewall of the cannula 62 close to the distal end thereof . the threads are then guided through the corresponding openings 84 , 86 in the cannula 64 and openings 88 , 90 in the cannula 66 ( the opening 90 is not seen in fig1 ). the distal free ends of the threads 76 and 78 associated with the cannulae 64 and 66 , respectively , can be either fixed inside these cannulae or tied around the adjacent openings . this is shown in fig1 by knot 92 on the cannula 64 . the free proximal ends of the threads 76 and 78 protrude through both the cannula 62 and the tubular latch 72 . it is also possible to have the distal free ends of the threads guided along the cannula 62 back towards the proximal end of this cannula after passing them through both openings in the sidewalls of the respective cannulae 64 and 66 to form loops . in this case , both distal free ends of the threads 76 and 78 will protrude outward through cannula 62 and through the tubular latch 72 together with the proximal free ends of these threads . reference numeral 94 shown in fig1 designates a tubular stopper that can be telescopically fitted with a tight fit onto the proximal end of the tubular latch 72 clutching the threads 76 and 78 between the walls of the tubular latch and 72 and the tubular stopper 94 . the multiportal device with linked cannulae made in accordance with the embodiment of fig1 operates in the same manner as the device of the previous embodiment except for the steps of cannulae reorientation and fixation of the threads . the device is inserted into the incision 96 in the position shown in fig1 with the pin 74 being located in the short longitudinal groove 70 . in this state , the tubular latch 72 is in its uppermost position , and the threads 76 and 78 are tightened so that the cannula distal ends 62 a , 64 a , and 66 a are hold together and cannot be moved apart , but still can be tilted with respect to each other . location of the pin 74 in the short groove 70 prevents the tubular latch 72 from accidental angular displacement from the selected position . for loosening the threads 76 and 78 in order to provide freedom of manipulation with the cannulae 62 , 64 , and 66 , the pin 74 of the tubular latch 72 is removed from the short groove 70 and is inserted into the long groove 68 , so that the tubular latch 72 assumes the lowermost position shown in fig1 . it is understood that in this position the loosened threads allow the surgeon to freely manipulate with the cannulae . fig1 is a cross - sectional view along the line xvii — xvii of fig1 , which illustrates possible design of the cannula 62 . it can be seen that in addition to the main central opening 98 for guiding surgical instrument , the wall of the cannula may have a thickened portion for forming a smaller through opening 99 for guiding the threads 76 and 78 . in this case , the cross - section of the cannula 62 is not necessarily circular . thus it has been shown that the present invention provides a multiportal device with linked cannulae for percutaneous surgery , which is very simple in construction , reliable and simple in use , allows insertion of several cannulae and permanently maintaining them in controlled positions without resorting to additional x - ray . the device of the invention does not need the use of a separate guiding unit , does not cause excessive damage to the tissue , allows the use of plastic materials , makes it possible to be used disposably and to increase the number of cannulae used simultaneously . although the invention has been shown and described with reference to specific embodiments , it is understood that these embodiments should not be construed as limiting the areas of application of the invention and that any changes and modifications are possible , provided these changes and modifications do not depart from the scope of the attached patent claims . for example , the cannula pack 54 can be inserted either without being bound or bound with another binding element . two or more than three working cannulae can be used . the flexible elements 28 , 30 , 76 , 78 can be represented with a single flexible element , extended through all used cannulae 22 , 24 , 26 , 62 , 64 , 66 and having its both ends protruding from the proximal end of the central cannula 22 , 62 . the flexible elements 28 , 30 , 76 , 78 can be made of a thread , wire , string , etc . they can be connected to the cannulae 24 , 26 , 64 , 66 by welding , gluing , tying , etc ., or can be guided through a small - diameter tube attached to the inner wall of respective cannulae 24 , 64 and 26 , 66 as it is done for the central cannula 22 , 62 . the central cannula 22 , 62 may have flexible elements 28 , 30 , 76 , 78 guided through the individual small - diameter tubes 32 and 34 , or through the common small - diameter tube . the cross - sectional shape of the cannula shown in fig1 with reference to the cannula 62 is also applicable to cannula 22 . the tubular stopper 94 can be used instead of those designated by numbers 36 and 38 . the short groove 70 may not be present in the cannula 22 , or several short grooves can be made on the side of the long groove 68 , allowing different degrees of flexibility of cannulae manipulation . the stopper means 36 , 38 , 94 can have different positions ensuring that distal ends of cannulae 22 , 24 , 26 , 62 , 64 , 66 cannot be moved apart further than by predefined distance .
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the self - locking step - by - step switching mechanism is intended for an adjustment device of a vehicle seat . such an adjustment device is , for example , the adjusting means for a backrest relative to a seat frame , the height adjusting means for a front edge of a seat relative to the seat frame or the adjusting means for a rear rocker of a base frame of a motor vehicle seat . such adjustment devices are known to the person skilled in the art from the prior art . the step - by - step switching mechanism comprises a clamping roller lock . this will not be discussed in detail below . a clamping roller lock is used as it is known from the two patent applications mentioned in the introduction . this clamping roller lock comprises an axis 20 , which at the same time is the axis of the step - by - step switching mechanism . furthermore , it comprises a release wheel 22 . this is configured as a normal , externally toothed gear . it is rotatable about the axis 20 . the step - by - step switching mechanism moreover comprises a step - by - step switching device . the step - by - step switching device comprises an actuating lever 24 , which is mounted so as to be pivotable about the axis 20 . it comprises connecting means in order to connect it to a hand lever . a user grips such a hand lever , which is not shown , and initiates an actuating movement . furthermore , the step - by - step switching device comprises a driver 26 . this comprises two driver regions 28 , which are configured as gearings ; they are directed towards the release wheel 22 . the driver 26 comprises a bore through which an axis pin 30 reaches that is disposed on the actuating lever 24 . it forms a driver axis 32 about which the driver 26 can pivot relative to the actuating lever 24 . in the known manner , in particular just like in the step - by - step switching device of the type mentioned in the introduction , only one of the two driver regions 28 , respectively , is in engagement with the gearing of the release wheel 22 in one direction of rotation of the release wheel , i . e . in the case of a driving process . in the central position of the actuating lever 24 , none of the two driver regions 28 is in engagement with the gearing . if the actuating lever 24 is pivoted starting from the central position , one of the two driver regions 28 comes into engagement with the gearing , the other remains out of engagement . once the engagement has taken place , the release wheel 22 can be driven and rotated . the step - by - step switching device moreover comprises a drag lever 34 . it is preferably configured as a plastic part , whereas the other parts are formed as metal parts . the drag lever 34 is substantially annular . in the assembled state of the step - by - step switching device , it grasps around the release wheel 22 and is supported by it . the drag lever 34 has a recess 36 which accommodates the driver 26 . in the assembled state , this recess 36 is covered by partial sections of the actuating lever 24 . thus , the driver 26 is fixed in the axial direction . it can be pulled free in a radially inward direction . the step - by - step switching device moreover comprises a spring 38 . in this specific exemplary embodiment , this spring 38 has a variety of tasks ; it is a bent spring punched out from flat stock . the spring 38 has two projections 40 . they are disposed a three o &# 39 ; clock and nine o &# 39 ; clock and are situated diametrically opposite from one another . they are formed by flat sheet metal strips which are connected to the main body of the spring 38 via an upper and a lower bridge . the sheet metal strips stand in a plane transverse to the main body ; it is defined by the axes 20 and 32 . the driver axis 32 is situated in the central position of the actuating lever in the 12 o &# 39 ; clock direction . in their central region , the sheet metal strips are bent out towards the release wheel 22 ; these bent - out portions form the projections 40 . the projections 40 cooperate with indentations 42 that are provided in the same position on the outer shell of the drag lever 34 . the spring 38 comprises a holding arm 44 disposed in the 12 o &# 39 ; clock position . this holding arm 44 serves for the rotational fixation of the spring 38 . the holding arm 44 comprises a lug that points downwards , towards the axis 20 . it reaches into an opening of a base plate 46 . this base plate 46 comprises an arm 48 located beneath the holding arm 44 . the latter &# 39 ; s function will be discussed below . the spring 38 forms a tongue 50 located in the 12 o &# 39 ; clock position . the tongue 50 is substantially rectangular ; it reaches freely over the gearing of the release wheel 22 over a small angle range , for example 1 to 8 °. in the assembled state of the step - by - step switching device , it is located , viewed radially , between the gearing of the release wheel 22 and the driver 26 . the tongue 50 protrudes transversely from the main body of the spring 38 . the spring 38 has a braking tab 52 , which , similar to the tongue 50 , axially protrudes transversely from the main body of the spring 38 . the tab 52 is disposed in the 6 o &# 39 ; clock position . it rests in a dragging manner on the outer shell of the drag lever 34 and causes a braking torque . the base plate 46 is connected to a housing 54 of the clamping roller lock . this housing 54 is located between the base plate 46 and the spring 38 . the spring 38 is located between the housing 54 and the release wheel 22 ; only parts of it are located in the plane of the release wheel . the step - by - step switching device moreover comprises a zero - position spring 56 . it is configured as a leg spring . it has two windings and two legs 58 . the legs 58 substantially protrude radially outwards . one leg 58 is located in a position between twelve and one o &# 39 ; clock , the other leg 58 is located in a position between eleven and twelve o &# 39 ; clock . in the assembled state , these legs 58 rests resiliently against holding indentations 60 formed by the actuating lever 24 . specifically , they are formed in a transverse part of the actuating lever 24 which , in the assembled state , reaches over the holding arm 44 of the spring 38 . the arm 48 is located between the two legs 58 . the driver 26 is displaceable within the recess 36 of the drag lever 34 . no physical axis is provided about which the driver 26 is pivotable relative to the drag lever 34 . thus , this is a difference to the prior art of the kind mentioned in the introduction . opposing supporting surfaces 62 are provided the recess 36 ; the driver 26 can come into contact with them . the contact takes place on corresponding counter surfaces of the driver 26 . in the central position of the actuating lever 24 , a small amount of play may be present between the supporting surface 62 and the associated counter surface of the driver 26 on both sides . however , this play can also be very small , it has to be just sufficient for assembly . as can be seen from fig3 , in particular , the counter surfaces are configured in a partially cylindrical or ball - like shape . the recess 36 is generally configured in a step - shape ; the supporting surfaces 62 are located on opposite steps . the zero - position spring 56 is manufactured from spring wire . it has an annular portion formed by two windings . this annular portion grasps around the housing 54 of the clamping roller lock . the zero - position spring 56 is fixated by its legs 58 resting , as described , in the holding indentations 60 and the grasp around the housing 54 . when the actuating lever 24 is deflected from the central position shown in fig3 , the leg 58 present in the direction of rotation is also moved . the zero - position spring 56 is tightened . in the process , the other leg 58 braces itself on the arm 48 . fig3 shows the initial position . the assembly shown , apart from the three coupling sections for the release wheel 22 , is axially symmetrical to a plane defined by the axis 20 and the driver axis 32 . the two driver regions 28 are not in engagement with the gearing of the release wheel 22 . the tongue 50 , viewed radially , is located between the driver 26 and the gearing of the release wheel 22 . seen in the circumferential direction , the tongue 50 is located between the two driver regions 28 . the illustration according to fig4 shows the state of the left - hand driver region 28 latching into the gearing of the release wheel 22 . starting from the initial position according to fig3 , which shows the central position , a force f , which is introduced via the actuating lever 24 , acts on the driver 26 . it causes the driver 26 to pivot towards the left . thus , its left counter surface comes into contact with the corresponding supporting surface 62 ; a reaction force r is produced there . both forces f and r cause the driver 26 to tilt in a generally counter - clockwise direction and thus cause the left driver region 28 to come into engagement with the gearing ; this engagement is shown in fig4 . it is apparent in fig4 that the projections 40 are in engagement with the respective indentation 42 . fig5 shows an intermediate position during the actual drive of the release wheel 22 . now , the drag lever 34 is also rotated about the axis 20 in the counter - clockwise direction . the two indentations 42 are now free from the projections 40 . fig6 shows the end state of the actuation stroke . this is limited by a stop for the actuating lever 24 which is not shown here . the state is as in fig5 , but the indentation 42 has distanced itself even more from the projection 40 on each side . fig7 shows the beginning return stroke , starting from the position according to fig6 . as the pivoting movement of the actuating lever in the opposite direction , i . e . now in the clockwise direction , is initiated , the other supporting surface 62 of the recess 36 comes into contact with its associated counter surface on the driver 26 , so that the latter is pivoted in the opposite direction and its previously driving driver region 28 gets out of engagement with the gearing . in order for the other driver region 28 not to be led into the engagement , the tongue 50 is provided , which is now located beneath the other engagement region . it forms a kind of protection and prevents the engagement of the other engagement region . this impediment lasts for so long until the initial position according to fig3 has been reached again .
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the preferred embodiment of the present invention is a traffic control system that continuously monitors and communicates with , when necessary , approaching traffic . the time history of the range of an approaching vehicle is analyzed by a conventional digital computer coupled to the range - sensing device . for the purposes of the present invention , a vehicle is any means to transport people or cargo , including land vehicles , watercraft , and aircraft . a decision is made whether or not the approaching vehicle will be able to stop in the remaining distance . a message is transmitted to warn the dangerously approaching vehicle to the point of jarring a driver without special equipment installed in the vehicle . the preferred embodiment of the above invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings , as illustrated in fig1 is a pictorial view of the audible communication system constructed in accordance with the invention , same being generally indicated by numerical designation 1 . the system 1 generally includes an ultrasonic sound projection system 2 in wired or wireless communication with a range sensing system 10 . a schematic of the audible communication system 1 is illustrated in fig2 . as shown in fig2 the ultrasonic sound projection system 2 preferably includes a digital computer 128 with storage capacity 133 for preprocessed messages , a digital - to - analog converter 134 , an amplifier 136 , and an ultrasonic sound projector 138 . the range sensing system 10 preferably includes a radar transceiver 130 with a radar antenna 129 , an analog - to - digital converter 131 , and a digital computer 132 . the range sensing system 10 signals the ultrasonic sound projection system 2 with information , such as vehicle range , vehicle type , and a message , when a subject vehicle is approaching a predetermined point at a dangerous speed . the vehicle type information is used to cross reference characteristics , such as model , make , year , windshield angle , windshield thickness , and windshield material , for the transmission of the appropriate warning signal that will demodulate to an audible sound once the warning signal passes through the windshield . all vehicle window information will be stored in either or both of the digital computers 128 , 132 , in cases where the ultrasonic sound project system 2 is positioned to transmit a signal directed towards the side of the vehicle . the ultrasonic sound projection system 2 transmits a warning signal to the subject vehicle ( s ). provided below is a detailed analysis of the concepts underlying the various embodiments of this invention . more specifically , the production of sound from nonlinearities of air . air is excitable by an intense ultrasonic wave , which has been modulated with audible communications . the ultrasonic wave modulated by the audible communication , e ( t ), is given by : p 1 ( t )= p 1 e ( t ) sin ( ω c t ) equation 1 and the secondary wave generated by the nonlinearities of the air demodulating the ultrasound wave given by : p 2 ( t )=[( β p 1 2 a )/( 16πρ o αc o 4 z )] θ 2 / θt 2 e 2 ( t ) equation 2 θ 2 / θt 2 is the partial second derivative with respect to time p 1 is amplitude of the launched ultrasonic carrier wave p 1 ( t ) is the primary , ultrasonic carrier , wave pressure as a function of time , t . p 2 ( t ) is the pressure of the secondary , audible , wave demodulated by the nonlinearities z is the axial distance is the absorption coefficient of the medium at ω c equation 1 sets forth a square - law nonlinearity due to the saturation of air in which the intense ultrasonic waves are traveling . the amplitude of the secondary ( demodulated ) wave is proportional to the second derivative of the square of the modulation envelope . it is preferred that the pressure intensity be large with respect to the physical constants of the air as set forth in equation 2 . the generation of audible sound is achievable by reflecting ultrasonic waves off of a solid surface in the direction of the source of the modulated ultrasonic waves . the nonlinear stress / strain relationship of the solid surface is responsible for demodulation of the audible communication and the generation of the audible sound . this takes place in much the same way as the nonlinearities of air generating sound in open air as described by equation 2 . the present invention expands this known technique to the generation of the demodulated sound on the other side of a window or other panels enclosing a compartment so that a person can be hear the message on the opposing side of the window or compartment relative to the incoming wave . [ 0078 ] fig3 illustrates the arrival of the millimeter - wavelength ultrasonic wave 84 focused on the windshield 86 . the approximately 6 to 1 ratio of the velocity of sound in windshield 86 to the velocity in air causes the ultrasonic wave 84 to be reflected 89 . if the angle of incidence is within a few degrees of normal to the surface of the windshield 86 , the ultrasonic wave 84 is also refracted , refracted ultrasonic wave 91 . with or without refraction the ultrasonic wave 84 striking the surface of the windshield 86 undergoes a nonlinear interaction with the windshield 86 much as intense sound undergoes in air driven into saturation as described in equation 2 . the ultrasonic wave 84 interacts with the non - linear stress - to - strain relationship of the windshield 86 . this nonlinear interaction with the windshield 86 demodulates the ultrasonic wave 84 resulting in the reproduction of 0 . 1 - meter wavelength audible sound 90 near the surface , but on the opposing side , of the windshield 86 . further demodulation may take place if the ultrasound wave 84 is refracted through the windshield 86 . in many cases , the windshield 86 will be made up of a laminate of glass and plastic . a further feature of the present invention relies upon preprocessing the transmitted sounds for optimum generation of audible sound by demodulating the ultrasonic wave as it passes through the windshield . in the present invention , the calibration process described in fig4 is used for recording the audible sound 104 generated in the passenger compartment 110 by the ultrasonic wave 106 interacting with the windshield 108 of the vehicle 100 . these recordings are used to develop messages that have been preprocessed for optimal generation of intelligible audible sounds 104 inside the vehicle 100 utilizing the techniques of fig5 and 6 that are discussed below . these preprocessed messages are stored in the ultrasonic sound projection system 2 for later use . [ 0080 ] fig4 represents a test range used to demonstrate the concepts of the present invention and to preprocess messages for use with the system 1 . in fig4 an ultrasound wave projector 94 is mounted on a suitable movable mount 96 so that the range 98 , r , can be varied during the data gathering process . ( in some cases , it is necessary to vary the height of the projector 94 during the data gathering process .) a cross section of a land vehicle 100 is shown . a microphone 102 is mounted where a typical driver &# 39 ; s head would be . the microphone 102 records the audible sound 104 that is generated by the demodulation of the ultrasonic wave 106 as it interacts with the windshield 108 and enters the passenger compartment 110 of the vehicle 100 . the audible sound 104 recorded by the microphone 102 is filtered by a receive filter 112 and then amplified by amplifier 114 . the amplifier 114 and filter 112 remove vestiges of the ultrasonic wave 106 and image frequency generated by the demodulation process in the windshield 108 . the audio signal is also band limited by the filter 112 to prevent distortions that can result from aliasing of noise and other signals above the nyquist frequency as they are digitized by the analog - to - digital converter ( a / d ) 116 . the digital samples of the audio waveform are passed to the digital computer 118 for processing and storage . the digital computer 118 is also used to generate a stream of digital samples of messages modulating an ultrasonic wave 106 , which are converted to analog signals by the digital - to - analog converter ( d / a ) 120 . the output of the d / a 120 are filtered by the transmit filter 122 . the transmit filter 122 smoothes the so called boxcar effects of the digital - to - analog conversion process and removes other undesirable higher frequency components from the signal before they are amplified by the power amplifier 124 . the amplified signal drives an array of electrostatic or piezoelectric speakers 126 used to project the ultrasonic wave 106 onto the windshield 108 of the test vehicle 100 . a block diagram of the flow of signals through the calibration of fig4 is presented in fig5 . the objective is to compute a source waveform , e ( t ), needed to generate a prescribed voice waveform , v ( t ). for example , the desired waveform , v d ( t ), might be the waveform of the audible utterance : “ stop .” in fig4 one might desire an utterance of the word : stop 104 to be received inside of the passenger compartment 110 of the vehicle 100 . the problem is to compute which digital waveform needs to be transferred to the d / a converter 120 by the digital computer 118 for “ stop ” to be audible inside the vehicle . the transmission of the signal , e ( t ), through the system to generate v ( t ) is a nonlinear process . the ultrasonic wave compresses and decompresses the solid as it propagates through the surface of the solid . the stress - to - strain relationship of the solid will in general be nonlinear . a technique for compensating for the distortions introduced by the nonlinear interactions is disclosed by singhal et al in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 603 , 408 , incorporated herein by reference . the synthesis of the transmitted waveform works with linear prefiltering of the waveform . a procedure for the linear prefiltering is given in fig6 . one begins with the desired audio waveform : v d ( t ). then to begin the preprocessing procedure the starting input waveform , e ( t ) is computed : e ( t )=[∫∫ v d ( t ) dtdt ] ½ equation 3 the resulting input waveform , e o ( t ), is used to drive the sound projector 126 in the test range depicted in fig4 . the audible sound 104 , v o ( t ), received by the microphone 102 is then used to compute an improved wave form , e 1 ( t ). the received wave form , v o ( t ), is transformed to the frequency domain using the fast fourier transform ( fft ) algorithm : similarly the input wave form , e o ( t ), is transformed with the fft . the complex transfer function h o ( ω ) is used to compute the frequency - domain representation of the improved waveform : the frequency domain version is then transformed to the time domain e 1 ( t ) with the inverse fft ( ifft ): e 1 ( t )=[ ifft * e 1 ( ω )] ½ equation 8 the square root is taken to obtain the improved transmitted wave from , e 1 ( t ). ( the square root is needed because of the squaring that takes place from the nonlinearities as modeled by equation 2 .) the preprocessing procedure then continues by inputting e 1 ( t ) and measuring v 1 ( t ). the received audio signal , v 1 ( t ), is then transformed to v 1 ( ω ), the frequency domain equivalent : v 1 ( ω ) and e 1 ( ω ) then serve as the inputs to a recursive averaging operation : h 1 ( ω )= h o ( ω )+( 1 / n )[{ v 1 ( ω )/ e 1 ( ω )}− h o ( ω )] equation 10 the recursive averaging process of equation 10 yields an improved transfer function h 1 ( ω ). note that in equation 10 , h o ( ω ) is subtracted from h 1 ( ω ). ( h 1 ( ω ) is computed from the ratio of v 1 ( ω ) and e 1 ( ω ) in equation 10 .) after a few iterations , the latest update to the transfer function will be very similar to the previous version and thus the recursive averaging procedure will cease to change the values . the procedure then uses the desired frequency - domain spectrum and the latest estimate of the transfer function to compute an improved frequency spectrum : e 2 ( t )=[ ifft * e 1 ( ω )] ½ equation 12 in the same way as in equation 8 . the procedure then continues by inputting e 2 ( t ) and measuring v 2 ( t ). this procedure can be iterated until convergence is reached . for example , suppose the utterance “ stop !” was needed . the test range depicted in fig4 would be setup and “ stop ” will be processed with the procedure of fig6 to obtain a version that will yield an intelligible “ stop ” inside of the vehicle . it may be necessary to carry out the preprocessing of fig6 for different ranges , type of vehicle , angle of incidence , atmospheric conditions , and amplitudes of signals due to the nonlinearity of the system . the preprocessed messages are stored in the digital computer 128 of the ultrasonic sound projection system 2 . examples of other preprocessed messages include reduce speed or change course . returning now to fig2 the block diagram illustrates an embodiment of the invention suitable for mounting on a sign or signal . a microwave radar transceiver 130 monitors the range of approaching vehicles by processing the radar returns 135 with the digital computer 132 . though the range sensing system 10 is preferably microwave , any conventional radar system , including radio , laser , and acoustic , is acceptable . an analysis of the time histories of the approaching vehicle &# 39 ; s range as well as an measurement of the approaching vehicle &# 39 ; s radar cross section are input to a computer program , as illustrated in fig7 executable by the digital computer 132 . the flow chart in fig7 sets forth the mode of operation in words . the chart describes the control of the launching of available lights and sounds at unresponsive drivers . if the unsafe driver fails to respond to the lights or sounds , cross traffic is warned of the danger and police ticketing cameras can be triggered . the digital computer 132 then passes information such as : the number of the desired message , the range of the vehicle and the type of vehicle to the digital computer 128 . digital computer 128 then selects the requested message from its set of stored preprocessed digital waveforms that are appropriate for the range and type of vehicle and transfer them to the d / a converter 134 . the analog signal output of the d / a converter 134 is then amplified by the power amplifier 136 and used to drive at least one sound projector 138 . it should be noted that computers 128 and 132 could be incorporated into a single computer ( not shown ). a sound projector 138 can be electrostatic or piezoelectric thin sheets mounted directly on the face of a sign 142 , as illustrated in fig8 or , as illustrated in fig9 a 5 × 7 array of electrostatic or piezoelectric sheets . each of the thirty - five individual sheets of the 5 × 7 array is a functioning speaker 154 . the individual speakers 154 are used as a phased array 152 . the resulting ultrasound waves ( not shown ) emitted from the individual speakers 154 are steered by controlling the phase between speakers with phase - shifter 153 . fig1 illustrates a multiple - wave sound projector 182 steering , by conventional means , its waves 184 through an angle θ 180 so the waves 184 converge on the windshield 178 of an approaching vehicle 186 . now returning to fig9 the phase shifters 153 are driven by a control signal 151 generated by second digital computer 128 . the output of the phase shifters 153 drives the speakers 154 using power amplifiers 155 . the amount of phase shift introduced by the phase shifters 153 is under the control of the digital computer 128 in fig2 . the digital computer 128 receives automatically the subject vehicle coordinates from the range sensing system 10 via the computer 132 , and calculates the phase shift for each of the individual speakers 154 to focus the wave upon the windshield of the moving vehicle . the preferred embodiment utilizes one amplifier and one phase shifter per speaker . in this case , there would be thirty - five phase shifters and amplifiers . the array of speakers can be implemented in several configurations not just the rectangular configuration illustrated in fig9 . circularly - shaped arrays and polygon - shaped arrays are also effective for phased - arrays . the generation of audible sound in open air as opposed to projecting the sound into the interior of a vehicle can facilitate , as illustrated in fig1 , a blind pedestrian 78 crossing a roadway 72 . the ultrasound source 82 is directing a warning to the pedestrian 78 whose location is determined by the radar sensor 80 . the objective is to generate the audible message 76 only in the vicinity of the pedestrian 78 . this can be accomplished with the embodiment of the present invention depicted in fig1 , 13 , 14 , and 15 . as illustrated in fig1 , the ultrasound projector 159 is made up of a number of phased arrays 161 . each phased array is steerable and its wave can be moved in azimuth and elevation , as discussed above . as illustrated in fig1 , the projector 156 shows the individual waves 160 aimed so that they converge at point 162 which is located at a range of r 1 from the sound projector 156 . the convergence of multiple waves 160 whose waveforms are in phase in one region increases the intensity of the pressure of the ultrasound in that region . the intense sound drives the air into its nonlinear mode of behavior as given by equation 2 . the nonlinear behavior demodulates the ultrasonic wave 160 and generates an audible secondary sound 164 emanating from the region located at a range of r 1 . in fig1 , a sound projector 168 makes use of its individual phased arrays 170 to aim its waves 172 so that they converge at point 166 located at a range 176 of r 2 from the sound projector 168 . this technique of moving the region of wave convergence permits the secondary source of the audible sound to be moved back and forth from the sound projector to address pedestrians at different locations in the cross walk . the different regions could receive different messages . for example , the pedestrian is being asked to return to the curb from which she came . a pedestrian close to the sound projector might be told to quickly mount the curb , as traffic would soon restart . [ 0101 ] fig1 illustrates the convergence of multiple sound waves emanating from a projector 178 on which are mounted phased arrays 180 , 182 , 184 and 186 . the waves 189 and 190 converge on point 192 . the dimensions of the phased array can be quite small since the ultrasound will typically have wavelengths in the range of a few millimeters . now returning to fig1 an ultrasound sound projector system 2 is installed on a traffic light signal 4 . a narrow ultrasonic wave 6 is focused on an approaching vehicle 8 . the traffic light 4 is also outfitted with a vehicle range sensing means 10 such as a radar sensor . the range of the approaching vehicle 8 is detected by the radar range sensor &# 39 ; s wave 12 . the range measurement is used to set the parameters of the ultrasonic sound projector system 2 and steer its ultrasound wave 6 . an example of a decision process for a system with visual and audible warning means as well as a police - ticketing camera is diagramed in fig7 . the ultrasonic wave 6 is demodulated by the nonlinearities of the windshield 14 generating an audible message 16 inside the approaching unequipped vehicle 8 . though a single approaching vehicle is illustrated as being detected by the sensing means , it is within the contemplation of the invention that any vehicle within the line of sight of the sensing means , whether it is the first , second or third vehicle in line from the sensing means , is detectable for the purposes of determining safety at a preselected location . an alternative application , fig1 , illustrates a system 1 mounted on a traffic warning sign 18 . the modulated - ultrasound projector 20 is mounted on the face of the sign 18 . an ultrasound wave 22 is focused on the windshield 24 of the approaching vehicle 26 . an audible message 28 is generated inside of the vehicle 26 by demodulation of the ultrasonic wave 22 as it interacts with nonlinearities of the windshield 24 . the approach of the vehicle 26 is sensed by a magnetic loop detector 30 or the like implanted in the roadway 32 . a radar system , television camera or other range sensing means could also be used . another alternative application , fig1 , illustrates the mounting of an ultrasound projector 35 on the rear of a land vehicle 27 in order to communicate with a trailing vehicle 33 via an ultrasonic wave 29 . communications can be automatically issued by a radar system 30 that detects the distance to and approach speed of the trailing vehicle 33 with , preferably , microwaves 32 or other waves . an audible message 32 is generated inside of the vehicle 33 by demodulation of the ultrasonic wave 29 as it interacts with nonlinearities of the windshield 31 . additionally , the ultrasound projector illustrated in fig1 can be place in the front of a vehicle ( not shown ), such as a police car , to transmit an audible message to a leading vehicle or an approaching vehicle . additionally , the ultrasound projector illustrated in fig1 can also be place in the front and rear of a vehicle ( not shown ), such as a delivery truck , to transmit an audible message at a preselected range to warn pedestrians and other vehicles of the approaching vehicle , where the view of the vehicle is obstructed by buildings , trees , shrubs , or other vehicles . the range of the demodulated audible message is a function of the speed of the vehicle and the safe stopping distance of the vehicle at the speed of the vehicle plus an additional distance as a safety margin . yet another application , fig1 , illustrates the ultrasound wave 34 being steered using either conventional mechanical means or electronic phased - array techniques . the steering commands come from the computer ( not shown ) analyzing the radar returns 35 or data from another range sensing system . a further application , fig1 , illustrates the ultrasonic sound projection system 36 at a location remote from the intersection traffic signal 38 . the approaching vehicle 42 is monitored by a radar wave 40 . a message is communicated to the remote ultrasonic sound projection system 36 that transmits an ultrasonic wave 44 against the vehicle 42 side , rear or front glass . an audible message is generated inside of the vehicle 42 by the nonlinear interaction of the ultrasound wave 44 with the window of vehicle 42 . [ 0109 ] fig2 illustrates a dangerously approaching vehicle 46 whose progress is monitored by a radar - type range sensor &# 39 ; s wave 48 emanating from the traffic light 49 . an analysis of the time history of the approaching vehicle &# 39 ; s range is carried out by a conventional digital computer running the programming flow chart of fig7 . this analysis shows that it is unlikely that vehicle 46 will stop before the light 50 at the intersection changes to red . a warning carried by an ultrasound wave 54 is then issued to a vehicle 52 that might enter the intersection and be in the path of the dangerously approaching vehicle 46 . [ 0110 ] fig2 shows a sound generator 58 in use by a public safety official 56 to communicate with one vehicle 68 among many . an example would be a multilane toll plaza or a large parking lot . in this case the megaphone - like sound generator 58 consists of the sound generating array 60 , a range and direction sensor ( which maybe a microwave radar and / or tv camera ) 62 and a microphone 64 for the user 56 to speak into . the measurements of the range sensor 62 are used to set the preprocessing parameters of the ultrasonic wave 69 so that audible sound 66 is generated inside the vehicle 68 by the ultrasonic wave 69 being demodulated by the windshield 70 . [ 0111 ] fig2 shows a public safety application of the system 1 . an official uses a megaphone device 57 to transmit an ultrasound wave 61 onto a window 63 of the building 59 . an audible warning message is generated inside the building by the interaction of the ultrasound wave 61 and the window 63 . returning to fig1 , the system 1 in use at a pedestrian crossing 72 whose crossing control light 73 is outfitted to assist , in particular , blind pedestrians 78 . in this case the ultrasonic wave 74 interacts with the air and generates the audible sounds 76 near the blind pedestrian 78 using information from a distance and angle sensor 80 to set the parameters of the sound transmitter 82 . an interesting characteristic of this embodiment is that the sound 76 is generated in the vicinity of the pedestrian 78 and not closer to the sound projector 82 . this is accomplished by focusing multiple waves of sound on the targeted region as illustrated in fig1 and 15 . there are other embodiments , such as controlling a crowd , when sound generation in the air can be used . yet another application is illustrated in fig2 , where waves 89 of modulated ultrasound are projected by sensors 75 and 77 such that a pathway 79 , or channel , is defined between the waves . the pathway 79 could include , but is not limited to , use by pedestrians , watercraft or land vehicles . exiting the pathway 79 and entering one of the waves 89 results in a message 85 , 87 directing the pedestrian 81 or vehicle 83 back in to the pathway 79 will be transmitted to the intruding object 81 , 83 . the messages 85 and 87 could be transmitted after a radar - type scanner has detected the intrusion of a wave 89 , or the wave 89 can continuously transmit instruction for returning to the pathway 79 which will be heard whenever the very narrow waves 89 have been entered . now returning to fig1 , an additional feature to the present invention is a microphone 188 that monitors the transmissions and relays characteristics of the transmitted wave 184 back to the transmitting system 182 . should rain , snow , blowing sound , fog or other substances change the nonlinear properties of the air as described by equation 2 or otherwise scatter the ultasonic waves 184 , the transmitting system 182 would use the detected changes to modify the parameters of the transmission such as transmitter power , carrier frequency , degree of modulation and preprocessing filtering to compensate for the effects of the substances that have entered the path of the wave 184 . yet another application of the present invention is aviation ground and air traffic control . aircraft taxiing to and from the terminal , runway , and maintenance hanger can be contacted by the control tower ( not shown ) or specially equipped aircraft ( not shown ) with greater speed and accuracy than the current reliance on radio transmission and reception . in - flight near misses will be eliminated with aircraft equipped ( not shown ) with the present invention . audio communication in the cockpit will no longer rely on the radio being turned on or being tuned to the correct frequency . although the invention has been described with respect to various embodiments , it should be realized this invention is also capable of a wide variety of further and other embodiments within the spirit and scope of the appended claims .
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in the following , embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . fig1 is a block diagram showing a digital signal processing apparatus 1000 according to an embodiment of the present invention . in an embodiment of the present invention , the digital signal processing apparatus 1000 is applied to a remaining battery charge amount detection circuit 101 . in fig1 , the remaining battery amount detection circuit 101 may be formed , for example , on a single semiconductor board . the remaining battery amount detection circuit 101 includes , for example , a detection part 111 , a sigma - delta modulator 112 , a cpu 113 , a memory 114 , a regulator 115 , and a communication circuit 116 . the detection part 111 includes , for example , a voltage detection part 121 , a temperature detection part 122 , a current detection part 123 , and a multiplexer 124 . the voltage detection part 121 is connected to both ends of a lithium ion battery 102 ( hereinafter referred to as “ battery 102 ”) for detecting the voltage of the battery 102 . the detection signals detected by the voltage detection part 121 are supplied to the multiplexer 124 . the temperature detection part 122 , which is for detecting ambient temperature , generates and outputs detection signals corresponding to detected ambient temperature . the detection signals of the temperature detection part 122 are supplied to the multiplexer 124 . the current detection part 123 includes , for example , a differential amplifier . the current detection part 123 is connected to both ends of a current detection resistance rs connected between the battery 102 and a terminal t −. the current detection part 123 detects voltage generated in the current detection resistance rs according to current flowing through the current detection resistance rs and outputs detection signals corresponding to charge and discharge currents of the battery 102 . for example , the detection signals output from the current detection part 123 have a value equal to a reference voltage v 0 when there is neither charge current or discharge current flowing in the battery 102 , have a value greater than the reference voltage v 0 when charge current is flowing in the battery 102 , and have a value less than the reference voltage v 0 when discharge current is flowing in the battery 102 . the detection signals of the current detection part 123 are supplied to the multiplexer 124 . the multiplexer 124 selects the detection signals of the voltage detection part 121 , the detection signals of the temperature detection part 122 , or the detection signals of the current detection part 123 in accordance with a control signal from the cpu 113 and supplies the selected detection signals to the sigma - delta modulator 112 . the sigma - delta modulator 112 performs pdm ( pulse density modulation ), that is , 1 bit digital modulation on the analog signals from the multiplexer 124 and supplies the modulated signals to the cpu 113 . the cpu 113 executes a digital filtering process program stored in the memory 114 for converting the pdm signals to digital values of multiple bits . in other words , the cpu 113 converts the pdm signals to pcm ( pulse code modulation ) data . furthermore , the cpu 113 executes a remaining battery amount calculation program for calculating the amount of charge remaining in the battery 102 . it is to be noted that the cpu 113 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes , for example , a processor such as a microprocessor . the communication circuit 116 transmits signals indicating the remaining amount of battery calculated by the cpu 113 to an outside circuit . the regulator 115 obtains power supply from the battery 102 , generates power supply voltage required in the remaining battery amount circuit 101 , and supplies the generated voltages to respective parts of the remaining battery amount circuit 101 . fig2 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a sigma - delta modulator 112 according to an embodiment of the present invention . in fig2 , the sigma - delta modulator 112 includes , for example , a subtractor 131 , an integrator 132 , a comparator 133 , a delay circuit 134 , and a 1 bit d / a converter 135 . the subtractor 131 obtains difference by subtracting the output of the d / a converter 135 from an analog signal supplied from the multiplexer 124 via an input terminal tin and outputs a difference signal according to the obtained difference . the difference signal output from the subtractor 131 is supplied to the integrator 132 . the integrator 132 integrates the difference signal supplied from the subtractor 131 and outputs an integration signals according to the integration . the integration signal output from the integrator 132 is supplied to the comparator 133 . the comparator 133 compares the integration signal supplied from the integrator 132 with a reference voltage v 0 set in the comparator 133 . the comparator 133 outputs a high level signal when the integration signal ( integrated analog signal ) is greater than the reference voltage v 0 and outputs a low level signal when the integration signal is less than the reference signal . the output signal of the comparator 133 is output from an output terminal tout and is also supplied to the delay circuit 134 . the delay circuit 134 delays the output signal of the comparator 133 for a period equal to a single sampling period and outputs a delayed signal . the delayed signal output from the delay circuit 134 is supplied to the 1 bit d / a converter 135 . the 1 bit d / a converter 135 performs 1 bit d / a conversion on the delayed signal from the delay circuit 134 and supplies the converted signal to the subtractor 131 . a pdm ( pulse density modulation ) signal , that is , a 1 bit digital modulated signal obtained by modulating the analog signal from the multiplexer 124 is output from the output terminal tout of the sigma - delta modulator 112 . the pdm signal output from the output terminal tout of the sigma - delta modulator 112 is supplied to the cpu 113 . accordingly , the cpu 113 executes a process based on a program stored in the memory 114 . the memory 114 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes recording media ( e . g . a rom and a ram ) having relatively small memory space of approximately 2k bytes . the rom stores programs to be executed by the cpu 113 . the rom in the memory 114 stores , for example , a digital filtering process program 141 and a remaining battery amount calculation program 142 as shown in fig3 . the ram is used , for example , as a working space when the cpu 113 executes programs . for example , the digital filtering process program 141 is for performing a digital filtering process on a pdm signal from the sigma - delta modulator 112 , in which the pdm signal from the sigma - delta modulator 112 is converted to a digital value of multiple bits , that is , pcm data . the digital filtering process program 141 includes , for example , a program for executing a decimation filtering process . the decimation filtering process includes cic ( cascaded integrated combinatorial ) filtering process and a fir ( finite impulse response ) filtering process . it is to be noted that a iir ( infinite impulse response ) filtering process may be used as an alternative of the fir filtering process . the remaining battery amount calculation program 142 is for calculating the amount remaining in the battery 102 by integrating the pcm data converted by the digital filtering process program 141 . the calculated remaining amount is stored in the memory 114 . next , a process executed by the cpu 113 is described . fig4 is a flowchart showing a process executed by the cpu 113 according to an embodiment of the present invention . in this example shown in fig4 , the cpu 113 intermittently executes a process for reducing the amount of power consumption in accordance with a built - in interruption timer . whenever a timer interruption is generated ( yes in step s 1 - 1 ), the cpu 113 obtains a pdm signal from the sigma - delta modulator 112 . for example , the cpu 113 generates a timer interruption each predetermined interval ( e . g . approximately 1 ms ) equaling to a pdm signal comprising a bit string of eight bits . then , the cpu 113 executes a digital filtering process program 141 with respect to a pdm signal obtained from the sigma - delta modulator 112 ( s 1 - 2 ). accordingly , the pdm signal obtained from the sigma - delta modulator 112 is converted to a digital value having multiple bits , that is , pcm data . it is to be noted that the cpu 113 controls the multiplexer 124 so as to sequentially obtain pdm signals corresponding to the analog detection signals output from the voltage detection part 121 , the temperature detection part 122 , and the current detection part 123 and sequentially convert the pdm signals to pcm data by executing the digital filtering process program 141 . accordingly , the cpu sequentially stores the converted data in the memory 114 . then , the cpu 113 executes the battery remaining amount calculation program 142 and calculates the amount remaining in the battery 102 based on voltage value , temperature , and current value that are converted to pcm data . for example , the remaining amount of battery can be calculated by integrating the current values . the voltage value and the temperature may be used for correcting the calculated remaining amount . next , a decimation filtering process is described . fig5 is a block diagram showing an exemplary hardware configuration of a decimation filter 150 according to an embodiment of the present invention . the decimation filter 150 includes a cic ( cascaded integrated combinatorial ) filter part 151 and a fir ( finite impulse response ) filter part 152 . the cic filter part 151 includes three levels of cascade connected integration circuits 153 , 154 , and 155 , a decimation circuit 156 , and three levels of cascade connected differential circuits 157 , 158 , and 159 . each of the integration circuits 153 - 155 includes an adder 161 and a delay device 162 . the adder 161 is for adding input data and output data of a delay device 162 and the delay device 162 is for delaying the output data of the adder 161 for a period equal to a single sampling period and supplying the delayed data to the adder 161 . each of the differential circuits includes a delay device 163 , a subtractor 164 , and a divider 165 . the delay device 163 is for delaying input data for a period equal to a single sampling period . the subtractor 164 is for subtracting the output data of the delay device 163 from the input data . the divider 165 is for dividing the output data of the subtractor 164 by n . the decimation circuit 156 extracts a part of the pcm data output from the integration circuit 155 one time during n sampling periods and supplies the extracted pcm data to the differential circuit 157 . after pdm signals supplied from a terminal 175 are integrated in the integration circuits 153 - 155 and converted to pcm data , the decimation circuit 156 performs decimation of n : 1 on the pcm data . then , the pcm data are differentiated in the differential circuits 157 - 159 and output as pcm data . the fir filter part 152 includes i levels of cascade connected delay devices 171 1 - 171 i , multilpliers 172 1 - 172 i for multiplying coefficients a 1 - a i to the pcm data output from the corresponding delay devices 172 1 - 172 i , an adder 173 for adding data output from each of the multilpliers 172 1 - 172 i , and a decimation circuit 174 . the pcm data output from the differential circuit 159 are sequentially delayed in the delay devices 171 1 - 171 i and multiplied with coefficients a 1 - a i in the multilpliers 172 1 - 172 i , respectively , then the adder 173 adds the total data output from the multilpliers 172 1 - 172 i . then , the decimation circuit 174 extracts a part of the pcm data output from the adder 173 one time during m sampling periods ( decimation of m : 1 ) and outputs the extracted pcm data to a terminal 176 . thereby , the digital filtering process is completed . the digital filtering process program 141 executed by the cpu 113 is achieved by using software to perform the same process executed by the decimation filter having the hardware configuration shown in fig5 . fig6 is a flowchart showing , in more detail , a digital filtering process executed by the cpu 113 in step s 1 - 3 of fig4 . in fig6 , the cpu 113 reads out a pdm signal comprising a bit string of eight bits from the memory 14 and performs the same integration process executed in the integration circuits 153 - 155 ( step s 2 - 1 ). then , the cpu 113 performs a decimation process of n : 1 ( step s 2 - 2 ). then , the cpu 113 performs the same differential process executed in the differential circuits 157 - 159 and stores the obtained pcm data in the memory 114 ( step s 2 - 3 ). then , the cpu 113 sequentially reads out i pcm data ( pcm data items ) and i coefficients a 1 - ai from the memory 114 and performs the same multiplication process executed in the multilpliers 172 1 - 172 i ( step s 2 - 4 ). then , the cpu 113 performs the same addition process executed in the adder 173 ( step s 2 - 5 ). then , the cpu 113 performs a decimation process of m : 1 and stores the obtained pcm data in the memory 114 ( step s 2 - 6 ). fig7 is a schematic diagram for describing the operation of the digital signal processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention . in fig7 , time “ t 11 ”, time “ t 12 ”, and time “ t 13 ” indicate the timing of timer interruption . in a case where a timer interruption occurs at time “ t 11 ”, “ t 12 ”, and “ t 13 ”, the cpu 113 obtains a pdm signal from the sigma - delta modulator 112 ( step s 1 - 2 ) and performs a process in accordance with the digital filtering process program 141 ( step s 1 - 3 ). accordingly , analog signals obtained from the voltage detection part 121 , the temperature detection part 122 , and the current detection part 123 are converted to pcm data . the cpu 113 calculates the amount remaining in the battery 102 based on the pcm data obtained in step s 1 - 3 . the calculated remaining battery amount is stored in the memory 114 . the calculated remaining battery amount stored in the memory is retrieved according to a request from an outside circuit and is transmitted to the outside circuit via the communication circuit 116 . with the digital signal processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention , analog signals are converted to pcm data by modulating the analog signals to pdm signals with the sigma - delta modulator 112 and performing a digital filtering process on the pdm signals with the cpu 113 . accordingly , an a / d converter having a complicated configuration can be replaced with a sigma - delta modulator 112 having a simple configuration . furthermore , the process of calculating the remaining battery amount can be performed with the cpu 113 . this can be achieved given that the workload for the cpu 113 to perform the battery remaining amount calculation is small and that the digital filtering process can be performed efficiently . although the detection part 111 , sigma - delta modulator 112 , the cpu 113 , and the memory 114 in the above - described embodiment of the present invention are mounted on the same semiconductor chip , the analog circuits of the detection part 111 and the sigma - delta modulator 112 may be mounted on one semiconductor chip while the digital circuits of the cpu 113 and the memory 114 are mounted on another separate semiconductor chip . alternatively , the detection part 111 may be configured as a semiconductor apparatus of a single chip on which the sigma - delta modulator 112 , the cpu 113 , and the memory 114 are mounted . the cpu 113 and the memory 114 may be provided to an outer part of a battery pack . further , the present invention is not limited to these embodiments , but variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention . the present application is based on japanese priority application nos . 2006 - 035593 and 2007 - 022195 filed on feb . 13 , 2006 and jan . 31 , 2007 , with the japanese patent office , the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference .
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an improved breaded products fryer 10 constructed in accordance with and embodying the principles of the present invention is shown in the drawings , referring particularly to fig1 and 2 . the improved fryer 10 includes a frame 11 supported by four upstanding legs 12 provided with level adjustment mechanisms 13 which are operable to enable a uniform , accurate vertical flow pattern of the cooking oil which will be described in more detail below . it is desirable that the frame which supports a pan 14 , which retains the cooking oil supply prior to its return for reheating , be maintained level both fore and aft as well as side to side for smooth even flow of the oil curtains . a hood 16 is mounted on the frame 11 and is equipped with an exhaust stack 17 which serves for the removal of cooking vapors generated beneath the hood 16 and to enable those vapors to be conveyed to a treatment facility ( not shown ) so as to minimize atmosphere contamination . a product carrying conveyor 18 is arranged in the pan 14 for moving products 19 deposited thereon from an inlet 21 to an outlet 22 . the product conveyor 18 is configured with an inside return so that the conveyor belt , which may be of woven wire mesh or other suitable material affording oil pervious construction , returns along the bottom of the pan 14 moving from right to left , as viewed in fig2 so as to sweep any product fines or residue into the sump 23 for removal therefrom through the conduit 24 . desirably , the width of the conveyor 18 is such that it extends substantially the full width of the fryer so that the return run will sweep the pan bottom completely of product fines . it will be understood that the product carrying conveyor 18 receives products transferred thereto through the fryer inlet 21 at the left of fig2 and conveys the product towards the fryer outlet 22 . the outlet end of the conveyor is inclined upwardly so as to raise the treated food products 19 out of contact with the cooking oil and thence for subsequent removal from the fryer 10 . the top or product carrying run of the conveyor 18 may operate either above or below the oil liquid level maintained in the pan 14 . the selection and control of the cooking oil depth in the pan 14 with respect to the food products on the conveyor top run is determined by the product cooking specifications and more specifically whether it is desirable to have the lower portions of the product conveyed through the cooking oil or to be moved above the cooking oil liquid level . the product conveyor 18 is driven through a variable speed motor drive 23 ( fig1 ) which affords an accurate rate of progression for treatment of the products 19 moving through the fryer 10 . typical products 19 which are treated in the fryer 10 include , for example , onion rings as well as other vegetables ; meats such as chicken and beef as well as fish . these food products may be first dipped in a viscous batter and then covered with a layer of bread crumbs or similar coating which adheres to the batter , thus increasing the weight of the product . unless handled carefully in the cooking operation , a portion of the breading or other coating will not adhere to the product and will fall into the cooking oil which is undesirable as discussed above . described below are steps which materially reduce the amount of bread and batter material stripped from the product through the cooking operation . certain products tend to move , tumble or shift as they are carried on the conveyor 18 or to “ float ” in cooking oil residing in the pan 14 . for these reasons it is desirable to arrange a holdown conveyor system 26 under the hood such that the lower run of the hold - down conveyor is positioned to engage the upper surfaces of the product 19 and maintain the food product in its initial position on the main conveyor during the cooking process . the vertical position of the hold - down conveyor may be varied to accommodate products 19 of different vertical dimensions . as is the case of the principal product conveyor 18 , the conveyor belt of the hold - down conveyor 26 is of wire mesh construction to permit the easy flow there through of the cooking oil dispensed from the cooking oil distribution stations 27 arranged above the conveyor 18 carrying the products 19 , as clearly shown in fig2 and 3 . one desirable oil level 30 is indicated in fig2 as coextensive with the lower run of the conveyor 26 . i will be understood that the conveyor 26 may be shifted vertically to either engage or be disengaged from a particular size of product and the oil level 30 may be adjusted to accommodate particular processes and products . the oil distribution stations 27 , best shown in fig3 and 4 , extend - laterally of the conveyor belt 18 and are substantially co - extensive of the width of the conveyor belt so that the full width of the belt may serve as a food cooking area as shown in fig5 . the conveyor belt and the distribution stations extend fully with only marginal clearances between the two sides of the fryer as indicated in fig5 . the stations 27 serve to distribute or pour hot cooking oil onto the products 19 carried by the belt 18 through at least one and preferably a plurality of curtains 28 of smooth , virtually ripple - free cooking oil . it will be understood that the term “ cooking oil ” as used herein is intended to embrace oil substitutes such as olean or olestra which are trademarks of proctor and gamble , co . the incoming hot cooking oil flows from a laterally extending , horizontally disposed trough 29 of relatively small volume as compared to that of the pan . the trough 29 is provided with two upwardly rising , smoothly contoured shoulders 31 which merge into descending guide walls or skirts 32 . thus there is established for each distribution station 27 two oil inlet weirs that generate two smooth flowing curtains of cooking oil . cooking oil is supplied to each trough 29 through a delivery conduit 33 which is provided with oil discharge openings along its bottom perimeter , the openings being positioned below and between the shoulders 31 . incoming oil flows from the conduit 33 to fill the trough 29 from the bottom up to the level of the shoulders from whence the weir action occurs . the spaced apart , horizontally disposed shoulders 31 serve to define or establish the top oil surface in the distribution station . this surface is above the oil discharge openings of the delivery conduit 33 . thus , as incoming oil flows into the rough 29 a corresponding volume of oil flows from the top or overflow oil surface . thus the cooking oil overflows over the smoothly contoured shoulders 31 and flows downwardly along the guide walls or skirts 32 . this creates the weir action and establishes the flow curtains 28 of cooking oil which contact the products in an enrobing action for cooking , e . g ., controlled curtain spillage . the vertical drop of the oil or vertical length of the oil curtains is dictated somewhat by the product height and for this reason the distribution stations include means 35 permitting vertical adjust for raising or lowering and accurate leveling of the stations with respect to the main conveyor belt . the delivery conduits 33 are supplied from a manifold 34 , fig1 and 4 , including the cross supply tubes 36 . the manifold 34 is connected to an oil supply from a heat exchanger or the like ( not shown ) for delivery of oil to the distribution stations 27 at a precise flow rate and temperature . once deposited upon and having flowed over the product , the cooking oil then flows through the conveyor belts and through openings 38 in the deadplate or false bottom 37 , shown best in fig4 . the areas and locations of the openings 38 may be selected to compensate for dynamic pressure differences in the oil flowing under the deadplate 37 so as to minimize any longitudinal oil flow through the product zone above the conveyor 18 . the oil flows longitudinally along the pan 14 as indicated by the lower arrows in fig2 in the relatively shallow space between the deadplate 37 and the pan bottom in a flow pattern which is substantially uniform across the full width of the fryer . from one viewpoint , the pan 14 serves merely to contain the cooking oil for recirculation and reheating as contrasted to the prior art fryers where all of the product cooking was conducted under turbulent condition within the oil bath maintained in the pan . the oil is discharged through the conduit 24 and is circulated to the heat exchanger ( not shown ) for reheating and return to the fryer at a preselected input initial temperature . for certain applications , the deadplate 37 may function as a puddler panel as it is arranged along the distribution stations 27 and is disposed underneath the infeed run of the conveyor . the panel is co - extensive with the width of the conveyor belt . the panel functions to collect with the openings in the wire belt a meniscus or puddle of hot cooking oil flowing unto it from the oil curtains above . the oil puddle wets the bottom o the food product to transfer additional heat to the product . this is an efficient arrangement to ensure oil treatment to the lower portions and the bottom of a food product when it is undesirable to fully immerse the lower portions of the product in cooking oil . an improved fryer 10 having four oil inlet distribution stations 27 each with two oil overflow weirs 32 , 32 and a variable - speed product - carrying conveyor 18 , 23 was operated in accordance with the principles of the present invention . a first group of product samples 19 was fried for a range of processing times in the fryer 10 , with sufficient oil level to fully submerge all samples . another group of product samples was fried in the same fryer 10 but with the oil level below the perforated deadplate 37 . sets of control samples were fried either in a conventional breaded products fryer ( not shown ) or in a still - bath batch fryer , to provide a basis for comparison of cooking times and finished product quality . chicken breasts without any coating were fried at 365 ° f . for times between 30 seconds and 3 minutes , to compare processing times . there was no measurable difference , as determined by the depth of visible color change , between those samples fried submerged in oil in the improved fryer 10 and those fried for the same lengths of time in the conventional fryer . samples fried in the fryer 10 but with the oil level below the perforated deadplate 37 required approximately 25 % longer total cooking time to show equivalent depths of visible color change . thick potato slices without any coating were fried at 365 ° f . for times between 30 seconds and 3 minutes , to compare processing times . there was no measurable difference , as determined by the depth of visible opacity change , between those samples fired submerged in oil in the breaded products fryer 10 and those fried for the same lengths of time in the conventional fryer . samples treated in the fryer 10 but with the oil levels below the perforated deadplate 37 appeared to require approximately 25 % longer total cooking time to show equivalent depths of visible opacity change . chicken breasts were battered and flour - coated , then fried at 365 ° f . in the breaded products fryer 10 with the oil level below the perforated deadplate 37 . the product conveyor 18 was advanced manually to simulate a greater range of weir spacing , number of weirs and processing times . control samples were fried in a batch fryer for 40 seconds at 365 ° f . there was no significant coating loss either from the control samples or from any of the trial samples . total cooking time required to most closely duplicate the control samples varied between 40 seconds at the closest simulated weir spacing and 80 seconds at the maximum simulated weir spacing . chicken breasts were battered and coated with “ j ” crumbs , then fried in the fryer 10 , for 40 seconds at the closest simulated weir spacing , with the oil level below the perforated deadplate 37 . some were fried directly while others were pre - treated by immersion in a still - bath batch fryer for 5 seconds immediately prior to entering the improved breaded products fryer . control samples were batch fried . those samples fried without the pre - treatment showed some coating loss but were otherwise comparable to the control samples . those samples which were prereated in the batch fryer showed negligible coating loss and most closely resembled the control samples . these examples demonstrate the versatility of the fryer 10 and the flexibility of the process enabled by it . other process steps will occur to those skilled in this field and additions and modifications to the apparatus will be envisioned by those skilled art workers . a second preferred embodiment of the invention 40 is shown in fig6 - 8 and this fryer is constructed in accordance with and embodies the principles of the present invention . where previously described corresponding parts are indicated in the drawings these are identified with a “ prime ” (′). the fryer 40 has an inclined inlet section of the conveyor 18 ′ as well as an incline outlet section , as is apparent from fig6 . the oil level 30 ′ extends over the top of the product 19 ′ or in other words the products are treated in the fryer in a submerged condition . there is no hold down conveyor present in the embodiment 40 which then is most useful for products 19 ′ which do not tend to float or in which the floating of the product in the oil is within the intended operating parameters . referring particularly to fig7 it will be seen that the bottom run of the conveyor 18 ′ is closely spaced with respect to the pan bottom so as in operation to sweep the bottom of the pan 14 ′. the top run of the conveyor 18 is guided and supported by lane guides 42 which are so positioned with respect to the fryer bottom to define oil return paths as indicated by the arrows 43 in fig8 . more specifically , the oil return paths are from the central portion of the fryer to the side and then to urge the oil to migrate toward the sump 24 ′ for removal from the fryer to a reheating unit . thus the lane guides 42 serve with the conveyor runs to define oil passageways over the fryer bottom for removal of the oil and its recirculation . five such lane guides 42 are indicated in fig8 although the number may be higher or lower depending upon the width of the fryer and the return flow rate desired . a third preferred embodiment of the invention 50 is shown in fig9 and this fryer is construction in accordance with and embodies the principles of the present invention . where previously described corresponding parts are indicated in the drawing , these are identified with a “ prime ” (′). the improved fryer 50 is constructed with parts previously identified and in this instance includes a principal products conveyor 51 which is configured for an outside return . that is to say the return 52 of the conveyor does not travel across the inside of the pan , but returns outside of the pan as indicated in fig9 . the top run of the conveyor is arranged to sweep the bottom of the pan and to move any fines that develop in the frying process toward the sump 24 ′ which is positioned adjacent to the discharge end of the fryer . while there has been disclosed above and illustrated in the drawings what is considered to be the preferred embodiments of the present invention and teach those skilled in the art the principles of the applicants &# 39 ; development , the true scope of the invention shall not be limited except as set out in the claims below .
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the following detailed description of the present invention refers to the accompanying drawings that illustrate exemplary embodiments consistent with this invention . other embodiments are possible , and modifications may be made to the embodiments within the spirit and scope of the invention . therefore , the detailed description is not meant to limit the invention . rather , the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims . it would be apparent to one of skill in the art that the present invention , as described below , may be implemented in many different embodiments of software , hardware , firmware , and / or the entities illustrated in the figures . any actual software code with the specialized control of hardware to implement the present invention is not limiting of the present invention . thus , the operational behavior of the present invention will be described with the understanding that modifications and variations of the embodiments are possible , given the level of detail presented herein . various aspects of the present invention can be implemented by software , firmware , hardware ( or hardware represented by software such as , for example , verilog or hardware description language instructions ), or a combination thereof . fig1 is an illustration of an example computer system in which the present invention , or portions thereof , can be implemented as computer - readable code . it should be noted that the simulation , synthesis and / or manufacture of the various embodiments of this invention may be accomplished , in part , through the use of computer readable code , including general programming languages ( such as c or c ++), hardware description languages ( hdl ) such as , for example , verilog hdl , vhdl , altera hdl ( ahdl ), or other available programming and / or schematic capture tools ( such as circuit capture tools ). this computer readable code can be disposed in any known computer usable medium including a semiconductor , magnetic disk , optical disk ( such as cdrom , dvd - rom ) and as a computer data signal embodied in a computer usable ( e . g ., readable ) transmission medium ( such as a carrier wave or any other medium such as , for example , digital , optical , or analog - based medium ). as such , the code can be transmitted over communication networks including the internet and internets . it is understood that the functions accomplished and / or structure provided by the systems and techniques described above can be represented in a core ( such as a gpu core ) that is embodied in program code and may be transformed to hardware as part of the production of integrated circuits . the detailed description is divided into several sections as shown by the following table of contents : table of contents 1 . system 1 . 1 . cache update module 1 . 1 . 1 . match engine 1 . 2 . event module 1 . 2 . 1 . event propagation 1 . 2 . 2 . no - block bit 1 . 3 . flush module and eviction in write combining cache 2 . selective flushing and flush events 2 . 1 . cache flush event 2 . 2 . surface sync flush event 2 . 3 . shader flush events 2 . 4 . acknowledge flush event 3 . conclusion fig1 is a block diagram illustration of a write combining cache 100 according to an embodiment of the invention . the write combining cache 100 includes cache update module 110 , event module 120 and flush module 130 . additionally , write combining cache 100 includes memory arbiter 140 and cache memory 150 . cache update module 110 monitors and updates cache lines of write combining cache 100 . fig2 is a more detailed illustration of cache update module 110 , shown in fig1 . in the illustration of fig2 , cache update module 110 is associated with a plurality of cachelines 106 a - n . cache update module 110 receives probe 102 and probe 104 . additionally , tag bit ( s ) 108 are received by cache update module 110 . the operation of tag bit ( s ) 108 is further described below , in relationship to comparators 170 and match engine 110 . in the exemplary illustration of fig2 , the cache update module 110 receives a “ probe .” generally speaking , a probe is a message passed from a memory controller in a computer system to one or more caches in the computer system to determine if the caches have a copy of data . by way of example , a probe 102 or probe 104 are transmitted to write combining cache 100 in response to a command from a component ( e . g . a processor ), to read or write to cache memory 150 . since write combining cache 100 can only write to a specific portion of the cache memory 150 , a ‘ probe ’ signal may direct data to the correct cache line in write combining cache 100 . once incoming data is received by cache update module 100 , the incoming data is correctly processed in an appropriate manner and sent to memory arbiter 140 . memory arbiter 140 prioritizes writes to the cache memory 150 depending on how full the write combining cache 100 is , and whether collisions result from the writes . memory arbiter 140 determines an order of priority of writes to the cache memory 150 between cache update module 110 , event module 120 , and flush module 130 . as soon as write combining cache 100 receives a probe transaction , the cache update module 110 determines whether there is a ‘ hit ’ or a ‘ miss ’ in cachelines 106 a - n . if there is a cache hit , the new incoming data is allowed to combine with the data that is present in write combining cache 100 . empty cachelines are filled with the new incoming data . if there is a cache miss , cache update module 110 creates a new cacheline in the cache . cache update module 110 determines , for every incoming probe , if the probe is a completely new probe using an address associated with the probe . thus , if incoming data is new , cache update module 110 creates a new cacheline . however , if it is old , cache update module 110 combines it with an existing cacheline within the write combining cache 100 . cache update module 110 can selectively update cache - lines with data based on one or more write requests . in the exemplary illustration if fig2 , cache update module 110 updates a 16 - way set associative write combining cache . as an example , write requests received by cache update module 110 for the sixteen - way set associative cache can receive one probe per set for each of the sets of a set associative cache and one set empty bit per probe . additionally , per cache - line , cache update module 110 receives sixteen valid bits , one global valid bit , seven bits corresponding to an event time stamp ( ets ) of the received events , four type bits , twenty - six bits of address or tag bit ( s ) 108 , and one flush bit . a probe received by write combining cache 100 includes data that is to be written to cache memory 150 . as an example , probe 102 or probe 104 can be received by the write combining cache 100 . the match engine 220 uses tag bits 108 to determine if a cache - hit or a cache - miss occurred . cache - hits and cache - misses are computed by match engine 220 using one or more comparators 170 a - n . tag bits 108 are compared against cachelines 106 a - n in write combining cache 100 . in an embodiment , write combining cache 100 is a sixteen - way set associative cache . selected bits of an address , associated with a probe , determine which bank of the cache memory 150 a cache line is to be flushed to . thus only sixteen bits of tag bits 108 need to be compared by match engine 220 . in the embodiments described above , for each of the cachelines , a first section of the address that is associated with every incoming probe determines which cache - line is selected . for example , an incoming address associated with probe 102 determines whether cacheline 106 a is selected . furthermore , only one cacheline from each of the ‘ n ’ banks is transmitted to the comparators 170 a - n . the remainder of the address , in tag bit ( s ) 108 of an incoming probe , is compared by match engine 220 against a tag of cachelines 106 a - n to determine if there is a match . in this way , match engine 220 receives outputs of the comparators 170 a - n and determines , based on the outputs , if one or more matches have occurred . if no matches have occurred , a new cacheline is allocated for the incoming probe data . if a new cacheline needs to be created and cache memory 150 is full , the cache update module 110 may selectively choose a cacheline for eviction to system memory to allow for room to be created in the cache memory 150 for any incoming data probe . in the embodiments described above , all synchronization in write combining cache 100 is carried out by event module 120 . event module 120 uses a plurality of event time stamps ( ets ) to execute this synchronization . fig3 is a more detailed illustration of event module 120 , shown in fig1 . event module 120 is associated with a plurality of cachelines 106 a - n , and is configured to receive ets 312 and probe 102 . additionally , event module 120 can include pending ets count 310 , current ets count 314 , counter bank 330 , match counter 320 , and pending event fifo 316 . when an event is received that marks one or more cachelines for eviction , or for flushing to cache memory 150 , it may be necessary for event module 120 to know , for synchronization purposes , when cachelines 106 a - n where flushed by flush module 130 . it may also be necessary for even module 120 to know when data is written to cache memory 150 . ets 312 can be used to track which cacheline needs to be evicted next . when an event is received , it is associated with an ets value , for example , ets 312 . after an event is received , event module 120 then checks cachelines 106 a - n in write combining cache 100 and sets appropriate mask bits in ets mask 340 . when a mask bit is set by event module 120 , a cacheline associated with the mask bit is marked for eviction and is flushed out by flush module 130 . thus , event module 120 compares the received data with the state of each cacheline . if a match occurs , a mask bit is set in ets mask 340 . the event module 120 then checks all ets values in the order in which they are received in order to maintain an order of events . furthermore , event module 120 calculates one or more priority values for each event based on the ets values . as an example , ets 312 can be a seven bit field , thus yielding 128 different ets values . once an event reaches write combing cache 100 , all cache lines are compared to see if the event matches a request to write data to cache memory 150 . cachelines that match are marked as “ flush ” and receive the ets of the current event , for example ets 312 . the number of matches is stored in match counter 320 , and are recorded in counter bank 330 . they are recorded at a position that can be determined by ets 312 . by way of example , counter bank 330 can be a bank of 128 counters . if no matches result and there are events in write combining cache 100 , an event is pushed with no - block bit set onto pending event fifo 316 . thus , an event may go through as it is no longer blocked in write combining cache 100 . when a no block bit is set , a shader or any other requesting entity need not wait for any acknowledgement from write combining cache 100 before a new event can be sent out to write combining cache 100 . if matches occur , the event module 120 finds and identifies the last evicted cacheline in the write combining cache 100 , marks it as acknowledged , and pushes an event with no - block bit cleared onto pending event fifo 316 . pending event fifo 316 can be any form of queue or data structure that processes events in a “ first in , first out ” manner . if write combining cache 100 is fully empty , an event is pushed with a no - block bit set . on each event request , pending ets count 310 is incremented by event module 120 . fig4 is a more detailed illustration of the flush module 130 , shown in fig1 . fig5 is a flowchart of an exemplary method 500 of practicing an embodiment of the present invention . method 500 can be used to push one or more events onto pending event fifo 316 . method 500 begins at step 502 with an event module receiving an event ( step 502 ). the event module then increments a pending ets count 310 ( step 504 ). as an example , event module 120 increments pending ets count 310 . the event module then checks for matches between events and cachelines ( step 506 ). for every cacheline that matches an event request ( step 508 ), it is marked for flush and the counter pointed by the ets of the event is incremented ( step 522 ). then the event is pushed to a event fifo with the no block bit cleared ( step 524 ) if an event does not match cachelines ( step 508 ), the event module checks if there are any events pending the event fifo ( step 510 ). as an example , event module 120 checks to determine whether there are events in pending event fifo 316 . if there are events pending ( step 510 ), an event is pushed with a no - block bit set ( step 520 ). if there are no events in the pending event fifo , the event module finds an empty cacheline by parsing all sets in case of a set associative cache ( step 512 ). the event module then marks the found cacheline with an acknowledge ( ack ) bit and pushes the event with the no - block bit cleared ( step 516 ). a state machine in event module 120 walks through the plurality of ets values checking them one at a time starting at a value of zero . it then checks a counter at the ets value and then evicts cachelines corresponding to the flush bit that has been set . on the last cacheline evicted , the state machine marks it with an ack bit . once it has completed evicting all cachelines marked as flush , the state machine decrements the current ets count 312 and select the next ets value . next , it decrements the pending ets count 310 , and event module 120 waits for the ack bit to return from system memory controller 152 before it sends a synchronization token back to a shader or any other entity that requested data . the synchronization token , for example , includes data that confirms that all marked lines were evicted or flushed to cache memory 150 by flush module 130 . fig6 is a flow chart of an exemplary method 600 of practicing the present invention . the method 600 is used by event module 120 to control event propagation . method 600 begins at step 602 with a state machine identifying a cacheline that requires flushing ( step 602 ). as an example , a state machine in event module 120 identifies a particular cacheline that needs to be flushed . the event module will then determine whether it is the last cacheline that needs to be flushed ( step 604 ). if it is not the last cacheline that needs to be flushed ( step 604 ), the event module determines other cachelines that need to be flushed ( step 616 ). on the other hand , if it is the last cacheline that needs to be flushed ( step 604 ), the event module will send an acknowledge ( ack ) request to system memory controller 152 , for example , a shader ( step 606 ). the event module subsequently decrements a pending ets count ( step 608 ). as an example , event module 120 will decrement pending ets count 310 . the event module will then push an event onto a pending event fifo ( step 610 ), such as the fifo 316 . next , the event module checks whether a pending ets equals zero ( step 612 ). for example , event module 120 check whether pending ets count 310 equals zero . if so ( step 612 ), method 600 ends ( step 614 ). if a pending ets count does not equal zero , method 600 proceeds to step 604 . in this manner , event module 120 synchronizes events in write combining buffer 100 by using event time stamps ( ets ). additionally , at all times data is still accepted to the cache and while the cacheline status is updated by event module 120 . a no - block bit is set when an event by write combining cache 100 from a shader or any other entity but there is no data in write combining cache 100 that can be flushed to cache memory 150 . in an embodiment , a no - block bit is then set by event module 120 when write combining cache 100 is empty and the event is then returned to the shader with the no - block bit set . thus , for example , when the shader receives the no - block bit , it knows that write combining cache 100 has no data that can be flushed to cache memory 150 . this assists in pipelined synchronization of write combining cache 100 . when an event is received , flush module 130 selectively flushes other cachelines , in addition to the ones pertaining to a particular event . by way of example , if more than one shader requests data to be written to cache memory 150 , event module 120 sends sync tokens to each shader . if several sync events are generated , event module 120 checks if all events preceding a certain event have been serviced . furthermore , any incoming request from a shader will be checked to see whether the data requested by the event has been flushed by the shader . thus , when event module 120 is operating and synchronizing events , input events received from a shader , for example , are never stalled . at all times data is accepted by write combining cache 100 while status of cachelines 106 a - n is updated by event module 120 . 1 . 3 . flush module 130 and eviction in write combining cache 100 in the exemplary embodiment above , write combining cache 100 only evicts data in cachelines 106 a - n if incoming tag bits 108 do not match with any of the cacheline tag bits . the write combining cache 100 also evicts if a cacheline is fall . write combining cache 100 then selects one of cache lines 106 a - n and evicts them . although in the present embodiment a strict round robin policy is used for eviction , other well known eviction techniques can be used . for example , fully random eviction techniques are available , and are known to those skilled in the art . in the present embodiment , data is only read from write combining cache 100 after it has been flushed to cache memory 150 . thus in order to read the cache - lines , data in the cache lines 106 a - n needs to be flushed to memory . furthermore , cachelines 106 a - n need to be selectively flushed in a manner that prevents stalling of the input probes . also , for effective use of bandwidth , only relevant data in cachelines 106 a - n needs to be flushed . event module 120 selectively identifies cachelines require flushing . flush module 130 checks if there are any full cachelines in write combining cache 100 . if there is a full cache - line , flush module 130 flushes the cache - line to cache memory 150 . cachelines 106 a - n are flushed if there is an update to a cacheline from an incoming probe and there is no cacheline available to store data associated with the update . additionally a cacheline can be flushed by flush module 130 if it is full and can be flushed to memory for an efficient memory transaction . however , all cache - lines need not be flushed , and cache - lines that include requested data are selectively flushed . a cache flush event is a generic type of a flush event to flush all cache - lines to memory . when event module 120 receives a cache flush event , all cache lines in write combining cache 100 will be marked for eviction and flushed to cache memory 150 by flush module 130 . as an example , a cache flush event can be generated by flush module 130 at the end of a frame of data to flush all cache - lines to cache memory 150 . a surface sync flush event is used to selectively flush cachelines 106 a - n that have a “ sync ” bit set . a sync bit is part of synchronization data that is stored by each cacheline 106 a - n in write combining cache 100 . when a request for a write operation is received by write combining cache 100 , it sets the sync bit of certain cache - lines . when a surface sync event is received by event module 120 , event module 120 flushes cache - lines that have their sync bits set . in this way , selected cache - lines are flushed to cache memory 150 . in an exemplary scenario , not intended to limit the invention , in addition to a sync bit , each cache - line may have two additional bits set by different types of shaders . shaders , for example , include a set of instructions used by a graphics processing unit to perform rendering effects . as an example , write combining cache 100 can receive data from different types of shaders , such as a vertex shader , a pixel shader , or a geometry shader . in any case , data that needs to be processed by a shader needs to be flushed out to cache memory 150 from cachelines 106 a - n prior to use by another shader . when data being processed by a vertex shader needs to be processed by a geometry shader , the geometry shader waits to begin processing the same data until it is available in cache memory 150 . shader flush events are issued by a shader indicating that it has completed processing data and the data can now be flushed to cache memory 150 . thus , the data is flushed to cache memory 150 by flush module 130 before the event is returned . in this way , all cachelines 106 a - n have a two - bit field corresponding to a shader type and when a write request is received for a particular shader type . if the bit filed in a cache - line corresponding to a shader type is set , that cache - line is marked for eviction and will be flushed by flush module 130 . ack flush events are used when temporary arrays need to be used in association with write combining cache 100 . as an example , if a shader is using too many general purpose registers ( gprs ), data might need to be written or “ spill ” into system memory 151 . when data is to be written to system memory 151 , it &# 39 ; s first sent to cache memory 150 through write combining cache 100 . however , when data is “ spilled ” to memory , an ack bit is set on all transfers and is stored on a per cacheline basis by flush module 130 . this way the shader can know when the data arrived in system memory 151 and thus that it is safe to read it . an ack bit , for example , can be state information that is stored per cacheline . when a request for data from a gpr occurs , event module 120 sends an ack event . as a result , flush module 130 then flushes all cachelines that have their ack bit set . after cachelines having their ack bit set have been flushed by flush module 130 , a synchronization token is sent back to the shader , or any other entity that requested the data . once the token is received , the shader reads data from a system memory . in this way , synchronization is achieved using an ack bit and a synchronization token . the present invention has been described above with the aid of functional building blocks illustrating the performance of specified functions and relationships thereof . the boundaries of these functional building blocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenience of the description . alternate boundaries can be defined so long as the specified functions and relationships thereof are appropriately performed . the foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the invention that others can , by applying knowledge within the skill of the art , readily modify and / or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments , without undue experimentation , without departing from the general concept of the present invention . therefore , such adaptations and modifications are intended to be within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments , based on the teaching and guidance presented herein . it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation , such that the terminology or phraseology of the present specification is to be interpreted by the skilled artisan in light of the teachings and guidance . the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above - described exemplary embodiments , but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents .
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in particular the present invention relates to a deceleration controller for use in controlling the increase in hydraulic or pneumatic brake pressure as a brake is applied . such a deceleration controller is especially important in railway vehicles , it being a requirement for most railway vehicles that the rate of change of deceleration , i . e . the so - called ` jerk rate `, during braking , falls within a specified range . hydraulic brake systems tend to respond too quickly to produce a jerk rate which is acceptable for passenger comfort . in contrast a very low jerk rate results in the brakes lacking the necessary responsiveness . the aim of the present invention is to provide a deceleration controller for use in controlling the hydraulic or pneumatic pressure applied to a brake , to thus provide a jerk rate within a required range . according to the present invention there is provided a deceleration controller comprising a valve member which is axially movable in a chamber in a body between an open position and a closed position to control fluid flow between an inlet and an outlet , a passage connecting one part of the chamber which includes the outlet , with another part of the chamber , defining a volume chamber located between said valve member and a spring loaded piston . in one embodiment of the present invention , designed for hydraulically or pneumatically applied brakes , the valve member and piston are axially slidably located in a : chamber in the form of a cylindrical bore which extends through the body , and is of substantially uniform diameter . the cylindrical bore is closed at both axial ends and a main spring is located between one closed end and said piston , the piston being sealed with the wall of the bore . between the valve member and said piston a light spring , i . e . a spring of negligible spring rate , is located , the springs biassing the valve member in its rest condition against the other closed end of the cylindrical bore . the valve member has a passage incorporating a restrictor orifice , extending axially therethrough and an annular groove in its periphery , the inlet from a pressurised supply of brake fluid opening into this groove . alternatively , a passage extending through the body around the valve member and likewise incorporating a restrictor orifice , may replace the passage through the valve member . part of the cylindrical bore including said other closed end is radially enlarged to form a pressure chamber which connects with the pressure fluid outlet leading to the brakes . the shoulder formed between the enlarged diameter region and the uniform diameter region of the bore provides a valve seat in the form of an annular knife edge against which part of the valve member can be engaged to disconnect said inlet from said outlet . in operation , when the brakes are applied , the fluid pressure in the inlet increases and initially the valve member remains in its rest position against upstanding projections on said other closed end of the bore , whilst fluid flows through the controller to rapidly take up the brake pad clearance . the fluid pressure in the controller will not rise significantly whilst brake clearance is being taken up and so there will be no appreciable movement of the piston and no significant flow through the passage in the valve member . however , when the brake is engaged and the clamp load builds up , the pressure in said pressure chamber will tend to rise rapidly . this pressure build - up acts on the piston via said passage and the piston moves to compress the main spring and attain an equilibrium position . the resulting increase in volume of the chamber between the piston and valve member causes a rapid fluid flow through the passage in the valve member , resulting in a pressure drop across the valve member . the valve member thus moves towards the piston closing the controller and reducing the rise in pressure in said pressure chamber . a state of balance will then exist where the fluid flow through the passage is just sufficient to create a pressure drop across the valve member which corresponds to the load in the light spring . the resulting movements of the valve member will thus control the pressure rise in the pressure chamber and in the said outlet . as the static fluid pressure in the said outlet is proportional to deceleration , and the controller controls the rate of the rise in pressure in the outlet , when a step rise in pressure is applied at the inlet so the controller controls deceleration irrespective of how rapidly the operator applies the brakes . thus , the desired jerk rate can be achieved , mathematical calculation confirming that it is solely the physical design characteristics of the controller which determine the deceleration , i . e . the rate of increase in outlet pressure . in another embodiment of the present invention , designed for spring applied , hydraulically or pneumatically released brakes , the operation of the valve member is reversed as compared to the above described embodiment . the balanced condition now occurs when pressure fluid is flowing out of the chamber between the piston and valve member , through the passage and into the pressure chamber , as a result of the falling pressure in the pressure chamber ; a light spring being located between the valve member and said other closed end of the bore to ensure that the controller is open in the rest condition . one of each of the above embodiments could be connected in series to provide for the control of the rate of release of a brake as well as the control of the rate of application ; this being desirable to provide for smoother operation in the event of spasmodic or cadence braking . alternatively two of either of the above embodiments could be connected in parallel with suitably positioned non - return valves , to produce the desired effect . control of the rate of release can , however , be additionally obtained by a still further embodiment of the present invention , wherein the cylindrical valve member has a radial passage which connects with the passage extending axially right through the valve member . the valve member is spring biassed in the bore in both axial directions , towards a centralised position wherein the radial passage is aligned with a port in the bore wall , which port is connected to a source of pressurised fluid . by virtue of this construction fluid flow in either direction produces a pressure drop across the valve member such that the valve member moves in an appropriate direction and thus varies the overlap between the radial passage and the port . the pressure drop across the valve member is balanced by the spring bias and thus the rate of fluid flow movement in either direction is controlled . as a result , the rate of brake application and the rate of brake release is controlled , and smoother operation is attained the present invention will now be further described , by way of example , with reference to the accompanying drawings , in which : fig1 is a schematic axial cross - sectional view through one embodiment of the present invention ; fig2 is a schematic axial cross - sectional view through another embodiment of the present invention , and fig3 is a schematic axial cross - sectional view through a still further embodiment of the present invention . the deceleration controller schematically illustrated in fig1 of the accompanying drawings , is especially for use with hydraulically applied brakes . the same design can , however , be used with pneumatically applied brakes the controller comprises a cylindrical bore 1 formed in a body 3 , the cylindrical bore being closed at both ends 5 , 6 and having a uniform diameter for the majority of its length , an enlarged diameter end region partially defining a pressure chamber 7 . a cylindrical valve member 9 and a cylindrical piston 11 are axially slidably located in said cylinder bore 1 , with a main spring 13 located between the piston 11 and one closed end 5 of the bore 1 , and a light spring 15 located between the valve member 9 and the piston 11 a seal 12 being provided between the piston 11 and the wall of the bore 1 . this spring arrangement 13 , 15 biasses the valve member to a rest position against raised projections 17 formed at the other closed end 6 of the bore 1 . the valve member 9 has a passage 19 incorporating a restrictor orifice 20 , extending axially therethrough , said orifice 19 connecting the pressure chamber 7 with the chamber 21 between the valve member 9 and the piston 11 . further , the valve member 9 has an enlarged diameter end region 23 which projects radially into the enlarged diameter pressure chamber 7 , an outlet 25 connecting with the brakes , leading from the pressure chamber 7 . this enlarged diameter end region 23 forms , together with an annular groove 27 extending circumferentially around the valve member 9 , an angled surface 29 which can ( as illustrated ) engage a knife edge valve seat 31 formed by the shoulder between the uniform diameter portion and the enlarged diameter portion of the bore 1 . an inlet 33 connectible to a source of pressurised brake fluid , opens into the annular groove 27 in the valve member 9 in operation with the brakes released , the spring arrangement 13 , 15 holds the valve member 9 against the projections 17 so that the controller is open , angled surface 29 being spaced from the valve seat 31 . when the brake is initially applied , pressurised brake fluid flows from the inlet 33 through the controller to the outlet 25 and the brake . however , the initial flow of pressure fluid through the controller is to take up pad clearance , and whilst this is occurring the fluid pressure in the controller will not rise significantly so there will be no appreciable movement of piston 11 and no significant fluid flow through the passage 19 . when the clearance is taken up and the clamp load builds up , the pressure in the chamber 7 will tend to rise rapidly . this pressure rise will also act on the piston 11 , causing the piston 11 to move to compress the main spring 13 and attain an equilibrium position . the resulting increase in the volume of chamber 21 causes a rapid fluid flow through the passage 19 which in turn causes a pressure drop across the valve member 9 resulting in the valve member 9 moving to the right in fig1 . the angled surface 29 thus approaches the valve seat 31 closing the controller and reducing the rise in pressure in chamber 7 . a state of balance is thus achieved when the fluid flow through passage 19 is just sufficient to create a pressure drop across the valve member 9 , which pressure drop corresponds to the load in the light spring 15 . the resulting movements of the valve member 9 will thus control the pressure rise in the pressure chamber 7 and in the outlet 25 . as the static fluid pressure in the outlet 25 is proportional to deceleration and the controller controls the rate of rise in pressure in the outlet 25 , when a step rise in pressure is applied at the inlet 33 so the controller controls deceleration irrespective of how rapidly the operator applies the brakes . thus , the desired deceleration , i . e . jerk rate , can be achieved , this being solely dependent upon the physical design characteristics of the controller as confirmed by the following mathematical analysis : k = orifice constant as defined by ## equ1 ## assuming that the orifice ( 19 ) is ` short ` p 7 = pressure in chamber 7 dp 21 / dt = rate of change of pressure in chamber 21 ## equ2 ## if pressure in chamber 21 changes by ` p 21 `, spring load changes by ` p 21 × a `. the length of main spring 13 will therefore change by ## equ3 ## if all of these changes occur in unit time , then : ## equ5 ## from equation ( e ) it is seen that the change in pressure in chamber 7 is purely dependent upon physical design characteristics of the controller . thus , the controller can be designed to provide the required deceleration . another embodiment of the present invention is schematically illustrated in fig2 of the accompanying drawings . like parts to the components of fig1 are identified by the equivalent reference numeral . however , basically the valve member 9 in fig2 operates in the reverse manner to the valve member 9 of the embodiment of fig1 the embodiment of fig2 being designed for use with spring applied , hydraulically or pneumatically , released brakes . in this embodiment the light spring 15 is located between the valve member 9 and said other closed end 6 of the bore 1 . further , groove 27 in the valve member 9 of fig1 is now replaced by a groove 35 formed in the wall of the bore 1 . the balanced condition in the embodiment of fig2 occurs as a result of the falling pressure in the pressure chamber 7 , when pressure fluid is flowing out of chamber 21 between the piston 11 and valve member 9 , through the passage 19 and into the pressure chamber 7 . the light spring 15 ensures that the controller is open in the rest condition . one of each of the above embodiments can be connected in series to provide for the control of the rate of release of a brake as well as the control of the rate of application ; this being desirable to provide for smoother operation in the event of spasmodic or cadence braking . alternatively , two of either of the above embodiments can be connected in parallel with suitably arranged non - return valves , to produce the desired effect . a still further embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in fig3 of the accompanying drawings . again , equivalent parts to the components of the embodiments of fig1 and 2 are identified by the like reference numeral . however , whilst the embodiments of fig1 and 2 control the actual application of a braking system in hydraulically / pneumatically applied and hydraulically / pneumatically released systems respectively , the controller of fig3 controls both the rate of application and the rate of release of such brake systems . thus , besides being suitable for either of the above types of braking system for the control of the brake application , the embodiment of fig3 additionally controls the rate of brake release and thereby provides for smoother operation in the event of spasmodic or cadence type braking . this latter controller comprises a cylindrical valve member 9 which is axially slidable under the effect of fluid pressures , within a cylindrical bore 1 in a body 3 , the cylindrical valve member 9 being biassed towards a centralised rest position ( illustrated ) by a spring 15 which is located over a reduced diameter portion 37 of said cylindrical valve member 9 . the spring 15 is located between two annular abutment plates 31 , 41 which can engage against the respective shoulders 43 , 45 defining the axial limits of said reduced diameter portion 37 . the abutment plates 31 , 41 also extend radially into an annular groove 47 formed in the wall of the bore 1 , the annular groove 47 having a slightly reduced axial dimension as compared to the axial extent of said reduced diameter section 37 of the valve member 9 . thus , whilst the spring 15 presses the abutment plates 31 , 41 against opposite axial ends of the annular groove 47 , the valve member 9 can move axially to a limited degree relative to the abutment plates 31 , 41 without the spring 15 having to be compressed . rather than provide the axial clearance ` d ` between the abutment plates 31 , 41 and the axial limits 43 , 45 of the reduced diameter portion 37 of the valve member 9 , the axial dimension of the annular groove 47 can be larger than the axial extent of the reduced diameter portion 37 , such that the axial clearance occurs between the abutment plates 31 , 41 and the axial ends of the groove 47 . alternatively , if desired , the annular groove 47 and reduced diameter portion 37 can have the same axial dimension . however , the provision of a clearance does have an advantage as is explained later . in this centralised rest position an annular groove 49 formed in the outer surface of the valve member 9 , is aligned with a port 51 in the wall of bore 1 , this annular groove 49 connecting via radial passages 53 with a passage 19 extending axially right through the valve member 9 . the passage 19 has a restrictor orifice 20 formed at one end , said one end being adjacent to a cylindrical piston 11 which is axially slidably and sealingly located in said bore 1 . a main spring 13 is arranged between the piston 11 and a closed end 5 of the bore 1 . the other end 6 of the bore 1 is , in use , connected via outlet 25 , to a brake ( not shown ) and the port 51 is connected to a supply of pressure fluid . in a normal continuous braking operation , the controller of fig3 initially remains in the illustrated state whilst pressurised fluid flows through port 51 , groove 49 , radial passage 53 , and passage 19 to the brake . however , when the brake clearance has been taken up and the clamp force increases , the pressure in the bore 1 increases until main spring 13 is compressed by the piston 11 moving under the effect of the pressure fluid . this piston movement causes an initial increase in the volume of the portion of the bore 1 between the valve member 9 and the piston 11 , and pressure fluid thus flows along passage 19 and through the restrictor 20 to maintain the said volume full of fluid . the flow of fluid through restrictor 20 causes a pressure drop across the valve member 9 , which if sufficiently large , causes the valve member 9 to move towards the piston 11 , abutment plate 39 compressing spring 15 . this axial valve member movement in one direction moves the groove 49 across port 51 reducing the flow - through cross - section for the pressurised fluid until the fluid flow is just sufficient to produce a pressure drop which balances the load on the spring 15 . the resulting movements of the valve member 9 thus control the pressure rise in the bore 1 and in the outlet 25 , and thereby control the rate of application of the brake irrespective of how the operator applies the brake . if during braking the brakes are released and then reapplied , then on release fluid flows into the bore 1 from outlet 25 , through the passages 19 and 53 , and back to port 51 and the fluid supply . this return flow is accompanied by a drop in fluid pressure in passages 19 and 53 . piston 11 thus moves under the action of spring 13 to reduce the volume of the portion of the bore 1 between the piston 11 and the valve member 9 . pressure fluid is therefore displaced through orifice 20 and passage 19 , causing a pressure drop across the valve member 9 . if this pressure drop is sufficiently large it will cause the valve member 9 to move away from the piston 11 , abutment plate 41 compressing the spring 15 . this axial valve member movement in the opposite direction to the valve member movement under brake application , again moves the groove 49 across the port 51 reducing the flow - through cross - section for the pressurised fluid until the fluid flow is just sufficient to produce a pressure drop which balances the load on the spring 15 . the resulting movements of the valve member 9 thus control the decrease in pressure in the bore 1 and in the outlet 25 , and thereby control the rate of release of the brake irrespective of how the operator releases the brake . referring to the clearance ` d ` previously mentioned as being advantageously provided to allow for a limited amount of axial movement for the valve member 9 before the spring 15 has to be compressed to allow for further valve movement , both for the control of brake application and brake release , the advantage obtained arises from the fact that this clearance or lost motion ` d ` allows the valve member 9 to move smartly to a position appropriate to the flow direction , i . e . dependent upon it being brake application or brake release , before actual throttling of the fluid flow between port 51 and groove 49 occurs . due to the practical size of port 51 there is a dead stroke of the valve member 9 around the centralised position in which negligible throttling of the fluid flow occurs . by virtue of the clearance ` d ` the valve member 9 has , in effect , advance warning of the direction in which it is about to operate . as a result , as soon as the pressure drop across the valve member 9 is sufficient to compress the spring 15 , the valve member 9 operates with a better initial response because the necessary movement has been reduced by the amount of the clearance ` d `. in all of the above described embodiments of the present invention , the passage 19 extends through the valve member 9 . however , in an alternative embodiment ( not illustrated ) passage 19 is replaced by a passage which extends through the body 3 bypassing the valve member 9 . the present invention thus provides a deceleration controller which can be used with hydraulically or pneumatically applied or released brakes , to provide the required ` jerk rate ` however rapidly an operator should apply the brakes .
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the invention is discussed below in a more detailed way with examples , the first being illustrated by the following figure : fig1 shows triptorelin , lhrh agonist , serum levels obtained with the pharmaceutical biodegradable composition of example 1 , fig2 shows triptorelin , lhrh agonist , serum levels obtained with the pharmaceutical biodegradable composition of example 3 , fig3 shows triptorelin , lhrh agonist , serum levels obtained with the pharmaceutical biodegradable composition of example 4 , in the following examples the viscosity is expressed in dl / g and is measured at a polymer concentration of 0 . 5 g / dl . a formulation of microgranules of triptorelin pamoate is prepared with the following process . approximately 12 % ( w / w ) of triptorelin pamoate is mixed with approximately 88 % ( w / w ) plga 75 / 25 having a viscosity of 0 . 65 dl / g , at room temperature . the given mixture is duly homogenized , subjected to progressive compression and simultaneously to a progressive heating , before extrusion . the extrudate is cut into pellets and ground at a temperature of about − 100 ° c . the microgranules obtained after grinding are sieved below 180 micrometers . their size distribution is defined as follows : d ( v , 0 . 1 )= 23 micrometers d ( v , 0 . 5 )= 55 micrometers d ( v , 0 . 9 )= 99 micrometers a formulation of microspheres of triptorelin pamoate and plga 85 / 15 having an inherent viscosity of 0 . 68 dl / g is prepared as follows : aqueous phase is prepared by mixing , under magnetic stirring , at a temperature of 40 ° c ., 240 g of polyvinyl alcohol and 11760 g of purified water . in parallel , the organic phase is prepared by total dissolution of 12 g of polymer 85 / 15 poly ( d , l lactide - co - glycolide ) ( plga ) in 45 g of ethyl acetate under magnetic stirring . 3000 mg of triptorelin pamoate are suspended in 30 g of ethyl acetate and placed under magnetic stirring . this solution is incorporated to the organic phase previously prepared . the organic phase is then introduced in a homogenisation chamber simultaneously with the said aqueous phase . both phases are mixed in order to obtain an emulsion and the extraction of the solvent from the organic phase and to isolate a suspension of microspheres . finally the formulation of microspheres is recovered by filtration and dried by lyophilization . the formulation of microspheres and the formulation of microgranules are mixed in a vial in order to have a 50 : 50 dose ratio of each formulation . the mixture is suspended in an appropriate aqueous medium , lyophilised and sterilized by gamma irradiation . the purity measured on the obtained pharmaceutical biodegradable composition is 98 . 3 % and the burst evaluated in vitro ( in a phosphate buffer ph 7 . 4 ) over a 6 hours period is 22 . 1 %. in this example , the obtained pharmaceutical formulation is tested in vivo and the animal model is the rat . the formulation as described above is suspended in water for injection and is administered at a concentration dose of 18 mg / kg to 6 rats . the lhrh agonist triptorelin of said pharmaceutical biodegradable composition is released in an important immediate amount within hours following injection and then shows a constant and significant release over a long period of at least 168 days , i . e . 6 months . a formulation of microgranules of triptorelin pamoate is prepared as described in example 1 . a formulation of microspheres of triptorelin pamoate is prepared as described in example 1 with plga 90 / 10 having an inherent viscosity of 0 . 7 dl / g . d ( v , 0 . 1 )= 17 . 6 micrometers d ( v , 0 . 5 )= 39 . 9 micrometers d ( v , 0 . 9 )= 84 . 2 micrometers the formulation of microspheres and the formulation of microgranules are mixed in a vial in order to have a 50 : 50 dose ratio of each formulation . the mixture is suspended in an appropriate aqueous medium , lyophilised and sterilized by gamma irradiation . the purity measured on the obtained pharmaceutical biodegradable composition is 98 . 3 % and the burst evaluated in vitro ( in a phosphate buffer ph 7 . 4 ) over a 6 hours period is 19 . 4 %. the lhrh agonist triptorelin of said pharmaceutical biodegradable composition is released in an important immediate amount within hours following injection and then shows a constant and significant release over a long period of at least 168 days , i . e . 6 months . a formulation of microgranules of triptorelin pamoate is prepared as described in example 1 . another formulation of microgranules is prepared as described in example 1 with plga 85 / 15 having an inherent viscosity of 0 . 66 dl / g . approximately 20 % ( w / w ) of triptorelin pamoate is mixed with approximately 80 % ( w / w ) plga 85 / 15 at room temperature . the given mixture is duly homogenized , subjected to progressive compression and simultaneously to a progressive heating , before extrusion . the extrudate is cut into pellets and ground at a temperature of about − 100 ° c . the microgranules obtained after grinding are sieved below 180 micrometers . their size distribution is defined as follows : the 2 formulations of microgranules are mixed in a vial in order to have a 50 : 50 dose ratio of each formulation . the mixture is suspended in an appropriate aqueous medium , lyophilised and sterilized by gamma irradiation . the purity measured on the obtained pharmaceutical biodegradable composition is 98 . 8 % and the burst evaluated in vitro ( in a phosphate buffer ph 7 . 4 ) over a 6 hours period is 45 . 0 %. in this example , the obtained pharmaceutical formulation is tested in vivo and the animal model is the rat . the formulation as described above is suspended in water for injection and is administered at a concentration dose of 18 mg / kg to 6 rats . the lhrh agonist triptorelin of said pharmaceutical biodegradable composition is released in an important immediate amount within hours following injection and then shows a constant and significant release over a long period of at least 168 days , i . e . 6 months ( see fig2 ). a formulation of microspheres of triptorelin pamoate and plga 95 / 5 having an inherent viscosity of 0 . 18 dl / g is prepared as follows : aqueous phase is prepared by mixing , under magnetic stirring , at a temperature of 40 ° c ., 800 g of polyvinyl alcohol and 40 l of purified water . in parallel , the organic phase is prepared by total dissolution of 80 g of plga 95 / 5 in 334 g of isopropyl acetate under magnetic stirring . 20 g of triptorelin pamoate are suspended in 100 g of isopropyl acetate and placed under magnetic stirring . this solution is incorporated to the organic phase previously prepared . the organic phase is then introduced in a homogenisation chamber simultaneously with the said aqueous phase . both phases are mixed in order to obtain an emulsion and the extraction of the solvent from the organic phase and to isolate a suspension of microspheres . finally the formulation of microspheres is recovered by filtration and dried by lyophilization . this formulation of microspheres is suspended in an appropriate aqueous medium , lyophilised and sterilized by gamma irradiation . the purity measured on the obtained pharmaceutical biodegradable composition is 99 . 2 % and the burst evaluated in vitro ( in a phosphate buffer ph 7 . 4 ) over a 6 hours period is 10 . 9 %. in this example , the obtained pharmaceutical formulation is tested in vivo and the animal model is the rat . the formulation as described above is suspended in water for injection and is administered at a concentration dose of 18 mg / kg to 6 rats . the lhrh agonist triptorelin of said pharmaceutical biodegradable composition is released in an important immediate amount within hours following injection and then shows a constant and significant release over a long period of at least 168 days , i . e . 6 months ( see fig3 ). in order to increase patients &# 39 ; compliance and convenience the inventors also developed a formulation as defined in previous example 3 which allows one injection every 6 months ( 24 weeks ). the study discussed in this example investigated the efficacy and safety of this formulation after 2 consecutive intramuscular injections of triptorelin pamoate 22 . 5 mg in 120 patients with advanced prostate cancer . four - weekly testosterone assessments were performed over 48 weeks . serum testosterone concentrations fell to castrate levels (≦ 1 . 735 nmol / l ) in 97 . 5 % of the patients on d29 , and 93 % of the patients maintained castration from week 8 to 48 . five out of 8 patients who escaped castration had only an isolated testosterone breakthrough without rising psa ( prostate specific antigen ), indicating maintained efficacy . only one of these isolated breakthroughs was a true “ acute - on - chronic ” phenomenon after the second injection . the median relative decreases in psa from baseline were 96 . 9 % at week 24 , and 96 . 4 % at week 48 , when 80 . 9 % of patients had a normal psa . the type and incidence of aes ( adverse events ) were comparable with those observed with the registered triptorelin formulations . as with other gnrh agonists , the most frequent drug related aes were hot flushes ( 71 . 7 % of patients ). the study drug was very well tolerated locally . the study discussed above shows that triptorelin 6 - month formulation is efficacious and safe in inducing chemical castration in patients with advanced prostate cancer . this new convenient formulation requires only 1 injection every 24 weeks , and shows comparable efficacy and safety with the marketed 1 - and 3 - month formulations .
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while this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms , there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail specific embodiments , with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an example of the principles of the invention and not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments shown and described . in the description below , like reference numerals are used to describe the same , similar or corresponding parts in the several views of the drawings . the above - mentioned csma / ca system does not generally provide sufficient qos ( quality of service ) for audio / video transmission . the next generation network , as currently proposed , will introduce tdma ( time division multiplex access ) and time slot management to guarantee a higher qos level . in this next generation system , a bus master divides the time axis to small time slots and assigns some of them to each communication based on its priority . each time slot in this proposed next generation network is reserved for a single stream of data destined for a single receiver . unfortunately , in such a proposed system , carriers may not be used efficiently . when the transmitter communicates with a receiver , it uses only the available carriers — that is , carriers that are able to communicate with a particular receiver with a particular service quality . the other unavailable carriers are left unused . when only a small number of carriers are available , the bandwidth available in unavailable carriers is not negligible . also , another problem can occur when the transmitter broadcasts a stream to multiple receivers . since the availability of carriers is highly dependent upon each network path between transmitter and receiver , the transmitter sends the same data repeatedly to each receiver using different carriers . this redundant transmission is wasteful of bandwidth and is compounded when the same message is destined for many receivers . [ 0030 ] fig1 illustrates an example of a simple home plc system . server 104 , client ( 1 ) 108 and client ( 2 ) 112 are connected to the home power line 116 for use as a physical data distribution medium for the current exemplary network . power line 116 serves further serves to distribute power to electrical outlets such as 120 and 124 . server 104 stores various types of data possibly including , but not limited to , audio / video data and sends a stream data to a client . also , server 104 receives an audio / video stream , e . g ., from a cable television network 130 and redistributes it to the clients . for purposes of this document , the word “ stream ” is used for both isochronous and asynchronous communications . an exemplary server such as server 104 is depicted in fig2 in block diagram form . tuner front - end 202 receives an rf signal from the cable network 130 . codec block 206 decodes the demodulated digital signal from tuner front - end 202 using memory 210 . the decoded video signal is then digital to analog converted in d / a converter 214 for display on a display 218 such as a monitor . a decoded audio signal is similarly digital to analog converted in d / a converter 222 , amplified in an amplifier 226 and ultimately sent to a loudspeaker or loudspeaker system 230 . to record a video stream , codec 206 sends the video stream to hdd 234 through bus 238 and interface 242 . to replay the recorded stream , codec 206 receives the stream from hdd 234 via interface 242 and bus 238 , decodes it and the audio and video are converted to analog at 214 and 222 and further processed as previously described . assume that server 104 sends a video stream to client 108 over power line 116 ( or other suitable transmission medium ). the stream from tuner front - end 202 is sent to a plc interface 250 through codec 206 . plc interface 250 sends the stream to client 108 . similarly , to play the recorded stream in hdd 234 , the stream from hdd 234 is sent to plc interface 250 and sent to client 108 over the power line 116 . plc interface 250 may include an encrypter and a decrypter ( not shown ). this permits all of the communication to be encrypted before sending to the power line 116 and decrypted after receiving from the power line 116 . the server can be controlled by user inputs into a key pad 254 or remote commander 258 . key pad 254 sends commands to a central processing unit ( cpu ) 264 through interface 268 and bus 238 . similarly , remote commander 258 sends commands to cpu 264 through an infrared or other wireless interface 272 and bus 238 . cpu 264 operates under program control in conjunction with its associated memory 274 to oversee operation of the server . server 104 may also incorporate a modem 280 for communication between the server 104 and a computer network or the internet . modem 280 can be , for example , an adsl modem or a cable modem . [ 0033 ] fig3 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of an embodiment of plc interface 250 . in this exemplary embodiment , data to be transmitted are received from bus 238 by bus interface 304 and can be stored in buffer memory 308 if necessary . error correction code is added to the data in forward error correction ( fec ) encoder 312 . interleaver 316 interleaves the resulting error correction encoded data . the interleaver 316 spreads out data to minimize errors in consecutive bits that might otherwise be caused by transient noise , etc ., thus enhancing the ability to correct errors . a serial - to - parallel converter ( s / p ) 320 converts the interleaved data to parallel data . the parallel signals from s / p 320 are modulated by a modulator 324 and sent to inverse fast fourier transform ( ifft ) block 330 . a second path for transmitted data can also be provided through fec 334 , interleaver 338 , s / p 342 and modulator 346 for a second stream . the components 334 through 346 of the second path function in the same manner as that of components 312 through 324 . if the performance of components 312 through 324 is fast enough to process two streams within a required time , components 334 through 346 may be eliminated . in ifft 330 , a carrier is assigned to each input signal and the input signals are inverse fast - fourier - transformed . the resulting transformed signal is sent to analog front end 350 that interfaces with the power line 116 through the power plug 354 . the lower blocks of fig3 are used for data reception . afe 350 receives a stream from one or more clients over the power line 116 . this received data are fast - fourier - transformed by fft 360 , demodulated by demodulator 364 and converted to serial data by parallel - to - serial converter ( p / s ) converter 368 . the result is de - interleaved by de - interleaver 372 , error - corrected by forward error correction ( fec ) decoder 376 and sent to bus interface 304 . in a similar manner , received data from fft 360 for a second data stream are fast - fourier - transformed by fft 360 , demodulated by demodulator 380 and converted to serial data by parallel - to - serial converter ( p / s ) converter 384 . the result is de - interleaved by de - interleaver 388 , error - corrected by forward error correction ( fec ) decoder 392 and sent to bus interface 304 . as with the transmission side , if components 364 through 3376 are fast enough to process two streams , components 380 to 392 are not required . plc interface 250 , thus , simultaneously transmits or receives two independent data streams using different carriers , in accordance with certain embodiments consistent with the present invention . [ 0037 ] fig4 shows an exemplary embodiment of client 108 or client 112 ( e . g ., client 108 is shown ). a power line communication interface ( plc if ) 402 receives a data stream from server 104 and sends the received data stream to decoder 406 through bus 410 . decoder 406 decodes the stream using its associated memory 414 . the resulting decoded video signal is converted to analog using digital to analog converter 420 for display on a display 424 . the resulting decoded audio signal is converted to analog in d / a 430 , amplified in amplifier 434 and sent to one or more loudspeakers 440 . plc interface 112 may include an encrypter and a decrypter ( not shown ) to encrypt transmitted data and decrypt received data . in this embodiment , all of the communication is encrypted before sending to the power line and decrypted after receipt from the power line 116 . the user can input commands using keypad 450 or remote commander 454 . keypad 450 sends command to a cpu 460 through interface 464 and bus 410 . cpu 460 operates under control of one or more computer programs stored in memory 466 . similarly , remote commander 454 sends commands to cpu 460 through interface 468 and bus 410 . cpu 460 controls each component connected to or through bus 410 . plc interface 402 can have the same components illustrated in fig3 . if the client does not have to simultaneously send two streams , components 334 through 346 may be omitted . in the proposed ofdm - tdma system , “ tone maps ” are used to identify carriers that are used for communication between a transmitter and a receiver . the transmitter and receiver frequently exchange a tone map , for example , on a periodic basis of every 5 seconds , so that the transmitter and receiver each know what carrier frequencies to use to carry out communications . the tone map table can be renewed every time tone maps are exchanged . the transmitter sends transmission data with a tone map to the receiver . from the tone map , the receiver knows the carriers and fourier - transforms used for the transmitted data . [ 0040 ] fig5 depicts an exemplary tone map shown in table form wherein time slots are shown as columns on the table . the rows indicate carriers . for simplification , this illustrative embodiment depicts only eight carriers ( carriers # 0 through # 7 ) and seven time slots ( time slots s 0 through s 6 ) in fig5 but it will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the present teaching that actual systems may use any number of such carriers , and it is contemplated that much larger numbers of carriers ( e . g ., more than 100 carriers ) will generally be used . the ifft 330 described above stores data representing this table . based on the table , ifft 330 assigns carriers to input signals . due to the nature of the power line communications medium , there are frequently carriers that exhibit high levels of interference or attenuation such that these carriers are unusable for data communication between certain transmitters and receivers . however , these carriers may be usable between the same transmitter and different receivers . thus , when a transmitter communicates with a receiver , the transmitter transmits only over “ available carriers ”— that is , carriers that are able to support data communication with some degree of reliability between the transmitter and receiver . the other “ unavailable carriers ” in the same time slot are left unused in the proposed ofdm - tdma system . in accordance with certain embodiments consistent with the present invention , these unavailable carriers can in fact be used and are assigned to another stream sent to another receiver . [ 0042 ] fig5 illustrates a tone map table in which the transmitter of interest sends data to two different receivers using time slots s 0 and s 1 respectively in a manner contemplated by a conventional interpretation of tdma . in this example , the transmitter uses five carriers to send a data stream to the receiver . the five dotted blocks in time slot column s 0 indicate the available carriers , # 1 , # 2 , # 4 , # 5 and # 6 are used for transmitting this data stream to the receiver using time slot s 0 ). the transmitter also uses five carriers to communicate with a second receiver . the five hatched blocks (# 0 , # 2 , # 3 , # 4 and # 6 ) in time slot s 1 depict the carriers used for communication with the second receiver . when the network is not busy and there are adequate available slots , the transmitter may use a slot for each stream . however , when the network is busy , the transmitter manages time slot assignment so that time - critical data such as isochronous data streams are given high priority . in accordance with an embodiment consistent with the present invention , unused carriers are assigned to non - time - critical , asynchronous data streams and a time slot is saved for a time - critical data stream . this is illustrated in fig6 . if the stream in time slot s 1 is not time - critical , carrier # 0 and # 3 in time slot s 0 can be used to carry data destined for another receiver than that normally assigned to slot s 0 . thus , time slot s 0 carries two streams destined for two receivers . a data frame is associated with s 0 and has two destinations , the first receiver and the second receiver . also the data frame contains carrier information that specifies which destination receiver uses which of the carriers . as a result of this , carriers # 0 and # 3 can be used to send information destined for the second receiver during the time slot s 0 . therefore , two carriers are used for the second stream destined for the second receiver during time slot s 0 . this frees up two slots from time slot s 1 to thereby increase the bandwidth thereof and increase the actual throughput of data during the time slot s 0 . the empty time slots in s 1 are then available to be similarly utilized to enhance the throughput of the system . when independent data streams from the transmitter share the same destination , they may share a time slot , in accordance with certain embodiments consistent with the present invention . in one example , the transmitter may send an audio / video stream and control commands to the same receiver . control commands are sent as an asynchronous stream , whereas the audio / video stream may be isochronous . when the network is not congested , the transmitter may send the two streams using two different time slots . however , when the network is congested , the two slots can be merged into one slot . this is depicted in the example of fig7 and fig8 . the five dotted blocks ( carriers # 1 , # 2 , # 4 , # 5 and # 6 ) in time slot s 0 indicate available carriers for communication between the transmitter and the receiver . in accordance with certain embodiments consistent with the present invention , one of the carriers , e . g ., carrier # 6 , is assigned to the asynchronous stream during time slot s 0 . the block having the vertical hatching marks indicates this time slot and carrier combination . carriers # 1 , # 2 , # 4 and # 5 are used for the first stream . usually , control command communication ( i . e ., a control stream ) is short and not time - critical , therefore it is wasteful of bandwidth to assign a whole time slot for such a short command . although the bandwidth for the first , isochronous stream in time slot s 0 may be narrower , the time slot assigned for the second stream is now available for the first stream . as a result , carriers and time slots can be used more efficiently , in accordance with certain embodiments . it may be desirable to limit the bandwidth available for carrying the second stream by limiting the bandwidth to no more than , for example , 10 % of all available carriers , but other limits may be suitable depending upon the exact implementation . the data frame of s 0 has only one destination . as discussed previously , the data frame associated with time slot s 0 can be used to carry information that determines which stream uses which carrier ( s ) during the time slot . in view of the above discussion of the assignment of carriers , a time slot assignment algorithm consistent with certain embodiments of the present invention is depicted in fig9 which is made up of fig9 a and fig9 b . the previous discussion generally described how carriers are assigned . this flow chart 500 describes an algorithm that assigns a time slot for each stream . the algorithm is applied at 504 to each stream every time tone maps are exchanged , for example , every 5 seconds . also , the algorithm can preferably be performed when a new stream starts or an existing stream terminates . if the stream is a new stream at 508 , the process goes to 512 . if an empty slot is available at 512 , the slot is assigned for the stream at 516 and the process ends at 520 . if no empty slot is available at 512 , the process proceeds to 524 . if the stream is asynchronous at 524 , the process goes to 528 . if the stream is synchronous , the process goes to 532 . at 528 , if there is a slot that has the same destination ( receiver ), the slot is assigned to the new stream at 516 . at 516 , some of available carriers in the time slot are assigned for the new stream . if “ no ” at 528 , the process seeks another available slot at 536 . if another slot is found , it is assigned to the new stream at 516 . if no available slot exists at 536 , the transmitter may provide a busy message , for example that is displayed on the display 218 at 540 and the transmission is refused . at 508 , if the stream is not a new one , its tone map is checked at 544 . if there is no change in the tone map , no action is needed and the process ends at 520 . if there are change ( s ) in the tone map at 544 , the process checks to see whether the new carriers in the tone map are available at 548 . ( note that some carriers might be already used by another stream .) if available , all carriers are assigned at 516 and the process ends at 520 . if new carriers are not available at 548 , all the carriers assigned for this stream are released at 552 and the stream is processed as a new stream starting at 512 as described above . if the stream is isochronous at 524 , control passes to 532 ( of fig9 b ). an asynchronous stream , which has lower priority than an isochronous stream will be stopped and instead the isochronous stream will get the time slot ( s ). time slots assigned only for an asynchronous stream are checked at 532 . if such a slot is found , the transmitter stops the asynchronous stream at 560 . then , the slot is re - assigned for the synchronous stream at 564 . at 568 , another slot is re - assigned for the asynchronous stream by calling the current algorithm recursively . at 532 , if no slot is available , the transmitter may indicate a busy message on the display 218 and refuses the isochronous transmission and the process ends at 520 . a transmitter may often broadcast the same stream to multiple receivers . for example , the transmitter may send background music data and each receiver receives and decodes it . because signal conditions for each network path is not the same , available carriers are not necessarily common in the receivers . in the proposed ofdm - tdma scheme , the transmitter sends the same data repeatedly to each receiver based on the tone map . that is , the same message may occupy multiple carriers spanning multiple time slots to transmit the same message repeatedly . this redundancy is not negligible when there are many receivers , especially , when the network is busy . such situation can result in a serious network congestion . in accordance with certain embodiments consistent with the present invention , commonly available carriers are used to create a broadcast mechanism . when there are few or no commonly available carriers , two time slots can be merged into one to cut the number of time slots in half . [ 0051 ] fig1 shows an example tone map table for broadcast by the proposed ofdm - tdma system . in this example , the transmitter sends a stream to four receivers . time slot s 0 is for the first receiver and carriers # 1 , # 2 , # 4 , # 5 and # 6 are available . data d 0 through d 4 are assigned to each carrier . the next time slot s 1 is for the second receiver . carrier # 0 , # 1 , # 2 , # 3 , # 4 and # 6 are used to send data d 0 through d 5 . similarly , s 2 and s 3 are used for the third and the fourth receiver , respectively . in accordance with this scheme , each data block is sent four times — once to each receiver creating a situation in which bandwidth is wasted by redundant transmissions . [ 0052 ] fig1 shows an example of a broadcast tone map table used by certain embodiments consistent with the present invention . in this embodiment , the system detects that there are commonly available carriers for all four of the target receivers ( see fig1 ). the carriers # 1 , # 2 , # 4 and # 6 are commonly available carriers for all four receivers and are depicted as surrounded by bold lines . in accordance with this embodiment , these four carries and two slots are used to send data d 0 to d 7 . the multiple recipients are called out in the frame structure used to send slots s 0 and s 1 . this arrangement saves two time slots over the arrangement shown in fig1 . moreover , the system of fig1 is at best able to send d 0 to d 5 ( i . e . six segments of data ) using four time slots , while the system depicted by fig1 can send d 0 to d 7 ( eight segments of data ) to all four receivers using only two time slots . when few carriers are commonly available , this approach does not provide the above benefits . this is especially the case , if the number of common carriers is less than a half of the maximum available number of carriers . for example , if the maximum number of carriers is six in s 1 and s 3 and the number of common available carriers is less than 3 , 3 or more slots are used and no benefit is obtained . in this case , two slots can be merged into one . fig1 shows an example of a worst - case scenario . in this example , the four receivers are shown to share no common carriers . carriers # 2 and # 5 ( enclosed by bold lines ) are commonly available between slots s 0 and s 1 . fig1 shows a merged result . carriers # 2 and # 5 carry data d 0 and d 1 to both receivers ( the receivers associated with slots s 0 and s 1 ). carrier # 0 is assigned to send d 2 to the second receiver . the first receiver cannot receive carrier # 0 . carrier # 1 sends d 2 to the first receiver . carrier # 3 and # 4 sends d 3 to each receiver , respectively . similarly , carrier # 5 and # 6 sends d 4 . the data frame of s 0 is configured to have two destinations . the data frame also contains carrier information that the receiver uses to determine which carriers contain data destined for it . in the same way , s 2 and s 3 in fig1 are merged into s 2 shown in fig1 . s 1 and s 3 in fig1 can be used for other communications or s 1 can be used instead of s 2 . [ 0054 ] fig1 shows a time slot assignment algorithm 600 for broadcast communications starting at 604 . the number of common carriers is checked at 608 and if the number is equal to or larger than a half of the maximum number of carriers ( or equal to or larger than some other threshold number of carriers ), control passes to 612 . at 612 , a new slot number is calculated such that the maximum number of carriers is divided by the number of common carriers . the result is rounded up to the closest integer . for example , in case of fig1 , the result of division is 6 / 4 = 1 . 5 , which is rounded up to 2 . at 616 , actual time slots are assigned . the stream of data is divided among the available common carriers at and assigned accordingly at 620 in the same manner as was described previously . the process ends at 624 . at 608 , if the result is less than a half of the maximum number of carriers ( or other threshold number of carriers ), control passes to 630 . a number of slots is determined by calculating half ( or other fraction ) of the original number of slots , and this number of slots is assigned . if the value is not an integer , it will be rounded up to the closest integer . in the example of fig1 , the result of the division is 4 / 2 = 2 ; thus , the number of slots is two . pairs of the time slots are merged into a single slot at 634 . the stream of data is divided to each of the carriers at 638 and the process again ends at 624 . this algorithm can be applied to each stream every time tone maps are exchanged , for example , every five seconds . also , the algorithm can be performed when a new stream starts or an existing stream terminates . those skilled in the art will appreciate that many variations of embodiments of the present invention are possible without departing from the invention . for example , in one variation , three or more streams can share a single time slot . embodiments of this invention can also be applied not only to power line networks , but also to wireless , phone line , cable or any other networks . embodiments consistent with this invention can also be applied to fdma ( frequency division multiplex access ). in an fdma system , carriers and time slots change places . time slots on the same carrier are assigned to two or more streams . thus , in accordance with certain embodiments consistent with the present invention , when the network is busy , two or more independent streams are assigned to one time slot based on time criticalness of each stream . time slots and carriers can be efficiently and dynamically allocated . also , using common carriers , in certain embodiments consistent with the invention , can reduce redundancy of multiple broadcast transmissions . in the case of few common carriers , two or more time slots can be merged into one to reduce the number of 30 total time slots needed . with small additions of hardware and software , transmission efficiency will be improved in certain embodiments . those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention has been described in terms of exemplary embodiments that are based upon use of a programmed processor such as cpu 264 and cpu 460 with program code stored in hdd 234 or memory 274 and memory 466 . however , the invention should not be so limited , since the present invention could be implemented using hardware component equivalents such as special purpose hardware and / or dedicated processors , which are equivalents to the invention as described and claimed . similarly , general purpose computers , microprocessor based computers , micro - controllers , optical computers , analog computers , dedicated processors and / or dedicated hard wired logic may be used to construct alternative equivalent embodiments of the present invention . those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the program steps and associated data used to implement the embodiments described above can be implemented using disc storage as well as other forms of storage such as for example read only memory ( rom ) devices , random access memory ( ram ) devices ; optical storage elements , magnetic storage elements , magneto - optical storage elements , flash memory , core memory and / or other equivalent storage technologies without departing from the present invention . such alternative storage devices should be considered equivalents . the present invention , as described in embodiments herein , is implemented using a programmed processor executing programming instructions that are broadly described above in flow chart form that can be stored on any suitable electronic storage medium or transmitted over any suitable electronic communication medium . however , those skilled in the art will appreciate that the processes described above can be implemented in any number of variations and in many suitable programming languages without departing from the present invention . for example , the order of certain operations carried out can often be varied , additional operations can be added or operations can be deleted without departing from the invention . error trapping can be added and / or enhanced and variations can be made in user interface and information presentation without departing from the present invention . such variations are contemplated and considered equivalent . while the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments , it is evident that many alternatives , modifications , permutations and variations will become apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description . accordingly , it is intended that the present invention embrace all such alternatives , modifications and variations as fall within the scope of the appended claims .
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in fig1 , a basic diagram of the invention is shown . the fig2 , 3 and 4 show related flow diagrams . a rack 100 has means for holding a plurality of trays 400 , 401 , 402 , 403 . the term trays is used herein also for boxes , cartridges and other means for holding smaller articles , like balancing weights , tire valves , or other goods like grease , or tools which are required in a wheel and tire workshop . preferably , at least a plurality of the trays is held by slides 410 , 411 , 412 , 413 . each slide has a front end 420 and a rear end 421 . preferably , the slide has a slope wherein the rear end is higher than the front end , thus allowing the trays to slide from the rear end to the front end . at the front end , there may be a stop for stopping the trays to fall out of the rack and sliding over the end of the slide . the slides may also have a spring for pushing the trays towards the front end . they also may have a drive like an electrical motor or any other drive means for moving drive means for moving the trays to the front end . furthermore , sensors 151 , 152 , 153 , 154 are provided for detecting the presence of trays on a slide . the sensors may be optical , magnetic , or mechanical sensors . the sensors may also comprise a bar code reader for reading bar codes attached or printed on the trays . they may also comprise rfid readers for reading rfid tags associated with trays . reading rfid tags may be also be used for identifying the position of a tray within the rack or within a slide . the rack may also provide locations for storing trays or for storing goods without slides . furthermore , it is preferred if the rack has a terminal 160 for manually entering information and / or reading information . such information may be ordering information for additional articles , which are not provided in trays , which are monitored by sensors . the sensors and / or the terminal may be connected to at least one network . the network may be a wired network and / or a radio network . it furthermore may be connected to the internet . information collected by the sensors and / or the terminal is processed by a server 200 , which generates orders and / or forecasts . this procedure is shown in more detail in fig2 . a start 300 of an automatic ordering procedure may be triggered by a sensor indicating a change of fill level , by a timer , which for example may run once a hour , once a day or once a week , or by a manual input to terminal 160 or any other user action requesting an automatic ordering procedure . in a first step with the level of at least one rack , tray or slide is checked in step 301 by at least one sensor . a fill level may also be determined by storing a fill level value and amending this value , if a sensor indicates a change in fill level . therefore , the actual fill levels may be read from a memory without further sensor requests . detected fill levels or other sensor values are transferred in step 302 to a local server 200 ( e . g ., via a transmitter , such as , for example , an i / o device of the sensor itself or a multiplexer or hub that is connected to one or more of the sensors via a wired connection to , or network transceiver or network interface controller ( nic ), network interface card , lan adapter , and / or any other device configured to transmit a detection or data detected by at least one sensor to the local server via a wired or wireless connection ). this local server may also be integrated into the terminal 160 . besides the automatic ordering procedure , there may be a manual ordering procedure 310 . in step 311 an order is manually entered into the terminal 160 . entering may be assisted by a lookup table 319 supplying additional information like part number and / or prices . this lookup table may be provided electronically either in terminal 160 or readable by a separate personal computer or as a printed paper . in step 312 the manually entered data is transferred to the server 200 . it is further preferred , if a manual ordering process also triggers an automatic ordering process . a manual ordering process is preferred for goods and articles which are not checked by sensors and therefore supplements an automatic ordering process . the provided information in the automatic ordering request is processed in step 303 , while the information in the manual ordering request is processed in step 313 . when processing the automated request , in step 304 it is checked , whether the level is below a minimum threshold level . if the level is still above a minimum level , the information or data is stored in step 328 and the procedure is stopped 329 . otherwise , when the level is below the minimum level , it is further checked in step 320 , whether a minimum order volume has been reached . this check is also performed with all manually entered orders . if this minimum order volume has not been reached , data is further stored in step 328 and processing is stopped 329 . for the case , the minimum order volume has been reached , an order is forwarded 211 to a manufacturer or supplier 210 in step 321 ( e . g ., to a local server or computer of the manufacturer or supplier 210 via a wired or wireless network ). this terminates 322 local processing at the workshop . the orders and / or forecasts may also be generated based on the number of actually used trays and / or articles . this is preferably done in the server 200 . in an alternate embodiment , simply a new tray of articles may be ordered if there is only one tray remaining in the rack . of course , ordering may be done depending on any other number of remaining trays . for example , another three trays may be ordered if there are still two trays remaining in the rack . preferably , the orders may be based on the actual consumption of articles and / or trays , based on information 201 received by the sensors , and / or information 202 received by the terminal . the ordering information 211 generated thereby is provided to a supplier 210 which forwards the collected information as a manufacturing information 221 to a manufacturing and delivery site 220 ( e . g ., to a local server or computer of the manufacturing and delivery site 220 via a wired or wireless network ). here , the required articles are manufactured or at least provided to be delivered by delivery 231 to a delivery service 230 , transporting 241 the articles to the workshop , where they can be placed into the rack . the process flow at the manufacturer or supplier is shown in more detail in fig3 . processing at the supplier starts in 330 . first , the order transmitted by the workshop in step 321 is received in step 331 by the supplier . then in step 332 it is checked , whether the warehouse stock is sufficient . if it is sufficient , pre - packing of goods is done in step 333 . if it is not sufficient , a production process is started by processing of production data in step 334 and manufacturing and packaging of the goods in step 335 . in step 336 the goods of steps 335 and / or 333 are delivered to the workshop . then the supplying process is completed 337 . this may further be complimented by a confirmation procedure starting in step 340 and ending in 343 . there may be a customer confirmation step 341 . this confirmation may be done by manually entering confirmation data into terminal 160 and / or by reading sensor values indicating that at least one rack and / or slide and / or tray has been refilled . furthermore , there may be a double check 342 which may be done by considering the total inventory . it will be appreciated to those skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure that this invention is believed to provide a method and device for delivering of tire supplies and balancing weights . further modifications and alternative embodiments of various aspects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of this description . accordingly , this description is to be construed as illustrative only and is for the purpose of teaching those skilled in the art the general manner of carrying out the invention . it is to be understood that the forms of the invention shown and described herein are to be taken as the presently preferred embodiments . elements and materials may be substituted for those illustrated and described herein , parts and processes may be reversed , and certain features of the invention may be utilized independently , all as would be apparent to one skilled in the art after having the benefit of this description of the invention . changes may be made in the elements described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as described in the following claims .
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reference is first being made to fig1 that shows a general flow chart of an embodiment of the virtual treatment method in accordance with the invention . upon initiation 20 , a virtual diagnostic setup model is inputted . this model may be obtained by a number of different ways . the basis is a virtual teeth model obtained through a variety of teeth scanning or direct teeth imaging techniques , or through scanning or otherwise capturing a negative teeth impression or a positive teeth model . an example of a method for obtaining three - dimensional digital model of teeth is disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 099 , 314 . from such a model a virtual setup model may be obtained through an automatic or manual procedure in which the setup model the teeth are separated from one another in a manner that permits separate manipulation of the position of each of the teeth . at the next step 24 a set of orthodontic appliances is selected for subsequent association with the teeth . as will be appreciated , the invention is not limited to a specific set of orthodontic appliances and the general principle described herein applies to any selected set . however , in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention , the set of orthodontic appliances which is to be used is a straight wire set that comprises a straight wire and brackets . as known , each bracket has a horizontal slot for receiving the wire . in addition , similarly as in real life orthodontic treatment , other orthodontic appliances such as hooks , elastic components , and others may be included in the set . the selection of the set may be automatic by the system or may be manual . for selection of a set of orthodontic appliances , different options may be presented to the user , for example , sets of different manufacturers , and the orthodont may then choose the one most familiar to him or the set which he prefers to use . alternatively , rather than selecting a complete set , optionally the user may select individual components that together will comprise the set . at a next step 26 the appliances are attached to or made to associate with the teeth . in one embodiment of the invention this is an automatic operation . in such an embodiment , after selection of the set for orthodontic appliances , the brackets are automatically attached to teeth . in such an automatic attachment , the brackets are typically attached to the center point of the teeth crown ( namely at the center of the exposed surface of the teeth ). in accordance with another embodiment the user may be permitted to select the position of all or of only some of the brackets . once all brackets have been selected , a wire , typically a straight wire as pointed out above , is added , and the first sequence of orthodontic treatment follows . in this first sequence , teeth are repositioned in a manner so that all the wire - receiving slots on the brackets snap onto the wire . this causes all slots to align in the plane defined by the wire and the teeth to align in an overall arch is also defined by the wire . this step may be carried out , for example , in a manner as described in pct publication wo 99 / 34747 . thereby , a first treatment state of the virtual model is obtained . a more detailed description of the step appears further below . in a next step 30 , this initial treatment state is analyzed and graded by a variety of criteria c 1 , c 2 , . . . cn . these grading criteria include , in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention , the following : alignment , marginal ridges , buccolingual inclination , overjet , occlusal relationship , occlusal contact and interproximal contacts . reference is made to the explanation above of these criteria . the grading , as pointed out above , is based on the deviation of the teeth arrangement from a standard or ideal arrangement , in accordance with one or more of established standards . an example of a standard which may be applied is that set by the american board of orthdontics , referenced above . it should , however , be noted that in some embodiments only part of the above criteria or at times even one , e . g . only the criteria of alignment , may be used to grade the teeth arrangement . in a typical embodiment of the invention , the grading is carried out automatically , although optionally , the grading may be manually done by the user . following the grading according to one or more of the above criteria , at a next step 32 an overall model analysis is carried out . in this analysis the different grading scores are combined , which combination may be a simple combination , may be a weighted combination ( ascribing a different way to a different criteria ) or any other acceptable analysis of the system . here again , the overall model analysis is typically automatic , although it is possible also to permit the user to do it manually . following this overall analysis , at a distant point 34 an assessment is made whether the model meets orthodontic standards or whether an improvement is required . if no improvement is required , the virtual treatment ends 36 . if a decision is made and an improvement is required , which decision may be automatic or may be a decision made by the user , a next step 38 teeth for repositioning are selected , then at 40 the orthodontic appliances are virtually detached from at least the selected teeth , the detached appliances are then repositioned at 42 , to yield repositioning of the teeth . for example , where a bracket is repositioned to a different lateral portion of the tooth , it causes axial rotation of the tooth . where , by another example the bracket is repositioned to a different vertical position of the tooth crown , it causes extraction or retraction of the tooth . where , by a further example , the attachment of the bracket to the wire is the different anteoposterior point on the wire , it causes the tooth to move in the anterior or posterior direction . it should be noted that optionally in steps 40 and 42 , orthodontic appliances are at least temporary removed or hidden for easier visualization of the manipulation outcome . then , at 44 , the detached orthodontic appliances are reassociated to the teeth and a resulting altered treatment state is obtained . the appliances repositioning may be done using an optimization algorithm employing one of many optimization or goal - seeking algorithms where the variable set is the set of appliances positions and the goal is best grade . possible algorithms include deepest descent , newton - raphson method and others . in addition , the goal may also include additional restrictions such as having minimal angle between teeth to avoid results that may give a goal grade but are less aesthetically appealing . the resulting altered treatment state so obtained is analyzed and graded in the same manner as described above . typically in the orthodontic treatment , each tooth is assembled with its corresponding bracket such that the base point of the bracket falls initially on the facial axis point of the tooth , as typically done in orthodontry . the assembled teeth may then translocate along the wire &# 39 ; s curve according to the following criteria : ( i ) the two central incisors are translocated along the wire curve ( along the curve falling on the andrews plane ) until they are brought into at least one point of contact , preferably such that their contact point falls on the mid - platal plane . ( ii ) the lateral incisors on each side of the mid - platal ( the left and right lateral incisors ) may be translocated towards their respective central incisors ( i . e . the left and right incisors , respectively ), followed by translocating the canine , premolar ( first premolar , then premolar ) and molar ( for the first molar , then second molar and optionally then the third molar ) teeth such that each flanking teeth have at least one point of contact therebetween . it should be clear that the same procedure is applied whenever a tooth is extracted or stripped , taking into consideration which tooth exactly was extracted . the outcome of the above procedure is an arch wire set with brackets which are fixed with the respective tooth , the teeth being optimally arranged according to orthodontic criteria . at times , movement of the first molar teeth by the system of the invention may result in a distilization of the mandibular molar teeth in an amount greater than that allowed in a real life treatment according to real life treatment considerations . accordingly , after translocation of teeth as described above , the system verifies whether the mandibular distilization performed would be allowed in real life considerations and if in the negative , the result displayed on the display screen , will show the user that the procedure performed would not be feasible in the real life orthodontic treatment . the user will then know that the orthodontic treatment plan he selected should be changed , e . g . by selecting a different wire , different brackets , performing other , if any manipulations on the teeth , etc . the resulting arrangement of the teeth may further be processed by applying a vertical repositioning of the teeth , and if necessary , move in a manner similar to that in step ( ii ) above . the result obtained for one arch , i . e . the maxillary arch or the mandibular arch , is then used for determination of the inter arch relationship . the algorithm employed may also use some optimization criteria for obtaining the initial treatment stage . for example , the mandibular arch may be first aligned with the mandibular jaw by their central point ( an average distance between the central incisors ) to fall onto the mid palatal plane . the maxillary arch fixed onto the maxillary jaw may then be vertically aligned onto the mandibular jaw in the manner as described in pct publication no . wo 98 / 52493 . the alignment between the two jaws may be according to a fixed mandibular jaw or alternatively according to a fixed maxillary jaw . the following description refers to alignment of the maxilla according to the fixed mandibular jaw . however , it should be understood that the same steps apply in flow diagram , for alignment of the mandible according to the fixed maxilla jaw ( muatis mutandis ). for determining the inter arch relationship , first the parameters of the mandibular jaw are provided , with which the mandibular arch is aligned by determining their center antheroposterior point ( lower center point a - p56 ). then occlusion of the mandibular first molar with the maxillary first molar is dictated by the features of class ( i ) type of occlusion . if necessary , i . e . when the outcome obtained and displayed on the display screen is not the desired outcome or when the user decides it is required to change the class type , he may change the class by which the mandibular first molar and the maxillary first molar interlock until reaching the desired outcome . at times , the horizontal alignment performed will result in a mandibular distilization which is greater than that acceptable in real life orthodontic treatment . as a result , the procedure according to the invention may be carried out while each arch is positioned onto their respective jaw by defining their center antheroposterior point , the steps of interlocking the molar teeth according to standard orthodontic guidelines is not performed . the definition of the different classes which can be selected by the user in a manner as shown herein in fig3 , which shows an example of a screen display showing a virtual model 100 with an upper jaw 102 and a lower jaw 103 . shown in this view is also a view control window 105 which permits control of position of orientation as well as view angles in a manner as described in pct application , publication no . wo 98 / 53428 . the treatment parameters may be controlled through user interface window 106 . a front view of the same jaw is seen in fig4 . fig3 and 4 also show a virtual diagnostic setup model of an individual &# 39 ; s jaws , in its original , untreated form . once an orthodontic treatment is executed , a second three dimensional digital model is obtained . the second three dimensional digital model includes the jaw carrying teeth assembled with brackets and a wire . the teeth in the second model are arranged in an optimal dental and skeletal arrangement as obtained by the system of the invention . the teeth are automatically associated with brackets , the later set on a wire . the outcome of virtual treatment of the original model ( shown in fig3 and 4 ) is seen in fig5 and 6 . in this case the parameters of the system were automatically selected , including the arch wire ( rothoformiii - ovoid ), the brackets ( clarity ™), and class ( class i ) and yielded one optimal outcome . there are different classes which may be applied . class 1 , which is a default class in the system and is that applied in fig5 and 6 . change in the class may be achieved by ticking off box 120 in user interface window 106 and moving scroll bar 122 to either side . another parameter which may be selected is a lower center point , which may be automatically selected ( the automatic selection is dictated by the original center point in the individual &# 39 ; s jaw before treatment ), as in fig3 - 6 or , it may be moved between the interior posterior direction by ticking off box 124 and moving scroll bar 126 to either the left , as seen in fig7 or the right directions . in addition , the arch wire selection may be automatic , as in fig6 and 7 , which in this case is the default arch wire known as ortho form11 - ovoid , but may also be manually selected within selection window 130 . the user may also control the parameters of which jaw will be fixed during the procedure . this is achieved by ticking in the set up design user interface 140 between the mandible 142 selection point or the maxilla 144 selection point . in the case of fig8 , the parameters of maxillary jaw are fixed during the procedure and after aligning therewith the maxillary arch , the inter arch arrangement is performed . by the default of the system , the mandible parameters are fixed and the maxilla is moved accordingly . the reverse selection is shown in fig9 ( 145 ). thus , as can be seen , in view of the initial structure of the teeth , the two jaws are more forwardly oriented in fig9 as compared to fig8 . another manner of control is a virtual extraction of teeth . in fig1 , the treatment is preceded normally without extraction . by ticking alleviation box 138 and marking in the user interface window 106 the tooth or teeth to be extracted , the marked tooth , in this particular case , the second molar 148 is virtually extracted and the void 150 which is left is at least partially filled by lateral movement of the flanking teeth , as seen in fig1 . this feature of the system of the invention enables the user to decide whether extraction of a tooth in a real life treatment will be effective in achieving a desired orthodontic outcome before performing such an irreversible manipulation in the real life treatment . reference is made now to fig2 which shows the manner of using the results of the virtual orthodontic treatment for guidance for the real - life orthodontic treatment . following start 50 , the virtual model with the altered treatment state obtained through the virtual orthodontic treatment ( 36 in fig1 ) is inputted at 52 . the teeth are then , at 54 , permitted to reposition to their original position in the original diagnostic setup model with the orthodontic appliances remaining attached thereon . the association of the orthodontic appliances with the teeth is then recorded as 56 and this is served as an input for guidance of the real - life orthodontic treatment for the purpose of achieving results similar to those obtained in the virtual treatment in accordance with the invention . the manner of association of the orthodontic appliances may be displayed on the screen or may be outputted to a guidance system for proper placing of an orthodontic element on a tooth &# 39 ; s surface , such as that described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 334 , 772 .
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referring to fig1 an embodiment of a fuel cell system 10 includes a working fluid subsystem connected to a fuel cell stack 12 . the working fluid subsystem may include stack components ( described below ) that are designed to pass fluids , such as ( reformate containing hydrogen ), air or a coolant , as examples . the working fluid subsystem is formed in part by plates ( of the stack 12 ) that include flow channels for circulating the working fluids and manifold passageways ( of the stack 12 ) that communicate the working fluid through the fuel cell system 10 . the fuel cell stack 12 may be formed from repeating units called plate modules 16 . an exemplary plate module 16 a ( having a design similar to the other plate modules 16 ) includes flow plates ( graphite composite or metal plates , for example ) that include flow channels to form several fuel cells . the flow plates also include aligned openings to form passageways of a manifold that communicates reactants such as hydrogen and air and the coolant with the stack 12 . as an example , the plate module 16 a may include the following flow plates : bipolar plates 20 and 26 ; cathode cooler plates 18 , 24 and 30 ; and anode cooler plates 22 and 28 . an exemplary working fluid subsystem for hydrogen is illustrated in fig1 . a reformer 14 converts a hydrocarbon ( natural gas or propane , as examples ) into a hydrogen flow that is communicated to the fuel cell stack 12 for reaction with oxygen ( provided by an air flow ) to produce electrical power . to control the hydrogen production by the reformer 14 , a sensor 34 may be mounted in a female receptacle 38 to sense an anodic exhaust flow that exits the stack 12 through the receptacle 38 . this exhaust flow may include , for example , unconsumed hydrogen . the output signal of the sensor 34 may be communicated to a controller 36 that may control the reformer 14 in response to the temperature that is indicated by the sensor 34 . the sensor 34 may be any suitable sensor , typically a temperature sensor , such as a resistance temperature device ( rtd ) or a thermistor , but other sensors may also be used , such as pressure sense sensors or flow meters , to sense properties of the working fluid . the sensor 34 is mounted in a quick release sensor mount assembly , illustrated in fig2 through 8 . the sensor mount assembly includes the female receptacle 38 , illustrated in fig2 and a male sensor body 40 illustrated in fig6 . the sensor 34 is housed within the sensor body 40 and may include electrical circuitry 35 that is disposed within the sensor body 40 as well as a probe 80 ( a metal probe , for example ) that extends outside of and is secured to the sensor body 40 . the female receptacle 38 is illustrated as mounted on a segment of tubing 42 having a first flange 44 and a second flange 46 at opposite ends of tubing 42 . the flanges 44 and 46 may be used to mount the receptacle 38 to , for example , a manifold passageway of the stack 12 or other conduits to communicate a fluid . thus , the receptacle 38 , however , could also be used on any segment or configuration of conduit or structure containing fluid . referring to fig3 and 4 , the receptacle 38 includes a housing 48 that is mounted on the tube 42 and includes an orifice 50 that extends through the housing 48 and opens into the interior of the tube 42 . in some embodiments , the housing 48 is generally cylindrical . a proximal section 52 immediately adjacent the tube 42 has a cylindrical bore 54 extending or opening into the tube 42 . filets 56 may be provided adjacent the union of the female receptacle 38 and the tube 42 to provide additional mechanical strength and support . a distal segment 58 of the housing 48 may be frusta - conical . an interior bore 50 of the distal segment 58 becomes slightly smaller farther away from the tube 42 . the distal segment 58 is crenellated by four longitudinal slots 60 , 62 , 64 and 66 ( see fig3 ) that define two opposed tabs 68 , 70 . one of the tabs 68 can be seen in an enlarged cross - section in fig5 . each of the tabs 68 , 70 has an inwardly directed lip 72 , 74 . each lip 72 and 74 has an upwardly or distally facing inclined face 76 and a downwardly or proximally facing abutment surface 78 . as will be explained below , the tabs 68 and 70 with the associated lips 72 and 74 act to retain the sensor body 40 in the receptacle 38 . the invention is not limited by the particular placement of tabs . for example , tabs might extend from the orifice of the receptacle as shown in fig4 or they might extend from the sensor body 40 ( not shown ). other tab configurations are possible . it will be appreciated that suitable tabs may be include snap hooks , snap beams , or other arrangements , and that the tabs can be flat or annular . in some embodiments , the housing 48 may be a plastic that is formed by injection molding . each tab 68 , 70 has a sufficient resiliency to grasp and release the sensor body 40 , as described herein . of course , the tabs 68 and 70 may be constructed from materials other than plastic as long as long as the tabs 68 and 70 remain sufficiently resilient to grasp and release the sensor body 40 . it can be appreciated by those skilled in the art that because the receptacle 38 does not include threads for establishing a threaded connection with the sensor body 40 , the receptacle 38 may be easier to manufacture via injection molding than conventional sensor mount assemblies that use threaded connections , and may be easier to install ( e . g ., may not require rotation for installation ). turning now to the sensor body 40 , a temperature sensor is illustrated in fig6 . as explained above , any suitable sensor may be used with this invention , including , without limitation , flow sensors , pressure sensors and so on . the illustrated sensor body 40 may be made from an injection molded plastic ( as an example ) and may secure the probe 80 that extends proximally from a shaft 82 of the sensor body 40 . a main body 84 of the sensor body 40 is connected distally from the shaft and is generally configured to fit snugly in the orifice 50 . the main body 84 has a circumferential o - ring groove 86 for receiving an elastomeric o - ring , for sealably seating the sensor body 40 in the receptacle 38 . a chamfer 88 may be provided on the main body 84 proximally , adjacent the shaft 82 . a frusta - conical section 90 is provided distally from the main body 84 . this frusta - conical section 90 corresponds generally to the interior shape of the frusta - conical segment 58 of the receptacle 38 . a circumferential notch 92 distal from the frusta - conical segment 90 receives the lips 72 , 74 on the tabs 68 , 70 . this action snaps the sensor body 40 into the receptacle 38 . a handle such as hexagonal head 94 above the notch 92 is provided so that the body 40 may be rotated to release it from the receptacle , as will be explained below . a connector 96 provides an electrical connection for a conductor ( not shown ) between the sensor and the controller 36 , for example . of course , other forms of connectors would be used for different types of sensors such as , hydrogen , pressure or carbon monoxide sensors , as examples . in the notch 92 , two longitudinal ridges 98 , 100 are provided . these ridges 98 , 100 can best be seen in fig8 in through section . preferably , the ridges are generally semicircular in cross - section , as can be seen in fig8 . at least one ridge 98 , 100 is provided for each tab 68 , 70 . the ridges 98 , 100 , are placed in the notch such that each ridge 98 , 100 will engage in associated lip 72 , 74 simultaneously when the sensor body 40 is rotated . the ridges 98 , 100 act to spread the tabs , disengaging the lips from the notch and allowing the sensor 40 to be withdrawn from the receptacle . although two opposing tabs and corresponding opposing ridges have been illustrated , it is clear that a single tab and ridge could be employed or that more than two tabs and ridges could also be used without departing from the teachings of the invention . an alternative embodiment of the invention is shown in perspective view in fig9 . instead of ridges 98 , bores 102 , 104 are provided which extend through the hexagonal head 94 and into the groove 92 . a key 106 is provided for releasing the sensor . the key 106 has a support ring 108 that will fit over any connector 96 on the sensor and that supports prongs 110 , 112 . the prongs 110 , 112 are inserted into the bores 102 , 104 in place of the ridges 98 , 100 and removably form the same configuration as the ridges 98 , 100 . as can be seen in fig1 , with the key 106 in place , ridges 114 , 116 are formed in the notch 92 . the lips are thereby disengaged to allowing the sensor to be withdrawn from the receptacle . it will be appreciated that the key arrangement described above provides the advantage of tamper resistance in that the key 106 is needed to remove the sensor from the receptacle . while the invention has been disclosed with respect to a limited number of embodiments , those skilled in the art , having the benefit of this disclosure , will appreciate numerous modifications and variations therefrom . it is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention .
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referring to the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to the same or similar element , in the prepress shown in fig1 a prepress nip n 1 is formed between a load shoe 10 and a back - up roll , preferably a vacuum roll 11 . wires / weaves h 1 and h 2 carry a web w therebetween and are conducted via nip n 1 from the left side in fig1 . water removal occurs in nip n 1 into an internal vacuum space o in the vacuum roll 11 defined by chamber means . the vacuum or suction effect is intensified by pressing the load shoe 10 against an outer surface 11 &# 39 ; a of a shell 11a of the vacuum roll 11 . the load shoe has an outer or front surface 10 &# 39 ; which substantially corresponds to the shape of the roll shell 11a . the load shoe 10 is movably connected to a seat 13 . the load shoe 10 comprises a web plate part 10a and branch parts 10b 1 , 10b 2 extending therefrom . the seat 13 comprises a web plate part 13a and branch parts 13b 1 , 13b 2 , and at ends of the branch parts , inwardly directed edges 13d 1 , 13d 2 . in the approximate center point of the web plate part 13a , a neck part 13c is attached so that spaces e 1 and e 2 are defined between the neck 13c and the side walls 13b 1 , 13b 2 . the side branches 10b 1 , 10b 2 of load shoe 10 are disposed in a respective one of the spaces e 1 , e 2 . a medium , preferably water , is conducted by pressure via channel 15 in neck 13c into a space defined between the neck 13c of the seat 13 and the load shoe 10 which is chamber d . the medium is passed or flows from the space d onward via a channel 16 in web plate part 10a into a groove 17 on the front surface 10 &# 39 ; of the load shoe . the medium is liquid , preferably water or an aqueous mixture . the groove 17 is arranged to extend over substantially the entire length of the load shoe . also , the medium may be passed to a longitudinally extending groove 17b in the front surface of the web plate part 10a through a channel 16b in a center region of the web plate part 10a to thereby lubricate a larger portion of the front surface of the web plate part 10a . in space d , the pressure of the medium generates a force on the undersurface ( rear surface ) of the web plate part 10a of the load shoe 10 , thereby pressing the load shoe 10 against its abutting surface , preferably against the outer surface 11a &# 39 ; of the shell 11a of the vacuum roll 11 . the branch parts 10b 1 , 10b 2 move in the spaces e 1 , e 2 , respectively , during movement of the web plate part 10a of the load shoe 10 . web w and the wires / weaves h 1 and h 2 pass via the surfaces , i . e ., via the nip n 1 between the front surface 10 &# 39 ; of the load shoe 10 and the outer surface 11 &# 39 ; a of the shell 11a of the vacuum roll 11 . the medium , which is preferably water , is conducted via branch channels c 1 , c 2 , . . . of a manifold j arranged within a frame beam p and mounted thereto into channel 15 to be conducted into space d . any spilled water and water leaving the load shoe are conducted into a trough 20 arranged after the frame beam p in a running direction of the wires / weaves and web and then back into water circulation . the prepress shown in fig1 comprises a vacuum roll 11 as a backing element . however , it is possible that another roll may be used instead of vacuum roll 11 , such as a roll provided with a recessed surface . fig2 shows a liquid circulation arrangement of a prepress in accordance with the invention . the medium is conducted via the branch channels c 1 , c 2 , . . . of the manifold j within the frame beam p to one or more chambers d between the rear surface of the load shoe 10 and the seat 13 , and the load shoe 10 is pressed in line with the surfaces of the branch parts 13b 1 , 13b 2 of the seat 13 towards the backing element 11 , e . g ., especially toward the vacuum roll 11 . any water discharged from the load shoe 10 with wire / weave h 2 is conducted into a collector tank 20 situated below the vacuum roll 11 , from there along a channel 21 into a liquid container 22 and furthermore , is then pumped through a pump 23 along channel 24 back into the manifold j to be recirculated through the load shoe 10 . fig3 shows an application of the prepress in accordance with the invention . traveling of the web w is represented by arrows l 1 and the circulation directions of felt transfers with arrows l 2 and l 3 . web w is conducted from a felt circulation wire / weave h 3 , at the point of separation after the forming section , and is transferred in line with wire / weave h 1 between wire / weave h 1 and wire / weave h 2 , and into nip n 1 . the water is gathered in trough 20 and moved back into manifold j . thereafter , the web is carried on wire / weave h 1 to be transferred therefrom and carried further by additional wire , weaves or felts into the press section of the paper machine . thus , in this embodiment , the prepress is arranged between the forming section and the press section of the paper machine . in the embodiment shown in fig4 a and 4b are sectional view of different embodiments taken through the line 4 -- 4 of fig1 . in these embodiments , there are a plurality of chambers d 1 , d 2 , d 3 , . . . between the neck portion 13c and the web plate part 10a . a dedicated channel h leads to each of the chambers d 1 , d 2 , d 3 , . . . . as shown in fig4 a , the neck portion 13c has projections g 2 and the rear surface of the web plate part 10a also has projections g 1 . between projections g 1 and g 2 , sealing structures e 1 , e 2 are provided to seal the chambers . as shown in fig4 b , the neck portion 13c has projections g 1 and recesses t 2 and the rear surface of the web plate part 10a also has projections g 2 and recesses t 1 . between projections g 1 and g 2 , sealing structures e 1 , e 2 are provided to seal the chambers . in this manner , by directing variable amounts of the pressure medium to the chambers , e . g ., by appropriate regulation of the flow of the medium from the manifold j , it is possible to adjust the loading pressure provided by the load shoe along the width of the shoe , e . g ., to profile the moisture content of the paper web at different positions of width . also , in these embodiments , the web plate part 10a of the load shoe 10 may be made of a flexible material such as plastic . the examples provided above are not meant to be exclusive . many other variations of the present invention would be obvious to those skilled in the art , and are contemplated to be within the scope of the appended claims .
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the induction heated , pressure welding apparatus 20 ( fig1 ) of the present invention comprises a floor supported frame 22 which includes end plates 24 , 26 and a pair of component supporting tubes 28 , 30 . it is apparent that the apparatus 20 is a prototype apparatus designed specifically to test the induction heating , pressure welding concept of the present invention , and is not intended for production work . a cylinder mounting block 32 ( fig1 and 4 ) forms a portion of the frame 22 , is rigidly secured to the tubes 28 , 30 and has a hydraulic cylinder assembly 34 supported thereon . the cylinder assembly 34 ( fig4 ) includes a cylinder case 36 having one end rigidly secured to the block 32 . the other end of the cylinder case is bored at 38 to receive a piston rod 40 that extends through the bore 38 and through a bore 41 in the block 32 , as well as through a flanged bushing 44 that is rigidly secured to one wall 46 of an inert gas chamber 48 supported on the tubes 28 , 30 by clamps 49 . a piston 50 is secured to the piston rod 40 intermediate its ends and between two ports 52 , 54 connected to hydraulic valving ( not shown ) by hoses 56 , 58 . a mechanical fixture is connected to the inner end of the piston rod 40 for gripping and releasing the first member m1 which is to be welded to a second member m2 at weldable surfaces s1 and s2 of the members , respectively . a collar 64 is rigidly connected to the other end of the piston rod 40 in adjusted position to limit the stroke of the piston rod and workpiece or member m1 toward the right in fig4 . as illustrated in fig4 the second member m2 is rigidly clamped to the lower wall 70 of a rectangular box 72 by a pair of clamps 74 and connectors 76 such as cap screws or bolts which align the longitudinal axis of the member m2 with the longitudinal axis of the member m1 which is concentric with the axis of the cylinder case 34 . the box 72 includes an open top wall 78 with a cover 79 pivoted thereon , two side walls 80 , and an end wall 82 . the inner end of the lower wall 70 extends through an opening in the adjacent wall 84 of the inert gas chamber 48 with the adjacent open end portion of the box 72 being welded to the wall 84 in substantially air tight engagement . in order to provide an air gap between the members m1 , m2 and one or more induction heating coil 88 , and to assist the clamp 74 to resist the material upsetting pressure applied by the cylinder assembly 34 after the weldable surfaces s1 , s2 have been heated , a spacer 90 of predetermined length is disposed between the member m2 and an adjustable positioning mechanism 92 . the mechanism 92 includes a threaded shaft 94 which is screwed into the end wall 82 and has a plurality of nuts 98 , 98a and 98b secured thereto for accurately positioning the member m2 and maintaining it stationary during the upsetting operation . the inert gas chamber 48 ( fig1 and 4 ) is provided to maintain the members m1 , m2 and the induction coil 88 in an inert atmosphere such as argon or helium during heating and upsetting to prevent oxidation and scaling of the weldable surfaces and thereby minimizing the presence of bond weakening debris between the welded surfaces thus improving the weld . the chamber 48 includes a removable cover 100 attached thereto by wing nuts 102 which allows an operator to gain access to the chamber for purposes of inserting and clamping member m1 to the fixture 60 . when the cover is closed , air is first evacuated from the chamber 48 through a conduit 104 by a vacuum pump 106 driven by motor 108 . thereafter , the inert gas is directed into the chamber 48 from a supply source ( not shown ) through a conduit 110 . as best shown in fig2 and 4 , the induction coil 88 is mounted in the inert gas chamber 48 , and is movable between a position out of alignment with the members m1 , m2 to be welded as shown in solid lines and a position in alignment between the members as shown in phantom lines in fig2 . the induction coil 88 is actuated between its two positions by a pneumatic cylinder assembly 112 pivotally connected to brackets 114 ( fig1 ) secured to the mounting block 32 . the piston rod 116 of the cylinder assembly 112 is pivotally connected to a lever 118 ( fig2 and 3 ) which is secured to a shaft 120 that extends through and is journaled in one wall 46 ( fig1 ) of the chamber 48 and extends through a hole in a tongue 124 projecting forwardly from an end support of a bus bar 126 . the tongue 124 , ( fig2 and 3 ) bus bar 126 and two bus bar - tongue connectors 128 ( only one being shown ) are separated by an electrical insulating or nonconducting strip 130 thus permitting current from a transformer 132 ( fig1 ) to establish a circuit from one side of the bus bar 126 , through the induction coil 88 and returns through the other side of the bus bar 126 . the bus bar 126 and connectors 128 are provided with internal water cooling passages through which cooling water is circulated . the cooling water enters the passages through conduits 134 and is discharged through other conduits not shown . a pair of rotary bus bar arm joints 136 are held in rotatable electrical contact with the adjacent sides of the tongue 124 by a pair of non - conducting clamp arms 138 that are keyed to the shaft 120 and are held in frictional engagement with the tongue 124 by threaded tie rods 140 . the bus bar arm joints 136 are electrically insulated from each other and each includes copper tubes 142 which act as portions of an electrical circuit and also serves as cooling water conduits which circulate cooling water therethrough in the direction indicated by the arrows in fig2 and 3 . an induction heating coil mount 146 is formed from a pair of electrical conducting bars 148 , 149 separated by a non - conducting strip 150 . the bars 148 , 149 are electrically connected to associated ones of the joints 136 and conduits 142 which conduct current and also carry cooling water as best shown in fig2 . a pair of spaced conducting and ported blocks 152 , 153 are secured to the bars 148 , 149 and are rigidly secured to an electrical insulating pad 154 . the coil 88 is formed from copper tubing which carries electrical current and also cooling water , and has its lower ends separated by a non - conducting strip 156 . a pair of copper tubes 158 , 159 are separated from each other by the strip 156 of insulation with tube 158 being electrically connected to the bars 148 , and also connected in fluid flow engagement to the block 152 . similarly , the copper tube 159 is electrically connected to the bar 149 and is connected in fluid flow engagement to the block 153 . an inlet coolant hose 160 is connected to the block 152 , and an outlet hose 161 is connected to the block 153 . thus , cooling water is circulated from hose 160 through the induction coil 88 and out hose 161 thereby cooling the induction coil during operation . the coil 88 is secured to a pair of non - metallic supports 164 that are rigidly connected to the non - metallic pad 154 by angle brackets 166 and bolts . as best shown in fig3 and 4 , a pair of angle arms 168 are rigidly secured to the shaft 120 and have their free ends bolted to the insulating pad 154 and thus cause the rotary bus bar joints 136 to rotate as the pneumatic cylinder assembly 112 raises and lowers the induction coil 88 . fig7 illustrates the upset portion 169 of the two members m1 and m2 in central section after they have been welded together . fig8 represents a common condition that occurs when two members m3 and m4 are welded together , i . e ., the weldable surfaces s3 , s4 of the members are not the same in area since surface s3 is much thicker than surface s4 . in this case , the apparatus is substantially the same as that described above except that two induction heating coils 170 , 172 are mounted side by side with an insulator 174 disposed therebetween . a first optical temperature sensor 176 such as an infrared pyrometer senses the temperature of the surfaces s3 , and a second optical temperature sensor 178 senses the temperature of the surfaces s4 . the amount of current directed to the coils 170 , 172 or the length of time the current is applied ( or both ) may be varied so that both surfaces s3 and s4 are raised to the desired welding temperatures at the same time . thin generally u - shaped silicon iron strips or laminations 180 may surround the coils 170 and 172 to more effectively direct the heat of the induction coils onto the surfaces s3 and s4 to be induction heated and thereafter welded together . in other respects , the operation of the fig8 embodiment is the same as that of the first described embodiment of the invention . in operation of the induction heated , pressure welding apparatus 20 of the present invention , the two members to be welded together are first firmly clamped in welding position with the weldable surfaccs s1 and s2 spaced a slight distance from the induction coil 88 as indicated in fig5 . the vacuum pump 106 ( fig1 ) is then started to evacuate air from the inert gas chamber 48 . after the air has been evacuated , an inert gas is fed into the chamber 48 and the induction coil 88 is energized to heat the weldable surfaces to an upsetting or welding temperature . after the temperature has been raised to the welding temperature as determined with the aid of an infrared pyrometer or the like , the coil 88 is immediately deenergized and is moved from between the two surfaces to its inactive position as shown in solid lines in fig2 and 6 . upsetting pressure is then immediately applied by the hydraulic cylinder assembly 34 to upset the surfaces s1 , s2 forming a weld 169 as shown in fig6 . the above heating and pressure applying steps require about 5 to 7 seconds . from the foregoing description it is apparent that the method and apparatus of the present invention mounts two members with surfaces to be welded together close to each other but permitting one or two induction coils to be positioned therebetween to first heat the weldable surfaces to a welding temperature . the induction coils are then moved away from the heated weldable surfaces , and the surfaces are pressed together with sufficient force to upset the heated surfaces thus forming a strong weld . destruction tests indicate that the welds formed by the present invention are stronger than those formed by conventional fusion welding . although the best mode contemplated for carrying out the present invention has been herein shown and described , it will be apparent that modification and variation may be made without departing from what is regarded to be the subject matter of the invention .
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in a first embodiment , the present invention provides a compound of formula ( i ): r 1 comprises — so 3 m or — co 2 m ; r 2 comprises — h , - lower alkyl , - lower alkoxy , - halogen , — nh — c ( o )- lower alkyl , — so 3 m , or — co 2 m ; r 3 comprises — h , - lower alkyl , - lower alkoxy , — o - tower - alkylene - co 2 m , - lower alkylene - co 2 m , — nh — c ( o )— co 2 m , — nh — c ( o )- lower alkyl , or — co 2 m ; r 4 comprises — h , - lower alkyl , or - lower alkoxy ; r 5 comprises a group of the formula — nh - lower alkylene - so 3 m ; — nh - lower alkylene -( co 2 m ) m ; — s - lower alkylene - so 3 m ; or — s - lower alkylene -( co 2 m ) m ; wherein r 9 and r 13 comprise , independently , — so 3 m or — co 2 m ; r 10 and r 14 comprise , independently , — h , - lower alkyl , - lower alkoxy , - halogen , — nh — c ( o )- lower alkyl , — so 3 m , or — co 2 m ; r 11 comprises — h , - lower alkyl , - lower alkoxy , — o - lower - alkylene - co 2 m , - lower alkylene - co 2 m , — nh — c ( o )— co 2 m , — nh — c ( o )- lower alkyl , or — co 2 m ; r 12 comprises — h , - lower alkyl , or - lower alkoxy ; — nh - lower alkylene - so 3 m ; — nh - lower alkylene -( co 2 m ) m ; — s - lower alkylene - so 3 m ; — s - lower alkylene -( co 2 m ) m ; or — nh — r 17 , wherein r 15 comprises — so 3 m or — co 2 m ; r 16 comprises — h , - lower alkyl , - lower alkoxy , - halogen , — nh — c ( o )- lower alkyl , — so 3 m , or — co 2 m ; r 17 comprises — h , - lower alkyl , or —( ch 2 chr 8 — o )— h , r 18 comprises — h , — ch 3 , — ch 2 ch 3 , or — ch 2 oh , m is 1 or 2 ; m comprises — h , — li , — na , — k , — n ( r 19 ) 4 , or — hn ( r 19 ) 3 , wherein r 19 comprises — h , - lower alkyl , or —( ch 2 chr 20 — o )— h , r 20 comprises - h , — ch 3 , — ch 2 ch 3 , or — ch 2 oh . in a preferred embodiment , the present invention provides a compound of formula ( ii ): r 3 comprises a / lower alkoxy group ; and r 5 and r 6 are as defined above for formula ( 1 ). m comprises — h , — li , — na , — k , — n ( r 19 ) 4 , or — hn ( r 9 ) 3 , wherein r 19 comprises — h , - lower alkyl , or —( ch 2 chr 20 — o )— h , r 20 comprises — h , — ch 3 , — ch 2 ch 3 , or — ch 2 oh . especially preferred dyes of the present invention include dyes of the formula ( iii ), ( iv ), and ( v ): this invention also encompasses the following variations of the foregoing dye ( iiia ). wherein m comprises — h , — li , — na , — k , — n ( r 1 ) 4 , or — hn ( r 1 ) 3 , wherein r 1 comprises — h , - lower alkyl , or —( ch 2 chr 2 — o )— h , and r 2 comprises — h , — ch 3 , — ch 2 ch 3 , or — ch 2 oh . this invention also encompasses the following variations of the foregoing dye ( iva ). wherein m comprises — h , — li , — na , — k , — n ( r 1 ) 4 , or — hn ( r 1 ) 3 , wherein r 1 comprises — h , - lower alkyl , or —( ch 2 chr 2 — o )— h , and r 2 comprises — h , — ch 3 , — ch 2 ch 3 , or — ch 2 oh . the azo dyes of the present invention are useful as dyes , especially as dyes in ink jet ink compositions . the azo dyes of the present invention have improved solubility which results in improved ink jet printhead reliability , especially when utilized with smaller diameter nozzles , while maintaining a good to excellent balance of optical density , color value , waterfastness and lightfastness . a further aspect of the present invention provides an ink composition comprising . ( a ) at least 0 . 1 % by weight of a compound of formula ( 1 ): r 1 comprises — so 3 m or — co 2 m ; r 2 comprises — h , - lower alkyl , - lower alkoxy , - halogen , — nh — c ( o )- lower alkyl , — so 3 m , or — co 2 m ; r 3 comprises — h , - lower alkyl , - lower alkoxy , — o - lower - alkylene - co 2 m , - lower alkylene - co 2 m , — nh — c ( o )— co 2 m , — nh — c ( o )- lower alkyl , or — co 2 m ; r 4 comprises — h , - lower alkyl , or - lower alkoxy ; r 5 comprises a group of the formula — nh - lower alkylene - so 3 m ; — nh - lower alkylene -( co 2 m ) m ; — s - lower alkylene - so 3 m ; or — s - lower alkylene -( co 2 m ) m ; wherein r 9 and r 13 comprise , independently , — so 3 m or — co 2 m ; r 10 and r 14 comprise , independently , — h , - lower alkyl , - lower alkoxy , - halogen , — nh — c ( o )- lower alkyl , — so 3 m , or — co 2 m ; r 11 comprises — h , - lower alkyl , - lower alkoxy , — o - lower - alkylene - co 2 m , - lower alkylene - co 2 m , — nh — c ( o )— co 2 m , — nh — c ( o )- lower alkyl , or — co 2 m ; r 12 comprises — h , - lower alkyl , or - lower alkoxy ; — nh - lower alkylene - so 3 m ; — nh - lower alkylene -( co 2 m ) m ; — s - lower alkylene - so 3 m ; — s - lower alkylene -( co 2 m ) m ; or — nh — r 17 , wherein r 15 comprises — so 3 m or — co 2 m ; r 16 comprises — h , - lower alkyl , - lower alkoxy , - halogen , — nh — c ( o )- lower alkyl , — so 3 m , or — co 2 m ; r 17 comprises — h , - lower alkyl , or —( ch 2 chr 18 — o )— h , r 18 comprises — h , — ch 3 , — ch 2 ch 3 , or — ch 2 oh , m is 1 or 2 ; m comprises — h , — li , — na , — k , — n ( r 19 ) 4 , or — hn ( r 19 ) 3 , wherein r 19 comprises — h , - lower alkyl , or —( ch 2 chr 20 — o ) h , r 20 comprises — h , — ch 3 , — ch 2 ch 3 , or — ch 2 oh . ( b ) water , and ( c ) at least one co - solvent . in the above formulae , and hereafter the term “ lower alkyl ” refers to a straight or branched - chain c 1 - c 4 alkyl group . examples include methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , t - butyl , and isobutyl . the term “ lower alkoxy ” refers to a c 1 - c 4 alkoxy group . examples include methoxy , ethoxy , propoxy , and butoxy . likewise , the terms “ lower hydroxyalkyl ” and “ lower cyanoalkyl ” preferably refer to c 1 - c 4 alkyl groups substituted by at least one hydroxy or cyano group , respectively . the term “ lower alkylene ” refers to a divalent group of the formula —( ch 2 )- m wherein m is an integer of from 1 to 4 . examples include methylene , ethylene , propylene , and butylene . the compounds of this invention may be prepared by diazotizing , for example , an optionally and appropriately substituted aminobenzene sulfonic acid , aminobenzoic acid , or aminophthalic acid , coupling with aniline , or an appropriately substituted aniline such as , for example , ortho - or meta - toluidine , ortho - or meta - anisidine , ortho - or meta - phenetidine , cresidine , dimethoxyaniline , diethoxyaniline , an appropriately substituted 3 - aminophenoxyacetic acid , propionic , or butyric acid or an appropriately substituted 3 ′- aminophenylacetic , propionic or butyric acid , reacting the resultant aminoazobenzene intermediate compound in equimolar quantity with cyanuric chloride , then optionally reacting the product with a second molar equivalent of the same or a different aminoazobenzene intermediate compound , or with a suitable aminoalkylenesulfonic acid , an aminoalkylene - mono or dicarboxylic acid , an aminobenzene mono or di - carboxylic acid , an aniline - mono - or disulfonic acid , an amino - naphthalene mono - or di - sulfonic acid , a mercaptoacetic , propionic , or succinic acid , or a mercaptoalkylenesulfonic acid , and finally reacting this product with an equimolar quantity of ammonia , a primary aliphatic or alkanolamine , an aminoalkylenesulfonic acid , an aminoalkylene mono - or di - carboxylic acid , an , aminobenzene mono - or dicarboxylic acid , an aminobenzene mono or disulfonic acid , an aminonaphthalene mono or disulfonic acid , a mercaptoalkylene sulfonic acid or a mercaptoalkylene mono - or dicarboxylic acid , the final dye structure containing at least three sulfonic acid groups or an equally water - solubilizing combination of carboxylic and sulfonic acid groups , such as two or three carboxylic acid groups with two sulfonic acid groups , or three to four carboxylic acid groups with one sulfonic acid group . examples of compounds from which the diazonium component may be derived include : metanilic acid , sulfanilic acid , anisidine sulfonic acids , phenetidine sulfonic acids , toluidine sulfonic acids , 4 - or 6 - chlorometanilic acid , anthanilic sulfonic acid , 2 , 3 or 4 - aminobenzoic acid , 3 - or 4 - aminophthalic acid , 4 - or 5 - aminoisophthalic acid , 2 - amino - 3 - methoxybenzoic acid , 4 - amino - 3 - methylbenzoic acid . suitable couplers include , for example , aniline , o - or m - toluidine , o - or m - anisidine , o - or m - phenitidine , m - aminoacetanilide , m - aminoacetanilide sulfonic acid , an ortho or meta - amino phenylacetic , - propionic or - butyric acid , an ortho or meta - aminophenoxyacetic , propionic or - butyric acid , 2 , 5 - dimethoxyaniline , 2 , 5 - diethoxyaniline , cresidine , and anthranilic acid . examples of intermediates suitable for the second and third reactions with the cyanuric chloride to produce r 5 and r 6 , in addition to a substituted aminobenzene compound for r 5 include , for example , taurine , 3 - aminopropanesulfonic acid , orthanilic acid , metanilic acid , sulfanilic acid , 2 , 3 , or 4 - aminobenzoic acid , 3 or 4 - aminophthalic acid , 4 or 5 - aminoisophthalic acid , an anisidinesulfonic acid , a toluidine sulfonic acid , 4 - or 6 - chlorometanilic acid , 4 - amino - 3 - methoxybenzoic acid , phenetidine sulfonic acids , m - aminoacetanilide sulfonic acid , aniline disulfonic acid , amino g acid , amino j acid , amino r acid , napthionic acid , broenner &# 39 ; s acid , laurent &# 39 ; s acid , c acid , epsilon acid , cleve &# 39 ; s acid , 2 - mercaptoethanesulfonic acid , 3 - mercapto - 1 - propanesulfonic acid , 3 - aminoadipic acid , mercaptosuccinic acid , thiolactic acid , mercaptoacetic acid , 2 , 3 , or 4 - aminobutyric acid , 3 - aminoisobutyric acid , 5 - aminovaleric acid , ethanolamine , ammonia , methyl amine , ethyl amine , propyl amine , 3 - aminopropanol , and 2 -( 2 ′- aminoethoxy )- ethanol . a salt form of the dyes of the present invention may be obtained by employing throughout the synthesis the corresponding hydroxide , carbonate , or bicarbonate of an alkali metal , or by using throughout the synthesis a non - reactive tertiary amine or quaternary ammonium hydroxide , such as triethanolamine , trimethyl amine , triethyl amine or tetramethyl or tetraethyl ammonium hydroxide . in addition , a salt form may be conveniently converted to a different salt form , or the free acid , by ion exchange , using well - known equipment and procedures . purification to remove impurities and salts may be accomplished by reverse osmosis , using readily available equipment following usual procedures . the dye concentration may be adjusted by either evaporation or dilution to the desired percentage . the present invention relates also to ink compositions , for example aqueous ink compositions . an aqueous ink composition according to the present invention comprises a dye of formula ( 1 ), water , and , optionally , at least one co - solvent . in table 1 , there are listed representative examples of the water - soluble dyes having the above formula ( i ) for use in inks in the present invention . the inks preferably have a total content of dyes of from 0 . 5 to 30 % by weight , preferably from 1 to 30 % by weight and more preferably from 1 to 15 % by weight , based on the total weight of the ink . as a lower limit , a limit of 1 % by weight , preferably 2 % by weight and most preferably 3 % by weight , is preferred . in one embodiment of the present invention , the ink composition may optionally comprise a humectant acting as a co - solvent . selection of a suitable humectant depends on the requirements of the specific application involved , such as desired surface tension and viscosity , the desired drying time of the ink , and the type of paper onto which the ink will be printed . representative examples of humectants that may be selected include ( i ) alcohols , such as methyl alcohol , ethyl alcohol , n - propyl alcohol , isopropyl alcohol , n - butyl alcohol , sec - butyl alcohol , t - butyl alcohol , iso - butyl alcohol , furfuryl alcohol , and tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol ; ( 2 ) ketones or ketoalcohols , such as acetone , methyl ethyl ketone and diacetone alcohol ; ( 3 ) ethers , such as tetrahydrofuran and dioxane ; ( 4 ) esters , such as ethyl acetate , ethyl lactate , ethylene carbonate and propylene carbonate ; ( 5 ) polyhydric alcohols , such as ethylene glycol , diethylene glycol , triethylene glycol , propylene glycol , tetraethylene glycol , polyethylene glycol , glycerol , 2 - methyl - 2 , 4 - pentanediol , 1 , 2 , 6 - hexanetriol and thiodiglycol ; ( 6 ) lower alkyl mono - or di - ethers derived from alkylene glycols , such as ethylene glycol monomethyl ( or monoethyl ) ether , diethylene glycol monomethyl ( or monoethyl ) ether , propylene glycol monomethyl ( or monoethyl ) ether , triethylene glycol monomethyl ( or monoethyl ) ether and diethylene glycol dimethyl ( or diethyl ) ether ; ( 7 ) nitrogen - containing cyclic compounds , such as pyrrolidone , n - methyl - 2 - pyrrolidone , and 1 , 3 - dimethyl - 2 - imidazolidinone ; and ( 8 ) sulfur - containing compounds , such as dimethyl sulfoxide and tetramethylene sulfone . other useful organic solvents include lactones and lactams . mixtures of these solvents may be used in the present invention . of the above mentioned humectants , preferred humectants include ; diethylene glycol , polyethylene glycol ( 200 to 600 ), ethylene glycol , triethylene glycol , tetraethylene glycol , glycerin and n - methyl - 2 - pyrrolidone , by which the solubility of the employed dye in the solvent of the ink composition can be increased and the evaporation of water from the ink composition can be appropriately controlled , so that the initial properties of the ink composition can be maintained even for an extended period of continuous use or storage , or during the periods when the apparatus is not in use , whereby reliable ink droplet stability and ink droplet ejection response of the ink composition , particularly after a prolonged period of non - use of the apparatus , are obtained . the amount of humectant is determined by the desired properties of the ink and may range from about 0 . 1 % to about 30 % by weight of the ink composition . the ink composition may also optionally comprise colorants . colorants useful in the present invention include pigments , self - dispersed pigment blends , polymeric pigment dispersions , pigment - dye blends , and combinations thereof . the pigment can be a polymeric pigment concentrate or self - dispersed pigment concentrate , or a combination of both . as is known in the art , a pigment dispersion is a mixture of a pigment and a dispersing agent , typically a polymeric dispersant compound . a wide variety of organic and inorganic pigments , alone or in combination , may be selected for use in the aqueous inks of the present invention . the key selection criterion for the pigment is that they must be dispersible in the aqueous medium . the term “ pigment ,” as used herein , means an insoluble colorant . the selected pigment may be used in dry or wet form . suitable pigments include organic and inorganic pigments , and essentially any of the classes of pigments heretofore used in this art , of a particle size sufficient to permit free flow of the ink through the ink jet printing device , especially at the ejecting nozzles that usually have a diameter ranging from about 10 microns to about 50 microns . thus , a suitable pigment particle size ranges from about 0 . 02 to about 15 , preferably from about 0 . 02 to about 5 , and more preferably from about 0 . 02 to about 1 , micron ( s ) so that when jetted , the pigment particle size ranges from about 0 . 005 to about 0 . 02 microns . pigments suitable for use in the present invention include azo pigments , such as azo lakes , insoluble azo pigments , condensed azo pigments and chelate azo pigments , polycyclic pigments , perylene pigments , anthraquinone pigments , quinacridone pigments , dioxazine pigments , thioindigo pigments , isoindolinone pigments , quinophthalone pigments , and dry lakes . suitable organic pigments include nitro pigments , aniline black and daylight fluorescent pigments . preferred pigments include carbon black , pigment red 122 , pigment red 202 , pigment yellow 74 , pigment yellow 128 , pigment yellow 138 , pigment yellow 155 , pigment blue 15 : 3 and pigment blue 15 : 4 . dispersants may optionally be used in the present invention , for example , when a insoluble pigment is used . appropriate dispersants include those known in the art , such as the acrylic terpolymers taught in commonly - assigned u . s . pat . no . 5 , 719 , 204 , and other commonly known dispersants . factors to be considered in selecting an appropriate dispersant include the following : first , the dispersant must firmly anchor to the pigment particle surface to withstand shear force and the competition of other chemical species . to ensure this anchoring , a careful match of the polarity of the pigment particle surface and the hydrophobic group in the dispersant is required . second , the physical dimensions of the hydrophobic group in the dispersant must be adequate to fully cover the pigment surface , otherwise , the adsorbed polymer will act as a flocculent . third , an electrostatic layer of a requisite thickness around the particle is needed to prevent aggregation of particles within the aqueous medium . the pigment to dispersant ( weight ) ratio is preferably from about 3 : 1 to about 5 : 1 , but may vary from about 1 : 1 to about 9 : 1 . a binder may also optionally be used in the ink composition of the present invention to bridge the pigment particles within the ink and aid in their adhesion to the print medium . the use of a binder allows for greater ink durability and increased image permanence . high tg binders are generally preferred for long term jetting requirements , but low tg binders are preferable for smear permanence . also preferred are unimodal random ( not block ) polymer binders . binder may be present in amounts from 0 - 100 parts to 100 parts of pigment , preferably 5 - 30 parts to 100 parts pigment . preferred binders for use in the present invention comprise a polymer or copolymer formed from monomer classes , including , but not limited to : acrylate esters , methacrylate esters , styrenes , substituted styrenes , vinyl acrylates , vinyl acetates , fluoromethacrylates , acrylamides , substituted acrylamides , methacrylamides , substituted methacrylamides , and combinations thereof . among the esters of acrylic acid and methacrylic acid , preferred monomers include methyl acrylate , ethyl acrylate , propyl acrylate , butyl acrylate , lauryl acrylate , methyl methacrylate , ethyl methacrylate , propyl methacrylate , butyl methacrylate , lauryl methacrylate , and isobutylene methacrylate . in one embodiment , the binder may comprise a copolymer of butyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate . in a further embodiment , the polymeric binder may comprise a copolymer ranging from about 20 % to about 40 % by weight of methyl methacrylate and about 60 % to about 80 % by weight of butyl acrylate . the polymeric binder may comprise a copolymer ranging from about 27 % to about 33 % by weight of methyl methacrylate and about 66 % to 72 % by weight of butyl acrylate . in another embodiment , the polymeric binder comprises 10 % to 50 % by weight methyl methacrylate , 50 % to 85 % by weight butyl acrylate , and 3 % to 10 % by weight methacrylic acid , based on the total weight of the polymeric binder ; for example 14 . 5 % by weight methyl methacrylate , 80 . 5 % by weight butyl acrylate , and 5 % by weight methacrylic acid . the foregoing merely represent example of suitable polymeric binder compositions . the polymeric binder may further comprise an acid component . the acid component may comprise acrylic acid , methacrylic acid , itaconic acid , vinyl sulfonic acid , maleic acids or combinations thereof , or may be derived from salts or anhydrides of such acids , such as methacrylic or maleic anhydride or sodium vinylsulfonate or acrylomidopropane sulfonate . in one embodiment the acid component is methacrylic acid . in another embodiment , the acid component is methacrylic acid in combination with another acid . the acid component of the polymeric binder ranges from about 1 % to about 10 % by weight of the total weight of the polymeric binder . in one embodiment , when the acid component is methacrylic acid , the acid component is about 1 . 1 % to about 1 . 5 % by weight of the total weight of the polymeric binder . in another embodiment , when the acid component is methacrylic acid , the acid component is about 1 . 3 % by weight of the total weight of the polymeric binder . it should be noted , however , that the examples of ink compositions discussed herein do not represent the only possible formulations encompassed by the present invention , and that the present invention includes ink compositions when the acid component of the polymeric binder ranges from about 1 % to about 10 % by weight of the total weight of the polymeric binder . the most preferred binder in the present invention may comprise from about 0 % to about 5 % by weight in the ink composition , a unimodal acrylic emulsion which contains a random copolymer comprised of butylmethacrylate and methylmethacrylate monomers as described in co - pending u . s . pat . no . 6 , 646 , 024 b2 of beach et al . assigned to lexmark international , inc . the same assignee here . a penetrant may also optionally be used in the ink composition of the present invention to improve penetration by the ink drops into the surface of the printed substrate and to reduce or eliminate intercolor bleeding ( i . e ., lateral bleeding of color ). penetrants ( which include surfactants ) are preferred for use in the invention . preferred penetrants for use in the present invention include 1 , 2 alkyl diols containing from about 4 to about 10 carbon atoms in the alkyl group such as those taught in commonly - assigned u . s . pat . no . 5 , 364 , 461 . most preferred are 1 , 2 - hexanediol and hexyl carbitol . in a preferred embodiment , the penetrant is present in the ink composition in an amount of from between about 0 . 01 % to about 10 % by weight , preferably 0 . 1 % to about 3 %. the ink compositions may also optionally comprise surfactants to modify the surface tension of the ink and to control the penetration of the ink into the paper . suitable surfactants include nonionic , amphoteric , cationic , and anionic surfactants . preferred surfactants include alkyl sulfate , nonyl phenyl polyethylene glycol , the silwet ® series of surfactants ( osi sealants , inc . ), the tergitol ® series of surfactants ( union carbide ) and the surfynol ® series of surfactants ( air products and chemicals , inc .). the ink compositions may also optionally comprise additives that inhibit the growth of fungi and / or bacteria ( biocides ). such additives are usually used in amounts of from 0 . 01 to 1 . 0 % by weight , based on the total weight of the ink . sodium dehydroacetate , sodium sorbate , 2 - pyridine thiol - 1 - oxide sodium salt , sodium benzoate and sodium pentachlorophenol can be employed as biocides . a preferred biocide is 1 , 2 - benzisothiazolin - 3 - one , commercially available as proxel ® gxl manufactured by zeneca . any known ph adjustment agents may optionally be used in the present invention , so long as they do not have an adverse effect on the ink composition and can control the ph of the ink composition . buffering agents , such as borax , borates , phosphates , polyphosphates or citrates ( for example , sodium borate , sodium tetraborate , sodium phosphate , sodium dihydrogen phosphate , disodium hydrogen phosphate , sodium tripolyphosphate , sodium pentapolyphosphate and sodium citrate ) may also be added to adjust or maintain a desired ph for the ink . a preferred buffer is potassium hydroxide , sodium phosphate or sodium borate . as will be appreciated , the amount of buffer will depend on the other components in the ink . however , it has been found that the addition of small amounts of buffer to the ink , such as from about 0 . 01 % to about 0 . 3 % by weight , preferably from 0 . 1 to 1 % by weight , is useful . the ink compositions may also optionally comprise chelating agents . chelating agents , such as for example , ethylene diamine tetraacetate ( edta ), trisodium nitrilotriacetate , hydroxyethyl ethylenediamine trisodium acetate , diethylene triamino pentasodium acetate and uramil disodium acetate , may be added to prevent any deleterious effects from metal or alkali metal ion contaminants or impurities . typically , a chelating agent may be added to the composition in an amount of from about 0 . 1 % to about 1 . 0 % by weight . a preferred chelating agent is edta . other additives , for example , ultra - violet - ray - absorbing agents , infrared - ray - absorbing agents , polymeric compounds , and solubility increasing agents for increasing the solubility of the dye dissolved in the solvent of the ink composition can be employed as thought necessary in specific embodiments of an aqueous ink composition for ink - jet recording according to the present invention . preferred embodiments of an aqueous ink composition for ink - jet recording according to the present invention will now be explained by referring to the following examples . the following examples serve to illustrate the invention . unless otherwise indicated , parts are parts by weight and percentages relate to percent by weight . the relationship between parts by weight and parts by volume is the same as that between kilograms and liters . a dye of formula ( iv ) can be prepared according to the following procedure . a solution was prepared of 61 . 4 g of 4 - amino - 3 - methoxyazobenzene - 3 ′- sulfonic acid ( prepared in conventional manner ) in 300 ml of water containing 8 g of sodium hydroxide . when the solution was complete , it was diluted to 400 ml with water . a 2 liter beaker containing 200 ml water and 200 g ice was placed in an ice / water bath . 18 . 4 g of finely ground cyanuric chloride was added to the beaker . with vigorous agitation , half of the amino - azobenzene derivative solution was added dropwise over 25 minutes . the temperature of the reaction was held at 0 ° c . by further addition of ice as required . when all of the solution was in , the ph of the mixture was slowly raised to about 6 . 2 by sifting in 8 . 4 g of sodium bicarbonate slowly over 15 minutes . after stirring further for about 15 minutes the red - brown slurry had changed to bright yellow and a thin - layer chromatogram showed completion of the reaction . the ph was also stable at 6 . 2 . the second half of the amino - azobenzene derivative solution was then dropped in over 30 minutes . the ice / water bath was removed and the reaction temperature was allowed to rise to ambient , about 20 ° c . after stirring for 15 minutes more an additional 8 . 4 g of sodium bicarbonate was sifted into the reaction slurry over 15 minutes . the ph rose to 7 . 5 and the reaction was a clear yellow solution at 1100 ml volume . the reaction was stirred for an additional 16 hours at about 20 ° c . next , 25 g taurine ( 2 - aminoethanesulfonic acid ) was added . the ph was raised to 9 by addition of sodium hydroxide solution . the solution was heated to 80 - 85 ° c . and held at this temperature and at ph 8 . 5 to 9 for at least four hours . the resultant bright yellow dye was highly soluble in water over a wide ph range and had very good lightfastness when used for ink jet printing on plain and special papers . the dye solution was subjected to reverse osmosis to remove excess taurine , impurities and salts . conversion to other salt forms was accomplished by means of ion exchange according to well - known procedures . the general method of example 1 was repeated except that the second half of the aminoazobenzene derivative solution was replaced by an equimolar amount of amino g acid ( 2 - naphthylamine - 6 , 8 - disulfonic acid ) in solution , and the taurine was replaced by 12 . 2 g of ethanolamine as the third reactant . a highly water - soluble yellow dye of formula ( iii ) was obtained . this dye also exhibited very good lightfastness when used in inks for ink jet printing on plain and special papers . a dye of formula ( v ) can be prepared according to the following procedure . the general method of example 1 was repeated except that the second half of the aminoazobenzene derivative solution was replaced with 12 . 5 g taurine . the product was a solution of a highly water - soluble bright yellow dye , having very good lightfastness on plain or special papers when applied in inks by ink jet printing . further examples of especially preferred embodiments of the present invention include the following wherein r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 , r 6 and m of formula ( 1 ) are as set fourth below in table 1 : in addition to the dyes described herein , the present invention comprises ink formulations which employ the novel dyes . ink formulations generally comprise a colorant and a carrier as well as optional additives as enumerated above . some examples of ink formulations are shown below , as well as test results for the specified inks . the inks of the present invention can be prepared in customary manner by mixing the individual constituents together , for example , in the desired amount of water . these inks are especially suitable as the yellow component for multicolor printing . to a sample of the dye of formula ( iii ) ( 5 % based on total weight ), 0 . 1 % sodium edta was added , followed by stirring for 10 minutes . tetraethylene glycol ( 8 % based on total weight ) was then added and stirring continued for 20 minutes . 1 , 2 - hexanediol ( 7 % based on total weight ) was added followed by stirring for 20 minutes . proxel ® gxl biocide ( 0 . 2 % based on total weight ) was then added and stirring continued for an additional 20 minutes . sodium phosphate ( 0 . 5 % based on total weight ) and sodium borate ( 0 . 5 % based on total weight ) were added and stirring continued for 40 minutes . the ph was adjusted to 8 . 5 with either acetic acid or sodium hydroxide and filtered through a 0 . 22μ filter unit . the balance of the formulation was deionized water . the ink was filled in heads and tested on execjet iic machines ( idle test after 5 , 10 , 15 and 20 minutes ) as described below . to a sample of the dye of formula ( iv ) ( 5 % based on total weight ), 0 . 1 % sodium edta was added , followed by stirring for 10 minutes . tetraethylene glycol ( 8 % based on total weight ) was then added and stirring continued for 20 minutes . 1 , 2 - hexanediol ( 7 % based on total weight ) was added followed by stirring for 20 minutes . proxel ® gxl biocide ( 0 . 2 % based on total weight ) was then added and stirring continued for an additional 20 minutes . sodium phosphate ( 0 . 5 % based on total weight ) and sodium borate ( 0 . 5 % based on total weight ) was added and stirring continued for 40 minutes . the ph was adjusted to 8 . 5 with either acetic acid or sodium hydroxide and filtered through a 0 . 22μ filter unit . the balance of the formulation was deionized water . the ink was filled in heads and tested on execjet iic machines ( idle test after 5 , 10 , 15 and 20 minutes ) as described below . to a sample of the dye of formula ( v ) ( 5 % based on total weight ), 0 . 1 % sodium edta was added , followed by stirring for 10 minutes . tetraethylene glycol ( 8 % based on total weight ) was then added and stirring continued for 20 minutes . 1 , 2 - hexanediol ( 7 % based on total weight ) was added followed by stirring for 20 minutes . proxel ® gxl biocide ( 0 . 2 % based on total weight ) was then added and stirring continued for an additional 20 minutes . sodium phosphate ( 0 . 5 % based on total weight ) and sodium borate ( 0 . 5 % based on total weight ) was added and stirring continued for 40 minutes . the ph was adjusted to 8 . 5 with either acetic acid or sodium hydroxide and filtered through a 0 . 22μ filter unit . the balance of the formulation was deionized water . the ink was filled in heads and tested on execjet iic machines ( idle test after 5 , 10 , 15 and 20 minutes ) as described below . the idle test results are summarized below , showing the % probability that the head would fail with the following dyes : * project yellow ig is a commercially available yellow dye used as a standard for the purposes of this test . the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the present invention . since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art , the foregoing is not intended to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described , and all suitable modifications and equivalents falling within the scope of the appended claims are deemed within the present inventive concept . the features of the present invention , together with the other objectives of the invention , and along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention , are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure .
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while this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms , there are shown in the drawings , and will be described herein in detail , specific embodiments thereof with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated . fig1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the storage system . the storage system 10 is shown being used on car seat 20 with a seat back 30 and a seat bottom 40 , typically characteristic of a front seat . the storage system 10 comprises a bottom panel 50 connected to two side panels 60 along a seam line 61 . the front of the bottom panel 50 is connected to the front panel 70 along a seam line 71 ( fig2 - 4 ). the front panel 70 is removeably connected to side panels 60 via an engagement mechanism 75 . the front panel 70 can comprise storage pockets 80 as illustrated in fig1 . the engagement mechanism 75 can be any engagement mechanism which allows the front panel to be releaseably attached to the side panels 60 . the engagement mechanism can be , for example , the use of complementary velcro strips on the side panel 60 and on the front panel 70 , or the use of a velcro strip 75 a connected to the front panel 70 , threaded through a buckle 76 on the side panel 60 . other engagement mechanisms such as snap buttons , clasps and the like , can also be used . the bottom and side panels can be made of a flexible material to allow the user to accommodate various objects and their shapes . the flexible material can be fabric , made from synthetic or natural materials . materials such as nylon or polyesters can be used . flexible material such as rubber , or rubber like materials with elastic properties can also be used . other materials , such as silicone or silicone - based materials , can be used to increase the friction between the storage system and the objects contained therein to decrease movement of the loose objects . the storage system comprises several different mechanisms for securing the storage system to the seat of a vehicle . the storage system can comprise upper seat back straps 90 and lower seat back straps 100 . upper seat back straps 90 exert an upward force on the rearward portion of the side panels 60 , while the lower seat back straps 100 exert a rearward force on the side panels 60 . the upper and lower seat back straps are adjustable to suit various sizes of seat backs . buckles , belts , clasps , velcro material , snap buttons , and other suitable mechanisms can be used to impart adjustablity to the straps . the straps can also be made of a resilient , elastic material such as rubber or spandex to allow the straps to adapt to various seat back sizes . straps can be removeably attached to each other on their distal ends by complementary snap on buckle ends 95 ( fig3 ), velcro , snap buttons , and the like . in one embodiment , a rearward force on the bottom panel 50 and on the side panels 60 is achieved using a tuck strip 120 ( fig2 - 4 ), tuck strip 120 is tucked between , and through , a gap 30 a between the seat back 30 and seat bottom 40 as illustrated in fig2 , to exert a rearward force on the bottom panel 50 . in the embodiment illustrated in fig2 , both the upper 90 and lower 100 seat back straps are in use , in conjunction with the tuck strip 120 . in other embodiments , the tuck strip 120 can be used with just the upper seat back strap 90 , in car seats where it is not feasible to tuck the tuck strip 120 between the seat back 30 and seat bottom 40 , such as when a car seat cover is in use , the upper and lower seat back straps can be used . the tuck strip 120 comprises a generally elongated or cylindrical body 121 disposed within a tubular region 122 of fabric or outer covering . the tuck strip 120 is on the distal end of a tuck panel 130 which is a rearward extension of the bottom panel 50 . the tuck panel 130 remains between the seat back 30 and seat bottom 40 . the elongated or cylindrical body 121 of the tuck strip can be made of a flexible , resilient material such that it can be compressed to be tucked between the seat back 30 and seat bottom 40 , and conform to its original shape once on the other side of the seat back . the elongated or cylindrical body 121 should be of sufficient cross sectional size and of sufficient length to provide enough force to keep the bottom panel 50 in position , even in the event of a sudden stop . the tuck panel 130 is adjustable in length to accommodate for the different sizes in car seats . in vehicles where the seat back 30 is less thick , the tuck panel 130 may be too long , and much of the tuck panel 130 is slack on the back side of the seat back 30 . to minimize the slack in the tuck panel 130 , the tuck panel 130 can be rolled around the tuck strip 120 . the portion of the tuck panel 130 taken up by the tuck strip 120 can be held in place by complementary sided velcro strips 135 , 125 on the tuck panel 130 and tuck strip 120 respectively ( fig4 ). other methods of keeping the tuck panel wrapped in place by the tuck strip 120 can also be used . as shown in fig1 and 4 , a removal strap 120 a can be provided to make for easier removal of the storage system 10 when not in use . the strap 120 a comprises a generally u - shaped strap , connected at ends 120 b , 120 c to the tuck strip 120 by stitching , fasteners , adhesive for other means . the removal strap 120 a extends between the seat back 30 and seat bottom 40 on top of the bottom panel 50 . the removal strap 120 a is exposed on the front side of the car seat back 30 and allows a user to pull on the strap 120 a to pull the tuck strip 120 back through the gap 30 a between the seat back 30 and seat bottom 40 as a step to disengage and remove the storage system from the seat . in one embodiment , at least one hook or a pair of hooks 110 ( fig2 - 3 ) is used to provide stability to the front end of the storage system . hooks 110 are located on first bottom strap portion 115 b which is connected to second bottom strap portion 115 a by removable engagement mechanisms 111 . removable engagement mechanisms 111 allow strap first bottom strap portion 115 b and the hooks 110 to be disengaged from the second bottom strap portion 115 a when a user does not desire the use of the hooks 110 . removable engagement mechanism 111 also allows the length of first bottom strap portion 115 b ( or alternately second bottom strap portion 115 a ) to be adjusted such that the hooks 110 can be located at the appropriate distance . the hooks 110 can be used to connect to any protruding ledge , frame , or structure underneath the seat . as illustrated , second bottom strap portion 115 a is attached to the back of the front panel to minimize the forward movement of the front panel in the event of an abrupt stop . in one embodiment , the front panel 70 comprises a core panel 72 surrounded by the fabric 74 used for the bottom panel 50 and the side panels 60 ( fig6 ). the core panel 72 is made of a flexible , resilient material , and preferably exhibits shape memory characteristics . the core panel 72 is of sufficient rigidity to maintain an upright position . materials suitable for the core panel 72 include polyurethane and polystyrene foams , rubber , and silicone . other materials can also be used . the front panel preferably exerts a sufficient rigidity such that when the contents press against the top portion 76 ( fig2 ) of the front panel 70 , exerting a force as indicated by the arrow “ p ” in fig6 , the front panel 70 pivots generally about seamline 71 ( fig2 ) which generally corresponds to the edge 45 of the seat bottom 40 . without wishing to be bound by any particular theory , it is believed that when contents press against the top portion 76 of the front panel , the bottom portion 78 of the front panel presses against the seat bottom 40 , causing the seat bottom 40 to exert a force in an opposing direction , which results in causing the top portion 76 of the front panel to move rearward , to keep contents of the storage system in place . in another embodiment , the seat storage system can be configured to provide an expanded storage area . if a larger storage area is desired to carry loose objects in a vehicle , the larger space of the back seats can be used to support two adjacent storage systems as illustrated in fig5 . to connect two storage systems to provide an expanded storage area , two storage systems can be placed side - by - side , with adjacent side panels disconnected from the front panel and overlaid on a portion of the bottom panel of the adjacent storage system . as illustrated in fig5 , side panel 60 a from storage system 10 a is over laid over a portion of the bottom panel 50 b . side panel 60 b ( show in dashed lines ) from storage system 10 b is disposed underneath the bottom panel 50 a of storage system 10 a . by overlaying the side panel 60 a over a portion of the adjacent storage system to act as a second layer over a portion of the bottom panel 50 b , the bottom panels are continuous , and allows for an object to be placed within the area of space defined by the boundaries of two connected storage systems . to connect the front panels of the adjacent storage system together , engagement mechanisms 75 which are used to connect the side panels 60 to the front panel 70 ( fig1 and 2 ), are disengaged from the adjacent side panels 60 a , 60 b in fig5 to allow the panels 60 a , 60 b to lay flat along the back seat . the engagement mechanisms 82 a , 82 b on adjacent front panels 70 a , 70 b are connected with each other to join the front panels 70 a , 70 b together . engagement mechanism 82 a , 82 b can be complementary parts which can join together by snap fitting such as a releasable clasp or buckle . alternatively , engagement mechanism 82 a and 83 b can be complementary velcro strips . depending on the type of engagement mechanism selected to join the side panels to the front panels , and the front panels to each other , engagement mechanisms on either side of the front panel 82 a , 83 a , and 82 b , 83 b may be complementary to allow engagement mechanisms which are adjacent 82 a , 82 b in the expanded storage configuration to complementarily engage with each other . in the expanded configuration , in one embodiment , the upper seat back straps 90 a , 90 b are joined together to secure the expanded storage system to the seat back . the straps can also be secured in other ways , such as around the back of the seat , depending on the configuration of the back seats . in the embodiment shown in fig5 , tuck strips ( not visible .) are used to anchor the rearward portion of the bottom panel to the region between the seat back and seat bottom . depending on the configuration of the back seats , a user may be able to use the lower seat back straps as well or in lieu of the tuck strips to secure the expanded storage system to the seats , or to provide more rigidity to the storage system . in another embodiment , the side panels and / or the bottom panels can also be made with a core panel similar to the front panel to provide for a padded effect . in use , the user places the storage system on the desired seat ( s ) and secures the storage system to the seat using the upper seat back straps with the tuck strip and / or with the lower seat back straps . if using the tuck strip , the user determines an appropriate length of the tuck panel for the thickness of the seat back , and scrolls any excess tuck panel material around the tuck strip , alternatively , the tuck strip can remain in the region between the seat back and the seat bottom , and need not extend to exit on the back side of the seat . a user can secure the front panel by adjusting the straps connected to the hook to determine the appropriate length needed for the hooks to reach a support or a frame with which to engage . if a passenger desires to sit in the seat being occupied by a storage system , the user can disconnect the side panels from the front panels and sit over the bottom panel of the storage system . this allows a user to easily change the seating area from being able to carry a passenger to being a storage area , without having to disassemble or remove the storage system from the seat . from the foregoing , it will be observed that numerous variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . it is to be understood that no limitation with respect to the specific apparatus illustrated herein is intended or should be inferred .
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referring first of all to fig1 , this shows a perspective view of an apparatus for packaging elongate members , in accordance with one embodiment of the invention . the apparatus 10 includes a pair of u - shaped frame members 11 , each comprising two upright side portions 12 connected by an elongate base member 14 . each of the u - shaped frame members has a number of packing members 15 extending between the upright portions of the u - frame 12 . in use , sections of drill pipe or other tubulars may be loaded onto the apparatus , with a packing member supporting either end of the tubulars . elements of the packing members 15 deform under the weight of the tubulars , to hold the tubulars securely in position . a number of layers of tubulars may be built up , with elastomer on the lower portions of the packing members engaging the upper surfaces of the lower layers of tubulars . once all layers of tubulars have been assembled , a retaining arrangement is tightened to urge the layers of tubulars and packing members together . reference will now be made to fig2 of the drawings , which is a sectional view of a packing member 100 in accordance with another embodiment of the invention , and also to fig3 , which is a sectional view of the packing member of fig2 , showing the behaviour of the packing member 100 under load . the packing member 100 comprises a frame member featuring a central spine 102 and four deformable members 104 , 105 , 106 , 107 having lower and upper tubular - engaging surfaces 108 , 109 for engaging and locating a row of tubulars located below the packing member 100 and for engaging , locating and supporting a row of tubulars located above the member 100 . the spine 102 is in the form of a solid steel bar and is located between the deformable members 104 - 107 . the spine 102 and the deformable members 104 - 107 are coupled together by bolts 110 , the bolt heads 112 and associated lock nuts 114 engaging constraining members in the form of steel channels 116 , 117 mounted on the lateral faces of the outermost deformable members 104 , 107 . the deformable members 104 - 107 are formed of oval urethane extrusions . in this embodiment the outermost members 104 , 107 are taller and softer than the members 105 , 106 directly adjacent the spine 102 . thus , in use , the outermost members 104 , 107 will tend to experience a greater degree of deformation under load . this allows the packing member 100 to operate effectively and safely under a wide range of conditions . when the packing member 100 experiences relatively light loading the members 104 , 107 will deform to grip the tubulars and limit or prevent relative movement of the tubulars across the member 100 . in this situation the harder members 105 , 106 may experience relatively little deformation . under heavy loading , the degree of deformation of the softer members 104 , 107 will be limited by the harder members 105 , 106 , which thus protect the softer member 104 , 107 , while also providing an additional degree of support and grip for the tubulars . reference is now made to fig4 to 6 of the drawings , which illustrate a packing member 200 in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention . the packing member 200 is generally similar to the packing member 100 described above , but features deformable members 204 , 205 , 206 , 207 of somewhat different cross - section . in particular , the softer ( shore a 60 ) outermost members 204 , 207 are generally lozenge - shaped and the bearing faces 220 , 221 each define a groove 224 . the harder ( shore a 85 ) inner members 205 , 206 also have central portions with straighter sides , to assist in creating a more stable packing member 200 , but retain rounded upper and lower portions . fig5 and 6 also illustrate the t - shaped pieces 230 , 232 provided at the ends of the spine 202 for engaging with corresponding undercut channels in the uprights of the u - frame 12 . fig6 is a plan view of the packing member 200 and illustrates , in exaggerated form , an effect that may be achieved by selectively tightening the bolts 210 which couple the members 204 - 207 to the spine 202 . in particular , the bolts 210 a towards the ends of the packing member 200 are tightened to a greater extent than the bolts 210 b towards the centre of the member 200 . this tends to provide the member 204 - 207 with a degree of pre - loading or compression , such that the end portions of the members 204 - 207 resist vertical compression and deformation to a greater degree than the central portion of the members 204 - 207 . this facilitates gripping of the tubulars by the members 204 - 207 , as the loading experienced by the packing member 200 has been found not to be constant across the u - frame . in particular , it has been found that the loading experienced by the central portions of packing members 200 between the middle layers of tubulars in a u - frame is relatively low , and it is otherwise difficult to provide sufficient loading and grip in these areas without overloading other portions of the packing members 200 . thus , by configuring selected packing members 200 such that the deformable members 204 - 207 are more easily deformed in a central portion of the member 200 , it is possible to provide a member 200 which will provide substantially consistent grip and support across its length , even when the loading experienced by the member 200 is not consistent . reference is now made to fig7 and 8 of the drawings , which illustrate a packing member 300 in accordance with a still further embodiment of the invention . the packing member 300 is similar to the member 200 described above , however the upper surface of the inner pair of deformable members 305 , 306 is shaped to define recesses to positively locate and space tubulars across the upper surface of the member 300 . this is useful where it is desired to ensure that there is no contact between adjacent tubulars in a layer . reference is now made to fig9 to 14 of the drawings , which illustrate features of a packing member 400 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the packing member 400 comprises a frame member including a skeleton 402 , and three deformable elements 404 , 406 , 407 having lower and upper tubular - engaging surfaces 408 , 409 . the skeleton 402 comprises two spine members 402 a , 402 b joined by two short cross - members 402 c , 402 d . an end piece 402 e extends from each cross - member member 402 d and provides mounting for a round bar lockhead 402 f for co - operating with side portions 12 of the u - frame 11 . the skeleton 402 receives the central deformable element 404 , and the outer deformable elements 406 , 407 are mounted to respective spine members 402 a , 402 b . the various parts are fixed together by bolts 410 , the bolt heads 412 and associated lock nuts 414 engaging side constraints 416 , 417 mounted on the lateral faces of the outermost deformable elements 406 , 407 . the deformable elements 404 , 406 , 407 are formed of pressure moulded rubber , and in particular a blend of virgin and recycled rubber . the elements are themselves recyclable . the central element 404 has an upper face defining two spaced - apart contact surfaces 420 , 421 and a single central lower contact surface 422 . thus , when compressed between two layers of pipes or tubulars the element 404 tends to experience triangular loading , which it is believed will tend to reduce transverse direction laddering , that is a tendency for the packing members 400 to deform under load by an upper contact surface moving longitudinally relative to a lower contact surface . the outer deformable elements 406 , 407 are generally lozenge - shaped , but have inclined contact faces such that an inner raised edge of each face makes initial contact with the pipe or elongate member . the outer elements 406 , 407 extend above and below the central element 404 and thus provide the primary contact with the pipes or tubulars , while the central elements 404 , which may be formed of a harder rubber compound , provides the secondary contact . the deformable elements may have a constant cross - section or may define pipe - receiving recesses , as evident in the embodiments illustrated in fig1 and 16 of the drawings . in these embodiments the respective central elements 504 , 604 each feature pipe - receiving recesses 505 , 605 . the recesses 505 , 605 ensure that there is little or no lateral movement of pipes relative the packing members 500 , 600 , but fix the maximum number of pipes that may be carried in a frame provided with such members 500 , 600 . in contrast to conventional profiled packing members , packing members 500 , 600 made in accordance with these embodiments of the present invention may safely secure a range of pipe sizes . for example , a pipe having a smaller external diameter than the recesses 505 will still be gripped and held over a relatively large area by the outer deformable elements 506 , 507 , which extend above the lowest point of each recess 505 . also , only the upper face of each element features recesses 505 , such that each pipe will experience a relatively large area contact with the central element 504 above the pipe . it will be clear to those of skill in the art that the above - described embodiments of the invention are merely exemplary of the invention , and that various modifications and improvements may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention .
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reference is now made to fig1 to 3 , which show a card reader 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention . the card reader 10 has a bezel 12 which includes a transparent cover 20 that aligns with an led ( not shown ) in the bezel 12 . the bezel 12 has a card entry slot 26 arranged to pass an inserted card into a card chamber 27 in the card reader housing portion 16 . the card reader 10 further comprises a magnetic read head 28 for reading a magnetic stripe on a card ; a pin or portcullis style shutter 30 for locking a card within the reader 10 and preventing a tool from being used to open the shutter ; a solenoid 32 for activating the shutter 30 ; and a card sensor 34 for sensing the presence of a card . the housing portion 16 incorporates a controller 50 , as illustrated in fig4 , for controlling the operation of the card reader 10 . the controller 50 is coupled to a communications interface 52 , in addition to being coupled to the shutter mechanism ( including the pin shutter 30 and solenoid 32 ), the magnetic read head 28 , the smart card interface 42 , and the card sensor 34 . fig4 also illustrates a hybrid card 60 having a magnetic stripe 62 . throughout this specification and claims the term foreign object or foreign body is intended to include , but not be limited to : dental floss , wire , vcr tape , fishing line and adhesive tape . in accordance with the present invention the entrance to the card slot 26 can be monitored internally by using an ‘ image capture device ’ ( icd ), in the form of a miniature camera 70 , arranged to view the full width of the card entrance slot 26 . this arrangement enables the immediate detection of interference with the reader , and allows system software , within the controller 50 to immediately ( within a few clock - cycles ) recognize the fact that an unauthorized action is occurring , and to take whatever action is deemed necessary to ensure the protection of customer details . in particular the controller 50 can arrange to close the pin shutter 30 . in addition , the icd system is arranged to immediately detect any inappropriate movement of the card guide - plates 40 , 42 . detecting any movement of the guide - plates 40 , 42 and / or guide rollers ( not shown ) will also assist the controller 50 in identifying the presence of a foreign object within the card reader 10 . alternatively a foreign object can be detected directly by analyzing the view through the card travel area or chamber 27 . in addition the card reader shutter 30 can be opened periodically in order to ascertain whether external interference has occurred . a further benefit of the system is that due to the high resolution of the icd , any embossing on the surface of the card 60 can be detected . in this way the system can identify whether a genuine card 60 has been introduced . as it is common practice for fraudsters to use ‘ blank stock ’, the system can identify a potential fraudulent action and allow the card 60 to be retained by the reader 10 , by the closure of the shutter 30 . in a method of processing in accordance with the present invention the captured image ( either real - time or snapshot ) will be transferred to a binary file , and the post - processing includes taking a ‘ pixel - count ’ relating to the area of interest . a software algorithm is utilized in order to compare the captured image with pre - defined ‘ good - state ’ parameters . the icd device , in the form of a camera 70 , is positioned such that it facilitates the image capture of the entire width of the card throat 43 . this can be achieved by situating the camera 70 at the extreme rear of the card reader chamber 27 . clearly , in order to allow for complete and full functionality of the card reader 10 , it is necessary to mount the camera 70 such as to allow for the passage of an inserted card 60 . alternatively , the image capture device 70 is positioned above or below the passageway 27 and an image of the entry slot 26 is achievable using an optical device 72 , such as a mirror or prism , in the passageway 27 . it has been determined that in order for this invention to function well that the image must be taken from less than 5 degrees ( and preferably less than 2 degrees ) from the plane containing the card in order to detect a filament . various modifications may be made to the above described embodiment within the scope of the invention , for example , it will be appreciated that the card reader may be a card reader and writer .
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fig1 a illustrates a domain name lessor 100 using a personal computer to access the domain marketplace 500 over a network 400 such as the internet . the domain name lessor 100 registers and lists one to many domain names which that individual or business owns and is interested in leasing to others . a potential domain name lessee 200 using a personal computer connects to the marketplace 500 over the network 400 . the domain name lessee 200 then browses the marketplace for open auctions for domain names . the marketplace 500 can present the information to the domain name lessor 100 and domain name lessee 200 using web pages which require web server software on the marketplace server 500 such as websphere from ibm . the domain name lessor 100 and domain name lessee 200 can then view the information using browser software such as internet explorer 6 . 0 from microsoft . fig1 b shows that the marketplace server 500 requires management of a great deal of information , which for purposes of illustration is shown stored in a number of databases . those skilled in the art will recognize that a variety of options are available for storing and managing this information . in fig1 b , a lessor database 600 holds information about individuals or businesses leasing domain names , such as the name of the individual or business , the domain names being leased , address , e - mail , bank information , etc . the system assigns the lessor 100 a unique system identifier . a lessee database 601 holds similar information about the individuals or businesses interested in leasing domain names , as well as the domain names to which traffic is redirected . the system assigns each lessee 200 a unique system identifier . an auction database 602 holds information about the domain names being auctioned including for each auction a unique identifier , bid open and close times for every auction period of time ( for example every month ), minimum bid amount , and the unique system identifier of the lessor 100 of the domain being auctioned . in addition , once an auction is won by a lessee 200 , the unique identifier of that lessee 200 is captured in the auction database 602 . a bid database 603 holds the bids in an auction . each record in the bid database 603 includes a unique bid identifier , the auction identifier associated with the bid , the lessor identifier of the bidder , and a timestamp to capture the time the bid was made . a redirect database 604 is used to redirect web traffic from the lessor domain name to the domain name of the lessee that won the auction . fig2 a shows an example of the process that a lessor 100 follows when registering with the marketplace server 500 . the lessor starts by providing a unique username , password , and contact e - mail 2001 . next , the lessor provides bank information 2002 including account number , bank routing number , and bank name . the bank information is used by the marketplace 500 to pay the lessor for leased domain names . next , the lessor provides one or more domain names 2003 . for each domain the lessor 100 can optionally provide a minimum monetary amount required to lease the domain 2004 . next , the marketplace 500 assigns the lessor a unique identifier and sends the lessor an e - mail confirming the registration 2006 . finally , all of the information relating to the lessor is stored in the lessor database 600 . the marketplace can require proof of or verify the lessor &# 39 ; s right to lease the domain . in an alternate embodiment the marketplace 500 sets a minimum monetary amount required to lease domains instead of the lessor 100 specifying this amount . fig2 b provides an example of the process by which a lessee 200 registers with the marketplace 500 . the lessee provides a unique username , password , and contact e - mail 2101 . next , the lessee provides bank information 2102 including account number , bank routing number , and bank name . the bank information is used to pull funds owed to the marketplace 500 and the lessor 100 on the agreed basis . next , the lessee provides one or more domain names 2103 to which it would like to redirect web traffic . as described below , when bidding on a domain name the lessor indicates to which of the domain names provided during registration internet traffic should be redirected . next , the marketplace 500 assigns the lessee a unique identifier and sends the lessee an e - mail confirming the registration 2105 . finally , all of the information relating to the lessee 200 is stored in the lessee database 601 . fig2 c shows an alternate embodiment of the invention . step 2205 allows the lessor to set a lockout amount and lockout period for a domain , allowing a lessee to receive traffic from the domain exclusively for a pre - specified period . other steps of the lessor 100 registration are identical to the steps described in fig2 a . the first lessee 200 to bid above the lockout amount will then have all traffic redirected from that domain to the winning bidder &# 39 ; s website until the lockout period ends . while the lockout amounts and periods can be set by the lessor during the lessor registration , the lockout values can also be set using a lessor account management feature provided by the marketplace 500 . in another embodiment of the invention the marketplace 500 sets the lockout values for lessor domains . the marketplace 500 can set the lockout at any time except when a lockout is in effect for a lessor &# 39 ; s domain . fig2 d shows another embodiment of the invention . in step 2303 , a lessee provides a maximum dollar amount per day , or any other time period , for spending on redirected web surfers . other steps of the registration are identical to the steps described in fig2 b . as an example , a lessee 200 such as espn . com could specify a maximum of $ 1000 per day , which could translate to 10 , 000 web surfers redirected to the espn . com website at an average cost of $ 0 . 10 per web surfer , all redirected from websites owned by lessors using the marketplace services . the maximum budget amount can be modified after the original registration using an account management function . such a function could , for example , be accessed over the internet on a website provided by the marketplace 500 or by contacting the marketplace 500 by phone . with this type of a cap on the amount spent per day set by a lessee , the marketplace 500 could redirect all traffic to the highest bidder and when the cap is reached start redirecting traffic to the second highest bidder , up to that bidder &# 39 ; s cap , and then onto the third highest bidder and so on . this mechanism can be used with any bidding embodiments , with lessees able to bid on specific times of day , month , year , geographical locations , etc ., and lessors able to optimize lessees to maximize revenue by considering repeat business , segmentation by time and geography , etc . as seen in fig3 , the process of bidding for a domain name requires the lessee 200 to login 3001 to the marketplace 500 using its unique username and password . next , the lessee must select a domain name auction 3002 from a list provided by the marketplace 500 . then the lessee 200 must check whether the auction is open for bidding 3003 . if not , the lessee must select another auction ; otherwise , the lessee can place a bid on the auction 3004 . the bid includes a monetary amount that the lessee 200 is willing to pay per web visitor that is redirected from the leased domain name to a domain name owned by the lessee 200 . the bid amount must be greater than any other bid placed on the auction . in addition , if a minimum bid amount was indicated by the lessor 100 then the bid must be greater than that amount . the bid must also contain the domain name to which the lessee 200 wants to redirect traffic . finally , the lessee 200 receives a confirmation through e - mail of the bid . fig4 illustrates the process which the marketplace 500 uses to settle the auctions . the process starts with the marketplace 500 checking for an auction whose bidding period has ended 4001 that have bids but no selected winning bid 4003 . the marketplace 500 checks the auction database 602 and bid database 603 every minute ( or other set time ) for this information 4002 . for every auction found that meets the above criteria , the marketplace 500 selects the highest bid amount and records in the auction database 602 the bid as the winning bid . if a minimum bid amount is available for the auction then the highest bid must be above the minimum amount for it to be recorded as the winning bid . in addition , a record is added to the redirect database 604 indicating the leased domain , the domain to which internet traffic is redirected , a redirect expiration date , and the monetary amount associated with the bid 4005 . the domain to which traffic is redirected can be obtained from the bid record . then the winner and the domain name owner 4006 are notified . fig5 illustrates the process used to redirect traffic from the website for the leased domain name to the website of the lessee . the process begins when a web surfer 5000 using a browser such as internet explorer 6 . 0 from microsoft visits the website for the leased domain name 5001 . the web surfer accesses the website for the leased domain name over a network 400 such as the internet . the web server hosting the leased website then redirects the web surfer to the marketplace server 5002 . this can be accomplished by having the lessor 100 place an html metatag in the default page of the leased website that redirects traffic to the marketplace website after the default page is loaded . next the marketplace 500 confirms that the redirected web surfer 500 came from a domain name listed in the lessor database 600 . this can be accomplished by having software check the header of the internet protocol packets that arrive at the marketplace server 500 . next , if the marketplace 500 successfully confirms the origin of the web surfer , the marketplace 500 checks the redirect database 604 for the domain name to which the web surfer is redirected . the marketplace 500 redirects the web surfer to the lessee &# 39 ; s website 5003 found in the redirect database 604 . the marketplace 500 then retrieves from the redirect database 604 the monetary amount to charge for the redirect , and adds a record in the billing database 605 indicating that the lessee owes that monetary amount to the lessor . a further embodiment of the invention requires lessors 100 to map their domains to domain name servers belonging to the marketplace before lessors can use the marketplace service . in order to point the domains to the domain servers of the marketplace 500 , lessors must go to the domain registrar whom they used to buy the domains and change the dns settings for the domains they are leasing . the dns settings for the leased domains should be updated to point to the primary and secondary domain servers of the marketplace 500 . the domain registrar might also require that the internet protocol address of the primary and secondary marketplace 500 domain servers be specified . for example , the lessor 100 of tennistoday . com would go to its domain registrar ( for example register . com ) and change the dns setting for tennistoday . com to point to the marketplace domain servers , for example server1 . marketplace . com and server2 . marketplace . com . the domain registrar might also require that the internet protocol address of the primary and secondary domain servers be specified , for example 223 . 32 . 24 . 234 and 223 . 32 . 24 . 235 . once the lessor domain is pointing to the domain servers of the marketplace 500 , the process of redirecting web surfers is depicted in fig5 b . initially a web surfer working on a personal computer 5100 types into his web browser a domain name of a lessor 100 . next , the marketplace domain server 5101 is reached through the dns architecture and the lessor 100 domain is resolved to the internet protocol address of the marketplace server 5102 . then the marketplace server 5102 finds the appropriate lessee web server 6103 in the redirect database 604 to which to redirect the web surfer . an alternate embodiment requires lessors 100 to use domain forwarding instead of re - pointing their domains . as with re - pointing domains , domain forwarding can be set up through the domain registrar ( e . g . register . com ). the forwarding address would be a web address owned by the marketplace 500 and the forward would include the domain name that set to forward . for example tennistoday . com would use the following forwarding address : http :// www . marketplace . com / tennistoday . com . fig6 illustrates the process used to settle funds between the parties . the process starts with the marketplace 500 retrieving a billing record from the billing database 605 . the marketplace then retrieves from the lessor database 600 the bank account number and routing number of the lessee associated with the billing record . next the marketplace , using a technology such as ach , retrieves the funds indicated on the billing record from the bank of the lessee into the marketplace &# 39 ; s bank account . once the funds have been deposited into the marketplace &# 39 ; s bank account the marketplace using ach transfers , a subset of the funds is transferred to the lessor associated with the billing record . the bank information of the lessor is retrieved from the lessor database 600 . the funds settling processes is performed periodically , for example once a month . instead of using ach , the marketplace can also use credit cards , debit cards , or solutions such as paypal to transfer funds . therefore , in fig2 a instead of providing bank information in step 2002 , the lessor 100 can provide a paypal account where funds owed will be placed by the marketplace on a regular basis . similarly in fig2 a step 2102 , instead of providing bank information the lessee can provide credit or debit card information . the marketplace then on a regular basis charges the lessee &# 39 ; s credit or debit card the amount owned . alternatively , all funds owed by a specific lessee cam be retrieved using one ach transaction or one credit or debit transaction that is performed periodically . in an alternative embodiment of the invention , the auctions for domain names have no time limit . the auctions are always open for bids . at any time a lessee can outbid the highest bid for a domain name . the process for bidding remains as described in fig3 . however , the process for finding the winning bid described in fig4 changes slightly . periodically , for example every few minutes , all auctions are reviewed and if a new highest bid is placed for a given auction the marketplace checks whether the bid is above the minimum bid amount , if one exists , and if so sets the new bid as the winning bid in the auction database 602 and resets the redirect database 604 to the lessee &# 39 ; s domain name indicated by the winning bid . alternatively , whenever a new bid is placed the marketplace checks in the auction database 602 whether the new bid is higher than existing bids for the given auction . in addition , the new bid is checked to be above the minimum bid amount , if one exists . if both conditions are met , the marketplace 500 sets the new bid as the winning bid in the auction database 602 and resets the redirect database 604 to the lessee &# 39 ; s domain name indicated by the winning bid . it may be desirable to some lessees and / or lessors to group domain names into categories . domain names that relate to a certain topic are grouped by the system administrator , either manually or automatically . the group names and the domain names they contain are stored in a group database on the marketplace server . the auction database 602 stores the category name being auctioned and the associated domain names for each auction . the process described in fig3 remains the same , except that lessees bid on groups instead of individual domains . the process described in fig4 also remains the same , except that in step 4005 the marketplace 500 records in the redirect database 604 a record per domain name in the category that was bid on . in addition , in step 4006 all of the domain name owners in the category bid on are notified of the winning bid . in another embodiment of the invention , multiple bidders win the bidding for a category . during the bidding described in fig3 , bidders submit bids 3004 that are higher than the specified minimum . bids do not need to be higher than other bids made for the same auction . all other steps of fig3 remain the same . also , in fig4 step 4003 which determines the winning bids the marketplace 500 finds the highest set of bids . for example , the marketplace 500 finds the top three bids placed in the auction . in step 4005 , the marketplace 500 records all of the winning bids in the auction database 602 and the redirect database 604 . finally , in fig5 , before the marketplace redirects the visitor web surfer to a lessee 200 , the marketplace 500 finds all of the lessees that won the auction for the category to which the leased domain name belongs . the marketplace 500 then picks in order one of the lessee and redirect the user to that lessee &# 39 ; s website . the next time the marketplace 500 redirects to a different lessee among the winning lessees for that category . in order to keep track of the last lessee to which the marketplace redirected a web surfer , the marketplace can mark the record of that lessee in the redirect database 604 . the marketplace 500 can start with the highest bid among the lessees and next redirect to the domain of the next highest bid . when the marketplace 500 reaches the lowest bid among the winning bids for the category the marketplace 500 can again redirect to the domain owned by the highest bidder for the category . alternatively , when the marketplace 500 picks among the winning bids , the marketplace could pick the lessee with the higher bid more often than the lessees with lower bids . this can be accomplished by having the marketplace administrator assign percentages to each winning bid , with larger percentages being assigned to higher bidding lessees . alternatively , an algorithm can be used to assign these percentages . for example , the algorithm could provide the highest bidder with 50 % of the redirected traffic , the next higher bidder 30 %, and the third highest bidder 20 %. also , the algorithm could redirect all traffic to the highest bidder until some maximum amount of traffic ( or expense ) is reached for the day ( or other period ). that maximum amount could be provided by the lessee when bidding . once the maximum is reached the next highest bidder would get the balance of the redirected traffic until the day ends ( or some other period ). the marketplace allows lessees to bid in bulk on domains . for example , a lessee could specify a bid for all domains in a certain category or for multiple categories . alternatively , the lessee could manually select a set of domains to bid on and provide one bid value for all of the selected domains . the marketplace then informs the lessee of the domains for which its bid is the highest , or domains for which its bid is one of a set of winning bids . lessees can also specify for a set of bulk domains a maximum dollar amount per day , or any other time period , for spending on redirected web surfers . this amount would be in place of the maximum dollar amount provided during registration described in fig2 d . lessees 200 may also provide keywords that relate to the domain name to which they want to redirect web surfers . the marketplace 500 then matches the keywords with lessors &# 39 ; domain names that contain those keywords . lessees also provide the amount they are willing to pay per web surfer redirected to their domain . thus , as part of fig2 b , in step 2103 in addition to providing a domain name , lessees provide a set of keywords that relate to each domain name and a monetary amount per domain name that the lessee would pay per redirected web surfer . instead of the bidding described in fig3 and fig4 , a matching algorithm described in fig7 is used . in step 7001 the marketplace 500 checks whether a certain amount of time past since the last time the matching algorithm ran , for example have five minutes past . the last run time can be recorded in the database . if the necessary amount of time has not passed then in step 7002 the marketplace waits a minute and then returns to step 7001 . if enough time has passed since the last run , then the marketplace 500 selects one lessee 7003 and selects one keyword provided by the lessee 7004 . the marketplace 500 then searches all of the registered lessor domain names for the keyword . all domain names that contain the keyword are identified and for each match a record is created in the redirect database 604 . next , the marketplace 500 checks if another keyword was provided by the lessee 7007 , and if so it repeats steps 7004 to 7005 for that keyword . once all keywords for a lessee 200 have been processed the marketplace 500 checks for another lessee 200 that has not been processed . the database can be used to keep track of lessees that have been processed , or matched with domain names . if the marketplace 500 finds a lessee 200 that was not processed , it repeats the steps starting at 7003 , or else it returns to the waiting state 7002 . next , the marketplace 500 after running the matching algorithm can use a round robin when multiple lessees 200 match a lessor &# 39 ; s 100 domain name , as described above . alternatively , the marketplace 500 can assign percentages to higher bids as described in above . instead of only matching keywords provided by the lessee , the marketplace 500 alternatively can look up synonyms and related words based on the provided keywords . synonyms can be looked up using a dictionary . related words can be looked up from a database , such as those used in speech processing applications . an example of related words is “ baseball ” and “ bat ”. once related words and synonyms are identified , they can also be used in the matching step 7006 . lessors can also provide keywords in addition to the lessees providing keywords . lessors provide keywords related to the domain name they register with the marketplace . this is done in fig2 a as part of step 2004 . in fig7 , step 7006 matching can be done between the key words and related words of the lessors and key words and related words of the lessee , thereby optimizing redirection of web surfers . furthermore , in another embodiment of the invention lessers lessees provide a set of keywords and the monetary amount they will pay per visitor redirected to their domain . lessors register with the marketplace and provide a minimum monetary amount per visitor redirected from their domain . a software program then matches lessees with lessors by finding domain names registered with the marketplace that contain one or more of the keywords supplied by individual lessors ; for those domains the program checks that the specified minimum monetary amount is less than the monetary amount supplied by the individual lessees . in cases when multiple lessors are matched with a lessee a round robin is used to redirect web surfers to the domains associated with the lessors . lessees with higher bids can receive a higher percentage of redirected web surfers . lessees can use an interface provided by the marketplace , such as a web interface , to find a list of lessor domains that relate to a keyword or a set of keywords . the process of identifying the domains is identical to the matching process described above , where keywords provided by the lessee are searched within the lessor domains . in addition to the provided keywords , synonyms of the keywords can be searched in the lessor domains . misspellings and commonly associated words can also be searched in the lessor domains . once a list of lessor domains is provided , the lessee can choose to bid on all or a subset of the domains . a computer program or an electronic agent can be used to assist with the bidding . a lessee would use such an electronic agent to avoid having to manually monitor the bidding on a domain . the electronic agent can be given by the lessee specific domains to bid on and a maximum bid amount per domain . the electronic agent then bids on behalf of the lessee , bidding above other bidders up to the maximum amount specified per domain by the lessee . in another embodiment , the electronic agents do not bid but instead notify lessees when one of their bids has been out - bid . it is then the lessees &# 39 ; decision whether to increase their bids . notifications can be made using communication media such as e - mail or phone . in a further embodiment , the web surfer is only redirected to a lessee &# 39 ; s 200 domain name if the web surfer is identified as being from a pre - specified geographic location . in this embodiment , the lessee when bidding in fig3 step 3004 provides geographic restrictions that it would like to have associated with the bid . the marketplace then uses the geographic restriction in fig5 step 5002 . by looking at the ip address of the web surfer , the marketplace can determine the general geographic location of the web surfer . only when the web surfer is within the required region will the marketplace 500 redirect that user to the lessee 200 . the lessee 200 can also specify a certain time frame during which web surfers should be redirected to their site . the implementation of this embodiment is identical to the one described in the previous paragraph except that the restriction is time based as opposed to location based . the marketplace can also track and capture the action of a web surfer after he is redirected from a lessor 100 domain to the website of a lessee 200 . one way to accomplish this tracking is by placing an image link that loads from the marketplace 500 server on pages belonging to the lessee 200 . thus , whenever those images are loaded the marketplace 500 can capture the action in the redirect database 604 . it is also possible to place sponsored links on the lessor &# 39 ; s domain until a lessee successfully bids for the domain , such as google &# 39 ; s adsense . with sponsored links , a set of links are placed on a web page . such a web page appears when the lessee &# 39 ; s domain is typed into a web browser . each click on a sponsored link makes the lessor some money . once a lessee is matched with a lessor , the redirect model can be used instead of sponsored links . winning bids may be determined by multiple criteria , not just bid amount . for example , customer conversion rate and maximum daily budget can also be used to determine winning bids . for example , in step 4003 of fig4 , the marketplace 500 can calculate the weighted average of the bid amount , daily budget amount and customer conversion rate ( calculated using tracking information stored in the redirect database ). this weighted average can then be used to determine winning bids . while certain representative embodiments and details have been shown for purposes of illustrating the invention , it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in the methods and apparatus disclosed herein may be made without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined in the appended claims .
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previously , we developed a toolkit of coiled coils comprising homo - dimer , trimer and tetramers , and a number of heterodimers . these synthetic peptides , of ≈ 30 residues in length , assemble reversibly and form stable structures at micromolar to nanomolar concentrations . to expand this toolkit and to ease the construction of the building blocks for the sage design , we engineered two new coiled - coil modules : a shorter (˜ 20 residues ) homotrimer ( cc - tri3 ), and a similarly short obligate heterodimer ( cc - di - ab ) comprising acidic ( cc - di - a ) and basic ( cc - di - b ) sequences ( see fig2 ). we chose a heterodimer for the second module to give control in the following self - assembly process . our goal was to link copies of cc - tri3 and cc - di - a or cc - di - b through their external surfaces via disulfide bonds ( fig1 ). these covalent constructs , dubbed cc - tri3 — cc - di - a and cc - tri3 — ccdi - b , should assemble into complementary trimeric hubs , hub a and hub b , respectively . alone , these should be water - soluble , discrete , partly folded helical structures ; i . e ., cc - tri3 should spontaneously assemble , leaving cc - di - a and cc - di - b orphaned on the outside of the assemblies . upon mixing , however , the two hubs should co - assemble via association of the cc - di - a and cc - di - b modules to produce hexagonal networks with pores of ≈ 5 - 6 nm . because the hubs are flexible and to maximize coiled - coil interactions , we argue that these networks should fold to form closed objects , i . e ., sages . the two coiled coils were synthesized and characterized in solution using a combination of circular dichroism ( cd ) spectroscopy to measure secondary structure , stability , and dissociation constants ( k d values ); dynamic light scattering , and analytical ultracentrifugation to probe peptide association . these methods confirmed cc - tri3 as a highly helical trimeric assembly , with concentration - dependent folding ( k d , 20 ° c .= 3 . 99 × 10 − 14 m 2 ), and a midpoint of thermal unfolding ( t m ) of 65 ° c . at 50 μm peptide . similarly , cc - di - a and cc - di - b alone were unfolded in the micromolar range , but co - assembled when mixed to form a helical heterodimer , cc - di - ab , ( k d , 20 ° c .= 5 . 83 × 10 − 8 m ; t m = 51 ° c .). we verified that cc - tri3 and cc - di - ab did not form mixed species in the presence of each other by showing that the melting profile of the two coiled coils , when mixed , was the same as the average of the two independent profiles ( data not shown ). building toward hubs a and b , the two - peptide constructs cc - tri3 — cc - di - a and cc - tri3 — cc - di - b had reduced mean residue ellipticities ( mres ) compared with cc - tri3 alone . moreover , these values were close to averages of cc - tri3 plus either cc - di - a or cc - di - b , respectively . in addition , the melting curves for the hubs were near simple averages of the component curves . next , we mixed three equivalents of cc - di - a with hub b , and of cc - di - b with hub a ; i . e ., equimolar amounts of the underlying peptide components cc - di - a and cc - tri3 — cc - di - b , and of cc - di - b and cc - tri3 — cc - di - a . in both cases , this should produce “ terminated ”, 9 - helix assemblies ( fig1 ). indeed , the increased mres observed were indicative of near - complete folding of all of the modules . moreover , the thermal denaturation curves for these assemblies were sigmoidal , and the apparent t m values measured were near the theoretical value for fully decoupled folding of the cc - tri3 and cc - di - ab components of 55 ° c . ( data not shown ). in all of these cases , dls showed that the particle sizes of the peptide modules , hubs and terminated assemblies were ≈ 2 - 5 nm , consistent with discrete and appropriately sized objects . auc gave solution molecular weights consistent with the compositions of each of the assemblies ( data not shown ); except for the terminated hub b , which had a mass higher than expected , but nonetheless was still a discrete assembly . these findings all corroborate the modular design approach that underpins the sage concept . when hub a and hub b were mixed in an equimolar ratio a fine white precipitate formed within minutes , accounting for the & gt ; 90 % of peptide initially in solution . fresh samples diluted fivefold in pbs and analyzed by dls indicated particles of hydrodynamic diameter 132 ± 42 nm . the role of the disulfide linkage in the assemblies was confirmed by adding the disulfide reducing agent tcep to the suspension . this ruptured the particles producing smaller structures of diameter 2 . 3 ± 0 . 9 nm similar to that observed for a mixture of cc - tri3 and cc - di - ab ( 2 . 5 ± 0 . 6 nm ). scanning electron microscopy ( sem ) revealed closed spherical objects of similar diameter ( 97 ± 19 nm , n = 135 ) ( fig8 ). although the particles appear as aggregates in these particular micrographs , they dispersed in solution and separated when deposited on porous membranes . tapping - mode atomic force microscopy ( tm - afm ) was performed on particles deposited and dried onto mica . these particles were flattened disks 9 . 2 ± 1 . 0 nm thick ( averaged from scans over 5 particles ) with diameters of 95 ± 14 nm ( from 4 measurements each on 5 particles ). as the coiled - coil modules are estimated to be ˜ 3 nm in length , the observed thickness of these disks is strong evidence that , in solution , the spheres are hollow and unilamellar rather than being solid , multi - walled , or onion - like structures . that is , they collapse upon drying , presumably releasing water through pores in the assembly . this fits our concept for the sages ; i . e ., a folded sheet comprising a hexagonal network of peptides ( fig1 ). lateral molecular - force microscopy ( lmfm ) with optical feedback was used in a non - contact regime to explore the assemblies in solution . again , this showed approximately spherical objects ( diameter 79 ± 12 nm ( n = 19 ); height 82 ± 16 nm ( averaged from scans over 6 particles ; data not shown ). these dimensions are similar to those found by sem , which should be ˜ 10 nm larger because of the sputtered metal coating estimated from the manufacturer &# 39 ; s technical notes to be ˜ 5 nm thick . moreover , and intriguingly , the lmfm revealed ultra - structure on the surfaces of the assemblies , notably clear hexagonal shapes . the edges of the hexagons averaged 7 ± 2 nm ( n = 22 ); although such x - and y - dimensions in scanning probe microscopies are tip dependent and are not as reliable as measurements made in z . our observations of closed spheres with a tight size distribution , confirmed by three independent methods , is intriguing . it raises two immediate questions : how do the hexagonal networks fold and close , and why are the resulting closed structures so uniform in size ? the first question arises because rigid hexagonal networks should form flat assembles ( like a graphite sheet ); and closing a sphere ( as illustrated by a football ) cannot be achieved with hexagons alone and requires , for example , 12 pentagons . however , the coiled - coil modules and hubs of the sages are more flexible , and the assemblies that they produce may tolerate imperfections required to close . such imperfections , which are inevitable when closing such structures , could include a few mismatched hub pairings , rather than the perfect hexagonal array shown in fig1 . closing the particles may be driven by thermodynamic and geometric constraints : regarding thermodynamics , the hubs are designed to associate with their complementary partners , which has two consequences : ( 1 ) hubs from solution co - assemble to grow the network ; and ( 2 ) these expanding edges have unsatisfied coiled coils , which drive the sheets to close and satisfy as many coiled - coil interactions as possible . in terms of geometry , it is likely there is some intrinsic tendency for the hubs to prefer tripod - like structures , with arms arranged at less than 120 ° creating curvature . we tested these ideas computationally and experimentally as follows . complete sages are too large for atomistic simulations , so we modeled smaller fragments of the hexagonal network . from x - ray crystal structures and standard coiled - coil parameters , we generated an array of 19 tessellated hexagons built from cc - tri3 and cc - di - ab modules , and with 306 chains in total . after 5 ns of molecular dynamics ( md ) in water , uniform curvature was evident in both the x and y directions . this was reproducible : in this , and multiple md simulations for smaller 7 - hexagon networks , the cc - tri3 modules remained perpendicular to the curved surface with their n - termini always facing “ out ”. a sphere of diameter 100 nm has a girth of ≈ 314 nm , corresponding to ≈ 40 equatorial hexagons . thus , each hexagon is required to be wedge - shaped subtending an angle of ≈ 10 ° at the center of the sphere . further examination of the md trajectories , and retrospective inspection of the designed sequences suggest a molecular interpretation for this wedging : the disulphide bridges linking the coiled coils are slightly offset towards the c - termini ; and each peptide has a positively charged lysine residue at the f site between these bridges and the n - termini ( fig2 ). as borne out by the md , the positively charged lysine residues repel each other , while the disulfide bonds act as a tether . the overall effect is to splay the collective n - termini of each coiled - coil unit apart resulting in wedge - shaped hubs , producing local and then global curvature . the question regarding the tight size distribution of the sages is more difficult to rationalize , though this is likely to involve elements such as hub rigidity , the proportion of imperfections required to close a sphere , and entropic factors . to examine how hub rigidity and any preferred local curvature may vary , we analyzed multiple md simulations of 7 - hexagon tessellates from different starting conditions . after 10 ns simulations , the hub - hub angle approached equilibrium settling to 33 . 9 ± 17 . 2 °. the simulations overestimate the local , and therefore , global curvature . nonetheless , the 10 ° angle estimated from the experiments is sampled in the simulations . to exploit this apparent flexibility , and to test the importance of burying unsatisfied edges en route to closure , we attempted to engineer smaller sage particles . we prepared an additional heterodimer module , cc - di - a i b i ( table 2 ). in these peptides , asn → ile mutations were made at complementary a sites in the hydrophobic face to give a variant with more than two orders of magnitude higher affinity than the cc - di - ab parent ; otherwise , we do not expect this change to alter coiled - coil or hub structure or geometry . thus , the free - energy penalty associated with unsatisfied edges , and proposed to drive closure , should be higher for the variant . when compared by sem , the parent sage particles had diameters of 97 ± 19 nm ( n = 135 ), whereas those incorporating the variant had diameters of 68 ± 12 nm ( n = 97 ) ( p & lt ; 0 . 001 ). this translates to the latter having about half the surface area , and provides strong evidence that satisfying coiled - coil interactions on the edge of a growing disk is a key driving force in closing assemblies . moreover , it illustrates another advantage of our modular design strategy ; namely , that altering the k d of the individual coiled coils can be used to control sage size . the sage concept , though inspired by natural examples , offers routes to closed systems of reduced complexity with the potential for encapsulation . because the components are modular , interchangeable , and bear termini and side chains that could be derivatized , it should be possible to tune their properties for applications such as vehicles for drug and biomolecule delivery , cages for trapping functional enzyme cascades that allow flux of starting materials and products , components of sensing systems , and as new frameworks for the development of protocells . we have explored the possibility of forming sage particles from square lattices . this design is somewhat different from the parent sage particles and has seen us take a homotetramer ( ostensibly the same sequence as described in fletcher et al ., ( fletcher et al ., acs synth . biol . 1 , 240 ( 2012 )) and link it to the same heterodimer sequence as used in the parent sage system . this design is presented in schematic form in fig4 . peptides were synthesised and linked together in a similar fashion to that described in the first generation system . peptide sequences are provided in table 1 . a three heptdad variant of the tetramer sequence shown above was found to produce a trimer . mixing cc - tet - 4 — cc - di - a & amp ; cc - tet - 4 — cc - di - b ( 50 + 50 μm in pbs ) gave a fine white precipitant over the course of several minutes . the material was analysed by scanning electron microscopy ( see fig5 ). in this design we use a heterohexamer ( zaccai et al ., nature chemical biology 7 935 - 941 ( 2011 )), ( fig6 ), as the three - fold symmetry element in conjunction with a homodimer ( such as that described in fletcher et al ( fletcher et al ., acs synth . biol . 1 , 240 ( 2012 )), we can produce a system capable of forming an extended network of tessellated hexagons . the advantage of this design is that one of the heterohexamer components need be added as a simple linear peptide . without the need to form an unsymmetric side chain - to - side chain linkage between two peptides as in the original design , we can readily make use of molecular biology techniques to decorate the surface of the sage particles formed . indeed a variety of different proteins ( or other small molecules ), represented by stars in fig6 could be incorporated into the assembly . whilst , potentially , using similar building blocks to those utilised in the parent sage assemblies , this strategy , like alternative design # 2 , opens the possibility of utilizing molecular biology techniques for the synthesis of additional components . in this design , the homotrimer is linked to the heterodimer peptides by way of a flexible linker producing two long helix - turn - helix peptides which can self - associate to produce a network of tessellated hexagons . this design is summarised in fig7 . analogues of the peptides first used to produce sage particles were synthesized to determine if it is possible to increase and decrease the size of the particles . to increase the curvature , analogues were produced which made use of a more stable heterodimer ( thus increasing the energy associated with the unsatisfied “ edge ”) which we reasoned would give rise to smaller sage particles . in contrast , to decrease the curvature of the network we removed the positively charged lysine residues on the exterior surface of the coiled coils , replacing them with glutamine residues which have the potential to form hydrogen bonds ; most importantly though , they are not repulsive . we reasoned this second modification would see a decrease in local curvature and thus an increase in the size of the sage particles . results : all peptides were prepared and mixed ( in pbs , 50 μm ) with their respective partners . in all cases a fine white precipitant was seen to form over the period of several minutes . this material was examined by scanning electron microscopy ( fig8 ). molecular dynamic simulations indicated that the sage particles formed such that the n - terminus of the homotrimer coiled pointed “ out ”. the n - terminus was therefore chosen as the initial location for modification of the sage particles . as discussed below , the inventors have modified the sage particles in 3 different ways : ( 1 ) added a tetralysine ( kkkkgg ) tag to reduce “ clumping ” of sage particles . the rationale being that such cationic cages should repel each other and be significantly less “ sticky ” ( 2 ) to aid imaging , the inventors have produced analogues possessing a carboxyfluorescein moiety , thus enabling the visualisation of sage particles in solution using light microscopy . ( 3 ) used sage particles as a platform for the presentation of antigenic peptides . the inventors have prepared particles functionalised with tetanus toxoid peptide 632 - 651 ( idkis dvsti vpyig palni ) in addition , the inventors have also shown that it is possible to use several of the “ functionalised ” hubs in conjunction . for instance : parent sequences , tetralysine variants , and fluorescent peptides at once . synthesis of these peptides was performed in an identical fashion to that detailed above . the cationic peptide sequences simply have an addition kkkkgg appended to their n - terminus . fluorescent peptides were prepared by manual coupling of 5 ( 6 )- carboxyfluorescein ( novabiochem ) as the final , n - terminal residue . to form cages , peptides were mixed together in ratios as indicated . in vitro conditions — samples were prepared by mixing 10 μm solutions of the component hubs in pbs ( ph 7 . 4 ) at desired stoichiometry for 1 hour at room temperature before 50 μl of each sample was transferred a 96 - well imaging plate . imaging was performed on a leica sp5 - ii confocal laser scanning microscope attached to a leica dmi 6000 inverted epifluorescence microscope employing the 488 nm line of a 150 mw ar laser and a 63 × oil lens . fig9 shows the effects of using such modified peptides . in these experiments acidic and basic hubs where mixed , and the ratio between k4 modified and parent sequences varied . throughout all experiments , the fluorescent hub cbhub b was present at 5 % total peptide concentration . fig9 shows that as the percentage of the k4 modified hub increased the level of clumping of the particles is reduced . the inventors have also shown that peptide epitopes can be appended to the hubs without unduly affecting assembly . fig1 , below , shows sage particles functionalised with tetanus toxoid peptide 632 - 651 . this sequence was appended to the n - terminus of the trimer sequence of hub b ( used in conjunction with the parent huba ). the peptides were prepared , handled and analysed using the same methods as described above . fig1 shows that the hubs correctly form sage peptides .
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referring to fig1 and 2 , there is shown a tattoo needle case constructed in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the invention . the preferred embodiment is comprised of a seat 20 , a plurality of needles 30 , and a thermoplastic sheath 40 . each component will be described in detailed below . the rectangular seat 20 comprises a rear section 21 and a front section 22 formed integrally therewith . the rear section 21 comprises a plurality of lengthwise , parallel grooves 211 with the needles 30 disposed therein , a plurality of first risers 212 formed on one side , a plurality of second risers 213 formed on the other side , a cavity 221 provided on the front section 22 with the pointed ends 31 of the needles 30 disposed therein , a forward flat 222 , and a breaking section 25 interconnected the rear section 21 and the front section 22 and including a well 251 and two side openings 252 and 253 . the thermoplastic sheath 40 has a section of rectangle . the thermoplastic sheath 40 is sleeved on the seat 20 after placing the needles 30 on the grooves 211 of the rear section 21 . the thermoplastic sheath 40 is adapted to tightly wrap both the seat 20 and the needles 30 after being subject to heat . as a result , the needles 30 disposed in the rear section 21 are protected by the thermoplastic sheath 40 . the pointed ends 31 of the needles 30 are completely concealed in the cavity 221 after wrapping the seat 20 by the thermoplastic sheath 40 . thus , the invention can completely and satisfactorily solve the safety problem of being accidentally pricked during use . moreover , the needle storage is easy and reliable . in use , a user may hold the flat 222 to bend the front section 22 until the front section 22 is separate from the rear section 21 at the breaking section 25 ( i . e ., at the well 251 and the side openings 252 and 253 ). as a result , the pointed ends 31 are exposed . this process is quick , safe , and convenient . note that preferably , solder is applied around the seat 20 so that the fastening of the needles 30 can be successfully carried out by heating the solder and cooling thereafter . alternatively , tattoo needle case of the invention can be comprised of a seat 20 and a metal sheath 50 ( see fig8 ). the sheath 50 is sleeved on the rear section 21 . next , pressing the sheath 50 will tightly wrap both the rear section 21 and the needles 30 . as a result , the needles 30 disposed in the rear section 21 are protected . referring to fig3 , there is shown a tattoo needle case constructed in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the invention . the second preferred embodiment substantially has same structure as the first preferred embodiment . the characteristics of the second preferred embodiment are detailed below . the case comprises a seat 20 , a plurality of needles 30 , and a thermoplastic sheath 40 . the rectangular seat 20 comprises a rear section 21 , a front section 22 formed integrally therewith , and a cover 23 put on the rear section 21 to form a receiving space 24 therebetween . the rectangular cover 23 comprises a plurality of lengthwise , parallel grooves 231 on its underside , a plurality of first flanges 232 formed on one side , and a plurality of second flanges 233 formed on the other side . similarly , the rear section 21 comprises a plurality of parallel grooves 211 with the needles 30 disposed therein , a plurality of first risers 212 formed on one side , a plurality of second risers 213 formed on the other side , a cavity 221 provided on the front section 22 with the pointed ends 31 of the needles 30 disposed therein , a forward flat 222 , and a breaking section 25 interconnected the rear section 21 and the front section 22 and including a well 251 and two side openings 252 and 253 . the grooves 231 are adapted to engage with upper portions of the needles 30 when the cover 23 is put on the rear section 21 . as such , the needles 30 are tightly retained by both the cover 23 ( i . e ., the grooves 231 ) and the rear section 21 ( i . e ., the grooves 211 ). note that each of the receiving space 24 and the cavity 221 has a sufficient height so as to successfully store the needles 30 therein . the thermoplastic sheath 40 has a section of rectangle . the thermoplastic sheath 40 is sleeved on the seat 20 after putting the cover 23 on the rear section 21 and placing the needles 30 in the grooves 211 in the receiving space 24 thereafter . the thermoplastic sheath 40 is adapted to tightly wrap both the seat 20 and the needles 30 after being subject to heat . as a result , the needles 30 disposed in the rear section 21 are protected by the thermoplastic sheath 40 . moreover , preferably , liquid adhesive is applied after placing the needles 30 in the rear section 21 and sleeving the thermoplastic sheath 40 thereon . as such , the fastening of the needles 30 can be successfully carried out by heating the adhesive and cooling thereafter . still preferably , solder is applied so that the fastening of the needles 30 can be further enhanced by heating the solder and cooling thereafter . likewise , the pointed ends 31 of the needles 30 are completely concealed in the cavity 221 after wrapping the seat 20 by the thermoplastic sheath 40 . thus , the invention can completely and satisfactorily solve the safety problem of being accidentally pricked during use . moreover , the needle storage is easy and reliable . in use , a user may hold the flat 222 to bend the front section 22 until the front section 22 is separate from the rear section 21 at the breaking section 25 ( i . e ., at the well 251 and the side openings 252 and 253 ). as a result , the pointed ends 31 are exposed . this process is quick , safe , and convenient . referring to fig4 , there is shown a tattoo needle case constructed in accordance with a third preferred embodiment of the invention . the third preferred embodiment substantially has same structure as the second preferred embodiment . the characteristics of the third preferred embodiment are detailed below . the cavity 221 is a parallelogram and comprises an oblique side 221 a such that the pointed ends 31 of the needles 30 can be arranged along the oblique side 221 a . each of the front end of the cover 23 ′ and the breaking section 25 ′ is oblique and is substantially parallel to the side 221 a . the lengths of the needles 30 ′ exposed from the cover 23 ′ and the breaking section 25 ′ are about the same after breaking the front section 22 . in other words , the prolonged portions of the obliquely disposed needles 30 ′ can be supported by the breaking section 25 ′ and the front end of the cover 23 ′ by the provisions of the breaking section 25 ′ and the cover 23 ′. as a result , strength of the seat 20 can be enhanced for accommodating elongated needles . note that each of the front end of the cover 23 ′ and the breaking section 25 ′ can be formed as a curve or arc depending on applications . also , the pointed ends 31 of the needles 30 ′ are in close proximity with the curve or arc . referring to fig5 and 5 a , needles 30 are arranged in two layers and three layers in the receiving space 24 formed by the rear section 21 and the cover 23 respectively . the two - layer or three - layer arrangement can provide a convenient and quick use of the needles . referring to fig6 and 6 a , the grooves 231 of the cover 23 are engaged with the corresponding grooves 211 of rear section 21 . also , the cover 23 are spaced apart from the rear section 21 by the side flanges 232 . in a mounting operation , first place the needles 30 in the receiving space 24 and next put the cover 23 thereon for concealing the needles 30 . next , put the thermoplastic sheath 40 thereon and heat the same for fastening . referring to fig7 and 7 a , needles 30 are arranged in two layers and three layers in the rear section 21 respectively . next , put the thermoplastic sheath 40 thereon and heat the same for fastening both the rear section 21 and the needles . referring to fig8 and 8 a , needles 30 are arranged in two layers and three layers in the rear section 21 respectively . next , put the metal sheath 50 thereon . next , pressing the sheath 50 will tightly wrap both the rear section 21 and the needles 30 . as a result , the needles 30 disposed in the rear section 21 are protected . while the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments , numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims .
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referring specifically to fig1 there is shown a handheld viewer 10 designed specifically for the purposes of the invention . the viewer includes a housing member 11 with a central aperture and a pair of brackets 12 which each carry a resilient mounting strip 12a . the mounting strips are cemented to the edge of a filter 13 . a guide channel 14 formed from sheet metal is attached to the block and covers the central aperture , the channel having a matching aperture in its center aligned with the housing aperture . additional resilient strips 15 are mounted on the opposite side of the filter along the same edge portions of the filter as strips 12a . a standard film strip carrier 16 slides snugly but freely in the channel member under a slight pressure from strips 15 . an eyepiece 18 designed to match the 35 mm image format without vignetting and providing a magnification and a focal length identical to the thermal viewer is mounted in the central aperture and focussed on the film strip . the eye 19 of the trainee thus experiences approximately the same angle of view , eye relief , and image size as the operator of a thermal viewer . the film strip 17 carries a plurality of pictures or images of targets having contrast of the same order as provided by the light emitting elements of a thermal viewer . the strip is in fact a record of such images obtained by photographing the light emitting elements while the operating thermal viewer is focussed on the targets in question . black and white film captures this contrast more faithfully than does color film with its multilayer filter structures . to restore the original color the film 13 is carefully chosen . it has been found that a filter 2 &# 34 ; square 1pl limited red nbs 3215 - 60 - 7 provides an outstanding match when the images are viewed by the light from a tungsten or daylight source . this arrangement permits the trainee to learn the infrared signatures of many targets with very little effort or expense . fig2 shows the same handheld viewer 10 in combination with a special lightbox 20 . the lightbox is merely a housing 21 with a translucent light diffuser plate 22 forming the front wall . a tungsten light bulb 23 and socket 24 are mounted on the backwall and wired to any convenient power source ( not shown ) in or outside of the lightbox . a motor 25 is mounted on the same wall with a shaft 26 that extends further from the backwall than the light bulb . a chopper wheel 27 is mounted at the extreme end of the shaft and rotates in front of the light bulb . if the power source for the motor is a standard alternator , the motor can be of the synchronous type and the chopper blade can be designed to produce the same light modulations present in the thermal viewer due to the scan mirror . a variable speed motor with a control adjustment for speed will do the same . this permits the trainee to adapt himself to long periods of continuous observation and to ignore this effect when evaluating real targets . fig3 shows a far more versatile arrangement that allows for viewing of moving targets . the viewer is shown in combination with a tv type receiver 30 and a medium focal length intermediate lens 31 . the target information in this arrangement is best recorded on video tape . a video tape player 32 can then be wired by a cable 37 to the video input of the receiver to display the recorded night sight image . the information can be directly recorded from the real thermal sight using a video camera or transferred from a photographic image using video recording techniques well known in the art . the medium focal length intermediate lens forms a 35 mm image on the tv screen at the focal plane of the eyepiece of the handheld training viewer 10 . the image size can be adjusted to provide the same angle of view as a thermal viewer . a pair of contrast and brightness controls 34 and 35 are mounted in a control box 33 wired by leads 36 to the appropriate portions of the tv receiver circuits . the control box is located adjacent to and preferably on the training viewer 10 . the trainee can thus exercise the similar control over the brightness and contrast image controls that the operator of a thermal viewer can . for further realism a mock up of the actual thermal viewer housing can be made to contain the video monitor , the intermediate lens and the training viewer . the monitor brightness and contrast controls can be wired into the actual brightness and gain control pots of the mock up viewer so the trainee will actually manipulate the same controls for image quality as he would on the actual thermal viewer . since the images can vary with time , the sintillation effect of the light box of fig2 will already be present . the new dimension of moving images is also present . image information can be broadcast to any number of such receivers from a central records means or can even be generated live or delayed from remote locations , even military vehicles , aircraft or ships carrying thermal viewers . fig4 shows another arrangement which has separate advantages . instead of a tv screen , a backlighted movie projection screen 41 is provided . the ir image is projected on this screen by a moving picture projector 42 . since the images are produced from a continuous film strip 43 , a great deal of faithfully reproduced information can be easily stored at minimum expense . this arrangement can also have a control box 44 . one control 45 can vary brightness by directly or indirectly varying the current to the projector through lead 47 and the other 46 can control the projector speed for special effects and study by the trainee . many variations of the above devices and methods will immediately occur to those skilled in the art but the invention is not limited except by the claims which follow .
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embodiments of the present invention will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings , in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown . as those skilled in the art would realize , the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways , all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention . it shall be noted that the drawings are schematic and do not necessarily depict exact dimensions . the relative proportions and ratios of elements in the drawings may be exaggerated or diminished in size for the sake of clarity and / or convenience , and such arbitrary proportions are intended only to be illustrative , and are not intended to be limiting in any way . like reference numerals are used for like structures , elements , or parts shown in two or more drawings to show similar characteristics . when one part is said to be “ over ” or “ on ” another part , the one part may be directly over the other part or may be accompanied by one or more other parts interposed therebetween . the drawings specifically show exemplary embodiments of the present invention . as a result , various modifications of the drawings in accordance with the present invention are anticipated . accordingly , exemplary embodiments are not limited to certain forms of the regions illustrated , but may include forms that are modified due to manufacturing , for example . hereinafter , a running machine 101 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig1 to fig4 . as shown in fig1 and fig2 , the running machine 101 according to the present exemplary embodiment includes a rotator 200 , a display unit 100 , and a support 500 , which may include two or more individual supports . the rotator 200 is in the shape of a hollow cylinder , which is set on the side of the cylinder when the rotator 200 is upright , and has a diameter that is greater than the height of an intended user , and also has a constant thickness ( e . g ., a width , or a geometric height of the cylinder ). a user may walk or run on the running machine 101 by stepping on an interior of the rotator 200 with his foot ( e . g ., at a point higher than the lowest point of the rotator 200 ). the rotator 200 of the present embodiment is formed of a transparent material . for example , the rotator 200 may be formed of glass or plastic . the display unit 100 is formed in the shape of a hollow cylinder corresponding to the shape of the rotator 200 ( e . g ., the display unit 100 may have a slightly larger inner diameter than an outer diameter of the rotator 200 ). in addition , the display unit 100 is arranged to overlap ( e . g ., encircle ) the rotator 200 and to be positioned on an exterior of the rotator 200 . that is , the interior circumference of the display unit 100 is located outside of the external circumference of the rotator 200 . in addition , as shown in fig3 , the display unit 100 and the rotator 200 are spaced from each other . the display unit 100 displays an image in a direction toward an interior of the cylinder that is the display unit 100 . further , the display unit 100 includes an organic light emitting element ( e . g ., a plurality of organic light emitting elements ). that is , the display unit 100 may be a flexible organic light emitting diode display formed in the shape of a cylinder . the flexible organic light emitting diode display forming the display unit 100 may employ various known organic light emitting diode displays . in addition , the running machine 101 may further include a pair of support rings 300 located at both edges of the rotator 200 and the display unit 100 to support the rotator 200 and the display unit 100 . in the present embodiment , the pair of support rings 300 supports the rotator 200 to be rotatable ( e . g ., the rotator 200 is able to move with respect to the rings 300 ). in addition , the display unit 100 may be fixed by the pair of support rings 300 ( e . g ., fixed with respect to the support 500 , in a non - rotatable state ) rather than rotating along , or along with , the rotator 200 . thus , the rotator 200 rotates according to motion ( i . e ., walking or running ) of the user , and the display unit 100 may provide an image and / or image information to the user walking or running along the interior of the rotator 200 . furthermore , the rotator 200 functions as a surface for supporting the user , and also functions as a protection window to protect the display unit 100 . in further detail , the display unit 100 of the present embodiment can provide exercise information of the user such as , for example , walking or running speed , calories burned , distance traveled , etc . in addition , the display unit 100 can provide an image of a user - desired environment . that is , the display unit 100 may provide images selected by the user such as , for example , a forest park , an exotic street landscape , and / or other scenes found in nature , such that exercise experience of the user can be improved . in fig3 , the running machine 101 of the present embodiment has a structure in which the rotator 200 and the display unit 100 are separated from each other , but the exemplary embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto . thus , the rotator 200 and the display unit 100 may be integrally formed . in this case , the display unit 100 rotates together with the rotator 200 . in addition , the display unit 100 is driven to display an image in consideration of a rotation speed ( e . g ., the images displayed on the display unit 100 may be adjusted to produce an image that appears to be steady or stable with respect to the user despite the rotation of the display unit 100 ). for rotation of the rotator 200 , the support 500 supports the rotator 200 and the display unit 100 while putting them in an erected ( e . g ., upright ) state . the support 500 may be at opposite sides of the rotator 200 , and may be offset in a thickness or width direction of the rotator 200 , or may be aligned on opposite sides of the rotator 200 in a rotation direction of the rotator 200 . in addition , the support 500 may rotatably drive the rotator 200 , and may do so using various devices and / or methods known to a person skilled in the art . for example , the support 500 can rotate the rotator with a motor roller . the support 500 of the present embodiment is provided at both sides of the rotator 200 while the rotator 200 is in the erected ( e . g ., upright ) state . the support 500 may be formed in the shape of a triangle or a triangular pyramid including two triangle - shaped sides and three square - shaped , or rectangularly - shaped , sides coupling the two triangle - shaped sides . in this case , one of the two triangular - shaped sides contacts the rotator 200 , and one of the three squared - shaped sides may be a bottom side , or a base . in addition , at least one of an information display unit and a control panel may be provided at another side of the third square - shaped sides in the support 500 . the user may control a rotation speed of the rotator 200 through the control panel 550 of the support 500 , and / or may select the type of image displayed in the display unit 100 . with such a configuration , the running machine 101 according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention can improve the exercise experience of the user . hereinafter , operation of the running machine 101 provided on a table according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig4 . as shown in fig4 , the user stamps on , or steps on , the interior of the rotator 200 to walk or run . in this case , the user controls a rotation speed of the rotator 200 through the control panel 550 located in or on the support 500 , and selects an image displayed in the display unit 100 . the display unit 100 provides images such as , for example , a forest park , an exotic street landscape , and / or other scenes in nature in accordance with a rotation speed of the rotator 200 to provide the user walking or running on the rotator 200 with a visual effect of walking or running outside . accordingly , the user can expect an improved exercise experience . while embodiments of the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments , but , on the contrary , is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims , and their equivalents .
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referring now in detail to the drawings and in particular , to fig1 and 2 thereof , a storage system 10 in accordance with one preferred embodiment of the present invention , is shown in operative association with a storage area generally designated by the numeral 12 . the storage area 12 may typically consist of a clothes closet or similar structure 14 having an access opening 16 which is normally closed by one or more doors or similar movable members . by way of example , the access opening 16 of the closet 14 is normally closed by a plurality of coplanar arranged louvered doors 18 , 20 , 22 and 24 which are arranged in hingedly mounted pairs . in particular , door 18 is hingedly mounted along a generally vertical axis 26 to one side edge of the opening 16 , while door 20 is hingedly mounted along a vertical axis 28 to the opposite side edge of door 18 . in a similar manner door 24 is hingedly mounted along a vertical hinged axis 32 to the opposite side edge of the opening 16 , and door 22 is hingedly mounted to the door 24 along hinge axis 30 . with this arrangement , the doors 20 and 22 may be folded about the axes 28 and 30 , respectively , such that the forward ( outwardly facing ) sides thereof confront the forward ( outwardly facing ) sides of the aforesaid doors 18 and 24 , while the doors 18 , 20 and 22 , 24 may be folded or pivoted conjointly about the axes 26 and 32 to the fully &# 34 ; open &# 34 ; position shown in fig2 . with this arrangement , convenient access is provided to the interior of the closet 14 and at the same time access is provided to the rearward sides of the doors 18 - 24 for purposes hereinafter to be described . referring now in detail to fig3 and 4 , in accordance with the principles of the present invention , at least one , and preferably all four of the doors 18 - 24 , is provided with a storage panel member which is generally designated by the numeral 34 and for purposes of illustration is operatively associated with the door 18 which typically comprises a pair of spaced parallel vertically extending rail sections 36 and 38 between which a plurality of louvers , filler panels , etc ., 40 extend . the panel member 34 comprises a pair of vertically extending spaced parallel mounting sections 42 and 44 which define mounting surfaces 46 , 48 , respectively , that lie along an imaginary plane 50 which is spaced slightly away from the plane of the panel member 34 . the member 34 is fixedly secured to the door 18 by means of suitable screws , bolts or the like 52 which extend between the outer marginal edges of the member 34 and rails 36 , 38 of the door 18 . it will be appreciated , of course , that various alternative means may be utilized for operatively securing the panel 34 to the door 18 , such as by a suitable adhesive or the like ( not shown ). preferably , however , the panel member 34 is coextensive of the entire side of the associated door 18 , as best seen in fig3 although for certain applications , it may be desired to have the panel member 34 extend only partially or a fraction of the entire length of the door 18 , as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art . the mounting sections 42 , 44 of the panel member 34 and in particular , the surfaces 46 , 48 thereof define pairs of laterally aligned apertures or bores , generally designated by the numeral 54 which , as best seen in fig5 are inclined slightly upwardly toward the rearward sides of the doors 18 - 20 . the bores 54 are adapted to nestingly receive mounting elements , generally designated by the numeral 56 , which are generally rod - shaped or of a dowel configuration and are adapted to operatively support hereinafter to be described storage containers , generally designated by the numeral 58 , upon the associated panel member 34 . as best seen in fig3 and 7 , the storage containers 58 may be of a variety of different constructions but are all preferably of a generally parallelpiped or rectangular configuration having front portions 60 , side portions 62 , 64 and a bottom portion 66 . the containers may have an open upper side or top 68 into which articles to be stored may be inserted , and the front portions or sides 60 thereof may be cut away , as seen at 70 in fig3 to facilitate removal of the articles . if desired , suitable partitions , as indicated at 72 in fig3 may be provided for separating articles within the containers 58 , and the containers 58 may be relatively shallow ( for storing small articles ), or relatively deep as indicated at 74 in fig3 . if desired , multiple partitions 76 , 78 may be utilized in the containers 58 and the forward sides 60 thereof may be removed in order to provide convenient access and removal of articles as indicated in the container 80 in fig3 . if desired , the storage containers may merely consist of a shelf or horizontal platform 82 as seen in fig7 having a pair of end members 84 , 86 and rearwardly extending back flanges 88 , 90 . a preferred construction of the sotrage containers is depicted in fig1 and hereinafter described . regardless of the relative size , dimension , number and type of access openings and / or internal partitions , each of the storage containers 58 is provided with a back or rearward side , as indicated at 92 in fig5 ( or in the case of the shelf 82 , the back flanges 88 , 90 ). formed in the rearward side 92 is a pair of openings or apertures 94 which are spaced apart a distance equal to the space between the mounting sections 42 , 44 and are adapted to align with the apertures 54 formed therein , whereby the outer ends of the mounting elements 56 may extend through the apertures 94 and thereby support the containers 58 upon the panel member 34 . by virtue of the upwardly inclined orientation of the mounting elements 56 , the various storage containers 58 will be mounted in tight contiguous engagement with the surfaces 46 , 48 so as to assure that the containers 58 do not become inadvertently disassembled from the panel member 34 , as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art . fig6 illustrates a slightly modified embodiment of the present invention wherein a door 100 is fabricated of a molded material , such as a suitable rigid ( or reinforced ) polyurethane foam or the like and comprises a pair of spaced parallel vertically extending mounting sections 102 and 104 . as will be apparent , the mounting sections 102 , 104 are formed integrally of the door 100 and as such obviate the need for having an entire panel , such as the panel 34 , secured to the door per se . the mounting sections 102 , 104 are formed with a plurality of laterally spaced pairs of aligned bores 106 which are analogous to the aforementioned bores 54 , and like the bores 54 , are inclined upwardly slightly and adapted to receive the ends of associated mounting elements , such as the mounting elements 56 , whereby one or more of the aforediscussed storage containers 58 may be mounted at selected vertical positions along the door 100 . fig7 illustrates yet another embodiment of the present invention where a standard door 110 may be adapted to the principles of the present invention through the provision of a pair of mounting strips 112 and 114 which are mounted in the spaced parallel relationship on one surface of the door 110 . the strips 112 , 114 may be secured to the door 110 by any suitable means , such as screws , bolts , adhesive , etc ., and are provided with a plurality of aligned blind bores 116 adapted to receive mounting elements 56 which function to support storage containers 58 . it is to be noted that while particular reference has been made herein to the specific application of the present invention to the door per se , the present invention is not necessarily so limited in view of the fact that the principles of the present invention could be applied satisfactorily to any suitable partition , vertical wall surface or the like whereby to achieve the objects of the present invention , namely , to provide storage space at a location where suitable storage facilities were previously unavailable . this object is particularly satisfied in connection with the door arrangement shown in fig1 - 3 wherein doors 18 - 24 normally close at access opening 16 to the closet 14 . when the doors 18 - 24 are in their closed position , all of the storage containers 58 are entirely hidden from view so as to not be objectionable from an aesthetic standpoint . however , through simple manipulation or opening of the respective doors , complete access may be had to all of the storage containers 58 for purposes of removing articles from or replacing articles thereinto . by virtue of the fact that the containers 58 do not extend any significant distance into the closet 14 , there is no interference whatsoever with the articles which are normally stored therein , such as hanging clothes , etc . consequently , the present invention significantly enhances or supplements existing storage space without in any way interfering with articles which are normally stored therein . referring now in detail to fig8 and 9 , another embodiment of the present invention is shown in the form of a unitized storage structure , generally designated 150 , which is in the form of a totally prefabricated or preassembled structure adapted to be operatively mounted within a rough opening or recess 152 formed in a wall or similar structure 154 . the structure 150 includes spaced apart sides 156 , 158 , top 160 , bottom 162 and defines a forwardly exposed access opening 164 . as in the case with the opening 16 , the opening 164 is adapted to be closed by louvered or similar type doors 166 , 168 , 170 and 172 which are preferably , although not necessarily , hingedly mounted in the same manner as the doors 18 - 24 . preferably , the entire storage structure 150 is fabricated of molded fiberglass , plastic or the like so that it may be entirely preassembled and have the doors 166 - 172 prehung or mounted therein preparatory to assembly within the recess 152 in much the same way as molded fiberglass tub and shower enclosures are premanufactured and assembled . the dimensions of the structure 150 may vary , of course , depending upon the application thereof , although in the embodiment disclosed herein , the depth and width thereof are sufficient to accommodate a pair of transverse closet bars 174 , 176 and a laterally extending closet bar 178 upon which clothes or similar articles may be hung in a manner well known in the art . if desired , the structure may be provided with an interior mirror or the like 180 and have a stool or similar structure 182 be provided , which stool 182 may be combined with a shoe rack or the like . as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art , by having the storage structure entirely premanufactured , installation time and effort will be minimized to the extreme and that it will merely be necessary to place the structure 150 into the recess or opening 152 and secure the structure 150 in place by any suitable means , i . e ., screws , nails , adhesive , etc . the doors 166 - 172 are preferably , although not necessarily , of the type shown in fig6 and as such are adapted to have a plurality of storage containers 184 located at selected vertical locations or positions on the rearward or interior sides thereof . the storage containers 184 may take the form of any of the containers 58 hereinbefore described or alternatively , may take the form of the preferred construction shown in fig1 wherein a storage container , generally designated by the numeral 190 is shown as comprising a generally vertically disposed back member 192 which is connected at the lower edge thereof to a generally horizontally arranged bottom member 194 . the back member 192 includes a pair of openings 196 formed in a pair of upstanding leg sections 198 which are intended to cooperate with suitable mounting elements ( not shown ) such as the aforedescribed dowel or rod - shaped mounting elements 56 , in securing the container 190 to the associated door . as will be appreciated , the container 190 may be used merely as a storage shelf in the form depicted in fig1 , or if desired , one or more partition members , such as the member 204 , may be operatively associated with the back and bottom members 192 , 194 in providing a partitioned shelf . by way of example , openings 200 and 202 may be formed in the members 194 and 192 , respectively , and adapted for cooperation with complementary - shaped lugs or bosses 206 on the partition member 204 for securing the latter in place . if desired , multiple partition members may be utilized when necessary . if it is desired to convert the container 190 to a partially enclosed container , an enclosure member , such as is designated by the numeral 208 , may be operatively associated with the members 192 , 194 . the enclosure member 208 includes a front or forward side 210 and opposed end portions 212 and 214 . the enclosure member 208 is adapted to be surmounted upon the bottom member 194 for providing a partially enclosed container , with downwardly directed lugs or bosses 216 being receivable within complementary - shaped openings 218 in the bottom member 194 and rearwardly directed hooks or the like 222 on the enclosure member 218 being operatively received within suitable recesses or openings 220 on the leg portions 198 . if desired , a suitable dust cover member or the like 224 may be operatively associated with the members 192 , 194 and 208 for providing a totally enclosed container . such a cover member 224 may be provided with lugs or bosses 226 which are cooperative with complementary - shaped bores or openings 228 for securing and properly orienting the cover member 224 . alternatively , a pair of end members 250 , 252 may be located at the opposite ends of the container 190 and be secured therein in the same manner as the aforementioned end portions 212 , 214 of the enclosure member 208 . a plurality of dove - tailed or other suitably shaped slots 254 and 256 may be provided in the members 192 , 194 for cooperating with a front plate or side member 258 in supporting one or more partition members , such as the member 204 . as will be appreciated , the aforementioned bosses and boss receiving recesses or bores may , for certain applications , be eliminated by properly designing the edges of the partition member ( s ) 204 to slide into the slots 254 , 256 . the container 190 consisting of the members 192 , 194 and end members 250 , 252 may be enclosed by a suitable dust cover or closure member 260 which may , if desired , be transparent to permit viewing of the interior of the container . suitable securing means , such as fastening bosses or the like ( not shown ) may be cooperative with the openings 218 , etc ., in operatively securing the dust cover 260 in place . the various members 192 , 194 , 204 , 208 , 224 , 250 , 252 , 258 and 260 are preferably fabricated of a molded plastic material or the like and are adapted to provide universality of application by standardizing as many component parts of the storage containers 190 as possible yet provide maximum versatility for storing articles of different sizes and shapes . with the arrangement described above , it is possible to provide a storage system consisting merely of a plurality of shelves and to later convert such shelves to storage containers ( either partially or totally enclosed ) through the utilization of additional members 208 , 204 , 224 , as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art . while it will be apparent that the preferred embodiments of the invention disclosed are well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated , it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification , variation and change without departing from the proper scope or fair meaning of the subjoined claims .
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the “ l - arabinose metabolic pathway ” or “ bacterial l - arabinose metabolic pathway ”, such as it occurs in e . coli , is shown in fig2 . this metabolic pathway contains 3 enzymes : l - arabinose isomerase , l - ribulokinase and l - ribulose - 5 - p - 4 - epimerase . the genes that code for these enzymes are called araa , arab and arad . l - arabinose isomerase converts l - arabinose to l - ribulose , which is further metabolised to l - ribulose - 5 - phosphate by the l - ribulokinase . finally , the l - ribulose - 5 - p - 4 - epimerase converts l - ribulose - 5 - phosphate to d - xylulose - 5 - phosphate . the intermediate metabolite d - xylulose - 5 - phosphate is formed by the heterologously expressed genes of the l - arabinose metabolic pathway , particularly the bacterial l - arabinose metabolic pathway , in the yeast cell . d - xylulose - 5 - phosphate functions as an intermediate of the pentose phosphate pathway and can be further decomposed to ethanol under anaerobic conditions in a yeast cell . enzymes of the xylose metabolic pathway are also found in fungi , and these and other enzymes isolated from eukaryotes can also be used as enzymes for the l - arabinose metabolic pathway . the three nucleic acid sequences of the nucleic acid molecules according to the invention , each of which codes for a polypeptide of an l - arabinose metabolic pathway , are preferably araa ( l - arabinose isomerase ), arab ( l - ribulokinase ) and arad ( l - ribulose - 5 - p - 4 - epimerase ). the nucleic acid molecules according to the invention preferably comprise nucleic acid sequences that are identical with the naturally occurring nucleic acid sequence or that have been codon - optimised for use in a host cell . each amino acid is encoded by one codon . however , there are several different codons that code for an individual amino acid . the genetic code is , thus , degenerated . the preferred codon selection for a corresponding amino acid varies from one organism to another . for example , problems may arise in heterologously expressed genes if the host organism or host cell has a very different codon usage . the gene can only be expressed very slowly , if at all . differing codon usage may even be observed in genes of different metabolic pathways within the same organism . the glycolysis genes from s . cerevisiae are known to be expressed strongly . they have a highly restrictive codon usage . adapting the codon usage of the bacterial genes of the arabinose metabolic pathway to the codon usage of the glycolysis genes from s . cerevisiae leads to improved arabinose metabolism in yeast . for codon optimisation , the inventors did not rely on the usual platforms of synthetic gene designers for heterologous expression ( such as synthetic gene designer as described in wu et al . 2006 ), instead they adapted the codon optimisation specifically to the codon usage of the glycolysis genes in the yeast . the glycolysis genes in the yeast have a highly restrictive codon usage , which is aligned with the frequency of the corresponding trna . the glycolysis genes use mainly codons for which there are high concentrations of the corresponding trnas , which in turn results in greater translation efficiency and gene expression ( bennetzen and hall , 1982 , hoekema et al ., 1987 ). in contrast , the usual synthetic gene designers are geared more to the average codon usage of all the genes in an organism , not just those that are highly expressed , and they also take into account other factors , such as stability . accordingly , codon optimisation with the aid of such an electronic platform , such as the one described in wu et al . 2006 , results in a nucleic acid sequence that is entirely different from the one disclosed in this patent specification . according to the invention , at least two of the three nucleic acid sequences , and preferably all three nucleic acid sequences , have been codon optimised for use in a host cell . the nucleic acid sequence for arab ( l - ribulokinase ) and the nucleic acid sequence for arad ( l - ribulose - 5 - p - 4 - epimerase ) are preferably derived from e . coli . thereby , the nucleic acid sequence for arab preferably comprises a nucleic acid sequence with seq id no : 1 and the nucleic acid sequence for arad preferably comprises a nucleic acid sequence with seq id no : 2 . the nucleic acid sequence with seq id no : 1 is the gene sequence of the open reading frame ( orf ) of arab mut from e . coli in a codon - optimised form . the nucleic acid sequence with seq id no : 2 is the gene sequence of the open reading frame ( orf ) of arad from e . coli in a codon - optimised form . the nucleic acid sequence for araa ( l - arabinose isomerase ) is preferably derived from bacillus licheniformis or clostridium acetobutylicum . these l - arabinose isomerases are advantageous for the growth of yeast transformants on an arabinose medium . example 1 shows ( see also fig4 ) that , compared with the isomerase from b . subtilis , particularly the expression of the l - arabinose isomerase from c . acetobutylicum and b . licheniformis significantly improved the growth of yeast transformants on arabinose medium . thereby , the nucleic acid sequence for araa preferably comprises a nucleic acid sequence with seq id no : 3 , 4 or 5 . the nucleic acid sequence with seq id no : 3 is the gene sequence of the open reading frame ( orf ) of araa from bacillus licheniformis in a codon - optimised form . the nucleic acid sequence with seq id no : 4 is the gene sequence of the open reading frame ( orf ) of araa from bacillus licheniformis . the nucleic acid sequence with seq id no : 5 is the gene sequence of the open reading frame ( orf ) of araa from clostridium acetobutylicum . accordingly , the nucleic acid sequences with seq id nos : 4 and 5 are naturally occurring nucleic acid sequences . in a particularly preferred embodiment , a nucleic acid molecule according to the invention comprises the nucleic acid sequence with seq id no : 1 , the nucleic acid sequence with seq id no : 2 and the nucleic acid sequence with seq id no : 3 , 4 or 5 . most preferable is a nucleic acid molecule according to the invention that comprises the nucleic acid sequence with seq id no : 1 , the nucleic acid sequence with seq id no : 2 , and the nucleic acid sequence with seq id no : 3 . yeast transformants that have the two codon - optimised genes of the kinase ( arab , seq id no : 1 ) and the epimerase ( arad , seq id no : 2 ), and yeast transformants in which all three genes have been codon - optimised ( arab : seq id no : 1 , arad : seq id no : 2 and araa : seq id no : 3 ), show a considerable growth advantage in a medium containing arabinose compared to yeast transformants that have only one codon - optimised gene . the strains show a considerably shorter lag phase and grow to their maximum optical density considerably faster ( see example 2 ). the combination of three codon - optimised genes enables recombinant s . cerevisiae cells to convert l - arabinose considerably more efficiently . the object is further solved according to the invention by the provision of expression cassettes comprising a nucleic acid molecule according to the invention . furthermore , the expression cassettes according to the invention preferably comprise promoter and terminator sequences . promoter sequences are preferably selected from hxt7 , truncated hxt7 , pfk1 , fba1 , pgk1 , adh1 and tdh3 . terminator sequences are preferably selected from cyc1 , fba1 , pgk1 , pfk1 , adh1 and tdh3 . thereby , it is preferable that different pairs of promoter and terminator sequences control each of the three nucleic acid sequences . this is necessary to avoid possible homologous recombination between the promoter and / or terminator regions / sequences . according to the invention , the pairs of promoter and terminator sequences are preferably selected from an hxt7 or truncated hxt7 promoter and cyc1 terminator , a pfk1 promoter and fba1 terminator , and an fba1 promoter and pgk1 terminator . particularly preferred is a nucleic acid sequence for araa controlled by the hxt7 or truncated hxt7 promoter and the cyc1 terminator . particularly preferred is a nucleic acid sequence for arab controlled by the pfk1 promoter and the fba1 terminator . particularly preferred is a nucleic acid sequence for arad controlled by the fba1 promoter and the pgk1 terminator . the expression cassettes according to the invention preferably comprise 5 ′ and / or 3 ′ recognition sequences as well . the object is further solved according to the invention by provision of expression vectors , comprising a nucleic acid molecule or an expression cassette according to the invention . the expression vectors according to the invention preferably comprise a selection marker as well . the selection marker is preferably selected from a leucine marker , an uracil marker or a dominant antibiotic marker . a preferred dominant antibiotic marker is selected from geneticin , hygromycin and nourseothricin . an expression vector according to the invention is preferably selected from the group p425h7synthara , prs303x , p3rs305x or p3rs306x . for industrial applications , it would be ideal if the microorganism used were capable of metabolising all of the sugars present in the medium . since the yeasts that are currently used are not capable of metabolising the arabinose in the medium , it would be highly advantageous to provide the strains with this additional capability in stable manner . in order to achieve this , an expression vector with genes of an arabinose metabolic pathway is highly beneficial . this expression vector can then be genomically integrated in a stable manner and can allow for the metabolisation of arabinose in industrial strains . this invention succeeded ( see also examples ) in constructing a vector that codes for an expression cassette with three genes of an arabinose metabolic pathway , particularly a bacterial metabolic pathway . in this way , it is possible to circumvent the problems that may arise when several plasmids are present in the same cell at the same time (“ plasmid stress ”, review of e . coli by bailey ( 1993 )). furthermore , stable genomic integration of the arabinose metabolic pathway genes is enabled . the problems associated with constructing an expression cassette of the arabinose metabolic pathway genes and integrating it in a manner that is genomically stable have already been shown by becker ( 2003 ) and wiedemann ( 2005 ). by selecting promoters and terminators in combination with using the improved l - arabinose isomerase and the codon - optimised versions of the genes involved , the construction of this functional expression cassette according to the invention was achieved . the expression cassette constructed with the three genes according to the invention represents an excellent starting point for a direct genomic integration as well as enables subcloning into the integrative plasmids of the series prs303x , prs305x and prs306x ( taxis and knop , 2006 ). furthermore , a plurality of experimental obstacles and difficulties had to be overcome in the process of cloning the three genes with the different promoters and terminators , and these are reported in greater detail in the examples and figures . finding an l - arabinose isomerase that functions better , such as is more efficient , in yeast . cloning the isomerase proved to be difficult and time - consuming . the vector according to the invention is the first vector described that contains all the essential genes for converting arabinose in yeast . the vector contains all the genes in functional form and enables the recombinant yeast a good arabinose growth . functionality as well as very good arabinose growth were by no means expected . the object is further solved according to the invention by providing host cells that contain a nucleic acid molecule according to the invention , an expression cassette according to the invention , or an expression vector according to the invention . in a particularly preferred embodiment , a nucleic acid molecule according to the invention , an expression cassette according to the invention or an expression vector according to the invention is integrated in stable manner in the genome of the host cell . for industrial applications , it would be ideal if the microorganism used were capable of metabolising all of the sugars present in the medium . since the yeasts that are currently used are not capable of metabolising the arabinose in the medium , it would be highly advantageous to provide the strains with this additional capability in stable manner . in order to achieve this , a nucleic acid molecule according to the invention , an expression cassette according to the invention or an expression vector according to the invention can be genomically integrated in stable manner and can allow for the metabolisation of arabinose in industrial strains . using the nucleic acid molecules according to the invention ensures a very efficient arabinose conversion in industrial strains . previously , the practice of introducing the genes of the bacterial l - arabinose metabolic pathway individually was associated with the difficulty that the genes were not present in an optimal ratio to each other . the transformations were time - consuming and the resulting arabinose metabolism was often not as efficient as desired . moreover , the properties provided were often not stable . in contrast , the expression cassette according to the invention or the expression vector according to the invention , respectively , enable the bacterial l - arabinose metabolic pathway to be introduced quickly and functionally . with the selection of the promoters , it was possible to combine the genes together on one nucleic acid molecule , one expression cassette or one expression vector . the integration of the nucleic acid molecule according to the invention , the expression cassette according to the invention or the expression vector according to the invention , respectively , further guarantees an efficient arabinose conversion . a host cell according to the invention is preferably a fungus cell , and more preferably a yeast cell , such as saccharomyces species , kluyveromyces sp ., hansenula sp ., pichia sp . or yarrowia sp . in particular , a host cell according to the invention is selected from bwy1 , cen . pk113 - 7d , red star ethanol red and fermiol . the object is further solved according to the invention by providing methods for producing bioethanol . one method according to the invention comprises the expression of a nucleic acid molecule according to the invention , an expression cassette according to the invention , or an expression vector according to the invention in a host cell . thereby , the method is preferably carried out in a host cell according to the invention . the object is further solved according to the invention by the use of a nucleic acid molecule according to the invention , an expression cassette according to the invention , an expression vector according to the invention , or a host cell according to the invention to produce bioethanol . the object is further solved according to the invention by the use of nucleic acid molecule according to the invention , an expression cassette according to the invention , an expression vector according to the invention , or a host cell according to the invention for recombinant fermentation of pentose - containing biomaterial . for the methods and uses , see the examples and figures . the results of fermentation recorded in example 2 show that especially the codon - optimised genes of araa , arab and arad enable the yeast transformants to metabolise arabinose more efficiently . the result of this is faster conversion of the sugar and a significantly higher ethanol yield . the object is further solved according to the invention by providing a polypeptide selected from the group of a . a polypeptide which is at least 70 %, preferably at least 80 % identical to the amino acid sequence that is coded by seq id no : 3 , 4 or 5 , and has an in vitro and / or in vivo pentose isomerase function , b . a naturally occurring variant of a polypeptide including the amino acid sequence that is coded by seq id no : 3 , 4 or 5 , which has an in vitro and / or in vivo pentose isomerase function , c . a polypeptide which is identical to the amino acid sequence that is coded by seq id no : 3 , 4 or 5 , and has an in vitro and / or in vivo pentose isomerase function , and d . a fragment of the polypeptide from a ., b . or c ., comprising a fragment of at least 100 , 200 or 300 continuous amino acids of the amino acid sequence that is coded by seq id no : 3 , 4 or 5 . a . a polypeptide which is at least 70 %, preferably at least 80 % identical to the amino acid sequence according to seq id no : 6 or 7 , and has an in vitro and / or in vivo pentose isomerase function , b . a naturally occurring variant of a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence according to seq id no : 6 or 7 , which has an in vitro and / or in vivo pentose isomerase function , c . a polypeptide which is identical to the amino acid sequence according to seq id no : 6 or 7 , and has an in vitro and / or in vivo pentose isomerase function , and d . a fragment of the polypeptide from a ., b . or c ., comprising a fragment of at least 100 , 200 or 300 continuous amino acids according to seq id no : 6 or 7 . a polypeptide according to the invention preferably comprises a polypeptide which is at least 90 %, preferably 95 % identical to the amino acid sequence that is coded by seq id no : 3 , 4 or 5 , and has an in vitro and / or in vivo pentose isomerase function . such a polypeptide according to the invention preferably comprises a polypeptide which is at least 90 %, preferably 95 % identical to the amino acid sequence according to seq id no : 6 or 7 , and has an in vitro and / or in vivo pentose isomerase function . the amino acid sequence with seq id no . 6 is the amino acid sequence of bacillus licheniformis l - arabinose isomerase ( araa ). this amino acid sequence is preferably coded by the nucleic acid sequences with seq id nos . 3 or 4 . the amino acid sequence with seq id no . 7 is the amino acid sequence of clostridium acetobutylicum l - arabinose isomerase ( araa ). this amino acid sequence is preferably coded by the nucleic acid sequence with seq id no . 5 . the polypeptide according to the invention preferably originates from a bacterium , more preferably from bacillus licheniformis or clostridium acetobutylicum . these l - arabinose isomerases are advantageous for the growth of yeast transformants on arabinose medium . a number of different experiments indicated that the l - arabinose isomerase from b . subtilis that was used previously represents a limiting step in the decomposition of arabinose in yeast ( becker and boles , 2003 ; wiedemann , 2003 ; karhumaa et al , 2006 ; sedlak and ho , 2001 ). example 1 shows ( see also fig4 ) that the growth of yeast transformants on arabinose medium is significantly improved particularly by the expression of l - arabinose isomerase from c . acetobutylicum and from b . licheniformis , in comparison to the isomerase from b . subtilis . the object is further solved according to the invention by providing an isolated nucleic acid molecule that codes for a polypeptide according to the invention . additionally , the object is further solved according to the invention by providing a host cell that contains such an isolated nucleic acid molecule . for preferred embodiments of the isolated nucleic acid molecule and of the host cells , reference is made to the embodiments described above . the polypeptide according to the invention , the isolated nucleic acid molecule according to the invention and the host cell according to the invention are preferably used in the production of bioethanol and for recombinant fermentation of pentose - containing biomaterial . a further aspect of the present invention are host cells that contain one or more modifications , such as nucleic acid molecules . an additional modification of such kind is a host cell that overexpresses a tal1 ( transaldolase ) gene , such as is described by the inventors in ep 1 499 708 b1 , for example . a further such additional modification is a host cell that contains a nucleic acid coding for a specific l - arabinose transporter gene ( arat ), particularly such as a specific l - arabinose transporter gene from the genome of p . stipitis , such as is described by the inventors in german patent application de 10 1006 060 381 . 8 , filed on dec . 20 , 2006 . further biomass with significant amounts of arabinose ( source of the data : u . s . department of energy : the nucleic acids , expression cassettes , expression vectors and host cells according to the invention are also of great importance for their utilization . possible uses of the nucleic acids , expression cassettes , expression vectors and host cells according to the invention include both the production of bioethanol and the manufacture of high - quality precursor products for further chemical synthesis . the following list originates from the study “ top value added chemicals from biomass ”. here , 30 chemicals were categorized as being particularly valuable , which can be produced from biomass . it is important to have the nucleic acids , expression cassettes , expression vectors and host cells according to the invention available as soon as these chemicals are produced from lignocellulose by biokonversion ( e . g . fermentations with yeasts ). the present invention will be explained in greater detail in the following figures , sequences and examples , without limitation thereto . the references cited are fully incorporated herein by reference thereto . in the sequences and figures are shown : seq id no : 1 shows the gene sequence of the open reading frame ( orf ) of arab mut from e . coli in a codon - optimised form . seq id no : 2 shows the gene sequence of the open reading frame ( orf ) of arad from e . coli in a codon - optimised form . seq id no : 3 shows the gene sequence of the open reading frame ( orf ) of araa from b . licheniformis in a codon - optimised form . seq id no : 4 shows the gene sequence of the open reading frame ( orf ) of araa from b . licheniformis . seq id no : 5 shows the gene sequence of the open reading frame ( orf ) of araa from c . acetobutylicum . seq id no . 6 shows the amino acid sequence of the bacillus licheniformis l - arabinose isomerase ( araa ). this amino acid sequence is preferably coded by the nucleic acid sequences with seq id nos . 3 or 4 . seq id no . 7 shows the amino acid sequence of the clostridium acetobutylicum l - arabinose isomerase ( araa ). this amino acid sequence is preferably coded by the nucleic acid sequence with seq id no . 5 . biomass consists of cellulose , hemicellulose and lignin . the second most frequently occurring hemicellulose is a highly branched polymer consisting of pentoses , uronic acids and hexoses . the hemicellulose consists in a large proportion of the pentoses xylose and arabinose . fig2 scheme of the metabolism of l - arabinose in recombinant s . cerevisiae by integration of a bacterial l - arabinose metabolic pathway . the initial plasmid for construction of the vector p425h7synthara ( fig3 a ) was the plasmid p425hxt7 - 6his ( fig3 b ). the open reading frames of the codon - optimised genes of araa from b . licheniformis and arab mut and arad from e . coli were amplified and cloned into the plasmid p425hxt7 - 6his after various promoters and terminators . the primers were selected in such manner that the resulting expression cassette was flanked by the restriction sites of enzymes paci and asci . thereby , the plasmid p425h7synthara was produced , which has a leucine marker . fig4 growth on arabinose using various l - arabinose isomerase genes . growth curves of recombinant s . cerevisiae strains containing the bacterial l - arabinose metabolism with various l - arabinose isomerases . growth tests were conducted in 5 ml sm medium with 2 % arabinose under aerobic conditions . the l - arabinose isomerases of c . acetobutylicum , b . licheniformis , p . pentosaceus , l . plantarum and l . mesenteroides were tested . the l - arabinose isomerase from b . subtilis and the empty vector p423hxt7 - 6his were used as controls . fig5 growth on arabinose using codon - optimised arabinose metabolic pathway genes . growth curves of recombinant s . cerevisiae strains containing the bacterial l - arabinose metabolism with different combinations of codon - optimised genes and the genes with original sequences . growth tests were conducted in 5 ml sm medium with 2 % arabinose under aerobic conditions . each of the combinations that contained one of the codon optimised genes respectively , and the combination containing all three codon - optimised genes were tested . in addition , the combination in which the codon - optimised genes of kinase and epimerase were present was also tested . a recombinant yeast strain with the four genes having the original sequences was used as a control . fig6 a - 6b ethanol formation using codon - optimised arabinose metabolic pathway genes . the figure shows the results of hplc analyses of the media supernatants from two fermentations . ( 6 a ) one fermentation was carried out with strain bwy1 , which possesses plasmids p423h7synthiso , p424h7synthkin , p425h7synthepi and phl125 re ( 3xsynth ). ( 6 b ) in the other fermentation , strain bwy1 was tested , containing plasmids p423h7araabs re , p424h7arab re , p425h7arad re and phl125 re ( 3xre ). the fermentations were carried out in sfm medium with 3 % l - arabinose . the strains were grown to a high optical density in the fermenter . then , the fermentation was changed to anaerobic conditions ( after 48 hours ). the plots show arabinose consumption and ethanol production . fig7 growth on arabinose using the constructed expression plasmid p425h7 - synthara . growth curves of recombinant s . cerevisiae strains containing bacterial l - arabinose metabolism in the form of the vector p425h7 - synthara . growth tests were conducted in 5 ml sc medium with 2 % arabinose under aerobic conditions . a recombinant yeast strain with the plasmids p423h7araabs re , p424h7arab re , p425h7arad re and phl125 re , which had been tested in 5 ml sm medium with 2 % arabinose , was used as the control . e . coli sure ( stratagene ) e . coli dh5α ( stratagene ) bacillus licheniformis ( dsmz ) clostridium acetobutylicum ( dsmz ) leuconostoc mesenteroides ( dsmz ) pediococcus pentosaceus ( dsmz ) lactobacillus plantarum ( dsmz ) full medium lb 1 % trypton , 0 . 5 % yeast extract , 0 . 5 % nacl , ph 7 . 5 ( see maniatis , 1982 ). 40 μg / ml ampicillin was added to the medium after autoclaving for selection based on plasmid - coded antibiotic resistance . solid culture media also contained 2 % agar . culturing was performed at 37 ° c . bwy1 is based on the strain jby25 ( mata leu2 - 3 , 112 ura3 - 52 trp1 - 289 his3 - δ1mal2 - 8c suc2 + unknown mutations for better growth on arabinose ); the strain jby25 was selected further and possesses additional mutations for improved growth on l - arabinose under reduced oxygen conditions ( wiedemann , 2005 ) 0 . 67 % yeast nitrogen base w / o amino acids , ph 6 . 3 , amino acid / nucleobase solution , carbon source at the concentration indicated in each case 0 . 16 % yeast nitrogen base w / o amino acid and ammonium sulphate , 0 . 5 % ammonium sulphate , 20 mm potassium dihydrogen phosphate , ph 6 . 3 , carbon source at the concentration indicated in each case ( verduyn et al ., 1992 ), ph 5 . 5 salts : ( nh 4 ) 2 so 4 , 5 g / l ; kh 2 po 4 , 3 g / l ; mgso 4 * 7h 2 o , 0 . 5 g / l trace elements : edta , 15 mg / l , znso 4 * 4 . 5 mg / l ; mncl 2 * 4h 2 o , 0 . 1 mg / l ; cocl 2 * 6h 2 o , 0 . 3 mg / l ; cuso 4 , 0 . 192 mg / l ; na 2 moo 4 * 2h 2 o , 0 . 4 mg / l ; cacl 2 * 2h 2 o , 4 . 5 mg / l ; feso 4 * 7h 2 o , 3 mg / l ; h 3 bo 3 , 1 mg / l ; ki , 0 . 1 mg / l vitamins : biotin , 0 . 05 mg / l ; p - aminobenzoic acid , 0 . 2 mg / l ; nicotinic acid , 1 mg / l ; calcium pantothenate , 1 mg / l ; pyridoxin - hcl , 1 mg / l ; thiamin - hcl , 1 mg / l ; m inositol , 25 mg / 1 concentration of amino acids and nucleobases in the synthetic complete medium ( based on zimmermann , 1975 ): adenine ( 0 . 08 mm ), arginine ( 0 . 22 mm ), histidine ( 0 . 25 mm ), isoleucine ( 0 . 44 mm ), leucine ( 0 . 44 mm ), lysine ( 0 . 35 mm ), methionine ( 0 . 26 mm ), phenylalanine ( 0 . 29 mm ), tryptophan ( 0 . 19 mm ), threonine ( 0 . 48 mm ), tyrosine ( 0 . 34 mm ), uracil ( 0 . 44 mm ), valine ( 0 . 49 mm ). l - arabinose and d - glucose were used as the carbon source . solid full and selective media also contained 1 . 8 % agar . the yeast cells were cultured at 30 ° c . the synthetic mineral medium used for the fermentations contained salts , trace metals and vitamins in the concentrations listed above and l - arabinose as the carbon source . stock solutions of the trace metals and of the vitamins were prepared . both solutions were sterile filtered . both were stored at 4 ° c . the ph value are critically important to the preparation of the trace metal solution . the various trace elements had to be completely dissolved in water one after the other in the order given above . after each addition , the ph value had to be adjusted to 6 . 0 with koh before the next trace element could be added . finally , the ph value was adjusted to 4 . 0 with hcl . 200 μl antifoaming agent ( antifoam2004 , sigma ) was added to the medium to prevent foaming . since the tests were carried out under anaerobic conditions , 2 . 5 ml / l of a tween80 - ergosterol solution had to be added to the medium after autoclaving . this consists of 16 . 8 g tween80 and 0 . 4 g ergosterol , which was filled to 50 ml with ethanol and dissolved therein . the solution was sterile filtered . the salts and the antifoaming agent were autoclaved together with the complete fermenter . the arabinose was autoclaved separately from the rest of the medium . after the medium cooled down , the trace elements and vitamins were added to it . plasmid source / reference description p423hxt7 - 6his becker and boles , 2003 2μ expression plasmid for overexpression of various genes (= p423h7 ) and for fusing the e . coli l - arabinose isomerase with an his 6 epitope ; his3 selection marker gene , shortened hxt7 promoter and cyc1 terminator ( hamacher et al ., 2002 ) p424hxt7 - 6his becker and boles , 2003 2μ expression plasmid for overexpression of various genes (= p424h7 ) and for fusing the mutated and the wild type e . coli l - ribulokinase with an his 6 epitope ; trp1 selection marker gene , shortened hxt7 promoter and cyc1 terminator ( hamacher et al ., 2002 ) p425hxt7 - 6his becker and boles , 2003 2μ expression plasmid for overexpression of various genes ; (= p425h7 ) leu2 selection marker gene , shortened hxt7 promoter and cyc1 terminator ( hamacher et al ., 2002 ) p426hxt7 - 6his hamacher et al ., 2002 2μ expression plasmid for overexpression of genes (= p426h7 ) producing an his 6 epitope ; ura3 selection marker gene , shortened hxt7 promotor and cyc1 terminator p423h7araabs re becker and boles , 2003 b . subtilis araa in p423hxt7 - his , re - isolated from jby25 - 4m p424h7arab becker and boles , 2003 e . coli arab in p423hxt7 - his p424h7arab re becker and boles , 2003 e . coli arab in p423hxt7 - his ; re - isolated from jby25 - 4m , mutation in arab , which enables arabinose growth p425h7arad re becker and boles , 2003 e . coli arad in p425hxt7 - his ; re - isolated from jby25 - 4m p423h7 - synthiso b . licheniformis araa codon - optimised in p423hxt7 - his p424h7 - synthkin e . coli arab codon - optimised in p424hxt7 - his , with mutation in arab p425h7 - synthepi e . coli arad codon - optimised in p425hxt7 - his p425h7 - synthara 2μ plasmid with codon - optimised genes araa , arab mut and arad ; araa under control of the fba1 promoter and pgk1 terminator , arab mut under control of the pfk1 promoter and fba1 terminator , and arad under control of the shortened hxt7 promoter and the cyc1 terminator , leu2 selection marker gene phl125 re liang and gaber , 1996 2μ plasmid with the gal2 gene expressed after the adh1 promoter , ura3 selection marker gene ; re - isolated from jby25 - 4m the e . coli cells were transformed by the electroporation method described by dower et al . ( 1988 ) and wirth ( 1993 ) using an easyject prima device ( equibo ). s . cerevisiae strains were transformed with plasmid dna or dna fragments using the lithium acetate method of gietz and woods ( 1994 ). plasmid dna was isolated from e . coli with the alkaline lysis procedure developed by birnboim and doly ( 1979 ), modified according to maniatis et al . ( 1982 ), or alternatively with the “ qiaprep spin miniprep kit ” manufactured by qiagen . highly pure plasmid dna for sequencing was prepared with the “ plasmid mini kit ” manufactured by qiagen according to the manufacturer &# 39 ; s instructions . the cells of a stationary yeast culture ( 5 ml ) were harvested by centrifuging , washed and resuspended in 400 μl p1 buffer ( plasmid mini kit , qiagen ). after the addition of 400 μl p2 buffer and ⅔ volume glass beads ( ø0 . 45 mm , cell disruption was performed by shaking for 5 minutes on a vibrax ( vibrax - vxr manufactured by janke & amp ; kunkel or ika ). the residue was filled with ½ volume p3 buffer , mixed and incubated on ice for 10 min . after centrifuging for 10 minutes at 13000 rpm , the plasmid dna was precipitated at room temperature by adding 0 . 75 ml isopropanol to the residue . the dna was pelletized by centrifuging at 13000 rpm for 30 min . and washed with 70 % ethanol , dried and resuspended in 20 μl water . 1 μl of the dna was used for the transformation in e . coli . the dna concentration was measured by spectrophotometry in a wavelength range of 240 - 300 nm . if the purity of the dna , as determined by the quotient e 260nm / e 280nm , is 1 . 8 , extinction e 260nm = 1 . 0 corresponds to a dna concentration of 50 μg dsdna / ml ( maniatis et al ., 1982 ). the polymerase chain reaction was carried out in a total volume of 50 μl with the “ phusion ™ high fidelity pcr system ” manufactured by the company finnzymes in accordance with the manufacturer &# 39 ; s instructions . each stock solution consisted of 1 - 10 ng dna or 1 - 2 yeast colonies as a synthesis model , 0 . 2 mm dntp - mix , 1 × buffer 2 ( contains 1 . 5 mm mgcl 2 ), 1 u polymerase , and 100 pmol of each of the corresponding oligonucleotide primers . the pcr reaction was carried out in a thermocycler manufactured by the company techne and the following pcr conditions were selected according to requirements : the polymerase was added after the first denaturation step (“ hot start pcr ”). the number of synthesis steps , the annealing temperature and the elongation time were adapted to the specific melting temperatures of the oligonucleotides used and the size of the expected product . the pcr products were tested with agarose gel electrophoresis and then cleaned up . the pcr products were purified with the “ qiaquick pcr purification kit ” manufactured by qiagen in accordance with the instructions of the manufacturer . dna fragments having a size of 0 . 15 - 20 kb were separated in 0 . 5 - 1 % agarose gels with 0 . 5 μg / ml ethidium bromide . 1 × tae buffer ( 40 mm tris , 40 mm acetic acid , 2 mm edta ) was used as the gel and running buffer ( maniatis et al ., 1982 ). a lambda phage dna digested with the restriction endonucleases ecori and hindiii was used as the size standard . before loading , 1 / 10 volume blue marker ( 1 × tae buffer , 10 % glycerin , 0 . 004 % bromophenol blue ) was added to the dna samples , which were rendered visible after separation by irradiation with uv light ( 254 nm ). the desired dna fragment was cut out of the tae agarose gel under long - wave uv light ( 366 nm ) and isolated with the “ qiaquick gel extraction kit ” manufactured by qiagen in accordance with the manufacturer &# 39 ; s instructions . sequence - specific cleaving of the dna with restriction endonucleases was conducted for 1 hour with 2 - 5 u enzyme per μg dna under the incubation conditions recommended by the manufacturer . several experiments indicated that the l - arabinose isomerase from b . subtilis represents a limiting step in the breakdown of arabinose in yeast ( becker and boles , 2003 ; wiedemann , 2003 ; karhumaa et al , 2006 ; sedlak and ho , 2001 ). in order to improve the arabinose metabolic path , five l - arabinose isomerases from different organisms were tested . for this , genomic dna was isolated from the organisms c . acetobutylicum , b . licheniformis , p . pentosaceus , l . plantarum and l . mesenteroides ( see “ isolation of plasmid dna from s . cerevisiae ”). the cells were cultivated , harvested and absorbed in the buffer . cell disruption was effected using glass beads . then , the dna was precipitated , washed , and used for the pcr . the open reading frame ( orf ) of araa from the organisms listed was amplified with primers , which also had homologous areas to the hxt7 promoter and cyc1 terminator . the pcr products obtained were transformed in yeast together with the ecori / bamhi linearised vector p423hxt7 - 6his and cloned by in vivo recombination into the plasmid between the hxt7 promoter and cyc1 terminator . the sequence of the plasmids obtained was verified by restriction analysis . the functionality of the new isomerases and their effect on the arabinose metabolism also needed to be studied . for this purpose , recombinant yeast strains were produced , containing one of the new isomerases and the rest of the bacterial arabinose metabolic pathway genes ( p424h7arab re , p425h7arad re and phl125 re ). growth of the strains was tested under aerobic conditions in a medium containing arabinose . the recombinant yeast strain containing the isomerase from b . subtilis was used as the control . a yeast strain with the empty vector p423hxt7 - 6his was constructed as the negative control . the strains with the various isomerase plasmids were cultured in sm medium with 2 % arabinose and inoculated with a od 600nm = 0 . 2 in 5 ml sm medium with 2 % arabinose . this was incubated in test tubes on a shaking flask under aerobic conditions at 30 ° c . samples were taken regularly to determine optical density . the results are shown in fig4 . it was shown that , compared with the isomerase from b . subtilis , particularly the expression of l - arabinose isomerase from c . acetobutylicum and from b . licheniformis significantly improved the growth of yeast transformants on arabinose medium . a ) codon - optimisation of genes according to the codon usage of the glycolysis genes from s . cerevisiae the preferred codon usage of the glycolysis genes from s . cerevisiae was calculated and is listed in table 1 . the orf of genes araa and arab mut from e . coli were codon - optimised as well as the orf of the gene araa from b . licheniformis . this means , the sequences of the open reading frames were adapted to the preferred codon usage listed below . the protein sequence of the enzymes remained unchanged . the genes were synthesised at the facilities of an independent company delivered in dried form in company owned house vectors . table 1 preferred codon usage of glycolysis genes from s . cerevisiae . amino acid preferred codon ala gct arg aga asn aac asp gac , ( gat ) cys tgt gln caa glu gaa gly ggt his cac ile att , ( atc ) leu ttg lys aag met atg phe ttc pro cca ser tct , ( tcc ) thr acc , ( act ) trp tgg tyr tac val gtt , ( gtc ) stop taa in order to transform the three codon - optimised genes into the bwy1 strain and test them , the genes had to be subcloned in yeast vectors . for this purpose , the codon - optimised araa orf , the arab mut orf and the arad orf were amplified with primers , so that homologous overhangs to the shortened hxt7 promoter and the cyc1 terminator were created . the 2μ expression plasmids p423hxt7 - 6his , p424hxt7 - 6his , p425hxt7 - 6his were linearised with restriction endonucleases in the range between the hxt7 promoter and the cyc1 terminator . the pcr product from araa was transformed in yeast with the linearised p423hxt7 - 6his and cloned to the plasmid p423h7 - synthiso by in vivo recombination . the same procedure was followed with the pcr product arab mut and the linearised vector p424hxt7 - 6his . this produced the plasmid p424h7synthkin . plasmid p425h7 - synthiso was produced by in vivo recombination of pcr product arad and the linearised vector p425hxt7 - 6his in yeast . the plasmids were isolated from the yeast and amplified in e . coli . after the plasmids were isolated from e . coli , the plasmids were examined by restriction analysis . one of each of the plasmids with the codon - optimised genes was transformed into the yeast strain bwy1 together with the three original , re - isolated plasmids , to test for functionality and for further analysis , so that all of the recombinant strains produced contained a complete arabinose metabolic pathway . in addition , the combination p424h7synthkin and p42457synthepi was tested with the original , re - isolated plasmids as well as a batch in which the yeast transformant possessed all three new plasmids . the transformation with the four plasmids in each case took place at the same time . the transformants were plated on sm medium with 2 % glucose . after two days , the colonies obtained were streaked out onto sm medium with 2 % arabinose . a yeast strain that contained the four original , re - isolated plasmids was used as a positive control . the growth of the strain bwy1 with the various plasmid combinations of codon - optimised genes and original genes was examined in growth tests on arabinose - containing medium under aerobic conditions . the strains with the various plasmid combinations were cultured in sm medium with 2 % l - arabinose and inoculated with an od 600nm = 0 . 2 in 5 ml sm medium with 2 % l - arabinose . incubation took place in test tubes under aerobic conditions at 30 ° c . samples were taken regularly to determine optical density . the results of the aerobic growth curve are shown in fig5 . it can be seen clearly that recombinant yeast strains that possess only one of the optimised genes show little or no growth advantages compared to the strain with the four original plasmids in a medium containing arabinose . however , yeast transformants with the two optimised genes of kinase and epimerase and yeast transformants with three optimised genes showed a clear growth advantage in a medium containing arabinose . the strains manifested a significantly shorter lag phase and grew to their maximum optical density considerably more quickly . this shows that the combination of the three codon - optimised genes enables recombinant s . cerevisiae cells to convert l - arabinose significantly more efficiently . fig6 ( a ) and ( b ) shows the results of hplc analyses of two fermentations . one recombinant yeast strain contains plasmids p423h7synthiso , p424h7synthkin , p425h7synthepi and phl125 re , the other contains plasmids p423h7araabs re , p424h7arab re , p425h7arad re and phl125 re . the fermentations were conducted in sfm medium with 3 % l - arabinose . fig6 ( a ) shows the arabinose consumption and the dry weight of both strains . fig6 ( b ) illustrates the ethanol production of the two strains . the strains were cultivated in the fermenter aerobically until they reached a dry weight of approx . 2 . 8 g / l . when sufficient cell mass was present , the fermentations were switched to anaerobic conditions . the figure shows the plots of arabinose metabolism and ethanol production . the byproducts produced , arabitol , acetate and glycerin , have not been listed because they were produced in comparable quantities by both strains . as the plots show , ethanol production begins immediately after the switch to anaerobic conditions for both strains ( the switch to anaerobic conditions is shown in fig6 ( a ) and ( b ) by an arrow ). the ethanol that was already present in the medium at the start of the fermentation was not produced by the yeasts , it originated from the tween80 / ergosterol solution . under the aerobic conditions that prevailed in the beginning , ethanol was decomposed by yeast by respiration . after about 80 hours , the strain that has the arabinose metabolic pathway genes in codon - optimised form demonstrates significantly improved arabinose metabolism and increased ethanol production . the arabinose present in the medium has been completely consumed after just 150 hours . in contrast , even after 180 hours there is still arabinose in the medium with the strain with the original , reisolated plasmids . the fermentation results show that the codon - optimised genes enable the yeast transformants to metabolise arabinose more efficiently . the result of this is that the sugar is metabolised faster and a significantly higher ethanol yield is obtained . construction of an expression cassette with three genes for the arabinose metabolic pathway the vector with the expression cassette with three genes for the arabinose metabolic pathway was constructed both to circument the problems that can arise when several plasmids are present in the same cell at the same time (“ plasmid stress ”, review of e . coli by bailey ( 1993 )), and to enable stable genomic integration of the arabinose metabolic pathway genes . the issues associated with constructing an expression cassette of the arabinose metabolic pathway genes and integrating it individually in a manner that is genomically stable have already been shown by becker ( 2003 ) and wiedemann ( 2005 ). the expression cassette with the three genes that has now been constructed represents an excellent starting point for direct genomic integration and enables subcloning into the integrative plasmids of the series prs303x , prs305x und prs306x ( taxis und knop , 2006 ). the starting point for constructing the expression cassette was the plasmid p425h7 - synthepi , in which the codon - optimised form of epimerase was expressed from e . coli behind the shortened hxt7 promoter and in front of the cyc1 terminator . in order to prevent possible homologous recombination between identical promoter or terminator regions , the codon - optimised arab mut - orf must be expressed from e . coli between the pfk1 promoter and the fba1 terminator , the codon - optimised araa - orf from b . licheniformis between the fba1 promoter and the pgk1 terminator . the plasmid p425h7 - synthepi was opened before the hxt7 promoter with restriction endonuclease saci , streaked on an agarose gel , and eluted from the gel . the arab mut orf was amplified by pcr . the pfk1 promoter and fba1 terminator were amplified from genomic dna of s . cerevisiae , the primers having been selected so that a 500 bp long sequence of the promoter and a 300 bp long sequence of the terminator were synthesised and homologous overhangs to the plasmid p425h7 - synthepi and to the arab mut orf were produced at the same time . the primer that amplified the pfk1 promoter with the homologous regions to p425h7 - synthepi also contained a sequence for a paci restriction site . the three pcr products were transformed in yeast together with the linearised vector and cloned into the plasmid via in vivo recombination . restriction analysis was used to verify that the p425h7synthepisynthkin plasmid produced had been successfully reconstructed . the functionality of the vector was tested . to do this , yeast transformants that contained the plasmids p425h7synthepisynthkin and p423h7araabs re were prepared . the transformants were tested for arabinose growth . the strain was capable of growing on a medium containing arabinose . a yeast strain containing the vectors p424h7synthepi and p423hxt7 - 6his was used as the negative control . this strain was not able to grow on the medium . in the next step , the codon - optimised form of the isomerase from b . licheniformis was integrated into the vector . for this , plasmid p425h7synthepisynthkin was linearised with ngomvi after the cyc1 terminator , streaked onto an agarose gel and eluted from the gel . a 500 bp long sequence of the fba1 promoter was amplified from genomic dna of s . cerevisiae , and the primers were selected so that homologous overhangs to plasmid p425h7synthepisynthkin in the cyc1 terminator and to the orf of the codon - optimised araa were produced . a 300 bp long sequence of the pgk1 terminator was also amplified from genomic dna of s . cerevisiae , in which a primer had overhangs to the orf of the codon - optimised araa and the other primer included homologous overhangs to plasmid p425h7synthepisynthkin and an asci restriction site . restriction analysis was again used to verify the successful construction of the plasmid p425h7synthara , and its functionality was tested . the test for functionality was performed for arabinose growth . yeast transformants that contained the plasmid p425h7synthara demonstrated growth on a medium containing arabinose . growth curves in 5 ml sc medium with 2 % arabinose were recorded . fig7 shows that the transformants with vector p425h7synthara demonstrate growth comparable to a strain with the four original , re - isolated plasmids . in order to avoid possible homologous recombination between the promoter and terminator regions , the three genes were cloned behind different promoters and terminators . in this context , the selection of the promoters was particularly important . it had been found in previous research ( becker and boles , 2003 ) that the gene dose of the three genes relative to each other was critically important . in addition , all genes were to be strongly expressed . for these reasons , the decision was made to use the shortened hxt7 promoter , which is expressed strongly and constitutively , and the promoters pfk1 and fba1 , which are both known to promote strong expression of genes . the starter plasmid for the construction of p425h7synthara was the plasmid p425h7synthepi , which is based on the plasmid p425hxt7 - 6his . the vector is a 2μ expression plasmid that possesses a leucine marker . the three arabinose metabolic pathway genes were cloned into a vector one after the other under the control of various promoters and terminators . the expression cassette is flanked by the recognition sequences of the enzymes paci and asci . other possible expression vectors are come from the series prs303x , p3rs305x and p3rs306x . these are integrative vectors that have a dominant antibiotic marker . more information about these vectors is provided in taxis and knop ( 2006 ). a modified saccharomyces cerevisiae strain that consumes l - arabinose and produces ethanol . high efficiency transformation of e . coli by high voltage electroporation . in : molecular genetics of yeast : practical approaches , j . a . johnston ( ed .). hamacher , t ., becker , j ., gárdonyi , m ., hahn - hägerdal , b . und boles ., e . ( 2002 ) characterization of the xylose - transporting properties of yeast hexose transportes and their influence on xylose utilization . hoekema a , kastelein r a , vasser m , de boer h a . ( 1987 ) codon replacement in the pgk1 gene of saccharomyces cerevisiae : experimental approach to study the role of biased codon usage in gene expression . karhumaa , k ., wiedemann , b ., hahn - hägerdal , b ., boles , e . and gorwa - grauslund , m f . ( 2006 ) co - utilisation of l - arabinose and d - xylose by laboratory and industrial saccharomyces cerevisiae strains . expression of e . coli arabad operon encoding enzymes for metabolizing l - arabinose in saccharomyces cerevisiae . system of centromeric , episomal , and integrative vectors based on drug resistance markers for saccharomyces cerevisiae . verduyn , c ., postma , e ., scheffers , w . a . und van dijken , j . p . ( 1992 ) effect of benzoic acid on metabolic fluxes in yeasts : a continuous - culture study on the regulation of respiration and alcoholic fermentation . molekulargenetische und physiologische charakterisierung eines rekombinanten pentose - vergärenden hefestammes . diplomarbeit . johann wolfgang goethe - universität , frankfurt am main . elektroporation : eine alternative methode zur transformation von bakterien mit plasmid - dna . forum mikrobiologie 11 ( 507 - 515 ). the synthetic gene designer : a flexible web platform to explore sequence manipulation for heterologous expression . procedures used in the induction of mitotic recombination and mutation in the yeast saccharomyces cerevisiae .
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referring to fig2 , a slip agent can be applied to a glass sheet in one technique through compression when preparing a stack of glass sheets for shipment ( hereinafter to be referred to as the “ compression method ”). a single sheet of the interleaf paper or polymer film containing slip agent 26 is positioned between adjacent glass sheets 28 , 30 and 30 , 32 in a stack 34 of glass sheets ( fig4 ). a stack of glass sheets can include 100 or more sheets , for example . referring to fig3 , slip agent protrudes from both sides 37 , 39 of interleaf sheet 40 facing opposing surfaces 42 , 44 of the glass sheets . when the interleaf sheet ( s ) 40 are compressed between the glass sheets 28 , 30 due to the weight of the glass sheets in the stack ( fig4 ), a small portion of the slip agent is transferred to the surfaces 42 , 44 of the glass . upon unstacking of the glass sheets 28 , 30 and separation of the interleaf paper or film from the glass sheets , the transferred portion of the slip agent remains on the glass sheets ( fig5 ) providing the first scratch protection for the glass . when the glass sheets are stacked with the interleaf sheet ( s ) 40 between the glass sheets 28 , 30 , the slip agent provides the second scratch protection for the glass sheets against any particles 46 located between the glass sheets during handling and storage of the stack of glass sheets . although the mechanics of the first and second scratch protection are not fully understood , it is believed particles such as glass chips may roll or slide upon the slip agent rather than on the bare glass , thereby preventing scratches on the glass . the slip agent may roll between the glass sheet and the interleaf paper or film , or it may coat particles that roll between the interleaf paper or film , or both . while the slip agent protruding from the interleaf sheet or film and transferred onto the glass sheet is depicted in the figures , it will be appreciated that the slip agent , interleaf , and glass sheets are not to scale . only nanogram amounts per centimeter 2 of the slip agent is transferred to the glass sheet . the slip agent may not actually resemble what is shown in the drawings . the slip agent molecules may be polar , which could help to align the molecules on the interleaf paper and film , and on the glass sheet . this may produce a glass sheet with surface roughness on one or both sides thereof . interior glass sheets of the stack may include a discontinuous layer of slip agent that forms surface roughness layer on both sides of the glass sheet . another approach is to use the compression method to apply the slip agent when coated on only one side of an interleaf sheet . two such single - sided interleaf sheets 50 , 52 would be used . the interleaf sheets 50 , 52 can be placed between two glass sheets with their slip agent coated sides facing outwardly away from each other , as shown in fig6 . upon compression of the interleaf sheets between the two glass sheets 28 , 30 due to the weight of the stack of glass sheets ( fig7 ), a portion of the slip agent is transferred to the glass sheets surfaces 58 , 60 and provides second scratch protection . while the glass is stacked with interleaf sheets as shown in fig7 , particles such as glass chips 46 between the glass sheets can roll or slide on the slip agent 36 on the interleaf sheets 50 , 52 instead of on the bare glass surfaces 58 , 60 , or the particle movement could be inhibited by the slip agent contact between the paper or film sheet and the glass sheet . the facing surfaces 64 , 66 of the interleaf sheets may provide some slip in the stack , but the primary slip would be along the plane between the slip agent coated interleaf surfaces 54 , 56 and the glass surfaces 58 , 60 . a portion of the slip agent is then transferred onto the inwardly opposing surfaces 58 , 60 of adjacent glass sheets as shown in fig8 , providing the first scratch protection for the glass in which the particles roll or slide on the slip agent 48 remaining on the glass after the interleaf sheets 50 , 52 have been removed from the glass sheets . the compression method for applying the slip agent to the glass sheets via interleaf sheets placed between the sheets of glass in a stack of glass sheets offers second scratch protection to the glass sheets within the stack . that is , any glass particles from the cut edge ( or other particles ) that are located between the glass sheets will move against the slip agent on the interleaf sheets rather than against the bare glass , which prevents scratching of the glass when the glass sheets of the stack move relative each other . on the other hand , slip agent may be located between the glass sheet and the particles . moreover , once the glass sheets of the stack are separated , the interleaf sheets are removed and the glass sheets are ready to be placed on the finishing line ; the glass sheets contain the slip agent ( first scratch protection ). at this point , no interleaf sheets remain on the glass sheets during the finishing run . the glass sheets are solely protected by the slip agent on the surface of the glass . the interleaf paper that performed better than others as described in the examples below is one which was imbibed with or coated with erucamide as the long chain fatty amide as well as a sizing agent such as alkyl ketene dimer . another technique for applying slip agent to glass sheets disclosed herein is coating ( laminating ) a polymer film containing the slip agent to the glass sheet ( e . g ., visqueen polymer film that includes erucamide slip agent ) and then stripping the film from the glass sheet . after the film is stripped from the glass , some of the slip agent remains on the glass sheet . this provides the first form of scratch protection of the glass along the finishing line after the film has been removed . in a process of applying the slip agent from the paper or polymer film to the glass sheets using rolls , the method includes providing on both sides of a glass sheet the paper or polymer film 80 wound on a feed roll 84 , the paper or film extending from the feed roll to a take - up roll 82 . next , as the paper or film 80 advances onto the take - up rolls , the paper or film and the glass sheet 86 are compressed between rollers 88 on either side of the glass sheet ( in a direction shown by arrows 90 ). the glass sheet moves in a direction 92 . the glass sheet may also move in the opposite direction , opposite to the traveling direction of the paper or film . this presses the slip agent 36 protruding from the paper or film 80 onto the glass sheet 86 and transfers some slip agent 36 from the paper or film onto the glass sheet . the paper or polymer film is removed from the glass sheet once the sheet passes through the rollers and then it travels to the take - up roll where it is wound up . the paper or film may still contain a sufficient quantity of slip agent after contacting the glass sheet for enabling reuse of the paper or film to apply slip agent to additional glass sheets or it might only be used one time . two single - sided interleaf sheets 68 , 70 between adjacent glass sheets in a stack of glass sheets , wherein the coated sides 72 , 74 of two interleaf sheets are inwardly facing relative to each other ( fig9 ), may be employed to achieve the second scratch protection only for the glass sheets . the interleaf sheets have outer surfaces 76 , 78 without slip agent facing the inner surfaces 58 , 60 of the adjacent glass sheets . in this way , the friction where the two interleaf sheets &# 39 ; uncoated sides contact the sheets of glass is greater than the friction where the two interleaf sheets &# 39 ; coated sides contact each other . upon compression of the interleaf sheets between the glass sheets as shown in fig1 any particles 46 on the bare glass are prevented from scratching the glass because the principal movement between adjacent glass sheets is via slip agent 36 along the plane between the interleaf sheet surfaces 72 , 74 ( e . g . where friction is the lowest ), thereby providing the second scratch protection of the glass . once the glass sheets are separated no slip agent transfers to the opposing surfaces 58 , 60 of the glass sheets ( fig1 ). if first scratch protection of the glass is desired for the finishing line after the interleaf sheets have been removed from the glass , then the slip agent would need to be applied to the surface of the glass sheets through another means . the paper used in this disclosure is made using a fourdrinier paper making machine . an overview of a fourdrinier machine is described in u . s . pat . no . 7 , 189 , 308 , which is incorporated herein by reference . the optional alkyl ketene dimer sizing agent is added at the wet end of the process . in addition , the slip agent can be added at the size press such as passing the paper through a bath including the sizing agent . then , the paper passes through drier cans at a temperature exceeding a melting point of the erucamide . next , at the dampener where water is added to obtain a proper curl of the paper , this is another location at which the slip agent can alternatively be added . at the dampener the slip agent can be coated onto one side of the paper . then , the paper passes to the supercalendar , which squeezes the paper between opposing denim covered stainless steel rolls and stainless steel rolls . at this location fibers are locked down in the paper . the paper of this disclosure can be calendared or uncalendared . then the paper travels to a rewinder . the slip agent can alternatively be coated onto the paper by spraying at the supercalendar or the rewinder . suitable paper is described in publication wo 2008 / 002584 , which is incorporated herein by reference . the slip agent can be added to the paper as a dispersion ( e . g ., a wax dispersion ) or an emulsion . the slip agent may be added as a solid to the polymer resin that forms the polymer film . stable aqueous wax dispersions are disclosed in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 743 , 949 and 4 , 481 , 038 , which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties . an erucamide dispersion can be obtained from polymer dynamix in new jersey . the supplier of the emulsion can also provide defoamer and surfactant in the slip agent emulsion or dispersion to facilitate application of the slip agent to the paper . a suitable defoamer is ethylene bis distearamide . compounds that might be suitable as slip agents include at least one long chain fatty acid ester or fatty acid amide . the long chain fatty acid esters and fatty acid amides of this disclosure are derivatives of saturated and unsaturated normal fatty acids ranging from fourteen to thirty - six carbon atoms . representative fatty acids are , for example , tetradecanoic , pentadecanoic , hexadecanoic , heptadecanoic , octadecanoic , nonadecanoic , eicosanoic , hencosanoic , decosanoic , tetracosanoic , pentacosanoic , tricosanoic , hexacosanoic , triacontanoic , dotriacontanoic , tetratriacontanoic , hentriacontanoic , pentatriacontanoic , hexatriacontanoic acids , myristic , palmitic , stearic , arachidic , behenic and hexatrieisocontanoic ( c 36 ) acids , oleic , palmitoleic , linolenic and cetoleic , and the like . long chain fatty amides are preferred as slip agents , suitable slip agent might include one or more of the following : unsaturated fatty acid monoamide ( e . g ., oleamide , erucamide , recinoleamide ); saturated fatty acid monoamide ( preferably , lauramide , palmitamide , arachidamide , behenamide , stearamide , 12 hydroxy stearamide ); n - substituted fatty acid amide ( e . g ., n - stearyl stearamide , n - behenyl behenamide , n - stearyl behenamide , n - behenyl stearamide , n - oleyl oleamide , n - oleyl stearamide , n - stearyl oleamide , n - stearyl erucamide , erucyl erucamide , erucyl stearamide , stearyl erucamide , n - oleyl palmitamide ); methylol amide ( e . g ., methylol stearamide , methylol behenamide ); unsaturated fatty acid bis - amide ( e . g ., ethylene bis - oleamide , hexamethylene bis - oleamide , n , n ′- dioleyl adipamide , ethylene bis oleamide , n , n ′- dioleyl sebacamide ); saturated or unsaturated fatty acid tetra amide ; and saturated fatty acid bis - amide ( e . g ., methylene bis - stearamide , ethylene bis - stearamide , ethylene bis - isostearamide , ethylene bis - hydroxystearamide , ethylene bis stearamide , ethylene bis - behenamide , hexamethylene bis - stearamide , hexamethylene bis - behenamide , hexamethylene bis - hydroxystearamide , n , n ′- distearyl adipamide , n , n ′- distearyl sebacamide ). specific long chain fatty amides that may be suitable are erucamide , stearamide , oleamide and behenamide . fatty amides are commercially available from humko chemical company and include , for example kemamide s ( stearamide ), kemamide u ( oleamide ), kemamide e ( erucamide ). in addition , fatty amides are commercially available from croda universal ltd ., and include , for example , crodamide or ( oleamide ), crodamide er ( erucamide ), crodamide sr ( stereamide ), crodamide br ( behenamide ). the sizing agent used herein is known as an alkyl ketene dimer ( akd ); these types of sizing agents are described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 576 , 049 , which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . specific examples of akd sizing agents that may be suitable in the present invention include but are not limited to octyl ketene dimer , dodecyl ketene dimer , tetradecyl ketene dimer , decyl ketene dimer , hexadecyl ketene dimer , eicosyl ketene dimer , docosyl ketene dimer , octadecyl ketene dimer , tetracosyl ketene dimer . also included are those prepared from organic acids and mixtures of fatty acids such as those found in palmitoleic acid , rincinoleic acid , oleic acid , linoleic acid , linolenic acid , olive oil , coconut oil , palm oil , and peanut oil . mixtures of any of such acids may also be used . akd sizing agents can include but are not limited to those comprising at least one alkyl group comprising from about 8 to about 36 carbon atoms . the slip agent can be washed off the glass at the finishing line using known washing processes and equipment , including brushes , ultrasound , water jet spraying , and detergent ( e . g ., potassium hydroxide detergent ) at a ph of 10 - 12 . the washing fluids will not dissolve the erucamide surface roughness , but it is nevertheless removed from the glass sheets by the mechanical action cleaning processes and devices of the finishing line . this disclosure will now provide a description by way of the following examples , which are for the purpose of illustration and should not be interpreted to limit the invention as defined in the claims . the following conditions were evaluated : 2 - sided erucamide imbibed paper in which the erucamide was applied at the size press ( condition 1 ); 1 - sided erucamide imbibed paper in which the erucamide was applied at the size press ( condition 2 ); 2 - sided erucamide imbibed paper in which the erucamide was applied at the size press , the paper including alkyl ketene dimer ( akd ) ( condition 4 ); 2 - sided stearamide imbibed paper in which the stearamide was applied at the size press , the paper including akd ( condition 6 ); erucamide coated paper in which the erucamide was applied at the dampener ( condition 7 ); and stearamide coated paper in which the stearamide was applied at the dampener ( condition 8 ). the supercalendaring conditions were as indicated in the following table 1 . the number of nips in the supercalendar conditions refer to the number of rollers through which the paper passed and these rollers were either heated or cold as indicated . the erucamide and stearamide were applied to the paper as aqueous dispersions , wherein the 10 % value indicates the concentration of the erucamide or stearamide in the dispersions . the coefficient of friction ( cof ) data support the understanding that the mechanism of action of the slip agent is not primarily by lowering the coefficient of friction . in table 2 , cof to steel means rubbing a steel plate across the paper to ascertain the cof . the above data shows that most papers have similar cof values . this includes un - coated paper . the only significantly lower cof results were obtained from the single sided dampener trial results ( e . g . the slip agent was applied to the paper at the dampener ), for both calendared and uncalendared papers . therefore , cof alone is not responsible for the scratch protection differences to be shown later in this disclosure , produced by condition 1 ( 2 - sided erucamide imbibed paper in which the erucamide was applied at the size press ) using supercalendared paper . this was supported by earlier testing using solid slip agents on glass versus the liquid slip agent , glycerol , in which the solid slip agents outperformed the liquid slip agents . here the solid particles were better in scratch prevention , although both provided low cof . in addition , the supercalendar differences indicate that the calendared paper may not be driving the slip agent towards or away from the surfaces . finally , from contact angle data discussed below , it was inferred that the dampener process results in the most slip agent on the felt - side paper surfaces , and that it does not migrate to the papers wire - side upon rolling . testing of coated papers and selection of 2 - sided erucamide coated paper from the supercalendar process for scale up the paper - conditions that were deemed acceptable from the mill trial were condition 1 ( 2 - sided erucamide imbibed paper applied at the size press ) and condition 6 ( 2 - sided stearamide imbibed paper applied at the size press and including akd ), with calendared and uncalendared paper available from each . other conditions became useful primarily for later testing since there were line issues with foaming , coating pumping , coating concentration variations , and roll alignment during other conditions . although the dampener trials were satisfactory , the 1 - sided coatings were not used for scale - up , since at this time two sheets of coated paper per substrate had a high cost . best results were obtained under condition 4 ( 2 - sided erucamide imbibed paper in which the erucamide was applied at the size press , the paper including akd ). stain testing was conducted using washed glass ( e . g ., 2 % semiclean kg solution at 45 ° c . for 15 minutes ) having a low particle count , stacked for 16 hours at 50 ° c . and 85 % relative humidity under a packing weight ( e . g ., 4 . 4 kg ). particle density of the glass sheets was measured after washing using ethan ( or mdm2 ) inspection system . a scratch test was developed to evaluate motion of the materials rubbed across the glass surface . as in stain testing , the glass sheets were 5 × 5 inches . the glass was washed and had a low particle count . this test used a simple flat - bottomed container with the material attached to the base to ride across the glass , not including glass chips , in a repeatable way . loading , speed and number of passes can be controlled . once the test was complete the results after washing were compared using a particle density instrument . 4 materials at the top of table 3 were evaluated to choose candidates for on - line tests . all results are listed in particles per square centimeter left on glass surfaces after testing . results of 10 or less for stain are acceptable , while scratch numbers below 40 are generally acceptable . all slip agents in table 3 were applied at the size press except the two noted for the dampener application . the tests showed that stearamide had higher stain results compared to erucamide , which made erucamide a more suitable slip agent . from table 3 , the best choices were from condition 1 ( c1 ), the 2 - sided erucamide imbibed materials . super - calendared ( sc ) and uncalendared versions of c1 were evaluated further . all scratch analysis results ( table 3 ) are shown to be in an acceptable range . stearamide with akd , condition 6 ( c6 ) stained the glass more than the erucamide . later data ( table 5 ) will show stearamide was in higher concentration at the glass surface , before washing , compared to erucamide . the alkyl ketene dimer ( akd ) used in c6 is a common sizing agent used in the paper industry . addition of this less expensive material ( akd ) was intended to bind to the paper interior and allow more slip agent to migrate to or remain at the surface . for erucamide imbibed in the paper at the size press , condition 4 ( c4 ), there was a higher amount of material found on glass surfaces after contact with akd versus without akd . the month 3 result listed in table 3 for condition c1 was high ( 50 . 1 ), as was the control result ( 16 ) since these samples were aged for 2 weeks at 50 ° c . in a humidity chamber with dense pack loading ( 23 g / cm 2 ) and 50 % relative humidity . this temperature effect has been observed by several techniques to bring more erucamide slip agent to the paper surface . also shown are limited results for the polymer single layer ( sl ) interleaf . those results were based on 3 replicates per test , due to sample availability . usually stain is based on 15 replicates , and scratch on at least 5 replicates . the sample was a single layer polymer film (“ sl polymer film ”; i . e ., no other separate independent layers ) that included three sublayers , one being a central medium density polyethylene core . the core was made of a foam of medium density polyethylene . two outer skin layers of low density polyethylene sandwiched the core . the total film thickness ranged from about 70 to 120 microns . on line testing of 2 - sided erucamide coated paper and single layer polymer paper glass surfaces contacting one paper imbibed with erucamide (“ coated paper ”) and one single layer polymer film imbibed with erucamide (“ sl polymer film ”) were compared along with glass surfaces contacting un - coated paper and glass surfaces with visqueen film residue after peeling (“ manually peeled visqueen film ”). generation 8 lots of 100 for each interleaf type were packed in separate crates then loaded onto the finishing line . the order of run may be relevant . the visqueen peeled surfaces were run first while the uncoated paper was run second to be followed by the coated paper and sl polymer film test materials . the visqueen stripping left the most slip agent at the surface , while the uncoated paper left no slip agent protection . the expectation was that slip agent residue from visqueen deposited on machine parts would be removed prior to testing the new materials by the glass packed in un - coated paper . testing was carried out over two days with about a week of separation between tests , due to line availability . results are listed in table 4 below . sis is a known optical method for identifying defects in which defects are measured by strobing light onto the glass and locating the defects using a scanning camera . ipc is a similar known optical defect measurement technique . controllable yield was the number of glass sheets that included a critical defect that would have required scrapping or recutting of the glass sheet divided by the total number of glass sheets tested . a useful representation of this data is shown in fig1 . this figure shows results from bod through finishing testing of materials . note that sis defect counts while not including rejectable defects are a measure of surface cleanliness of the substrates , and therefore an indicator of performance beyond yield criteria . fig1 shows that the lowest number of defects and best yields were achieved using manually peeled visqueen film ( data labeled a ), the coated paper ( data labeled c ), and the sl polymer film ( data labeled d ), whereas the worst yields were from the uncoated paper ( data labeled b ). when the contact angle measured for a treated sheet of glass is higher , it means there is more of the treatment material on the glass . fig1 first shows the anticipated range of contact angles expected from the surface of glass after peeling off visqueen film , which included erucamide . the aged bod surface is the contact angle that resulted from many months of aging bod sourced glass in a crate before peeling ( indicated as vpa in fig1 ), while other contact angle data was obtained by using washed glass with laminated visqueen film which was immediately stripped ( indicated as vpf in fig1 ). this table verifies that aging deposits more erucamide on the surface of the glass vpa , raising the contact angle relative to the glass with the stripped laminated visqueen film vpf . in fig1 the 100 % yields are observed for the aged visqueen film peeled surfaces . the next small bar p of fig1 represents the glass samples held overnight with only the dense pack uncoated paper ; this had almost no effect , and low contact angle indicates no transfer of coating material to the glass . the next set of bars c1 , c1unc , c2 , c4 , c6 and c6unc show the various conditions from the slip agent coated paper trials , with the unc in c1unc and c6unc indicating uncalendared paper , with the remaining bars being calendared paper . d1 and d2 were dampener trials of paper having 10 % solids , erucamide loading . the last bar at the end pf was for the single layer polymer film run in fig1 . the higher contact angle of c1 versus the polymer film concurs with the yield of 97 % versus 90 % observed in fig1 . all conditions were further lab - tested for stain and scratch as table 1 shows , and condition c4 , showed favorable results . condition c4 with alkyl ketene dimer ( akd ) showed a higher contact angle ( fig1 ) than other conditions of coated paper . for this reason , the next trial used paper made by c4 . the glass was placed in contact with the coated paper and held overnight in a clean room . this simulates the transfer of slip agent due to compression of the glass sheets in a stack . the glass surfaces after paper contact were examined to confirm the transfer of slip between paper and glass surfaces . many analytical techniques were attempted but were unable to determine this transfer due to the presence of very small particles of erucamide not uniformly spread on the surface of glass with low coverage . the mass esi ( electrospray ionization )- ms - ms , mass spectrometry results did show both the identity and amount , using a solvent wash of the surface . table 5 shows esi ms - ms results for several trial paper coating conditions . each test was done in duplicate . stearamide coatings were shown to be contaminated with erucamide , which shows that the stearimide samples were not pure . erucamide with akd showed transfer to the glass surface in the range of peeled visqueen film , with 1 - sided erucamide coating transferring less to glass , although the cof of the 1 - sided ( table 2 ) was lower . the uncoated paper showed no slip agents . the high amounts of stearamide transferred were not easily washed off the surfaces as shown in table 3 . the highest amount of stearamide transferred was without akd but at the dampener , where a higher surface concentration is likely since the paper is near the end of the papermaking process , and completely formed , and denser versus at the size press . to enhance the amount of erucamide transferred from interleaf paper or polymer film interleaf , the materials were tested at elevated temperatures . there were higher contact angles with increased temperatures for the two sided erucamide coated paper , pc , but the effect for the film , pf , was much less significant than for the paper . there is a possibility that transfer of glass at higher than usual temperatures in the shipment container with paper contact , or temperature rises in warehouses could enhance the surface protection of coated papers . fig1 shows this result . the base temperature of 19 . 4 degrees c . was the clean room temperature . many modifications and variations of the invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in light of the foregoing disclosure . therefore , it is to be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention can be practiced otherwise than has been specifically shown and described .
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referring to fig1 ( a ) and 1 ( b ), a powdered slush molding device is shown generally at 20 . reservoir 22 , includes a holding chamber 23 on the bottom of the reservoir and a pair of entry openings 24 for allowing entry and exit of materials disposed within holding chamber 23 . a sealing member 25 , preferably of an elastic material , is fixed to the edge of entry openings 24 . a resin powder material 26 , for forming the film , is shown disposed in holding chamber 23 . debris 27 , are shown mixed in resin powder material 26 . capturing means 28 , shown more completely in fig2 ( a ) and 2 ( b ) includes a base 32 , and a shaft 28a with cavities and projections on the surface of the shaft for capturing debris . for example , shaft 28a can be formed with a screw - shaped groove or a spiral - shaped projection . as shown in fig1 ( b ), when powdered slush molding device 20 is used , mold 21 is heated to a high temperature and attached to reservoir 22 . sealing member 25 ensures that mold 21 and reservoir 22 are kept sealed together . powdered slush molding device 20 is then rotated and shaken in the direction indicated by arrow r so that the structure ends up inverted as shown by the image having dotted lines . this allows resin powder material 26 to drop down to mold 21 and melt in places where the resin comes into contact with molding surface 21a . sealing member 25 also heats up because of heat transferred to it from the mold through conduction . as resin powder material 26 drops to mold 21 , some of the resin touches now heated sealing member 25 and solidifies . this solid resin powder on the sealing member 25 later becomes fused debris 27 . then , powdered slush molding device 20 is brought back to its original orientation as shown by the image with solid lines . this procedure of rotating the powdered slush molding device 20 is repeated a prescribed number of times corresponding to the size and shape of the molded product . the rotations stop when the molded product ( film ) is at a prescribed thickness . when that occurs , the powdered slush molding device 20 is then reoriented so that the mold 21 is again above the reservoir 22 as shown by the image with solid lines . unmelted surplus resin powder material 26 is returned from mold 21 to the holding chamber 23 . mold 21 and reservoir 22 are then separated , and mold 21 is cooled . the resulting film is removed from molding surface 21a , thus completing the film forming process . in this film forming process , the rotation and shaking that is performed moves resin powder material 26 back and forth between holding chamber 23 and mold 21 through entry openings 24 . as resin powder material 26 flows back and forth , debris 27 formed on sealing member 25 , get mixed into resin powder material 26 , and finally becomes caught on capturing means 28 . it has been observed that debris 27 is formed from resin powder material 26 especially that which has been caught between sealing member 25 and heated mold 21 . this caught resin powder material melts and forms a film . this film adheres to fluid resin powder material as it is rotated and shaken , and thus the film is stretched to form debris 27 . this debris drops into holding chamber 23 and is mixed into resin powder material 26 . debris 27 are often found to have lengths from 30 cm to almost 1 meter . therefore , in the film forming process , the probability that the debris 27 will become caught on capturing means 28 is very high , and thus the debris 27 can be captured and removed easily . referring now to fig2 ( a ) and fig2 ( b ), a plurality of capturing means 28 are mounted on side wall 231 and upper wall 232 of holding chamber 23 with the implementation of screw holes 233 formed on side wall 231 and upper wall 232 . shafts 28a of capturing means 28 mounted on side wall 231 extend past an opening 241 of entry openings 24 . after a production lot is completed , debris 27 caught on shaft 28a are removed by hand through entry openings 24 . this removal is done during a time that mold 21 is out of service and so production is not affected . a user may also open upper wall 232 of holding chamber 23 and manually remove the debris . furthermore , capturing means 28 itself can be rotated out of screw hole 233 and removed from reservoir 22 so that debris 27 are removed along with capturing means 28 . debris 27 can then be easily removed from now isolated shaft 28a . then , capturing means 28 is screwed back into screw hole 233 to allow the next production lot to begin . according to the invention as described above , capturing means 28 captures debris 27 mixed in resin powder material 26 that were generated during film formation . the capturing means 28 captures debris 27 each time the powdered slush molding device 20 is rotated or shaken during film formation . the capturing is performed automatically , and the cavities and projections formed on the surface of shaft 28a allow debris to be captured efficiently . this eliminates the need to remove debris periodically using a comb , and does not require molding operations to be interrupted . thus , productivity is improved , and the defect rate is decreased . a user need only remove the debris 27 tangled on shaft 28a when a production lot is completed . as described more clearly above , the removal can be effectuated either through entry openings 24 or by removing capturing means 28 itself from reservoir 22 and then removing the debris 27 . thus , the unhealthy generation of powder fumes that accompanies the use of a comb is eliminated , the debris cleaning process is greatly simplified , and productions cycles are uninterrupted . referring now to fig3 a second embodiment of the powder slush molding device of the present invention is shown generally at 22 . elements that are identical to those in the first embodiment are given like numerals and the corresponding descriptions are accordingly omitted . shaft 29 , replaces shaft 28a of capturing means 28 of the first embodiment . shaft 29 extends from base 32 and then bends substantially perpendicularly with respect to the base 32 . as in the first embodiment described above , shaft 29 is formed with a screw - shaped groove or a spiral projection . shaft 29 is inserted roughly perpendicular to upper wall 232 through screw hole 233 and is bent roughly midway in holding chamber 23 so that it extends close to opening 241 of entry openings 24 . a plurality of capturing means 28 , each including shaft 29 , are screwed into respective screw holes 233 . each capturing means extends from upper wall 232 of holding chamber 23 into the holding chamber 23 itself as was described in the first embodiment . screw hole 233 is used for attachment and removal of capturing means 28 with shaft 29 , and is formed as a somewhat large circular hole so that bent shaft 29 can be inserted easily . shaft 29 is inserted at an angle and then screwed in . alternatively , a slot ( not shown ) can be used instead of screw hole 233 in order to allow shaft 29 of capturing means 28 to be more easily inserted . in that case , a cover ( not shown ) would be disposed over the slot . shaft 29 would be fixed to the cover and would extend downward into holding chamber 23 . shaft 29 would be then screwed into screw hole 233 so that the cover would overlay the slot . with shaft 29 structured in this manner , either the vertical section or the horizontal section of the shaft would cross the flow of the resin powder material 26 in holding chamber 23 and thus increase the probability of capturing debris . this is because , during film formation , the resin powder and any debris move back and forth between holding chamber 23 and mold 21 . now portions of shaft 29 would intersect that flow . therefore , debris 27 can be caught easily and effectively with the utilization of shaft 29 . referring now to fig4 there is shown a third embodiment relating to the powder slush molding device of the present invention . elements that are in common with the first and second embodiments are assigned like numbers and overlapping descriptions are omitted . a plurality of shafts 30 replace shaft 28a and shaft 29 of the first and second embodiments respectively . shafts 30 are identical in shape to shafts 28a and 29 from the first and second embodiments or slightly thinner . however , in this embodiment , a plurality of shafts 30 are connected to a single base 32 . the plurality of shafts 30 are arranged together like a claw . these claw - shaped shafts 30 are inserted from screw hole 233 of upper wall 232 . one shaft 30 is bent with respect to the base 32 so that it extends close to entry openings 24 of opening 241 . another shaft 30 is bent toward the bottom of holding chamber 23 . remaining shafts 30 are disposed so that they extend between the two shafts described above . shafts 30 are all inserted into holding chamber 23 from upper wall 232 through screw hole 233 . screw hole 233 allows shafts 30 to be attached and removed . in order to allow claw - shaped shafts 30 to be easily inserted , screw hole 233 can be formed as a slot ( not shown ) as described in the second embodiment . during the film forming process , shafts 30 described above provide even more efficient capture of debris 27 since they can intersect the complex flows of resin powder material 26 in holding chamber 23 . consequently , debris 27 formed in resin powder material 26 have an even greater chance of getting captured on this embodiment of the capturing means . in the described embodiments , 2 entry openings are shown illustrating a situation when more than one mold is being formed at one time . however , entry openings 24 can include only one opening as well . the number of openings corresponds to the number of molds being made during the pertinent cycle . debris 27 is created by melted or carbonized resin powder material 26 . it can take the form of any shape including ball shaped . such a ball shape could be formed if debris 27 is rolled around itself . in the described embodiments , resin powder material 26 may be a vinyl chloride resin that has been suspension polymerized and to which has been added a plasticizing or a stabilizing agent . the resin is then processed to form a powder having an outer diameter of approximately 200 microns . however , any material which has the property of being able to flow through an opening when gravity urged and which solidifies when heated would work with this invention . having described preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to those precise embodiments , and that various changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims .
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referring first to fig1 a first exemplary method of carrying out the invention is shown . the first step 100 , comprises applying a colloidal suspension 10 to a substrate 12 , such as a microelectronic substrate . a first exemplary method of applying the colloidal suspension 10 to the substrate 12 in accordance with step 100 is shown in fig2 and 3 . with reference to fig2 the first exemplary method includes depositing a glob 14 of the colloidal suspension 10 substantially at the center of a surface 16 of the substrate 12 . the colloidal suspension 10 comprises a plurality of colloidal particles 18 suspended in a suspension medium 20 . a conventional device 22 may deposit the colloidal suspension 10 on the surface 16 . with reference to fig3 one method of distributing the colloidal suspension 10 across the surface 16 of the substrate 12 is by rotating or spinning the substrate about a longitudinal axis 24 . the rotational velocity of the substrate 12 is important to achieving proper dispersion of the colloidal suspension 10 across the surface 16 of the substrate 12 . while spinning the substrate 12 causes the colloidal suspension 10 to disperse across the surface 16 , it fails to break up any aggregations or clumps of the colloidal particles 18 . etching of the substrate 12 through the resulting mask will produce a plurality of field emitter tips , many of which will be clumped together . an second exemplary method of applying the colloidal suspension 10 to the surface 16 of substrate 12 , in accordance with step 100 ( fig1 ) is shown in fig4 . in this case , the colloidal suspension 10 is sprayed over the surface 16 , substantially covering the entire surface 16 . thus , the spinning or rotating of the substrate 12 about the longitudinal axis 24 may be eliminated . after the application of the colloidal suspension 10 to the substrate 12 , the colloidal suspension 10 is agitated as in accordance with step 102 ( fig1 ). there are a variety of methods for agitating the colloidal suspension such that any aggregation of particles is broken up . for example , with reference to fig5 applying a mechanical vibration directly to the colloidal suspension 10 or indirectly to the colloidal suspension 10 through the substrate 12 can sufficiently agitate the colloidal suspension 10 . the mechanical vibration may be along axes 26 , 28 which are perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 24 the vibration should be of sufficient intensity , duration and period to effectively break up any aggregation of colloidal particles 18 in the suspension medium 20 . applying ultrasonic or megasonic acoustic energy , having frequencies greater than approximately 16 khz will also agitate the colloidal suspension 10 sufficiently to raise the effective temperature of the particles to break apart any aggregation of colloidal particles 18 therein . the mechanical or acoustical energy may be of a period and amplitude sufficiently large to set up a standing wave in the colloidal suspension 10 . further control over the colloidal particles 18 may be realized by establishing a potential energy gradient across the substrate 12 . such can be realized by application of a charge to the plurality of colloidal particles 18 and the substrate 12 , or through the application of a heat to the substrate 12 to establish a temperature gradient thereacross or , by establishing a gravitational gradient across the substrate 12 by , for example , tilting the substrate 12 with respect to a gravitational vector . in the exemplary embodiment , the colloidal suspension 10 comprises of a plurality of colloidal particles 18 suspended in a suspension medium 20 . the colloidal particles 18 may take the form of beads or spheres of a polymer , such as polystyrene , polydivinyl benzene , or polyvinyl toluene . the spheres are often made by either suspension or emulsion polymerization . the spheres can be conveniently fabricated in sizes ranging from 0 . 5 to 5 microns . suitable spheres are available from interfacial dynamics corporation of portland , oreg . and bangs laboratories , incorporated of fishers , ind . the suspension medium 20 comprises deionized water , photoresist and a solvent , in the exemplary embodiment . for example , a suitable mixture may comprise : one milliliter of particles in deionized ( di ) water combined with 20 milliliters of a photoresist and 5 milliliters of a solvent , such as isopropyl alcohol . the preferred range of for the mixture is approximately 2 - 20 milliliters of photoresist and approximately 5 - 50 milliliters of solvent per litter of particles in di water . in accordance with step 104 ( fig1 ), removal of the solvent from the suspension medium 20 occurs after the aggregation of colloidal particles 18 have been broken up . removal of the solvent may occur through conventional evaporative steps , such as the application of heat to the composition . the removal of the solvent leaves behind a layer of colloidal particles 18 on the surface 16 of the substrate 12 . as shown in fig6 the photoresist fixes the position of each of the particles 18 relative to the surface 16 of the substrate 12 . the colloidal particles 18 serve as a mask for the etching step 106 ( fig1 ). etching may be performed in any known manner such as by chemical means , reactive plasma etching , or ion beam etching . for example , ion beam etching directs a beam of ions at the surface 16 of the substrate 10 through the mask of colloidal particles 18 . the incident ion beam etches away the particles 18 and the surface 16 . the relative etching rates of the particles 18 and the surface 16 determine the configuration of the etched surface 30 , the etching may thereby form microelectronic devices , such as field emitter tips 32 , in the surface 16 of the substrate 12 . a second exemplary method of carrying out the invention is shown in fig8 wherein like numerals correspond to similar elements and steps carried out in the first exemplary method . in the second exemplary embodiment , the colloidal particles 18 left behind on the surface 16 after step 104 serve as a deposition mask . in step 108 material is deposited on the surface 16 of substrate 12 between the colloidal particles 18 . depositing of the material may be accomplished through conventional means , such as lift off , plating , and ion implanting . although specific embodiments of , and examples for , the present invention are described herein for illustrative purposes , various equivalent modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention , as will be recognized by those skilled in the relevant art . the teachings provided herein of the present invention can be applied to other substrates to define other microstructures , not necessarily the exemplary microelectronic devices , such as field emission emitter tips , generally described above . these and other changes can be made to the invention in light of the above - detailed description . in general , in the following claims , the terms used should not be construed to limit the invention to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and claims , but should be construed to include all substrates and manufacturing of such substrates that operate in accordance with the claims . accordingly , the invention is not limited by the disclosure , but instead its scope is to be determined entirely by the following claims .
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referring now to fig1 a microprogram module 20 has a microprogram read only memory ( rom ), a microinstruction register and a priority logic circuit . when a microprogram word is addressed , the word is read from the microprogram rom into the microinstruction register . this register supplies control signals and a numeric literal field which is used by the digital computer for a variety of addressing and indexing operations as well as for arithmetic operations . an instruction module 30 has an instruction register which can shift its contents to the left in one or three 4 - bit byte increments . this shifting property accomodates variable length instructions which may be packed several instructions per word and may be split across the bounderies of adjacent words . the contents of the instruction register come from a user program . separate instructions are accessed and their field format determined by a microprogram in the microprogram rom , while the boundaries of the instruction words and the fetching of new words is kept track of by a byte counter . a program module 40 has a memory which is divided into two sections . the user program resides in a rom , and a read / write ( data ) memory contains space for input / output buffers , subroutine linkage stack and the general registers . a processor module 50 has a register file and an arithmetic logic unit ( alu ) which can perform a variety of arithmetic and logic operations . operands for the various operations are read by the microprogram from the program module 40 into the register file ( which cannot be directly accessed by the user program ) and are processed by the alu . results may be written back into the program module 40 . memory addresses for the program module 40 may come from the processor module 50 and from the instruction module 30 . a sequencer module 60 controls access to the microprogram rom in the microprogram module 20 . for a given macroinstruction ( user program instruction ) the first microprogram rom address is determined from the opcode of the instruction word presently in the instruction register . succeeding microprogram rom addresses are under the control of the microprogram itself . this module also contains hardware to generate addresses for input / output ( i / o ) and realtime microdiagnostic operations . data is acquired by the computer via an input module 70 for serial digital data , and via analog to digital converters for analog data to provide parallel digital data to the processor module 50 . the input module 70 has an input register acting as a shift register which is filled serially , which operation is asynchronous with respect to the computer program execution . input data is entered in parallel from the most significant bits of the input shift register of the input module 70 , or from the converted analog data , via the processor module 50 to an input buffer in the data memory of the program module 40 on an interrupt basis at the completion of an instruction execution of the user program . later , the input data is transferred from the input buffer to other locations in the data memory via the processor module 50 under program control . output data from the output module 80 may be in three forms . data to missile servos is converted from digital to analog by a digital - analog converter ( dac ). a serial digital output is obtained by converting from parallel to serial by an output shift register . the third form of data is kept in parallel for high rate requirements , and is transmitted via a buffering register . the allocation of output buffers in the data memory of the program module 40 is made by the programmer and is not restricted to any particular area in the data memory . the control module 90 contains the hardware to perform several distinct and unrelated functions . a demultiplexer decodes a microorder control field in the microprogram instruction to provide infrequently used , mutually exclusive control signals . two groups of logic in the control module use &# 34 ; internal conditions &# 34 ; as inputs . the first of these groups is used to shift bits in a multiplier during multiplication , the control being derived from the demultiplexer . the second group ors part of a data , or literal , field of the microinstruction with either the most significant byte from the instruction register of the instruction module 30 or certain internal conditions derived from the microinstruction of the microprogram module 20 . this second group outputs to the sequencer module 60 to select the next microprogram address . a byte counter and associated control logic are used in the loading of the instruction register and in the transfer of data from the input module 70 to locations in the input buffer . referring now to fig2 - 9 , a detailed description of a specific embodiment is described . the microprogram module 20 , shown in fig2 has a read only memory ( rom ) 22 with 512 48 - bit words , the output of which is loaded into a microinstruction register 24 , and provides internal control signals for the computer . as shown , the microinstruction register 24 may be divided into functional fields , with each field corresponding to a specific control function . each microinstruction is encoded only to the level where it can drive medium scale devices such as multiplexers , consequently it is wide enough ( 48 bits ) to allow considerable parallel operation . fourteen bits of the microinstruction register 24 from the multiplexer control field is broken down into seven 2 - bit fields -- amx , rmx , tmx , fmx , wmx , mmx , and cmx . each of these fields supplies an address to a single data multiplexer . these multiplexers will be discussed in detail along with the computer module in which they appear . the remainder of the microinstruction register 24 is comprised of several fields whose functions will now be summarized and will be discussed in greater detail along with the computer module in which they appear . cnd selects internal combustion for use by the control module 90 for input to the sequencer module 60 is generating microaddresses . imcc increments a multiple cycle counter in the control module 90 which is used in operations requiring repetition of a set of microinstructions such as shifting or multiplying . the microorder control field supplies addresses to the demultiplexer in the control module 90 and thereby controls various micro - operations within the computer . l slave causes the loading of a slave register in the processor module 50 . cin provides a carry into the least significant bit of the alu in the processor module 50 via logic in the control module 90 . the logic / function field tells the alu what operation to perform on the operands supplied to it . the register input / output field contains the addresses of register files in the processor module 50 to be written into and read from respectively . the literal field , along with its associated sign bit from the micro - order demultiplexer , supplies a literal which may be used by various parts of the computer in operations such as address modification . clock , when enabled , in conjunction with mmx reduces the rate of the system clock 26 , such as from 300 nsec clock pulses to 400 or 500 nsec clock pulses per microroutine , so that operations which encounter extensive logic delays within the computer may be used . lar enables loading of one of two registers in the sequencer module 60 . shift controls the shifting and loading via the byte counter in the control module 90 of the instruction register in the instruction module 30 . the three least significant bits of the microinstruction from the microprogram rom 22 are unique in that they are not buffered through the microinstruction register 24 , but are applied to combinational logic directly . this is done so that the next user program instruction may be fetched immediately , rather than waiting for the clock pulse which loads the microinstruction register 24 and initiates decoding of the microinstruction . the remainder of the microprogram module will be described subsequently . referring now to fig3 the instruction module 30 has an instruction multiplexer 32 with four inputs which loads an instruction register 34 in parallel . the inputs to the instruction multiplexer 32 are various concatenations of bytes presently in the instruction register with bytes of a user program instruction from the program module 40 . going from most significant to least significant bytes , assuming that the instruction multiplexer 32 and the instruction register 34 are 24 bits wide and that the user program instruction is 16 bits long , these inputs are : ( 1 ) the two most significant bytes from the instruction register followed by the presently addressed user program instruction from the program module 40 , ( 2 ) the most significant byte in the instruction register followed by the presently addressed user program instruction from the program module , ( 3 ) the present addressed user program instruction from program module , and ( 4 ) the previous contents of the lower three bytes of the instruction register which are now placed in the upper three bytes ( shift left 3 ). the particular input selected is determined by the byte counter ( bt ) from the control module 90 which keeps track of the number of shifts of the instruction register 34 by counting the number of empty least significant bytes , i . e ., bytes devoid of information supplied by the user program . the inputs are loaded into the most significant bytes of the instruction register 34 , and , since the instruction register is not entirely filled by all the given inputs , the remaining insignificant bytes are empty . by shifting continuously and loading in this manner the instruction register 34 supplies an apparently endless string of bytes to the microprogram . the instruction in the instruction register 34 is broken down into its component fields ( opcode , addresses , etc .) by analyzing the high order byte or bytes in the register , then left - shifting the contents of the register in one or three byte increments until the next field is placed in the most significant position of the register . each field may be isolated and read out from the instruction register 34 by a read multiplexer 36 which can select the most significant byte ( ir ) or the three most significant bytes ( id ). the particular input to the read multiplexer 36 is determined by the rmx field from the microinstruction register 24 . the other two inputs to the read multipler 36 are the output from a slave register in the processor module 50 and data from the program module 40 . the latter input gives the read multiplexer 36 its name since it is used to access data from the program module 40 that is required by the rest of the computer . the output of the read multiplexer 36 is connected to the input of the processor module 50 , the output module 80 and the program module 40 . fig4 shows the program module 40 which has a program memory 42 ( read only memory ) in which the user program is stored and a data memory 44 ( read / write memory ) which contains the general registers and the input / output buffers . the program memory 42 is the source of user program instructions for the instruction module 30 , and the data memory 44 is the source of data for the processor module as well as data for output via the read multiplexer 36 of the instruction module 30 . a write signal , decoded from the micro - order field of the microinstruction register 24 by the control module 90 , enables the data memory 44 to receive data from the processor module 50 . an address multiplexer 46 is controlled by the amx field of the microinstruction register 24 and connects directly to an address register 48 . address source are from the address register 48 itself ( in lieu of a disable signal for the loading of the address register ), the processor module 50 , the read multiplexer 36 of the instruction module 30 , and ir from the instruction register 34 of the instruction module . the output of the address register 48 is connected directly to the address inputs of the program memory 42 and the data memory 44 . the output of the address multiplexer 46 also connects with the input of the output module 80 . for a total memory of 2 , 816 words , a 12 - bit address register is required . the processor module 50 , shown in fig5 has a register file 51 with a plurality of registers which are addressed by the register output / input field of the microinstruction register 24 . the register file 51 may be simultaneously written into and read out from different addresses . the register file 51 provides one operand to an arithmetic logic unit ( alu ) 53 . the alu 53 may perform a large number of operations using two operands . these operations include addition , subtraction , left - shifting , incrementing , and logical anding and oring . the particular operation is chosen by the logic / function field of the microinstruction register 24 . the second operand is the present contents of a slave register 57 . a function multiplexer 55 has four inputs controlled by the fmx field of the microinstruction register 24 . one of the inputs is the literal field of the microinstruction register 24 , the second input is the presently addressed contents of the data memory 44 , and the last two inputs select the output of the alu 53 directly or right - shifted . the output of the function multiplexer 55 is connected to the slave register 57 , the multiple cycle counter in the control module 90 , the address multiplexer 46 of the program module 40 , a write multiplexer 59 , and the output module 80 . the slave register 49 is used by the microprogram as an accumulator register . the l slave field of the microinstruction register 24 enables the loading of this register by the function multiplexer 55 . the slave register 59 may be shifted left one bit by adding it to itself via the alu 53 , and new bits may be entered serially under control of cin which allows a carrying ( rlink ) by the alu . the write multiplexer 59 selects the source of all input to the data memory 44 , as well as making the selected data available to the output module 80 , depending upon the wmx field of the microinstruction register 24 . the inputs are : ( 1 ) the most significant bits of the input data from the input module 70 , ( 2 ) the output of the register file 51 , ( 3 ) the output of the function multiplexer 55 , or ( 4 ) the output of one of a plurality of analog to digital converters . the selected data is written into the area of the data memory 44 presently addressed by the address register 48 if the write signal is present . referring now to fig6 the sequencer module 60 contains the logic that controls microinstruction sequencing . a microaddress register ( mar ) 62 is the source of microaddresses for executing instructions , an alternate register ( ar ) 63 is the source of microaddresses for executing input / output ( i / o ), and a subroutine register 64 establishes a hierarchy for using microsubroutines . microprograms can be two levels deep in executing user program instructions and one level deep in i / o . the microprogram rom 22 addresses are output from the sequencer module by a control multiplexer 65 . the control multiplexer 65 by itself accesses only one - half of the microprogram rom 22 , so a ninth address bit is supplied by a bank bit from the combinational logic 27 in the microprogram module 20 to control access to either half of the microprogram rom . the control multiplexer 65 is the only multiplexer in the computer whose input select signals are derived in part from external conditions . the selection is determined by cmx which is generated by the microprogram in conjunction with a priority logic 29 in the microprogram module 20 ( see fig2 ). the input to the control multiplexer 65 from a micromultiplexer 66 is selected when the computer is executing a user program . when an i / o interrupt is processed , the microprogram selects the alternate register 63 which becomes the microprogram address source for the i / o routine . the address for an interrupted program is saved pending resumption of the interrupted program in the microaddress register 62 which is not used by the i / o routine . as the instruction register 34 of the instruction module 30 is emptied , program execution must be temporarily suspended at some time while a new instruction is &# 34 ; fetched &# 34 ; from the program memory 42 . this is done by selecting the control module 90 input to the control multiplexer 65 for one instruction cycle which results in a hard wired branch to a location in the microprogram rom 22 containing a routine for fetching bytes from the program memory 42 and placing them in the vacated positions in the instruction register 34 . this microroutine also saves the contents of the microaddress register 62 and the slave register 57 in the processor module 50 so that program execution may be resumed after the fetch cycle is complete . the remaining input to the control multiplexer 65 is provided by a status word which is part of the data input to the input module 70 . the status word appears periodically and creates a real - time jammed interrupt to start the user program . this word specifies one of a plurality of microdiagnostic programs which runs just prior to the user program and supplies a hardware test result to the output module 80 . at the time of this interrupt , the microprogram module 20 , the instruction module 30 , the processor module 50 , the sequencer module 60 and the control module 90 are devoid of information relevant to the program state , this information existing entirely in the program module 40 . thus , these modules are available for fault testing with the microdiagnostic routines . since the memory oriented architecture implies that these modules are also responsible for the logical functioning of much of the i / o processing ( in a time sharing sense ), a great deal of information is available which would otherwise be unobtainable during actual computational processing , i . e ., during a missile flight , for example . a key feature of the microdiagnostic routines is that they are executed in real - time while a mission is in progress , thus providing logical fault data about the computer while in flight . the inputs to the micromultiplexer 66 are selected by the mmx field of the microinstruction register 24 . the inputs are : ( 1 ) the literal from the microinstruction register 24 , ( 2 ) ir φred in the control module 90 with the least significant byte of the literal ( lit + ir ), ( 3 ) the output of condition logic in the control module 90 , which is determined by the cnd field of the microinstruction register 24 , φred with the least significant bits of the literal ( lit + cnd ), and ( 4 ) the output of the miocroaddress register 62 . the microaddress and alternate registers 62 , 63 are both loaded from a bypass / increment logic 67 , and the lar field of the microinstruction register 24 and its logical inverse ( lmar ) enable the loading of one or the other of these registers . the bypass / increment logic 67 is an arithmetic unit which uses the outputs of the control multiplexer 65 and a subroutine multiplexer 68 as index arguments and updates the microaddress value for each microinstruction cycle of the computer . the address generated by the bypass / increment logic 67 depends on the &# 34 ; fetch &# 34 ; status and the micro - order field of the microinstruction register 24 . during interrupt operations the control module 90 places the bypass / increment logic 67 in the &# 34 ; bypass &# 34 ; mode . during program execution lar and lmar cause the value of either the microaddress register 62 or the alternate register 63 to be incremented by one and used as the next microprogram address ( branching within the microprogram being accomplished by the micromultiplexer 66 using the literal field as mentioned previously ). the subroutine multiplexer 68 and subroutine register 64 are used by the microprogram to enter and leave microsubroutines . the subroutine multiplexer 68 allows the present microaddress to be stored in the subroutine register 64 and later restored to the microaddress register 62 or alternate register 63 when the microsubroutine is exited . the subroutine multiplexer 68 output drives both the subroutine register 64 and the bypass / increment logic 67 . access to the subroutine register 64 is via the subroutine multiplexer 68 controlled by the micro - order field of the microinstruction register 24 via the control module 90 which provides the following operations : load subroutine register with contents of microaddress register 62 , load with contents of alternate register 63 , and read subroutine register . the destination register in the latter operation is either the microaddress register 62 or alternate register 63 depending upon lar / lmar . the remaining input to the subroutine multiplexer 68 is the output of the microaddress multiplexer 66 . the input module 70 is composed of a set of input shift registers 72a , 72b , 72c , 72d as shown in fig7 . input is received serially and is shifted in until the registers are full , at which point an input interrupt is generated by an input sequencer 74 and sent to the microprogram module 20 . the least significant bit of register 72a in conjunction with an address code register 76 are placed into an input code register 78 and indicate what kind of data has been received . this information is used by the control module 90 to generate the microaddress of an input handling routine . the input data is divided into a plurality of words , such as four 12 - bit words as illustrated , which are placed in the data memory 44 of the program module 40 by the write multiplexer 59 of the processor module 50 through successive shits in parallel of the contents of registers 72b , 72c , 72d , into register 72a . after the first such shift the contents of register 72b have replaced those of register 72a , the contents of register 72c are in register 72b , etc . the data words , ie ., the contents of registers 72b , 72c , 72d , are read into an input buffer set up by the microprogram in the data memory 44 from register 72a , one after each shifting process . the microprogram adds the address code register 76 to the base address determined by the type of data to tell the computer where the data goes into data memory 44 . all input data is read into a portion of an input array section of the data memory 44 , the exact location used being a function of the kind of data as indicated by the input code and address code registers 78 , 76 . the user program must then move the data to a different location in the data memory 44 before the next set of input data is received or the data will be lost . another feature of the input register structure is that it allows extra buffering so that serial data words may be accepted more rapidly . as soon as the data words have been shifted in parallel once , register 72d may accept data in serial independently while the other registers 72c , 72b , 72a are supplying data to the data memory 44 in parallel mode . the input sequencer 74 controls this operation and clears registers 72a , 72b , 72c at the conclusion of the input interrupt . if the input data word is a microdiagnostic word , a portion of register 72c is input to the control multiplexer 65 of the sequencer module 60 to select the microaddress of the particular one of a plurality of microdiagnostics specified . the output module 80 is shown in fig8 . a test multiplexer 82 is under the control of the tmx field of the microinstruction register 24 and selects either ( 1 ) the output of the address multiplexer 46 from the program module 40 concatenated with other test points , ( 2 ) the output of the write multiplexer 59 from the processor module 50 , ( 3 ) the output of the read multiplexer 36 from the instruction module 30 , or ( 4 ) the output of the control multiplexer 65 concatenated with the output of the subroutine multiplexer 68 from the sequencer module 68 . the test multiplexer 82 is in turn connected to an output buffer 83 and an alternate output buffer 84 . the output buffer 83 and its associated output shift register 85 are under the control of an output counter and control circuit 86 which controls the loading of the output shift register from the output buffer and the serial unloading of the output shift register . the output counter and control circuit 86 is in turn controlled by the micro - order field of the microinstruction register 24 via the control module 90 . the serial output is connected through an output logic circuit 87 under control of the output counter and control circuit 86 to a line or lines to provide a serial digital output . the output logic circuit 87 also provides the microprogram module 20 with an output interrupt signal to indicate the output buffer 83 is ready for the next output interrupt . the alternate output buffer 84 is loaded by a signal from the micro - order field of the microinstruction register 24 via the control module 90 and is connected to provide a parallel digital output for high rate devices . a digital to analog converter ( dac ) 88 , under the control of the micro - order field via the control module 90 , receives its input from the read multiplexer 36 of the instruction module 30 and provides an analog output to drive analog devices . returning now to fig2 a priority sub - module located in the microprogram module 20 has a priority logic circuit 29 and the combinational register 27 . the priority logic circuit 29 receives the interrupt inputs from the input module 70 ( input ), the output module ( output ), the control module ( fetch ), the unbuffered cycle lookahead from the microinstruction register 24 , and the output of the status latch ( sstar ) from the combinational register 27 , and determines whether the computer should be executing an instruction , fetching an instruction or processing an interrupt . when more than one of these conditions is pending , the action taken is determined by the priority logic circuit 29 . whenever a new instruction must be fetched from program memory 42 of the program module 40 , since the three least significant bits ( cyc ) of the current microinstruction are unbuffered , the &# 34 ; fetch &# 34 ; condition is detected as soon as the microinstruction word containing it is accessed . thus the addressing portion of the fetch takes place before any other operation indicated by the microinstruction , and the fetch can take place on the next cycle of the program memory 42 concurrently with any other indicated operation . cyc also may indicate a condition called end which is used to determine when the computer may be interrupted . when a user program instruction is begun , the computer enters the microprogram segment associated with that particular instruction . in most cases this segment will make use of several registers in the register file 51 of the processor module 50 for local bookkeeping operations . this data is discarded at the end of the segment , and the next program instruction may use the register file 51 for a different set of bookkeeping operations . to prevent data in the register file 51 from being lost , the interrup subroutine of the microprogram can interrupt the processor module 50 only when the end condition occurs . the last microinstruction associated with each macroinstruction ( program instruction ) contains such an end condition so the pending interrupt may be acted upon when instruction processing is complete . under these circumstances an interrupt address is generated by the control module 90 and is selected by control multiplexer 65 of the sequencer module 60 . on the next computer cycle execution switches to the alternate register 63 . the inputs to the combinational register 27 are from the priority logic circuit 29 to determine cmx and whether an input or output interrupt exists , and from status condition from the input module 70 which , together with the bank bit , selects the one - half of memory which contains the microdiagnostic routines . the last module to be described is the control module 90 shown in fig9 which contains the hardware to perform several distinct and unrelated functions . a micro - order demultiplexer 91 outputs a number of signals which enable various conditions within the computer . these signals are produced by the micro - order field of the microinstruction register 24 since they are used less frequently than the signals which are assigned their own unique control fields in the microinstructionn register . they do not have to be explicitly specified for each microinstruction and no two of them must be activated at the same time , thus saving several bits in each microinstruction , i . e ., instead of 32 bits for 32 signals , only 5 bits are required . the signals from the micro - order field include load multiple cycle counter ( lmcc ), load byte counter ( lbt ), address register transfers in the sequencer module 60 as discussed supra , bit manipulations involving the slave register 57 in the processor module 50 as used by the multiply microroutine , and several others . they are divided into two classes -- clocked and unclocked . the unclocked signals , when selected , become active as soon as demultiplexer decoding of the micro - order field is complete and remain so until the next clock pulse places a new microinstruction into the microinstruction register 24 . these signals drive circuitry which is itself clocked , such as j - k flip - flops , and thus any decoding spikes from the micro - order demultiplexer 91 have no effect and are assumed to have settled out before the next clock pulse . conversely , clocked signals drive combinational circuitry directly . since decoding spikes are undersirable in this case as they might cause errors , they are avoided by clocking the micro - order demultiplexer enable line . clocked signals are thus active only during the clock pulse following the one in which they were loaded into the microinstruction register 24 . a multiple cycle counter 92 allows control of cyclic processes such as multiplying and shifting , is loaded with the output of the function multiplexer when lmcc ( unclocked micro - order signal ) is active , and is incremented whenever the imcc field of the microinstruction register 24 is active . end of process is indicated when a carry out of the counter ( c out ) is detected and a conditional transfer is made on the basis of this condition . two groups of logic appear in the control module 90 which use &# 34 ; internal conditions &# 34 ; as inputs . the first of these groups is derived from an auxiliary slave register 93 which is used to shift bits in the multiplier / shift logic 94 during multiplication . all internal conditions used by this logic are outputs of the micro - order demultiplexer 91 and the cin field of the microinstruction register 24 which produce the carryin signal for serially entering bits via the alu 53 into the slave register 59 . the other group of logic performs two functions . the first is the oring of part of the literal field from the microinstruction register 24 with either the ir field of the instruction register 34 or certain internal conditions which are treated as a two - bit field . the other is to choose one of these internal conditions which are derived from the auxiliary slave register 93 , the multiple cycle counter 92 and the processor module 50 . selecting pairs of these signals in the computer is accomplished via a condition multiplexer 97 addressed by the cnd field of the microinstruction register 24 and provides conditional transfers based upon the conditions selected . a byte counter 98 and associated interrupt control logic 99 are used in the loading of the instruction register 34 , and in the transfer of data from the input shift register 72 to locations in the input buffer of the data memory 44 as determined by the bits from the input code register 78 , respectively . the byte counter 98 is loaded from the three least significant bits of the literal field when enabled by the micro - order signal lbt from the micro - order demultiplexer 91 . output from the byte counter 98 goes to the instruction multiplexer 32 and the interrupt control logic 99 . the byte counter 98 also notifies the priority logic 29 of an impending fetch , and when the fetch condition is enabled by the priority logic the interrupt control logic 99 generates the microaddress of a fetch routine which is input to control multiplexer 65 . whenever the byte counter 98 indicates four bytes are empty in the instruction register 34 ( due to shifting ), or three bytes are empty and the shift condition is active , the fetch signal becomes active . this signal is processed by the priority logic 29 in conjunction with the cyc field of the next microinstruction . when the cyc field indicates either an end or a fetch enabling condition in conjunction with the fetch signal and the absence of a higher priority interrupt , the interrupt control logic 99 generates a microaddress which is selected by the control multiplexer 65 and causes the computer to enter a fetch processing microroutine . the interrupt control logic 99 also generates microaddresses for input and output microroutines when the priority logic 29 processes the appropriate interrupt . the instruction set for the computer is organized around bytes four - bits in length even though program and data memory words are several bytes long . the number of bytes used in a given instruction is dependent on the amount of information required and is fixed by the microprogram associated with that instruction . length may be as short as one byte or of an indefinite length for an arithmetic string depending on the complexity of the arithmetic expression involved . the variable length instruction scheme allows memory space to be conserved by using the minimum number of bytes required for each instruction rather than multiples of a fixed word length . if an instruction occupies less than a full computer word , the following instruction will begin in the first unused byte of the word and , if necessary , continue to the next full word . since the computer is word - addressable rather than byte - addressable in order to minimize the size of instruction address fields , it is not possible to transfer program control via a branch instruction to an instruction which begins in the middle of a word . this condition is remedied by the insertion of no - op instructions until the instruction to be tranferred to begins in the first byte of a word , the insertion being accomplished automatically by a program compiler . the actual field formats of each instruction , excluding the opcode ( which is used directly as an address to the microprogram rom 22 and thus must appear at the beginning of an instruction ), are determined entirely by the microprogram , making the number and placement of the fields entirely arbitrary . since a single byte is used as an opcode , the number of basic opcodes is fixed by the hardware as sixteen . however , under microprogram control additional fields ( called variant fields ) may be used to modify the opcode and thus extend the instruction set . in the general case the variant operations of a single opcode need not be related at all , and thus no flexibility is lost in the possible instruction set by restricting the number of basic opcodes to sixteen . the sixteen basic types of instructions can be subdivided into several classes . three instructions allow data transfers between the general registers and memory . all arithmetic operations derive their operands from the general registers which reside in the first sixteen locations of the data memory 44 . thus , general registers may be addressed by a single byte rather than three bytes ( for a 12 - bit address register ), allowing an appreciable storage saving in the case of arithmetic expressions . the polish string instruction allows a sequence of operations of indeterminate length to be performed using the contents of the general registers . any arithmetic expression that can be expressed as a chain calculation is valid . intermediate results are accumulated in the slave register 57 . arithmetic operations , such as addition , subtraction , mulitplication , incrementing , decrementing , etc ., shifting operations , and logical operations such as anding and oring of two words are available . also several types of branching operations are available , including both unconditional and conditional branching ( if instructions ) as well as subroutine branch and return operations . finally , various types of indexed data transfers are available . microprogram execution of instructions will be illustrated by reference to the if instruction . referring now to fig1 , it is desired to set z to the smaller of x and y , where x , y and z specify general registers , or , if x & lt ; y , then z = x , else z = y . the assembled instruction would appear in program memory 42 as a string of bytes as illustrated , where 6 = if opcode , d = if test , c = condition to be tested , 3 = register tranfer opcode , o = no - op . a flow chart of the implementing microprogram is shown at the left and the consequent instruction register activity is shown at the right . the instruction numbers correspond to the flow chart level numbers where the instruction is executed . the boxes in the flow chart represent microinstructions , microaddresses in hexadecimal are shown above each box , and , if a logic condition is required to invoke a particular microinstruction , it is shown underlined at the top of the box . each instruction is responsible for emptying the instruction register of that instrution &# 39 ; s string and starting the next instruction . this is done by oring the literal oo 16 with the most significant byte of the instruction register . when an instruction is ending , the terminating microinstruction &# 39 ; s literal is always oo 16 ; therefore , the or of this literal and the opcode is always the opcode . this forces a branch to one of the first 16 locations in the microprogram which contains the first step for that instruction . the if will actually start with its opcode 6 shifted out and the address of the general register y at the left of the instruction register . the microinstruction transfers the address of y to the memory address register and a memory cycle begins , placing the actual number y in one of the file registers . again the instruction register shifts , the address of x appears and is transferred to the memory address register . the sequence 06 - 1b - 1c are common to all instructions which use two operands . at this point 16 different things could happen . in the example the byte following x is a d ( binary 1101 ). this means that the two preceding bytes have specified registers whose contents are to be compared . if x were followed by c , it would mean that location x contains a number to be compared with a number y , as opposed to the number in location y . the other 14 possibilities specify arithmetic operations . to establish what action is to occur , the byte following x is tested against literal 30 16 , and , as the outcome is 3d , a branch takes place in the microprogram . the microinstruction in 3d places the contents of x in one of the file registers . 3d can be reached by another route when the first byte of an instruction is 7 ( and the microprogram sequence begins at 07 ). this instruction compares the contents of a register against 0 , and is used frequently enough to justify its own shorter ( two bytes ), faster format . the separate sequence saves program memory space and time , and illustrates the type of optimization possible . the byte in the string after the d is a c ( binary 1100 ), which is again tested . this byte specifies the kind of comparison to take place -- equal , unequal , greater than , less than - and what to do if the comparison succeeds -- branch immediately , branch after incrementing or decrementing a register , or execute another instruction ( the then part of the if instruction ). the test is against literal a3 ( binary 1010 0011 ), which effectively masks the lower two bits of the byte and tests only the upper two bits to establish comparison . here the test of c with a3 yields af : the microinstruction in location af calls for the &# 34 ; less than &# 34 ; instruction . byte c remains in the instruction register so that its other two bits can be tested in due time . since for the purposes of this example the comparison shows that x is indeed less than y , the microprogram proceeds to check their signs , and then to look at the other two bits of c by a test against literal 9c to find out what to do about it . the remainder of the microprogram sequence is not shown , but in the long run it sets a register z with the contents of register x as specified in the programmer &# 39 ; s instruction . the last byte it sees in the immediate sequence is a 3 , which is the opcode calling for the contents of one register to be moved to another register ; however , before it knows which two registers are involved , it has to fetch more of the instruction from the program memory . this fetch is necessary because the byte counter is greater than 3 and is signaled by a fetch from the cyc ( cycle lookahead ) field of the microinstruction ; and it is possible because the relation between x and y , which previously occupied part of the file register , has been determined and they may now be overlaid with new instruction bytes . therefore , the present invention provides a variable architecture digital computer where the most complex design features are concentrated in the microprogram which controls the instruction set , input / output and diagnostic tests . developmental changes in the software , thus , don &# 39 ; t affect the hardware , and the variable instruction length provide maximum flexibility with minimum memory space which is so important in aerospace applications .
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fig1 illustrates a schematic diagram of the inputs that may be collected for objectively assessing a landing condition in the present invention . a processor may be used to collect , process , and store data using a computer program of the present invention , where input from each wheel in the landing gear is provided to the program . the program outputs a condition report that may be stored , broadcasted , or otherwise made available to subsequently landing aircraft at the same runway . other modes can be implemented to carry out the invention without a computer program , and the invention is not limited to just a computer program . input to the program may include the following : the autobrake setting 10 from the cockpit , the pilot &# 39 ; s pedal commands 12 from the cockpit , the brake metered pressure 14 from a sensor , the aircraft deceleration 16 along with other various parameters such as inertial reference system ground speed , weight on wheels 18 , etc . ; thrust reverse value 20 , and spoiler / speedbrake deployment 22 . each of these inputs are fed to the anti - skid / brake control system 24 , along with the actual wheel speed 26 taken at the axle wheelspeed transducer 28 and the brake pressure 30 using a pressure transducer 32 ( if available ) at the wheel 34 . each of these factors are used to evaluate a braking quality factor of the tire - runway interface 40 . in a first preferred embodiment , a processor in the anti - skid / brake control system 24 receives all of the data and undertakes a data processing program that incorporates : ( a ) wheel speed ( b ) wheel spin - up time ( c ) time on ground ( d ) wheel deceleration ( e ) aircraft ground speed ( f ) aircraft deceleration ( g ) wheel speed spin - up recovery ( h ) hydroplaning condition ( i ) autobrake commanded pressure ( j ) autobrake deceleration error ( k ) anti - skid wheel slip error ( l ) anti - skid velocity reference ( m ) anti - skid pbm / integral command ( n ) braking command ; and ( o ) wheel slip velocity . each of these various factors are analyzed to arrive at a braking quality factor of the runway condition determination 44 , which may be “ dry ,” “ moderate ,” “ poor ,” or no report is made available . other conditions are also possible , such as “ good ,” “ satisfactory ,” “ hazardous ,” and “ insufficient data .” the ultimate condition is compiled in a condition report 50 , which may be made available to subsequent pilots landing on the same runway , as well as kept for future analysis . in this way , a more objective approach to runway landing conditions is available to the pilots . the terms described in the condition report may be replaced or modified with synonymous terms or numerical representation . in other words , the outcome can be tailored based on the needs users &# 39 ; community or the specific reporting system . it is possible that in the future an industry or regulatory agency will adopt standard terms for describing tire / runway friction , and the present invention would incorporate those terms for reporting to the aircraft information system . one advantage of the present invention is that all of the data used to determine the braking condition can be taken from the aircraft &# 39 ; s brake control system . the determination of the runway condition can be used with either autobraking or pedal braking , where each option uses a separate branch to evaluate the braking surface . in one embodiment , the runway condition is determined during the landing roll , such as immediately after landing when the wheels spin up , and throughout various phases during the deceleration of the aircraft ( e . g ., at 100 kts groundspeed , 75 kts , 50 kts , etc .). the determination of the braking conditions evaluates whether autobrake or maximum brake pressure is employed , partial brake pressure employed , and if hydroplaning is occurring . in a preferred embodiment , all of the wheels in the landing gear are evaluated using the techniques referenced herein to better evaluate the conditions on the runway surface . the method of the present invention can best be understood by reference to the flow chart illustrated in fig2 a , 2b . the method is preferably performed by an onboard processor on the aircraft that includes a communication device that communicates the conditions on the runway to a remote location , such as a control tower , flight deck , or other central database . the flow chart goes through various decisions that ultimately determine if a condition is reported , and if so , the nature of the condition . the first decision in diamond 100 is whether the aircraft is in landing mode . if the aircraft is not in landing mode , the program is inactive and reports nothing in bubble 105 . if the aircraft is in landing mode , the next decision is whether the autobrake setting is off in diamond 110 . if the aircraft &# 39 ; s autobrake setting is not off , this means that the autobrake is active and the next decision is in diamond 115 to determine if the autobrake setting is low or “ 1 .” this query is based on the landing speed thrust reverse , which is provided in box 155 . if the autobrake setting is not “ low ” or “ 1 ,” the selected deceleration is evaluated in diamond 145 . if the selected deceleration is achieved , the program reports that conditions are “ good ” to the tower in bubble 150 . if the selected deceleration is not achieved , if the maximum pressure commanded the program reports that the conditions are “ hazardous ” in bubble 130 , and if the maximum pressure is not commanded the program reports that the conditions are “ poor ” in bubble 135 . if the autobrake setting is set to low or 1 , the program determines if the selected deceleration is achieved under these settings in diamond 120 . if yes , the program reports that conditions are “ satisfactory ” in bubble 140 . if the selected deceleration is not achieved , the program reports that the conditions were “ poor ” in bubble 135 . if at the decision diamond 110 the autobrake setting is off , the landing speed , pedal position , spoilers , and reverse thrusters are activated or entered into the program in box 155 . this information is passed to a decision diamond 160 where the program queries whether there is antiskid activity . if there is no antiskid activity , the program determines whether the braking command is greater than the braking threshold in diamond 165 . if it is not , the program is unable to determine a condition and reports in bubble 170 that there is insufficient data to evaluate the conditions . if the braking command is greater than the braking threshold , the program seeks to determine in diamond 175 whether the aircraft &# 39 ; s deceleration is greater than a predetermined value in feet per second squared . if the deceleration is not greater than the predetermined threshold , the program reports in bubble 170 that there is insufficient data to evaluate the landing conditions . however , if the program determines that the deceleration is greater than the predetermined value , the program reports in bubble 180 that the conditions are “ good - moderate .” if the program determines in diamond 160 that there is antiskid activity , then the program evaluates whether the antiskid pbm indicates a low pressure region in diamond 185 . if the pbm indicates a low pressure region , the program again seeks to determine if the deceleration is less than a predetermined value in diamond 190 . if the deceleration is not less than a predetermined value , the program reports that conditions are “ moderate - poor ” in bubble 210 . if the program determines that the deceleration is less than a predetermined value , the program next seeks to determine if a hydroplaning condition exists in diamond 195 . if hydroplaning does not exist , the program reports in bubble 205 that the conditions are “ poor .” if hydroplaning does exist , the program reports in bubble 200 that conditions are “ hazardous .” if the program in diamond 185 determines that the pbm does not indicate a low pressure region , the program in diamond 215 evaluates whether the pbm indicates a mid - range pressure region . if the pbm does indicate a mid - range pressure region , the program in diamond 220 determines whether the deceleration is below a predetermined value in diamond 220 . if the aircraft &# 39 ; s deceleration is not less than the predetermined value , the program reports that the conditions are “ good - moderate ” in bubble 225 . if the deceleration is less than the predetermined value , the program reports in bubble 180 that the landing conditions are “ moderate .” if the program does not determine that the pbm level indicates a mid - range pressure region in diamond 215 , then the pressure region must be high . the program then makes a determination in diamond 230 whether the deceleration is less than a predetermined value . if the aircraft &# 39 ; s deceleration is not less than the predetermined value , the program reports that the conditions are “ dry ” in bubble 240 . if the program determines that the deceleration is less than the predetermined value , the program reports in bubble 235 that the conditions are “ good .” the foregoing flow chart illustrates how a program can evaluate readings from various landing gear data and instruments to make a scaled evaluation of the available tire / runway friction conditions for a particular runway that is not subjective to the pilot but rather objectively determined . other factors may be added to the calculus to arrive at more quantitative scores , but the foregoing example still provides excellent feedback to subsequent aircraft regarding the conditions on the approaching runway . moreover , because the factors that go into the reporting are not subjective , pilots will gain further confidence and understanding of the various terms such as “ good ” or “ moderate ” since they will be consistent each time the pilot lands . in this way , the present invention is a significant improvement over other systems for determining landing conditions on an aircraft runway . the program described in the flow chart is but one example of the types of factors that can be considered in such a landing conditions reporting system . other factors may also be used or combined into an even more comprehensive program . for example the program can also incorporate the rate of wheel spin - up from the brake control antiskid system ( wheel acceleration ) to determine if the aircraft is in landing mode or take off mode . the program may also consider the rate of wheel spin - up ( wheel acceleration ) for each wheel when in landing mode , at initial aircraft touchdown , as an initial indication of runway friction and runway condition . this data can be incorporated into the final evaluation of the landing conditions as well . the program may also use data from the brake control antiskid systems autobrake function when it is the method chosen over manual braking , or use autobrake commanded pressure and deceleration setting as criteria for determining runway condition . additional embodiments of the present invention can use data from the brake control antiskid system when manual braking is applied by the pilot or first officer , and where the system distinguishes if antiskid activity is present or not . when braking is insufficient to produce antiskid activity , the system may use aircraft generated deceleration reference or brake control system ( wheel speed ) generated deceleration to determine sufficient braking deceleration is achieved . alternatively , when braking is sufficient to produce antiskid activity , the system may use antiskid brake control command integrator / pressure bias modulation ( pbm ) and / or brake pressure feedback to determine if braking activity is in a low pressure region . other factors may also influence the determination of the landing conditions . for example , when braking is sufficient to produce antiskid activity the system may use antiskid brake control determined wheel slip velocity and wheel slip error as an indication of runway condition , or the program may use the rate of wheel spin - up ( wheel acceleration ) during skid recovery as an indicator of runway condition . the program could also use an antiskid / brake control command and aircraft deceleration as criteria for determining runway condition . a comparison can be made as to the aircraft deceleration with wheel speed to determine if individual wheel hydroplaning conditions exist . the system then uses a hydroplane condition as a criteria for determining the braking quality factor . other factors that may be incorporated into the program include inputs such as landing speed , brake pedal position or pilots metered brake pressure and ground spoiler handle position and thrust lever actuation as additional criteria for determining runway condition . the system may also conduct an initial evaluation and reporting of condition upon touchdown , as well as periodic evaluation and reporting of condition throughout the landing roll . additionally , the program may compare its inputs with time phased profiles representative of the landing conditions to dynamically determine runway condition throughout the landing roll , and evaluate information from each main landing gear wheel channel to establish the overall runway condition being reported . it will be apparent from the foregoing that while particular forms of the invention have been illustrated and described , various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . accordingly , it is not intended that the invention be limited but rather all modifications and substitutions that would be recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art are intended to be included in the scope of the invention .
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the following description sets forth an embodiment wherein the invention takes place in the context of reporting of website visitation data gathered in the course of an online purchase . however , the description is merely illustrative of the techniques of the invention ; one skilled in the art will recognize that the techniques of the invention can be applied in any context wherein it is desirable to filter website visitation data . in the course of purchasing an item from an online retailer , a visitor / customer generally follows a basic path . the visitor enters a website ( by , for example , typing the url for the website , or selected from a favorites menu , or clicking on a link ) and is presented with a home page for the online retailer . during the process , the visitor generally is presented with an item description . if the visitor wants to buy the item , he or she clicks on an “ add to cart ” link and navigates to a checkout page and then to a page for entering billing and shipping information . after entering such information , the visitor generally is presented with a confirmation page where he or she is given the opportunity to review the order and finalize it before exiting the website . analysis of visitor navigation through such sequence is extremely valuable to website administrators . techniques for collecting site path sequences are known in the art . a particular visitor is recognized as he or she moves from page to page ; the mechanics of visitor tracking are known in the art and need not be described in detail here . visitor / customer web page visit records are stored in sequence according to they time that they occurred . each visitation record typically contains two types of information : an identifier of the page visited , and metadata that provides further criteria for filtering and analyzing the sequential data . in some contexts , certain elements of the visitor navigation are designated as “ checkpoints ,” meaning that they are of importance in analyzing website visitation paths . generally , all instances of a particular sequence of checkpoints are considered to be equivalent , regardless of the presence or absence of any other ( non - checkpoint ) nodes within the sequences . greater detail regarding the use of checkpoints can be found in co - pending u . s . patent application ser . no . 10 / 609 , 008 , filed jun . 27 , 2003 by brett error et al ., entitled “ capturing and presenting site visitation path data ,” which is incorporated herein by reference . in one embodiment , the system automatically designates certain nodes as checkpoints based on particular characteristics , location , name , popularity , or any other factor . for example , the home page , and / or the five most popular pages , can automatically be designated as checkpoints . these automatic , or default , checkpoints can , in one embodiment , be used to construct an initial target path . it is within this context that the description of one embodiment present invention is described herein . fig1 is a flowchart illustrating a method of incrementally adding segmentation criteria to a data set according to one embodiment of the present invention . as an optional preliminary step , user input is received 110 to select one or more defined reports for viewing . in one embodiment , the user initiates this step by clicking on a user interface control such as a reports button . in addition , a data set associated with the one or more defined reports is then received 120 , for example comprising website visitation data . in one embodiment , this is accomplished by sending report queries to a network , and receiving report data from the network corresponding to the queries . the network replies , in one embodiment , with data . in this embodiment the retrieval includes interpreting the data , for example using hash codes or look up tables stored , e . g ., in local cache . in another embodiment , the process begins at step 130 . the system displays 130 defined reports . in one embodiment , each report displays a set of default metrics , and the data are sorted by that metric . for example , an initial default metric may be visits to a website , although this can be customized by the user via an options screen . in one embodiment , the user can customize the default metrics on a per - report basis , for example by changing , adding , or deleting metrics . in one embodiment , the defined reports are displayed 130 in a report display area of a user interface . in one embodiment , preprogrammed default metrics include page views ; visits ; hourly , daily , weekly , monthly , quarterly , or yearly unique visitors ; revenue ; orders ; units ; cart opens , adds , removes , and views ; checkouts ; custom events ; occurrences ( the product view , campaign click - thru , instance equivalents ); and participation metrics . initially , the report shows a default number of data rows ( such as 10 ), although the user can adjust the default number as desired . in various embodiments , the reports are standard , preset reports associated with a set of predefined filters ; user - customized reports built during a current session ; previously customized reports retrieved from storage ; or fall - out reports . a “ fall - out report ” is a report based , in one embodiment , on a target path specified in terms of checkpoints as described herein . a fall - out report indicates how many visitors continued to the next checkpoint in target path , regardless of whether the visitor / customer visited other , tangential pages before continuing . in one embodiment , the present invention provides a mechanism for generating and tailoring a “ fall - out report ” that provides statistics on visitation paths for specific checkpoint pages , without regard to other pages that are not designated as checkpoints . if the user chooses to apply one or more filters by clicking on elements of the report , the fall - out report is automatically updated accordingly . thus , the user can easily specify the particular filter parameters for a fall - out report , and can easily modify , add , or remove such parameters as he or she sees fit . in some embodiments , various views of the report data are available . for example , types of views include tended , improved , ranked , over time , fall - out , conversions , averages , graphical , gantt , tabular , raw data , and flexible . some reports also include a search field that allows the user to search for and view entries for specific keywords or phrases . when a user desires to filter a report , the system receives 140 user input to adjust segmentation criteria to filter the report . in various embodiments , the adjustment to segmentation filter criteria includes adding segmentation criteria ; removing pre - existing segmentation criteria ; adjusting a date range ; creating a new segmentation criterion ; and activating a contextual menu of options for the segmentation criteria . in one embodiment , the information in the rows of the report is mutually exclusive , such that selection of a single criterion or filter collapses the report to the selection . in another embodiment , the information is not mutually exclusive , thus selection of multiple rows , and thus multiple filters , is possible . the user can filter a report by various means . for example , the user can click on a filter icon (“ funnel ”) adjacent to the desired filter criterion . the icon acts as a toggle in one embodiment , switching between activating and deactivating the criterion depending on its current state . in one embodiment , clicking on a funnel icon causes the filter to be applied as an “ and ” logical operation . in one embodiment , the user can use various operations to apply a filter as an “ or ” criterion . for example , the user can , in one embodiment , shift - click to apply the filter as an “ or ” criterion . thus , the system can receive user input to apply more than one filter to a single defined report , using either an and or an or logical operation for combing the filters , in response to receiving input to apply two or more filters in series . all reports will adjust according to the filters . the user can then further filter the adjusted reports , if desired . in one embodiment , the user can right - click to see a menu of options for applying the filter . according to one embodiment , elements of the displayed reports are themselves user input elements for specifying filters . thus , the user can click on an area ( such as a line ) within a tabular report to apply a filter that corresponds to the data item being displayed in that area . in one embodiment the applied filters are shown in a segment filter area of a user interface , which displays a summary of the filters and the method by which they are combined ( e . g ., and or or ). next , the system processes 150 a the selected criteria , displaying 150 b one or more adjusted reports . in one embodiment , each report is adjusted according to the segmentation criteria . in one embodiment , the adjusted reports are displayed virtually instantaneously following the user input to adjust the segmentation criteria . in addition , if the reports have been adjusted by more than one filter , all filters will be reflected in the displayed adjusted reports , e . g ., in a report display area of a user interface . in one embodiment , sampling rate for reports is selected based on requested date range , available ram and other technological considerations . in one embodiment , the processing 150 a is part of an executable process that combines filters and applies them to the reports . an executable process also displays a summary of the filter criteria in a segment filter area of a user interface and adds filter criteria to the summary as filters are selected according to one embodiment . as part of this process that system also may store the reports . a user can save and later re - open a project . when a user saves a project , the data set , filters , reports , and canvas appearance are all preserved . subsequently , when the user opens the saved project , everything looks exactly as he or she left it . one skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention can be used in connection with any type of filtering criteria that can be specified by the user , and / or with any combination of such filtering criteria . examples include the ordinal visit number ( indicating whether this is the visitor &# 39 ; s first visit , second visit , etc . ), which particular pages were visited , time of day of the visit , geographic location of the visitor , web browser being used , whether or not the visitor is using a beta version of the browser , and the like . referring now to fig2 a , there is shown an example of a system 200 useful for practicing the present invention according to one embodiment . one skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced using other embodiments that differ from the examples shown . the system 200 includes a client 201 , a network 202 , and optionally a cache 209 , for incrementally adding segmentation criteria to a data set . the client 201 includes software including of a number of executable code portions and data files . these include code for viewing and interacting with website usage reports according to one embodiment of the present invention , as well as for supporting functionality of a user interface , as will be described in greater detail in conjunction with fig2 c . client 201 is responsible for orchestrating the processes performed according to the methods of the present invention . for example , client 201 receives input 212 from an input device , and sends reports to display 207 ( or other output device ) for output to the user . client 201 runs on a standard personal computer . network 202 is a centralized network for handling and responding to client requests for data on website usage , as described further in conjunction with fig2 b . a cache 209 , if present , is a standard cache of small , fast memory holding recently accessed data . the cache 209 may include , for example a list of hash codes or other look up tables for report data as described below . in one embodiment , the components shown in fig2 a operate as follows . when a user requests one or more reports via an input device 210 , client 201 receives input 212 to this effect . client 201 sends a query 203 to network 202 , specifying which reports are requested , and optionally specifying one or more filters for the reports . in one embodiment , query 203 is in xml format . in response to query 203 , network 202 returns data 204 that contains a representation of the report data . data , in various embodiments , may be coded or not , and may be hashed data or may be included in a standard look up table . for example , data 204 may specify , in hash coded terms , the text string name of an item in a report . the data 204 is received by client 201 . client 201 stores , in local cache 209 in one embodiment , a list of previously received and decoded hash codes or look up table information , so that it can correctly interpret a hash code or table data that it has encountered previously . in one embodiment , local cache 209 is used and is cleared at the end of a session , so that only those codes previously received in the same session are stored in cache 209 . in other embodiments , local cache 209 is implemented in a more persistent or less persistent fashion , depending on user needs . upon receiving data 204 , client 201 consults cache 209 if present ; if cache 209 contains the hash code ( s ) or meaning ( s ) of data 204 ( in other words , if client 201 has previously received data containing the same hash code / meaning ), client 201 can interpret the meaning of the hash - coded or look up tabled data without any further communication with network 202 . for example , a hash code / meaning may specify that hash term # 299 signifies a visitor using internet explorer 6 . 0 . if hash code ( s )/ meaning ( s ) from data 204 is / are not present in cache 209 , client 201 sends a query 205 to network 202 ; network 202 responds by sending translation 206 to client 201 . translation 206 provides client 201 with the meaning of terms . in one embodiment , client 201 stores this meaning in cache 209 for future use . once client 201 has received sufficient data to generate a report , it sends report to display 207 for output to the user . in one embodiment , if some meanings have not yet been received , client 201 still sends report , and report states that certain terms are unknown . in another embodiment , client 201 displays an error message and / or waits until more complete meaning data is available . the user can interact with the displayed report via user input device 210 such as a mouse , keyboard , or the like . the user can click on areas within report ; when the user clicks on an area that can be interpreted as a filter , client 201 generates and sends a new query 203 containing the new report filter criteria . the above process then repeats , and an updated report is sent to display 207 . referring now to fig2 b , there is shown an example of an architecture for network 202 according to one embodiment . network 202 includes any number of front - end web servers 250 that receive queries 203 , 205 from client 201 , and any number of back - end servers 260 that obtain data from storage , e . g ., from database 270 , analyze the obtained data , and send report data back to client 201 . servers 250 , 260 are computers or devices that send and receive information using well known network protocols , such as tcp / ip and http , for communication across a network . back - end servers 260 send an appropriate data set to client 201 based on the filter request . for example , if a filter request specifies that the user is only interested in visitors that used a particular web browser , back - end servers 260 remove the data that does not match the specified criterion , and only forward to client 201 the data that does match . database 270 may be a relational database or any other type of database that stores the data used by client 201 . database 270 may be accessible by client 201 through a user interface , e . g ., as described in conjunction with fig3 a - 3g . database 270 contains website visitation data , which in one embodiment is stored in a binary format stored in some storage medium such as a hard drive . in one embodiment , the website visitation data is broken up into files , or “ bricks ,” to facilitate extraction of portions of the data . when servers 260 extract data from database 270 , they are provided with specific bricks that match the criteria . in one embodiment , when the user requests a report showing website visitation data for a specified time period , back - end servers 260 extract data from database 270 that contains web visitation logs and / or statistics . in one embodiment , servers 260 obtain data from database 270 that represents a snapshot of website visitation over a specified time period . servers 260 then store this website visitation data in temporary local storage ( such as random access memory ), using for example a binary format that is encoded according to an algorithm so as to minimize bandwidth usage . in one embodiment , this binary format is identical to the format used in database 270 , so that no file format translation need be performed when servers 260 extract data from database 270 . servers 260 and then apply filters as requested , and send the filtered data to client 201 . in one embodiment , whenever the user requests a broader date range for website visitation data , back - end servers 260 perform a new data extraction from database 270 . however , when the user narrows the date range from a previously specified range , no new data extraction is performed ; rather back - end servers 260 filter the previously extracted data according to the new filter parameters . fig2 c is a block diagram illustrating software modules used by a client according to one embodiment of the present invention . the modules include of a number of executable code portions and data files . these include code for creating and supporting a user interface according to one embodiment of the present invention , as well as for supporting incrementally adding segmentation criteria to a data set . the modules include an input module 275 , a query module 280 , an interpret module 285 , and an output module 290 . the input module 275 is configured for receiving input to select one or more reports ; receiving input to adjust segmentation criteria for one or more reports ; receiving input to adjust one or more metrics ; and receiving input for adjusting various aspects of displayed data . thus , when a user requests one or more reports via an input device , the input module allows the client to receive input to this effect . in one embodiment , the input module 275 is further configured to receive user input to apply more than one filter to one or more reports , e . g ., using logical operators . the query module 280 is configured for retrieving a data set comprising website visitation data associated with one or more reports ; sending report queries to a network and receiving report data from the network corresponding to the queries ; storing adjusted reports as one of the one or more defined reports . in one embodiment , when user input is received to filter the reports , a new query is generated and sent , repeating the process . the interpret module 285 is configured for , in response to receiving data from the network , interpreting the data . in one embodiment , the interpret module 285 uses hash codes / meanings stored for this purpose . if hash codes / meanings are not present , for example in local cache , in one embodiment the interpret module 285 sends a query to the network , and receives back translation , providing the meaning of term . the output module 290 is configured for processing and displaying one or more defined reports ; displaying one or more ( singly or multiply ) adjusted reports , each adjusted according to segmentation criteria ; displaying one or more twice - adjusted reports , each adjusted according to the segmentation criteria . in one embodiment , the processing takes place as described in conjunction with fig1 . in one embodiment , the output module 290 sends reports to a display device for output to the user . in one embodiment , the output module 290 is further configured to display the reports in a report display area of a user interface . if the information in the rows of the report is mutually exclusive , the selection of a single criterion or filter collapses the report in the user interface to the selection according to one embodiment . in one embodiment , the output module 290 is further configured for displaying the applied filters in a segment filter area of a user interface . the above software portions 275 - 290 need not be discrete software modules . the software configuration shown is meant only by way of example ; other configurations are contemplated by and within the scope of the present invention . fig3 a illustrates a user interface 305 for incrementally adding segmentation criteria to a data set according to one embodiment of the present invention . in one embodiment , the user interface is implemented using a known environment such as macromedia flex , java , dhtml , or any combination thereof . the user interface 305 includes two main functional areas , a report control area 310 and a report display area 315 . the report control area 310 includes functionality for creating projects and reports and for displaying report statistics . the report display area 315 includes functionality for displaying and filtering reports . the report control area 310 further includes a project title 320 , a project toolbar 325 , a report selection area 330 , a segment filter area 335 , and a date filter area 340 according to one embodiment . the project title 320 displays the title of the project in use , and in one embodiment defaults to “ untitled project 1 ” when no title has been selected , as illustrated in fig3 a . the project toolbar 325 is a standard toolbar , and includes icons for various project functionalities such as creating a new project , opening an existing project , saving the project in use , printing the project , etc . the report selection area 330 includes an open report button 345 , a list of selected reports 355 , and a clear button 350 . the open report button 345 allows the user to open an existing report . once opened , the report name is added to the list of selected reports 355 , and the report 360 is displayed in the report display area 315 . each of the selected reports 360 in the list of selected reports 355 is displayed in the report display area 315 . report data is retrieved , e . g ., by the process described in conjunction with fig2 a - 2b . the segment filter area 335 displays a list of selected segmentation criteria , as shown in fig3 c . the segmentation filter area 335 also includes a new segment button 365 for manually adding segmentation criteria . the date filter area 340 allows the user to filter the selected reports 360 by date , for example by selecting a date range for which the user would like to see the report 360 data . the date filter area 340 includes to and from date selectors 370 and a show by selector 375 . the two and from data selectors 370 allow the user to set start and end dates for the data displayed in the report 360 , either by typing in the desired dates or by clicking the calendar icon and selecting the dates on a calendar . the show by selector 375 allows the user to select the granularity of the report , for example , by day , week , or month . fig3 e shows a user interface with another embodiment of a report control area 310 . the report control area 310 includes a title 320 and toolbar 325 similar to those described in conjunction with fig3 a . however , this embodiment includes different user interface elements for selecting reports and filtering criteria . the report control area 310 includes a reports button 332 that operates to allow the user to select reports for viewing , similar to the functionality of open button 345 . once a report 360 is open , it is displayed in a report display list 334 . the report display list 334 of fig3 e shows that no report has been selected . see fig3 f - 3g for other examples of report display lists 334 . the report control area 310 also includes a filter button 336 that allows the user to select segment and date filter criteria . clicking on the filter button 336 activates a drop - down that allows the user to choose date or segment filters , as shown in fig3 f - 3g . once a filter is chosen , a textual description of the filter displays in the filter list 338 . the filter list 338 of fig3 e shows that no filters have been selected . see fig3 f - 3g for other examples of filter lists 338 . the report display area 315 includes the reports 360 chosen in the reports selection area 330 . fig3 b illustrates a report 360 in greater detail according to one embodiment of the present invention . each report 360 displays data corresponding to one dimension within the context of a larger data set , for example , website visitation data . the report name 362 is the dimension that the selected report 360 displays . for each report 360 , data is sorted according to one or more default metrics 364 . in this example , the default metric 364 is visitors ( to the website ). in another embodiment , the metric ( s ) used can be user defined , as shown in the metric selector 364 of fig3 f . reports 360 also include a set of standard function keys , including a print button 366 , a download button 368 , and view selector 372 . the print button 366 allows the user to print online reports without having to first download the reports . clicking the print button opens a pop - up window with a printer - friendly version of the report . the download button 368 allows the user to select the format in which to download the report ( e . g ., word , excel , pdf , html ). once the user selects a format , the report is sent to the user as an email attachment or is downloaded directly to the user &# 39 ; s computer . the view selector 372 allows the user to select various views of the report data . the ranked view , shown in fig3 b , is the default view for most reports , allowing the user to view report data in tabular format according to the selected time periods . other views include improved , which allows the user to see how selected items performed between previous and current time periods based on success metrics such as revenue of checkouts , and trended , which allows the user to view report trends over a given time . the user may select other available views using the view selector 372 drop - down . a trended view 378 is shown in fig3 f ; the view selector 372 displays trended . in addition , some reports 360 include a search field 374 . a search field 374 allows the user to search for and view entries for specific keywords or phrases . as a result of clicking “ go ,” the report displayed will be filtered by the entered search term . in addition an advanced search button 376 allows the user to search with greater specificity , for example , by choosing whether to search for the exact phrase , perform an “ and ” or “ or ” search using the search terms , or exclude entries with the entered search terms . in one embodiment , clicking the advanced search button 376 opens a pop - up window displaying these options . each report 360 is divided into columns , including a filter column 380 , a data column 385 , and one or more metric columns 390 . the data column 385 includes a list of various forms of the dimension corresponding to the report 360 . in the depicted example , the dimension is browsers , thus various browsers , such as microsoft internet explorer 6 . 0 , netscape navigator 6 . 2 . 3 , etc ., are listed . the metric column ( s ) 390 includes statistics for the respective row &# 39 ; s 395 data column 385 . in the example depicted , for each browser ( data column 385 ), the metric column 390 displays visitors by number and percentage of the whole . the filter column 380 of each row 395 includes an icon that allows the user to filter the data by that row 395 . all reports 360 are filtered to reflect the filter . in one embodiment , the filter column 380 icon acts as a toggle , narrowing or expanding the data depending on the present state of the data . data may be further filtered if desired , and again all reports 360 are filtered by the additional criterion . in one embodiment , the filtering occurs virtually instantaneously . in addition , the rows are totaled in a totals row 396 . reports 360 display rows up to a pre - selected number for the user interface 305 . in one embodiment , the number of rows can be edited . the user can interact with on - screen report windows according to well known interaction techniques for window - based operating systems . for example , the user can drag edges to change the height and width ; minimize , delete , and maximize ; reposition / rearrange windows on the canvas by dragging the window title bar ; and drag the column margins to resize column width . fig4 a illustrates a user interface 405 for filtering website visitation data according to one embodiment of the present invention . the user interface 405 is similar to the user interface described in fig3 a - c . the user interface 405 includes a report control area 310 and a report display area 315 , which function as described above . in the embodiment displayed , a date range of apr . 1 through apr . 9 , 2005 has been selected in the date filter area 340 . the report display area 315 includes various reports 410 . fig4 a shows two unfiltered reports 410 . each of the displayed reports 410 is shown in the report selection area 330 . in this example , the default metric 364 for the displayed reports 410 is page views . report data for the reports 410 is retrieved , e . g ., by the process described in conjunction with fig2 a - 2b . because no filters have been applied , the segment filter area 335 does not display any segmentation criteria . each report 410 is divided into columns and rows 415 , as described in conjunction with fig3 b . the filter column 420 of each row 415 includes an icon that allows the user to filter the data by that row 415 . as one or more rows 415 are selected as filters , for example filter criterion rows dashboard 415 a and products 415 b , each report 410 updates to reflect the filters . fig4 b illustrates the user interface 405 of fig4 a with two filters applied via an and combination . thus , fig4 b displays the user interface 405 showing results for visitors who viewed both the products report and the dashboard . in one embodiment , the user may select an and combination by clicking on filter icons corresponding to various filtering criteria in series . because visitors may have accessed other reports 410 in addition to the reports 410 selected for filtering , the remainder of the report data is updated accordingly . note that both reports 410 reflect application of these filters . once the filter ( s ) are chosen , a textual description of the filter ( s ) displays in the segment filter area 335 , including information about the combination type , e . g ., and operation . the user also may combine filters from different reports 410 . for example , by selecting the filter icon of row 415 c of fig4 b , advanced search is added as a filter criterion . fig4 c illustrates the user interface 405 of fig4 b with an additional filter applied via an and combination . thus , fig4 c displays the user interface 405 showing results for visitors who looked at the products report and the dashboard , and performed an advanced search . again both reports 410 reflect application of the additional filter and the segment filter area 335 is updated . fig4 d illustrates the user interface 405 of fig4 a with two filters applied via an or combination . specifically , filter criterion rows dashboard 415 a and products 415 b have been selected . thus , fig4 d displays the user interface 405 showing results for visitors who viewed either the products report or the dashboard . in one embodiment , the user may select an or combination by clicking on a first filter icon , and then clicking on a second filter icon while holding a keyboard key , e . g ., the shift key . as described above , the remainder of the report data is displayed reflecting this update and the segment filter area 335 is updated accordingly . both reports 410 reflect application of these filters . fig4 e illustrates the user interface 405 of fig4 d with an additional filter applied via an and combination . for example , by selecting the filter icon of row 415 c of fig4 d , advanced search is added as a filter criterion . thus , fig4 e displays the user interface 405 showing results for visitors who looked at either the products report or the dashboard , and performed an advanced search . again both reports 410 reflect application of the additional filter and the segment filter area 335 is updated . as described in conjunction with fig3 a - e , the user can interact with on - screen report windows according to well known interaction techniques for window - based operating systems . fig5 a illustrates a user interface 505 for incrementally adding segmentation criteria to a data set according to one embodiment of the present invention . the user interface 505 is similar to that described in conjunction with fig3 a , however , a fall - out report 510 is one of the displayed reports . a fall - out report 510 is based , in one embodiment , on a target path specified in terms of checkpoints as defined herein . greater detail regarding the use of checkpoints , defining checkpoints , and detailed information about fall - out reports can be found in co - pending u . s . patent application ser . no . 10 / 609 , 008 , filed jun . 27 , 2003 by brett error et al ., entitled “ capturing and presenting site visitation path data ,” which is incorporated herein by reference . in the example , four pages have been designated as checkpoints : the homepage , the add product to cart page , the buy process — billing page , and the buy process — order confirmation page . fall - out report 510 indicates how many users continued to the next checkpoint in target path , regardless of whether the user visited other , tangential pages before continuing . users that did not continue are denoted as “ lost .” fall - out report 510 thus corresponds to a target path through the website . an edit checkpoints link 515 takes the user to a screen for editing the target path . the fall - out report 510 indicates , for example , that of those users that visited the homepage , 37 . 73 % continued to the add product to cart page and 64 . 27 % were lost . of those that visited the add product to cart page , 7 . 66 % continued to the buy process — billing page and 92 . 34 % were lost . similar information is displayed for the remaining checkpoints . cumulative percentages are shown for each checkpoint as well ; these indicate the percentage of users reaching that checkpoint , based on the total number of users that visited the homepage at the beginning of target path . the actual number of users that reached each checkpoint is also shown , adjacent to the percentage . the report also includes statistics for total conversion ( the number of users that visited all of the checkpoint nodes in the target path ) and total fall - out ( the number of users that visited the homepage but did not complete the target path ) in terms of numbers and percentages . displayed with the fall - out report 510 is a standard products report 515 . the reports 510 , 515 displayed in fig5 a are unfiltered . the following is a description of interface functionality for adding segmentation criteria according to one embodiment of the present invention in the context of fig3 a - 3g . the user begins by launching a report , for example using the open button 345 of fig3 a or the reports button 332 of fig3 e , or by right - clicking anywhere on the canvas . fig3 e shows a blank canvas and fig3 a shows a canvas with four reports 360 . initially , no filter is applied . in one embodiment , a user can filter the report 360 by various means . for example , the user can click on an icon in the filter column 380 adjacent to the desired filter criterion . this icon can function as a toggle , so that when the filter is already added to the report , clicking on the icon causes it to be removed . in the report 360 shown in fig3 a , the user applies a filter on the term “ browser ” to only see visits from visitors using internet explorer 6 . 0 . this is accomplished by clicking on the icon to the left of the data , i . e ., by clicking on the filter column 380 of row 395 a . all reports 360 then filter based on the criteria selected ; thus the other three reports 360 are showing only data with browser i . e . 6 . 0 as shown in fig3 c . in another embodiment , the filter criteria are not mutually exclusive and the criteria can be combined , for example via an and or an or operation . as a result , the remainder of the report data remains displayed after being filtered . fig4 a and 4b illustrate an example of this embodiment . the filter criterion rows dashboard 415 a and products 415 b of fig4 a are selected as and criterion by the user , resulting in the interface 405 displayed in fig4 b , which shows these criterion as well as the remaining filtered data . fig4 a and 4d illustrate another example . the filter criterion rows dashboard 415 a and products 415 b of fig4 a are selected as or criterion by the user , resulting in the interface 405 displayed in fig4 d . next , in one embodiment , the user adds another filter to the interface 305 of fig3 c to see only visitors running the windows 98 operating system . this is done by clicking on the filter icon adjacent to windows 98 , i . e . filter column 380 of row 395 c of fig3 c . then all four displayed reports 360 , including the one that already had the filter applied , show only data for visitors running both windows 98 and i . e . 6 . 0 , as shown in fig3 d . another way to filter the reports 360 is shown in fig3 e - 3g . the user can click on the filter button 336 to apply date or segment filters to report data . clicking on the filter button 336 activates a drop - down that allows the user to choose date or segment filters , as shown in fig3 f - 3g . if the user filters by segment , in one embodiment an additional drop - down menu 344 displays with recently used segments , e . g ., as shown in fig3 f . the menu 344 also includes an option to create a new segment 346 . if the user filters by date , in one embodiment a calendar 338 displays , e . g ., as shown in fig3 g . the calendar 338 allows the user to select standard date ranges , such as days , weeks , months , and quarters , as well as custom date ranges . similar functionality for filtering by date and by segment can be accomplished in the embodiment shown in fig3 a - 3d , using the segment filter 335 and date filter 340 sections and accompanying functionality as described herein . the user can save and later re - open any set of reports using the save button on the toolbar 325 . another example of report filtering is shown in conjunction with fig5 a - 5b . in one embodiment , a user can filter the reports 510 , 515 by various means . for example , the user can click on a filter icon 520 adjacent to the desired filter criterion . in the reports 510 , 515 shown in fig5 a , the user applies a filter on “ hewlett - packard refurb : pavilion 7965 mini . . . ” to filter the information to visitors who purchased this product . this is accomplished by clicking on the icon 520 . all reports , in this example 510 and 515 , then filter based on the criteria selected ; thus the fall - out report also shows only data for which the hewlett - packard refurb : pavilion 7965 mini was purchased , as shown in fig5 b . the present invention has been described in particular detail with respect to one possible embodiment . those of skill in the art will appreciate that the invention may be practiced in other embodiments . first , the particular naming of the components , capitalization of terms , the attributes , data structures , or any other programming or structural aspect is not mandatory or significant , and the mechanisms that implement the invention or its features may have different names , formats , or protocols . further , the system may be implemented via a combination of hardware and software , as described , or entirely in hardware elements . also , the particular division of functionality between the various system components described herein is merely exemplary , and not mandatory ; functions performed by a single system component may instead be performed by multiple components , and functions performed by multiple components may instead performed by a single component . some portions of above description present the features of the present invention in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on information . these algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art . these operations , while described functionally or logically , are understood to be implemented by computer programs . furthermore , it has also proven convenient at times , to refer to these arrangements of operations as modules or by functional names , without loss of generality . unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the above discussion , it is appreciated that throughout the description , discussions utilizing terms such as “ determining ” or “ displaying ” refer to the action and processes of a computer system , or similar electronic computing device , that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical ( electronic ) quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage , transmission or display devices . certain aspects of the present invention include process steps and instructions described herein in the form of an algorithm . it should be noted that the process steps and instructions of the present invention could be embodied in software , firmware or hardware , and when embodied in software , could be downloaded to reside on and be operated from different platforms used by real time network operating systems . 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 a general - purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored on a computer readable medium that can be accessed by the computer . such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium , such as , but is not limited to , any type of disk including floppy disks , optical disks , cd - roms , magnetic - optical disks , read - only memories ( roms ), random access memories ( rams ), eproms , eeproms , magnetic or optical cards , application specific integrated circuits ( asics ), or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions , and each coupled to a computer system bus . furthermore , the computers referred to in the specification may include a single processor or may be architectures employing multiple processor designs for increased computing capability . the algorithms and operations presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus . various general - purpose systems may also be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein , or it may prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform the required method steps . the required structure for a variety of these systems will be apparent to those of skill in the , along with equivalent variations . in addition , the present invention is not described with reference to any particular programming language . it is appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the present invention as described herein , and any references to specific languages are provided for invention of enablement and best mode of the present invention . the present invention is well suited to a wide variety of computer network systems over numerous topologies . within this field , the configuration and management of large networks include storage devices and computers that are communicatively coupled to dissimilar computers and storage devices over a network , such as the internet . finally , it should be noted that the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes , and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter . 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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preferred embodiments of a battery holding method related to the present invention will be described below with reference to the attached drawings . [ 0027 ] fig1 is a perspective view illustrating a battery holding structure according to a first embodiment of the present invention . in fig1 a battery holder 11 is provided with a battery chamber 14 , which can house two size aa batteries 12 side by side , and nails 16 for pressing side surfaces of the batteries 12 are arranged on a side portion of the holder 11 . the nails 16 and the battery holder 11 are made of resin in an integrated form , and the nails 16 function as resin springs capable of swinging with root end portions 17 as supporting points . a lengthwise direction of the nails 16 is parallel to an insertion direction for the batteries 12 , and the root end portions 17 are arranged on positions upstream of the insertion direction for the batteries 12 ( the positions nearer to an insertion opening 14 a of the battery chamber 14 rather than the bottom of the battery chamber 14 ). the head portions of the nails 16 are provided with pads 18 abutting to the side surface of the batteries 12 . in the present invention , the shape and number of the batteries 12 are not limited to the example shown in fig1 . [ 0028 ] fig2 is a sectional view along a line 2 - 2 in fig1 and fig3 is a sectional view along a line 3 - 3 in fig1 . as shown in these drawings , an inner diameter of each tubular portion of the battery chamber 14 is slightly larger than an outer diameter of the battery 12 in consideration of the tolerance for the outer diameter of the battery 12 . when there is no battery inserted , the pad 18 slightly protrudes to an interior space of the battery chamber 14 ( see the left - hand half of fig2 ), while when the battery 12 is inserted into the battery chamber 14 ( see the right - hand half of fig2 ), the side surface of the battery 12 comes into contact with the pad 18 , and the nail 16 is pressed upward in fig2 . the thus elastically deformed nail 16 presses the battery 12 along the radial direction of the battery 12 ( in the downward direction in fig2 ) through the restoring force thereof . the battery 12 is held by the point of the pad 18 abutting to the battery 12 and by the portion of the inner wall of the battery chamber 14 which portion opposes to that point , as illustrated with arrows in fig2 . according to the first embodiment illustrated in fig1 to 3 , the insertion operation of the battery 12 elastically deforms the nail 16 , and the force exerted by the nail 16 holds the battery 12 in the interior of the battery chamber 14 in a state of being pressed to one side of the chamber ( the under side in either of fig2 and 3 ). consequently , the battery 12 is fixed in a definite arrangement in the battery chamber 14 , and hence the contact points between the battery connection terminals ( not shown ) and the battery 12 can be maintained invariant in location and thereby the contact resistance can be stabilized . [ 0030 ] fig4 is a perspective view illustrating a relevant portion of a battery holding structure according to a second embodiment of the present invention . in the example shown in fig4 a holding member 22 for fixing the batteries 12 is arranged on an interior surface of a battery chamber cap 20 . the battery chamber cap 20 is arranged in the body or the battery holder of an electric appliance ( not shown ) in a freely rotatable and free in sliding displacement manner . when the battery chamber cap 20 is opened or closed by sliding , a latch mechanism ( not shown ) of the battery chamber cap 20 can lock or release the battery chamber cap 20 . the sliding movement of the battery chamber cap 20 makes the holding member 22 press the edges of the batteries 12 , in touch with the side surfaces of the batteries 12 , along the radial direction of the batteries 12 ( along the sliding direction indicated with an arrow a in fig4 ), to fix the batteries 12 with a slight eccentric displacement . [ 0031 ] fig5 ( a ) is a plan view illustrating a released state of the batteries 12 , and fig5 ( b ) is a plan view illustrating a locked state of the batteries 12 . as is shown in fig5 ( a ), in the released state , the holding member 22 is not in contact with the batteries 12 , so that the batteries 12 are freely movable in the battery chamber 24 . when the battery chamber cap 20 is slid to the left - hand side in fig5 ( a ), as shown in fig5 ( b ), the holding member 22 abuts to the edges of the batteries 12 , and the batteries 12 are fixed in a state of being pressed to one side ( the left - hand side in fig5 ( b )) in the battery chamber 24 . the arrows in fig5 ( b ) indicate the holding points of the batteries 12 . fig6 ( a ) and 6 ( b ) are sectional views of a relevant portion of a battery holding structure according to a third embodiment of the present invention . fig6 ( a ) shows a released state , and fig6 ( b ) a locked state . in the example shown in fig6 a battery holder 31 is provided with a link lever 32 on the side surface thereof . the link lever 32 has a nearly l - shaped form , and its apex portion is supported with a shaft . when the battery 12 is inserted to a battery chamber 34 , a top end face of the battery 12 presses the shorter component 32 a of the link lever 32 to turn the link lever 32 clockwise in fig6 ( a ) and consequently the longer component 32 b presses the battery 12 in touch with the side surface of the battery as shown in fig6 ( b ). in this manner , the battery 12 is pressed upward in fig6 ( b ), and is fixed in the battery chamber 34 in a state of being slightly and eccentrically displaced upward . when the battery 12 is removed from the battery chamber 34 , the link lever 32 is turned counterclockwise in fig6 ( b ) to lift the locked state . a combination of the above described second and third embodiments is also a possible embodiment . [ 0033 ] fig7 is a perspective view illustrating a relevant portion of a battery holding structure according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention . the example shown in fig7 has a structure in which a battery holder 41 is provided with a nearly u - shaped presser lever 42 on the side surface of the battery holder 41 , and the presser lever 42 takes the releasing position and the locking position respectively in conjunction with the opening and closing of a battery chamber cap 44 . openings 46 are formed on the side surface of the battery holder 41 , and the top portions of the presser lever 42 can abut to the side surfaces of the batteries 12 through the openings 46 . a rotary shaft 47 of the presser lever 42 is borne by the side surface of the battery holder 41 in a rotatable manner , and a tongue portion 42 a is formed to work as a power point at another end of the presser lever 42 ( the bottom end in fig7 ). in a rear end portion of the battery chamber cap 44 , there is formed a protrusive portion 48 which can exert a force to the tongue portion 42 a of the presser lever 42 . a shaft 50 in the battery chamber cap 44 is inserted with play into a slot 52 in the bottom portion of the battery holder 41 , so that the battery chamber cap 44 can be turned about the shaft 50 and in addition can be slid along the lengthwise direction of the slot 52 . a metal plate of battery connection terminals 54 is mounted on the interior surface of the battery chamber cap 44 . now , description is made on an operation of the battery holding structure shown in fig7 . fig8 ( a ) and 8 ( b ) are sectional views along a line 8 - 8 in fig7 . as fig8 ( a ) shows , in an opened state of the battery chamber cap 44 , the presser lever 42 takes an escape position ( releasing position ) where the presser lever 42 does not abut to the battery 12 . when the battery chamber cap 44 is slid to the left - hand side in fig8 ( a ) to close the battery chamber cap 44 , as is shown in fig8 ( b ), the protrusive portion 48 of the battery chamber cap 44 presses the tongue portion 42 a of the presser lever 42 . consequently , the presser lever 42 is turned clockwise about the rotary shaft 47 in fig8 ( a ), and presses the battery 12 along the radial direction of the battery 12 ( to the right - hand direction in fig8 ( b )). the battery 12 is pressed to a wall 57 ( the inner wall of the battery holder 41 ) of a battery chamber 56 by the operation of the presser lever 42 , and fixed with a slight and eccentric displacement . the presser lever 42 is energized toward the escape position by an energizing device ( not shown ) such as a spring or the like , so that when in the locked state shown in fig8 ( b ) the battery chamber cap 44 is opened , the presser lever 42 is restored to the escape state shown in fig8 ( a ) by the force exerted by the energizing device . although the sliding direction of the battery chamber cap 44 and the battery 12 pressing direction of the presser lever 42 are parallel to each other in the structure described with reference to fig7 , 8 ( a ) and 8 ( b ), the exploitation of the present invention is not limited to the structure of the present example . [ 0038 ] fig9 is a perspective view illustrating a relevant portion of a battery holding structure according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention . fig9 shows an example of a type in which a sliding direction of a battery chamber cap and a battery pressing direction of a presser lever are perpendicular to each other . to be more specific , a battery holder 61 is provided with a rotary shaft 63 of a presser lever 62 on the side surface thereof , and the presser lever 62 can be turned on the side surface of the battery holder 61 . on the other hand , a battery chamber cap 64 can be freely slid along directions of an arrow b in fig9 and can be turned counterclockwise in fig9 about a shaft 65 in the opened state . on the interior surface of the battery chamber cap 64 , a protrusive portion 68 is formed which exerts a force to a tongue portion 62 a of the presser lever 62 . when the battery chamber cap 64 is slid to a closing direction , the protrusive portion 68 presses the tongue portion 62 a of the presser lever 62 along the same direction . by this movement , the presser lever 62 is turned clockwise in fig9 and presses the side surfaces of the batteries 12 through an opening 66 . the presser lever 62 is energized by a coil spring 70 toward the escape position ( the counterclockwise direction in fig9 ), so that when the battery chamber cap 64 is slid to the opening direction , the presser lever 62 is restored to the previous escape state owing to the force exerted by the coil spring 70 . fig1 ( a ) and 10 ( b ) are sectional views along a line 10 - 10 in fig9 . as fig1 ( a ) shows , in the opened state of the battery chamber cap 64 , the presser lever 62 takes the escape position ( releasing position ), where the batteries 12 can move freely in a battery chamber 72 . when the battery chamber cap 64 is closed , as fig1 ( b ) shows , the presser lever 62 is turned to press the batteries 12 along the radial direction thereof ( the upward direction in fig1 ). in this manner , the batteries 12 are pressed to the inner wall of the battery chamber 72 , and held with a slight and eccentric displacement . according to the above described first to fifth embodiments , for the purpose of battery holding there is adopted a structure in which the battery is held with several holding points ( for example , 2 to 3 points ), and hence there is eliminated the displacement and rotation of the battery in the battery chamber , and it becomes possible to make the contact points with the terminals invariant , which prevents the contact resistance from fluctuating . as described above , according to the present invention , in the battery housing unit in which the battery is inserted into the battery housing chamber along the lengthwise direction thereof , the battery is fixed in arrangement by applying a force to the battery along the transverse direction perpendicular to the lengthwise direction ( the insertion direction ), and hence the contact points between the battery and the terminals can be made invariant in location and consequently the relevant contact resistance can be stabilized . in this manner , it is possible to improve the fluctuating battery life due to the individual differences in appliances themselves and those in batteries . it should be understood , however , that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific forms disclosed , but on the contrary , the invention is to cover all modifications , alternate constructions and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims .
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describing now the drawings , it is to be understood that only enough of the relatively movable parts have been shown , assumed to be used in conjunction with a chair or similar piece of equipment , as will be necessary for those skilled in the art to readily understand the underlying principles and concepts of the present development . turning attention now to the figures of the drawings , reference numeral 1 designates the movable part or component of a backrest , shown for instance in the form of a tube of substantially oval or elliptical cross - sectional configuration . the movable part or component 1 slides telescopically within a second tube 2 of likewise oval or elliptical cross - sectional configuration . the internal diameter of the second tube 2 is coordinated to the external diameter of the movable tube 1 , such that the latter can be vertically shifted , free of play , within the second tube 2 , which is here assumed to be stationary in the described environment of use . the first tube 1 carries , at its upper end , any suitable and therefore not particularly shown backrest of the chair or the like . the tube 2 or equivalent element is connected with an arm or bracket 3 which is attached to the likewise not particularly shown seating surface or seat or with the so - called upright standing tube of the chair . thus , the first movable tube 1 may be considered as constituting a first movable part , whereas the second tube 2 together with the arm or bracket 3 or equivalent structure may be considered as constituting a second part or means at which there is guided said first movable part . operatively connected with the arm 3 is a slide member or slide 4 which can be mounted at the arm or bracket 3 so as to slide transversely thereat , as indicated by the double - headed arrow 5 . the slide member 4 can be secured , for instance , by means of straps or brackets at the arm 3 or can be located in a recess or channel thereof , as generally indicated by reference character 3a . what is of importance is only the fact that the slide member 4 can be moved to - and - fro . displacement of the slide member 4 back - and - forth within the recess or channel 3a can be accomplished by any suitable actuation element , for instance here shown as a push knob 6 by way of example , but of course it is to be expressly understood that also any other suitable actuation element can be equally used . a resilient element or spring 7 can act for instance upon the slide member 4 in such a manner that , when the latter is moved towards the left , the spring 7 is compressed . the stationary tube 2 or equivalent structure possesses a single essentially circular bore 8 or equivalent structure having a diameter d la . on the other hand , the vertically movable inner tube 1 is provided with a plurality of likewise essentially circular bores 9 or equivalent recesses arranged vertically above one another . the arrangement of such circular bores 9 corresponds to the different relative positions of the movable tube 1 , and , in the specific exemplary embodiment under discussion serve the purpose of fixing the different possible elevational positions of the backrest mounted in conventional fashion at the tube 1 , for instance by bolts or any other suitable fixation means . the bores 9 have a diameter d li which is smaller than the diameter of the single essentially circular bore 8 . arranged coaxially with respect to the bores 8 and 9 and provided at the arm 3 of the second part 2 , 3 is an essentially cylindrical bore 10 . this cylindrical bore 10 is constructed such that it slightly conically tapers , as generally indicated by reference character 10a , at the bore end neighboring the bore 8 of the stationary tube 2 . this bore 10 serves for the reception of the major part of the arresting or locking ball 11 and at its cylindrical portion has a diameter d b which is slightly larger than the diameter d k of the ball or sphere 11 , so that such is not hindered in its movement . the length of such bore 10 must be smaller than the aforementioned ball or sphere diameter d k . this length depends upon the field of use , upon the loadability of the ball locking mechanism , and also , in part , upon the construction of the system . advantageously , the length of such bore 10 amounts to about two - thirds of the ball diameter d k . continuing , it is here mentioned that a further bore 12 is provided in the slide member or slide 4 . this further bore 12 has been shown conveniently in the drawing by broken lines , i . e ., in that position where the entire ball locking mechanism can be unlocked . it is for these reasons that also the actuation element , namely here the exemplary push or pressure knob 6 , has been shown in phantom lines to the left of its original position . with this illustration it is intended to indicate that the slide member 4 must be displaced against the force of the spring 7 . normally , the bore 12 is not co - axially arranged with respect to the bores 8 , 9 and 10 , so that then the cylindrical bore 10 is closed by the slide member 4 . having now had the benefit of the above description of the exemplary embodiment of ball locking mechanism its mode of operation will now be considered and is as follows : if the bore 10 , as just mentioned , is closed by the slide member 4 , then the arresting or locking ball 11 is blocked . on the one hand , such arresting or locking ball 11 can tangentially contact the slide member 4 and , on the other hand , protrudes at its side , diametrically opposite such contact point , partially into one of the bores 9 of the movable tube 1 , whereby it contacts the edge of such bore 9 . due to this contact there is precluded any possible displacement of the movable tube 1 , since the ball 11 cannot move back , owing to the locking action exerted by the slide member 4 . only when this slide member 4 has been shifted into the unlocking position , is there realized such unlocking possibility by virtue of the now assumed coaxial position of the bores 10 and 12 . by exerting pressure or force upon the movable element , the tube 1 , acting in this case perpendicular to the plane of the drawing , is there produced a resultant displacement force upon the arresting ball or sphere 11 which moves such out of the bore 9 . the tube 1 is now free to be positionally shifted . at the same time there is released the slide member 4 , so that the spring 7 strives to push such back into its starting position , and thus , exerts a force upon the arresting or locking ball 11 now partially located in the bore 12 of the slide member 4 . this pressure or force displaces the ball 11 back into the next one of the bores 9 which , during the positional shifting of the tube 1 , assumes a position which is essentially coaxial with respect to the bore 8 of the stationary or fixed tube 2 . therefore , it will be appreciated that the locking action is accomplished automatically . the aforementioned pressure , exerted upon the tube 1 , which is transmitted also to the ball 11 , is not absolutely necessary for displacing the ball 11 . it is also in fact possible for the ball 11 , when with an inclined or vertical position of the ball locking mechanism the bore 12 is located lower than the remaining bores 8 to 10 , to roll out of the bore 9 of the tube 1 under the action of its inherent weight , and therefore to release such tube 1 . the bore 12 in the slide member 4 has a diameter d s which must be slightly smaller than the ball diameter d k , so that the ball or sphere 11 can penetrate into such bore 12 , but however not pass through such bore . instead of using such bore 12 it is also sufficient to provide a depression or recess 12a as shown in fig2 which preferably is concave and whose largest depth is equal to the requisite displacement path of the ball 11 , the so - called ball stroke h k . therefore , conceptually the bore 12 also can be considered to be a recess or depression , serving the explained function . the ball stroke , and more precisely stated , the penetration depth of the ball 11 into the bore 9 of the movable part or component 1 , is limited by certain boundaries , so that the ball locking mechanism can function in a faultless manner and also can be appropriately loaded . thus , the minimum penetration depth amounts to about one - tenth of the ball diameter d k . if this penetration depth is further reduced , then there no longer would be insured for a positive functioning of the ball locking mechanism , since the resultant forces acting upon slide member 4 theoretically could increase to infinity . this would have the result that the bore 9 would be widened or enlarged and the slide member 4 could be bent by the forces acting thereon through the intermediary of the ball 11 . on the other hand , the maximum penetration depth amounts to about one - third of the ball diameter d k . if this value is further increased , then , the ball 11 must be displaced by the action of external forces , because the difference of the diameter of both bores 8 and 9 is no longer adequate for the automatic unlatching and displacement of the ball 11 . also , here the compressive force exerted upon the movable part 1 would be too large , in order that there could even be attained a force component which would move the ball 11 out of the bore 9 . the penetration depth can be identical to the ball stroke or displacement path h k . however , such ball stroke h k , shown in the drawing , can also be greater and , specifically , by the wall thickness s of the tube 2 . the loadability of the ball locking mechanism , i . e ., the force which can be exerted thereat , without it unlocking , varies by a factor which is derived from the following relationship : in the above , the symbol α represents the arc angle between oppositely situated contact points 13 , 14 of the ball 11 with the edge of the bore 9 . this relationship corresponds to the well known equation for the circular segment projected from the ball or sphere , in other words that projection surface 15 lying within the bore 9 . the above mentioned equation for the loadability is , however , only decisive if there is provided in tube 1 , instead of the bore 9 , a concave recess corresponding to the ball or sphere 11 . however , in the case of a cylindrical bore , not shown in the drawing , there are to be taken into account the usually prevailing shearing and deformation properties of the ball and oval tube 1 . tests have shown that for a given ball diameter the remaining dimensions can have the following percentage values of the ball diameter : these values can be changed , without any disadvantage as concerns proper functioning of the ball locking mechanism . while there are shown and described present preferred embodiments of the invention , it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is not limited thereto , but may be otherwise variously embodied and practiced within the scope of the following claims . accordingly ,
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in the accompanying drawing which forms a part of the specification and is to be read in conjunction therewith and in which like reference numerals are used to indicate like parts in the various views : fig1 is an elevational view illustrating the wire stretching device of the present invention employed to stretch fence wire between posts ; fig2 is a cross sectional view on an enlarged scale taken generally along line 2 -- 2 of fig1 in the direction of the arrows , with the device in position to tightly clamp the fence wire ; fig3 is a cross sectional view similar to fig2 but with the device in position to release the fence wire ; and fig4 is a cross sectional view taken generally along line 4 -- 4 of fig3 in the direction of the arrows . referring now to the drawing in detail and initially to fig1 the fence wire stretching device of the present invention is generally designated by reference numeral 10 . the device serves to tightly stretch a length of fence wire 11 between fence posts 12 to which the wire is to be attached . the device 10 is constructed in two separate parts , a base plate 13 and a camming bar 14 . the base 13 is a flat , rectangular plate which has a plurality of generally l - shaped lugs or fingers 16 projecting from its flat upper surface . the fingers 16 are spaced equidistantly from one another along the length of plate 13 . with additional reference to fig2 and 3 , each finger 16 is a curved member which includes a shank 16a that is welded to the upper surface of plate 13 to project therefrom at a right angle . an intermediate portion 16b of the finger gradually curves through 90 ° from shank 16a and joins an outer end portion 16c which is spaced outwardly from and parallel to the upper surface of plate 13 . fingers 16 are each circular in cross section , as best shown in fig4 and portions 16c are thus cylindrical . a guide bar 18 serves to prevent the device from twisting or otherwise becoming misaligned with respect to the fence wire . bar 18 is parallel with the side edge of plate 13 and is spaced outwardly therefrom . the bar has a pair of integral end legs 18a ( fig1 ) which extend from its opposite ends along the underside of plate 13 . the legs 18a are each welded to the surface of plate 13 in order to attach the guide bar 18 thereto . intermediate brace rods 19 which are parallel to legs 18a are welded to bar 18 and to the underside of plate 13 in order to strengthen the connection between the bar and plate . since the legs 18a and the braces 19 extend along a flat surface of plate 13 which is opposite the surface from which fingers 16 project , there is a large surface area of the plate to which the legs and braces are securely welded , while interference with the function of the fingers is avoided . the camming bar 14 is an elongate cylindrical bar section in which a plurality of eccentric grooves 20 are formed . as best illustrated in fig2 and 3 , each groove 20 extends only partially around the circumference of the bar . preferably , the grooves extend through an arc no greater than about 270 °. as previously suggested , each groove 20 is eccentric with respect to the longitudinal axis of bar 14 . the grooves 20 are spaced uniformly apart from one another along the length of the bar to correspond with spacing between fingers 16 , and the grooves are sized to closely receive the respective fingers . as best shown in fig4 the bottom area and the lower side portions of the grooves are smoothly rounded in order to correspond with the curved shape of the finger end portions 16c . the width of each groove 20 , or its dimension in the direction of the axis of bar 14 , is substantially equal to the diameter of the finger end portion 16c . accordingly , the fingers are able to closely fit in the grooves , and bar 14 is unable to slide axially along base 13 due to the engagement between fingers 16 and the side walls of grooves 20 . as shown in fig2 and 3 , the distance between base 13 and the finger end portions 16c is somewhat less than the normal diameter of bar 14 and somewhat greater than the bar diameter within grooves 20 . there are preferably seven fingers and seven grooves ( see fig1 ) in order to provide firm clamping of the fence wire 11 along the entire length of bar 14 . a pair of hooks 22 are welded to project outwardly from bar 14 at locations spaced on opposite sides of its center . triangular gussets 23 reinforce the connection of hooks 22 to the bar . the hooks 22 are curved and are able to receive a towing chain 24 which is in a v - shape and which may be attached to a towing vehicle such as a tractor ( not shown ). in use , the device 10 assists in tightly stretching the fence wire 11 between posts 12 . with bar 14 separated from base 13 , the fence wire is received on the flat surface of the base plate as shown in fig3 . the bar 14 is then inserted on top of the fence wire with the long eccentrics of grooves 20 oriented toward finger portions 16c so that the grooves are able to register loosely with the fingers . to clamp the fence wire 11 tightly between base 13 and bar 14 , the bar is rotated about its axis in a clockwise direction as viewed in fig3 . the hooks 22 provide handles which facilitate turning of the bar . as bar 14 rotates to turn the eccentric grooves 20 relative to fingers 16 , the round outer surface of the bar rolls against plate 13 ( and wire 11 ), while the portions of the bar within grooves 20 cam against the finger end portions 16c due to the eccentricity of the grooves . as a result , when the bar has been rotated approximately 90 ° to the clamping position shown in fig2 it is tightly wedged between plate 13 and the finger end portions 16c , thereby firmly clamping the fence wire between bar 14 and plate 13 . with the device oriented vertically as shown in fig1 the towing chain 24 is attached to hooks 22 and to the towing vehicle , and the vehicle is then driven forwardly to string the fence wire 11 between the fence posts 12 . the towing force exerted on hooks 22 urges the hooks clockwise as viewed in fig2 in order to more firmly retain bar 14 in its clamping position during stretching of the wire . the guide bar 18 engages the fence wire to prevent twisting or other misalignment of the device . the device may be quickly and easily released from wire 11 for movement to a different location thereon by rotating bar 14 counterclockwise from the clamping position of fig2 to the release position of fig3 . the long eccentrics of grooves 20 are rotated toward finger portions 16c , and bar 14 is thus moved out of engagement with portions 16c . in the release position , the bar may be easily separated from plate 13 , and the device may be moved to a new position on the fence wire . it is again noted that the close fit of fingers 16 in grooves 20 absolutely prevents bar 14 from sliding axially relative to plate 13 . in the clamping position ( fig2 ) the long eccentrics of grooves 20 are offset only 90 ° from the release position ( fig3 ), and portions 16c of the fingers therefore remain in relatively deep areas of the grooves such that they are firmly retained therein . consequently , when strong forces are applied to the device as when it is being pulled by the towing vehicle ( not shown ), the camming bar and base plate cannot inadvertently shift in position to possibly work loose and slip on the wire . since standard round bar stock may be used to construct bar 14 , the fabrication cost of the bar is reduced in comparison to existing devices . the relatively small grooves 20 are easily formed as compared to making the bar eccentric along its entire length or a substantial portion thereof , as is typically done in the prior art . also , the grooves extend only partially around bar 14 and they are thus formed more easily and with less waste of material than would be the case if they were to extend completely around the bar . the narrow width of the grooves is also significant in regard to ease of formation and conservation of material . from the foregoing , it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all the ends and objects hereinabove set forth together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the structure . it will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations . this is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims . since many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof , it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense .
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referring now to fig1 a no delivery device 2 is shown connected to a patient 4 . in its most general sense , the no delivery device 2 includes a bathing unit 6 that is fluidically connected to a no gas source 8 , a flow control valve 22 , and a vacuum unit 10 . fig1 illustrates one preferred embodiment of the invention . in fig1 the no gas source 8 is a pressurized cylinder containing no gas . while the use of a pressurized cylinder is the preferably method of storing the no - containing gas source 8 , other storage and delivery means , such as a dedicated feed line ( wall supply ) can also be used . typically , the no gas source 8 is a mixture of n 2 and no . while n 2 is typically used to dilute the concentration of no within the pressurized cylinder , any inert gas can also be used . when the no gas source 8 is stored in a pressurized cylinder , it is preferable that the concentration of no in the pressurized cylinder fall within the range of about 800 ppm to about 1200 ppm . commercial nitric oxide manufacturers typically produce nitric oxide mixtures for medical use at around the 1000 ppm range . extremely high concentrations of no are undesirable because accidental leakage of no gas is more hazardous , and high partial pressures of no tends to cause the spontaneous degradation of no into nitrogen . pressurized cylinders containing low concentrations of no ( i . e ., less than 100 ppm no ) can also be used in accordance the device and method disclosed herein . of course , the lower the concentration of no used , the more often the pressurized cylinders will need replacement . fig1 also shows source of dilutent gas 14 as part of the no delivery device 2 that is used to dilute the concentration of no . the source of dilutent gas 14 can contain n 2 , o 2 , air , an inert gas , or a mixture of these gases . it is preferable to use a gas such as n 2 or an inert gas to dilute the no concentration since these gases will not oxidize the no into no 2 as would o 2 or air . the source of dilutent gas 14 is shown as being stored within a pressurized cylinder . while the use of a pressurized cylinder is shown in fig1 as the means for storing the source of dilutent gas 14 , other storage and delivery means , such as a dedicated feed line ( wall supply ) can also be used . the no gas from the no gas source 8 and the dilutent gas from the dilutent gas source 14 preferably pass through pressure regulators 16 to reduce the pressure of gas that is admitted to the no delivery device 2 . the respective gas streams pass via tubing 18 to an optional gas blender 20 . the gas blender 20 mixes the no gas and the dilutent gas to produce a no - containing gas that has a reduced concentration of no . preferably , the no - containing gas that is output from the gas blender 20 has a concentration that is less than about 200 ppm . even more preferably , the concentration of no - containing gas that is output from the gas blender 20 is less than about 100 ppm . the no - containing gas that is output from the gas blender 20 travels via tubing 18 to a flow control valve 22 . the flow control valve 22 can include , for example , a proportional control valve that opens ( or closes ) in a progressively increasing ( or decreasing if closing ) manner . as another example , the flow control valve 22 can include a mass flow controller . the flow control valve 22 controls the flow rate of the no - containing gas that is input to the bathing unit 6 . the no - containing gas leaves the flow control valve 22 via flexible tubing 24 . the flexible tubing 24 attaches to an inlet 26 in the bathing unit 6 . the inlet 26 might include an optional one way valve 64 ( see fig3 ) that prevents the backflow of gas into the tubing 24 . still referring to fig1 the bathing unit 6 is shown sealed against the skin surface of a patient 4 . the infected area 30 which can be an abscess , lesion , wound , or the like , is enclosed by the bathing unit 6 . the bathing unit 6 preferably includes a seal portion 32 that forms a substantially air - tight seal with the skin of the patient 4 . substantially air - tight is meant to indicate that the no - containing gas does not leak out of the bathing unit 6 in significant amounts ( i . e ., no more than about 5 % of the no - containing gas delivered to the bathing unit 6 ). the seal portion 32 may comprise an inflatable seal 61 , such as that shown in fig2 and 3 , or alternatively the seal portion 32 may comprise a flexible skirt or the like that conforms to the surface of the patient 4 . the seal portion 32 also might include an adhesive portion that adheres to the skin surface of a patient 4 . in other envisioned embodiments , the sealing portion 32 may merely comprise the interface of the bathing unit 6 with the surface of the patient &# 39 ; s 4 skin . the bathing unit 6 can be made of a virtually limitless number of shapes and materials depending on its intended use . the bathing unit 6 might be formed as a rigid structure , such as that shown in fig1 that is placed over the infected area 30 . alternatively , the bathing unit 6 can be formed of a flexible , bag - like material that is inflatable over the infected area 30 . fig2 shows such a structure in the shape of a boot that is placed over the patient &# 39 ; s 4 foot . fig3 shows another inflatable bathing unit 6 that is formed in the shape of a mitten or glove that is worn over the patient &# 39 ; s 4 hand . in one preferred embodiment of the invention , the bathing unit 6 includes an no sensor 34 that measures the concentration of no gas within the bathing unit 6 . the no sensor 34 preferably reports this information to a controller 36 via signal line 38 . an optional no 2 sensor 40 can also be included within the bathing unit 6 . the no 2 sensor 40 preferably reports the concentration of no 2 to the controller 36 via signal line 42 . the sensors 40 , 42 can be a chemilluminesence - type , electrochemical cell - type , or spectrophotometric - type sensor . the bathing unit 6 also includes an outlet 44 that is used to remove gas from the bathing unit 6 . the outlet 44 is preferably located away from the gas inlet 26 such that no gas does not quickly enter and exit the bathing unit 6 . preferably , the inlet 26 and outlet 44 are located in areas of the bathing unit 6 such that the no gas has a relatively long residence time . flexible tubing 46 is connected to the outlet 44 and provides a conduit for the removal of gases from the bathing unit 6 . in one preferred embodiment of the invention , the flexible tubing 46 is in fluid communication with an absorber unit 48 . the absorber unit 48 preferably absorbs or strips no from the gas stream that is exhausted from the bathing unit 6 . it is also preferable for the absorber unit 48 to also absorb or strip no 2 from the gas stream that is exhausted from the bathing unit 6 . since these gases are toxic at high levels , it is preferable that these components are removed from the delivery device 2 prior to the gas being vented to the atmosphere . in addition , these gases can react with the internal components of the vacuum unit 10 and interfere with the operation of the delivery device 2 . the now clean gas travels from the absorbing unit 48 to the vacuum unit 10 via tubing 50 . the vacuum unit 10 provides a negative pressure within the tubing 50 so as to extract gases from the bathing unit 6 . the vacuum unit 10 is preferably controllable with respect to the level of vacuum or suction supplied to the tubing 50 and bathing unit 6 . in this regard , in conjunction with the flow control valve 22 , the amount of no gas within the bathing unit 6 can be regulated . preferably , the vacuum unit 10 is coupled with the controller 36 via a signal line 52 . the controller 36 , as discussed below , preferably controls the level of output of the vacuum unit 10 . the gas then passes from the vacuum unit 10 to a vent 54 that is open to the atmosphere . it should be understood that the absorbing unit 48 is an optional component of the delivery device 2 . the gas laden with no and no 2 does not have to be removed from the gas stream if there is no concern with local levels of no and no 2 . for example , the gas can be exhausted to the outside environment where high concentrations of no and no 2 will not develop . alternatively , a recirculation system ( not shown ) might be used to recycle no within the bathing unit 6 . still referring to fig1 the delivery device 2 preferably includes a controller 36 that is capable of controlling the flow control valve 22 and the vacuum unit 10 . the controller 36 is preferably a microprocessor - based controller 36 that is connected to an input device 56 . the input device 56 is used by an operator to adjust various parameters of the delivery device such as no concentration , residence time of no , pressure within the bathing unit 6 , etc . an optional display 58 can also be connected with the controller 36 to display measured parameters and settings such as the set - point no concentration , the concentration of no within the bathing unit 6 , the concentration of no 2 within the bathing unit 6 , the flow rate of gas into the bathing unit 6 , the flow rate of gas out of the bathing unit 6 , the total time of delivery , and the like . the controller 36 preferably receives signals from sensors 34 , 40 regarding gas concentrations if such sensors 34 , 40 are present within the delivery device 2 . signal lines 60 , 52 are connected to the flow control valve 22 and vacuum unit 10 respectively for the delivery and receipt of control signals . in another embodiment of the invention , the controller 36 is eliminated entirely . in this regard , the flow rate of the gas into the bathing unit 6 and the flow rate of the gas out of the bathing unit 6 are pre - set or adjusted manually . for example , an operator can set a vacuum output that is substantially equal to the flow rate of the gas delivered to the bathing unit 6 via the flow control valve 22 . in this manner , no gas will be able to bathe the infected area 30 without any build - up or leaking of no or no 2 gas from the delivery device 2 . fig2 illustrates a bathing unit 6 in the shape of a boot that is used to treat an infected area 30 located on the leg of the patient 4 . the bathing unit 6 includes an inflatable seal 61 that surrounds the leg region to make a substantially air - tight seal with the skin of the patient 4 . this embodiment shows a nozzle 62 that is affixed near the inlet 26 of the bathing unit 6 . the nozzle 62 directs a jet of no gas onto the infected area 30 . the jet of gaseous no aids in penetrating the infected area 30 with no to kill or inhibit the growth of pathogens . fig3 shows another embodiment of the bathing unit 6 in the shape of a mitten or glove . the bathing unit 6 is also inflatable and contains an inflatable seal 61 that forms a substantially air - tight seal around the skin of the patient 4 . fig3 also shows an optional one way valve 64 located in the inlet 26 . as seen in fig3 and 4 , the inlet 26 and outlet 44 are located away from one another , and preferably on opposing sides of the treated area such that freshly delivered no gas is not prematurely withdrawn from the bathing unit 6 . for treatment of an infected area 30 , the bathing unit 6 is placed over the infected area 30 . an air - tight seal is then formed between the skin of the patient 4 and the bathing unit 6 . if the bathing unit 6 has an inflatable construction , the bathing unit 6 must be inflated with gas . preferably , the bathing unit 6 is initially inflated only with the dilutent gas to prevent the leaking of no and no 2 from the device 2 . once an adequate air - tight seal has been established , the operator of the device initiates the flow of no from the no gas source 8 to the bathing unit 6 . as described above , this may be accomplished manually or via the controller 36 . once the bathing unit 6 has started to fill with no gas , the vacuum unit 10 is turned on and adjusted to the appropriate output level . for an inflatable bathing unit 6 , the output level ( i . e ., flow rate ) of the vacuum unit 10 should be less than or equal to the flow rate of no gas entering the bathing unit 6 to avoid deflating the bathing unit 6 . in embodiments of the device where the bathing unit 6 is rigid , the vacuum unit 10 can be set to create a partial vacuum within the bathing unit 4 . in this regard , the partial vacuum helps to form the air - tight seal between the skin of the patient 4 and the bathing unit 6 . of course , the vacuum unit 10 can also be set to withdraw gas at a substantially equal rate as the gas is delivered to the bathing unit 6 . an effective amount of no is delivered to the bathing unit 6 to kill pathogens and / or reduce the growth rate of the pathogens in the infected area 30 . pathogens include bacteria , viruses , and fungi . fig4 shows another embodiment of the invention in which the bathing unit 6 includes an agitator 66 that is used to create turbulent conditions inside the bathing unit 6 . the agitator 66 preferably is a fan - type of mechanism but can include other means of creating turbulent conditions within the bathing unit 6 . the agitator 66 aids in refreshing the infected area 30 with a fresh supply of no gas . while embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described , various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention . the invention , therefore , should not be limited , except to the following claims , and their equivalents .
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an embodiment of a known apparatus for forming a meltspun web is shown schematically in fig1 and is represented generally by the numeral 10 . as is conventional , the apparatus includes a reservoir 11 for supplying a quantity of fiber - forming thermoplastic polymer resin to an extruder 12 driven by a motor 13 . the fiber - forming polymer is provided to a melt die apparatus 14 and heated therein by conventional electric heaters ( not visible in the view shown ). a primary flow of heating fluid , preferably air , is provided to die 14 by a blower 17 , which is powered by a motor 18 . an auxiliary heater 19 may be provided to bring the primary flow of heating air to higher temperatures on the order of the melting temperature of the polymer . at the discharge opening of die 14 , quenched fibers 20 are formed and collected on a continuous foraminous forming wire screen , or belt 22 , into a nonwoven web 24 as the wire 22 moves in a machine direction indicated by the arrow designated by the numeral 26 . the fiber forming distance is the distance between the upper surface of the forming wire 22 and the plane of the discharge opening of die 14 . as shown in fig1 the collection of fibers 20 on the forming wire 22 may be aided by a suction box 28 . the formed nonwoven web 24 may be compacted or otherwise bonded by rolls 30 , 32 . the forming wire 22 may be rotated via a driven roll 34 . an embodiment of the fiber forming portion of the meltspun die apparatus 14 looking along line 2 - 2 of fig1 is shown schematically in fig2 . as shown therein , the fiber forming portion 36 of die apparatus 14 includes a die tip 40 that is connected to the die body ( not shown ) in a conventional manner . die tip 40 is formed generally in the shape of a prism that defines a knife edge 21 . the knife edge 21 forms the end of the portion of the die tip 40 . die tip 40 is further defined by at least one opposed side surface 42 that intersects in the embodiment shown in fig2 at the horizontal plane perpendicular to knife edge 21 . knife edge 21 at die tip 40 forms the apex of an angle that ranges from about thirty degrees to sixty degrees and allows for formation of a hot air stream , or jet , 57 beginning at the knife edge 21 . the airstream , or jet , 57 is formed to carry and attenuate the molten polymer streams . capillaries ( not shown ) carrying the molten polymer also exit the fiber forming apparatus 20 the knife edge 21 . referencing fig1 and 2 , an air jet momentum measuring device 51 is mounted on the die 14 by a magnetic stand 71 ( fig2 ) and comprises a cantilever arm 53 attached to a mounting means 73 held by the magnetic stand 71 . the person having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that other placement options may be available for the measuring device 51 within a fiber - forming apparatus , such as , e . g . within a fiber draw unit ( fdu ) which further attenuates the fibers by airflow . attached at the suspended end of the cantilever beam 53 is a deflection head 59 placed to be in the flow of the air stream 57 ( fig2 ) before fiber formation , i . e . extrusion of the thermoplastic polymer . a transducer 61 is attached to the cantilever beam 53 to record the force placed on the deflection head 59 by the air stream 57 , which will be understood by those in the art to be a jet with the primary direction carrying the molten polymers indicated by an arrow 58 . the transducer 61 may be mechanical , optical , or any other sensory apparatus considered desirable for the task , such as strain gauges or force transducers . connected to the transducer is a dial 63 , or other data output means , capable of displaying , or further transmitting , the data acquired from the transducer as to the force placed on the deflection head 59 . referencing fig3 and 4 , the cantilever beam 53 is a flat piece of steel about 0 . 05 inches thick t , about 1 . 75 inches wide w and about 7 . 0 inches long l 1 , although the dimensions may be varied according to the particular die to be monitored . the exemplary embodiment was sized to accommodate the monitoring in a particular setting of a meltspun die , and sizes may be varied if needed or desired . as seen in fig3 the deflection head 59 is mounted on one end of the cantilever beam 59 and is 2 . 0 inches long l 2 and extends about 1 . 57 inches downwardly d from the cantilever beam 53 . referencing particularly fig4 an end view of the cantilever beam 53 and deflection head 59 along line 4 - 4 of fig3 the deflection head is also 1 . 75 inches wide w and is aerodynamically shaped in a streamlined profile to extend downwardly to a point 65 with the lower half of each side , collectively 67 , of the deflection head 59 being radiused r at about 1 . 75 inches to minimize buffeting of the deflection head 59 within the air stream 57 ( fig2 ). during operation , one or more of the momentum measuring devices 51 will be placed at several points across the width of the die 14 into the air stream of the free air jet used to propel the meltspun filaments downward towards the wire 22 . because the total momentum of a free air jet remains constant downstream of the jet source due to the law of conservation of momentum , the momentum can be determined by the force imparted on the measuring device 51 placed in the air stream without regard to exacting placement . as the deflection head 59 is moved by the air stream , the attached cantilever beam 53 will record the force through transducer 61 and display the force measured at a read out 63 . the data may further be transmitted to additional equipment such as automated feedback controls , or recording devices , or the like . in particular embodiments , the monitoring may consist of two or more measuring devices . for example , there may be a measuring or monitoring device 51 placed in the air stream to measure flow at each lateral end of the die to help monitor deckle , or edge formation of the web 24 , which is a particularly sensitive area of uniform formation of the web and in which a good deal of waste may be eliminated through proper production techniques . while in the foregoing specification means and method for monitoring air jet momentum in formation of nonwoven webs has been described in relation to certain preferred embodiments thereof , and many details have been set forth for purpose of illustration , it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is susceptible to additional embodiments and that certain of the details described herein can be varied considerably without departing from the basic principles of the invention .
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in this embodiment of the present invention we provide an improved method and apparatus for performing scanning exposure of a colorant donor sheet by a laser induced thermal transfer of colorant from the donor sheet . the composite image is recorded directly on the back of a lenticular array or the blocking line screen . the recorded composite image is rotationally aligned with the lenticular array or the blocking line screen by sensing and control of the angular relationship between fast - scan axis and either a lenticular array direction , or the blocking line screen direction . the lenticular array direction is defined as direction parallel to the long axis of the lenticules . the blocking line screen direction is defined as a direction parallel to the blocking lines of the blocking line screen . more specifically , according to this embodiment , the improved apparatus forms interdigitated image lines using one or more focused scanning laser beams while providing : i ) an automatic rotational alignment of the fast - scan axis with the lenticular or the blocking line screen direction , ii ) an improved automatic measurement of lenticule or blocking line pitch , and iii ) an improved center view alignment . this apparatus is shown schematically in fig2 a . it is assumed that image data 5 , corresponding to a composite image that provides a plurality of views of either a three - dimensional image or a motion image sequence or a multiple - still image sequence , has been prepared as a digital file 7 according to procedures that are well known in the art . this digital file 7 contains code values for each pixel location of the composite image to be printed . the composite image corresponding to the image data 5 stored in the digital file 7 is printed directly on the back of lenticular array 8 ( having a plurality of lenticules 8 a ) or the blocking line screen 9 ( not shown ), in precise registration with the lenticular array 8 or the blocking line screen 9 as described below . a light source , preferably a diode laser 10 having single mode character in one dimension , is mounted on a heat conducting block 20 and directs a light beam 15 toward a rotating scan - mirror 40 mounted on a galvanometer 30 . other scanning methods include polygon scanning and hologon scanning . galvanometer scanning is particularly preferred because of its combination of simplicity , low cost , flexibility , and wavelength insensitivity . the output power level of the diode laser 10 is controlled by amplitude modulation via a driver circuit 45 , which provides a drive signal modulated according to the image data 5 . preferably , the desired printed densities in each successively printed cyan , magenta , and yellow layer are achieved by employing look - up tables to account for the specific response of the printer system . other modulation techniques besides amplitude modulation are also possible , for example , pulse - width modulation . after reflection from the scan - mirror 40 , the modulated light beam 15 passes through a scan - lens 50 which focuses the light beam 15 to a spot in the plane of a donor sheet 55 . the motion of the scan mirror 40 sweeps the focused light beam across the donor sheet 55 . the scanning light beam 15 moves along the fast - scan axis 56 ( fig2 b ) forming image line 57 ( not shown ) the direction of the scanning beam 15 across the donor sheet 55 is called the fast scan direction . suitable donor sheet compositions are taught in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 772 , 582 . the donor sheet 55 is in close contact with a receiver surface 60 which is the back surface ( i . e ., the surface that does not contain the lenticules ) of the lenticular array 8 or the blocking line screen 9 . ( see fig2 a .) the donor sheet 55 is separated from the receiver surface 60 by beads ( not shown ) as described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 876 , 235 . however , the donor sheet 55 may be held in close proximity to the receiver surface 60 using any convenient method . the lenticular array 8 or the blocking line screen 9 is supported on a stage 65 ( fig3 a , 3 b ). in this embodiment , the donor sheet 55 is also supported by the stage 65 . this is shown in fig2 a and 3a . the stage 65 is capable of rotation and of linear translation . the translation of the stage 65 is in a direction 71 , which is perpendicular to the optical axis 72 of the scan - lens 50 and , is also perpendicular to a fast - scan axis 56 defined by the path of the scanning focal spot in the plane of the donor sheet 55 . the rotation of the stage 65 is about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the lenticular array 8 ( or the blocking line screen 9 ) and is indicated by the arrow 73 . ( see fig2 a , 3 a , and 3 b .) at least a section of the stage 65 is transparent . preferably , the platen 66 or a section of the platen 66 is made from an acrylate or polycarbonate polymer to satisfy the transparency requirement . the need for the transparency requirement is discussed later in the specification . the stage 65 includes a vacuum platen 66 . the vacuum platen includes a recess 67 for receiving a lenticular array or a blocking line screen , surface 68 for supporting a donor sheet 55 , a vacuum groove 69 a for holding the donor sheet in place and a vacuum groove 69 b for holding either the lenticular array or the blocking line screen in the recess 67 . preferably , the scan lens 50 is an f - theta lens having a flat image surface . an f - theta lens is characterized by an amount of barrel distortion , such that the focal spot &# 39 ; s distance measured along the fast - scan axis from the optical axis 72 of the f - theta lens 50 is proportional to the incoming angle of the light beam . it is preferred that the plane of the receiver surface 60 and the linear translation stage 65 be tilted slightly by an angle δθ about the fast - scan axis 56 to eliminate any stray light reflections ( off the donor or receiver or other surfaces from and going back to the laser 10 ). it is preferred that the angle δθ be about five degrees ( 5 °). this is shown in fig4 . a lenticular image viewed from a particular viewing distance ( from the lenticular array ) needs to present a single view to the observer over the entire image surface . thus , it is necessary that the pitch of the image lines 57 ( forming the composite image ) be adjusted precisely with respect to the pitch of the lenticular array 8 or the blocking line screen 9 . a composite image with the fine pitch that is adjusted for the pitch of the lenticular array used with this composite image is called a scaled composite image . more specifically , a scaled composite image is defined as a composite image that is scaled in the cross lenticular array direction in accordance with the pitch of the lenticular array for the purposes of achieving the desired viewing distance when viewing the three - dimension or motion images . a typical viewing distance is 8 - 20 inches and , preferably , 10 - 16 inches . furthermore , it is also necessary that the image lines 57 of the scaled lenticular image are rotationally aligned with respect to the lenticular array , such that they are parallel to the long axis of lenticules ( see fig5 ). as stated above , a lenticular array can present the viewer with a sequence of images . a person swinging a baseball bat from one position to another position would be an example of such sequence of images . this sequence of images can be viewed by tilting the lenticular array with respect to the viewer ( fig6 a - 6 c ). it is preferable that the middle picture ( i . e ., the center view of the motion sequence ) be viewed when the lenticular array 8 or the blocking line screen 9 is perpendicular to the observer &# 39 ; s line of site . in order for the center - view of a motion sequence to be viewed when the lenticular array 8 or the blocking line screen 9 is oriented at an appropriate angle of tilt with respect to the observer , center image line 75 of the image line set corresponding to the center - view of the sequence should be located at a position directly behind the center of the middle lenticule 76 of the lenticular array ( this is shown in fig7 ) or the center of the middle blocking line of the blocking line screen 9 . an embodiment of rotational alignment of the lenticular array 8 and the image lines of the composite image is accomplished as described hereinbelow . the method of alignment preferably comprises two steps : step 1 — coarse rotational alignment , step 2 — precise rotational alignment . the two - step rotational alignment technique results in a correction of a high range of allowable misalignment and of very precise alignment of the composite image with respect to the lenticular array . each of the two steps may be used singly , i . e ., independent of the other step . the coarse alignment step may be forgone if an initial mechanical registration on placement of the lenticular array on the stage results in a rotational misalignment of less than one half of one lenticule width w over the substantially entire scan line ( fig8 ). this is because the precise alignment that will be described later in the specification provides multiple stable solutions for misalignments of integer multiples of lenticule widths . in other cases , coarse alignment alone may give sufficiently accurate alignment . referring again to fig2 a , the coarse rotational alignment of the lenticular array or the blocking line screen with the image lines forming the scaled composite image will be described . prior to any transfer of colorant to the receiver surface 60 , and preferably before the mounting of a donor sheet 55 , a coarse alignment source 80 , for example an led or a laser diode , emits a beam of light 82 which passes through the array with a periodic structure ; i . e ., the blocking line screen or the lenticular array 8 ( through both the image receiving surface and the lenticules containing surface ) and through a transparent section of stage 65 towards a coarse alignment lens 90 . the coarse alignment source 80 is imaged by the coarse alignment lens 90 as a light line 100 , the light line 100 having a direction that is precisely perpendicular to the lenticular array direction for any rotation angle of the lenticular array 8 or the blocking line screen about the optical axis of the scan lens 50 . thus , when the blocking line screen or the lenticular array 8 is rotated by the stage 65 about the axis parallel to the optical axis 72 , the light line 100 rotates in the image plane 101 of the coarse alignment lens 90 . the image plane 101 is the plane containing the rotating light line 100 . the light line 100 formed by the coarse alignment lens 90 and the lenticular array 8 is perpendicular to the lenticular array direction because the interposed lenticular array 8 is made of lenticules 8 a that have no optical power along a direction corresponding to the long axes of the lenticules , effectively causing the light beam to refract along the direction perpendicular to this direction . ( see fig9 a and 9b .) the light line formed by the blocking line screen and the coarse alignment 90 is perpendicular to the blocking line screen direction . a coarse - rotation detector 110 is positioned in the image plane 101 of the lens 90 some distance away from the optical axis of the lens 90 and is coincident with the light line 100 . preferably , the long axes of the lenticules or the blocking lines of the blocking line screen should be parallel to the fast - scan axis 56 . then , while rotating the lenticular array or the blocking line screen , the detector 110 detects the maximum signal when the lenticular array or the blocking line screen direction is parallel to the fast - scan axis 56 . detection and rotation stage motion control act cooperatively to achieve coarse rotational alignment of the lenticular array 8 or the blocking line screen with respect to the fast - scan axis 56 . more specifically , the blocking line screen or the lenticular array 8 is placed in the recess 67 of the stage 65 . stage 65 is capable of translation and rotation . the rotational motion of the stage 65 is activated by a cpu unit 114 . as the lenticular array 8 is rotated , the detector detects the presents of light and provides a variable amplitude signal to the cpu 114 . the cpu 114 , in turn , provides appropriate data that drives the rotation of the stage 65 . the angular position either the blocking line screen of the lenticular array 8 corresponding to the maximum signal provided by the detector 110 is determined by the cpu 114 and , the cpu 114 drives the rotation of the stage 65 until the stage 65 reaches its optimum angular position . that is , based on this data , the cpu 114 activates the rotation of the stage 65 until the lenticular array 8 or the blocking line screen is in proper alignment with the fast - scan axis 56 and thus with the image lines about to be written . using this method we achieved a degree of alignment that is well below the half - lenticule requirement . also , in this embodiment , a misalignment of up to +/− 6 ° was automatically corrected . this method could easily accommodate higher misalignments , however it is felt that any reasonable method for mechanically positioning a lenticular array on the stage 65 could register the lenticular array well within the +/− 6 degrees of the optimal rotationally aligned position . the process of providing a coarse rotational alignment of the blocking line screen 9 with respect to the interdigitated image lines is similar to the coarse alignment of the lenticular array 8 . however , the light line 100 is formed through interference and diffraction from the blocking line screen 9 . more specifically , the blocking line screen acts as many slits and cause a diffraction pattern . the result is a standard many slit diffraction pattern which is approximately a line oriented perpendicular to the slits . there will be some minima where the intensity may be greatly decreased . therefore , one must choose an off axis region where there is a maximum in intensity ( not a minimum ) for the placement of the off axis detector 110 . fig9 c shows the diffraction pattern through many slits . the precise rotational alignment is accomplished after the coarse rotational alignment . the precise rotational alignment is achieved by using two small photodetectors 120 and 130 . these photodetectors 120 and 130 are positioned behind the lenticular array 8 or the blocking line screen 9 , preferably with each detector 120 , 130 being located near one of the opposite sides 121 , 131 of the lenticular array 8 and with each detector being coincident with the fast - scan axis 56 . ( fig2 a ) a second light beam , which is preferably the writing beam 15 from the diode laser 10 having a reduced power level ( preferably by factor of 10 or more ) as compared to actual writing levels , is brought by the scan mirror 40 through a transparent section of the stage 65 to one of the detectors , for example , detector 120 , and the resulting signal is stored in the cpu memory while the array 8 is translated in a direction 71 ( slow scan direction ). it is noted that this light beam could also be from a different light source . the recorded signal is a periodic one and , the maximum signal occurs when the light beam becomes collinear with the optical axis of each scanned lenticule 8 a . because of the short focal length typical of lenticules , the light beam on traversing a lenticule 8 a while this translation is occurring , undergoes a significant sweeping deflection about the detector 120 , with the light beam 15 striking the detector 120 when the beam 15 is undeflected . this step is then repeated with the light beam instead being incident upon the second detector 130 . the two periodic records of intensity versus position are compared and the phase difference δ between the two sets of signals is determined . the phase difference δ gives a measure of the remaining misalignment . the relative position of the stage 65 and thus of the lenticular array 8 or the blocking line screen with respect to fast scan axis 56 can be determined very accurately , for example , by microstepper motor drive or through the use of position encoders such as strip gauges . fig1 shows examples of periodic signals from the detectors 120 and 130 and also shows the phase difference δ corresponding to the rotational misalignment . this information is used to drive the stage 65 until any remaining misalignment between either the blocking line screen or the lenticular array 8 and the fast - scan axis 56 is rendered negligible . alternatively , a light beam can be scanned between the two detectors 120 , 130 during translation of the lenticular array or the blocking line screen , or two light beams can simultaneously impinge on two detectors 120 , 130 , or a single wide beam can simultaneously impinge on both detectors 120 , 130 . the detectors 110 , 120 , and 130 may be simple photodetectors as opposed to linear array detectors or position sensitive detectors . preferred types of detectors include photodiodes , phototransistors , and split photodiodes capable of performing difference measurements . in the case of the split photodiodes , as is well known , rather than identifying a detected signal maximum to verify the incidence of a light beam on a detector , a zero - crossing point is identified instead . it should be pointed out that the linear translation of the stage 65 may be accomplished in at least two different ways . first , the stage 65 may be stepped to a new position before writing the next image line and then held in a constant position during the writing of the image line . alternatively , the stage 65 may be driven continuously . it has been found by experiment , that as translation speed increases , it is preferable to drive the stage 65 continuously . continuous translation of the stage 65 avoids the mechanical ringing associated with strong accelerations required to move the stage 65 in the step and hold mode . however , as a consequence of continuous translation of the stage 65 , an additional rotational misalignment arises by the fact that the lenticular array 8 or the blocking line screen 9 moves during the fast - scan time . this additional misalignment is constant and may be easily eliminated by an additional rotation of the stage 65 after the rotational alignment steps described above . in practice , the additional rotation is accounted for and the stage 65 is rotated only once . the periodic signals from detectors 120 or 130 are also used for determining the pitch of the lenticular array 8 or the blocking line screen 9 . if the signals are collected during translation of substantially the entire cross lenticular array dimension ( i . e ., across most lenticules ) or across the blocking line screen 9 , the average period of the lenticular array 8 or the blocking line screen 9 may be found with the greatest accuracy . a preferred method of obtaining the pitch of the lenticular array or the blocking line screen from the periodic signals , is to perform a fourier transform of the periodic signals from one of the detectors , 120 or 130 . care is taken to include the information carried by the harmonics of the fundamental spatial frequency in order to increase the precision of the measurement . absent the inclusion of harmonics , the precision of the period measurement will be limited by the finite number of scanned lenticules or the blocking lines that generate the periodic signal . using the preferred embodiment of the present invention , the pitch of the lenticular array was measured within 200 parts per million . since the pitch determines the viewing distance , this pitch accuracy is sufficient to have a viewing distance control within +/− 1 inches around a nominal viewing distance of 12 inches . the periodic signals also carry sufficient information to allow center - view alignment , i . e . the condition whereby the appropriate view ( for example , of a motion image sequence ) is presented to an observer by the appropriate tilt angle of the lenticular array or the blocking line screen with respect to the observer . often it is preferable that the center view of a motion sequence is observed when a lenticular array or a blocking line screen is oriented perpendicular to the observer &# 39 ; s line of site . this condition requires that an image line corresponding to the center view and located substantially near the center lenticule or the center gap between the blocking line should be located on or near the optical axis for that lenticule or along the center of that center gap . for example , such a location is achieved by first using the periodic signals to determine the absolute position of the fast - scan axis 56 relative to the lenticular array 8 and then translating the composite image relative to the lenticular array 8 until the image lines corresponding to the center view of the motion sequence are positioned such that the center image line of the center view is be located on or near the optical axis for the center lenticule . after rotational alignment , pitch measurement , and center view alignment are performed , the scaled composite image is ready to be printed . a donor sheet 55 containing a dye layer , described , for example , in embodiment 2 of the u . s . pat . no . 5 , 183 , 798 , is attached or is placed at the receiving surface 60 of the lenticular array 8 . beads situated in the donor sheet are used to separate the dye layer from the surface 60 . this is disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 876 , 235 . the scanning laser beam 15 exposes the donor sheet 55 ( during the linear translation of the lenticular array ) and transfers dye in registration with the lenticules . the focussed ( writing ) laser beam size is preferred to be less than 60 micrometers and more preferably less than 15 micrometers in width . it is most preferred that the width of the focussed laser beam 15 and , thus , the width of transferred colorant line be about 10 micrometers or less . narrow written width of the image lines d is important since the total number of views ( which is directly proportional to the number of image lines that can be written behind a given lenticule or a blocking line ) is limited by printer resolution in the cross - lenticule or cross - line direction . for full color images , multiple pass colorant transfer is required . in order to produce color images , the first donor sheet is removed without disturbing the receiver and a new donor is applied . the described exposure method is repeated for the second color and then repeated with the third color . the image may be solvent - fused , thermally - fused or left unfused into the material on the back of the lenticular array . a backing sheet may be applied to add protection to the media , increase stiffness , and give a reflective backing . possible limiting factors to image writing speed include the available power of the writing laser , and the fast - scan frequency ( number of scans per second ). each of these factors can be overcome by providing instead of a single writing laser , multiple independently modulated lasers . each of the multiple lasers write along or parallel to the fast - scan axis scanner ( scan mirror 40 and the galvanometer 30 ) and the scan lens 50 in order to form multiple scanning spots in the image plane of the scan lens 50 . with this arrangement , multiple lines are written simultaneously , with the writing time being inversely proportional to the number of lasers . it is noted that the above method and apparatus for alignment of image lines with a lenticular arrays can be also used to align the image lines with the blocking line screen or another periodic structure . the invention has been described in detail with particular reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof , but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention .
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fig1 of the drawing illustrates a wheeled supporting frame 10 having the wheels 10a . the wheeled frame is connected to a suitable towing unit such as the tractor 11 by a conventional draw bar 10b . a pair of stationary hollow base strut members 15 are rigidly mounted in inclined relation on the frame unit 10 as best shown in fig2 and 3 . a hollow extensible strut member 16 is telescopically received in each of the base strut members 15 , and an upper extensible strut member 17 is telescopically received within each of the intermediate strut members 16 . a dump box 20 is pivotally mounted on pivot pins on the top of the upper strut members 17 and has a back panel 20a disposed at substantially right angles to the bottom 20b . a cross bar 22 is connected by a pair of links 24 to the upper end of the upper strut member 17 to form an upper frame unit as best shown in fig4 . the outer ends of the cross bar 22 provide an elevated pivotal support for a pair of dumping cylinders 26 , the upper ends of which are pivotally connected to intermediate portions of the respective sides of the dump box 20 as by the brackets 27 and are maintained in substantially vertical position . the cross bar 22 has a pair of rollers 30 that are journaled for rotation on suitable shafts and are respectively aligned with the longitudinal top sloping surfaces of the intermediate strut members 16 as best shown in fig5 and 7 . when the struts 16 and 17 are in extended relation , the cross bar provides interlocking latch connection between the upper end of intermediate strut member 16 and the lower end of the uppermost strut 17 . this interlocking relationship is produced by a bracket member 22a fixed to the cross bar . the upper edge of each bracket 22a has an interlocking notch 22b formed therein as best shown in fig5 . a laterally extending bracket 16a is fixed to each of the intermediate struts 16 and has an interlocking pin 16b fixed on the bottom edge thereof as best shown in fig5 and 6 . this bracket and pin interlocking system forms a substantially rigid connection between the upper portion of the intermediate strut 16 and the cross bar 22 . thus , the cross bar 22 rigidly interconnects the two struts 16 and 17 when the upper strut 17 is in extended position and the bracket pin 16b is interlocked in notch 22b . each bracket 22a is provided with a guiding flange 22c as best shown in fig7 . this flange 22a extends inwardly to overlap the bracket 16a and maintains the cross bar and roller in the desired alignment on the intermediate strut 16 when the two struts 16 and 17 are in fully extended position and also engages a flange plate 15c when the struts are in lowered position as best shown in fig5 . a pair of tension springs 32 are respectively connected to the intermediate strut members 16 as by brackets 16c and connect the struts 16 to the respective bottom stationary strut members 15 . the positive connection between the cross bar 22 and the upper ends of intermediate strut members 16 by means of the interfitted brackets 22a and 16a provides the required substantially rigid stability between the extended strut members 16 and 17 . the springs 32 insure that the intermediate struts 16 will be lowered from extended position into the base strut members 15 before the upper strut members 17 are lowered into the intermediate strut members 16 . the springs thus maintain the stable rigid connection between the two upper struts 16 and 17 , until the struts 16 are fully retracted into the base strut 15 . as the two upper sections 16 and 17 are lowered as a unit into the stationary base struts 15 , the rollers 30 will reach the upper ends of the base sections 15 and ride smoothly up onto the upper inclined surface on the ramps 15b provided at the top of upper surfaces of the stationary base struts 15 . a pair of main extension cylinder assemblies 35 are suitably mounted within the hollow extensible strut sections 15 , 16 , and 17 to produce the desired extension and contraction of the strut sections . suitable connections and control valving of conventional design are connected with the tractor hydraulic system to provide the controlled operation of the hydraulic cylinders 26 and 35 . the upper ends of the upper strut sections 17 are cut out to form stop recesses 17a which receive but stop plates 20d below the lip of the box to limit the dumping rotation of the box . the problems with the prior art dump boxes have become critical in view of the use of dump boxes in the expanded agricultural market , which includes the use of trucks and trailers with higher sides as shown diagrammatically in fig2 . this problem is combined with the need for a low loading elevation of the box to facilitate receiving the discharge from the various harvesting machines . frequently , a lip extension such as the lip plate 20c as shown in fig2 is provided and extends approximately 10 inches outwardly beyond the normal dumping lip of the box 20 . depending upon the exact dumping angle of the box , this plate would lower the dumping edge by several inches . the dumping edge of the lip 10 overlies the upper edge of the body of the truck or trailer unit t into which the contents of the box are being dumped . it is very undesirable to have the dumping edge of the box or lip project down into the truck body below the upper edge of the side of the truck t . this could produce an inadvertent contact between the truck and the dump box and cause damage to both vehicles . by providing an increased , highly stable increment of high lift capability , this invention permits a lower center of gravity when the box is in down position and thus facilitates loading and stable transportation of a loaded dump box when in down position . it will be seen that i have provided a relatively simple yet highly efficient stabilizing mechanism for high lift dump box extensible strut assemblies .
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in the embodiment according to fig1 to 3 , a pneumatic cylinder 1 is closed by a bottom piece 2 , fixedly attached to the cylinder 1 . in the cylinder 1 is tightly guided an annular piston 3 which constitutes an actuating piston of the pneumatic system , and a central piston 4 is tightly guided in the annular piston 3 . a collar or flange 5 of the piston 4 coacts with the outer surface of the piston 3 to limit the movement of the piston 4 opposite the piston 3 . a pressure connecting means 6 is provided in the bottom piece 2 for supplying pressurized air to a working area or space 7 for the piston 3 or piston 4 . a collar 8 is located at the end of the cylinder 1 remote from the bottom piece 2 , with the collar being formed by a circular part 9 fixedly connected with the cylinder . a circular space 16 is formed in the part 9 , and the part 9 is delimited at its side facing the piston 3 by an area 17 of a flat conical shape positioned transversely to the axis of the cylinder 1 . a pressure - connecting means 23 is associated with the circular part 9 and communicates with the space 16 . a cylindrical tension part 10 is tightly positioned in the collar 8 and a portion thereof extends into the cylinder 1 . the piston 4 has a shoulder 26 with which it is supported towards an inwardly extending flange 27 of the part 10 . a plurality of swinging levers 11 are mounted on axles 12 of the cylindrical part 10 and are evenly positioned around the circumference of the central piston 4 . the levers 11 are of a forked shape and guide - rollers 14 are rotatably positioned on axles 15 provided between fork - arms 13 of the levers . the piston 4 is provided with an annular groove 18 in which the guide rollers 14 are located while the starting stroke is at an idle position ( fig1 ). a nose 19 of the levers 11 , which constitutes a sensor or feeler abuts or engages inner wall 20 of the cylinder 1 , and holds the guide - rollers 14 in their position in the annular groove 18 . a collet or sleeve 21 is fixedly connected to the piston 3 , encircling loosely the central piston 4 , and a front area or edge 22 thereby coacts with the guide rollers 14 . when the space 7 is placed under pressure via the pressure connection 6 , the piston 3 and piston 4 move into the direction of the stroke indicated by arrow 24 . the front edge 22 of the collet 21 thus pushes against the guide - rollers 14 and levers 11 try to swing outwardly about the axles 12 into the stroke direction 24 , but such a movement is limited since the noses 19 engage the wall 20 of the cylinder 1 . as soon as the noses 19 enter the area of the recess 16 , the noses move or dip so to speak into the recess 16 . this is effected as the front edge 22 of the collet 21 engages eccentrically at the guide rollers 14 , thereby resulting in a force component towards the outside . the levers 11 , together with the guide rollers 14 and the noses 19 , reach the positions 11 &# 39 ;, 14 &# 39 ;, 19 &# 39 ; in fig2 . the guide rollers 14 roll on the periphery of the collet 21 and leave the annular groove 18 and hence the piston 4 . the starter stroke ends in this position . the collet 21 enters into an annular space 25 between the piston 4 and the part 10 , whereby the annular piston 3 continuously moves further into the direction 24 . the piston 4 moves into the direction 24 only until it meets resistance . since the starting stroke is measured so that at the end of such stroke the working stroke begins , the piston 4 will only very slowly continue its stroke , when the levers 11 together with the noses 19 enter the recess 16 . the mechanical step - up mechanism is defined by the collet 21 , the levers 11 together with the feelers 19 and the guide rollers 14 . the further the annular piston is lifted , the further movement of the collet 21 in the annular space 25 and the further the guide rollers 14 and the levers 11 are pushed outwardly , so that the guide rollers 14 now function as pressure means which support themselves on the area of flat conical shape 17 . the tension part 10 is thereby displaced with great force by a small distance into the direction 24 , as shown in fig2 . the collet 21 is illustrated on a larger scale in fig3 . at the free end , adjacent the front edge 22 , the periphery has an outwardly inclined guide area or section 28 for the guide rollers 14 , which , merges with a cylindrical guide area 29 . the guide area 29 merges with a further outwardly inclined guide area 30 , while an inwardly inclined guide area 31 merges with the guide area 30 . instead of the cylindrical guide area 29 , there may be provided also a guide area which is inwardly inclined and in place of the inwardly inclined guide guide area 31 there may be a cylindrical guide area . as long as the guide rollers 14 move on the outwardly inclined guide areas 28 and 30 , the levers are pushed outwardly and this is in accordance with the working stroke . if the guide rollers move on the cylindrical or inwardly inclined guide areas , no working stroke is then performed and in this area a resetting or loosening can thus not be effected even with the highest pressure on the tension part 10 opposite the direction 24 , eventhough the working space 7 is relieved of pressure . at the end of the working stroke , the guide rollers contact the area 31 . due to this self - locking , the annular piston 3 remains in its position 3 &# 39 ;, in which the levers 11 together with the feelers 19 , are pressed into the circular area 16 and because of pressure relief in the working space 7 , a resetting of the tension part 10 , from the working area 10 &# 39 ; cannot be effected . in order to effect the resetting , the circular area 16 is pressurized via the connecting means 23 . the annular piston 3 is moved in a direction opposite to the stroke direction 24 , the collet 21 which is in the position 21 &# 39 ; is drawn from the annular area 25 , and the tension device moves back into the starting position , shown in fig1 . as illustrated , a piston - shaped insertable member 32 is guided in the tension part 10 to be axially movable , and is biased by a spring 33 towards the flange 27 of the tension member 10 . the member 32 carries a threaded connection member 34 to which may be connected any type of adapter piece for the purpose of correctly setting the starter stroke . the member 32 may be threaded into the central piston 4 by means of a thread 35 , so that it is securely guided over a comparatively large distance . the spring 33 effects on one hand , the avoiding of an overload of the tension device and on the other hand , it permits the precise setting of the tensional force by the spring 33 . since , at the end of the working stroke , the spring 33 is compressed , the tension force will not substantially decrease , when at a pressure loss , the guide rollers 14 abut an outwardly inclined area 30 of the collet 21 and force the collet 21 together with the piston 3 until they are moved onto a cylindrical or inwardly inclined area . in the embodiments shown in fig4 and 5 , a second roller 36 is carried by the lever 11 , with the roller 36 defining a sensor or feeler 19 . the rollers 36 are rolling off the inner wall 20 of cylinder 1 , until they enter a circular space or area 37 which is somewhat differently shaped , but has in principle the same function as the circular area 16 in fig1 and 2 . the area 17 of flat conical shape merges into the cylinder via a rounding 38 . the rollers 14 move again in the same manner as in fig1 and 2 at the end of the starting stroke onto the collet 21 . the levers 11 are again urged outwardly and the rollers 36 roll onto the area 17 , whereby tension part 39 is moved by a strong force and a small distance in the direction 24 . in this embodiment , an insertable member 40 , which in general is similar to the member 32 of fig1 and 2 , is threaded together with the central piston 4 at 35 and is axially movably guided in the tension member 39 . the supporting of the member 40 against the tension part 39 is , in this embodiment , effected by means of cup springs 41 which has the same function as the springs 33 in fig1 and 2 . at the lower part of the central piston 4 is located a collar 42 similar to the collar 5 but the collar 42 is not mounted immediately adjacent the central piston , but is attached thereto by means of a bolt nut 43 via cup springs 44 . a ring 49 of an elastic material is inserted into bottom piece 50 of the cylinder 1 for the purpose of mounting the annular piston 3 . in this embodiment , the tension member is supported against the cylinder near the pivotal points of the levers 11 . the supporting is constituted by a circular collar or flange 48 by which the tension member 39 is guided in the cylinder . in general , the function of the apparatus according to fig4 and 5 is the same as that of fig1 and 2 , and identical parts thereof are identified by the same numerals . the embodiment of fig6 differs from fig4 and 5 and also from fig1 and 3 in that the collet 21 is provided with a uniform outwardly inclined area 45 which changes into a cylindrical area 46 . furthermore , a tension part 47 , which , in its function , is the same as the tension part 39 or 10 , and which again is threaded together with the central piston 4 , is connected immediately and without the insertion of an insertable member 40 or 32 with the threaded connection member 34 . as shown by the drawings , the device of the present invention permits the performing of a working stroke after completion of a starting stroke , thereby enabling a very high application of power at a short tension - distance . if , for example , pressurized air with a pressure of 6 over atmospheric pressure is available , it is then possible that a starting power of 200 kp may be utilized whereby a power of approximately 3 , 000 kp is obtained during the working stroke .
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referring to fig1 , a first embodiment provides an optical processor . the optical processor , typically for a spectrograph , includes a light source 20 , a first slit plate 21 , a collimator 22 , a grating device 23 , a first lens 24 , a reflector 25 , a second lens 26 , a second slit plate 27 , an array of mirror cells 28 , a color wheel 29 , a third lens 30 and a screen 31 all located along a continuous optical path . the light source 20 is an inductively - coupled - plasma source ( icp source ) for emitting light beams . the icp source has the advantages of satisfactory stability , high excitation temperature , wide linear range , and rare chemical interference . alternatively , a laser source can be used as the light source 20 . the light beams enter the collimator 22 via the first slit plate 21 . the first slit plate 21 is an entrance slit plate , and is positioned between the light source 20 and the collimator 22 . the collimator 22 gathers the light beams from the first slit plate 21 , and collimates the light beams into parallel light beams . the grating device 23 is a kind of phase - type optical device , and is preferably a diffractive optical grating device . the grating device 23 and the light source 20 are spaced apart a particular distance . if the distance is great enough to assume that the light beams entering the grating device 23 are substantially parallel , then the collimator 22 can be omitted . the grating device 23 includes a planar surface 23 b and a non - planar surface 23 a . the non - planar surface 23 a reflects the parallel light beams received from the collimator 22 or the first slit plate 21 . the grating device 23 further includes a plurality of grooves 23 ′ on the non - planar surface 23 a . with the grooves 23 ′, the thickness of the grating device 23 varies along the non - planar surface 23 a . due to the thickness variation , the non - planar surface 23 a of the grating device 23 is capable of reflecting the parallel light beams to form a spectrum distribution on a focal plane . the parallel light beams received from the collimator 22 ( or the first slit plate 21 ) induce coma aberration and flare . the coma aberration and flare cause distortion aberration and curvature of field to the parallel light beams . when the parallel light beams are reflected by the grating device 23 , the distortion aberration and the curvature of field are substantially corrected by the grooves 23 ′ of the grating device 23 . when parallel light beams enter the grooves 23 ′ on the non - planar surface 23 a , diffraction occurs due to the geometry of the grooves 23 ′. in this diffraction , a grating equation can be expressed in the following way : d sin θ = kλ ( k = 0 , ± 1 , ± 2 , . . . ), where d is the grating constant of the grating device 23 , λ is a wavelength of the light beams , k is the diffraction order , and θ is the diffraction angle . the values of k specify the order of various principal maxima . the principal maximum of each k order shows up as a thin and bright line . after the light beams with the wavelengths enter the grating device 23 , the thin and bright lines of the principal maxima are arranged to respectively correspond to the wavelengths of the light beams . the combination of the lines , shown on the focal plane of the first lens 24 ( e . g ., a focus lens ), is a so - called diffractive spectrum . the greater the absolute value of the diffraction order k , the more dispersive the corresponding lines , and the lower the energy of the corresponding light beams . when the grating device 23 is rotated to an oblique angle relative to the parallel light beams , the wavelength range of the diffractive spectrum is changed . based on this changeability , spectra with different wavelength ranges can be analyzed . additionally , the number of grooves 23 ′ may be adjusted to detect different wavelength ranges of the diffractive spectrum . the number of grooves 23 ′ may be adjusted by using a new grating device 23 having a different number of grooves to replace the original grating device 23 . this additional adjustment enables the optical processor to detect a spectrum having wavelengths in the range from 200 nm to 1600 nm . after the diffractive spectrum is formed on the first lens 24 , the light beams pass through the first lens 24 and are then reflected by the reflector 25 . the reflector 25 reflects the light beams to the second lens 26 , which may for example be an aspherical correction lens . the second lens 26 generates no three - dimensional spectrum focal plane , unlike what is often the case if a conventional prism is used . further , the second lens 26 replaces a conventional combination of a prism and a focus lens , thereby saving space , avoiding light loss , and eliminating aberration and chromatism . after the light beams pass through the second lens 26 , they pass through exit holes 27 a of the second slit plate 27 and then strike the array of mirror cells 28 . the array of mirror cells 28 serves as a digital micromirror device , and is preferably a special semiconductor chip . the array of mirror cells 28 is made by simultaneously locating and forming optical devices through micro electro mechanical system ( mems ) technology . using mems technology , the formed array of mirror cells 28 can be precisely aligned with the striking light beams . the array of mirror cells 28 reflects the light beams to the color wheel 29 for rgb coloring . the color wheel 29 colors the light beams , and the colored light beams then propagate to and are projected by the third lens 30 . the third lens 30 is preferably a projection lens , and projects and focuses the light beams onto a monitor 31 ( or a screen or a display ). the monitor 31 images the light beams , so that a spectrum image is output . the light beams processed by the optical processor may have some special frequencies . in use of the optical processor , the responses of special frequencies are measured by a modulation - transfer - function ( mtf ) technique . such measurement evaluates the quality of the optical processor and the devices thereof . in measurement of visible light , the light image is electrically scanned by a detector ( not shown ) that includes an array of photodiodes . such detector performs the measurement promptly , and additionally measures the focal length , back focal distance and optical deformation of the devices . “ back focal distance ” means the distance from a flange of a lens ( at the edge of the lens mount ) to a focal plane of the lens . referring to fig2 , each of mirror cells 28 a of the array of mirror cells 28 includes a square mirror 35 and a driver 36 on a silicon substrate 32 . the square mirror 35 is a preferably a silicon chip , and includes a reflecting plane 35 a . the driver 36 is for tilting the square mirror 35 on the silicon substrate 32 , and includes an electrode . the driver 36 is provided under the square mirror unit 35 , on a top surface of the silicon substrate 32 . each of the mirror cells 28 a further includes two pedestals 33 and two cantilevers 34 . the pedestals 33 are positioned at opposite sides of the square mirror 35 respectively , and support the cantilevers 34 respectively . the cantilevers 34 are for cantilevering the square mirror 35 . the square mirrors 35 and the color wheel 29 collectively serve as a detecting assembly for the optical processor . in operation of the detecting assembly , the square mirrors 35 firstly reflect the light beams to the color wheel 29 . the first reflected light beams serve as a first optical signal . after the first reflection , the square mirrors 35 secondly reflect the light beams to a light absorber ( not shown ) within microseconds . the second reflected light beams serve as a second optical signal representing “ 0 .” after the second reflection , the square mirrors 35 thirdly reflect the light beams to the color wheel 29 within microseconds . the third reflected light beams serve as a third optical signal . the first and the third optical signals , which respectively represent “ 1 ,” are digitally displayed by being projected onto the monitor 31 . this projection is performed by the third lens 30 . the first , second and third reflecting steps are performed by tilting the normal line of the square mirror 35 using the driver 36 . the driver 36 is able to drive the square mirror 35 to tilt the normal line to an angle of about 10 to − 10 degrees or about 12 to − 12 degrees . referring to fig1 , in summary , the present invention provides the array of mirror cells 28 made on a micro scale . according to the present invention , the array of mirror cells 28 , the color wheel 29 and the third lens 30 are operated to transform the first and the third optical signals into two spectrum images . in the prior art , if the first and the third optical signals are transformed into electrical signals before being transformed into the spectrum images , a photomultiplier or a charged coupled device ( ccd ) is conventionally used . such photomultiplier or ccd is limited to sensing short wavelengths of light beams only . the present invention requires no photomultiplier or ccd , and directly transforms the first and the third optical signals into the spectrum images . therefore , the present invention is able to sense a wider range of wavelengths of light beams . although only preferred embodiments and a preferred method have been described in detail above , it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein . therefore the invention is not limited to the above - described embodiments and method , but rather has a scope defined by the appended claims and allowable equivalents thereof .
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the preferred embodiments of the present invention are presented with reference to the drawings as follows . in light of the shortcomings of the practical card number intelligent service provided by the existing traditional intelligent networks , the embodiments of present invention put forward a new solution , which allows the calling party of the card number service to release his current call actively by dialing a special key combination that can be configured such as “##”, and then initiate a new call by dialing the number of another called party following the intelligent voice prompt , instead of waiting for the previous called party , whom he is talking with , to hang up to release the current call and dialing the number of another called party following the intelligent voice prompt , or the calling party actively hanging up to release his current call and initiating a new call by dialing again a long string of digits including access number , card number and password number etc . the embodiments of the present invention can be achieved with modification of the exiting intelligent networks or relying on the new generation of soft switch device , if there are any other systems that can support the card number intelligent service , the embodiments of the present invention can also be achieved on the basis thereof . fig1 is a schematic flowchart illustrating an embodiment of the present invention . in fig1 , service control point ( scp ) 10 , call controller 11 , calling gateway 12 and calling party 13 are the key parts in the whole system . it should be noted that , if the embodiment of the present invention is achieved on the existing intelligent networks , then call controller 11 is the service switch point ( ssp ) of the traditional intelligent networks . ssp is generally integrated on the digital program control exchanger . if the system is achieved with soft switch system architecture , then call controller 11 is the soft switch device . if there are any other systems supporting the card number intelligent service , then call controller 11 is the corresponding device in the system . the embodiments of the present invention are presented in combination of soft switch and scp , with media gateway control protocol ( mgcp ) or gateway control protocol ( h . 248 ) terminal taken as the examples , therefore , call controller 11 is actually the soft switch device , calling gateway 12 adopts the media gateway of mgcp or h . 248 protocol , and the equipment adopted by calling party 13 is actually the mgcp / h . 248 terminal . it should be noted that , the soft switch system architecture involves three parts : signaling gateway , media gateway and media gateway control , with standard mgcp and h . 248 protocol adopted to achieve the separation of call control and bearer control . interaction among the key equipments is described in detail according to the flowchart in fig1 as follows : in step 100 , when calling party 13 enters the card number call process by the standard card number call interactive operation and the called party replies , i . e ., the call succeeds , call controller 11 issues a detecting command to calling gateway 12 in the home network of calling party 13 , instructing calling gateway 12 to detect the special key combination that calling party 13 might dial at any moment in the session between calling party 13 and the called party , wherein , the key combination is set up beforehand . the soft switch system adopts the mode in which the soft switch device issues digits - collecting request to the gateway to which the calling party belongs , and different modes like digitmap or immediate report can be adopted to request a detection for voice frequency dialing of special events . it should be noted that , digitmap is a type of special events specified in mgcp / h . 248 protocol , and it is issued by call controller 11 to calling gateway 12 , and the parameters contained in it are the specified events to be detected by calling gateway 12 , these events are one or plural columns of digit strings that are listed according to a certain order , and each column corresponds to an event sequence instead of a separate event . when the detected digit string matches one column in the detect event command , calling gateway 12 sends a notify to call controller 11 . in step 110 , it is a process in which calling gateway 12 detects calling party 13 to monitor the calling party &# 39 ; s dialing the preset key combination , and it is in fact to activate a process in calling gateway 12 to detect the user &# 39 ; s dialing , which is well known to those skilled in the art , and once the condition is met , the process is triggered to make response . in step 120 , when the calling party of the card number service , i . e ., calling party 13 wants to dial another called party in the session , he dials the preset key combination , which is reported to calling gateway 12 and the next response is triggered . in step 130 , calling gateway 12 detects that calling party 13 has dialed the preset key combination and reports the event message to call controller 11 immediately . in the soft switch system , the process is : calling gateway 12 converts the key combination dialed by calling party 13 into the card number service special event code that is preset , i . e ., calling gateway 12 collects digits of the detected event and reports it to the soft switch device . in the following step 140 , call controller 11 immediately makes response to the message and releases the current call initiated by calling party 13 , and simultaneously sends the indication that the called party has hung up to scp 10 , and it should be noted that , according to the conventional phone calling process , after call controller 11 receives the message that called party has actually hung up , it sends the indication that the called party has hung up to scp 10 , but in this case , it neglects whether the called party has actually hung up , instead , call controller 11 automatically reports the message that the called party had hung up to scp 10 according to the preset special key combination . similarly , the corresponding procedure in the soft switch system is : after it receives the special event code of the card number service dialed by the calling party in card number service , the soft switch device sends a call - released message to the called party and releases the called party , and simultaneously reports originating party hang up to scp 10 to instruct that the called party has hung up . it is well known to those skilled in the art that the detect point ( dp ) is used for triggering the intelligent call and detecting the call - related events in the intelligent call process , and it is one of the interfacing parameters for soft switch and scp , it defines a triggering detection point ( tdp ) at ssp for the corresponding service key to signify that ssp will trigger the intelligent services at the tdp or detect the call - related events in the intelligent call process . according to the specification , the range of the dp number is from 1 to 18 but 11 , and every dp number describes a capacity - concentrated originating or terminal call model , of which , dp 9 is to report originating party hang up . this step is important , because only when it receives the event reported by the soft switch that the called party has hung up , can scp 10 send an instruction of playing the prompt voice for the calling party to prompt the calling party to hang up , change password or dial another user . this is the conventional process of modern intelligent card number services , and this process must be used in the embodiments of the present invention so that scp 10 can permit the calling party to initiate a new call . in step 150 , call controller 11 prompts calling party 13 via calling gateway 12 that he can initiate a new call , and waits for the calling party to dial a new called party number . the following steps starting from this one are similar to the steps of normal card number services when the current called party has hung up , no matter what the current called party &# 39 ; s situation is , the current called party has hung up on the part of the key devices of the system . in step 160 , the new calling number dialed by calling party 13 is reported to calling gateway 12 . in step 170 , after receiving the new call number dialed by calling party 13 , calling gateway 12 reports it to call controller 11 to initiate a new call process , call controller 11 prompts the user that he can initiate a new call and waits for him to redial . it should be noted that call controller 11 can successfully initiate a new call process because scp 10 has given calling party 13 the resources and authority to initiate a new call after step 140 is completed . as a summary of the above , according to embodiments of the present invention , the call controller releases the current called party by controlling and handling the preset key combination reported by the calling party in the use of intelligent card number services , and prompts the calling party to initiate a new call , so as to avoid the nuisances for the calling party to input the associated numbers again ( including access number , card number and password number etc ., usually exceeding 20 digits ). additionally , the embodiment of the present invention causes no affects on the common card number intelligent service processes . the forgoing is a detailed description to the general system embodiment of the present invention , and the following is a description combining soft switch and scp , with mgcp and h . 248 terminals respectively taken as examples . the configured special event code is ##, i . e ., when the calling party presses # twice successively in the session with the current called party , he can dial a new number to call another user . it should be noted that ## is only one of the key combinations for a special event code , and other key combinations , not limited to two keys , can also be adopted , that is to say , the key combination for special event code can be any random combination of all the keys , such as **, #*#, # 91 #, and so on , which have the same effect . the following is a further description of the embodiments of the present invention in regard to the specific case . one embodiment of soft switch system adopting mgcp terminal in accordance with the present invention is introduced firstly . fig2 is the interactive flowchart between a soft switch and gateway . compared with fig1 , soft switch 21 performs the function of call controller 11 , and the function of calling gateway 22 is similar to that of calling gateway 11 in fig1 , but it specially supports mgcp . in step 200 , it is the normal interactive procedures of the card number service among soft switch 21 , scp and calling gateway 22 , that is the conventional procedures of the intelligent networks for the calling party to dial the access number , card number , password and the called party &# 39 ; s number , and when these normal procedures are completed , the called party has picked up the phone receiver and prepares to enter the session . in step 210 , soft switch 21 issues a message to calling gateway 22 , and this message is modify connection ( mdcx ) attribute message issued by the media gateway controller to the media gateway in the mgcp . according to the embodiment of the present invention , soft switch 21 works as the media gateway controller in the mgcp , and calling gateway 22 is the media gateway in the mgcp , the attribute of mdcx issued in this step includes session description protocol ( sdp ) and digitmap . wherein , the digitmap includes the preset special event code ##. it should be noted that , sdp is the specific protocol adopted by the media gateway controller to describe the connection parameters to the media gateway in the mgcp , and the special event code ## is the key combination to be monitored . in step 220 , calling gateway 22 sends a response to mdcx message issued by soft switch 21 , and the response is called modify connection_rsp ( mdcx_rsp ) message in the mgcp . after step 220 is completed , soft switch 21 has instructed calling gateway 22 to detect the special key combination ## that the calling party might dial in the session between the calling and called parties . if the calling party keeps from dialing ## or neither of the calling and called parties hangs up , the calling and called parties enter and remain the session . if the calling party dials ## in the session , then it enters step 230 . call gateway 22 reports the event to soft switch 21 as soon as it detects the event , and in mgcp the report message is called notify ( ntfy ) command reported by the media gateway to the media gateway controller in the mgcp , and the parameters of the command mean that the calling party has dialed the ## keys . successively , soft switch 21 reports to scp that the user has hung up and sends a response message to calling gateway 22 in step 240 , and in mgcp , the response is called notify_rsp ( ntfy_rsp ), which includes ok parameter signifying that soft switch 21 has received the event reported by calling gateway 22 and is performing the successive procedures . in step 250 , soft switch 21 issues request notify ( rqnt ) message to calling gateway 22 , and the massage includes dialtone and normal mgcp digitmap parameters , wherein , the first parameter dialtone instructs calling gateway 22 to detect the dial tone , while the second parameter normal mgcp digitmap instructs calling gateway 22 to collect the called number dialed by the calling party according to normal calling digitmap , and report the called number to soft switch 21 after they are all collected . in step 260 , calling gateway 22 sends request notify_rsp ( rqnp_rsp ) to soft switch 21 , wherein its parameter is ok signifying that calling gateway 22 has received the rqnt sent in step 250 . at the moment , if the calling party dials another user &# 39 ; s called number , then it enters step 270 , calling gateway 22 sends a report to soft switch 21 via the ntfy message as well , but the parameter included in the message turns into dials digits to another user , and this is the dial digitmap that call gateway 22 requests to detect in rqnt of step 250 . in step 280 , soft switch 21 responds to calling gateway 22 , i . e ., sends ntfy_rsp ( ok ) message to calling gateway 22 . another embodiment of the present invention in soft switch system adopting protocol h . 248 - support terminal is presented in the following with reference to fig3 . in step 300 , it is the normal interactive procedures of the card number service among soft switch 31 as well , scp and calling gateway 32 , and after the normal procedures are completed , the called party has picked up the phone receiver and prepares to enter the session . in step 310 , soft switch 31 also issues a message to calling gateway 32 , and in protocol h . 248 system this message is terminal characteristics modify_request ( mod_req ), whose parameters are sdp and digitmap ##, and in fact , the message is the combination of mod ( sdp ) and req ( digitmap ##), wherein , mod ( sdp ) issues the media information of the called party to calling gateway 32 , so that the calling and called parties can communicate with each other , and the message exists in the normal call procedures , while req ( digitmap ##) is a message issued to achieve the new functions of the embodiment of the present invention , and it serves to instruct calling gateway 32 to detect the key combination ## in the session , of course the key combination might also be other keys preset by soft switch 31 according to its own configuration . in step 320 , calling gateway 32 sends a response to mod_req issued by soft switch 31 , and in mgcp , the response is called terminal characteristic modify_reply ( mod_reply ). after step 320 is completed , soft switch 31 has instructed calling gateway 32 to detect the special key combination ## that the calling party might dial in the session between the calling and called parties . only when calling gateway 32 detects this key combination and reports it to soft switch 31 , can soft switch 31 start the active redial procedure of the calling party in the card number service if the calling party dials ## in the session , then it enters step 330 . calling gateway 32 reports the event to soft switch 31 as soon as it detects the event and in h . 248 protocol , the report message is called notify request ( ntfy_req ) whose parameter “ a dials ##” signifies that the calling party has dialed the key combination ##. successively , soft switch 31 reports scp that the called party has hung up , and sends a response message to calling gateway 32 in step 340 , in h . 248 protocol , the response is called notify_reply ( ntfy_reply ). in step 350 , soft switch 31 issues mod_req to calling gateway 32 , and the message includes the parameters such as dialtone , normal h . 248 digitmap and etc ., wherein , the first parameter dialtone instructs calling gateway 32 to detect dial tone as well , while the second parameter normal h . 248 digitmap instructs calling gateway 32 to collect the called number dialed by the calling party according to normal calling digitmap , and report the called number to soft switch 31 after they are all collected . in step 360 , calling gateway 32 sends mod_replty to soft switch 31 to signify that calling gateway 32 has received mod_req sent in step 350 . at the moment , if the calling party dials another user &# 39 ; s number , then it enters step 370 , calling gateway 32 sends a report to soft switch 31 via ntfy_req as well , but the parameter included in the message turns into dials digits to another user . in step 380 , soft switch 31 responds to calling gateway 32 , i . e ., sends ntfy_reply message to calling gateway 32 . it is shown from the signaling flows of the two embodiments that they have many similarities , the major difference is that they use different commands , because protocol h . 248 is developed from mgcp , it expands the function limits that mgcp is only restrained in voice communication , and is able to provide multimedia services , therefore , it is normal to make use of mgcp in some places . in light of the common phone service , similar methods can be adopted to achieve the call process for the calling party to dial a new call . although the present invention is illustrated and presented with some preferred embodiments of the present invention , the common technical persons in this field know that various changes can be made in both form and detail without deviating from the spirit and scope specified in the attached claims .
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fig1 shows the wall of a washroom . underneath the mirrors 1 , 2 are the two wash basins 3 , 4 . a continuous wall - mounted unit 5 extends along the wall between the mirrors and the wash basins , which combines the functions of a storage shelf with those of a mounting member for attachments , the essentially horizontal upper surface 6 serving for the depositing of any objects , and the mounting member supporting the attachments being provided with a front section which partly conceals the latter , forming a storage compartment in which the attachments are accommodated in a suspended fashion , the upper surface of this compartment being constituted by the underside of the storage surface 6 . the masking member is divided into several sections , for example into parts 7 and 8 , whereby a dispenser for soap , hand - cream , a disinfectant , bath lotion , detergents or the like , may be located behind the masking section 7 , the dispenser having an outward projecting operating handle 9 and a discharge opening 10 for the dispensed medium . by pressing the handle 9 downwardly , the chosen medium passes through the discharge opening onto the hands held underneath the opening . the masking section 8 at the side of this section 7 does not conceal attachments but an empty compartment serving for the storage of any goods such as cosmetics , spare bottles used for the topping up of the dispensers , or other toiletries . the symmetrically designed wall mounting unit 5 finally comprises in its middle section a dispenser for paper hand - towels , the delivery slot being either at the bottom or in the front wall of the dispenser . the storage compartment of the wall mounting unit shown in fig1 is completely covered by masking strips , each being detachably assembled with the storage shelf so that access is given into the compartment as and when required . a unit of this type not only is pleasing to the eye , it is also extremely hygienic . the dimensions of the individual masking elements may conveniently correspond to those of the wall tiles . masking elements covering a gap between two attachments such as , say , the space corresponding to section 8 , may support sockets or electric switches , for example a lighting switch , or they may be provided with ventilation slots for fresh - and waste - air ducts opening into the storage chamber . the range of application of this invention is , however , not limited to toilets , washrooms , and the like or certain rooms in hospitals such as rooms for medical examinations or rooms attached to operating theaters . the unit according to the invention might equally find a useful application in restaurants or bars , in which case the dispensers would be filled with drinks or beakers . moreover , the storage shelves , the masking units or rather their individual sections , will be cut to the required lengths from standard sections supplied by the meter . in this manner it is feasible to install wall mounting units of any desired length without having to incur additional expense . this is indicated , in fig1 in the broken line section . while it is not necessary that the storage compartment be covered completely with masking elements , it is advisable for esthetic reasons , to adapt the design of any attachments which are left unmasked , to the design of the masking sections used , and to ensure that no dirt collecting corners are created . to examine the details of the wall mounting unit according to the invention , one has to analyse fig2 which depicts the design of the first embodiment in cross - section . fig2 shows the section of a wall mounting unit where the dispenser is accommodated . a storage shelf 16 is fixed to the wall 15 . the upper surface 17 of the shelf 16 is essentially horizontal but slopes slightly downwards towards the wall 15 , to avoid the danger of round objects rolling off the shelf surface 17 . a vertical mounting element 18 , fixed to the wall 15 , extends downwards from the shelf surface 17 , approximately at right angles . the masking element 19 which is detachably assembled with the shelf 16 extends , as seen in cross - section , from the front edge 20 of the shelf surface 17 , which is remote from the wall 15 , in a downward direction which is essentially slanting towards the wall 15 . this masking element 19 comprises approximately at mid - height , a zone 21 which is recessed towards the wall . the outlet 22 of the dispenser in the storage compartment 23 , which is shown in the figure in broken lines , projects through the masking element 19 or rather the component constituted by it , at a position above the recessed portion . it is because of this recess 21 in the masking element 19 , that the danger of dirt or germs being spread by the users &# 39 ; hands , positioned underneath the dispenser outlet 22 in order to receive the medium such as soap , is averted . the dispenser comprises moreover an operating lever 24 which , relative to the dispenser outlet 22 , is staggered , and projects , like the outlet itself , towards the front . the part of the lever 24 inside the storage compartment 23 has a cranked section 25 and adjacent to it a horizontal section 26 , hinged at point 27 in a manner which is not shown in the drawing . the operating lever acts on a pump 28 which is likewise presented in the drawing in broken lines , and is immersed into a tank 29 . thus , when swivelling the lever 24 in the direction indicated by the arrow 30 , the medium in the tank 29 is enabled to reach the dispenser outlet 22 . needless to say , the outlet could also be located in the underside of the masking section . finally , the masking section 19 comprises a vertical slot accommodating the operating lever 24 , the region of the slot being provided with a grid or grooves 31 . these grooves 31 serve for the anchorage of an adjustable stopping element having the form of a set - screw 32 which determines the end positions of the operating lever 24 , thus controlling the stroke of the pump 28 . as an alternative for a pump and a valve , the underside may be provided with a drain cock operated under excess pressure conditions . the masking section 19 is designed as a sliding unit which accommodates the media - dispenser . with the embodiment according to fig2 it is therefore feasible to divide the entire storage space into drawer - like sliding units each accommodating an attachment or any other object , the front of each compartment being formed by individual masking sections . with this arrangement the tank 29 can be replenished without having to unscrew any component , nor is it necessary to remove parts in a cumbersome way or take any objects off the shelf surface 17 . all that is required when refilling the tank 29 is to pull the drawer out . the drawer is prevented from dropping out by accident , by a stopping member 33 projecting from the swivelling plane of the operating lever 24 and engaging with a stop 34 ; when the lever 24 is operated the stopping member 33 disengages the stop 34 , so that the drawer may be taken out intentionally , say for cleaning purposes . the runners of the drawer are located immediately beneath the shelf surface 17 as shown in fig3 . fig3 which depicts the drawer - control as seen in the direction of the arrow 35 in fig2 shows that it comprises two thin groove elements 36 , 37 , which are interconnected through a web 38 and fixed to the shelf . the two twin groove elements 36 , 37 engage with correspondingly designed members 39 , 40 on the drawer . in this manner it has been ensured that the drawers move absolutely accurately and parallel to each other , whereby the installation height of the drawer control is so small that it is almost unnoticeable from the outside of the assembly . the direction of the drawer control is moreover adjustable by means of set - screws . the drawers are provided with a front - and / or rear lug 41 / 42 engaging with a corresponding groove 43 / 44 to facilitate the safe fitting and reliable holding of the fitted units . the front fitting groove 43 is located in the front part 20 of the shelf 17 , while the rear groove 44 is accommodated in the fixing unit 18 of the shelf . the front groove 43 is moreover provided with a sealing section 45 against which the front lug 41 rests when the drawer is in its inserted state , said seal enabling the drawer to be pushed in smoothly , and avoid any rattling noise . in the illustrated embodiment , the rear lug 42 is located at a stiffening link 46 which reinforces the drawer and consequently the shelf , the link engaging with grooves 47 and 49 which are located , on the one hand at the upper , front edge of the masking section 19 , and on the other hand at the rear wall 48 of the masking section 19 , which is adjacent to the wall 15 , extending upwards . the stiffening link 46 consists of two sections , the front section being composed of parts 50 , 51 , 52 which are firmly interconnected , and the rear section 53 being the part which comprises the rear lug 42 . the two sections are vertically adjustable by the aid of a slot connection 54 . this means that also the two guide lug 41 , 42 , are vertically adjustable relative to each other , this facilitating their correct setting . obviously it is feasible to include more than one stiffening link , depending on the required stability of the system . regarded in the longitudinal direction of the shelf unit , these stiffeners will always be located outside the pump range and they will not interfere with the charging hole of the tank . additional means of stiffening could be constituted by cross beams 46a , 46b , hooked in at any chosen positions of the system seen in the longitudinal direction . the cross beams 46a extend from a front tie groove 55 towards the rear , being inclined downwards towards the rear fitting groove 44 while the cross beams 46b may extend from the front tie groove 55 to a tie groove 56 at the bottom rear end . the total design is stable to an extent which enables the cross section of the unit 16 to be relatively small , and the fixing unit 18 to be relatively short . in addition to this there is no danger of drawers being deformed when drawn out , the mechanical strength being great enough even with pneumatically operated media - dispensers . the length of the cross beams 46a and 46b may moreover be variable , because they may consist for example of two longitudinally adjustable beam elements as indicated in fig2 in a schematic manner . the lower edge zone 57 of the fixing unit 18 is staggered towards the front . the resulting gap enables a wall panelling 58 to be sandwiched in by the aid of a foam section 59 , which may serve as a masking element covering say dowel holes or the like which deface the wall surface 15 . it is similarly possible to cover any bolting recesses if present . the lower part of the fixing unit 18 may moreover comprise a holding connection 60 , for example , a &# 34 ; sticky &# 34 ; seal as an additional means of fastening it to the masking element . the seal is additionally tightened by means of a clamp 60a . finally , a funnel shaped projection 65 which facilitates the topping of the tank 29 , is provided as an integral member , at the upper edge of the masking section 19 . the projecting part comprising the dispenser outlet 22 , which is shown in detail in fig4 consists of a detachable or rather hinged , discharge nipple 68 . being easily disconnected the nipple detatches itself when it is unintentionally hit , thus reducing the danger of damage . apart from this the packing of the unit is facilitated by the disconnectability of the outlet nipple . finally , it seems noteworthy that the shelf 16 and the masking section 19 are extruded profiles made for example of a plastic material or of metal , and that the front edge of the shelf surface 17 is rounded off downwards , while the edge of this surface 17 , which is adjacent to the wall 15 is rounded upwards ; the shelf is therefore free from a dangerously sharp front edge and its connection with the wall is reliably smooth . fig5 shows another embodiment in the form of a shelving unit 70 with a masking section 71 . in this case , the masking section 71 is connected with the tank 72 through a link 73 , so that a single unit is created . this unit , however , is not designed in the form of a drawer , but it is connected with the storage shelf through a locking connection 74 , 75 . there is no need for topping the tank . the latter is exchanged when its contents are used up . as above , this embodiment too is provided with an additional adhesive connection 76 . the embodiment according to fig6 includes a tank 77 which is not concealed by a masking section . instead , the form of the front surface 78 of the tank is adapted to the form of the masking section , and it is fully visible from the outside . it seems evident that masking sections may be inserted between the individual dispensers . the tank 77 which may comprise a built - in pump , is directly suspended from the shelf 79 . it is therefore not difficult to replace an empty tank by a full tank . in addition to this , the head in the tank can be read off at any time . so far , only the use of extruded profiles has been discussed . their lateral end fittings are cap shaped elements which act as additional stiffeners and thus make it possible to use thin - walled sections . it is for example moreover feasible to use -- with the most widely installed forms -- injection moulded parts or die - cast members , which may be considered advisable for economical reasons . this means that standardised sections are used which , again , may consist of metal or of a plastic material . it is easy to realise that the embodiments described above could be modified in order to manufacture integral units which combine the shelving space and the masking elements into one single piece . in this case , the storage compartments could be accessible through hinged doors or recesses and it would therefore not be necessary to withdraw a drawer or the like in order to fill up a tank . components manufactured by the injection moulding process may of course comprise any number of compartments , each associated with a refill flap . in a further embodiment of the invention , intermediate wall sections could be used which are similar to the end caps and are inserted between the attachments or rather between the masking sections , to increase the stiffness of the unit and create an attractive surface by an optically pleasing division . these intermediate wall sections could for example be designed as drawers or comprise embossed portions which serve as stops .
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a prior art lift axle suspension , generally identified by reference numeral 10 , will first be described with reference to fig1 through 3 . referring to fig1 , pivot arm 12 having pivotal end 14 that is pivotally attached to vehicle frame 16 by pivot arm bracket 18 . remote end with adapter 20 is attached to axle with wheels 22 and is actuated by first suspension air bag 24 shown in extended mode . all elements 12 through 24 are shown as basic lift axle suspension 26 . preferred embodiment 10 comprises lever 28 having a first end 30 and second end 32 which rotates about fulcrum 34 which is attached to frame 16 by lever bracket 36 . an adjustable sling 38 adapts first end 30 to axle with wheel 22 . referring to fig2 , lever 28 is further adapted with a plurality of adjustably positioned fulcrum points 40 and a sling adjusting mechanism 42 . referring to fig1 , second end 32 is actuated by lift air bag 44 shown in deflation mode . air supply 46 provides pressure through connection hoses 48 a - 48 d . pressurized air is channelled through load leveler valve 50 to air diverter 52 and regulator 54 . referring to fig3 , axle with wheels 22 is shown in the elevated position relative to any other axle with wheels at ground level 56 . lift air bag 44 is shown in extension mode and first suspension air bag 24 is shown in deflation mode . in operation , the weight and contact height of select axles with wheels 22 in multiple , tandem - axle type vehicles may be changed by changing the settings of load leveler valve 50 , air diverter 52 and regulator 54 . depending upon the need , air will be diverted to lift air bag 44 which in turn actuates second end 32 of lever 28 causing lever 28 to rotate about the fulcrum 34 and , in turn , lift first end 30 . first end 30 then exerts upward pressure on adjustable sling 38 , lifting axle with wheel 22 which , in turn , lifts remote end with adapter 20 which is now able to deflate and compress first suspension air bag 24 by exhausting air to atmosphere through diverter valve 52 . the result is an elevated wheel position relative to ground level 56 such that the tires on axles with wheels 22 that are part of lift axle suspensions 10 are conserved . further , should the need to adapt the lift axle suspension 10 to a different vehicle , an operator may select one of adjustably positioned fulcrum points 40 and adjust the sling by operating sling adjustment mechanism 42 . in order to allow for safe operation of a lift axle , the prior art lift axle suspension 10 described above was designed to ensure that the safe operating load limit could not be exceeded when a trailer is being operated in the “ lift ” or “ up ” mode . in the lift axle mode , diverter 52 is set to supply air to lift bag 44 , which causes corresponding air bag 24 to be compressed and axle 22 to be raised . regulator 54 is set to prevent the pressure in line 48 d from exceeding a maximum value . with diverter 52 in the “ up ” position , this also limits the pressure in lines 48 a that connects suspension bag 24 a to load leveller valve 50 and line 48 b that connects load leveller valve 50 to diverter 52 thereby reducing the lift capacity of air bag 24 a related to the “ always down ” axle 22 a . this ensures that the load limit , as set by regulation , the manufacturer , or the user to ensure the lift axle is operated within safe operating ranges . as the load on rear axle 22 a , or “ always down ” axle , increases , the air pressure required to maintain the desired ride height will increase . however , regulator 54 will prevent the air pressure from exceeding the maximum value when diverter 52 is set to supply pressure along line 48 d . as the load on the trailer is increased beyond the safe operating load limit , the trailer deck will continue to lower as regulator 54 prevents the air pressure from increasing to maintain the ride height . this will either draw the operator &# 39 ; s attention to the problem , and at high enough pressures , will prevent the axles from being lifted outside the safe operating range . referring now to fig5 , a modified lift axle suspension 100 is shown . in this embodiment , similar reference numbers have been used for similar components . it will be understood that , even though the reference numbers are the same , the operation of some components may be different . some of these differences are described below , while other differences will be implicitly understood by those skilled in the art , including changes in the design based on different operating ranges or specifications . as can be seen , lever 28 on modified lift axle 100 does not require the same mechanical advantage to raise axle 22 in the lift mode when compared to lift axle suspension 10 described previously . it was previously found that such a mechanical advantage was required when lift bag 44 was supplied with a lower air pressure . however , in the present system , diverter 52 is able to supply lift bag 44 with air up to the pressure found in air supply 46 such that a mechanical advantage is not required . as such , the presently described system can be installed with different types of lift axles that use a wide range of lever designs to lift and hold lift axle 22 in the “ up ” position . modified lift axle suspension 100 permits lift bag 44 to be operated at higher pressures . this may be desirable , for example , when lift bag 44 is from a different system that has been designed to require a higher pressure , such a pressure up to the pressure of air supply 46 . as the pressure allowed by regulator 54 will be inherently less than the maximum pressure of air supply 46 . this higher pressure may be required due to a different design or position of lift bag 44 that may not benefit from the mechanical advantage of using a lever as in the embodiment depicted in fig4 , or if a greater lifting force is desired , such as to hold lift axle 22 in the raised position more securely in order to prevent any wear that may result from vibrations or other movement . as shown , lift axle suspension 100 has a pilot valve 102 on line 104 that connects air supply 46 to lift bag 44 . pilot valve 102 moves between an open position to supply lift bag 44 with air from air supply 46 and a closed position that isolates lift bag 44 from air supply 46 . as shown , pilot valve 102 is a pneumatic valve that is connected to airline 48 d via line 106 and configured such that , when diverter 52 is in the “ on ” or “ lift ” position , in which line 48 c is vented and air is supplied to line 48 d , the air pressure is applied to pilot valve 102 via line 106 , causing it to move to the open position . pilot valve 102 will be set to be actuated at a lower pressure than regulator 54 , and also lower than the normal operating pressure of suspension bag 24 a associated with the “ always down ” axle 22 a . preferably , pilot valve 102 is also configured to vent line 104 and deflate lift bag 44 when in the closed position . other types of pilot valves 102 may also be used , such as an electronic valve or a mechanical valve that moves with diverter 52 . a pneumatic valve is preferred as it provides a fails safe . in the event that hydraulic pressure is lost , pilot valve 102 will close , and lift bag 44 will not be energized . other locks or checks may also be used , such as switch 108 , which provides an override to shut off the lift system . as depicted , switch 108 may be used to force diverter 52 to supply air to line 48 c instead of 48 d and is connected to diverter 52 by a line 110 , which may be a pneumatic , mechanical , or electrical connection . for example , if diverter 52 is normally biased to the position that pressurizes suspension bag 24 and is pushed to the lift position by a control line of pressurized air , switch 108 may vent the control line , allowing the internal bias to return diverter 52 to the suspension position by supplying air to suspension air bag 24 along line 48 c . at the same time , switch 108 may also vent line 104 a to disconnect and vent lift bag 44 from air supply 46 . similarly to lift axle suspension 10 , modified lift axle suspension 100 uses regulator 54 to limit the maximum pressure applied to suspension bag 24 a for the always - down axle 22 a . however , by connecting lift bag 44 to air source 46 separately from regulator 54 , the pressure applied to lift bag 44 is not limited to the maximum pressure allowed by regulator 54 . referring to fig5 and fig6 , the increased pressure applied to lift bag 44 may also allow for the removal of the second pivot lever 28 used in the embodiment of fig4 . as shown in fig5 , when axle 22 is in a raised position , lift bag 44 is expanded . as the maximum pressure is greater than the maximum pressure allowed by regulator 54 , lift bag 44 applies sufficient force to pivot arm 12 about pivotal end 14 to raise the front axle 22 . referring to fig6 , when lift bag 44 is compressed , axle 22 can be lowered to ground surface 56 . in this patent document , the word “ comprising ” is used in its non - limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included , but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded . a reference to an element by the indefinite article “ a ” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the elements is present , unless the context clearly requires that there be one and only one of the elements . the scope of the following claims should not be limited by the preferred embodiments set forth in the examples above and in the drawings , but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole .
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the basic steps in the process of one embodiment of the present invention include : ( 1 ) cracking harvested garlic bulbs into individual cloves that are then peeled and washed ( process - ready cloves ); ( 2 ) slicing and / or dicing the peeled and washed cloves into garlic bits of generally similar thickness ; ( 3 ) reducing the bitterness and strength of the garlic flavor from the bits ; and ( 4 ) frying the reduced bits into garlic pieces . referring to fig1 , process 11 is initiated by step 12 which transforms harvested bulbs of garlic into skinned and washed garlic cloves . in ways known to those skilled in the art , the harvested garlic bulbs are cracked into individual cloves and the bulb &# 39 ; s outer skins and root crowns removed . an air process can be used to remove the skins from the individual cloves , leaving skinned cloves which are then washed . cloves with obvious defects are discarded . in step 13 a , the process - ready cloves are cut into bits of a desired thickness as by a slicer . while the thickness can vary depending on the desired shape and size of the final product , pieces cut to a thickness of between approximately one - sixteenth and three - sixteenths of an inch have been found to produce excellent results . regardless of the thickness selected , the best results are achieved when the bits have a generally uniform thickness so that later processing of the bits has a uniform effect . it will be understood by those skilled in the art that “ generally uniform thickness ,” as used with reference to sliced garlic cloves , can include variations within a range that still produces generally uniform results . by step 13 b , the garlic is diced . process - ready cloves from step 12 or sliced bits from step 13 a can be fed to a dicer where they are chopped into smaller size bits . thus , in one embodiment of the invention , bits are formed by step 13 a alone . in yet another embodiment , process step 13 b follows process step 13 a . in yet another embodiment , process step 13 b follows step 12 and step 13 a is not employed . in all of the embodiments , however , garlic bits of generally uniform thickness result . slicing and dicing garlic cloves is known to those skilled in the art , as is the equipment for doing so and , thus , need not be described in further detail herein . the garlic bits produced by step 13 a and / or step 13 b are then processed by step 14 in which the strength of the garlic flavor and the bitterness of the raw garlic bits are reduced . because the bits have a generally uniform thickness , the reducing step will have a uniform effect on all of the bits . in one embodiment of the invention , process step 14 is performed by blanching the garlic bits with heated water . the garlic bits can be blanched by immersion in a vat of heated water or by being carried on a conveyor where heated water is applied to the garlic bits . when immersed in a vat of heated water , the bits are retained in water at a temperature from approximately 170 to 195 degrees f . for 30 to 120 seconds . in some instances , boiling water can be used . because garlic can vary in flavor strength and bitterness , depending on a number of factors including the season when they are harvested , the time between harvesting and processing and the variety of garlic , the optimal time and temperature will vary . when blanching by applying heated water to garlic bits on a conveyor , the several variables mentioned above will dictate how long the bits are exposed to the heated water . in most cases , 30 to 120 seconds will suffice . in another embodiment of the invention , step 14 is carried out by applying steam to the bits for 10 to 120 seconds . as used herein , “ heated water ” includes steam . before being fried by step 16 , it is advantageous for the blanched garlic bits to be dried to remove any water remaining from the blanching process . this can be accomplished by exposure to ambient conditions for a few minutes , the use of warm air applied to the blanched garlic bits , shaking the garlic bits or any other method effective to remove moisture remaining from the reducing step 14 . in another embodiment of the invention , step 14 reducing the bitterness and strength of the garlic flavor of the raw garlic bits is performed by baking rather than blanching . in this embodiment , garlic bits are placed on a conveyor that travels through an oven where the garlic bits are exposed to heat in the range of 200 to 600 degrees f . for a time period of 10 to 180 seconds . the particular temperature and time will depend on the factors mentioned above , as well as the desired characteristics of the finished product . for most applications , the baking process will not remove all of the moisture from the bits . because the bits have been formed to have a generally uniform thickness , the reducing step 14 , whether by blanching or baking , will operate generally uniformly on all of the bits to produce bits having substantially the same strength of garlic flavor and reduced bitterness . if , by contrast , the blanching process is applied to whole , process - ready cloves before they are formed into bits of generally uniform thickness , two adverse effects have been observed . cloves , even from the same bulb , vary so much in size that blanching or baking them for the same time and temperature results in widely varying degrees of effectiveness in reducing the bitterness and the strength of garlic flavor . also , in order to penetrate to the center of the cloves , the process would have to be carried out for so long and / or at such an elevated temperature that the outer portions of the cloves would be structurally broken down into a pulpy mass that could not be readily sliced and / or diced . after step 14 , the garlic bits can be processed by step 16 in which they are fried . frying the garlic bits transforms them into crispy , roasted - flavor pieces of garlic that are ready to use . the following are two methods for carrying out step 16 . in one embodiment of the invention , garlic bits are placed in cooking oil at between 300 and 400 degrees f . the bits are left in the oil for 30 seconds to two and one - half minutes , depending on the size of the bits , the temperature of the oil , the degree of crispiness desired and the amount of roasted - flavor desired . in one embodiment , the bits are fried in oil at approximately 340 degrees f . for about one minute . the oil used can be any oil typically used to fry foods . safflower oil has the advantages of economy , a near neutral flavor and low absorption . olive oil can add a more complex flavor . other vegetable oils used for frying foods can also be used . in another embodiment , step 16 is performed by applying frying oil to garlic bits while they are transported on a conveyor . the time that the frying oil is applied to the garlic bits will depend on such variables as the temperature of the oil , the size of the garlic bits , the degree of crispiness desired and the strength of roasted - flavor desired . in one embodiment , the garlic bits are exposed to the frying oil at between 300 and 400 degrees f . for 30 to 180 seconds , and preferably 340 degrees f . for 60 seconds . in step 17 , any excess oil on the garlic bits is drained away and the bits cooled to room temperature . this step can be carried out by transporting the bits from the fryer on a three - layered belt chamber where the bits pass back and forth , removing excess oil and drying . the bits can then be conveyed into a cooling tunnel where ambient temperature air is blown on the bits to further cool and dry them . in step 18 , the fried garlic bits can be sized by passing them through a screen of a selected size . in an alternative embodiment , step 13 a is performed to create garlic bits that are slices of process - ready cloves of a selected thickness ( e . g ., one - eighth of an inch ). these slices are processed by steps 14 , 16 and 17 , as described above , to create fried , crispy , roasted - flavor garlic pieces . before these garlic pieces are sized by step 18 , however , step 19 is performed in which the fried garlic slices ( pieces ) are chopped into smaller random - size garlic pieces . referring to fig2 , the process 11 a is the same as process 11 previously described through step 14 . in process 11 a , the garlic bits are fried at a lower temperature , between 250 degrees f . and 300 degrees f ., and preferably 280 to 285 degrees . by frying at the lower temperatures , the risk of burning some of the bits ( especially any that are smaller than the rest ) is essentially eliminated . the garlic pieces from the frying step 16 a are then baked in step 21 at between 200 degrees f . and 250 degrees f ., and preferably at between 220 degrees f . and 230 degrees f . in the preferred embodiment , the baking step 21 is advantageously carried out by placing the garlic pieces onto a tiered conveyor in an oven so they make a plurality of passes through the oven before they are removed , as is well known in the art . other known baking procedures that produce the desired results are within the scope of the invention . by frying the garlic bits at a lower temperature , the number of bits that are burnt is greatly reduced , if not eliminated altogether . by baking the garlic pieces after the frying step , essentially all of the pieces become crisp and crunchy ( fully cooked ) without being burnt . in addition , the bitterness and the strong garlic flavor that might survive the reducing step 14 and the frying step 16 a are reduced even further by the baking step 21 . of course , various changes , modifications and alterations in the teachings of the present invention may be contemplated by those skilled in the art without departing from the intended spirit and scope thereof . as such , it is intended that the present invention only be limited by the terms of the appended claims .
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the following examples set forth preferred materials and procedures in accordance with the present invention . it is to be understood , however , that these examples are provided by way of illustration only , and nothing therein should be deemed a limitation upon the overall scope of the invention . this example compares the relative yields of orf2 using methods of the present invention with methods that are known in the prior art . four 1000 ml spinner flasks were each seeded with approximately 1 . 0 × 10 6 sf + cells / ml in 300 ml of insect serum free media , excell 420 ( jrh biosciences , inc ., lenexa , kans .). the master cell culture is identified as sf +( spodoptera frugiperda ) master cell stock , passage 19 , lot # n112 - 095w . the cells used to generate the sf + master cell stock were obtained from protein sciences corporation , inc ., meriden , conn . the sf + cell line for this example was confined between passages 19 and 59 . other passages will work for purposes of the present invention , but in order to scale the process up for large scale production , at least 19 passages will probably be necessary and passages beyond 59 may have an effect on expression , although this was not investigated . in more detail , the initial sf + cell cultures from liquid nitrogen storage were grown in excell 420 media in suspension in sterile spinner flasks with constant agitation . the cultures were grown in 100 ml to 250 ml spinner flasks with 25 to 150 ml of excell 420 serum - free media . when the cells had multiplied to a cell density of 1 . 0 - 8 . 0 × 10 6 cells / ml , they were split to new vessels with a planting density of 0 . 5 - 1 . 5 × 10 6 cells / ml . subsequent expansion cultures were grown in spinner flasks up to 36 liters in size or in stainless steel bioreactors of up to 300 liters for a period of 2 - 7 days at 25 - 29 ° c . after seeding , the flasks were incubated at 27 ° c . for four hours . subsequently , each flask was seeded with a recombinant baculovirus containing the pcv2 orf2 gene ( seq id no : 4 ). the recombinant baculovirus containing the pcv2 orf2 gene was generated as follows : the pcv2 orf2 gene from a north american strain of pcv2 was pcr amplified to contain a 5 ′ kozak &# 39 ; s sequence ( seq id no : 1 ) and a 3 ′ ecor1 site ( seq id no : 2 ), cloned into the pgem - t - easy vector ( promega , madison , wis .). then , it was subsequently excised and subcloned into the transfer vector pvl1392 ( bd biosciences pharmingen , san diego , calif .). the subcloned portion is represented herein as seq id no : 7 . the pvl1392 plasmid containing the pcv2 orf2 gene was designated n47 - 064y and then co - transfected with baculogold ® ( bd biosciences pharmingen ) baculovirus dna into sf + insect cells ( protein sciences , meriden , conn .) to generate the recombinant baculovirus containing the pcv2 orf2 gene . the new construct is provided herein as seq id no : 8 . the recombinant baculovirus containing the pcv2 orf2 gene was plaque - purified and master seed virus ( msv ) was propagated on the sf + cell line , aliquotted , and stored at − 70 ° c . the msv was positively identified as pcv2 orf2 baculovirus by pcr - rflp using baculovirus specific primers . insect cells infected with pcv2 orf2 baculovirus to generate msv or working seed virus express pcv2 orf2 antigen as detected by polyclonal serum or monoclonal antibodies in an indirect fluorescent antibody assay . additionally , the identity of the pcv2 orf2 baculovirus was confirmed by n - terminal amino acid sequencing . the pcv2 orf2 baculovirus msv was also tested for purity in accordance with 9 c . f . r . 113 . 27 ( c ), 113 . 28 , and 113 . 55 . each recombinant baculovirus seeded into the spinner flasks had varying multiplicities of infection ( mois ). flask 1 was seeded with 7 . 52 ml of 0 . 088 moi seed ; flask 2 was seeded with 3 . 01 ml of 0 . 36 moi seed ; flask 3 was seeded with 1 . 5 ml of 0 . 18 moi seed ; and flask 4 was seeded with 0 . 75 ml of 0 . 09 moi seed . a schematic flow diagram illustrating the basic steps used to construct a pcv2 orf2 recombinant baculovirus is provided herein as fig1 . after being seeded with the baculovirus , the flasks were then incubated at 27 ± 2 ° c . for 7 days and were also agitated at 100 rpm during that time . the flasks used ventilated caps to allow for air flow . samples from each flask were taken every 24 hours for the next 7 days . after extraction , each sample was centrifuged , and both the pellet and the supernatant were separated and then microfiltered through a 0 . 45 - 1 . 0 μm pore size membrane . the resulting samples then had the amount of orf2 present within them quantified via an elisa assay . the elisa assay was conducted with capture antibody swine anti - pcv2 pab igg prot . g purified ( diluted 1 : 250 in pbs ) diluted to 1 : 6000 in 0 . 05m carbonate buffer ( ph 9 . 6 ). 100 μl of the antibody was then placed in the wells of the mictrotiter plate , sealed , and incubated overnight at 37 ° c . the plate was then washed three times with a wash solution which comprised 0 . 5 ml of tween 20 ( sigma , st . louis , mo . ), 100 ml of 10 × d - pbs ( gibco invitrogen , carlsbad , calif .) and 899 . 5 ml of distilled water . subsequently , 250 μl of a blocking solution ( 5 g carnation non - fat dry milk ( nestle , glendale , calif .) in 10 ml of d - pbs qs to 100 ml with distilled water ) was added to each of the wells . the next step was to wash the test plate and then add pre - diluted antigen . the pre - diluted antigen was produced by adding 200 μl of diluent solution ( 0 . 5 ml tween 20 in 999 . 5 ml d - pbs ) to each of the wells on a dilution plate . the sample was then diluted at a 1 : 240 ratio and a 1 : 480 ratio , and 100 μl of each of these diluted samples was then added to one of the top wells on the dilution plate ( i . e . one top well received 100 μl of the 1 : 240 dilution and the other received 100 μl of the 1 : 480 dilution ). serial dilutions were then done for the remainder of the plate by removing 100 μl form each successive well and transferring it to the next well on the plate . each well was mixed prior to doing the next transfer . the test plate washing included washing the plate three times with the wash buffer . the plate was then sealed and incubated for an hour at 37 ° c . before being washed three more times with the wash buffer . the detection antibody used was monoclonal antibody to pcv orf2 . it was diluted to 1 : 300 in diluent solution , and 100 μl of the diluted detection antibody was then added to the wells . the plate was then sealed and incubated for an hour at 37 ° c . before being washed three times with the wash buffer . conjugate diluent was then prepared by adding normal rabbit serum ( jackson immunoresearch , west grove , pa .) to the diluent solution to 1 % concentration . conjugate antibody goat anti - mouse ( h + 1 )- hrp ( jackson immunoresearch ) was diluted in the conjugate diluent to 1 : 10 , 000 . 100 μl of the diluted conjugate antibody was then added to each of the wells . the plate was then sealed and incubated for 45 minutes at 37 ° c . before being washed three times with the wash buffer . 100 μl of substrate ( tmb peroxidase substrate , kirkgaard and perry laboratories ( kpl ), gaithersburg , md . ), mixed with an equal volume of peroxidase substrate b ( kpl ) was added to each of the wells . the plate was incubated at room temperature for 15 minutes . 100 μl of 1n hcl solution was then added to all of the wells to stop the reaction . the plate was then run through an elisa reader . the results of this assay are provided in table 1 below : these results indicate that when the incubation time is extended , expression of orf2 into the supernatant of the centrifuged cells and media is greater than expression in the pellet of the centrifuged cells and media . accordingly , allowing the orf2 expression to proceed for at least 5 days and recovering it in the supernate rather than allowing expression to proceed for less than 5 days and recovering orf2 from the cells , provides a great increase in orf2 yields , and a significant improvement over prior methods . this example provides data as to the efficacy of the invention claimed herein . a 1000 ml spinner flask was seeded with approximately 1 . 0 × 10 6 sf + cells / ml in 300 ml of excell 420 media . the flask was then incubated at 27 ° c . and agitated at 100 rpm . subsequently , the flask was seeded with 10 ml of pcv2 orf2 / bac p + 6 ( the recombinant baculovirus containing the pcv2 orf2 gene passaged 6 additional times in the sf9 insect cells ) virus seed with a 0 . 1 moi after 24 hours of incubation . the flask was then incubated at 27 ° c . for a total of 6 days . after incubation , the flask was then centrifuged and three samples of the resulting supernatant were harvested and inactivated . the supernatant was inactivated by bringing its temperature to 37 ± 2 ° c . to the first sample , a 0 . 4m solution of 2 - bromoethyleneamine hydrobromide which had been cyclized to 0 . 2m binary ethlylenimine ( bei ) in 0 . 3n naoh is added to the supernatant to give a final concentration of bei of 5 mm . to the second sample , 10 mm bei was added to the supernatant . to the third sample , no bei was added to the supernatant . the samples were then stirred continuously for 48 hrs . a 1 . 0 m sodium thiosulfate solution to give a final minimum concentration of 5 mm was added to neutralize any residual bei . the quantity of orf2 in each sample was then quantified using the same elisa assay procedure as described in example 1 . the results of this may be seen in table 2 below : this example demonstrates that neutralization with bei does not remove or degrade significant amounts of the recombinant pcv2 orf2 protein product . this is evidenced by the fact that there is no large loss of orf2 in the supernatant from the bei or elevated temperatures . those of skill in the art will recognize that the recovered orf2 is a stable protein product . this example demonstrates that the present invention is scalable from small scale production of recombinant pcv2 orf2 to large scale production of recombinant pcv2 orf2 . 5 . 0 × 10 5 cells / ml of sf + cells / ml in 7000 ml of excell 420 media was planted in a 20000 ml applikon bioreactor . the media and cells were then incubated at 27 ° c . and agitated at 100 rpm for the next 68 hours . at the 68 th hour , 41 . 3 ml of pcv2 orf2 baculovirus msv + 3 was added to 700 ml of excell 420 medium . the resultant mixture was then added to the bioreactor . for the next seven days , the mixture was incubated at 27 ° c . and agitated at 100 rpm . samples from the bioreactor were extracted every 24 hours beginning at day 4 , post - infection , and each sample was centrifuged . the supernatant of the samples were preserved and the amount of orf2 was then quantified using sds - page densitometry . the results of this can be seen in table 3 below : this example tests the efficacy of seven pcv2 candidate vaccines and further defines efficacy parameters following exposure to a virulent strain of pcv2 . one hundred and eight ( 108 ) cesarean derived colostrum deprived ( cdcd ) piglets , 9 - 14 days of age , were randomly divided into 9 groups of equal size . table 4 sets forth the general study design for this example . seven of the groups ( groups 1 - 7 ) received doses of pcv2 orf2 polypeptide , one of the groups acted as a challenge control and received no pcv2 orf2 , and another group acted as the strict negative control group and also received no pcv2 orf2 . on day 0 , groups 1 through 7 were treated with assigned vaccines . piglets in group 7 were given a booster treatment on day 14 . piglets were observed for adverse events and injection site reactions following vaccination and on day 19 , piglets were moved to the second study site . at the second study site , groups 1 - 8 were group housed in one building while group 9 was housed in a separate building . all pigs received keyhole limpet hemocyanin ( klh )/ incomplete freund &# 39 ; s adjuvant ( icfa ) on days 21 and 27 and on day 24 , groups 1 - 8 were challenged with a virulent pcv2 . pre - and post - challenge , blood samples were collected for pcv2 serology . post - challenge , body weight data for determination of average daily weight gain ( adwg ), and clinical symptoms , as well as nasal swab samples to determine nasal shedding of pcv2 , were collected . on day 49 , all surviving pigs were necropsied , lungs were scored for lesions , and selected tissues were preserved in formalin for immunohistochemistry ( ihc ) testing at a later date . this was a partially blinded vaccination - challenge feasibility study conducted in cdcd pigs , 9 to 14 days of age on day 0 . to be included in the study , pcv2 ifa titers of sows were ≦ 1 : 1000 . additionally , the serologic status of sows were from a known prrs - negative herd . twenty - eight ( 28 ) sows were tested for pcv2 serological status . fourteen ( 14 ) sows had a pcv2 titer of ≦ 1000 and were transferred to the first study site . one hundred ten ( 110 ) piglets were delivered by cesarean section surgeries and were available for this study on day − 4 . on day − 3 , 108 cdcd pigs at the first study site were weighed , identified with ear tags , blocked by weight and randomly assigned to 1 of 9 groups , as set forth above in table 4 . if any test animal meeting the inclusion criteria was enrolled in the study and was later excluded for any reason , the investigator and monitor consulted in order to determine the use of data collected from the animal in the final analysis . the date of which enrolled piglets were excluded and the reason for exclusion was documented . initially , no sows were excluded . a total of 108 of an available 110 pigs were randomly assigned to one of 9 groups on day − 3 . the two smallest pigs ( no . 17 and 19 ) were not assigned to a group and were available as extras , if needed . during the course of the study , several animals were removed . pig 82 ( group 9 ) on day − 1 , pig no . 56 ( group 6 ) on day 3 , pig no . 53 ( group 9 ) on day 4 , pig no . 28 ( group 8 ) on day 8 , pig no . 69 ( group 8 ) on day 7 , and pig no . 93 ( group 4 ) on day 9 , were each found dead prior to challenge . these six pigs were not included in the final study results . pig no 17 ( one of the extra pigs ) was assigned to group 9 . the remaining extra pig , no . 19 , was excluded from the study . the formulations given to each of the groups were as follows : group 1 was designed to administer 1 ml of viral orf2 ( vorf2 ) containing 16 μg orf2 / ml . this was done by mixing 10 . 24 ml of viral orf2 ( 256 μg / 25 μg / ml = 10 . 24 ml vorf2 ) with 3 . 2 ml of 0 . 5 % carbopol and 2 . 56 ml of phosphate buffered saline at a ph of 7 . 4 . this produced 16 ml of formulation for group 1 . group 2 was designed to administer 1 ml of vorf2 containing 8 μg vorf2 / ml . this was done by mixing 5 . 12 ml of vorf2 ( 128 μg / 25 μg / ml = 5 . 12 ml vorf2 ) with 3 . 2 ml of 0 . 5 % carbopol and 7 . 68 ml of phosphate buffered saline at a ph of 7 . 4 . this produced 16 ml of formulation for group 2 . group 3 was designed to administer 1 ml of vorf2 containing 4 μg vorf2 / ml . this was done by mixing 2 . 56 ml of vorf2 ( 64 μg / 25 μg / ml = 2 . 56 ml vorf2 ) with 3 . 2 ml of 0 . 5 % carbopol and 10 . 24 ml of phosphate buffered saline at a ph of 7 . 4 . this produced 16 ml of formulation for group 3 . group 4 was designed to administer 1 ml of recombinant orf2 ( rorf2 ) containing 16 μg rorf2 / ml . this was done by mixing 2 . 23 ml of rorf2 ( 512 μg / 230 μg / ml = 2 . 23 ml rorf2 ) with 6 . 4 ml of 0 . 5 % carbopol and 23 . 37 ml of phosphate buffered saline at a ph of 7 . 4 . this produced 32 ml of formulation for group 4 . group 5 was designed to administer 1 ml of rorf2 containing 8 μg rorf2 / ml . this was done by mixing 1 . 11 ml of rorf2 ( 256 μg / 230 μg / ml = 1 . 11 ml rorf2 ) with 6 . 4 ml of 0 . 5 % carbopol and 24 . 49 ml of phosphate buffered saline at a ph of 7 . 4 . this produced 32 ml of formulation for group 5 . group 6 was designed to administer 1 ml of rorf2 containing 8 μg rorf2 / ml . this was done by mixing 0 . 56 ml of rorf2 ( 128 μg / 230 μg / ml = 0 . 56 ml rorf2 ) with 6 . 4 ml of 0 . 5 % carbopol and 25 . 04 ml of phosphate buffered saline at a ph of 7 . 4 . this produced 32 ml of formulation for group 6 . group 7 was designed to administer 2 ml of pcv2 whole killed cell vaccine ( pcv2 kv ) containing the max pcv2 kv . this was done by mixing 56 ml of pcv2 kv with 14 ml of 0 . 5 % carbopol . this produced 70 ml of formulation for group 7 . finally group 8 was designed to administer klh at 0 . 5 μg / ml or 1 . 0 μg / ml per 2 ml dose . this was done by mixing 40 . 71 ml klh ( 7 . 0 μg protein / ml at 0 . 5 μg / ml = 570 ml ( 7 . 0 μg / ml )( x )=( 0 . 5 )( 570 ml )), 244 . 29 ml phosphate buffered saline at a ph of 7 . 4 , and 285 ml freunds adjuvant . table 5 describes the time frames for the key activities of this example . following completion of the in - life phase of the study , formalin fixed tissues were examined by immunohistochemistry ( ihc ) for detection of pcv2 antigen by a pathologist , blood samples were evaluated for pcv2 serology , nasal swab samples were evaluated for pcv2 shedding , and average daily weight gain ( adwg ) was determined from day 24 to day 49 . animals were housed at the first study site in individual cages in five rooms from birth to approximately 11 days of age ( approximately day 0 of the study ). each room was identical in layout and consisted of stacked individual stainless steel cages with heated and filtered air supplied separately to each isolation unit . each room had separate heat and ventilation , thereby preventing cross - contamination of air between rooms . animals were housed in two different buildings at the second study site . group 9 ( the strict negative control group ) was housed separately in a converted finisher building and groups 1 - 8 were housed in converted nursery building . each group was housed in a separate pen ( 11 - 12 pigs per pen ) and each pen provided approximately 3 . 0 square feet per pig . each pen was on an elevated deck with plastic slatted floors . a pit below the pens served as a holding tank for excrement and waste . each building had its own separate heating and ventilation systems , with little likelihood of cross - contamination of air between buildings . at the first study site , piglets were fed a specially formulated milk ration from birth to approximately 3 weeks of age . all piglets were consuming solid , special mixed ration by day 19 ( approximately 4½ weeks of age ). at the second study site , all piglets were fed a custom non - medicated commercial mix ration appropriate for their age and weight , ad libitum . water at both study sites was also available ad libitum . all test pigs were treated with vitamin e on day − 2 , with iron injections on day − 1 and with naxcel ® ( 1 . 0 ml , 1m , in alternating hams ) on days 16 , 17 , 18 and 19 . in addition , pig no . 52 ( group 9 ) was treated with an iron injection on day 3 , pig 45 ( group 6 ) was treated with an iron injection on day 11 , pig no . 69 ( group 8 ) was treated with naxcel ® on day 6 , pig no . 74 ( group 3 ) was treated with dexamethazone and penicillin on day 14 , and pig no . 51 ( group 1 ) was treated with dexamethazone and penicillin on day 13 and with naxcel ® on day 14 for various health reasons . while at both study sites , pigs were under veterinary care . animal health examinations were conducted on day 0 and were recorded on the health examination record form . all animals were in good health and nutritional status before vaccination as determined by observation on day 0 . all test animals were observed to be in good health and nutritional status prior to challenge . carcasses and tissues were disposed of by rendering . final disposition of study animals was records on the animal disposition record . on day 0 , pigs assigned to groups 1 - 6 received 1 . 0 ml of pcv2 vaccines 1 - 6 , respectively , im in the left neck region using a sterile 3 . 0 ml luer - lock syringe and a sterile 20 g × ½ ″ needle . pigs assigned to group 7 received 2 . 0 ml of pcv2 vaccine no . 7 im in the left neck region using a sterile 3 . 0 ml luer - lock syringe and a sterile 20 g × ½ ″ needle . on day 14 , pigs assigned to group 7 received 2 . 0 ml of pcv2 vaccine no . 7 im in the right neck region using a sterile 3 . 0 ml luer - lock syringe and a sterile 20 g × ½ ″ needle . on day 21 all test pigs received 2 . 0 ml of klh / icfa im in the right ham region using a sterile 3 . 0 ml luer - lock syringe and a sterile 20 g × 1 ″ needle . on day 27 all test pigs received 2 . 0 ml of klh / icfa in the left ham region using a sterile 3 . 0 ml luer - lock syringe and a sterile 20 g × 1 ″ needle . on day 24 , pigs assigned to groups 1 - 8 received 1 . 0 ml of pcv2 isuvdl challenge material ( 5 . 11 log 10 tcid 50 / ml ) im in the left neck region using a sterile 3 . 0 ml luer - lock syringe and a sterile 20 g × 1 ″ needle . an additional 1 . 0 ml of the same material was administered in to each pig ( 0 . 5 ml per nostril ) using a sterile 3 . 0 ml luer - lock syringe and nasal canula . test pigs were observed daily for overall health and adverse events on day − 4 and from day 0 to day 19 . observations were recorded on the clinical observation record . all test pigs were observed from day 0 to day 7 , and group 7 was further observed from day 14 to 21 , for injection site reactions . average daily weight gain was determined by weighing each pig on a calibrated scale on days − 3 , 24 and 49 , or on the day that a pig was found dead after challenge . body weights were recorded on the body weight form . day − 3 body weights were utilized to block pigs prior to randomization . day 24 and day 49 weight data was utilized to determine the average daily weight gain ( adwg ) for each pig during these time points . for pigs that died after challenge and before day 49 , the adwg was adjusted to represent the adwg from day 24 to the day of death . in order to determine pcv2 serology , venous whole blood was collected from each piglet from the orbital venous sinus on days − 3 and 14 . for each piglet , blood was collected from the orbital venous sinus by inserting a sterile capillary tube into the medial canthus of one of the eyes and draining approximately 3 . 0 ml of whole blood into a 4 . 0 ml serum separator tube ( sst ). on days 24 , 31 , and 49 , venous whole blood from each pig was collected from the anterior vena cava using a sterile 18 g × 1½ ″ vacutainer needle ( becton dickinson and company , franklin lakes , n . j . ), a vacutainer needle holder and a 13 ml sst . blood collections at each time point were recorded on the sample collection record . blood in each sst was allowed to clot , each sst was then spun down and the serum harvested . harvested serum was transferred to a sterile snap tube and stored at − 70 ± 10 ° c . until tested at a later date . serum samples were tested for the presence of pcv2 antibodies by bivi - r & amp ; d personnel . pigs were observed once daily from day 20 to day 49 for clinical symptoms and clinical observations were recorded on the clinical observation record . to test for pcv2 nasal shedding , on days 24 , 25 , and then every other odd numbered study day up to and including day 49 , a sterile dacron swab was inserted intra nasally into either the left or right nostril of each pig ( one swab per pig ) as aseptically as possible , swished around for a few seconds and then removed . each swab was then placed into a single sterile snap - cap tube containing 1 . 0 ml of emem media with 2 % ifbs , 500 units / ml of penicillin , 500 μg / ml of streptomycin and 2 . 5 μg / ml of fungizone . the swab was broken off in the tube , and the snap tube was sealed and appropriately labeled with animal number , study number , date of collection , study day and “ nasal swab .” sealed snap tubes were stored at − 40 ± 10 ° c . until transported overnight on ice to bivi - st . joseph . nasal swab collections were recorded on the nasal swab sample collection form . bivi - r & amp ; d conducted quantitative virus isolation ( vi ) testing for pcv2 on nasal swab samples . the results were expressed in log 10 values . a value of 1 . 3 logs or less was considered negative and any value greater than 1 . 3 logs was considered positive . pigs that died ( nos . 28 , 52 , 56 , 69 , 82 , and 93 ) at the first study site were necropsied to the level necessary to determine a diagnosis . gross lesions were recorded and no tissues were retained from these pigs . at the second study site , pigs that died prior to day 49 ( nos . 45 , 23 , 58 , 35 ), pigs found dead on day 49 prior to euthanasia ( nos . 2 , 43 ) and pigs euthanized on day 49 were necropsied . any gross lesions were noted and the percentages of lung lobes with lesions were recorded on the necropsy report form . from each of the 103 pigs necropsied at the second study site , a tissue sample of tonsil , lung , heart , liver , mesenteric lymph node , kidney and inguinal lymph node was placed into a single container with buffered 10 % formalin ; while another tissue sample from the same aforementioned organs was placed into a whirl - pak ( m - tech diagnostics ltd ., thelwall , uk ) and each whirl - pak was placed on ice . each container was properly labeled . sample collections were recorded on the necropsy report form . afterwards , formalin - fixed tissue samples and a diagnostic request form were submitted for ihc testing . ihc testing was conducted in accordance with standard isu laboratory procedures for receiving samples , sample and slide preparation , and staining techniques . fresh tissues in whirl - paks were shipped with ice packs to the study monitor for storage (− 70 °± 10 ° c .) and possible future use . formalin - fixed tissues were examined by a pathologist for detection of pcv2 by ihc and scored using the following scoring system : 0 = none ; 1 = scant positive staining , few sites ; 2 = moderate positive staining , multiple sites ; and 3 = abundant positive staining , diffuse throughout the tissue . due to the fact that the pathologist could not positively differentiate inguinal ln from mesenteric ln , results for these tissues were simply labeled as lymph node and the score given the highest score for each of the two tissues per animal . results for this example are given below . it is noted that one pig from group 9 died before day 0 , and 5 more pigs died post - vaccination ( 1 pig from group 4 ; 1 pig from group 6 ; 2 pigs from group 8 ; and 1 pig from group 9 ). post - mortem examination indicated all six died due to underlying infections that were not associated with vaccination or pmws . additionally , no adverse events or injection site reactions were noted with any groups . average daily weight gain ( adwg ) results are presented below in table 6 . group 9 , the strict negative control group , had the highest adwg ( 1 . 06 ± 0 . 17 lbs / day ), followed by group 5 ( 0 . 94 ± 0 . 22 lbs / day ), which received one dose of 8 μg of rorf2 . group 3 , which received one dose of 4 μg of vorf2 , had the lowest adwg ( 0 . 49 ± 0 . 21 lbs / day ), followed by group 7 ( 0 . 50 ± 0 . 15 lbs / day ), which received 2 doses of killed vaccine . pcv2 serology results are presented below in table 7 . all nine groups were seronegative for pcv2 on day − 3 . on day 14 , groups receiving vorf2 vaccines had the highest titers , which ranged from 187 . 5 to 529 . 2 . pigs receiving killed viral vaccine had the next highest titers , followed by the groups receiving rorf2 vaccines . groups 8 and 9 remained seronegative at this time . on day 24 and day 31 , pigs receiving vorf2 vaccines continued to demonstrate a strong serological response , followed closely by the group that received two doses of a killed viral vaccine . pigs receiving rorf2 vaccines were slower to respond serologically and groups 8 and 9 continued to remain seronegative . on day 49 , pigs receiving vorf2 vaccine , 2 doses of the killed viral vaccine and the lowest dose of rorf2 demonstrated the strongest serological responses . pigs receiving 16 μg and 8 μg of rorf2 vaccines had slightly higher ifa titers than challenge controls . group 9 on day 49 demonstrated a strong serological response . the results from the post - challenge clinical observations are presented below in table 8 . this summary of results includes observations for abnormal behavior , abnormal respiration , cough and diarrhea . table 9 includes the results from the summary of group overall incidence of clinical symptoms and table 10 includes results from the summary of group mortality rates post - challenge . the most common clinical symptom noted in this study was abnormal behavior , which was scored as mild to severe lethargy . pigs receiving the 2 lower doses of vorf2 , pigs receiving 16 μg of rorf2 and pigs receiving 2 doses of kv vaccine had incidence rates of ≧ 27 . 3 %. pigs receiving 8 μg of rorf2 and the strict negative control group had no abnormal behavior . none of the pigs in this study demonstrated any abnormal respiration . coughing was noted frequently in all groups ( 0 to 25 %), as was diarrhea ( 0 - 20 %). none of the clinical symptoms noted were pathognomic for pmws . the overall incidence of clinical symptoms varied between groups . groups receiving any of the vorf2 vaccines , the group receiving 16 μg of rorf2 , the group receiving 2 doses of kv vaccine and the challenge control group had the highest incidence of overall clinical symptoms (≧ 36 . 4 %). the strict negative control group , the group receiving 8 μg of rorf2 and the group receiving 4 μg of rorf2 had overall incidence rates of clinical symptoms of 0 %, 8 . 3 % and 9 . 1 %, respectively . overall mortality rates between groups varied as well . the group receiving 2 doses of kv vaccine had the highest mortality rate ( 16 . 7 %); while groups that received 4 μg of vorf2 , 16 μg of rorf2 , or 8 μg of rorf2 and the strict negative control group all had 0 % mortality rates . pcv2 nasal shedding results are presented below in table 11 . following challenge on day 24 , 1 pig in group 7 began shedding pcv2 on day 27 . none of the other groups experienced shedding until day 33 . the bulk of nasal shedding was noted from day 35 to day 45 . groups receiving any of the three vorf2 vaccines and groups receiving either 4 or 8 μg of rorf2 had the lowest incidence of nasal shedding of pcv2 (≦ 9 . 1 %). the challenge control group ( group 8 ) had the highest shedding rate ( 80 %), followed by the strict negative control group ( group 9 ), which had an incidence rate of 63 . 6 %. the summary of group incidence of icterus , group incidence of gastric ulcers , group mean lung lesion scores , and group incidence of lung lesions are shown below in table 12 . six pigs died at the first test site during the post - vaccination phase of the study ( group 4 , n = 1 ; group 6 , n = 1 ; group 8 , n = 2 ; group 9 , n = 2 ). four out of six pigs had fibrinous lesions in one or more body cavities , one pig ( group 6 ) had lesions consistent with clostridial disease , and one pig ( group 9 ) had no gross lesions . none of the pigs that died during the post - vaccination phased of the study had lesions consistent with pmws . pigs that died post - challenge and pigs euthanized on day 49 were necropsied . at necropsy , icterus and gastric ulcers were not present in any group . with regard to mean % lung lesions , group 9 had lowest mean % lung lesions ( 0 %), followed by group 1 with 0 . 40 ± 0 . 50 % and group 5 with 0 . 68 ± 1 . 15 %. groups 2 , 3 , 7 and 8 had the highest mean % lung lesions (≧ 7 . 27 %). each of these four groups contained one pig with % lung lesions ≧ 71 . 5 %, which skewed the results higher for these four groups . with the exception of group 9 with 0 % lung lesions noted , the remaining 8 groups had ≦ 36 % lung lesions . almost all lung lesions noted were described as red / purple and consolidated . the summary of group ihc positive incidence results are shown in table 13 . group 1 ( vorf2 - 16 μg ) and group 5 ( rorf2 - 8 μg ) had the lowest rate of ihc positive results ( 16 . 7 %). group 8 ( challenge controls ) and group 9 ( strict negative controls ) had the highest rate of ihc positive results , 90 % and 90 . 9 %, respectively . post - challenge , group 5 , which received one dose of 8 μg of rorf2 antigen , outperformed the other 6 vaccine groups . group 5 had the highest adwg ( 0 . 94 ± 0 . 22 lbs / day ), the lowest incidence of abnormal behavior ( 0 %), the second lowest incidence of cough ( 8 . 3 %), the lowest incidence of overall clinical symptoms ( 8 . 3 %), the lowest mortality rate ( 0 %), the lowest rate of nasal shedding of pcv2 ( 8 . 3 %), the second lowest rate for mean % lung lesions ( 0 . 68 ± 1 . 15 %) and the lowest incidence rate for positive tissues ( 16 . 7 %). groups receiving various levels of rorf2 antigen overall outperformed groups receiving various levels of vorf2 and the group receiving 2 doses of killed whole cell pcv2 vaccine performed the worst . tables 14 and 15 contain summaries of group post - challenge data . results of this study indicate that all further vaccine efforts should focus on a rorf2 vaccine . overall , nasal shedding of pcv2 was detected post - challenge and vaccination with a pcv2 vaccine resulted in a reduction of shedding . immunohistochemistry of selected lymphoid tissues also served as a good parameter for vaccine efficacy , whereas large differences in adwg , clinical symptoms , and gross lesions were not detected between groups . this study was complicated by the fact that extraneous pcv2 was introduced at some point during the study , as evidenced by nasal shedding of pcv2 , pcv2 seroconversion and positive ihc tissues in group 9 , the strict negative control group . seven pcv2 vaccines were evaluated in this study , which included three different dose levels of vorf2 antigen administered once on day 0 , three different dose levels of rorf2 antigen administered once on day 0 and one dose level of killed whole cell pcv2 vaccine administered on day 0 and day 14 . overall , group 5 , which received 1 dose of vaccine containing 8 μg of rorf2 antigen , had the best results . group 5 had the highest adwg , the lowest incidence of abnormal behavior , the lowest incidence of abnormal respiration , the second lowest incidence of cough , the lowest incidence of overall clinical symptoms , the lowest mortality rate , the lowest rate of nasal shedding of pcv2 , the second lowest rate for mean % lung lesions and the lowest incidence rate for positive ihc tissues . interestingly , group 4 , which received a higher dose of rorf2 antigen than group 5 , did not perform as well or better than group 5 . group 4 had a slightly lower adwg , a higher incidence of abnormal behavior , a higher incidence of overall clinical symptoms , a higher rate of nasal shedding of pcv2 , a higher mean % lung lesions , and a higher rate for positive ihc tissues than group 5 . statistical analysis , which may have indicated that the differences between these two groups were not statistically significant , was not conducted on these data , but there was an observed trend that group 4 did not perform as well as group 5 . post - vaccination , 6 pigs died at the first study site . four of the six pigs were from group 8 or group 9 , which received no vaccine . none of the six pigs demonstrated lesions consistent with pmws , no adverse events were reported and overall , all seven vaccines appeared to be safe when administered to pigs approximately 11 days of age . during the post - vaccination phase of the study , pigs receiving either of three dose levels of vorf2 vaccine or killed whole cell vaccine had the highest ifat levels , while group 5 had the lowest ifat levels just prior to challenge , of the vaccine groups . although not formally proven , the predominant route of transmission of pcv2 to young swine shortly after weaning is believed to be by oronasal direct contact and an efficacious vaccine that reduces nasal shedding of pcv2 in a production setting would help control the spread of infection . groups receiving one of three vorf2 antigen levels and the group receiving 8 μg of rorf2 had the lowest incidence rate of nasal shedding of pcv2 ( 8 . 3 %). expectedly , the challenge control group had the highest incidence rate of nasal shedding ( 80 %). gross lesions in pigs with pmws secondary to pcv2 infection typically consist of generalized lymphadenopathy in combination with one or a multiple of the following : ( 1 ) interstitial pneumonia with interlobular edema , ( 2 ) cutaneous pallor or icterus , ( 3 ) mottled atrophic livers , ( 4 ) gastric ulcers and ( 5 ) nephritis . at necropsy , icterus , hepatitis , nephritis , and gastric ulcers were not noted in any groups and lymphadenopathy was not specifically examined for . the mean % lung lesion scores varied between groups . the group receiving 16 μg of vorf2 antigen had the lowest mean % lung lesion score ( 0 . 40 ± 0 . 50 %), followed by the group that received 8 μg of rorf2 ( 0 . 68 ± 1 . 15 %). as expected , the challenge control group had the highest mean % lung lesion score ( 9 . 88 ± 29 . 2 %). in all four groups , the mean % lung lesion scores were elevated due to one pig in each of these groups that had very high lung lesion scores . most of the lung lesions were described as red / purple and consolidated . typically , lung lesions associated with pmws are described as tan and non - collapsible with interlobular edema . the lung lesions noted in this study were either not associated with pcv2 infection or a second pulmonary infectious agent may have been present . within the context of this study , the % lung lesion scores probably do not reflect a true measure of the amount of lung infection due to pcv2 . other researchers have demonstrated a direct correlation between the presence of pcv2 antigen by ihc and histopathology . histopathology on select tissues was not conducted with this study . group 1 ( 16 μg of vorf2 ) and group 5 ( 8 μg of rorf2 ) had the lowest incidence rate of pigs positive for pcv2 antigen ( 8 . 3 %), while group 9 ( the strict negative control group − 90 . 9 %) and group 8 ( the challenge control group − 90 . 0 %) had the highest incidence rates for pigs positive for pcv2 antigen . due to the non - subjective nature of this test , ihc results are probably one of the best parameters to judge vaccine efficacy on . thus , in one aspect of the present invention , the minimum portective dosage ( mpd ) of a 1 ml / 1 dose recombinant product with extracted pcv2 orf2 ( rorf2 ) antigen in the cdcd pig model in the face of a pcv2 challenge was determined . of the three groups that received varying levels of rorf2 antigen , group 5 ( 8 μg of rorf2 antigen ) clearly had the highest level of protection . group 5 either had the best results or was tied for the most favorable results with regard to all of the parameters examined . when group 5 was compared with the other six vaccine groups post - challenge , group 5 had the highest adwg ( 0 . 94 ± 0 . 22 lbs / day ), the lowest incidence of abnormal behavior ( 0 %), the second lowest incidence of cough ( 8 . 3 %), the lowest incidence of overall clinical symptoms ( 8 . 3 %), the lowest mortality rate ( 0 %), the lowest rate of nasal shedding of pcv2 ( 8 . 3 %), the second lowest rate for mean % lung lesions ( 0 . 68 ± 1 . 15 %) and the lowest incidence rate for positive ihc tissues ( 16 . 7 %). in another aspect of the present invention , the mpd of a 1 ml / 1 dose conventional product that is partially purified pcv2 orf2 ( vorf2 ) antigen in the cdcd pig model in the face of a pcv2 challenge was determined . of the three groups that received varying levels of vorf2 antigen , group 1 ( 16 μg of vorf2 ) had the highest level of protection . group 1 outperformed groups 2 and 3 with respect to adwg , mean % lung lesions , and ihc . groups 1 and 2 ( 8 μg of vorf2 antigen ) performed equally with respect to overall incidence of clinical symptoms , group 3 ( 4 μg of vorf2 antigen ) had the lowest mortality rate , and all three groups performed equally with respect to nasal shedding . overall , vorf vaccines did not perform as well as rorf vaccines . in yet another aspect of the present invention , the efficacy of a maximum dose of a 2 ml / 2 dose conventional killed pcv2 vaccine in the cdcd pig model in the face of a pcv2 challenge was determined . of the seven vaccines evaluated in this study , the killed whole cell pcv2 vaccine performed the worst . piglets receiving two doses of killed whole cell pcv2 vaccine had the lowest adwg , the second highest rate of abnormal behavior ( 58 . 3 %), the second highest overall incidence of clinical symptoms ( 58 . 3 %), the highest mortality rate ( 16 . 7 %), the second highest incidence of nasal shedding ( 41 . 7 %), highest mean % lung lesions ( 9 . 88 ± 29 . 2 %), a high incidence of lung lesions noted ( 75 %) and a moderate ihc incidence rate in tissues ( 41 . 7 %). however , it was still effective at invoking an immune response . in still another aspect of the present invention , nasal shedding of pcv2 was assessed as an efficacy parameter and the previous pcv2 efficacy parameters from previous studies were reconfirmed . results from this study indicate that nasal shedding of pcv2 occurs following intra nasal challenge and that pcv2 vaccines reduce nasal shedding of pcv2 post - challenge . furthermore , results from this study and reports in the literature indicate that ihc should continue to be evaluated in future pcv2 vaccine trials as well . some additional conclusions arising from this study are that lymphadenopathy is one of the hallmarks of pmws . another one of the hallmarks of pmws is lymphoid depletion and multinucleated / giant histiocytes . additionally , no adverse events or injection site reactions were noted for any of the 7 pcv2 vaccines and all 7 pcv2 vaccines appeared to be safe when administered to young pigs . this example tests the efficacy of eight pcv2 candidate vaccines and reconfirms pcv2 challenge parameters from earlier challenge studies following exposure to a virulent strain of pcv2 . one hundred and fifty ( 150 ) cesarean derived colostrum deprived ( cdcd ) piglets , 6 - 16 days of age , were blocked by weight and randomly divided into 10 groups of equal size . table 16 sets forth the general study design for this example . the vaccine formulation given to each group were as follows . pcv2 vaccine no . 1 , administered at 1 × 2 ml dose to group 1 , was a high dose ( 16 ug / 2 ml dose ) of inactivated recombinant orf2 antigen adjuvanted with ims 1314 ( 16 ug rorf2 - ims 1314 ). pcv2 vaccine no . 2 , administered at 1 × 2 ml dose to group 2 , was a high dose ( 16 ug / 2 ml dose ) of a partially purified vido r - 1 generated pcv2 orf2 antigen adjuvanted with carbopol ( 16 ug vorf2 - carbopol ). pcv2 vaccine no . 3 , administered at 1 × 2 ml dose to group 3 , was a high dose ( 16 ug / 2 ml dose ) of inactivated recombinant orf2 antigen adjuvanted with carbopol ( 16 ug rorf2 - carbopol ). pcv2 vaccine no . 4 , administered at 1 × 1 ml dose to group 4 , was a high dose ( 16 ug / 1 ml dose ) of a partially purified vido r - 1 generated pcv2 orf2 antigen adjuvanted with carbopol ( 16 ug vorf2 - carbopol ). vaccine no . 5 , administered at 1 × 2 ml dose to group 5 , was a 4 ug / 2 ml dose of an inactivated recombinant orf2 antigen adjuvanted with carbopol ( 4 ug rorf2 - carbopol ). pcv2 vaccine no . 6 , administered at 1 × 2 ml dose to group 6 , was a 1 ug / 2 ml dose of an inactivated recombinant orf2 antigen adjuvanted with carbopol ( 1 ug rorf2 - carbopol ). pcv2 vaccine no . 7 , administered at 1 × 2 ml dose to group 7 , was a low dose ( 0 . 25 ug / 2 ml dose ) of inactivated recombinant orf2 antigen adjuvanted with carbopol ( 0 . 25 ug rorf2 - carbopol ). pcv2 vaccine no . 8 , administered at 1 × 2 ml dose to group 8 , was a high dose ( pre - inactivation titer & gt ; 8 . 0 log / 2 ml dose ) inactivated conventional killed vido r - 1 generated pcv2 struve antigen adjuvanted with carbopol (& gt ; 8 . 0 log kv - carbopol ). on day 0 , groups 1 - 8 were treated with their assigned vaccines . groups 1 - 3 and 5 - 8 received boosters of their respective vaccines again on day 14 . the effectiveness of a single dose of 16 μg of vorf2 - carbopol was tested on group 4 which did not receive a booster on day 14 . piglets were observed for adverse events and injection site reactions following both vaccinations . on day 21 the piglets were moved to a second study site where groups 1 - 9 were group housed in one building and group 10 was housed in a separate building . all pigs received keyhole limpet hemocyanin emulsified with incomplete freund &# 39 ; s adjuvant ( klh / icfa ) on days 22 and 28 . on day 25 , groups 1 - 9 were challenged with approximately 4 logs of virulent pcv2 virus . by day 46 , very few deaths had occurred in the challenge control group . in an attempt to immunostimulate the pigs and increase the virulence of the pcv2 challenge material , all groups were treated with ingelvac ® prrsv mlv ( porcine reproductive and respiratory vaccine , modified live virus ) on day 46 . pre - and post - challenge blood samples were collected for pcv2 serology . post - challenge , body weight data for determination of average daily weight gain ( adwg ) and observations of clinical signs were collected . on day 50 , all surviving pigs were necropsied , gross lesions were recorded , lungs were scored for pathology , and selected tissues were preserved in formalin for examination by immunohistochemistry ( ihc ) for detection of pcv2 antigen at a later date . this was a partially - blind vaccination - challenge feasibility study conducted in cdcd pigs , 6 to 16 days of age on day 0 . to be included in the study , pcv2 ifa titers of sows were ≦ 1 : 1000 . additionally , the serologic status of sows were from a known prrs - negative herd . sixteen ( 16 ) sows were tested for pcv2 serological status and all sixteen ( 16 ) had a pcv2 titer of ≦ 1000 and were transferred to the first study site . one hundred fifty ( 150 ) piglets were delivered by cesarean section surgeries and were available for this study on day − 3 . on day − 3 , 150 cdcd pigs at the first study site were weighed , identified with ear tags , blocked by weight and randomly assigned to 1 of 10 groups , as set forth above in table 16 . blood samples were collected from all pigs . if any test animal meeting the inclusion criteria was enrolled in the study and was later excluded for any reason , the investigator and monitor consulted in order to determine the use of data collected from the animal in the final analysis . the date of which enrolled piglets were excluded and the reason for exclusion was documented . no sows meeting the inclusion criteria , selected for the study and transported to the first study site were excluded . no piglets were excluded from the study , and no test animals were removed from the study prior to termination . table 17 describes the time frames for the key activities of this example . following completion of the in - life phase of the study , formalin fixed tissues were examined by immunohistochemistry ( ihc ) for detection of pcv2 antigen by a pathologist , blood samples were evaluated for pcv2 serology , and average daily weight gain ( adwg ) was determined from day 25 to day 50 . animals were housed at the first study site in individual cages in seven rooms from birth to approximately 11 days of age ( approximately day 0 of the study ). each room was identical in layout and consisted of stacked individual stainless steel cages with heated and filtered air supplied separately to each isolation unit . each room had separate heat and ventilation , thereby preventing cross - contamination of air between rooms . animals were housed in two different buildings at the second study site . group 10 ( the strict negative control group ) was housed separately in a converted nursery building and groups 1 - 9 were housed in a converted farrowing building . each group was housed in a separate pen ( 14 - 15 pigs per pen ) and each pen provided approximately 2 . 3 square feet per pig . groups 2 , 4 and 8 were penned in three adjacent pens on one side of the alleyway and groups 1 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 7 , and 9 were penned in six adjacent pens on the other side of the alleyway . the group separation was due to concern by the study monitor that vaccines administered to groups 2 , 4 , and 8 had not been fully inactivated . each pen was on an elevated deck with plastic slatted floors . a pit below the pens served as a holding tank for excrement and waste . each building had its own separate heating and ventilation systems , with little likelihood of cross - contamination of air between buildings . at the first study site , piglets were fed a specially formulated milk ration from birth to approximately 3 weeks of age . all piglets were consuming solid , special mixed ration by day 21 ( approximately 4½ weeks of age ). at the second study site , all piglets were fed a custom non - medicated commercial mix ration appropriate for their age and weight , ad libitum . water at both study sites was also available ad libitum . all test pigs were treated with 1 . 0 ml of naxcel ®, im , in alternating hams on days 19 , 20 , and 21 . in addition , pig no . 11 ( group 1 ) was treated with 0 . 5 ml of naxcel ® im on day 10 , pig no . 13 ( group 10 ) was treated with 1 ml of penicillin and 1 ml of predef ® 2 × on day 10 , pig no . 4 ( group 9 ) was treated with 1 . 0 ml of naxcel ® im on day 11 , and pigs 1 ( group 1 ), 4 and 11 were each treated with 1 . 0 ml of naxcel ® on day 14 for various health reasons . while at both study sites , pigs were under veterinary care . animal health examinations were conducted on day − 3 and were recorded on the health examination record form . all animals were in good health and nutritional status before vaccination as determined by observation on day 0 . all test animals were observed to be in good health and nutritional status prior to challenge . carcasses and tissues were disposed of by rendering . final disposition of study animals was recorded on the animal disposition record . on days 0 and 14 , pigs assigned to groups 1 - 3 and 5 - 8 received 2 . 0 ml of assigned pcv2 vaccines 1 - 4 , respectively , im in the right and left neck region , respectively , using a sterile 3 . 0 ml luer - lock syringe and a sterile 20 g × ½ ″ needle . pigs assigned to group 4 received 1 . 0 ml of pcv2 vaccine no . 2 , im in the right neck region using a sterile 3 . 0 ml luer - lock syringe and a sterile 20 g × ½ ″ needle on day 0 only . on day 22 all test pigs received 2 . 0 ml of klh / icfa im in the left neck region using a sterile 3 . 0 ml luer - lock syringe and a sterile 20 g × 1 ″ needle . on day 28 all test pigs received 2 . 0 ml of klh / icfa in the right ham region using a sterile 3 . 0 ml luer - lock syringe and a sterile 20 g × 1 ″ needle . on day 25 , pigs assigned to groups 1 - 9 received 1 . 0 ml of pcv2 isuvdl challenge material ( 3 . 98 log 10 tcid 50 / ml ) im in the right neck region using a sterile 3 . 0 ml luer - lock syringe and a sterile 20 g × 1 ″ needle . an additional 1 . 0 ml of the same material was administered in to each pig ( 0 . 5 ml per nostril ) using a sterile 3 . 0 ml luer - lock syringe and nasal canula . on day 46 , all test pigs received 2 . 0 ml ingelvac ® prrs mlv , im , in the right neck region using a sterile 3 . 0 ml luer0lock syringe and a sterile 20 g × 1 ″ needle . the prrsv mlv was administered in an attempt to increase virulence of the pcv2 challenge material . test pigs were observed daily for overall health and adverse events on day − 3 and from day 0 to day 21 . each of the pigs were scored for normal or abnormal behavior , respiration or cough . observations were recorded on the clinical observation record . all test pigs were observed from day 0 to day 7 , and group 7 was further observed from day 14 to 21 , for injection site reactions . average daily weight gain was determined by weighing each pig on a calibrated scale on days − 3 , 25 and 50 , or on the day that a pig was found dead after challenge . body weights were recorded on the body weight form . day − 3 body weights were utilized to block pigs prior to randomization . day 25 and day 50 weight data was utilized to determine the average daily weight gain ( adwg ) for each pig during these time points . for pigs that died after challenge and before day 50 , the adwg was adjusted to represent the adwg from day 25 to the day of death . in order to determine pcv2 serology , venous whole blood was collected from each piglet from the orbital venous sinus on days − 3 and 14 . for each piglet , blood was collected from the orbital venous sinus by inserting a sterile capillary tube into the medial canthus of one of the eyes and draining approximately 3 . 0 ml of whole blood into a 4 . 0 ml serum separator tube ( sst ). on days 25 , 32 , and 50 , venous whole blood from each pig was collected from the anterior vena cava using a sterile 20 g × 1½ ″ vacutainer ® needle ( becton dickinson and company , franklin lakes , n . j . ), a vaccutainer ® needle holder and a 13 ml sst . blood collections at each time point were recorded on the sample collection record . blood in each sst was allowed to clot , each sst was then spun down and the serum harvested . harvested serum was transferred to a sterile snap tube and stored at − 70 ± 10 ° c . until tested at a later date . serum samples were tested for the presence of pcv2 antibodies by bivi - r & amp ; d personnel . pigs were observed once daily from day 22 to day 50 for clinical symptoms and scored for normal or abnormal behavior , respiration or cough . clinical observations were recorded on the clinical observation record . pigs nos . 46 ( group 1 ) and 98 ( groups 9 ) died at the first study site . both of these deaths were categorized as bleeding deaths and necropsies were not conducted on these two pigs . at the second study site , pigs that died after challenge and prior to day 50 , and pigs euthanized on day 50 , were necropsied . any gross lesions were noted and the percentages of lung lobes with lesions were recorded on the necropsy report form . from each of the pigs necropsied at the second study site , a tissue sample of tonsil , lung , heart , and mesenteric lymph node was placed into a single container with buffered 10 % formalin ; while another tissue sample from the same aforementioned organs was placed into a whirl - pak ® ( m - tech diagnostics ltd ., thelwall , uk ) and each whirl - pak ® was placed on ice . each container was properly labeled . sample collections were recorded on the necropsy report form . afterwards , formalin - fixed tissue samples and a diagnostic request form were submitted for ihc testing . ihc testing was conducted in accordance with standard laboratory procedures for receiving samples , sample and slide preparation , and staining techniques . fresh tissues in whirl - paks ® were shipped with ice packs to the study monitor for storage (− 70 °± 10 ° c .) and possible future use . formalin - fixed tissues were examined by a pathologist for detection of pcv2 by ihc and scored using the following scoring system : 0 = none ; 1 = scant positive staining , few sites ; 2 = moderate positive staining , multiple sites ; and 3 = abundant positive staining , diffuse throughout the tissue . for analytical purposes , a score of 0 was considered “ negative ,” and a score of greater than 0 was considered “ positive .” results for this example are given below . it is noted that pigs no . 46 and 98 died on days 14 and 25 respectively . these deaths were categorized as bleeding deaths . pig no . 11 ( group 1 ) was panting with rapid respiration on day 15 . otherwise , all pigs were normal for behavior , respiration and cough during this observation period and no systemic adverse events were noted with any groups . no injection site reactions were noted following vaccination on day 0 . following vaccination on day 14 , seven ( 7 ) out of fourteen ( 14 ) group 1 pigs ( 50 . 0 %) had swelling with a score of “ 2 ” on day 15 . four ( 4 ) out of fourteen ( 14 ) group 1 ( 28 . 6 %) still had a swelling of “ 2 ” on day 16 . none of the other groups experienced injection site reactions following either vaccination . average daily weight gain ( adwg ) results are presented below in table 18 . pigs no . 46 and 98 that died from bleeding were excluded from group results . group 4 , which received one dose of 16 ug vorf2 - carbopol , had the highest adwg ( 1 . 16 ± 0 . 26 lbs / day ), followed by groups 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , and 10 which had adwgs that ranged from 1 . 07 ± 0 . 23 lbs / day to 1 . 11 ± 0 . 26 lbs / day . group 9 had the lowest adwg ( 0 . 88 ± 0 . 29 lbs / day ), followed by groups 8 and 7 , which had adwgs of 0 . 93 ± 0 . 33 lbs / day and 0 . 99 ± 0 . 44 lbs / day , respectively . pvc2 serology results are presented below in table 19 . all ten ( 10 ) groups were seronegative for pcv2 on day − 3 . on day 14 , pcv2 titers remained low for all ten ( 10 ) groups ( range of 50 - 113 ). on day 25 , group 8 , which received the whole cell killed virus vaccine , had the highest pcv2 titer ( 4617 ), followed by group 2 , which received 16 ug vorf2 - carbopol , group 4 , which received as single dose of 16 ug vorf2 - carbopol , and group 3 , which received 16 ug rorf2 - carbopol , which had titers of 2507 , 1920 and 1503 respectively . on day 32 ( one week post challenge ), titers for groups 1 - 6 and group 8 ranged from 2360 to 7619 ; while groups 7 ( 0 . 25 ug rorf2 - carbopol ), 9 ( challenge control ), and 10 ( strict negative control ) had titers of 382 , 129 and 78 respectively . on day 50 ( day of necropsy ), all ten ( 10 ) groups demonstrated high pcv2 titers (≧ 1257 ). on days 25 , 32 , and 50 , group 3 , which received two doses of 16 ug rorf2 - carbopol had higher antibody titers than group 1 , which received two doses of 16 ug rorf2 - ims 1314 . on days 25 , 32 and 50 , group 2 , which received two doses of 16 ug vorf2 had higher titers than group 4 , which received only one does of the same vaccine . groups 3 , 5 , 6 , 7 , which received decreasing levels of rorf2 - carbopol , of 16 , 4 , 1 , and 0 . 25 ug respectively , demonstrated correspondingly decreasing antibody titers on days 25 and 32 . the results from the post - challenge clinical observations are presented below . table 20 includes observations for abnormal behavior , abnormal respiration , cough and diarrhea . table 21 includes the results from the summary of group overall incidence of clinical symptoms and table 22 includes results from the summary of group mortality rates post - challenge . the incidence of abnormal behavior , respiration and cough post - challenge were low in pigs receiving 16 ug rorf2 - ims 1314 ( group 1 ), 16 ug rorf2 - carbopol ( group 3 ), 1 ug rorf2 - carbopol ( group 6 ), 0 . 25 ug rorf2 - carbopol ( group 7 ), and in pigs in the challenge control group ( group 9 ). the incidence of abnormal behavior respiration and cough post - challenge was zero in pigs receiving 16 ug vorf2 - carbopol ( group 2 ), a single dose of 16 ug vorf2 - carbopol ( group 4 ), 4 ug rorf2 - carbopol ( group 5 ), & gt ; 8 log kv - carbopol ( group 8 ), and in pigs in the strict negative control group ( group 10 ). the overall incidence of clinical symptoms varied between groups . pigs receiving 16 ug vorf2 - carbopol ( group 2 ), a single dose of 16 ug vorf2 - carbopol ( group 4 ), and pigs in the strict negative control group ( group 10 ) had incidence rates of 0 %; pigs receiving 16 ug rorf2 - carbopol ( group 3 ), and 1 ug rorf2 - carbopol ( group 6 ) had incidence rates of 6 . 7 %; pigs receiving 16 ug rorf2 - ims 1314 ( group 1 ) had an overall incidence rate of 7 . 1 %; pigs receiving 4 ug rorf2 - carbopol ( group 5 ), 0 . 25 ug rorf2 - carbopol ( group 7 ), and & gt ; 8 log kv vaccine had incidence rates of 13 . 3 %; and pigs in the challenge control group ( group 9 ) had an incidence rate of 14 . 3 %. overall mortality rates between groups varied as well . group 8 , which received 2 doses of kv vaccine had the highest mortality rate of 20 . 0 %; followed by group 9 , the challenge control group , and group 7 , which received 0 . 25 ug rorf2 - carbopol and had mortality rates of 14 . 3 % and 13 . 3 % respectively . group 4 , which received one dose of 16 ug vorf2 - carbopol had a 6 . 7 % mortality rate . all of the other groups , 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , and 10 had a 0 % mortality rate . the summary of group mean percentage lung lesions and tentative diagnosis is given below in table 23 . group 9 , the challenge control group , had the highest percentage lung lesions with a mean of 10 . 81 ± 23 . 27 %, followed by group 7 , which received 0 . 25 ug rorf2 - carbopol and had a mean of 6 . 57 ± 24 . 74 %, group 5 , which received 4 ug rorf2 - carbopol and had a mean of 2 . 88 ± 8 . 88 %, and group 8 , which received the kv vaccine and had a mean of 2 . 01 ± 4 . 98 %. the remaining six ( 6 ) groups had lower mean percentage lung lesions that ranged from 0 . 11 ± 0 . 38 % to 0 . 90 ± 0 . 15 %. tentative diagnosis of pneumonia varied among the groups . group 3 , which received two doses of 16 ug rorf2 - carbopol , had the lowest tentative diagnosis of pneumonia , with 13 . 3 %. group 9 , the challenge control group , had 50 % of the group tentatively diagnosed with pneumonia , followed by group 10 , the strict negative control group and group 2 , which received two doses of 16 ug vorf2 - carbopol , with 46 . 7 % of 40 % respectively , tentatively diagnosed with pneumonia . groups 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 9 , and 10 had 0 % of the group tentatively diagnosed as pcv2 infected ; while group 8 , which received two doses if kv vaccine , had the highest group rate of tentative diagnosis of pcv2 infection , which 20 %. group 7 , which received two doses of 0 . 25 ug rorf2 - carbopol , and group 4 , which received one dose of 16 ug vorf2 - carbopol had tentative group diagnoses of pcv2 infection in 13 . 3 % and 6 . 7 % of each group , respectively . gastric ulcers were only diagnosed in one pig in group 7 ( 6 . 7 %); while the other 9 groups remained free of gastric ulcers . the summary of group ihc positive incidence results are shown below in table 24 . group 1 ( 16 ug rorf2 - ims 1314 ) had the lowest group rate of ihc positive results with 0 % of the pigs positive for pcv2 , followed by group 2 ( 16 ug vorf2 - carbopol ) and group 4 ( single dose 16 ug vorf2 - carbopol ), which had group ihc rates of 6 . 7 % and 13 . 3 % respectively . group 9 , the challenge control group , had the highest ihc positive incidence rate with 100 % of the pigs positive for pcv2 , followed by group 10 , the strict negative control group , and group 8 ( kv vaccine ), with 93 . 3 % and 80 % of the pigs positive for pcv2 , respectively . seven pcv2 vaccines were evaluated in this example , which included a high dose ( 16 μg ) of rorf2 antigen adjuvanted with ims 1314 administered twice , a high dose ( 16 μg ) of vorf2 antigen adjuvanted with carbopol administered once to one group of pigs and twice to a second group of pigs , a high dose ( 16 μg ) of rorf2 antigen adjuvanted with carbopol administered twice , a 4 μg dose of rorf2 antigen adjuvanted with carbopol administered twice , a 1 μg dose of rorf2 antigen adjuvanted with carbopol administered twice , a low dose ( 0 . 25 μg ) of rorf2 antigen adjuvanted with carbopol administered twice , and a high dose (& gt ; 8 log ) of killed whole cell pcv2 vaccine adjuvanted with carbopol . overall , group 1 , which received two doses of 16 μg rorf2 - ims 1314 , performed slightly better than groups 2 through 7 , which received vaccines containing various levels of either vorf2 or rorf2 antigen adjuvanted with carbopol and much better than group 8 , which received two doses of killed whole cell pcv2 vaccine . group 1 had the third highest adwg ( 1 . 80 ± 0 . 30 lbs / day ), the lowest incidence of abnormal behavior ( 0 %), the lowest incidence of abnormal respiration ( 0 %), a low incidence of cough ( 7 . 1 %), a low incidence of overall clinical symptoms ( 7 . 1 %), was tied with three other groups for the lowest mortality rate ( 0 %), the second lowest rate for mean % lung lesions ( 0 . 15 ± 0 . 34 %), the second lowest rate for pneumonia ( 21 . 4 %) and the lowest incidence rate for positive ihc tissues ( 0 %). group 1 was , however , the only group in which injection site reactions were noted , which included 50 % of the vaccinates 1 day after the second vaccination . the other vaccines administered to groups 2 through 7 performed better than the killed vaccine and nearly as well as the vaccine administered to group 1 . group 8 , which received two doses of killed pcv2 vaccine adjuvanted with carbopol , had the worst set of results for any vaccine group . group 8 had the lowest adwg ( 0 . 93 ± 0 . 33 lbs / day ), the second highest rate of abnormal behavior ( 6 . 7 %), the highest rate of abnormal respiration ( 6 . 7 %), was tied with three other groups for the highest overall incidence rate of clinical symptoms ( 13 . 3 %), had the highest mortality rate of all groups ( 20 %), and had the highest positive ihc rate ( 80 %) of any vaccine group . there was concern that the killed whole cell pcv2 vaccine may not have been fully inactivated prior to administration to group 8 , which may explain this group &# 39 ; s poor results . unfortunately , definitive data was not available to confirm this concern . overall , in the context of this example , a conventional killed pcv2 vaccine did not aid in the reduction of pcv2 associated disease . as previously mentioned , no adverse events were associated with the test vaccines with exception of the vaccine adjuvanted with ims 1314 . injection site reactions were noted in 50 . 0 % of the pigs 1 day after the second vaccination with the vaccine formulated with ims 1314 and in 28 . 6 % of the pigs 2 days after the second vaccination . no reactions were noted in any pigs receiving carbopol adjuvanted vaccines . any further studies that include pigs vaccinated with ims 1314 adjuvanted vaccines should continue to closely monitor pigs for injection site reactions . all pigs were sero - negative for pcv2 on day − 3 and only group 2 had a titer above 100 on day 14 . on day 25 ( day of challenge ), group 8 had the highest pcv2 antibody titer ( 4619 ), followed by group 2 ( 2507 ). with the exception of groups 7 , 9 and 10 , all groups demonstrated a strong antibody response by day 32 . by day 50 , all groups including groups 7 , 9 and 10 demonstrated a strong antibody response . one of the hallmarks of late stage pcv2 infection and subsequent pmws development is growth retardation in weaned pigs , and in severe cases , weight loss is noted . average daily weight gain of groups is a quantitative method of demonstrating growth retardation or weight loss . in this example , there was not a large difference in adwg between groups . group 8 had the lowest adwg of 0 . 88 ± 0 . 29 lbs / day , while group 4 had the highest adwg of 1 . 16 ± 0 . 26 lb / day . within the context of this study there was not a sufficient difference between groups to base future vaccine efficacy on adwg . in addition to weight loss — dyspnea , lethargy , pallor of the skin and sometimes icterus are clinical symptoms associated with pmws . in this example , abnormal behavior and abnormal respiration and cough were noted infrequently for each group . as evidenced in this study , this challenge model and challenge strain do not result in overwhelming clinical symptoms and this is not a strong parameter on which to base vaccine efficacy . overall , mortality rates were not high in this example and the lack of a high mortality rate in the challenge control group limits this parameter on which to base vaccine efficacy . prior to day 46 , groups 4 and 7 each had one out of fifteen pigs die , group 9 had two out of fourteen pigs die and group 8 had three out of fifteen pigs die . due to the fact that group 9 , the challenge control group was not demonstrating pcv2 clinical symptoms and only two deaths had occurred in this group by day 46 , porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome virus ( prrsv ) mlv vaccine was administered to all pigs on day 46 . earlier studies had utilized ingelvac ® prrs mlv as an immunostimulant to exasperate pcv2 - associated pmws disease and mortality rates were higher in these earlier studies . two deaths occurred shortly after administering the prrs vaccine on day 46 — group 4 had one death on day 46 and group 7 had one death on day 47 — which were probably not associated with the administration of the prrs vaccine . by day 50 , group 8 , which received two doses of killed vaccine , had the highest mortality rate ( 20 %), followed by group 9 ( challenge control ) and group 7 ( 0 . 25 ug rorf2 - carbopol ), with mortality rates of 14 . 3 % and 13 . 3 % respectively . overall , administration of the prrs vaccine to the challenge model late in the post - challenge observation phase of this example did not significantly increase mortality rates . gross lesions in pigs with pmws secondary to pcv2 infection typically consist of generalized lymphadenopathy in combination with one or more of the following : ( 1 ) interstitial pneumonia with interlobular edema , ( 2 ) cutaneous pallor or icterus , ( 3 ) mottled atrophic livers , ( 4 ) gastric ulcers and ( 5 ) nephritis . at necropsy ( day 50 ), icterus , hepatitis , and nephritis were not noted in any groups . a gastric ulcer was noted in one group 7 pig , but lymphadenopathy was not specifically examined for . based on the presence of lesions that were consistent with pcv2 infection , three groups had at least one pig tentatively diagnosed with pcv2 ( pmws ). group 8 , which received two doses of killed vaccine , had 20 % tentatively diagnosed with pcv2 , while group 7 and group 4 had 13 . 3 % and 6 . 7 %, respectively , tentatively diagnosed with pcv2 . the mean % lung lesion scores varied between groups at necropsy . groups 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 and 10 had low % lung lesion scores that ranged from 0 . 11 ± 0 . 38 % to 0 . 90 ± 0 . 15 %. as expected , group 9 , the challenge control group , had the highest mean % lung lesion score ( 10 . 81 ± 23 . 27 %). in four groups , the mean % lung lesion scores were elevated due to one to three pigs in each of these groups having very high lung lesion scores . the lung lesions were red / purple and consolidated . typically , lung lesions associated with pmws are described as tan , non - collapsible with interlobular edema . the lung lesions noted in this study were either not associated with pcv2 infection or a second pulmonary infectious agent may have been present . within the context of this study , the % lung lesion scores probably do no reflect a true measure of the amount of lung infection due to pcv2 . likewise , tentative diagnosis of pneumonia may have been over - utilized as well . any pigs with lung lesions , some as small as 0 . 10 % were listed with a tentative diagnosis of pneumonia . in this example , there was no sufficient difference between groups with respect to gross lesions and % lung lesions on which to base vaccine efficacy . ihc results showed the largest differences between groups . group 1 ( 16 μg rorf2 - ims 1314 ) had the lowest positive ihc results for pcv2 antigen ( 0 %); while groups 9 and 10 had the highest positive ihc results with incidence rates of 100 % and 93 . 3 % respectively . groups 3 , 5 , 6 and 7 , which received 16 , 4 , 1 or 0 . 25 μg of rorf2 antigen , respectively , adjuvanted with carbopol , had ihc positive rates of 20 %, 20 %, 40 % and 46 . 7 %, respectively . group 2 , which received two doses of 16 μg vorf2 adjuvanted with carbopol had an ihc positive rate of 6 . 7 %, while group 4 which received only one dose of the same vaccine , had an ihc positive rate of 13 . 3 %. due to the objective nature of this test and the fact that ihc results correlated with expected results , ihc testing is probably one of the best parameters on which to base vaccine efficacy . thus in one aspect of the present invention , the minimum protective dosage ( mpd ) of pcv2 rorf2 antigen adjuvanted with carbopol in the cdcd pig model in the face of a pcv2 challenge is determined . groups 3 , 5 , 6 and 7 each received two doses of rorf2 antigen adjuvanted with carbopol , but the level of rorf2 antigen varied for each group . groups 3 , 5 , 6 and 7 each received 16 , 4 , 1 or 0 . 25 μg of rorf2 antigen respectively . in general , decreasing the level of rorf2 antigen decreased pcv2 antibody titers , and increased the mortality rate , mean % lung lesions and the incidence of ihc positive tissues . of the four groups receiving varying levels of rorf2 - carbopol , groups 3 and 5 , which received two doses of 16 or 4 μg of rorf2 antigen , respectively , each had an ihc positive rate of only 20 %, and each had similar antibody titers . overall , based on ihc positive results , the minimum protective dosage of rorf2 antigen administered twice is approximately 4 μg . in another aspect of the present invention , the antigenicity of recombinant ( rorf2 ) and vido r - 1 ( vorf2 ) pcv2 antigens were assessed . group 2 received two doses of 16 μg vorf2 and group 3 received two doses of 16 μg rorf2 . both vaccines were adjuvanted with carbopol . both vaccines were found to be safe and both had 0 % mortality rate . group 2 had a pcv2 antibody titer of 2507 on day 25 , while group 3 had a pcv2 antibody titer of 1503 . group 3 had a lower mean % lung lesion score than group 2 ( 0 . 11 ± 0 . 38 % vs . 0 . 90 ± 0 . 15 %), but group 2 had a lower ihc positive incidence rate that group 3 ( 6 . 7 % vs . 20 %). overall , both vaccines had similar antigenicity , but vorf2 was associated with slightly better ihc results . in yet another aspect of the present invention , the suitability of two different adjuvants ( carbopol and ims 1314 ) was determined . groups 1 and 3 both received two doses of vaccine containing 16 ug of rorf2 antigen , but group 1 received the antigen adjuvanted with ims 1314 while group 3 received the antigen adjuvanted with carbopol . both groups had essentially the same adwg , essentially the same incidence of clinical signs post - challenge , the same mortality rate , and essentially the same mean % lung lesions ; but group 1 had an ihc positive rate of 0 % while group 3 had an ihc positive rate of 20 %. however , group 3 , which received the vaccine adjuvanted with carbopol had higher ifat pcv2 titers on days 25 , 32 and 50 than group 1 , which received the vaccine adjuvanted with ims 1314 . overall , although the pcv2 vaccine adjuvanted with ims 1314 did provide better ihc results , it did not provide overwhelmingly better protection from pcv2 infection and did induce injection site reaction . whereas the pcv2 vaccine adjuvanted with carbopol performed nearly as well as the ims 1314 adjuvanted vaccine , but was not associated with any adverse events . in still another aspect of the present invention , the feasibility of pcv2 orf2 as a 1 ml , 1 dose product was determined . groups 2 and 4 both received 16 μg of vorf2 vaccine adjuvanted with carbopol on day 0 , but group 2 received a second dose on day 14 . group 4 had a slightly higher adwg and a lower mean % lung lesions than group 2 , but group 2 had higher ifat pcv2 titers on day 25 , 32 and 50 , and a slightly lower incidence rate of ihc positive tissues . all other results for these two groups were similar . overall , one dose of vorf2 adjuvanted with carbopol performed similar to two doses of the same vaccine .
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fig1 very generally depicts a device that shows various inventive features . herein , 1 denotes a piece of laser material , in a laser cavity delimited by a first cavity mirror 2 and a second cavity mirror 3 . a q - switch is indicated by 4 , and an optional polarizing beam splitter with 5 . a focusing lens 6 is also optional . a first diode 7 with a diode lens 8 emits a beam 9 , which forms a laser beam 10 in the laser material 1 , that is shaped to a focused beam 11 having a focal point 12 . an optical pump is indicated by 13 , with a pump diode 14 and a lens 15 , and emits a pump beam 16 . a diode 17 with diode lens 18 , emits a beam 19 that is focused on a diode beam focal spot 21 , causing a laser beam 22 . the laser material may be any material suitable for laser action with a desired wavelength . such wavelength may e . g . be anywhere in the optical range , i . e . uv , visible or infrared . for shaving purposes , desirable wavelengths are around 800 - 2000 , especially between about 1000 and 1100 nm . the laser material may be in the form of a rod , such as a crystal , or also as a container with a gas or fluid . an example of a useful laser material could be yag , emitting at 1064 nm . the cavity mirrors 2 and 3 may be any suitable laser mirrors , with a shape that fits the beam profile . the q - switch 4 may e . g . be a saturable absorber , such as cr4 +: yag , for the above mentioned yag - laser . such a saturable absorber absorbs a large part of incident radiation , until a threshold is reached , at which point the absorption decreases to practically zero , and laser action can start . the polarizing beam splitter 5 is an optional part , that serves a special purpose especially when using the device for detection , to be discussed further below . optical pump 13 comprises a diode 14 , which emits sufficient energy , absorbable by the laser material 1 , to bring the latter into simmer mode . thereto , the diode 14 is optionally provided with collimating optics 15 , and emits a pump beam 16 . the wavelength and energy of the pump beam depend on the absorption characteristics and simmer threshold of the laser material 1 , but may be readily selected by the skilled person , if necessary after some experiments . alternatives for the diode 14 could be a pumping laser , a lamp , etc . note that the “ optical pump ” relates to pump radiation of any suitable wavelength , and not particularly to laser wavelengths . an important remark here is that the laser material 1 emits , in the pumped simmer state , a weak cw beam , though not a true laser beam . in most known laser devices that have a q - switch , said switch is positioned at an output end of the device , to prevent low power “ noise ”. however , the present invention puts this low power cw radiation to good use , in that it serves as an illumination means that is emitted across the complete output surface of the laser material ( or laser device ) if a cavity mirror , filter , housing or the like would add extra constraints . thereto , the q - switch is positioned opposite the intended output face . use of the simmer mode cw radiation will be elucidated in connection with fig5 and 6 . diode 7 , with a diode lens 8 , is arranged to emit a substantially parallel , or at least narrow , beam 9 of radiation that is absorbable by the laser material 1 . when such beam 9 is absorbed , a corresponding volume in the laser material will be excited above the laser threshold , and will show ase ( amplified spontaneous emission ), which , in the dashed volume , will saturate the absorber in its transmissive state , and start laser action in a localized laser action . in order to determine where the localized laser action is to be obtained , the diode 7 may be displaceable , or its beam 9 could be manipulated to be incident on a desired spot . this will be elucidated further below . as an alternative , diode 17 with diode lens 18 could emit a beam 19 that is focused by lens 20 on a focal spot 21 . the focal spot 21 , and possibly a surrounding part of the volume of the laser material 1 , may be excited above laser threshold , in a similar way to that described above , and provide a laser beam in the volume partly indicated with the short dashes . thus , illumination from the sides is also possible . even an unfocussed beam could provide laser action , when its intensity is high enough . the laser beam 10 thus produced may be emitted at the second cavity mirror 3 , and may be put to good use , e . g . illuminating or ablating an object . the lens 6 is optional , and could e . g . serve to provide a focused , high - intensity laser beam , for increased and more localized laser action , such as for precision operations . an example could be the generation of a laser - induced optical breakdown phenomenon ( liob ), as already discussed in the introductory part . fig2 diagrammatically shows a number of steps in the method of the invention , for three different quantities , from left to right the total pump intensity , i . e . radiation incident on the laser material , the inversion level ( of relevant energy levels ) and the output power . the three diagrams each show a distinct peak , which peaks substantially coincide in time . the pump intensity reflects the more or less constant pumping , e . g . with the optical pump 13 of fig1 . the basic intensity is often rather low . the effect of this constant pumping is that it brings the molecules or the like of the laser material into a simmer mode , with an increased inversion level , but not yet with such an inversion level that laser action occurs . in the diagram in the middle , this is indicated by an inversion level that increases , under the influence of the pumping , to above the simmer threshold but below the laser threshold . the inversion level at the time of the pump intensity peak rapidly increases to above the laser threshold , and laser action suddenly sets in , causing a laser pulse to be emitted . then also , the inversion level drops to zero , due to the stimulated emission . after that , the continuing pump intensity re - increases the inversion level to between the inversion and the laser threshold . the resulting output power is shown in the diagram to the right . at first , there is no , or hardly any output . then , when the simmer threshold is reached , a continuous wave output is obtained , indicated by the low level plateau . at the time of the pump intensity peak , the laser pulse is generated at a very much higher output level . after the laser pulse , the zero inversion level causes zero ( or low ) output , and the cycle can begin again . fig3 diagrammatically shows a cross - sectional view of a device according to the invention . herein , as in all figures , similar parts are denoted by the same reference numerals . the laser device still comprises a laser material 1 and q - switch 4 between cavity mirrors 2 and 3 . 30 denotes a beam deflection mirror , with a pivot point 31 , and 32 is a scanning lens . an optical pump is not shown here . a lens array 35 , with focus lenses 6 ′ is movable with an array mover 36 . the beam deflection mirror 30 serves to aim an incident beam ( not shown ) at the laser material 1 , and is pivotable about a pivot 31 . in order to provide a beam that is incident in parallel , a scanning lens is provided . preferably , the pivot 31 is in the focal point of the scanning lens 32 . with this arrangement , a single source can provide a single beam , that can still address every part of the laser material 1 . in the device shown here , the lens array 35 is optional , and could be used to provide a focal spot , such as for liob to cut a hair or the like . although a single movable lens could suffice , a multitude of lenses improves the speed of addressing , and also allows the provision of more than one laser beam pulse at the same time . another very important advantage is that a large number of small lenses can much more easily provide an optical system with a high numerical aperture ( na ). such a high na is safer when focused laser beams are used , since then the focal spot is limited in the beam direction . the field of view , both when detecting and when supplying pulses , is limited when compared to the size of the lens . however , when using a movable lens , and preferably an array of movable lenses , this may be compensated . in practice , an na of at least about 0 . 3 , preferably at least about 0 . 6 is suitable for performing safe liob based cutting of hair in ( human ) skin tissue . for other purposes , some other na could be expedient . furthermore , the lens array 35 can be moved into a corresponding correct position to guide the generated beam further , by means of the array mover 36 , which may be any mechanical device , such as a piezo - electrical or electromechanical actuator , micro - motor and so on . the lens array 35 may e . g . be moved in the y - direction or in any other way in a plane perpendicular to the z - direction . the control of the array mover 36 , by a control unit not shown here , may be coupled to the control of the beam deflection mirror . the positioning of the lens array 35 may be done in such a way that the focus lens 6 ′ that is closest to the desired position of the laser beam pulse is moved into position . fig4 diagrammatically shows a cross - sectional view of another device according to the invention . herein , 40 is a diode array , with diodes 41 , 42 . a beam splitter is denoted by 5 . the diodes 41 , 42 are individually addressable , and may each provide a beam 45 , as does diode 42 in this case . the diode array 40 could also be made movable , in order to make the addressing of the laser material even more accurate and versatile . the diode array may be used to generate laser beam pulse patterns according to the way in which the diodes are addressed . many uses are conceivable , e . g . in materials processing and so on . the beam 45 generates a laser beam pulse of width d , which , however , need not be equal to the width of diode beam 45 . in fig4 , the emitted laser beam pulse is addressing focus lens 6 ′, while neighboring focus lenses 6 ″ also are illuminated partly . in principle , this would lead to three focal points . in some cases , such as addressing individual optical fibers , this is not desirable . however , especially in the case of using the liob phenomenon , such as in cutting hairs or treating skin in a similar fashion , the fact that the focus lenses 6 ″ are not completely “ filled ” means that the total intensity in these additional focal points is ( much ) less than in the main focal point associated with lens 6 ′. hence , liob will not occur and no damage need be done . in such case , the width d of the laser pulse beam may be larger than the diameter of the lenses 6 ′, 6 ″. alternatively , the addressing of the lenses 6 ′, 6 ″ with respect to the beam need not be extremely accurate . furthermore , in any practical situation , there will be inter - lens spaces , which then also form inherent safety zones . suitable inter - lens dead spaces may depend on e . g . the number of lenses and diodes ( or other light sources ), the lens diameter and on the required safety level . for example , the lens dead space could be taken equal to the radius of the lens times the ratio of the number of lenses and the number of diodes . in the case of as many diodes as there are lenses , the required dead space could be ( at least ) one lens radius . similar calculations may be made for all situations . also shown is the beam splitter 5 , without any additional features . such a beam splitter may be used for detection purposes , as will be explained below in connection with fig5 and 6 . fig5 diagrammatically shows a detection device according to the invention . it comprises a polarizing beam splitter 5 , with , in this case two , beam splitter surfaces 50 - 1 and 50 - 2 . furthermore , a detector system 60 comprises a silicon photodetector 61 behind a pin hole 62 and a lens 63 . radiation returning from a hair 71 in skin 70 is formed into a beam 75 . in the detection device , with an optional addressing diode 7 , the pump diode 14 is used to bring the laser material into simmer mode , in which it emits cw radiation . this radiation can enter the skin 70 , preferably having a first polarization state . this radiation is reflected and scattered by various parts of the skin , not in the least by its surface , but also by a hair 71 . the radiation from this hair returns with a probability that is polarization dependent . in any case , independent of polarization , some radiation will return through the focus lens 6 to the laser material 1 . since the laser material 1 is in simmer mode , it will amplify the incoming radiation , in beam 75 . this beam is reflected at least partly at interfaces 50 - 1 and 50 - 2 , again passes the laser material 1 , by which it is amplified again . note that the detector device could also be provided to the right of the laser material , e . g . when only a single interface 50 - 1 would be provided . alternatively , more intricate patterns of interfaces 50 - 1 , 50 - 2 , . . . and / or additional mirrors could be provided , to create a path with even more amplification . in any case , the amplified radiation 75 then passes the lens 63 , the pin hole 62 and is incident on the photodetector 61 . since a pin hole 62 rejects a large fraction of the background radiation , and the returning radiation is amplified ; the signal - to - noise ratio is improved . this may be further improved if use is made of a desirable state of polarization of the radiation incident on the skin , as has been described in european patent application ep 06125915 . 6 , and which will be elucidated further in connection with fig6 . the detection device thus obtained shows a good ability to detect hairs , or other structures buried in materials such as skin , up to a relatively large depth , and with good sensitivity . note that a bias will be measured by the photodetector 61 , due to the cw radiation from the simmer mode . however , it will be easy to subtract this bias from the measured signal . in fact , this bias may be put to good use . the device may generally be arranged to control the optical pump , such as pump diode 14 , with the bias signal from the photodetector , such that the simmer mode is kept constant , e . g . with respect to the inversion level . that increases the accuracy of the measurements . when the device further comprises an addressing ( or pulse ) diode 7 , the device will be a laser treatment device , and may also be used to provide a laser pulse at a desired position , e . g . in order to cut the hair , with liob or the like . thereto , once a hair position has been detected , a laser pulse may be generated by having diode 7 supply additional energy to bring the laser material 1 from simmer mode into laser mode , at least at the desired location . this desired location may be determined and addressed by means of the detected hair position . then , the laser pulse reaches the detected hair position , and cuts it . in order to protect the detector against reflected parts of the laser pulse , a shutter may be built in , that shuts the detector system 60 when a laser pulse is generated , e . g . by closing the pin hole 62 . the device of fig5 may be moved across the skin for shaving . then , the device may detect hairs . the focus lens 6 may be movable , but could also be an array of lenses , which could be moved as well , e . g . reciprocatingly or rotatingly , in order to scan the skin while the device is moved . instead of the addressing diode 7 , movable or not , the device could also e . g . comprise a set - up similar to fig3 , with a movable mirror 30 and a scanning lens 32 . fig6 diagrammatically shows a cross - sectional view of an alternative embodiment of the detection device shown in fig5 . this embodiment comprises two additional parts , viz . a quarter wave plate 80 and a faraday rotator 81 . the faraday rotator rotates the direction of the linearly polarized light over 45 ° clockwise or counter clockwise depending on the direction of travel through the rotator . the quarter wave plate 80 converts the linear polarization as output by the faraday rotator to circularly polarized radiation , and vice versa . as described in ep 06125915 . 6 , this is useful to further increase the sensitivity for radiation returning from subcutaneous hair . in this way the cross - polarized backscattered light remitted by the tissue will , after passing through the wave - plate , effectively be polarized in parallel with the incident light . by passing through the faraday rotator in the reverse direction , the light will effectively be cross polarized compared to the light emanating from the laser cavity and , hence , will be separated by the polarizing beam splitter 5 to be detected by detection system 60 . in any case , this detection device shows a very good sensitivity , as it is arranged to emit and detect circularly polarized light , and comprises the detection device according to the invention , i . e . comprises a light amplifier using a laser material in simmer mode . if the device comprises a radiation source for additionally exciting the laser material 1 above laser threshold , the device of fig6 could also be a laser treatment device , similar to the one described in connection with fig5 . again , the laser treatment device could be arranged to provide a laser pulse at the position where a hair has been detected . the devices shown in fig3 - 6 may be used for detecting and / or cutting hairs subcutaneously and so on , and then may be called a detection device and / or laser treatment device , in particular a hair detection and / or treatment device . advantageously , these devices then comprise a hair recognition device , that is arranged to detect and recognize a hair from an image made by the detection device . for example suitable software or the like , in a control unit comprised in the device , to recognize a hair is known in the art . furthermore , the laser treatment device for cutting hairs could include such a detection feature . the device could also cut hairs based on liob . thereto , a pulse energy control device could be included , such as a control device arranged to control the size of the volume of laser material involved in the emitted laser pulse , as may be done by addressing a suitable number of pulse diodes , or across a suitable area of the laser material . the present invention has been described with reference to a number of exemplary embodiments . the scope should , however , not be limited thereto , but should rather be determined by means of the appended claims .
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the invention relates to a linear differential amplifier with improved voltage swing . the linear amplifier according to the invention corrects for an error voltage inherent in differential pair amplifiers , without hindering the available voltage swing , and thus , is particularly suited for low - voltage applications . embodiments of the invention are discussed below with reference to fig3 - 5 . however , those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the detailed description given herein with respect to these figures is for explanatory purposes as the invention extends beyond these limited embodiments . fig3 is a block diagram of a differential pair amplifier 48 according to a basic embodiment of the invention . the differential pair amplifier 48 is constructed from several amplifiers . in particular , the differential pair amplifier 48 includes an input differential amplifier 50 , a distortion correction differential amplifier 52 , and an output differential amplifier 54 . both the input differential amplifier 50 and the output differential amplifier receive a differential input voltage ( v in ). the distortion correction differential amplifier 52 monitors an error voltage ( δv be ) associated with the input differential amplifier 50 and produces an error current in accordance therewith . the error current is then forwarded to the output differential amplifier 54 . the output differential amplifier 54 amplifies the differential input voltage ( v in ) to produce an output voltage ( v out ). in addition , the output differential amplifier 54 eliminates ( cancels out ) an error voltage ( δv be ) associated with the output differential amplifier 54 using the error current received from the distortion correction differential amplifier 52 . consequently , the output voltage ( v out ) is free of non - linear distortion otherwise caused by the error voltage ( δv be ) even in low voltage situations . actually , the error voltage ( δv be ) is not completely eliminated , but is eliminated at least to a first order . hence , as used herein the terms &# 34 ; linear &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; eliminate &# 34 ; when referring to the differential amplifier mean &# 34 ; substantially linear &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; substantially eliminate &# 34 ;, such as to a first order , as well understood by those skilled in the art . fig4 is a block diagram of a differential pair amplifier 55 according to a first embodiment of the invention . as with the basic embodiment illustrated in fig3 the differential pair amplifier 55 according to the first embodiment is also constructed from several amplifiers . the construction of the differential pair amplifier 55 includes circuitry corresponding to the input differential amplifier 50 , the distortion correction differential amplifier 52 , and the output differential amplifier 54 . the differential pair amplifier 55 includes a first pair of amplifying transistors 56 and 58 ( q 3 and q 4 ). the base of the amplifying transistors 56 and 58 ( q 3 and q 4 ) receive a differential input voltage ( v in ) from a voltage source ( not shown ) via source resistors 60 and 62 ( r s ). the source resistors 60 and 62 ( r s ) represent the resistance associated with the voltage source . the emitters of the amplifying transistors 56 and 58 ( q 3 and q 4 ) are respectively coupled to a potential source ( v ee ) through current sources 64 and 66 , respectively . the emitters of the amplifying transistors 56 and 58 ( q 3 and q 4 ) are also coupled together through an emitter resister 68 ( r e ). the collectors of the amplifying transistors 56 and 58 ( q 3 and q 4 ) are respectively coupled to a potential source ( v cc ) through load diodes 70 and 72 ( q 7 and q 8 ). the differential pair amplifier 55 also includes a pair of amplifying transistors 74 and 76 ( q 5 and q 6 ). the bases of the amplifying transistors 74 and 76 ( q 5 and q 6 ) are respectively coupled to the collectors of the amplifying transistors 56 and 58 ( q 3 and q 4 ). the emitters of the amplifying transistors 74 and 76 ( q 5 and q 6 ) are coupled to the potential source ( v ee ) through current sources 78 and 80 , respectively . in addition , the emitters of the amplifying transistors 74 and 76 ( q 5 and q 6 ) are coupled together through an emitter resistor 82 ( r e ). the collectors of the amplifying transistors 74 and 76 ( q 5 and q 6 ) couple to circuitry corresponding to the output differential amplifier 54 as will be discussed below . the differential pair amplifier 55 still further includes a third pair of amplifying transistors 84 and 86 ( q 1 and q 2 ). the emitters of the amplifying transistors 84 and 86 ( q 1 and q 2 ) are coupled to the potential source ( v ee ) through current sources 88 and 90 , respectively . in addition , the emitters of the amplifying transistor 84 and 86 ( q 1 and q 2 ) are coupled together through an emitter resistor 92 ( r e ). the collectors of the amplifying transistors 84 and 86 ( q 1 and q 2 ) couple to the collectors of the amplifying transistors 76 and 74 ( q 6 and q 5 ), respectively . furthermore , the collectors of the amplifying transistors 84 and 86 ( q 1 and q 2 ) also couple to the potential source ( v cc ) through load resistors 94 and 96 ( r l ), respectively . the current in the collectors of the amplifying transistors 84 and 86 ( q 1 and q 2 ) directly drive the load resistors 94 and 96 ( r l ), while the current in the collectors of the amplifying transistors 56 and 58 ( q 3 and q 4 ) drive the diode loads 70 and 72 ( q 7 and q 8 ). the voltage appearing across the emitters of the diode loads 70 and 72 ( q 7 and q 8 ) is an error voltage ( δv be1 ). the following formula ( 2 ) more accurately defines the error voltage ( δv be1 ): where i c is a collector current and v t = kt / q , with k being the boltzmann constant , t being temperature ( kelvin ) and q being electronic charge magnitude . this error voltage ( δv be1 ) replicates the signal - dependent difference in the base - emitter voltages of the amplifying transistors 56 and 58 ( q 3 and q 4 ) because the base emitter voltage of the diode load 70 ( q 7 ) matches the base emitter voltage of the amplifying transistor 56 ( q 3 ) and because the base emitter voltage of the diode load 72 ( q 8 ) matches the base emitter voltage of the amplifying transistor 58 ( q 4 ). the amplifying transistors 74 and 76 ( q 5 and q 6 ) convert this error voltage ( δv be1 ) into an error current using the emitter resistor 82 ( r e ). thereafter , this error current is added to the current flowing through the load resistors 94 and 96 ( r l ) and thereby operates to correct for the non - linearity in the pair of amplifying transistors 84 and 86 ( q 1 and q 2 ). in particular , the signal current in the collectors of the amplifying transistors 84 and 86 ( q 1 and q 2 ) is : where δv be2 = v t ln ( i c1 / i c2 ) and r e is the resistance of the emitter resistors . the error current in the collectors of the amplifying transistors 74 and 76 ( q 5 and q 6 ) is approximately : therefore , the total signal current in the load resistors 94 and 96 ( r l ) is : the above simplification assumes that δv be2 is approximately equal to δv be3 which is normally reasonable , particularly when the associated transistors are fabricated on the same semiconductor wafer . hence , the total signal current through the load resistors 94 and 96 ( r l ) is a linear output current with respect to v in . consequently , the output voltage ( v out ) is likewise linear . comparing fig4 with fig3 the circuitry in fig4 that is associated with the input differential amplifier 50 includes the first pair of amplifying transistors 56 and 58 ( q 3 and q 4 ), the current sources 64 and 66 , the emitter resister 68 ( r e ), and the load diodes 70 and 72 ( q 7 and q 8 ). the circuitry in fig4 that is associated with the distortion correction differential amplifier 52 includes the pair of amplifying transistors 74 and 76 ( q 5 and q 6 ), the current sources 78 and 80 , and the emitter resistor 82 ( r e ). the circuitry in fig4 that is associated with the output differential amplifier 54 includes the third pair of amplifying transistors 84 and 86 ( q 1 and q 2 ), the current sources 88 and 90 , and the load resistors 94 and 96 ( r l ). fig5 is a block diagram of a differential pair amplifier 98 according to a second embodiment of the invention . the differential pair amplifier 98 is largely the same as the differential pair amplifier 55 shown in fig4 . the difference is that the load diodes 70 and 72 of fig4 are replaced by load transistors 100 and 102 . the load transistors 100 and 102 share a common base coupled to a predetermined supply voltage ( v bb ). in the first and second embodiments of the invention discussed above , there are preferred aspects to the invention . preferably , the transistors are all the same , i . e ., having the same type and size , except for minor differences resulting from ic processing . the current sources 64 , 66 , 78 , 80 , 88 and 90 are also preferably the same , and each of which is preferably constructed from a single transistor . also , the first through third emitter resistors 68 , 82 and 92 ( also known as emitter degeneration resistors ) may have essentially the same resistance , but it may be preferable to form one or both of the first and second emitter resistors 68 and 82 so as to have a resistance slightly smaller than the resistance of the third emitter resistor 92 . the slight difference in resistance causes the error voltage produced to be slightly higher so as to compensate for the fact that the distortion correction differential amplifier 52 itself has errors . also , such error could also be reduced or compensated by adding another distortion correction amplifier to correct the error voltage ( current ) produced by the distortion correction differential amplifier 52 . note also that the error voltage δv be is small compared to the input voltage . as a result , the amplifying transistors 74 an 76 ( q 5 and q 6 ) operate in a relatively more linear range than do the other two pairs of amplifying transistors q 1 , q 2 and q 3 , q 4 . however , the voltage error ( δv be3 ) generated by the amplifying transistors 74 and 76 ( q 5 and q 6 ) can also be compensated for by slightly reducing the value of one or both of the emitter resistors 68 and 82 ( r e ), thereby increasing the signal which appears across the bases of the amplifying transistors 74 and 76 ( q 5 and q 6 ). this is effective because the error always decreases the gain of the amplifier ; hence , reducing the value of one or both the emitter resistors 68 and 82 ( r e ) increases the gain and therefore offsets the reduction caused by the error . in addition , depending on the output requirements the bases and the collectors of the diode loads 70 and 72 ( q 7 and q 8 ) may be at a lower potential than the supply potential v cc . by lowering the voltage potential applied to the collectors of the diode loads 70 and 72 ( q 7 and q 8 ), the voltage at the bases of the amplifying transistors 74 and 76 ( q 5 and q 6 ) is lowered , which in turn advantageously allows more signal swing at the collectors of the amplifying transistors 74 an 76 ( q 5 and q 6 ). in fig5 the lowering of the predetermined supply voltage ( v bb ) has the same effect . the many features and advantages of the present invention are apparent from the written description , and thus , it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such features and advantages of the invention . further , since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art , it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation as illustrated and described . hence , all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to as falling within the scope of the invention .
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a particularly tight and mechanically strong sintered material is obtained by molding under vacuum . fig1 is a section through an electric hotplate 11m , whose hotplate body 12m is made from sintered material . hotplate body 12m is made from sintered material , which is based on iron dust and which can contain different pulverulent additives of different metals , such as copper , chrome , nickel , aluminium , manganese , etc . the upper flat cooking surface 13 is depressed somewhat in the central area 14a and terminates at the outer periphery in an outwardly directed flange 36m , in whose vicinity is connected an outwardly projecting ring edge 19m , onto whose outer surface a flush ring ( not shown ) can be tightly pressed . below the annular , closed cooking surface 13 the hotplate heating system is in the form of heating resistors 17m , received in spirally arranged slots 40 . the slots 40 are located on the bottom of the hotplate body and are separated from one another by ribs 41 of said body 12m . unlike in the case of conventional hotplates , the depth and width of the slots is very small and is less than 5 mm and is preferably 3 . 5 mm . the thickness of the ribs need only be 0 . 8 to 1 mm , so that there is an inside slot diameter of approximately 2 . 5 mm . heating resistors are placed in the slots . the heating resistors 17m are in the form of slightly undulating solid wires , which consequently do not have to be used in the conventional helical form . the slight undulation of the wires makes it possible for the wire to adapt to the hotplate body in the case of any elongation or extension differences . for example , the resistor can be formed from wire which is initially helically wound and is then not completely pulled taut . however , it is also possible to produce the heating resistors from stranded wires , which comprise e . g . 3 to 5 strands , which are twisted or stranded relative to one another with a relatively limited twist , as shown in fig3 . as shown in fig2 it is also possible to produce the heating resistors from a strip 17m , which is also slightly undulated and is arranged at right angles to the bottom of the hotplate body in slot 40 . heating resistors 17m , n are embedded in the slots in an embedding material 42 , which comprises electrically insulating pulverulent loose material which , during manufacture , is consolidated by compaction . due to the limited width or spacing of the slots , it is possible to wind the heating resistor or resistors round in a very large number of spiral turns . thus , for example , if three electrically differently switchable heating resistors are used , as are required , e . g . for a hotplate with 7 heating settings , said three heating resistors in parallel spiral slots can be placed round a total of 5 times , which leads to a total of 15 parallel slots arranged in accordance with a triple spiral . during manufacture , which can take place in conventional manner , i . e . working preferably takes place with inert gas in the process stage of molding and sintering in the oven at temperatures well below the melting point ( in the case of iron approx . 1100 ° to 1200 ° c .). it is advantageously possible to modify the material composition in layers , for example , to use in the vicinity of the outer surfaces particularly dense materials , which consequently have limited sensitivity to fracture , so that a sandwich body is obtained . on the outsides , particularly the top , it is also possible to use materials which are protected against corrosion after sintering . the present hotplate offers considerable advantages , particularly an improvement in efficiency compared with conventional hotplates and ease of manufacture , which essentially involves no machining . the very narrow construction of the slots and ribs is made possible by manufacturing by sintering . this process more particularly ensures that the slots are free from any undesired projections and that they have a precisely predetermined surface structure , so that it is also possible to accurately space the heating resistors from the walls of the slots . however , manufacture by sintering also leads to other advantages . thus , the rib height can be reduced to roughly half , i . e . preferably also 3 . 5 mm , and the plate thickness , i . e . the distance between cooking surface 13 and the bottom of the slot , can be reduced to approximately 2 . 5 mm . this also leads to a reduction in the height of the ring edge 19mand therefore the complete hotplate to less than 15 mm . thus , a hotplate can be obtained , which only weighs roughly half compared with a conventional hotplate . the slight undulation of the heating resistors makes it possible with all types of hotplates made from the most varied materials and different manufacturing modes , to insert a substantially non - undulating wire or a strip into very narrow slots , without there being any danger of fracturing or tearing , or coming into contact with the hotplate body in the case of thermal expansion differences .
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the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings are intended to describe some , but not necessarily all , examples or embodiments of the invention only and does not limit the scope of the invention in any way . the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings are intended to describe some , but not necessarily all , examples or embodiments of the invention only and does not limit the scope of the invention in any way . a number of the drawings in this patent application show anatomical structures of the male reproductive and / or urinary system . in general , these anatomical structures are labeled with the following reference letters : urethra ut urethral lumen ul urethral opening uo urinary bladder ub ureters ur prostate gland pg capsule of prostate gland cp testis ts vas deferens vd fig1 a shows a sagittal section of a male human body through the lower abdomen showing the male urinary tract . the male urinary tract comprises a pair of tubular organs called ureters ( ur ) that conduct urine produced by the kidneys . the ureters empty into the urinary bladder . the urinary bladder is a hollow muscular organ that temporarily stores urine . it is situated posterior to the pubic bone . the inferior region of the urinary bladder has a narrow muscular opening called the bladder neck which opens into a soft , flexible , tubular organ called the urethra . the muscles around the bladder neck are called the internal urethral sphincter . the internal urethral sphincter is normally contracted to prevent urine leakage . the urinary bladder gradually fills with urine until full capacity is reached , at which point the sphincter relaxes . this causes the bladder neck to open , thereby releasing the urine stored in the urinary bladder into the urethra . the urethra begins at the bladder neck , terminates at the end of the penis , and allows for urine to exit the body . the region of the urethra just inferior to the urinary bladder is completely surrounded by the prostate gland . the prostate gland is part of the male reproductive system and is usually walnut shaped . clinically , the prostate is divided into lobes . the lateral lobes are located lateral to the urethra ; the middle lobe is located on the dorsal aspect of the urethra , near the bladder neck . most commonly in bph , the lateral lobes become enlarged and act like curtains to close the urethral conduit . less commonly , the middle lobe grows in size and becomes problematic . because of its superior location near the bladder neck with respect to the urethra , an enlarged middle lobe acts like a ball valve and occludes fluid passage . fig1 b shows a coronal section through the lower abdomen of a human male showing a region of the male urinary system . the prostate gland ( pg ) is located around the urethra at the union of the urethra and the urinary bladder . fig2 a through 2h show various alternate approaches to deploy implantable tissue compression device ( s ) ( e . g ., one or more clips , anchoring elements , tensioning members , etc .) to compress the prostate gland pg , thereby relieving constriction of the urethra . specific examples of implantable tissue compression device ( s ) ( e . g ., one or more clips , anchoring elements , tensioning members , etc .) useable in this invention are shown in other figures of this patent application and are described more fully herebelow . fig2 a shows a first trans - urethral approach that may be used to implant tissue compression devices ( s ) to compress the prostate gland pg . in fig2 a , an introducing device 200 is introduced in the urethra through the urethral opening of the penis . introducing device 200 comprises an elongate body 202 comprising a lumen that terminates distally in a distal opening 204 . one or more working device ( s ) 206 is / are then introduced through distal opening 204 into the urethra . the working device ( s ) 206 penetrate the urethral wall and thereafter one or more lobes of the prostate gland . in some applications of the method , working device ( s ) 206 may further penetrate the prostate capsule and enters the pelvic cavity . working device ( s ) 206 are also used to deploy and implant implantable tissue compression device ( s ) ( e . g ., one or more clips , anchoring elements , tensioning members , etc .) to compress the prostate gland pg , thereby relieving constriction of the urethra . fig2 b shows a second trans - urethral approach that may be used to implant tissue compression devices ( s ) to compress the prostate gland pg . in fig2 b , an introducing device 210 is introduced in the urethra through the urethral opening uo of the penis . introducing device 210 comprises an elongate body 212 comprising a lumen that terminates distally in a distal opening 214 . one or more working device ( s ) 216 is / are insertable through distal opening 214 into the urethra . working device ( s ) 216 penetrate ( s ) the urethral wall inferior to the prostate gland and enters the pelvic cavity . thereafter , working device ( s ) 216 penetrate ( s ) the prostate capsule cp and thereafter one or more lobes of the prostate gland . in some applications of the method the working device ( s ) 216 may further penetrate the urethral wall enclosed by the prostate gland eg and enters the urethral lumen . working device ( s ) 216 may then be used to deploy and implant implantable tissue compression device ( s ) ( e . g ., one or more clips , anchoring elements , tensioning members , etc .) to compress the prostate gland pg , thereby relieving constriction of the urethra . fig2 c shows a third trans - urethral approach that may be used to implant tissue compression devices ( s ) to compress the prostate gland pg . in fig2 c , an introducing device 220 is introduced in the urethra through the urethral opening uo of the penis . introducing device 220 comprises an elongate body 222 comprising a lumen that terminates distally in a distal opening 224 . introducing device 220 is positioned such that distal opening 224 is located in the urinary bladder ub . thereafter , a one or more working device ( s ) 226 is / are introduced through distal opening 224 into the urinary bladder ub . working device ( s ) 226 penetrate ( s ) the wall of the urinary bladder ub and thereafter penetrate ( s ) one or more lobes of the prostate gland pg . in some applications of the method , the working device ( s ) 226 may further penetrate the prostate capsule and enter the pelvic cavity . working device ( s ) 226 may then be used to deploy and implant implantable tissue compression device ( s ) ( e . g ., one or more clips , anchoring elements , tensioning members , etc .) to compress the prostate gland pg , thereby relieving constriction of the urethra . fig2 d shows a transperineal approach that may be used to implant tissue compression devices ( s ) to compress the prostate gland pg . in fig2 d , an introducing device 230 is introduced in the pelvic cavity percutaneously through the perineum . introducing device 230 comprises an elongate body 232 comprising a lumen that terminates distally in a distal opening 234 . introducing device 230 is positioned such that distal opening 234 is located in the pelvic cavity adjacent to prostate gland . thereafter , one or more working device ( s ) 236 is / are introduced through distal opening 234 into the prostate gland pg . working device ( s ) 236 penetrate ( s ) the prostate capsule cp and thereafter penetrate ( s ) one or more lobes of the prostate gland pg . in some applications of the method , the working device ( s ) 236 may further penetrate the urethral wall surrounded by the prostate gland pg and enter the urethral lumen . working device 236 may then be used to deploy and implant implantable tissue compression device ( s ) ( e . g ., one or more clips , anchoring elements , tensioning members , etc .) to compress the prostate gland pg , thereby relieving constriction of the urethra . fig2 e shows a percutaneous / transvesicular approach that may be used to implant tissue compression devices ( s ) to compress the prostate gland pg . in fig2 e , an introducing device 240 is introduced percutaneously through the abdominal wall . introducing device 240 comprises an elongate body 242 comprising a lumen that terminates distally in a distal opening 244 . after passing through the abdominal wall , introducing device 240 is advanced through the wall of the urinary bladder ub such that distal opening 244 is located in the urinary bladder ub . thereafter , one or more working device ( s ) 246 is / are introduced through distal opening 244 into the urinary bladder ub . one or more working device ( s ) 246 are advanced through the wall of the urinary bladder ub and into the prostate gland pg . in some applications of the method , working device ( s ) 246 may further penetrate through the prostate gland capsule and enter the pelvic cavity . working device ( s ) 246 is / are then used to deploy and implant implantable tissue compression device ( s ) ( e . g ., one or more clips , anchoring elements , tensioning members , etc .) to compress the prostate gland pg , thereby relieving constriction of the urethra . fig2 f shows a percutaneous trans - osseus approach that may be used to implant tissue compression devices ( s ) to compress the prostate gland pg . in fig2 f , an introducing device 250 is introduced percutaneously through the abdominal wall . introducing device 250 comprises an elongate body 252 comprising a lumen that terminates distally in a distal opening 254 . introducing device 250 is used to penetrate a pelvic bone ( e . g . the pubic bone pb ). thereafter , introducing device 250 is positioned such that distal opening 254 is located adjacent to the prostate gland pg . thereafter , one or more working device ( s ) 256 is / are introduced through distal opening 254 into the prostate gland pg . working device ( s ) 256 penetrate the prostate capsule and thereafter penetrate one or more lobes of the prostate gland pg . in some applications of the method , working device ( s ) 256 may further penetrate the urethral wall surrounded by the prostate gland and enter the urethral lumen . working device ( s ) 256 is / are then used to deploy and implant implantable tissue compression device ( s ) ( e . g ., one or more clips , anchoring elements , tensioning members , etc .) to compress the prostate gland pg , thereby relieving constriction of the urethra . fig2 g shows a percutaneous suprapubic approach that may be used to implant tissue compression devices ( s ) to compress the prostate gland pg . in fig2 g , an introducing device 260 is introduced in the pelvic cavity percutaneously in a trajectory that passes superior to the pubis bone . introducing device 260 comprises an elongate body 262 comprising a lumen that terminates distally in a distal opening 264 . introducing device 260 is then positioned such that distal opening 264 is located in the pelvic cavity adjacent to prostate gland . thereafter , one or more working device ( s ) 266 is / are introduced through distal opening 264 into the prostate gland pg . working device ( s ) 266 penetrate the prostate capsule cp and thereafter penetrate one or more lobes of the prostate gland pg . in some applications of the method , working device ( s ) 266 may further penetrate the urethral wall surrounded by the prostate gland and enter the urethral lumen . working device ( s ) 266 is / are then used to deploy and implant implantable tissue compression device ( s ) ( e . g ., one or more clips , anchoring elements , tensioning members , etc .) to compress the prostate gland pg , thereby relieving constriction of the urethra . fig2 h shows a percutaneous infrapubic approach that may be used to implant tissue compression devices ( s ) to compress the prostate gland . in fig2 h , an introducing device 270 is introduced in the pelvic cavity percutaneously in a trajectory that passes inferior to the pubis bone . introducing device 270 comprises an elongate body 272 comprising a lumen that terminates distally in a distal opening 274 . introducing device 270 is introduced percutaneously in the pelvic cavity in a trajectory that passes inferior to the pubic bone . introducing device 270 is then positioned such that distal opening 274 is located in the pelvic cavity adjacent to prostate gland . thereafter , one or more working device ( s ) 276 is / are introduced through distal opening 274 into the prostate gland pg . working device ( s ) 276 penetrate the prostate capsule cp and thereafter penetrate one or more lobes of the prostate gland pg . in some applications of the method , working device ( s ) 276 may further penetrate the urethral wall surrounded by the prostate gland pg and enter the urethral lumen . working device ( s ) 276 is / are then used to deploy and implant implantable tissue compression device ( s ) ( e . g ., one or more clips , anchoring elements , tensioning members , etc .) to compress the prostate gland pg , thereby relieving constriction of the urethra . fig2 i shows a trans - rectal approach that may be used to implant tissue compression devices ( s ) to compress the prostate gland pg . in fig2 i , an introducing device 280 is introduced in the rectum . introducing device 280 comprises an elongate body 282 comprising a lumen that terminates distally in a distal opening 284 . introducing device is then advanced such that it penetrates the rectal wall and enters the pelvic cavity . introducing device 280 is then positioned such that distal opening 284 is located in the pelvic cavity adjacent to prostate gland . thereafter , one or more working device ( s ) 286 is / are introduced through distal opening 284 into the prostate gland pg . working device ( s ) 286 penetrate the prostate capsule cp and thereafter penetrate one or more lobes of the prostate gland . in some applications of the method , working device ( s ) 286 may further penetrate the urethral wall surrounded by the prostate gland and enter the urethral lumen . working device ( s ) 286 is / are then used to deploy and implant implantable tissue compression device ( s ) ( e . g ., one or more clips , anchoring elements , tensioning members , etc .) to compress the prostate gland pg , thereby relieving constriction of the urethra . fig3 a to 3f show various examples of devices and systems that are useable to treat conditions where the prostate gland pg is compressing a region of the urethra such that the urethra does not expand normally during micturition and urine outflow is impeded . fig3 a shows the perspective view of an introducer device 300 . introducer device 300 comprises an outer body 301 constructed from suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to pebax , polyimide , braided polyimide , polyurethane , nylon , pvc , hytrel , hdpe , peek , metals like stainless steel and fluoropolymers like ptfe , pfa , fep , eptfe etc . body 301 comprises a working device lumen 302 . distal end of working device lumen 302 emerges out of the distal end of body 301 . in one embodiment , distal end of working device lumen 302 has a bent or curved region . proximal end of working device lumen 302 emerges out of a first flexible tube 304 . the proximal end of first flexible tube 304 comprises a stasis valve 306 . body 301 further comprises a cystoscope lumen 308 . distal end of cystoscope lumen 308 emerges out of the distal end of body 301 . proximal end of cystoscope lumen 308 emerges out of a second flexible tube 310 . the proximal end of second flexible tube 310 comprises a stasis valve 312 . cystoscope lumen 308 may comprise one or more side ports e . g . a first side port 318 for the introduction or removal of one or more fluids . working device lumen 302 may comprise one or more side ports e . g . a second side port 320 for the introduction or removal of one or more fluids . fig3 b shows a perspective view of an injecting needle . injecting needle 330 is used for injecting one or more diagnostic or therapeutic substances . in some applications of the invention , the injecting needle 330 may be used to inject local anesthetic in the urethra , prostate gland and / or tissues near the prostate gland . specific examples of target areas for injecting local anesthetics are the neurovascular bundles , the genitourinary diaphragm , the region between the rectal wall and prostate , etc . examples of local anesthetics that can be injected by injecting needle 330 are anesthetic solutions e . g . 1 % lidocaine solution ; anesthetic gels e . g . lidocaine gels ; combination of anesthetic agents e . g . combination of lidocaine and bupivacaine ; etc . injecting needle 330 comprises a hollow shaft 332 made of suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to stainless steel 304 , stainless steel 306 , nickel - titanium alloys , titanium etc . in this example , the distal end of hollow shaft 332 comprises a sharp tip 334 . the proximal end of hollow shaft 332 has a needle hub 336 made of suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel 304 , stainless steel 306 , nickel - titanium alloys , titanium etc . ; polymers e . g . polypropylene , pebax , polyimide , braided polyimide , polyurethane , nylon , pvc , hytrel , hdpe , peek , ptfe , pfa , fep , eptfe etc . in one embodiment , needle hub 336 comprises a luer lock . fig3 c shows an example of an introducing device or introducing sheath 340 . introducing sheath 340 comprises a hollow , tubular body 342 made of suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel 304 , stainless steel 306 , nickel - titanium alloys , titanium etc . or polymers e . g . pebax , polyimide , braided polyimide , polyurethane , nylon , pvc , hytrel , hdpe , peek , ptfe , pfa , fep , eptfe etc . tubular body 342 further comprises two marker bands : a proximal marker band 344 and a distal marker band 346 . the marker bands can be seen by a cystoscope . in one embodiment , proximal marker band 344 and distal marker band 346 are radiopaque . the position of proximal marker band 344 and distal marker band 346 is such that after introducing sheath 340 is placed in an optimum location in the anatomy , proximal marker band 344 is located in the urethra where it can be seen by a cystoscope and distal marker band 346 is located in the prostrate gland or in the wall of the urethra where it cannot be seen by a cystoscope . tubular body 342 further comprises a series of distance markers 348 on the outer surface of tubular body 342 . the proximal end of tubular body 342 further comprises a hub 350 made of suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel 304 , stainless steel 306 , nickel - titanium alloys , titanium etc . or polymers e . g . pebax , polyimide , braided polyimide , polyurethane , nylon , pvc , hytrel , hdpe , peek , ptfe , pfa , fep , eptfe etc . in one embodiment , hub 350 comprises a luer lock . fig3 d shows a perspective view of a trocar . trocar 360 comprises a tubular trocar body 362 . the proximal end of trocar body 362 comprises a hub 364 . trocar body 362 and hub can be constructed from suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel 304 , stainless steel 306 , nickel - titanium alloys , titanium etc . or polymers e . g . pebax , polyimide , braided polyimide , polyurethane , nylon , pvc , hytrel , hdpe , peek , ptfe , pfa , fep , eptfe etc . distal end of trocar body 362 ends in a sharp trocar tip 366 . fig3 e shows a perspective view of an anchor delivery device . anchor delivery device 370 comprises a body 372 having a distal opening 373 . a section of the distal region of body 372 has been removed to show a view of the anchor assembly . body 372 encloses a distal anchor 374 and a proximal anchor 376 . proximal anchor 376 and distal anchor 374 can have a variety of designs including , but not limited to the designs disclosed elsewhere in this patent application . proximal anchor 376 and distal anchor 374 can be constructed from suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel 304 , stainless steel 306 , nickel - titanium alloys , titanium etc . or polymers e . g . pebax , polyimide , braided polyimide , polyurethane , nylon , pvc , hytrel , hdpe , peek , ptfe , pfa , fep , eptfe etc . in one embodiment , shown in fig3 f and 3g , proximal anchor 9976 and distal anchor 9974 comprise splayable elements that expand in a radially outward direction when a radial compression force , as enacted by body lumen 9972 , on proximal anchor 9976 and distal anchor 9974 is removed . the splayable elements can be made of suitable super - elastic materials such as nickel - titanium alloys etc . proximal anchor 9976 and distal anchor 9974 are connected to each other by a tension element 9978 . tension element 9978 can be made of suitable elastic or non - elastic materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel 304 , stainless steel 306 , nickel - titanium alloys , suture materials , titanium etc . or polymers such as silicone , nylon , polyamide , polyglycolic acid , polypropylene , pebax , ptfe , eptfe , silk , gut , or any other braided or mono - filament material . tension element 9978 can have a variety of designs including the designs shown in fig5 a through 5f . as shown in fig3 e , the proximal end of proximal anchor 9976 is connected by an attachment mechanism 9980 to a torquable shaft 9982 . the proximal end of torquable shaft 9982 is attached to a control button 9984 . control button 9984 can be used to deploy proximal anchor 9976 by sliding control button 9984 along groove 9985 in the distal direction . control button 9984 is then used to deploy distal anchor 9974 by turning control button 9984 in the circumferential direction along groove 9985 . fig3 h shows a perspective view from the proximal direction of a particular embodiment of the attachment mechanism of fig3 e . attachment mechanism 380 comprises a circular plate 386 made from suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel 304 , stainless steel 306 , nickel - titanium alloys , titanium etc . or polymers e . g . polycarbonate , pvc , pebax , polyimide , polyurethane , nylon , hytrel , hdpe , peek , ptfe , pfa , fep etc . the proximal face of circular plate 386 is connected to torquable shaft 382 . circular plate 386 further comprises a semicircular groove 388 . one end of semicircular groove 388 comprises an enlarged region 390 . a knob 392 located on the proximal portion of proximal anchor 376 slides on semicircular groove 388 . the size of knob 322 is larger than the size of semicircular groove 388 but smaller than size of enlarged region 390 . this keeps proximal anchor 376 attached to circular plate 386 . when control button 384 is turned in the circumferential direction along groove 385 , torquable shaft 382 is turned . this turns circular plate 386 causing knob 392 to slide on the groove 388 . ultimately , knob 392 reaches enlarged region 390 . this releases knob 392 from circular plate 386 thereby releasing proximal anchor 376 from anchor delivery device 370 . fig4 a through 4h show a coronal section through the prostate gland showing the various steps of a method of treating prostate gland disorders by compressing a region of the prostate gland using the kit shown in fig3 a through 3f . in fig4 a , introducer device 300 is introduced in the urethra through the urethral opening at the tip if the penis . a cystoscope is inserted in introducer device 300 through cystoscope lumen 308 such that the lens of the cystoscope is located in the distal opening of cystoscope lumen . the cystoscope is used to navigate introducer device 300 through the urethra such that the distal region of introducer device 300 is located in a target region in the prostatic urethra . thereafter in fig4 b , injecting needle 330 is advanced through working device lumen 302 such that the distal tip of injecting needle 330 penetrates into a region of the urethral wall or the prostate gland . injecting needle 330 is then used to inject one or more diagnostic or therapeutic agents into the urethral wall or the prostate gland . this step may be repeated one or more times to inject one or more diagnostic or therapeutic agents in one or more regions of the urethral wall and / or the prostate gland . in one method embodiment , injecting needle 330 is used to inject an anesthetic in one or more regions of the urethral wall and / or the prostate gland . in another embodiment , injecting needle 330 is used to deliver energy in the form of radiofrequency energy , resistive heating , laser energy , microwave energy etc . in another embodiment , injecting needle 330 is used to deliver alpha antagonist agents , such as phenoxybenzamine , prazosin , doxazosin , terazosin , tamsulosin , alfuzosin etc . in another embodiment , injecting needle 330 is used to deliver anti - androgen , such as flutamide or 5 - alpha reductase inhibitors , such as finasteride , dutasteride , 3 - oxosteroid compounds , 4 - aza - 3 - oxosteroid derivatives of testosterone etc . in another embodiment , injecting needle 330 is used to deliver anti - inflammatory agents , such as rapamycin , paclitaxel , abt - 578 , everolimus , taxol etc . in another embodiment , injecting needle 330 is used to deliver ablative agents such as methyl alcohol etc . in another embodiment , injecting needle 330 is used to deliver energy in the form of radiofrequency energy , resistive heating , laser energy , microwave energy etc . in another embodiment , injecting needle 330 is used to deliver alpha antagonist agents , such as phenoxybenzamine , prazosin , doxazosin , terazosin , tamsulosin , alfuzosin etc . in another embodiment , injecting needle 330 is used to deliver anti - androgen , such as flutamide or 5 - alpha reductase inhibitors , such as finasteride , dutasteride , 3 - oxosteroid compounds , 4 - aza - 3 - oxosteroid derivatives of testosterone etc . in another embodiment , injecting needle 330 is used to deliver anti - inflammatory agents , such as rapamycin , paclitaxel , abt - 578 , everolimus , taxol etc . in another embodiment , injecting needle 330 is used to deliver ablative agents such as methyl alcohol etc . in step 4 c , injecting needle 330 is withdrawn from introducer device 300 . thereafter , introducer sheath 340 and trocar 360 are advanced through working device lumen 302 . in the example shown , introducer sheath 340 and trocar 360 are advanced till the distal tip of trocar 360 penetrates the capsule of the prostate gland and the distal end of introducer sheath 340 is located outside the prostate gland in the pelvic cavity . thereafter , trocar 360 is withdrawn from working device lumen 302 leaving introducer sheath 340 in place . in fig4 d , anchor delivery device 370 is introduced through the lumen of introducer sheath 340 till the distal end of body 372 protrudes through the distal tip of introducer sheath 340 . in step 4 e , distal anchor 374 is deployed . it should be noted that the anchor may be carried to the site and deployed from within an introducer , on the outside of an introducer , or it may be the distal tip of the introducer itself . thereafter , anchor deliver device 370 is pulled in the proximal direction along with introducer sheath 340 so that distal anchor 374 is anchored on the outer surface of the prostate capsule . this step may be used to create tension in the tension element 378 . in one method embodiment , anchor deliver device 370 is pulled in the proximal direction along with introducer sheath 340 such that the distal end of anchor delivery device 370 is located in the prostate gland . in another method embodiment , anchor deliver device 370 is pulled in the proximal direction along with introducer sheath 340 till the distal end of anchor delivery device 370 is located in the urethral wall or the urethral lumen . in step 4 f , proximal anchor 376 is deployed . proximal anchor 376 may be deployed in the prostate gland , in the urethral wall or in the urethral lumen . proximal anchor 376 is still attached by attachment mechanism 380 to anchor delivery device 370 . the proximal anchor may be pre - loaded on the tension element , or may subsequently be loaded by the operator on the tension element . fig4 g through 4h show the steps of deploying proximal anchor 376 in the prostate gland . in fig4 g , proximal anchor 376 is separated from anchor delivery device 370 . this separation may be achieved via numerous means including cutting , melting , un - locking a link , or breaking the tensioning element at a desired location . ideally this residual end of the tensioning element will not protrude substantially into the lumen of the urethra . thus proximal anchor 376 and distal anchor 374 are anchored in the anatomy . thereafter , anchor delivery device 370 and introducer sheath 340 are both pulled in the proximal direction and are withdrawn into introducer device 300 . thereafter , introducer device 300 is pulled in the proximal direction to pull it out of the urethra . in fig4 h , the steps from fig4 a through 4g are repeated in a second region of the prostate gland if desired to implant two or more sets of anchoring devices . alternatively , fig4 g ′ through 4 h ′ show the steps of deploying proximal anchor 376 in the urethra . after the step in fig4 f , in fig4 g ′, proximal anchor 376 is separated from anchor delivery device 370 in the urethra . thus proximal anchor 376 and distal anchor 374 are anchored in the urethra and the prostate capsule respectively . thereafter , anchor delivery device 370 and introducer sheath 340 are both pulled in the proximal direction and are withdrawn into introducer device 300 . thereafter , introducer device 300 is pulled in the proximal direction to pull it out of the urethra . in fig4 h ′, the steps from fig4 a through 4 g ′ are repeated optionally in a second region of the prostate gland to implant two or more sets of anchoring devices . it should be understood that this method and devices may be applied to any lobe ( middle or lateral lobes ) of the prostate and further more may be used multiple times in the same lobe to achieve the desired effect . fig4 h ″ shows a coronal section through the prostate gland showing the final deployed configuration of an embodiment of bone anchoring devices for treating prostate gland disorders by compressing a region of the prostate gland . in the method of deploying this device , introducer sheath 340 and trocar 360 are advanced till the distal tip of trocar 360 penetrates a bone in the abdomen ( e . g . the pelvic bone , etc .) and the distal end of introducer sheath 340 is located outside the bone . thereafter , trocar 360 is withdrawn from working device lumen 302 leaving introducer sheath 340 in place . thereafter , anchor delivery device 370 is introduced through the lumen of introducer sheath 340 until the distal end of body 372 touches the bone through the distal tip of introducer sheath 340 . thereafter , distal anchor 374 is implanted in the bone . distal anchor 374 may comprise a variety of designs including , but not limited to designs of distal tips of kirschner wires . examples of such kirschner wire distal tips are spiral drill tips , lancer tips , threaded trocar tips , lengthwise knurled tips , 3 - sided trocar tips , 4 - sided trocar tips , thereafter , anchor deliver device 370 is pulled in the proximal direction along with introducer sheath 340 . this step creates tension in the tension element 378 . in another method embodiment , anchor deliver device 370 is pulled in the proximal direction along with introducer sheath 340 till the distal end of anchor delivery device 370 is located in the urethral wall or the urethral lumen . the remaining method steps are similar to steps 4 f through 4 h . one or more anchors disclosed in this patent application may be implanted in anatomical locations that include , but are not limited to : a location within prostatic lobe ; a location within peripheral zone of prostate ; a location within prostatic capsule ; a location between prostatic capsule and pubic fascia ; a location within the pubic fascia ; a location within the levator ani muscle a location within the obturator internus muscle ; a location within the pelvic bone ; a location within the periostium of pelvic bone ; a location within the pubic bone ; a location within the periostium of pubic bone ; a location within the symphysis pubica ; a location within the urinary bladder wall ; a location within the ischiorectal fossa ; a location within the urogenital diaphragm ; and a location within the abdominal fascia . fig4 i and 4j show a crossection of the urethra through the prostate gland pg showing the appearance of the urethral lumen before and after performing the method shown in fig4 a through 4h . fig4 i shows a crossection of the urethra through the prostate gland showing the appearance of the urethral lumen in a patient with bph . fig4 j shows a crossection of the urethra through the prostate gland pg showing the appearance of the urethral lumen after performing the procedure shown in fig4 a through 4h . the urethral lumen shown in fig4 i is larger than the urethral lumen in fig4 j . fig5 a through 5f show perspective views of some designs of the tension elements that can be used in the embodiments disclosed elsewhere in this patent application . fig5 a shows a perspective view of a tension element 500 comprising a single strand of an untwisted material . examples of materials that can be used to manufacture tension element 500 include but are not limited to synthetic fibers e . g . various grades of nylon , polyethylene , polypropylene , polyester , aramid etc . ; metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; natural fibers e . g . cotton , silk etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . fig5 b shows a perspective view of a tension element 502 comprising one or more serrations 504 or notches . serrations 504 may be aligned in a particular direction to allow relatively easy movement of an outer body along tension element 502 in one direction and offer significant resistance to movement of the outer body along the tension element in the other direction . fig5 c shows a perspective view of a tension element 506 comprising multiple filaments 507 of a material twisted together . examples of materials that can be used include to manufacture multiple filaments 507 include but are not limited to synthetic fibers e . g . various grades of nylon , polyethylene , polypropylene , polyester , aramid etc . ; metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; natural fibers e . g . cotton , silk etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . multiple filaments 507 may be coated with a coating 508 including , but not limited to a lubricious coating , antibiotic coating , etc . it is also possible for the tension element to comprise a composite braided structure in a plastic / metal or plastic / plastic configuration to reduce profile and increase strength . such materials could have preset levels of elasticity and non - elasticity . fig5 d shows a perspective view of a tension element 509 comprising a flexible , elastic , spiral or spring element . examples of materials that can be used include to manufacture tension element 509 include but are not limited to metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . fig5 e shows a perspective view of a tension element 510 comprising a screw threading 511 on the outer surface of tension element 510 . screw threading 511 enables tension element 510 to be screwed through an outer element to advance or withdraw tension element through the outer element . fig5 f shows a perspective view of a tension element 512 comprising a hollow shaft 514 comprising one or more collapsible regions 516 . a collapsible region 516 comprises one or more windows 518 . windows 518 are cut in hollow shaft 514 in such a way that several thin , collapsible struts 520 are created between adjacent windows 518 . when tension element 512 is compresses along its length , collapsible struts 520 are deformed in the radially outward direction to create one or more anchoring regions . fig5 g shows a perspective view of an anchoring device 522 comprising a tension element and two anchors . distal end of a tension element 524 is attached to a distal anchor 526 . proximal end of tension element 524 is attached to a proximal anchor 528 . fig5 h shows a perspective view of a tensioning element device comprising a detachable region . anchoring device 530 comprises a first anchor 532 and a second anchor 534 . first anchor 532 and second anchor 534 may comprise a variety of anchor designs disclosed elsewhere in this patent application . in one embodiment , one or both of first anchor 532 and second anchor 534 comprise a substantially flat plate . the substantially flat plate may be made from various materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; polymers e . g . polypropylene , teflon etc . ; synthetic fibers e . g . various grades of nylon , polyethylene , polypropylene , polyester , aramid etc . ; natural fibers e . g . cotton , silk etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . first anchor 532 and second anchor 534 are connected to a tensioning element . the tensioning element comprises two flexible members : a first tensioning member 536 and a second tensioning member 538 . the distal end of first tensioning member 536 is connected to first anchor 532 and the proximal end of second tensioning member 538 is connected to second anchor 534 . proximal end of first tensioning member 536 and distal end of second tensioning member 538 are connected to a releasable member 540 . releasable member 540 can be releasably connected to a deploying device . in one embodiment of a method using anchoring device 530 , first anchor 532 is deployed out of an anatomical tissue ( e . g . the prostate gland ) into a first anatomical cavity ( e . g . the pelvic cavity ). thereafter , second anchor 534 is deployed into a second anatomical cavity ( e . g . the urethral lumen ). thereafter , releasable member 540 is released from the deploying device to deliver anchoring device 530 in a target region . fig5 i shows a perspective view of a tensioning element comprising telescoping tubes . tensioning element 544 may comprise two or more telescoping tubes . in this example , tensioning element 544 comprises three telescoping tubes : a first telescoping tube 546 , a second telescoping tube 548 and a third telescoping tube 550 . second telescoping tube 548 slidably fits into a lumen of first telescoping tube 546 . similarly third telescoping tube 550 slidably fits into a lumen of second telescoping tube 548 . the telescoping tubes have a locking mechanism to prevent a telescoping tube from completely disengaging from another telescoping tube . the telescoping tubes may be made from a variety of biocompatible materials including , but not limited to plastics , metals etc . all the components of the systems disclosed herein ( including but not limited to the tensioning elements , inner and outer anchor members ) may be coated or embedded with therapeutic or diagnostic substances ( e . g ., drugs or therapeutic agents ) or such therapeutic or diagnostic substances may be introduced into or near the prostate or adjacent tissue through a catheter , cannula needles , etc . examples of therapeutic and diagnostic substances that may be introduced or eluted include but are not limited to : hemostatic agents ; antimicrobial agents ( antibacterials , antibiotics , antifungals , antiprotozoals ; antivirals ; antimicrobial metals ( e . g ., silver , gold , etc . ); hemostatic and / or vasoconstricting agents ( e . g ., pseudoephedrine , xylometazoline , oxymetazoline , phenylephrine , epinephrine , cocaine , etc . ); local anesthetic agents ( lidocaine , cocaine , bupivacaine ,); hormones ; anti - inflammatory agents ( steroidal and non - steroidal ); hormonally active agents ; agents to enhance potency ; substances to dissolve , degrade , cut , break , weaken , soften , modify or remodel connective tissue or other tissues ; ( e . g ., enzymes or other agents such as collagenase ( cgn ), trypsin , trypsin / edta , hyaluronidase , and tosyllysylchloromethane ( tlcm )); chemotherapeutic or antineoplastic agents ; substances that prevent adhesion formation ( e . g ., hyaluronic acid gel ); substances that promote desired tissue ingrowth into an anchoring device or other implanted device ; substances that promote or facilitate epithelialization of the urethra or other areas ; substances that create a coagulative lesion which is subsequently resorbed causing the tissue to shrink ; substances that cause the prostate to decrease in size ; phytochemicals that cause the prostate to decrease in size ; alpha - 1a - adrenergic receptor blocking agents ; 5 - alpha - reductase inhibitors ; smooth muscle relaxants ; agents that inhibit the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone , etc . specific examples of antitumor agents ( e . g ., cancer chemotherapeutic agents , biological response modifiers , vascularization inhibitors , hormone receptor blockers , cryotherapeutic agents or other agents that destroy or inhibit neoplasia or tumorigenesis ) that may be delivered in accordance with the present invention include but are not limited to ; alkylating agents or other agents which directly kill cancer cells by attacking their dna ( e . g ., cyclophosphamide , isophosphamide ), nitrosoureas or other agents which kill cancer cells by inhibiting changes necessary for cellular dna repair ( e . g ., carmustine ( bcnu ) and lomustine ( ccnu )), antimetabolites and other agents that block cancer cell growth by interfering with certain cell functions , usually dna synthesis ( e . g ., 6 mercaptopurine and 5 - fluorouracil ( 5fu ), antitumor antibiotics and other compounds that act by binding or intercalating dna and preventing rna synthesis ( e . g ., doxorubicin , daunorubicin , epirubicin , idarubicin , mitomycin - c and bleomycin ) plant ( vinca ) alkaloids and other anti - tumor agents derived from plants ( e . g ., vincristine and vinblastine ), steroid hormones , hormone inhibitors , hormone receptor antagonists and other agents which affect the growth of hormone - responsive cancers ( e . g ., tamoxifen , herceptin , aromatase inhibitors such as aminoglutethimide and formestane , triazole inhibitors such as letrozole and anastrozole , steroidal inhibitors such as exemestane ), antiangiogenic proteins , small molecules , gene therapies and / or other agents that inhibit angiogenesis or vascularization of tumors ( e . g ., meth - 1 , meth - 2 , thalidomide ), bevacizumab ( avastin ), squalamine , endostatin , angiostatin , angiozyme , ae - 941 ( neovastat ), cc - 5013 ( revimid ), medi - 522 ( vitaxin ), 2 - methoxyestradiol ( 2me2 , panzem ), carboxyamidotriazole ( cai ), combretastatin a4 prodrug ( ca4p ), su6668 , su11248 , bms - 275291 , col - 3 , emd 121974 , imc - 1c11 , im862 , tnp - 470 , celecoxib ( celebrex ), rofecoxib ( vioxx ), interferon alpha , interleukin - 12 ( il - 12 ) or any of the compounds identified in science vol . 289 , pages 1197 - 1201 ( aug . 17 , 2000 ) which is expressly incorporated herein by reference , biological response modifiers ( e . g ., interferon , bacillus calmette - guerin ( bcg ), monoclonal antibodies , interluken 2 , granulocyte colony stimulating factor ( gcsf ), etc . ), pgdf receptor antagonists , herceptin , asparaginase , busulphan , carboplatin , cisplatin , carmustine , cchlorambucil , cytarabine , dacarbazine , etoposide , flucarbazone , fluorouracil , gemcitabine , hydroxyurea , ifosphamide , irinotecan , lomustine , melphalan , mercaptopurine , methotrexate , thioguanine , thiotepa , tomudex , topotecan , treosulfan , vinblastine , vincristine , mitoazitrone , oxaliplatin , procarbazine , stereopticon , taxol , taxotere , analogs / congeners and derivatives of such compounds as well as other antitumor agents not listed here . additionally or alternatively , in some applications such as those where it is desired to grow new cells or to modify existing cells , the substances delivered in this invention may include cells ( mucosal cells , fibroblasts , stem cells or genetically engineered cells ) as well as genes and gene delivery vehicles like plasmids , adenoviral vectors or naked dna , mrna , etc . injected with genes that code for anti - inflammatory substances , etc ., and , as mentioned above , macrophages or giant cells that modify or soften tissue when so desired , cells that participate in or effect the growth of tissue . fig6 a through 11a show various examples of anchor designs and / or anchoring device designs . fig6 a and 6b show examples of a crumpling anchor 600 . in fig6 a , crumpling anchor 600 comprises a substantially flattened body 602 . body 602 can be made of a variety of materials including , but not limited to synthetic fibers e . g . various grades of nylon , polyethylene , polypropylene , polyester , aramid etc . ; metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; natural fibers e . g . cotton , silk etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . further , in any of the implantable tissue compression devices , any or all of the anchors , the tensioning element ( s ) and any other components may be coated , impregnated , embedded or otherwise provided with substance ( s ) ( e . g ., drugs , biologics , cells , etc .) to reduce the likelihood of infection , inflammation , treat the prostatic adenoma directly or enhance the likelihood of endothelialization , deter adhesion formation , promote healing or otherwise improve the likelihood or degree of success of the procedure . such substance ( s ) may be released primarily at the time of delivery or may be released over a sustained period . examples of such substances are listed above and include but are not limited to certain metals with bacteriostatic action ( i . e . silver , gold , etc . ), antibiotics , antifungals , hemostatic agents ( i . e . collagen , hyaluronic acid , gelfoam , cyano - acrylate , etc . ), anti - inflammatory agents ( steroidal and non - steroidal ), hormonally active agents , stem cells , endothelial cells , genes , vectors containing genes , etc . body 602 may be non - woven or woven . body 602 may have a variety of shapes including , but not limited to square , rectangular , triangular , other regular polygonal , irregular polygonal , circular etc . body 602 may have a substantially one dimensional , two dimensional or three dimensional shape . the material chosen for this device may have hemostatic properties to reduce bleeding from the implantation tract or site . distal end of body 602 is connected to the distal end of tension element 604 . body 602 further comprises one or more attachment means 606 . attachment means are used to create a channel in the body 602 through which tension element 604 passes . crumpling anchor 600 is introduced through a region of tissue ( e . g . through prostate gland tissue ) into a cavity or lumen e . g . pelvic cavity , urethral lumen etc . in fig6 b , tension element 604 is pulled in the proximal direction . the causes crumpling ( e . g ., collapsing ) of the crumpling anchor 600 between the tissue and the distal end of tension element 604 . this process prevents tension element 604 in the tissue and prevents further movement of tension element 604 in the proximal direction . fig7 a and 7b show an example of a deployable anchor 700 in an undeployed configuration and a deployed configuration , respectively . this deployable anchor 700 comprises one or more anchoring arms 702 . anchoring arms 702 may be made from a variety of elastic , super - elastic or shape memory materials etc . typical examples of such materials include but are not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . anchoring arms 702 are connected to a central hub 704 . central hub in turn is connected to the distal end of a tension element 706 . in fig7 a , anchoring arms 702 are folded inside a hollow deploying sheath 708 . this reduces the undeployed diameter of anchoring arms 702 and also prevents unwanted anchoring of anchoring arms 702 . in fig7 b , deploying sheath 708 is pulled in the proximal direction . this releases anchoring arms 702 from the distal end of deploying sheath 702 . this causes anchoring arms 702 to open in the radially outward direction . anchor 700 can then anchor to tissue and resist movement of tension element 706 in the proximal direction . fig8 a and 8b show sectional views of an undeployed configuration and a deployed configuration respectively of a “ t ” shaped deployable anchor . anchor 8110 comprises an elongate region 802 . elongate region 802 may be made from a variety of elastic , super - elastic or shape memory materials etc . typical examples of such materials include but are not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc ; polymers e . g . polypropylene , teflon etc . middle section of elongate region 802 is connected to the distal end of a tension element 804 to form a “ t ” shaped anchor . in one embodiment , middle section of elongate region 802 is connected to the distal end of a tension element 804 by a hinge . in fig8 a , elongate region 802 is folded inside a hollow deploying sheath 806 . this reduces the undeployed diameter of the distal region of anchor 8110 and also prevents unwanted anchoring of elongate region 802 to tissue . in fig8 b , deploying sheath 806 is pulled in the proximal direction . this releases elongate region 802 from the distal end of deploying sheath 806 . this in turn causes elongate region 802 to twist and orient itself perpendicular to the distal end of a tension element 804 . anchor 800 can then anchor to tissue and resist movement of tension element 804 in the proximal direction . anchoring arms 702 in fig7 a and 7b can have a variety of configurations including , but not limited to configurations shown in fig9 a through 9d . fig9 a shows a distal end view of an embodiment of an anchor comprising two triangular arms . anchor 900 comprises two anchor arms 902 . anchor arms 902 can be made of a variety of materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc ; polymers e . g . polypropylene , teflon etc . anchor arms 902 are connected to a tension element 904 . in one embodiment , anchor arms 902 are connected to a central hub , which in turn is connected to tension element 904 . the arms in each of these devices may be folded or contained prior to deployment through the use of a sheath or grasping or mounting device . fig9 b shows a distal end view of an embodiment of an anchor comprising four rectangular arms . anchor 906 comprises four anchor arms 908 . anchor arms 908 can be made of a variety of materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc ; polymers e . g . polypropylene , teflon etc . anchor arms 908 are connected to a tension element 910 . in one embodiment , anchor arms 908 are connected to a central hub , which in turn is connected to tension element 910 . fig9 c shows a distal end view of an embodiment of an anchor comprising a mesh or a woven material . anchor 912 comprises four anchor arms 914 . anchor arms 914 can be made of a variety of materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc ; polymers e . g . polypropylene , teflon etc . anchor arms 914 are connected to a tension element 916 . in one embodiment , anchor arms 914 are connected to a central hub , which in turn is connected to tension element 916 . a layer of porous material 918 is located between anchor arms 914 . porous material 918 comprises a plurality of pores that allow for tissue ingrowth . porous material 918 may also help to distribute the pressure on anchor arms 914 over a wider area . porous material 918 can be made of variety of materials including , but not limited to synthetic fibers e . g . various grades of nylon , polyethylene , polypropylene , polyester , aramid etc . ; metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; natural fibers e . g . cotton , silk etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . porous material 918 may be non - woven or woven . any of the arms or struts in one or more anchoring devices may comprise bent or curved regions . for example , fig9 d shows a distal end view of an embodiment of an anchor comprising four curved arms . anchor 920 comprises four curved anchor arms 922 . curved anchor arms 922 can be made of a variety of materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc ; polymers e . g . polypropylene , teflon etc . curved anchor arms 922 are connected to a tension element 924 . in one embodiment , curved anchor arms 922 are connected to a central hub which in turn is connected to tension element 924 . fig1 a shows a distal end view of an anchor comprising a spiral element having a three dimensional shape . anchor 1000 comprises a three dimensional spiral element 1002 . diameter of spiral element 1002 may be substantially constant or may substantially vary along the length of spiral element 1002 . spiral element 1002 may be made of an elastic , super - elastic or shape memory materials . spiral element 1002 may be made of a variety of materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; polymers e . g . polypropylene , teflon etc . ; synthetic fibers e . g . various grades of nylon , polyethylene , polypropylene , polyester , aramid etc . ; natural fibers e . g . cotton , silk etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . spiral element 1002 is connected to a central hub 1004 , which in turn is connected to a tension element . in one embodiment , spiral element 1002 is directly connected to a tension element without using central hub 1004 . fig1 a ′ shows a side view of the anchor in fig1 a . fig1 a ′ shows anchor 1000 comprising spiral element 1002 connected to central hub 1004 which in turn is connected to a tension element 1006 . fig1 b shows a distal end view of an anchor comprising a spiral element having a two dimensional shape . anchor 1000 comprises a two dimensional spiral element 1010 . spiral element 1010 may be made of an elastic , super - elastic or shape memory materials . spiral element 1010 may be made of a variety of materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; polymers e . g . polypropylene , teflon etc . ; synthetic fibers e . g . various grades of nylon , polyethylene , polypropylene , polyester , aramid etc . ; natural fibers e . g . cotton , silk etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . spiral element 1010 is connected to a central hub 1012 which in turn is connected to a tension element . in one embodiment , spiral element 1010 is directly connected to a tension element without using central hub 1012 . fig1 b ′ shows a side view of the anchor in fig1 b . fig1 b ′ shows anchor 1008 comprising spiral element 1010 connected to central hub 1012 which in turn is connected to a tension element 1014 . fig1 c shows a distal end view of an anchor comprising one or more circular elements . in fig1 c , anchor 1016 comprises an inner circular element 1018 and an outer circular element 1020 . a series of radial arms or struts 1022 connect inner circular element 1018 to outer circular element 1020 and to a central hub 1024 . central hub 1024 may have a lumen 1026 . anchor 1016 may be substantially two dimensional or three dimensional . fig1 c ′ shows a perspective view of the anchor in fig1 c . fig1 c ′ shows an anchor 1016 comprising an inner circular element 1018 , an outer circular element 1020 and series of radial arms or struts 1022 connecting inner circular element 1018 to outer circular element 1020 and to a central hub 1024 . central hub 1024 is connected to a tension element . fig1 d shows a perspective view of an embodiment of an anchoring device comprising an outer ring . anchor 1040 comprises a central hub 1042 and an outer ring 1044 . in one embodiment , central hub 1042 acts as a plug to plug an opening in the anatomy to reduce or prevent bleeding or leakage of fluids . central hub 1042 is connected to outer ring 1044 by one or more bars or struts 1046 . in one embodiment , central hub 1042 is connected to an inner ring 1048 which in turn is connected to outer ring 1044 by one or more bars or struts 1046 . central hub 1042 further comprises a locking element 1050 . locking element 1050 comprises a lumen 1052 through which a tension element can slide . after positioning anchor 1040 in a desired position with respect to the tension element , locking element 1050 is used to securely attach anchor 1040 on the tension element . locking element 1050 may comprise a design disclosed including various locking designs disclosed elsewhere in this patent application . anchor 1040 may be made from a variety of materials including , but not limited to synthetic fibers e . g . various grades of nylon , polyethylene , polypropylene , polyester , aramid etc . ; metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; natural fibers e . g . cotton , silk etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . fig1 e shows a partial perspective view of an anchoring device comprising a hemostatic element . anchor 1060 comprises a central hub 1062 . in one embodiment , central hub 1062 acts as a plug to plug an opening in the anatomy to reduce or prevent bleeding or leakage of fluids . central hub 1062 comprises a cinching mechanism to allow central hub 1062 to cinch on to a tension element 1064 passing through central hub 1062 . the free end 1066 of tension element 1064 is severed to minimize the presence of tension element 1064 in the anatomy . anchor 1060 further comprises an outer ring 1068 . central hub 1062 is connected to outer ring 1068 by one or more struts 1070 . anchor 1060 further comprises a mesh or porous element 1072 between outer ring 1068 and struts 1070 . the mesh or porous element 1072 may be concave shaped as shown in fig1 e . mesh or porous element 1072 allows for tissue ingrowth over a period of time thus providing additional securing of anchor 1060 to tissue . fig1 a shows a perspective view of a device having a set of anchors comprising a curved sheet . anchoring device 1100 may comprise one or more anchors comprising a curved sheet . in this example , anchoring device 1100 comprises a first anchor 1102 and a second anchor 1104 . first anchor 1102 and second anchor 1104 may comprise elastic , super elastic or shape memory materials . first anchor 1102 and second anchor 1104 may be made from various materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; polymers e . g . polypropylene , teflon etc . ; synthetic fibers e . g . various grades of nylon , polyethylene , polypropylene , polyester , aramid etc . ; natural fibers e . g . cotton , silk etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . the concave surface of first anchor 1102 is connected to a first end of a tension element 1106 . second end of tension element 1106 is connected to the convex surface of second anchor 1104 . in one embodiment of a method to deploy anchoring device 1106 , first anchor 1102 is deployed out of an anatomical tissue ( e . g . the prostate gland ) into a first anatomical cavity ( e . g . the pelvic cavity ). thereafter , second anchor 1104 is deployed into a second anatomical cavity ( e . g . the urethral lumen ). this method embodiment has the advantage of using the natural curvature of first anchor 1102 and second anchor 1104 to distribute pressure on first anchor 1102 and second anchor 1104 over a large area . fig1 a through 17i show further examples of anchor designs and / or anchoring device designs . fig1 a shows a perspective view of an anchor comprising an arrowhead . anchor 1200 comprises an arrowhead 1202 . arrowhead 1202 may be made from various materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; polymers e . g . polypropylene , teflon etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . arrowhead 1202 may comprise a sharp distal tip . arrowhead 1202 may have a three dimensional or a substantially two dimensional design . proximal region of arrowhead 1202 is wider that the distal region of arrowhead 1202 to resist motion of arrowhead 1202 along the proximal direction after it is deployed in a tissue . proximal region of arrowhead 1202 is connected to a tension element 1204 . fig1 b shows a crossectional view of an anchor comprising a cup - shaped element that encloses a cavity . anchor 1208 comprises a cup - shaped element 1210 . proximal , concave surface of cup - shaped element 1210 encloses a cavity . cup - shaped element 1210 may be made from various materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; polymers e . g . polypropylene , teflon etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . proximal region of cup - shaped element 1210 is connected to a tension element 1212 . fig1 c shows a perspective view of an anchor comprising a screw . anchor 1216 comprises a screw 1218 . screw 1218 may be made from various materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; polymers e . g . polypropylene , teflon etc . screw 1218 may comprise a sharp distal tip . proximal region of screw 1218 may be wider that the distal region of screw 1218 to resist motion of screw 1218 along the proximal direction after it is deployed in a tissue . screw 1218 comprises a thread rolled thread including , but not limited to wood screw style thread , double lead thread , tapping style thread , tapered wood thread etc . proximal region of arrowhead 1202 is connected to a tension element 1204 . fig1 a and 13b show perspective views of an uncollapsed state and a collapsed state respectively of an anchor comprising a collapsible region . in fig1 a , anchor element 1300 is in an uncollapsed state . anchor element 1300 comprises a hollow shaft 1302 comprising one or more collapsible regions . a collapsible region comprises one or more windows 1304 . windows 1304 are cut in hollow shaft 1302 in such a way that several thin , collapsible struts 1306 are created between adjacent windows 1304 . in fig1 b , anchor element 1300 is in a collapsed state . when anchor element 1300 is compresses along its length , collapsible struts 1306 are deformed in the radially outward direction to create one or more anchoring regions . fig1 c and 13d show perspective views of an undeployed state and a deployed state respectively of an anchor comprising radially spreading arms . in fig1 c , anchor 1312 comprises a hollow tube 1314 . hollow tube 1314 is made from suitable elastic , super - elastic or shape memory materials such as metals including , but not limited to titanium , stainless steel , nitinol etc . ; suitable elastic polymers etc . u - shaped slots 1316 are cut in hollow tube 1314 in such a way that arms 1318 are created within u - shaped slots 1316 . in this embodiment , u - shaped slots are substantially parallel to the axis of hollow tube 1314 . in absence of an external force , arms 1318 tend to spread in a radially outward direction . anchor 1312 is kept in an undeployed state by enclosing anchor 1312 in a sheath . anchor 1312 is deployed by removing the sheath to allow arms 1318 to spread in a radially outward direction as shown in fig1 d . hollow tube 1314 may comprise one or more cinching elements . cinching elements may be located on the proximal region , distal region or a middle region of hollow tube 1314 . the cinching element or elements may comprise cinching mechanisms including , but not limited to cinching mechanisms disclosed in fig2 a through 29p . fig1 e shows perspective views of an alternate embodiment of an undeployed state of an anchor comprising radially spreading arms . in fig1 c , anchor 1320 comprises a hollow tube 1322 . hollow tube 1322 is made from suitable elastic , super - elastic or shape memory materials such as metals including , but not limited to titanium , stainless steel , nitinol etc . ; suitable elastic polymers etc . u - shaped slots 1324 are cut in hollow tube 1322 in such a way that arms 1326 are created within u - shaped slots 1324 . in this embodiment , u - shaped slots are at an angle to the axis of hollow tube 1322 as shown in fig1 e . fig1 a and 14b show perspective views of anchoring devices comprising an adhesive delivering element . fig1 a shows a perspective view of an anchoring device 1400 comprising a hollow shaft 1402 with a shaft lumen . hollow shaft 1402 can be made of suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to pebax , polyimide , braided polyimide , polyurethane , nylon , pvc , hytrel , hdpe , peek , metals like stainless steel and fluoropolymers like ptfe , pfa , fep and eptfe etc . distal end of shaft lumen ends in a delivery opening 1404 . when an adhesive is injected through the shaft lumen , it emerges out of anchoring device 1400 through delivery opening 1404 . hollow shaft 1402 may also comprise an attachment element 1406 such as a porous woven or non - woven circular sleeve securely attached to hollow shaft 1402 . the circular sleeve may be made of a variety of materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; polymers e . g . polypropylene , teflon etc . ; synthetic fibers e . g . various grades of nylon , polyethylene , polypropylene , polyester , aramid etc . ; natural fibers e . g . cotton , silk etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . the adhesive flowing out through delivery opening comes into contact with attachment element 1406 and securely attaches attachment element 1406 to surrounding tissue . fig1 b shows a perspective view of an anchoring device 1408 comprising a hollow shaft 1410 with a shaft lumen . hollow shaft 1410 can be made of suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to pebax , polyimide , braided polyimide , polyurethane , nylon , pvc , hytrel , hdpe , peek , metals like stainless steel and fluoropolymers like ptfe , pfa , fep and eptfe etc . distal end of shaft lumen ends in a delivery opening 1412 . when an adhesive is injected through the shaft lumen , it emerges out of anchoring device 1408 through delivery opening 1412 . hollow shaft 1410 may also comprise an attachment element 1414 such as porous foam securely attached to hollow shaft 1410 . the porous foam may be made of a variety of materials including , but not limited to polymers e . g . polypropylene , teflon etc . ; synthetic fibers e . g . various grades of nylon , polyethylene , polypropylene , polyester , aramid etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . the adhesive flowing out through delivery opening comes into contact with attachment element 1414 and securely attaches attachment element 1414 to surrounding tissue . typical examples of adhesives that can be used with anchoring device 1400 and anchoring device 1408 include but are not limited to cyanoacrylates , marine adhesive proteins , fibrin - based sealants etc . fig1 a and 15b show two configurations of an anchoring device comprising a ratcheted tension element . anchoring device 1500 comprises a distal anchor . distal anchor may comprise a design selected from the variety of designs disclosed elsewhere in this document . in this particular example , distal anchor comprises a series of radial arms 1502 connected to a central hub 1504 . the proximal end of central hub is attached to a ratcheted tension element 1506 . a proximal anchor is located on ratcheted tension element 1506 proximal to the distal anchor . proximal anchor may comprise a design selected from the variety designs disclosed elsewhere in this document . in this particular example , distal anchor comprises a series of radial arms 1508 connected to a central hub 1510 . central hub 8368 has a central lumen through which ratcheted tension element 1506 can slide . ratcheted tension element 1506 has ratchets arranged such that proximal anchor can slide easily over ratcheted tension element 1506 in the distal direction but cannot slide easily in the proximal direction . in fig1 b , proximal anchor slides over ratcheted tension element 1506 in the distal direction . this causes a compression of tissue between distal anchor and proximal anchor . the compression of tissue can be maintained since proximal anchor cannot slide easily in the proximal direction . in one embodiment of a method using anchoring device 1500 , distal anchor is introduced via an anatomical lumen ( e . g . the urethral lumen ) and through a tissue ( e . g . the prostate gland ) into an anatomical cavity ( e . g . the pelvic cavity ). thereafter , proximal anchor is advanced along ratcheted tension element 1506 till it encounters a wall ( e . g . the urethral wall ) of the anatomical lumen . anchoring device 1500 may be made from various materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; polymers e . g . polypropylene , teflon etc . fig1 shows a perspective view of an anchor comprising a trocar lumen . anchor 1600 comprises a hollow shaft 1602 comprising a lumen . a trocar 1604 or a penetrating device can pass through hollow shaft 1602 such that the distal tip of trocar 1604 emerges out through the distal end of hollow shaft 1602 . distal end of hollow shaft 1602 comprises a tapering region 1606 with a smaller distal diameter and a larger proximal diameter . tapering region 1606 further comprises a series of sharp projections 1608 located on the proximal end of tapering region 1606 . projections 1608 may be projecting in the proximal direction , radially outward direction etc . projections 1608 prevent the movement of anchor 1600 in the proximal direction after it has penetrated through a tissue . anchor 1600 may also comprise a sleeve 1610 located proximal to tapering region 1606 . sleeve 1610 is made of a porous material that has a plurality of pores that allow for tissue ingrowth thus anchoring sleeve 1610 firmly in tissue . sleeve 1610 may also help to distribute the pressure on tapering region 1606 over a wider area . sleeve 1610 may be non - woven or woven . sleeve 1610 can be made of variety of materials including , but not limited to synthetic fibers e . g . various grades of nylon , polyethylene , polypropylene , polyester , aramid etc . ; metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; natural fibers e . g . cotton , silk etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . fig1 a shows a perspective view in the undeployed state of an anchor comprising a rigid or partially flexible t element and a crumpling element . in fig1 a , anchoring device 1700 comprises a distal , t element 1702 . the t element 1702 may be made of a variety of materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; polymers e . g . polypropylene , teflon etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . further it may be a composite material or have cut out sections to allow it to be flexible in certain dimensions but rigid in other dimensions . in this example , t element 1702 is in the form of a hollow cylinder . the proximal end of t element 1702 is in contact with the distal end of a delivery rod 1704 . delivery rod 1704 is hollow and is used to deliver t element 8266 in a target anatomical region . a trocar 1705 can pass through delivery rod 1704 and through t element 1702 such that the distal tip of trocar emerges through the distal end of rigid element 1702 . the t - element could also be contained within a lumen of the trocar or may be the trocar itself . of the t element 1702 is connected to the distal end of a flexible tension element 1706 . various connection means are possible such as the tension element being tied or crimped to the t element , or passing through a loop in the t element , or being adhered by adhesive or weld , or by being made of a continuous material which becomes the t element . although the t element is shown as a t , any shape which is larger in at least one dimension compared to its other dimensions could appropriately be released and cause to change it &# 39 ; s orientation to produce an anchoring effect . examples of materials that can be used to manufacture tension element 1706 include but are not limited to synthetic fibers e . g . various grades of nylon , polyethylene , polypropylene , polyester , aramid etc . ; metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; natural fibers e . g . cotton , silk etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . a substantially flattened body 1708 is located on the distal region of tension element 1706 . tension element 1706 is threaded through body 1708 in such a way that tension element 1706 can slide through body 1708 . body 1708 may be non - woven or woven . body 1708 can be made of a variety of materials including , but not limited to synthetic fibers e . g . various grades of nylon , polyethylene , polypropylene , polyester , aramid etc . ; metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; natural fibers e . g . cotton , silk etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . body 1708 may have a variety of shapes including , but not limited to square , rectangular , triangular , other regular polygonal , irregular polygonal , circular etc . body 1708 may have a substantially one dimensional , two dimensional or three dimensional shape . fig1 b and 17c show various steps of a method to deploy the anchoring device shown in fig1 a . in fig1 b , anchoring device 1700 is introduced in an anatomical cavity ( e . g . the pelvic cavity ) through a tissue ( e . g . the prostate gland ). thereafter , trocar 1705 is withdrawn by pulling trocar 1705 in the proximal direction . thereafter , delivery rod 1704 is withdrawn by pulling delivery rod 1704 in the proximal direction . thereafter , tension element 1706 is pulled in the proximal direction . tension element 1706 in turn pulls t element 1702 in the proximal direction . in fig1 c , rigid element 1702 is pulled against a wall of the tissue ( e . g . the prostate gland ) but is unable to penetrate the tissue because of its size . this causes body 1708 to crumple because of compression of body 1708 between the wall of the tissue and rigid element 1702 . crumpled body 1708 may be designed to cause tissue ingrowth or epithelialization in body 1708 as well as healing , hemostasis or a more even force distribution . fig1 d and 17e show perspective views of an undeployed and deployed configuration of an anchor comprising a rigid or partially flexible t element with one or more openings or perforations . fig1 d shows a perspective view of an anchoring device 1720 comprising an anchor 1722 . anchor 1722 comprises a tubular body . the tubular body may comprise one or more openings or perforations 1724 in the tubular body . openings or perforations 1724 increase the flexibility of anchor 1722 . this makes it easier to navigate anchoring device 1720 through the anatomy before reaching its target location . further it enables anchoring device 1720 to be passed through a tight bend in the anatomy or through a delivery device . within tubular body of anchor 1722 is trocar tip 1727 that is fixedly attached to tensioning element 1728 . in the embodiment shown in fig1 d , anchor 1722 comprises a lumen . a length of the distal end of deployment element 1726 passes through the proximal end of the lumen and abuts trocar tip 1727 that enables anchor 1722 to puncture tissue . in an alternate embodiment trocar tip is fixedly attached to elongate deployment element 1726 and is retracted fully into element 1729 upon anchor deployment . in an alternate embodiment , distal tip of deployment device 1726 is not exposed through the distal end of anchor 1722 . distal end of anchor 1722 comprises a sharp tip to enable anchor 1722 to puncture tissue . anchoring element 1720 further comprises a tension element 1728 attached to tubular body 1722 . in this embodiment , distal end of tension element 1728 attached to the inner surface of the trocar tip 1727 . proximal region of tension element 1728 passes through deployment element 1726 . anchor 1722 is deployed by pushing in a distal direction one elongate deployment element 1726 , that runs within lumen of anchor 1722 abutting trocar tip 1727 distally , in tandem with another elongate deployment element 1729 that abuts the proximal end of anchor 1722 . anchoring device 1720 punctures tissue to transport anchor 1722 through a first anatomical location ( e . g . a prostate gland ) to a second anatomical location ( e . g . the pelvic cavity , urethra etc .). thereafter , deployment element 1726 is withdrawn by pulling deployment element 1726 in the proximal direction . thereafter , tension element 1728 is pulled in the proximal direction . this causes anchor 1722 to anchor in tissue as shown in fig1 e . proximal portion of tension element 1728 emerges out of anchor 1722 through a lengthwise groove in anchor 1722 to create a t shaped anchor as shown in fig1 e . tension on tensioning element 1728 causes trocar tip 1727 to retract into lumen 1722 . in the example shown , the first anatomical location is the prostate gland pg and the second anatomical location is the pelvic cavity . anchoring device 1720 can be made from a variety of materials including , but not limited to metals such as synthetic fibers e . g . various grades of nylon , polyethylene , polypropylene , polyester , aramid etc . ; metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; natural fibers e . g . cotton , silk etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . tension element 1728 may then be connected to any one of the other anchoring elements such as anchor 10 d . fig1 f and 17g show perspective views of an undeployed and deployed configuration of an anchor comprising a stent . anchor 1730 comprises a self - expanding stent 1732 and a tension element 1734 . distal end of tension element 1734 is attached to stent 1732 . in one embodiment , distal end of tension element 1734 is attached on the mid section of stent 1732 . stent 1732 may comprise various designs including , but not limited to metallic tube designs , polymeric tube designs , spiral designs , chain - linked designs , rolled sheet designs , single wire designs etc . stent 1732 may have an open celled or closed celled structure . a variety of fabrication methods can be used for fabricating stent 1732 including but not limited to laser cutting a metal or polymer element , welding metal elements etc . a variety of materials can be used for fabricating stent 1732 including but not limited to metals , polymers , foam type materials , super elastic materials etc . a variety of features can be added to stent 1732 including but not limited to radiopaque coatings , drug elution mechanisms etc . anchor 1730 is introduced through a sheath 1736 into a target anatomy . thereafter , sheath 1736 is withdrawn . this causes stent 1732 to revert to its natural shape as shown in fig1 g and act as an anchor . fig1 h and 17i show perspective views of an undeployed and deployed configuration of an anchor comprising a spring . anchor 1740 comprises an elastic spring 1742 and a tension element 1744 . distal end of tension element 1744 is attached to spring 1742 . in one embodiment , distal end of tension element 1744 is attached on the mid section of spring 1742 . a variety of materials can be used for fabricating spring 1742 including but not limited to metals , polymers , foam type materials , super elastic materials etc . a variety of features can be added to spring 1742 including but not limited to radiopaque coatings , drug elution mechanisms etc . anchor 1740 is introduced through a sheath 1746 into a target anatomy to reduce the profile of spring 1742 . thereafter , sheath 1746 is withdrawn . this causes spring 1742 to revert to its natural shape as shown in fig1 i and act as an anchor . fig1 a through 22e show various embodiments of mechanisms to deploy one or more anchors . fig1 a shows a crossection of an anchor deploying mechanism comprising a screw system . fig1 a shows an anchor deploying mechanism comprising an anchor 1800 comprising an anchor body 1802 and anchoring elements 1804 attached to anchor body 1802 . anchor body 1802 comprises an inner lumen . inner lumen of anchor body 1802 comprises screw threading . anchoring elements 1804 may have various designs including , but not limited to anchor designs disclosed elsewhere in this document . anchor body 1802 and anchoring elements 1804 may be made of a variety of materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; polymers e . g . polypropylene , teflon etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . the anchor deploying mechanism further comprises a deploying shaft 1806 . distal region of deploying shaft 1806 comprises a screw threading such that deploying shaft 1806 can be screwed into anchor body 1802 . fig1 b shows the method of deploying an anchor comprising a screw mechanism . deploying shaft 1806 is rotated to release the distal region of deploying shaft 1806 from anchor body 1802 after positioning anchor 1800 in a desired location . such a mechanism can be used to deploy one or more anchors . in one embodiment , more than one anchors are located on deploying shaft 1806 . the anchors can be sequentially deployed by rotating deploying shaft 1806 . deploying shaft 1806 may be made of a variety of materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; polymers e . g . polypropylene , teflon etc . in one embodiment , the anchor deploying mechanism is located inside an outer sheath . fig1 a and 19b show a crossectional view of an anchor deploying system comprising an electrolytic detachment element . fig1 a shows a crossection of an anchor deploying mechanism comprising a deployable anchor 1900 . deployable anchor 1900 comprises an anchor body 1902 and anchoring elements 1904 attached to anchor body 1902 . anchoring elements 1904 may have various designs including , but not limited to anchor designs disclosed elsewhere in this document . anchor body 8402 and anchoring elements 8404 may be made of a variety of materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; polymers e . g . polypropylene , teflon etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . proximal region of deployable anchor 1900 further comprises an electrolyzable element 1906 . electrolyzable element 1906 is made of a length of metallic wire e . g . steel wire . proximal region of electrolyzable element 1906 is electrically connected to a deploying shaft 1908 . proximal region of deploying shaft 1908 is further connected to a first electrode . the anchor deploying system further comprises a second electrode 1910 connected to a bodily region of the patient to be treated . in fig1 b , the first electrode is connected to a positive terminal of a power supply and the second electrode is connected to the negative terminal of the power supply to form an electrical circuit . electrical current flowing between electrolyzable element 1906 and second electrode 1910 causes metallic ions from electrolyzable element 1906 to dissolve into surrounding anatomy . this causes electrolyzable element 1906 to detach from deploying shaft 1908 . fig2 shows a perspective view of an anchor deploying system comprising a looped ribbon . the anchor deploying system comprises a deployable anchor 2000 . deployable anchor 2000 comprises an anchor body 2002 and anchoring elements 2004 attached to anchor body 2002 . anchoring elements 2004 may have various designs including , but not limited to anchor designs disclosed elsewhere in this document . anchor body 2002 and anchoring elements 2004 may be made of a variety of materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; polymers e . g . polypropylene , teflon etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . proximal region of deployable anchor 2000 further comprises a looping lumen 2006 . a looped ribbon 2008 is looped through looping lumen 2006 . looped ribbon 2008 may be made of a variety of materials including , but not limited to synthetic fibers e . g . various grades of nylon , polyethylene , polypropylene , polyester , aramid etc . ; metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; natural fibers e . g . cotton , silk etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . looped ribbon 2008 extends to a proximal region where it can be cut by a user . in a method of deploying deployable anchor 2000 , a single cut is made in looped ribbon 2008 at a proximal region . this turns looped ribbon 2008 into a straight ribbon . the straight ribbon can then be pulled in the proximal direction to remove it from deployable anchor 2000 . looped ribbon 2008 may also be in the form of a looped monofilament or multifilament wire or suture . fig2 a shows a crossectional view of an anchor deploying system comprising a locked ball . the anchor deploying system comprises a deployable anchor 2100 . deployable anchor 2100 comprises an anchor body 2102 . deployable anchor 2100 may have various designs including , but not limited to anchor designs disclosed elsewhere in this document . proximal end of anchor body 2102 is connected to a thin shaft 2104 . proximal end of thin shaft 2104 comprises a locking ball 2106 . anchor body 8428 , thin shaft 2104 and locking ball 2106 may be made of a variety of materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; polymers e . g . polypropylene , teflon etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . the anchor deploying system further comprises an outer locking sheath 2108 . distal end of locking sheath 2108 comprises an opening 2110 . diameter of opening 2110 is greater than the diameter of thin shaft 2104 but greater than diameter of locking ball 2106 . thus , locking ball 2106 is locked in locking sheath 2108 . the anchor deploying system further comprises a deploying shaft 2112 located within locking sheath 2108 . deploying shaft 2112 can be pushed in the distal direction within locking sheath 2108 by a user . locking sheath 2108 and deploying shaft 2112 may be made of a variety of materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; polymers e . g . polypropylene , teflon etc . in one embodiment , distal region of locking sheath 2108 comprises one or more longitudinal grooves or windows to allow distal region of locking sheath 2108 to expand easily in the radial direction . fig2 b and 21c show a method of deploying an anchor comprising a locked ball . in fig2 b , deploying shaft 2112 is pushed in the distal direction by a user . this causes distal end of deploying shaft 2112 to push locking ball 2106 in the distal direction . this in turn causes locking ball 2106 to exert a force on the distal end of locking sheath 2108 . this force causes opening 2110 to enlarge and release locking ball 2106 . in fig2 c , locking ball 2106 is released by locking sheath 2108 thus releasing deployable anchor 2100 . fig2 a through 22c show various views of an anchor deploying system comprising two interlocking cylinders . the anchor deploying system comprises a proximal interlocking cylinder and a distal interlocking cylinder . the distal interlocking cylinder is located on an anchor to be deployed . fig2 a shows a perspective view of a proximal interlocking cylinder 2200 comprising a locking element 2202 located on the distal end of proximal interlocking cylinder 2200 . in this example , locking element 2202 comprises a solid cylinder with a ninety degree bend . proximal interlocking cylinder 2200 and locking element 2202 may be made of a variety of materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; polymers e . g . polypropylene , teflon etc . fig2 b shows a crossectional view of the anchor deploying system comprising proximal interlocking cylinder 2200 interlocked with a distal interlocking cylinder 2204 . distal interlocking cylinder 2204 comprises a groove 2206 which locks locking element 2202 . locking element 2202 can be unlocked from distal interlocking cylinder 2204 by turning proximal interlocking cylinder 2200 . distal interlocking cylinder 2204 may be made of a variety of materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; polymers e . g . polypropylene , teflon etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . fig2 c shows a crossectional view through plane a - a in fig2 b . fig2 c shows distal interlocking cylinder comprising groove 2206 . also shown is locking element 2202 located in groove 2206 . turning proximal interlocking cylinder 2200 turns locking element 2202 . at a particular orientation , distal region of locking element 2202 can pass easily through groove 2206 unlocking proximal interlocking cylinder 2200 from distal interlocking cylinder 2204 . fig2 d and 22e show the steps of a method of unlocking the two interlocking cylinders from the anchor deploying systems of fig2 a through 22c . in fig2 d , locking element 2202 of proximal interlocking cylinder 2200 is locked in groove 2206 of distal interlocking cylinder 2204 . in fig2 e , proximal interlocking cylinder 2200 is turned in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction to unlock locking element 2202 from groove 2206 . thereafter , proximal interlocking cylinder 2200 is pulled in the proximal direction to separate proximal interlocking cylinder 2200 from distal interlocking cylinder 2204 . fig2 a shows a perspective view of a distal end of an anchoring device that has an imaging modality . anchoring device 2300 comprises an elongate shaft 2302 comprising a lumen . elongate shaft 2302 can be made of suitable biocompatible materials such as metals , polymers etc . the lumen of shaft 2302 terminates in a window 2304 located on the distal region of shaft 2302 . anchoring device further comprises an imaging modality such as a cystoscope , an ultrasound imaging system etc . in this example , the imaging modality is a cystoscope 2306 . distal end of cystoscope 2306 is located in window 2304 to allow visualization of the anatomy adjacent to window 2304 . in one embodiment , cystoscope 2306 is permanently fixed to anchoring device 2300 . in another embodiment , cystoscope 2306 can be introduced through the proximal region of anchoring device 2300 . anchoring device 2300 further comprises a puncturing device 2308 . puncturing device 2308 comprises a sharp distal tip and a lumen that holds an anchor . anchoring device 2300 further comprises an anchor deployment device 2310 . distal end of anchor deployment device 2310 is detachably attached to the anchor . fig2 b through 23g show various steps of a method for compressing an anatomical region using the anchoring device of fig2 a . in fig2 b , anchoring device 2300 is introduced in an anatomical region such that distal end of anchoring device 2300 is located adjacent to a target anatomical region to be treated . in one method embodiment , anchoring device 2300 is introduced transurethrally into the prostatic urethra . thereafter , puncturing device 2308 is advanced to puncture the anatomical region . in this example , puncturing device 2308 punctures the prostate gland pg such that distal end of puncturing device 2308 is located in the pelvic cavity . puncturing device comprises an anchor located in the lumen of puncturing device 2308 . the anchor comprises a distal anchor 2312 , a tension element 2314 connected at one end to distal anchor 2312 and a proximal anchor 2316 that can slide over tension element 2314 . puncturing device 2308 comprises a groove at the distal end such that tension element exits puncturing device 2308 through the groove . puncturing device 2308 further comprises a pusher 2318 that can push distal anchor 2312 out of puncturing device 2308 . proximal anchor 2316 is detachably attached to the distal region of anchor deployment device 2310 . proximal anchor 2312 , distal anchor 2316 and tension element 2314 may comprise designs including , but not limited to the designs disclosed elsewhere in this patent application . the imaging modality may be used to verify the accurate placement and working of anchoring device 2300 . in fig2 c , pusher 2318 is pushed in the distal direction to push distal anchor 2312 out of puncturing device 2308 . distal anchor 2312 is thus deployed in the anatomy e . g . in the pelvic cavity surrounding the prostate gland pg . thereafter , in step 23 d , puncturing device 2308 is withdrawn by pulling it in the proximal direction . in step 23 e , tension element 2314 is pulled in the proximal direction through anchor deployment device 2310 . thereafter , in step 23 f , tension element 2314 is pulled further in the proximal direction such that the anatomical region between proximal anchor 2316 and distal anchor 2312 is compressed . thereafter , in step 23 g , proximal anchor 2316 is securely locked on to tension element 2314 . further in step 23 g , proximal anchor 2316 is detached from anchor deployment device 2310 . the detachment can be performed by a variety of mechanisms including , but not limited to the anchor detachment mechanisms disclosed elsewhere in this patent application . further in step 23 g , excess length of tension element 2314 is removed . this removal can be done using a variety of methods including , but not limited to the methods disclosed elsewhere in this patent application such as cutting , delinking , melting , and breaking . thereafter , anchoring device 2300 is withdrawn from the anatomy . it should be understood that these deployment steps may be repeated in the same , opposing or neighboring tissues to essentially tack up the encroaching tissue ( i . e . prostatic tissue , tumor , relaxed tissue , expanded tissue or growth ). it may be desired that over time both anchors become completely embedded within the tissue and covered to prevent encrustation , clotting or other tissue or body - fluid interaction — this may be facilitated by the processes , therapeutic agents and coatings described elsewhere in the application . although these anchors are shown on either side of the tissue , it may be possible to deploy either or both of them within the body of the tissue itself to help bury them and eliminate the possibility that they may interact with other parts of the body . it should further be noted that in the case of application to the prostate , that this technique may be used on any of the lateral or middle lobes to compress or hold the prostate gland pg away from the lumen of the urethra . if removal of the intra or para luminal anchor is required , it may be possible to resect that region completely , capturing the anchor embedded within the tissue and removing it en - bloc , severing the tether in the process . in the case of prostate applications , such removal may be accomplished with a standard resectoscope system . in other regions , and energized rf or sharp curette or blade may be used to resect the anchor minimally invasively . alternatively if engagement with the locking mechanism is still achievable , it may be possible to simply unlock the tether , releasing the anchor . lastly , if applying additional tension at some point after the procedure is required , it may be possible to engage and grasp the tether as it exits the locking device in the anchor and apply additional tension . fig2 a through 24 c ′ show various steps of a method of compressing an anatomical region using a device with deploying arms deployed through a trocar . in fig2 a , an anchoring device 2400 is introduced in an anatomical region . anchoring device 2400 comprising a distal anchor 2402 is introduced in the anatomy . distal anchor 2402 comprises a hollow shaft . distal end of distal anchor 2402 comprises one or more outwardly curling or spreading arms 2404 . curling or spreading arms 2404 are made of an elastic , springy , super - elastic or shape memory material such that they tend to curl or spread in a radially outward direction in absence of an external force . anchoring device 2400 further comprises a proximal anchor comprising a variety of designs including , but not limited to the designs disclosed elsewhere in this patent application . in this example , proximal anchor is designed similar to anchor 1040 in fig1 d . anchor 1040 can slide along proximal region of distal anchor 2402 . anchor 1040 can also be attached to distal anchor 2402 after a desired positioning between anchor 1040 and distal anchor 2402 is achieved . anchoring device 2400 is delivered through a trocar 2406 . trocar 2406 comprises a sharp distal tip 2408 that can penetrate through tissue . the proximal region of distal tip 2408 comprises one or more grooves or notches such that distal ends of curling or spreading arms 2404 can be temporarily held together by distal tip 2408 to allow for easy introduction into a target anatomy . anchoring device 2400 is introduced into a target tissue to be compressed such that curling or spreading arms 2404 are distal to the target tissue and anchor 1040 is proximal to the target tissue . fig2 a ′ shows the distal end view of the anchoring device 2400 . in fig2 b , trocar 2406 is pushed in the distal direction relative to proximal anchor 2402 . this releases the distal ends of curling or spreading arms 2404 causing them to curl or spread outwards . fig2 a ′ shows the distal end view of the anchoring device 2400 with released curling or spreading arms 2404 . in fig2 c , anchor 1040 is pushed in the distal direction over distal anchor 2402 to compress tissue between anchor 1040 and distal anchor 2402 . thereafter , anchor 1040 is attached to the hollow shaft of distal anchor 2402 . thereafter trocar 2406 is withdrawn from the anatomy . in the above embodiment , the tethering function is performed by the shaft of the distal anchor , and the force is created by the curling arms . this tension may be pre - set into the arms through heat forming . it should be noted that any mechanism capable of expanding from within a tubular shape and capable of applying retrograde forces on the tissue are within the scope of this invention such as expandable flanges , balloons , cages , molly - bolt - like structures , stent - like structures and springs . fig2 d shows a crossection through the deployed anchoring device 2400 of fig2 a . in one anchoring device embodiment , anchoring device 2400 comprises a distal anchor such as the distal anchor described in fig1 a instead of distal anchor 2412 . fig2 a shows a perspective view of a spring clip that can be used to spread the anatomy . clip 2500 comprises two or more spreading arms 2502 . spreading arms 2502 may be curved or straight . distal ends of spreading arms 2502 may comprise a flattened region . the proximal ends or curved arms 2502 are connected to each other by a heel region 2504 . heel region 2504 may be made from the same material as curved arms 2502 . in an undeployed configuration , spreading arms 2502 are held close to each other . when clip 2500 is deployed , spreading arms 2502 tend to expand away from each other thus spreading the anatomical region or regions between spreading arms 2502 . clip 2500 can be made of suitable elastic , super - elastic or shape memory biocompatible materials including , but not limited to synthetic fibers e . g . various grades of nylon , polyethylene , polypropylene , polyester , aramid etc . ; metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , etc . fig2 b through 25f show various steps of a method of spreading an anatomical region or regions using the spring clip of fig2 a . in fig2 b , a delivery tool 2506 comprising a clip 2500 is introduced in the anatomy and positioned near the target anatomy to be spread . delivery tool 2506 comprises an elongate hollow body 2508 comprising a lumen . distal end of body 2508 may comprise a blunt , atraumatic end . distal region of body 2508 comprises a slot 2510 that is in fluid communication with the lumen of body 2508 . delivery tool may further comprise an outer sheath 2512 and an imaging modality 2514 . imaging modality 2514 may be permanently attached to delivery tool 2506 or may be introduced into delivery tool 2506 by a user . in this example , imaging modality 2514 is a cystoscope . in fig2 c , clip 2500 is introduced into the anatomy by pushing clip 2500 out of slot 2510 such that the distal ends of spreading arms 2502 emerge first . slot 2510 is designed such that spreading arms 2504 are biased towards each other as they emerge out of slot 2510 . in fig2 d , clip 2500 is further advanced such that distal tips of spreading arms 2502 penetrate into the tissue to be spread . in fig2 e , clip 2500 is advanced further such that the biasing forces on spreading arms 2502 are removed . spreading arms 2502 tend to spread away from each other thus spreading the tissue between them . clip 2500 is detachably attached to delivery tool 2506 by a detaching mechanism 2516 including , but not limited to the several detaching mechanisms disclosed elsewhere in this patent application . in fig2 f , detaching mechanism 2516 is used to detach clip 2500 from delivery tool 2506 or deploy clip 2500 in the target anatomy . in this example , distal region of delivery tool 2506 is inserted transurethrally into the prostatic urethra . clip 2500 is then delivered into the anterior commissure to spread the two lateral lobes of the prostate gland pg apart . in one method embodiment , an opening in the commissure is made prior to the method of fig2 b through 25g . in another embodiment , the spreading force exerted by spreading arms 2502 cause cutting of the anterior commissure . clip 2500 may be placed completely sub - urethrally or a small amount of heel region 2504 remains in the urethra . the embodiments of anchoring devices wherein a sliding anchor is slid over a tension element may comprise one or more cinching elements . these cinching elements may be present on the sliding anchors , on the tension elements etc . a cinching element may be a separate device that cinches to a tension element . in doing so , it increases the effective diameter of that region of the tension element and prevents the tension element from sliding through a sliding anchor . cinching elements may allow only unidirectional motion of the sliding anchor over the tension element or may prevent any substantial motion of the sliding anchor over the tension element . typical examples of such cinching mechanisms include , but are not limited to mechanisms described in the fig2 series . for example , fig2 a and 26b show a crossectional view and a perspective view respectively of a mechanism of cinching a tension element or tether to an anchor . in fig2 a , cinching mechanism 2600 comprises an outer base 2602 . outer base 2602 comprises one or more grooves created by the presence of two or more leaflets 2604 . leaflets 2604 are biased along a first axial direction as shown in fig2 a . when a tension element 2606 is located in the one or more grooves , cinching mechanism 2600 allows motion of tension element 2606 only along the first axial direction and prevents substantial movement of tension element 2606 in the opposite direction . fig2 c and 26d show a partial section through a cinching mechanism comprising a cam element . in fig2 c , cinching mechanism 2610 comprises an outer body 2612 made of suitable biocompatible metals , polymers etc . body 2162 comprises a cam 2614 located on a pivot 2616 . cam 2614 may comprise a series of teeth to grip a tension element 2618 passing through body 2612 . in one embodiment , body 2162 comprises an opening 2620 located proximal to cam 2614 . proximal region of tension element 2618 passes out of body 2612 through opening 2620 . cinching mechanism 2610 allows movement of body 2162 over tension element 2618 in the proximal direction . in fig2 d , body 2162 is moved over tension element 2618 in the distal direction . motion of tension element 2618 over cam 2614 causes cam 2614 to turn in the anti - clockwise direction . this causes tension element 2618 to be pinched between cam 2614 and body 2612 . this in turn prevents further motion of body 2162 over tension element 2618 . fig2 e shows a sectional view of an embodiment of a cinching mechanism comprising a locking ball . cinching mechanism 2630 comprises an outer body 2632 comprising a lumen . a tension element 2634 passes through the lumen of outer body 2632 . the lumen of outer body gradually reduces in the proximal direction as shown in fig2 e . a locking ball 2636 is present in the lumen . motion of outer body 2632 over tension element 2634 in the distal direction pushes locking ball 2636 in the proximal region of outer body 2632 . a proximal end region 2638 of a small diameter prevents locking ball 2636 from falling out of outer body 2632 . the large lumen diameter in the proximal region of outer body 2632 allows free motion of locking ball 2636 . thus , presence of locking ball 2636 does not hinder the motion of outer body 2632 over tension element 2634 in the proximal direction . when outer body 2632 is moved over tension element 2634 in the proximal direction , locking ball 2636 is pushed in the distal region of outer body 2632 . the small lumen diameter in the proximal region of outer body 2632 constricts motion of locking ball 2636 . this causes a region of tension element 2634 to be pinched between anchoring ball 2636 and outer body 2632 . this in turn prevents further motion of outer body 2632 over tension element 2634 in the proximal direction . this mechanism thus allows unidirectional motion of outer body 2632 is over tension element . fig2 f shows a side view of an embodiment of a cinching mechanism comprising multiple locking flanges . in this embodiment , cinching mechanism 2644 comprises a body 2646 comprising a lumen lined by a first locking flange 2648 and a second locking flange 2650 . first locking flange 2648 and second locking flange 2650 are biased in the proximal direction as shown . a tension element 2652 passes through the lumen of body 2646 . first locking flange 2648 and second locking flange 2650 together allow the movement of body 2646 over tension element 2652 in the distal direction , but prevent movement of body 2646 over tension element 2652 in the proximal direction . similar cinching mechanisms may be designed comprising more than two locking flanges . fig2 g shows an end view of body 2646 comprising a lumen lined by first locking flange 2648 and second locking flange 2650 . body 2646 may be made of suitable biocompatible metals , polymers etc . fig2 h shows a side view of an embodiment of a cinching mechanism comprising a single locking flange . in this embodiment , cinching mechanism 2656 comprises a body 2658 comprising a lumen lined by a locking flange 2660 . locking flange 2660 is biased in the proximal direction as shown . a tension element 2662 passes through the lumen of body 2658 . locking flange 2660 allows the movement of body 2658 over tension element 2662 in the distal direction , but prevents movement of body 2658 over tension element 2662 in the proximal direction . fig2 i shows an end view of body 2658 comprising a lumen 2662 lined by locking flange 2660 . body 2658 may be made of suitable biocompatible metals , polymers etc . fig2 j shows an end view of a cinching mechanism comprising a crimping lumen . cinching mechanism 2670 comprises a body 2672 comprising a crimping lumen 2674 . crimping lumen 2674 is in the form of an arc with a gradually reducing size as shown in fig2 j . a tension element 2676 passes through crimping lumen 2674 . in fig2 j , tension element 2676 is locked in a region of crimping lumen 2674 of a diameter smaller than the diameter of tension element 2676 . tension element 2676 can be unlocked from crimping lumen 2674 by rotating body 2672 in the anti - clockwise direction . similarly , rotating body 2672 in the clockwise direction causes an unlocked tension element 2676 to be locked into crimping lumen 2674 . in an alternate embodiment , cinching mechanism comprises a disk shaped body comprising a central lumen . central lumen is large enough to allow a tension element to slide easily through the central lumen . one or more radially oriented slits emerge from the central lumen . the radially oriented slits have a diameter that is of the same size or is slightly smaller than the diameter of the tension element . to lock cinching mechanism to the tension element , the tension element is forced through one of the radially oriented slits . the friction between the disk shaped body and the tension element prevents or resists sliding of tension element through the disk shaped body . to unlock cinching mechanism from the tension element , the tension element is moved back to the central lumen . in another alternate embodiment , cinching mechanism comprises a disk shaped body comprising a small central lumen . the central region of the body comprises three or more triangular flaps biased together out of the plane of the body . the ends of the triangular flaps together form the central lumen that is of the same size or is slightly smaller than the diameter of the tension element . tension element can pass easily through the central lumen in the direction of the bias of the triangular flaps . but , tension element cannot pass or encounters substantial resistance when the tension element is pulled through the central lumen in the opposite direction . fig2 k and 26l show crossections of an embodiment of a cinching mechanism comprising a crimping anchor in the undeployed and deployed configurations respectively . cinching mechanism 2680 comprises a crimping anchor 2680 comprising a lumen . crimping anchor 2680 can be made of a variety of biocompatible materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc ., polymers , etc . a tension element 2684 passes through the lumen of crimping anchor 2680 . the lumen of an undeployed crimping anchor 2680 is larger than the diameter of tension element 2684 . in fig2 l , crimping anchor 2680 is deployed by compressing the middle section of crimping anchor 2680 such that crimping anchor 2680 compresses tension element 2684 . friction between crimping anchor 2680 and tension element 2684 prevents relative motion between crimping anchor 2680 and tension element 2684 . crimping anchor 2680 may be a component of a sliding anchor or may be a stand - alone device used to prevent or restrict motion of a sliding anchor over a tension element . fig2 m shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a cinching mechanism comprising an element providing a tortuous path to a tension element . in this example , cinching mechanism 2686 comprises a spring 2688 . a tension element 2690 is passed through spring 2688 such that the path of tension element 2690 through spring 2688 is tortuous . when spring 2688 is moved over tension element , motion of tension element 2690 through the tortuous path generates high frictional forces that prevent or reduce motion of spring 2688 over tension element 2690 . the frictional forces are strong enough to resist motion of spring 2688 over tension element 2690 after deploying cinching mechanism 2686 in the anatomy . a user can move spring 2688 over tension element 2690 by applying a force that overcomes the resistive frictional forces that prevent movement of spring 2688 over tension element 2690 . similarly , other cinching mechanisms comprising a tortuous path can be used instead of spring 2688 . examples of such mechanisms are solid elements comprising tortuous lumens , elements comprising multiple struts or bars that provide a tortuous path etc . in another embodiment the cinching mechanism comprises a knot on one or more tensioning element . said knot can be advanced fully tightened or can be loose when advanced and tightened in situ . fig2 n shows a crossectional view of an embodiment of a locking mechanism comprising a space occupying anchor securely attached to a tension element . locking mechanism 2692 comprises a hollow element 2694 comprising a lumen . hollow element 2694 is a component of a sliding anchor that slides over tension element 2696 . tension element 2696 comprises a space occupying anchor 2698 comprising a tapering distal end 2699 . anchor 2698 is securely attached to tension element 2696 . diameter of anchor 2698 is larger than the diameter of the lumen of hollow element . due to this , anchor 2698 cannot pass through hollow element 2694 effectively locking the position of tension element 2696 with respect to the position of hollow element 2694 . fig2 o and 26p shows a partial sectional view and a perspective view of an embodiment of a cinching mechanism comprising a punched disk . cinching mechanism 2602 ′ comprises a disk 2604 ′ comprising a punched hole 2606 ′. punched hole 2606 ′ is made by punching disk 2604 ′ along the proximal direction such that the punching action leaves an edge that is biased along the proximal direction as shown in fig2 o . disk 2604 ′ can slide over a tension element 2608 ′ along the distal direction . however , motion of disk 2604 ′ over tension element 2608 ′ along the proximal direction is substantially resisted by the proximally biased edges of punched hole 2606 ′. excess lengths of tension elements or other severable regions of one or more devices disclosed in this patent application may be cut , severed or trimmed using one or more cutting devices . for example , fig2 q and 26r show a perspective view of a first embodiment of a cutting device before and after cutting an elongate element . in fig2 q , cutting device 2610 ′ comprises an outer sheath 2612 ′ comprising a sharp distal edge 2614 ′. outer sheath 2612 ′ encloses an inner sheath 2616 ′. inner diameter of outer sheath 2612 ′ is slightly larger than outer diameter of inner sheath 2616 ′ such that inner sheath 2616 ′ can slide easily through outer sheath 2612 ′. inner sheath 2616 ′ comprises a lumen that terminates distally in an opening 2618 ′. an elongate severable device passes through the lumen and emerges out of opening 2618 ′. an example of an elongate severable device is a tension element 2620 ′. in the method of cutting or trimming tension element 2620 ′ the desired area of tension element 2620 ′ to be cut or severed is positioned near opening 2618 ′ by advancing or withdrawing cutting device 2610 ′ over tension element 2620 ′. thereafter , outer sheath 2612 ′ is advanced over inner sheath 2616 ′ to cut tension element 2620 ′ between sharp distal edge 2614 ′ and an edge of opening 2618 ′. inner sheath 2616 ′ and outer sheath 2612 ′ may be substantially rigid or flexible . they may be made of suitable materials including , but not limited to pebax , polyimide , braided polyimide , polyurethane , nylon , pvc , hytrel , hdpe , peek , metals like stainless steel and fluoropolymers like ptfe , pfa , fep and eptfe etc . fig2 s show a crossectional view of a second embodiment of a cutting device for cutting an elongate element . cutting device 2622 ′ comprises an outer sheath 2624 ′ comprising a lumen that opens in an opening 2626 ′ in outer sheath 2624 ′. outer sheath 2624 ′ encloses an inner sheath 2628 ′ that comprises a lumen and a sharp distal edge 2630 ′. inner diameter of outer sheath 2624 ′ is slightly larger than outer diameter of inner sheath 2628 ′ such that inner sheath 2628 ′ can slide easily through outer sheath 2624 ′. an elongate severable device passes through the lumen of inner sheath 2628 ′ and emerges out of distal end of inner sheath 2628 ′ and out of outer sheath 2624 ′ through opening 2626 ′. an example of an elongate severable device is a tension element 2632 ′. in the method of cutting or trimming tension element 2632 ′ the desired area of tension element 2632 ′ to be cut or severed is positioned near opening 2626 ′ by advancing or withdrawing cutting device 2622 ′ over tension element 2632 ′. thereafter , inner sheath 2628 ′ is advanced through outer sheath 2624 ′ to cut tension element 2632 ′ between sharp distal edge 2630 ′ and an edge of opening 2626 ′. inner sheath 2628 ′ and outer sheath 2624 may be substantially rigid or flexible . they may be made of suitable materials including , but not limited to pebax , polyimide , braided polyimide , polyurethane , nylon , pvc , hytrel , hdpe , peek , metals like stainless steel and fluoropolymers like ptfe , pfa , fep and eptfe etc . in a third embodiment of a cutting device for cutting an elongate element , the cutting device comprises an outer hollow sheath . outer hollow sheath has a distal end plate comprising a window . an elongate severable device passes through the window . an example of an elongate severable device is a tension element . an inner shaft can slide and rotate within outer hollow sheath . distal end of inner shaft comprises a blade that is usually located away from the window and adjacent to the distal end plate of the outer hollow sheath . in the method of cutting or trimming tension element the elongate severable device , the desired area of the elongate severable device to be cut or severed is positioned near the window . this is done by advancing or withdrawing the cutting device over the elongate severable device . thereafter , the inner shaft is rotated within outer hollow sheath such that the blade cuts the elongate severable device between a sharp edge of the blade and an edge of the window . inner shaft and outer hollow sheath may be substantially rigid or flexible . they may be made of suitable materials including , but not limited to pebax , polyimide , braided polyimide , polyurethane , nylon , pvc , hytrel , hdpe , peek , metals like stainless steel and fluoropolymers like ptfe , pfa , fep and eptfe etc . the end plate and the blade are preferentially rigid . they may be made of suitable materials including , but not limited to metals like stainless steel , polymers like polycarbonate , polyimide , pvc , hytrel , hdpe , peek and fluoropolymers like ptfe , pfa , fep etc . the anchoring devices disclosed herein may be used in a variety of configurations depending on the location of the disease process , ease of procedure etc . fig2 a through 27d show axial sections through the prostate gland pg showing various configurations of anchoring devices comprising distal anchors 2700 and a tension element 2702 that is anchored at a suitable location such that a sufficient tension exists in tension element 2702 . fig2 and 28a show perspective views of an embodiment of an anchoring device comprising an elongate element comprising multiple barbs or anchors . fig2 shows a perspective view of anchoring device 2800 comprising an elongate element 2802 . elongate element 2802 can be made of several biocompatible materials including , but not limited to synthetic fibers e . g . various grades of nylon , polyethylene , polypropylene , polyester , aramid etc . ; metals e . g . various grades of stainless steel , titanium , nickel - titanium alloys , cobalt - chromium alloys , tantalum etc . ; natural fibers e . g . cotton , silk etc . ; rubber materials e . g . various grades of silicone rubber etc . elongate element 2802 may comprise natural or artificial suture materials . examples of such materials include but are not limited to polyamide ( nylon ), polypropylene , polyglycolic acid ( pga ), polylactic acid ( pla ) and copolymers of polylactic acid , polyglycolic acid and copolymers of polyglycolic acid , copolymers of pla and pga , silk , polyester , silicone , collagen , polymers of glycolide and lactide . a particular example of a suture is the nordstrom suture which is a highly elastic silicone suture . in one embodiment , the suture material is bioabsorbable . elongate element 2802 comprises two sets of projections such as barbs , anchors or hooks . in the example shown , elongate element 2802 comprises a set of distal barbs 2804 and a set of proximal barbs 2806 . distal barbs 2804 are oriented in the proximal direction and proximal barbs 2806 are oriented in the distal direction as shown in fig2 . fig2 a shows a magnified view of the region 28 a of anchoring device 2800 showing proximal barbs 2806 . fig2 b through 28e show a coronal section through the prostate gland pg showing various steps of a method of treating the prostate gland pg using the device of fig2 . in fig2 b , introducer device 300 of fig3 a comprising a working device lumen and a cystoscope lumen 308 is introduced into the urethra such that the distal end of introducer device 300 is located in the prostatic urethra . thereafter , a hollow puncturing device 2808 is inserted in the working device lumen of introducer device . puncturing device 2808 is advanced such that distal end of puncturing device 2808 penetrates the prostate gland pg . in fig2 c , anchoring device 2800 is introduced through puncturing device 2808 into the prostate gland pg . thereafter , puncturing device 2808 is pulled in the proximal direction . simultaneously , anchoring device 2800 is pulled in the proximal direction to anchor distal barbs 2804 in the anatomy . in fig2 d , puncturing device 2808 is pulled further in the proximal direction to expose the entire anchoring device 2800 . thereafter , in step 28 e , the proximal end of anchoring device 2800 is detached to deploy anchoring device 2800 in the anatomy . thus , tissue between distal barbs 2804 and proximal barbs 2806 is anchored to anchoring device 2800 . fig2 a shows an axial section of the prostate gland pg showing a pair of implanted magnetic anchors . in fig2 a , a first magnetic anchor 2900 and a second magnetic anchor 2902 are implanted in the prostate gland pg on either side of the urethra . like poles of first magnetic anchor 2900 and second magnetic anchor 2902 face each other such that there is magnetic repulsion between first magnetic anchor 2900 and second magnetic anchor 2902 . this causes the urethral lumen to widen potentially reducing the severity of bph symptoms . fig2 b through 29d show a coronal section through the prostate gland pg showing the steps of a method of implanting magnetic anchors of fig2 a . in fig2 b , a deployment device 2904 is advanced trans - urethrally . deployment device 2904 comprises a sharp distal tip 2906 and first magnetic anchor 2900 . distal tip 2906 of deployment device 2904 penetrates prostatic tissue and implants first magnetic anchor 2900 in the prostate gland pg . similarly , another deployment device 2908 comprising a sharp distal tip 2920 is used to implant second magnetic anchor 2902 in the prostate gland pg . first magnetic anchor 2900 and second magnetic anchor 2902 are implanted on opposite sides of the urethra such that like poles of first magnetic anchor 2900 and second magnetic anchor 2902 face each other . this causes magnetic repulsion between first magnetic anchor 2900 and second magnetic anchor 2902 . this causes the urethral lumen to widen potentially reducing the severity of bph symptoms . in one embodiment , deployment device 2904 can be used to deploy multiple magnetic anchors . fig3 a shows a coronal section of a region of the male urinary system showing the general working environment of a method of treating prostate disorders by cutting prostrate tissue using a device inserted into the prostate gland pg from the urethra . cutting device 3000 comprises an outer body 3002 comprising a side port 3004 . outer body 3002 can be made of suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel , nickel - titanium alloys , titanium etc . ; polymers e . g . etc . cutting device 3000 further comprises an access device 3006 that can be deployed out of side port 3004 . access device 3006 can be retracted back into side port 3004 . typical examples of elements that can be used as access device 3006 are needles , trocars etc . access device 3006 may be made from suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel , nickel - titanium alloys , titanium etc . ; polymers e . g . etc . access device 3006 penetrates the walls of the urethra and enters the prostate gland pg by creating an access channel in the prostate gland pg . cutting device 3000 further comprises a cutting element 3008 that is introduced into the prostate gland pg through the access channel in the prostate gland pg . in one embodiment , cutting element 3008 enters the prostate gland pg through access device 3006 . cutting element 3008 comprises one or more cutting modalities such as electrosurgical cutter , laser cutter , mechanical cutter e . g . a knife edge etc . cutting element 3008 may be moved through prostate tissue by several mechanisms including one or more deflecting or bending elements located on cutting element 3008 ; one or more articulating elements located on cutting element 3008 ; motion of cutting device 3000 along the urethra etc . cutting element 3008 is used to cut one or more regions of the prostate gland pg including peripheral zone , transition zone , central zone or prostatic capsule . after the desired region or regions of the prostate gland pg are cut , cutting element 3008 and access device 3006 are withdrawn into cutting device 3000 . thereafter , cutting device 3000 is withdrawn from the urethra . in one device embodiment , cutting device 3000 comprises an endoscope or means for inserting an endoscope . fig3 b shows a coronal section of a region of the male urinary system showing the general working environment of a method of treating prostate disorders by cutting prostrate tissue using a device that accesses outer surface of the prostate gland pg by passing through the walls of the urethra distal to the prostate gland pg . cutting device 3020 comprises an outer body 3022 comprising a side port 3024 . outer body 3022 can be made of suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel , nickel - titanium alloys , titanium etc . ; polymers e . g . etc . cutting device 3020 is advanced into the urethra such that side port 3024 is located distal to the prostate gland pg . cutting device 3020 further comprises an access device 3026 that can be deployed out of side port 3024 . access device 3026 can be retracted back into side port 3024 . typical examples of elements that can be used as access device 3026 are needles , trocars etc . access device 3026 may be made from suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel , nickel - titanium alloys , titanium etc . ; polymers e . g . etc . access device 3026 is deployed from side port 3024 in a desired orientation such that access device 3026 penetrates the wall of the urethra . access device 3026 is advanced further such that distal end of access device 3026 is located near the prostate gland pg . thereafter , a cutting element 3028 is introduced through access device 3026 to the outer surface of the prostate gland pg . cutting element 3028 comprises one or more cutting modalities such as electrosurgical cutter , laser cutter , mechanical cutter e . g . a knife edge etc . cutting element 3028 is used to cut one or more regions of the prostate gland pg including prostatic capsule , peripheral zone , transition zone or central zone . cutting element 3028 may be moved relative to prostate tissue by several mechanisms including one or more deflecting or bending elements located on cutting element 3028 ; motion of cutting element 3028 along access device 3026 etc . in one method embodiment , cutting element 3028 cuts prostatic capsule while being withdrawn into access device 3026 . after the desired region or regions of the prostate gland pg are cut , cutting element 3028 and access device 3026 are withdrawn into cutting device 3020 . thereafter , cutting device 3020 is withdrawn from the urethra . in one device embodiment , cutting device 3020 further comprises an endoscope or means for inserting an endoscope . fig3 c shows a coronal section of a region of the male urinary system showing the general working environment of a method of treating prostate disorders by cutting prostrate tissue using a device that accesses outer surface of the prostate gland pg by passing through the wall of the urinary bladder . cutting device 3040 comprises an outer body 3042 comprising a side port 3044 . outer body 3042 can be made of suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel , nickel - titanium alloys , titanium etc . ; polymers e . g . etc . cutting device 3040 is advanced into the urethra such that side port 3044 is located inside the urinary bladder . cutting device 3040 further comprises an access device 3046 that can be deployed out of side port 3044 . access device 3046 can be retracted back into side port 3044 . typical examples of elements that can be used as access device 3046 are needles , trocars etc . access device 3046 may be made from suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel , nickel - titanium alloys , titanium etc . ; polymers e . g . etc . access device 3046 is deployed from side port 3044 in a desired orientation such that access device 3046 penetrates the wall of the urinary bladder . access device 3046 is advanced further such that distal end of access device 3046 is located near the prostate gland pg . thereafter , a cutting element 3048 is introduced through access device 3046 to the outer surface of the prostate gland pg . cutting element 3048 comprises one or more cutting modalities such as electrosurgical cutter , laser cutter , mechanical cutter e . g . a knife edge etc . cutting element 3048 is used to cut one or more regions of the prostate gland pg including prostatic capsule , peripheral zone , transition zone or central zone . cutting element 3048 may be moved relative to prostate tissue by several mechanisms including one or more deflecting or bending elements located on cutting element 3048 ; motion of cutting element 3048 along access device 3046 etc . in one method embodiment , cutting element 3048 cuts prostatic capsule while being withdrawn into access device 3046 . after the desired region or regions of the prostate gland pg are cut , cutting element 3048 and access device 3046 are withdrawn into cutting device 3040 . thereafter , cutting device 3040 is withdrawn from the urethra . in one device embodiment , cutting device 3040 further comprises an endoscope or means for inserting an endoscope . fig3 d shows a coronal section of a region of the male urinary system showing the general working environment of a method of treating prostate disorders by cutting prostrate tissue using a device that accesses outer surface of the prostate gland pg by passing through the walls of the urethra enclosed to the prostate gland pg . cutting device 3060 comprises an outer body 3062 comprising a side port 3064 . outer body 3062 can be made of suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel , nickel - titanium alloys , titanium etc . ; polymers e . g . etc . cutting device 3060 is advanced into the urethra such that side port 3064 is located in the region of the urethra enclosed by the prostate gland pg . cutting device 3060 further comprises an access device 3066 that can be deployed out of side port 3064 . access device 3066 can be retracted back into side port 3064 . typical examples of elements that can be used as access device 3066 are needles , trocars etc . access device 3066 may be made from suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel , nickel - titanium alloys , titanium etc . ; polymers e . g . etc . access device 3066 is deployed from side port 3064 in a desired orientation such that access device 3066 penetrates the prostate . thereafter , a cutting element 3068 is introduced through access device 3066 such that the distal region of cutting element can access the outer surface of the prostate gland pg . cutting element 3068 comprises one or more cutting modalities such as electrosurgical cutter , laser cutter , mechanical cutter e . g . a knife edge etc . cutting element 3068 is used to cut one or more regions of the prostate gland pg including prostatic capsule , peripheral zone , transition zone or central zone . cutting element 3068 may be moved relative to prostate tissue by several mechanisms including one or more deflecting or bending elements located on cutting element 3068 ; motion of cutting element 3068 along access device 3066 etc . in one method embodiment , cutting element 3068 cuts prostatic capsule while being withdrawn into access device 3066 . after the desired region or regions of the prostate gland pg are cut , cutting element 3068 and access device 3066 are withdrawn into cutting device 3060 . thereafter , cutting device 3060 is withdrawn from the urethra . in one device embodiment , cutting device 3060 further comprises an endoscope or means for inserting an endoscope . fig3 shows a coronal section of a region of the male urinary system showing the general working environment of a method of treating prostate disorders by cutting prostrate tissue by a percutaneous device that accesses the prostate gland pg through an incision in the abdomen . in this method , a cannula 3100 is introduced percutaneously into the lower abdomen . cannula 3100 can be made of suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel , nickel - titanium alloys , titanium etc . ; polymers etc . cannula 3100 is advanced into the abdomen such that it passes below the pubic bone . the distal end of cannula 3100 is positioned near the prostate gland pg . thereafter , a cutting device 3102 is advanced through distal end of cannula 3100 to the outer surface of the prostate gland pg . cutting device 3102 can be retracted back into cannula 3100 . cutting device 3102 comprises one or more cutting modalities such as electrosurgical cutter , laser cutter , mechanical cutter e . g . a knife edge etc . cutting device 3102 is used to cut one or more regions of the prostate gland pg including prostatic capsule , peripheral zone , transition zone or central zone . cutting device 3102 may be moved relative to prostate tissue by several mechanisms including one or more deflecting or bending elements located on cutting device 3102 ; motion of cutting device 3102 along cannula 3100 etc . in one method embodiment , cutting device 3102 cuts prostatic capsule while being withdrawn into cannula 3100 . after the desired region or regions of the prostate gland pg are cut , cutting device 3102 is withdrawn into cannula 3100 . thereafter , cannula 3100 is withdrawn from the urethra . in one device embodiment , cannula 3100 further comprises an endoscope or means for inserting an endoscope . fig3 shows a coronal section of a region of the male urinary system showing the general working environment of a method of treating prostate disorders by cutting prostrate tissue by a percutaneous device that penetrates the urinary bladder and accesses the outer surface of the prostate gland pg through an incision in the urinary bladder . in this method , a cannula 3200 is introduced percutaneously into the lower abdomen . cannula 3200 can be made of suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel , nickel - titanium alloys , titanium etc . ; polymers etc . cannula 3200 is advanced into the abdomen such that it passes above the pubic bone . the distal end of cannula 3200 enters the urinary bladder . thereafter , an access device 3202 is advanced through cannula 3200 such that access device 3202 penetrates the urinary bladder wall as shown in fig4 . thereafter , a cutting device 3204 is advanced through distal end of access device 3202 to the outer surface of the prostate gland pg . cutting device 3202 can be retracted back into access device 3202 . cutting device 3202 comprises one or more cutting modalities such as electrosurgical cutter , laser cutter , mechanical cutter e . g . a knife edge etc . cutting device 3202 is used to cut one or more regions of the prostate gland pg including prostatic capsule , peripheral zone , transition zone or central zone . cutting device 3202 may be moved relative to prostate tissue by several mechanisms including one or more deflecting or bending elements located on cutting device 3202 or access device 3202 ; motion of cutting device 3202 along access device 3202 etc . in one method embodiment , cutting device 3202 cuts prostatic capsule while being withdrawn into access device 3202 . after the desired region or regions of the prostate gland pg are cut , cutting device 3202 is withdrawn into access device 3202 . access device 3202 is then withdrawn into cannula 3200 . thereafter , cannula 3200 is withdrawn from the urinary bladder . in one device embodiment , cannula 3200 further comprises an endoscope or means for inserting an endoscope . fig3 series shows a perspective view of a prostate treatment kit to cut prostate tissue . fig3 a shows a perspective view of an introducer device . introducer device 3300 comprises a first tubular element 3302 enclosing a working device lumen 3304 . first tubular element 3302 can be made of suitable biocompatible materials such as pebax , polyimide , braided polyimide , polyurethane , nylon , pvc , hytrel , hdpe , peek , metals like stainless steel and fluoropolymers like ptfe , pfa , fep and eptfe etc . the proximal end of working device lumen 3304 comprises a first stasis valve 3306 . the distal end of working device lumen 3304 comprises a deflection mechanism . the deflection mechanism is used to bend the distal region of working device lumen 3304 . one example of deflection mechanism is a pull wire and a deflection dial 3310 to adjust the magnitude and / or the direction of deflection caused by the pull wire . similarly , other deflection mechanisms can be used in the introducer device instead of a pull wire . introducer device 3300 further comprises a second tubular element 3312 which encloses a cystoscope lumen 3314 . a cystoscope can be introduced through cystoscope lumen 3314 into the urethra . typical examples of cystoscopes that can be used with introducer device are those manufactured by olympus , pentax , storz , wolf , circon - acmi , etc . these may have pre - set angles ( i . e . 0 , 30 , 70 , 120 degrees ) or may be flexible scopes where in the tip may be deflectable . the proximal end of cystoscope lumen 3314 comprises a second stasis valve 3316 . the cystoscope is inserted through the proximal end of cystoscope lumen 3314 and emerges out into the urethra from the distal end of cystoscope lumen 3314 . the cystoscope can then be used to visualize the anatomy and various instruments during a procedure . working device lumen 3314 may comprise one or more side ports e . g . a first side port 3318 for the introduction or removal of one or more fluids . cystoscope lumen 3314 may comprise one or more side ports e . g . a second side port 3320 for the introduction or removal of one or more fluids . fig3 b shows a perspective view of an injecting needle . injecting needle 3330 is used for injecting one or more diagnostic or therapeutic agents in the anatomy . in one method embodiment , injecting needle 3330 is used to inject local anesthetic in the urethra and / or prostate gland pg . specific examples of target areas for injecting local anesthetics are the neurovascular bundles , the genitourinary diaphragm , the region between the rectal wall and prostate , etc . examples of local anesthetics that can be injected by injecting needle 3330 are anesthetic solutions e . g . 1 % lidocaine solution ; anesthetic gels e . g . lidocaine gels ; combination of anesthetic agents e . g . combination of lidocaine and bupivacaine ; etc . injecting needle 3330 comprises a hollow shaft 3332 made of suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to stainless steel 304 , stainless steel 306 , nickel - titanium alloys , titanium etc . the length of hollow shaft 3332 can range from to centimeters . the distal end of hollow shaft 3332 comprises a sharp tip 3334 . the proximal end of hollow shaft 3332 has a needle hub 3336 made of suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . like stainless steel 304 , stainless steel 306 , nickel - titanium alloys , titanium etc . ; polymers e . g . polypropylene etc . in one embodiment , needle hub 3336 comprises a luer lock . fig3 c shows a perspective view of a guiding device . guiding device 3338 comprises an elongate body 3340 comprising a sharp distal tip 3342 . in one embodiment , guiding device 3338 is a guidewire . distal end of elongate body 3340 may comprise an anchoring element to reversibly anchor guiding device 3338 into tissue . examples of suitable anchoring elements are barbs , multipronged arrowheads , balloons , other mechanically actuable members ( e . g . bendable struts ), screw tips , shape memory elements , or other suitable anchor designs disclosed elsewhere in this patent application . fig3 d shows a perspective view of a rf cutting device . cutting device 3343 comprises an inner sheath 3344 and an outer sheath 3346 . inner sheath 3344 comprises a lumen of a suitable dimension such that cutting device 3343 can be advanced over guiding device 538 . outer sheath 3346 can slide on inner sheath 3344 . outer sheath 3346 also comprises two marker bands : a proximal marker band 3348 and a distal marker band 3350 . the marker bands can be seen by a cystoscope . in one embodiment , proximal marker band 3348 and distal marker band 3350 are radiopaque . the position of proximal marker band 3348 and distal marker band 3350 is such that after cutting device 3343 is placed in an optimum location in the anatomy , proximal marker band 3348 is located in the urethra where it can be seen by a cystoscope and distal marker band 3350 is located in the prostrate gland pg or in the wall of the urethra where it cannot be seen by the cystoscope . cutting device 3343 further comprises a cutting wire 3352 that is capable of delivering electrical energy to the surrounding tissue . the distal end of cutting wire 3352 is fixed to the distal region of outer sheath 3344 . the proximal end of cutting wire 3352 is connected to a distal region of outer sheath 3346 and is further connected to a source of electrical energy . in fig3 d , cutting wire 3352 is in an undeployed configuration . fig3 d ′ shows the distal region of cutting device 3343 when cutting wire 3352 is in a deployed configuration . to deploy cutting wire 3352 , inner sheath 3344 is moved in the proximal direction with respect to outer sheath 546 . this causes cutting wire 3352 to bend axially outward thus deploying cutting wire 3352 in the surrounding anatomy . fig3 e shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a plugging device to plug an opening created during a procedure . plugging device 3354 comprises a tubular shaft 3356 comprising a distal opening 3358 . distal opening 3358 is used to deliver one or more plugging materials 3360 in the adjacent anatomy . plugging material 3360 may comprise a porous or non - porous matrix formed of a biodegradable or non - biodegradable material such as a flexible or rigid polymer foam , cotton wadding , gauze , hydrogels , etc . examples of biodegradable polymers that may be foamed or otherwise rendered porous include but are not restricted to polyglycolide , poly - l - lactide , poly - d - lactide , poly ( amino acids ), polydioxanone , polycaprolactone , polygluconate , polylactic acid - polyethylene oxide copolymers , modified cellulose , collagen , polyorthoesters , polyhydroxybutyrate , polyanhydride , polyphosphoester , poly ( alpha - hydroxy acid ) and combinations thereof . in one embodiment , plugging material 3360 comprises biocompatible sealants including but not limited to fibrin sealants , combination of natural proteins ( e . g . collagen , albumin etc .) with aldehyde cross - linking agents ( e . g . glutaraldehyde , formaldehyde ) or other polymeric , biological or non - polymeric materials capable of being implanted with the body , etc . plugging device 3354 may be introduced in the anatomy by various approaches including the approaches disclosed elsewhere in this patent application . plugging device 3354 may be introduced in the anatomy through a cannula , over a guiding device such as a guidewire etc . in the embodiment shown in fig3 e , plugging material 3360 is preloaded in plugging device 3354 . plugging material 3360 is introduced through distal opening 3358 by pushing plunger 3362 in the distal direction . in another embodiment , plugging device 3354 comprises a lumen that extends from the proximal end to distal opening 3358 . plugging material 3360 may be injected through the proximal end of the lumen such that it emerges out through distal opening 3358 . fig3 f through 33n show various alternate embodiments of the electrosurgical cutting device in fig3 d . fig3 f and 33g show perspective views of the distal region of a first alternate embodiment of an electrosurgical cutting device in the undeployed and deployed states respectively . fig3 f show an electrosurgical cutting device 570 comprising an elongate shaft 3372 . shaft 3372 is made of an electrically insulating material . electrosurgical cutting device 3370 further comprises an electrosurgical cutting wire 3374 . electrosurgical cutting wire 3374 can be made of a variety of materials including , but not limited to tungsten , stainless steel , etc . distal end of cutting wire 3374 is attached to distal region of shaft 3372 . the proximal region of cutting wire 3374 can be pulled in the proximal direction by an operator . in one embodiment , electrosurgical cutting device 3370 is introduced in the target anatomy through a sheath 3376 . in fig3 f , electrosurgical cutting device 3370 is deployed by pulling cutting wire 3374 in the proximal direction . this causes distal region of shaft 3372 to bend . thereafter , electrical energy is delivered through cutting wire 3374 to cut tissue . this may be accompanied by motion of electrosurgical cutting device 3370 along the proximal or distal direction . fig3 h and 33i show perspective views of the distal region of a second alternate embodiment of an electrosurgical cutting device in the undeployed and deployed states respectively . electrosurgical cutting device 3380 comprises an elongate sheath 3382 comprising a lumen . distal region of sheath 3382 has a window 3384 . electrosurgical cutting device 3380 further comprises an electrosurgical cutting wire 3386 located in the lumen . distal end of cutting wire 3386 is fixed to the distal end of sheath 3384 . proximal end of cutting wire 3386 can be pushed in the distal direction by a user . in fig3 , cutting wire 3386 is deployed by pushing cutting wire 3386 in the distal direction . this causes a region of cutting wire 3386 to bend in the radially outward direction and thus emerge out of window 3384 . thereafter , electrical energy is delivered through cutting wire 3386 to cut tissue . this may be accompanied by motion of electrosurgical cutting device 3380 along the proximal or distal direction . fig3 j through 33l show perspective views of the distal region of a second alternate embodiment of an electrosurgical cutting device showing the steps of deploying the electrosurgical cutting device . electrosurgical cutting device 3390 comprises an elongate sheath 3391 comprising a lumen 3392 . in fig3 j , an electrosurgical cutting wire 3394 is introduced through lumen 3392 such that it emerges out through the distal opening of lumen 3392 . in fig3 k , cutting wire 3394 is further advanced in the distal direction . distal end of cutting wire 3394 has a curved region so that cutting wire 3394 starts to bend as it emerges out of lumen 3392 . in fig3 l , cutting wire 3394 is further advanced in the distal direction to fully deploy cutting wire 3394 . thereafter , electrical energy is delivered through cutting wire 3394 to cut tissue . this may be accompanied by motion of electrosurgical cutting device 3390 along the proximal or distal direction . fig3 m through 33n show perspective views of the distal region of a third alternate embodiment of an electrosurgical cutting device showing the steps of deploying the electrosurgical cutting device . electrosurgical cutting device 3395 comprises an elongate sheath 3396 comprising a lumen . cutting device 3395 further comprises a cutting wire 3398 located in the lumen of elongate sheath 3396 . the proximal end of cutting wire 3398 is connected to a source of electrical energy . distal end of cutting wire 3398 is connected to the inner surface of the distal region of elongate sheath 3396 . cutting wire 3398 may be made from suitable elastic , super - elastic or shape memory materials including but not limited to nitinol , titanium , stainless steel etc . in fig3 n , electrosurgical cutting device 3395 is deployed by pushing the proximal region of cutting wire 3398 in the distal direction . this causes a distal region of cutting wire 3398 to emerge from the distal end of elongate sheath 3396 as a loop . thereafter , electrical energy is delivered through cutting wire 3398 to cut tissue . this may be accompanied by motion of electrosurgical cutting device 3395 along the proximal or distal direction . electrosurgical cutting device 3395 can be used to cut multiple planes of tissue by withdrawing cutting wire 3398 in elongate sheath 3396 , rotating elongate sheath 3396 to a new orientation , redeploying cutting wire 3398 and delivering electrical energy through cutting wire 3398 . the devices 33 h through 33 n may be introduced by one or more access devices such as guidewires , sheaths etc . fig3 shows a perspective view of the distal region of a balloon catheter comprising a balloon with cutting blades . balloon catheter 3400 can be introduced into a lumen or in the tissue of an organ to be treated using one or more of the introducing methods disclosed elsewhere in this patent application . balloon catheter 3400 comprises a shaft 3402 . shaft 3402 may comprise a lumen to allow balloon catheter 3400 to be introduced over a guidewire . in one embodiment , shaft 3402 is torquable . shaft 3402 comprises a balloon 3404 located on the distal end of shaft 3402 . balloon 3404 can be fabricated from materials including , but not limited to polyethylene terephthalate , nylon , polyurethane , polyvinyl chloride , crosslinked polyethylene , polyolefins , hptfe , hpe , hdpe , ldpe , eptfe , block copolymers , latex and silicone . balloon 3404 further comprises one or more cutter blades 3406 . balloon catheter 3400 is advanced with balloon 3404 deflated , into a natural or surgically created passageway and positioned adjacent to tissue or matter that is to be cut , dilated , or expanded . thereafter , balloon 3404 is inflated to cause cutter blades 3406 to make one or more cuts in the adjacent tissue or matter . thereafter balloon 3404 is deflated and balloon catheter 3400 is removed . cutter blades 3406 may be energized with mono or bi - polar rf energy . balloon catheter 3400 may comprise one or more navigation markers including , but not limited to radio - opaque markers , ultrasound markers , light source that can be detected visually etc . fig3 shows a perspective view of the distal region of a balloon catheter comprising a balloon with cutting wires . balloon catheter 3500 can be introduced into a lumen or in the tissue of an organ to be treated using one or more of the introducing methods disclosed elsewhere in this patent application . balloon catheter 3500 comprises a shaft 3502 . shaft 3502 may comprise a lumen to allow balloon catheter 3500 to be introduced over a guidewire . in one embodiment , shaft 3502 is torquable . shaft 3502 comprises a balloon 3504 located on the distal end of shaft 3502 . balloon 3504 can be fabricated from materials including , but not limited to polyethylene terephthalate , nylon , polyurethane , polyvinyl chloride , crosslinked polyethylene , polyolefins , hptfe , hpe , hdpe , ldpe , eptfe , block copolymers , latex and silicone . balloon 3504 further comprises one or more radiofrequency wires 3506 . balloon catheter 3500 is advanced with balloon 3504 deflated , into a natural or surgically created passageway and positioned adjacent to tissue or matter that is to be cut , dilated , or expanded . thereafter , balloon 3504 is inflated and an electrical current is delivered through radiofrequency wires 3506 to make one or more cuts in the adjacent tissue or matter . thereafter the electrical current is stopped , balloon 3504 is deflated and balloon catheter 3500 is removed . radiofrequency wires 3504 may be energized with mono or bi - polar rf energy . balloon catheter 3500 may comprise one or more navigation markers including , but not limited to radio - opaque markers , ultrasound markers , light source that can be detected visually etc . fig3 a and 36b series show perspective views of an undeployed state and a deployed state respectively of a tissue displacement device . fig3 a shows a tissue anchoring device 3600 in the undeployed state . anchoring device 3600 comprises an elongate body having a proximal end 3602 and a distal end 3604 . anchoring device 3600 may be made of a variety of elastic or super - elastic materials including , but not limited to nitinol , stainless steel , titanium etc . anchoring device 3600 is substantially straight in the undeployed state and has a tendency to become substantially curved in the deployed state . anchoring device 3600 is maintained in the undeployed state by a variety of means including , but not limited to enclosing anchoring device 3600 in a cannula or sheath , etc . fig3 b shows tissue anchoring device 3600 in the deployed state . anchoring device 3600 comprises a curved region . when anchoring device 3600 changes from an undeployed state to a deployed state , the anatomical tissue adjacent to the central region of anchoring device 3600 is displaced along the direction of motion of the central region . anchoring device 3600 can be deployed by a variety of methods including , but not limited to removing anchoring device 3600 from a sheath or cannula , etc . in one embodiment , anchoring device 3600 is made from a shape memory material such as nitinol . in this embodiment , anchoring device 3600 is maintained in the undeployed state by maintaining anchor device 3600 in a temperature lower than the transition temperature of the super - elastic material . anchoring device 3600 is converted to the deployed state by implanting anchoring device 3600 in a patient such that the device is warmed to the body temperature which is above the transition temperature of the super - elastic material . fig3 c and 36d show a coronal view and a lateral view respectively of a pair of deployed tissue displacement devices of fig3 a and 36b implanted in the prostate gland pg . in fig3 c , two anchoring devices are implanted in the prostate gland pg near the prostatic urethra in a patient with bph . a first anchoring device 3600 is introduced on a first side of the urethra and is deployed there as shown . similarly , a second anchoring device 3606 comprising a proximal end 3608 and a distal end 3610 is introduced on the other side of the urethra and is deployed there as shown . first anchoring device 3600 and second anchoring device 3606 change into the deployed curved configuration . this causes prostate gland pg tissue near the central regions of first anchoring device 3600 and second anchoring device 3606 to be displaced radially away from the urethra . this displacement of prostate gland pg tissue can be used to eliminate or reduce the compression of the urethra by an enlarged prostate gland pg . fig3 d shows a lateral view of the urethra enclosed by the prostate gland pg showing deployed first anchoring device 3600 and second anchoring device 3606 . the various cuts or punctures made by one or more cutting devices disclosed in this patent application may be plugged or lined by a plugging or space filling substance . fig3 e through 36h show an axial section through a prostate gland showing the various steps of a method of cutting or puncturing the prostate gland and lining or plugging the cut or puncture . fig3 e shows a section of the prostate gland showing the urethra , the lateral lobes and the middle lobe surrounded by the prostatic pseudocapsule . in fig3 f , one or more cuts are made in a region of the prostatic pseudocapsule . in addition , one or more cuts may be made in a region of between two lobes of the prostate gland . in fig3 g , a plugging material 3619 is introduced in the one or more regions of the prostate gland that are cut or punctured . plugging material 3619 may be delivered through one or more delivery devices including , but not limited to the device disclosed in fig3 e . plugging material 3619 may comprises a material such as plugging material 3360 . the various cuts or punctures made by one or more cutting devices disclosed in this patent application may be spread open by a clipping device . for example , fig3 h shows an axial section through a prostate gland showing a clip for spreading open a cut or punctured region of the prostate gland . spreading device 3620 comprises a body having a central region and two distal arms . spreading device 3620 may be made of a variety of elastic or super - elastic materials including , but not limited to nitinol , stainless steel , titanium etc . spreading device 3620 has a reduced profile in the undeployed state by maintaining distal arms close to each other . spreading device 5000 is maintained in the undeployed state by a variety of means including , but not limited to enclosing spreading device 3620 in a cannula or sheath , etc . when spreading device 3620 changes from an undeployed state to a deployed state , the distance between the two distal arms increases . this causes any anatomical tissue between two distal arms to spread along the straight line between two distal arms spreading device 3620 can be deployed by a variety of methods including , but not limited to removing spreading device 3620 from a sheath or cannula , etc . in one embodiment , spreading device 3620 is made from a shape memory material such as nitinol . in this embodiment , spreading device 3620 is maintained in the undeployed state by maintaining anchor device 3620 in a temperature lower than the transition temperature of the super - elastic material . spreading device 3620 is converted to the deployed state by implanting spreading device 3620 in a patient such that the device is warmed to the body temperature which is above the transition temperature of the super - elastic material . stretching of prostate gland tissue can be used to eliminate or reduce the compression of the urethra by an enlarged prostate gland or to prevent cut edges of a cut from rejoining . more than one spreading device 3620 may be used to treat the effects of an enlarged prostate or to eliminate or reduce the compression of the urethra by an enlarged prostate gland or to prevent cut edges of a cut from rejoining . fig3 a through 37k show an embodiment of a method of treating prostate gland disorders by cutting a region of the prostate gland using the devices described in fig3 a through 33e . in fig3 a , introducer device 3300 is introduced in the urethra . it is advanced through the urethra such that the distal tip of introducer device 3300 is located in the prostatic urethra . thereafter , injecting needle 3330 is introduced through introducer device 3300 . the distal tip of injecting needle 3330 is advanced such that injecting needle 3330 penetrates the prostate gland . injecting needle 3330 is then used to inject a substance such as an anesthetic in the prostate gland . thereafter , in fig3 b , injecting needle 3330 is withdrawn from the anatomy . the distal region of introducer device 3300 is positioned near a region of the prostate gland to be punctured . thereafter , in fig3 c , first tubular element 3302 is bent or deflected with a bending or deflecting mechanism such as the bending mechanism in fig3 c ″ and 37 c ′″ to align the distal region of first tubular element 3302 along a desired trajectory of puncturing the prostate gland . fig3 c ′ shows the proximal region of introducer device 3300 . a cystoscope 3700 is introduced through second stasis valve 3316 such that the distal end of cystoscope 3700 emerges through the distal end of introducer device 3300 . cystoscope 3700 is then used to visualize the anatomy to facilitate the method of treating prostate gland disorders . fig3 c ″ shows a perspective view of the distal region of an embodiment of introducer device 3300 comprising a bending or deflecting mechanism . in this embodiment , first tubular element 3302 comprises a spiral cut distal end and a pull wire . in fig3 c ′″, the pull wire is pulled by deflection dial 3310 . this deflects the distal tip of first tubular element 3302 as shown . after the step in fig3 c , guiding device 3338 is introduced through first tubular element 3302 . guiding device 3338 is advanced through first tubular element 3302 such that the distal tip of guiding device 3338 penetrates into the prostate gland . in one method embodiment , guiding device 3338 is further advanced such that the distal tip of guiding device 3338 penetrates through the prostate gland and enters the urinary bladder . in one embodiment , distal region of guiding device 3338 comprises an anchoring element 3702 . anchoring element 3702 is deployed as shown in fig3 e . thereafter , guiding device 3338 is pulled in the proximal direction till anchoring element 3702 is snug against the wall of the urinary bladder . cystoscope 3700 can be used to visualize the steps of penetrating the prostate gland by guiding device 3338 and deploying anchoring element 3702 . if guiding device 3338 is not positioned in a satisfactory position , guiding device 3338 is pulled back in introducer device 3300 . the deflection angle of distal end of first tubular lumen 3302 is changed and guiding device 3338 is re - advanced into the urinary bladder . fig3 e ′ shows a perspective view of an embodiment of anchoring element 3702 . anchoring element comprises a hollow sheath 3704 . distal region of hollow sheath 3704 is attached to distal region of guiding device 3338 . a number of windows are cut in the distal region of hollow sheath 3704 such that several thin , splayable strips are formed between adjacent windows . pushing hollow sheath 3704 in the distal direction causes splayable strips to splay in the radially outward direction to form an anchoring element . in fig3 f , cutting device 3343 is advanced over guiding device 3338 into the prostate gland . in fig3 g , cutting device 3343 is positioned in the prostate gland such that proximal marker band 3348 can be seen by cystoscope 3700 but distal marker band 3350 cannot be seen . thereafter , in fig3 h , relative motion between outer sheath 3343 and inner sheath 3344 causes cutting wire 3352 to deploy outward in the axial direction . in one embodiment , this step is carried out by moving outer sheath 3343 in the distal direction while the inner sheath 3344 is stationary . in another embodiment , this step is carried out by moving inner sheath 3344 in the proximal direction while outer sheath 3343 is kept stationary . also during step , electrical energy is delivered through cutting wire 3352 to cut tissue . in fig3 i , cutting device 3343 is pulled in the proximal direction such that the deployed cutting wire 3352 slices through tissue . thereafter , cutting wire 3352 is withdrawn again in cutting device 3343 . cutting device 3343 is then removed from the anatomy . in fig3 j , plugging device 3354 is introduced over guiding device 3338 through the puncture or opening in the prostate gland . thereafter , in fig3 k , anchoring element 3702 is undeployed and guiding device 3343 is withdrawn from the anatomy . thereafter , plugging device 3354 is used to deliver one or more plugging materials in the adjacent anatomy . the plugging materials can be used to plug or line some or all of the cuts or punctures created during the method . fig3 a to 38d show various components of a kit for treating prostate gland disorders by compressing a region of the prostate gland . fig3 a shows the perspective view of an introducer device 3800 . introducer device 3800 comprises an outer body 3801 constructed from suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to metals like stainless steel , nichol plated brass , polymers like pebax , polyimide , braided polyimide , polyurethane , nylon , pvc , hytrel , hdpe , peek and fluoropolymers like ptfe , pfa , fep , eptfe etc . body 3801 comprises a working device lumen 3802 . distal end of working device lumen 3802 emerges out of the distal end of body 3801 . proximal end of working device lumen 3802 incorporates lock thread 3803 such that introducer device may join with other devices . device lumen 3802 may comprise one or more side ports e . g . a first side port 3804 and a second side port 3805 for the introduction or removal of one or more fluids . fig3 b shows a perspective view of a bridge device 3806 constructed from suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to metals like stainless steel , nichol plated brass , polymers like pebax , polyimide , braided polyimide , polyurethane , nylon , pvc , hytrel , hdpe , peek and fluoropolymers like ptfe , pfa , fep , eptfe etc . bridge device may insert into introducer lumen 3802 and lock into place by threadably mating thread lock 3807 with thread 3803 . bridge may incorporate port 3808 for cystoscope with locking means 3809 that joins to cystoscope when inserted . bridge device may incorporate one or more working lumens . working lumen 3810 emerges out of the distal end of body 3806 . in one embodiment , distal end of working device lumen 3810 has a bent or curved region . proximal end of lumen 3810 emerges from port 3811 that may incorporate fluid stasis valve 3812 and a luer lock . working lumen 3813 emerges distally in straight fashion through blunt obturator 3814 at distal end of body 3806 and emerges proximally through second port that may incorporate fluid stasis valve and luer lock . fig3 c shows a perspective view of a distal anchor deployment device 3815 constructed from suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to polymers like polycarbonate , pvc , pebax , polyimide , braided pebax , polyurethane , nylon , pvc , hytrel , hdpe , peek , metals like stainless steel , nichol plated brass , and fluoropolymers like ptfe , pfa , fep , eptfe etc . deployment device 3815 comprises handle 3816 , which incorporates movable thumb ring pusher 3817 and anchor deployment latch 3818 ; and distal shaft 3819 which has trocar point 3820 at distal end . mounted on distal shaft 3819 is distal anchor 3821 that incorporates tether 3822 . tether 3822 can be made of suitable elastic or non - elastic materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel 304 , stainless steel 306 , nickel - titanium alloys , suture materials , titanium etc . or polymers such as silicone , nylon , polyamide , polyglycolic acid , polypropylene , pebax , ptfe , eptfe , silk , gut , or any other monofilament or any braided or mono - filament material . proximal end of tether 3822 may incorporate hypotube 3823 . distal anchor 3821 is constructed from suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel 304 , stainless steel 306 , nickel - titanium alloys , titanium etc . or polymers e . g . pebax , braided pebax , polyimide , braided polyimide , polyurethane , nylon , pvc , hytrel , hdpe , peek , ptfe , pfa , fep , eptfe etc . deployment device 3815 is inserted into bridge working lumen 3810 . advancement of thumb ring 3817 extends distal shaft 3819 through distal end of working lumen 3810 , preferably into tissue for deployment of distal anchor 3821 . depth of distal shaft deployment can be monitored on cystoscope by visualizing depth markers 3824 . once distal shaft 3819 is deployed to desired depth , anchor deployment latch 3818 is rotated to release distal anchor 3821 . retraction of thumb ring 3817 then retracts distal shaft 3819 while leaving distal anchor 3821 in tissue . bridge 3806 is then disconnected from introducer device 3800 and removed . fig3 d shows the proximal anchor delivery tool 3825 constructed from suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to polymers like polycarbonate , pvc , pebax , polyimide , braided pebax , polyurethane , nylon , pvc , hytrel , hdpe , peek , metals like stainless steel , nichol plated brass , and fluoropolymers like ptfe , pfa , fep , eptfe etc . proximal anchor delivery tool 3825 comprises handle 3826 , which incorporates anchor deployment switch 3827 in slot 3828 and tether cut switch 3829 ; and distal shaft 3830 which houses hypotube 3831 . lumen of hypotube 3831 emerges proximally at port 3832 which may incorporate a luer lock . mounted on the hypotube and distal shaft is the proximal anchor 3833 with cinching hub 3834 . proximal anchor 3833 is constructed from suitable biocompatible materials including , but not limited to metals e . g . stainless steel 304 , stainless steel 306 , nickel - titanium alloys , titanium etc . or polymers e . g . pebax , braided pebax , polyimide , braided polyimide , polyurethane , nylon , pvc , hytrel , hdpe , peek , ptfe , pfa , fep , eptfe or biodegradable polymers e . g . polyglycolic acid , poly ( dioxanone ), poly ( trimethylene carbonate ) copolymers , and poly ( ε - caprolactone ) homopolymers and copolymers etc . fig3 e shows a close - up perspective view of proximal anchor 3833 mounted on hypotube 3831 and distal shaft 3830 of proximal anchor delivery tool 3825 . hypotube 3831 biases open the cinching lock 3835 of cinching hub 3834 . in order to deploy proximal anchor 3833 , hypotube 3823 is loaded into hypotube 3831 until it exits proximal port 3832 . hypotube 3823 is then stabilized while proximal anchor delivery tool 3825 is advanced into introducer device lumen 3802 and advanced to tissue target . because hypotube 3831 biases open cinching lock 3835 , the proximal anchor delivery tool travels freely along tether 3822 . once proximal anchor 3833 is adequately apposed to urethral wall of prostate , anchor deployment switch 3827 is retracted . during retraction of switch 3827 , hypotube 3831 is retracted proximal to cinching hub 3834 and tether 3822 is tightened . when switch 3827 is fully retracted or desired tension is accomplished , tether 3822 is cut within cinching hub 3834 by advancing cutting switch 3829 . any of the anchoring devices disclosed herein may comprise one or more sharp distal tips , barbs , hooks etc . to attach to tissue . various types of endoscopes can be used in conjunction with the devices disclosed herein such as flexible scopes that are thin , flexible , fibre - optic endoscopes and rigid scopes that are thin , solid , straight endoscopes . the scopes may have one or more side channels for insertion of various instruments . further they may be used with in conjunction with standard and modified sheaths intended for endoscopic and transurethral use . local or general anesthesia may be used while performing the procedures disclosed herein . examples of local anesthetics that can be used are anesthetic gels e . g . lidocaine gels in the urethra ; combination of anesthetic agents e . g . combination of lidocaine and bupivacaine in the urethra ; spinal anesthetics e . g . ropivacaine , fentanyl etc . ; injectable anesthetics e . g . 1 % lidocaine solution injected into the neurovascular bundles , the genitourinary diaphragm , and between the rectal wall and prostate ; etc . an optional trans - rectal ultrasound exam may be performed before and / or during the procedures disclosed herein . in this exam , a device called ultrasound transducer is inserted into the rectum . the ultrasound transducer is then used to image the prostate gland pg using ultrasound waves . the devices may be modified so that they are more visible under ultrasound such as etched surfaces . other imaging devices may also be optionally used such as mri , rf , electromagnetic and fluoroscopic or x - ray guidance . the anchoring devices or delivery devices may contain sensors or transmitters so that certain elements may be tracked and located within the body . the tethering devices may be used as cables to temporarily transmit energy to the distal and / or proximal anchors during deployment . the invention has been described hereabove with reference to certain examples or embodiments of the invention but various additions , deletions , alterations and modifications may be made to those examples and embodiments without departing from the intended spirit and scope of the invention . for example , any element or attribute of one embodiment or example may be incorporated into or used with another embodiment or example , unless to do so would render the embodiment or example unsuitable for its intended use . also , where the steps of a method or process are described , listed or claimed in a particular order , such steps may be performed in any other order unless to do so would render the embodiment or example un - novel , obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the relevant art or unsuitable for its intended use . all reasonable additions , deletions , modifications and alterations are to be considered equivalents of the described examples and embodiments and are to be included within the scope of the following claims .
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embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be discussed with reference to the accompanying drawings . fig1 is a block diagram illustrating an internal construction of a revolver controller of a microscope in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention . further , fig2 a is a plan view schematically illustrating a configuration of a revolver . fig2 b is a sectional view taken along the line 2b -- 2b on fig2 a . as depicted in fig2 a , a knurl 100 serving as a body of the revolver includes four mounting portions 150a - 150d provided at equal intervals , in which addresses are sequentially set . four objective lenses having magnifications different from each other are mounted in these mounting portions 150a - 150d in a peripheral direction in the sequence of the magnifications . in accordance with this embodiment , it is assumed that the objective lens having a minimum magnification is mounted in the address - 1 mounting portion 150a ; the objective lenses are mounted in the address - 2 mounting portion 150b and the address - 3 mounting portion 150c so that the magnification becomes gradually larger ; and , thus , the objective lens having a maximum magnification is mounted in the address - 4 mounting portion 150d . note that each objective lens is so mounted as to protrude from a convex surface of the knurl 100 as seen in fig2 b . then , the knurl 100 is so driven by an unillustrated motor as to make forward / reverse revolutions . revolving the revolver in the forward direction ( the knurl 100 is revolved clockwise in fig2 a ) makes it possible to sequentially switch over the objective lens passing through an optical path of the microscope from the address - 1 lens having the minimum magnification to the address - 4 lens having the maximum magnification via the addresses 2 , 3 . further , revolving the revolver in the reverse direction ( the knurl 100 is revolved counterclockwise in fig2 a ) makes it possible to sequentially switch over the objective lens passing though the optical path of the microscope from the address - 4 lens having the maximum magnification to the address - 1 lens having the minimum magnification via the addresses 3 , 2 . address detecting switches 110a - 110d are disposed at equal intervals in the peripheral direction , corresponding to positions of the four objective lenses . further , stop position detecting switches 120a - 120d are , as illustrated in fig2 a , disposed at equal intervals in the peripheral direction of the knurl 100 . further , as shown in fig2 b , two non - contact sensors 130 , 140 are disposed in a face - to - face relationship with the address detecting switches 110a - 110d and the stop position detecting switches 120a - 120d . thus , an item of address data recorded in each address detecting switch is read by the sensor 130 , thereby making it possible to detect an address of the mounting portion mounted with the objective lens located in the optical path of the microscope , i . e ., a type of objective lens disposed on the optical path . further , the sensor 140 reads an item of stop position data recorded in the stop position detecting switch , thereby making it possible to detect the fact that the objective lens has reached a predetermined position in the optical path of the microscope . a detection device constructed by a combination of the above detecting switch and the non - contact sensor may involve the use of a micro switch , a photoelectric sensor and a magnetic sensor . the device shown in fig1 includes a command - of - revolution operating unit 1 for giving a command of revolution to the revolver . the command - of - revolution operating unit 1 has two switches 11 , 12 , and the revolver revolves in the forward direction when depressing the forward revolution indicating switch 11 . that is , the objective lens disposed in the optical path of the microscope can be switched over gradually from the minimum - magnification objective lens to the higher - magnification objective lenses . when depressing the reverse revolution indicating switch 12 , the revolver revolves in the reverse direction . that is , the objective lens disposed in the optical path of the microscope can be switched over gradually from the maximum - magnification objective lens to the lower - magnification objective lenses . the command - of - revolution signals transmitted from the switches 11 , 12 are inputted respectively to a forward revolution trigger pulse side of a trigger pulse generating unit 3 and a reverse revolution trigger pulse side thereof via a forward revolution signal transmitting transistor 22 and a reverse revolution signal transmitting transistor 23 of a command signal processing unit 22 . the trigger pulse generating unit 3 generates a short single pulse at a fall of each input signal . a forward revolution flip - flop 41 of a revolution signal holding unit 4 and a reverse revolution flip - flop 42 are set by this pulse . a motor driver 61 of a motor driving unit 6 causes the forward / reverse revolutions of a motor 62 and , in turn , the revolver on the basis of an output signal from the revolution signal holding unit 4 . note that when the non - contact sensor 140 detects any one of the above stop position detecting switches 120a - 120d , a switch 71 of a stop - of - revolution signal generating unit 7 is closed . then , a single pulse signal assuming a low level is outputted from a pulse generator 72 , and both of the forward revolution flip - flop 41 and the reverse revolution flip - flop 42 are reset , thereby stopping the motor 62 . at this time , any objective lens is located and stopped in the optical path of the microscope . accordingly , address signals encoded by the address detecting switches 51 , 52 , 53 of the address detecting unit 5 are inputted to a decoder 54 . note that the address signal , as stated above , indicates an address , i . e ., a type of the objective lens located on the optical path of the microscope . among respective output signals of the decoder 54 , a low - level output signal indicating that the objective lens located in the optical path of the microscope is the minimum - magnification lens is transmitted to a base of the reverse revolution signal transmitting transistor 23 via a diode 24 . hence , if the objective lens located in the optical path of the microscope is the minimum - magnification lens , a base electric potential of the reverse revolution signal transmitting transistor 23 decreases , and , therefore , the signal from the reverse revolution indicating switch 12 is not transmitted to the trigger pulse generating unit 3 . that is , if the objective lens located in the optical path of the microscope is the minimum - magnification lens , the switchover from the minimum - magnification lens to the maximum - magnification lens is not executed even when depressing the reverse revolution indicating switch 12 . on the other hand , a base of the forward revolution signal transmitting transistor 22 is connected to the reverse revolution indicating switch 12 , while a base of the reverse revolution signal transmitting transistor 23 is connected to the forward revolution indicating switch 11 . when simultaneously depressing both the forward revolution indicating switch 11 and the reverse revolution indicating switch 12 , there is prevented such a situation that both the forward revolution flip - flop 41 and the reverse revolution flip - flop 42 are set with the result that the motor 62 is halted . further , the low - level output signal from the decoder 54 is inputted also to a nand gate 21 . connected , moreover , to the nand gate 21 are the forward revolution indicating switch 11 and the reverse revolution indicating switch 12 while being pulled up by resistors 26 , 27 , respectively . then , an output signal from the nand gate 21 is inputted to the reverse - revolution trigger pulse generating side of the trigger pulse generating unit 3 . as described above , if the objective lens located in the optical path of the microscope is the minimum - magnification lens , the command signal is not transmitted to the trigger generating unit 3 even when depressing only the reverse revolution indicating switch 12 , and consequently the revolver is not revolved reversely . herein , when depressing both the forward revolution indicating switch 11 and the reverse revolution indicating switch 12 , all three inputs of the nand gate 21 assume the low level , and the output thereof also assumes the low level . in consequence of this , it seems as if there is developed the same state as transmitting the signal from the reverse revolution indicating switch 12 to the trigger pulse generating unit 3 . then , the trigger pulse generating unit 3 generates the reverse revolution trigger pulse , and the switchover from the minimum - magnification lens to the maximum - magnification lens can be done . in other words , the operation with a special consideration of the operator is conducted , whereby the switchover from the minimum - magnification lens to the maximum - magnification lens can be exceptionally done . note that the signals from the base and from the emitter of the reverse revolution signal transmitting transistor 23 are connected to a negative input and gate ( unillustrated ), and an led and a buzzer , etc . may be connected to an output of this and gate . with this construction , a warning is given when depressing the reverse revolution indicating switch 12 if the objective lens located in the optical path of the microscope is the minimum - magnification lens . the operator of the microscope can be thus informed of an invalid input . fig3 is a block diagram illustrating an internal construction of the revolver controller of the microscope in a second embodiment of the present invention . fig4 is a view schematically illustrating the configuration of the revolver in this embodiment . further , fig5 is a flowchart showing operations of a cpu of fig3 . next , the second embodiment will be explained with reference to fig3 and 5 . this second embodiment is constructed such that a cpu 82 substitutes for the command signal processing unit 2 , the trigger pulse generating unit 3 and the revolution signal holding unit 4 in the first embodiment discussed above . note that the present invention is applied to the revolver including five mounting portions in this embodiment . referring to fig3 an address indication operating unit 81 corresponds to the revolution indication operating unit 1 of fig1 ; an address detecting unit 80 corresponds to the address detecting unit 5 of fig1 ; a motor driving unit 83 corresponds to the motor operating unit 6 of fig1 ; and a stop - of - revolution signal generating unit 84 corresponds to the stop - of - revolution signal generating unit 7 of fig1 . accordingly , the constructions and operations of the elements incorporating the same functions as those of the corresponding elements in the first embodiment will be omitted in the second embodiment . in an apparatus of fig3 the address detecting unit 80 , the address indication operating unit 81 , the motor driving unit 83 , the stop - of - revolution signal generating unit 84 and a warning buzzer generation unit 85 are connected to the cpu 82 . the cpu 82 controls the motor operating unit 83 and the warning buzzer generating unit 85 on the basis of the signals inputted from the address detecting unit 80 , the address indication operating unit 81 and the stop - of - revolution signal generating unit 84 . the address indication operating unit 81 includes five switches . the individual switches correspond to addresses of the five objective lens mounting portions through which the revolver is mounted with the objective lenses . referring to fig4 the knurl 100 serving as the body of the revolver includes five mounting portions 250a - 250e provided at equal intervals , in which addresses are sequentially set . five objective lenses having magnifications different from each other are mounted in these mounting portions 250a - 250e in the peripheral direction in the sequence of the magnifications . in accordance with this embodiment in the same way as the preceding first embodiment , it is assumed that the objective lens having the minimum magnification is mounted in the address - 1 mounting portion 250a ; the objective lenses are mounted in the address - 2 through address - 4 mounting portions 250b - 250d so that the magnification becomes gradually larger ; and , thus , the objective lens having the maximum magnification is mounted in the address - 5 mounting portion 250e . address detecting switches 210a210e are disposed in the peripheral direction at equal intervals in the peripheral area of the knurl 100 , corresponding to positions of the five objective lenses . further , stop position detecting switches 220a - 220e are , as illustrated in fig4 disposed at equal intervals in the peripheral direction of the knurl 100 . also , non - contact sensors 130 , 140 ( unillustrated ), in the same way as the preceding first embodiment , read address data and stop position data of the address detecting switches 210a - 210e and the stop position detecting switches 220a - 220e . accordingly , when depressing a switch 81a among five switches 81a - 81e of the address indication operating unit 81 , the revolver is driven to revolve , whereby the address - 1 lens having the minimum magnification is located in the optical path . further , when depressing the switch 81e , the revolver is driven to revolve , whereby the address - 5 lens having the maximum magnification is located in the optical path . thus , by selecting one switch among switches 81a - 81e , the indicated address , i . e ., the address of the desired objective lens which is to be moved in the optical path of the microscope , can be inputted to the cpu 82 . next , an operation of switching over the objective lens of the thus constructed revolver will be explained with reference to a flowchart of fig5 . to start with , an address of a desired objective lens is inputted from the address indication operating unit 81 to the cpu 82 . inputted further from the address detecting unit 80 to the cpu 82 is an address signal indicating a type of the objective lens disposed at present in the optical path of the microscope . the cpu 82 checks whether the present address is 1 or not ( step 91 ). if the present address is not 1 , the cpu 82 calculates a shortest revolving direction and revolving distance to switch over the present address to an indicated address ( step 92 ). for instance , if the present address is 2 , and the indicated address is 5 when the revolver is revolved in the forward direction the address 5 is reached through the addresses 3 , 4 from the address 2 . on the other hand , when the revolver is revolved in the reverse direction , the address 5 can be reached through only the address 1 from the address 2 . in this instance , the cpu 82 determines that the revolver should be revolved in the reverse direction through only the two addresses . then , the cpu 82 controls the motor operating unit 83 on the basis of the revolving direction and revolving distance that are calculated in step 2 and thus causes the revolver to revolve ( step 93 ). the cpu 82 , when determining that the present address is 1 in step 91 , checks whether the indicated address is 5 or not ( step 94 ). the cpu 82 , if the indicated address is not 5 , calculates a revolving distance in the forward revolving direction to switch over the present address to the indicated address ( step 95 ) and causes the revolver to revolve in the forward direction ( step 93 ). that is , if the present address is 1 , the revolver is revolved in the forward revolving direction even when the revolving distance elongates so that the maximum - magnification objective lens does not pass through the optical path of the microscope . in step 94 , the cpu 82 , if the indicated address is 5 , transmits a signal to the warning buzzer generating unit 85 to emit a warning buzzer , and the operation of switching over the objective lens is thus ended ( step 96 ). that is , the apparatus does not work even by trying to effect the switchover to the maximum magnification when the minimum - magnification lens is disposed in the optical path of the microscope . incidentally , in this case , the address indication operating unit 81 may be operated so that the revolver is revolved , e . g ., at first from the address 1 to the address 3 , and , thereafter , the revolver is revolved from the address 3 to the address 5 . thus , an arbitrary switch among the five switches 81a - 81e of the address indication operating unit 81 is depressed to revolve the revolver in the shortest - distance revolving direction , whereby the desired objective lens can be located in the optical path . as discussed above , however , the apparatus does not work even by selecting the maximum - magnification lens when the minimum - magnification lens is disposed in the optical path . further , when the minimum - magnification lens is disposed in the optical path , the desired objective lens is located in the optical path of the microscope by revolving the revolver in the forward revolving direction so that the maximum - magnification objective lens does not pass through the optical path of the microscope . further , in this embodiment , there has been considered only a relationship between the minimum - and maximum - magnification objective lenses . if there is an objective lens the lens barrel front edge of which is disposed within a focal depth of the minimum - magnification objective lens ( see fig6 ) in addition to the maximum - magnification objective lens , however , a construction may be such that a command of switching over the minimum - magnification objective lens to that objective lens is cut off . it is apparent that , in this invention , a wide range of different working modes can be formed based on the invention without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention . this invention is not restricted by its specific working modes except being limited by the appended claims .
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[ 0012 ] fig1 a through 1g are process explanatory diagrams showing a method of forming a metal layer according to a first embodiment of the invention . in a method of forming a metal layer according to the first embodiment , firstly , as shown in fig1 a , an insulating layer 102 is formed on a semiconductor substrate 101 . the semiconductor substrate 101 is constituted of , for instance , silicon . furthermore , the insulating layer 102 is constituted of , for instance , silicon oxide and so on . however , constituent materials are not restricted to particular ones . in the next place , as shown in fig1 b , by use of known photolithography technology and etching technology , a groove 103 is formed in the insulating layer 102 . the groove 103 is formed in a region corresponding to a layer pattern formed in the insulating layer 102 . a depth of the groove 103 is , for instance , 0 . 3 μm , and a width of the groove 103 is , for instance , 0 . 3 μm . a shape of the groove 103 and the number thereof are not restricted to ones shown in the drawing . furthermore , dimensions of the groove 103 are neither restricted to ones cited above . next , as shown in fig1 c , on the insulating layer 102 therein the groove 103 is formed , an additive - containing barrier layer 104 and a cu seed layer 105 are sequentially formed . the additive - containing barrier layer 104 functions as a diffusion stop layer that inhibits a constituent metal of a layer formed thereon from diffusing into the insulating layer 102 . the additive - containing barrier layer 104 is , for instance , a tamgn layer obtained by adding mg to tan . a thickness of the additive - containing barrier layer 104 is , for instance , 40 nm . a thickness of the cu seed layer 105 is , for instance , 100 nm . however , the dimensions of the respective layers are not restricted to the cited ones . the additive - containing barrier layer 104 and the cu seed layer 105 are sequentially formed in the sputtering apparatus ( not shown in the drawing ) by use of a sputtering method in which the directional characteristics are enhanced . the tamgn layer as the additive - containing barrier layer 104 is formed , with an ar / n 2 mixture gas introducing into evacuated sputtering apparatus , by use of a tamg target . the cu seed layer 105 is formed , with ar gas introducing into evacuated sputtering apparatus , by use of a cu target . when thus the cu seed layer 105 is sequentially formed on the additive - containing barrier layer 104 that is disposed in the evacuated sputtering apparatus , the additive element in the additive - containing barrier layer 104 can be inhibited from being exposed to air and thereby from being oxidized . as the additive element of the additive - containing barrier layer 104 , at least one or more of ag , ca , zn , cd , au , be , mg , sn , zr , b , pd , al , hg , in , ni and ga can be used . a content (% by weight ) of the additive in the additive - containing barrier layer 104 is in the range of 0 . 05 to 10 % by weight . as other examples of the constituent materials of the additive - containing barrier layer 104 , tan , tacn , tasin , tasicn , wn , wcn , wsin , wsicn , tin , ticn , tisin , tisicn , zrn , zrcn , zrsin , and zrsicn can be cited . as the method of forming the additive - containing barrier layer 104 and the cu seed layer 105 , without restricting to the sputtering method , other methods such as the cvd method can be adopted . subsequently , the sample ( wafer ) thereon the cu seed layer 105 is formed is taken out of the sputtering apparatus , and while exposing to air , transferred to the plating apparatus ( not shown in the drawing ). then , as shown in fig1 d , on the cu seed layer 105 , a cu plating layer 106 is formed by use of an electroplating method . the cu plating layer 106 is formed so that the groove 103 may be completely buried . in the next place , in order to stabilize layer qualities such as the hardness , the crystallinity and the specific resistance of the cu plating layer 106 , heat treatment is applied at a first temperature ( for instance , 100 to 350 degree centigrade ) for 1 min to 5 hr in nitrogen atmosphere . however , the most preferable heat treatment temperature is different depending on various kinds of factors such as a width of the layer and so on . in the first embodiment , in order to make the diffusion of the additive element from the additive - containing barrier layer 104 to the cu seed layer 105 and the cu plating layer 106 as small as possible , the heat treatment is carried out at a relatively low temperature , and in order to grow cu grains of the cu seed layer 105 and the cu plating layer 106 the heat treatment is performed for a relatively longer time period . according to the heat treatment , as shown in fig1 e , the cu seed layer 105 and the cu plating layer 106 are promoted in integrating . subsequently , as shown in fig1 f , the respective layers on the insulating layer 102 , that is , the additive - containing barrier layer 104 , the cu seed layer 105 and the cu plating layer 106 are partially removed until a top portion of the insulating layer 102 is exposed . the removing is performed according to a cmp polishing method by use of cmp ( chemical - mechanical polishing ) apparatus ( not shown in the drawing ). according to the process , a conductive layer 107 ( constituted of part of the cu seed layer 105 and part of the cu plating layer 106 ) is left in the groove 103 . the conductive layer 107 becomes a metal layer of a semiconductor element . slurry used in the cmp method is silica - based one and mixed with h 2 o 2 as an oxidant . respective down forces of a carrier ( a system that holds a wafer to be polished ) and a retainer ring ( a member that surrounds an outer periphery of the wafer held by the carrier ) of the cmp apparatus are , for instance , 4 psi and 5 psi . furthermore , respective rotation speeds of the carrier and a platen ( polishing cloth for polishing a sample held by the carrier ) of the cmp apparatus are , for instance , 80 rpm and 80 rpm . the polishing process of the cmp method comprises two steps . in the first polishing step , the cu plating layer 106 and the cu seed layer 105 are polished and the additive - containing barrier layer 104 on the insulating layer 102 is left . in the subsequent second polishing step , by use of a different silica - based slurry , the additive - containing barrier layer 104 disposed on a top portion of the insulating layer 102 is completely removed . when a polishing speed of the cu plating layer 106 is set at , for instance , one tenth that of the additive - containing barrier layer 104 , the conductive layer 107 can be suppressed from dishing . at this time , the down forces of the carrier and the retainer ring of the cmp apparatus are , for instance , 4 psi and 5 psi , respectively . furthermore , the rotation speeds of the carrier and the platen of the cmp apparatus are , for instance , 50 rpm and 50 rpm , respectively . in the next place , as shown in fig1 g , heat treatment is carried out at a second temperature ( for instance , in the neighborhood of 400 degree centigrade ) for 0 . 5 to 5 hr in a mixture atmosphere of nitrogen and hydrogen . in the heat treatment , the additive element in the additive - containing barrier layer 104 is diffused into the conductive layer 107 and thereby an additive - containing conductive layer 108 is formed . accordingly , the second temperature is higher than the first temperature . furthermore , the second temperature , without restricting to the neighborhood of 400 degree centigrade , can be a temperature in the range of 250 to 450 degree centigrade . owing to the heat treatment , the additive element in the additive - containing barrier layer 104 is allowed diffusing into the conductive layer 107 , and thereby the additive - containing conductive layer 108 is formed . in the above , the formation of the cu layer in the semiconductor element comes to completion . as mentioned above , according to the method of forming a metal layer according to the first embodiment , after the cu seed layer 105 is formed in the sputtering apparatus , the sample is transferred through air to the plating apparatus . accordingly , the additive - containing barrier layer 104 is not exposed to air . as a result , the additive element of the additive - containing barrier layer 104 is not oxidized with the air , and thereby the cu plating layer 106 can be inhibited from deteriorating in the adhesion . furthermore , according to the method of forming a metal layer according to the first embodiment , in order to promote grain growth of the cu seed layer 105 and the cu plating layer 106 , the heat treatment is carried out at the first temperature that is relatively low , and thereafter at the relatively higher second temperature that enables the additive element to diffuse from the additive - containing barrier layer 104 to the conductive layer 107 , the heat treatment is implemented . thus , according to the method of forming a metal layer according to the first embodiment , since the grain growth and the diffusion of the additive element that are two countermeasure for improving the em resistance can be implemented , the cu layer excellent in the em resistance can be formed . in the above explanation , the method of forming a cu layer to a semiconductor element is explained . however , the invention can be applied also to a method of forming a metal layer other than the cu layer . [ 0027 ] fig2 a through 2g are process explanatory diagrams showing a method of forming a metal layer according to the second embodiment of the invention . the method of forming a metal layer according to the second embodiment is different from that according to the first embodiment in that a barrier layer 204 is provided between an insulating layer 202 and an additive - containing barrier layer 205 . here , the barrier layer 204 is either a barrier layer that does not contain an additive or a barrier layer whose additive content is smaller than that of the additive - containing barrier layer 205 . in a method of forming a metal layer according to the second embodiment , firstly , as shown in fig2 a , an insulating layer 202 is formed on a semiconductor substrate 201 . the semiconductor substrate 201 is constituted of , for instance , silicon . furthermore , the insulating layer 202 is constituted of , for instance , silicon oxide and so on . however , the constituent materials are not restricted to particular ones . in the next place , as shown in fig2 b , by use of known photolithography technology and etching technology , a groove 203 is formed in the insulating layer 202 . the groove 203 is formed in a region corresponding to a layer pattern formed in the insulating layer 202 . a depth of the groove 203 is , for instance , 0 . 3 μm , and a width of the groove 203 is , for instance , 0 . 3 μm . a shape of the groove 203 and the number thereof are not restricted to ones shown in the drawing . furthermore , dimensions of the groove 203 are neither restricted to one cited above . next , as shown in fig2 c , on the insulating layer 202 therein the groove 203 is formed , a barrier layer 204 , a additive - containing barrier layer 205 and a cu seed layer 206 are sequentially formed . the barrier layer 204 and the additive - containing barrier layer 205 work as a diffusion stop layer that inhibits a constituent metal of a layer formed thereon from diffusing into the insulating layer 202 . the barrier layer 204 is formed by use of one material selected from a group of tan , tacn , tasin , tasicn , wn , wcn , wsin , wsicn , tin , ticn , tisin , tisicn , zrn , zrcn , zrsin and zrsicn . the additive - containing barrier layer 205 is formed by use of a material in which one material selected from a group of tan , tacn , tasin , tasicn , wn , wcn , wsin , wsicn , tin , ticn , tisin , tisicn , zrn , zrcn , zrsin and zrsicn is mixed with at least one or more additive elements selected from ag , ca , zn , cd , au , be , mg , sn , zr , b , pd , al , hg , in , ni and ga . the barrier layer 204 , the additive - containing barrier layer 205 and the cu seed layer 206 are sequentially formed in the sputtering apparatus by use of a sputtering method in which the directional characteristics are enhanced . as the method of depositing the barrier layer 204 , the additive - containing barrier layer 205 and the cu seed layer 206 , without restricting to the sputtering method , other methods such as the cvd method can be adopted . subsequently , the sample ( wafer ) thereon the cu seed layer 206 is formed is taken out of the sputtering apparatus , while exposing to air , transferred to the plating apparatus ( not shown in the drawing ). then , as shown in fig2 d , on the cu seed layer 206 , a cu plating layer 207 is formed by use of an electroplating method . the cu plating layer 207 is formed so that the groove 203 may be completely buried . in the next place , with an intension of stabilizing layer qualities such as the hardness , the crystallinity and the specific resistance of the cu plating layer 207 , the heat treatment is carried out at a first temperature ( for instance , 100 to 350 degree centigrade ) for 1 min to 5 hr in nitrogen atmosphere . owing to the heat treatment , as shown in fig2 e , the cu seed layer 206 and the cu plating layer 207 are promoted in integrating . subsequently , as shown in fig2 f , the respective layers on the insulating layer 202 , that is , the barrier layer 204 , the additive - containing barrier layer 205 , the cu seed layer 206 and the cu plating layer 207 are partially removed until a top portion of the insulating layer 202 is exposed . the removing is performed according to a cmp polishing method . according to the process , a conductive layer 208 ( constituted of part of the cu seed layer 206 and part of the cu plating layer 207 ) is left in the groove 203 . the conductive layer 208 is used as a metal layer of a semiconductor element . in the next place , as shown in fig2 g , heat treatment is carried out at a second temperature ( for instance , in the neighborhood of 400 degree centigrade ) for 0 . 5 to 5 hr in a mixture atmosphere of nitrogen and hydrogen . in the heat treatment , the additive element in the additive - containing barrier layer 205 is diffused into the conductive layer 208 and thereby an additive - containing conductive layer 209 is formed . accordingly , the second temperature is set higher than the first temperature . furthermore , the second temperature , without restricting to the neighborhood of 400 degree centigrade , can be a temperature in the range of 250 to 450 degree centigrade . owing to the heat treatment , the additive element in the additive - containing barrier layer 205 is allowed to diffuse into the conductive layer 208 , and thereby the additive - containing conductive layer 209 is formed . in the above , the formation of the cu layer in the semiconductor element comes to completion . as mentioned above , according to the method of forming a metal layer according to the second embodiment , after the cu seed layer 206 is formed in the sputtering apparatus , the sample is transferred through air to the plating apparatus . accordingly , the additive - containing barrier layer 205 is not exposed to the air . as a result , the additive element of the additive - containing barrier layer 205 is not oxidized with the air , and the cu plating layer 207 can be inhibited from deteriorating in the adhesion and from generating voids when the cu plating layer 207 is formed . furthermore , according to the method of forming a metal layer according to the second embodiment , in order to promote growing grains of the cu seed layer 206 and the cu plating layer 207 , the heat treatment is carried out at the first temperature that is relatively low , and thereafter at the relatively higher second temperature that enables the additive element to diffuse from the additive - containing barrier layer 205 to the conductive layer 208 , the heat treatment is implemented . thus , according to the method of forming a metal layer according to the second embodiment , since the grain growth and the diffusion of the additive element that are two countermeasure for improving the em resistance can be implemented , the cu layer excellent in the em resistance can be formed . furthermore , in the method of forming the metal layer according to the second embodiment , as an under layer of the additive - containing barrier layer 205 , the barrier layer 204 is provided . accordingly , an effect that inhibits the cu element from diffusing into the insulating layer 202 can be furthermore enhanced . except for the above , the second embodiment is the same as the first embodiment . [ 0041 ] fig3 a through 3j are process explanatory diagrams showing a method of forming a metal layer according to a third embodiment of the invention . a method of forming a metal layer according to the third embodiment is one in which a metal layer is formed on a sample ( wafer ) provided with a conductive layer 308 such as shown in fig3 a . in fig3 a , reference numerals 301 , 302 and 304 denote a semiconductor substrate , an insulating layer and a barrier layer , respectively . the sample shown in fig3 a may be whatever samples provided with a metal layer . furthermore , the sample shown in fig3 a may be one that is formed according to the first or second embodiment . in the method of forming a metal layer according to the third embodiment , as shown in fig3 b , on the insulating layer 302 provided with the conductive layer 308 , a sin layer 311 as a cap layer , an insulating layer 312 , a sin layer 313 as an etch stop layer , and an insulating layer 314 are sequentially formed . the insulating layer 312 and the insulating layer 314 are formed of , for instance , silicon oxide . the sin layer 311 has a function of inhibiting the insulating layer 312 from oxidizing the conductive layer 308 . however , constituent materials are not restricted to these . subsequently , as shown in fig3 c , by use of known photolithography technology and etching technology , a groove 315 is formed in the insulating layer 314 , and at a lower portion of the groove 315 , a via 316 that penetrates through the sin layer 313 , the insulating layer 312 , and the cap layer 311 and thereby exposes the conductive layer 308 is formed . the groove 315 is divided into regions corresponding to layer patterns formed in the insulating layer 312 . a depth of the groove 315 is , for instance , 0 . 3 μm , and a width of the groove 315 is , for instance , 0 . 3 μm . furthermore , a depth of the via 316 is , for instance , 0 . 8 μm , and a diameter of the via 316 is , for instance , 0 . 3 μm . shapes of the groove 315 and the via 316 and the numbers thereof are not restricted to ones shown in the drawing . furthermore , dimensions of the groove 315 and the via 316 are neither restricted to ones cited above . next , as shown in fig3 d , on a side surface of the groove 315 of the insulating layer 314 as well as on a side surface and a bottom surface of the via 316 , an additive - containing barrier layer 317 is formed . the additive - containing barrier layer 317 functions as a diffusion stop layer that inhibits a constituent metal of a layer formed thereon from diffusing into the insulating layers 312 and 314 . the additive - containing barrier layer 317 is , for instance , a tamgn layer obtained by adding mg to tan . a thickness of the additive - containing barrier layer 317 is , for instance , 80 nm ( a thickness of a deposition layer above the insulating layer 314 ). however , the dimensions are not restricted to the cited ones . the additive - containing barrier layer 317 is formed in the sputtering apparatus ( not shown in the drawing ) by use of a sputtering method in which the directional characteristics are enhanced . the tamgn layer as the additive - containing barrier layer 317 is formed , with an ar / n 2 mixture gas introducing into evacuated sputtering apparatus , by use of a tamg target . as the additive element of the additive - containing barrier layer 317 , at least one or more of ag , ca , zn , cd , au , be , mg , sn , zr , b , pd , al , hg , in , ni and ga can be used . a content (% by weight ) of the additive in the additive - containing barrier layer 317 is in the range of 0 . 05 to 10 % by weight . as other examples of the constituent materials of the additive - containing barrier layer 317 , tan , tacn , tasin , tasicn , wn , wcn , wsin , wsicn , tin , ticn , tisin , tisicn , zrn , zrcn , zrsin , and zrsicn can be cited . as the method of depositing the additive - containing barrier layer 317 , without restricting to the sputtering method , other methods such as the cvd method can be adopted . subsequently , as shown in fig3 e , the additive - containing barrier layer 317 on the bottom surface of the via 316 , without exposing the sample to the air , is removed by use of anisotropic etching . for instance , when the additive - containing barrier layer 317 is deposited by 80 nm , a layer thickness at a bottom portion of the via 316 is substantially 15 nm , and a film thickness of a sidewall portion of the via 316 is substantially 4 nm . accordingly , when the additive - containing barrier layer 317 on the bottom portion of the via 316 is removed , the additive - containing barrier layer 317 on the sidewall portion of the via 316 and an external portion of the groove 315 ( a top portion of the insulating layer 314 ) can be left . in the next place , after the additive - containing barrier layer 317 on the bottom portion of the via 316 is removed , without exposing the sample to the air , as shown in fig3 f , a cu seed layer 318 is formed . since the additive - containing barrier layer 317 on the bottom portion of the via 316 is removed , the cu seed layer 318 is directly connected to the conductive layer 308 that is a lower layer . subsequently , the wafer thereon the cu seed layer 318 is formed is taken out of the sputtering apparatus , and while exposing to air , transferred to the plating apparatus . then , as shown in fig3 g , on the cu seed layer 318 , a cu plating layer 319 is formed by use of an electroplating method . the cu plating layer 319 is formed so that the via 316 and the groove 315 may be completely buried . in the next place , in order to stabilize layer qualities such as the hardness , the crystallinity and the specific resistance of the cu plating layer 319 , heat treatment is carried out at a first temperature ( for instance , 100 to 350 degree centigrade ) for 1 min to 5 hr in nitrogen atmosphere . however , the most preferable heat treatment temperature is different depending on a width of the layer . furthermore , the most preferable heat treatment time period is different depending on a width of the layer . in the third embodiment , in order to make the diffusion of the additive element from the additive - containing barrier layer 317 to the cu seed layer 318 and the cu plating layer 319 as small as possible , the heat treatment is carried out at a relatively low temperature , and in order to grow cu grains of the cu seed layer 318 and the cu plating layer 319 the heat treatment is performed for a relatively longer time period . according to the heat treatment , as shown in fig3 h , the cu seed layer 318 and the cu plating layer 319 are promoted in integrating . subsequently , as shown in fig3 i , the respective layers on the insulating layer 314 , that is , the additive - containing barrier layer 317 , the cu seed layer 318 , and the cu plating layer 319 are partially removed until a top portion of the insulating layer 314 is exposed . the removing is performed according to the cmp polishing method . according to the process , a conductive layer 320 ( constituted of part of the cu seed layer 318 and part of the cu plating layer 319 ) is left in the groove 315 and the via 316 . the conductive layer 320 is used as a metal layer of a semiconductor element . the cmp method is similar to one in the first embodiment . in the next place , as shown in fig3 j , heat treatment is carried out at a second temperature ( for instance , in the neighborhood of 400 degree centigrade ) for 0 . 5 to 5 hr in an atmosphere of a mixture gas of nitrogen and hydrogen . in the heat treatment , the additive element in the additive - containing barrier layer 317 is diffused into the conductive layer 320 and thereby an additive - containing conductive layer 321 is formed . accordingly , the second temperature is set higher than the first temperature . furthermore , the second temperature , without restricting to the neighborhood of 400 degree centigrade , can be a temperature in the range of 250 to 450 degree centigrade . owing to the heat treatment , the additive element in the additive - containing barrier layer 317 is allowed to diffuse into the conductive layer 320 , and thereby the additive - containing conductive layer 321 is formed . in the above , the formation of the cu layer in the semiconductor element comes to completion . as mentioned above , according to the method of forming a metal layer according to the third embodiment , after the cu seed layer 318 is formed in the sputtering apparatus , the wafer is transferred through air to the plating apparatus . accordingly , the additive - containing barrier layer 317 is not exposed to air . as a result , the additive element of the additive - containing barrier layer 317 is not oxidized with the air and the cu plating layer 319 can be inhibited from deteriorating in the adhesion . furthermore , according to the method of forming a metal layer according to the third embodiment , in order to promote grain growth in the cu seed layer 318 and the cu plating layer 319 , the heat treatment is carried out at the first temperature that is relatively low , and thereafter at the relatively higher second temperature that enables the additive element to diffuse from the additive - containing barrier layer 317 to the conductive layer 320 , the heat treatment is implemented . thus , according to the method of forming a metal layer according to the third embodiment , since the grain growth and the diffusion of the additive element that are two countermeasure for improving the em resistance can be implemented , the cu layer excellent in the em resistance can be formed . furthermore , since the conductive layer 308 that is a first conductive layer and a second conductive layer 321 are directly connected through the via 316 , the layer low in the resistance can be formed , that is , a layer configuration preferable for improving an operation speed of the semiconductor element is obtained . still furthermore , in the above explanation , the method of forming a cu layer to a semiconductor element is explained . however , the invention can be applied also to a method of forming the metal layer other than the cu layer . [ 0058 ] fig4 a through 4j are process explanatory diagrams showing a method of forming a metal layer according to the fourth embodiment of the invention . the method of forming a metal layer according to the fourth embodiment is different from that according to the third embodiment in that a barrier layer 417 is provided between insulating layers 412 , 414 and an additive - containing barrier layer 418 . here , the barrier layer 417 is either a barrier layer that does not contain an additive or a barrier layer whose additive content is smaller than that of the additive - containing barrier layer 418 . a method of forming a metal layer according to the fourth embodiment is one in which a metal layer is formed on a sample ( wafer ) provided with a conductive layer 408 such as shown in fig4 a . in fig4 a , reference numerals 401 , 402 and 404 denote a semiconductor substrate , an insulating layer , and a barrier layer , respectively . the sample shown in fig4 a may be any one of samples that are provided with a metal layer . furthermore , the sample shown in fig4 a may be either one that is formed according to the first embodiment or one that is formed according to the second embodiment . in the method of forming a metal layer according to the fourth embodiment , as shown in fig4 b , on the insulating layer 402 provided with the conductive layer 408 , a sin layer 411 as a cap layer , the insulating layer 412 , a sin layer 413 as an etch stop layer , and an insulating layer 414 are sequentially formed . the insulating layers 412 and 414 are constituted of , for instance , silicon oxide . the sin layer 411 has a function of inhibiting the insulating layer 412 from oxidizing the conductive layer 408 . however , constituent materials are not restricted to these . in the next place , as shown in fig4 c , by use of known photolithography technology and etching technology , a groove 415 is formed in the insulating layer 414 , and at a lower portion of the groove 415 a via 416 that penetrates through the sin layer 413 , the insulating layer 412 , and the cap layer 411 and thereby exposes the conductive layer 408 is formed . shapes and the sizes of the groove 415 and the via 416 are the same as that of the third embodiment . next , as shown in fig4 d , on a side surface of the groove 415 of the insulating layer 414 , as well as on a side surface and on a bottom surface of the via 416 , the barrier layer 417 and the additive - containing barrier layer 418 are sequentially formed . the barrier layer 417 and the additive - containing barrier layer 418 work as a diffusion stop layer that inhibits a constituent metal of a layer formed thereon from diffusing into the insulating layers 412 and 414 . the barrier layer 417 is formed by use of one material selected from a group of , for instance , tan , tacn , tasin , tasicn , wn , wcn , wsin , wsicn , tin , ticn , tisin , tisicn , zrn , zrcn , zrsin , and zrsicn . the additive - containing barrier layer 418 is formed by use of a material in which one material selected from a group of tan , tacn , tasin , tasicn , wn , wcn , wsin , wsicn , tin , ticn , tisin , tisicn , zrn , zrcn , zrsin and zrsicn is mixed with at least one or more additive elements selected from ag , ca , zn , cd , au , be , mg , sn , zr , b , pd , al , hg , in , ni and ga . in the next place , as shown in fig4 e , the barrier layer 417 and the additive - containing barrier layer 418 on the bottom surface of the via 416 , without exposing the sample to air , are removed by means of the anisotropic etching . next , after the barrier layer 417 and the additive - containing barrier layer 418 on the bottom surface of the via 416 are removed , without exposing the sample to air , as shown in fig4 f , a cu seed layer 419 is formed . since the barrier layer 417 and the additive - containing barrier layer 418 on the bottom surface of the via 416 have been removed , the cu seed layer 419 is directly connected to the conductive layer 408 that is a lower layer . subsequently , the wafer thereon the cu seed layer 419 is formed is taken out of the sputtering apparatus , and while exposing to air , transferred to the plating apparatus . then , as shown in fig4 g , on the cu seed layer 419 , a cu plating layer 420 is formed by use of the electroplating method . the cu plating layer 420 is formed so that the via 416 and the groove 415 may be completely buried . in the next place , in order to stabilize layer qualities such as the hardness , the crystallinity and the specific resistance of the cu plating layer 420 , the heat treatment is carried out at a first temperature ( for instance , 100 to 350 degree centigrade ) for 1 to 5 hr in an atmosphere of a gas mixture of nitrogen and hydrogen . the most preferable heat treatment temperature differs depending on a width of the layer . furthermore , the most preferable heat treatment time period differs depending on a width of the layer . in the fourth embodiment , in order to make the diffusion of the additive element from the additive - containing barrier layer 418 to the cu seed layer 419 and the cu plating layer 420 as small as possible , the heat treatment is performed at a relatively low temperature , and in order to grow cu grains of the cu seed layer 419 and the cu plating layer 420 , the heat treatment is performed for a relatively long time . according to the heat treatment , as shown in fig4 h , the cu seed layer 419 and the cu plating layer 420 are promoted in integrating . subsequently , as shown in fig4 j , the respective layers on the insulating layer 414 , that is , the barrier layer 417 , the additive - containing barrier layer 418 , the cu seed layer 419 and the cu plating layer 420 are partially removed until a top portion of the insulating layer 414 is exposed . the removing is performed according to a cmp polishing method . according to the process , a conductive layer 421 ( constituted of part of the cu seed layer 419 and part of the cu plating layer 420 ) is left in the groove 415 and the via 416 . the conductive layer 421 is used as a metal layer of a semiconductor element . in the next place , as shown in fig4 j , heat treatment is carried out at a second temperature ( for instance , in the neighborhood of 400 degree centigrade ) for 0 . 5 min to 5 hr in nitrogen atmosphere . in the heat treatment , the additive element in the additive - containing barrier layer 418 is diffused into the conductive layer 421 and thereby an additive - containing conductive layer 422 is formed . accordingly , the second temperature is set higher than the first temperature . furthermore , the second temperature , without restricting to the neighborhood of 400 degree centigrade , can be a temperature in the range of 250 to 450 degree centigrade . according to the heat treatment , the additive element in the additive - containing barrier layer 418 is allowed to diffuse into the conductive layer 421 , and thereby the additive - containing conductive layer 422 is formed . in the above , the formation of the cu layer in the semiconductor element comes to completion . as mentioned above , according to the method of forming a metal layer according to the fourth embodiment , after the cu seed layer 419 is formed in the sputtering apparatus , the wafer is transferred through air to the plating apparatus . accordingly , the additive - containing barrier layer 418 is not exposed to the air . as a result , the additive element in the additive - containing barrier layer 418 is not oxidized with the air , and the cu plating layer 420 can be inhibited from deteriorating in the adhesion and from generating voids when the cu plating layer 420 is formed . furthermore , according to the method of forming a metal layer according to the fourth embodiment , in order to promote grain growth of the cu seed layer 419 and the cu plating layer 420 , the heat treatment is carried out at the first temperature that is relatively low , and thereafter at the relatively higher second temperature that enables the additive element to diffuse from the additive - containing barrier layer 418 to the conductive layer 421 , the heat treatment is implemented . thus , according to the method of forming a metal layer according to the fourth embodiment , since the grain growth and the diffusion of the additive element that are two countermeasure for improving the em resistance can be implemented , the cu layer excellent in the em resistance can be formed . furthermore , since the conductive layer 408 that is a first conductive layer and a second conductive layer 422 are directly connected through the via 416 , the layer low in the resistance can be formed , that is , a layer configuration preferable for improving an operation speed of the semiconductor element is obtained . still furthermore , in the method of forming the metal layer according to the fourth embodiment , as a under layer of the additive - containing barrier layer 418 , the barrier layer 417 is provided . accordingly , an effect that inhibits the cu element from diffusing into the insulating layers 412 and 414 can be furthermore enhanced . except for the above points , the fourth embodiment is the same as the third embodiment . as explained above , according to the method of forming a metal layer according to the invention , in order to promote grain growth of a metal seed layer and a metal layer , the heat treatment is carried out at a first temperature that is relatively low , and thereafter at a relatively higher second temperature that enables an additive element to diffuse from an additive - containing barrier layer to a metal layer , the heat treatment is implemented . thus , according to the methods of forming a metal layer set forth in claims 1 through 9 , since the grain growth and the diffusion of the additive element that are two countermeasure for improving the em resistance can be implemented , there is an effect that a cu layer excellent in the em resistance can be formed .
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in centralized mode of operation , such as described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 249 , 714 , a network distributed search and design application using evolutionary agents has one node where an evolutionary agent is resident . the remaining nodes in the network participate in the search by simply providing information to the evolutionary agent upon request . in this mode , a search of the full space of the system takes place from only the one node occupied by the evolutionary agent , while the remaining nodes simply respond to queries from the agent . based on the responses received , the evolutionary agent creates and evaluates virtual designs , and uses proportional selection and stochastic variational operations to evolve virtual designs for evaluation . the present invention , by contrast , provides a solution method and architecture in which multiple evolutionary agents operating at different , distributed nodes all work to solve the same problem simultaneously . referring now to the drawings , in which like reference numerals are used to refer to the same or similar elements , fig1 illustrates a distributed network architecture 10 for supporting multiple coevolutionary agents 30 a , 30 b , 30 c , 30 d spread among several nodes 20 a , 20 b , 20 c , 20 d . each node 20 a - 20 d includes a networked computer 25 a - 25 d , a connected local database 50 a - 50 d , an evolutionary agent 30 a - 30 d and several mobile agents 60 . each of the nodes 20 a - 20 d shown in fig1 may be a member of a logical cluster of nodes networked together in a local network , as will be further described herein . further , while only four nodes 20 a - 20 d are illustrated , there may be as few as 2 nodes and up to any number of nodes which can actively work together on the same network . the evolutionary agents 30 a - 30 d are actually co - evolutionary agents because they can evolve simultaneously with each other , using some overlapping information and some unique information . each evolutionary agent 30 a - 30 d includes primary search variables 32 a - 32 d and secondary search variables 34 a - 34 d . the search variables 32 a - 32 d and 34 a - 34 d are partitioned among the evolutionary agents 30 a - 30 d . the evolutionary agent 30 a - 30 d at each of the nodes 20 a - 20 d performs a local evolutionary search using its corresponding primary search variable 32 a - 32 d . the local evolutionary search is based on local and rapidly accessible information from the corresponding local database 50 a - 50 d . during the local evolutionary search , the secondary variables 34 a - 34 d are clamped , or held constant . following execution of the local evolutionary search , the secondary variables 34 a - 34 d at each node 20 a - 20 d are updated by intercommunication between the nodes 20 a - 20 d . mobile agents 60 are used to effect the intercommunication between the nodes 20 a - 20 d by carrying information from an originating node to a destination node . the mobile agents 60 provide missing computational functionality at the nodes 20 a - 20 d where they migrate . the local search phase and intercommunication phases are alternated to produce a cooperative search by the nodes 20 a - 20 d , guided by the same objective search function . the evolutionary agent 30 a - 30 d at each node 20 a - 20 d performs the following functions . each evolutionary agent 30 a - 30 d implements a local evolutionary algorithm that searches over the subspace corresponding to locally available information in the local database 50 a - 50 d . each evolutionary agent 30 a - 30 d initializes using appropriate information that permits the agent 30 a - 30 d to do local decision - making . the evolutionary agents 30 a - 30 d each generate and execute queries on the corresponding local database 50 a - 50 d . finally , the evolutionary agents 30 a - 30 d co - exist in a pool of evolutionary agents , and participate in coordinating a global computation of a given problem via interactions with other ones of the evolutionary agents 30 a - 30 d and mobile agents 60 . the coordination of the evolutionary agents 30 a - 30 d is most critical , since a coordination operation essentially provides an updated view of the local information from a certain node 20 a - 20 d to another of the nodes 20 a - 20 d where that information is not currently available locally . that is , the coordination function permits the several evolutionary agents 30 a - 30 d to co - extensively evolve based on their local searches , while being fed new information from other nodes 20 a - 20 d between searches . when more than one node exists in a logical cluster of nodes 20 a - 20 d , the virtual designs generated by each node 20 a - 20 d in the logical cluster compete with each other during the coordination operation . this function allows local solutions generated by the evolutionary agents 30 a - 30 d at each of the nodes within a logical cluster to compete against all of the other local solutions produced . further , the subproblems solved by each node 20 a - 20 d in a logical cluster are different , despite being functionally similar . that is , the subproblems are different because of the differences in local resources , such as local databases 50 a - 50 d , available to each evolutionary agent 30 a - 30 d , and each evolutionary agent 30 a - 30 d searches over a different , smaller space of the whole search space of planning decisions . the coevolutionary algorithms embodied in coevolutionary agents 30 a - 30 d have no direct means to search the full space of all planning decisions in the network architecture 10 . while a single , centralized evolutionary agent compiles a list of all available decision resources at all nodes and explicitly searches the full space of planning decisions , such an operation can be slow and time - consuming in a distributed network environment . in contrast , the distributed co - evolutionary model of the invention allows each agent 30 a - 30 d at each node 20 a - 20 d to explore the full space of planning decisions using an information splicing operation in which information from each of the other nodes 20 a - 20 d carried by mobile agents 60 is stochastically combined at the first node 20 a - 20 d . the stochastic information splicing may be viewed as a crossover operation for combining information from the nodes 20 a - 20 d . it is possible that as a practical matter , at some local nodes in a logical cluster of networked nodes , the evolutionary agents will not achieve convergence with the overall solution being produced by the other evolutionary agents as part of a global solution . this is inevitable to a distributed coevolutionary processing problem as some evolutionary agents will not have sufficient local information or useful local information for solving the global problem . in such case , evolutionary algorithms in the evolutionary agents will eliminate designs produced from the non - converging nodes as unsuitable for further consideration , while the remaining nodes with good local information and advantageous resources for solving the global problem will continue to evolve to produce a solution accessible at substantially any one of the nodes 20 a - 20 d in the architecture 10 . as an example of an evolutionary algorithm which can be adapted for use with the distributed computation of the invention , let χ be the decision space . then , x ε χ is the variable vector , and x =( x 1 , x 2 , x 3 , . . . , x p ) represents a partition of the vector into p blocks . at any node i , x i is its primary variable set 32 a - 32 d , while x i is the secondary variable set 34 a - 34 d . given a feasible space χ and a variable distribution , the evolutionary agent at each node i performs a local evolutionary search in its primary subspace χ i , and so χ is the product space χ = π p i = 1 χ i . ( x * i | x i )= arg min [ x i εχ i ] ψ ( x | x i ) is the optimizer in the restricted space (·| x i ). the evolutionary search in the primary subspace of each node i utilizes proportional selection and stochastic variational operations . each evolutionary search described above is initialized with a randomly selected complete vector of variables x g . mobile agents facilitate the broadcast of this vector to all nodes 20 a - 20 d in the network architecture 10 . the evolutionary search starting from this point may be represented by the mapping t i : χ → χ i that generates the sequence : x ( i , g + m + 1 ) = ti ( x ( 1 , g ) , . . . x ( i − 1 , g ) , x ( i , g + m ) , x ( i + 1 , g ) , . . . , x ( p , g ) ), m ≧ 0 x g ( i ) =( x ( 1 , g ) , . . . x ( i − 1 , g ) , x ( i , g + m ) , x ( i + 1 , g ) , . . . , x ( p , g ) ) and x g ( i ) converges to ( x * i | x i ), where x g ( i ) is the result of m generations of evolutionary search at node i , starting from point x g . now , let z g ={ x g , x g ( 1 ) , . . . , x g ( p ) } be a set of local results and the vector x g , and let s : χ → χ represent the computation that selects that vector from z g - x g which has the highest fitness and makes it the new iterate x g + 1 only if its fitness is greater than that of x g . otherwise , x g + 1 = x g . the computation x g + 1 = s ( x g ) represents a global iteration that encapsulates the combined m - step local search at each node and the intercommunication operation , or coordination , that facilitates selection and update of new iterates . from the architectural perspective , mobile software agents 60 facilitate the coordination by transferring necessary information between coevolutionary agents 30 a - 30 d . there are presently six preferred distributed coordination schemes , each of which uses information splicing . the schemes are referred to as local , joint , pool , elite local , elite joint and elite pool . the implementation of information splicing takes p vectors of the same dimension and creates a vector such that each of its coordinates is a random selection from the set of p coordinates along the same dimension . to help describe the coordination schemes , the following assumptions are made : 1 ) the network environment has p network nodes ; 2 ) x g ( i ) is the best vector from node i at generation g ; 3 ) { x g ( i ) } is a set of vectors from node i at generation g ; 4 ) { x g ′} is a set of randomly created vectors at generation g ; and 5 ) y g is the vector obtained by combining the best local result portions from each node . in the local coordination scheme , from the set { x g ( 1 ) , . . . , x g ( p ) , { x g ′}}, select the best one as the new global iterate . the set { x g ′} consists of p elements created by splicing from the set { x g ( 1 ) , . . . , x g ( p ) }. the joint coordination scheme has the set { x g ( 1 ) , . . . , x g ( p ) , { x g ′}}∪ y g from which the best is selected as the new global iterate . the elements of set { x g ′} are the same as in the local coordination scheme . for the pool coordination scheme , from the set {{ x g ( 1 ) }, . . . ,{ x g ( p ) }, { x g ′}} select the best as the new global iterate . each set { x g ( i )} represents t = 5 top performers from each node i , and the set { x g ′} is created as described above for the local and joint schemes from a set of size ( t × p ) rather than a set of size p . for the elite local scheme , from the set x g ∪{ x g ( 1 ) , . . . , x g ( p ) , { x g ′}}, select the best as the new global iterate where x g is the previous global iterate . in the elite joint scheme , select the best from the set x g ∪{ x g ( 1 ) , . . . , x g ( p ) , { x g ′}}∪ y g as the new global iterate . and , in the elite pool scheme , select as the new global iterate the best from the set x g ∪{{ x g ( 1 ) }, . . . , { x g ( p ) }, { x g ′}}. one network system that can be used to implement the distributed co - evolutionary agent problem solving system uses java programming language developed by sun microsystems inc . the implementation executes over multiple processing units distributed over a network . the implementation is based on the use of the voyager object request broker developed by objectspace inc . as the underlying distributed communications environment . the voyager broker is described in the objectspace voyager orb 3 . 3 developer guide ( 2000 ), incorporated herein in its entirety by reference . the voyager program serves as a middle - ware layer that provides a location - transparent and standardized environment for execution of the java modules . a significant advantage to using voyager is that it simplifies the task of remote enabling applications modules by automatically adding this feature at run - time , and it supports the inter - node migration of modules . the latter feature is an important requirement for realizing the mobile agents 60 in architecture 10 . as will be readily apparent , there are many applications for the distributed coevolutionary problem solving architecture 10 of the invention . the following provide specific examples of how the distributed coevolutionary problem solving architecture 10 can be used to rapidly provide solutions to complex problems . planning new product designs by coordinating between designers , suppliers and manufacturers is a very complex problem which is dependent on many factors , including availability of parts and manufacturing resources , and costs for parts and tooling and assembly and the ability to generate efficient designs . [ 0072 ] fig2 displays a pictorial model of the problem of integrated design , supplier and manufacturing planning for modular products where suppliers and manufacturing resources are network distributed . the mathematical structure of this planning task is given by the equation : where x represents a complete decision vector , ψ (·) is a nonlinear objective function , a is a constraint matrix , and b is a constraint vector . a decision problem in this formulation consists of three assignment problems , a 1 , a 2 , and a 3 , as represented by the corresponding arrows in fig2 . the assignment problem a 1 is the assignment of parts 210 from parts library 200 to one or more designs 510 in a pool 500 of possible designs . assignment problem a 2 is the assignment of suppliers 310 from a list of available suppliers 300 who can supply the parts 210 for a given design 510 . assignment problem a 3 is the assignment of designs 510 to available manufacturers 410 in a manufacturing resource pool 400 . as will be apparent , each of the assignments in each assignment problem a 1 , a 2 , a 3 contributes to the overall product cost and product realization time . further , each assignment has a non - linear effect on the cost and time ; that is , the effect cannot be evaluated as weighted sums . the assignment problem triple ( a 1 , a 2 , a 3 ) constitutes a set of highly coupled problems and each of the assignments cannot be considered independent of the others . product cost is computed as an aggregate of the cost of parts 210 in a given design 510 and the cost of manufacturing the design 510 , while product realization time is computed as an aggregate of the cost of parts supply lead time and time to manufacture the design 510 . the overall objective function that is to be minimized is an heuristic weighting of the product cost and an exponential function of the product realization time , as given by : where c ( x ) and t ( x ) respectively represent the product cost and product realization time for a complete design - supplier - manufacturing assignment x , and α and β are non - zero constants . [ 0077 ] fig3 illustrates the organization of a networked environment 600 used to solve the problem depicted in fig2 in the context of printed circuit board assemblies . the networked environment 600 of fig3 is depicted as a high - level configuration that consists of several logical clusters 700 , 800 , 900 of network nodes 720 , 820 and 920 and a product design node 620 . the nodes 720 , 820 , 920 in each logical cluster 700 , 800 , 900 correspond to a class of functionally equivalent resources , and typically are physically distributed across the entire network 600 . in fig3 the logical clusters 700 , 800 , 900 correspond to parts distributor nodes 720 , printed circuit board fabricator nodes 920 and printed circuit assembly nodes 820 . each parts distributor nodes 720 in the parts distributor logical cluster 700 corresponds to a parts distributor or parts warehouse that stocks components parts from several manufacturers . each node 920 in the printed circuit board ( pcb ) fabricator logical cluster 900 corresponds to a pcb manufacturer having one or more pcb manufacturing lines . each printed circuit assembly node 820 of the printed circuit assembly logical cluster 800 corresponds to a manufacturing facility having alternative manufacturing lines , each of which is capable of manufacturing printed circuit assemblies given a design , or collection of parts , and an associated pcb to assemble the parts on . the product design node 620 generates functional specifications that serve as partial templates for virtual designs . while the search at a parts distributor node 720 is over the space of functionally equivalent designs and is achieved by selecting alternative parts and suppliers for those parts , the search at a pcb fabricator node 920 is over the space of available board manufacturing resources , and the search at a printed circuit assembly node 820 is over the space of available assembly resources . mobile agents 60 ( not shown in fig3 ) communicate results between the various nodes 620 , 720 , 820 , 920 , so that the final minimized result can be obtained from any of the nodes 620 , 720 , 820 , 920 . another application of the distributed coevolutionary problem solving invention is in the context of an internet or world wide web ( www ) search engine . presently , the www as it is commonly known consists of a vast collection of diverse information which is estimated to be about 1 . 5 billion documents large and growing . a large percentage of that material is available in the form of web pages whose content is organized according to a markup protocol , such as xml or html . web pages frequently provide content - dependent links to other web pages , and their organization may be visualized as a graph whose nodes are the web pages , and whose edges , or connections between nodes , are the links between pages . searching and organization of web pages for rapid retrieval has been the critical focus of contemporary search engines , and without these search engines most of the information on the web would be inaccessible to users . known search engines are essentially user - queryable centralized databases which contain indexed maps of the information on the www . the indices in the databases are populated and refreshed on a periodic basis by “ crawlers ” or “ spiders ” or “ bots ” that retrieve and parse web pages by visiting nodes ( pages ) and following the edges ( links ) between nodes . essentially , these crawlers employ one of many graph search techniques in an attempt to traverse , retrieve , and organize distributed content based on index terms . in addition to web pages , there are also many searchable dynamic databases reached through individual web pages which process directed queries posed at the entry web page . current crawlers are incapable of accessing and conducting searches on the content of these databases . the large size and dynamic qualities of these databases make it impractical for a crawler to index them , because it effectively requires replicating the database in the crawler search engine database , and constant change would quickly make the search engine database out of date . further , most crawlers are not capable of making the structured , directed queries necessary to locate information in the dynamic databases . it is generally accepted that the www follows a widely distributed multi - database architecture . to a local user , any single database in the www environment appears as a centralized repository , while it appears as a distributed collection of databases to a global user who wants to access coupled content from several databases . the following describes the application of the coevolutionary problem solving method of the invention to a dynamic retrieval and globally optimal organization , viewed from the perspective of search relevance , of logically interrelated information distributed across several www databases . first , assume there is a space of p database nodes available on the www . let a query q =( q 1 , q 2 , . . . , q p ) represent a partition and assignment of q over each of the p nodes . let χ i be the space of local results at node i due to sub - query q i . as a consequence , χ is the product space of results χ = π p i = 1 χ i . let x =( x 1 , x 2 , . . . , x p ) εχ represent a specific result . min { ψ ( x ): x = ( x 1 , . . . , x p ), x i εχ i ∀ i where ψ (·) is a metric that measures the search relevance of a global result . this problem can visualized as the search for an optimal space of joint results from a cartesian space of result tuples , wherein optimality is measured with respect to the search relevance of global results . the organization of the networked environment for the database search application is naturally a collection of nodes over which the coevolutionary search process executes using the planning problem as a foundation . coevolutionary agents are created with programming to evaluate the planning problem and distributed to each of the collection of nodes . nevertheless , there is an advantage to consider a networked environment of logical node clusters ( similar to that of fig3 ), wherein each logical cluster represents a certain topic - based specialization of available information . the role of the product design node 620 of fig3 for example , in the search engine application would be the node at which the user is resident and generates the search queries . the coevolutionary agents are created as a result of the user formulating search queries and local searches are performed by coevolutionary agents at each node 620 , 720 , 820 , 920 . following the initial local searches based on the primary search variables and updating the evolutionary agent solutions with the local search results ( the primary search variables ), mobile agents are used to communicate the results of the local searches to the other coevolutionary agents resident at the other nodes 620 , 720 , 820 , 920 in the system architecture . the coevolutionary agents are updated with the transported local search solutions ( the secondary search variables for the agents at different nodes ) from where the using one of the coordination schemes discussed above . the search and updating steps may be repeated to produce evolved solutions which are further optimized based on the underlying algorithm and are superior to those of prior generations . although the distributed coevolutionary problem solving method is discussed in terms of producing printed circuit boards and conducting database searches , clearly , the method is adaptable to solving other complex , coupled manufacturing or delivery problems or performing distributed database searches across any collection of distributed sources . while a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention , it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles .
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hereinafter , embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings . fig2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a transmission system of the first embodiment according to the present invention . fig2 shows a state that electronic devices 10 and 20 are connected to each other via a cable 30 . the electronic devices 10 and 20 include lsis 12 and 22 , and instruction sections 11 and 21 for monitoring the operation of the lsis 12 and 22 and instructing generation , transmission and reception of data mutually transmitted to the electronic devices 20 and 10 , respectively . the lsis 12 and 22 incorporate variable drive current driver circuits 13 and 23 for transmitting data adjusted in drive current so that the data are received by the electronic devices 20 and 10 , and control circuits 14 and 24 for generating and outputting control signals to control drive currents of data transmitted by the variable drive current driver circuits 13 and 23 , respectively . each of the instruction sections 11 and 21 is controlled by a cpu , which operates according to software and which is not illustrated . the control circuits 14 and 24 are incorporated in the lsis 12 and 22 together with the variable drive current driver circuits 13 and 23 , respectively . fig3 is a circuit diagram showing the first embodiment of the variable drive current driver circuit shown in fig2 . with reference to fig3 , the variable drive current driver circuit according to the first embodiment is supplied with a constant current ia from a constant current source 100 . on the basis of the constant current ia , the variable drive current driver circuit generates an output current . first , a current ic is generated by a current mirror formed of transistors nmos 11 , nmos 12 and nmos 15 . from the current ic , a constant current id 1 is further generated by a current mirror formed of transistors pmos 11 and pmos 12 . concurrently with them , a constant current id 2 is generated by a current mirror formed of transistors nmos 11 , nmos 12 and nmos 16 . in this case it is necessary to design the drive circuit so as to satisfy the relation id 1 = id 2 in order to balance the output currents . the current id 1 is outputted from the driver circuit to the outside , passed through resistors r 11 and r 12 , and drawn in as the current id 2 . the output voltage is determined by the value of the current id 1 and values of the resistors r 11 and r 12 . a node ve between the resistor r 11 and the resistor r 12 is a node of a common level . this node is supplied with a constant potential from a constant voltage source mainly including an operational amplifier . by the way , transistors pmos 13 and nmos 17 form a first push - pull circuit , whereas transistors pmos 14 and nmos 18 form a second push - pull circuit . since a signal inputted to gates of the transistors pmos 13 and nmos 17 is complementary to a signal inputted to gates of the transistors pmos 14 and nmos 18 , the first push - pull circuit and the second push - pull circuit complementarily drive the resistors r 11 and r 12 serving as a load circuit . in accordance with the present invention , transistors nmos 13 and nmos 14 and a control signal input terminal are further added . the logic values of a control corresponds to cmos levels . according to the logic value , the value of the drive current changes . in a case where the logic value of the control signal is “ 1 ,” a current ib flows and a voltage va becomes va 1 . on the other hand , in a case where the logic value of the control signal is “ 0 ,” the current ib does not flow and the voltage va becomes va 2 , wherein va 2 & gt ; va 1 . the currents ic , id 1 and id 2 when the logic value of the control signal is “ 0 ” are larger than those when the logic value of the control signal is “ 1 ”, respectively . as a result , the control signal can generate two different drive current ( s ). fig4 is a circuit diagram showing a second embodiment of a variable drive current driver circuit shown in fig2 . comparing fig4 with fig3 , it is apparent that the variable drive current driver circuit according to the second embodiment differs from the variable drive current driver circuit according to the first embodiment in that a control circuit , including transistors pmos 24 , pmos 25 , pmos 26 , nmos 25 , nmos 26 and nmos 27 , is added to an output stage . in the variable drive current driver circuit according to the first embodiment , the control circuit is added not to the output stage but to the constant current source side . in fig4 , the voltage va is constant . in a case where the logic value of the control signal is “ 1 ,” currents ic 1 and ic 2 flow . in a case where the logic value of the control signal is “ 0 ,” currents ic 1 and ic 2 do not flow . when the logic value of the control signal is “ 1 ,” therefore , the sum of currents ic 1 and id 1 or the sum of currents ic 2 and id 2 becomes the drive current . when the logic value of the control signal is “ 0 ,” only the current id 1 or id 2 becomes the drive current . accordingly it is possible that ic 1 = ic 2 and id 1 = id 2 . like the variable drive current driver circuit according to the first embodiment , the variable drive current driver circuit according to the second embodiment has two kinds of drive current controlled by the control signal . fig5 is a circuit diagram showing the third embodiment of a variable drive current driver circuit shown in fig2 . comparing fig5 with fig3 , it is apparent that the variable drive current driver circuit according to the third embodiment is structured by preparing a plurality of sets of the transistors nmos 13 and nmos 14 of the variable drive current driver circuit according to the first embodiment and connecting the sets in parallel . transistors nmos 131 , nmos 141 , nmos 132 , nmos 142 , . . . , nmos 13 n and nmos 14 n correspond to the plurality of sets of the transistors nmos 13 and nmos 14 . gates of the transistors nmos 141 , nmos 142 . . . nmos 14 n are supplied with their respective control signals . therefore , the variable drive current driver circuit according to the third embodiment can drive its load with a plurality of drive currents . it is a matter of course that , like the circuit of the third embodiment , the variable drive current driver circuit according to the second embodiment can be expanded to enable the circuit to drive its load with a plurality of drive currents . to expand the circuit of fig4 , or the second embodiment , a plurality of sets of the transistors pmos 22 , pmos 23 and nmos 28 are prepared . the plurality of sets are connected in parallel with the transistor pmos 24 . a plurality of sets of the transistors nmos 23 , nmos 24 and pmos 27 are prepared . the plurality of sets are connected in parallel with the transistor nmos 25 .
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the technology claimed by the present invention is further described in detail in conjunction with the drawings and particular embodiments . fig1 shows a frame structure of the present embodiment . the frame structure is in an overall rectangular shape , wherein a lengthwise edge is formed by combining four connecting columns 1 connected via a connecting beam 2 , and a widthwise edge is formed by two connecting columns 1 connected via a connecting beam 2 . the connecting column 1 located at the corner part is a right - angle column , and the maximum included angle between the two connecting beams 2 connected to the right - angle column is 90 degrees . the connecting column 1 located between two flat - angle columns is a flat - angle column , and the maximum included angle between the two connecting beams 2 connected to the flat - angle column is 180 degrees . as shown in fig2 and 3 , the right - angle column in the present embodiment is , approximately an overall square column . the right - angle column is provided with a circular channel 11 with the radian being about 300 degrees , and the arc channel 11 penetrates through two ends of the right - angle column and thus forms holes on two end faces . a groove 111 is formed at the corner edge of the side of the connecting column 1 . five pairs of anchor slots 12 are shaped on both sides of the groove 111 , and the anchor slots 12 of the same pair are at the same height . the inner walls of the anchor slots 12 of the same pair are at 90 degrees , such that the maximum included angle between two connecting beams 2 connected in the anchor slots of the same pair on the right - angle column is 90 degrees . the middle of the connecting column i is further provided with two notches 13 in the arc channel 11 , and the area of the notch 13 is so large that the jointing column head 22 on the connecting beam 2 can extend into the notch . as shown in fig4 and 5 , the flat - angle column and the right - angle column have a similar structure , and the difference in structure lies in that the inner walls of the anchor slots 12 of the same pair on the flat - angle column are at 180 degrees , such that the maximum included angle between two connecting beams 2 in the anchor slots of the same pair on the flat - angle column is 180 degrees . fig6 shows a connecting beam 2 in the present embodiment . mounting parts 21 are shaped on both ends of the connecting beam 2 . the shape of the mounting part 21 matches the anchor slot 12 . a circular jointing column head 22 is formed on one half of the outer side of the mounting part 21 at one end of the connecting beam , and the mounting part 21 and the jointing column head 22 form a half t - shaped structure . the size of the jointing column head 22 matches that of the arc channel 11 . a jointing hook head 23 is formed at the outer end of the mounting part 21 at the other end of the connecting beam , and the mounting part 21 and the jointing hook head 23 form a half t - shaped structure . the width of the jointing hook head 23 is less than the width of the groove 111 . alternative to the connecting beam 2 exemplified in the present embodiment , a jointing column head 22 or a jointing hook head 23 can be formed on the mounting parts 21 at two ends of the connecting beam 2 , and the jointing column head 22 or the jointing hook head 23 on the mounting parts 21 at two ends can also be respectively formed at two different halves of the outer side of the mounting parts 21 . as shown in fig7 . for connection , the jointing column head 22 on the connecting beam 2 is firstly inserted into the arc channel 11 from the hole at the top of the connecting column 1 . since the shape of the jointing column head 22 matches that of the arc channel 11 , the jointing column head 22 can slide in the arc channel 11 to the corresponding position of the anchor slot 12 . then with the jointing column head 22 as the axis of rotation , the connecting beam 2 is rotated such that the mounting part 21 on the connecting beam 2 is just snapped into the anchor slot 12 , which is the effect generated by the cooperation of the mounting part 21 and the anchor slot 12 in shape . after the mounting part 21 is snapped into the anchor slot 12 , the connecting beam 2 cannot slide up and down along the an channel 11 via the jointing column head 22 . at the same time , since the jointing column head 22 is clamped in the arc channel 11 by the inner walls of the arc channel 11 and cannot be directly removed from the anchor slot 12 , the jointing column head 22 has the function of further fixing the connection between the connecting beam 2 and the connecting column 1 . after one of the anchor slots 12 is connected to the jointing column head 22 , the jointing hook head 23 is used to connect the other anchor slot . since the width of the jointing hook head 23 is less than the width of the groove 111 , the jointing hook head 23 can be directly pushed into the arc channel 11 from the groove 111 of the arc channel 11 and the mounting part 21 is snapped into the other anchor slot 12 . the jointing column head 22 and the jointing hook head 23 are respectively formed at two different halves of the outer side of the respective mounting part 21 , specifically in the present embodiment , the jointing column head 22 is formed at the lower half of the outer side of the mounting part 21 , and the jointing hook head 23 is formed at the upper half of the outer side of the mounting part 21 . therefore , for connection , the two heads can only occupy the respective space in the arc channel 11 and may not cause incompatibility with each other , and the cooperation thereof can also ensure a more stable connection between the two connecting beams 2 and the connecting column 1 . in the other embodiment , two connecting beams 2 provided with jointing column heads 22 are connected to a pair of anchor slots 12 at the same height , since the jointing hook head 23 can directly enter and exit the groove 111 , the stability of the structure after connection is inferior to the jointing column head 22 . the jointing hook head 23 is used only in the situation where the jointing column head 22 is not available , such as when two fixed connecting columns 1 which cannot rotate are connected . in the present embodiment , since a notch 13 is rimed in the middle of the connecting column 1 , the jointing column head 22 on the connecting beam 2 can firstly extend into the notch 13 and then push the jointing column head 22 into the arc channel 11 , without needing of guiding the jointing column head 22 into the arc channel 11 via holes at two ends of the connecting column 1 , which simplifies the operation in connection and installation . moreover , when it is necessary to replace a connecting beam 2 later , there is also no need to dismount other connecting beams 2 located between the hole and the connecting beam 2 to be replaced , which facilitates the adjustment of columns and beams of the furniture by a user . as shown in fig8 , with regard to two connecting beams 2 connected in the anchor slots 12 of the same pair at the same height , a corner brace 3 can be used to ensure a more stable connection therebetween . tenons are shaped on both sides of the corner brace 3 of the present embodiment , and recesses fitted to the tenons are formed in the corresponding positions of the connecting beam 2 . the tenon on the corner brace 3 is inserted into the recess of the connecting beam 2 to achieve the connection between the corner brace 3 and the connecting beam 2 . the corner brace 3 can effectively fix the included angle between two connecting beams 2 to prevent the connecting beams from rotating . as shown in fig9 , a cross beam 4 is transversely connected between two opposite connecting beams 2 . tenons are shaped on both ends of the cross beam 4 and can be fitted and connected to the recesses on the connecting beam 2 . as shown in fig1 , the frame structure of the present embodiment is formed by longitudinally connecting two frame structures of embodiment i . more specifically , it is formed by longitudinally connecting the connecting columns 1 on the two frame structures of embodiment i . two connecting columns 1 can be connected via an anti - rotation connecting , core 5 . as shown in fig1 , the shape of the anti - rotation connecting core 5 matches those of the arc channel 11 and the groove 111 of the connecting column , and the anti - rotation connecting core can be connected to the arc channels 11 of upper and lower connecting columns 1 and snap with the groove 111 , so as to longitudinally connect two connecting columns 1 and prevent relative rotation between the upper and lower connecting columns 1 . for connection , the anti - rotation connecting core 5 is firstly inserted into the arc channel 11 from the hole of the lower connecting column 1 , and then the hole of the upper connecting column 1 is aligned with the anti - rotation connecting core 5 projecting from the half of the lower connecting column 1 , such that the anti - rotation connecting core is inserted into the arc channel 11 of the upper connecting column 1 . with the above operation , the anti - rotation connecting core 5 can be inserted into the arc channels 11 of the two connecting columns 1 and is snapped into the groove 111 so as to complete the longitudinal connection between the two connecting columns 1 . with the fitting and connection between the connecting columns 1 and the anti - rotation connecting core 5 , the frame structure can be expanded in the perpendicular direction . as shown in fig1 , the frame structure of present embodiment is a hexagon framework which is formed by six flat - angle columns in embodiment i connected by six connecting beams 2 in closed connection . the maximum included angle between two connecting beams 2 connected in the anchor slots of the same pair on the flat - angle column is 180 degrees , which means that the included angle between two connecting beams 2 can be adjusted within 180 degrees . in the present embodiment , the flat - angle columns form the corner parts of the frame structure , and the angle of each corner is 120 degrees . the flat - angle column can also be used to provide the frame structure with more angles , such that the frame structure extends in the horizontal directions at various angles . compared to the right - angle column , the connecting beam 2 on the flat - angle column can achieve a greater range of included angle , and theoretically also covers the range of an included angle of the right - angle columns . however , since the anchor slot 12 of the flat - angle column is relatively large , the anchor slot 12 may have a relatively large gap in the case that the included angle between the two connecting beams 2 is not 180 degrees , and the appearance is relatively unpleasant . therefore , unless the frame structure has a corner part with an angle unequal to 90 degrees , the flat - angle column is generally used at the edge of the frame structure . since a number of pairs of anchor slots 12 at different heights are formed on the connecting beam 2 , a user can choose the anchor slots 12 at different heights to be connected to the connecting beam 2 , thereby achieving the adjustment of the height of the connecting beam 2 . meanwhile , the flat - angle column and the anti - rotation connecting core 5 can be used to enable the frame structure to be expanded in the horizontal directions at various angles and in the perpendicular direction . the user can customize the assembling and connection of the column - beam assembly provided by the present invention according to personal requirements so as to achieve a frame structure which meets the requirements . the above - mentioned embodiments are only preferred embodiments of the present invention , and are not intended to limit the range of the implementation of the present invention , and therefore , changes made according to the shape and principle of the present invention shall be contained within the scope of protection of the present invention .
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the present invention provides a valve assembly ( 21 ) that is used to stop the flow of oil and gas up a riser ( 20 ) or casement tube ( e . g ., in a drilled well in dry land ). the valve assembly ( 21 ) utilizes the pressure of the oil / gas coming up a riser ( 20 ) to close the valve assembly ( 21 ), instead of employing the traditional approach which requires fighting against such pressure . the stop flow plug is driven into closure position by that pressure and stops the flow of the oil / gas . as the well is drilled , casement tubes are inserted into the drilled well to contain the earth and cut debris . as the well goes deeper and deeper , closeout casement tubes are progressively inserted and attached to each other to line the well and to contain the well wall . this invention provides the means for stoppage of all flow of oil / gas coming up the riser and containment tubes of newly drilled and previously drilled wells on land , by using the available intense pressures encountered . after loosening the nut , the operator will monitor by electronic remote control the engagement or disengagement of the drill string tool to the probe , thus controlling the closing of the flow by pulling up on the probe , or opening the system in order to start the flow by pushing the probe down to activate the oil well , either way according to the circumstances . at the moment to leave the well , the operator will use the remote control to check the conditions in the valve and thru the valve , and all data is electronically transmitted . the plug driven by the intense pressure in the well , closes the valve and stops all flow . this feature completely eliminates the expensive need for pumping concrete down into the well to stop the flow . in addition , the invention contains a seal means that encircles the valve , providing for sealing fine line leak paths between the riser and the valve . there is a closeout plate on the top of the valve as an additional optional redundant method for complete stoppage of the oil / gas through the valve by the use of a nut that is screwed down tightly and cinches up the stop flow plug to firmly lock the plug against the closeout plate at the top of the valve . in case the well has been previously closed up and needs to be reopen , or the pressures encountered are low in a new well , an heavy - duty doughnut - shaped expandable insert will be added to the interior circular base of the valve assembly to increase the sealing pressure needed to entirely stop leakage , if necessary . fig1 is a perspective view of a valve assembly ( 21 ) seated in a riser ( 20 ). fig2 is a sectional view thereof illustrating the stop flow plug ( 25 ) in the open position . fig3 is a sectional view of the valve assembly illustrating the stop flow plug ( 25 ) in the closed position . as shown in fig1 , the valve assembly ( 21 ) is at the top of a riser ( 20 ) or containment tube ( 20 ), with a vertical plunger or probe ( 22 ) threaded and extended upwards the upper close - out plate ( 23 ) and retained by a large retention nut ( 36 ). the valve upper sidewall extension ( 37 ) may be attached with screws ( 41 ), through pilot holes , to the riser ( 21 ). there may be additional screws ( 39 ) retaining the upper close - out plate ( 23 ) to the structure of the valve . cap screws ( 32 ) may be used to seal relief vents , and the sealed cover of the electronic component ( 43 ). the annular lower base plate ( 24 ), may have a riser seal ( 35 ) that encircles the valve in a provided retention cavity for the purpose of stopping possible oil / gas flow escaping up the outside surface of the valve . between the interior wall of the riser and the exterior wall of the stop flow plug ( 25 ), there may be an outer diameter that leaves a passage ( 34 ) through which oil / gas may flow from the bottom of the stop flow plug ( 25 ) to the top of the stop flow plug ( 25 ). as shown in fig2 the valve assembly ( 21 ), using the attachment screws ( 39 ) of the upper sidewall extensions ( 37 ) is attached to the riser ( 20 ). the stop flow plug is shown in in the open position allowing oil / gas ( 30 ) to flow up to the surface through the riser ( 20 ). the upper close - out plate ( 23 ), the electronic component ( 43 ), two relief vents ( 40 ) and their cap screws ( 32 ), a threaded vertical plunger ( 22 ), and its large retention nut ( 36 ), the weld ( 38 ), may be present in the valve assembly ( 21 ). the stop flow plug ( 25 ) may have the conical nose ( 27 ) shaped to match the conical shape of the socket cavity ( 28 ). the lower portion of the valve assembly ( 21 ) may have a stop flow plug hex cavity ( 29 ), the annular lower base plate ( 24 ), bolts ( 26 ) fit through threaded holes ( 46 ) to attach the annular lower base plate ( 24 ) to the valve housing ( 26 ). the valve assembly ( 21 ) may be seated in a well ( 33 ) for up flowing of oil / gas , and also have a riser seal ( 35 ) that encircles the valve assembly ( 21 ) existing between an outer surface ( 44 ) of the valve assembly ( 21 ) and the inside surface of the riser ( 20 ). the term “ conical ” is hereby defined to include any form of conical shape , and / or any other form of tapered shape , or equivalent shape that may be designed by those skilled in the art for the function described herein . as shown in fig3 , the valve assembly ( 21 ) with its upper sidewall extensions ( 37 ) may be attached through drilled pilot holes ( 41 ) to the riser ( 20 ), with the stop flow plug ( 25 ) moved to the closure location , and the relief vents ( 40 ) fully closed with cap screws ( 32 ). the plug with its conical shape ( 27 ) mates with the socket cavity of the valve ( 28 ) and is forced to seal tightly within the cavity by the pressure of the rising oil . to ensure that the close - out plug , or stop flow plug firmly seals , the vertical plunger ( 22 ) on the upper end of the plug is extended up through the upper close - out plate ( 23 ) in the valve , and a retention nut ( 36 ) threaded down on the close - out plate ensures complete stoppage of the flow coming up the riser . the riser seal ( 35 ) that encircles the valve impedes any intense pressure leak paths . the valve assembly ( 21 ) of this invention , ( fig1 ) which may be cylindrical in shape to match the inside surface of the riser , is held by the operator with the drill string tool . holding the valve , it may be operated in a closure position , or in an open position , as desired . to initiate the closure of the valve , the operator , while holding the valve by the extended probe , also holds the drill string tool to allow the oil coming up the well to move the stop flow plug into closure position . the oil coming from the well will then be stopped ( fig3 ). the cap screws at the top of the valve can now be attached to the top of the riser as there is no oil coming up . to ensure that the stoppage of the flow will hold , the operator tightens up the large nut on the probe which cinches up the stop flow plug into its full closure position . in the recently adopted method of fracking , when the well operators enter the shale strata in the place where they wish to set the explosive charge , they generally have inserted an interior riser in the assembly to use it for containment of the oil / gas to the surface . prior to the initiation of the fracking process , and before the operators set the explosive charge off in the strata of shale , the stop flow plug object of this invention should be installed using the drill string tool because the oil / gas under intense pressure would otherwise be driven to the surface thru the riser tube . the drill string operator attaches the valve upper wall extension projecting surface ( 37 ) to the riser tube ( 20 ) with fasteners ( 41 ) ( e . g ., bolts , screws , etc .) through the pilot holes ( 45 ) provided , and that ensures the firm position of the valve housing within the riser . the valve contains within its internal shape a stop flow plug ( 25 ) that has a conical shape nose ( 27 ) to mate with the cavity socket in the valve ( 28 ) and that is driven to the stop flow condition by the intense escaping pressure that forces the stop flow plug to seal tightly within its retention socket cavity . this intense pressure seals the plug firmly in the valve and contains the flow of oil / gas . additionally , to ensure that the close out plug seals , a vertical probe or plunger , threaded ( 22 ) and welded to the upper end of the stop flow plug , is extended up , through the upper close - out plate ( 23 ) in the valve , and a large retention nut ( 36 ) is threaded down on the close - out plate to ensure complete stoppage of the flow coming up through the valve . the complete closure , as illustrated in fig3 , may be performed by the operator at the surface either mechanically , or electronically by remote control , using the drill string tool with the valve attached to it , to activate the probe of the valve , and to pull it up tight against the conical cavity existing in the valve so that the flow is firmly restrained and providing visual inspection capability of the complete closure function . fig4 is a top plan view of the valve assembly . fig4 shows the upper closeout plate ( 23 ) of the valve ( 21 ) as it is attached to the riser ( 20 ) and the bolting pattern for the connection of the valve into the riser ( 41 ), screws ( 39 ) to retain the upper plate to the structure of the valve , and cap screws ( 32 ) that plug bleed holes of the relief vents ( 40 ) for management of oil / gas flow through the valve , and the cover of the electronic component ( 43 ). a large retention nut ( 36 ) retains the top of the probe or plunger ( 22 ) on the oil / gas stop flow plug . the operator has the means to re - open up the well by using a drill string tool to come down and apply load at the end of the probe or plunger ( 22 ) which is on top of the valve ( fig4 ) allowing the retention nut to be unscrewed , and as the said nut is unscrewed , the plunger is pushed down with the drill string tool , or equivalent equipment , and allows the oil / gas to flow up the riser again , ready for storage . there are vent passages ( 40 ) ( fig3 ), preferably two , that terminate at the upper close - out plate ( 23 ), on the top of the valve , that are sealed by cap screws ( 32 ). these vent passages are automatically sealed closed when the stop flow plug moves into closure position . the stop flow plug has a stop flow position and the retention nut ( 36 ), screwed down tight against the upper close - out plate , ensures that the relief vent passages ( 40 ) are fully stopped , and it shows no flow of the gas and oil through the valve to the surface . at the upper closeout plate , there are provisions for installing testing instruments that either mechanically , or electronically actuated by remote control , can read and detect from the interior of the valve all pertinent data such as the pressures , temperatures , volume and composition of the flow of oil and gas . at the bottom exterior surface of the valve there is an optional electronic read out of data to evaluate the conditions inside the well . the stop flow plug contains at its base a hex cavity ( 29 ) for assembly purposes of the valve at manufacturing . this stop flow plug also has in its sealing features a condition to stop leaks in fine line leak paths . this is done with a riser seal ( 35 ) encircles the valve in a provided retention cavity for the purpose of stopping any oil / gas escaping up the outside surface of the valve , between the interior wall of the riser ( 20 ) and the exterior wall of the valve . fig5 is a sectional view of a second embodiment of the valve assembly illustrating a heavy - duty doughnut - shaped expandable insert in an unexpanded condition . fig6 is a sectional view of the second embodiment of the valve assembly illustrating the heavy duty doughnut shaped expandable insert in an expanded condition . as shown in fig5 , one embodiment of the valve assembly further includes the heavy - duty doughnut - shaped expandable insert ( 42 ) ( i . e ., an annular expandable insert ), which may be optionally added to the valve assembly when dealing with well , to stop the flow by using the pressure coming from the well , even if the pressure from the well is low . the insert is an expandable doughnut shaped unit , with a hole in the middle , that will expand as necessary to permit pressure to be applied to the base of the stop flow plug ( 25 ) to drive it upward to the stop flow closure position , if desired , in order to allow oil / gas to pass upwards through the valve . the insert also applies pressure against the lower annular base plate ( 24 ). in cross section view , the stop flow plug ( 25 ) is shown in open , down position inside the valve ( 21 ) as oil / gas is passing through the passages ( 34 ) and the relief vents ( 40 ). the heavy duty insert ( 50 ) is captured in this location by the inside wall of the valve &# 39 ; s cylindrical housing ( 31 ) while imposing upward force on the base surface of the plug ( 25 ), and a downward force on the annular lower base plate ( 24 ), which is attached with screws ( 26 ) to the inner surface of the valve &# 39 ; s housing ( 31 ), and in the compressed condition , ensures that it is guided by this inner surface of the valve &# 39 ; s housing and ready to force the plug to its oil / gas closure location , by the drill string operator . fig6 shows the valve with the heavy - duty doughnut - shaped expandable insert ( 42 ) expanded in case the well pressure is low . the stop flow plug ( 25 ) is in the closure position to stop oil flow through the valve . a cross section view of the valve with the heavy - duty doughnut - shaped expandable insert ( 42 ) shows its shape when expanded for upward force on the base of the stop flow plug ( 25 ) in order to supplement the pressure to move the valve into closure on the oil / gas flow though the valve assembly ( 21 ) the attachment of the annular lower base plate ( 24 ) provides a means for installation and assembly of the heavy - duty doughnut - shaped expandable insert into the valve &# 39 ; s enclosed cavity for the same . the heavy duty doughnut insert ensures that there will be enough force in the well to move the plug into closure and complete stoppage of leakage of oil / gas through the valve . a second embodiment of the present invention is presented considering the multitude of wells that have been drilled in search of new oil and gas sites , and the diverse conditions encountered mainly in terms of magnitude of the oil / gas pressures . many of the wells show intense pressure , while others show little or no pressure , and a third group show both conditions alternatively . all such wells can leak oil / gas to the surface if not capped correctly , creating adverse environmental crises and major expenses to correct the derivative problems . under these circumstances , the inventors believe that it is necessary to consider and cope with all three conditions of the oil wells . this second embodiment of the present invention has the capability to address the leaking problem independent of the intensity of the pressure encountered in all types of wells , from newly drilled ones to the previously drilled , but not correctly capped on on - shore wells . the main concern of the oil industry has been concentrated on leakage in the wells showing intense oil / gas pressures to avoid big disasters . in the first embodiment of the present invention , it was addressed the intense pressures problem to seal leaks in the most common wells on shore , which are the ones showing that condition . this second embodiment of the present invention , comprises , in addition , a new improvement to be used in those wells showing low insufficient pressures . the heavy - duty doughnut - shaped expandable insert ( 42 ) with a hole in the middle to allow the oil pass through , is installed captured in its own cavity and in the compressed state inside the valve , fig5 , will let the oil / gas passing up through the passages ( 34 ) and the relief vents ( 40 ) to the surface . when the insert is expanded it will apply pressure against the annular lower base plate ( 24 ) of the valve assembly ( 21 ) which is attached with screws ( 26 ) to the side wall of the valve &# 39 ; s housing , and at the same time , the insert is pressing upward against the base of the stop flow plug ( 25 ) to supplement the pressure and force the stop flow plug to move to complete closure position , as shown in fig6 . the drill string operator controls the flow and stoppage of the oil / gas when dealing with wells without the extreme pressures that are normally encountered . with the help of said insert , the flow is stopped with the additional pressure obtained , even when the pressure from the well is low . thus , the basis of the present invention , that is — to use the coming up pressure of oil / gas from the wells , instead of the traditional method of fighting it — is retained in this embodiment with the use of a simple mechanical means that provides capability to replace the insufficient up - coming oil / gas pressure impulse to drive the stop flow plug ( 25 ) to plug any leaks , providing full confidence on the closure of the oil / gas flow from the well under any condition .
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with reference to fig1 the substrate for the plc is shown at 11 . the substrate may be glass or other suitable rigid support . the preferred substrate material is silicon which is used in so - called optical bench technology for high quality optical integrated circuits . the technology used in processing state of the art plcs follows , in some respects , silicon ic wafer fabrication . with reference again to fig1 two waveguides are shown at 12 and 13 , with a coupling section where the waveguides run parallel and closely spaced to one another . the length of the coupling section is designated l . the coupling region , i . e . the space between the waveguides along the coupling section , is designated 14 in the figures . the basic operation of a directional coupler is well known . it splits lightwaves coherently in a manner similar to a beam splitter in bulk optics . the input lightwave to waveguide 12 is p i and the output lightwave from waveguide 13 is p o . when the waveguides are closely spaced , as in fig1 the evanescent tail of the lightwave in waveguide 12 extends into waveguide 13 and induces an electric polarization . the polarization generates a lightwave in waveguide 13 , which couples back to waveguide 12 . in the example given , the two waveguides are single mode and are parallel and identical in structure in the coupling region . both waveguides bend away from each other at the ends as shown , and gradually decouple . the input lightwave p i and the output lightwave p o are related by : where k is the coupling ratio . the coupling ratio is strongly affected by the coupling region , and in particular by the core - to - cladding refractive index difference which is temperature dependent . this dependency can be utilized to adjust the coupling ratio after the fabrication of the waveguides has been completed . the basic structure for accommodating this thermo - optic control is shown in fig2 which is a section through 2 -- 2 of fig1 . in this view the silicon substrate 21 , the lower cladding layer 22 and the upper cladding layer 23 can be seen . the waveguides are shown at 12 and 13 , and are viewed in the coupling section where the waveguides are closely spaced . the coupling region is shown at 14 . the thermal control means is shown at 24 and the heat transfer is represented schematically at 25 . the control means is typically a resistive strip , such as chrome , or nickel chrome . electrodes , not shown in this view , are typically gold or copper contact pads at the ends of the strip wire , and are connected to a power source . according to the invention , the silica region above and between the waveguides 12 and 13 is replaced by a polymer material which has a refractive index that is relatively more sensitive to temperature changes than conventional waveguide materials . this improvement is depicted schematically in fig3 where the polymer material is shown at 31 covering the waveguides 12 and 13 , and extending into the coupling region 14 . the heating element is shown at 24 and the heat transfer is represented by arrows 25 . the principal difference between this structure and the prior art structure of fig2 is that the material in the coupling region 14 has a relatively high dependence of refractive index on temperature change . the cladding material in fig2 is sio 2 , or a doped silica , with a temperature dependence of refractive index , dn / dt , of the order of + 10 - 5 /° c . polymers have dn / dt that is consistently in the range - 0 . 5 × 10 - 4 /° c . to - 4 × 10 - 4 /° c . consequently , a much larger change in the effective index is possible for the same change in temperature . the following specific procedure is given by way of one example of how to practice the invention . it will be understood by those skilled in the art that a variety of variations can be used to achieve equivalent results . the process steps will be described in conjunction with fig4 - 14 . with reference to fig4 a 15 μm oxide layer 22 is grown on a 5 &# 34 ; silicon wafer 21 by high pressure oxidation to form the lower cladding layer for the waveguides . as shown in fig5 the core layer 33 for the waveguides is deposited over lower cladding layer 22 by cvd deposition of doped sio 2 using established cvd techniques . typical cvd deposition processes use precursors of silane or halogenated silane and hydrogen , with hydrides or halides of phosphorus or germanium for the doping material . the level of doping is such as to create an index difference between core layer 33 and cladding layer 22 of 0 . 3 - 1 . 5 %. the thickness of the core layer in this example is approximately 5 μm . the manufacture of waveguides for plcs adopts many of the techniques used in optical fiber technology that are well known and widely used . the specifics of the glass technology form no part of the invention . the waveguides are then defined by lithography . the feature sizes are relatively large , for example 5 μm waveguides with 3 μm spacing , so photolithography is generally suitable , although other lithography methods , e . g . methods using electron beam or x - ray actinic radiation , can also be used . a lithographic mask layer is applied over cladding layer 33 and patterned as shown in fig6 to produce mask features 35 corresponding to the waveguides . the core layer 33 is then etched , using mask 35 , to produce waveguides 12 and 13 . the structure after etching , and after removal of the mask 35 , is shown in fig7 . the etching technique is preferably reactive ion etching ( rie ) which will etch through a relatively thick silica layer without excessive undercut and produce relatively steep sidewalls . the sidewalls shown in these figures , which are not necessarily to scale , are shown as vertical for simplicity . the next step , shown in fig8 is to apply etch stop layer 36 to the waveguides 12 and 13 as shown . the etch stop layer can be any suitable material with a useful etch selectivity relative to the upper cladding layer . the preferred technique , again patterned after widely used silicon technology , is to use a polysilicon layer . the polysilicon layer is blanket deposited using cvd and the waveguides are masked . the polysilicon layer is etched using rie , plasma , or any suitable process to form the etch stop 36 , around the waveguides as shown in fig8 . the thickness of the etch stop may be in the range 0 . 5 - 2 . 0 μm . the upper cladding layer 23 is then deposited over and between the waveguides as shown in fig9 . this layer is typically bpteos ( silica codoped with boron and phosphorus ) having the same index as the lower cladding layer 21 . the cladding layer is then masked with mask 37 as shown in fig1 . the mask opening 38 corresponds approximately with the width of the two waveguides 12 , 13 and coupling section 14 , and with the width of etch stop layer 36 . upper cladding layer 23 is then rie etched through to the etch stop layer 36 as shown in fig1 . the etch stop layer 36 is removed , leaving the waveguides exposed as shown in fig1 . the opening 39 in cladding layer 23 over and between the waveguides 12 and 13 is then filled with the polymer according to the invention . the prepolymer may be applied by spinning , by syringe , or by suitable technique , and then cured to produce the polymer fill 41 as shown in fig1 . a wide variety of polymers are useful as the localized cladding material according to the invention . desired properties of the polymer include : low loss at wavelengths of interest ( 1 . 3 - 1 . 6 μm ), adherent , thermally stable , hydrolytically stable , crack resistant , and an index in the range 1 . 3 - 1 . 6 μm . preferred polymers are fluorinated polymers and silicon - based polymers ( siloxanes ). the former include partially or fully fluorinated polymers , such as copolymers of perfluoro - 2 , 2 - dimethyldioxole and tetrafluoroethylene sold under the tradename teflon af ® by dupont ; ring - cyclized homopolymers of perfluoro ( allyl vinyl ether ) sold under the tradename cytop ® by asahi glass co . ; terpolymers of tetrafluoroethylene , hexafluoroethylene , and vinylidene fluoride sold under the tradename thv fluoroplastic ® by 3m ; copolymers of perfluoro - 2 , 1 - dimethyldioxole and chlorofluoroethylene ; and terpolymers of perfluoro - 2 , 2 - dimethyldioxole , tetrafluoroethylene and chlorotrifluoroethylene . suitable fluorinated polymers further comprise fluoroacrylates and / or their copolymers with hydrocarbon - based ( non - fluorinated ) acrylates ( and / or methacrylates ), fluorinated urethanes , fluorinated epoxies , fluorinated vinyl ethers , and fluorinated vinyl esters . mixtures of any of these fluorinated polymers , copolymers or terpolymers may also be used . fluoroacrylates comprise esters of acrylic add and predominantly fluorinated alcohols , diols , or polyols . fluoromethacrylates comprise esters of methacrylic acid and predominantly fluorinated alcohols , diols , or polyols . suitable silicon based polymers include poly ( dimethylsiloxane ) s , poly ( diphenylsiloxane ) s , poly ( methylphenylsiloxane ) s , and copolymers of these . the silicon - based polymers further comprise poly ( siloxane ) s and poly ( silsesquioxane ) s having one or more pendant organic groups such as alkyl having 1 - 8 carbon atoms , or aryl or aralkyl combinations of alkyl ( 1 - 8 carbon atoms ) and aromatic moieties containing acrylate . copolymers or mixtures of any of these silicon - based polymers also may be used . further descriptions and examples of suitable materials can be found in copending application ser . no . 08 / 926 , 210 filed sep . 9 , 1997 , incorporated herein by reference . the polymers can be applied to the etched waveguide structure as a liquid or can be cast from solution . a preferred process is to fill the etched recess 38 in fig1 with a liquid monomer or oligomer mixture , and cure the prepolymer in situ by baking or by uv radiation , depending on the curing mechanism . filling the recess may be carried out in two steps to compensate for substantial shrinkage in each step . adhesion promoters may also be included in the prepolymer mixture . the heating element 43 is formed on the surface of the polymer fill 41 as shown in fig1 . the heating element can be a resistive strip of e . g . chrome or nickel chrome applied by evaporating or sputtering a layer of the resistive material and patterning the layer by a standard lift - off process . gold electrode pads are provided at the ends of the strip heater also using a lift - off technique . heat from element 43 , represented by arrows 45 , changes the refractive index of the polymer material in the coupling region 14 and thus changes the coupling ratio between waveguides 12 and 13 . other approaches will occur to those skilled in the art for fabricating directional couplers according to the foregoing teachings . for example , if materials are found for the core and the cladding with sufficient etch selectivity between them , the etch stop layer can be omitted . another alternative is to utilize the mask used to pattern the waveguides from the core layer as an etch stop layer , and carefully control the etch process to stop at or near the interface between the cladding layers . an overetch into the lower cladding layer , or a slight underetch , may be tolerated and still obtain the benefits of the invention . an embodiment of the invention is presented for 5 × 5 μm waveguides , λ = 1550 nm , a short coupling length of l = 850 μm , a waveguide separation of 3 μm in the coupling region , and an upper cladding dn / dt =- 4 × 10 - 4 . a simplifying assumption is that the upper cladding material completely surrounds the waveguides in the coupling section instead of being restricted to 3 sides as it is in practice . the simulated results will provide insight into the design tradeoffs , but are expected to underestimate the temperature change needed due to this assumption . the device length is chosen so that , at its lowest operating temperature , 100 % of the input light couples to the crossport . when the temperature is increased to its highest operating value , the cladding index decreases , the waveguides are more highly confined ( larger . increment . ), and the coupling is reduced to its minimum value . the temperature change needed to induce a coupling change from 100 % to 5 % is calculated to be 80 ° c . the coupling ratios versus temperature change are shown in the following table , along with the effective . increment .. the nominal temperature (. increment . t = 0 ) was chosen so that . increment .= 0 . 65 %, a standard value . table i______________________________________δt (° c .) δ (%) κ______________________________________ - 10 . 0 0 . 37 100 % 0 . 0 94 % 10 . 0 71 % 20 . 0 46 % 30 . 0 28 % 40 . 0 17 % 50 . 0 11 % 60 . 0 8 % 70 . 0 5 % ______________________________________ a second example was simulated using a longer coupling length of l = 1700 μm . the results are shown in table ii . table ii______________________________________t (° c .) δ (%) κ______________________________________ - 10 . 0 0 . 37 0 % 0 . 0 23 % 10 . 0 82 % 20 . 0 99 % ______________________________________ in this case a 30 ° c . rise in temperature effects a change in coupling from 0 % to 99 %. for finer control of the coupling ratios , the shorter lengths are better . however , for a large coupling range , a longer coupling length is required to minimize the temperature change needed . the waveguide structures in the devices described herein are conventional waveguides with a strip - like configuration and typically rectangular , or preferably essentially square , in cross section . the heating element for heating the material in the coupling region is described as an electrical resistance heater but any suitable heating device such as a laser or other light source could be used . it would appear that the most straightforward way of implementing the invention as described above is to deposit the polymer material so as to fill the gap created by etching the upper cladding . however , as an alternative , only the coupling region need be filled with polymer , and a cladding material deposited over the polymer material to essentially reconstitute the upper cladding layer over the coupler . also the composition of the cladding material in this embodiment may be selected for more effective heat transfer to the buried polymer coupling region . a variation on the approach just described is to apply the polymer to the coupling region prior to depositing the upper cladding layer . in this way the etch stop layer can be dispensed with , saving deposition , etch and lithographic steps . in the embodiments described above a polymer material is suggested as the material with a high dependence of refractive index relative to the materials conventionally used for the upper cladding layer . however , other materials may be found that provide similar results . the essential requirement according to the invention is for the fill material in the coupling region to have a dn / dt = y , and the upper cladding material having a dn / dt = x , where y ≧ 5x . polymer waveguides are relatively lossy in the 1550 nm region , typically in the 1 db / cm range , compared to less than 0 . 1 db / cm for glass waveguides . for the hybrid structures described here ( glass core and lower cladding , polymer upper cladding ), the loss in the hybrid region depends on the temperature ( i . e . core confinement ). for the nominal temperature where the polymer index matches the glass lower cladding , a loss of 0 . 3 db / cm is estimated , decreasing to 0 . 16 db / cm when the polymer upper cladding is heated by 50 ° c . ( assuming the polymer dn / dt =- 4 × 10 - 4 ). this calculation assumes that the loss scales linearly with the amount of power traveling in the glass versus polymer . the remainder of the device will enjoy the lower loss afforded by glass waveguides . various additional modifications of this invention will occur to those skilled in the art . all deviations from the specific teachings of this specification that basically rely on the principles and their equivalents through which the art has been advanced are properly considered within the scope of the invention as described and claimed .
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it should be understood at the outset that although an illustrative implementation of one or more embodiments are provided below , the disclosed systems and / or methods may be implemented using any number of techniques , whether currently known or in existence . the disclosure should in no way be limited to the illustrative implementations , drawings , and techniques illustrated below , including the exemplary designs and implementations illustrated and described herein , but may be modified within the scope of the appended claims along with their full scope of equivalents . hips refers to any elastomer - reinforced vinylaromatic polymers . the vinylaromatic monomers may include , but are not limited to , styrene , alpha - methylstyrene and ring - substituted styrene . hips may further include comonomers , including methylstyrene ; halogenated styrenes ; alkylated styrenes ; acrylonitrile ; esters of ( meth ) acrylic acid with alcohols having from 1 to 8 carbons ; n - vinyl compounds such as vinylcarbazole , maleic anhydride ; compounds which contain two polymerizable double bonds such as divinylbenzene or butanediol diacrylate ; or combinations thereof . the comonomer may be present in an amount effective to impart one or more user - desired properties to the composition . such effective amounts may be determined by one of ordinary skill in the art with the aid of this disclosure . for example , the comonomer may be present in the styrenic polymer composition in an amount of from 1 wt . % to 99 . 9 wt . % by total weight of the reaction mixture , alternatively from 1 wt . % to 90 wt . %, alternatively from 1 wt . % to 50 wt . %. the elastomeric material is typically embedded in the polystyrene matrix . examples of elastomeric materials include conjugated diene monomers include without limitation 1 , 3 - butadiene , 2 - methyl - 1 , 3 - butadiene , 2 - chloro - 1 , 3 butadiene , 2 - methyl - 1 , 3 - butadiene , and 2 - chloro - 1 , 3 - butadiene . alternatively , the hips includes an aliphatic conjugated diene monomer as the elastomer . without limitation , examples of suitable aliphatic conjugated diene monomers include c 4 to c 9 dienes such as butadiene monomers . blends or copolymers of the diene monomers may also be used . likewise , mixtures or blends of one or more elastomers may be used . in an embodiment , the elastomer comprises a homopolymer of a diene monomer , alternatively , the elastomer comprises polybutadiene . the elastomer may be present in the hips in amounts effective to produce one or more user - desired properties . such effective amounts may be determined by one of ordinary skill in the art with the aid of this disclosure . for example , the elastomer may be present in the hips in an amount of from 1 wt . % to 20 wt . %, alternatively from 2 wt . % to 15 wt . %, alternatively 5 wt . % to 11 wt . % based on the total weight of the hips . in an embodiment , a hips suitable for use in this disclosure may have a melt flow rate of from 1 g / 10 min . to 40 g / 10 min ., alternatively from 1 . 5 g / 10 min . to 20 g / 10 min ., alternatively from 2 g / 10 min . to 15 g / 10 min as determined in accordance with astm d - 1238 ; a falling dart impact of from 5 in - lb to 200 in - lb , alternatively from 50 in - lb to 180 in - lb , alternatively from 100 in - lb to 150 in - lb as determined in accordance with astm d - 3029 ; an izod impact of from 0 . 4 ft - lbs / in to 5 ft - lbs / in , alternatively from 1 ft - lbs / in to 4 ft - lbs / in , alternatively from 2 ft - lbs / in to 3 . 5 ft - lbs / in as determined in accordance with astm d - 256 ; a tensile strength of from 2 , 000 psi to 10 , 000 psi , alternatively from 2 , 800 psi to 8 , 000 psi , alternatively from 3 , 000 psi to 5 , 000 psi as determined in accordance with astm d - 638 ; a tensile modulus of from 100 , 000 psi to 500 , 000 psi , alternatively from 200 , 000 psi to 450 , 000 psi , alternatively from 250 , 000 psi to 380 , 000 psi as determined in accordance with astm d - 638 ; an elongation of from 0 . 5 % to 90 %, alternatively from 5 % to 70 %, alternatively from 35 % to 60 % as determined in accordance with astm d - 638 ; a flexural strength of from 3 , 000 psi to 15 , 000 psi , alternatively from 4 , 000 psi to 10 , 000 psi , alternatively from 6 , 000 psi to 9 , 000 psi as determined in accordance with astm d - 790 ; a flexural modulus of from 200 , 000 psi to 500 , 000 psi , alternatively from 230 , 000 psi to 400 , 000 psi , alternatively from 250 , 000 psi to 350 , 000 psi as determined in accordance with astm d - 790 ; an annealed heat distortion of from 180 ° f . to 215 ° f ., alternatively from 185 ° f . to 210 ° f ., alternatively from 190 ° f . to 205 ° f . as determined in accordance with astm d - 648 ; a vicat softening of from 195 ° f . to 225 ° f ., alternatively from 195 ° f . to 220 ° f ., alternatively from 200 ° f . to 215 ° f . as determined in accordance with astm d - 1525 ; and a gloss 60 ° of from 30 to 100 , alternatively from 40 to 98 , alternatively from 50 to 95 as determined in accordance with astm d - 523 . in an embodiment , the polymerization reaction to form hips may be carried out in a solution or mass polymerization process . mass polymerization , also known as bulk polymerization refers to the polymerization of a monomer in the absence of any medium other than the monomer and a catalyst or polymerization initiator . solution polymerization refers to a polymerization process in which the monomers and polymerization initiators are dissolved in a non - monomeric liquid solvent at the beginning of the polymerization reaction . the liquid is usually also a solvent for the resulting polymer or copolymer . the polymerization process can be either batch or continuous . in an embodiment , the polymerization reaction may be carried out using a continuous production process in a polymerization apparatus comprising a single reactor or a plurality of reactors . for example , the polymeric composition can be prepared using an upflow reactor . reactors and conditions for the production of a polymeric composition are disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 777 , 210 , which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety . in yet another embodiment , the polymerization reaction may be carried out in a plurality of reactors with each reactor having an optimum temperature range . for example , the polymerization reaction may be carried out in a reactor system employing a first and second polymerization reactor that are either continuously stirred tank reactors ( cstr ) or plug - flow reactors . in an embodiment , a polymerization reactor for the production of hips of the type disclosed herein comprising a plurality of reactors may have a first reactor ( e . g ., a cstr ), also known as the prepolymerization reactor , and a second reactor ( e . g ., cstr or plug flow ). the product effluent from the first reactor may be referred to herein as the prepolymer . when the prepolymer reaches the desired conversion , it may be passed through a heating device into a second reactor for further polymerization . the polymerized product effluent from the second reactor may be further processed and is described in detail in the literature . upon completion of the polymerization reaction , hips is recovered from the second reactor and subsequently processed such as through devolitalization , without being bound by theory , it is believed that a crosslinking reaction may occur in the elastomeric phase when the polymer melt runs through the devolitalization section of polymerization reactor . the exposure to the relatively high temperature in the devolitalization section ( including the devolitalization preheater ) may initiate the crosslinking of the elastomeric material , such as polybutadiene chains , through a free radical mechanism . in one embodiment of the present disclosure , the number of crosslinking ( as measured by the swell index of hips ) may be controlled by addition of a retarding chemical agent to the polymer melt prior to the devolitalization section to slow the crosslinking reaction . in certain embodiments of the present disclosure , due to the free radical nature of the crosslinking reaction , the crosslinking retarder can be a chain transfer agent . in an embodiment , the chain transfer agent may be a mercaptan , thiol , or halocarbon , such as carbon tetrachloride , and combinations thereof . examples of mercaptan chain transfer agents include n - octyl mercaptan , t - octyl mercaptan , n - decyl mercaptan , n - dodecyl mercaptan ( ndm ), t - dodecyl mercaptan , tridecyl mercaptan , tetradecyl mercaptan , n - hexadecyl mercaptan , t - nonyl mercaptan , ethyl mercaptan , isopropyl mercaptan , t butyl mercaptan , cyclohexyl mercaptan , benzyl mercaptan and mixtures thereof . ethylbenzene is another alternative as a retarder chain transfer agent . in certain embodiments of the present disclosure , the concentration of the chain transfer agent added to the polymer melt is between 50 and 150 ppm ( by weight ), 50 and 1000 ppm ( by weight ) or by between 1 ppm and 1 % ( by weight ). alternatively , the retarder can be a free radical scavenger such as a phenolic antioxidant . the retarder can also be a crosslinking coagent , chosen from a polyfunctional ( meth ) acrylic monomer , allylic compound or metal salt of unsaturated monocarboxylic acids . use of crosslinking coagents with phenolic retarders not only delays the scorching in the elastomeric phase but also reduces the elastic modulus and increases elongation of rubber . the retarder may also improve the rubber utilization efficiency and physical properties of hips . the chosen crosslinking retarding agent can be one of chain transfer agents , free radical scavengers or coagents or any combination of those . in certain embodiments of the present disclosure , the concentration of the crosslinking agent added to the polymer melt is between 50 and 150 ppm ( by weight ), 50 and 1000 ppm ( by weight ) or by between 1 ppm and 1 % ( by weight ). in another embodiment of the present disclosure , the retarding agent is a tertiary amine oxide , such as n , n , n - trialkylamine oxide , wherein at least one n is a methyl group and remaining ns are c14 - c24 saturated aliphatic chains . in one embodiment of the present disclosure , one n is a methyl group and the other two ns are c14 - c24 saturated aliphatic chains . in certain embodiments , the tertiary amine oxide can be injected prior to the devolitalizer with the use of a solvent such as an aliphatic or aromatic solvent . examples include heptanes or ethylbenzene , respectively . the tertiary amine oxide / solvent solution may be homogenous or a suspension . in certain embodiments of the present disclosure , the concentration of the tertiary amine oxide added to the polymer melt is between 50 and 150 ppm ( by weight ), 50 and 1000 ppm ( by weight ) or by between 1 ppm and 1 % ( by weight ). in still another embodiment , in place of the tertiary amine oxide , a tertiary amine could be used as the retarding agent . while not bound by theory , it is believed that with the presence of peroxides and oxygen and under high temperatures , the tertiary amine oxides is formed from the corresponding amine . an example of such a tertiary amine is 2 , 6 - di - tert - butyl - 4 -( dimehtylamino ) methylphenol . in certain embodiments of the present disclosure , the concentration of the tertiary amine added to the polymer melt is between 50 and 150 ppm ( by weight ), 50 and 1000 ppm ( by weight ) or by between 1 ppm and 1 % ( by weight ). in certain embodiments of the present disclosure , the swell index of the hips is improved to 15 to 25 over that when no retardant is used . in an embodiment , the hips may also comprise additives as deemed necessary to impart desired physical properties , such as , increased gloss or color . examples of additives include without limitation stabilizers , talc , antioxidants , uv stabilizers , lubricants , plasticizers , ultra - violet screening agents , oxidants , anti - oxidants , anti - static agents , ultraviolet light absorbents , fire retardants , processing oils , mold release agents , coloring agents , pigments / dyes , fillers , and the like . the aforementioned additives may be used either singularly or in combination to form various formulations of the composition . for example , stabilizers or stabilization agents may be employed to help protect the polymeric composition from degradation due to exposure to excessive temperatures and / or ultraviolet light . the additives may be added after recovery of the hips , for example during compounding such as pelletization . these additives may be included in amounts effective to impart the desired properties . effective additive amounts and processes for inclusion of these additives to polymeric compositions are known to one skilled in the art . for example , the additives may be present in an amount of from 0 . 1 wt . % to 50 wt . %, alternatively from 1 wt . % to 40 wt . %, alternatively from 2 wt . % to 30 wt . % based on the total weight of the composition . the embodiments having been generally described , the following examples are given as particular embodiments of the disclosure and to demonstrate the practice and advantages thereof . it is understood that the examples are given by way of illustration and are not intended to limit the specification or the claims in any manner . hips batch polymerization was run to test the effectiveness of saret sr516 , a mixture of coagent and scorch retarder acquired from sartomer . the hips batch polymerization was run according to the formulation and conditions as listed in table 1 . the sr516 ( 1000 ppm relative to the feed by weight ) was pre - dissolved in ethylbenzene ( eb ) and added into the reaction mixture 15 minutes before the polymer reaction ends at the targeted conversion ( 70 - 75 %). after the batch reaction , the polymer was devolatilized ( to remove residual monomers and other volatile compositions ) in a vacuum oven at 225 ° c . and pressures less than 10 torr . the devolitalized final polymer was then submitted for swell index measurements . rubber crosslinking in hips was evaluated by swelling of the gel phase in toluene . the gel phase represents a mixture of ps - grafted pb , partially crosslinked pb and ps occluded within rubber particles , which is determined after removal of the ps matrix by solubilization . the swelling index is used here as an indirect measurement of the rubber crosslinking density , i . e ., the higher the swelling , the lower the pb crosslinking . in a separate run , sr516 was replaced by ndm and all other procedures remained the same . compared to the baseline reaction without the use of retarding agent , both sr516 and ndm experiments showed higher swell indices ( a gauge of crosslinking in rubber particles of hips ) with devolitalization time . the swell index from the sr516 batch reaction was consistently higher at all three devolitalization times . the gpc results confirmed that the molecular weights of the polystyrene phase from sr516 reaction were consistent with the baseline reaction while the ndm run led to lower molecular weights as expected . the results of example 1 may be found in fig2 . hips batch reactions similar to example 1 were run to test the effectiveness of 2 , 6 - di - tert - butyl - 4 -( dimethylamino ) methyl phenol ( or , aminomethylphenol ). in one experiment , 50 ppm ( relative to the feed ) of aminomethylphenol ( dissolved in eb ) was delivered into the hips reaction 15 min before the end of reaction and prior to the devol . the swell index was monitored with the devolitilzation time , as an indirect measure of rubber crosslinking density change through the devolitilzation process . with the addition of aminomethylphenol , the swell index of rubber particles stayed above 16 through the 90 min of devolitilzation . compared to the control ( without the use of retarding chemical agent ), the aminophenol showed an obvious crosslinking retarding performance . in another experiment , a higher concentration of aminomethylphenol ( 1000 ppm , relative to the feed ) was added into the reaction . no gels of rubber were recovered after centrifugation and the swell index could not be measured . the effect of aminomethylphenol concentration on the rubber crosslinking was also studied . the results showed ( fig3 ) that 50 - 100 ppm of aminophenol was able to increase the swell index up to 5 units even at the longest devolitilzation time . use of a lower concentration led to a decreased effect on the swell index . on the other side , a higher concentration of aminophenol gave a swell index as high as 32 . the results were consistent with the earlier observation that when 1000 ppm of aminophenol was used , no swell index could be measured , even at the longest devolitilzation time ( 90 min ). to study the effect of tertiary amine oxide , a selected , aliphatic tertiary amine oxide , n , n , n - trialkylamine oxide ( cas # 204933 - 93 - 7 ), was tested in batch polymerizations . at a concentration of 50 - 100 ppm ( relative to the feed ), the aliphatic amine oxide gave a swell index improvement , comparable to the efficacy of aminomethylphenol , after 90 min of devolitilzation . the effectiveness of this aliphatic amine oxide seemed even better at shorter devol time ( fig3 ). further lab studies of the tertiary amine oxide revealed that the addition of tertiary amine oxide in the feed did not seem to improve the swell index as did the later - stage addition of the chemical in polymerization . a hips batch was run with 50 ppm ( relative to the feed ) of aminomethylphenol ( dissolved in eb ) delivered into the reaction 15 min before the end of batch polymerization . use of aminomethylphenol was able to improve the swell index almost 5 units compared to the control polymerization where no aminomethylphenol was added ( table 2 ). gpc measurements showed that the molecular weights of hips involving aminomethylphenol was close to the control polymerization . the tensile elongation and impact resistance of hips with higher swell index were improved . a hips batch polymerization was also run with 250 ppm ( relative to the feed ) of tertiary amine oxide ( genox ep , dispersed in eb ) delivered into the reaction 15 min before the end of batch polymerization . it was observed ( table 3 ) that both izod impact resistance and tensile elongation of hips were higher , at comparable rubber content and rubber particle size but higher swell index . while various embodiments have been shown and described , modifications thereof can be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and teachings of the disclosure . the embodiments described herein are exemplary only , and are not intended to be limiting . many variations and modifications of the subject matter disclosed herein are possible and are within the scope of the disclosure . where numerical ranges or limitations are expressly stated , such express ranges or limitations should be understood to include iterative ranges or limitations of like magnitude falling within the expressly stated ranges or limitations ( e . g ., from about 1 to about 10 includes , 2 , 3 , 4 , etc . ; greater than 0 . 10 includes 0 . 11 , 0 . 12 , 0 . 13 , etc .). for example , whenever a numerical range with a lower limit , r l , and an upper limit , r u , is disclosed , any number falling within the range is specifically disclosed . in particular , the following numbers within the range are specifically disclosed : r = r l + k *( r u − r l ), wherein k is a variable ranging from 1 percent to 100 percent with a 1 percent increment , i . e ., k is 1 percent , 2 percent , 3 percent , 4 percent , 5 percent , . . . 50 percent , 51 percent , 52 percent , . . . , 95 percent , 96 percent , 97 percent , 98 percent , 99 percent , or 100 percent . moreover , any numerical range defined by two r numbers as defined in the above is also specifically disclosed . use of the term “ optionally ” with respect to any element of a claim is intended to mean that the subject element is required , or alternatively , is not required . both alternatives are intended to be within the scope of the claim . use of broader terms such as comprises , includes , having , etc . should be understood to provide support for narrower terms such as consisting of , consisting essentially of , comprised substantially of , etc . accordingly , the scope of protection is not limited by the description set out above but is only limited by the claims which follow , that scope including all equivalents of the subject matter of the claims . each and every claim is incorporated into the specification as an embodiment of the present disclosure . thus , the claims are a further description and are an addition to the embodiments of the present disclosure . the discussion of a reference is not an admission that it is prior art to the present disclosure , especially any reference that may have a publication date after the priority date of this application . the disclosures of all patents , patent applications , and publications cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference , to the extent that they provide exemplary , procedural , or other details supplementary to those set forth herein .
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the composite materials of the invention are formed from a polymer selected from collagen , fibrin or chitosan , which forms the tridimensional structure of the surgical device , on the surface of which chains of the aforementioned polyesters are conjugated ; for this reason , collagen , fibrin and chitosan will also be defined as “ structural polymers ” in the rest of the description . these polymers have free amino groups , — nh 2 , which can be made to react with suitably functionalized polyesters , obtaining the derivatized products of the invention . the polyesters of the invention are synthetic polymers that are non - toxic , biocompatible and immunologically inert , which belong to the category of absorbable materials . among the polyesters , polylactic acid is preferred . polylactic acid has been used since the 1990s in orthopaedic and odontostomatologic applications , and as filler in maxillofacial applications , and its use was approved in europe in 1999 for cosmetic corrections of scars , of signs of ageing and of lipoatrophy due to antiretroviral therapies . this polyester is a bioactive material : through a mild but constant inflammatory reaction in the tissue into which it is injected , it in fact induces a progressive neosynthesis of collagen that leads to an increase and revitalization of the dermal thickness . hereinafter , the polylactic and polyglycolic acids will also be indicated , respectively , with the abbreviations pla and pga , and their copolymers will be indicated as plga . in the present description and in the claims , the amount of polyester chains relative to the amount of the structural polymer is expressed as “ derivatization degree ”; this term means the value , as a percentage , of polyester chains bound in the composite biomaterial relative to the number of free — nh 2 groups in the initial structural polymer ( i . e . the number of — nh 2 groups reacted relative to the total number of initial — nh 2 groups ). the derivatization degree is determined by measuring the number of polyester chains bound in the composite biomaterial and the number of free — nh 2 groups therein . the number of bound polyester chains is measured by subjecting a portion of composite biomaterial to severe acid or basic hydrolysis ( for example , with 6m hydrochloric acid or 3m sodium hydroxide at 70 ° c . ), following which the polyester is liberated in its “ reduced ” form ( lactic acid or glycolic acid ); the amount of polyester is then measured by liquid chromatography . the number of free — nh 2 groups is measured by the method described in the article “ quantitative analysis of n - sulfated , n - acetylated , and unsubstituted glucosamine amino groups in heparin and related polysaccharides ”, j . riesenfeld et al ., analytical biochemistry 188 , 383 - 389 ( 1990 ). the sum of the number of polyester chains and of free — nh 2 groups in the composite biomaterial is equivalent to the number of free — nh 2 groups in the initial structural polymer . then knowing the number of polyester chains and the number of initial free — nh 2 groups , the derivatization degree , dd , is obtained from the formula : dd =( number of bound polyester chains )/( number of initial free — nh 2 groups )× 100 . the degree of derivatization with polyester of the structural polymer can vary widely , and is generally between 1 and 50 %, and preferably between 5 and 30 %. with a derivatization degree below 1 %, the composite material has properties that do not differ substantially from those of the starting structural polymer , in particular as regards the rate of degradation in the organism , and therefore cannot be used for the purposes of the invention . conversely , composite materials with a derivatization degree above 50 % are difficult to produce and , in particular , are excessively lipophilic and are therefore less compatible with the environment of the organism , poorly absorbing organic fluids ( generally water - based ) with adverse effects on the material . the properties of a specific composite material depend both on the nature of the structural polymer and of the polyester used , and on their relative amounts in the composite . in particular , as the derivatization degree increases , the resistance of the composite to biodegradation in vivo increases and its hydrophilicity decreases . with regard to biodegradation , the rate of the phenomenon varies with the derivatization degree because the presence of the polyester chains interferes with the action of the enzymes or cells that trigger the process of degradation of the matrix , leading to a slower absorption process than would occur with the structural polymer alone , said process involving both components of the composite material ; on the other hand , the presence of the structural polymer leads to a higher rate of degradation than for the polyester alone . consequently , a situation occurs in which each of the two polymers forming the composite material partially “ transfers ” its properties to the latter , leading to a material with intermediate characteristics relative to its starting components . conversely , the decrease in hydrophilicity affects the capacity of the composite material to adsorb biological fluids . by controlling the derivatization degree it is thus possible for these characteristics to be finely tuned , to produce a composite that is suitable for the specific requirements of the application . the composite materials of the invention are useful in particular for the production of medical and surgical devices in the form of membrane or felt , in which , as mentioned , the structural polymer constitutes the supporting structure of the device and the polyester determines its fine properties . according to an alternative embodiment of the materials of the invention , the composites described above can be combined with other compounds having biological or pharmacological activity , obtaining a device that will be designated as “ medicated ” hereinafter . these further compounds can be , for example , agents that have antimicrobial activity , antifungal activity , antibiotic activity or other pharmacological activities . protein - based antibiotics and antifungals of the latest generation ( antibiotics of this type are known as peptide or lipopeptide antibiotics ) and growth factors based on glycoproteins are particularly suitable for combining with the structural polymer / polyester composites described above . the peptide ( or lipopeptide ) antibiotics are particularly important as they do not appear to have the problem of development of resistance , after repeated use in therapy . this family includes , for example , but not only : daptomycin , meropenem , which are active against gram - positive organisms ; and pac - 113 , an antifungal similar to histatin . a non - exhaustive list of growth factors that can be conjugated to structural polymer / polyester composites includes : bone morphogenic proteins , known in this field as the bmp family , involved in processes of bone growth and of tissue growth in general , and in particular those known as bmp2 and bmp7 ; fibroblast growth factors ( fgfs ), active in angiogenesis , in wound repair and in embryonic development ; vascular endothelial growth factors ( vegfs ), active in angiogenesis ; epidermal growth factors ( egfs ), active in regulation of cellular growth , proliferation and differentiation ; insulin - like growth factors ( igfs ); platelet - derived growth factor ( pdgf ); and platelet factor 4 ( pf4 ). these factors have been found to be of the utmost importance in initiating the various phases of the process of tissue regeneration of practically all animal tissues . to be able to incorporate these growth factors in a solid support proves to be very important for initiating tissue regeneration , at the very site of application . finally , the composite materials of the invention can be combined with drugs that do not react with the substrate but are simply incorporated in its three - dimensional solid network , for example in the pores of the structural polymer or of the final membranes or felts . these active principles are thus transported to the sites of tissue damage , where either tissue regeneration is required or there is an infection to be eradicated . these drugs can be for example conventional broad - spectrum antibiotics or those with specific action on mrsa ( methicillin - resistant staphylococcus aureus ), on gram - positive or gram - negative organisms , on fungi or viruses . a non - exhaustive list comprises daptomycin , tigecycline , telavancin , bacitracin , streptomycin , isoniazid and vancomycin . the concentration , relative to the total amount of composite , of active principles of the latter type can also be determined at the production site of the material and optimized according to the particular use for which the final surgical device is intended . the pharmacological active principles conjugated to the structural polymer / polyester composites or those incorporated in the structure thereof exert their specific action at the site of application of the surgical device obtained from the composite ; this can take place directly by contact , or more slowly at the time of release , as a result , for example , of degradation of the membrane structure . an example of surgical device obtained with a composite of the invention is a membrane in which two different types of porosity are recognized , a three - dimensional part that is more porous , consisting essentially of the structural polymer , where the cells of the cartilage or the fibroblasts of the skin can enter to construct their natural matrix ; this part is closely connected with the second , consisting essentially of the polyester , in which the pores are much smaller , so that the cells cannot pass through and travel to the lumen of the joint or to the surface of the skin . in this way the cells remain trapped in the biologically active three - dimensional scaffold , in an environment with ideal moisture content for growth and reproduction . at the same time , the non - porous layer , orientated towards the lumen or the contaminated open air , constitutes a protective septum against contaminated dusts and therefore bacterial infections . the product in the form of a membrane of the present invention can be obtained with various derivatization degrees between the two components . this condition makes it possible to have products with characteristics similar to native collagen or to natural fibrin , but with sufficient residence times for performing the functions required in the types of surgery mentioned above . in a second aspect , the invention relates to a process for production of the composites already described . functionalization of the polyester with an activating agent of its free carboxyl group and subsequent purification of the product thus obtained ; reaction in heterogeneous phase between the solid structural polymer , which already has the desired final structure , and the functionalized polyester in solution in a polar aprotic solvent ; purification of the composite material obtained by treatment in aqueous or saline aqueous solutions . for the reaction to be possible , it is necessary to use a solvent that is able simultaneously to wet the structural polymer and dissolve the polyester . solvents suitable for the purposes of the invention are the polar aprotic solvents , including in particular dimethylsulphoxide ( dmso ), n - methyl - 2 - pyrrolidone ( nmp ) and dimethylformamide ( dmf ). the reagents used for the structural polymer are an unmodified natural collagen in lyophilic form , unmodified fibrin of animal origin ( preferably of human origin ), in the form of thin membrane or of three - dimensional coagulum , and chitosan in solid form , for example in lyophilized or in non - woven tissue form . the polyester used is a commercial product of medical grade , ultrapure . to facilitate the reaction of conjugation on the structural polymer of the polyester , the latter is first functionalized with activating agents of its free carboxyl group . examples of said activation are the reaction with n - hydroxysuccinimide ( nhs ), according to the method described in the article “ new graft copolymers of hyaluronic acid and polylactic acid : synthesis and characterization ”, f . s . palumbo et al ., carbohydrate polymers , vol . 66 ( 2006 ), pages 379 - 385 ; or according to the method described in the article “ folate receptor targeted biodegradable polymeric doxorubicin micelles ”, h . s . yoo et al ., journal of controlled release , ( 2004 ) 96 : 273 - 283 ; alternatively , the polyester can be activated by reaction with 1 , 1 - carbonyldiimidazole ( cdi ), as is known by a person skilled in the art . for carrying out the reaction , the activated polyester is dissolved in one of the solvents mentioned above ; then the structural polymer selected is immersed in the solution thus obtained and it is left to react for a time between 1 and 15 hours , preferably between 2 and 6 hours , at a temperature generally between about 15 and 50 ° c . at the reaction stage , the weight ratio between the starting polyester and the structural polymer is selected in relation to the desired derivatization degree in the final composite material , taking into account that the inventors have observed that the derivatization reaction has practically quantitative yield , i . e . essentially all the functionalized polyester used in the reaction binds to the structural polymer . thanks to the particular type of reaction in heterogeneous phase it is possible to obtain multilayer solid preparations , in which every layer has different structural and microscopic characteristics depending on the use for which it is intended . it is also possible to combine , in the phase of reaction between the structural polymer and the polyester , one or more agents with biological / pharmacological activity described previously , selected from peptide or lipopeptide antibiotics and growth factors . association takes place by absorption and mechanical retention of these agents on the matrix of the structural polymer or , for high derivatization degrees with polyester , between the chains of the latter . in the first case , before submitting the structural polymer to the reaction in heterogeneous phase described above , the desired agents with biological / pharmacological activity are deposited thereon , and optionally the system is dried prior to reaction with the activated polyester . in the second case , said agents are adsorbed on the structural polymer / polyester composite already produced . in both cases , the kinetics of release of the agent with biological / pharmacological activity essentially follows the degradation of the composite . at the end of the conjugation reaction , the composite obtained is purified simply by treatment in aqueous or saline aqueous solutions . once the composite material is obtained , comprising or not comprising the aforementioned pharmacologically active peptide ( or lipopeptide ) compounds , it is possible optionally to proceed with incorporation of further drugs or medicinal products in the composite , dissolving or suspending the latter in a solvent that is able to wet the composite , causing them to be adsorbed in the pores thereof , and finally removing the solvent , for example by evaporation at reduced pressure . the solvent in which this operation is performed can be the same medium used in the first reaction , if it is compatible with the selected pharmacological compound ; alternatively , it is possible to dry the composite obtained from the structural polymer / polyester conjugation reaction ( and optional peptide - or lipopeptide - type pharmacological agent ) and soak it in a new solvent compatible with the selected pharmacological compound . the invention will be further illustrated by means of the following examples . the synthesis is carried out by the method described in the article of h . s . yoo et al . cited above . 2 . 4 g of pla of average molecular weight 8 kda is dissolved in 30 ml of dichloromethane . first 0 . 25 g of the condensing agent dicyclohexylcarbodiimide ( dcc ), and then 0 . 14 g of nhs , are added to this solution , and left to react at room temperature for 24 hours . after this time , the reaction mixture is concentrated by partial evaporation of the dichloromethane and the product is precipitated in absolute ethanol and washed several times with the same solvent . the solid obtained is then filtered and dried under vacuum . a crystalline white solid is obtained , at a yield above 80 wt . % relative to the weight of the starting pla . the 1 h - nmr spectrum confirms that activation of the carboxyl group of pla with nhs has taken place . the activation yield , expressed as ratio of moles of nhs bound to the moles of single chains of pla , is 90 %. the 1 h - nmr spectrum of the product pla - nhs ( cdcl 3 ) shows signals at : □ 1 . 5 and □ 1 . 6 ( d , 3h , — o — co — ch ( ch 3 )— oh ; □ 3h , o — co — ch ( ch 3 )— o —), □ 2 . 80 ( m , 4h , — oc — ch 2 — ch 2 — co —); □ 4 . 3 and □ 5 . 2 ( m , 1h , — o — co — ch ( ch 3 )— oh ; m , 1h , — o — co — ch ( ch 3 )— o —). 1 gram of pla with average molecular weight 8 kda is dissolved at 50 mg / ml in dmso . then 40 mg of cdi is added . it is left to react at room temperature for 2 - 3 hours . the product is precipitated by pouring the solution directly into 100 ml of hexane . the precipitate is washed with two 50 - ml portions of absolute ethanol . after filtration , the precipitate is dried under vacuum . preparation of a membrane based on collagen derivatized at 10 % with polylactic acid a membrane in lyophilized form based on collagen with dimensions of about 25 cm 2 and with a thickness of about 5 mm , weighing 250 mg , is placed in a glass petri dish . in a 10 - ml glass test tube , 15 mg of activated polylactic acid ( produced as described in example 1 ) is dissolved in 6 ml of dmso . the solution is added directly on the surface of the collagen membrane in the petri dish . the dish is closed and put in a stove at 40 ° c . and it is left to react for 4 hours . the dish is then taken out of the stove and the membrane is removed , and is immersed in a 500 - ml glass beaker containing 300 ml of physiological saline at 0 . 9 % nacl . it is stirred gently for 2 hours . the operation is repeated once , stirring gently for 4 hours , and twice more using purified water instead of physiological saline . the membrane is removed and is left to dry in the stove at 37 ° c . for 24 - 48 hours . a sample of the product is measured for the derivatization degree , which is found to be equal to 10 %. preparation of a membrane based on collagen derivatized at 20 % with polylactic acid the procedure of example 3 is repeated , the only difference being that 30 mg of activated polylactic acid ( produced as described in example 1 ) dissolved in 6 ml of dmso is used for the derivatization reaction . preparation of a membrane based on collagen derivatized at 50 % with polylactic acid the procedure of example 3 is repeated , the only difference being that 75 mg of activated polylactic acid ( produced as described in example 1 ) dissolved in 8 ml of dmso is used for the derivatization reaction . preparation of a membrane based on collagen derivatized at 20 % with polylactic acid the procedure of example 3 is repeated , with the differences that 21 . 5 mg of activated polylactic acid in 6 ml of dmso is used for the derivatization reaction , and that the pla is activated with cdi , as described in example 2 . preparation of a membrane based on collagen derivatized at 50 % with polylactic acid the procedure of example 6 is repeated , the only difference being that 54 mg of activated polylactic acid ( produced as described in example 2 ) dissolved in 6 ml of dmso is used for the derivatization reaction . preparation of a membrane based on chitosan derivatized at 10 % with polylactic acid a chitosan felt / tissue with dimensions of about 25 cm 2 and with a thickness of about 2 mm , weighing 150 mg , is placed in a glass petri dish . in a 10 - ml glass test tube , 17 mg of activated polylactic acid ( produced as described in example 1 ) is dissolved in 6 ml of dmso . the solution is added directly on the surface of the chitosan felt / tissue in the petri dish . the dish is closed and put in a stove at 40 ° c . and it is left to react for 4 hours . the dish is then taken out of the stove and the felt / tissue is removed , and is immersed in a 500 - ml glass beaker containing 300 ml of physiological saline at 0 . 9 % nacl . it is stirred gently for 2 hours . the operation is repeated once , stirring gently for 4 hours , and twice more using purified water instead of physiological saline . the felt / tissue is removed and is left to dry in the stove at 37 ° c . for 24 - 48 hours . preparation of a membrane based on fibrin derivatized at 20 % with polylactic acid a membrane in lyophilized form based on fibrin with dimensions of about 15 cm 2 and with a thickness of about 3 mm , weighing 250 mg , is placed in a glass petri dish . in a 10 - ml glass test tube , 50 mg of activated polylactic acid ( produced as described in example 2 ) is dissolved in 6 ml of dmso . the solution is added directly on the surface of the fibrin membrane in the petri dish . the dish is closed and is put in a stove at 40 ° c . and it is left to react for 4 hours . the dish is then taken out of the stove and the membrane is removed , and is immersed in a 500 - ml glass beaker containing 300 ml of physiological saline at 0 . 9 % nacl . it is stirred gently for 2 hours . the operation is repeated once , stirring gently for 4 hours , and twice more using purified water instead of physiological saline . the felt / tissue is removed and is left to dry in the stove at 37 ° c . for 24 - 48 hours .
| 2 |
as shown in fig1 , a first preferred embodiment of a differential amplifier according to the present invention is realized in the form of a single - stage amplifier containing one pair of vacuum tube triodes t 2 a and t 2 b . the vacuum tubes t 2 a , t 2 b can be any of the commonly used small signal dual triodes , such as 12at7 , 12au7 , 12ax7 , 6922 , 6dj8 , 6sn7 , 6sl7 , 6h30p and the like . we assume that the inputs of this differential amplifier are directly coupled to the outputs of the previous amplifying stage , which is a conventional differential amplifier of fig7 . it can be seen that the triodes t 2 a and t 2 b amplify two input signals (+ input , − input ) and generate two output signals (+ output , − output ). the output signals are taken from the plates of the vacuum tube triodes t 2 a , t 2 b . the input signals are fed to the grids of the triodes t 2 a , t 2 b , and a pair of two series resistors r 11 - r 12 , r 13 - r 14 are cross - connected to two separate junctions formed by a pair of two series resistors r 16 - r 17 , r 18 - r 19 respectively , such that the pairs of series resistors r 16 - r 17 , r 18 - r 19 are connected together with a constant current source cs 2 connected to a negative power supply − vs 5 . the constant current source cs 2 may be a junction gate field - effect transistor ( jfet ), a metal - oxide - semiconductor field - effect transistor ( mosfet ), a bipolar junction transistor ( bjt ), a vacuum tube triode , a pentode with complementary diodes , zener diodes and resistors , or a resistor . capacitors c 1 , c 2 are connected to ground at the junctions between the two series grid resistors r 11 - r 12 , r 13 - r 14 on each grid . the pair of series resistors r 16 - r 17 , r 18 - r 19 are connected to the cathodes of the triodes t 2 a and t 2 b via a separate cathode series resistors , r 15 , r 20 . a capacitor c 3 is connected to the junctions formed between the cathode series resistors r 15 , r 20 and the pair of two series resistors r 16 - r 17 , r 18 - r 19 . this circuit arrangement also includes a pair of plate resistors r 21 , r 22 , connected to a positive power supply + vs 2 . it is clear that the grids of the vacuum tube t 2 a and t 2 b carry both input signals and dc biasing voltages passed from the previous amplifying stage . hence , we should examine the amplifier from two different aspects : ( i ) small signal point of view and , ( ii ) dc biasing point of view . from the small signal point of view , the operation of the differential amplifier of fig1 is given as follows . capacitors c 1 and c 2 ( around 0 . 1 μf or higher ) bypass any signal that may cross - feed from grid to cathode or cathode to grid from one tube to another tube . in small signal point of view , the junctions between r 11 and r 12 , and between r 13 and r 14 are shorted to ground by the capacitors c 1 and c 2 . and if resistor value in the order of 1 mω or higher is chosen for r 11 , r 12 , r 13 and r 14 , they have insignificant effect to the amplifier in terms of small signal voltage gain and frequency response . on the other hand , capacitor c 3 ( around 20 μf or higher ) bypasses the resistors r 16 , r 17 , r 18 and r 19 . therefore , in small signal point of view the resistors r 16 , r 17 , r 18 and r 19 are shorted together . only resistors r 15 and r 20 remain to function as degenerated resistors as usual . hence , in the small signal point of view , the differential amplifier of fig1 functions identically to the conventional one in fig7 with the same small signal voltage gain and frequency response . on the other hand , and from the dc point of view , the operation of the differential amplifier of fig1 is given as follows . first of all , it should be noted that when a triode is correctly biased and operates in a steady state , the dc biasing voltage at the cathode is always higher than the dc biasing voltage at the grid . in addition , no grid current flows from grid to cathode . only dc current flows from the plate to cathode . we assume that the two triodes t 2 a and t 2 b are well - matched tubes and the dc biasing voltages passing from the previous stage are also identical . let us denote the dc potential difference between cathode and grid by v cg , where v cg & gt ; 0v . let us also denote the dc biasing current from plate to cathode by i p . in order to minimize mismatch of dc biasing when non - matched triodes t 2 a and t 2 b are used , it is best to choose the values for the resistors r 15 - r 20 such that , v cg = i p ·( r 15 + r 16 )= i p · r 17 = i p · r 18 = i p ·( r 19 + r 20 ) ( eq - 4 ) where r 15 and r 20 are the desired degenerated resistors that determine the small signal gain of the differential amplifier . for instance , if v cg = 5 . 5v and i p = 6 ma are chosen as the operating dc biasing values for triodes t 2 a and t 2 b , then the value for r 17 and r 18 can be easily found as 917ω , or 910ω , which is the closest practical resistor value . if 100ω is chosen as the degenerated resistance for r 15 and r 20 , then it can be easily found that r 16 and r 19 is 810ω , or 820ω , which is the closest practical resistor value . if the resistors are chosen on the basis of equations eq - 1 to eq - 4 , it can be seen in the following that the differential amplifier will have the dc self - biasing ability that minimizes the mismatch due to the triodes t 2 a and t 2 b , and the mismatch due to the dc biasing voltages passed from the previous stage . we assume now that the two triodes and the dc biasing voltages passed from the previous stage are poorly matched . in such a scenario , when the differential amplifier is powered up , let us denote the dc potential voltages at the grid and the cathode of the tube t 2 a by v ga and v ca , respectively . similarly , v gb and v cb denote , respectively , the dc potential voltages at the grid and cathode of the tube t 2 b . if the tube t 2 a operates at a higher dc biasing point such that v ga & gt ; v gb and v ca & gt ; v cb , i . e ., both grid and cathode dc potential voltages of the tube t 2 a are greater than tube t 2 b , the series resistors r 11 - r 12 will pass along the higher potential v ga and lift up the dc potential at the junction between resistors r 18 and r 19 . as a result , the cathode dc potential ( v cb ) of tube t 2 b is increased and hence the grid dc potential ( v gb ) is also increased . by the same token , the series resistors r 13 - r 14 will pass along the lower potential v gb and bring down the dc potential at the junction between resistors r 16 and r 17 . as a result , the cathode dc potential ( v ca ) of tube t 2 a is lowered and hence the grid dc potential ( v ga ) is also lowered . since v cb and v gb are increased while v ca and v ga are lowered , v cb and v ca are pulling closer together and so are the v gb and v ga . eventually , the differential amplifier of fig1 will rest on a closer dc biasing point than the one in fig7 . fig2 reveals a simplified version of fig1 with no degenerated resistors ( i . e . r 15 and r 20 shown in fig1 ). since degenerated resistors are not used , the small signal gain of the differential amplifier of fig2 is higher than the one in fig1 . for best result , the resistors are chosen such that r 23 = r 24 = r 17 = r 18 . however , without using degenerated resistors to provide local feedback , the amplifier will have higher distortion and lower bandwidth than the one in fig1 . fig3 shows an alternative circuit arrangement with no bypass capacitor ( i . e . c 3 in fig1 and c 10 in fig2 ). as no bypass capacitor is used in this arrangement , the resistors r 17 , r 18 , r 23 and r 24 function as degenerated resistors to provide local feedback . small signal gain is reduced but distortion and bandwidth are improved . for best result , the resistors are chosen such that r 23 = r 24 = r 17 = r 18 . a vacuum tube balanced audio power amplifier employing the new dc self - biased differential amplifier is illustrated in fig4 . even without the use of matched vacuum tubes for t 1 a and t 1 b , t 2 a and t 2 b , the differential amplifier in the second stage , which has the dc self - biasing ability as described above , will bring the dc biasing point to a closer level compared with the conventional differential amplifier shown in fig8 . however , there is one scenario in which the vacuum tubes of the differential amplifier in the second stage ( i . e ., t 2 a and t 2 b of fig4 or t 5 a and t 5 b of fig8 ) will be damaged . let us assume that in fig4 , t 1 a and t 1 b , t 2 a and t 2 b are vacuum tubes of different types so that t 2 a and t 2 b warm up faster than t 1 a and t 1 b . when the power amplifier is switched on , all tubes are in cold condition , and therefore they will not draw any plate current . since there is no voltage drop across the plate resistors r 7 and r 8 , the dc potential at the grid of t 2 a and t 2 b is equal to the supply voltage + vs 1 . also , the cathode of t 2 a and t 2 b sit at the supply voltage − vs 5 . therefore , the grid of t 2 a is at the dc potential of + vs 1 −(− vs 5 ) above the cathode . it should be noted that at the steady state , the grid potential should be below the cathode potential . but in this cold condition , the polarity is in the opposite . for example , if vs 1 = 400v and vs 5 = 100v are chosen as the supply voltages , the dc potential of grid - to - cathode when the amplifier is switched on is 500v . if vacuum tubes t 2 a and t 2 b get warmed up and start to operate faster than the vacuum tubes t 1 a and t 1 b , the 500v grid - to - cathode voltage will force grid current to flow and easily damage the tube instantly . therefore , there is a need to install a protection circuit so as to prevent a large grid - to - cathode voltage from building up when switching on . a power amplifier , which contains the protection circuit , is shown in fig5 . it can be seen from fig5 that the protection circuit consists of diodes d 1 - d 2 , zener diodes zd 1 - zd 2 and resistor r 35 . the grids of the vacuum tube triodes t 2 a , t 2 b are connected to the anode of a respective diode d 1 , d 2 , which is respectively connected to the cathode of a zener diode zd 1 , zd 2 . the anodes of the zener diodes zd 1 , zd 2 are connected with each other , and the resistor r 35 is connected to the junction between the anodes of the two zener diodes zd 1 , zd 2 and a constant current source cs 2 which is connected to a negative power supply − vs 5 . the principle of operation of the protection circuit is given as follows . when the power amplifier of fig5 is switched on , as the vacuum tubes are in cold condition , there is no plate current flow . however , a small current starts to flow immediately from power supply terminal + vs 1 through r 7 , r 9 , d 1 , zd 1 and r 35 to power supply terminal − vs 5 via current source cs 2 . the grid - to - cathode voltage difference at vacuum tube t 2 a is now clamped at one diode voltage plus one zener voltage that is much lower than the + 500v potential difference . similarly , a small current also starts to flow immediately from power supply terminal + vs 1 through r 8 , r 10 , d 2 , dz 2 and r 35 to power supply terminal − vs 5 via current source cs 2 . again , the grid - to - cathode voltage difference at vacuum tube t 2 b is clamped at one diode voltage plus one zener voltage . therefore , the circuit effectively protects the tubes by avoiding a large grid - to - cathode voltage to build up when switching on . when the tubes get warmed up and start to operate , plate currents begin to flow . if the zener diode is properly chosen , the diode and zener will be eventually turned off . in order to ensure that the diode and zener diode work properly , we should choose the diode and zener such that : diode forward voltage + zener reverse voltage & gt ; voltage drop of grid - to - cathode ( v gc ) of vacuum tube t 2 a ( or t 2 b )+ voltage drops across resistors r 15 , r 16 and r 17 ( or r 18 , r 19 and r 20 ). the above condition will hold true as long as there is no input signal . to prevent the diode and zener from turning on in the steady state when a signal passes through the grid , we should choose the zener reverse voltage such that : diode forward voltage + zener reverse voltage & gt ; voltage drop of grid - to - cathode ( vgc ) of vacuum tube t 2 a ( or t 2 b )+ voltage drops across resistors r 15 , r 16 and r 17 ( or r 18 , r 19 and r 20 )+ maximum signal &# 39 ; s voltage swing at the grid of the vacuum tube t 2 a ( or t 2 b ). for instance , if we follow the above same example , we have the following : let us assume that the maximum signal voltage swing at the grid of the vacuum tube = 5v . if we take 0 . 7v as the diode forward voltage , the zener diode reverse voltage is found to be 9 . 78v or higher . r 35 is a small value resistor that can be ignored in the above calculation . if we choose a 15v zener diode for the above application , the amplifier works in the desired manner such that the zener diodes are turned on to protect the vacuum tubes when the vacuum tubes are in cold condition . the zener diodes are then turned off during the steady state , when the vacuum tubes are in normal operation , and they do not affect the signals being amplified . fig6 shows the complete differential amplifier that has the dc self - biasing ability and grid - to - cathode over - voltage protection . it should be understood that the above only illustrates examples whereby the present invention may be carried out , and that various modifications and / or alterations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention . it should also be understood that certain features of the invention , which are , for clarity , described in the context of separate embodiments , may be provided in combination in a single embodiment . conversely , various features of the invention that are , for brevity , described in the context of a single embodiment , may also be provided separately or in any appropriate sub - combinations .
| 7 |
the drawings show a shovel accessory 10 of the present invention for use in combination with a conventional manual shovel 100 that features a shovel head 102 and a handle grip 104 respectively mounted at opposing ends of a linear handle shaft 106 . the end of the handle shaft 106 to which the shovel head 102 is mounted is referred to herein as the ‘ front ’ or ‘ forward ’ end of the handle shaft , with the opposing handle - equipped end of the shaft 106 accordingly being referred to as the ‘ rear ’ end of the handle shaft . the accessory 10 of the present invention provides the shovel with a ground - engaging fulcrum point located distally rearward to the shovel head , and a pair of upright handle arrangements situated upwardly of the longitudinal axis of the handle shaft 106 for comfortable two - handed tilting of the shovel rearwardly about the fulcrum in order the throw the dug material rearwardly from the shovel head pas the standing position of a user / operator of the assembly . in the illustrated ‘ rest position ’ of the assembled shovel and accessory on horizontal ground g in fig1 , the shovel head 102 lies generally flat atop the ground with the handle shaft 106 angling obliquely upward and rearward relative to the ground g . the same ‘ front / forward ’ and ‘ rear ’ designation used in distinguishing relative positioning of components in the horizontal direction with regard to the shovel is likewise used herein with regard to the shovel accessory 10 of the present invention . it will be appreciated that any such use of these terms is not intended to denote a particular orientation in which an apparatus must be oriented at any given time in order to read on the claimed invention . the accessory 10 features a main longitudinal beam 12 atop which the handle shaft 106 of the shovel 100 is received during assembly of the shovel and accessory . the linearly - extending main beam 12 and handle shaft 106 lie parallel to one another , and are secured together by front and rear clamps 14 , 16 that are fixed to the main beam 12 at locations respectively residing near a lower front end 12 a of the main beam and an intermediate point on the beam that is generally central of its length . the front end 12 a of the main beam 12 stops short of the front end of the handle shaft 106 at which the shovel head 102 is mounted , whereby in the rest position , the front end 12 a of the main beam lies rearward of the shovel head 102 at a height spaced above the ground g , with the shovel reaching downwardly and forwardly beyond the front end 12 a of the beam 12 to lie in contact with the ground g . an undercarriage 18 of the accessory 10 features an obliquely oriented front frame member 20 connected to the main beam 12 at an approximately central intermediate point therealong , from which this front frame member 20 extends downward and rearward from the main beam 12 . a rear frame member 22 of the undercarriage 18 has a lower end thereof connected to the lower end of the front frame member 20 , and extends upward therefrom to connect to the main beam proximate a rear end 12 b thereof . an l - shaped pipe 24 has one leg 24 a thereof fixed to a rear face of the rear frame member 22 in a manner lying parallel thereto so as to place the other leg 24 b of the pipe 24 in a position jutting rearwardly from the rear frame member 22 . the rear frame member 22 is obliquely sloped in the same direction as the front frame member 20 , but at a lesser angle relative to vertical ( i . e . at a greater acute angle relative to ground ), and so the rearward jutting second leg 24 b of the l - shaped pipe slopes slightly upward relative to ground in the rearward direction . a rounded corner bend 24 c between the two legs 24 a , 24 b of the l - shaped pipe 24 provides a fulcrum point that defines a horizontal pivot axis perpendicular to the vertical plane in which the main beam 12 and undercarriage 18 reside . a front handle arrangement 26 features a lower support portion 28 lying above the main beam 12 in an oblique orientation lying parallel to the front frame member 20 of the undercarriage , thus sloping upwardly and forwardly away from an approximate midpoint of the main beam 12 in the same vertical plane occupied by the main beam 12 and undercarriage frame members 20 , 22 . a cross - piece 30 is attached to the upper forward end of the lower support portion 28 to lie perpendicularly thereto in the same vertical plane . a rear upper end of the cross - piece 30 carries a hand grip member 32 that extends perpendicularly upward and forward from the cross - piece 30 , thus lying parallel to the lower support portion 28 , but offset rearwardly therefrom in the same vertical plane . the lower support portion 28 is connected to the front frame member 20 of the undercarriage on each side of the main beam 12 by one of a pair of matching flat - plate side brackets 34 . a lower end 28 a of the lower support portion is spaced a distance above the main beam 12 , whereby a space bound by the topside of the main beam 12 , the lower end 28 a of the front handle support portion 28 , and the two side bracket plates 34 defines a shaft - accommodating opening of the front handle arrangement 26 through which the handle shaft 106 of the shovel 100 extends in its travel from the shovel head 102 to the handle grip 104 . a horizontal pivot pin 36 passes perpendicularly through the main beam 12 and the two side bracket plates 34 on opposing sides thereof in order to define a pivotal connection of the main beam 12 with both the front handle arrangement 26 and the front frame member 20 of the undercarriage 18 . a rear handle arrangement 40 features a first grip bar 42 situated at an elevation above that of the rear end 12 b of the main beam 12 . an orientation of the first grip bar 42 matches the slope of the rear frame member 22 of the undercarriage 18 in the same vertical plane . a second pair of matching side plate brackets 44 connects the rear frame member 22 of the undercarriage 18 to the first grip bar 42 on opposing sides of the main beam 12 in order to define another shaft - accommodating opening bound between the side bracket plates 44 at the topside of the main beam 12 . a second grip bar 46 of the rear handle assembly 40 juts rearwardly from a generally intermediate point of the first grip bar 42 , and lies in the same vertical plane , with an upwardly sloped orientation relative to ground g . while the illustrated embodiment features a short - handled shovel 100 whose hand grip 104 resides atop a rear portion 12 c of the main beam 12 that spans between the frame members 20 , 22 of the undercarriage , the shaft - accommodating opening of the rear handle arrangement acts similarly that of the front handle arrangement to accommodate the handle shaft of a longer shovel whose shaft length exceeds the length of the main beam . when such a shovel is used , its handle grip 104 lies rearwardly of the rear pair of side bracket plates 44 when the shovel and accessory are assembled and ready for use . a detachable side handle 50 is selectively attachable to either side of the rear frame member 22 of the undercarriage 18 at any one of a number of selectable mounting holes 52 disposed at different heights along the rear frame member of the undercarriage , or at any one of a number of selectable mounting holes 54 disposed at different heights along the first grip bar 42 of the rear handle arrangement at positions below the connection of the second grip bar 46 . the attachable side handle 50 is l - shaped so as to have a first leg 50 a that extends perpendicularly outward from the vertical plane occupied by the main beam 12 , undercarriage 18 and front and rear handle arrangements 26 , 40 of the accessory . the second leg 50 b of the side handle 50 turns forwardly from the first leg 50 a to run generally along the main beam 12 in a direction parallel to the vertical plane thereof . turning to fig5 , a pair of ground wheels 60 may be rotatably mounted on either side of the undercarriage , for example by a shared axle 62 passing perpendicularly through the front frame member 20 of the undercarriage , in order to rollably support the assembled shovel 100 and accessory 10 . with the assembled shovel and accessory in the rest position with the wheels installed , the wheels 60 reside in contact with the ground , and the corner bend 24 c of the l - shaped pipe 24 is slightly elevated out of contact with the ground , as opposed to the rest position of fig1 in which the wheels are removed and the corner bend 24 c of the pipe 24 lies in contact with the ground to define the fulcrum point . accordingly , with the wheels 60 installed and the shovel head in a lowered position on or near the ground g , the assembly can be rolled forward and backward for reduced - effort maneuvering of the assembly along the surface of the ground g . rearward tilting of the assembly about the rotational axis of the wheel axle 62 in a rearward direction that acts to elevate the shovel head also lowers the bend 24 c of the l - shaped pipe 24 about the axle &# 39 ; s rotational axis and into contact with the ground g , at which time this point of engagement between the ground and the pipe bend 24 c forms a fulcrum of the assembly , about which further rearward tilting of the assembly can be performed to further raise the shovel head 102 past a nine o &# 39 ; clock position to throw shovel - carried material rearward from the shovel head . this throwing action is imparted in a two - handed manner , in which a user stands beside the assembly in a position facing theretoward at the space between the two handle arrangements 26 , 40 . the user grips the hand grip member 32 of the front handle arrangement 26 with one hand , and grips either the first or second grip bar 42 , 46 of the rear handle arrangement with the other hand . a right - handed user would generally tend to use his / her left hand on the front handle arrangement 26 , and his / her right hand on the rear handle arrangement 40 , and thus would typically stand on the left side of the assembly . a left - handed user would typically adopt the reverse stance and grip , i . e . standing on the right of the assembly with the right hand on the front handle arrangement 26 and the left hand on the rear handle arrangement 40 . tilting or swinging of the assembly about the horizontal pivot axis provided by the ground engaging fulcrum 24 c is imparted by pulling rearward and upward on the hand grip 32 of the front handle arrangement , and either pulling rearward on the first grip bar 42 or pushing downward and rearward on the second grip bar 46 of the rear handle arrangement 40 . while the front and rear handle arrangement situated upwardly of the longitudinal axis of the shovel &# 39 ; s handle shaft are particularly useful for comfortable , reduced effort throwing operations using the fulcrum , the same handle arrangements can likewise be employed to impart a reduced effort leveraging effect during the initial ‘ dig out ’ phase of a shovel operation . the entire assembly is lifted from the ground g , and tilted forward in order to point the tip 102 a of the shovel head 102 down , at which point it is pierced into the ground in a conventional manner . the front and rear handle assemblies are pulled back down toward the ground g , thus forcing the shovel tip upward to initiate the breaking free or prying out of the earth in front of the ground piercing shovel head . if the earth is not fully freed by the time the ground engaging fulcrum point 24 c reaches the ground , then further leverage can be applied by forcing the handle arrangements 26 , 40 rearwardly about the fulcrum axis in the same manner described for the ‘ throwing ’ action . the detachable handle 50 is optionally installed by the user on the side of the assembly opposite that on which the user stands during the above described left or right handed use , and can be used to impart a lateral load - dumping or tossing action to the material on the shovel head . the drawings show the detachable handle 50 installed on the left side of the assembly for manipulation by a left - handed user standing on the right side of the assembly . the user &# 39 ; s front hand grasps the front grip 32 in the same manner as for the throwing action , but the rear hand , instead of grasping one of the rear grip bars 42 , 46 , reaches over the rear portion 12 c of the main beam to grasp the second leg 50 b of the detachable handle 50 . the rear arm is brought upward , lifting the entire assembly up from the ground while tilting the same about a longitudinal axis in order to shift the assembly from its vertical resting plane toward a horizontal plane , whereby the width the shovel head shifts from a generally horizontal orientation ( carrying a load atop the shovel ) into a generally vertical orientation ‘ dumping ’ its contents to the side . by employing a simultaneous swing of the tilted assembly about an upright axis during the side - handle tilting operation , the shovel head will laterally ‘ toss ’ its contents to the side ( i . e . to a position behind the back of the user ). in the illustrated embodiment , each shovel - securing clamp 14 , 16 features a pair of bendable plates 70 , 72 fixed to each side of the main beam 12 at a respective position along the front portion thereof that reaches toward the shovel head 102 from the intermediate point at which the front handle arrangement and front undercarriage member 20 are connected to the beam 12 . at each clamp , a bolt 74 is fed through aligned holes in the respective pair of plates 70 , 72 from one side of the accessory so as to pass over the handle shaft 106 of the shovel . a wingnut 76 is threaded onto the bolt 74 at the other side of the accessory . tightening of this bolt and wingnut fastener acts to draw together the portions of the plates 70 , 72 that extend upward from the main beam 12 , thereby clamping the handle shaft 106 of the shovel in place between the tightened - together plates 70 , 72 . other means for securing the handle shaft of the shovel to the accessory may alternatively be employed , for example replacing each of the illustrates clamps with a fold - over clamp that is hinged to one side of the main beam to pivot into and out of a closed position clamping across the top of the handle shaft 106 for tightening down of the clamp at the side of the beam opposite the hinge of the fold - over clamp . fig6 illustrates installation of the shovel 100 onto the main beam 12 of the accessory 10 . first , the bolts 74 and wingnuts 76 are removed from the clamps 14 , 16 . with the shovel 100 turned on its side ( i . e . to place the width of the shovel head 102 in an upright orientation in the plane of accessory to face laterally outward therefrom ), the hand grip 104 of the shovel 100 resides in an upright orientation and is slid rearwardly along the topside the main beam 12 , during which the upright hand grip 104 passes through the shaft - accommodating opening between the side bracket plates 34 of the front handle arrangement 26 . this shaft - accommodating opening has a width ( measured between the side bracket plates 34 ) that is less than a width of the shovel &# 39 ; s hand grip ( i . e . the axial length of a cylindrical member around which the user wraps his / her hand in conventional use of the shovel without the accessory of the present invention ). on the other hand , a height of the shaft - accommodating opening ( measured between the main beam 12 and the bottom end 28 a of the lower support 28 of the front handle arrangement ) exceeds the hand grip width of the shovel . accordingly , once the shovel &# 39 ; s hand grip 104 has passed through this opening in an upright orientation , the shovel is rotated about the longitudinal axis of its handle shaft 106 back into a normal orientation in which the shovel head 102 width and the hand grip lie horizontally , at which point sliding of the shovel &# 39 ; s horizontally oriented hand grip downward past the front handle arrangement is blocked by the front bracket side plates 34 . with the shovel axially positioned along the main beam so as to situate the shovel head 102 beyond the front end 12 a of the main beam 12 , the bolts 74 are reinserted and the wingnuts 76 are engaged and tightened on the bolts 74 to clamp the handle shaft 106 of the shovel 100 to the main beam 12 . if a full length shovel whose shaft length exceeds the beam length is employed , then the hand grip of the shovel is also fed through the shaft - accommodating openings of the rear handle arrangement 40 accessory before turning the shovel back into an upwardly facing orientation and tightening the clamps 14 , 16 . the pivotal connection 36 to the main beam 12 shared by the front handle arrangement 26 and the undercarriage 18 allows adjustment of these components relative to the main beam 12 , and thus relative to the shovel shaft 106 lying parallel thereto . a bolted connection 80 between the main beam 12 and the rear frame member 22 of the undercarriage 18 can make use of any one of the series of holes 52 that are also used to mount the detachable side handle 50 . accordingly , pivotal motion of the beam 12 relative to the undercarriage 18 is enabled by temporary removal of the bolt 80 , and the undercarriage is pivoted relative to main beam 12 about the pivot pin 36 to set a desired position of the fulcrum point 24 c relative to the beam axis and parallel handle shaft axis of the shovel , at which point the bolt 80 is refastened at a one of the bolt holes 52 that aligns with a corresponding bolt hole of the beam 12 proximate the rear end thereof . the illustrated embodiment employs a linear series of bolt holes 52 and an additional pivot point 82 that is defined between the two frame members 20 , 22 of the undercarriage 18 near the lower ends thereof to accommodate the motion and relocking of the undercarriage relative to the beam 12 . in another embodiment , the bolt holes 52 in the rear frame member 22 may instead be spaced apart along an arcuate path around the axis of the pivot pin 36 , for example by providing these holes 52 in side plates attached to the rear frame member 22 rather than directly in the rear frame member itself , in which case the connection between the front and rear frame members 20 , 22 may be fixed rather than pivotal . pivoting of the undercarriage to allow adjustment of the fulcrum location relative to the main beam allows the accessory to be adjusted for optimal performance and comfort for different users , for different types or models of shovels , for different shovel - related tasks , etc . the shared pivotal connection 36 of the front handle arrangement 26 and undercarriage 18 with main beam 12 also means that relative rotation about the axis of pivot pin 36 can be used to adjust the position of the front handle arrangement relative to the main beam 12 . in other embodiments , the front handle arrangement 26 and undercarriage 18 may have separate adjustable connections to the main beam , whereby the front handle position can be adjusted relative to the main beam 12 independently of the undercarriage 18 . likewise , while the illustrated rear handle arrangement is fastened to the main beam 12 via the rear frame member 22 of the undercarriage , other embodiments may allow independent adjustment of these members relative to the main beam 12 . as shown schematically in fig4 - 6 by a broken line illustration of a portion of the cross - piece 30 of the front handle arrangement , the lower support portion 28 of the front handle arrangement 26 may have a telescopic configuration by which its length is extendable and collapsible to allow adjustment of a distance by which the cross - piece 30 and hand grip member 32 is spaced from the main beam 12 , thereby providing further configurability by the user for optimal performance and comfort . similar handle height adjustment may be provided at the rear handle arrangement , for example by providing grip bar with a telescopic construction . the second grip bar 46 may also be adjustably mounted on the first grip bar 42 for adjustment of the height thereon at which it is installed . as shown , as bracket that attaches the second grip 46 to the first grip bar 42 may also extend forwardly of the first grip bar for optional connection of another hand grip to the rear handle arrangement position on the front side of the first grip bar . the removable bolt 80 that forms the connection of the undercarriage and the rear handle arrangement to the frame is preferably mated with a corresponding wingnut so that the bolt is manually removable without the aid of any tools . when the bolt is removed , the entire accessory can be folded up into a more compact configuration for space - efficient storage or transport , for example to enable transport thereof in the trunk of an average automobile . with the shovel and the bolt 80 removed , the front frame member 20 of the undercarriage can be pivoted up to reside under the rear portion 12 c of the main beam 12 in an orientation more parallel thereto . this situates the pivotal connection 82 of the undercarriage frame members beyond the rear end of the beam , and the rear frame member 20 and attached first rear grip bar 42 are pivotal downward toward the topside of the main beam 12 to lie generally parallel to the main beam and the folded - up front frame member 20 of the undercarriage . the folding up of the front frame member 20 into the stowed position under the rear portion 12 c of the main beam 12 acts to lay the lower support 20 of the front handle arrangement down into a position lying more parallel to the main beam 12 and reaching toward the front end thereof . accordingly , through this folding up of the undercarriage and attached handle arrangements , the entire accessory takes on a collapsed state in which the undercarriage frame members 20 , 22 , rear first grip bar 42 and front lower support 28 all lie more parallel to the main beam 12 than in their deployed positions ready for use of the accessory , thus reducing the overall span of the accessory in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the main beam 12 . in a prototype on which the drawings are based , aluminum rectangular tubing was used for each of the main beam 12 ; the undercarriage frame members 20 , 22 ; the lower support 28 , cross - piece 30 and hand grip 32 of the front handle assembly ; and the two grip bars 42 , 46 of the rear handle assembly . the use of hollow aluminum tubing provided the prototype with a suitable balance between a desired minimal weight and required strength to handle the levering action on the shovel , but it will be appreciated that other materials may be employed . molded grips may be employed at the gripping areas 32 , 42 , 46 of the front and rear handle arrangements for improved comfort during use . while the illustrated embodiment is shown and described as a combination of a conventional shovel with an add - on accessory defining the handle arrangements and fulcrum - defining undercarriage of the present invention , other embodiments would include a shovel apparatus in which a shovel head is likewise carried at a front end of a longitudinal member from which a fulcrum - defining undercarriage is suspended and a pair of handle arrangements are upstanding , without the shovel head necessarily being detachable or having its own dedicated handle shaft separate from the main longitudinal beam or member of the apparatus . while the illustrated embodiment employs an undercarriage having converging frame members 20 , 22 that cooperate with the rear section 12 c of the main longitudinal beam to form a triangular frame of notable strength , other undercarriage configurations similarly defining a ground engaging fulcrum point near the rear end of the accessory may be employed . since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein above described , it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense .
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to assist in the description of these components , the following coordinate terms are used . fig1 depicts an x - y - z cartesian coordinate system , with the awning assembly primarily lying in the x - y plane . as described herein , terms such as “ height ” refer to distance in the z - direction , and “ higher / upward ” and “ lower / downward ” refer to the positive and negative z - direction , respectively . similarly , terms such as “ lateral ” will refer to the x - direction and “ longitudinal ” will refer to the y - direction . a detailed description of preferred embodiments of awnings and couplings and their associated method of use , now follows . this application is directed to awnings and couplings , such as joints , that can be used with awnings to selectively provide for relative movement of components that are coupled thereby and to securely connect such components to prevent such relative movement when desirable . as discussed further below , the couplings can also provide substantially improved stability . further , it will be clear from the discussion below that the couplings described herein can have applications in mechanical apparatuses beyond awnings . various embodiments of such joints are described below , in connection with the figures . fig1 depicts one embodiment of an awning assembly 100 . the depicted awning assembly 100 includes a support member 4 that can be attached to a primary structure such as a building , free - standing wall , bus , recreational vehicle , or any other structure sufficient to bear the static forces of the awning assembly . in a preferred embodiment the support member 4 has a rectangular cross - section , providing a convenient shape for interengaging with , e . g ., the positioning frames 3 ( further described below ). however , in other embodiments the support member 4 can have other cross - sectional shapes such as being circular , ovoid , triangular , i - beam , t - beam , or another shape . the positioning frames 3 can be shaped to interengage with the particular shape of the support member 4 . further , although the support member 4 is depicted as being substantially straight , in some embodiments it can be curved , have a bend , or have some other lineal discontinuity . the shape of the remaining awning assembly 100 can be accordingly shaped and / or angled to coincide with the shape of the support member 4 . opposite the support member 4 , the awning assembly 100 can include an extension member 1 . the extension member 1 can have geometric properties similar to those described above regarding the support member 4 . the extension member 1 can also be configured to extend longitudinally from the support member 4 and provide structural support for the windable cloth 8 . the windable cloth 8 can be wound into a spool 60 mounted on the support member 4 via an additional clamping bolt 42 . in some embodiments , the extension members 1 can have one or more means for retracting , such as telescoping members , hinges , or other collapsible features . thus , as the cloth 8 is wound the extension member 1 can retract and / or fold . at a near end , the extension member 1 can include a fork 80 that can mount the support frame 2 , as discussed further below . the positioning frame 3 can include a clamp 33 that facilitates mounting of the positioning frame to the support member 4 . the clamp 33 can have two tines configured to engage with opposite sides of the support member 4 . the tines can further include through holes 34 at their ends through which a clamping bolt 42 can pass through and engage a clamping nut 43 outside the opposite tine . tightening the nut 43 can force the tines together , exerting a grip on the support member 4 to stabilize the positioning frame 3 . notably , although the depicted straight tines of the clamp 33 can provide a superior grip about a rectangular support member 4 , the tines can still provide a substantial grip about other - shaped support members , and other - shaped tines could also provide a substantial grip about the support member 4 . in other embodiments , different mechanisms for mounting the positioning frame 3 to the support member 4 can be used , such as a support member with a threaded bore to directly receive a bolt , snap - fit apparatuses , or other mechanisms know in the art . the positioning frame 3 can additionally include one or more through - holes 31 , 32 . as depicted , the positioning frame 3 includes two through - holes 31 , 32 , but in other embodiments more or fewer can be provided . the through - holes 31 , 32 can be configured to form a slip fit for elongate members depicted as upper and lower support bolts 7 a , 7 b , but in other embodiments tighter fits can be used ( e . g . a press fit ), or looser fits can be used . the support bolts 7 can engage with nuts 40 to firmly mount the positioning frame 3 . notably , as depicted the support bolts 7 pass through two positioning frames 3 and also one support frame 2 , depicted as a y - shaped support frame . however , in other embodiments other numbers of each can be used . for example , in some embodiments there can be only one positioning frame 3 and one support frame 2 . in other embodiments , two support frames 2 can be integrated with one or more positioning frames 3 . additionally , as depicted the support bolts 7 a , 7 b extend in a lateral direction as the positioning and support frames 2 , 3 extend longitudinally from the support member 4 . however , in other embodiments these can extend in other directions , allowing for different shapes and motions of the awning assembly 100 . further , other elongate members can be used such as pins or other cylindrical or non - cylindrical elements . the support bolts 7 a , 7 b can additionally pass through the support frame 2 via pathways 22 formed in or cut - out from the support frame 2 . as shown , each pathway 22 can locate on a separate fork 21 , 23 of the support frame 2 , extending from a base portion 20 . however , in other embodiments the support frame 2 can have other shapes , such as a star - configuration , a solid piece , or some other shape . further , in other embodiments multiple pathways 22 can be provided on each fork 21 , 23 . additionally , in some embodiments one pathway 22 can receive more than one support bolt . each bolt - pathway combination can form a tight , slidable fit , such that the movement of the support bolts 7 a , 7 b relative to the pathway 22 is substantially limited to the shape of the pathway . for example , the pathway 22 can extend in a general direction in a y - z plane and in some embodiments the support bolts 7 a , 7 b can be substantially restrained to travel in substantially only that direction . in some embodiments the support bolts 7 a , 7 b can have inserted thereover washers 35 to be positioned between the support frame 2 and the positioning frames 3 . as depicted the support frame 2 can have two pathways 22 a , 22 b that correspond to the two depicted support bolts 7 a , 7 b . the pathways 22 can both generally extend in arcs , although other directions are possible . additionally , the pathways 22 can be generally concentric , in that they define arcs that have a common center of rotation . however , as discussed further below , other shapes and orientations can be used to define distinct paths of motion for the awning assembly 100 . for example , in some embodiments the pathways 22 can be generally kidney - shaped . in other embodiments , the pathways 22 can comprise an l - shape or another generally angular shape . the support frame 2 can include a base portion 20 , distinct from the forks 21 , 23 . as depicted , the base portion 20 can include a through - hole 44 that can generally align with through - holes 46 on the fork 80 of the extension member 1 . a pin , bolt , cylindrical element , or other form of swivel can pass through the holes 44 , 46 to provide a rotatable coupling between the extension member 1 and the support frame 2 . further , in the depicted embodiment the swivel can be generally co - planar with the pathways 22 . thus , the swivel can allow rotation generally perpendicular to the motion associated with movement of the support bolts 7 a , 7 b through the pathways 22 , generally about the support member 4 and the positioning frame 3 . in the depicted embodiment the extension member 1 is adapted to allow extension and retraction of the cloth 8 , while the motion through the pathways 22 can allow adjustment of the angular position of the cloth 8 . this extension and retraction is at least partially made possible by the swivel , which enables the extension member 1 to be folded against the support member 4 in a retracted state and to be extended therefrom in an extended state . an adjusting cover 5 can also mount on at least one of the support bolts 7 . the adjusting cover 5 can mount the support bolt 7 around the support frame 2 , between the positioning frames 3 . however , in other embodiments it can mount around these elements . as depicted , the adjusting cover 5 mounts the support bolt 7 b via through - holes 52 on sides 51 of the adjusting cover . the through holes 52 can be generally extended circles , creating an oval - like shape . thus , the through holes 52 can leave additional room for movement of the support bolt 7 b in one direction . the adjusting cover 5 can have an additional through hole located on a back or lower end 55 of the adjusting cover , perpendicular to the support bolt through holes 52 . as best shown in fig3 , the through hole on the back end 55 can receive an adjusting screw 53 . the head of the adjusting screw 53 can generally match the corresponding through hole , leaving relatively little room for relative movement between the screw and the adjusting cover 5 in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the screw . the head portion of the adjusting screw 53 can also prevent relative motion between the adjusting cover 5 and the adjusting screw by hindering relative movement along the axis of the screw . more specifically , the adjusting cover 5 and the adjusting screw 53 can push against each other at the end of the screw head . the adjusting cover 5 can be held by the support bolt 7 b , such that the cover cannot move away from the screw ( while the screw is held by the threaded hole 25 ). however , in other embodiments there can be room for movement between the adjusting screw 53 and cover 5 . for example , in some embodiments those pieces can move relative to each other , and the through holes 52 corresponding to the support bolt 7 b can be reduced to match the support bolts , hindering translation relative to the support bolt . the adjusting screw 53 can additionally have a screw hole 54 configured to allow actuation of the screw . for example , the screw hole 54 can have a hexagon - shaped cavity allowing rotation of the adjusting screw 53 with a corresponding hexagon - shaped key 6 , although other shapes are possible . as shown , the threads of the adjusting screw 53 can enter a threaded hole 25 on the support frame 2 . the threaded hole 25 can be generally aligned with a corresponding portion of the pathway 22 , allowing the adjusting screw 53 to thread through the hole and into the pathway . in use , the actuation of the adjusting screw 53 can cause the awning assembly 100 to adjust positions . a sample starting position is depicted in fig3 , with the lower support bolt 7 b generally adjacent the end of the adjusting screw 53 . thus , the adjusting screw 53 , in this embodiment , can approximately define a distance between the support bolt 7 b and the back end 55 of the adjusting cover 5 . a user can rotate the adjusting screw 53 such that it pulls the threaded hole 25 and the support frame 2 downward . this motion can cause the adjusting screw 53 to extend into the pathway 22 . at this point , the support frame 2 can bear the weight of the extension member 1 , causing a substantial downward force via , e . g ., gravity ( in the depicted orientation ). however , an upward force can be transmitted to the support frame through the threaded hole 25 whose threads are supported by the adjusting screw 53 . the adjusting screw 53 can be supported at its head by the back end 55 of the adjusting cover 5 . the adjusting cover 5 can be supported by the support bolt 7 b , which is in turn supported by the positioning frame 3 and the support member 4 . thus in the depicted embodiment , as the adjusting screw 53 enters the pathway 22 the support frame 2 can descend , such that the support bolts 7 a , 7 b are located at a deeper position relative to the pathways , as depicted in fig5 for example . the ends of the pathways 22 can then define a possible limit to the range of motion of the awning assembly 100 . rotation of the adjusting screw 53 in the opposite direction can raise the support frame 2 back to the position depicted in fig3 , 4 . as depicted in fig5 , in some embodiments the range of motion “ α ” of the awning assembly can be approximately 0 to approximately 45 degrees downward from the x - y plane . notably , the angular orientation of the pathways 22 and the positions of the support bolts 7 a , 7 b can define the above - mentioned range of motion . for this range of motion , the support bolts 7 a , 7 b can be positioned such that the lower bolt 7 b is closer to the support member 4 and the pathways 22 can be generally symmetric about a longitudinal axis of the support frame 2 ( the axis also aligning with the extension member 1 , as best seen in fig2 and 3 ). however , in some embodiments the positioning frame 3 can be reversed , such that the upper support bolt 7 a is closer to the support member 4 , as depicted in fig6 . in this embodiment , the awning assembly 100 can rotate upward with a range of motion “ β ” being approximately 0 to 35 degrees from the x - y plane . accordingly , for a given awning assembly 100 the cover provided can be varied depending upon the orientation of the positioning frame 3 . additionally , the curvature of the pathways 22 can effect how the awning assembly 100 rotates . in the depicted embodiment the pathways 22 can define concentric circular arcs , with the center of rotation inside the support member 4 . this curvature can cause the support bolts 7 to move in a similar arc relative to the support frame 2 . further , as the adjusting cover 5 mounts on the support bolt 7 b , it too can move relative to the support frame 2 . however , in the depicted embodiment the adjusting screw 53 can be fixed relative to the adjusting cover 5 at one end by the back end 55 of the cover . at its other end , the screw 53 can extend through the threaded hole 25 in the support frame 2 , holding it in a fixed angular position relative to the frame . thus , in an initial position depicted in fig3 , the screw 53 can be aligned with the support bolts 7 a , 7 b . as the bolts 7 move relative to the curved pathways 22 the bolt 7 b can move out of alignment with the adjusting screw . the extended portions of the through holes 52 on the cover 5 can compensate for such misalignment while holding the screw 53 and cover 5 fixed relative to each other while the cover 5 is still mounted on the support bolt 7 b . in other embodiments , the motion of the awning assembly 100 can be further varied . for example , in some embodiments the awning assembly 100 can have a larger or smaller range of motion . in other embodiments , the awning assembly 100 can move in non - circular arcs , or can move in a straight or angular motion . the embodiments of the inventions described above provide a number of advantages . for example , by providing an adjusting screw 53 with a length spanning substantially the entire distance between the end 55 of the adjusting cover 5 and the support bolt 7 b , the adjusting screw 53 can provide an additional restraint against unintentional motion or shaking of the awning assembly 100 . additionally , the adjusting screw 53 ( at the above - described full length ) provides more engaging surface area in the position of fig3 than a shortened adjusting screw . however , the adjusting screw 53 at the above - described full length can , in some embodiments , cause substantial frictional wearing between the screw and the support bolt 7 . accordingly , in some embodiments the adjusting screw 53 can be shorter to minimize such contact . as another advantage , the provision of two pathways 22 and support bolts 7 a . 7 b can reduce undesirable motion of the awning assembly 100 . for example , a single circular support bolt could allow rotation of the support frame 2 and the extension member 1 about the bolt . providing two bolts can control or minimize such movement . accordingly , the extension member 1 can be held up and prevented from undesirable rotations due to gravity or other external forces . in other embodiments , generally angular , non - cylindrical support bolts can be used to hinder rotation . additionally , use of the adjusting cover 5 to transfer forces can provide even further advantages . for example , the cover 5 can at least partially prevent debris , moisture , or other contaminants from contacting the threads of the adjusting screw 53 . further , transmission of force through the cover 5 and the threads of the adjusting screw 53 can prevent substantial transmission of force between the screw and the support bolt 7 b , which could potentially cause substantial wear . in use , the support bolt 7 b is maintained in a static position relative to the pathway 22 . accordingly , the cover 5 can reduce vibrations of the awning assembly 100 such as those caused by high winds or other external forces . also , as depicted in fig5 and 6 , the awning assembly 100 can be reversed , such that varying angular positions can be achieved . accordingly , different forms of shelter and / or coverage can be provided . further , in the position depicted in fig6 . further , different portions of the awning assembly 100 can be concealed from view depending on the orientation . although the foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention has shown , described , and pointed out the fundamental and novel features of the invention , it will be understood that various omissions , substitutions , and changes in the form of the detail of the apparatus as illustrated , as well as the uses thereof , may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention .
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fig1 shows the invention with the top of the housing removed . fig1 shows the three main parts of the invention . fig1 shows the power supply 10 which in the preferred embodiment is comprised of two batteries 11 and 15 . fig1 also shows the two electrodes 12 and 14 . the batteries 11 and 15 are hooked to the two electrodes 12 and 14 by positive wire 16 and negative wire 18 . positive wire 16 hooks to the positive terminal 22 of the battery 11 and runs to electrode 14 . negative wire 18 is hooked to the negative terminal 21 of the battery 15 and runs to electrode 12 . also shown in fig1 is the bottom half of the housing 17 of the invention 20 . hooked into the circuit between the batteries positive terminal 22 and electrode 12 on wire 16 is a fuse 24 . the device runs on 12 volts . also in the preferred embodiment , the device can not only be run from the batteries 11 and 15 , but also from a 12 volt power supply . this could be a standard 12 volt wall transformer . fig1 shows a jack 26 which is where a standard wall transformer could be plugged . the jack 26 is hooked to the two electrodes 12 and 14 by positive wire 28 and negative wire 30 . the device can be run by any standard wall transformer that produces 12 volt dc around 30 amps . fig2 a , b , c , d and e show electrode 12 . fig2 a is a perspective view of electrode 12 . fig2 b is a top view of electrode 12 . fig2 c is a front view of electrode 12 . fig2 d is a side view of electrode 12 and fig2 e is another side view showing the angle of electrode 12 . fig2 e shows that the front surface of electrode 12 slants downward at an angle of 30 degrees . the front surface , however , does not come to a point at the bottom , but is slightly truncated forming a ridge 21 . at the bottom , this ridge 21 is also angled as shown in the front view in fig2 c . this ridge 21 in the preferred embodiment is angled at 2 degrees . the ridge 21 gets larger as you move from the front of the device 10 back towards the batteries 11 and 15 . electrode 12 is the negative electrode . fig3 a , b , c , d , and e show electrode 14 , the positive electrode . fig3 a is a perspective view of electrode 14 . fig3 b is the top view of electrode 14 . fig3 c is a front view of electrode 14 . fig3 d is a side view of electrode 14 . fig3 e shows the electrode from a side perspective view . this view shows some of the bottom of electrode 14 . in fig3 a , one can see that the front of electrode 14 slants downward . electrode 14 does not slant downward to a point just above the bottom of the electrode . electrode 14 is also truncated . however the truncated portion also has a portion of the electrode 14 cut out from the bottom forming ridge 30 . fig3 c , the front view of the electrode 14 shows the ridge 30 running from a point near the top of the electrode to a point on the other side of the electrode near the bottom . this ridge 30 in the preferred embodiment slants at approximately 13 degrees . fig3 e shows that the top portion of the electrode 14 is cut at an angle of approximately 30 degrees . in the preferred embodiment , this ridge is approximately 0 . 037 inches thick . when the electrodes 12 and 14 are placed in the housing as shown in fig1 , the electrodes 12 and 14 overlap each other in the preferred embodiment by 0 . 029 inches . the electrodes 12 and 14 aligned such that when the needle is placed into collar 32 and into the device , the needle will make contact with both electrodes 12 and 14 . fig4 a , b , c , and d shows the collar 32 of the invention . fig4 a shows the top view of the collar 32 of the invention . fig4 a shows that the collar 32 is basically cylindrical in shape with an opening 34 at the bottom . the opening 34 at the bottom is an ellipse with the sides slightly bowed out from a normal ellipse . fig4 b shows a side view of the collar 32 with the open area forming the center of the collar 32 in phantom . this shows that the collar 32 is cylindrical at the top ; however , near the bottom , the collar 32 opening is conical . fig4 c is the opposite side of the collar 32 , and it shows that the opening 34 at the bottom of the collar moves up the side of the collar on this side . the opening 34 forms a slight arch - type structure . fig4 d is a perspective view of the collar 32 that shows the cylindrical opening at the top and the arch - type opening at the one side , and also in phantom , shows the opening 34 at the bottom of the collar . the opening 34 at the bottom of the collar has been designed to accept any size of hypodermic known by the inventor and to place that hypodermic at the right point on the electrodes 12 and 14 so that the needle will be fully disintegrated . fig5 is a top view of the invention . in fig5 one can see the collar 32 which is where the needle end of the hypodermic needle is placed . the collar 32 is positioned on the housing 10 such that when the needle end of the hypodermic is placed in the collar 32 the needle will make contact with the electrodes 12 and 14 and be destroyed . fig5 also show the jack 26 into which a 12 volt power supply such as a 12 volt wall transformer could be attached . the power supply hooked to the jack 26 could be used to power the electrodes 12 and 14 or the charge the batteries 11 and 15 . to use the invention , one places the needle end of a hypodermic needle in the collar 32 and slowly rocks the hypodermic in the collar 32 . the hypodermic needle first makes contact with electrode 14 , and then as it moves down , it makes contact with electrode 12 . the electricity from the power supply 10 flows through electrode 12 , up the hypodermic needle to electrode 14 . the resistance of the hypodermic needle is very , very high . thus , the electric flowing through the hypodermic needle quickly heats the hypodermic needle to a temperature where the needle disintegrates . changes and modifications in the specifically described embodiments can be carried out without departing from the scope of the invention which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appending claims .
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in order that the present invention may be more fully understood , the following examples are given to illustrate the manner by which it can be practiced but , as such , should not be construed as limitations upon the overall scope of the same . acetone dispersions were prepared by admixing predetermined amounts of one of the active compounds with predetermined amounts of acetone . soil infected with the causative disease organism of root rot and seeding damping off , i . e ., rhizoctonia solani was uniformly mixed and placed in 3 - inch pots . cotton seeds of the variety &# 34 ; acala sj - 2 &# 34 ; were uniformly treated with predetermined amounts of the above acetone dispersions . ten seeds were planted in each pot . additional seeds which had been treated with acetone alone were also planted to serve as controls . after planting , the pots containing the seeds were maintained under greenhouse conditions conducive to both plant growth and disease development . about one week after treatment , the pots were examined to determine the minimum concentration of the active compound necessary to give at least a 90 percent kill and control of the above indicated disease organism . the results of this examination are set forth below in table i . table i______________________________________ minimum concentration of compound in part of active compound per million parts of the ultimate composition ( ppm ) to give at least 90 percent kill and control ofcompound employed rhizoctonia solani______________________________________2 - fluoro - 4 - trichloromethyl - 66 - pyridinol2 - chloro - 4 - trichloromethyl - 156 - pyridinol2 - bromo - 4 - trichloromethyl - 56 - pyridinol______________________________________ acetone dispersions were prepared by admixing predetermined amounts of 2 - chloro - 4 - trichloromethyl - 6 - pyridinol with predetermined amounts of acetone . the dispersions were dispersed in varying amounts of warm melted nutrient agar to prepare culture media containing one of the active compounds in predetermined concentrations . the melted agar dispersions were poured into petri dishes and allowed to solidify . the solidified surface in each dish was inoculated with a culture of rhizoctonia solani . in another operation , petri dishes containing toxicant free nutrient agar are inoculated in the same manner to serve as controls . the dishes were thereafter incubated for 3 days after which they were examined and it was determined that at 15 ppm the compound tested gave 90 percent kill and control of rhizoctonia solani in the nutrient agar . at the time of the examination , the control dishes were found to support a heavy growth of the above named organism . acetone dispersions were prepared by admixing predetermined amounts of one of the active compounds with predetermined amounts of acetone . soil infected with the causative disease organism of root rot and seeding damping off , i . e ., rhizoctonia solani was uniformly mixed and placed in 3 - inch pots . cotton seeds of the variety &# 34 ; acala sj - 2 &# 34 ; were uniformly treated with an amount of the above acetone dispersions equivalent to treating 100 pounds of seeds with eight ounces of the active compound . ten seeds were planted in each pot . additional seeds which had been treated with acetone alone were also planted to serve as controls . after planting , the pots containing the seeds were maintained under greenhouse conditions conducive to both plant growth and disease development . about eighteen days after treatment , the pots were examined to determine the percent of the cotton plants surviving . the results of this examination are set forth below in table ii . table ii______________________________________ percent of cotton plants surviving after growing 18 days in soil infected withcompound employed rhizoctonia solani______________________________________2 - fluoro - 4 - trichloromethyl - 806 - pyridinol2 - chloro - 4 - trichloromethyl - 1006 - pyridinol2 - bromo - 4 - trichloromethyl - 1006 - pyridinol______________________________________ acetone dispersions were prepared by admixing predetermined amounts of one of the active compounds with predetermined amounts of acetone . the dispersions were dispersed in varying amounts of warm melted nutrient agar to prepare culture media containing one of the active compounds in predetermined concentrations . the melted agar dispersions were poured into petri dishes and allowed to solidify . the solidified surface in each dish was inoculated with a culture of sclerotium rolfsii . in another operation , petri dishes containing toxicant free nutrient agar are inoculated in the same manner to serve as controls . the dishes were thereafter incubated for 5 days after which they were examined to determine the minimum concentration of each compound tested to give 90 percent kill and control of sclerotium rolfsii in the nutrient agar . at the time of the examination , the control dishes were found to support a heavy growth of the above named organism . the results of this examination are set forth below in table iii . table iii______________________________________ minimum concentration of compound in ppm to give at least 90 percent kill and controlcompound employed of sclerotium rolfsii______________________________________2 - chloro - 4 - dichloromethyl - 506 - pyridinol2 - chloro - 4 - trichloromethyl - 456 - pyridinol2 - chloro - 4 - trifluoromethyl - 176 - pyridinol______________________________________ the substituted pyridinols employed as the active compounds in the presently claimed method are for the most part known compounds . the compounds wherein r is hydrogen ( or is hydroxy ) can be prepared by refluxing an appropriate 4 - halomethyl - 2 - halo - 6 - alkoxypyridine with a moderately concentrated mineral acid such as hcl for about 1 / 2 to 4 hours . the metal and amine salts of the above 4 - halomethyl - 2 - halo - 6 - hydroxy pyridines can be prepared by mixing equimolar or equivalent proportions of an appropriate hydroxy pyridine and an hydroxide of an appropriate metal or amine , preferably in the presence of a solvent or dispersion medium and thereafter evaporating off all water . other conventional procedures for preparing salts can also be employed .
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in the following description , for purposes of explanation rather than limitation , specific details are set forth such as the particular architecture , interfaces , techniques , etc ., in order to provide a thorough understanding of the concepts of the invention . however , it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced in other embodiments , which depart from these specific details . in like manner , the text of this description is directed to the example embodiments as illustrated in the figures , and is not intended to limit the claimed invention beyond the limits expressly included in the claims . for purposes of simplicity and clarity , detailed descriptions of well - known devices , circuits , and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the present invention with unnecessary detail . fig1 a - 1b illustrate an example profile and bottom view of a lens 100 that includes a cavity 150 for receiving a light emitting device ( led ) 110 , and an optical element 140 that provides a desired light output pattern when light is emitted from the led 110 . in this example , the optical element 140 is a hemispherical dome that provides a substantially uniform light output pattern across its field of view . the lens 100 may comprise silicone , a silicone epoxy hybrid , glass , or any transparent optical material with an appropriate refractive index . the led 110 may be a self - supporting device , such as a chip - scale - package ( csp ), or a thin film die mounted on a ceramic substrate ( die on ceramic , doc ), with contacts 120 on the surface opposite the light emitting surface 130 . other led structures may also be used . as illustrated , to ease assembly , the cavity 150 is tapered , and includes sloped walls 160 . the bottom surface 170 of the cavity 150 is dimensioned so as to situate the light emitting device 110 at a fixed location within the cavity 150 within a given precision , based on the requirements of the intended application . in this example , the bottom surface 170 has substantially the same dimensions as the light emitting device , although it may be slightly larger , depending upon the tolerances of the light emitting device . the required precision of the location of the light emitting device 110 with respect to the lens structure 100 may dictate the allowable over - sizing , if any , of the bottom surface 170 . an adhesive having a refractive index that is equal to the refractive index of the led 110 or the lens 100 , or a value between the refractive indexes of the led 110 and lens 100 may be dispensed into the cavity 150 before the led 110 is inserted into the cavity . depending upon the particular assembly technique , the adhesive may also , or alternatively , be dispensed upon the led 110 prior to insertion into the cavity 150 . as illustrated in fig1 a and 1b , channels 180 may be provided to enable air and excess adhesive to escape during the assembly process . these channels 180 are illustrated as cylindrical borings in fig1 a and 1b , although other shapes may be used ; for example , if the cavity is formed by a molding process , the channels may have the same slope as the sloped walls 160 . the channels 180 are illustrated at each corner of the cavity 150 , although other locations , and fewer or more channels may be provided . in one alternative channels located at the sides of the led 100 and away from the corners may be used to avoid rotational alignment errors . the size , shape , and location of the channels may be altered depending upon multiple factors including , for example , the viscosity of the adhesive , and the overall size of the led 110 . in another embodiment , the led 110 is inserted into the cavity without an adhesive between the light emitting surface 130 and the bottom surface 170 of the cavity 150 . a thin film of index - matched liquid may be used to provide an efficient optical coupling between the led 110 and the bottom surface 170 . after insertion , an adhesive may be administered in the space between the led 110 and the sloped walls 160 . this post - insertion application of the adhesive may eliminate or minimize the need for the channels 180 . to ease subsequent mounting of the lens 100 with led 110 on a subsequent substrate , such as a printed circuit board , the depth of the cavity 150 may be determined such that the contacts 120 extend slightly above (‘ proud of ’) the underside 101 of the lens 100 when the light emitting device is fully situated within the cavity . a depth that is about 50 - 500 μm less than the total height of the led 110 , including contacts 120 , generally provides a sufficient pride 0 of the contacts beyond the underside 101 of the lens 100 , although other depths may be used , depending upon the tolerance requirements of the application . for example , if the led 110 is a self - supporting chip - scale package , with fine tolerances , a nominal proud as small as sum may be used . by shaping the taper such that the opening of the cavity 150 is larger than the dimensions of the led 110 , insertion of the led 110 into the cavity 150 is simplified . by shaping the taper such that the cross - section of the cavity 150 narrows in a direction toward the bottom surface 170 , variance in the location of the led 110 within the lens 100 is substantially controlled , providing for a self - alignment of the led 110 as it is inserted into the lens 100 . this taper also provides this self - alignment independent of the means used to insert the led 110 into the cavity 150 . even a manual insertion of the led 110 into the cavity 150 will provide the same accuracy and precision as an automated insertion using a highly accurate and precise pick - and - place machine . in like manner , a pick - and - place machine of minimal accuracy and precision may be used while still maintaining the same high level accuracy and precision . as illustrated in fig2 , the profile of the cavity 250 of lens 200 may be adjusted to conform to the shape of the light emitting device 210 . in this example , the light emitting device 210 includes a wavelength conversion layer 230 , such as a phosphor - embedded silicone that is molded upon the light emitting device 210 . a recess 265 at the entry to the cavity 250 is shaped to accommodate the lip 235 formed by this example wavelength conversion layer 230 . below the recess 265 , the cavity 250 includes sloped walls 260 to facilitate insertion of the light emitting device 210 , and a bottom surface 270 that serves to locate the light emitting device within the lens 200 within a given precision , as detailed above with regard to surface 170 of lens 100 . fig3 a and 3b illustrate example sheets 300 , 300 ′ of lenses 100 , 100 ′ with cavities 150 . although only a few lenses 100 , 100 ′ are illustrated , one of skill in the art will recognize that the sheets 300 , 300 ′ may include hundreds of lenses 100 , 100 ′. for ease of illustration , the venting channels 180 of each cavity 150 of fig1 a - 1b are not illustrated , but may be present . in the example of fig3 a , sheet 300 includes sixteen lenses 100 , each with a single cavity 150 . this sheet may comprise , for example silicone , a silicone epoxy hybrid , glass , or any other transparent optical material that can be formed with defined cavities . in an example manufacturing process , a pick and place machine may be used to insert each led 110 ( not illustrated ) into each cavity 150 . the pick and place machine may be configured to place each led 110 at the center of each cavity 150 , but with sufficient compliance during the insertion to enable the led 110 to be guided by the walls of the cavity 150 into the desired location . alternatively , the pick and place machine may place each led 110 partially into each cavity 150 , and a subsequent process , such as a plate press may be used to complete the insertion of the leds 110 into the cavities 150 . in an alternative process , the leds are arranged on a temporary substrate , such as a conventional “ dicing tape ”, at appropriate locations , and the sheet 300 is mated with these leds on the substrate , by either overlaying the sheet 300 upon the leds , or overlaying the dicing tape with attached leds over the sheet 300 . in an example embodiment , the sheet 300 is a partially cured silicone that is cured after the led 110 is inserted into each cavity 150 . the subsequent curing may serve to adhere each led 110 to each lens 100 , thereby avoiding the need to include an adhesive bond . in an alternative embodiment , the sheet 300 is fully formed , and an adhesive may be applied to each cavity 150 , or to each led 110 , to secure each led 110 to each lens 100 . in some embodiments , the adhesive is applied after the leds 110 are inserted into the cavities 150 , adhering the edges of the leds 110 to the walls of the cavities 150 . in other embodiments , detailed below , the sheet 300 may comprise a material with some resilience , and the insertion of the led 110 into the cavity 150 may provide a sufficient friction force to maintain the led 110 at the appropriate location within the lens 100 . a material that facilitates optical coupling between the light emitting surfaces of the leds 110 and the lenses 100 of the sheet 300 may be applied to either the cavities 150 or the leds 110 . in like manner , a material that serves to reflect light that strikes the edges of the led 110 may be applied to the edges of the led 110 , for example , by filling the gap between the led 110 and the sloped walls of the cavity 150 with such material . upon completion of the insertion and adhering of the leds 110 in the cavities 150 of the lenses 100 , the sheet 300 may be sliced / diced along the cutting lines 320 - 370 to provide singulated led with lens assemblies . in some embodiments multiple led with lenses may be provided as a single assembly , for example , by only slicing along lines 330 and 360 , providing four assemblies , each assembling including four leds with individual lenses . one of skill in the art will recognize that the example one - to - one relationship between leds and lenses of the previous figures is merely one of many configurations . for example , fig3 b illustrates an embodiment wherein multiple leds are intended to be inserted into multiple cavities 150 of each lens 100 ′. in such an embodiment , the cavities 150 of each lens 100 ′ may be more closely situated than the cavities 150 of each lens 100 of fig3 a . in some embodiments , one or more of the cavities 150 may be configured to accommodate multiple led dies , which may be arranged on a single substrate . in other embodiments , the cavities 150 within each lens 100 ′ may be of different sizes , to accommodate a mix of different led types within the lens 100 ′, such as a combination of different color leds . as in the example of fig3 a , the leds 110 ( not illustrated ) may be inserted into each cavity manually , or via a pick - and - place process . or , the leds 110 may be arranged on a temporary substrate at locations corresponding to cavities 150 on the sheet 300 ′, and subsequently mating the sheet 300 ′ and the substrate containing the leds 110 . similarly , the leds 110 may be adhered to the lenses 100 ′ using any of the above described techniques , or any other viable and reliable technique . upon completion of the insertion and adhering of the leds 110 into the cavities 150 of each lens 100 ′, the lenses 100 ′ may be singulated by slicing / dicing the sheet 300 ′ along the cutting lines 380 , 390 . one of skill in the art will recognize , in view of this disclosure , that this invention is not limited to the example use of cavities 150 with linearly sloped walls 160 . fig4 a - 4d illustrate alternative cavity profiles . as in fig3 a - 3b , the venting channels 180 of fig1 are not illustrated in these figures , for ease of illustration , but may be included in each example embodiment . fig4 a illustrates a profile comprising wall segments 410 , 420 having different slopes . the upper wall segment 410 has a relatively shallow slope to provide a wide opening for inserting the led ( not illustrated ), while the wall segment 420 has a relatively steep slope , and may be orthogonal to the surface 470 , to provide a larger surface area for constricting the edges of the led to maintain the proper location of the led within the cavity . depending upon the material in which the cavity is formed , the closeness of the fit between the size of the led and the size of the surface 470 , the slope of the lower wall segment 420 , and the size of the venting channels 180 ( not illustrated ), this embodiment may require substantial force to insert each led into each cavity . fig4 b - 4d illustrate alternative profiles that may require less insertion force . in fig4 b , the upper wall segment 430 is sloped to provide an opening that is larger than the size of the intended led , and the lower wall segment 420 is sloped in an opposite direction to create protrusions 435 that serve to constrict the edges of the led to maintain the proper location of the led within the cavity . however , as compared to fig4 a , the edges of the led will only contact these protrusions 435 , and not the entire surface of the lower wall segment 440 . the reversed slope of the wall segment 440 provides a lower surface 470 that is wider than the led that is containing between the protrusions 435 , providing some room for the displaced air or adhesive , reducing or eliminating the reliance on the venting channels 180 . in fig4 c , a curved wall segment 450 is used to gradually reduce the cross section area in the direction of the surface 470 in a non - linear fashion , so that the lower portion of the wall segment 450 may be more constraining of the led compared to the linearly sloped walls 160 of fig1 , but less constraining compared to the linear wall segment 420 of fig4 a , particularly if the segment 420 is orthogonal to the surface 470 . the continuous curvature of the wall segment 450 may also ease the insertion of the led , compared to the abrupt edges at the transition between wall segment 410 and 420 of fig4 a . fig4 d illustrates a combination of curved 460 and linear 490 wall segments , as well as the addition of features 480 that may secure the led while introducing minimal insertion resistance . the features 480 may be a continuous ridge within the cavity , or a plurality of individual bead - like protrusions from the wall segment 490 . if individual protrusions are used , the insertion resistance is reduced , and the space between the protrusions allows for the displaced air and adhesive to escape , potentially avoiding the need for the venting channels 180 of fig1 . one of skill in the art will recognize , in light of this disclosure , that any of a variety of other profiles may be used to fix the location of the led within the lens within a given tolerance , while also allowing for practical insertion forces . one of skill in the art may also recognize that the shape of the cavity , or the shape of the surface of the cavity , need not match the shape of the led . depending upon the processes and materials used to create the lens , creating a rectangular cavity , such as illustrated in fig1 b , may not be economically viable . if , for example , the lens is a rigid material , boring or grinding a circular cavity may be substantially less expensive than creating a rectangular cavity . fig5 illustrates an example lens 500 that includes a conical cavity 550 with a sloped wall 560 that forms a circular bottom surface 570 . the diameter of the surface 570 is such that it circumscribes the led 110 , providing contact points 590 on the wall of the cavity that center the led 110 at the center of the surface 570 . the semicircular gaps 575 around led 110 allows for the displaced air and adhesive to escape , potentially avoiding the need for the venting channels 180 of fig1 as contrast to the rectangular surface 170 of fig1 b , the conic cavity 550 and circular surface 570 may allow the led 110 to rotate during the insertion process , but if the optical properties of the lens 500 are symmetric about the center axis , the rotation of the led 110 about this center axis will have no effect on the accuracy and precision of locating the led 110 at that center axis . if the lens 500 is a partially cured silicone , the compliance of the partially cured silicone may enable the led 100 to “ dig in ” to the silicone at the corners 590 , thereby controlling or limiting the rotation . it is significant to note that all of the above example profile views could also be profile views of half - sections of conic cavities , although the profiles of fig4 b and 4d would more likely be formed by a molding process , rather than a boring or grinding process , and achieving a rectangular cavity via a molding process is relatively straightforward . one of skill in the art will also recognize that the optical element of the lens is not limited to the hemispherical dome 140 of fig1 a - 1b . fig6 a and 6b illustrate an example side emitting optical element 600 , and an example collimating optical element 650 , respectively . other optical elements may be used to achieve desired light output patterns . 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 . for example , it is possible to operate the invention in an embodiment wherein additional elements may be included within the cavity . for example , a wavelength conversion material may be inserted into the cavity before the light emitting device is inserted . alternatively , or additionally , the lens may include a wavelength conversion material , or the light emitting device may include a wavelength conversion material . in some embodiments , the wavelength conversion material may serve as an adhesive layer between the light emitting device and the lens . 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 . 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 . any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope .
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in describing the overall operation of the invention , reference is now made to fig1 which illustrates in major block diagram form , the major functional blocks making up the present system . in that figure a data processor shown generally as microprocessor 10 contains a program for controlling the overall operation of the system by reading parameter inputs to the microprocessor from a conventional dc motor 12 via a regulator and rectifier control 14 . the program in the processor 10 controls the reading of these various inputs and provide for calculating the firing angle for the proper firing of rectifiers or thyristors commonly referred to as scr &# 39 ; s through a conventional 3 - phase bridge rectifier 16 . the regulator and rectifier control 14 provides a common interface between the processor 10 and the remainder of the control system . under control of the processor 10 , the control 14 reads input signals from a speed reference 18 via a plurality of input lines , such signals being representative of a digital reference designating the motor speed revolutions per minute of an on / off power state of the motor and of operator signals which are set designating the direction in which the motor 12 is to run . these signals are provided via a plurality of conductors 20 designated speed ref . additional inputs to the processor 10 , via the regulator control 14 , are speed signals from the dc motor 12 on a plurality of conductors 22 from a sensor on the motor 12 representative of the speed at which motor is running in rpm . motor amperes are also measured by the microprocessor via the regulator and rectifier control 14 from current provided to the processor from the motor via a plurality of conductors 24 . the regulator and rectifier control 14 , under control of signals from the processor 10 provides control signals to a rectifier 16 and receives data from the processor to control the firing of the scr &# 39 ; s in the rectifier at the proper time to control the dc motor . as will subsequently be described , the rectifier 16 is a forward / reverse bridge which can be enabled to reverse the direction of voltage and current through the motor 12 thus controlling its speed and direction . the microprocessor 10 illustrated in fig1 may be any one of a number of general purpose microprogrammed digital computers presently available on the market today . one such computer suitable for application in the present invention is a micro computer sold by the intel corporation designated the intel 8080 . another ideally suited microprocessor , and that which is utilized in practicing the present invention , is a general purpose microcoded digital computer sold by general electric company as a model crd8 micro computer system . fig2 depicts the main components of a crd8 microcomputer . the main control unit of the computer is comprised of a microcode control rom 26 which is programmed with a microcode consisting of microinstructions stored in the rom . the microinstructions , designated as enables to register , memory , and i / o channels on a plurality of conductors 28 , control the fetching and interpretation of instructions stored in a main memory or store 30 by first recognizing the instruction and then effecting the branching to a sequence of microinstructions in the control rom which effect the actions called for by the instruction . the address of the next instruction to be interpreted by the microcode rom is contained in a program counter register ( pc ) 32 . preceding the interpretation of each instruction , the microcode rom increments the contents of the program counter pc to point to the following instruction . the microcode in the microcode rom interprets subroutine calls by placing the address of the subroutine in a program counter save register ( pcs ) 34 and then interchanging the rolls of the program counter pc with the program counter save register pcs . subroutine returns are interpreted by again interchanging the rolls of these latter two registers to thereby cause the instruction following the subroutine call to be interpreted next . when an external interrupt occurs to the processor , the processor interchanges the rolls of the program counter pc 32 , the program counter save register pcs 34 , a page register ( page ) 36 with an interrupt program counter 38 , an interrupt program counter save register ( ipcs ) 40 , and an interrupt page register ( ipage ) 42 . interrupt returns are interpreted by the microcode in the microcode rom by interchanging the rolls of these registers back to their original rolls . external interrupts provided to the processor may be enabled or disabled under program control by setting or resetting an interrupt enable flip flop ( not shown ). when an external device desires to interrupt the processor , that device puts a request on the interrupt line . if this request is present , the interrupt enable flip flop is set , and the processor is executing an interruptable instruction , the processor will start processing the interrupt at the completion of the current instruction . once interrupt processing begins , the interrupt program is responsible for notifying the external input device to remove its request from the interrupt line . the memory of the processor is divided into pages with a specified number of words per page . through the use of the page register 36 , an instruction can access data anywhere in the memory by merely specifying an address relative to the head of the current data page ( page pointed to by the page register ). data in main memory 30 can also be accessed directly by loading an address of the data word into one of three general purpose registers designated r1 , r2 and r3 respectively . these registers can also be used to store data . the collection of the three general purpose registers and the additional registers 32 through 42 are referred to as scratch pad memory . in addition to the scratch pad registers , the processor also contains an accumulator 44 , an instruction register 46 and a memory address register ( mar ) 48 , the latter for addressing the main memory 30 . during operation of the processor , the instruction register 46 always contains the instruction which the microcode rom last fetched from main memory and is currently interpreting . the main memory address register 48 always contains the address in main memory that will be accessed by the next memory read or write instruction . arithmetic and logical operations are performed by an arithmetic and logical unit ( alu ) 50 . input signals to the alu are provided from the accumulator 44 and from a bidirectional data and control bus 52 . data is transferred within the processor along the bus 52 . this bus allows data to be transferred from either main memory 30 , a selected scratch pad register , or an input channel 54 to either the instruction register 46 , the memory address 48 or the alu 50 . if an input / output instruction is in the instruction register , and if that instruction specifies an output operation is to be performed , the processor places the contents of the alu 50 on the output data channel via an output channel 56 and notifies the input / output ( i / o ) device involved to receive the data . if a read operation is specified , the processor notifies the i / o device involved to place data in the input channel 54 . as shown in fig2 the input / output devices involved in the present system are contained in the regulator and control 14 as previously described and duplicated in fig2 . the processor 10 also includes a clock generator designated processor clock 58 which generates a basic clock signal at a representative repetition rate of 4 . 167 megahertz . as shown in fig2 the basic clock signal is provided to the processor 10 to control the clocking of information and instructions through the processor and also to the system to serve as a basic synchronizing pulse for clocking information into and out of the regulator and rectifier control . while the processor clock 58 was utilized in the present system to provide system clock pulses , it will be appreciated by those in the art that a basic clock signal could likewise be provided from an external source to the processor to serve the same function . reference is now made to fig3 which depicts , largely in major block diagram form , the blocks making up the regulator and rectifier control 14 . additionally , for clarity and simplification purposes in fig3 various ones of the components previously described in connection with fig1 and 2 are illustrated wherein like numbers are attached to those components as previously described . as illustrated , the processor 10 provides the basic clock signals to a system clock 60 in the regulator control 14 . the system clock 60 also receives a 3 phase 60 hertz power line signal from an external power source , not shown , and provides clock pulses to the system for use in synchronizing overall system operation with the 3 - phase 60 hertz power line for controlling the firing of the scr &# 39 ; s to control the motor 12 . the regulator in control 14 also includes , as a part thereof , a program 62 which communicates with the processor 10 to control the operation of the regulator in control 14 to ultimately provide the proper firing pulses to the thyristors or scr &# 39 ; s to control the dc motor . while the program 62 may be contained in the main memory 30 of fig2 it is to be understood that the program 62 is considered a part of the regulator and rectifier control since it performs the specified logic functions essential to the operation of the overall control of the system . still referring to fig3 the previously mentioned speed reference 18 is shown as digital switches ( rpm ) and on / off and fwd / rev switches 18 &# 39 ; all serving as inputs to the processor 10 via a processor / system interface 64 . a digital speed reference representative of the desired motor speed ( in rpm ) is provided from the switches 18 via a plurality of conductors 66 and is read into the processor and stored in the main memory or program 62 under control of the processor . in a similar fashion , signals representative of the motor on / off switch and a switch representative of the desired forward or reverse direction of the motor are provided to the processor from the on / off and fwd / rev switches to 18 &# 39 ; via the processor system interface 64 on conductors 68 . communication between the processor 10 and the processor system interface 64 is via a plurality of conductors 70 comprised of data input / output lines and control lines . as will subsequently be described , clock pulses from the system clock 60 are also provided over these lines to the processor during the operation of the system . a firing logic 72 is employed in the regulator and control 14 to receive information representative of a desired firing angle , for firing the scr &# 39 ; s to control the motor . this information is provided from the microprocessor via the processor system interface 64 on conductors 74 . the firing logic 72 issues , basically , three signals . the first is an interrupt signal on a conductor 76 to the processor 10 . the interrupt signal can either circumvent or go through the interface 64 . another one of these signals is a convert signal on a conductor 78 to an analog / digital converter 80 to trigger that converter to convert the 3 - phase analog motor current to a count proportional to dc amperes for transmission to the processor via conductor 24 and the interface 64 . additionally , the firing logic 72 generates a firing pulse on a conductor 82 to an scr select and drive direction logic 84 . the scr select and drive logic 84 receives digital information from the processor 10 via the interface 64 on a plurality of conductors 86 . this information is representative of words or addresses to cause the proper selection of the thyristors to be fired and to select a particular one of two bridges ( forward or reverse ) in the rectifier 16 to control the motor direction . the operation of the firing logic and the scr select and drive direction logic will subsequently be described . the aforementioned speed signals on conductors 22 are provided from a tach pulse counter and logic 88 which receives pulses from a conventional digital tachometer 90 . a particular tachometer suitable for use in the present invention is available from the avtron corporation as a model k827 . this tachometer generator is an optical device employing two rotating discs with slots which cause 1200 pulses per motor revolution to be generated by each of the discs . the output signal from each of the discs is essentially a square wave with 1200 counts per tachometer shaft revolution . these pulses from the two discs are displaced by a 90 degree phase relationship so that motor direction can be detected by detecting the displacement of the phases of the pulses provided from the tachometer on conductors 92 to the tach pulse counter 88 . the manner of detection will be subsequently described in connection with the description of the tach pulse counter logic 88 . the aforementioned rectifier 16 of fig1 as shown in fig3 is comprised of a block 94 designated thyristors ( scr &# 39 ; s ) and forward ( fwd ) and reverse ( rev ) pulse amplifiers 96 and 98 respectively . scr select and drive direction signals are provided to the amplifiers 96 and 98 via a plurality of conductors 100 from the scr select and drive direction 84 . during the operation of the system , address information loaded into the scr select and drive direction from the microprocessor causes the proper one of the forward or reverse amplifiers 96 and 98 to be selected to apply a firing pulse to the thyristors 94 when the firing logic generates the firing pulse on conductor 82 . the output firing pulses from the forward and reverse pulse amplifiers 96 and 98 are provided to the scr &# 39 ; s 94 via conductors 102 and 104 respectively . the power to drive the scr &# 39 ; s and thus the dc motor 12 is provided via a 3 - phase 60 hertz power line 106 to the scr &# 39 ; s 94 . when the scr &# 39 ; s are fired , pulses are provided via conductors 108 to apply current to the dc motor 12 to drive the motor . an overall understanding of the operation of the present invention can best be had by a detailed description of each of those logic blocks previously described in the regulator and rectifier control 14 of fig3 . the first of these blocks to be described is the processor system interface as depicted by fig4 . as shown in the left hand portion of fig4 all of the input and output signal lines to the processor system interface shown to the left of the dashed lines collectively comprise the conductors 70 as previously described in connection with fig3 . all information transferred from the processor 10 into the system interface 64 comes from the output channel 56 as previously described in connection with fig2 . basically , the processor 10 transfers two types of commands or instructions to the system interface . these instructions will direct the system interface to either write certain data from the processor into specified registers in the system , such as the firing logic and scr direction logic , or to read information from various ones of the addressed input devices shown in the right hand portion of fig4 . instruction data is provided to the system interface from the output channel 56 of the processor via conductors 110 , 112 , 114 , and 116 . the signals on conductors 112 , 110 and 114 are representative of instruction register bits from the processor 10 . when the processor issues a read command to the system interface , instruction register bits ir1 through ir3 on conductors 112 are decoded in a binary coded decimal ( bcd ) to decimal converter serving as a decoder to generate a read pulse designated read from an output terminal 6 of decoder 118 . the read pulse is generated whenever the instruction register bit ir4 ( conductor 114 ) is a binary zero and converted to a binary 1 through an inverter 120 to enable a nor gate 122 when a binary 1 read instruction register ( ir ) signal is issued by the processor . when gate 122 is enabled its output applies a binary 0 clock pulse to a d input terminal of decoder 118 , thus generating a read pulse on conductor 124 . the read pulse is applied to two logic elements in the interface . application is firstly to a d input terminal of a second bcd to decimal converter serving as a decoder 126 and secondly to an enable ( en ) input terminal of an eight bit multiplexer 128 . the decoder 126 and multiplexer 128 receive , on conductor 110 , the instruction register bits ir5 through ir7 . when these bits are decoded by decoder 126 as a read device zero command , the decoder generates an rdvo signal at its zero output terminal on a conductor 130 as shown in fig4 . the rdvo signal is provided to the firing logic 72 for purposes to be subsequently described . further , whenever a read command is issued by the processor , the instruction register bits ir5 through ir7 , applied to an sel input of the multiplexer 128 , are decoded to route the data from one of the input devices on the right hand portion of fig4 to the data processor via a common time - shared bus 132 carrying input information designated id0 - id7 to the input channel 54 of the processor 10 ( see fig2 ). whenever the processor issues a write command , the instruction is decoded in decoder 118 in the manner as previously described for the read pulse , to generate a write pulse at an output terminal 7 on a conductor 134 . the write pulse on conductor 134 is applied to decoder 136 and logic driver 138 . the decoder 136 also receives the instruction register bits ir5 through ir7 on conductors 110 to thus decode those bits to generate one of two output signals ( wdv1 or wdv3 ) in accordance with the ir5 - ir7 binary bit configuration . these latter two signals , carrying the designations wdv1 , wdv3 for write device , are provided to the firing logic and to the scr select and drive direction logic , the purpose of which will subsequently be described . a write pulse applied to a c or clock input terminal of driver 138 allows data on a plurality of conductors 140 to be clocked from the processor output channel 56 to the firing logic and the scr select and drive direction logic as signals wdb0 - wdb7 . reference is now made to the input device blocks 18 , 60 , 80 and 88 in the right hand portion of fig4 . it will be noted that each of those devices is designated as having a unique input device number , such as input device 1 for the system clock 60 . these device numbers correspond to the address of that particular device as presented to the system interface by the processor when it is desired to read information through the multiplexer 128 into the processor from any one of the devices . for example , if the data processor issues a read command to generate a read pulse on conductor 124 , with an address on conductors 110 specifying the address for device 1 , the system clock input data bits id1b0 through id1b7 will be channelled through the multiplexer 128 onto the input data bus 132 and transferred into the data processor memory . all input data transfers to the processor from the input devices are handled in the manner as just described for the system clock 60 , with the exception that the specific address provided to the 8 bit multiplexer 128 will channel the information into the processor from the addressed device . reference is now made to fig5 and 6 . fig5 is a detailed block diagram of the system clock 60 ( device 1 ). fig6 is a timing diagram helpful in understanding the operation of the system clock . the 3 - phase system power line voltage is applied to three conventional squaring amplifiers 142 , generating corresponding square wave output signals designated φ1 , φ2 , and φ3 on conductors 144 , 145 and 146 respectively . the threee signals , φ1 through φ3 , are applied to the respective &# 34 ; d &# 34 ; inputs of conventional d type flip - flops of three similar phase zero crossing logic or edge detectors 148 , 150 and 152 . since edge detectors 148 through 152 are similar , only edge detector 148 is shown in detail in fig5 . each of the edge detectors function in the following manner , as will be described for edge detector 148 . when the φ1 signal on conductor 144 goes positive , the d input terminal of a faφ1 flip - flop is enabled to achieve a set state upon the application of the basic clock signal from the processor to a clk input terminal of that flip - flop . when the basic clock signal goes positive , the faφ1 flip - flop is set causing its q output terminal to go to a binary 1 state to thus generate an id1b0 signal on conductor 154 . the id1b0 signal is applied as one input to a negative exclusive or gate 156 and as an input to a d terminal of a second flip - flop fbφ1 . upon the occurrence of the next basic clock signal , the fbφ1 flip - flop will achieve a set state causing its q output terminal to go to a binary 1 , thus causing the exclusive or gate 156 to generate an output pulse φ1zrox on a conductor 158 , as shown in fig5 . the faφ1 and fbφ1 flip - flops form , essentially , a two - bit shift register whose outputs are supplied to the gate 156 . the faφ1 output synchronizes the square wave from the φ1 input to the system clock . thus , it can be seen that the output φ1zrox of the exclusive or gate 156 will produce one pulse at the basic clock pulse width each time the input sine wave goes through zero crossing at approximately every 2 . 7 millisecond period . the φ1zrox signal is connected to the input of an or gate 160 in conjunction with signals φ2zrox and φ3zrox from the corresponding edge detectors 150 and 152 on conductors 162 and 164 respectively . each of the signals φ1zrox through φ3zrox correspond to phases a , b , and c of the input line voltage . the output of or gate 160 is applied to a k input terminal of a zrox jk flip - flop 166 . flip - flop 166 also receives , at a clk input terminal , the basic clock signal to trigger that flip - flop to cause it to set or reset in accordance with the state of the input signal applied to its k terminal from or gate 160 . the zrox flip - flop generates a zrox , or zero crossing signal at its q output terminal which is applied to the tach pulse counter and logic and two two counters , 168 and 170 . by referring to the timing diagram of fig6 it can be seen that the zrox flip - flop 166 produces the zrox signal having a pulse 1 basic clock width wide for each phase voltage crossing of the input voltage , or 6 pulses for 360 degrees of power - line voltage cycle . referring now to fig5 and 6 , it can be seen that the three signals , id1b0 through id1b2 ( combined to form conductors 172 ) can be utilized by the data processor to define any 60 degree interval within a 360 degree phase cycle of the input line voltage . this is illustrated in fig6 by referring to the φ3 ( id1b2 ) square wave showing the various degrees of the input sine wave and the various zero crossings at the 60 degree intervals . as can be seen by the interrelationships between the id1b0 through id1b2 signals , it is a relatively easy matter to decode those signals to define which interval of six intervals in a 360 degree cycle is present at any given time . for example , assuming that the first interval is from zero to 60 degrees , when id1b0 is a binary 1 , id1b1 is a binary zero , and id1b2 is a binary 1 , and by decoding those three binary bits it can be designated as the first interval of the 360 degree cycle . a similar decoding can be performed for the 60 to 120 degree intervals , the 120 to 180 degree intervals etc . referring now again to fig5 there is shown the two previously mentioned counters 168 and 170 in conjunction with a divide by 45 counter 174 . the 4 . 167 megahertz basic clock is applied to the input of the divide by 45 counter 174 , which divides the basic clock pulses down to produce an 11 micro - second pulse duration signal on a conductor 176 . as shown in fig5 the 11 microsecond pulse on conductor 176 is applied to an and gate 178 and also to the firing logic on a conductor 180 . further , as indicated on conductor 180 , the 11 micro - second pulse is approximately equal to one quarter of an electrical degree of the power line voltage applied to the squaring amplifiers 142 . the 11 microsecond pulses are applied , via and gate 178 , to a divide by 8 counter 168 to produce an 88 microsecond time base , the pulses each of which correspond to approximately 2 electrical degrees of the power line voltage . the 88 microsecond pulse is applied via conductor 182 to the firing logic , to a nor gate 184 , and to counter 170 . counter 170 is a divide by 32 counter and further divides the 88 micro - second pulses by 32 . so long as counter 170 is not at a count of 31 , nor gate 184 applies a ct31 stop clock binary 1 signal on conductor 186 as a second input to and gate 178 to allow the 11 microsecond pulses to pass through that gate to counter 168 . when counter 170 reaches a count of 31 , in conjunction with a binary 1 ( 88 microsecond ) pulse , nor gate 184 is enabled to apply a binary zero inhibit signal to gate 178 , thus inhibiting the counters 168 and 170 from counting beyond 31 . the counter , comprised of counters 168 and 170 , will remain at a count of 31 until the next zero crossing or zrox signal is generated from flip - flop 166 to reset the counters to zero as shown by the timing relationships in fig6 . thus , it can be seen that the counter will count from zero to 31 between each zero crossing of the input voltage . it will be noted that the output signals id1b7 through id1b3 from counter 170 on conductors 188 define the time within the 60 degree interval as defined by the signal id1b0 through id1b2 . the id1b3 through id1b7 signal conductors are combined with the id1b0 through id1b2 signal conductors to form conductors 190 for application to the processor system interface 8 bit multiplexer 128 shown in fig4 . it can now be seen that when the processor 10 reads the system clock it can determine the 60 degree interval of a 360 degree cycle of the input wave by looking at bits id1b0 through id1b2 while simultaneously determining the number of 2 degree increments ( 88 microsecond pulses ) of the power line phase voltage which have passed since the last zero crossing ( zrox ). reference is now made to fig7 and 8 . fig7 is a detailed block diagram of the tach pulse counter and logic , and fig8 is a timing diagram helpful in understanding the operation of that logic . as previously described in connection with fig3 the tachometer used in the present embodiment generates two square wave output signals with each output signal generating 1200 counts per tachometer shaft revolution . these two signals are applied on conductors 92 , as shown in fig7 as two input signals ; a tach input 1 is applied to an operational amplifier 192 and a tach input 2 signal is applied to a d input terminal of a tach rev flip - flop 194 . referring to fig8 the timing relationships showing the 90 degree phase displacement between the tach input 1 and tach input 2 signals is shown . the tach input 1 signal is applied , via amplifier 192 , to a d input terminal of a type d edge - triggered tach flip - flop f / f1 which also receives at its clk terminal the basic clock signal from the processor . as shown in fig8 tach flip - flop f / f1 merely toggles from the set to reset state in accordance with the state of the tach input 1 signal each time the basic clock signal from the processor triggers that flip - flop . the tach f / f1 has its q output terminal connected to the d input terminal of a second flip - flop designated tach f / f2 which also receives the basic clock at a clk input terminal . these two flip - flops constitute a two bit shift register which functions in a manner similar to that previously described for the edge detector flip - flops of fig5 in the system clock . the output of the tach flip - flops f / f1 and f / f2 are applied via conductors 196 to a negative exclusive or gate 200 . the or gate effectively differentiates the tach input 1 pulse , applied via conductors 196 to produce one pulse at a clock width of the basic clock for each transition of the tach 1 input signal . since the tach input 1 signal produces 1200 pulses per revolution of a tachometer shaft , the output of the exclusive or gate 200 will produce 2400 pulses per revolution of the tachometer shaft generating a tach input x 2 signal as shown on conductor 202 and illustrated in fig8 . the tach input x 2 signal , on conductor 202 , is applied o a clk input terminal of tach pulse counter 204 to cause the counter to accumulate the tach pulses read from the tachometer . the tach input x 2 signal is also applied to a preset lsb input terminal of counter 204 , the purpose of which will be subsequently described . it will be noted that the zrox signal from the system clock is also applied to a preset input terminal of counter 204 and also to a clk input terminal of a tach pulse latch 206 . it will be recalled from the previous description of the system clock , that whenever one of the input phase voltages passes through zero to neutral crossing that a zrox signal is generated . thus , it can be seen that the tach counter 204 is reset to a binary zero state whenever a zero crossing pulse occurs . as such , it is evident that the tach pulse counter 204 accumulates counts representative of motor revolutions per each 60 degree interval of 60 cycle input . as shown in fig8 the tach pulse counter 204 is always reset to a zero state upon the occurrence of the zrox signal . it is also significant to note , as illustrated in fig7 and 8 that the contents of the tach pulse counter 204 are transferred to the tach pulse latch 206 upon the occurrence of the zrox signal . though not illustrated in fig6 and 7 , it is to be understood that the contents of the tach pulse counter are transferred into the tach pulse latch on the leading edge of the zrox signal and then the tach pulse counter is reset on the trailing edge of that signal . reference is now made back to the preset lsb input terminal of counter 204 . the purpose of applying the tach input x 2 signal to this latter terminal , is to preset the least significant bit of the tach pulse counter to a binary 1 in the event that a tach pulse occurs at a time of the zrox signal or zero crossing . should there be a simultaneous occurrence of the zrox signal , and a tach input x 2 signal , the presetting of the least significant bit assures that any count that occurs during the zero crossing is not ignored , but is instead recorded in the tachometer pulse counter . once the contents of the tach pulse counter are loaded into the tach pulse latch 206 , that information in the form of signals id3b0 through id3b7 is available on conductors 22 for the processor to read the motor revolutions per 60 degrees when the processor addresses device 3 . also shown in fig7 and 8 is logic for detecting the direction of motor rotation . the direction of motor rotation is detected by a tach rev flip - flop 194 receiving the tach input 2 signal at its d input terminal . the operation of flip - flop 194 , is shown in fig8 which illustrates the operation of that flip - flop when the motor is running in both the forward and reverse direction . it will be noted , that when the motor is running in the forward direction , the tach input 1 signal always preceeds the tach input 2 signal by 90 degrees . as shown in fig8 when the motor is running in the forward direction , the tach rev flip - flop 194 will never achieve the set state due to the fact that the tach input 1 signal which triggers the flip - flop 194 via conductor 208 , always goes set , prior to the tach input signal ever achieving a binary 1 state . thus , the edge triggered flip - flop 194 will never set . in the reverse direction , however , referring to the right - hand side of fig8 it will be noted that when the tach input 2 signal preceeds the tach input 1 signal by 90 degrees , the tach rev flip - flop 194 will achieve a set state when the tach flip - flop 1 achieves a set state . when the rev flip - flop achieves a set state its q output terminal generates a binary 1 id0b4 signal on one of the conductors 22 to the processor system interface . when the tach input 2 signal preceeds the tach input 1 signal , the binary 1 signal of id0b4 notifies the data processor that the motor is running in a reverse direction . reference is now made to the firing logic of fig9 which illustrates that logic in block diagram detail . fig1 should also be referenced in conjunction fig9 . fig1 is a timing diagram showing the timing interrelationships between the various signals within the firing logic 72 . as previously described , the primary purpose of the firing logic is to provide a firing pulse on conductor 82 to the scr select and drive direction logic 84 , as shown in fig3 . additionally , the firing logic generates a convert pulse to the a to d converter on conductor 78 . it is through the operation of the firing logic , that the processor is signalled from an interrupt signal on a conductor 210 of fig9 to begin the process of calculating the firing angle for generation of the firing pulse to fire an scr at the proper time . in describing the operation of the firing logic , reference is also made at this time , to fig4 . it will be recalled from the previous description that the processor must generate a write command and a device address to send a command to that device . for the firing logic , the decoder 136 generates a write device 1 ( wdv1 ) signal as shown in fig4 and 10 . as shown in fig1 , when the wdv1 signal goes from a binary 1 to a binary zero state , the wdv1 signal on conductor 212 causes a load counter flip - flop 214 ( fig9 ) to receive the binary zero signal at a clr input terminal causing that flip - flop to reset . simultaneously , the wdv1 signal is inverted through an inverter 216 to a binary 1 , applying an enable signal to an en input terminal of a write data latch 218 , thus loading the data ( wdb0 - wdb7 ) on conductors 220 from the drivers 138 of fig4 . referring now to fig9 and 10 , it will be noted that the occurrence of the first 88 microsecond pulse appearing on conductor 182 after the wdv1 signal clocks the load counter flip - flop 214 , causing that counter to achieve a set state generating a binary 1 signal at its q output terminal on a conductor 222 . the binary 1 signal on conductor 222 is applied to an inverter input load terminal of a down counter 224 . as shown in fig1 , the load counter flip - flop , when in the set state and in conjunction with the 88 microsecond pulse , loads the down counter 224 with either a timtgo or 20 second delay signal . the timtgo signal is a binary configuration of bits loaded into the down counter from the data processor , representative of or proportional to the firing angle of the scr &# 39 ; s . if a timtgo signal is not loaded into the down counter , then a data word representative of a 20 degree delay is loaded . a more detailed description of the purpose of the timtgo and 20 degree delay signals or values will be made subsequently . reference is now made back to fig9 to an and gate 226 . and gate 226 is enabled by a binary 1 output from a q output terminal of a first detector flip - flop 228 . with flip - flop 228 in the reset state , the first 11 microsecond pulse on conductor 180 , applied to gate 226 , causes the contents of counter 224 to be clocked or counted via conductor 230 and an inverter 232 applying the 11 microsecond pulse to a clk terminal of the down counter . the timing for the clocking of the down counter 224 is shown on the 11 microsecond line and on the down counter line of fig1 . the down counter will continue to count down to a specified value until a 14 count decoder 234 recognizes a count of 14 via a plurality of conductors 236 from the counter . at a count of 14 , and with an 11 microsecond pulse from gate 226 , decoder 234 generates a pulse to fire a convert one - shot multivibrator 238 . one - shot 238 generates an 8 microsecond convert pulse on conductor 78 which is applied to the analog digital converter 80 of fig3 at the time illustrated in fig1 . this pulse starts the analog digital converter to perform an a to d conversion of motor current on conductors 24 for subsequent use by the processor . the down counter will continue to count down to a specified value of zero as shown in fig1 . when the down counter gets to the count of zero , as detected by a zero count decode 240 via conductors 242 from the down counter , the zero count decode 240 generates a pulse on a conductor 244 which is applied to a d terminal of the detector flip - flop 1 , 228 . upon the appearance of the next basic clock signal applied to the clk terminal of flip - flop 228 , that flip - flop will set causing a binary zero signal to now be applied to and gate 226 to inhibit the 11 microsecond clock pulses being fed to the down counter 224 . this is shown by the note , &# 34 ; stop down counter &# 34 ; in fig1 . when the detector flip - flop 228 goes to a set state , its q output terminal goes a binary 1 to simultaneously enable one input to an and gate 246 and apply a binary 1 set signal to a d terminal of a second detector flip - flop 248 . it will be noted , as shown in fig1 , that and gate 246 is enabled at the instant flip - flop 228 goes into the set state , due to the fact that flip - flop is reset at that time . the output of and gate 246 now applies a trigger signal to a j input terminal of an interrupt flip - flop 250 effecting the generation of the interrupt signal to the data processor . the interrupt signal causes the data processor to go into an interrupt subroutine to start calculations of the firing angle for subsequent firing of the scr &# 39 ; s . it will be noted , that the first basic clock signal , following the setting of flip - flop 228 , will set flip - flop 248 , causing its q output terminal to go to a binary zero thus disabling and gate 246 . this causes the generation of a short pulse to be applied to the int flip - flop 250 as indicated by the overlap between the det ff1 and det ff2 signals in fig1 . it is also to be noted , that simultaneously with the setting of the interrupt flip - flop 250 , that the output signal from and gate 246 is applied to a firing pulse ( fp ) one - shot multivibrator 252 to apply a 23 microsecond firing pulse on conductor 82 to the scr select and drive direction logic 84 . the generation of the firing pulse is shown in fig1 , at which time an scr pair is fired simultaneously with the generators of the interrupt signal . the firing logic will remain in the present or preset state until recipt of another wdv1 signal on conductor 212 causes a loading of new data into the down counter 224 in the manner just described . when the down counter is loaded with new data , the zero count decode now applies a reset signal on conductor 244 to flip - flop 228 , allowing that flip - flop to now achieve a reset state and simultaneously reset flip - flop 248 . when flip - flop 228 resets its q output signal on conductor 254 goes to a binary 1 , now enabling and gate 26 to allow counter 224 to count after it is loaded . as shown in fig1 , at some time subsequent to the firing of the scr pair , the data processor must send a rdv0 read device zero signal on conductor 130 to a clear clr input terminal of the interrupt flip - flop 250 to reset that flip - flop in preparation to sending another interrupt to the processor immediately upon the generation of a firing pulse to the scr &# 39 ; s . reference is now made to fig1 a and 11b with fig1 a on top of fig1 b to form one figure depicting the detailed logic of the select and drive direction 84 and , an electrical schematic of the scr forward and reverse drive bridges . the analog to digital converter 80 is also shown receiving analog motor current via a conductor 256 from a conventional 3 - phase bridge summing rectifier circuit 258 . in fig1 a , the 3 - phase 60 hertz line voltage is applied as φa , φb and φc on conductors 106 to respectively associated anodes and cathodes of the forward and reverse scr bridges , each comprised of six scr &# 39 ; s designated p1 through p3 and n1 through n3 as illustrated in fig1 a . the operation of the forward and reverse scr bridges will not be described in detail here as they are conventional bridge firing networks well known in the art for controlling a dc motor . one such conventional bridge is manufactured and sold by general electric company as a siltrol 1 , known as ic3610 integrated static conversion and control equipment for adjustable speed drives . three current transformers , designated 260 , 262 and 264 are each respectively associated with one of the phase line voltages φa through φc . these transformers provide alternating current inpus into the 3 - phase bridge summing rectifier 258 via the irrespective leads , wherein the output of the rectifier to the converter 80 is the average of the three input currents . as previously mentioned , the analog to digital converter 80 is conventional in design , one such converter being manufactured as a model adc - 8qu by analog devices inc . this particular converter is a complete high speed successive approximation 8 bit converter which converts the input analog signal on conductor 256 to a digital value upon the reception of an input command designated the convert pulse on conductor 78 . in this particular converter , 7 bits of the 8 bit output denote current magnitude and the 8th bit denotes the polarity of the current . it will be recalled from the previous discussion of the firing logic of fig9 that when the down counter reaches a count of 14 , that the firing logic generates an 8 microsecond convert pulse to the a to d converter on conductor 78 . it is this convert pulse which starts the a to d converter 80 to convert the motor analog current on 256 to a digital value for subsequent transfer to the data processor via the processor interface as data bits id5b0 - id5b7 on conductor 24 . as shown in fig4 the transfer of the motor current on conductor 24 is accomplished when the a / d converter 80 ( device 5 ) is addressed via the 8 - bit multiplexer 128 to transfer data to the processor over bus 132 . the addressing of the a / d converter is accomplished by the data processor loading a proper address in bits ir5 through ir7 and applying those bits to the sel terminal of the multiplexer 128 , along with the read pulse to the enable input terminal of the multiplexer . the proper binary bit configuration of bits ir5 through ir7 will channel the motor current reading from the a / d converter 80 through the multiplexer on bus 132 for transfer to the data processor . reference is now made to fig1 b to the scr select and drive direction logic 84 . the primary purpose of the select and drive direction logic is to receive a data word or address from the data processor via conductors 266 on the right data lines 266 ( wbd0 - wbd7 ) from the driver 138 of fig4 . this data word is a binary bit configuration loaded into an scr steering or selection register 268 by a wdv3 signal on a conductor 270 from the decoder 16 of fig4 . when the processor sends a write command addressing write device 3 , the wdv3 signal on conductor 270 goes to binary zero and is inverted to a binary 1 through an inverter 272 to thus apply an enable load signal to register 268 to load an scr pair address into the register . each of the stages or bits of the register 268 , except for one , has its output connected to a corresponding one of a plurality of and gates 274 , 276 , 278 and 280 . it will be noted that the output signal from each of the and gates is designated with a signal corresponding to one of the scr &# 39 ; s in each of the forward and reverse bridges . for example , an output p1 from and gate 274 corresponds to the p1 scr in each of the forward or reverse scr bridges . whenever it is desired to fire a specific pair of scr &# 39 ; s in one of the bridges , a binary work or address is placed in register 268 to enable the particular and gates ( 274 - 280 ) to allow them to provide their appropriate control signals to corresponding forward reverse ( fwd / rev ) driving switching amplifier circuits . these fwd / rev drive circuits are of conventional design and are designated 282 , 284 , 286 and 288 . each circuit corresponds to a like numbered scr in each of the forward and reverse drive bridges . for example , the p1 fwd / rev drive 282 is connected via conductors 290 and 292 to the respective gate electrodes of the p1 scr in each bridge . similar connections are made to the p2 gate electrodes from drive 284 and to the n2 and n3 gate electrodes from drives 286 and 288 . it will be noted in fig1 b , that only four of the and gates generating the p1 through n3 signals and the drive circuits associated with each of the p1 through n3 scr &# 39 ; s are shown . the and gate and drive electronics for scr &# 39 ; s p3 and n1 have been shown coming out in dashed lines from the select register 268 for simplicity purposes . it is significant to note that one bit of the firing register 268 generates a fwd / rev signal on a conductor 294 to each of the fwd / rev drive circuits 282 , 284 , 286 and 288 . the drive circuits 282 , 284 , 286 and 288 are conventional driver or switching circuits of well known design capable of receiving logical inputs to switch their output signals selectively between one of the two lines coming out of each of the drive circuits . for example , in the operation of the drive circuit 282 , to activate or fire the p1 scr of the forward bridge a binary 1 signal is applied from register 268 as one input to gate 274 , and upon occurrence of the firing pulse on conductor 82 from the firing logic , gate 274 is enabled passing the pulse through drive p1 to the forward scr p1 . on the other hand , if the fwd / rev bit is a binary 0 , drive 282 will be activated to transfer the firing pulse on conductor 292 to scr p1 of the reverse scr &# 39 ; s . in the present embodiment and in the operation of the scr &# 39 ; s of the rectifier 94 , it is desirable to always fire scr &# 39 ; s in pairs , such as p1 and n2 in the forward and reverse bridges . the word loaded into register 268 will always have two binary bits corresponding to the scr &# 39 ; s to be fired . for example , the binary 1 to fire scr p1 would activate gate 274 and a binary 1 to fire scr n2 would activate gate 280 , the other gates remaining disabled or inactivated . in order to more fully understand and appreciate the overall operation of the system of the present invention , it is first considered advantageous to describe how the firing angle for firing the scr pairs is derived in the system . reference is now made to fig1 which depicts the interrelationship between the 3 - phase power line input voltages , φa , φb and φc and a representation of the manner in which the firing angle , designated finval , for the scr pairs is developed to generate a variable value representative of a signal timtgo ( time to go ) which is a calculated value proportional to the firing angle . it is well known in the art that the firing angle for controlling scr rectifiers of the type utilized in the present invention is measured from the phase - to - phase crossing to the point of firing of the scr pairs . in the present invention the value of the firing angle , finval , to develop a motor terminal voltage equal to vt is obtained by a table look - up in memory having the representation as shown by table 1 . that which is stored in memory , as the firing angle , is shown in the right - hand column as finval counts . the finval table is computed from the relation finval = 245 . 8 inverse cos φf 3 vt over π v ln where 245 . 8 equals the number of eleven microsecond pulses applied to the down counter to count that counter down per electrical radian . v ln is defined as the voltage from line to neutral of the input power line voltage . table 1______________________________________vt vs finval countsmotor term . voltage finval counts______________________________________272 715256 671240 640224 615208 592192 572176 553160 530144 519128 503112 487960 472800 457040 443480 428320 414160 4000 386160 372320 358480 34340 329800 314960 300112 284128 269144 253160 236176 218192 199203 179224 157240 132256 101272 57______________________________________ referring now back to fig1 , that figure shows the derivation on the timtgo equation , timtgo being a value proportional to firing angle which is loaded into the down counter 224 of fig9 to fire the proper scr pair at the correct time . by definition , timtgo = finval -( newtim + 1 )× 8 - t p . in its most simplified form , the method or sequence for loading the down counter with timtgo is explained by the following steps : 1 . the processor computes the value of finval , the firing angle , which is the current regulator output . 2 . the processor next reads the system clock ( device 1 ), as previously described in connection with fig4 and 5 , to establish or define the 60 ° interval in the input power cycle , and to further define a time within that interval . it then calculates the value of newtim and timtgo . 3 . next , the processor reads the system clock repeatedly until the value of the clock equals newtim and then proceeds to load the down counter with timtgo . newtim is the value calculated by the processor which is utilized by the program to specify at which time timtgo is to be loaded into the down counter so that the down counter will begin counting at the proper time . loading at the time specified by newtim insures that the program is synchronized with the firing of the scr pairs . the previously mentioned crd8 processor utilizes a 300 nanosecond memory which allows step 2 to be performed in approximately 120 microseconds . this 120 microsecond period is slightly less than the time duration of two of the 88 microsecond pulses as developed by the 360 system clock of fig5 . therefore , if tclock is the time represented by bits id1b3 through id1b7 of the system clock at the beginning of the previously mentioned step 2 , and if newtim is given by newtim = tclock + 2 ( processor calculation time for newtim and timtgo ), step 2 will always be completed in time to load the down counter 224 before the system clock transition at newtim + 1 . the + 1 , which is appended to newtim in fig1 , is shown to indicate the 88 microsecond clock period required to load the down counter from the processor . it will be recalled from the description of the system clock of fig5 that the counter 170 counts from 0 to 31 from zero crossing to zero crossing ( zrox ). it is possible for the counter to stay at a count of 31 for an interval equal to 32 count , making the last count of counter 170 longer than the previous counts . in this case , if newtim is equal to or greater than 31 , one 11 microsecond or fast pulse must be added to t p since the 31st interval of the system clock is longer . further , if newtim is greater than 31 , the system must be corrected for the reset of the system clock at the next zero crossing ( zrox ). still referring to fig1 , finval = t p +( newtim + 1 )+ timtgo . in the present embodiment , finval , t p and timtgo are expressed in fast counts or 11 microsecond pulses and newtim + 1 is expressed in slow counts or 88 microsecond pulses . thus , to convert to equivalent values , finval = t p + 8 ( newtim + 1 )+ timtgo . the multiplication factor of 8 is to equalize newtim + 1 with t p and timtgo , since it takes 8 fast counts ( 11 microsecond pulses ) to 1 slow count ( 88 microsecond pulses ). continuing to develop the timtgo equation , substituting the value of tclock for newtim in the equation gives timtgo = finval - t p - 8 ( tclock + 3 ). it will be recalled that it takes approximately two slow clock pulses to read the 360 ° system clock and to calculate newtim and timtgo . therefore , this time must be compensated for in newtim by adding plus 2 . thus , if tclock is the time read by the processor , adding the 2 slow clock pulses of dead time to compensate for the calculation time gives : newtim + 1 = tclock + 3 , as shown in the above equation for timtgo . to equalize timtgo , since t p is in slow clock pulses , timtgo = finval - t p - 8 × tclock - 24 . ( note : see 8 ( tclock + 3 ) above , 3 slow pulses equal 24 fast pulses .) referring still to fig1 , t p is defined as the angle from the phase to phase crossover that defines zero firing angle for the scr to be fired to the next phase to neutral cross over . another way of stating this is to look for the most recent phase to neutral crossing in the zero degree to 360 degree cycle and subtract from that angle the reference from the cell pair to be fired . this will give t p . for example , if the most recent phase to zero crossing is φc going negative at 60 ° as shown in fig1 , and if the scr pairs p1 / n2 are being fired , then the reference angle is 30 ° ( 60 °- 30 °= t p ). 30 ° is the angle between φa to φc crossing and the φc to neutral crossing . if we let t p + 24 equal tabt p , then timtgo = finval - 8 × tclock - tabtp - corr , where corr is the correction for the previously mentioned long thirty first pulse of the system clock . in the operation of the program , the value of tabtp is obtained from a lookup table as illustrated by table 2 . referring to table 2 , it will be noticed that the tabtp table is comprised of eleven entries in fast counts representative of degrees which serve as an offset in the timtgo equation to compensate for the actual time interval at the time in which the system clock is read by the computer . referring now to fig6 and table 2 , it will be noted that the system clock bits id1b0 through id1b2 , which are the three most significant bits , can be decoded into 60 ° intervals having numbers 1 through 6 designated koct as shown in fig6 . and in the left column of table 2 . referring now to the second column from the left of table 2 , it will be noticed that a listing designated tabph , representative of the phase 0 crossing numbers , are stored in sequential locations , in memory designated pha1 through pha6 . each corresponds to a respective phase as is indicated in table 2 . at the time of reading of the system clock , the computer will utilize the koct number to address the corresponding one of the pha locations in tabph as indicated in table 2 . for example , it can be seen that koct5 of fig6 and in the left hand column of table 2 , is equal to phase 0 crossing pha1 or φa and that koct4 is equal to phase 0 crossing pha2 or φc , etc . the processor also includes an scr pair to be fired as designated in a column ph of table 2 . the ph counter is incremented or updated a specified amount during the program each time an scr pair is fired . thus , firing takes place in a specified sequence . to obtain the proper tabtp value for the calculation of timtgo , the address developed from the difference between the pha and ph ( pha - ph ) values is utilized to develop an address to the tabtp table . it will also be noted that the scr pair counter ph always specifies a particular pair of scr &# 39 ; s to be fired . for example , when the scr pair counter ph is at a 1 , the scr pair p1 / n2 will be fired , whereas if the counter is at 6 , pair p3 / n2 will be fired , etc . it will further be noted , that there are 6 address entries to each of the tabtp locations in memory , each of those 6 addresses being representative of one of the six zero crossings in a complete cycle of the input voltage . it will also be noted that each of the scr pairs gets fired once each 60 °, or six firings in each 360 ° cycle of the input sinewave . it will further be noted that the pha0 crossing number does not always correspond to the ph counter value . this is due to the fact that any given cell pair can be fired at any 60 ° interval during a 360 ° cycle period . it is this difference between the pha numbers and the ph counter numbers which allows the derivation of the addresses to the tabtp table to extract from the table the proper count number in fast counts for insertion into the timtgo equation . table 2__________________________________________________________________________ tabph scr fwd / rev pha - ph60 ° φ - 0 pair scr tabtpintv . xing ctr . pair table tabtp tablekoct pha ph fired = add contents ( fast counts ) __________________________________________________________________________5 1 - φa 1 p1 / n2 = 0 4 2 - φc 2 p1 / n3 = 0 6 3 - φb 3 p2 / n3 = 0 - 105 = - 30 ° 2 4 - φa 4 p2 / n1 = 0 3 5 - φc 5 p3 / n1 = 0 1 6 - φb 6 p3 / n2 = 0 2 p1 / n3 - 1 3 p2 / n3 - 1 4 p2 / n1 - 1 - 362 = - 90 ° 5 p3 / n1 - 1 6 p3 / n2 - 1 1 p1 / n2 3 p2 / n3 - 2 4 p2 / n1 - 2 5 p3 / n1 - 2 - 619 = - 180 ° 6 p3 / n2 - 2 1 p1 / n2 4 2 p1 / n3 4 4 p2 / n1 - 3 5 p3 / n1 - 3 6 p3 / n2 - 3 1 p1 / n2 3 667 = + 180 ° 2 p1 / n3 3 3 p2 / n3 3 5 p3 / n1 - 4 6 p3 / n2 - 4 1 p1 / n2 2 p1 / n3 2 410 = + 90 ° 3 p2 / n3 2 4 p2 / n1 2 5 1 - φa 6 p3 / n2 = - 5 4 2 - φc 1 p1 / n2 = 1 6 3 - φb 2 p1 / n3 = 1 2 4 - φa 3 p2 / n3 = 1 153 = + 30 ° 3 5 - φb 4 p2 / n1 = 1 1 6 - φc 5 p3 / n1 = 1__________________________________________________________________________ prior to preceding with a description of the program for controlling the overall operation of the regulating and control system of the present invention , reference will be made to fig1 which shows , in simplified bar chart form , the overall system operation to develop the value timtgo proportional to firing angle to fire the scr pairs in the rectifier 16 of fig1 . to understand the showing of fig1 , it is considered advantageous to make an assumption that some scr pair in the rectifier has just fired . as previously described , whenever an scr pair is fired , the int flip - flop 250 of fig9 generates an interrupt signal to the processor . this interrupt causes the processor to branch to an interrupt subroutine which effectuates the reading of the analog to digital converter 80 into the computer . as shown at this time , the processor loads the down counter with a count proportional to a 20 ° delay . the present invention is capable of operating in either continuous or discontinuous current mode and the purpose of loading the 20 ° delay into the down counter 224 of fig9 is to allow the processor time to determine the mode of operation in which the regulator is to operate and to set gains or constants for either continuous or discontinuous mode operation in the proper manner . the manner in which this is done will subsequently be described in connection with the program . still referring to fig1 , it will be noted that at a count of 14 in the down counter 224 , as previously described , the convert pulse is sent to the a / d converter on conductor 78 to activate the converter to begin the analog to digital conversion . at the termination of the 20 ° delay , or when the down counter 224 reaches the predetermined count of 0 , the int flip - flop 250 sends a second interrupt signal to the processor . upon receipt of the second interrupt signal , the processor interrupt subroutine performs the calculations of the firing angle finval to develop the timtgo value . as can be seen in fig1 , the entire reading and calculation of the firing angle takes place between the firing of successive scr &# 39 ; s . since there is an scr firing every 60 ° of the input sine wave cycle , it can be seen that the entire calculation for firing angle to fire the next pair of scr &# 39 ; s is done in a 60 ° interval . the 20 ° delay which has been selected is the maximum value which leaves time for the regulator calculations , ( i . e . time to calculate the firing angle ), and to still generate a positive timtgo when the phase advance rate is maximum . the second current which is read by the processor is utilized in the regulator response calculations . the advantages in performing the calculations in this manner are : 1 . the control time lag as seen by the overall regulator is minimized , thus maximizing the performance of the regulator . 2 . the second current read will always have some finite value at all practical operating levels of the regulator so that the regulator can operate during the discontinuous current mode . this is due to the fact that the second current reading is taken 20 ° after the first current reading . 3 . and , as will subsequently be described , a single down counter such as down counter 224 of fig9 is required since counting is never started until after the previous scr pair is fired . still referring to fig1 , once the calculations are completed the processor loads the timtgo value into the down counter 224 of fig9 at which time that counter begins to count towards 0 . the program then branches immediately to a read tach counter subroutine rdtach , wherein the tach pulse counter 88 is read by the processor and the value of a feed forward counter electromotive force ( cemf ) is calculated for use in calculating commanded motor terminal volts ( vt ). upon completing of the rdtach subroutine , the program branches back to the interrupt subroutine to calculate a rate of change of current set point ( spdesi ). the program now goes into a loop and waits until the firing counter achieves a count of 0 , as shown in the top line of fig1 , at which time the scr pair is fired and an interrupt is again issued to the processor and the process just described is repeated . reference is now made to fig1 , which is a high level flow chart showing the overall operation of the regulating and control system of the present invention in somewhat more detail then that just described in connection with fig1 . when the system is first started up , as shown in the left hand top block of fig1 , the program generates a dummy interrupt to the system by loading a number 16 into the down counter 224 of fig9 . also at this time , zeros are loaded into the scr select register 268 of fig1 b . the down counter will now begin to count down toward 0 . when it reaches 0 , the int flip - flop 250 of fig9 generates an interrupt signal on conductor 210 to the processor . the purpose of loading all zeros into the scr select register is to prevent any scr pair from being fired at this time . the processor enters into the interrupt subroutine upon receipt of the interrupt . the program now enters a 1st reading decision block determining if this is the first or second current reading from the a / d converter 80 of fig3 . assuming that it is the first current reading , the program goes through a &# 34 ; yes &# 34 ; y branch into a block wherein the first current is read from the a / d converter . the program further determines , in this block , whether the system is in either the continuous or discontinuous current mode by comparing the value of the first current against a constant proportional to a predetermined current . the program then proceeds to set the previously mentioned firing angle for a 20 ° delay . the program proceeds to read the system clock bits id1b0 through id1b7 on conductors 90 of fig5 and to calculate the value of newtim . upon the completion of the newtim calculation , the program continues to calculate timtgo , which at this time includes the 20 ° delay . the program then goes into a loop and continues to read the system clock until newtim is equal to the 5 least significant bits of the divide by 32 counter 170 of fig5 designated id1b3 through id1b7 . when these two values are equal , the processor loads the timtgo value proportional to firing angle into the down counter and proceeds to set a flag for the second reading . the program now proceeds to check if a new tachometer reading is available in the tach pulse counter register . if a new reading is available , it is read and added to the tachometer readings already accumulated in memory ( cacti ). the program now checks to see if three successive readings have been accumulated . if not , the program takes a &# 34 ; no &# 34 ; n branch and enters back into the main program when another interrupt is received from the processor ( i . e . when timtgo equals 0 ). at this time , the 1st reading decision block is again entered , and upon this entry , since the flag for second reading has been set , the program will exit through the n branch of that last decision block and enter into a block wherein the processor will read the second current from the a / d converter . after having read the second current , the program will perform the regulator calculations to calculate finval and timtgo . upon the completion of these calculations , the processor will write the scr pair address into the scr select register 268 of fig1 b . at this point , the processor again goes into a loop to continue to read the system clock until the values of newtim and id1b3 - id1b7 are equal . when these values are equal , the processor is told to load timtgo into the down counter . the processor then proceeds to update the scr pair address in the previously mentioned ph counter and to set the flag for the first current reading , so that upon the next pass through the program a first reading will be taken . the program now proceeds back to again read the tachometer , if a reading is available , and then tests to see if three successive tachometer readings have been accumulated . if three readings have not been accumulated and a speed regulator request flag ( spdflg ) is not set , the program will continue through the loop just described entering back through the 1st reading decision block , out the y branch and continuing to perform the current regulator calculations as just described on the second reading . if , after the previously mentioned check for a new tachometer reading , three successive readings are available , new values for motor speed ( cact ), smoothed motor acceleration ( tacsmd ), and counter electromotive force ( cemf ) are computed . the speed regulator request flag ( spdflg ) is set to zero to cause a speed regulator calculation to be made . at the completion of these calculations , if the flag is set for a second current reading indicating that a first reading has just been made , the program branches back to the main program pending an interrupt from the firing logic int flip - flop 250 of fig9 as previously described . however , if the flag is not set for the second reading a y branch will be taken to a block to test for the time to perform the speed regulator calculation , the spdflg is incremented by 1 and then tested for the value of 2 . if the test passes , the speed regulator calculation is entered . if not , the main program is re - entered as before . this procedure insures that the regulator and smoothing calculations will not be performed in the same interval between scr firings . this was done to prevent overloading the computer . upon completion of the speed regulator calculations , the program enters into the main program pending receipt of the interrupt from the firing counter . with the broad background of the description of the system operation in regard to fig1 and 14 , reference is now made to fig1 through 24 , which show in detailed flow chart form the execution of the current regulator program for controlling the regulating and control system of the present invention . reference is first made to fig1 , which is a flow chart depicting the main program of the present invention . not shown in fig1 is a standard initialization routine which every program normally runs through to initialize all the various registers and storage locations in memory in preparation to running a program . since this type of initialization is well known in the art , it is not shown in fig1 and the program is assumed to start at an entry point designated begin . when the system is first started , processor reads device 3 , the tach pulse couner 88 , as shown in fig4 and 7 . the bits read by the computer are id3b9 through id3b7 on conductors 22 . these bits are read through the 8 bit multiplexer 128 of fig4 in response to a read address as designated by bits ir5 through ir7 and a read p pulse on the enable line to the multiplexer 128 . the processor then tests in a decision block tach count = 0 to determine if the motor is turning . if the tach count reading ( id3b0 - id3b7 ) is not 0 , it indicates that cemf is not 0 and that the motor is rotating , thus the program will take a n branch from that decision block and continue to loop back to begin until the cemf or tach count is 0 . when the tach count is 0 , the program exits through a y branch into the next action block wherein the processor reads device 0 ( 18 &# 39 ; of fig4 ). id4b0 is the bit read at this time by the processor to read in the on / off switch to see if the motor has been turned on . additionally , the processor sends a read device 0 command to the processor system interface developing the rdv0 signal on conductor 130 to the int flip - flop 250 , thus resetting that flip - flop . the int flip - flop 250 is now in a state to generate an interrupt signal at the proper time during the operation of the system . the program now proceeds into a decision block on / off switch on . in that decision block , if the on / off switch just read from device 0 is not in the on state the program takes an n branch back to the beginning of the program and continues to loop in the program until the on / off switch is turned on . assuming now that the on / off switch is on , the program will exit through a y branch , entering to an action block wherein the processor transfers a write device 1 command along with data bits wdb0 - wdb7 to the processor system interface of fig4 to cause the generation of the wdv1 signal on conductor 212 to be sent to the firing logic of fig9 and load the count of 16 into the write data latch and into the down counter 224 in the manner as previously described . the purpose of loading 16 into the down counter 224 is to create a dummy interrupt to the processor so that the processor can begin to execute the main program and all subsequent subroutines which are entered from the main program . at this point , the down counter begins counting down while the program proceeds immediately to a start entry point as shown in fig1 . the processor now sends a read device 6 command to the processor system interface to effect the reading of the speed reference change switch designated by bit id6b0 on conductors 66 as shown in fig4 . the state of bit id6b0 is now interrogated by the processor to determine if the speed change switch is in the on state . the speed change switch is an operator controlled switch on a console , not shown , forming part of the speed reference switches 18 ( input devices 6 and 7 ) which is actuated by an operator when he desires to change the speed reference input to the data processor to change the speed of the motor . so long as this switch is in the on state , the program will continue to exit through the y branch of the change speed sw on decision block and loop back to the start point . let it now be assumed that the change speed switch is not on . the program will exit through a n branch entering into an action block wherein the processor sends commands to the processor system interface to read devices 6 and 7 via conductors 66 into the processor . in this instance , the previously mentioned speed reference switches , which are representative of motor rpm speed set point ( bits id6b3 through id6b7 and id7b0 through id7b7 ) are stored in a memory location in the processor program 62 designated chalf , the storage location for the speed set point . the program now proceeds to set the sign of location chalf in accordance with the setting of the fwd / rev switch by first sending a read device 0 signal to the system interface and reading in bit id0b5 from device 0 . if id0b5 specifies that the motor is to run in the forward direction chalf is not changed , however , if id0b5 specifies that the direction of the motor is to run in reverse , then the 2 &# 39 ; s complement of chalf is taken and accordingly substituted for chalf . the program now proceeds to determine if the on / off switch is in the off position . if the motor is in the off position , the program will exit through a y branch and go back to begin and the operations just described will be repeated . assuming , however , that the on / off switch is not in the off position , the program will exit from that last decision block through a n branch returning to the start entry point as shown in fig1 . the program will now continue to loop from the start point down through the on / off switch off decision block until an interrupt signal is received by the data processor from the int flip - flop 250 in the firing logic 9 . as previously described in connection with the firing operation of logic , when the down counter achieves a count of 0 , the int flip - flop 250 is set to generate the int signal on conductor 210 to the processor . it is significant to point out that the interrupt signal from the firing logic can occur at any time during the execution of this latter loop , ( i . e . between the start entry point and the on / off switch off decision block ). when the interrupt occurs , the processor will branch from the main program of fig1 into a start intpt point of fig1 , the beginning of the interrupt program . as will subsequently be seen , at the termination of the interrupt program when all calculations have been completed , the interrupt program will return to the main program of fig1 at the point where the interrupt occurred . let it now be assumed that the processor has generated the interrupt signal on conductor 210 , causing the program to enter into the start intpt point of fig1 . the first operation by the processor is to store the current values of the various processor registers , namely those of the scratch pad memory previously described in connection with fig2 . this is a standard procedure in all operating programs when branching from one subroutine or program to another so that those values can be restored later when return is made back to the program from which the branch was made . the processor then proceeds to send a read device 0 command to the processor interface of fig4 to again read the on / off switch bit id0b0 and to simultaneously reset or clear the interrupt flip - flop sending the rdv0 signal to the firing logic from the decoder 126 of fig4 in the manner as previously described . the on / off switch is now tested to see if it is in the off state . if the switch is in the off state , indicating that power should be removed from the motor , the program will exit through the y branch , the previously stored registers will now be restored back to their original values and the program will return to fig1 wherein the operations will take place as previously described . assuming at this time , however , that the on / off switch is not in the off state , the program will exit through an n branch into a 1st current reading ( curflg = 0 ) decision block . in this decision block , a test is performed to see if this is the first current reading . the test here is performed on a variable flag in memory designated curflg for current first reading flag . when the curflg is equal to 0 it indicates that this is the first current reading , when it is a binary 1 it indicates that it is the second current reading . assuming at this time that curflg is equal to 0 , the program will exit through a y branch and enter into an action block wherein the processor sends a read device 5 command to the processor system interface directing the reading of the analog to digital converter 80 to read bits id5b0 through id5b7 through the 8 bit multiplexer into the processor on input data lines id0 through id7 . the value specified by the id5b0 - id5b7 bits is stored in a location in memory designated crnt , which is a storage location for the measured motor current . the program now proceeds into decision block wherein a constant value curtol stored in memory is compared against the absolute value of crnt . the value of curtol is a value proportional to 1 to 2 percent of the rated motor current and is utilized to test for discontinuous current operation . if curtol is less than crnt , the program exits through a y branch going into discontinuous mode , whereas , if curtol is greater than crnt it will be the continuous mode and the program exits through the n branch . let it at first be assumed that the motor is operating in the discontinuous mode . exiting through the y branch , the processor will set a mode flag modflg in memory equal to a 1 , indicating that the system is now in discontinuous current mode . stored in memory are four constants designated g1 and g2 . there are two g1 &# 39 ; s and two g2 &# 39 ; s , one pair utilized when the system is in discontinuous mode and the other pair of g1 - g2 is utilized when the system is in continuous mode . these constants , used for continuous and discontinuous current modes , are gain constants chosen to provide the overall gain required by the motor drive loop when operating in either one of the modes . for example , in discontinuous mode the program will select the proper g1 and g2 having gains of 32 and 0 respectively . also , in this latter action block , negative and positive upper and lower limits ( vrlimn and vrlimp ) are retrieved from memory and brought into the interrupt subroutine for subsequent use in establishing upper and lower limits for the motor voltage to be computed by the current regulator . upon the completion of these last operations the program will now enter into the connector b of fig1 . referring now to fig1 , it will be noted that connector a from fig1 also comes into fig1 . as previously described , if the system is in the continuous mode , entry will be into fig1 connector a . at entry into connector a , the operations which take place in the first action block are the same as those described in the last action block of fig1 , with the exception that the modflg is set equal to 0 for continuous mode operation . the program will also select the proper g1 and g2 for continuous current mode operation . can example of the values of these gains would be g1 = 15 and g2 = 11 . ) upon entry into connector b of fig1 , the processor sets the firing angle to cause an interrupt 20 ° after the last scr pair firing . this is accomplished by setting the firing angle finval in memory equal to finval minus a count proportional to 40 °. subtracting 40 ° from finval causes an interrupt at the correct time for the second current reading . if timtgo were calculated utilizing the old value of finval , the scr pair would be fired 60 ° later . by substracting 40 ° from finval , the down counter value is set to create an interrupt at 20 ° after the last scr pair firing . the program now proceeds into an action block wherein a location in memory desi , designating desired current set point , is set equal to itself plus a calculated value spdesi , indicative of a desired rate of change of current set point . the program now goes to a connector e of fig2 entering into an action block wherein the processor sends a read device one command to the processor interface to read the system clock bits id1b0 - id1b7 on conductors 190 as depicted in fig4 and 5 . in the next action block the 60 ° interval , as specified by bits id1b0 - id1b2 , is stored in location koct ( see table 2 ) and the time within the interval , represented by bits id1b3 through id1b7 , is stored in a location in memory designated tclock . the processor now proceeds to calculate the value of newtim by setting that location in memory equal to tclock plus 2 , which is the delay time previously described for the calculation in describing the derivation of the timtgo equation . also , at this time the long clock count correction corr is set equal to 0 . the program now proceeds into a newtim & gt ; 30 decision block . if newtim is greater than 30 , the program will exit through a y branch setting the corr bit to a 1 . the program will now proceed into another decision block newtim & gt ; 31 . if the newtim is at 32 , or greater , the program will exit through a y branch into an action block at the top right hand portion of fig2 , wherein newtim is set to either 0 or 1 by setting newtim = newtim - 32 . if newtim happens to be 32 , it will be set to zero whereas if newtim is equal to 33 , ( i . e . tclock = 31 + 2 = 33 ) it will be set equal to 1 . reference is now made back to the newtim & gt ; 30 and newtim & gt ; 31 decision blocks of fig2 . if either of those decisions is negative , the program will exit through an n branch of the appropriate decision block and enter into an action block wherein the zero crossing number pha in memory is used to calculate timtgo by using the value of koct as an address to the ph table ( tabph ) by setting pha equal to tabph ( see table 2 ). the processor now proceeds to calculate timtgo by setting timtgo equal to finval the firing angle minus tabtp ( the offset correction of table 2 as addressed by the difference between pha and ph ) minus 8 times tclock ( the time interval just read ) minus the value of corr . corr will be either a zero or a one at this time depending on whether newtim was greater than or less than 31 . the processor now enters into a curflg = 0 decision block where a test is again performed to see if this is the first current reading . if curflg is not equal to 0 , indicating that this is a second current reading , then entry into fig2 is at connector f at an action block wherein the processor writes the scr pair and bridge address to device 3 , the scr select and drive direction register 268 of fig1 b , by issuing a wdv3 command over conductors 270 and sending the scr pair and bridge address over conductors 266 as write data bits wdb0 through wdb7 from the driver 138 of the processor system interface 4 . the scr pair and bridge addresses come from a table in memory , designated octf , which contains 12 separate address entries , 6 for the forward scr bridge and 6 for the reverse scr bridge . the locations in the octf table are addressed by the contents of the ph counter , which specifies the scr pair to be fired , and the direction flag dirflg , a flag in memory that specifies whether to fire the forward or reverse bridge . it will be recalled from the previous description , that the firing of the scr &# 39 ; s actually takes place after the calculation of timtgo has been performed ( i . e . subsequent to the reading of the second current ). it is necessary to change the scr pair and bridge address in order to fire the proper scr &# 39 ; s . on the other hand , if it is a first current reading it is not desirable to change the scr pair and bridge address as no firing is done at that time . therefore , if it is not the first current reading , entry is into fig2 at point g from fig2 and the scr pair bridge address update is bypassed . the program now proceeds into a timtgo & lt ; 16 decision block . if timtgo is less than 16 , the program exits through a y branch to an action block wherein the processor writes the number 16 to device 1 , the down counter , by the generation of the wdv1 signal from the processor system interface along with the number 16 on the write data bus lines wdb0 through wdb7 as previously described . the reason for testing for timtgo & lt ; 16 is that a minimum limit is placed on the value of timtgo to insure that there is always at least 4 ° delay prior to the generation of an interrupt to the data processor so that a convert command will be sent to the a / d converter 80 to cause a new conversion to be made . still referring to fig2 , if timtgo is not less than 16 the program branches through a n branch entering into a read device 1 action block wherein the processor again reads the system clock bits id1b0 through id1b7 . the program now goes into a loop via a decision block id1b3 - id1b7 = newtim which exits through a n branch back into the read device 1 action block and continues to circulate in that loop until the system clock equals newtim . when these two values are equal , it is time to load the down counter , and the program takes a y branch entering in to an action block where the processor writes timtgo into the down counter 224 of fig9 . as was previously described , on the occurrence of the next 88 microsecond clock signal ( see fig9 and 10 ) following the loading of the down counter , the down counter starts to count timtgo down toward 0 . when the down counter reaches 0 , the processor will again generate an interrupt signal on conductor 210 ( fig9 ) thus creating another interrupt for the processor as previously described . immediately upon transferring timtgo to the down counter , the processor goes from connector h in fig2 to connector h in fig2 entering into a curflg = 0 decision block . in this decision block a test is performed to see if this is the first current reading . if it is the first reading , the processor will exit through an n branch entering into an action block wherein , location curflg , the current reading flag , is set equal to 1 to designate that the second reading will be coming up on the next pass through the program . on the other hand , if it is the first reading , the program will exit from curflg = 0 decision block through a y branch entering an action block wherein the sequence counter ph is set equal to ph + 1 , thus incrementing the scr pair address so that the proper scr pair will be fired on the next calculation of timtgo . the processor now proceeds into the ph & gt ; 6 decision block . if ph is greater than 6 , the program will exit through a y branch entering into an action block wherein ph will be set equal to 1 in preparation to firing the scr cell pair corresponding to the ph address of 1 . on the other hand , if ph is not greater than 6 , ph is not changed and the program exits through a n branch entering into an action block wherein the curflg location is set equal to 0 in preparation for the first current reading on the next pass through the program . the interrupt subroutine now calls a subroutine designated rdtach as illustrated in fig2 . reference is now made to fig2 , wherein the processor enters into a start rdtach entry point to the read tachometer routine . in rdtach the processor first reads input device 1 , the system clock , by reading in the three most significant bits ( id1b0 - id1b2 ) of that clock . it will be recalled that these bits define the 60 ° interval of the input voltage when the reading is taken by the processor . the processor now enters into a phoct = id1b0 - id1b2 decision block . in this decision block , a test is performed to see if a phase to neutral zero crossing has occurred since the last pass through the subroutine . this is performed by comparing the three most significant bits of the 360 ° system clock ( id1b0 - id1b2 ) with location phoct which contains the reading or value of the 60 ° interval from the previous pass through the subroutine . a change in id1b0 - id1b2 means that a 0 crossing has occurred and that a new value should be stored in phoct to update that location for subsequent tests . this is performed in an action block entered from a n branch of the phoct = id1b0 - id1b2 decision block , wherein phoct is set equal to id1b0 - id1b2 . on the other hand , if there has been no change in the zero crossing , then the program will exit through a y branch and returns to fig2 from the point where it left off entering into a curflg = 1 decision block . referring back to fig2 , let it how be assumed that a change has occurred in the zero crossing , thus changing the value of id1b0 - id1b2 . as a result , the program will now exit from the phoct = id1b0 - id1b2 decision block , set phoct as previously described and enter into an action block wherein the processor will now read device 3 , the tach pulse counter , by reading bits id3b0 - id3b7 and id0b4 into the processor . referring to fig7 it will be recalled that bit id0b4 was identified as that bit which specifies the direction the motor is running . thus , in this action block , the value of the tach pulse counter is read into the processor and the sign of that value is set in accordance with the state of id0b4 . as such , the value of the tach pulse counter will represent either a positive or a negative number , indicating that the motor is running in either the forward or reverse direction . in the present system , the addressing of input device 3 through the 8 bit multiplexer of fig4 also causes bit id0b4 to be read through the multiplexer and placed into the processor simultaneously with the id3b0 through id3b7 bits . still referring to fig2 , the processor now proceeds to an action block wherein the tachometer reading is added to the sum of the previous readings taken by adding id3b0 - id3b7 to a location cacti , identified as a tach counter accumulator in memory . thus it can be seen , for each pass through the rdtach subroutine , that the tach readings from the tach pulse counter 88 are accumulated as a sum in location cacti . the processor now proceeds into the next action block wherein a number of readings counter cknt in memory is updated or incremented by 1 by setting cknt = cknt + 1 . the purpose of the cknt counter is to keep track of the number of accumulated readings in cacti . this is indicated by a decision block cknt = 3 in the right hand top portion of fig2 which performs a test to see if there have been 3 readings accumulated . if cknt does not equal 3 , the speed smoothing calculations are not performed and the program exits through a n branch and returns to the interrupt subroutine where it left off entering at the curflg = 1 decision block of fig2 as previously described . referring back to fig2 , let it now be assumed that three readings have been accumulated . the program exits through a y branch entering into a decision block wherein the unsmoothed motor speed is calculated . this is accomplished by setting a location temp in memory equal to the sum of the accumulated tach pulses over the last two passes . this is average motor speed . the sum is accomplished by adding the contents of cact , a memory location which stores the old sum of the tachometer speed readings , with the contents of location cacti which contains the sum of the new tachometer readings . also in this action block , location cact is set equal to cacti so that it reflects the sum of the old readings . further , cacti is set equal to zero so that it can be initialized to accumulate the sum of the next readings on subsequent passes . further , a speed flag spdflg is initialized to a binary zero . spdflg is utilized , as will subsequently be described , to tell the processor to either perform the speed regulator calculations or to skip the speed regulator calculations . when spdflg is equal to zero , it indicates to the program to skip the speed regulator calculations . the program now proceeds into the next action block of fig2 , wherein the smooth speed is calculated . this is accomplished by setting a location tacsmd = location temp - tacsum . additionally in that action block , a location tacsum is set equal to tacsum + tacsmd . location tacsum contains a value proportional to the smoother speed and tacsmd is speed rate which can be seen to be a derivative of tacsum . the program now proceeds to calculate the feed / forward counter electromotive force ( cemf ) for subsequent use in calculating the motor terminal voltage vt . the cemf is calculated by setting a location cemf in memory equal to kv times location temp . kv is a constant stored in memory having the value derived from the formula kv = cemf ( volts ) divided by rpm . with the speed calculations now complete , the processor now returns back to the interrupt subroutine in fig2 entering into the curflg = 1 decision block . in this decision block , if curflg is equal to 1 indicating that this is the second current reading , the program will not perform the current speed regulator calculations . thus , the program will take a y branch entering into point j at the top of fig2 , wherein the saved registers are restored as previously described and the program returned back to the main program at the point of interrupt in fig1 . let it be assumed however that the curflg is not equal to 1 , indicating that this is the first current reading , and that the processor now enters into a connector i of fig2 , wherein the speed flag spdflg is set equal to spdflg + 1 . a test is now performed in a spdflg = 1 decision block to see if the speed flag is set . if the speed flag is set , the speed regulator calculations are performed by the program exiting through a y branch of that decision block entering into an action block to calculate speed error . the speed error is calculated by setting memory location erract , a location for storing speed error , equal to the contents of location chalf , speed set point , minus the contents of location cact , the old sum of the speed reading or the speed before smoothing . proceeding through the program , the processor now initiates the calculation of current setpoint by setting location erract = g3 × erract - g4 × tacsmd . g3 and g4 are regulator gains adjusted according to the particular drive motor to give the desired speed response . values of g3 = 1 and g4 = 16 were used in this embodiment . the processor now continues to calculate the current set point by setting a value tdesi = tdesi + erract . the program now continues into a tdesi & gt ; curlmp decision block at the top of fig2 . a maximum limit is placed on the motor current in the present drive system , and a test is performed to see if the value of tdesi , the calculated motor current , is greater than or less than specified current limits curlmp and curlmn . curlmp is the positive current limit and curlmn is the negative limit , as indicated in a tdesi & lt ; curlmn decision block of fig2 . if tdesi is greater than curlmp , the program exits through a y branch entering into an action block where tdesi is set equal to the maximum current limit curlmp . on the other hand , if curlmp is not greater than tdesi , the program exits through an n branch into the tdesi & lt ; curlmn decision block . if that test is positive , the program will exit through a y branch into an action block wherein tdesi is set equal to curlmn . on the other hand , if it is a negative test , the program will exit through an n branch entering to an action block wherein the current rate set point is now calculated . the current rate set point is calculated by setting a location in memory designated spdesi ( current set point rate ) equal to tdesi ( calculated current set point ) minus desi ( the current set point ) and dividing the difference by 3 . the divisor 3 is utilized to take into consideration the averaging of the current rate set point over 3 passes through the current regulator calculation program for each speed regulator calculation . a current rate limit is also placed on the current rate set point spdesi . this is accomplished by the program now entering into an spdesi & gt ; rtlmp decision block , wherein a test is performed to see if spdesi is greater than ratlmp a positive rate limit . if it is greater , then the program exits through a y branch into an spdesi = ratlmp action block establishing a maximum positive rate limit for spdesi . on the other hand , if spdesi is less than ratlamp , the program exits through an n branch entering into an spdesi & lt ; ratlmn decision block . in that decision block , if spdesi is less than ratlmn , the program exits through a y branch , thus setting spdesi = ratlmn , establishing a minimum rate limit . if spdesi is not less than ratlmn , then the program exits through a no branch , and enters into point j of fig2 , wherein the previously saved processor registers are restored and the program returns back to the main program at the point of interrupt as previously described . still referring to fig2 , reference is made back to the spdflg = 1 decision block of that figure . if spdflg is equal to 1 , it indicates that the speed regulator calculations are to be skipped over and thus the program exits from that block through an n branch entering back to point j of fig2 as just described . reference is now made back to fig1 to the 1st current reading curflg = 0 decision block , wherein a test performed to see if the program is taking the first or second current reading . if curflg is not equal to zero , it indicates that the first current reading has just been taken and that the second current reading should be taken and the current regulator calculations performed . under this condition , the processor will now exit through an n branch at connector c entering in to fig1 . the first operation to take place in fig1 , is for the processor to send a read device 5 command to read the analog to digital current converter 80 and store bits id5b0 - id5b7 in location crnt , the location for storing actual motor current . the processor now enters into an action block and calculates the current error by setting location idiff equal to location desi , the current set point , minus crnt the actual motor current . a test is now performed in an idiff & gt ;+ idlim decision block to determine if the current error is greater than a positive current error limit as specified the constant + idlim . if idiff is greater than + idlim , the program will branch through a y exit entering to an action block to set idiff equal to + idlim . on the other hand , if idiff is not greater than + idlim , the program exits through an n branch entering into an idiff - idlim & lt ; decision block . in this block , the same type of decision is made to determine if idiff is less than a negative or minimum current error limit . if it is , the program exits through a y branch , wherein idiff is set equal to - idlim . on the other hand , if idiff is not less than - idlim the program exits through the n branch and enters into an action block , wherein the motor terminal voltage is calculated by the regulator . the motor terminal voltage is calculated by setting a location vr , which is an intermediate value in the calculation , equal to ( g1 × idiff )-( g2 × idiffo ). gains g1 and g2 were previously identified . gain g1 , for discontinuous current mode operation , is normally 2 to 3 times the value for continuous current operation and gain g2 is equal to 0 for discontinuous current mode operation . the idiffo term is a location in memory which stores the old value of idiff . the program now proceeds to a dirflg = 0 decision block . in that decision block , a test is performed to see if the forward bridge is being fired by testing the condition of dirflg , a flag in memory which specifies which bridge is being fired . if dirflg is not equal to zero , indicating that the reverse bridge scr &# 39 ; s are being fired , exit is made through an n branch and vr is set equal to vro - vr where , vro is from a location in memory storing the old value of vr . if dirflg is equal to 0 , indicating that the forward scr &# 39 ; s are being fired , the program exits through a y branch into an action block wherein vr is set equal to vro + vr . upon the completion of calculating vr , the program enters into a decision block vr & gt ; vrlimp . there are two constants , ( vrlimp and vrlimn ) stored in memory which specify positive and negative limits on the maximum and minimum calculated voltage . if vr is greater than vrlimp , then exit is made from that decision block through a y branch into an action block wherein vr is set equal to vrlimp . on the other hand , if vr is not greater than vrlimp , an n branch is taken and entry is made into a vr & lt ; vrlimn decision block . in that block , a y branch is taken wherein vr set equal to vrlimn if vr is less than vrlimn . if not , an n branch is taken and vro , the location for storing the old value of vr , is updated by setting vro = vr . the program now enters into point d leaving fig1 and entering point d . of fig1 . upon entering into fig1 , the processor enters into an modflg = 0 decision block where a test is performed to see if the system is in continuous or discontinuous current mode . if the modflg is not equal to 0 , it indicates that the system is in continuous mode . thus , the processor exits from a n branch entering to a dirflg - 0 decision block . it is in the flow chart of fig1 where the decision is made as to whether it is appropriate to reverse the direction of the motor . the criteria for reversal of the motor is that the system must be in discontinuous current mode and the sign of the current set point ( desi ) must be opposite to the direction flag ( dirflg ). this determination of current reversal is explained as follows . if the modflg = 0 decision test is positive , the processor will exit through a y branch indicating discontinuous mode into a sign of desi opp dirflg decision block . in this latter decision block , the determination is made to see if desi is opposite to dirflg . if it is not opposite , an n branch is taken and the program enters into the dirflg = 0 decision block as previously described . however , if the desi is opposite dirflg , the program takes a y branch and enters in to an action block , wherein the direction flag dirflg is reversed from its present state . as shown in that action block , if dirflg is set equal to a 1 , it indicates that current will flow in the reverse bridge and not the forward bridge . if dirflg is set equal to zero , then the forward bridge will be fired . the program now proceeds into the dirflg = 0 decision block to determine the relative polarity of cemf and voltage from the bridge . if the reverse bridge is to be fired , the n branch is taken from that decision block and entry is made into an action block , wherein the desired terminal voltage vt is calculated by setting vt = cemf ( the counter electromotive force ) minus vr ( the motor voltage since the polarities are opposite ). if the forward bridge is to be fired , as indicated by dirflg = 0 , then entry is made through the y branch into an action block wherein the desired motor terminal voltage vt is calculated by setting vt = cemf + vr to establish its proper polarity . in the present system , the motor terminal voltage has positive and negative limits placed on it and thus the tests immediately following the calculation of vt are to determine whether vt is equal to or less than positive and negative limits . the first decision block after the calculation of vt is vt & gt ; vtlimp . if vt is in excess of the positive limit , a y branch is taken into an action block , wherein vt is set equal to the maximum positive limit vtlimp . on the other hand , if vt is less than vtlimp , a n branch is taken and a similar test for vt & lt ; vtlimn is performed . if vt is less than the minimum limit , then a y branch is taken and vt is set equal to vtlimn . if not , the n branch is taken from the vt & lt ; vtlimn decision and entry is then made into an action block of fig1 wherein the firing angle finval to develop the desired vt is extracted from the table of values computed on the previously described relation finval = 245 . 8 cos - 1 ( 3 vt / πv ln ) as previously described . it will be recalled that these values of finval were previously described and shown in table 1 . this type of table entry , is well known in the art and is a straight - forward manner of merely addressing the table at an address specified by the value of vt , and using the value of the location addressed as the firing angle finval . the program now exits fig1 at connector e and enters in at connector e of fig2 wherein the system clock is read by the processor in a manner as previously described . the program will not continue to execute in fig2 , and proceed through its execution , finally returning to the interrupt point of the main program in the manner as previously described . having described the invention in detail , it can now be appreciated that the overall structure and method of the present system consists of a main program which loops continuously to read the speed reference switches and the motor direction switch and compute the speed set - point for the motor . the interrupt program accepts speed set - point data from the main program and reads motor speed armature current , and time as measured by the 360 ° system clock . the interrupt program further calculates the desired firing angle for the scr &# 39 ; s and controls the processor to send data having a value proportional to firing angle to a counter in the system and an address word to an scr select to effect the generators of gating pulses for the direct digital firing of scr &# 39 ; s as selected by the address data to regulate and control a reversing 3 - phase drive motor system . the program is synchronized with the firing of the scr &# 39 ; s by virtue of the generation of an interrupt at each scr firing to start the regulator calculations to load the counter at the proper time to control the time of firing a next scr to be fired . the processor of the system reads armature current twice each 60 electrical degrees . a first armature current reading is taken at a predetermined time ( e . g . 4 degrees ) before the next scr is to be fired . this first current reading is used to determine the mode of the current regulator operation , ( continuous or discontinuous ). a second current reading is taken and regulator calculations are started approximately 20 ° after the previous firing of an scr . the second current reading is used by the current regulator program as current feedback for controlling the overall current regulator . thus , it is seen , that there has been shown and described a regulating and control system for controlling a load such as dc motor which enjoys the benefits of a processor , such as a microcomputer , and which far exceeds the capabilities of prior analog regulating and control systems with limited additional expense . while there has been shown and described what is at present considered to be the preferred embodiment of the present invention , modifications thereto will readily occur to those skilled in the art . it is not desired therefore , that the invention be limited to the specific method and logic structure shown and described and it is intended to cover in the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention .
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the present engine is particularly constructed and arranged in a radial fashion and primarily for use in a working arrangement according to the brayton cycle . the general layout is diagrammatically disclosed in fig1 in which there is arranged on one rotary shaft 6 an air compressor 7 and also the engine 8 embodying this invention . the shaft 6 is a power shaft , which not only receives power from the engine 8 for rotation of the compressor 7 , but likewise has an output portion 9 for supplying surplus power exteriorly . atmospheric air either directly from the atmosphere or perhaps supercharged or precompressed is supplied to the compressor 7 through an inlet duct 11 . after having its pressure raised substantially , the air is discharged at the higher pressure and at a corresponding higher temperature through a pipe 12 leading through a heat exchanger 13 . within the heat exchanger is a heat exchange surface 14 for conducting the compressed atmospheric air through the heat exchanger and subjecting it to heat to increase its raised temperature substantially . the heated compressed air from the exchanger 13 is taken through a duct 16 into a combustion device 17 wherein an airfuel mixture is made and is burned and furnished to a pipe 18 leading to the engine 8 . the exact path of the burned fuel mixture through the engine will be later described . within the engine , the fuel mixture expands to supply the engine power and results in spent , hot exhaust gas which is discharged through a pipe 19 to the heat exchanger 13 , particularly through a heat exchange element 21 therein in thermal exchange relationship with the exchange surface 14 . thus , heat from the exhaust gas in the element 21 is transferred to the relatively colder incoming compressed air in the element 14 . the cooled exhaust gas after such heat exchange is released to the atmosphere through an outlet pipe 22 . the work cycle in the engine of the gases following such a path as illustrated in fig2 in which the abscissae are representative of one rotation of the shaft 6 in the engine 8 and the ordinates are pressures within an engine cylinder . the chart starts at a maximum pressure in the upper left - hand corner at a minimum volume , piston dead - center position of the shaft 6 , then indicates some engine motion , during which uniformly high pressure , hot gas from the line 18 is introduced into the engine cylinder . the hot gas admission is cut off at a chosen point ( in this instance , at about 40 degrees of shaft rotation of the engine ), and the cut - off or isolated hot gas then expands adiabatically in the cylinder from the initial high pressure down to an intermediate exhaust pressure near the opposite dead - center or 180 degree point . just before opposite dead center , the exhaust port is uncovered and the pressure of the cylinder - contained gas immediately drops on another curve until its pressure is slightly above that of the atmosphere . the exhaust port is open for a long enough time so that when the exhaust of the cylinder gas is terminated by covering of the exhaust port and when whatever remaining gas trapped in the cylinder is subsequently compressed , the pressure thereof rises to a value substantially that at the beginning of the cycle . as particularly shown in fig3 and 4 , the engine 8 is greatly simplified for clarity , an enclosure , various fastenings and the like being omitted . the engine includes a base 26 ( fig4 ) of any convenient kind and here illustrated simply as a stationary supporting member . to the base is secured a spool 27 having a hub portion 28 integral with one fixed side plate 29 having parallel surfaces 31 and 32 extending normally to the axis 30 of the hub 28 . there is also a spool side plate 33 fixed on the other end of the hub 28 and having an outside surface 34 and an inside surface 36 extending normally to the hub axis 30 . designed to operate around the spool 27 is a cylinder rotor 41 inclusive of a second hub 42 on a bearing 43 concentric with the axis 30 of the spool 27 . the rotor hub 42 is inclusive of a side disc 44 extending substantially normal to the axis 30 and having a side face 45 opposite the face 32 and having a side face 46 remote therefrom . between the faces 32 and 45 there is an annular clearance volume 47 . similarly , the rotor hub 42 also carries a side disc 48 having a side face 49 and a side face 51 both extending normally to the axis 30 . the faces 51 and 36 are spaced apart axially to define a clearance volume 52 comparable to the clearance volume 47 , both clearances being axially variable as the spool and hub shift slightly in an axial direction with respect to each other , although the sum of the two clearances 47 and 52 is always substantially a constant . the exterior of the hub 42 is substantially hexagonal in end aspect and , in this case , has six flats on each of which there is fastened an outwardly opening , two - part cylinder 61 of the single - acting variety . there are flanges 62 for holding the two cylinder parts on the hub by means of a fastening ring 63 . each of the cylinders is provided with a reciprocating piston 64 of the usual sort movable from a position adjacent the head of the cylinder to another position adjacent the end of the skirt thereof . each of the pistons has a piston pin 66 at one end of a connecting rod 67 . at the other end , the rod 67 is joined by a fastening pin 68 to the rim 69 ( fig4 ) of a rotor 71 having a generally bell - like configuration . the rotor is keyed to a driven shaft 72 having an axis 70 parallel to and spaced from the axis 30 . the shaft 72 is appropriately connected in any standard way , not shown , and extends through a bushing 75 in the stationary spool 27 . the shaft 72 is the power output shaft as it revolves relative to the base 26 and is the equivalent of the shaft 6 of fig1 . properly to interrelate the rotor 71 and some remaining mechanism , particularly the spool 27 , the rotor 71 adjacent the rim thereof has inwardly extending lugs 73 ( fig3 ), there being three of the lugs equally spaced around the periphery of the rotor . each of the lugs carries an axial pivot pin 74 ( fig5 ) at one end extending into the rim 69 of the rotor 71 and at the other end extending into a ring 76 secured by fasteners to projections 80 on the rotor rim 69 . mounted on each of the pins 74 is an eccentric disc 77 ( fig3 ), each disc having an eccentric radius equal to the radial distance between the axes 30 and 70 . the discs are encompassed by eccentric strap bearings 78 , each of which has a pad 79 thereon firmly mounted on the exterior of the cylinder rotor 41 . with this arrangement , as the mechanism operates , there is rotation of a bi - axial character , so that the pistons 64 reciprocate within their individual cylinders 61 , thus effecting certain input and exhaust functions , and likewise transmitting power from the pistons to the driven shaft 72 . in order that the propulsive or pressure fluid be properly supplied to the individual cylinders to be effective upon the individual pistons 64 , each of the cylinders in its head 81 is provided with a clearance volume 82 ( fig4 and 10 ) leading axially to an opening 83 designed to communicate with a thermal tube 84 having a port 86 at its end coplanar with the planar surface 45 bounding the clearance 47 on one side . the thermal tube 84 is shown in more detail in fig1 . mating flanges 201 and 202 on the head 81 and the tube 84 are secured together in the usual way , but to reduce heat transmission , the flange 202 merges through a thin wall with a thin tubular wall 203 . a branch , thin wall 204 extends , separate from the wall 203 , from the flange 202 to an anchoring flange 206 having appropriate fastening to the side disc 44 . not only is heat flow substantially reduced by the thin wall section , but some extra flexibility is derived so that the adjacent parts readily accommodate each other despite temperature changes . to cooperate with the tube 84 and the port 86 , there is provided in the fixed plate 29 an arcuate inlet port 87 ( fig8 and 9 ) in certain positions of the rotor registering successively with the rotating ports 86 . the port 87 has a peripheral extent corresponding to the desired input timing of the mechanism . this is to admit pressure fluid to the adjacent clearance volume 82 , substantially as illustrated in the diagram of fig2 and as shown in fig8 from approximately inner dead center to a predetermined position of the ports after inner dead center . the arcuate input port 87 is connected to the pressure pipe 18 somewhat circuitously to inhibit heat flow . similarly , the ports 86 ( fig8 ) also cooperate with an almost semi - circular , or arcuate , exhaust port 88 ( fig9 ) in the plate 29 open to the return pipe 19 in a standard way . the duration of the exhaust cycle is substantially as indicated in fig2 . since much of the proper operation of the engine , particularly over long periods , depends upon the clearances 47 and 52 , especial means are provided to ensure that the walls of the clearance spaces are properly spaced and operate in substantial parallelism . the inlet gas under pressure exerts an off - center axial force on the rotor and tends to tilt the rotor as it revolves . any substantial amount of such tilting renders the clearance spaces non - parallel . for this reason , and as shown in fig6 as one example , the engine is arranged for an unusual handling of lubricating oil under pressure . there is a common drive shaft 91 which may easily be coupled to an appropriate power source . the drive shaft 91 is connected to two lubricating oil pumps 92 and 93 . each pump is a constant flow or constant volume pump and receives oil from a sump such as the engine crankcase . each pump supplies a predetermined flow of lubricating oil under pressure through separate supply pipes 94 and 96 . the pipe 94 , for example , goes to a lubricating oil inlet port 97 in the side of the spool 27 and feeds oil to two outlets 98 and 99 across the spool axis and at diagonally opposite areas of the spool and discharging against the adjacent , diagonally opposite faces of the rotor hub 42 . similarly , the pipe 96 from the pump 93 feeds oil through the side of the spool to a pair of outlets 101 and 102 discharging against diagonally opposite areas of the spool and coplanar with the outlets 98 and 99 , respectively . in this way , should the relatively rotating parts 27 and 42 cant or cock , as shown in exaggerated form in fig6 the oil pressure at the resulting diagonally opposite , restricted outlets goes up , while the oil pressure at the diagonally opposite , unrestricted outlets goes down , thus supplying a force couple restoring the parts to coaxiality and parallelism . return oil goes back to the sump for recirculation . other ways to maintain the desired clearances and parallelism despite disturbing forces are the arrangements illustrated in fig7 , 9 and 10 . while these various figures show several variations , they also show many portions that are the same , and so employ the same reference numbers on comparable parts , although some accompanying items are different and so are differently designated . as particularly illustrated in fig7 there is a first force pump 114 operated by a drive ( not shown ) and effective to supply a constant output volume through a line 116 to a pressure equalizer 124 . this equalizer , like the equalizer 157 shown in fig1 , responds to air pressure from the compressor 7 ( fig1 ) and releases oil ( or comparable lubricant ) to a sump like the sump 152 of fig1 . from the equalizer 124 , pressure oil flows through the line 116 and an entry 118 to an arcuate recess 126 in the spool side plate 33 . this is substantially opposite to and is comparable in area with the air inlet port 87 on the other side of the engine . the oil force due to the recess thus tends to counterbalance the force due to the pressure air in the inlet port 87 on the other side of the engine . another force pump 136 , comparable to the pump 114 , and conveniently sharing the drive thereof , is effective to afford a constant oil output to a line 134 open to an arcuate recess 132 in the side plate 33 and also open to diametrically opposite arcuate recesses 132 and 133 in the side plate 33 . thus pressure oil is distributed to these equal areas . oil flowing from the various recesses and across the surrounding planar surfaces is received in channels 131 or drain grooves connected through a return line 127 to the sump 123 . an arcuate recess 129 is opposite the exhaust port 88 and diametrically symmetrical with the arcuate recess 126 and is also connected to the sump 123 by the return line 127 . this construction has as one function the control of the axial gap dimensions . this arrangement is effective to provide compensating or balancing forces by oil pressure to oppose or offset forces due to incoming gas and exhaust gas forces . in a related way to maintain the desired clearances and positions despite disturbing forces , the arrangement especially illustrated in fig9 and 10 may be employed . a drive shaft 103 ( fig1 ) operates a number of constant volume pumps 104 , 105 and 106 . the pump 106 takes from a sump 123 and discharges into a line 107 and so supplies oil under pressure through ports 108 and 109 to oil recesses 111 and 112 in the side plate 29 ( see fig9 ). the effect is to separate the rotor disc 44 and the plate 29 by a film of lubricant . return flow is through outlets 113 having connections ( not shown ) to the oil sump 123 . the oil supply to the side plate 29 is thus effective to lubricate and assist in positioning the side disc 44 . the left - hand side disc 48 is somewhat similarly lubricated and positioned by arrangements in the side plate 33 . the oil pump 104 , like the oil pump 106 , takes from the sump 123 and discharges through a pressure equalizer 124 and a line 116 to an entry 118 in the side plate 33 opening into an arcuate recess 126 in that plate and generally opposite the high pressure arcuate inlet port 87 ( see also fig8 and 9 ). the recess 126 is open to the clearance 52 . return grooves 131 ( fig1 ) connect to the sump 123 . the third pump 105 driven by the shaft 103 also takes from the sump 123 and discharges into a pressure line 134 opening into the recess 132 similar to the arrangement of fig7 but since , in this instance , there is a separate supply pump , the effect is comparable to that of the arrangement of fig6 . the pumps 105 and 106 tend to keep the side plates and the side discs parallel as well as evenly spaced with the desired narrow gaps between them . the pump 104 and the pressure equalizer 124 counteract the force and moment created by the inlet duct 87 . by eliminating tilt , the gaps tend to remain uniform . as a further variation of means for arranging proper clearance volumes and positions between the side plates and side discs , the arrangement of fig1 is effective . this also takes into account variations in the pressure of the driving gas . as shown diagrammatically , the engine pistons reciprocate in cylinders in a cylinder rotor 141 comparable to the rotor 41 . the rotor 141 has side walls 142 and 143 spaced from side plates 144 and 146 like the rotor 41 and side plates 29 and 33 . a constant speed electric motor 147 or comparable driver operates three constant flow pumps 148 , 149 and 151 simultaneously . the pump 148 receives lubricating oil from a sump 152 at atmospheric pressure through a manifold 153 and discharges the oil at increased pressure through a line 154 to a port 156 in a pressure regulator 157 . this is an enclosure divided by a pressure diaphragm 158 into an upper chamber 159 and a lower chamber 161 . a valve pin 162 joined to the diaphragm controls the opening and closure of a drain port 163 connected through a drain line 164 to the sump 152 . a lower spring 166 tends to urge the valve pin 162 in the port opening direction . but the valve pin is urged in the opposite direction , toward port closure , by an upper spring 167 that preferably is adjustable as to the force exerted to vary the effective pressure ratios . more particularly , the diaphragm 158 is also urged toward port closed position by pressure within the upper chamber 159 derived from the air compressor 7 ( fig1 ) and exerted through a line 168 opening into the upper chamber 159 through a port 169 . with this arrangement , the oil pressure in the lower chamber 161 is made to follow , at any desired and adjustable ratio , the air pressure at the compressor 7 . that is , when the compressor pressure drops , the diaphragm 158 bows upwardly and opens the port 163 , thus lowering the pressure in the lower chamber 161 correspondingly . comparably , when the compressor air pressure rises , the diaphragm 158 is urged downwardly to close the port 163 , so as the pressure in the chamber 161 varies , the outlet pressure of the pump 148 is closely and comparably changed . the oil from the lower chamber 161 is conducted through a port 171 and a line 172 to a recess 173 in the side plate 146 opposite to the air pressure inlet port 175 corresponding to the port 87 ( fig1 ). since the recess 173 and the ports 175 or 87 are comparable in position opposite each other and in area , this arrangement provides a variable counteracting or balancing force on one side of the cylinder block or rotor 41 substantially cancelling the force due to the variable pressure air against the other side of the cylinder block or rotor , and so maintains the desired spacing and eliminates tilt and unbalance and wear for this reason . the second pump 149 receives oil from the manifold 153 and is connected by a duct 174 to a recess 176 in the plate 146 substantially opposite a similar recess 177 in the plate 144 . a duct 178 joins the recess 177 to the third pump 151 supplied with oil like the pumps 148 and 149 . this arrangement provides substantially equal and opposite oil pressure forces tending in themselves to centralize and maintain proper clearances between the cylinder rotor 141 and the side plates 144 and 146 . leakage oil is caught , for example , in a recess 181 in the plate 146 and is returned through a pipe 182 to the drain line 164 and so goes back to the sump 152 . leakage oil is also caught in a recess 183 joined by a line 184 delivering through the line 164 to the sump 152 . as disclosed herein , there are provided means for establishing balancing forces for keeping the rotating parts properly centralized and oriented and also for furnishing a variable force offsetting the variable force on the rotor from the incoming pressure air . in the general operation of the engine , while the spool 27 remains stationary with respect to the mounting 26 , the various cylinders and pistons rotate with the rotor 71 about the cylinder axis 30 and the rotor axis 70 . during this time , the pistons 64 through their connecting rods 67 , connected to the rotor 71 , reciprocate in the cylinders . the pistons are impelled by gas under pressure entering the cylinders 61 from the pipe 18 and the port 87 and the tube 84 extending into the cylinder . the returning pistons expel the expanded gas through the ports 86 and the port 88 leading into the pipe 19 . in this way , the cylinders 61 rotate relative to the spool 27 , and the pistons both rotate about an axis and reciprocate in the cylinders , thus acting through the rotor 71 to rotate the shaft 72 with respect to the stationary spool 27 and so affording power . while the displacement mechanism shown and described herein is in the form of an engine , and has been so designated , it can equally well be embodied as a compressor , as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art .
| 5 |
currently no apparatus is commercially available to systematically validate the performance of sensor instruments ( i . e ., phase fluorimeters ) that utilize phase fluorimetry for analyte detection . the purpose of the present invention is to allow the user of such sensors to test the performance , accuracy , and precision of their device as is required for use , for example , in a cgmp environment . while the invention description has centered on use in the biopharmaceutical manufacturing arena , this invention and the general concepts discussed herein can be applied anywhere that phase fluorimetry is used for analyte detection . to more readily understand the operation of the present invention it is helpful to review in more detail how phase fluorimeters work in order to thereby more readily understand how the present invention is used to verify that they are working correctly and providing an accurate result . a phase fluorometric system can be divided into three main components : the fluorescent sensor dye ( equivalently called a fluorophore ), the optical illumination and detection system , and the electronics that drive the optical source and calculate the phase delay of the fluorescent signal . a schematic of a sensor based on phase fluorimetry is shown in fig3 . in this figure , 20 is the sine wave generator which can be used in both the excitation wave generation process and optionally in the phase measurement process , 21 denotes the drive electronics , 22 is the excitation light source ( e . g ., a led , laser diode , etc ), 23 is an optical filter which only passes light 24 that matches the absorption spectrum of the sensor dye 25 . the fluorescent signal 26 impinges on a filter 27 which prevents other light sources from impinging on the optical detector 28 . the resulting electronic signal is compared to the excitation wave &# 39 ; s phase by analog or digital means using electronics shown as 29 . the resulting phase number is displayed on display 30 along with the temperature taken using instrument 31 which can be an resistive temperature detector ( rtd ), thermistor , or equivalent temperature measuring apparatus . in fig4 , a block diagram of the process is shown where 41 is the central electronic processing unit which can generate the sine waves and display the results as well as convert the units of the temperature transducer to a displayed temperature value . the sine wave signal is sent to the drive and amplification electronics 43 . the excitation light is created by a suitable optical device 44 , and the fluorescent signal is received by the detection system 45 , which sends the signal back to the electronics system 43 to amplify and reduces the information to a phase delay relative to the excitation source . the temperature sensor 46 sends a signal to electronics 43 . it should be noted here that the different electronic functions can be consolidated or configured separately without affecting the system &# 39 ; s ability to create the same results . the fluorophore shown as 25 in fig3 absorbs light and re - emits this light at a red - shifted ( lower energy ) wavelength . the extent to which the re - emitted light is time delayed and its amplitude is reduced is a function of both the particular fluorophore and the concentration of specific analyte being measured . fluorophores vary widely in their compositions and characteristics , but a general model can be used to represent the process . as the fluorophore is excited by a light source , its electrons are elevated to a higher energy state . in this state , the electrons can relax by shedding some of their energy through the generation of photons , and also through non - radiative relaxation pathways . light is emitted when a transition between states occurs . the term fluorescent transition usually indicates a spin allowed transition between wave - functions , while the term phosphorescence usually refers to a spin forbidden transition . for the purposes of our invention , the particular type of transition is unimportant . the fundamental aspect is that the emitted light is modulated in response to the modulation of the pump light . the apparent rate at which these transitions occur , or equivalently the time for the upper optical state to decay , is affected by the presence of the analyte under study . quenching is a process whereby collisions between the analyte and the excited electrons allows a non - optical pathway for the relaxation of the excited state back down to the lower set of vibrational energy states ( a “ manifold ”) as shown in fig5 . here 60 is the equilibrium ground state , 61 is the excitation energy , and 62 is the frank condon excited state manifold . the excited electron typically relaxes though a phonon mediated process shown here as 63 and arrives at the equilibrium excited state 64 . from the excited state there are two relaxation pathways . the first is through fluorescence 65 , and the second is through dynamic quenching 66 . dynamic quenching is the fundamental effect in phase fluorimetry ( see e . g ., lakowicz , principles of fluorescence of spectroscopy , 3rd edition , springer 2006 ). the quenching process brings the electron to 67 which is the frank condon ground state manifold . there is then further phonon mediated relaxation back to the equilibrium ground state . the phase response of the system can be modeled to a first order according to equation 3 below : in equation 3 , ω is the modulation frequency of the excitation light ( and hence the emitted light ), τ [ concentration ] is the effective fluorescent life time of the sensor dye as a function of the concentration of the analyte , and φ is the phase of the fluorescent light . as mentioned above , the presence of the analyte being studied quenches the sensor dye and changes the fluorescent lifetime proportionally to the concentration of the analyte present . it should also be noted that as the fluorophores are molecular systems , their energy levels are temperature dependent , as is also the actual dynamic quenching process . in order to accurately characterize the analyte concentration using a phase fluorimetric system , both the phase and the temperature must be accurately known . depending on the sensor dye used , these requirements can be as stringent as less than 0 . 1 degree of phase and less than 0 . 1 deg c . the optical system of the fluorimeter illuminates the fluorophore with ( typically ) sinusoidally modulated light and causes the lower energy ( longer wavelength ) emitted light to impinge on a detector . the optical system can be a fiber optic delivery and collection system or a system using free space optics as shown in fig3 . the basic function of the optical system is to illuminate the sensor dye and to collect the emitted signal and optically filter it before it impinges upon the detector . as the excitation light and ambient light have a different phase than the emitted light , the fidelity of the measurement relies on the fact that the optical detector and subsequent electrical signal processing chain sees only the signal of the light emitted by the fluorophore . a well designed fluorimeter will use appropriate optical filtering in front of its optical detector and have the electronics designed so that the level of ingress of signals with other phase components or noise does not affect the fidelity of the measurement . the result of the entire process is to provide the value of the fluorescent light &# 39 ; s phase delay relative to the excitation signal . the electronic system provides the modulated signal which sinusoidally drives the excitation source ( e . g ., an led or laser diode ). the fluorescent signal impinges upon a photodiode where it is converted to an electronic signal . an electronic system amplifies the detected signal and subsequently processes it . the processing of the signal in order to calculate the phase delay can be either analog or digital , though digital is in general less expensive and more stable . the accuracy and precision of the phase detector are determined by the response of the sensor dye ( fluorophore ), the modulation frequency of the light source , the signal to noise ratio , and the efficacy of the processing system . from the above description of how a phase fluorimetric sensor works , it is clear that in order to validate the function of the sensor it is necessary to validate the function of both the electro - optical system and also of the temperature measurement system . this means that an apparatus is required which can generate a signal which is delayed in phase by a known amount from the excitation signal emitted by the fluorimeter . validation is achieved if the phase delay determined by the phase fluorimeter corresponds to that provided by test apparatus . additionally , the temperature sensor which is used to compensate for the effect of changes in ambient temperature on the calibration of the phase fluorimeter must also be tested . additionally , in order to fully validate the sensor , the system should be tested at multiple values of phase delay in order to test it over the dynamic range of delays that the phase fluorimeter system will experience . a block diagram of the phase fluorimeter and the validation system of the present invention is shown in fig6 . in this figure the phase fluorimeter being tested and the validation apparatus of the present invention are shown separately and labeled as a and b respectively . in the phase fluorimeter item 68 represents the overall processing electronics , 69 represents the signal processing electronics , i . e ., the drive electronics for the light source and the detection electronics for the photo - detector . when being tested , the light source 70 from the fluorimeter impinges upon the optical detector 71 in the validation apparatus and the signal from the optical detector is conditioned in the electronic signal processing system 72 . the phase is delayed in the electronic signal processing system 72 to an amount set by the control system 73 . the phase delayed signal is conditioned in the signal processing system 72 so that it can drive the light source 74 . the light from 74 impinges upon the fluorimeter sensor &# 39 ; s detector 75 . the phase shift between the light produced by 70 and sensed by 75 is subsequently calculated in , and displayed by 68 . the control system 73 also controls a unit which actuates and measures temperature 76 . such a unit could be comprised of a thermo - electric cooler ( tec ) and a temperature measurement device of sufficient accuracy . 76 will be in thermal contact with the fluorometric sensor &# 39 ; s temperature measuring device 77 . the junction of 76 and 77 will be suitably insulated from the thermal influence of the ambient environment . the temperature of 76 is measured by 77 and displayed in 68 . the temperature sensor 77 is then tested ( validated ) by comparing the measured reading displayed the validation process needs to verify that the sensor provides phase measurements that are accurate and precise over the designed temperature range of measurement of the sensor . therefore the temperature set by 73 and 76 should be measured through the entire extent of the temperature measurement range of the phase fluorimeter . the extent of this range will depend on the design of the phase fluorimeter . an apparatus in accordance with the present invention for testing the response of a phase fluorimeter system is shown schematically in fig7 . fig7 is divided between block c which is the phase fluorimeter and block d which is the apparatus of the present invention which is designed to validate ( i . e ., test the accuracy of ) the phase fluorimeter . as shown , the excitation light from the phase fluorimeter impinges on a photo - detector 83 ( e . g . : pin , pn junction based photo - diode or equivalent device that converts an optical signal to an electrical signal ) in the validation apparatus . this electrical signal can then be adjusted in its phase with respect to the excitation light phase in order to simulate different phase shifts . in the phase fluorimeter 78 is the sine generator which feeds electrical signal drive circuit 79 . the electrical drive signal in turn drives optical device 80 ( e . g ., an led , laser diode , etc ). the optical signal traverses an absorptive or dielectric filter ( or combined absorptive and dielectric or other suitable filter ) 81 which tailors the light to match the absorption spectrum of the fluorophore which the fluorimeter is designed to utilize . when the phase fluorimeter is being validated by the apparatus of the present invention , the light emitted by the fluorimeter light source is directed to the validation apparatus which will preferably include a filter 82 as shown which allows only the light emitted by the phase fluorimeter ( e . g ., no ambient light ) through to photo - detector 83 . the electrical signal from photodetector 83 is amplified and the signal is processed by component 84 . this signal is passed to 85 where a variable phase delay is imparted . the electrical signal is then conditioned by 86 to drive a light source ( e . g ., led , laser diode , etc ) 87 . this phase delay simulates the presence of a fluorophore which is quenched by different analyte concentrations . components 84 , 85 and 86 will normally be combined in an integrated unit but are shown here as separate components for purposes of clarity . 84 is comprised of electronic components that condition the electrical signal from the photodetector and present it in an appropriate manner to a variable phase shift generator 85 . in order to present an appropriately conditioned signal , 84 , 85 , and 86 could be variously comprised of one or more of amplifiers , filters , current to voltage converters , or analog to digital converters . 85 introduces a variable phase shift to the sinusoidal signal . 86 receives this signal and drives the light source . the result is that the light emitted by light source 87 is at a controlled phase shift relative to the excitation light from the phase fluorimeter optical device 80 . the light from the validation apparatus light source 87 is preferably filtered by a filter 88 to allow appropriate throughput to the fluorimeter through its filter 89 and subsequent stimulation of the fluorimeter detector 90 . the optical filter 88 is designed to pass light of a wavelength which will stimulate the detector of the fluorimeter and also ensure that no light from 87 impinges on detector 83 . many kinds of known dielectric or absorptive filters could advantageously be used in this application . the phase fluorimeter measures the phase delay introduced by the verification apparatus with respect to the phase of the sinusoidally modulated original excitation signal from 79 as a reference in the fluorimeter phase measuring electronics 78 . this phase delay number is displayed and can be communicated to the user via suitable electronics 96 . the validation ( or not ) arises by comparing the number measured and displayed by the fluorimeter c with the specific variable phase delay provided by apparatus d . if the numbers coincide then the fluorimeter is reading correctly . as mentioned before , the operating temperature of the fluorophore is also important and must be both accurately and precisely measured by the phase fluorimeter . therefore the validation apparatus of the present invention needs to also confirm the ability of the phase fluorimeter to accurately and precisely measure temperature . this can be accomplished by incorporating in the validation apparatus a suitable driver 92 which actuates and measures the temperature of a device such as a thermoelectric cooler ( tec ) 93 attached to a temperature measuring device 94 . this device will be in thermal contact with the fluorometric sensor &# 39 ; s temperature measuring device 95 to thereby maintain the temperature of 95 at the same temperature as 93 . this can be accomplished , for example , using indium foil , thermal paste or other materials which is interposed between components 95 and 93 to thereby enable thermal contact between the tec and the fluorimeter . all of 93 , 94 and 95 are preferably insulated from outside thermal influence by the ambient environment . for a given sensor dye ( fluorophore ) the typical response function is approximately known . this means that the range of phases expected is known . this determines the range of phases that the validation device tests the fluorimeter over . the phase delay delaying of synthesized light can be scanned in incremental values over the entire extent of expected phases to simulate those that would be seen in practice and validate the function of the phase fluorimeter c over its entire operating range . an actual curve of phase delay vs . concentration of analyte ( in this case oxygen ) is shown in fig8 . for this case , the phase would be tested at least over the range 22 degrees of phase shift to 64 degrees of phase shift .
| 6 |
the present invention provides novel compounds which are useful as surfactants , as starting materials for the production of surfactants or as wetting agents . the term &# 34 ; acyloxybiphenylsulfinate compound &# 34 ; refers to an ester of , for example , a carboxylic acid with a hydroxybiphenylulfinate compound or a susbtituted derivative thereof . the term &# 34 ; acyloxybiphenylsulfonate compound &# 34 ; refers to a compound which is an ester of , for example , a carboxylic acid with a hydroxybiphenylsulfonate compound or a substituted derivative thereof . the term &# 34 ; alkyl sulfinatobiphenyl ether &# 34 ; refers to a compound which is an ether resulting from alkylation of the hydroxyl oxygen atom of a hydroxybiphenylsulfinate compound . the term &# 34 ; alkyl sulfonatobiphenyl ether &# 34 ; refers to an ether which results from alkylation of the hydroxyl oxygen atom of a hydroxybiphenylsulfonate compound . the suffix &# 34 ;- sulfinate &# 34 ; and the prefix &# 34 ; sulfinato -&# 34 ; as used herein indicate a compound comprising a sulfinate (-- s ( o ) o - , deprotonated ) or sulfinic acid (-- s ( o ) oh , protonated ) functional group . the protonation state of a sulfinate group is dependent on ph . chemical names used herein which include the suffix &# 34 ; sulfinate &# 34 ; or the prefix &# 34 ; sulfinato &# 34 ; can refer to either protonation state of the compound . in the deprotonated state , a sulfinate compound will be associated with an appropriate counter cation , such as a sodium , potassium , calcium or ammonium ion . the suffix &# 34 ;- sulfonate &# 34 ; and the prefix &# 34 ; sulfonato -&# 34 ; as used herein indicates a compound comprising a sulfonate (-- s ( o ) 2 o - , deprotonated ) or sulfonic acid (-- s ( o ) 2 oh , protonated ) functional group . the protonation state of a sulfonate group is dependent on ph . chemical names used herein which include the suffix &# 34 ;- sulfonate &# 34 ; or the prefix &# 34 ; sulfonato &# 34 ; refer to either protonation state of the compound . in the deprotonated state , a sulfinate compound will be associated with an appropriate counter cation , such as a sodium , potassium , calcium or ammonium ion . preferred compounds of the invention include compounds of formula i , ## str1 ## wherein n is 1 or 2 and r 2 - r 9 are each , independently , hydrogen or a substituent such as a normal , branched or cyclic , substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group , a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group , an amino group , a hydroxyl group , a cyano group , an acyl group , a nitro group , or a halogen atom , such as a fluorine , chlorine , bromine , or iodine atom . preferably , r 2 - r 9 are each , independently , a hydrogen atom , a substituted or unsubstituted linear , branched or cyclic c 1 - c 24 - alkyl group , or another group which can be substituted on a dibenzothiophene compound obtained from a fossil fuel , such as petroleum . suitable alkyl substituents include halogen atoms , aryl groups , alkoxy groups , nitrile groups , acyl groups , amino groups and hydroxyl groups . in one embodiment , r 1 is a yc ( o ) o --, yo -- or ys ( o ) 2 o -- group , wherein y is a hydrophobic group , such as a saturated or unsaturated , normal , branched or cyclic , substituted or unsubstituted c 3 - c 24 - hydrocarbyl group . y is , preferably , a normal , branched or cyclic , substituted or unsubstituted c 6 - c 24 - alkyl group . suitable alkyl substituents include halogen atoms , such as fluorine , chlorine , bromine and iodine atoms ; and aryl groups , such as phenyl and naphthyl groups . in another embodiment , the present invention provides compounds of formula i wherein r 1 is an oligo ( ethylene oxide ) moiety of the formula hoch 2 ch 2 ( och 2 ch 2 ) m o -- or an oligo ( propylene oxide ) moiety of the formula ch 3 ch ( oh ) ch 2 ( och ( ch 3 ) ch 2 ) m o --, where m is an integer from 0 to about 20 . compounds of this type are useful as wetting agents . the present invention also provides biphenyl disulfonate compounds of formula ii , ## str2 ## in this formula , r 6 - r 9 are each , independently , a hydrogen atom or a straight chain or branched c 1 - c 24 - alkyl group . at least one of r 2 - r 5 is a sulfonate group and the remainder are each , independently , a hydrogen atom or a straight chain or branched c 1 - c 24 - alkyl group . r 1 is as defined for formula i , above , and can additionally be a hydroxyl group . the present invention also provides a method of producing an acyloxybiphenylsulfinate compound . the method comprises the step of contacting a hydroxybiphenylsulfinate compound , or a substituted derivative thereof , with a carboxylic acid or an activated carboxylic acid under conditions sufficient for acylation of the hydroxy group , thereby producing an acyloxybiphenylsulfinate compound . an &# 34 ; activated carboxylic acid &# 34 ;, as the term is used herein , is a carboxylic acid derivative in which the -- c (═ o ) oh moiety is replaced by a -- c (═ o )-- x moiety , wherein x is a leaving group . a variety of suitable leaving groups are well known in the art ; examples include halide ions , such as chloride , bromide and iodide atoms ; the p - toluenesulfonate group , the methanesulfonate group , the 1 - imidazolyl group and carboxylate groups . the activated carboxylic acid is preferably an acyl chloride , an acyl p - toluenesulfonate , or an acid anhydride . in a preferred embodiment the carboxylic acid or activated carboxylic acid is of the formula y -- c (═ o ) x , wherein y is a hydrophobic group , such as a normal or branched , substituted or unsubstituted c 3 - c 24 - alkyl group , and x is -- oh or a suitable leaving group , as described above . suitable alkyl substituents include halogen atoms , such as fluorine , chlorine , bromine and iodine atoms ; and aryl groups , such as phenyl and naphthyl groups . in a particularly preferred embodiment , r 1 is a normal or branched c 6 - c 24 - alkyl group . the hydroxybiphenylsulfinate compound is preferably a substituted or unsubstituted 2 -( 2 - hydroxyphenyl ) benzenesulfinate compound of formula iii , ## str3 ## wherein r 2 - r 9 are each , independently , hydrogen , a normal or branched , substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group , a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group , an hydroxyl group , a cyano group , a nitro group or a halogen atom , such as a fluorine , chlorine , bromine or iodine atom , and n is 1 . suitable alkyl substitutents include halogen atoms , such as fluorine , chlorine , bromine and iodine atoms ; aryl groups , such as phenyl and naphthyl groups , alkoxy groups , acyl groups , amino groups and hydroxyl groups . preferably , r 2 - r 9 are each , independently , a hydrogen atom or a linear , branched or cyclic c 1 - c 6 - alkyl group . in another embodiment , the invention provides a method of forming an acyloxybiphenylsulfonate compound . the method comprises contacting a hydroxybiphenylsulfonate compound with a carboxylic acid or activated carboxylic acid under conditions sufficient for acylation of the hydroxy group , thereby producing an acyloxybiphenylsulfonate compound . in a preferred embodiment , the hydroxybenzenesulfonate compound is of formula iii , ## str4 ## wherein r 2 - r 9 are each , independently , hydrogen , a normal or branched , substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group , a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group , an hydroxyl group , a cyano group , a nitro group or a halogen atom , such as a fluorine , chlorine , bromine or iodine atom and n is 2 . suitable alkyl substitutents include halogen atoms , such as fluorine , chlorine , bromine and iodine atoms ; and aryl groups , such as phenyl and naphthyl groups . preferably , each r is , independently , a hydrogen atom or a linear or branched c 1 - c 6 - alkyl group . the carboxylic acid or activated carboxylic acid is preferably of the formula yc (═ o ) x , wherein x and y have the meanings stated above . reaction conditions suitable for acylation of the hydroxyl oxygen atom are well known in the art and can be determined without undue experimentation . for example , the reaction will typically take place in solution , such as in an aqueous solvent , an organic solvent or a mixed aqueous / organic solvent . the choice of solvent depends , in part , on the solubilities of the reactants and the nature of the acylating agent . for example the hydroxybiphenylsulfinate or hydroxybiphenylsulfonate compound can be acylated with a carboxylic acid in the presence of a concentrated strong acid , such as sulfuric acid or hydrochloric acid . acylation of the hydroxybiphenylsulfinate or hydroxybiphenylsulfonate compound , for example , with an acyl chloride or acid anhydride can be performed in an organic solvent , preferably in the presence of a base , such as pyridine . sulfonoxybiphenylsulfinate and sulfonoxybiphenylsulfonate compounds , for example , compounds of formula i in which r 1 is ys ( o ) 2 o --, can be prepared by reacting a hydroxybiphenylsulfinate compound or a hydroxybiphenylsulfonate compound , respectively , with a sulfonic acid yso 3 h or an activated sulfonic acid yso 3 x , where x is a suitable leaving group , such as a halide ion , for example , chloride . suitable conditions for sulfonylation of an phenolic hydroxyl group are known in the art . alkyl sulfinatobiphenyl ether compounds can be prepared by a method comprising the step of reacting a hydroxybiphenylsulfinate compound with an alkylating agent under conditions suitable for the alkylation of the hydroxyl oxygen atom of the hydroxybiphenylsulfinate compound . an alkyl sulfonatobiphenyl ether compound can be produced by a similar method comprising reacting a hydroxybiphenylsulfonate compound with a suitable alkylating agent under conditions suitable for alkylation of the hydroxyl oxygen atom . preferably , the alkylating agent is of the general formula y - x , where y is a normal , branched or cyclic alkyl or substituted alkyl group and x is a suitable leaving group , such as a halide , for example , chloride , bromide or iodide , p - toluenesulfonate , methanesulfonate and others which are known in the art . in one embodiment , the alkylating agent is an alkyl halide and the alkylation is carried out under basic conditions . preferably , y is a normal or branched c 6 - c 24 - alkyl group . the hydroxybiphenylsulfonate compound can , optionally , be prepared by contacting a hydroxybiphenylsulfinate compound with an oxidant as discussed above under sufficient conditions for oxidation of the sulfinate group to a sulfonate group , thereby forming a hydroxybiphenylsulfonate compound . in a preferred embodiment , the hydroxybiphenylsulfinate starting compound is of formula ii , as described above . similarly , acyloxybiphenylsulfinate compounds and sulfonoxybiphenylsulfinate compounds can be oxidized to form acyloxybiphenylsulfonate compounds and sulfonoxybiphenylsulfinate compounds , respectively , while an alkyl sulfinatobiphenyl ether can be oxidized to produce an alkyl sulfonatobiphenyl ether . for example , a compound of formula i wherein n = 1 can be oxidized to form the corresponding compound with n = 2 . the sulfinate group can be oxidized to a sulfonate group by reacting the sulfinate compound with a suitable oxidant , as is known in the art . examples of suitable oxidants for this transformation include nitric acid , dioxygen , peroxides , such as hydrogen peroxide , m - chloroperbenzoic acid , peracetic acid and other peracids , hypochlorite , dimethyl sulfoxide , chromic acid , permanganate , dioxiranes , perborate and other oxidants which are well known in the art . compounds of formula i in which r 1 is an oligo ( ethylene oxide ) or oligo ( propylene oxide ) group can be prepared by contacting a compound of formula iii with ethylene oxide or propylene oxide under suitable conditions . for example , an alkaline aqueous solution of a compound of formula iii can be contacted with ethylene oxide or propylene oxide under an inert atmosphere , for example , a dinitrogen atmosphere , at elevated temperature , to produce a compound of formula i wherein r 1 is an oligo ( ethylene oxide ) or oligo ( propylene oxide ) moiety . a sulfinate compound of formula i in which r 1 is an oligo ( ethylene oxide ) or oligo ( propylene oxide ) group can be oxidized to produce the corresponding sulfonate compound by contacting the sulfinate compound with a suitable oxidant , as described above . a compound of formula ii can be prepared by sulfonating a compound of formula iii or formula i in which at least one of r 2 to r 5 is a hydrogen atom . suitable sulfonation conditions are known in the art . in one embodiment , the compound of formula i or formula iii is contacted with dilute or concentrated sulfuric acid or fuming sulfuric acid under conditions suitable for sulfonation . 2 -( 2 - hydroxyphenyl ) benzenesulfinate occurs as an intermediate in the biocatalytic desulfurization of a fossil fuel containing dibenzothiophene . thus , the starting material for the formation of the compounds of the invention is advantageously derived from a petroleum biodesulfurization process . suitable biodesulfurization processes and catalysts for use therein are described in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 104 , 801 ; 5 , 358 , 869 ; 5 , 132 , 219 ; 5 , 344 , 778 ; 5 , 472 , 875 ; 5 , 232 , 854 ; 5 , 387 , 523 ; 5 , 356 , 813 ; 5 , 356 , 801 and 5 , 358 , 870 , as well as u . s . patent application ser . nos . 08 / 351 , 754 ; 08 / 735 , 963 ; 08 / 933 , 885 ; 08 / 851 , 088 ; 08 / 851 , 089 and 08 / 715 , 554 . for example , suitable biocatalysts for the oxidation of dibenzothiophene to 2 -( 2 - hydroxyphenyl ) benzenesulfinate include rhodococcus sp . igts8 , corynebacterium sp . strain sy1 , as disclosed by omori et al ., appl . env . microbiol ., 58 : 911 - 915 ( 1992 ); rhodococcus erythropolis d - 1 , as disclosed by izumi et al ., appl . env . microbiol ., 60 : 223 - 226 ( 1994 ); the arthrobacter strain described by lee et al ., appl . environ . microbiol . 61 : 4362 - 4366 ( 1995 ) and the rhodococcus strains ( atcc 55309 and atcc 55310 ) disclosed by grossman et al ., u . s . pat . no . 5 , 607 , 857 , and sphingomonas sp . strain ad109 , as described in u . s . patent application ser . no . 08 / 851 , 089 , each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . other suitable biocatalysts include recombinant organisms containing heterologous desulfurization genes , as disclosed , for example , in u . s . patent application ser . no . 08 / 851 , 088 , incorporated herein by reference . an aqueous solution of hpbs at neutral ph was treated with 1 . 5 equivalents h 2 o 2 . the reaction mixture was maintained at room temperature for 9 hr . a platinum on carbon catalyst was then added to destroy residual peroxide and the catalyst was removed by filtration . the filtrate was freeze dried to afford a solid , which was identified as 2 -( 2 - hydroxyphenyl ) benzenesulfonate ( hpbso 3 ) by liquid chromatography / mass spectrometry . hpbso 3 ( 0 . 1 g ), excess decanoic acid and a catalytic amount of sulfuric acid were added to toluene and the resulting mixture was heated to reflux for 30 min . the reaction mixture was then cooled , diluted with water and neutralized with nahco 3 . the formation of a product was confirmed qualitatively by liquid chromatography . analysis of the reaction mixture by lc - ms showed unreacted starting materials and a small amount of a third compound with mw = 403 9 / mol , the molecular weight of the expected ester product . hpbso 3 was mixed with 2 mole equivalents of dodecanoic anhydride and a catalytic amount of pyridine . the mixture was heated to 120 ° c . for 15 min , then cooled and extracted with diethyl ether . the ether extract was washed with water . the water extract was analyzed by lc - ms and found to contain a product of molecular weight 432 . 5 , as expected for the dodecanoate ester of hpbso 3 . hpbso 3 was reacted with octyl bromide following the general method disclosed in carr et al ., j . am . chem . soc . 69 : 1170 - 1172 ( 1943 ). hpbso 3 was dissolved in a 1 : 1 mixture of 15 % aqueous naoh and methanol . octyl bromide was added , and the mixture was heated to reflux for 15 hr . analysis of the resulting solution by lc / ms indicated the presence of a product of molecular weight 362 , as expected for the octyl ether of hpbso 3 . a sample of hpbso3 was dissolved in 80 % sulfuric acid and the resulting solution was maintained for 2 . 5 hours at 60 ° c . the solution was then analyzed by liquid chromatography / mass spectrometry and a fraction having a molecular weight of 329 was observed , as expected for the singly charged anion of 2 -( 2 - hydroxy - sulfonatophenyl ) benzenesulfinate . a similar reaction was performed starting with n - decyl 2 -( 2 - sulfonatophenyl ) phenyl ether . a fraction of molecular weight , 234 was observed , corresponding to the doubly charged anion of 2 -( 2 - n - decyloxy - sulfonatophenyl ) benzenesulfonate . an aqueous solution of hpbso 3 and 40 equivalents of propylene oxide were sealed in a pressure reaction tube and heated to 50 ° c . for 2 days . liquid chromatography / mass spectromety analysis of the resulting solution revealed the presence of compounds of molecular weight 307 , 365 and 423 , corresponding to the addition of 1 , 2 and 3 propylene oxide groups , respectively . while this invention has been particularly shown and described with references to preferred embodiments thereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims . those skilled in the art will recognize or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation , many equivalents to the specific embodiments of the invention described specifically herein . such equivalents are intended to be encompassed in the scope of the claims .
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the present invention will be illustrated below in conjunction with an illustrative embodiment of an on - chip inductor device . it should be understood , however , that the invention is not limited to the particular arrangement of features shown in the illustrative embodiment . for example , an embodiment within the scope of this invention may comprise features having different compositions and / or shapes from the features shown herein . these and other modifications to the illustrative embodiment falling within the scope of the invention will become apparent to one skilled in the art in light of the following detailed description . fig1 - 6 combine to show an illustrative on - chip inductor device 100 comprising aspects of the present invention . fig1 , for example shows a plan view of the inductor device . for increased clarity , fig2 shows the same illustrative inductor device with its polysilicon shielding portions ( detailed below ) removed . fig3 - 6 show sectional views of the illustrative inductor device cut along the planes w - w ′, x - x ′, y - y ′ and z - z ′, respectively , indicated in fig1 . reference to the plan views in fig1 and 2 clearly shows that the illustrative inductor device 100 comprises a single , octagonal inductor winding 110 that terminates in a left signal node 120 and a right signal node 130 . the inductor winding , in turn , can be separated into primary winding portions 110 p and bridge portions 110 b . the bridge portions allow the inductor winding to cross - over itself and to be electrically continuous from the left node to the right node . a center - tap node 140 , contacts the inductor winding at its geometric center point . several polysilicon shielding portions 150 and an m1 shield connecting portion 160 act to improve the performance of the illustrative inductor device . the inductor device overlies a semiconductor substrate 165 . one skilled in the art will recognize that the illustrative inductor device 100 may be operated as a differential inductor . the center - tap node 140 may , for example , be held at a reference potential while differential signals ( i . e ., signals that are 180 degrees out - of - phase ) are applied to the left and right nodes 120 , 130 . advantageously , the shape of the inductor winding 110 and the location of the center - tap node effectively cause the magnetic fluxes induced by the two out - of - phase signals to be combined . in other words , the magnetic flux due to current flow through that part of the inductor winding stretching from the left signal node to the center - tap node effectively adds to the magnetic flux due to current flow through that part of the inductor winding stretching from the right signal node to the center - tap node . as a result , only about half of the central space within the illustrative inductor ( i . e ., the inductor device &# 39 ; s core region ) is required to achieve a given inductance value when compared to a non - differential inductor device of the same inductance value . the differential inductor design embodied in the illustrative inductor device also helps to assure that the inductance values found on the two signal nodes are substantially the same . reference now to the various sectional views in fig3 - 6 shows that illustrative inductor device 100 is built into a polysilicon level ( labeled as the “ poly ” level in the figures ) and seven metallization levels ( labeled “ m1 ” through “ m7 ” in the figures ). the primary winding portions 110 p of the inductor winding 110 comprise metal lines built into the m5 - m7 metallization levels . the bridge portions 110 b , on the other hand , comprise metal lines built into the m3 and m4 metallization levels . the center - tap node 140 comprises a metal line built into the m2 metallization level . the polysilicon shielding portions 150 comprise polysilicon lines fanned in the poly level , while the m1 shield connecting portion 160 comprises metal lines built into the m1 metallization level . it will be observed that , in accordance with aspects of the invention , the metal lines forming the primary winding portions 110 p are electrically connected together by a multiplicity of contact vias 170 so that they are connected in parallel with each other ( i . e ., they are shunted ). the metal lines forming the bridge portions 110 b are electrically connected in parallel with each other in a similar fashion using a multiplicity of contact vias 180 . the primary winding portions are electrically connected to the bridge portions at those places in the inductor winding where the inductor winding will cross - over itself with a multiplicity of contact vias 190 . the center - tap node 140 is electrically connected to the inductor winding 110 at the winding &# 39 ; s geometric center through several contact vias 200 that interconnect the metal line at the m2 metallization level and the metal lines in the m3 - m7 metallization levels . the polysilicon shielding portions 150 and m1 shield connecting portion 160 are electrically connected to each other and to the semiconductor substrate by a multiplicity of contact vias 210 . a standard metric for determining the performance of an inductor device is the inductor device &# 39 ; s quality factor , q - factor . the q - factor of an inductor is given by the formula : q = energy stored energy loss in one oscillation cycle = ω l r where ω is the resonant angular frequency of the inductor , l is the inductance and r is the resistance of the inductor . the q - factor is therefore a measure of the efficiency of an inductor . it may have a value of several hundred in a relatively efficient inductor device . advantageously , inductor embodiments of the present invention may be characterized by relatively high q - factors . the resistance value , r , of the inductor device 100 is a function of both the resistance of the interconnect features that form the inductor winding 110 itself ( i . e ., metal lines and contact vias ) as well as substrate losses due to the interaction of the inductor winding with the underlying semiconductor substrate 165 . the losses to the semiconductor substrate occur predominantly because the magnetic fields generated by the inductor device induce eddy currents in the semiconductor substrate while the electric fields generated by the inductor device induce conduction and displacement currents in the semiconductor substrate . as described above , in the illustrative inductor device 100 , both the primary winding portions 110 p and the bridge portions 110 b of the inductor winding 110 each comprise multiple metal lines connected together in parallel by a multiplicity of contact vias 170 , 180 . more particularly , the primary winding portions include three shunted metal lines while the bridge portions include two shunted metal lines . by wiring these portions in this way , the overall resistance of the inductor winding may be reduced to a value substantially below that which would be present if these portions only consisted of single metal lines . the q - factor of the inductor device is thereby increased . of course , if additional metallization layers beyond those illustrated herein are available , it is preferable that additional metal lines also be coupled with the primary winding and bridge portions to further decrease the series resistances of these portions . the effect of substrate loss , moreover , is addressed by including the polysilicon shielding portions 150 and the m1 shield connecting portion 160 in the inductor device 100 . the polysilicon shielding portions each comprise a line - shaped portion from which extends several fingers . these fingers , in turn , are densely packed into the region between the inductor winding 110 and the semiconductor substrate 165 . the fingers are perpendicular to the inductor turns to cancel out induced magnetic eddy currents from the inductor device . the m1 shielding portion , on the other hand , comprises a center portion out of which radiate a plurality of bars . these bars end in metal lines that run along the periphery of the inductor device . both the polysilicon shielding portions 150 and m1 shield connection portion 160 are preferably set to the ground potential for the integrated circuit while the inductor device 100 is operating . in the inductor device these connections to ground are provided by the contact vias 190 which contact portions of the semiconductor substrate 165 that are at ground potential . the polysilicon shielding portions provide a return path to ground near the semiconductor substrate and prevent some of the magnetic and electric fields generated by the inductor device to penetrate into the semiconductor substrate . substrate losses are thereby reduced when compared to an inductor device without any kind of ground shield structures . the m1 shielding portion electrically and magnetically isolates the inductor device from other nearby circuit devices . polysilicon and m1 shielding portions like those illustrated herein have been experimentally shown to substantially improve the q - factor of an associated inductor device , although an inductor device need not have shielding portions identical to those illustrated herein to fall within the scope of this invention . an inductor device of the type described above may be implemented in an integrated circuit . the formation of integrated circuits will be familiar to one skilled in the art . a plurality of identical die are typically formed in a repeated pattern on a surface of a semiconductor wafer . each die includes an inductor device comprising aspects of the invention , and may include other structures or circuits . the individual die are cut or diced from the semiconductor wafer , then packaged as an integrated circuit . fig7 , for example , shows a packaged integrated circuit 700 comprising an inductor device in accordance with aspects of this invention . the integrated circuit is in a conventional plastic leadframe package . the packaged integrated circuit comprises a die 710 attached to a leadframe 720 . a plastic mold 730 encapsulates the die and a portion of the leadframe . one skilled in the art would know how to dice wafers and package die to produce integrated circuits . in order to reduce the complexity and cost of manufacturing an integrated circuit comprising an inductor device in accordance with aspects of the invention , the inductor device will preferably be formed at the same time other circuit elements are formed in the integrated circuit . complimentary metal - oxide - semiconductor ( cmos ) technology is a common technology for forming rfics and mmics . cmos rfics and mmics , for example , frequently comprise a polysilicon level and seven or more metallization levels . outside of the inductor device , the polysilicon level is typically the level in which gate conductors for metal - oxide - semiconductor field effect transistors are formed . the seven or more metallization levels , in turn , typically provide the interconnection between circuit elements . accordingly , forming an inductor device in accordance with aspects of this invention may not require more processing steps than are required to form the remainder of the integrated circuit . the formation of circuit devices using cmos technology will be familiar to one skilled in the art and is described in a number of readily available references including , for example , s . wolf et al ., silicon processingfor the vlsi era , volumes 1 - 3 , lattice press , 1986 , 1990 and 1995 , which are incorporated herein by reference . features in the polysilicon level , including the polysilicon shielding portions 150 , may be formed by depositing a blanket layer of polysilicon and patterning the polysilicon using conventional lithography and reactive ion etching ( rie ) techniques . the various contact vias , including the contact vias 170 , 180 , 190 , 200 and 210 , moreover , may be formed by first depositing a layer of insulating material ( e . g ., silicon dioxide ) and then using conventional lithography and rie techniques to form holes in the insulating layer in those places where contact vias are desired . the appropriate conductive material ( e . g ., polysilicon or a metal ) is then conformally deposited into the holes and any excess conductive material is removed from the top of the insulating layer using conventional chemical mechanical polishing ( cmp ) techniques . features in the metallization levels , including the m1 shield connecting portion 160 and the metal lines constituting the inductor winding 110 , may be formed by depositing a blanket layer of metal and patterning the metal using conventional lithography and rie techniques in a manner similar to that described above for forming polysilicon features . alternatively , in a manner similar to that described above for forming contact vias , the metal lines may be formed by first depositing a layer of insulating material ( e . g ., silicon dioxide ) and then using conventional lithography and rie techniques to form trenches in the insulating layer in the shape of the desired metal lines . the chosen metal is then conformally deposited into the trenches and any excess metal is removed from the top of the insulating layer , again using conventional cmp techniques . the latter method for forming metal lines is conventionally called a “ damascene ” process . it is generally recognized that a circular inductor winding shape results in the highest q - factor . nevertheless , circular features are typically not easily realized with conventional cmos processing largely due to limitations in lithography techniques . as a result , the inductor winding 110 in the inductor device 100 has a substantially octagonal shape which comes close to a circular shape but is easily achieved using conventional cmos processing . it should be recognized , nevertheless , that the scope of this invention is not limited to this particular octagonal shape . alternative shapes for an inductor winding may include , for example , squares , rectangles and hexagons . one skilled in the art will recognize that embodiments of this invention may be useful in a wide variety of electronic systems such as telecommunications systems . fig8 shows a block diagram of an illustrative telecommunications system 800 comprising a wireless communication device 810 , a base station 820 , and a network hardware component 830 . the wireless communication device communicates wirelessly with the base station , allowing the wireless communication device to access the network hardware component . the wireless communication device may be a laptop computer , cellular telephone , two - way radio or any one of several other devices capable of wireless communications . fig8 further shows that the illustrative wireless communication device 810 comprises a power amplifier 812 , a bandpass filter 814 , a low noise amplifier 816 and a mixer 818 . one skilled in the art will recognize that , in modern wireless communication devices , these components typically comprise inductor devices that are operated in a differential signal mode . as a result , each of these components may be implemented using on - chip differential inductor devices in accordance with the teachings of the present invention . of course , the wireless communication device will also likely comprise several other electronic components that are not explicitly shown in the figure ( e . g ., digital processing module , memory and analog - to - digital converter ). these other components and their functions will be familiar to one skilled in the art . it should again be emphasized that the above - described embodiments of the invention are intended to be illustrative only . other embodiments can use different types and arrangements of elements for implementing the described functionality . these numerous alternative embodiments within the scope of the following claims will be apparent to one skilled in the art .
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an embodiment of this invention is described in detail with reference to drawings as follows . fig2 shows in outline the arrangement of a reproducing apparatus which is an embodiment of this invention . referring to fig2 the reproducing apparatus according to the embodiment includes a transport mechanism 1 arranged to transport a tape t which is a recording medium , an amplifier 2 arranged to amplify a signal reproduced from the tape t , a demodulation circuit 3 arranged to bring a signal outputted from the amplifier 2 back into an original audio signal , a muting circuit 4 arranged to remove noises from the audio signal , a control part 5 arranged to control the transport mechanism 1 , an output terminal 7 , a filter 8 arranged to pass a specific frequency component ( noise component ) which arises in the signal outputted from demodulation circuit 3 due to an unstable travel of the tape t , a detection circuit 9 arranged to detect the level of the specific frequency component , a comparison circuit 10 arranged to compare the output value of the detection circuit 9 with a reference voltage generated by a reference voltage generator 11 and to decide which of the two is larger , and an instructing part 6 arranged to instruct the control part 5 and the muting circuit 4 to act , on the basis of the output of the comparison circuit 10 . incidentally , the filter 8 , the detection circuit 9 , the comparison circuit 10 and the reference voltage generator 11 jointly form a detecting means for detecting a noise component due to the unstable travel of the tape t . the comparison circuit ( level comparator ) 10 is arranged to convert a difference between the detection voltage of the detection circuit 9 and the reference voltage of the reference voltage generator 11 into a two - valued signal and to supply the two - valued signal to the instructing part 6 . in other words , the output of the comparison circuit 10 becomes “ 1 ” when the detection voltage is higher than the reference voltage , and becomes “ 0 ” when the detection voltage is lower than the reference voltage . the instructing part 6 is arranged to issue an instruction for starting reproduction to the control part 5 at the commencement of the reproducing operation on the tape t and to issue an instruction for muting to the muting circuit 4 at the same time . after that , the instructing part 6 performs control in such a way as to turn on the muting action of the muting circuit 4 when the output of the comparison circuit 10 is “ 1 ” and to turn off the muting action of the muting circuit 4 when the output of the comparison circuit 10 is “ 0 ”. the operation of the embodiment is described with reference to fig3 and 4 as follows . fig3 is a graph for explaining a frequency component of the signal outputted when an input to the demodulation circuit 3 is inadequate . fig4 is a graph for explaining a frequency component of the signal outputted when an input to the demodulation circuit 3 is adequate . first , the instructing part 6 issues an instruction for starting reproduction to the control part 5 so as to cause the transport mechanism 1 to begin a reproducing action on the tape t , and issues , at the same time , an instruction for muting to the muting circuit 4 . when the travel of the tape t comes into a stable state , it becomes possible to adequately pick up a necessary signal from the tape t . the signal is then amplified by the amplifier 2 . the amplified signal is demodulated by the demodulation circuit 3 in such a way as to be brought back into an original audio signal . the adequate audio signal is thus inputted to the muting circuit 4 . immediately after the commencement of the action of the transport mechanism 1 , however , it is impossible to adequately pick up a necessary signal from the tape t . therefore , the output of the demodulation circuit 3 would be either a noise or a signal having a noise mixed therein . it is known that such a noise or signal having a noise mixed therein produces a triangular noise peculiar to the demodulation circuit 3 to which a frequency - modulated signal is inputted , as shown in fig3 . on the other hand , when a necessary signal is being adequately picked up from the tape t , components of the demodulated signal have a distribution in frequency band as shown in fig4 and the level at a frequency band portion “ a ” shown in fig4 is low . then , the frequency band portion “ a ” is extracted by the filter 8 . if the demodulated signal has much noise , components at the frequency band portion “ a ” have a large volume , and , therefore , a detection voltage produced by the detection circuit 9 is at a high level . the reference voltage to be supplied from the reference voltage generator 11 is set at such a value that is a little higher than a detection voltage to be produced by the detection circuit 9 when no noise is included in the demodulated signal . the detection voltage produced by the detection circuit 9 is compared with the reference voltage at the comparison circuit 10 . if the demodulated signal has noise , the detection voltage produced by the detection circuit 9 becomes higher than the reference voltage , and the output of the comparison circuit 10 becomes “ 1 ” as a two - valued signal . if the demodulated signal has no noise , the output of the detection circuit 9 becomes lower than the reference voltage , and the output of the comparison circuit 10 becomes “ 0 ” as a two - valued signal . the thus - obtained two - valued signal is sent to the instructing part 6 . upon receipt of the two - valued signal , the instructing part 6 turns off the muting action of the muting circuit 4 if the two - valued signal is “ 0 ” and , turns on the muting action of the muting circuit 4 if the two - valued signal is “ 1 ”. accordingly , if the output of the demodulation circuit 3 is noise or a signal having noise mixed therein , the muting action of the muting circuit 4 is performed to prevent any noise from being outputted from the output terminal 7 . when the amount of noise included in the output of the demodulation circuit 3 decreases with the tape transport action having stabilized , the detection voltage produced by the detection circuit 9 becomes lower than the reference voltage . then , the signal outputted from the comparison circuit 10 changes from “ 1 ” to “ 0 ”. as this change is transmitted to the instructing part 6 , the instructing part 6 issues an instruction for canceling the muting action of the muting circuit 4 , so that an audio signal is allowed to be outputted from the output terminal 7 to produce a sound . according to the above - described operation , the muting action is performed during a time at which a noise is being generated , and the muting action is canceled the instant the noise ceases to be generated . production of sounds thus becomes possible within a minimum necessary length of time . therefore , sounds can be promptly outputted without a delay when the tape transport action of the transport mechanism 1 has been quickly stabilized . conversely , if the tape transport action of the transport mechanism 1 fails to promptly stabilize , the period of time of the muting action becomes longer accordingly , so that noises can be prevented from being outputted . as described above , a reproducing apparatus according to this embodiment is capable of outputting sounds without any noise in a minimum period of time after the start of reproduction , by controlling a period of time of muting on the basis of a result of detection of any noise component that results from an unstable travel of the tape . in accordance with this embodiment , therefore , noises can be muted for the shortest possible length of time required for stabilization of operations including the operation of the transport mechanism for the tape , without paying any heed to a length of time required before the tape comes to stably travel . it is another advantage of this embodiment that , in a case where the length of time required before the stabilization of transport of the tape varies due to aging , etc ., the reproducing apparatus can be kept in an optimum operating condition without requiring readjustment . since a period of time of muting is controlled on the basis of a result of comparison between the reference voltage and the magnitude of a specific frequency component resulting from an unstable transport of the tape , the reproducing apparatus according to this embodiment is capable of outputting sounds within the shortest possible time after the commencement of reproduction .
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as depicted in the figures and as described herein , the present invention provides an improved method and system for evaluating an organization &# 39 ; s testing maturity capabilities . turning now to fig2 a , embodiments of the present invention provide a testing maturity assessment method 200 . the testing maturity assessment method 200 begins with a planning and preparing for assessment step 210 which generally includes developing an assessment plan , selecting and preparing an assessing individual or team , and then obtaining and rearea relevant evidence , such as conducting interareas . as described in greater detail below , these sub - processes may be performed manually or using automated tools . the testing maturity assessment method 200 continues with conducting a testing assessment in step 220 using the data collected in step 210 . specifically , the conducting of a testing assessment in step 220 generally includes verifying and validating the evidence , and then examining the evidence , generating results , and documenting any findings . the results from the test assessment step 220 are reported in step 230 to deliver the assessment results to the organization . next , in step 240 , improvements are recommended based upon an evaluation of the assessment results to identify and prioritize improvement suggestions to develop an improvement plan to achieve the organization &# 39 ; s desired testing maturity . referring now to fig2 b , the test capability assessment step 220 is described in greater detail . specifically , the testing assessment step 220 generally includes defining various testing maturity areas in step 221 , collecting responses to questions associated with each of the testing maturity areas in step 222 , and then scoring the organization in each of the test maturity areas in step 223 . the testing maturity areas may be defined in step 221 as needed according to various known techniques and methodologies . for example , several testing capability areas may be defined , and for each of the testing capability areas , further testing capability sub - areas may be further defined . in this way , the present invention may be adapted for various maturity and process models for various industries . for example , the testing maturity areas defined in step 221 may correspond to the various testing maturity criteria used in the tmm . the definition of the testing maturity areas in step 221 is described in greater detail below . the test assessment methodology 200 may further allow a user to select among multiple test capability tests in the testing assessment step 220 . for example , a preferred implementation of the present invention supports different assessment types , a high - level , short - term assessment for a quick assessment ( qa ) and an in - depth , long - term assessment for a full assessment ( fa ). the quick assessment allows a user to subjectively answer a smaller set of questions in the test assessment 220 ( for example , approximately ten questions per area over each of the fifteen test areas described below in fig3 ), where the user decides on a rating , and thus , and a test maturity level for each of the questions or testing areas . the rating is subjective , driven by the assessor &# 39 ; s interpretation of evidence . preferably , the ratings for each of the questions correspond to the maturity levels of the tmm , or may include other options such as “ not applicable ” or “ unknown .” for example , the user may use the following considerations for assigning ratings to the quick assessment questions : 0 : it is clear and / or there is evidence that the factor is not performed 1 : it is unclear and / or there is marginal evidence that the factor is performed 2 : the factor is performed , but not across the sdlc or not across all projects ; i . e . it is not institutionalized 3 : the factor is performed and is institutionalized , but management & amp ; measurement disciplines are insufficient or not in place 4 : the factor is performed , institutionalized , managed & amp ; measured , but there is no evidence for continuous evaluation & amp ; improvement 5 : the factor is performed , institutionalized , managed & amp ; measured , and continuously evaluated & amp ; improved n / a ( not applicable ): the factor should not be included in the rating it is up to the assessor &# 39 ; s interpretation and judgment to decide to what extent the criteria phrased in the question are met . for each question , any considerations can be documented under a corresponding notes section . the organization &# 39 ; s testing capabilities may then receive a composite score from the quick assessment produced by weighting and averaging the individual scores from each of the quick assessment questions . in contrast , a full assessment asks the user to answer a larger set of questions ( for example , 1500 discrete questions over the fifteen test areas described below in fig3 ) to produce an accurate testing assessment . the full assessment questions tend to be more objective , in the form of “ yes / no ” questions . for example , a user may use the following considerations for assigning ratings to the full assessment questions : yes : there is sufficient evidence to suggest that the criteria phrased in the question are met no : there is no evidence to suggest that the criteria phrased in the question are met n / a : the factor should not be included in the rating . note : this will add to a ‘ not applicable ’ rating and will not add to a ‘ satisfied ’ rating for the test area ( refer to slide on scoring algorithm ) unknown : there is insufficient evidence to suggest that the criteria phrased in the question are met . it is up to the assessor &# 39 ; s interpretation and judgment to decide to what extent the criteria phrased in the question are met . for each question , any considerations can be documented under the corresponding notes section . each maturity level may be calculated by a configurable percentage threshold . for example , the user &# 39 ; s answers may then translated into composite score through an automated reporting schema , for example , by tallying the number of yes answers and then correlating this tally with a testing capability score for each of the testing areas according to a predefined scoring standard . similarly , a score may be deduced based upon the percentage of positive answers . preferably , the testing capability questions formed in step 221 should be organized such that questions related to criteria for particular tmm maturity level are group together . in this way , the user may receive a rough testing capability maturity estimate through examination of the testing responses . for example , a positive answers to a series questions may strongly indicate the organization &# 39 ; s satisfaction of an associated testing maturity level . referring now to fig3 , each assessment from step 220 in one embodiment preferably contain three test domains related to strategy 310 , lifecycle 320 , and disciplines 330 . however , it should be appreciated that any division and organization of the testing questions may be used as needed . each of the test domains 310 , 320 , and 330 further contains various test areas and each test area may be divided into various test topics . for example , the strategy test domain 310 may be further divided into a test strategy methodology area 311 , a test strategy environment and tools area 312 , and a test strategy organization & amp ; communication area 313 . similarly , the test lifecycle domain 320 may include a test lifecycle approach & amp ; planning area 321 , a test lifecycle design & amp ; preparation area 322 , and a test lifecycle execution & amp ; reporting area 323 . further , the testing disciplines domain 330 may include a performance testing area 331 , an estimation area 332 , a test metrics area 333 , a project management area 334 , a defect management & amp ; prevention area 335 , a test automation area 336 , a test data management area 337 , a requirements management area 338 , and a configuration management area 339 . again , it should be appreciated that the test domains may be divided into various testing areas as needed . the test methodology area 311 relates to the overall approach used to verify the assumptions around how to approach , plan , and perform testing ; e . g . the v - model can be used as a model in an applied test methodology . the environment & amp ; tools area 312 relates to the entire set of artifacts used to support the overall testing effort ; e . g . all infrastructure and facilities such as tables , chairs , office supplies , computing infrastructure , and software applications . the organization & amp ; communication area 313 relates to the organizational structure in terms of people and the way they communicate in order to perform all test - related activities and fulfill expectations . the approach and planning area 321 relates to the first step in any test stage which contains more detailed information than for example a test strategy . a test approach addresses all major aspects of the test stage that may affect the success of testing . the design & amp ; preparation area 322 takes the test approach as a basis and creates all test - related artifacts required for successful test execution ; e . g . test scripts , test scenarios , testing software and hardware to support test execution , etc . the execution & amp ; reporting area 323 takes the test artifacts created during test design and preparation , executes or runs the tests as defined , and reports test execution progress . the performance testing area 331 relates identifies and fixes system performance issues before the system goes live . this generally includes load testing , stress testing , stability testing , throughput testing , and ongoing performance monitoring . the estimation area 332 is the activity that drives the planning of all test activities in terms of effort , scope , and budget . the test metrics area 333 is the measurement of attributes that allows comparison or prediction of a test - related process or product . the project management area 334 is the discipline of organizing and managing resources in such a way that these resources deliver all the work required to complete a project within defined scope , time , and cost constraints . the defect management & amp ; prevention area 335 the discipline of organizing , managing , and preventing problems discovered in a work product or deliverable during a later stage of a project . the test automation area 336 relates to the use of software to control the execution of tests , the comparison of actual outcomes to predicted outcomes , the setting up of test preconditions , and other test control and test reporting functions . the test data management area 337 relates to a process for test data requisition , acquisition , population , and conditioning required for test execution . the test data management process occurs during the test planning , design & amp ; preparation , and execution phases of the testing process . the requirements management area 338 relates to the science and art of gathering and managing user , business , technical , and functional requirements within a product development project . the configuration management area 339 relates to configuration management , which enables the controlled and repeatable management of information technology components as they evolve in all stages of development and maintenance . configuration management implements a process for the project teams and stakeholders to identify , communicate , implement , document , and manage changes . when properly implemented , configuration management ensures the integrity of the items placed under its control . turning to fig4 , a test assessment tool 400 has been developed with modules to implement the test assessment method 200 . specifically , the depicted the test assessment tool 400 contains tabs to allow a user to access the following sections : a qs - assessment section 410 that includes questions for a quick assessment and input fields to receive a user &# 39 ; s responses to the questions ; a qs - help section 420 that includes instructions and other helpful text for each quick assessment question ; a qs - report section 430 that creates an automated graph for the quick assessment scores for each test area in section 410 ; a qs - notes section 440 that includes entry fields to allow a user to enter notes for each of the quick assessment question in section 410 ; a fs - assessment section 450 that includes questions for a full assessment and input fields to receive a user &# 39 ; s responses to the questions ; a fs - help section 460 that includes instructions and other helpful text for each full assessment question ; a fs - report section 470 that includes automated graph for the full assessment scores for each test area ; a fs - notes section 480 that includes allows entry fields to allow a user to enter notes for each of the full assessment question a glossary section 490 that includes comprehensive glossary of testing terms used throughout the quick and full assessment ; and optional additional sections 495 that may include , for example a lists section that contains dropdown - list box values used for quick and full assessment ratings for each question and a cm section that contains version history - related information . in a preferred implementation , the test assessment tool 400 is an application designed in microsoft excel ® to allow a user to access multiple tabs , each representing a separate spreadsheet contain various relevant information , instructions , or prompts for the user &# 39 ; s input to complete a questionnaire . referring to the various tools sections referenced in fig4 , it should be appreciated that various tools and elements may be added as necessary . for example , recall that an organization &# 39 ; s tmm report is an extensive document including extensive documentation to support the various stage requirements findings . in the embodiment depicted in fig4 , the notes sections 440 , 480 may be used to allow a user to explain an answer to a question and / or to identify the location of documentation to support the finding . alternatively , if the application is automated , the notes sections 440 , 480 may indicate name and the electronic location for the relevant supporting documentation . turning to fig5 , a testing maturity report 500 is automatically produced by the testing assessment tool 400 , for example , following the user &# 39 ; s selection of reports sections 430 , 470 . using techniques described , or other known techniques , the answers to the various testing questions may be analyzed and converted to a composite real number score for each testing area or domain , or a similar aggregate score for the organization . for example , the testing maturity report 500 includes a separate score 510 for each of the test areas 520 . optionally , the score may be graphically displayed to visually depict the organization &# 39 ; s performance in one of the test areas . furthermore , each maturity level may be further divided into three sublevels (‘ low ’, ‘ medium ’, and ‘ high ’) to give more granularity to the graphical structure . a test assessment tool 610 in accordance with embodiments of the present invention may be integrated into a test assessment network 600 as depicted in fig6 . the test assessment tool 610 may be accessed locally or to a remote organization over a network 601 . the test assessment network 600 generally includes a server 620 that provides a webpage 621 over the network 601 to provide the remote access to the test assessment tool 610 as described in greater detail below . the webpage 621 may provide a graphical display similar to the screenshot of the test assessment tool 400 presented above in fig4 . in particular , the test assessment tool 610 in this particular embodiment may access testing maturity assessment data 611 contains logic that dynamically directs the creation of the webpage 621 in response to a user request received from a application ( such as a browser ) operating the remote organization 650 . the testing maturity assessment data 611 may further contain additional information , such as definitions of key terms . for example , the webpage 621 may provide by default the screenshot of the test assessment tool 400 presented above in fig4 . the user may select one of the tabs 410 - 495 , and in response , the test assessment tool 610 directs the creation of an appropriate webpage 621 to be sent to the remote location 450 in the form of digital data 602 transmitted over the network 600 . if the application at remote location 650 requests a questionnaire , the test assessment tool 610 may access one of its stored testing maturity assessment questionnaires 630 a , 630 b ( corresponding , for example , to the above - described quick and full assessments ). the accessed questionnaire may then be incorporated into the webpage 621 and forwarded to the remote location 650 as the digital data 602 that includes data or an application to instruct a computer at the remote location 650 to form the transmitted webpage 621 including various data input fields . in response to the transmitted webpage , the user at the remote location 650 may collect organizational data 660 to complete the questionnaire . the digital data 602 may further include executable code , such as data collection and analysis programming to automatically seek out , identify and collect relevant data 660 related to the organization &# 39 ; s testing maturity . once the questionnaire is completed , the remote location 650 returns the completed questionnaire ( including the collected organizational data 660 ) to the server 620 , again as data 602 . this testing maturity assessment response data 640 is collected and stored for analysis according to predefined logic in the test assessment tool 610 . for example , test assessment tool 610 may use the testing maturity assessment response data 640 to form a remotely accessible webpage 621 containing the testing maturity report 500 described above in fig5 . the system 600 allows for the testing results 602 to be transmitted in a more efficient manner since the answers to the questions can be represented in an efficient form . for example , the boolean answers to the true / false full assessment questions may be answered in a single bit , and the rating answers ( ranking the organization on a scale of 1 - 5 in a variety of categories ) to the quick assessment question may be represented with 3 bits . similarly , the location of supporting documentation may accompany the question answers in the form of short stored files location pointer . in this way , responses to a questionnaire may be returned in an extremely compressed format as needed preserve bandwidth and to expedite transmissions . this can be contrasted to the extensive current tmm reports described in the background section that would require much larger transmissions . in this way , it can be seen that the depicted test assessment network allows for the automated presentation and related data collection for a testing assessment . the particular type of testing assessment ( e . g ., quick or full ) depends on the remote user &# 39 ; s selection . the questionnaire results are then scored automatically to produce testing maturity scoring various testing domains and events , and these results may be displayed to the organization . the organization may then use the results to identify areas of need , such as identify testing areas of relatively low score that may otherwise prevent the organization from achieving desired testing maturity levels . stored suggestions in the testing maturity assessment data 611 may also be forwarded to the user , in response to the scores produced in response to the collected testing maturity assessment response data 640 . while the invention has been described with reference to an exemplary embodiments various additions , deletions , substitutions , or other modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention . accordingly , the invention is not to be considered as limited by the foregoing description , but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims .
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referring to the drawings , and particularly to fig1 - 3 , the reference numeral 10 generally designates prismatic - cell battery pack according to this invention . in general , the battery pack 10 includes a lineal stack 12 of battery cell modules 14 longitudinally bounded by first and second end pieces 16 and 18 , an inlet end cap 20 , and an outlet end cap 22 . referring particularly to fig2 , each of the battery cell modules 14 includes a set of interlocking frames 24 for supporting and retaining a pair of prismatic battery cells 26 ( only one of which is shown in fig2 ), and for channeling coolant in proximity to the battery cells 26 . the battery cells 26 are preferably soft - package cells , and a pad of resilient material such as open - cell foam ( not shown ) is inserted between each of the battery cell modules 14 of the stack 12 to support and compressively load the non - marginal portions of the battery cells 26 . the battery pack elements may be held in place , for example , by a set of fasteners routed through suitable openings ( not shown ) in the modules 14 and end pieces 16 , 18 . referring to fig2 , each of the battery cell modules 14 includes a set of coolant passages , including an intake chamber 28 , an exhaust chambers 30 a and 30 b , and several u - shaped coolant channels 32 a , 32 b , 32 c , 32 d ( as represented by phantom flow lines ) that couple an entry end 54 ( fig6 ) of each coolant channel to the intake chamber 28 , and couple an exit end 56 ( fig6 ) of each coolant channel to the exhaust chambers 30 a or 30 b . when the battery cell modules 14 are arranged and interlocked in a lineal stack as shown in fig1 and 3 , the various intake chambers 28 axially align to form an intake plenum 34 that extends the length of the stack 12 , and the various exhaust chambers 30 a and 30 b similarly align to form a pair of exhaust plenums 36 a and 36 b that also extends the length of the stack 12 . as illustrated in fig5 , the coolant inlet cap 20 blocks the exhaust plenums 36 a and 36 b , and establishes a pathway 38 between intake plenum 34 and an inlet port 20 a formed in the coolant inlet cap 20 . conversely , the coolant outlet cap 22 blocks the intake plenum 34 but establishes a pathway 39 between exhaust plenums 36 a and 36 b and an outlet port 22 a formed in the coolant outlet cap 22 . accordingly , and as illustrated in the coolant flow diagram of fig4 , coolant ( forced air , or fluid for example ) entering inlet port 20 a is directed into the intake plenum 34 , through the u - shaped coolant channels 32 a - 32 d in each of the stacked battery cell modules 14 , into the exhaust plenums 36 a and 36 b , and is expelled from the outlet port 22 a . the temperature of the coolant entering each of the battery cell modules 14 is essentially the same because each module 14 receives coolant from the intake plenum 34 , as opposed to coolant that has already passed through another module 14 of the pack 10 . as a result , the cooling performance is substantially equivalent for each battery cell module 14 of the pack 10 . additionally , the u - shaped coolant channels 32 a - 32 d traverse substantially the entire surface area of the respective battery cells 26 to prevent any battery cell hot - spots , particularly in the region of the battery terminals where much of the battery cell heat is generated . furthermore , by routing coolant first toward a central portion of the battery cell , that is nearby or along a centerline 50 of the battery cell , where the greatest temperature rise has been observed with other coolant channel configurations , the range of temperature variation across the battery cell may be reduced . while the temperature of the coolant flowing into the entry end 54 of each coolant channels 32 a - 32 d will obviously rise as it traverses up the u - shaped coolant channels 32 a - 32 d , the coolant flow can be controlled to provide sufficient cooling to the battery cell portions adjacent the exit ends 56 of the coolant channels 32 a - 32 d . also , the coolant channels 32 a , 32 b , 32 c , 32 d in a given battery call module 14 can vary in width to achieve a desired coolant flow distribution for optimal cooling performance . referring to fig6 , each of the battery cell modules 14 is constructed as an assembly of two prismatic battery cells 26 a , 26 b and a set of four interlocking frame members 24 a - 24 d . in this non - limiting example , the two inner frame members 24 a and 24 b are identical , as are the two outer frame members 24 c and 24 d . although not shown in fig6 , the modules 14 may include a provision for suitably interconnecting the battery cell terminals 48 a , 48 b , 48 c , 48 d , and the battery cells 26 a , 26 b may be placed in an orientation that facilitates the desired series or parallel battery terminal interconnection . the two inner frame members 24 a and 24 b each have a planar outboard face 40 a and sculpted inboard face 40 b . when they are arranged as shown in fig6 and mutually joined , the outboard faces 40 a provide smooth support surfaces for the battery cells 26 a and 26 b , and the sculpted inboard faces 40 b form the u - shaped coolant channels 32 a - 32 d . specifically , the coolant channels 32 a , 32 b , 32 c , 32 d indicated in fig2 are formed by an arrangement of nested pairs u - shaped recesses 42 a , 42 b , 42 c , 42 d on the inboard face 40 b of each inner frame member 24 a , 24 b . the opposed recesses 42 a - 42 d on the inboard faces 40 b of frame members 24 a and 24 b abut when the frame members 24 a and 24 b are joined , thereby defining the u - shaped coolant channels 32 a - 32 d , including the respective entry end 54 and exit end 56 of each coolant channels 32 a - 32 d . the inner frame members 24 a , 24 b also include lower openings or apertures 44 that align as indicated to form the intake chamber 28 and exhaust chambers 30 a and 30 b mentioned above in reference to fig2 . the recesses 42 a - 42 d open at one end into the openings 44 that form the intake chamber 28 , and at the other end into the openings 44 that form the exhaust chambers 30 a and 30 b to produce the coolant flow illustrated in fig4 when coolant is supplied to the inlet port 20 a . a tongue - in - groove seal 46 near the periphery of the inner frame members 24 a , 24 b prevents coolant leaks to atmosphere ; and tongue - in - groove seals 52 helps prevent short - cut coolant leakages between intake plenum 34 and exhaust plenums 36 a and 36 b . it is expected that some coolant leakage between adjacent coolant channels 32 a and 32 b , or between adjacent coolant channels 32 c and 32 d may occur , but any such leakage is expected to be both minor and inconsequential . the battery cells 26 a , 26 b are maintained in contact with the smooth and planar outboard faces 40 of the inner frame members 24 a , 24 b , and the coolant in coolant channels 32 a - 32 d is only separated from the battery cells 26 a , 26 b by the local thickness of the respective inner frame member 24 a or 24 b , which may be on the order of 1 mm or less . accordingly , heat produced by the battery cells 26 a , 26 b is quickly and efficiently transferred to the coolant flowing in coolant channels 32 a - 32 d , even if the inner frame members 24 a , 24 b are constructed of a material such as plastic . of course , the inner frame members 24 a , 24 b could be constructed of a material exhibiting high thermal conductivity if desired . also , it is possible to utilize an insulating material such as plastic for the marginal portions of inner frame members 24 a , 24 b , and a conductive material such as aluminum for the non - marginal portions of inner frame members 24 a , 24 b . the two outer frame members 24 c and 24 d fasten to the inner frame members 24 a and 24 b , respectively , to retain the prismatic battery cells 26 a and 26 b in the module 14 . in effect , the terminal and marginal portions of each battery cell 26 a , 26 b are sandwiched between an inner frame member 24 a , 24 b and an outer frame member 24 c , 24 d . and the inter - module foam pads , mentioned above in respect to fig1 , press against the exposed non - marginal portions of the battery cells 26 a and 26 b to maintain them in abutment with the exterior surfaces 40 of the inner frame members 24 a and 24 b . in summary , present invention provides an effective and low - cost packaging arrangement for efficiently and uniformly cooling a prismatic - cell battery pack with a flow - through coolant . integrating the coolant channels 32 a - 32 d and plenums 34 , 36 into the frames 24 a , 24 b that support the cells 26 of the battery pack 10 contributes to low overall cost , and ensures that the coolant will uniformly cool each of the cells 26 . the use of identical parts in reverse orientation ( for example , the inlet and outlet end caps 20 , 22 , the inner frame members 24 a , 24 b , and the outer frame members 24 c , 24 d ) also contributes to low overall cost of the battery pack 10 . the ‘ up - the - middle , down - the - outside ’ configuration of the flow channels 32 a - 32 d helps to deliver lower temperature coolant to the central area of the battery cells where the highest temperatures have been observed , and as such provide for more uniform operating temperatures across the battery cells . while the present invention has been described with respect to the illustrated embodiment , it is recognized that numerous modifications and variations in addition to those mentioned herein will occur to those skilled in the art . for example , the number of coolant channels 32 a - 32 d in a battery cell module 14 may be different than shown , as may the number of battery cells 26 in a battery cell module 14 , or the entry end 54 of coolant channels 32 a and 32 d may be joined to form a common inlet end overlying the center line 50 to form a ‘ t ’ shaped coolant channel , and so on . accordingly , it is intended that the invention not be limited to the disclosed embodiment , but that it have the full scope permitted by the language of the following claims .
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referring to fig1 a holographic spectrometer 10 according to the present invention is shown which is used to detect electromagnetic radiation . the holographic spectrometer 10 receives infrared radiation from a source 12 through a diffuser 14 and a re - imaging mirror 16 . the re - imaging mirror 16 is used to symbolize the collecting telescope optics of a thermal imaging system and may be similar to that described in hudson , infrared systems engineering , john wiley & amp ; sons , 1969 at fig5 - 20 , which is hereby incorporated by reference . the diffuser 14 is used to optically increase the uniformity of the thermal image delivered to the re - imaging mirror 16 . while the diffuser may be fabricated from a ground dielectric transmission material , other suitable materials may be used . the holographic spectrometer 10 includes a plurality of substrates 18 which are located adjacent to one another . infrared radiation is received through the apertures 20 located on the sides of the substrates 18 . it is to be understood , however , that other means for restricting the receipt of electromagnetic radiation may be used . the substrates 18 may be formed using standard integrated circuit technology and may be composed of gallium - arsinide , lithium - niobate , or other suitable materials . to divide the electromagnetic radiation received through the apertures into two portions , each substrate 18 comprises a first waveguide 22 and a second waveguide 24 . the first waveguide 22 optically communicates with the aperture 20 of the substrate 18 and delivers the electromagnetic radiation received therefrom to a geodesic lens described below . the second waveguide 24 is located adjacent to the first waveguide 22 to permit optical coupling of the electromagnetic radiation propagating in the first waveguide 22 to the second waveguide 24 . by appropriate selection of the distance along which the first and second waveguides 22 and 24 optically communicate , a dual channel directional coupler is formed in which half the radiation entering the waveguide 22 is coupled to the waveguide 24 . the first and second waveguides 22 and 24 create two separate paths for electromagnetic radiation so as to provide the necessary interference at the location in the substrate 18 where the electromagnetic radiation is to be detected . other means for dividing the electromagnetic radiation from the aperture 20 may be used including confluent beam splitters . the waveguides 22 and 24 may be formed by using ion implantation or ion diffusion to change the index of refraction of the substrate 18 in a region where the waveguides 22 and 24 are to be formed . it is to be understood , however , that other suitable techniques for forming the waveguides 22 and 24 may be used . the thickness of each of the waveguides 22 and 24 is selected to allow the desired mode of propagation of the electromagnetic radiation in the wavelengths 22 and 24 . to permit the electromagnetic radiation entering the apertures 20 to propagate in the tem 00 mode , the thickness for the waveguides 22 and 24 is chosen to be approximately on the order of the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation to be received . to collimate the electromagnetic radiation propagating in the waveguides , each of the substrates further includes a geodesic lens 26 . the geodesic lens 26 resides in a depressed portion in the substrate 18 and contains a layer of material which is similar to that which forms the waveguides 22 and 24 . the geodesic lens 26 is used to collimate the electromagnetic radiation delivered by the waveguides 22 and 26 , thereby causing the same portion of the wave fronts of the electromagnetic radiation travelling through the waveguides 22 and 26 to interfere at approximately the same location in th substrate 18 . as shown in fig2 those portions of the wave fronts delivered by the waveguides 22 and 24 designated as a interfere at the same location in the substrate 18 . similarly , those portions of the wave fronts delivered by the waveguides 22 and 24 designated as b interfere at the same location in the substrate 18 . while the geodesic lens 26 may be used to collimate the electromagnetic radiation propagating in the waveguides 22 and 24 , it is to be understood that other suitable means for collimating the electromagnetic radiation may be used . to electrically indicate the spectral information collimated by the geodesic lens 26 , a plurality of linear detector arrays 28 is provided . each linear detector array is bonded to the edge of one of the substrates 18 at the end opposing the aperture 20 . each element of the linear detector array 28 delivers an electrical output in response to the collimated electromagnetic radiation received by that particular elemental detector . while the elemental detectors in the linear detector array 28 may be solid state photoconductive detectors , and fabricated from intrinsic or extrinsic semiconductor material , it is to be understood that other means for detecting electromagnetic radiation may be used . because the geodesic lens 26 collimates the electromagnetic radiation delivered by the waveguides 22 and 24 , each elemental detector in the linear detector array 28 is able to receive a portion of the interference pattern created when the wave fronts propagating through the waveguides 22 and 24 combine . for example , the portion of the wave fronts travelling through waveguides 22 and 24 designated as a is received by the elemental detector 30 , while the portion of the wave fronts travelling through waveguides 22 and 24 designated as b is received by the elemental detector 32 . the outputs of the elemental detectors forming the array 28 can then be processed by using fourier transformations to obtain spectral information concerning the object being viewed . by employing integrated optics technology , the present invention may be used for both detecting spectral information as well as for imaging . when used to detect spectral information , the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the object is received by the substrate 18 through the apertures 20 and delivered to the waveguide 22 . after approximately half of the electromagnetic radiation initially propagating through the waveguide 22 is coupled to the waveguide 24 , the electromagnetic radiation propagating through each of the waveguides 22 and 24 is delivered to the geodesic lens 26 which collimates the radiation . the interference pattern generated by the interaction of the wave fronts which were propagating in the waveguides 22 and 24 is then detected by the elemental detectors forming the linear detector array 28 . the signals generated by the elemental detectors may then be converted into digital form so they may be processed by a microcomputer system ( not shown ). the microcomputer system can then be used to reconstruct the spectrum using fast fourier transform techniques . when used in imaging , the outputs from the individual elemental detectors forming the linear detector array 28 are used to generate a signal which is proportional to the photons received by the array 28 . when used with the appropriate scanning technology , the outputs from each of the detector arrays 28 can be used to generate an image of the object being viewed . it should be understood that the invention was described in connection with the particular example thereof . other modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art after a study of the specifications , drawings and following claims .
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referring to fig1 there is shown an exemplary embodiment of an amusement system 10 in accordance with the present invention . the amusement system 10 includes a pair of eyeglass frames 12 . the eyeglass frames 12 contain a bridge region 14 that extends across the top of the nose and two temple elements 16 that extend over the ears . as will later be described , electronic circuitry is contained within the eyeglass frames 12 . control buttons are present on the eyeglass frames 12 so that the electronic circuitry can be activated and preset for operation . a tilt sensor 20 is attached to the eyeglass frames 12 . in the embodiment of fig1 the tilt sensor 20 is positioned in front of the bridge 14 of the eyeglass frames 12 . the tilt sensor 20 can detect when the eyeglass frames 12 are moved in any direction . the electronic assembly within the eyeglass frames 12 contains a tone generator that is preprogrammed with a plurality of different well - known song melodies . the song melody can be selected using the control buttons 18 on the eyeglass frames 12 . the tone generator only generates a single tone from a selected melody each tine the tilt sensor 14 is activated . accordingly , in order to cause the tone generator to generate the tones of the selected melody , a person must move the eyeglass frames 14 back and forth . in order to keep the selected melody in its proper beat , the eyeglass frames 12 must be moved to the beat of the melody . as a result , a person wearing the eyeglass frames 12 must make timed coordinated head movements in order for the tone generator in the eyeglass frames 12 to properly produce the selected melody . referring to fig2 a cross section of an exemplary embodiment of the tilt sensor 20 is shown . in this embodiment , the tilt sensor 20 includes a hollow tubular structure 22 . inside the tubular structure 22 is an annular contact 24 . the annular contact 20 is electrically interconnected to a first lead 25 that extends from the tilt sensor 20 . an elongated contact arm 26 is suspended in the center of the tubular structure 22 . the elongated contact arm is electrically interconnected to a second lead 29 that extends from the tilt switch . the contact arm 26 is free to rotate in any direction about its point of suspension 27 . accordingly , when the tubular structure 22 of the tilt switch 20 is accelerated or tilted in any direction , the elongated contact arm 26 swings freely inside the tubular structure 22 . if the tubular structure 22 is tilted or if it is moved with enough acceleration , the elongated contact arm 26 will touch the annular contact 24 inside the tubular structure 22 . both the elongated contact arm 26 and the annular contact 24 are attached to a logic circuit . each time the elongated contact arm 26 touches the annular contact 24 , an electrical connection is completed . conversely , every time the elongated contact arm 26 moves away from the annular contact 24 , the electrical connection is broken . accordingly , the tilt sensor 20 operates between two states . in one state , an electrical connection is made , and in the other state , an electrical connection is broken . since the tilt sensor 20 operates in only two states , it can be used in a digital circuit , wherein the tilt sensor 20 creates a pulsed signal over time containing varying pulse changes between an “ on ” condition when the electrical connection is made , and an “ off ” condition when the electrical connection is broken . referring to fig3 it can be understood that contained within the eyeglass frames 12 ( fig1 ) is an electronic assembly 30 . the electronic assembly 30 contains a speaker 32 and a tone generator 34 that produces various tones for the speaker 32 . the tone generator 34 is directed by a logic circuit 36 , wherein the logic circuit 36 is used to select a melody from a plurality of preprogrammed melodies that are stored in a memory 38 . the selection of different melodies from the memory 38 can be performed by a user , utilizing the button controls 18 . once a melody is selected , the logic circuit 36 only sends the tones of that melody to the tone generator 34 one note at a time . the only time that the logic circuit 36 sends a note to the tone generator 34 is when the logic circuit 36 detects a change in state from the tilt sensor 20 . accordingly , each time the tilt sensor 20 changes between an “ on ” state and an “ off ” state , the logic circuit 36 sends a single note from the selected melody to the tone generator 34 . the tone generator 34 then produces the tone that is broadcast through the speaker 32 . as such , if a person wants the melody being played to sound proper , that person must move the tilt sensor 20 to the beat of the selected melody . since the tilt sensor 20 is connected to eyeglass frames 12 ( fig1 ), the person wearing the eyeglass frames must repeatedly move their head to the beat of the melody in order to change the state of the tilt sensor 20 to the beat of that melody . this causes a person to rapidly move their head in a sporadic manner that is fun for both the person wearing the eyeglass frames and other people who are watching . referring back to fig1 the tilt sensor 20 is attached to the bridge of the eyeglass frames and the electronic assembly of fig3 is contained within the structure of the eyeglass frames . such a structure is merely exemplary , and it should be understood that the tilt switch and the electronics of the present invention can be located in many different positions on the eyeglass frame or may even be embodied in an assembly that can be retroactively attached to a separate pair of eyeglasses or other body supported object . referring to fig4 such an alternate embodiment of the present invention device is shown . in fig4 a plurality of body supported objects 40 are shown that can be used to attach the present invention to a person &# 39 ; s body . the body supported objects include a pair of eyeglass frames 42 . also shown are other body supported objects that can be substituted for the eyeglass frames 42 . among the substitutes include a head band 44 that can be worn around the head , a hat 46 that can be worn on the head , a chin strap 48 that is worn on the chin , and a body strap assembly 50 . the body strap assembly 50 includes a mounting plate 52 . the mounting plate 52 is connected to a strap 54 . the strap 54 can be secured around the waist , arm , leg or any other part of the body . an electronic assembly 60 is provided that can be attached to any of the body supported objects 40 . the electronic assembly 60 includes the electronic components described in fig3 along with a battery for power . accordingly , the electronic assembly 60 plays one note of a selected melody each time the electronic assembly 60 is accelerated or jarred . the electronic assembly 60 can attach to any of the body supported objects using a mechanical fastening system , such as a hook , or other fastening systems such as velcro . in the shown embodiment , each of the body supported objects 40 has a female connector 58 . the electronic assembly 60 contains a small male protrusion 62 that passes into any of the female connectors 58 and engages the female connectors 56 with a friction fit . accordingly , the electronic assembly 60 can be attached to any of the body supported objects 40 by simply pressing the male protrusion 62 of the electronic assembly 60 into the female connector 58 of a body supported object 40 . it will be understood that the embodiments of the present invention amusement system that are described and illustrated herein are merely exemplary and a person skilled in the art can make many variations to the embodiment shown without departing from the scope of the present invention . for example , there are many types of sensors that can detect physical movement . such sensors include accelerometers , mercury switches , ball hearing switches and the like . any such sensor can be adapted for use as part of the present invention . all such variations , modifications and alternate embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims .
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for purposes of this disclosure the navx features of the ensite system as sold by esi of st paul minn ., allows for the creation of a chamber geometry reflecting the chamber of interest within the heart . in a preferred embodiment a mapping catheter is swept around the chamber by the physician to create a geometry for the chamber . next the physician will identify fiducial points in the physical heart that are used to create a base map of the heart model . this base map may be merged with a ct or mri image to provide an extremely high resolution , highly detailed anatomic map image of the chamber of the heart . or in the alternative the base map may be used for the method . the physician identifies regions of this model heart for ablation by interacting with a computer terminal and for example using a mouse to lay down a collection of target points which he intends to ablate with rf energy . in summary the servo catheter is also interfaced with the ensite system and makes use of the navx catheter navigation and visualization features of navx . in operation the physician navigates the servo catheter to the approximate location of the therapy and a relatively complicated control system is invoked that navigates the servo catheter tip to various locations sequentially identified by the physician . once in place and after its position is verified the physician will activate the rf generator to provide the ablation therapy . the catheter has a number of attributes that permit the device to carry out this function . an illustrative and not limiting prototype version of the device is seen in fig5 and fig6 . the catheter 100 has been constructed with eight pull wires ( of which 4 are shown for clarity ) and two associated pull rings labeled 102 and 104 in the figures . the pull wires typified by pull wire 106 and 108 are manipulated by servo mechanisms , such as stepper or driven ball screw slides illustrated in fig1 . these mechanisms displace the wire with respect to the catheter body 110 and under tension pull and shape the catheter in a particular direction . the use of multiple wires and multiple pull rings allows for very complex control over the catheter &# 39 ; s position , shape and stiffness , all of which are important to carry out the ultimate therapy desired by the physician . multiple pull rings and multiple individual wires permits control over the stiffness of the catheter which is used to conform the shape of the catheter so that the entire carriage may be advanced on a ball screw to move the catheter against the wall of the heart . at least one force transducer 112 is located within the catheter provide feedback to the control system to prevent perforation of the heart and to otherwise enhance the safety of the unit . preferably the force transducer takes the form of a strain gauge 112 coupled to the control system via connection 120 . the catheter distal tip will carry an ablation electrode 124 coupled via a connection not shown to the rf generator as is known in the art . it is preferred to have a separate location electrode 126 for use by the ensite system as is known in the art . once again no connection is shown to simply the figure for clarity . as seen in fig6 pulling on pull wire 108 deflects the distal tip while pulling on pull wire 106 deflects the body 110 of the catheter . since each wire is independent of the others the computer system may control both the stiffness and deflection of the catheter in a way not achieved by physician control of the wires . in general the physician will use a joystick of other input device to control the catheter . however , this control system also invokes many of the automated procedures of the servo catheter and is not strictly a direct manipulator . although robotic control has made great headway in surgery most conventional systems use a stereotactic frame to position the device and the coordinate systems with respect to the patient . one challenge of the current system is the fact that the target tissue is moving because the heart is beating and the catheter within the heart is displaced and moved by heart motion as well so that there is no permanently fixed relationship between the catheter and its coordinate system , the patient and its coordinate system , and the patient and its coordinate system at the target site . this issue is complicated by and exacerbated by the fact that the map may not be wholly accurate as well , so the end point or target point &# 39 ; s location in space is not well resolved . turning to fig1 there is shown a patient &# 39 ; s heart 10 in isolation . a series of patch electrodes are applied to the surface of the patient ( not shown ) typified by patch 12 . these are coupled to an ensite catheter navigation system 14 which locates the tip of the servo catheter 16 in the chamber 18 of the patient &# 39 ; s heart . the ensite system is capable of using this catheter or another catheter to create a map of the chamber of the heart shown as image 20 on monitor 22 of a computer system . in operation the physician interacts with the model image 20 and maps out and plans an rf ablation intervention that is applied to the servo catheter 16 through its proximal connection to the servo catheter interface box 24 . the interface box allows rf energy from generator 26 to enter the catheter upon the command of the physician and ablate tissue in the cardiac chamber . critical to the operation of the servo catheter is the translation mechanism 28 , which provides a carriage for translating the catheter proximal end advancing or retracting the catheter from the chamber as indicated by motion arrow 30 . an additional group of sensors and actuators or other servo translation mechanism 32 are coupled to the proximal end of the catheter 16 to allow the device to be steered automatically by software running on the ensite 14 workstation . thus , in brief overview , the physician navigates the catheter into the chamber of interest , identifies locations of interest within that chamber which he desires to ablate , then the servo mechanism moves the catheter to various locations requested by the physician and once in position the physician administers rf radiation to provide a therapeutic intervention . fig2 shows the interaction of the physician with the heart model . the locations for ablation are shown on the map 20 as x &# 39 ; s 32 which surround an anatomic structure that may be , for example , the pulmonary vein 34 . these locations are typically accessed on the map image through a mouse or other pointer device 36 so that the physician may act intuitively with the model . as is clear from the ensite operation manual the catheter 16 may also be shown on the image to facilitate planning of the intervention . turning to fig3 the servo catheter 16 has been activated and the catheter has been retracted slightly as indicated by arrow 41 and has been manipulated to come into contact with the cardiac tissue at location 40 . in this instance the physician is in a position to perform his ablation . the control system to achieve this result is shown in fig4 a and fig4 b which are two panels of a software flow chart describing software executed by the ensite work station . turning to fig4 a , initially the catheter is placed in the desired heart chamber as seen in fig2 by the positioning of catheter 16 as represented on the ensite work station within the chamber of the heart 20 . this process occurs after the creation of the chamber geometry . in block 202 the ensite system determines the location of the location ring of catheter 16 in the chamber and in process 204 a small motion is initiated by the operation of the steppers 32 controlling the various pull wires of the catheter . the ensite system tracks the motion of the location electrode and establishes a relationship between the operation of the various pull wires and motion in the chamber . it is important to note that this process eliminates the need to keep track of the x , y , z references of the body and the catheter . in process 206 the physician manipulates the joystick or other control mechanism and places the target location , for example target location 32 , around an anatomic feature of interest , for example the os of the pulmonary vein . the user then activates a “ go ” command on the workstation and the catheter 16 automatically navigates to the location 32 by measuring the difference between its current position and the desired location position in block 210 . if it is within 0 . 5 millimeters or so , the process stops in block 212 . however , if the catheter is farther away from the target location than 0 . 5 millimeters , the process defaults to step 212 wherein a displacement vector is calculated in process 212 . in process 214 the displacement vector is scaled and in process 216 an actuation vector is computed to drive the catheter toward the location . in process 218 the actuation vector is applied to the pull wires 32 and to the carriage 28 to move the catheter tip toward the desired location . after a short incremental motion in process 220 a new location for the catheter is computed and the process repeats with comparison step 210 . it is expected that in most instances the algorithm will converge and the catheter will move smoothly and quickly to the desired location . however , after a certain number of tries if this result is not achieved it is expected that an error condition will be noted and the physician will reposition the catheter manually and then restart the automatic algorithm .
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reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the invention , examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings . while the invention will be described in conjunction with the preferred embodiments , it will be understood that they are not intended to limit the invention to these embodiments . on the contrary , the invention is intended to cover alternatives , modifications and equivalents , which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims . fig1 illustrates a data collection and analysis system 100 for automatic analysis and documentation of work and time expended by a user of a computer according to the invention . the system is called dragnet . the dragnet system operates with a computer such as a personal computer using , for example , a dos operating system running dos application programs or a dos operating system with a microsoft windows graphical user interface for running microsoft windows applications . other operating system platforms can be used , as desired . the system 100 includes a main program that gives a user a database type of interface for building up project information and task information . the main program is , for example , a visual basic application that provides a database for keeping the data that the work analyzer needs and that provides a simple interface for selection of work analysis criteria and for printing of reports . an important part of the system 100 is a data collector that collects the data and a work analyzer that analyzes that data that interfaces to the main program . the system 100 uses a software module which is a hardware abstraction layer 101 , which is located between the system 100 and external devices . the system 100 has a number of input paths 101 a , 101 b , 101 c for receiving input information from the hardware abstraction layer 101 . the system 100 also has an input / output path 101 d for receiving / sending information between the hardware abstraction layer 101 and the system 100 . the system 101 is designed to usually interface with a user keyboard 102 for both dos and for windows applications . for windows applications , the system 100 also interfaces with a mouse 104 . a hard disk 106 is provided for storage of a user &# 39 ; s applications as well as for storage of the various data files provided by the system according to the invention . the data collection part of the system works with either dos or windows applications , while the actual data analysis part of the system works only with windows . the hardware abstraction layer 101 allows a wide variety of storage devices and user input devices to operate with the system 100 . the hardware abstraction layer 101 translates the activities of storage devices , typically shown as 107 , so that they can use the storage path 101 d . the hardware abstraction layer 101 translates selected activities of external selection devices , typically shown as 108 , such as remote controls or devices connected by phone lines , so that they can use the dos or windows keyboard input paths 101 c , 101 b . the hardware abstraction layer 101 d translates pointer device activities of pointer devices , typically shown as 109 , such as a mouse or a drawing tablet , so that they can use the windows mouse input path 101 a . the hardware abstraction layer 101 is equivalent to the bios in a pc computer . the system 100 monitors keyboard and mouse functions . the addition of the hardware abstraction layer 101 provides the capability of monitoring , i . e ., detecting , activities of multiple types of input devices , such as remote controls for tv set top boxes , drawing , tablets , touch - tone keyboards , etc . the hardware abstraction layer 101 allows these and other devices to be detected directly by the system 100 . this enhances the ability of the system 100 to categorize a number of additional activities , making the activities finer - grained and providing better accumulation of various different activities . additionally , the hardware abstraction layer 101 makes it possible to add capability to the system 100 by providing “ in the field ” additions to the hardware abstraction layer 101 by downloading information for new external devices to the rom of the system 100 . the hardware abstraction layer 101 can be thought of as being similar to a plug - in module that allows one or more new activity detectors to be inserted without affecting the remainder of the system 100 , as described herein below . in this manner , detection of activity of a new input device is provided without replacing or modification of the system 100 , that is , without having to rewrite the core programs of the system 100 . the system 100 includes two unique software modules . the first module is resident module 110 or operating system extension such as a terminate - stay - resident ( tsr ) dragnet module 110 , which includes data collection and analysis functions , which are described herein below . while described in connection with a windows or dos environment , the resident module or operating system extension is intended to include implementations of the invention for systems other than ibm compatible systems . the second module is a dragnet keyboard / mouse filter module 112 . the system 100 operates in conjunction with operation of a dos application program 114 or a windows application program 116 . a dos file system 118 is used . for a windows application program 116 , a windows graphic user interface 120 is provided . as part of the startup for the dos operating system , the tsr program 110 is started . the tsr program 110 hooks itself up between the dos file system 118 and either a dos application 114 or a windows application program 116 . a tsr ( terminate - and - stay ) resident program enables a program to embed itself into the computer &# 39 ; s memory and to remain there while dos continues to run other programs . in the dos mode of operation for a dos application program , when the dos application program makes a request to open a file or to run a program , the request first goes through the tsr program 110 before it goes to the dos file system 118 . when a dos application makes a request for an operation to be performed such as , for example , a request to open a file , close a file , read data , write data , or change directories , the tsr program 110 passes that request onto the dos system and lets the dos system process the request . before going back to the dos application to give the dos application the results , if the operation was successful , then that information is recorded by the tsr program 110 . for example , if a file is tried to be open and the file does in fact open , that event is recorded . the information is recorded into a buffer memory . a separate asynchronous routine operates at one second intervals to take the buffer information into memory and to write that information out to a file on the hard disk . because the tsr program 110 is hooked into the dos system at a low memory address level , the tsr program cannot open files or do read / write operations with a file while data is being collected . those other operations are done separately when the dos system is not doing anything else . in a similar manner , the tsr program 110 watches every key stroke that comes in from the keyboard 102 . a keystroke comes into the tsr program 110 application so that it is possible to detect that a user is pressing keys . the only information that is necessary to know is that keyboard activity is happening . it is not necessary to know what particular keys are being operated . the actual keys are not recorded . what is recorded is the fact that , during a one - second interval , a user typed something into the keyboard . the tsr program 110 is placed between the dos application and the dos file system to monitor the occurrence of key strokes and to send keystroke occurrence information out to the hard disk every second . in the windows mode of operation for a windows application program , the windows system installs its own windows keyboard driver and its own mouse driver . as a result , the hook routine that is installed to catch keystrokes at the dos level doesn &# 39 ; t get called when windows is running . the windows keyboard driver and mouse driver replace other service routines with their own service routines . in order to monitor key strokes in the windows mode of operation , the keyboard / mouse filter 112 is used . in general , a filter takes information from one program , examines it , possibly changes the information , and then passes the ( modified ) information along to another program . the keyboard / mouse filter 112 watches each keystroke and mouse click that happens while windows is running . similar to dos monitoring keystrokes , the keyboard / mouse filter 112 also keeps track of the fact that a keyboard or mouse activity is happening . the keyboard / mouse filter 112 under windows also keeps track of which file is actually being used . for example , programs like microsoft word or excel can have multiple documents open . it is necessary to know which files inside microsoft word are actually being manipulated . using this keyboard / mouse filter 112 , each time that there is a keystroke or a mouse click , the system 100 actually looks at which window in the top window on the screen and records that information . using windows requires a two - step process because of the architecture of windows . if a macintosh platform is used , only one step is required . in windows , the user types his keys and the keystrokes first go into windows and then windows decides which applications should get those key strokes . for windows , the invention catches the keystrokes half way between windows graphic environment module 120 and the windows application 116 . the windows graphic environment module 120 looks to see which data file the windows application is working with before passing the keystrokes onto the windows application . the windows graphic environment module 120 includes the windows keyboard and mouse drivers , the windowing system , and everything else that makes up windows as the operating system . the windows application 116 sits on top of the windows operating system and puts data into a screen window in response to user operations , such as menu selections . the windows graphic environment module 120 functions to display screen windows and takes keystrokes and sends them to the windows application 116 . it &# 39 ; s actually up to the application to decide that when you type “ a ,” it should put a character on the screen . the invention catches the input keystroke information after the windows graphic environment module 120 gets a character and decides which screen window the character goes to . the actual windows application then gets the character . the windows application 116 sends file activity information over to the tsr module 110 . windows applications do not replace the dos file system when they are running . windows is actually built on top of the dos application . when a windows application opens a file , it still goes through the tsr module 110 . when a windows user types a key , the keystroke information first goes through the windows graphic environment module 120 . the remaining operations with windows are similar to the dos operations . the keystrokes also still have to go through the tsr program to the dos file system 118 . under a dos application , the information ( both the keystrokes and the file information ) come directly to the tsr module 110 . under windows , the file information goes to the tsr module 110 directly from the windows application 116 , but the keyboard and mouse information to the tsr module 110 come from the windows graphic environment module 120 , and not directly from the keyboard . fig2 is a flow chart illustrating initialization of the tsr module 110 , where the tsr module 110 performs data collection by logging file activity or by logging keyboard and mouse activity for a computer system . block 202 indicates initialization of a third party product called coderunner which provides a very compact run - time library for the c programming language . the library sub - routines from the compiler writers for a c program are used to open and close files and to print text on the screen , etc . block 204 indicates that parameters are loaded into a file from a parameter file 206 . the parameters basically indicate if there are any files or directories that are not to be tracked . for example , a user might not want to keep track of an activity in a temporary directory or every time someone wants to open a font on a windows directory . to avoid collection of voluminous and meaningless activities , a user can exclude such activities . block 208 indicates that the old dos interrupt vectors are saved . block 210 indicates that new interrupt vectors are stored in low memory . when a dos application program wants to invoke a dos routine , the intel processor has a software interrupt feature so when the dos application wants to invoke the dos routine , dos loads up some registers and generates an int 21 command , which goes down to low memory and finds the address where the dos routine is located and then jumps off to the dos routine . the contents of that low memory location are saved . hooking the interrupt means replacing the address of where the function is with the interrupt routine address and then calling the function . in fig2 the initialization proceeds from top to bottom without stopping and without going to any of the interrupt vectors . when it says store new interrupt vectors , it just means you &# 39 ; re storing the addresses of these flow charts discussed in connection with fig3 and 5 discussed herein below . fig2 . only shows initialization of the system . block 212 initializes a time - based scheduler routine , which is part of the coderunner library . the time - based scheduler routine calls however often you want . it is initialized and block 214 indicates that it is set for a one - second interrupt . fig3 is a flow chart 300 illustrating a tsr interrupt 9 routine for dos keyboard interrupt operation for keyboard activity . block 302 indicates that , when the low - level keyboard driver has a character , it generates an interrupt 9 which is intended to go to dos to eventually transmit that key onto the application . so we get the interrupt from the keyboard driver and set a flag saying we see a keystroke and then we call the dos sub - routines which were supposed to get it in the first place . block 304 test flags to determine whether the dragnet system is ready and whether the dragnet system is on in order to make sure that we don &# 39 ; t start trying to collect data through the file system interrupt before we actually have all the buffers and other items ready . when the actual work is analyzed , no data is collected and the dragnet is off . dragnet is turned off so we are not trying to collect data about analyzing the work because that doesn &# 39 ; t make any sense ; there &# 39 ; s nothing there to be collected . the ready flag says that everything is set up . if dragnet &# 39 ; s ready and on , the block 308 determines whether a keystroke was stored since the last interrupt . if a keystroke was stored , the routine exits . each keystroke is not stored because users can type a number of characters per second . block 310 indicates that , if a keystroke has not been recorded since the last interrupt , the keystroke record in a collection buffer is stored . there is an end memory collection buffer where , when different kinds of activity happen , we put data records in this collection buffer . every second we get a different kind of interrupt that comes in and takes however many records are in the buffer and writes them out to the disk . the interrupt routine for the keyboard of fig3 only gets called when a user actually types a key . that &# 39 ; s where it will go after we &# 39 ; ve done the boxes marked store new interrupt vectors . fig4 is a flow chart 400 illustrating a special , arbitrarily - named tsr interrupt 60 routine for a windows interface interrupt operation . this routine is unique to a system according to the invention and is not something that the dos operating system already provides . the tsr interrupt 60 routine provides a 110 mechanism so that the dragnet keyboard / mouse filter module 112 can communicate with the tsr module 110 in order to put data into that same buffer that gets written out to the disk once every second . blocks 402 and 404 indicate whether dragnet is ready and on . when the window keyboard / mouse filter 122 wants to store some information , it puts a code value in the register and does an interrupt 60 . the code values are 1 , 2 , or 3 , which indicates three different operations : code 1 asks the tsr where the buffer is ; code 2 tells the tsr to change the address of the pointer within the buffer ; and code 3 provides a windows busy mechanism to make sure that the dos tsr operation and the windows collection do not happen simultaneously . block 406 tests whether a code 1 is present . if so , block 408 shows that the address of the buffer pointer is returned . if not , block 410 tests whether a code 2 is present . if so , block 412 updates the buffer pointer for the register . if not , block 414 tests whether code 3 is present . if so , block 416 sets or clears the windows busy flag . this ensures that , while the buffer is being filled up , a protection mechanism is provided to make sure that , while a user is putting data in the mouse keyboard filter , the one - second interrupt handler isn &# 39 ; t trying to write the buffer contents out to the disk . this routine is called once to ‘ set the flag ’ and then it is called again to flag when the user is done . in that way , if a one - second interrupt comes in when the system is in the middle of processing a mouse click from windows , the system will wait for the next second . fig5 is a flow chart 500 illustrating a special tsr interrupt 21 ( int 21 ) routine for a file system hooking interrupt operation . an interrupt 21 is a dos function which controls how dos applications open files , close files . interrupt 21 is written in assembler code and is a true interrupt handler . the block 502 saves the values in the registers of the processor . the blocks 504 , 506 determine whether dragnet is ready and on . if so , the block 508 determines whether a type is interesting . when you do an int 21 you pass into a register one of about 60 different codes that says what you want to do . do you want to open a file , close a file , rename a file , etc . those are the codes or types . we don &# 39 ; t monitor every single type ; actually we monitor about 7 or 8 different types . we look to see if a type is something that we want ; mainly if is it something that has a file name associated with it . and if it is , then we save what kind of type it is and we save the string in block 510 ( normally the file name that was associated with it ). then we go call the old int 21 in block 512 because we have to go to dos and actually have dos do the work , try to open the file , for example . then we come back and look at the processor &# 39 ; s carry flag in block 514 , which is one of the processor &# 39 ; s internal registers . if it is set that means that is the way dos indicates that there was an error . if there was an error , we back up this pointer in block 516 where we save the record type and string because it didn &# 39 ; t actually work . in other words , a typical way with a dos system is that you have this path statement that specifies where the files are and it goes down through the path and tries to open each file and each directory on the path until it finds it . it is not interesting to us if it had to go through 5 different directories before it found the file . we only care when it actually found it . so if you wrote an application that just simply tried over and over and over in a loop to open files that didn &# 39 ; t exist , we wouldn &# 39 ; t consider that work . you are not accomplishing anything ; therefore , it is not recorded as work . fig6 is a flow chart illustrating a routine for a timer - based interrupt operation in the data collection routine . block 602 asks if dos is busy and if dos is busy , then block 604 causes another one second delay . we set up the timer to interrupt us in another second and then we leave . if dos isn &# 39 ; t busy , block 608 indicates that the data that was collected by the tsr is written to a disk , which is the purge event buffer file . block 610 indicates that the pointers are checked for initialization . if not , block 612 sets up pointers with the values of the current data segment registers in the intel processor . the first time that this flow chart is executed it is necessary to initialize some things because one of the segment registers inside the intel processor changes between initialization time and actual execution time of the sub - routine . that process is done once and in block 614 flags are reset that say we have seen a keystroke . in block 618 a flag is set that says the pointers are ready so that the next time we come through we will take that yes path out of block 610 . block 620 indicates that in a second later we go back to start . fig7 a , 7 b , and 7 c illustrate a flow chart 700 for purging an event the windows busy flag is tested . if windows is not busy , block 704 decrements the windows busy flag . if the windows mouse filter is doing something , then windows is busy and we have to wait until the next second . windows is busy means that our portion of our system that runs on windows is busy , not the windows operating system . if we can , then we decrement this flag which tells buffer to a log file in the timer based interrupt operation of fig6 . in block 702 windows that we &# 39 ; re busy so it doesn &# 39 ; t try to do anything while we &# 39 ; re doing this . block 706 test if anything is in the buffer . if not , block 708 increments the windows busy flag and we leave . if there is something in the buffer , block 710 indicates that the dragnet_on flag is set to 0 , or turned off in order to prevent our int 21 &# 39 ; s from being recorded . as we are trying to write this data to the file , we are going to be issuing int 21 &# 39 ; s and we don &# 39 ; t want our int 21 &# 39 ; s to be recorded . block 712 indicates that we open the activity log file 714 on the hard disk 106 . the activity log file 714 is structured for convenience as one file for each month . the current date and time are determined and the appropriate monthly activity log file 714 is opened . the routine continues as indicated by the purge 2 continuation symbol 716 to fig7 b . in fig7 b , block 720 tests whether the activity log file 714 opened . if not the routine continues , as indicated by the purge 3 continuation symbol 722 to fig7 c . the file not being open means that some error is happening , but the system is not going to crash and the routine continues on . block 724 indicates that we go to the end of the activity log file 714 because we are appending data to the end of the activity log file 714 . block 726 is the start of a loop which fetches and writes activity records to a data collector . block 726 fetches a new activity by rectype and data . rectype indicates the type of activity such as a file opening or closing , a keystroke , etc . data is typically the name of the file or a path when a change directory operation happens . the loop proceeds to block 728 which tests whether a file name which consists , for example , of 8 tildes and 3 back quotes is open . the file name is not a normal file name . if an attempt has been made to open that file , block 730 indicates that the parameter file 206 of fig2 is to be re - read . this allows changes to be made and to be read from the parameter file without having to re - boot the computer . after the parameter file is re - read , the data not actually recorded to the disk . if block 728 does not detect the file name which causes the parameter file to be re - read , block 732 tests whether another special file name , which is called dragnet ˜. off is active . this file is activated as a way of turning dragnet off . code for a subsequently described work analyzer code can try to turn the dragnet system off . and if in fact that is the case , then the dragnet system is turned off by means of block 734 which sets a turnoff variable to a one state . if block 728 or block 732 indicate that neither one of the two special file names has been opened or attempted to be opened , then block 736 indicates that the activity data is to be written to a dynamic data collection ( ddc ), or dragnet data collection . the ddc is the same as the activity log file 714 with a different name . block 738 tests whether more data is in the buffer . if so , the routine loops back to block 726 to fetch more data . data is collected for one second . in one second , the computer could have opened and closed a number of files , received three keystrokes , and done a number of other functions so there will be a number of different records in the buffer . the loop starting with block 726 and ending with block 738 keeps operating until the buffer is empty . if block 738 finds that the buffer is empty , the routine goes through the purge 4 continuation symbol to block 740 of fig7 c , which closes the activity file . block 742 indicates that the buffer pointers are then reset and all of the data collected is lost . with reference to fig6 block 608 is implemented in fig7 a , 7 b , and 7 c to purge the event buffer once a second to the activity log file . blocks 610 , 614 , 618 , and 620 check if the pointers are initialized , reset the flags , and wait for another one second . the tsr module gets interrupted every one second according to the routine of fig6 . the tsr module is also asynchronously interrupted using the interrupt routine of fig3 , and 5 for int 9 , int 21 , and the special int 60 . these synchronous and asynchronous interrupt routines get information to the tsr module . fig8 is a flow chart illustrating the main windows interface program 800 which implements the system of fig1 . the dragnet keyboard / mouse filter 112 has two parts . it has the main windows interface program 800 and something called dynamic link library ( dll ) programs which are methods of implementing programs under windows . the main windows interface program 800 initializes everything . the dynamic link library ( dll ) programs actually gets called in a similar kind of way when each keystroke gets hit inside windows . the dragnet keyboard / mouse filter 112 works as follows : when the system , or program , according to the invention is installed for windows , an icon for this program is put into the windows start - up folder . when windows starts , it automatically runs the program . this is the drag hook indicated as element 802 in fig8 . this is similar to the tsr 110 of fig1 for dos , which is started when dos is booted . the windows interface of fig8 is started when windows is started . block 804 initializes the program . block 806 installs the keyboard filter , block 808 installs the mouse filter , and block 810 displays a message . block 812 indicates that the program then loops forever . the forever loop of block 812 means that the program just sits there and loops forever because in the process of installing the keyboard and mouse filters the extra separate subroutine library called a dll is loaded . if the program quits , the dll would not . if the dll would get removed from memory , the whole system would crash . the program is a windows program with no screen window in which the user never sees it as a window on the screen . fig9 is a flow chart illustrating a dynamic link library ( dll ) routine 900 for a windows interface for a dll keyboard filter operation . the dll is a dynamic link library which is a way of having sub - routine libraries that get loaded when they &# 39 ; re needed and can be shared between different applications . a dll also is a way inside windows that allows certain things to be done because of certain intel addressing conventions . every time a user presses a key , we get called before the application that &# 39 ; s looking for the key gets called in the same way as a dos interrupt but not as an interrupt . when the keyboard filter 900 is invoked at point 902 , block 904 saves the title of the last window that was looked at . this is similar to what was done with the dos version of the present invention . if a user types a hundred keys on the same screen window , a hundred messages are not written to the activity log file . an activity log file is written under windows only every ten seconds . the conditions for writing something to the log file from a windows application has to be a key in a new window , or it &# 39 ; s been ten seconds since the last key . block 904 saves the last window title , we get window text as a windows call . block 906 gets the title of the current window and block 908 tests whether the current window contains a valid file name to determine activity by a user . if the file name is not valid , then block 910 calls enumchildwindow , which is a window call which sorts through a number of screen windows on top of each other window until it finds the screen window that has the file name that is actually being used . this is done because in windows again , when you have a multiple document application , you can either have a frame window and smaller windows inside , or you can actually blow up the inside windows so that you still only see one document at a time but you still have multiple documents open . when you do that , it puts the name of the file in the outside window . the active file name is looked for in the outside window . if it is found , we are in the particular case where the inside windows are maximized . if the name is not found , then we have to go down and search down through the “ children ” windows until we find which particular window we are currently working with . after the window is found with a valid file name in it , block 912 determines if conditions are right . the conditions are : a key down , more than ten seconds since the last key , or a different window since the last interval . if all the conditions are true , block 914 stores a string using the int 60 routine , as described herein below . block 918 calls the next hook which means that we call the next person in the chain here to effectively process the keystroke . in windows there could be multiples of these keyboard filters and we can get called after some have been processed and before all of them have been processed so we come in and do our work and pass it on to the next guy which may be the application , or it may not be ; we don &# 39 ; t care . fig1 is a flow chart illustrating a dll windows interface to a mouse filter operation which works exactly like the keyboard filter . we get the mouse click , we go find the title of the current window in block 1008 , and decide whether it has a file number in it or whether we have to go searching for it and then we look for the conditions and the conditions are similar . it has to be a mouse down and either more than ten seconds , or in a different window . and if it meets those conditions , then we write the information off to the tsr buffer saying something happened . and then we call the next animal in the food chain in block 1016 to do whatever with this mouse click that needs to be done . fig1 is a flow chart illustrating a dll windows interface to the tsr data collection routine for the keyboard filter operation of fig9 and the mouse filter operation of fig1 . this is the way in which we use the interrupt 60 to communicate . block 1102 is called by block 914 of fig9 . block 1104 calls the tsr to tell it to do the get / set windows busy flag routine . block 1106 looks to see if the tsr is present in memory . if it isn &# 39 ; t present in memory , the program exits . if the tsr routine is not started , we don &# 39 ; t want windows to crash simply because it &# 39 ; s not there . so there is some error protection to make sure that windows isn &# 39 ; t crashing . if the tsr is present , then block 108 looks to see whether we got the windows busy flag . block 110 provides a one second delay because if we were in that routine that we went through before where we were doing the purge event buffer routine , then we can &# 39 ; t get it so we have to wait for a second and try again . this provides a synchronization mechanism between these two parts of the program to make sure that both people aren &# 39 ; t trying to write into the buffer at the same time . so assuming that when we finally get done with this , and we get the flag ( the windows busy flag ), then block 1112 indicates that we go call the tsr to get the address of where does the next record go into memory buffer . because we &# 39 ; re running in windows , block 1114 converts that real memory address to a virtual memory address because that is what windows applications are expecting , virtual memory addresses . then just like in int 21 , for example , block 1116 indicates that we do a store rectype and string routine which means that we store whether it &# 39 ; s a keystroke or a mouse click and we store whether it &# 39 ; s a name of the file on top of that window . block 1118 indicates a tsr update which is a third call inside the tsr that says move the pointer in the buffer just past the end of the record just entered . this is done so that the next piece of information to go into the buffer will be stored at the proper place because what was done was to get the buffer point and put the data in and how much data was put in . block 1120 indicates that the windows busy flag is cleared and that the tsr can use the buffer again . fig1 is a flow chart illustrating an activity data analyzer routine 1200 for a system according to the invention . once we get everything loaded serially into the activity log file , analysis can be done either locally or remotely . with regard to time and this system , one way to think about this is to divide your work up into various tasks and for each task have a stop watch . but for this type of stop watch , unlike a regular stop watch , you have to keep pressing the button to keep it going and if you don &# 39 ; t press the button after a while , it will stop . these are the active times used for this invention . all the stop watches are initialized to zero . cumulative time file are used to store the amount of time already spent . these files are updated to cumulatively track work . block 1202 initializes the times to zero . block 1204 loads current cumulative times from a cumulative time file 1206 . block 1208 gets the next activity and determines which tasks belong to that particular activity . block 1210 determines the owner of a particular activity . this means that if you set up so that everything inside the jones folder belongs to jones and everything inside the smith folder belongs to smith , we go read something from the activity file that says i opened up the a . b file inside the jones folder , then the owner logic will use that information which says that everything inside the jones folder belongs to the jones task to determine that the owner of that particular activity is jones . block 1212 checks if a job or activity is not to be counted . not every activity that the system might do belongs to a particular task . there are activities that don &# 39 ; t belong anywhere , for example , when the operating system reads and writes its own file . the act of opening that font file does not necessarily belong to an activity because the act of opening the font file belongs to the operating system . in an operating system such as windows , for example , the font file will get opened once for an application like microsoft word , even if multiple documents are using the font . the activity of opening the font in this particular example does not belong to a particular owner , it belongs to word . in this case , for example , this result equals no_job ?. if there is nojob , block 1214 checks the active time . the stop watches do not automatically shut off . the system has to periodically look to see if they have been running too long without any activity and shut them off if the result wasn &# 39 ; t equal to nojob . if the result was equal to a particular job , then block 1216 accumulates the time for that particular job . this is analogous to actors who spin plates on top of sticks . if you get some activity for user jones , the system gives the jones stick a little spin to keep the plate going . but if there is no continuing activity on jones , eventually the plate will fall off the stick . each activity is looked at to see who it belongs to and if it belongs to a certain person , then we simply give their plate another spin . for the concept of the determined owner , what the visual basic application does is to provide an interface with a database where a user specifies what the names of his tasks are , like jones and smith . then , what is specified is how you determine whether an activity belongs to jones or belongs to smith . this is implemented using string matching based upon the file names . in other words , every activity inside the jones directory on a certain disk drive belongs to jones . every activity that has the word “ smith ” in it , belongs to smith no matter where it is . a variety of different criteria can be specified , using or logic . an activity is classified if it matches a criterion that belongs to that particular task . particular things can be excluded . temporary files , backup files , or other things not to be tracked can be excluded in this way . for example , tracking of certain kinds of program applications like microsoft word and excel but not solitaire can be done . two owners can both get credited for the same activity . if smith is a graphic design project , you might watch for use of fractal design painter application and credit that use to smith . two tasks can share the same activity . fig1 . is a flow chart illustrating a routine 1300 for checking active times in block 1214 in the analyzer routine of fig1 , which is the logic for keeping the “ plates spinning ”. block 1302 starts a timing loop for each job . block 1304 calculates the difference in time between activities . block 1306 tests if the allowable idle time is exceeded to stop that stop watch . if not , the routine loops back to block 1302 for another job . if the idle time is exceeded , block 1308 accumulates the job time . if it &# 39 ; s time to stop that stop watch , then we accumulate the total time in block 1310 and go back to do the next job . if it &# 39 ; s not time to stop the stop watch , we go on to the next task . all tasks are looked at to determine if there &# 39 ; s any activity . if any files are updated , block 1312 writes the data out to the file . an event analyzer module reads the activity log file over a particular range of days . another module called a reports module provides an external interface to the system according to the invention . data can be imported from other programs and project manager . exports can be made to database project managers , etc . to provide printed reports , invoices and summary information . the event analyzer for the time tracking system is described in the following pseudo code to function as follows : total and current time are 0 relative ( i . e . they represent total hours / minutes / seconds ). active time is real - time and is used to compare with event times to determine if a job has exceeded it &# 39 ; s idle time limit . fig1 is an illustrative timing diagram illustrating starting , restarting , and ending of an analyzer timer for a task , according to the invention . an explanation of how a work computation data analyzer is as follows : for each task we keep what in electronic terms is called a “ re - triggerable one - shot ” monostable timer . this means that the timer can be reset from its current position to the maximum position at any time . it only expires if nothing has retriggered before the timeout value . a waveform for such a timer is shown in fig1 : fig1 a and 15b are illustrative timing diagrams for two tasks illustrating operation of respective analyzer timers . if one imagines each “ start ” as the detection of activity for a certain task then each re - start is another detection of activity for that same task . only when the timer “ expires ” does the work analyzer decide that work has been performed . that is when the time between the last event for this task and the current event for this task is greater than the idle time . in the work analyzer one of these “ timers ” is created for each task in the user &# 39 ; s database . when an activity is seen , the activity starts and restarts the timer . at the end of the analyzed time all the timers are assumed to have expired . a waveform form is shown in fig1 a - b with a user working on two tasks : the print module will contain an analyzer that attempts to correlate all information in the totaltime file , the job worked file and the cumulative job file before printing . if any of the totals don &# 39 ; t match the report will not be printed . in the event that the totaltime file or the cumulative job file is missing , the report can be printed but will contain a caption indicating that it is not a validated report . also the size and checksum for the first and last blocks of the job worked file will be calculated each time the file is opened or closed and if they don &# 39 ; t match an entry will be written to the file indicating tampering has occurred . a system and method according to the invention includes , but is not limited to , the following application areas : remote telecommuting employment ; determination of activity costs ; estimation of time and amount billable for future projects / work ; measurement of cost / benefit of new software or hardware ; project management linking ; accounting systems linking ; tracking of activities and time used on a distributed basis ; nano - business costing ; resource management tool ; assistance in social accounting ; manufacturing systems ; remote education to document study / activity time ; objective tool for screening new hires ; means for distributors to get into duplication , publication services and have authors trust activity count ; and video conferencing consultations with automatic billing calculations . for remote telecommuting employment applications , managers and clients can know when the employees or consultants are working and can measure productivity resulting in energy savings and improved air quality caused by reductions in miles driven in polluting vehicles . for determining activity costs such as , for example , the cost of financial reporting , accounting reconciliation , computer file maintenance , etc ., linkups to accounting software provide financial statements showing monthly / ytd costs by activity . for estimating time and amounts billable for future projects / work , a system according to the invention provides data to be exported and used in an estimating algorithm or used in statistical analysis to estimate at , for example , an 80 % probability using statistical functions found with spreadsheet programs . for measuring cost / benefit of new software or hardware , the system provides data for activity - based costing of activities and for determining benefits of new processes or products . for project management linking , the system can automatically feed recorded actuals into project software . for accounting systems linking , data entry of timecards information can be eliminated . for tracking of activities and time used on a distributed basis , instead of a centralized timer of services provided by mainframes , cable tv , etc ., activities and time used are tracked on a distributed basis . a user knows what he is going to be charged for services when the user is hooked up to a computer . current mainframe time tracking software tracks cpu time at one rate and does not accumulate charges based on directory / file criteria . the invention can be used in smart houses or in allocating mainframe charges to departments . for nano - business costing applications with a multi - tasking operating system on a desktop computer and the system &# 39 ; s ability to accumulate activities and costs in separate budgets , a computer user can simultaneously perform various types of business functions on a desktop computer and automatically have the activities documented and costs accumulated in the chosen business function , such as marketing , production , accounting , etc . as a resource management tool , the invention helps measure time and costs of various methods of getting a job done . the system helps to objectively determine the time , cost , and resources needed to perform a task , using a computer . given the information , a manager has useful information to determine how to allocate resources to accomplish multiple simultaneous tasks among a department or company . to assist in social accounting , the system helps to determine what it costs to implement a government program . a system helps to determine not just the funds that are distributed to the beneficiaries , but also the staff and material costs for managing the program . for manufacturing systems , this system with remote sensors , such as rf id devices , is used to document production and to assign costs . for remote education , the system is used to document study or activity time . a tutor or teacher can review a student &# 39 ; s approach and logic in solving a problem and can address any errors . the system facilitates multimedia programming training on demand with feedback on students approach to solving assigned programming exercises . the system is useful as an objective tool for screening new hires and for performance - based assessment testing . managers can screen candidates for a computer oriented job by assigning a task . the system will document time and activities but does not measure quality . the system provide valuable information for a manager to make an objective hiring decision in filling the job vacancy . installation of the system on disk duplicating machines would allow distributors to get into duplication or publication services and have the authors trust the counts of the distributors to verify that royalty payments have included all of the distributors sales . the system facilitates video conferencing consultations with automatic billing calculation . clients or patients can reach their professional or doctor , regardless of their geographical location and without having to go to their office and without having to manually start and stop a clock . the invention covers browser activity where browser programs are just application programs and are treated by the present invention like any other program . browsers interact with files on a local machine and they also interact with files that are accessed via networks such as the internet / intranet . to extend the processes of the present invention to browsers , it is necessary to enhance the data collector to monitor traffic between a particular application and the internet / intranet in addition to the normal traffic between the application and the dos file system . as illustrated in fig1 interaction between an application and the internet is performed by a software component known as a network operating system , nos , 130 , which is similar in function and features to a disk operating system , dos , 118 , as previously described in connection with the system 100 . a network 132 is illustrated . the technical methods involved in intercepting interactions or traffic between an application and the nos are slightly different than those between an application and dos but from a high level they appear the same ( i . e ., the data collector for nos watches for file open and close , file read and file write operations just as the data collector for dos does . fig1 illustrates a internet / intranet initialization process which is to the dos initialization which does not actually hook an interrupt but inserts a hook of similar design . the actual running process uses the same identical code to write the collected data to the data collector or disk file . this provides a process for hooking internet / intranet traffic and is similar to the concept of hooking disk traffic . the routing of the data thus collected to a data collector file writer uses exactly the same method used to write keyboard and mouse activity to the file . fig1 is similar to fig2 and further includes block 216 which indicates the step of finding a network interface . the network connects non - file system services providers which provide interface such as , for example , telephony interfaces and email provider interfaces . block 218 indicates that old code is saved . block 220 inserts system calls to a data collector for network activities . fig1 is analogous and similar to fig5 and illustrates a network call routine 1700 for an external network provider . block 1702 extracts information regarding the user and the provider . block 1704 analyzes information regarding who are active current uses of the provider . block 1706 constructs a data collection for activities . block 1708 writes and saves the user activity data collection records . block 1710 calls the network interface . fig1 follows block 1710 and illustrates an additional routine 1800 which saves additional information . decision block 1802 determines if there is additional information to be stored . if yes , that information is stored as illustrated by block 1804 in the ddc file and returns to the end of the routine . network applications of the invention include monitoring of actual activity at a particular worldwide web site . activity can also be monitors between the computer running the data collector and other computers on its network that does not go through the dos . this activity includes video streams , audio streams , game playing , internet telephony , etc . in general , any kind of conversation ( either two - way or one - way ) can be monitored and tracked , such as , for example , pay - per - play or pay - per - view . additional combinations of work done on the local computer and work performed over the network can also be monitored including file access on remote systems and remote data collectors , in which , for example , a data collector is installed on a machine in the field which sends its information over a network to another data collector for concentration at a common site . as described above , in addition to operating system environments such as dos , windows , macintosh , etc ., the invention is useful with a remote server which has application accessed by a user through a network the server itself can collect user activity information . the functionality of the tsr 110 is extended to include a nos , which is treated as another data store . a browser accesses a data file in a remote computer and uses the nos as a two - way connection . for server and browser application the monitoring system determines which users are active and which files or functions are being used by the user . the foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention have been presented for the purposes of illustration and description . they are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed , and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching . the embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application , to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated . it is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents .
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the following examples specifically illustrate lithium secondary batteries according to the present invention . further , comparative examples will be taken to make it clear that in the lithium secondary batteries of the examples , decrease in the discharge capacity is restrained even when the batteries in a charged state are stored under high temperature conditions . it should be appreciated that the lithium secondary batteries according to the present invention are not particularly limited to those in the following examples , and various changes and modifications may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof . in the example a1 , a positive electrode and a negative electrode were fabricated in the following manner , and an electrolyte was prepared in the following manner , to fabricate a flat - type lithium secondary battery as shown in fig1 . a lithium - containing composite cobalt dioxide licoo 2 was used as a positive electrode active material . powder of licoo 2 , carbon materials such as artificial carbon , acetylene black , and graphite as a conductive agent , and a solution obtained by dissolving polyvinylidene fluoride as a binding agent in n - methyl - 2 - pyrolidone were mixed , to prepare a slurry containing the powder of licoo 2 , the conductive agent , and the polyvinylidene fluoride in the weight ratio of 90 : 5 : 5 . subsequently , the slurry was uniformly applied to one side of an aluminum foil as a positive - electrode current collector la by means of the doctor blade coating method . the slurry on the positive - electrode current collector 1 a was heat - treated at 130 ° c . for 2 hours to remove the n - methyl - 2 - pyrolidone as a solvent , after which the positive - electrode current collector 1 a which was coated with the slurry was rolled by a roll press , to obtain a positive electrode 1 . natural graphite ( d 002 = 3 . 35 å ) was used as a negative electrode active material . powder of the natural graphite and a solution obtained by dissolving polyvinylidene fluoride as a binding agent in n - methyl - 2 - pyrolidone were mixed , to prepare a slurry containing the powder of the natural graphite and the polyvinylidene fluoride in the weight ratio of 95 : 5 . subsequently , the slurry was uniformly applied to one side of a copper foil as a negative - electrode current collector 2 a by means of the doctor blade coating method . the slurry on the negative - electrode current collector 2 a was heat - treated at 130 ° c . for 2 hours to remove the n - methyl - 2 - pyrolidone as a solvent , after which the negative - electrode current collector 2 a which was coated with the slurry was rolled , to obtain a negative electrode 2 . the example a1 employed as a solute lin ( cf 3 so 2 ) 2 , which is an imide group lithium salt represented by the above - mentioned formula lin ( c m f 2m + 1 so 2 )( c n f 2n + 1 so 2 ) wherein m = 1 and n = 1 . the above - mentioned lin ( cf 3 so 2 ) 2 was dissolved in a concentration of 1 . 0 mole / liter in a mixed solvent containing ethylene carbonate ( ec ) and diethyl carbonate ( dec ) in a volume ratio of 40 : 60 to prepare an electrolyte solution ( electrolyte ). then , 1 . 0 wt % of lithium fluoride lif was added to the electrolyte solution as an additive . in fabricating a battery , as shown in fig1 a microporous film made of polypropylene and impregnated with the above - mentioned electrolyte was interposed as a separator 3 between the positive electrode 1 and the negative electrode 2 respectively fabricated in the above - mentioned manners , after which they were contained in a battery case 4 comprising a positive - electrode can 4 a and a negative - electrode can 4 b , and the positive electrode 1 was connected to the positive - electrode can 4 a via the positive - electrode current collector 1 a while the negative electrode 2 was connected to the negative - electrode can 4 b via the negative - electrode current collector 2 a , to electrically separate the positive - electrode can 4 a and the negative - electrode can 4 b from each other by an insulating packing 5 , to obtain a lithium secondary batter of example a1 having a capacity of 8 mah . in the example a2 , a lithium secondary battery was fabricated in the same manner as that in the above - mentioned example a1 except that only the electrolyte used in the example a1 was changed . in preparing an electrolyte , the example a2 employed as a solute lin ( c 2 f 5 so 2 ) 2 , which is an imide group lithium salt represented by the above - mentioned formula lin ( c m f 2m + 1 so 2 )( c n f 2n + 1 so 2 ) wherein m = 2 and n = 2 . the above - mentioned lin ( c 2 f 5 so 2 ) 2 was dissolved in a concentration of 1 . 0 mole / liter in a mixed solvent containing ethylene carbonate ( ec ) and diethyl carbonate ( dec ) in a volume ratio of 40 : 60 to prepare an electrolyte solution ( electrolyte ). then , 1 . 0 wt % of lithium fluoride lif was added to the electrolyte solution as an additive . in the example a3 , a lithium secondary battery was fabricated in the same manner as that in the above - mentioned example a1 except that only the electrolyte used in the example a1 was changed . in preparing an electrolyte , the example a3 employed as a solute lin ( cf 3 so 2 )( c 4 f 9 so 2 ), which is an imide group lithium salt represented by the above - mentioned formula lin ( c m f 2m + 1 so 2 ) ( c n f 2n + 1 so 2 ) wherein m = 1 and n = 4 . the above - mentioned lin ( cf 3 so 2 )( c 4 f 9 so 2 ) was dissolved in a concentration of 1 . 0 mole / liter in a mixed solvent containing ethylene carbonate ( ec ) and diethyl carbonate ( dec ) in a volume ratio of 40 : 60 to prepare an electrolyte solution ( electrolyte ). then , 1 . 0 wt % of lithium fluoride lif was added to the electrolyte solution as an additive . in the example b1 , a lithium secondary battery was fabricated in the same manner as that in the above - mentioned example a1 except that only the electrolyte used in the example a1 was changed . in preparing an electrolyte , the example b1 employed as a solute lin ( cf 3 so 2 ) 2 , which is an imide group lithium salt represented by the above - mentioned formula lin ( c m f 2m + 1 so 2 )( c n f 2n + 1 so 2 ) wherein m = 1 and n = 1 , as in the case of the above - mentioned example a1 . the above - mentioned lin ( cf 3 so 2 ) 2 was dissolved in a concentration of 1 . 0 mole / liter in a mixed solvent containing ethylene carbonate ( ec ) and diethyl carbonate ( dec ) in a volume ratio of 40 : 60 to prepare an electrolyte solution ( electrolyte ). then , 1 . 0 wt % of trilithium phosphate li 3 po 4 was added to the electrolyte solution as an additive . in the example b2 , a lithium secondary battery was fabricated in the same manner as that in the above - mentioned example a1 except that only the electrolyte used in the example a1 was changed . in preparing an electrolyte , the example b2 employed as a solute lin ( c 2 f 5 so 2 ) 2 , which is an imide group lithium salt represented by the above - mentioned formula lin ( c m f 2m + 1 so 2 )( c n f 2n + 1 so 2 ) wherein m = 2 and n = 2 , as in the case of the above - mentioned example a2 . the above - mentioned lin ( c 2 f 5 so 2 ) 2 was dissolved in a concentration of 1 . 0 mole / liter in a mixed solvent containing ethylene carbonate ( ec ) and diethyl carbonate ( dec ) in a volume ratio of 40 : 60 to prepare an electrolyte solution ( electrolyte ). then , 1 . 0 wt % of trilithium phosphate li 3 po 4 was added to the electrolyte solution as an additive . in the example b3 , a lithium secondary battery was fabricated in the same manner as that in the above - mentioned example a1 except that only the electrolyte used in the example a1 was changed . in preparing an electrolyte , the example b3 employed as a solute lin ( cf 3 so 2 )( c 4 f 9 so 2 ), which is an imide group lithium salt represented by the above - mentioned formula lin ( c m f 2m + 1 so 2 )( c n f 2n + 1 so 2 ) wherein m = 1 and n = 4 , as in the case of the above - mentioned example a3 . the above - mentioned lin ( cf 3 so 2 )( c 4 f 9 so 2 ) was dissolved in a concentration of 1 . 0 mole / liter in a mixed solvent containing ethylene carbonate ( ec ) and diethyl carbonate ( dec ) in a volume ratio of 40 : 60 to prepare an electrolyte solution ( electrolyte ). then , 1 . 0 wt % of trilithium phosphate li 3 po 4 was added to the electrolyte solution as an additive . in the example c1 , a lithium secondary battery was fabricated in the same manner as that in the above - mentioned example a1 except that only the electrolyte used in the example a1 was changed . in preparing an electrolyte , the example c1 employed as a solute lic ( cf 3 so 2 ) 3 , which is a methide group lithium salt represented by lic ( c p f 2p + 1 so 2 )( c q f 2q + 1 so 2 )( c r f 2r + 1 so 2 ) wherein p = 1 , q = 1 , and r = 1 . the above - mentioned lic ( cf 3 so 2 ) 3 was dissolved in a concentration of 1 . 0 mole / liter in a mixed solvent containing ethylene carbonate ( ec ) and diethyl carbonate ( dec ) in a volume ratio of 40 : 60 to prepare an electrolyte solution ( electrolyte ). then , 1 . 0 wt % of lithium fluoride lif was added to the electrolyte solution as an additive . in the example c2 , a lithium secondary battery was fabricated in the same manner as that in the above - mentioned example a1 except that only the electrolyte used in the example a1 was changed . in preparing an electrolyte , the example c2 employed as a solute lic ( cf 3 so 2 ) 3 , which is a methide group lithium salt represented by lic ( c p f 2p + 1 so 2 )( c q f 2q + 1 so 2 )( c r f 2r + 1 so 2 ) wherein p = 1 , q = 1 , and r = 1 , as in the case of the above - mentioned example c1 . the above - mentioned lic ( cf 3 so 2 ) 3 was dissolved in a concentration of 1 . 0 mole / liter in a mixed solvent containing ethylene carbonate ( ec ) and diethyl carbonate ( dec ) in a volume ratio of 40 : 60 to prepare an electrolyte solution ( electrolyte ). then , 1 . 0 wt % of trilithium phosphate li 3 po 4 was added to the electrolyte solution as an additive . in the comparative example 1 , a lithium secondary battery was fabricated in the same manner as that in the above - mentioned example a1 except that only the electrolyte used in the example a1 was changed . in preparing an electrolyte , the comparative example 1 employed as a solute lin ( cf 3 so 2 ) 2 , which is an imide group lithium salt represented by the above - mentioned formula lin ( c m f 2m + 1 so 2 )( c n f 2n + 1 so 2 ) wherein m = 1 and n = 1 , as in the case of the above - mentioned examples a1 and b1 . the above - mentioned lin ( cf 3 so 2 ) 2 was dissolved in a concentration of 1 . 0 mole / liter in a mixed solvent containing ethylene carbonate ( ec ) and diethyl carbonate ( dec ) in a volume ratio of 40 : 60 to prepare an electrolyte solution ( electrolyte ). neither of a fluoride and phosphorus compound was added to the electrolyte solution . in the comparative example 2 , a lithium secondary battery was fabricated in the same manner as that in the above - mentioned example a1 except that only the electrolyte used in the example a1 was changed . in preparing an electrolyte , the comparative example 2 employed as a solute lin ( c 2 f 5 so 2 ) 2 , which is an imide group lithium salt represented by the above - mentioned formula lin ( c m f 2m + 1 so 2 )( c n f 2n + 1 so 2 ) wherein m = 2 and n = 2 , as in the case of the above - mentioned examples a2 and b2 . the above - mentioned lin ( c 2 f 5 so 2 ) 2 was dissolved in a concentration of 1 . 0 mole / liter in a mixed solvent containing ethylene carbonate ( ec ) and diethyl carbonate ( dec ) in a volume ratio of 40 : 60 to prepare an electrolyte solution ( electrolyte ). neither of a fluoride and phosphorus compound was added to the electrolyte solution . in the comparative example 3 , a lithium secondary battery was fabricated in the same manner as that in the above - mentioned example a1 except that only the electrolyte used in the example a1 was changed . in preparing an electrolyte , the comparative example 3 employed as a solute lin ( cf 3 so 2 )( c 4 f 9 so 2 ), which is an imide group lithium salt represented by the above - mentioned formula lin ( c m f 2m + 1 so 2 )( c n f 2n + 1 so 2 ) wherein m = 1 and n = 4 , as in the case of the above - mentioned examples a3 and b3 . the above - mentioned lin ( cf 3 so 2 )( c 4 f 9 so 2 ) was dissolved in a concentration of 1 . 0 mole / liter in a mixed solvent containing ethylene carbonate ( ec ) and diethyl carbonate ( dec ) in a volume ratio of 40 : 60 to prepare an electrolyte solution ( electrolyte ). neither of a fluoride and phosphorus compound was added to the electrolyte solution . in the comparative example 4 , a lithium secondary battery was fabricated in the same manner as that in the above - mentioned example a1 except that only the electrolyte used in the example a1 was changed . in preparing an electrolyte , the comparative example 4 employed as a solute lic ( cf 3 so 2 ) 3 , which is a methide group lithium salt represented by lic ( c p f 2p + 1 so 2 )( c q f 2q + 1 so 2 )( c r f 2r + 1 so 2 ) wherein p = 1 , q = 1 , and r = 1 , as in the case of the above - mentioned examples c1 and c2 . the above - mentioned lic ( cf 3 so 2 ) 3 was dissolved in a concentration of 1 . 0 mole / liter in a mixed solvent containing ethylene carbonate ( ec ) and diethyl carbonate ( dec ) in a volume ratio of 40 : 60 to prepare an electrolyte solution ( electrolyte ). neither of a fluoride and phosphorus compound was added to the electrolyte solution . each of the lithium secondary batteries in the examples a1 to a3 , b1 to b3 , c1 , c2 , and the comparative examples 1 to 4 fabricated as above was charged with constant current of 1 ma up to 4 . 1 v and was then discharged with constant current of 1 ma up to 2 . 5 v at room temperature of 25 ° c ., to find an initial discharge capacity q 0 . subsequently , each of the above - mentioned batteries was charged with constant current of 1 ma up to 4 . 1 v , was then stored for 10 days at a temperature of 60 ° c ., and thereafter , was discharged with constant current of 1 ma up to 2 . 5 v , to find a discharge capacity q 1 after the storage under high temperature conditions . the ratio of the discharging capacity q 1 after the storage under high temperature conditions to the initial discharging capacity q 0 [( q 0 / q 1 )× 100 ] was found as the percentage of capacity retention . the results were shown in the following table 1 . as apparent from the result , each of the lithium secondary batteries in the comparative examples 1 to 4 employing the electrolyte solution using as a solute an imide group lithium salt or a methide group lithium salt , to which neither of a fluoride or phosphorus compound is added presented a low percentage of capacity retention of 34 to 42 % after the storage under high temperature conditions . on the other hand , each of the lithium secondary batteries in the examples a1 to a3 , b1 to b3 , c1 , and c2 employing the above - mentioned electrolyte solution to which lithium fluoride lif or trilithium phosphate li 3 po 4 is added presented a high percentage of capacity retention of 69 to 76 % after the storage under high temperature conditions , and was remarkably improved in storage characteristics in a charged state . the reason for this is conceivably that when a fluoride or a phosphorus compound is added to the electrolyte solution using as a solute an imide group lithium salt or a methide group lithium salt , a protective film is formed on a surface of the positive electrode 1 or negative electrode 2 . the protective film thus formed serves to prevent direct contact between the electrolyte solution and the positive electrode or negative electrode and hence , the electrolyte solution is prevented from being decomposed when the lithium secondary battery is stored in a charged state , resulting in improved storage characteristics of the battery in a charge state . although each of the lithium secondary battery in the above - mentioned examples a1 to a3 , b1 to b3 , c1 , and c2 employed the mixed solvent containing ethylene carbonate ( ec ) and diethyl carbonate ( dec ) in a volume ratio of 40 : 60 as a solvent in the electrolyte solution , substantially the same effects may be attained when propylene carbonate ( pc ), butylene carbonate ( bc ), dimethyl carbonate ( dmc ), sulfolane ( sl ), vinylene carbonate ( vc ), methyl ethyl carbonate ( mec ), tetrahydrofuran ( thf ), 1 , 2 - diethoxyethane ( dee ), 1 , 2 - dimethoxyethane ( dme ), ethoxymethoxyethane ( eme ), and the like besides the above - mentioned ethylene carbonate ( ec ) and diethyl carbonate ( dec ) are used alone or in combination of two or more types . in the examples a4 to a17 , lithium secondary batteries were fabricated in the same manner as that in the above - mentioned example a1 except that only the electrolyte used in the example a1 was changed . in preparing an electrolyte , the examples a4 to a17 each employed as a solute lin ( c 2 f 5 so 2 ) 2 , which is an imide group lithium salt represented by the above - mentioned formula lin ( c m f 2m + 1 so 2 )( c n f 2n + 1 so 2 ) wherein m = 2 and n = 2 , and the above - mentioned lin ( c 2 f 5 so 2 ) 2 was dissolved in a concentration of 1 . 0 mole / liter in a mixed solvent containing ethylene carbonate ( ec ) and diethyl carbonate ( dec ) in a volume ratio of 40 : 60 to prepare an electrolyte solution ( electrolyte ), as in the case of the above - mentioned example a2 . then , in each of the examples a4 to a17 , the type of the fluoride added to the above - mentioned electrolyte solution as an additive in the above - mentioned example a2 was changed . specifically , the example a4 employed agf ; the example a5 employed cof 2 ; the example a6 employed cof 3 ; the example a7 employed cuf ; the example a8 employed cuf 2 ; the example a9 employed fef 2 ; the example a10 employed fef 3 ; the example all employed mnf 2 ; the example a12 employed mnf 3 ; the example a13 employed snf 2 ; the example a14 employed snf 4 ; the example a15 employed tif 3 ; the example a16 employed tif 4 ; and the example a17 employed zrf 4 , as shown in the following table 2 . these additives were respectively added to the electrolyte solutions at the ratio of 1 . 0 wt % based on the total weight of each electrolyte solution . in the example b4 , a lithium secondary battery was fabricated in the same manner as that in the above - mentioned example a1 except that only the electrolyte used in the example a1 was changed . in preparing an electrolyte , the example b4 employed as a solute lin ( c 2 f 5 so 2 ) 2 , which is an imide group lithium salt represented by the above - mentioned formula lin ( c m f 2m + 1 so 2 )( c n f 2n + 1 so 2 ) wherein m = 2 and n = 2 , and the above - mentioned lin ( c 2 f 5 so 2 ) 2 was dissolved in a concentration of 1 . 0 mole / liter in a mixed solvent containing ethylene carbonate ( ec ) and diethyl carbonate ( dec ) in a volume ratio of 40 : 60 to prepare an electrolyte solution ( electrolyte ), as in the case of the above - mentioned example b2 . then , in the example b4 , the type of the phosphorus compound added to the above - mentioned electrolyte solution as an additive in the above - mentioned example b2 was changed . specifically , 1 . 0 wt % of lipo 3 was added to the electrolyte solution as shown in the following table 2 . with respect to each of the lithium secondary batteries according to the examples a4 to a17 and b4 fabricated as above , the percentage of capacity retention (%) was found in the same manner as that in each of the above - mentioned lithium secondary batteries . the results , along with those of the above - mentioned examples a2 , b2 , and comparative example 2 , are shown in the following table 2 . as apparent from the result , each of the lithium secondary batteries in the examples a2 and a4 to a17 in which the fluoride selected from the group consisting of lif , agf , cof 2 , cof 3 , cuf , cuf 2 , fef 2 , fef 3 , mnf 2 , mnf 3 , snf 2 , snf 4 , tif 3 , tif 4 , and zrf 4 was added to the electrolyte solution using as a solute an imide group lithium salt and each of the lithium secondary batteries in the examples b2 and b4 in which the phosphorus compound selected from the group consisting of lipo 3 and li 3 po 4 was added to the above - mentioned electrolyte solution presented a high percentage of capacity retention of 70 to 78 %, and was remarkably improved in storage characteristics in a charged state as compared with the lithium secondary battery in the comparative example 2 . although each of the lithium secondary battery in the above - mentioned examples a4 to a17 and b4 cites the electrolyte solution using as a solute an imide group lithium salt , substantially the same effects may be attained by an electrolyte solution using as a solute a methide group lithium salt . in the examples d1 to d6 , a lithium secondary batteries were fabricated in the same manner as that in the above - mentioned example a1 except that only the electrolyte used in the example a1 was changed . in preparing an electrolyte , the examples d1 to d6 each employed as a solute lin ( c 2 f 5 so 2 ) 2 , which is an imide group lithium salt represented by the above - mentioned formula lin ( c m f 2m + 1 so 2 )( c n f 2n + 1 so 2 ) wherein m = 2 and n = 2 , and the above - mentioned lin ( c 2 f 5 so 2 ) 2 was dissolved in a concentration of 1 . 0 mole / liter in a mixed solvent containing ethylene carbonate ( ec ) and diethyl carbonate ( dec ) in a volume ratio of 40 : 60 to prepare an electrolyte solution ( electrolyte ), as in the above - mentioned example b2 . in the examples d1 to d6 , there were used as an additive added to the above - mentioned electrolyte a mixture containing lif and li 3 po 4 in a weight ratio of 1 : 1 in the example d1 ; a mixture containing lif and lipo 3 in a weight ratio of 1 : 1 in the example d2 ; a mixture containing tif 4 and li 3 po 4 in a weight ratio of 1 : 1 in the example d3 ; a mixture containing tif 4 and lipo 3 in a weight ratio of 1 : 1 in the example d4 ; a mixture containing lif and tif 4 in a weight ratio of 1 : 1 in the example d5 ; and a mixture containing li 3 po 4 and lipo 3 in a weight ratio of 1 : 1 in the example d6 , as shown in the following table 3 . these additives were respectively added to the electrolyte solutions in at the ratio of 1 . 0 wt % based on the total weight of each electrolyte solution . with respect to each of the lithium secondary batteries according to the examples d1 to d6 fabricated as above , the percentage of capacity retention (%) was found in the same manner as that in each of the above - mentioned lithium secondary batteries . the results , along with that of the above - mentioned comparative example 2 , are shown in the following table 3 . as apparent from the result , each of the lithium secondary batteries in the examples d1 to d6 in which two types of materials selected from a fluoride and phosphorus compound were added to the electrolyte solution as an additive was remarkably improved in storage characteristics in a charged state as compared with the lithium secondary battery in the comparative example 2 in which neither of a fluoride and a phosphorus compound was added to the electrolyte solution . further , when the lithium secondary batteries in the examples d1 to d6 were compared with each other , it was found that the lithium secondary batteries in the examples d1 and d4 in which the mixture of the fluoride and phosphorus compound is added to the electrolyte solution presented further improved percentage of capacity retention as compared with the lithium secondary battery in the example d5 in which the mixture of two types of fluorides was added to the electrolyte solution and the lithium secondary battery in the example d6 in which the mixture of two types of phosphorus compounds was added to the electrolyte solution . although each of the lithium secondary battery in the above - mentioned examples d1 to d6 cites the electrolyte solution using as a solute an imide group lithium salt , substantially the same effects may be attained by an electrolyte solution using as a solute a methide group lithium salt . in the examples d1 . 1 to d1 . 6 , lithium secondary batteries were fabricated in the same manner as that in the above - mentioned example a1 except that only the electrolyte used in the example a1 was changed . in each of the examples d1 . 1 to d1 . 6 , in preparing an electrolyte , lin ( c 2 f 5 so 2 ) 2 was dissolved in a concentration of 1 . 0 mole / liter in a mixed solvent containing ethylene carbonate ( ec ) and diethyl carbonate ( dec ) in a volume ratio of 40 : 60 to prepare an electrolyte solution ( electrolyte ), and a mixture containing lif and li 3 po 4 in a weight ratio of 1 : 1 was added to the electrolyte solution , as in the above - mentioned example d1 . in the examples d1 . 1 to d1 . 6 , the amount of the mixture containing lif and li 3 po 4 in a weight ratio of 1 : 1 added to the above - mentioned electrolyte solution in the example d1 was changed as shown in the following table 4 . more specifically , an amount of the mixture added to the electrolyte solution was 0 . 001 wt % based on the total weight of the electrolyte solution in the example d1 . 1 ; 0 . 01 wt % based on the total weight of the electrolyte solution in the example d1 . 2 ; 0 . 1 wt % based on the total weight of the electrolyte solution in the example d1 . 3 ; 2 . 0 wt % based on the total weight of the electrolyte solution in the example d1 . 4 ; 5 . 0 wt % based on the total weight of the electrolyte solution in the example d1 . 5 ; and 10 . 0 wt % based on the total weight of the electrolyte solution in the example d1 . 6 . with respect to each of the lithium secondary batteries according to the examples d1 . 1 to d1 . 6 fabricated as above , the percentage of capacity retention (%) was found in the same manner as that in each of the above - mentioned lithium secondary batteries . the results , along with that of the above - mentioned example d1 , are shown in the following table 4 . as apparent from the result , each of the lithium secondary batteries in the examples d1 . 1 to d1 . 6 in which the mixture containing lif and li 3 po 4 in a weight ratio of 1 : 1 was added to the electrolyte solution as an additive in the range of 0 . 001 to 10 . 0 wt % based on the total weight of the electrolyte solution was remarkably improved in storage characteristics in a charged state as compared with the lithium secondary battery in the comparative example 2 in which neither of a fluoride and phosphorus compound was added to the electrolyte solution . further , when the lithium secondary batteries in the examples d1 and d1 . 1 to d1 . 6 were compared with each other , it was found that the lithium secondary batteries in the examples d1 and d1 . 2 to d1 . 5 in which the mixture containing li 3 po 4 and lipo 3 in a weight ratio of 1 : 1 were added to the electrolyte solution as an additive in the range of 0 . 01 to 5 . 0 wt % based on the total weight of the electrolyte solution presented further improved percentage of capacity retention . the reason for this is conceivably that when an amount of the additive containing li 3 po 4 and lipo 3 in a weight ratio of 1 : 1 added to the electrolyte solution is too small , a film formed on a surface of the positive electrode or negative electrode by the additive is hardly made uniform , while when the amount is too large , the film becomes thick , resulting in increased resistance . although each of the above - mentioned examples d1 and d1 . 1 to d1 . 6 presents a case where the mixture of lif and li 3 po 4 is added to the electrolyte solution using as a solute an imide group lithium salt , substantially the same tendency may be observed in a case where a mixture of another fluoride and phosphorus compound ; a mixture of fluorides ; a mixture of phosphorus compounds ; or one type of fluoride or phosphorus compound is added , and in a case where the electrolyte solution employs as a solute a methide group lithium salt . in each of the examples e1 and e2 , in preparing an electrolyte , lin ( c 2 f 5 so 2 ) 2 was dissolved in a concentration of 1 . 0 mole / liter in a mixed solvent containing ethylene carbonate ( ec ) and diethyl carbonate ( dec ) in a volume ratio of 40 : 60 to prepare an electrolyte solution ( electrolyte ), as in the case of the above - mentioned example d1 . further , as a polymer material , the example e1 employed polyethylene oxide ( peo ) having molecular weight of about 200 , 000 while the example e2 employed polyvinylidene fluoride ( pvdf ) having molecular weight of about 200 , 000 . films respectively composed of the above - mentioned polymer materials were formed on respective positive electrodes by means of the casting method . subsequently , an additive comprising a mixture containing lif and li 3 po 4 in a weight ratio of 1 : 1 , together with the above - mentioned electrolyte solution , was added to each of the films , thus giving a gelated polymer electrolyte containing 1 . 0 wt % of the additive comprising the mixture containing lif and li 3 po 4 in a weight ratio of 1 : 1 on the positive electrode . except for the above , the same procedure as that in the above - mentioned example a1 was taken to fabricate each lithium secondary battery . with respect to each of the lithium secondary batteries according to the examples e1 and e2 fabricated as above , the percentage of capacity retention (%) was found in the same manner as that in each of the above - mentioned lithium secondary batteries . the results , along with that of the above - mentioned example d1 , are shown in the following table 5 . as apparent from the result , each of the lithium secondary batteries in the examples e1 and e2 employing the gelated polymer electrolyte obtained by adding the mixture containing lif and li 3 po 4 in a weight ratio of 1 : 1 together with the electrolyte solution to the polymer material presented further improved percentage of capacity retention as compared with the lithium secondary battery in the example d1 employing the electrolyte solution to which the mixture containing lif and li 3 po 4 in a weight ratio of 1 : 1 is added . although each of the above - mentioned examples e1 and e2 presents a case where the mixture containing lif and li 3 po 4 in a weight ratio of 1 : 1 , together with the electrolyte solution using as a solute an imide group lithium salt , was added to the polymer material , substantially the same effects may be attained in a case where a mixture of another fluoride and phosphorus compound ; a mixture of fluorides ; a mixture of phosphorus compounds ; or one type of fluoride or phosphorus compound is added , and in a case where the electrolyte solution employs as a solute a methide group lithium salt . although the present invention has been fully described by way of examples , it is to be noted that various changes and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art . therefore , unless otherwise such changes and modifications depart from the scope of the present invention , they should be construed as being included therein .
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the following description with reference to the drawings provides illustrative examples of devices and methods according to embodiments of the invention . such description is for illustrative purposes only and not for purposes of limiting the same . in the context of the current application , the term “ semiconductor substrate ” or “ semiconductive substrate ” or “ semiconductive wafer fragment ” or “ wafer fragment ” or “ wafer ” will be understood to mean any construction comprising semiconductor material , including but not limited to bulk semiconductive materials such as a semiconductor wafer ( either alone or in assemblies comprising other materials thereon ), and semiconductive material layers ( either alone or in assemblies comprising other materials ). the term “ substrate ” refers to any supporting structure including , but not limited to , the semiconductive substrates , wafer fragments or wafers described above . “ l o ” as used herein is the inherent periodicity or pitch value ( bulk period or repeat unit ) of structures that self assemble upon annealing from a self - assembling ( sa ) block copolymer . “ l b ” as used herein is the periodicity or pitch value of a blend of a block copolymer with one or more of its constituent homopolymers . “ l ” is used herein to indicate the center - to - center cylinder pitch or spacing of cylinders of the block copolymer or blend , and is equivalent to “ l o ” for a pure block copolymer and “ l b ” for a copolymer blend . in embodiments of the invention , a polymer material ( e . g ., film , layer ) is prepared by guided self - assembly of block copolymers , with both polymer domains at the air interface . block copolymer materials spontaneously assemble into periodic structures by microphase separation of the constituent polymer blocks after annealing , forming ordered domains at nanometer - scale dimensions . in embodiments of the invention , a one - dimensional ( 1 - d ) array of perpendicular - oriented cylinders is formed within a trench . in other embodiments , two rows of cylinders can be formed in each trench . following self assembly , the pattern of perpendicular - oriented cylinders that is formed on the substrate can then be used , for example , as an etch mask for patterning nanosized features into the underlying substrate through selective removal of one block of the self - assembled block copolymer . since the domain sizes and periods ( l ) involved in this method are determined by the chain length of a block copolymer ( mw ), resolution can exceed other techniques such as conventional photolithography . processing costs using the technique is significantly less than extreme ultraviolet ( euv ) photolithography , which has comparable resolution . a method for fabricating a self - assembled block copolymer material that defines a one - dimensional ( 1 - d ) array of nanometer - scale , perpendicular - oriented cylinders according to an embodiment of the invention is illustrated in fig1 - 6 . the described embodiment involves a thermal anneal of a cylindrical - phase block copolymer in combination with a graphoepitaxy technique that utilizes a lithographically defined trench as a guide with a floor composed of a material that is neutral wetting to both polymer blocks , and sidewalls and ends that are preferential wetting to one polymer block and function as constraints to induce the block copolymer to self - assemble into an ordered 1 - d array of a single row of cylinders in a polymer matrix oriented perpendicular to the trench floor and registered to the trench sidewalls . in some embodiments , two rows of cylinders can be formed in each trench . the block copolymer or blend is constructed such that all of the polymer blocks will have equal preference for the air interface during the anneal . for a thermal anneal , such diblock copolymers include , for example , poly ( styrene )- b - poly ( methylmethacrylate ) ( ps - b - pmma ) or other ps - b - poly ( acrylate ) or ps - b - poly ( methacrylate ), poly ( styrene )- b - poly ( lactide ) ( ps - b - pla ), and poly ( styrene )- b - poly ( tert - butyl acrylate ) ( ps - b - ptba ), among others . although ps - b - pmma diblock copolymers are used in the illustrated embodiment , other types of block copolymers ( i . e ., triblock or multiblock copolymers ) can be used . examples of triblock copolymers include abc copolymers , and aba copolymers ( e . g ., ps - pmma - ps and pmma - ps - pmma ). the l value of the block copolymer can be modified , for example , by adjusting the molecular weight of the block copolymer . the block copolymer material can also be formulated as a binary or ternary blend comprising a block copolymer and one or more homopolymers ( hps ) of the same type of polymers as the polymer blocks in the block copolymer , to produce a blend that will swell the size of the polymer domains and increase the l value . the volume fraction of the homopolymers can range from 0 to about 60 %. an example of a ternary diblock copolymer blend is a ps - b - pmma / ps / pmma blend , for example , 60 % of 46k / 21k ps - b - pmma , 20 % of 20k polystyrene and 20 % of 20k poly ( methyl methacrylate ). a blend of ps - peo and about 0 - 40 % peo homopolymer ( hp ) can also be used to produce perpendicular cylinders during a thermal anneal ; it is believed that the added peo homopolymer may function , at least in part , to lower the surface energy of the peo domains to that of ps . the film morphology , including the domain sizes and periods ( l o ) of the microphase - separated domains , can be controlled by chain length of a block copolymer ( molecular weight , mw ) and volume fraction of the ab blocks of a diblock copolymer to produce cylindrical morphologies ( among others ). for example , for volume fractions at ratios of the two blocks generally between about 60 : 40 and 80 : 20 , the diblock copolymer will microphase separate and self - assemble into periodic cylindrical domains of polymer b within a matrix of polymer a . an example of a cylinder - forming ps - b - pmma copolymer material ( l o ˜ 35 nm ) to form about 20 nm diameter cylindrical pmma domains in a matrix of ps is composed of about 70 % ps and 30 % pmma with a total molecular weight ( m n ) of 67 kg / mol . as depicted in fig1 - 1b , a substrate 10 is provided , which can be silicon , silicon oxide , silicon nitride , silicon oxynitride , silicon oxycarbide , among other materials . as further depicted , conductive lines 12 ( or other active area , e . g ., semiconducting regions ) are situated within the substrate 10 . in any of the described embodiments , a single trench or multiple trenches can be formed in the substrate , and can span the entire width of an array of lines ( or other active area ). in embodiments of the invention , the substrate 10 is provided with an array of conductive lines 12 ( or other active areas ) at a pitch of l . the trench or trenches are formed over the active areas 12 ( e . g ., lines ) such that when the block copolymer material is annealed , each cylinder will be situated above a single active area 12 ( e . g ., conductive line ). in some embodiments , multiple trenches are formed with the ends 24 of each adjacent trench 18 aligned or slightly offset from each other at less than 5 % of l such that cylinders in adjacent trenches are aligned and situated above the same line 12 . in the illustrated embodiment , a neutral wetting material 14 ( e . g ., random copolymer ) has been formed over the substrate 10 . a material layer 16 ( or one or more material layers ) can then be formed over the neutral wetting material and etched to form trenches 18 that are oriented perpendicular to the array of conductive lines 12 , as shown in fig2 - 2b . portions of the material layer 16 form a spacer 20 outside and between the trenches . the trenches 18 are structured with opposing sidewalls 22 , opposing ends 24 , a floor 26 , a width ( w t ), a length ( l t ) and a depth ( d t ). in another embodiment illustrated in fig3 - 4 , the material layer 16 ′ can be formed on the substrate 10 ′, etched to form the trenches 18 ′, and a neutral wetting material 14 ′ can then be formed on the trench floors 26 ′. for example , a random copolymer material can be deposited into the trenches 18 ′ and crosslinked to form a neutral wetting material layer . material on surfaces outside the trenches such as on the spacers 20 ′ ( e . g ., non - crosslinked random copolymer ) can be subsequently removed . single or multiple trenches 18 ( as shown ) can be formed using a lithographic tool having an exposure system capable of patterning at the scale of l ( 10 - 100 nm ). such exposure systems include , for example , extreme ultraviolet ( euv ) lithography , proximity x - rays and electron beam ( e - beam ) lithography , as known and used in the art . conventional photolithography can attain ( at smallest ) about 58 nm features . a method called “ pitch doubling ” or “ pitch multiplication ” can also be used for extending the capabilities of photolithographic techniques beyond their minimum pitch , as described , for example , in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 328 , 810 ( lowrey et al . ), u . s . pat . no . 7 , 115 , 525 ( abatchev , et al . ), us 2006 / 0281266 ( wells ) and us 2007 / 0023805 ( wells ). briefly , a pattern of lines is photolithographically formed in a photoresist material overlying a layer of an expendable material , which in turn overlies a substrate , the expendable material layer is etched to form placeholders or mandrels , the photoresist is stripped , spacers are formed on the sides of the mandrels , and the mandrels are then removed leaving behind the spacers as a mask for patterning the substrate . thus , where the initial photolithography formed a pattern defining one feature and one space , the same width now defines two features and two spaces , with the spaces defined by the spacers . as a result , the smallest feature size possible with a photolithographic technique is effectively decreased down to about 30 nm or less . factors in forming a single ( 1 - d ) array or layer of perpendicular - oriented nano - cylinders within the trenches include the width ( w t ) and depth ( d t ) of the trench , the formulation of the block copolymer or blend to achieve the desired pitch ( l ), and the thickness ( t ) of the block copolymer material . for example , a block copolymer or blend having a pitch or l value of 35 - nm deposited into a 75 - nm wide trench having a neutral wetting floor will , upon annealing , result in a zigzag pattern of 35 - nm diameter perpendicular cylinders that are offset by about one - half the pitch distance , or about 0 . 5 * l ) for the length ( l t ) of the trench , rather than a single line row of perpendicular cylinders aligned with the sidewalls down the center of the trench . there is a shift from two rows to one row of the perpendicular cylinders within the center of the trench as the width ( w t ) of the trench is decreased and / or the periodicity ( l value ) of the block copolymer is increased , for example , by forming a ternary blend by the addition of both constituent homopolymers . the boundary conditions of the trench sidewalls 22 in both the x - and y - axis impose a structure wherein each trench contains “ n ” number of features ( e . g ., cylinders ). in some embodiments , the trenches 18 are constructed with a width ( w t ) of about l to about 1 . 5 * l ( or 1 . 5 × the pitch value ) of the block copolymer such that a cast block copolymer material ( or blend ) of about l will self assemble upon annealing into a single row of perpendicular cylinders with a center - to - center pitch distance of adjacent cylinders at or about l . for example , in using a cylindrical phase block copolymer with an about 50 nm pitch value or l , the width ( w t ) of the trenches 18 can be about 1 - 1 . 5 * 50 nm or about 50 - 80 nm . the length ( l t ) of the trenches is at or about nl or an integer multiple of l , typically within a range of about n * 10 to about n * 100 nm ( with n being the number of features or structures , e . g ., cylinders ). the depth ( d t ) of the trenches 18 is greater than l ( d t & gt ; l ). the width of the spacers 20 between adjacent trenches can vary and is generally about l to about nl . in some embodiments , the trench dimension is about 20 - 100 nm wide ( w t ) and about 100 - 25 , 000 nm in length ( l t ), with a depth ( d t ) of about 10 - 100 nm . referring now to fig5 - 5b , a self - assembling , cylindrical - phase block copolymer material 28 having an inherent pitch at or about l o ( or a ternary blend of block copolymer and homopolymers blended to have a pitch at or about l b ) is deposited into the trenches 18 such that the thickness ( t 1 ) on the trench of the deposited block copolymer is generally at or about l after annealing and the block copolymer material will self assemble to form a single layer of cylinders across the width ( w t ) of the trench . for example , a typical thickness ( t 1 ) of a cylindrical - phase ps - b - pmma block copolymer material 28 within the trench is about ± 20 % of the l value of the block copolymer material ( e . g ., about 10 - 100 nm ) to form cylinders having a diameter of about 0 . 5 * l ( e . g ., 5 - 50 nm , or about 20 nm , for example ) within a polymer matrix in a single row within each trench . the thickness of the block copolymer material 28 can be measured , for example , by ellipsometry techniques . the block copolymer material can be deposited by spin casting ( spin - coating ) from a dilute solution ( e . g ., about 0 . 25 - 2 wt % solution ) of the copolymer in an organic solvent such as dichloroethane ( ch 2 cl 2 ) or toluene , for example . capillary forces pull excess block copolymer material 28 ( e . g ., greater than a monolayer ) into the trenches 18 . as shown , a thin layer or film 28 a of the block copolymer material can be deposited onto the material layer 16 outside the trenches , e . g ., on the spacers 20 . upon annealing , the thin film 28 a will flow into the trenches leaving a structureless brush layer on the material layer 16 from a top - down perspective . in the present embodiment , the trench floors 26 are structured to be neutral wetting ( equal affinity for both blocks of the copolymer ) to induce formation of cylindrical polymer domains that are oriented perpendicular to the trench floors , and the trench sidewalls 22 and ends 24 are structured to be preferential wetting by one block of the block copolymer to induce registration of the cylinders to the sidewalls as the polymer blocks self - assemble . in response to the wetting properties of the trench surfaces , upon annealing , the preferred or minority block of the cylindrical - phase block copolymer will self - assemble to form a single row of cylindrical domains in the center of a polymer matrix for the length of the trench and segregate to the sidewalls and edges of the trench to form a thin interface or wetting layer , as depicted in fig6 - 6b . entropic forces drive the wetting of a neutral wetting surface by both blocks , and enthalpic forces drive the wetting of a preferential - wetting surface by the preferred block ( e . g ., the minority block ). to provide preferential wetting surfaces , for example , in the use of a ps - b - pmma block copolymer , the material layer 16 can be composed of silicon ( with native oxide ), oxide ( e . g ., silicon oxide , sio x ), silicon nitride , silicon oxycarbide , indium tin oxide ( ito ), silicon oxynitride , and resist materials such as methacrylate - based resists and polydimethyl glutarimide resists , among other materials , which exhibit preferential wetting toward the pmma block . in the use of a ps - pmma cylinder - phase block copolymer material , the copolymer material will self assemble to form a thin interface layer and cylinders of pmma in a ps matrix . in other embodiments , a preferential wetting material such as a polymethylmethacrylate ( pmma ) polymer modified with an — oh containing moiety ( e . g ., hydroxyethylmethacrylate ) can be applied onto the surfaces of the trenches , for example , by spin coating and then heating ( e . g ., to about 170 ° c .) to allow the terminal oh groups to end - graft to oxide sidewalls 22 and ends 24 of the trenches . non - grafted material can be removed by rinsing with an appropriate solvent ( e . g ., toluene ). see , for example , mansky et al ., science , 1997 , 275 , 1458 - 1460 , and in et al ., langmuir , 2006 , 22 , 7855 - 7860 . a neutral wetting trench floor 26 allows both blocks of the copolymer material to wet the floor of the trench . a neutral wetting material 14 can be provided by applying a neutral wetting polymer ( e . g ., a neutral wetting random copolymer ) onto the substrate 10 , forming the material layer 16 and then etching the trenches to expose the underlying neutral wetting material , as illustrated in fig2 - 2b . in another embodiment illustrated in fig3 - 4 , a neutral wetting random copolymer material can be applied after forming the trenches 18 ′, for example , as a blanket coat by casting or spin - coating into the trenches , as depicted in fig4 . the random copolymer material can then be thermally processed to flow the material into the bottom of the trenches by capillary action , which results in a layer ( mat ) 14 ′ composed of the crosslinked , neutral wetting random copolymer . in another embodiment , the random copolymer material within the trenches can be photo - exposed ( e . g ., through a mask or reticle ) to crosslink the random copolymer within the trenches to form the neutral wetting material 14 ′. non - crosslinked random copolymer material outside the trenches ( e . g ., on the spacers 20 ′) can be subsequently removed . neutral wetting surfaces can be specifically prepared by the application of random copolymers composed of monomers identical to those in the block copolymer and tailored such that the mole fraction of each monomer is appropriate to form a neutral wetting surface . for example , in the use of a poly ( styrene - block - methyl methacrylate ) block copolymer ( ps - b - pmma ), a neutral wetting material 14 can be formed from a thin film of a photo - crosslinkable random ps : pmma copolymer ( ps - r - pmma ) which exhibits non - preferential or neutral wetting toward ps and pmma ( e . g ., a random copolymer of ps - pmma containing an about 0 . 6 mole fraction of styrene ) which can be cast onto the substrate 10 ( e . g ., by spin coating ). the random copolymer material can be fixed in place by chemical grafting ( on an oxide substrate ) or by thermally or photolytically crosslinking ( any surface ) to form a mat that is neutral wetting to ps and pmma and insoluble when the block copolymer material is cast onto it , due to the crosslinking . in another embodiment , a neutral wetting random copolymer of polystyrene ( ps ), polymethacrylate ( pmma ) with hydroxyl group ( s ) ( e . g ., 2 - hydroxyethyl methacrylate ( p ( s - r - mma - r - hema )) ( e . g ., about 58 % ps ) can be can be selectively grafted to a substrate 10 ( e . g ., an oxide ) as a neutral wetting layer 14 about 5 - 10 nm thick by heating at about 160 ° c . for about 48 hours . see , for example , in et al ., langmuir , 2006 , 22 , 7855 - 7860 . a surface that is neutral wetting to ps - b - pmma can also be prepared by spin coating a blanket layer of a photo - or thermally cross - linkable random copolymer such as a benzocyclobutene - or azidomethylstyrene - functionalized random copolymer of styrene and methyl methacrylate ( e . g ., poly ( styrene - r - benzocyclobutene - r - methyl methacrylate ( ps - r - pmma - r - bcb )). for example , such a random copolymer can comprise about 42 % pmma , about ( 58 - x ) % ps and x % ( e . g ., about 2 - 3 %) of either polybenzocyclobutene or poly ( para - azidomethylstyrene )). an azidomethylstyrene - functionalized random copolymer can be uv photo - crosslinked ( e . g ., 1 - 5 mw / cm ^ 2 exposure for about 15 seconds to about 30 minutes ) or thermally crosslinked ( e . g ., at about 170 ° c . for about 4 hours ) to form a crosslinked polymer mat as a neutral wetting layer 14 . a benzocyclobutene - functionalized random copolymer can be thermally cross - linked ( e . g ., at about 200 ° c . for about 4 hours or at about 250 ° c . for about 10 minutes ). in another embodiment in which the substrate 10 is silicon ( with native oxide ), another neutral wetting surface for ps - b - pmma can be provided by hydrogen - terminated silicon . the floors 26 of the trenches 18 can be etched , for example , with a hydrogen plasma , to remove the oxide material and form hydrogen - terminated silicon , which is neutral wetting with equal affinity for both blocks of a block copolymer material . h - terminated silicon can be prepared by a conventional process , for example , by a fluoride ion etch of a silicon substrate ( with native oxide present , about 12 - 15 å ) by exposure to an aqueous solution of hydrogen fluoride ( hf ) and buffered hf or ammonium fluoride ( nh 4 f ), by hf vapor treatment , or by a hydrogen plasma treatment ( e . g ., atomic hydrogen ). an h - terminated silicon substrate can be further processed by grafting a random copolymer such as ps - r - pmma selectively onto the substrate resulting in a neutral wetting surface , for example , by an in situ free radical polymerization of styrene and methyl methacrylate using a di - olefinic linker such divinyl benzene which links the polymer to the surface to produce about a 10 - 15 nm thick film . in yet another embodiment , a neutral wetting surface for ps - b - pmma and ps - b - peo can be provided by grafting a self - assembled monolayer ( sam ) of a trichlorosilane - base sam such as 3 -( para - methoxyphenyl ) propyltrichorosilane grafted to oxide ( e . g ., sio 2 ) as described for example , by d . h . park , nanotechnology 18 ( 2007 ), p . 355304 . in the present embodiment , the block copolymer material 28 is then thermally annealed ( arrows ↓) to cause the polymer blocks to phase separate and self assemble according to the preferential and neutral wetting of the trench surfaces to form a self - assembled polymer material 30 , as illustrated in fig6 - 6b . thermal annealing can be conducted at above the glass transition temperature of the component blocks of the copolymer material . for example , a ps - b - pmma copolymer material can be globally annealed at a temperature of about 180 - 230 ° c . in a vacuum oven for about 1 - 24 hours to achieve the self - assembled morphology . the resulting morphology of the annealed copolymer material 30 ( e . g ., perpendicular orientation of cylinders ) can be examined , for example , using atomic force microscopy ( afm ), transmission electron microscopy ( tem ), scanning electron microscopy ( sem ). rather than performing a global heating of the block copolymer material , in other embodiments , a zone or localized thermal anneal can be applied to portions or sections of the copolymer material 28 on the substrate 10 . for example , the substrate can be moved across a hot - to - cold temperature gradient 32 ( fig6 a ) positioned above or underneath the substrate ( or the thermal source can be moved relative to the substrate , e . g ., arrow →) such that the block copolymer material self - assembles upon cooling after passing through the heat source . only those portions of the block copolymer material that are heated above the glass transition temperature of the component polymer blocks will self - assemble , and areas of the material that were not sufficiently heated remain disordered and unassembled . “ pulling ” the heated zone across the substrate can result in faster processing and better ordered structures relative to a global thermal anneal . upon annealing , the cylindrical - phase block copolymer material 28 will self - assemble into a polymer material 30 ( e . g . film ) composed of perpendicular - oriented cylinders 34 of one of the polymer blocks ( e . g ., pmma ) within a polymer matrix 36 of the other polymer block ( e . g ., ps ). the constraints provided by the width ( w t ) of the trench 18 and the character of the block copolymer composition ( e . g ., ps - b - pmma having an inherent pitch at or about l ) combined with a trench floor 26 that exhibits neutral or non - preferential wetting toward both polymer blocks ( e . g ., a random graft copolymer ) and sidewalls 22 that are preferential wetting by the minority or preferred block of the block copolymer ( e . g ., the pmma block ), results in perpendicularly - oriented cylindrical domains 34 of the minority polymer block ( e . g ., pmma ) within a matrix 36 of the majority polymer block ( e . g ., ps ) in a single row ( 1 - d array ) registered and parallel to the sidewalls 22 of the trench . the diameter of the cylinders 34 will generally be about one - half of the center - to - center distance between cylinders . upon annealing , a layer of the minority block segregates to and wets the sidewalls 22 and ends 24 of the trenches to form a thin wetting layer 34 a with the thickness of the layer 34 a being generally about one - fourth of the center - to - center distance between adjacent cylinders 34 . for example , a layer of pmma domains will wet oxide interfaces , with attached ps domains consequently directed away from the oxide material . in some embodiments , the self - assembled block copolymer material 30 is defined by an array of cylindrical domains ( cylinders ) 34 , each with a diameter at or about 0 . 5 * l , with the number ( n ) of cylinders in the row according to the length of the trench , and the center - to - center distance ( pitch distance , p ) between each cylinder at or about l . optionally , after the block copolymer material is annealed and ordered , the copolymer material can be treated to crosslink the polymer segments ( e . g ., the ps segments ) to fix and enhance the strength of the self - assembled polymer blocks . the polymers can be structured to inherently crosslink ( e . g ., upon exposure to ultraviolet ( uv ) radiation , including deep ultraviolet ( duv ) radiation ), or one of the polymer blocks of the copolymer material can be formulated to contain a crosslinking agent . generally , the film 28 a outside the trenches will not be not thick enough to result in self - assembly . optionally , the unstructured thin film 28 a of the block copolymer material outside the trenches ( e . g ., on spacers 20 ) can be removed , as illustrated in fig6 - 6b . for example , the trench regions can be selectively exposed through a reticle ( not shown ) to crosslink only the annealed and self - assembled polymer material 30 within the trenches 18 , and a wash can then be applied with an appropriate solvent ( e . g ., toluene ) to remove the non - crosslinked portions of the block copolymer material 28 a ( e . g ., on the spacers 20 ), leaving the registered self - assembled polymer material within the trench and exposing the surface of the material layer 16 above / outside the trenches . in another embodiment , the annealed polymer material 30 can be crosslinked globally , a photoresist material can be applied to pattern and expose the areas of the polymer material 28 a outside the trench regions , and the exposed portions of the polymer material 28 a can be removed , for example by an oxygen ( o 2 ) plasma treatment . an application of the self - assembled polymer material 30 is as an etch mask to form openings in the substrate 10 . for example , as illustrated in fig7 - 7b , in one embodiment , the cylindrical polymer domains 34 of the self - assembled polymer material 30 can be selectively removed resulting in a polymer matrix 36 with openings 40 exposing the trench floor . for example , pmma domains can be selectively removed by uv exposure / acetic acid development or by selective reactive ion etching ( rie ). the remaining porous polymer ( e . g . ps ) matrix 36 can then be used as a mask to etch ( arrows ↓↓) a series of openings or contact holes 42 to the conductive lines 12 , semiconducting regions , or other active area in the underlying substrate 10 ( or an underlayer ), as depicted in fig8 - 8b , for example , using a selective reactive ion etching ( rie ) process . further processing can then be performed as desired . for example , as depicted in fig9 - 9b , the residual matrix 36 can be removed and the substrate openings 42 can be filled with a material 44 such as a metal or metal alloy such as cu , al , w , si , and ti 3 n 4 , among others , to form arrays of cylindrical contacts to the conductive lines 12 . the cylindrical openings 42 in the substrate can also be filled with a metal - insulator - metal stack to form capacitors with an insulating material such as sio 2 , al 2 o 3 , hfo 2 , zro 2 , srtio 3 , and the like . another embodiment of a method according to the invention utilizes a solvent anneal in combination with a graphoepitaxy technique to induce ordering and registration of a cylindrical - phase block copolymer material within a trench , as depicted in fig1 - 15 , to form a 1 - d array of a single row of perpendicular - oriented cylinders in a polymer matrix . the diblock copolymer is constructed such that both polymer blocks will wet the air interface during the solvent anneal . examples of diblock copolymers include poly ( styrene )- b - poly ( ethylene oxide ) ( ps - b - peo ); a ps - b - peo block copolymer having a cleavable junction such as a triphenylmethyl ( trityl ) ether linkage between ps and peo blocks ( optionally complexed with a dilute concentration ( e . g ., about 1 %) of a salt such as kcl , ki , licl , lii , cscl or csi ( zhang et al ., adv . mater . 2007 , 19 , 1571 - 1576 ); ps - b - pmma block copolymer doped with peo - coated gold nanoparticles of a size less than the diameter of the self - assembled cylinders ( park et al , macromolecules , 2007 , 40 ( 11 ), 8119 - 8124 ); poly ( styrene )- b - poly ( methylmethacrylate ) ( ps - b - pmma ) or other ps - b - poly ( acrylate ) or ps - b - poly ( methacrylate ), poly ( styrene )- b - poly ( lactide ) ( ps - b - pla ), poly ( styrene )- b - poly ( vinylpyridine ) ( ps - b - pvp ), poly ( styrene )- b - poly ( tert - butyl acrylate ) ( ps - b - ptba ), and poly ( styrene )- b - poly ( ethylene - co - butylene ( ps - b -( ps - co - pb )). examples of triblock copolymers include abc polymers such as poly ( styrene - b - methyl methacrylate - b - ethylene oxide ) ( ps - b - pmma - b - peo ), and aba copolymers such as ps - b - pi - b - ps . the present embodiment utilizing a solvent anneal eliminates the formation of a neutral wetting material on the trench floor , which reduces the number of processing steps . in addition , each of the trench surfaces ( e . g ., sidewalls 22 ″, ends 24 ″, floor 26 ″) is structured to be preferential wetting to the minority block of the ps - b - peo block copolymer material ( e . g ., peo ). the trenches 18 ″ are also structured with a width ( w t ) that is about 1 - 1 . 5 * l or 1 to 1½ times the pitch value of the block copolymer material . for example , for a cylindrical - phase ps - b - peo copolymer with a l value of about 50 nm , the trench is constructed to have a width ( w t ) of about 50 nm . the depth ( d t ) of the trenches can be at or about l . referring to fig1 - 10b , a substrate 10 ″ is shown with conductive lines 12 ″ ( or other active area ) and an overlying material layer 16 ″ in which trenches 18 ″ have been etched . the substrate 10 ″ and material layer 16 ″ defining the trench surfaces can be a material that is inherently preferential wetting to one of the polymer blocks , or in other embodiments , a preferential wetting material can be applied onto the surfaces of the trenches . for example , in the use of a ps - b - peo block copolymer , the substrate 10 ″ and material layer 16 ″ can be formed of silicon ( with native oxide ), oxide ( e . g ., silicon oxide , sio x ), silicon nitride , silicon oxycarbide , indium tin oxide ( ito ), silicon oxynitride , and resist materials such as such as methacrylate - based resists , among other materials , which exhibit preferential wetting toward the peo block . in the use of a ps - peo cylinder - phase block copolymer material , the copolymer material will self assemble to form cylinders of peo in a ps matrix and a thin interface brush or wetting layer on the sidewalls 22 ″ and ends 24 ″ of the trench . a cylindrical - phase ps - b - peo block copolymer material 28 ″ ( or blend with homopolymers ) having an inherent pitch at or about l can be deposited into the trenches 18 ″, as shown in fig1 - 11b . with the use of a solvent anneal , the thickness ( t 1 ) of the block copolymer material deposited into the trench can be about the l value of the material or greater , e . g ., up to about 1000 % of the l value . the volume fractions of the two blocks ( ab ) of the ps - b - peo diblock copolymer are generally at a ratio of about 60 : 40 and 80 : 20 , such that the block copolymer will microphase separate and self - assemble into cylindrical domains of polymer b ( i . e ., peo ) within a matrix of polymer a ( i . e ., ps ). an example of a cylinder - forming ps - b - peo copolymer material ( l = 50 nm ) to form about 25 nm diameter cylindrical peo domains in a matrix of ps is composed of about 70 % ps and 30 % peo with a total molecular weight ( m n ) of about 75 kg / mol . although diblock copolymers are used in the illustrative embodiment , triblock or multiblock copolymers can also be used . the ps - b - peo block copolymer material can also be formulated as a binary or ternary blend comprising a ps - b - peo block copolymer and one or more homopolymers ( i . e ., polystyrene ( ps ) and polyethylene oxide ( peo ) to produce blends that swell the size of the polymer domains and increase the l value of the polymer . the volume fraction of the homopolymers can range from 0 to about 40 %. an example of a ternary diblock copolymer blend is a ps - b - peo / ps / peo blend . the l value of the polymer can also be modified by adjusting the molecular weight of the block copolymer . the ps - b - peo block copolymer material 28 ″ is then solvent annealed ( arrows ↓), to form a self - assembled polymer material 30 ″, as illustrated in fig1 - 12b . in a solvent anneal , the block copolymer material is swollen by exposure to a vapor of a “ good ” solvent for both blocks , for example , benzene , chloroform or a chloroform / octane mixture . the block copolymer material 28 ″ is exposed to the solvent vapors to slowly swell both polymer blocks ( ps , peo ) of the material . the solvent and solvent vapors are then allowed to slowly diffuse out of the swollen polymer material and evaporate . the solvent - saturated vapor maintains a neutral air interface 46 ″ with the copolymer material 28 ″, which induces the formation of perpendicular features throughout the copolymer material . the evaporation of the solvent forms a gradient that causes self - assembly and formation of structures starting at the air - surface interface 46 ″ and driven downward to the floor 26 ″ of the trench 18 ″, with formation of perpendicular - oriented cylindrical domains 34 ″ guided by the trench sidewalls 22 ″ and extending completely from the air interface 46 ″ to the substrate surface ( trench floor 26 ″). in some embodiments , a solvent anneal can be conducted in high humidity ( e . g ., about 70 - 85 %) with water condensation on the film , which cools as the solvent ( e . g ., benzene ) evaporates . the constraints provided by the width ( w t ) of trench 18 ″ and the character of the block copolymer composition 28 ″, preferential wetting sidewalls 22 ″ and ends 24 ″ combined with a solvent anneal results in a one - dimensional ( 1 - d ) array of a single row of perpendicularly - oriented cylindrical domains 34 ″ of the minority polymer block ( e . g ., peo ) within a matrix 36 ″ of the major polymer block ( e . g ., ps ), with the minority block segregating to the sidewalls 22 ″ of the trench to form a wetting layer 34 a ″ with a thickness generally about one - fourth of the center - to - center distance of adjacent cylinders 34 ″. in some embodiments , the cylinders have a diameter at or about 0 . 5 * l ( e . g ., about one - half of the center - to - center distance between cylinders ), the number ( n ) of cylinders in the row is according to the length ( l t ) of the trench , and the center - to - center distance ( pitch distance , p ) between cylinder domains is at or about l . optionally , the annealed and ordered polymer material 30 ″ can be treated to crosslink the polymer segments ( e . g ., the ps matrix 36 ″). the unstructured thin film 28 a ″ of the block copolymer material outside the trenches can then be optionally removed , as shown in fig1 - 12b . as depicted in fig1 - 13b , the self - assembled polymer material 30 ″ ( optionally cross - linked ) can then be processed to form , for example , an etch mask for use in etching openings in the substrate or underling material layer , by the selective removal of one of the polymer domains ( e . g ., ps or peo ). for example , the water - soluble peo cylindrical domains 34 ″ can be selectively removed to produce openings 40 ″ in the ps material layer 36 ″ that can be used , for example , as a lithographic template or mask to etch openings 42 ″ in the underlying substrate 10 ″ ( fig1 - 14b ) for semiconductor processing in the nanometer size range ( i . e ., about 10 - 100 nm ). removal of the peo phase domains 34 ″ can be performed , for example , by exposure of the self - assembled block copolymer material 30 ″ ( optionally cross - linked ) to aqueous hydroiodic acid or exposure to water alone , which will draw peo to the surface without cleaving the bonds to the ps domains . in embodiments in which the ps - b - peo block copolymer includes an acid - cleavable linker ( e . g ., trityl alcohol linker ) positioned between the polymer blocks , exposure of the crosslinked polymer material 30 ″ to an aqueous acid ( e . g ., trifluoroacetic acid ) or to an acid vapor can be performed to cleave the polymer into peo and ps fragments ( s . yurt et al ., “ scission of diblock copolymers into their constituent blocks ,” macromolecules 2006 , 39 , 1670 - 1672 ). rinsing with water can then be performed to remove the cleaved peo domains 34 ″. in other embodiments , exposure to water to draw the peo domains to the surface followed by a brief oxygen ( o 2 ) plasma etch can also be performed to remove the peo domains . as shown in fig1 - 15b , the residual polymer matrix 36 ″ can then be removed and the openings 42 ″ that have been formed in the substrate can be filled with a desired material 44 ″. another embodiment of a method according to the invention utilizes a thermal anneal in combination with a cylindrical - phase , block copolymer material comprising polylactide ( or polylactic acid ) and graphoepitaxy to form a single row , 1 - d array of perpendicular - oriented cylinders in a polymer matrix . examples of polylactide block copolymer materials include poly ( styrene )- b - poly ( lactide ) ( or poly ( lactic acid )) ( ps - b - pla ). the described embodiment eliminates the formation of a neutral wetting material on the trench floor , thus reducing the number of processing steps . it also utilizes a thermal anneal process , which can provide faster processing than with a solvent anneal . in addition , the use of polylactic acid ( pla ), a biodegradable , thermoplastic aliphatic polyester , allows relatively easy development and removal of the pla domains to form cylindrical - shaped voids through the polymer matrix ( e . g ., ps , etc .). the trench surfaces ( e . g ., sidewalls , ends , floor ) are structured using the same or highly similar material that is preferential wetting to the minority block , e . g ., the pla block of a ps - b - pla copolymer material . the present embodiments can also be described with reference to fig1 - 15 . referring to fig1 - 10b , the substrate 10 ″ and material layer 16 ″ can be formed from a material that is inherently preferential wetting to the pla block , or in other embodiments , a preferential wetting material can be applied onto the surfaces of the trenches 18 ″, with the same or closely similar material being used to define the sidewalls 22 ″, ends 24 ″ and floor 26 ″ of the trenches . for example , materials that are preferential wetting to the pla block of a ps - b - pla block copolymer include oxide ( e . g ., silicon oxide , sio x ), silicon ( with native oxide ), silicon nitride , silicon oxycarbide , indium tin oxide ( ito ), silicon oxynitride , and resist materials such as such as methacrylate - based resists , among other materials . in the present embodiment , the trenches 18 ″ are structured with a width ( w t ) that is at about 1 . 5 * l value of the ps - b - pla copolymer material , a length ( l t ) at or about nl o ( where n = number of cylinders ), and a depth ( d t ) at greater than l ( d t & gt ; l ) such that a cylindrical - phase block copolymer ( or blend ) that is cast into the trench to a thickness of about the inherent l value of the copolymer material will self assemble upon annealing into a single layer of n cylinders according to the length ( l t ) of the trench , the cylinders with a diameter at or about 0 . 5 * l , and a center - to - center distance ( p ) of adjacent cylinders at or about l . a cylindrical - phase ps - b - pla block copolymer material 28 ″ ( or triblock or multiblock copolymers or blend with homopolymers ) having an inherent pitch at or about l can be deposited into the trenches 18 ″, as shown in fig1 - 11b . for example , a ps - b - pla copolymer material ( l = 49 nm ) can be composed of about 71 % ps and 29 % pla with a total molecular weight ( m n ) of about 60 . 5 kg / mol to form about 27 nm diameter cylindrical pla domains in a matrix of ps . upon casting the copolymer material 28 ″ into the trenches 18 ″, both polymer blocks ( e . g ., pla and ps ) tend to wet the air interface 46 ″ equally well , and the minority ( e . g ., pla ) block will preferentially wet the surfaces 22 ″, 24 ″ 26 ″ of the trench to form a thin wetting layer 34 a ″ on each of the trench surfaces as illustrated in fig1 - 12b . turning now to fig1 - 16b , in the present embodiment , the wetting layer 34 a ′″ is a bilayer of pla 48 a ′″ and ps 48 b ′″. the ps 48 b ′″ portion of the wetting layer ( depicted with broken lining - - - ) is continuous with the overall ps matrix 36 ′″, as shown . thermal annealing of the block copolymer material 28 ′″ in combination with the constraints provided by the width ( w t ) of the trench 18 ′″, the preferential wetting trench surfaces 22 ′″, 24 ′″ 26 ′″ and the composition of the block copolymer , causes the minority polymer block ( e . g ., pla block ) to self assemble to form perpendicular - oriented cylindrical domains 34 ′″ in a single row within a matrix 36 ′″ of the majority polymer block ( e . g ., ps ), with the pla 48 a ′″/ ps 48 b ′″ bilayer along the trench surfaces 22 ′″, 24 ′″, 26 ′″. in some embodiments , the block copolymer material 28 ′″ can be “ zone annealed ” as previously described . as shown in fig1 a - 16b , the pla cylindrical domains 34 ′″ extend from the air interface 46 ′″ to the wetting layer 34 a ′″ composed of the pla / ps bilayer 48 a ′″/ 48 b ′″ overlying the surface of the substrate 10 ′″ at the trench floor 26 ′″. the ps layer 48 b ′″, which is covalently bonded to the pla layer 48 a ′″, is in contact with the ps block ( matrix 26 ′″), which in turn is covalently bonded to the pla cylinder domains 34 ′″. polymer segments ( e . g ., the ps matrix 36 ′″) of the annealed polymer material 30 ′″ may optionally be crosslinked , and any unstructured polymer material 28 a ′″ on surfaces outside the trenches can then be optionally removed , as depicted in fig1 - 16b . the polymer material 30 ′″ can then be further processed as desired , for example , to form a mask to etch openings 42 ′ in the substrate 10 ′″. for example , as illustrated in fig1 - 17b , the pla cylinders 34 ′″ can be selectively removed , for example , using uv exposure and an acetic acid wash , or an aqueous methanol mixture containing sodium hydroxide to form cylindrical - shaped openings 40 ′″ extending through the ps matrix . due to the pla / ps bilayer 48 a ′″, 48 b ′″ that overlies the trench floor , the openings 40 ′″ do not extend all the way to the surface of the substrate 10 ′″ at the trench floor 26 ′″. as depicted in fig1 - 18b , an rie etching process ( arrows ↓), for example , can be conducted to remove the bilayer material and expose the trench floors 26 ′″ and the substrate 10 ′″ within the openings 40 ′″. the rie etch may thin the matrix ( mask ) 36 ′″, as shown , although not to a significant extent . referring now to fig1 - 14b , the matrix 30 ″ can then be used as a mask to etch cylindrical - shaped openings 42 ″ in the substrate down to an active area such as a conductive line 12 ″ or to semi - conducting regions , etc . the remnants of the etch mask 36 ″ can be subsequently removed and the openings 42 ″ can be filled as desired , as described with respect to fig1 - 15b . in another embodiment , the trenches are constructed with a width ( w t ) of about 1 . 75 - 2 . 5 * l of the block copolymer such that , upon annealing , a block copolymer material or blend of about l will self - assemble into two rows of perpendicular cylinders with each cylinder being offset to form a zigzag pattern , and the center - to - center pitch distance between adjacent cylinders at or about one - half l (≃ 0 . 5 * l ). for example , referring to fig1 - 19b , in the use of a cylinder - forming block copolymer material or blend with an l ( pitch ) value of about 40 nm , a trench 18 can be constructed with a width ( w t ) about 70 - 100 nm wide ( or according to 1 +(( square root of 3 )/ 2 )* l ). the length ( l t ) of the trench can be at or about [ 1 + 0 . 5 ( n − 1 )]* l , where n equals the number of cylinders in the trench . the depth ( d t ) of the trench 18 ″″ can be greater than l ( d t & gt ; l ) for embodiments employing a thermal anneal of the block copolymer ( e . g ., fig2 - 8 ) or at or about l ( d t ≃ l ) for embodiments utilizing a solvent anneal process ( e . g ., fig1 - 14 ). optionally , the ends 24 ″″ can be angled or beveled as depicted by the dashed line 50 in fig2 . the dimensions of the trench 18 ″″ can be , for example , about 70 - 100 nm wide ( w t ), about 100 - 25 , 000 nm long ( l t ), and about 40 - 200 nm deep ( d t ). any of the above - described cylindrical - phase block copolymers ( e . g ., ps - b - pmma , ps - b - peo , ps - b - pla , etc .) can be deposited within the trench 18 ″″, and thermal or solvent annealed as previously described . the trench 18 ″″ is fabricated with the appropriate neutral or preferential wetting surface on the sidewalls 22 ″″, ends 24 ″″, and trench floor 26 ″″, to drive the block copolymer to self - assemble into perpendicular - oriented cylinders 34 ″″ upon annealing , as depicted in fig2 - 20b . the resulting cylinders 34 ″″ are formed in a staggered two - row arrangement parallel to the sidewalls 22 ″″ in which the center - to - center pitch distance ( p ) of adjacent cylinders 34 ″″ within a row is at or about 0 . 5 * l . fig2 b illustrates a schematic cross - sectional , elevational view of both rows of cylinders in relation to the underlying lines 12 ″″. the self - assembled polymer film can then be processed to form a mask ( fig2 - 21b ) by removing the cylinder domains 34 ″″ ( e . g ., pmma ) leaving a polymer matrix 36 ″″ ( e . g ., ps ) with cylindrical openings 40 ″″ to the underlying substrate 10 ″″, which can then be etched to form openings 42 ″″ ( shown in phantom ) to “ buried ” active areas ( e . g ., lines 12 ″″) and the openings 42 ″″ can then be filled ( fig2 - 22b ) with a desired material 44 ″″, e . g ., metal , to form , for example , a contact to underlying lines 12 ″″. in some embodiments , the feature size of the conductive lines 12 ″″ is less than the diameter of the cylinders 34 ″″ ( e . g ., by about 50 %) such that a variance in the diameter of the cylinders 34 ″″ and the subsequently formed cylindrical openings 42 ″″ avoids electrical shorts that can occur from overlapping diameters of adjacent cylinders . with the present embodiment of two rows of cylinders in an offset arrangement , contact openings 42 ″″ can be etched into a substrate to a denser array of buried lines 12 ″″ than with an embodiment utilizing a single row of cylinders ( e . g ., fig6 ) for a given block copolymer pitch l . with the contacts 44 ″″ being offset , each contact 44 ″″ can be connected to a single conductive line 12 ″″ to address the lines individually . methods of the disclosure provide a means of generating self - assembled diblock copolymer films composed of perpendicular - oriented cylinders in a polymer matrix . the methods provide ordered and registered elements on a nanometer scale that can be prepared more inexpensively than by electron beam lithography , euv photolithography or conventional photolithography . the feature sizes produced and accessible by this invention cannot be easily prepared by conventional photolithography . the described methods and systems can be readily employed and incorporated into existing semiconductor manufacturing process flows and provide a low cost , high - throughput technique for fabricating small structures . although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein , it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that any arrangement which is calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown . this application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations that operate according to the principles of the invention as described . therefore , it is intended that this invention be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof . the disclosures of patents , references and publications cited in the application are incorporated by reference herein .
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turning to fig2 there shown is a block diagram of a high frequency qpsk transmitter 30 according to the present invention . two gunn diode cavity oscillators 32 , 34 are each configured to operate at the transmit frequency , e . g ., 31 ghz . the first oscillator 32 is phase locked to the selected channel frequency and produces an output signal in waveguide 40 . preferably , locking is accomplished by applying a steering voltage 36 to the oscillator 32 . the steering voltage 36 is generated by a phase locked loop (&# 34 ; pll &# 34 ;) 38 which preferably operates at only a fraction of the selected cavity oscillation frequency . a feedback path 43 taps the signal in waveguide 40 and provides it to the pll 38 to maintain the oscillation phase . the second cavity oscillator 34 is connected to the first oscillator 32 in a manner which slaves the oscillation of the second oscillator 34 to the first oscillator 32 . in the preferred embodiment , the second oscillator 32 is magnetically linked to the first oscillator 32 at a specified phase vector through integral wall slots and a coupling aperture 45 . this arrangement permits synchronizing energy from the first oscillator 32 to travel into the second oscillator 34 where it functions as a steering signal which synchronizes the phase and frequency of oscillation of second oscillator 34 to that of the first oscillator 32 . thus , the two oscillators can be controlled from a single adjustment point . preferably , the slots and aperture 45 are designed to ensure a frequency coherence between the two cavity oscillators 32 , 34 , while maintaining a specified phase vector between the oscillators 32 , 34 over the entire normal frequency bandwidth of the devices . other slaving arrangements known to those of skill in the art may also be used . for example , the steering voltage 36 from pll 38 may be used to drive the second oscillator 34 . alternatively , another pll may be utilized to drive the second oscillator 34 , which pll is synchronized to the first pll 38 . each cavity oscillator 32 , 34 is coupled to a respective output waveguide 40 , 42 to supply an output vector 44 , 46 . the oscillators 32 , 34 preferably have a cavity configuration which provides for output voltage signals 44 , 46 extracted at different points to have different phases . by selecting different extraction points for two oscillators 32 , 34 , the output signals 44 , 46 will be out of phase . the coupling points between the output waveguides 40 , 42 and the oscillators 32 , 34 are selected so that the two output vectors 44 , 46 are 90 degrees out of phase with each other . the extraction points may be adjusted as required to compensate for any phase differences introduced by the coupling method . according to the invention , these output signals are employed as a quadrature signal source . each quadrature vector 44 , 46 is presented to a bi - phase , solid - state switch 48 , 50 . the configuration of the waveguides 40 , 42 between the oscillators 32 , 34 and the switches 48 , 50 is chosen so that the waveguides 40 , 42 have substantially the same electromagnetic transmission characteristics so that any phase shifts which are introduced are introduced equivalently to the generated signals 44 and 46 . this preserves the phase relationship between the two signals in a manner which is independent of the frequency of oscillation . preferably , the waveguides 40 , 42 are substantially symmetrically identical , i . e ., they have substantially the same shape , or are rotations and / or mirrored versions of each other , so that generated signals 44 , 46 travel the same distance along the same shape of path . according to the invention , each bi - phase switch 48 , 50 is realized in a waveguide and is comprised of a magnetic reflective coupling structure connected to a waveguide which can be switched according to the value of an input data bit between a hard - wall wave guide short and one or more compensated , electrically generated shorting planes . the distance between the switchable shorting planes and the hard - wall short is selected to produce a switchable net phase change of 180 degrees , taking into consideration any phase shift introduced by the parasitic capacitance of the shorting switch in the off state . thus , the output 52 of the first bi - phase switch 48 will have a phase of either zero or 180 degrees and the output 54 of the second bi - phase switch 50 will have a phase of either 90 degrees or 270 degrees , depending on the states of the switches 48 , 50 as selected by the input data . the output vectors from switches 48 , 50 are passed through waveguides 52 , 54 which are connected to a conventional in - phase combiner 56 . the combiner 56 produces a combined qpsk signal 58 which can be applied directly to a broadcast antenna 60 . according to the invention , virtually the entire signal path between the oscillators and the antenna is a waveguide structure . there are no intermediate stages in which the signal is converted from one frequency to another . instead , the signals originally generated by the oscillators 32 , 34 are the ones which are ultimately output and transmitted . a significant advantage of this arrangement is that the output power of the transmitter 30 is supplied directly from the oscillators 32 , 34 and limited only by the efficiency with which the signals are passed by the waveguide structures . turning to fig3 a , there is shown a top cross - sectional view of one embodiment of the transmitter 30 of fig2 . according to the invention , the entire transmitter apparatus is provided as a waveguide structure having three primary elements : a quadrature vector source 110 , a phase switching assembly 112 , and an in - phase combiner 114 , shown here separated by lines 84 and 100 . preferably , conventional waveguide , such as wr - 28 , and coupling aperture arrangements are utilized throughout . the cavity oscillators 32 , 34 are coupled to respective waveguides 40 , 42 through coupling apertures 62 , 64 . the apertures 62 , 64 are positioned on the oscillators 32 , 34 so that the signals entering each of the waveguides 40 , 42 are substantially 90 degrees out of phase with each other . preferably , the two cavity oscillators 32 , 34 have a 0 - 1 - 0 cavity configuration which advantageously allows output signal vectors to be extracted at different points along the cavity to thereby provide different output signal phases . thus , two cavities oscillating synchronously with each other can produce a pair of output vectors with any desired relative phase relationship . because the phase of the output signal depends on the physical location of the extraction point , the phase relationship between the two signals remains substantially constant with changes in the oscillation frequency . as shown in fig3 a , the circumferential position of the coupling aperture 62 between the first oscillator 32 and the waveguide 40 is substantially 90 degrees from the position of the coupling aperture 64 between the second oscillator 34 and the waveguide 42 . in the preferred 0 - 1 - 0 cavity configuration , this arrangement provides the desired 90 degrees phase difference . a cross section of the cavity oscillators 32 , 34 along line 3b -- 3b is shown in fig3 b . each cavity oscillator 32 , 34 contains a respective gunn diode 66 , 68 coaxially aligned with the axis of the respective oscillator cavities . dc power for the diodes 66 , 68 is supplied through a coaxial cable 70 , 72 . the coaxial cable 70 is also used to provide the steering voltage signal 36 from the pll 38 to the first oscillator 32 . each oscillator 32 , 34 has a respective coupling slot 74 , 76 which is connected to a coupling aperture 78 to connect the two oscillators 32 , 34 as described above . also shown in fig3 b is a coupling slot 80 in the second oscillator 34 which connects it to the waveguide 42 . returning to fig3 a , each waveguide 40 , 42 connects a respective oscillator 32 , 34 to one of the bi - phase switches 48 , 52 . the length and configuration of each connecting waveguide 40 , 42 is selected so that the phase difference between the two signals is preserved . in the preferred embodiment , the connecting waveguides 40 , 42 are substantially mirror images of each other . this ensures that both waveguides 40 , 42 will introduce the same phase shift , thus preserving the phase relationship , and will also have the same degree of attenuation , thereby keeping the signal strength balanced . the signals received from the waveguides 40 , 42 are preferably directed into the switching portions of the phase switches 48 , 50 by reflective coupling structures 49 , 51 . these coupling structures 49 , 51 are also configured to properly direct the phase - switched outputs 52 , 54 from the switches 48 , 50 into the in - phase combiner 56 . each switch 48 , 50 is preferably realized in a waveguide which terminates in a hard reflecting short 86 , 88 and has a shorting diode 90 , 92 placed in the signal path ( shown extending into the plane ). the diodes 90 , 92 function as electrically variable shorts which act as switching points , effectively altering the length of the respective switch waveguide 48 , 50 when they are conducting . ideally , a phase shift of 180 degrees is provided when the diodes are conducting and are placed one - quarter wavelength from the hard shorting plane . however , placing a diode in the waveguide introduces a parasitic capacitance which may alter the phase of the signal as it passes through the off - state diode while traveling to and from the hard short 86 , 88 . ( when the diode is conducting , it functions as a short and the parasitic capacitance is of little concern ). because only a relative phase shift is required , the position of the diode is adjusted to compensate for the introduced phase shift . those skilled in the art will recognize that any type of mirrored waveguide switching arrangement may be utilized with the signal source discussed above and that various different waveguide structures may be used to provide the preferred hard and diode shorting points . in the embodiment shown in fig3 a , the impedance of the waveguide is lowered by adding ridges 96 , 98 . preferably , a double - ridged waveguide configuration is used . this configuration focuses the magnetic field of the applied signal to directly impact the solid - state switch point which forms the shorting plane , increasing the efficiency of the switch . as with the connecting waveguides 40 , 42 , the two switches 48 , 50 are preferably substantially mirror images of each other . this ensures that any inherent phase shifts which are introduced by the switching structure are equally represented in both signals and therefore cancel out . the ( phase - shifted ) output of the switches 40 , 50 are applied to an in - phase combiner 56 to produce a qpsk output signal 58 . combining the output of the quadrature vectors in this manner advantageously provides a power - doubling effect in the combined signal with regards to signal amplitude without distortion . an alternative , and more preferred arrangement of the transmitter 30 is shown in fig4 . the overall configuration is the same as shown in fig3 a . however , instead of using a single - point reflective switching structure as the bi - phase switch , quadrature switching structures 140 , 142 are utilized . the switching waveguides 140 , 142 are each comprised of two balanced waveguides 144 , 146 , 148 , 150 , each having its own switch point 152 , 154 , 156 , 158 . a balanced quadrature structure is more efficient than the single - point reflective structure of fig3 a . in addition , the use of two switch points isolates the switching and reduces interference . an alternate configuration 160 for the in - phase combiner is also shown . this configuration has different reflection points than the combiner 56 shown in fig3 a and a lower signal loss . also provided are steps 162 which may be used to match the impedance of the waveguide at the output to that of the transmit antenna structure . various modifications may be made to the transmitter structure described above without departing from the scope of the invention . for example , more than two oscillators may be slaved together and used to produce output vectors having phase relationships other than 90 degrees . four oscillators may be provided and output signals selected to have phase relationships of 0 , 45 degrees , 90 degrees , and 135 degrees respectively . each output signal could then be supplied to a bi - phase switch as described above and the results merged with a 4 - input bi - phase combiner to thereby allow four data bits to be simultaneously transmitted as an eight data - point constellation . additional pairs of switches which provide a phase shift other than 180 degrees may also be introduced to increase the data carrying capacity of the structure . for example , by placing the shorting diode ( s ) at approximately 1 / 8wavelength from the hard short , a 45 degree phase shift may be selectively introduced . adding a mirrored pair of these switches to the qpsk structure shown above allows an 8 - point signal constellation to be produced . alternatively , multiple short points may be introduced in a single switch to provide for several selectable phase shifts . the oscillators 32 , 34 and connecting waveguides 40 , 42 may further be utilized as a signal source independent of the transmitter arrangement 30 described above . thus , for example , a signal source 110 having outputs 80 , 82 ( along dividing line 84 ) can be provided without the remaining switching structure . by varying the point at which the oscillators 32 , 34 are tapped and / or varying the configuration of the waveguides 40 , 42 , a dual - vector source can be produced with any desired phase relationship . advantageously , the phase relationship remains substantially constant even as the frequency of oscillation is changed . various applications for such a stable signal source will be apparent to those skilled in the art . for example , the power level of the oscillators may be modulated , the output polarized , and a combiner utilized to create a circularly polarized , amplitude modulated output signal for use in satellite and radar applications or the like . while the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .
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while polyvinyl chloride ( pvc ) is not itself readily flammable and does not rapidly propagate a fire , it does create a very significant or excessive amount of smoke when ignited and this smoke creates a serious hazard to persons trying to locate exits to escape the fire . in many jurisdictions , the use of pvc building components which give rise to smoke problems are considered fire hazards and are precluded from use under stringent building code regulations . while incorporation of inorganic materials into the pvc to provide stiffening or reinforcing and expansion controlling characteristics may reduce to some extent the smoke generated on ignition of the composite material , there is a limit to the amount of such material that can be introduced and still have a component that can be extruded , is structurally sound , will weather well , and will not be subject to fracture under use and handling . as a result , the use of such reinforcing materials do not provide the requisite level of smoke reduction to meet the stringent fire rating restrictions of many jurisdictions . while smoke retarding agents which reduce fire hazards are known , it has been found that they exhibit poor weathering qualities so that their use in pvc components which are intended as structural members exposed to the environment is to be avoided . according to the present invention , through the provision of the isolating skin covering the surfaces of the components which are exposed when the components are interlockingly assembled into a building structure , the properties of these smoke retarding agents can be utilized by incorporating them into the substrate . it has been found that components extruded from pvc which incorporate a smoke retarding agent and a reinforcing and expansion controlling agent in the substrate and a protective skin free of smoke retarding agents will provide components which meet the requisite fire rating properties of jurisdictions have stringent fire rating building codes . it will be understood that the fire rating characteristics of the components will increase with an increase in the quantity of the smoke inhibiting agents and the strengthening or stiffening of the components will decrease with a decrease in the quantity of the strengthening of stiffening agent . as a practical matter , it has been found that the total of the smoke retarding agent or agents and the reinforcing or stiffening agent or agents should not exceed about 45 % and preferably not more that about 35 % to 40 % by weight of the pvc in the substrate . depending upon building code requirements and bearing in mind the maximum concentration of the smoke inhibiting and stiffening agents , the smoke inhibiting agent may comprise from about 5 % to 35 % by weight of the substrate material and the reinforcing or stiffening and expansion controlling agent or agents may comprise from about 10 % to 35 % by weight and preferably 20 % to 25 % by weight of the substrate material . although other reinforcing and stiffening agents such as fine mineral or glass fibers could be used , calcium carbonate provides an inexpensive and practical stiffening agent for use in association with the smoke retarding agent or agents . in this connection as hereinafter set out , the hollow structural components comprising the wall panels and their box connectors of the invention are adapted to be filled with concrete which may be suitably reinforced with rebar , these components when erected and filled with concrete present structurally solid walls so that the percent of the stiffening and expansion controlling agent need only be sufficient to preserve their configuration under pouring of the concrete therein so that the percentage of smoke retarding agent or agents can be increased to meet the more stringent fire rating regulations and the contained concrete adds to their resistance to fire and collapse while the smoke retarding agent or agents minimizes the smoke given off . in the same vein , while the hollow roof panels and connectors are not intended to be filled with concrete , it has been found that their resistance to fire and collapse can be effectively controlled by introducing metal inserts , eg . of aluminium , or steel sleeved therein while the incorporated smoke retarding agent minimizes the smoke given off . in addition , the presence of these metal inserts reduces the amount of reinforcing or stiffening and expansion controlling agent required in the roof members while providing for large roof loadings and at the same time allows for an increase in the smoke retarding agent or agents in the substrate . referring to fig1 and 2 , the wall panel 1 shown therein comprises a co - extrusion of a substrate 2 and an overlying thin skin 3 . the length or height of the panel would be the height of the wall of the building structure to be erected therefrom . a practical panel width between the panel faces 4 which become the walls of the building structure when the panel is assembled may be chosen at 100 millimeters . the width of the panels themselves between the edges 5 is chosen so that when they are assembled in interlocking relationship with connecting box connectors the distance between center lines of such connected panels would be 1 / 3rd of a meter to provide a convenient modular base dimension as illustrated in fig2 the panel 1 is divided into three compartments 6 by webs 7 . adjacent each of edge walls 5 the panel is formed at the opposite faces thereof with registering inturned locking grooves 8 and the width of the panel in the direction between the faces 4 is slightly reduced so that in effect the panel portion indicated at 9 between the grooves 8 and edge walls 5 become locking tongues . preferably the edge walls 5 are slightly concave to facilitate there interlocking assembly with connecting box connectors . the wall panel 1 is preferably cored to provide a predetermined pattern of openings 90 extending through the edge walls 5 and webs 7 . as an example , the substrate 2 for a panel of the dimensions discussed above may have a thickness of the order of about 2 . 5 to 3 millimeters in the peripheral walls of the panel and from about 1 . 5 to 2 millimeters in the webs 7 . this substrate 2 is comprised of a polyvinyl chloride and the reinforcing or stiffening and expansion controlling agent and a smoke retarding agent . depending upon the building codes , the smoke retarding agent may be incorporated in an amount from about 5 % to about 35 % by weight of the substrate composition and the reinforcing or stiffening and expansion controlling agent or constituent may be incorporated into the pvc substrate in an amount from about 10 % to 35 % by weight . with the maximum combined total of said agents not to exceed 45 % and preferably not to exceed 35 % to 40 % by weight of the substrate . where the fire rating regulations are not too onerous , the pvc substrate desirably may contain from about 20 % to 25 % by weight of the reinforcing or stiffening and expansion controlling agent and from about 10 % to about 20 % by weight of the smoke retarding agent to bring the combined total of these agents in the range of from about 30 % to 40 % by weight of the substrate . while a number of reinforcing or stiffening and expansion controlling agents may be employed such as mineral or glass fibers , calcium carbonate can advantageously be used in conjunction with the smoke retarding agent for cost savings in the component per se and to facilitate the extrusion process in the forming of the components . suitable smoke retarding agents which reduce the hazards of a fire that may be used are aluminum trihydrate , zinc borate , antimony trioxide , antimony oxide , or magnesium hydroxide . the skin or cap stock 3 has a thickness substantially less than the thickness of the substrate and may have a thickness of about 0 . 35 to 0 . 45 millimeters . the skin 3 may comprise pvc , rigid pvc , non - rigid pvc , abs polycarbonates with suitable material being available from g . e . under the trade - marks geloy and noryl . this protective skin as will be understood by those skilled in the art may include , inter alia , suitable agents which provide impact resistance as well as protection against ultraviolet radiation and weathering and may also include colouring agents . fig3 and 4 illustrate a fire rated box connector 10 according to the invention . box connector 10 has spaced parallel walls 11 connected by webs 12 which define a square which in the system described is 100 millimeters by 100 millimeters . the walls 11 extend outwardly beyond the webs 12 to define flanges 13 which terminate in inturned oppositely registering locking fingers 14 . the webs 12 are cored to provide a predetermined pattern of openings or holes 15 corresponding to the openings or holes 90 of the panel 1 . the walls 11 including the flanges 13 and preferably the outer surfaces of the locking fingers 14 are comprised of a substrate 16 corresponding to the substrate 2 of the wall panel 1 and a co - extruded skin or cap stock 17 corresponding to the skin 3 of the wall panel 1 . it will be appreciated that in the case of both the wall panel 1 and the box connector 10 the volume of the skin material will be only a small proportion which may be of the order of about 10 % or less of the volume of the substrate material which contains the reinforcing or stiffening and expansion controlling agent or agents and the smoke retarding agent or agents as discussed above . fig5 illustrates how a wall is formed by interlocking wall panels 1 by means of the box connector 10 in which the fingers 14 of the box connector engage in the grooves 8 of the panels with the tongue portions of the panels anchored behind the box connector fingers . as illustrated , when the panels have been assembled into a wall formation with the interlocking box connectors , they are adapted to be filled with concrete 18 and the openings 90 of the panels and 15 of the box connectors are adapted to register to provide through flow passages for the flow of the concrete which gives the permanent rigidity to the walls and permanently interlocks the components together . reinforcing rods or rebar ( not shown ) may be inserted through the registering or openings 90 and 15 for added strength if desired . as will be appreciated from fig5 the exposed surfaces of the interlocked panels and box connector all are covered with their smooth skins which not only provide protection but give a clean aesthetic appearance thereto hiding or masking any blemishes in the substrate . as a result , an added cost saving can be obtained by using reground or reprocessed pvc material in the substrate . in this connection , the material cut out from the panels to produce the pattern of holes 90 therein and the material cut out from the box connectors to produce the pattern of holes 15 therein forms an important course of feed stock for the substrate material of subsequently extruded components of the invention so that wastage is eliminated and costs are reduced . with reference to fig6 there is shown a portion of a roof structure formed with interlocking roof panels 1 &# 39 ; and box connectors 10 &# 39 ;. the roof panels 1 &# 39 ; correspond to the wall panels 1 with the exception that they are not cored . similarly the box connectors 10 &# 39 ; correspond to the box connectors 10 but also are not cored . the substrates 2 &# 39 ; and 16 &# 39 ; of the panels 1 &# 39 ; and box connectors 10 &# 39 ; correspond to the substrates 1 and 16 of the wall panel 1 and box connector 10 respectively . similarly the skin 3 &# 39 ; of the roof panel 1 &# 39 ; corresponds to the skin 3 of the wall panel 1 and the skin 17 &# 39 ; of the box connector 10 &# 39 ; corresponds to the skin 17 of the box connector 10 . to provide reinforcement in the roof structure as illustrated in fig6 a metal i - beam 19 is sleeved within the central compartment 6 &# 39 ; of the roof panel 1 &# 39 ;. the i - beam 19 which will extend substantially the full length of the roof panel 1 is preferably formed of a aluminium although a steel beam could be used . fig7 is a view similar to fig6 but illustrates the use of shallow metal channel stiffeners 20 fitted into the tongue portions of the roof panels 1 &# 39 ; behind the locking grooves 8 &# 39 ;. these stiffeners 20 are preferably formed of steel although aluminium could be used and they would run substantially the length of the panel 1 &# 39 ;. fig8 is an end view of a roof box beam 21 extruded from pvc containing reinforcing or stiffening and smoke retarding agents as aforesaid . the beam is illustrates as having a substrate 22 corresponding to the substrate material 2 of the wall panel 1 and a skin 23 corresponding to the skin 3 of the wall panel 1 . this beam 21 is provided with inturned locking grooves 24 to receive mating fingers of other locking components not shown . the beam is reinforced by having sleeved therein metal members 25 and 25 &# 39 ; which form a box beam within the box beam 21 . these members 25 and 25 &# 39 ; are preferably hot - dipped galvanized sheet steel although an aluminium box beam could be used . where the beam 21 is not exposed to either the weather or viewing , the skin 23 may be omitted . fig9 is a box beam 26 corresponding to the box beam 21 but having an i - beam 27 sleeved therein which preferably is of steel but may be of aluminium . while specific embodiments of the invention have been described , it will be understood that variations may be made therein as will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the appended claims .
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an illustrative example of an improved bypass - type pressure regulator 10 according to the invention is shown in fig1 . for purposes of this illustration , the pressure regulator 10 is schematically shown in the drawing as being incorporated in a fluid pressure system for delivering pressurized liquid fuel via line 11 to an aircraft engine . the fuel is supplied to the line 11 at a regulated rate by way of a metering valve 12 which communicates with a high pressure supply line 13 . high pressure fuel is typically supplied to the high pressure supply line 13 from a high pressure ( hp ) supply such as a gear - type positive displacement pump ( not shown ). in order to supply fuel to the low pressure discharge line 11 at a regulated rate , a substantially constant drop must be maintained across the metering valve 12 regardless of the flow rate through the valve . pressure regulator 10 is included in the system for this purpose . the regulator 10 is connected across fuel valve 12 and maintains the constant pressure drop across that valve by selectively bypassing high pressure fuel from high pressure line 13 to a bypass line 20 . that is , as the pressure in line 13 increases relative to the pressure in line 11 , regulator 10 is adapted to bypass more fuel via line 20 , thus reducing the pressure in line 13 . conversely , if the pressure in line 11 rises relative to the pressure in line 13 , pressure regulator 10 reduces the flow into bypass line 20 thereby increasing the pressure in line 13 . in this manner , regulator 10 maintains a substantially constant pressure drop across metering valve 12 . according to a significant aspect of the invention , regulator 10 includes compensation elements which allow the regulator to maintain the substantially constant pressure drop across metering valve 12 for a wide range of bypass flows and pressures . the regulator 10 comprises a valve housing 30 including a high pressure inlet 32 in communication with high pressure supply line 13 . housing 30 also includes a low pressure inlet 35 connected to the low pressure line 11 . a valve member 40 is housed within valve housing 30 for reciprocating movement with respect thereto . it is the position of this valve member 40 with respect to valve housing 30 which determines the amount of high pressure fuel from line 13 which is passed to the bypass line 20 . accordingly , the regulator 10 will be referred to herein as having a range of bypass positions from low bypass flow to high bypass flow . high pressure fluid admitted into the high pressure inlet 32 acts against a high pressure face 41 on the upper end of the valve member 40 . this pressure results in a force which tends to shift the valve member downwardly to a position allowing increased bypass flow from the high pressure line 13 to the bypass line 20 . at the same time , low pressure fluid admitted through low pressure inlet 35 acts against a low pressure face 42 on the lower end of the valve member 40 , which results in a force that tends to shift the valve member upwardly so as to reduce the bypass flow from the high pressure line 13 to the bypass line 20 . a coil spring 43 is compressed in the housing 30 between the low pressure face 42 and the lower end of the housing . the force of this compression spring also acts to shift the valve member upwardly and thus to reduce the bypass flow to the bypass line 20 . according to this arrangement , the valve member 40 is shifted downwardly when the pressure p 1 in high pressure line 13 increases relative to the pressure p 2 in the low pressure line 11 . of course , such relative change can occur either by pressure p 1 increasing or by pressure p 2 decreasing . in either case , the downward movement of valve member 40 causes an increase in the bypass flow from the high pressure line 13 to the bypass line 20 so as to reduce the pressure p 1 . in this way , regulator 10 maintains a substantially constant pressure drop p 1 - p 2 across the metering valve 12 . conversely , if the pressure p 1 decreases relative to p 2 , the valve member 40 shifts upwardly which decreases the bypass flow from high pressure line 13 to bypass line 20 . this raises the pressure p 1 to maintain the pressure drop p 1 - p 2 at substantially the same constant value . the action of the biasing spring 43 in such an arrangement shifts the pressure drop p 1 - p 2 away from the constant value as the valve member shifts downwardly . this is due to the fact that the resistance force offered by spring 43 increases with the stroke of valve member 40 . thus , as valve member 40 moves downwardly and causes an increased bypass flow into bypass line 20 , the spring 43 progressively resists downward movement of the valve . this increased resistance causes the relationship p 1 - p 2 to change . additionally , fluid reaction forces increase as the bypass flow increases . these fluid reaction forces also progressively resist downward movement of the valve at high bypass flows . because of these increased upward forces for large bypass flow , a valve member having the previously - described configuration would tend to deliver too little bypass flow at high bypass flow conditions . as a result , the pressure drop p 1 - p 2 tends to increase for increased bypass flow . in accordance with the invention , the pressure regulator 10 is constructed to compensate for the increasing resistance exerted by the spring and the fluid reaction forces which occur at higher bypass flow . this compensation is in the form of a compensation force which acts in the same direction as the spring force . for low bypass flows , this compensating force has a relatively large value , while it has a smaller value for high bypass flow . as a result , the progressively increasing resistance exerted by the spring and fluid reaction forces is offset by this progressively reducing compensating force . we have recognized that both the fluid reaction force and the spring force increase substantially linearly for increasing bypass flow . because of this , and according to a further aspect of the invention , the valve member 40 is constructed to provide a compensating force that varies substantially linearly with increasing bypass flow . this linearly varying compensating force thus accurately compensates for the substantially linearly varying and increasing spring force and fluid reaction forces . because of this compensation , and its substantially linear nature , the pressure drop p 1 - p 2 , instead of increasing as bypass flow increases , remains at a more substantially constant value for widely varying bypass flow rates and bypass pressures . to provide for fluid communication between the high pressure line 13 and bypass line 20 , valve member 40 includes a compensating port 45 and a metering port 50 , both of which are in communication with an intermediate passage 60 formed in valve member 40 . compensating port 45 , depending upon the position of valve member 40 relative to valve housing 30 , is in fluid communication with a compensation inlet 70 . this compensation inlet 70 , in turn , is in fluid communication with a secondary high pressure line 75 connected to high pressure line 13 . similarly , metering orifice 50 , depending upon the position of valve member 40 , is in fluid communication with a bypass outlet 25 . bypass outlet 25 is in constant fluid communication with the bypass line 20 . preferably , both compensation inlet 70 and bypass outlet 25 are annular ports as shown in fig1 . further , the compensating port 45 and metering port 50 are preferably comprised of angularly spaced orifices formed within the valve member 40 . as mentioned , the position of valve member 40 relative to valve housing 30 determines the amount of registration between the compensating port 45 and the compensation inlet 70 . similarly , the position of valve member 40 determines a level of registration between the metering port 50 and the bypass outlet 25 . assuming the compensating port 45 is at some level of registration with compensation inlet 70 , and that metering port 50 is at some level of registration with bypass outlet 25 , high pressure fuel from the secondary high pressure line 75 is bypassed by the regulator 10 to the bypass line 20 . the cross sectional area of the compensating port 45 , to be discussed in greater detail below , is smaller than the cross sectional area of the intermediate passage 60 . as a result , a pressure drop is introduced between secondary high pressure line 75 and the intermediate passage 60 formed within valve member 40 . this pressure drop varies according to the position of valve member 40 relative to the valve housing 30 , assuming a constant bypass flow . of course , bypass flow is not constant , and an increased bypass flow will cause an increased pressure drop assuming a constant position of the valve member 40 with respect to the valve housing 30 . the pressure within intermediate passage 60 , as determined by the pressure drop across compensating port 45 , is communicated to a compensating chamber 80 through an opening 85 formed radially through the valve member 40 . preferably , the compensating chamber 80 is annular , and the opening 85 comprises several angularly spaced openings formed through the valve member 40 . one side of compensating chamber 80 is defined by one side of a radially projecting land 90 formed around the upper end of the valve member 40 . the portion of land 90 forming one side of the compensating chamber 80 forms a pressure face against which the pressure in intermediate passage 60 acts . this results in an upward force tending to close off the compensating and bypass ports to reduce bypass flow . the pressure exerted on the pressure face is determined by the pressure drop across the compensating port 45 . since it is the upward force on this pressure face which give regulator 10 the ability to compensate for increased closing forces at high bypass flows , the pressure drop across compensating port 45 will be referred to herein as a compensating pressure drop . according to this arrangement , the pressure p 1 admitted through high pressure inlet 32 acts against an area a 1 which corresponds to the area corresponding to the diameter of the land 90 . pressure p 1 acting on area a 1 tends to shift the valve member downwardly under the influence of the force p 1 a 1 . at the same time , pressure p 2 which has been admitted through low pressure inlet 35 acts against the low pressure face 42 having an area defined as a 2 . thus , a force p 2 a 2 resists the downward force p 1 a 1 , and urges the valve member 40 upwardly . as mentioned previously , the upward force p 2 a 2 is summed with an upwardly - acting force from the compression spring 43 , which will be referred to herein as f s . also , an upwardly - directed fluid reaction force f r also tends to urge the valve member upwardly . according to the invention , a further upwardly - acting compensating force f c is exerted on the valve member by virtue of the pressure p c being transmitted from the intermediate passage 60 to the compensating chamber 80 and acting against the lower side of the land 90 . this area of the land 90 will be referred to herein as a 3 , and thus the magnitude of the compensating force will be equal to p c a 3 . considering all of these forces , the downward force tending to increase flow through the bypass outlet 25 is p 1 a 1 , while the combined upward force acting on the valve member and tending to close the bypass port is p 2 a 2 + p c a 3 + f s + f p . the balance forces on the valve member , may thus be expressed as : the compensating port 45 and the metering port 50 are disposed such that the compensating port 45 will crack before the metering port 50 . thus , at some point there is a steady state where the compensating port 45 is open , but the metering port is not , and thus there is no bypass flow . at this steady state condition , the pressure p c in the compensating chamber 80 is equal to the high pressure p 1 , the fluid reaction force f p is zero and the force balance equation is : according to this embodiment , the area a 3 is equal to the area a 1 minus the area a 2 , thus , equation 2 may be rewritten as : as previously discussed , the purpose of regulator 10 is to maintain the value p 1 - p 2 at a constant value . for the steady state case just considered , this occurs , since both f s and a 2 are constant . however , and as mentioned previously , f s is not a constant over the entire range of travel of the valve member . furthermore , as the bypass port 25 opens , the upwardly - acting fluid reaction forces f r increases . as mentioned , both of these forces vary substantially linearly for increasing bypass flow , as determined by the position of the valve member 40 . the pressure regulator 10 , according to the invention , compensates for the increase in these forces f s and f r . as the valve member moves away from its steady state position , and shifts downwardly to permit a bypass flow through the metering port 50 and the bypass outlet 25 , a compensating port pressure drop results from the flow through the compensating port 45 . as a result , the pressure p c transmitted to the compensating chamber 80 is also reduced . for increased bypass flows , the pressure p c continues to diminish , thus reducing the total upward force acting on the valve member and compensating the increased upward forces due to increasing f s and f r . according to a further significant aspect of the invention , this continuing reduction in p c for increased bypass flow is programmed so that the relationship between increased bypass flow and decreased p c is substantially linear . this is advantageous since , as discussed above , the increasing forces for which p c compensates ( f s and f r ) increase linearly with increasing bypass flow or downward valve position . this substantially linear decrease in p c for increasing bypass flow is achieved by making the size of compensating port 45 a function of the bypass flow . for an incremental downward movement of the valve member 40 and thus an incremental increase in bypass flow , the pressure drop across an orifice of fixed size would have a certain value . according to this invention , however , the incremental downward movement of the valve member 40 also incrementally increases the size of compensating port 45 . this increase in the size of the compensating port reduces the amount of the pressure drop across the port as compared to an orifice of fixed size . it is this action of pressure regulator 10 which gives an substantially linear relationship between the compensating force exerted on the land 90 by the pressure p c , and the rate of bypass flow . since a linearly decreasing p c is used to offset linearly increasing forces f s and f r , pressure regulator 10 effectively maintains a substantially constant pressure drop p 1 - p 2 across the metering valve 12 through the entire range of bypass flows and pressures . in order to achieve the substantially constant pressure drop across the valve 12 , the areas of the compensating port 45 , and the metering port 50 must be correlated with one another , and with the known force of the spring 43 . further , and according to another aspect of the invention , the areas and shapes of the compensating port 45 and the metering port 50 can be optimized for each specific application . for example , the compensating port 45 may be rectangular , such that the relationship between the position of the valve member 40 and the area of port 45 exposed to the compensation inlet 7 is linear . alternatively , instead of having the compensating port 45 be of a simple rectangular configuration , a more complex configuration , such as that shown in a representative valve member in fig2 may be used for the compensating port 45 . according to that configuration , the shape of the compensating port 45 is rectangular over most of the range of travel of valve member 40 . in that range the valve position / compensating port area relationship is linear . as the valve member moves to a high bypass flow position , however , the port may be necked - down as at the angular side walls 46 and 47 . in this region of the port 45 , the valve position / compensating port area relationship becomes non - linear . other shapes of both the compensating port 45 and the metering port 50 may be used and optimized for specific applications . generally , the purpose of such optimization of the shapes of the ports will be to maintain the constant pressure drop across the metering valve 12 . however , it may also be desirable in certain circumstances to shape the ports to introduce a nonconstant drop across metering valve 12 for certain specified conditions . thus , there has been disclosed a pressure regulator 10 which is uniquely designed to have the advantageous feature of maintaining a substantially constant pressure drop across a metering valve in a fluid delivery system . fig3 is a comparative graph showing the differential pressure across a metering valve over a range of fuel flows in fuel delivery system using different pressure regulators including a regulator 10 according to the invention . the first curve , designated &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; is for a pressure regulator without any compensation . the second curve &# 34 ; b &# 34 ; shows a pressure regulator employing compensation as shown in the wernberg &# 39 ; 713 patent . the remaining curve &# 34 ; c &# 34 ; shows a pressure regulator in accordance with the invention . as shown by these idealized curves , the pressure regulator of the present invention , by virtue of a substantially linear relationship between valve position and the compensationg pressure drop , offers a substantially constant pressure drop across a metering valve . furthermore , a pressure regulator according to the present invention may advantageously be used in combination with other devices for maintaining a constant pressure drop across a metering valve . in fig4 the pressure regulator 10 according to the present invention is shown used in conjunction with a bellows 100 and trim piston 120 , forming an amplifier for amplifying the pressure differential across the metering valve as seen by the regulator 10 . the pressure differential across the metering valve 12 is applied to the bellows 100 . the pressure output from bellows 100 , which varies with the differential pressure , is applied to a trim piston 120 via line 115 . for an increase in high pressure relative to low pressure , the trim piston moves downwardly , thus tending to move valve member 40 to a position of higher bypass flow . in designing pressure regulator 10 , the shape and area of the compensating port 45 and metering port 50 are correlated with the spring force of spring 43 and trim valve spring 110 . in this way , a more nearly constant pressure drop can be achieved across valve 12 .
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in more detail , the present invention is a method for installing a hollow , closed - bottom pile 10 having perforations 12 in a section of the wall 14 near the bottom end thereof and / or in the bottom closing plate 16 , in an earth formation . the method includes driving the pile into an earth formation 20 which tightly engages the outer surface of the pile , at least along the perforated section 12 , when the driving is completed . see fig1 . the perforated section of the pile 10 is disposed within an unconsolidated portion 18 of said earth formation and a liquid thermo - setting resin - forming composition 20 is displaced through the pile and the perforations . see fig2 . the liquid composition permeates the unconsolidated portion of the formation in a radially extensive zone 24 that is continuous from within the piling out into the unconsolidated portion and the liquid composition solidifies in the radially extensive zone to form a consolidated mass 26 integrally comprising the permeated zone and the pile . see fig3 . the liquid thermo - setting resin - forming composition employed in the method contains : epikote - 828 is a trade name for commercial liquid polyglycidyl ether of 2 , 2 - bis ( 4 - hydroxyphenyl ) propane , which preferably has an epoxy group content of 5320 mmol / kg . ## str1 ## and its isomers . broadly , the process according to the present invention comprises stabilizing a struture embedded in an earth formation by disposing the solidifiable liquid resin composition between at least an external portion of the structure and the surrounding earth formation , and solidifying the resin composition in intimate and static contact with both the structure and the formation , whereby the solidified resin is bonded to both the structure and the formation . when resin - forming polyepoxide composition 22 is flowed , as a liquid , from inside the pile 10 into contact with a surrounding earth formation 20 ( especially a granular earth formation ) and allowed to harden in accordance with its present invention , the pile demonstrates a pull - out resistance materially exceeding that obtainable by other methods . thus it is possible , to reduce both the number of piles necessary to form an adequate foundation and the depth to which such piles must be driven . the prior art processes of anchoring pilings , such as by forming metal footings or by pouring slurries of concrete , or other cementitious materials around or from within the pile out into the surrounding earth , are subject to serious disadvantages which materially reduce the pullout resistance of the piles when compared with those installed by our new process . more specifically , concrete slurries cannot easily be pumped through permeable formations without fracturing the formations . furthermore , cement does not have a high bonding affinity for metal and tends to fracture at the point where it is joined to a metal pile when the latter is subjected to intense or shock - loading pull - out forces . by using the resin - forming composition 22 according to the invention , the aforementioned disadvantages of prior art metal footings or cementitious projections are overcome . the composition according to the invention comprises a pumpable , oil - phase liquid mix which is not affected by water , i . e ., it will not dehydrate or dilute and become an unpumpable mass , as will concrete or cement . further , the present liquid compositions solidify at predictable rates in contact with sea water and other aqueous solutions which materially affect the curing or setting of cement . in addition , the present liquid mix may be used to stabilize piles 10 in relatively permeable formations , where prior art cementitious materials are not effective because the suspended solid particles which , in such prior art mixtures , are essential to the formation of a solid grout , filter out on the face of the formation . since the mix is a solid free , pumpable , oil - phase liquid , the mix cures to a solid whether it is disposed within or adjacent to the matrix of the earth formation and thus it can be cured in either sandy formations or in relatively impermeable formations . furthermore , the liquid mix according to the invention will adhere to wet surfaces and solidify to form a much stronger bond to the metal pilings and to the earth formations than any material previously known . tests have shown that under identical conditions the cured mix exhibited a shear strength of from at least 2 to 100 times as great as that for cementitious compositions . finally , the solidified resin composition according to the invention is elastic rather than brittle and resists shock better than concrete . while resin consolidations , especially where the formation is completely saturated with the resin are excellent , the relatively high cost of the resins may prohibit such consolidations . when the formation to be consolidated must remain permeable , it is not possible to saturate the formation with resins since this would close off the pore space between the adjacent grains of the formations making the resulting consolidated formation completely impermeable . in order to maintain permeability and a corresponding reduction in cost , resins are dispersed in formations in concentrations less than saturating to achieve some consolidation and , at the same time , maintain permeability . however , when the concentration of the resin is reduced , much of the resin merely collects and coagulates in the pore spaces between adjacent grains of the formation without adding appreciably to the actual consolidation or the compressive strength of the consolidated grains . therefore , it has been a widespread practice to attempt a compromise between some consolidation and some permeability , when it is necessary that the formation consolidated remain permeable . the method according to the invention seeks to avoid such compromises by the formation of a hardened resin film 30 covering the surfaces 32 of the loose grains 32 and leaves the pores ( interstitial voids ) 36 unencumbered by resin precipitation . see fig4 . in this manner , it is possible to achieve consolidations which are both strong and permeable , and which can be accomplished at a very reasonable expense . surprisingly , the consolidations accomplished according to the invention , are as strong as those consolidations in which the formation is actually saturated with the resin or resin composition . this means that excellent consolidations can be achieved at a very reasonable cost while maintaining a very high permeability . permeable consolidations allow the consolidated mass to drain and thereby allow it to sustain much greater loads than in the case in which drainage is not possible . often , in the practice of the invention , the permeability of the consolidated mass is approximately that of the unconsolidated mass which makes this method extremely desirable for the consolidation in case one desires to repeat the consolidation treatment to give additional strength to part or whole of the initially consolidated mass . while it has been the practice to treat permeable , unconsolidated or partially consolidated masses with injected resin compositions to obtain consolidation , the consolidation integrity is sometimes sacrificed for purposes of permeability . it has now been found that a considerable increase in consolidation integrity can be achieved by resin compositions when a silane is present in the liquid composition to be injected into formation to be consolidated . the silanes have at least one functional group which is capable of reacting with the grains of the formation and another function group which is capable of reacting with the resin - forming composition with which the consolidation is to be accomplished . thus , the silane ensures a connecting link between the resin and the grains of the formations and thereby ensures greater consolidation integrity . also , the presence of the silane tends to prevent the resin from accumulating in the pore space between adjacent grains and causes the resin composition to adhere closely to the surface of the grains being consolidated . under such circumstances , the resin does not coagulate in the pores and leaves the consolidated formation relatively permeable while also achieving high consolidation integrity . therefore , according to a preferred embodiment of the invention , the liquid thermo - setting resin - forming composition contains a silane , advantageously in a concentration within the range of from 0 . 5 to 2 % v . the liquid thermo - setting resin - forming composition preferably has a dynamic viscosity of at most 10 cp . by using such a composition , the soil to be consolidated under and / or around a pile is not disturbed during the injection of the liquid composition therein . the liquid composition can be injected through holes in the lower cylindrical part of the pile : shaft - grouting . alternatively it can be injected through holes in the bottom closing plate of the pile : pile - tip - grouting . the invention will now be further illustrated by the following example . platform a is an offshore piled structure constructed for the exploitation of hydrocarbon reserves . the main part of the structure rests on four legs in 150 m deep sea . each leg is piled ( by a number of hollow steel piles placed symmetrically around the leg ) through the sea - bed to a depth of 120 m below the sea - bed . the pile tips rest in a weakly cemented , porous calcareous soil of low permeability ( 20 - 400 millidarcy ) which has subsequently been shown in tests as having insufficient strength to safely bear the load of the platform according to the original design criteria . as a remedial action , a treatment based on the epoxy grout formulation mentioned hereinbelow was carried out as follows . calculations showed that in order to satisfactorily strengthen the soil beneath the pile tips , a five - fold increase in soil strength would be required and this must extend up to 1 . 7 m radially from the axis of the pile and to a depth of 6 m below the pile tip . the volume of epoxy grout required was of the order of 25 cubric meters per pile . an injection hole of 15 cm diameter was drilled through the pile tip into the soil , extending some 6 m beneath the pile tip . the following fluids were injected into the soil taking care not to exceed the estimated fracture pressure of the soil ( approximately 12 bar ): the purpose of these fluids was to pre - condition the formation by removing most of the natural pore water . this was followed by the epoxy grout . the pumping rate averaged 1 . 5 cu . m per hour at 10 bar over - pressure . in total 48 cu . m of epoxy grout were pumped in 31 hours ( for the purposes of this test more epoxy grout was pumped than actually required ). in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the epoxy grout treatment , boreholes were drilled into the treated zone and soil samples were recovered for testing . soil strengths were found to have improved by a factor 10 and epoxy grout was found up to 2 . 6 m away from the injection borehole . the liquid thermo - setting resin - forming composition ( the so - called expoxy grout used in this example ) was composed by blending equal volumes of solutions a and b , having the following compositions : ______________________________________component aepikote - 828 33 % vxylene 66 % vsilane ( d . c . z6040 ) 0 . 72 % vcomponent bmda 11 % v ( 127 g / l ) xylene 35 % vbutyl oxitol 47 % vdmp - 10 1 . 4 % vkerosene 5 . 6 % v______________________________________
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in fig1 a tool body or probe body 1 is suspended at the end of a cable 2 . electrical conductors which transmit to the probe the energy required for its operation and which , on the surface , transmit the signals delivered by the probe may be incorporated into this cable 2 . probe body 1 , for example , may be equipped with four measurement shoes which are arranged in diametrically - opposing positions in pairs and placed so as to be positioned against the wall . only two of these shoes are shown at 3a and 3b in fig1 . they are connected to the probe body 1 by a mechanism , not shown in detail , which includes articulated arms 4a and 4b for moving the shoes with respect to the axis of the probe body 1 and for placing them in contact with wall 5 of the well during the measurements . probe body 1 is also equipped with a centering device 6 of generally - known construction . as fig2 shows , each shoe 3 comprises an acoustic wave transmitter - receiver transducer t of the piezoelectric type which , when an electrical signal transmitted by conductor 7 is received , emits an acoustic pulse , and which , when an acoustic pulse is received , pg , 8 delivers an electric signal to be transmitted by conductor 7 . the transmission and reception pattern of transducer t is selected to be highly directive . in addition , this transducer is placed in the immediate vicinity of the wall , and it emits a heavily - directional beam in a direction which is essentially perpendicular to the axis of the probe and receives the acoustic waves which are reflected perpendicularly to the axis of the probe . transducer t is mounted in a housing 8 which is placed in a bore of measurement shoe 3 . this bore opens towards wall 5 of the well and housing 8 is mounted in such a way that it slides in a cover - shaped element 10 which is attached to the other face of shoe 3 opposite the wall 5 . housing 8 is biased by spring 12 against the wall 5 of the test drilling . the contact with this wall 5 is made by a ring 11 , which is preferably made of plastic , of a selected thickness e , so that the travel time of the trains of acoustic waves through recess 11a , which is filled with water or a material which has essentially the same acoustic impedance and which constitutes an intermediate medium between transducer t and wall 5 , is well known . spring 12 , which is placed between the bottom of receptacle 9 and a shoulder 13 of housing 8 , keeps ring 11 in contact with wall 5 of the well by moving the housing 8 in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the probe . the resolution obtained will be better the smaller the diameter or aperture 0 of the collimator which is represented by recess 11a . this aperture will , however , be sufficient to prevent the diaphragm from significantly attenuating the emitted acoustic beam . on the other hand , it is known that the aperture angle of the acoustic wave beam emitted decreases when the transmission frequency is increased . the value of the thickness e is taken into account in order to determine the positions of the time windows or limited intervals of detection time f1 and f2 in which the successive echoes a1 , a2 , . . . of the emitted ultrasonic signal e are detected . fig3 a , 3b and 3c , where time t appears on the abscissa , show different examples of the detection response to material surfaces of different configuration . these windows f1 and f2 correspond to the times when the successive reflections of signal e at the interface between wall 5 and the water contained in recess 11a are received . the thickness e defines the mean distance between transmission element t and wall 5 . this thickness will be selected to be sufficient to allow window f1 to be shifted enough from the transmission time to ensure good separation between signal a1 and transmitted signal e ( fig4 a ) while thickness e , however , is limited in order to avoid excessive attenuation of the acoustic signals by the intermediate medium with allowance for the value of the acoustic transducer &# 39 ; s transmission power . excellent results are obtained in practice with values of e ranging from several millimeters to 1 cm , but these values should not be considered limiting . the probe 1 is also equipped with a diameter determining device ( not shown ) which indicates the value of the diameter of the bore hole at the level where ring 11 , which plays the role of tracer , makes contact with the inner wall 5 of the test drilling . such a device , which is well known from the prior art , does not need to be described in detail . for example , this device indicates the value of the diameter of the hole with allowance for the rotation of articulated arms 4a and 4b and can in particular be used to detect the presence of significant cavities in the wall of the test drilling . the detection of fractures f is carried out with ultrasonic waves which are likely to reflect well and are not excessively attenuated by traversing the plug of water , or more generally , the intermediate element of thickness e . excellent results are obtained by using acoustic waves which have a frequency of between 400 khz and 5 mhz , and the thickness e of the plug 11a of water can be selected , depending on the value of this frequency , to be between 1 mm and several centimeters . the attenuation of the signal transmitted obviously increases with the frequency selected . with the probe placed in a given position at a known level of the test drilling , the transducer transmits through the intermediate element plug 11a a signal which echoes and returns to the transducer if the formation is compact ( fig3 a ) and which is not returned if the zone is fractured ( fig3 b ). in the first case , the transmitted signal e returns in echoes a1 and a2 such that 0a1 = a1a2 = out - and - back time in the plug of water . if the wall of the test drilling has small cavities , there may be echoes a &# 39 ; 1 , a &# 39 ; 2 , . . . , beyond window f1 ( fig3 c ). however , one of these echoes may possibly appear in window f2 . this second time window f2 is not essential , but its use has the advantage of supplementing the indications given by time window f1 , and the following cases may thus arise : ( 1 ) no echo in f1 : there is a fracture ; ( 2 ) echo in f1 : there is no fracture , as confirmed by the presence of another echo in time window f2 ; ( 3 ) no echo in f1 but an echo beyond this time window , including f2 , indicating that there is an alveolus at the level under consideration . fig4 a , 4b and 4c show the signals corresponding to these different cases which are produced on the screen of an oscilloscope or on a recording . the locations of the fractures will be obtained either by measuring at a fixed level of the test drilling or by slowly moving the probe along the wall of the test drilling . in the selected time window f1 or f2 , the return signal obtained is integrated as a function of the measurement reading with a time constant which decreases in size the more the operator wishes to increase the resolution of the measurement , and the thickness of the fractures can vary from several dozens of microns ( cracks ) to several millimeters . when the invention is employed , use will be made of at least time window f1 which defines a limited time interval which begins , following the instant of transmission of signal e , when a time has elapsed which is essentially equal to the out - and - back travel time of the ultrasonic signals through thickness e of the intermediate medium which separates transducer t from wall 5 . the interpretation of the logs obtained is improved , as indicated above , by detecting the reception of any ultrasonic signals reflected during at least an additional limited time interval , or time window , such as f2 , which begins , following the instant of transmission , when a time has elapsed which is essentially equal to twice , or more generally , a multiple of the out - and - back travel time of the ultrasonic signals to the above - mentioned thickness e , of a known value , of the intermediate medium . in fig5 which shows schematically the transmission , reception and signal processing circuits , the bottom of the drawing shows the acoustic signal transmission and reception circuits located within probe 1 , while the top of the figure shows the circuits for processing the electrical signals . these processing circuits are preferably located on the surface of the ground and are connected to the circuits within the probe by electrical transmission conductors 15 , which can be incorporated into cable 2 which supports the probe . by way of example , it was assumed that the probe includes three transducers t1 , t2 and t3 which may ( or may not ) be distributed in the same horizontal plane around the probe ( for instance , spaced at intervals of 120 ° in this plane ). an electric switching circuit or multiplexer 16 , which is electrically connected to the three transducers by conductors according to fig5 respectively , and which is powered by a low - frequency current ( 40 hz , for example ) from a timing control circuit 17 , connects in succession transducers t1 , t2 and t3 to a signal transmitter circuit 18 which controls the ultrasonic transmission from the transducers t1 , t2 and t3 . this circuit 18 is powered by a high - frequency current ( 10 khz , for example ) from timing control circuit 17 . switching circuit 16 is also connected to a signal receiver circuit 19 , which receives the electrical signals generated by the transducers t1 , t2 and t3 when acoustic echoes corresponding to the emitted ultrasonic signals e are received . the electrical signals at the output of signal receiver circuit 19 are applied to an amplifier circuit 20 with a programmable gain , which also filters these signals . the circuit 20 is coordinated with the frequency of transducer t , for example , with a frequency on the order of 2 . 5 mhz , and is powered by timing control circuit 17 with a current having a frequency of 10 khz . the output from amplifier circuit 20 is applied to a sampler - rectifier circuit 21 and , from there , to an output amplifier 22 , which is connected to electrical conductors 15 for transmission to the surface of the electrical synchronization signals generated by timing control circuit 17 as well as electrical signals corresponding to the transmission and reception of acoustic signals by transducers t1 , t2 and t3 . the electrical signals received on the surface are applied to the input of an amplifier 23 , the output of which is connected to a first threshold circuit 24 , which is connected by a conductor 25 to a mean value detector circuit 26 which determines the mean value of the signal received in the time interval corresponding to time window f1 for each of the three transducers t1 , t2 and t3 , respectively . the circuits for determining time windows f1 and f2 comprise a synchronization circuit 27 , the input of which is connected to the output of amplifier 23 and the output of which is connected , on the one hand , to circuit 26 by way of conductor 28 and , on the other , to the input of a timing circuit 29 for generating time windows f1 and f2 . the output of this timing circuit 29 is connected to circuit 26 by way of conductor 30 . when they leave the first threshold circuit 24 , the signals are also applied to an oscilloscope 31 via conductor 32 . oscilloscope 31 is connected by conductor 33 to timing circuit 29 , which defines time window f1 , and to the synchronization circuit 27 . the signals leaving first threshold circuit 24 are also applied via conductor 34 to a second threshold circuit 35 , the output signals of which are applied to an oscilloscope 37 which is connected by conductor 38 to timing circuit 29 which defines time window f2 . the output signals of second threshold circuit 35 are also applied via conductor 36 to a mean value detector circuit 39 which determines the mean value of the signal received in the time interval corresponding to window f2 for each of transducers t1 , t2 and t3 , respectively . this circuit 39 is connected by conductor 40 to circuit 29 which defines time window f2 . conductors 41 and 42 connect oscilloscope 37 and circuit 39 , respectively , to synchronization circuit 27 . threshold circuits 24 and 35 will be adjusted in such a way as to eliminate parasitic echoes , between element t and wall 5 , due to the use of materials which have an acoustic impedance which is not rigorously adapted to that of the water in contact with wall 5 . the synchronization circuit 27 detects the synchronization signals provided by the timing control circuit 17 and appearing at the output of amplifier 23 so as to synchronize the operations of the mean value detector circuits 27 and 39 , the oscilloscopes 31 and 37 , and the timing circuit 29 to the multiplexing of data signals from transducers t1 , t2 and t3 by the switching circuit 16 . the output of amplifier 23 is also connected to an amplifier 43 , which makes it possible to record signals on magnetic tape , and to an amplifier 44 which makes it possible to read the magnetic recordings which are thus made . of course , the apparatus includes means for determining the position of the probe in the well during each measurement . this will make it possible to record the measurements made as a function of depth . these means can be of the type currently used for known well - logging probes . it may also be possible to use a membrane to close recess 11a which contains the water or another intermediate medium which has essentially the same acoustic impedance and attenuates the acoustic waves only slightly , provided that this thin membrane is composed of a material which has acoustic characteristics such that this membrane does not introduce into windows f1 , f2 , . . . , appreciable parasitic reflections of the signals which are transmitted and reflected by the wall of the formation ( a membrane made of a material which has essentially the same acoustic impedance as water , such as polyethylene ). recess 11a can also be filled with a solid which has essentially the same acoustic impedance as water . while i have shown and described several embodiments in accordance with the present invention , it is understood that the same is not limited thereto but is susceptible of numerous changes and modifications as known to a person skilled in the art , and i therefore do not wish to be limited to the details shown and described herein , but intend to cover all such changes and modifications as are obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art .
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referring to fig1 , a gas turbine 2 comprises a compressor section 4 and a combustor 6 . the compressor may be an axial compressor having alternating rows of stator vanes and rotor blades arranged in a plurality of stages for sequentially compressing the air , with each succeeding downstream stage increasing the pressure higher and higher until the air is discharged from a compressor outlet at maximum pressure . the combustor 6 receives the compressed outlet air from the compressor portion 4 . conventional fuel supply conduits and injectors ( not shown ) are further provided for mixing a suitable fuel with the compressed outlet air for undergoing combustion in the combustor 6 to generate hot combustion gases . the turbine section 8 is downstream from the combustor 6 and the energy of the hot combustion gases is converted into work by the turbine section 8 . the hot gases are expanded and a portion of the thermal energy is converted into kinetic energy in a nozzle section of the turbine section 8 . the nozzle section includes a plurality of stator blades , or nozzles , 28 , 30 , 32 . for example , a first stage nozzle includes a stator blade 28 , a second stage nozzle includes a stator blade 30 , and a third stage comprises a stator blade 32 . the turbine section 8 also includes a bucket section . in the bucket section , a portion of the kinetic energy is transferred to buckets 40 , 42 , 44 that are connected to rotor wheels 34 , 36 , 38 , respectively , and is converted to work . the wheel 34 and the bucket 40 form the first stage , the wheel 36 and the bucket 42 for the second stage , and the wheel 38 and the bucket 44 form the third stage . spacers 50 , 52 may be provided between each pair of rotor wheels . during a shutdown of the turbine 2 , a blower 12 is provided to cool down the rotor of the turbine section 8 . the blower 12 may be connected to the inner diameter of an aft shaft 26 of an aft disk by stage 1 piping 14 that is configured to deliver a flow of air between the first and second stages , and by stage 2 piping 18 that is configured to deliver a flow of air between the second and third stages . a first set of check valves , including a blower check valve 15 and a piping check valve 17 , may be provided in the stage 1 piping 14 . a second set of check valves , including a blower check valve 21 and a piping check valve 19 , may be provided in the stage 2 piping 18 . mixing tees 16 , 20 may be provided in the stage 1 and stage 2 piping , respectively . alternatively , the blower 12 may be replaced with a vacuum to draw air out of the turbine 2 . the blower 12 is connected to the gas turbine 2 by an externally fed bore ( efb ) circuit 10 which may be , for example , a bucket supply system . for existing gas turbines , the blower may be retrofitted to the gas turbine 2 by retrofitting a bore plug under the aft shaft 26 . the blower piping 14 , 18 can be connected to the inner diameter of the aft shaft 26 and used in conjunction with the check valves 15 , 17 , 19 , 21 . during normal operation , i . e ., non - shutdown conditions , the blower 12 is off and the blower check valves 15 , 21 are closed and the piping check valves 17 , 19 are open . during operation at any speed , which may include shutdowns , between trips , while purging , etc ., of the gas turbine 2 , the blower 12 is operated to cool down the rotor of the turbine section 8 and the blower 12 is sized and timed such that it forces the cooling rate of the rotor to the same speed as or faster than the cooling rate of the casing of the gas turbine 2 . this allows the gas turbine 2 to be restarted at any time and have the rotor equal to or cooler than the stator temperatures . the operation of the blower 12 may be controlled by a controller 48 . the controller 48 may be a specially programmed general purpose computer , or a microprocessor . the controller 48 may also be an asic . the controller 48 may control the operation of the blower 12 based on signals from temperature sensors in the turbine section , e . g . the rotor , and the casing that are sent to the controller 12 . the blower 12 may be used for cooling other plant hardware during fsfl operation , such as exhaust frames / casings . the first blower check valve 15 and the second blower check valve 21 are configured to open when a predetermined gaseous flow is generated by the blower 12 . concurrently , the first piping check valve 17 , and the second piping check valve 19 , are configured to close such that all blower flow be directed to the turbine section 8 . it should be appreciated that the first check valve set 15 , 17 and the second check valve set 19 , 21 may be configured to open at the same , or different , gaseous flows . for example , the first check valve set 15 , 17 may be configured to open at a first gaseous flow , and the second check valve set 19 , 21 may be configured to open at a second gaseous flow that is higher than the first gaseous flow . it should be appreciated that other valves than check valves may be used . it should be further appreciated that the controller 48 may be configured to control the operation of the valves . as shown in fig1 , the cooling flow 22 of stage 1 is shown in solid lines , the cooling flow 24 of stage 2 is shown in dashed lines , and a turbine purge 54 flow is shown in dotted lines . the use of the efb circuit 10 and the blower 12 provides the gas turbine 2 with sufficient clearance as the mechanical growth and out of roundness allow at a lower cost relative to the active clearance control options of prior art systems . the gas turbine 2 provided with the blower 12 and the efb circuit 10 is able to run with tighter clearances and does not require an expensive system that continuously runs to achieve the required clearances . the blower 12 is run at non - fsfl conditions when the rotor is hotter than the casing . it can also be used to perform other plant functions , such as exhaust frame cooling during fsfl . heat transfer analysis may be performed that simulates the blower cooling the rotor of the turbine section 8 during a shutdown to determine how much air flow is required to match the stator time constant to match the cooling rate of the rotor to the cooling rate of the casing of the gas turbine 2 . the clearances are thus controlled by matching the shutdown time constants with rotor augmentation . unlike prior art systems , which use clearance control systems that deal with moving the stator during either startup or fsfl , the gas turbine 2 provided with the blower 12 and efb circuit 10 has advantages in that it is operates on the rotor during non - design points so is relatively inexpensive in terms of product cost and does not represent a drain on the performance of the gas turbine 2 during fsfl . although the embodiment described above is in the context of a gas turbine , it should be appreciated that the cooling apparatus and method described above are also applicable to steam turbines . while the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment , it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment , but on the contrary , is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims .
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referring now to the drawings , fig1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a baw oscillator and saw filter multiplier circuit of the present invention . the oscillator circuit preferably comprises a baw crystal clock oscillator 1 that provides a high stability clock reference signal , a saw filter multiplier 2 that provides a harmonic output that is a desired harmonic multiple of the baw oscillator frequency , and an amplifier buffer 3 that amplifies the saw filter output signal to the desired signal level . fig2 is another block diagram of an embodiment of a baw oscillator and fbar filter multiplier circuit of the present invention . the oscillator circuit preferably comprises a baw crystal clock oscillator 1 that provides a high stability clock reference signal , a fbar filter multiplier 2 that provides a harmonic output that is a desired harmonic multiple of the baw oscillator frequency , and an amplifier buffer 3 that amplifies the fbar filter output signal to the desired signal level . fig3 is a schematic diagram of the baw oscillator and filter multiplier circuits of fig1 and 2 . the baw oscillator 1 preferably comprises a bulk acoustic wave resonator in a crystal oscillator circuit . many crystal oscillator circuits are available for use and can be any overtone order of the resonator . the crystal oscillator can be a fixed crystal oscillator ( xo ), a voltage controlled crystal oscillator ( vcxo ), a temperature compensated crystal oscillator ( tcxo ), or an oven controlled crystal oscillator ( ocxo ). the crystal is preferably an at or sc cut crystal . a square wave or sine wave output from the crystal oscillator is desired to produce a plurality of odd or even harmonics for the filter . in a preferred embodiment , the output of the crystal oscillator is a square wave used to produce a plurality of odd harmonics for the filter . the present invention utilizes the odd harmonics by filtering from a digital signal , being close to a square wave . this square wave has a large amount of odd harmonic content which makes it easier to filter and amplify for multiplication . the circuit of the present invention provides better isolation between stages making the design less complicated at higher frequencies . the present invention also preferably uses a saw or fbar filter instead of using an lc filter or other low q filter as used in the prior art . the quality factor q of the saw or fbar filter is higher giving the circuit of the present invention higher amplitude levels . higher amplitude levels are desirable prior to amplifying to reduce the noise levels being amplified . the filter 2 preferably comprises a saw filter or a fbar filter and a plurality of discrete matching components ( resistors , capacitors and inductors ) necessary to accomplish the impedance matching of the filter 2 to the rest of the circuit . the filter 2 bandwidth over the operating conditions of the entire circuit must contain the center frequency plus the frequency tolerance of the baw oscillator 1 harmonics over the operating conditions . the filter 2 bandwidth must not be too wide so it allows the unwanted harmonics of the baw oscillator 1 to also pass through the filter 2 . the filter 2 must have a frequency response characteristic to remove all the unwanted frequencies of the baw oscillator 1 and select only the desired harmonic multiple of the baw oscillator &# 39 ; s fundamental frequency . the circuit of the present invention also preferably includes an amplifier and / or buffer 3 in order to obtain the desired signal strength or wave shape required for the circuit that this design is intended to drive . the amplifier / buffer 3 is preferably an analog amplifier for a sine wave output requirement or a digital buffer required for driving a digital circuit such as a cmos or pecl circuit . in the example shown in fig3 , the amplifier / buffer 3 is an ecl line receiver , such as a 100el16 - 5v ecl differential receiver . one example of an acceptable circuit for the baw oscillator 1 is shown in fig4 . fig4 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a baw oscillator circuit of the present invention . the oscillator circuit of this embodiment preferably comprises a gate oscillator having an inverting gate or inverter 5 , a capacitor 6 and 8 on each side of the inverter 5 , an inductor 7 on the input side of the inverter 5 , and a crystal 4 in the feedback path of the inverter 5 . the inductor 7 is used to select the desired overtone order of the crystal 4 and would not be included for a fundamental mode crystal . the gate oscillator 5 , such as a 10h116 differential line receiver as shown in fig4 , supplies the amplifier stage and vbb bias for the circuit , capacitors 6 and 8 supply additional phase shift for the circuit to allow oscillation with the crystal 4 . the inductor 7 is used to create an inductor capacitor tank circuit with capacitor 8 to select the overtone order of the crystal 4 being used in the circuit . the example shown in fig4 uses an ecl gate which does not require a feedback resistor to provide the bias and gain adjust necessary for a ttl or cmos inverting gate . if a ttl or cmos inverting gate were used , a feedback resistor would be required in the feedback path of the inverting gate . the stability of a non - compensated baw at cut resonator is much tighter than a saw resonator . the baw at cut resonator frequency drift with temperature can be as low as ± 2 ppm from 0 ° c . to 50 ° c . ( or as indicated earlier , less then ± 10 ppm from 0 ° c . to 70 ° c .). as mentioned above , other controlled or compensated crystal oscillators can be used such as a vcxo for small frequency movement , a tcxo for extra stability , or an ocxo for very tight stability . the output stability of the overall circuitry will be the stability of this reference oscillator . fig5 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the baw oscillator and filter multiplier circuit of the present invention incorporating the baw oscillator circuit of fig4 . the baw oscillator 1 is preferably a 177 mhz , at cut baw crystal oscillator created via a standard gate oscillator circuit . an at cut third overtone crystal 4 provides the basic frequency reference for the baw oscillator 1 . the output of the gate oscillator circuit 1 is preferably filtered with a saw filter 2 having a center frequency of 531 mhz ( three ( 3 ) times the fundamental 177 mhz frequency of the oscillator ). the saw filter 2 bandwidth is preferably about 1 mhz , which is wide enough to contain the at cut crystal 4 tolerance at the third harmonic selected and the drift of the saw filter 2 . a simple pecl receiver buffer , such as a 100el16 ecl line receiver 3 , amplifies the output of the saw filter 2 and provides the pecl signal level needed for a pecl oscillator . the saw filter 2 is preferably a 533 . 33 mhz smd , part number tb0264a , manufactured by tai - saw technology co ., ltd . of taiwan , having a center frequency of 533 . 33 mhz . as mentioned previously , in another embodiment of the present invention , a fbar filter 2 may be used in place of the saw filter 2 . while the invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments , it is to be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific embodiments set forth above . thus , it is recognized that those skilled in the art will appreciate that certain substitutions , alterations , modifications , and omissions may be made without departing from the spirit or intent of the invention . accordingly , the foregoing description is meant to be exemplary only , the invention is to be taken as including all reasonable equivalents to the subject matter of the invention , and should not limit the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims .
| 7 |
fig1 illustrates the basic construction of the solid insulation distribution transformer according to the preferred embodiment . the transformer 10 has a core 12 and coils or windings 14 . an outer casing 16 surrounds a molded mass 18 . the molded mass 18 is a dielectric resin which completely encases and surrounds the core 12 and the windings 14 . a bracket ( not shown ) connected to the core exterior side casing 34 supports the windings 14 . the high voltage and the low voltage terminals are provided at the front on connectors as shown at 21 . heat generated by the core 12 and the windings 14 is extracted by four heat pipes 22 each having conductive heat sink blades 50 for collecting heat in the region between the core 12 and the windings 14 to draw the heat up towards radiators 24 . the distribution transformer 10 is mounted on a base 20 , the base being engageable by a forklift for ease of manipulation . according to a first aspect of the present invention , as shown in fig2 and 3 , the magnetic core is not directly cast in the solid dielectric material 18 but rather it is surrounded by a resilient and compressible sheet material 30 . during curing of the cast material 18 , the compressible sheet material 30 is constricted as the cast material shrinks . the core is thus also allowed to vibrate and to undergo thermal expansion and contraction without breaking away from the solid cast material 18 . a silicone foam rubber ( closed cell ) sheet material 30 is wrapped around all of the core 12 . silicone sealant is used to close together and render resin - tight the compressible sheet material 30 at the seam or seams thereof . the laminated core 12 thus does not soak up the liquid cast dielectric material 18 during molding . the silicone sealant used to seal up the sheet material 30 is preferably the kind which does not release acetic acid during curing to avoid subjecting the laminated core 12 to the acetic acid . as illustrated in fig2 the resilient foam sheet material 30 is partly surrounded by steel casing plates 34 on its outer sides at the base and free elongated limb by which the whole of the core 12 and coils 14 is supported when mounted to base 20 . the casing plates 34 may be made of metal of composite material . furthermore , in accordance with the present invention , any possible cracks due to thermal build - up in the mass of molded dielectric material 18 surrounding the core 12 are prevented from propagating radially by a series of concentric dielectric sheets 62 placed between the primary coil 66 and the secondary coil 64 , as well as between the secondary coil 64 and the grounded outer casing 16 . while these sheets 62 are shown to be concentric square - shaped tubes , it would , of course , be possible to provide a spiral of a continuous sheet in order to place a plurality of sheets between the primary and secondary coils . the molded dielectric material 18 fills the spacing between the sheets 62 . the sheets 62 ( e . g . nomex ™ paper which is a synthetic fiber paper - like web material having good dielectric properties as well as good physical strength and flexibility when provided in a thickness not much thicker than standard bond paper ) are held in place by spacers generally indicated by reference numeral 60 . the spacers 60 may be made of fiberglass strips or the like . according to a second aspect of the present invention , the heat pipes 22 as illustrated in fig1 and 3 , are arranged to extract heat from the core 2 and the secondary low voltage windings 64 . heat pipes , well known in the art , are heat transfer devices consisting of a sealed metal tube with an inner lining of wicklike capillary material and a small amount of fluid in a partial vacuum , in which heat is absorbed at one end by vaporization of the fluid and is released at the other end by condensation of the vapor . heat absorbed by the pipes 22 within the distribution transformer 10 causes the liquid contained within the wick structure to evaporate . the vapor in the center of the heat pipes 22 moves through the wick - like coating in the radiator end of the pipes 22 to condense and release heat to the radiator fins 24 . the wick - like coating transports the liquid by capillary action from the condenser section outside the transformer to the evaporator section inside the transformer where the heat is generated . the blades 50 help collect the heat from within the transformer for transport by the heat pipes 22 . an insulator strip 52 ( e . g . a nomex strip ) is used to separate the two sets of blades 50 in order to electrically insulate the two and prevent a current loop . as can be seen in fig3 the heat pipes are arranged on the outside of the silicone sheet material 30 . heat is more readily absorbed in this way from the low voltage windings 64 . heat which builds up in the core 12 is collected by the heat pipes as it passes through the sheet material 30 . the heat generated by the outer high voltage windings 66 is dissipated through the cast dielectric 18 to the outer casing 16 and to the ambient air . in the preferred embodiment , two heat pipes 22 are provided on each lateral side of the core 12 . this has proven to be efficient for removing the heat that is generated in the case of a 167 kva distribution transformer . 0f course , it would be possible to have a heat pipe inside the sheet material 30 . while heat pipes are preferred because they are passive and maintenance - free , active fluid circulation heat exchange apparatus could also be implemented . with reference to fig1 and 4 , an aspect of the present invention will be described . the outer casing 16 which surrounds the solid body 18 comprises an outer multi - layer fiberglass shell 42 with an inner carbon fiber cloth liner 44 . the shell members comprise interlocking tabs 46 which allow the fiberglass shell members to be glued together to form a rigid and solid shell completely surrounding the sides of the distribution transformer 10 . as illustrated , thin copper strips 48 are connected to the cloth liner 44 in order to connect the cloth to ground . by grounding the carbon fiber cloth liner 44 , electric fields within the distribution transformer 10 which emanate from the windings 14 will not result in a shock hazard to workers coming into contact with the casing 16 . by providing a fiberglass shell to cover the molded dielectric body 18 , a very safe structure is constructed . thus , if a pressure build - up inside of the molded body occurs resulting in the body 18 wanting to crack apart under the gas pressure , the fissure will travel until it reaches the casing 16 , at which point its energy will be absorbed . the built - up gas pressure can then travel upwards towards the top of the transformer 10 where the casing 16 is not provided and be safely released there . this construction is known as a &# 34 ; ballistic armor &# 34 ; construction since it prevents any harmful effects from an otherwise explosive condition . the tapering at the top of the transformer both reduces the volume of the cast dielectric and increases the effectiveness of the casing 16 by reducing the exposed surface . it is assumed that the exposed surface points in a direction free from the usual passage of workers . the cast insulating material 18 may be made from a resin - filler mixture , such as the ciba - geigy resin sold under the name &# 34 ; araldite cw229 &# 34 ; mixed with a wollastenite powder filler ( casi0 3 ). the filler upgrades the resin structural properties . the dilation coefficient of the set resin - filler composite is also close to that of steel . after the shell members 42 are assembled together to make the casing 16 , the steel molds are then applied to the casing 16 before the resin filler mixture is vacuum cast in the casing 16 and allowed to fully cure . the copper strips 48 are then connected to a ground terminal to ground the carbon fiber cloth material contained in the shell members 42 .
| 7 |
the embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings . fig5 a and 5b are views showing one embodiment of a recording head of the present invention , wherein fig5 a is an appearance perspective view and fig5 b is a side view . this form is comprised of a recording element substrate 1001 on which recording elements ( not shown ) are formed , a driving element substrate 1002 on which driving elements 1003 of ic for driving the recording elements individually under control are formed , a circuit substrate 1004 electrically connected to the driving element substrate 1002 by a method such as wire bonding to enter an image signal from the outside into the driving elements 1003 , a heat radiating plate 1012 provided for heat radiating the recording elements and driving elements on the recording element substrate 1001 , a ceiling plate 1011 provided on a part of the face of the recording element substrate 1001 confronting the driving element substrate 1002 , but out of contact with the driving element substrate 1002 , a press - bonding plate 1007 for press bonding the recording element substrate 1001 and the driving element substrate 1002 to make electrical connection therebetween , an elastic member 1008 provided between the press - bonding plate 1007 and the heat radiating plate 1012 , a main base board 2006 for holding down the driving element substrate 1002 and the circuit substrate 1004 , securing screws 1010 for securing the press - bonding plate 1007 and the main base board 1006 , and spacers 1009 , as shown in fig5 a and 5b . the driving element substrate 1002 is positioned and fixed such that its end face may be flush with the end face of the main base board 1006 . note that an ink chamber ( not shown ) and ink discharge ports ( not shown ) are disposed between the recording element substrate 1001 and the ceiling plate 1011 , with energy for discharging the ink supplied to the ink chamber by the recording elements on the recording element substrate , so that the ink is discharged from the ink discharge ports owing to that energy . herein , a component consisting of the main base board 1006 , the driving element substrate 1002 and the circuit substrate 1004 is referred to as a driving element unit , and a component consisting of the heat radiating plate 1012 , the recording element substrate 1001 and the ceiling plate 1011 is referred to as a recording element unit . a method of positioning the driving element unit and the recording element unit as shown in fig5 a and 5b will be described below . fig6 a and 6b are views illustrating one form of the method of positioning the recording element unit and the driving element unit in press bonding , as shown in fig5 a and 5b . in press bonding the recording element unit and the driving element unit in this form , a positioning jig base board 1014 is used on which locating pins 1101 , 1102 for locating the recording element unit and locating pins 1100 , 1102 for locating the driving element unit are provided at respective predetermined positions , as shown in fig6 a and 6b . first , the driving element unit is placed on the positioning jig base board 1014 , and secured thereto , with the end portion of the driving element unit abutted against the locating pins 1100 , 1102 ( fig6 a ). then , the connection of the recording element unit is laid on the connection of the driving element unit , and the recording element unit is secured to the driving element unit , with the end portion of the recording element unit in abutment against the locating pins 1101 , 1102 ( fig6 b ). herein , since the position of connecting electrodes for the driving element unit can be determined by the distance from the end of the driving element substrate 1002 , and the position of connecting electrodes for the recording element unit can be determined by the distance from the end of the recording element substrate 1001 , the position of the connecting electrodes for the driving element unit can be correctly determined by the locating pins 1100 , 1102 , and the position of the connecting electrodes for the recording element unit can be correctly determined by the locating pins 1101 , 1102 . thereafter , by disposing the elastic member 1008 on the heat radiating plate 1012 , then laying the press - bonding plate 1007 thereon , and fixing to the spacers 1009 which are secured onto the main base board 1006 , the driving element unit and the recording element unit are press bonded and electrically connected . in the above for , the positioning of the driving element substrate and the recording element substrate can be easily made . also , as opposed to the conventional example in which the elastic member 2008 is interposed between the sub - base board 2005 and the press - bonding plate 2007 , as shown in fig3 the elastic member 1008 is interposed between the recording element substrate 1001 and the press - bonding plate 1007 in this form , whereby the movable portion becomes the recording unit alone , resulting in superior dynamic balance in the operation and stabler pressure bonding operation . fig7 a and 7b are views showing another embodiment of a recording head of the present invention , wherein fig7 a is an appearance perspective view and fig7 b is a side view . this form has a balance weight 1013 attached to the heat radiating plate 1012 of the recording head as shown in the previous embodiment , as shown in fig7 a and 7b . in the previous embodiment , the recording element unit is constructed in such a manner that the recording element substrate 1001 and the ceiling plate 1011 are provided on one side from a column of connecting electrodes for the recording element substrate 1001 of the heat radiating plate 1012 , none being provided on the other side , so that the position of the center of gravity in the recording element unit is offset relative to the position at which the connecting electrodes of the recording element substrate 1001 are provided . accordingly , the dynamic balance is broken , in some instances leading to unstable and difficult operation , when positioning and press - bonding the recording element unit and the driving element unit . thus , in this form , the balance weight 1013 is attached oppositely to the side where the recording element substrate 1001 and the ceiling plate 1011 are provided with respect to the column of connecting electrodes for the recording element substrate 1001 on the heat radiating plate 1012 , such that the position of the center of gravity in the recording element unit is substantially coincident with the installed position of the connecting electrode portion . in the recording head as above constituted , due to the improved dynamic balance of the recording element unit in press bonding the recording element unit and the driving element unit , the press - bonding operation between the recording element unit and the driving element unit can be further enhanced in efficiency and reliability . while this form has been described with an instance where the balance weight 1013 is attached to the heat radiating plate 1012 , it will be appreciated that the position of the center of gravity in the recording element unit can be also substantially coincident with the installed position of the connecting electrode portion by changing the shape of the heat radiating plate 1012 . fig8 a and 8b are views showing a further embodiment of a recording head of the present invention , wherein fig8 a is an appearance perspective view and fig8 b is a side view . this form has no heat radiating plate 1012 for the recording head , which was provided in the previous embodiment , in which the press - bonding plate 1007 for use in press bonding the recording element unit to the driving element unit is made of an electrically conductive material to fill the role of heat radiating plate , as shown in fig8 a and 8b . in the recording head as above constituted , if the recording element substrate 1001 causes any failure , the recording element substrate 1001 can be only replaced , so that the number of parts and the number of assembling processes , as well as the costs of renewal parts , can be reduced . fig9 a and 9b are views illustrating an ink jet recording head according to a further embodiment of the present invention , wherein fig9 a is an exploded view and fig9 b is an overall perspective view . in fig9 a and 9b , 101 is a recording element substrate on which recording elements , wirings and connecting electrodes , not shown , are disposed , 103 is a driving element of ic for driving each recording element under control , 102 is a driving element substrate on which the connecting electrodes for electrical connection with the recording element substrate and driving elements 103 are disposed , 104 is a circuit substrate for entering an image signal from the outside into driving elements 103 , 106 is a main base board , 107 is a press - bonding plate , and 108 is an elastic member . this example has a maximum feature that the elastic member 108 is divided into a plurality of blocks . the blocks of the elastic member 108 for use in this example are of e . g . rectangular parallelopiped shape and arranged on the course of transmitting a pressure welding force produced by the press - bonding plate 107 . therefore , the pressure bonding force produced by the press - bonding force 107 is transmitted to the pressure bonding face of the driving element substrate 102 and the recording element substrate 101 , as a force applied to a number of points by the elastic members 108 . as a result , the more reliable pressure welding can be effectively made more easily than by the conventional method , even if there is any warp or waviness of the substrate which is problematical in pressure welding the recording element substrate 101 and the driving element substrate 102 which are of long size . fig1 a and 10b are views illustrating a further example of the present invention . fig1 a is an overall perspective view of an ink jet recording head of this example , and fig1 b is a typical view showing an elastic member 108 for use in this example . this example has the same constitution as the first example , except for the shape of the elastic member 108 , wherein like numerals are attached , and no detailed explanation is given . a different point between this example and the previous example is that the elastic member 108 is an elastic body of an integral structure having a plurality of convex and concave configurations , as shown in fig1 b . in this way , as the elastic member 108 is the integral structure , this example is superior in that the elastic member is more easily disposed , as compared with the first example where it was necessary to arrange a plurality of blocks of the elastic member 108 . the material of this elastic member 108 , like the previous example , is preferably natural rubber , silicone rubber , or other elastic resins , and the convex and concave configurations on the surface can be easily formed by a method such as stamping . fig1 a and 11b are views illustrating a further example of the present invention . fig1 a is an overall perspective view of an ink jet recording head of this example , and fig1 b is a typical view showing an elastic member 108 for use in this example . in this example , like numerals are attached to the same parts as in the previous example , and no detailed explanation is given . in this example , a different point from the previous example is that a metal sheet worked into a shape having convex and concave configurations such as wave or crest is employed , as shown in fig1 b . the elastic member 108 of this example can be easily worked into wave or crest shape by a method such as press , with lower production costs of the recording head , and the use of metal parts allows the fabrication of recording head which is resistive to changes in environment such as temperature or humidity or secular deterioration . fig1 shows an appearance of one embodiment of an ink jet head according to the present invention , fig1 shows the lateral shape of its main portion , and fig1 shows an appearance of a portion of an energy generating element unit thereof . that is , a driving element unit 12 and a circuit substrate 14 for electrical connection via wire bondings 13 to this driving element unit 12 are fixed on a base plate 11 . also , a base end portion of a presser bar 17 is attached to spacers 15 standing from the base plate 11 by means of a plurality of machine screws to be screwed into respective spacers . a registration face 22 formed on an energy generating element substrate 21 of an energy generating element unit 20 is superposed on a registration face 19 formed on a driving element substrate 18 of the driving element unit 12 . and a pressing face 23 formed on the opposite side of the registration face 22 of this energy generating element substrate 21 has a top end portion of the presser bar 17 pressed thereto via a cushion member 24 such as a rubber - like elastic material in circular cross section . thereby , the registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 is pressed onto the registration face 19 of the driving element substrate 18 having driving elements formed , with the elastic deformation of the cushion member 24 . namely , pressing means of the present invention can be comprised of spacers 15 , machine screws 16 , the presser bar 17 , and the cushion member 24 , as above described . on these registration faces 19 , 22 , there are exposed a plurality of connecting electrodes , not shown , which are electrically connected by positioning and bringing the registration faces 19 , 22 of the energy generating element unit 20 and the driving element unit 12 into close union with each other . on both sides of a grooved plate 26 joined to the registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 in a longitudinal direction thereof , a pair of ink supply tubes 27 for supplying the ink into an ink passageway , not shown , formed between the grooved plate 26 and the energy generating element substrate 21 are connected , the ink supply tubes 27 being in communication with an ink tank , not shown , via a filter device 28 , whereby the ink supplied from this ink tank is filtered by the filter device 28 provided on the base plate 11 to prevent mixture of dust and foreign matter into the energy generating element unit 20 . on the base end of the energy generating element substrate 21 in this embodiment , a thinner portion 29 having a smaller thickness than the other portion is formed to employ the surface of this thinner portion 29 as the pressing face 23 . in this way , by placing the pressing face 23 into closer proximity to the registration face 22 by virtue of the thinner portion 29 of the energy generating element substrate 21 which is reduced in thickness , the aspect ratio for connection can be made greater than that of the conventional one . also , since the thinner portion 29 which has smaller thickness and rigidity is used as the pressing face 23 , the entire registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 can be securely brought into close union with the registration face 19 of the driving element substrate 18 by the pressing force of the presser bar 17 , even if the energy generating element substrate 21 has more or less nonconforming shape such as warp . as a result , a stabler electrical connection can be made between the registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 and the registration face 19 of the driving element substrate 18 . fig1 shows an appearance of one embodiment of an ink jet cartridge according to the present invention , using the ink jet head as above described . that is , the ink jet cartridge 30 in this embodiment is of the serial type , mainly comprised of a driving element unit 12 , a presser bar 17 , an energy generating element unit 20 , a cushion member 24 , an ink supply tube 27 , a main ink tank 31 for storing the ink , and a lid member 32 for enclosing this main ink tank 31 . the energy generating element unit 20 having a number of ink discharge ports 41 discharging the ink formed , corresponding to the previous embodiment as shown in fig1 and 13 , is pressed via the cushion member 24 onto the driving element unit 12 by the presser bar 17 . the ink is passed from the main ink tank 31 through the ink supply tube 27 into an ink chamber which is formed by the grooved plate 26 and the energy generating element substrate . while the ink jet cartridge 30 in this embodiment has the main ink tank 31 and the driving element unit 12 integrally formed , it will be appreciated that the main ink tank 31 may be exchangeably connected with the driving element unit 12 . fig1 shows an appearance of one embodiment of an ink jet apparatus according to the present invention , using the ink jet cartridge 30 as above described . that is , the ink jet apparatus 50 of this embodiment has a carriage 54 freely slidable along a pair of guide bars 53 disposed in parallel to a platen roller 52 which is driven for rotation by a paper feeding motor 51 . also , a pair of pulleys 55 , 56 rotatably attached beyond both ends of the guide bars 53 has a scanning wire 57 looped therearound in parallel to the guide bars 53 , with its both trailing ends connected to the carriage 54 . one pulley 55 is connected to a carriage driving motor 58 , and with the forward and backward rotation of this carriage driving motor 58 , the carriage 54 is moved for scanning along the platen roller 52 in its longitudinal direction , while being guided by the guide bars 53 . the carriage 54 has the ink jet cartridge 30 as shown in fig1 mounted exchangeably by means of an operation lever 59 for mounting / dismounting in positioned state , the ink discharge ports 41 of the ink jet head 40 being placed oppositely to the printing medium 70 such as a sheet wrapped around the platen roller 52 with a predetermined spacing . also , the driving elements 25 of the ink jet head 40 ( see fig1 ) are supplied with an ink discharge signal by way of a flexible cable 60 connecting to the carriage 54 in accordance with data from a proper data supply source . and owing to the feeding operation of the printing medium 70 by the paper feeding motor 51 and the scanning movement of the carriage 54 by the carriage driving motor 58 , desired data can be printed on predetermined region of the printing medium 70 . note that more than one ink jet cartridge 30 ( two in the shown example ) can be mounted on the carriage 54 , in accordance with the ink colors in use . also , while the ink jet head 40 as above described was of the serial type , it will be appreciated that the present invention can be also applied to an ink jet cartridge using an ink jet head of full - line type or an ink jet apparatus thereof . in the embodiment as shown in fig1 to 14 , the energy generating element substrate 21 was formed with the thinner portion 29 , but the same effect can be also obtained by forming a groove . the lateral shape of another embodiment of an ink jet head according to the present invention is shown in fig1 , and an appearance of a portion of the energy generating element unit is shown in fig1 , wherein like numerals are attached to the same functional members or parts as in the previous embodiment , and no duplicate explanation is given . this is , on the pressing face 23 of the energy generating element substrate 20 , a groove portion 81 extending along this pressing face 23 is engraved , whereby since a portion of the energy generating element substrate 20 corresponding to this groove portion 81 is reduced in thickness and thus weak in rigidity , the entire registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 can be securely brought into close union with the registration face 19 of the driving element substrate 18 by the pressing force of the presser bar 17 , even if there is more or less nonconforming shape such as warp in the energy generating element substrate 21 . as a result , a stabler electrical connection between the registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 and the registration face 19 of the driving element substrate 18 can be made . though the embodiments as shown fig1 to 14 , fig1 and fig1 can be used in any combination , the lateral shape of another embodiment of such an ink jet head of the present invention is shown in fig1 , and an appearance of a portion of the energy generating element unit is shown in fig2 , wherein like numerals are attached to the same functional members or parts as in the previous embodiment , and no duplicate explanation is given . that is , by forming the groove portion 81 on the thinner portion 29 of the energy generating element substrate 21 , the entire registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 can be more securely brought into close union with the registration face 19 of the driving element substrate 18 than in the embodiment of fig1 to 14 , even if there is more or less nonconforming shape such as warp in the energy generating element substrate 21 , so that a stabler electrical connection between the registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 and the registration face 19 of the driving element substrate 18 can be made . then , the lateral shape of a further embodiment of an ink jet head according to the present invention having a support plate incorporated into the energy generating element unit 20 is shown in fig2 , and an appearance of a portion of the energy generating element unit is shown in fig2 . in this case , like numerals are attached to the same functional members or parts as in the previous embodiment , and no duplicate explanation is given . that is , the support plate 82 for assuring the rigidity of the energy generating element unit 20 is integrally joined to the energy generating element substrate 21 of the energy generating element unit 20 . the support plate 82 which is wider than the energy generating element substrate 21 is formed with the thinner portion 29 which is smaller in thickness , the surface of this thinner portion 29 being employed as the pressing face 23 against which the cushion member 24 is abutted . in this way , by placing the pressing face 23 into closer proximity to the registration face 22 of the energy generating substrate 21 with the thinner portion 29 of the support plate 82 , the aspect ratio for connection can be made greater than conventionally . also , since the thinner portion 29 which has smaller thickness and reduced rigidity is used as the pressing face 23 , the entire registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 can be securely brought into close union with the registration face 19 of the driving element substrate 18 by the pressing force of the presser bar 17 , even if the energy generating element substrate 21 or the support plate 82 has more or less nonconforming shape such as warp . as a result , a stabler electrical connection can be made between the registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 and the registration face 19 of the driving element substrate 18 . while in the above embodiment , the thinner portion 29 is formed in the support plate 82 , a portion of which is used as the pressing face 23 , it will be appreciated that a receiving groove in which the cushion member 24 is only received can be formed in the support plate 82 , and the lateral shape of a further embodiment of such an ink jet head of the present invention is shown in fig2 , and an appearance of a portion of its energy generating element unit is shown in fig2 , wherein like numerals are attached to the same functional members or parts as in the previous embodiment , and no detailed explanation is given . that is , a cushion member receiving groove 83 is formed in the central portion of the support plate 82 against which the cushion member 24 is pressed , the bottom face for this cushion member receiving groove 83 being used as the pressing face 23 . in this way , by forming the cushion member receiving groove 83 in the central portion of the support plate 82 , the pressing face 23 can be brought into closer proximity to the registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 than in the previous embodiment , without losing the rigidity of the support plate 82 . accordingly , in this embodiment , the aspect ratio for connection can be made greater than conventionally , whereby the entire registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 can be securely brought into close union with the registration face 19 of the driving element substrate 18 by the pressing force of the presser bar 17 , even if there is more or less nonconforming shape such as warp in the energy generating element substrate 21 or the support plate 82 , so that a stabler electrical connection can be made between the registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 and the registration face 19 of the driving element substrate 18 . in one embodiment of the present invention as above described , the cushion member receiving groove 83 for receiving the cushion member 24 was formed in the support plate 82 , but the same effect can be also obtained by forming a groove adjacent to the pressing face 23 . the lateral shape of a further embodiment of such an ink jet head of the present invention is shown in fig2 , and an appearance of a portion of its energy generating element unit is shown in fig2 , wherein like numerals are attached to the same functional members or parts as in the previous embodiment , and no detailed explanation is given . that is , on the pressing face 23 of the support plate 82 is engraved a groove portion 81 extending along this pressing face 23 , whereby since a portion of the support plate 82 corresponding to this groove portion 81 is reduced in thickness and thus rigidity , the entire registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 can be securely brought into close union with the registration face 19 of the driving element substrate 18 by the pressing force of the presser bar 17 , even if there is more or less nonconforming shape such as warp in the support plate 82 . as a result , a stabler electrical connection between the registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 and the registration face 19 of the driving element substrate 18 can be made . though the embodiments as shown fig2 to 22 and fig2 to 26 can be used in any combination , the lateral shape of another embodiment of such an ink jet head of the present invention is shown in fig2 , and an appearance of a portion of the energy generating element unit is shown in fig2 , wherein like numerals are attached to the same functional members or parts as in the previous embodiment , and no duplicate explanation is given . that is , by forming the groove portion 81 on the thinner portion 29 of the support plate 82 , the entire registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 can be more securely brought into close union with the registration face 19 of the driving element substrate 18 than in the fourth embodiment as shown in fig2 to 22 , even if there is more or less nonconforming shape such as warp in the support plate 82 , so that a stabler electrical connection between the registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 and the registration face 19 of the driving element substrate 18 can be made . while in the embodiment as shown in fig2 to 28 , the support plate 82 greater than the energy generating element substrate 21 was adopted , and the entire energy generating element substrate 21 was joined with the support plate 82 , the use of a smaller support plate 82 than the energy generating element substrate 21 may be possible to form the pressing face 23 on the energy generating element substrate 21 , unless there is specifically any problem in respect of the rigidity . the lateral shape of a further embodiment of such an ink jet head of the present invention is shown in fig2 , and an appearance of a portion of the energy generating element unit is shown in fig3 , wherein like numerals are attached to the same functional members or parts as in the previous embodiment , and no duplicate explanation is given . that is , at the front end of the energy generating element substrate 21 , the support plate 82 having a narrower width than the energy generating element substrate 21 is joined integrally , a portion of the energy generating element substrate 21 located closer to the base end than this support plate 82 serving as the pressing face 23 . in this way , since a portion of the pressing face 23 is directly formed on the surface of the energy generating element substrate 21 , despite of the presence of the support plate 82 , the pressing face 23 can be brought into closer proximity to the registration face 22 , so that the aspect ratio for connection can be made greater than conventionally . also , since the energy generating element substrate 21 is directly pressed , the entire registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 can be more securely brought into close union with the registration face 19 of the driving element substrate 18 , even if there is more or less nonconforming shape such as warp in the energy generating element substrate 21 . as a result , a stabler electrical connection between the registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 and the registration face 19 of the driving element substrate 18 can be made . the support plate 82 of the energy generating element unit 20 may be formed in a frame , and the cushion member 24 may be received within this support plate 82 . as shown in fig2 representing an appearance of another embodiment of such energy generating element substrate 20 , an opening 84 facing the pressing face 23 of the energy generating element substrate 21 is formed in the center of the support plate 82 , such that the cushion member 24 can be received within this opening 84 and pressed against the pressing face 23 of the energy generating element substrate 21 . in the embodiment as shown in fig2 and fig3 , a thinner portion 29 can be further formed in the energy generating element substrate 21 . the lateral shape of a further embodiment of such an ink jet head of the present invention is shown in fig3 , and an appearance of a portion of the energy generating element unit is shown in fig3 , wherein like numerals are attached to the same functional members or parts as in the previous embodiment , and no duplicate explanation is given . that is , at the base end of the energy generating element substrate 21 , the thinner portion 29 which is smaller in thickness than other portions is formed , wherein the surface of this thinner portion 29 is used as the pressing face 23 . hence , despite of the presence of the support plate 82 , the pressing face 23 can be brought into closer proximity to the registration face 22 , so that the aspect ratio for connection can be made greater than conventionally . also , the entire registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 can be more securely brought into close union with the registration face 19 of the driving element substrate 18 , even if there is more or less nonconforming shape such as warp in the energy generating element substrate 21 , so that a stabler electrical connection between the registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 and the registration face 19 of the driving element substrate 18 can be made . in the embodiment of the present invention as shown in fig3 to 33 , the energy generating element substrate 21 was formed with the thinner portion 29 , but the same effect can be also obtained by forming a groove . the lateral shape of another embodiment of such an ink jet head according to the present invention is shown in fig3 , and an appearance of a portion of the energy generating element unit is shown in fig3 , wherein like numerals are attached to the same functional members or parts as in the previous embodiment , and no duplicate explanation is given . that is , on the pressing face 23 of the energy generating element substrate 20 is engraved a groove portion 81 extending along this pressing face 23 , whereby since a portion of the energy generating element substrate 20 corresponding to this groove portion 81 is smaller in thickness and thus reduced in rigidity , the entire registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 can be securely brought into close union with the registration face 19 of the driving element substrate 18 by the pressing force of the presser bar 17 , even if there is more or less nonconforming shape such as warp in the energy generating element substrate 21 . as a result , a stabler electrical connection between the registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 and the registration face 19 of the driving element substrate 18 can be made . though the embodiments as shown fig3 to 33 and fig3 to 35 can be used in any combination , the lateral shape of another embodiment of such an ink jet head of the present invention is shown in fig3 , and an appearance of a portion of the energy generating element unit is shown in fig3 , wherein like numerals are attached to the same functional members or parts as in the previous embodiment , and no duplicate explanation is given . that is , by forming the groove portion 81 on the thinner portion 29 of the energy generating element substrate 21 , the entire registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 can be more securely brought into close union with the registration face 19 of the driving element substrate 18 than in the embodiment as shown in fig3 to 33 , even if there is more or less nonconforming shape such as warp in the energy generating element substrate 21 , so that a stabler electrical connection between the registration face 22 of the energy generating element substrate 21 and the registration face 19 of the driving element substrate 18 can be made . any of the recording heads of the present invention as above detailed can be incorporated into the head cartridge as shown in fig1 , and mounted on the recording apparatus as shown in fig1 . while in the above - described examples , the present invention was described using a printer having an ink jet recording head mounted on the cartridge , it should be understood that the present invention can be suitably used for an information processing apparatus which can read image information from the original sheet carried on the platen , by means of a scanner unit which can be mounted on the carriage , compatibly with the ink jet recording head , by having the almost same outer shape as the ink jet recording head , for example . in addition , the recording apparatus according to the present invention may be provided in the form of an image output terminal of the information processing equipment such as word processors or computers , integrally or separately , a copying machine in combination with the reader , and further a facsimile apparatus having the transmission and reception feature .
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the process according to the invention is compatible with other water treatment chemicals , corrosion and scale inhibitors , etc . preparation of stock solution : nh 4 br was dissolved in de - ionized water ( 2761 ppm ). naocl ( 2000 ppm as cl 2 ) was quickly added dropwise to the ammonium bromide solution while stirring the mixture . the stock solution was used immediately . results in table i indicate higher rates of kill for naobr and naocl as compared to nh 4 br + naocl in water with low demand for chlorine . nh 4 br + naocl : molar ratio 1 : 1 ; stock concentration : 0 . 5 %; nh 4 br + naocl was either pre - mixed or added in situ to the buffer . demand : 1 . 8 ppm out of 2 ppm of cl 2 within 60 minutes . table ii shows that pre - mixed ( nh 4 br + naocl ) a higher rate of kill as compared to either naocl or naobr , as the demand for chlorine increases . efficacy was slightly impaired at ph from 8 . 0 to 9 . 0 . efficacy of nh 4 c + naocl in water taken from a citrus juice evaporator : comparison to non - oxidizing biocides water demand : higher than 30 ppm of cl 2 ( out of 30 ppm cl 2 ) within 60 minutes . results in table iii indicate that a mixture of nh 4 cl + naocl was more effective than 3 non - oxidizing biocides in water with high demand for chlorine . efficacy of oxidizing and non - oxidizing biocides is a starch sizing mixture ( paper industry ) results in table iv prove that a mixture of nh 4 br + naocl is more effective than other oxidizing and non - oxidizing biocides in a high demand medium . kinetics of kill of various mixtures of ammonium salts mixed with naocl in water from a citrus juice evaporator demand : higher than 30 ppm out of 30 ppm of cl 2 during 10 minutes . results in table v show that mixtures of ammonium salts and naocl are effective in controlling aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms in water with high demand for chlorine . control was achieved within 10 minutes . under these conditions both naocl and naobr are impaired by the media . the mixture of nh 4 br + naocl did not leave a measurable residue after 10 minutes , yet it was very effective in reducing viable counts within 10 minutes . efficacy of oxidizing biocides in water taken from a paper mill ( thick stock of pulp slurry ) results in table vi prove higher efficacy for nh 4 br + naocl as compared to other oxidizing biocides in this heavily loaded water . efficacy of a series of biocides in domestic waste containing a high concentration of amines results in table vii prove that in the presence of a high nh 3 concentration , naocl was less effective than pre - mixed nh 4 cl + naocl in controlling microbial growth ( in water with high demand for cl 2 ); good control was measured after 10 minutes . results in table viii prove that pre - mixing ( nh 4 ) 2 so 4 with naocl resulted in lower viable counts of both fecal coli and total count . in waste water with high organic load , this disinfection method was superior to disinfecting with either naocl or naobr . efficacy of biocides in the presence of anti - scale and corrosion inhibiting treatment ( cwc ) results in table ix prove that in the presence of scale and corrosion inhibitors , efficacy of various biocides was impaired to such an extent that much higher dosages of biocides had to be fed in order to maintain good control . the mixture of nh 4 br + naocl was less impaired by cwc and established good microbial and algeal control even in the presence of cwc . stock solutions were formed at ph 14 . 0 ; 7 . 0 , 4 . 0 and in water . for in situ addition : both nh 4 x and naocl were dissolved at the appropriate ph . results in table x prove that the efficacy exhibited by mixtures of nh 4 x + naocl depend on the ph and on the mode of formation of the stock mixture . in situ addition of the two ingredients to water resulted in lower efficacy at any of the examined ph &# 39 ; s . stock mixture of nh 4 br + naocl was more effective when prepared in water than when prepared in buffer at ph 7 . 0 . when the stock solution was prepared at a high or at a low ph , it was less effective . dependence of efficacy of mixtures of nh 4 br + naocl on the concentrations of stock solution results in table xi prove that the efficacy exhibited by the mixtures correlated with the concentration of stock solutions . the highest efficacy was measured with a stock concentration equal to at 0 . 5 % as cl 12 . similar trends were obtained when the stock solutions were prepared in water rather than in buffer ( see table x ) ( the high efficacy measured in buffer at a level of 2 % as cl 2 results from the higher ph of this mixture .) the tower was controlled on low level ( 0 . 6 - 1 . 2 kg / day ) of bcdmh feed . use of bcdmh was effective as long as make - ups were softened in ion - exchangers . when cwc ( 100 mg / l of phosphonate ) replaced the use of ion - exchangers , much higher dosages of bcdmh ( 4 - 5 kg / day ) did not suffice to prevent biofouling and growth of algae . the system was shock - fed with nh 4 br + naocl . overall dosage : 75 liters naocl ( 10 %) 12 . 6 kg nh 4 br : the mixture was fed during 1 . 5 hours . this shock treatment cleaned the system . a slug dose of 25 liters naocl ( 10 % as cl 2 ) (+ 4 . 2 kg nh 4 br ) was then fed to the cooling tower once in two to three days . the cooling tower remained clean , with no apparent growth of biofilm or algae . a measurable residue of 0 . 6 - 0 . 4 ppm ( as total chlorine ) was measured in the water 24 and 48 hours after feeding the mixture . this tower was treated with bcdmh ( 1 . 50 - 2 . 26 kg / day ) daily . due to a very high organic load in the water , growth of biofilm was very fast . treatment with bcdmh was effective in controlling the daily grown films , but was not effective against heavy slimes which covered the cooling tower . a daily feed of 3 liters naocl ( 7 % as cl 2 ), mixed with 0 . 35 kg nh 4 br controlled the daily newly formed biofilm as well as the slime and algae growth covering the cooling tower , and left a clean cooling system after three weeks of daily treatment avoiding the need for shock treatment . flow rate : 8 . 33 m 3 / h . ( 6 % starch in h 2 o ), sizing mixture is recirculated in a size press through a filter ( 80 microns ). circulation rate : 6 m 3 / h . the sizing mixture had been previously treated with naocl ( 10 % as cl 2 ), which was fed every 8 hours ( 30 liters per portion ). with this treatment , filters had to be washed once every two hours . use of naocl was replaced by the use of a mixture of nh 4 br + naocl ( stock concentration 0 . 5 % as cl 12 ). feeding of naocl ( 13 liters of 10 % as cl 2 ) and nh 4 br ( 2 . 5 kg ) three times a day ( every eight hours ) kept the filters in the size press clean ; the treatment with nh 4 br + naocl was compatible with a blue dye added to the sizing mixture , and did not bleach the blue starch , unlike naocl . a number of embodiments of the invention have been described for purposes of illustration , but it will be understood that they are not limitative and that the invention can be carried out by persons skilled in the art with many modifications , variations and adaptations , without departing from its spirit and from the scope of the appended claims .
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reference is made to fig1 which shows , virtually the entire invention , in perspective . as illustrated , corrugated box 10 is first introduced to the moving track which , in this illustration , is a moving belt powered on rollers 23 . box 10 moves in the direction of arrow 50 with major flap 11a being parallel to the track &# 39 ; s longitudinal axis and the tabbed first corner 13a being upstream and first non - tabbed corner 14a being downstream along said longitudinal axis . alternatively , if the tabs were so situated , one of the box &# 39 ; s minor flaps could have been shown as being parallel to the track &# 39 ; s longitudinal axis . a first means for deforming box 10 is illustrated as protrusion 61a shown in phantom in fig1 and in more detail in fig6 . it is to be emphasized that any expedient could be employed to facilitate deformation of the box while remaining within the scope of the present invention . the first deformation means , such as protrusion 61a is located on the track and positioned so that the downstream corner of cardboard box 10 across from first non - tabbed corner 14a passes over first protrusion 61a which is sized and positioned to temporarily deform the cardboard box as shown in fig6 resulting in a separation of major flap 11a from the cardboard box at first non - tabbed corner 14a . deformation means 61b is also provided to facilitate the release of a second tab at second releasing means 90 . as further illustrated in fig6 protrusion 61a is located beneath the top surface of endless moving belt 21 and is capable of having its position adjusted along the track to accommodate cardboard boxes of different widths . although an endless belt is shown , virtually any means of moving box 10 downstream can be employed -- the use of an endless belt is merely one expedient . in this illustration , protrusion 61a is functionally engaged to shaft 62 which is threaded and channeled within mating support 64 . as such , when crank 63 is turned , protrusion 61a can be moved to either the left or right of fig6 thus accommodating cardboard boxes of varying widths . a similar configuration is employed later in the assembly which functions identically to protrusion or deforming means 61a discussed herein . as noted previously , the function of protrusion 61a is to raise the corner opposite non - tabbed corner 14a which deforms cardboard box 10 resulting : in flap 11a being lifted from the sidewall of box 10 . this facilitates the passage of first releasing means 32 between major flap 11a and cardboard box 10 at corner 14a . as seen in fig3 as a preferred embodiment , the releasing means of the present invention comprises a releasing plate in a substantially vertical orientation supported by a substantially horizontally extended arm 31 which is in turn supported by a vertically extending peg 36 . contained within support structure 30 is biasing means 37 which biases horizontally extended arm 34 toward cardboard box 10 as shown by phantom structure 33 . the biasing means can be a mechanical spring as shown or similar expedient such as an air spring with rate control or hydraulic control or even an elastomeric material . when corrugated cardboard box 10 is caused to travel in the direction of arrow 35 , corner 14a comes into contact with horizontally extending member 31 causing the support for releasing plate 32 to travel in the direction of arrow 34 . the releasing plate , which is supported generally at the height of tab 13a engages the contact results in a clean severing of the tab . to further facilitate the release of tab 13a , it is contemplated that the device of the present invention be provided with means for increasing friction between box 10 and the track beneath the box when the cuts are made . this is done both when the first and second releasing means act to cut or break tabs 13a and 13b . this configuration is best shown in fig5 where , as a preferred embodiment , wheel means 55 is rotably positioned about shaft 56 such that the top 81 of cardboard box 10 engages wheel means 55 which applies pressure to top 81 . this increases friction which helps to keep the box moving on tracks 21 and 25 while the first and second releasing means engage their tabs . this is particularly advantageous as it eliminates the tendency for the plates to drag the box rather than making clean and sharp tab breaks . the friction increasing means can take on a number of configurations while remaining within the spirit of the present invention . as such , a spongy cylindrically shaped member can be extended over the entire box surface . alternatively , a plastic drape can extend over the tracks to confront the boxes at the appropriate moment . as yet a further embodiment , to additionally assist in lifting major flap 11a at non - tabbed corner 14a , it is contemplated that wheel means 52 which is rotably supported on a substantially vertical axis 59 and support 51 contact major or minor flap as shown in fig1 and 5 . the application of a slight degree of pressure by rotatable wheel means 52 proximate where the flap joins the box results in the tendency for the flap to lift away from cardboard box 10 at corner 14a . it is seen , again , by viewing fig1 that after first releasing means 32 is caused to release tab 13a , the box must be rotated to enable a second releasing means to release tab 13b . although the figure shows rotating box 10 approximately 180 °, the device of the present invention could effect only a single 90 ° rotation if the placement of the tabs or other circumstances or requirements so dictate . it is only in the turning of cardboard box 10 that both first and second releasing means can be placed on the same side of moveable belts 21 and 22 . ideally , corrugated cardboard box 10 is turned approximately 180 ° by providing obstructions 41 and 42 whereby box 10 , upon hitting obstruction 41 turns approximately 90 ° while the same box , when engaging rail 42 at obstruction point 43 turns a second 90 °. as such , the box is then positioned so that second releasing means 90 can release tab 13b in a manner virtually identical to that described above regarding the use of the first releasing means in cutting or breaking tab 13a . to further facilitate turning , obstruction 41 can be provided with skirt 41a which acts to raise the corner of the box which contacts the skirt and move the box &# 39 ; s center of friction . this facilitates the box &# 39 ; s rotation . although various obstructions are shown as elements 41 / 41a , 42 and 43 as ideal means for facilitating box rotation , any comparable means can be employed to effect rotation . for example , a parallel belt can be used traveling at a rate of be employed to effect rotation . for example , a parallel belt can be used traveling at a rate of speed which differs from the speed of belt 22 . such dual speed tracks could be employed to cause box rotation . the first and second releasing means differ from one another only in providing guide means 71 emanating from second releasing means 90 ( fig5 ). as such , the second releasing means also acts in conjunction with protrusion 61b which performs just as protrusion 61a upon cardboard box 10 . as noted above , emanating from second releasing plate 70 is guide means 71 . as best shown in fig8 guide means 71 , which is ideally a flexible cord having a slight upward slope , engages below flap 11b which is raised as guide 71 is ramped upwardly . obviously , first guide means 71 should be sufficiently flexible so as to not prevent second releasing means 90 from being biased as shown . a corresponding ramp 101 can be provided opposite ramp 71 in order to facilitate the lifting of flap 11a . to assist ramp 101 in entering between flap 11a and the box , third deforming means 61c is provided downstream of such deforming means 61b and on the opposite side of the track as the second deforming means . this is done to facilitate the feeding of cardboard box 10 to the case sealer . as yet another preferred embodiment , provision is made to also raise flaps 12a and 12b . as shown in fig7 and 8 , cardboard box 10 is caused to enter processing area 120 whereby moveable belt 121 passes over surface 122 . because belt 121 is reduced in width in comparison to belts 21 , 22 and 25 , a portion of surface 122 is exposed thus revealing rows of holes 75 and 76 for directionally and sequentionally expelling air between flaps 13a and 13b moving them in the direction of arrows 125a and 125b ( fig8 ). surface 122 can be part of a pressurized plenum or merely a support for holes 75 and 76 . as yet a further expedient , brush means 72 is positioned as shown in fig7 and 8 which engages the sidewall of box 10 and catches on upstream flap 13b causing it to raise , again , the direction of arrow 125b . finally , air jet means 73 and 74 can be further employed as yet an additional expedient for insuring the raising of both major and minor flaps . it is contemplated that the device of the present invention can be completely self - contained and employed as an add - on unit to be used with preexisting cardboard box filling lines . in using this device , lines can employ tab lock cases which , as noted previously , eliminates the need for any flap control throughout the packing and indexing operations . the present invention not only is capable of releasing the box tabs but of facilitating flap raising for the feeding of filled boxes to the downstream case sealer section of the assembly line .
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the following description contains specific information pertaining to implementations in the present disclosure . the drawings in the present application and their accompanying detailed description are directed to merely exemplary implementations . unless noted otherwise , like or corresponding elements among the figures may be indicated by like or corresponding reference numerals . moreover , the drawings and illustrations in the present application are generally not to scale , and are not intended to correspond to actual relative dimensions . fig1 shows exemplary system 100 for delivery of personalized audio , according to one implementation of the present disclosure . as shown , system 100 includes user device 105 , audio contents 107 , media device 110 , and speakers 197 a , 197 b , . . . , 197 n . media device 110 includes processor 120 and memory 130 . processor 120 is a hardware processor , such as a central processing unit ( cpu ) used in computing devices . memory 130 is a non - transitory storage device for storing computer code for execution by processor 120 , and also storing various data and parameters . user device 105 may be a handheld personal device , such as a cellular telephone , a tablet computer , etc . user device 105 may connect to media device 110 via connection 155 . in some implementations , user device 105 may be wireless enabled , and may be configured to wirelessly connect to media device 110 using a wireless technology , such as bluetooth , wifi , etc . additionally , user device 105 may include a software application for providing the user with a plurality of selectable audio profiles , and may allow the user to select an audio language and a listening mode . dialog refers to audio of spoken words , such as speech , thought , or narrative , and may include an exchange between two or more actors or characters . audio contents 107 may include an audio track from a media source , such as a television show , a movie , a music file , or any other media source including an audio portion . in some implementations , audio contents 107 may include a single track having all of the audio from a media source , or audio contents 107 may be a plurality of tracks including separate portions of audio contents 107 . for example , a movie may include audio content for dialog , audio content for music , and audio content for effects . in some implementations , audio contents 107 may include a plurality of dialog contents , each including a dialog in a different language . a user may select a language for the dialog , or a plurality of users may select a plurality of languages for the dialog . media device 110 may be configured to connect to a plurality of speakers , such as speakers 197 a , speaker 197 b , . . . , and speaker 197 n . media device 110 can be a computer , a set top box , a dvd player , or any other media device suitable for playing audio contents 107 using the plurality of speakers . in some implementations , media device 107 may be configured to connect to a plurality of speakers via wires or wirelessly . in one implementation , audio contents 107 may be provided in channels , e . g . two - channel stereo , or 5 . 1 - channel surround sound , etc . in other implementation , audio contents 107 may be provided in terms of objects , also known as object - based audio or sound . in such an implementation , rather than mixing individual instrument tracks in a song , or mixing ambient sound , sound effects , and dialog in a movie &# 39 ; s audio track , those audio pieces may be directed to exactly go to one or more of speakers 197 a - 197 n , as well as how loud they may be played . for example , audio contents 107 may be produced as metadata and instructions as to where and how all of the audio pieces play . media device 110 may then utilize the metadata and the instructions to play the audio on speakers 197 a - 197 n . as shown in fig1 , memory 130 of media device 110 includes audio application 140 . audio application 140 is a computer algorithm for delivery of personalized audio , which is stored in memory 130 for execution by processor 120 . in some implementations , audio application 140 may include position module 141 and audio profiles 143 . audio application 140 may utilize audio profiles 143 for delivering personalized audio to one or more listeners located at different positions relative to the plurality of speakers 197 a , 197 b , . . . , and 197 n , based on each listener &# 39 ; s personalized audio profile . audio application 140 also includes position module 141 , which is a computer code module for obtaining a position of user device 105 , and other user devices ( not shown ) in a room or theater . in some implementations , obtaining a position of user device 105 may include transmitting a calibration signal by media device 110 . the calibration signal may include an audio signal emitted from the plurality of speakers 197 a , 197 b , . . . , and 197 n . in response , user device 105 can use a microphone ( not shown ) to detect the calibration signal emitted from each of the plurality of speakers 197 a , 197 b , . . . , and 197 n , and use a triangulation technique to determine a position of user device 105 based on its location relative to each of the plurality of speakers 197 a , 197 b , . . . , and 197 n . in some implementations , position module 141 may determine a position of a user device 105 using one or more cameras ( not shown ) of system 100 . as such , the position of each user may be determined relative to each of the plurality of speakers 197 a , 197 b , . . . , and 197 n . audio application 140 also includes audio profiles 143 , which includes defined listening modes that may be optimal for different audio contents . for example , audio profiles 143 may include listening modes having equalizer settings that may be optimal for movies , such as reducing the bass and increasing the treble frequencies to enhance playing of a movie dialog for a listener who is hard of hearing . audio profiles 143 may also include listening modes optimized for certain genres of programming , such as drama and action , a custom listening mode , and a normal listening mode that does not significantly alter the audio . in some implementations , a custom listening mode may enable the user to enhance a portion of audio contents 107 , such as music , dialog , and / or effects . enhancing a portion of audio contents 107 may include increasing or decreasing the volume of that portion of audio contents 107 relative to other portions of audio contents 107 . enhancing a portion of audio contents 107 may include changing an equalizer setting to make that portion of audio contents 107 louder . audio profiles 143 may include a language in which a user may hear dialog . in some implementations , audio profiles 143 may include a plurality of languages , and a user may select a language in which to hear dialog . the plurality of speakers 197 a , 197 b , . . . , and 197 n may be surround sound speakers , or other speakers suitable for delivering audio selected from audio contents 107 . the plurality of speakers 197 a , 197 b , . . . , and 197 n may be connected to media device 110 using speaker wires , or may be connected to media device 110 using wireless technology . speakers 197 may be mobile speakers and a user may reposition one or more of the plurality of speakers 197 a , 197 b , . . . , and 197 n . in some implementations , speakers 109 a - 197 n may be used to create virtual speakers by using the position of speakers 109 a - 197 n and interference between the audio transmitted from each speaker of speakers 109 a - 197 n to create an illusion that sound is originating from a virtual speaker . in other words , a virtual speaker may be a speaker that is not physically present at the location from which the sound appears to originate . fig2 illustrates exemplary environment 200 utilizing system 100 of fig1 , according to one implementation of the present disclosure . user 211 holds user device 205 a , and user 212 holds user device 205 b . in some implementations , user device 205 a may be at the same location as user 211 , and user device 205 b may be at the same location as user 212 . accordingly , when media device 210 obtains the position of user device 205 a with respect to speakers 297 a - 297 e , media device 210 may obtain the position of user 211 with respect to speakers 297 a - 297 e . similarly , when media device 210 obtains the position of user device 205 b with respect to speakers 297 a - 297 e , media device 210 may obtain the position of user 212 with respect to speakers 297 a - 297 e . user device 205 a may determine a position relative to speakers 297 a - 297 e by triangulation . for example , user device 205 a , using a microphone of user device 205 a , may receive an audio calibration signal from speaker 297 a , speaker 297 b , speaker 297 d , and speaker 297 e . based on the audio calibration signals received , user device 205 a may determine a position of user device 205 a relative to speakers 297 a - 297 e , such as by triangulation . user device 205 a may connect with media device 210 , as shown by connection 255 a . in some implementations , user device 205 a may transmit the determined position to media device 210 . user device 205 b , using a microphone of user device 205 b , may receive an audio calibration signal from speaker 297 a , speaker 297 b , speaker 297 c , and speaker 297 e . based on the audio calibration signals received , user device 205 b may determine a position of user device 205 b relative to speakers 297 a - 297 e , such as by triangulation . in some implementations , user device 205 b may connect with media device 210 , as shown by connection 255 b . in some implementations , user device 205 b may transmit its position to media device 210 over connection 255 b . in other implementations , user device 205 b may receive the calibration signal and transmit the information to media device 210 over connection 255 b for determination of the position of user device 205 b , such as by triangulation . fig3 illustrates exemplary environment 300 utilizing system 100 of fig1 , according to one implementation of the present disclosure . it should be noted that , to clearly show that audio is delivered to user 311 and user 312 , fig3 does not show user devices 205 a and 205 b . as shown in fig3 , user 311 is located at a first position and receives first audio content 356 . user 312 is located at a second position and receives second audio content 358 . first audio content 356 may include dialog in a language selected by user 311 and may include other audio contents such as music and effects . in some implementations , user 311 may select an audio profile that is normal , where a normal audio profile refers to a selection that delivers audio to user 311 at levels unaltered from audio contents 107 . second audio content 358 , may include dialog in a language selected by user 312 and may include other audio contents such as music and effects . in some implementations , user 312 may select an audio profile that is normal , where a normal audio profile refers to a selection that delivers audio portions to user 312 at levels unaltered from audio contents 107 . each of speakers 397 a - 397 e may transmit cancellation audio 357 . cancellation audio 357 may cancel a portion of an audio content transmitted by speaker 397 a , speaker 397 b , speaker 397 c , speaker 397 d , and speaker 397 e . in some implementations , cancellation audio 357 may completely cancel a portion of first audio content 376 or a portion of second audio content 358 . for example , when first audio 356 includes dialog in a first language and second audio 358 includes dialog in a second language , cancellation audio 357 may completely cancel the first language portion of first audio 356 so that user 312 receives only dialog in the second language . in some implementations , cancellation audio 357 may partially cancel a portion of first audio content 356 or second audio content 358 . for example , when first audio 356 includes dialog at an increased level and in a first language , and second audio 358 includes dialog at a normal level in the first language , cancellation audio 357 may partially cancel the dialog portion of first audio 356 to deliver dialog at the appropriate level to user 312 . fig4 illustrates exemplary flowchart 400 of a method for delivery of a personalized audio , according to one implementation of the present disclosure . beginning at 401 , audio application receives audio contents 107 . in some implementations , audio contents 107 may include a plurality of audio tracks , such as a music track , a dialog track , an effects track , an ambient sound track , a background sounds track , etc . in other implementations , audio contents 107 may include all of the audio associated with a media being played back to users in one audio track . at 402 , media device 110 receives a first playback request from a first user device for playing a first audio content of audio contents 107 using speakers 197 . in some implementations , the first user device may be a smart phone , a tablet computer , or other handheld device including a microphone that is suitable for transmitting a playback request to media device 110 and receiving a calibration signal transmitted by media device 110 . the first playback request may be a wireless signal transmitted from the first user device to media device 110 . in some implementations , media device 110 may send a signal to user device 105 prompting the user to launch an application software on user device 105 . the application software may be used in determining the position of user device 105 , and the user may use the application software to select audio settings , such as language and audio profile . at 403 , media device 110 obtains a first position of a first user of the first user device with respect to each of the plurality of speakers , in response to the first playback request . in some implementations , user device 105 may include a calibration application for use with audio application 140 . after initiation of the calibration application , user device 105 may receive a calibration signal from media device 110 . the calibration signal may be an audio signal transmitted by a plurality of speakers , such as speakers 197 , and user device 105 may use the calibration signal to determine the position of user device 105 relative to each speaker of speakers 197 . in some implementations , user device 105 provides the position relative to each speaker to media device 110 . in other implementations , user device 105 , using the microphone of user device 105 , may receive the calibration signal and transmit the information to media device 110 for processing . in some implementations , media device 110 may determine the position of user device 105 relative to speakers 197 based on the information received from user device 105 . the calibration signal transmitted by media device 110 may be transmitted using speakers 197 . in some implementations , the calibration signal may be an audio signal that is audible to a human , such as an audio signal between about 20 hz and about 20 khz , or the calibration signal may be an audio signal that is not audible to a human , such as an audio signal having a frequency greater than about 20 khz . to determine the position of user device 105 relative to each speaker of speakers 197 , speakers 109 a - 197 n may transmit the calibration signal at a different time , or speakers 197 may transmit the calibration signal at the same time . in some implementations , the calibration signal transmitted by each speaker of speakers 197 may be a unique calibration signal , allowing user device 105 to differentiate between the calibration signal emitted by each speaker 109 a - 197 n . the calibration signal may be used to determine the position of user device 105 relative to speakers 109 a - 197 n , and the calibration signal may be used to update the position of user device 105 relative to speakers 109 a - 197 n . in some implementations , speakers 197 may be wireless speakers , or speakers 197 may be mobile speakers that a user can reposition . accordingly , the position of each speaker of speakers 109 a - 197 n may change , and the distance between the speakers of speakers 109 a - 197 n may change . the calibration signal may be used to determine the relative position of speakers 109 a - 197 n and / or the distance between speakers 109 a - 197 n . the calibration signal may be used to update the relative position of speakers 109 a - 197 n and / or the distance between speakers 109 a - 197 n . alternatively , system 100 may obtain , determine , and / or track the position of a user or a plurality of users using a camera . in some implementations , system 100 may include a camera , such as a digital camera . system 100 may obtain a position of user device 105 , and then map the position of user device 105 to an image captured by the camera to determine a position of the user . in some implementations , system 100 may use the camera and recognition software , such as facial recognition software , to obtain a position of a user . once system 100 has obtained the position of a user , system 100 may use the camera to continuously track the position of the user and / or periodically update the position of the user . continuously tracking the position of a user , or periodically updating the position of a user , may be useful because a user may move during the playback of audio contents 107 . for example , a user who is watching a movie may change position after returning from getting a snack . by tracking and / or updating the position of the user , system 100 can continue to deliver personalized audio to the user throughout the duration of the movie . in some implementations , system 100 is configured to detect that a user or a user device has left the environment , such as a room , where the audio is being played . in response , system 100 may stop transmitting personalized audio corresponding to that user until that user returns to the room . system 100 may prompt a user to update the user &# 39 ; s position if the user moves . to update the position of the user , media device 110 may transmit a calibration signal , for example , a signal at a frequency greater than 20 khz , to obtain an updated position of the user . additionally , the calibration signal may be used to determine audio qualities of the room , such as the shape of the room and position of walls relative to speakers 197 . system 100 may use the calibration signal to determine the position of the walls and how sound echoes in the room . in some implementations , the walls may be used as another sound source . as such , rather than cancelling out the echoes or in conjunction with cancelling out the echoes , the walls and their configurations may be considered for reducing or eliminating echoes . system 100 may also determine other factors that affect how sound travels in the environment , such as the humidity of the air . at 404 , media device 110 receives a first audio profile from the first user device . an audio profile may include a user preference determining the personalized audio delivered to the user . for example , an audio profile may include a language selection and / or a listening mode . in some implementations , audio contents 107 may include a dialog track in one language or a plurality of dialog tracks each in a different language . the user of user device 105 may select a language in which to hear the dialog track , and media device 110 may deliver personalized audio to the first user including dialog in the selected language . the language that the first user hears may include the original language of the media being played back , or the language that the first user hears may be a different language than the original language of the media being played back . a listening mode may include settings designed to enhance the listening experience of a user , and different listening modes may be used for different situations . system 100 may include an enhanced dialog listening mode , a listening mode for action programs , drama programs , or other genre specific listening modes , a normal listening mode , and a custom listening mode . a normal listening mode may deliver the audio as provided in the original media content , and a custom listening mode may allow a user to specify portions of audio contents 107 to enhance , such as the music , dialog , and effects . at 405 , media device 110 receives a second playback request from a second user device for playing a second audio content of the plurality of audio contents using the plurality of speakers . in some implementations , the second user device may be a smart phone , a tablet computer , or other handheld device including a microphone that is suitable for transmitting a playback request to media device 110 and receiving a calibration signal transmitted by media device 110 . the second playback request may be a wireless signal transmitted from the second user device to media device 110 . at 406 , media device 110 obtains a position of a second user of a second user device with respect to each of the plurality of speakers , in response to the second playback request . in some implementations , the second user device may include a calibration application for use with audio application 140 . after initiation of the calibration application , the second user device may receive a calibration signal from media device 110 . the calibration signal may be an audio signal transmitted by a plurality of speakers , such as speakers 197 , and the second user device may use the calibration signal to determine the position of user device 105 relative to each speaker of speakers 197 . in some implementations , the second user device may provide the position relative to each speaker to media device 110 . in other implementations , the second user device may transmit information to media device 110 related to receiving the calibration signal , and media device 110 may determine the position of the second user device relative to speakers 197 . at 407 , media device 110 receives a second audio profile from the second user device . the second audio profile may include a second language and / or a second listening mode . after receiving the second audio profile , at 408 , media device 110 selects a first listening mode based on the first audio profile and a second listening mode based on the second listening profile . in some implementations , the first listening mode and the second listening mode may be the same listening mode , or they may be different listening modes . continuing with 409 , media device 110 selects a first language based on the first audio profile and a second language based on the second audio profile . in some implementations , the first language may be the same language as the second language , or the first language may be a different language than the second language . at 410 , system 100 plays the first audio content of the plurality of audio contents based on the first audio profile and the first position of the first user of the first user device with respect to each of the plurality of speakers . the system 100 plays the second audio content of the plurality of audio contents based on the second audio profile and the second position of the second user of the second user device with respect to each of the plurality of speakers . in some implementations , the first audio content of the plurality of audio contents being played by the plurality of speakers may include a first dialog in a first language , and the second audio content of the plurality of audio contents being played by the plurality of speakers may include a second dialog in a second language the first audio content may include a cancellation audio that cancels at least a portion of the second audio content being played by speakers 197 . in some implementations , the cancellation audio may partially cancel or completely cancel a portion of the second audio content being played by speakers 197 . to verify the effectiveness of the cancellation audio , system 100 , using user device 105 , may prompt the user to indicate whether the user is hearing audio tracks they should not be hearing , e . g ., is the user hearing dialog in a language other than the selected language . in some implementations , the user may be prompted to give additional subjective feedback , i . e ., whether the music is at a sufficient volume . from the above description , it is manifest that various techniques can be used for implementing the concepts described in the present application without departing from the scope of those concepts . moreover , while the concepts have been described with specific reference to certain implementations , a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that changes can be made in form and detail without departing from the scope of those concepts . as such , the described implementations are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive . it should also be understood that the present application is not limited to the particular implementations described above , but many rearrangements , modifications , and substitutions are possible without departing from the scope of the present disclosure .
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the present invention will now be described specifically , using drawings as appropriate . before that , however , the main parameters of the present invention will be briefly listed . ( 2 ) dmin is a condition for two - point support by an optical fiber engagement portion ( 4 ) when rmax is exceeded , θ cannot be guaranteed ( when shape of grindstone tip is a circular arc ) ( 5 ) when dmax is exceeded , the mold becomes sharply pointed and breakable in fig3 c diagrammed a condition wherein optical fibers f are engaged and aligned in v - shaped optical fiber engagement portions c - 1 in an optical fiber guide block c , as viewed in a cross - section that is perpendicular to the optical axis of the optical fiber . in fig3 b is depicted the vicinity of the optical fiber engagement portions in an optical fiber guide block in a condition wherein optical fibers are not engaged in the optical fiber engagement portions . and in fig3 a is given a cross - section of a mold b for molding the optical fiber engagement portions diagrammed in fig3 b . here the concavities b - 2 of the mold b are formed by grinding - machining using a grindstone a . this grindstone a comprises two main grinding surfaces a - 1 which machine the forming surfaces b - 0 ( including points b - 4 ) that form the surfaces that contain the points c - 2 which support the optical fiber sides f - 1 . the main grinding surfaces a - 1 grind the two sloping surfaces b - 3 which form the concavities b - 2 of the mold b in fig3 a . in a cross - section ( in a plane parallel to the plane of the page ) that is perpendicular to the two main grinding surfaces a - 1 of the grindstone a , the angle subtended by the two main grinding surfaces a - 1 is designated as θ . fig4 a through 4c diagram the height relationship between the intersection a - 4 and the crowns of the optical fibers f in the optical fiber engagement portions c - 1 as the angle θ subtended by the main grinding surfaces a - 1 is changed . if we define θ = θc as the angle subtended when the crowns of the optical fibers f and the intersection a - 4 coincide ( fig4 b ), then , when θ & lt ; θc , the optical fibers f will be further imbedded than the position of the intersection a - 4 ( fig4 a ), and when θ & gt ; θc , they will emerge ( fig4 c ). the relational formula for the angle θc is given below . this formula is readily derived from fig5 which diagrams a cross - section of the vicinity of the concavities in the mold b with θ = θc . when a grindstone a wherein the angle θ is less than θc , satisfying the relational equation ( 1 ) above , is used , it is expedient to posit two tangent lines a - 2 which , as depicted in fig1 touch the main grinding surfaces a - 1 , and together subtend an angle θ in a cross - section perpendicular to the two main grinding surfaces a - 1 . the two tangent lines a - 2 cross at the intersection a - 4 . now , in the region between these two tangent lines a - 1 , a condition is supposed wherein an imaginary circle a - 3 - 1 having radius rmin , as defined below , is inscribed . rmin is the minimum radius of curvature for the tip of the grindstone necessary for the optical fiber crown exposure . this formula ( 2 ) defines a critical condition for the crown exposure of the optical fibers f . it can be derived from the cross - sectional view of the mold in fig1 . we next suppose a straight line a - 6 that connects the intersection a - 4 between the two tangent lines a - 2 and the center a - 5 - 1 of the imaginary circle a - 3 - 1 , and a tangent line a - 7 - 1 of the imaginary circle a - 3 - 1 that is perpendicular to the straight line a - 6 and that passes between the intersection a - 4 and the center a - 5 - 1 of the imaginary circle a - 3 - 1 . the portion where the two main grinding surfaces a - 1 connect in the cross - section of the grindstone a perpendicular to the two main grinding surfaces a - 1 will be called the tip of the grindstone a , but the grindstone a that is used has a shape that comprises the contour of this tip within the area bounded by the two tangent lines a - 2 and the tangent line a - 7 - 1 . this is for the purpose of exposing the crowns of the optical fibers f . more specifically , the grindstone a that is used contains the outline of the tip within the region ( including the boundaries thereof ) bounded , in fig1 by the straight line a - 2 - c that connects the points a - 2 - a and a - 2 - b , the two tangent lines a - 2 , and the tangent line a - 7 - 1 ( the cross - hatched region in fig1 ). such grindstones a include those wherein the cross - sectional shape described is such that the cross - section of the tip is a circular arc a - 10 , as diagrammed in fig2 a and 2b , and wherein it is such that the tip is flat , as at a - 11 , as diagrammed in fig2 c and 2d . when the grindstone tip has a cross - sectional shape that is defined by a circular arc , the aforementioned conditions relative to the grindstone tip shape can be expressed in different terms , as follows . a condition is supposed wherein an imaginary circle a - 3 - 2 of radius rmax , as defined below , is inscribed in the area bounded by the two tangent lines a - 2 , as diagrammed in fig1 . rmax is the maximum radius of curvature for the grindstone tip that can guarantee θ . this formula indicates the radius of the circle a - 3 - 2 that touches a circle of radius ro at the tangent line a - 2 . its derivation may be understood from fig6 which diagrams a cross - section of the mold . in order to expose the crowns of the optical fibers f while guaranteeing θ , it is necessary that the radius of curvature of the grindstone tip satisfy the expression rmin ≦ r ≦ rmax . a process wherein a grindstone a of such a shape is used to fabricate , by grinding - machining , a mold b , from a mold material , will now be described . fig7 a through 7e provide diagonal views of the machining process . fig8 a through 8e provide corresponding cross - sectional views of the process depicted in the diagonal views . first a concavity b - 2 is ground by a grindstone a of the shape noted above , in the flat surface b - 1 of a mold material b ( fig7 a and 7b ). at this time , the depth of the concavity b - 2 is made such that the position of the intersection a - 4 is a position that is deeper than dmin , defined below , so that the optical fiber sides f - 1 will be supported at two points by the optical fiber engagement portions c - 1 of the optical fiber guide block c ( fig8 e ). this is to provide two - point support . this formula ( 4 ) is easily derived from fig1 which represents the case where d = dmin , the condition necessary for the optical fiber f to touch the bottom of the concavity b - 2 of the mold b . the concavities b - 2 are formed so that each extends in the longitudinal dimension , as depicted in fig7 b and 7c , and these are formed in a direction that is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction , with a pitch interval 2yo , in a number that is the number of optical fiber engagement portions to be formed plus 1 , and such that the depth between the concavities b - 2 is constant ( fig7 d and 7e ). the point of forming these in a number that is the number of optical fiber engagement portions plus 1 will be explained subsequently with reference to fig1 a through 11c . when angle θ exceeds θc , as diagrammed in fig4 c , the shape of the tip of the grindstone a may be pointed , or described by a circular arc , or flat , or some other shape . that is because then the crown exposure will be guaranteed irrespective of the tip shape . the method of using a grindstone a shaped in this manner to form concavities b - 2 in a mold material b - 1 is the same as the method described above . however , the intersection a - 4 between the tangent lines a - 2 that are the two tangent lines of the main grinding surfaces a - 1 in a cross - section perpendicular to the two main grinding surfaces a - 1 of the grindstone a , as diagrammed in fig1 is also supposed for the range wherein θ & gt ; θc , and the depth of the concavities b - 2 in the mold b is made to be at a deeper position than the intersection a - 4 . irrespective of the angle θ , the cross - sectional shape of the concavities b - 2 will reflect the cross - sectional shape of the grindstone a used for grinding . more specifically , the angle that is subtended by the tangent line of the mold contour at a point b - 4 which forms a place c - 2 that supports the optical fiber f diagrammed in fig3 c , and , similarly , by the tangent line of the mold contour at the neighboring point b - 4 , equals θ . the depth of the concavities b - 2 , moreover , is made such that the intersection a - 4 is deeper than dmin , and shallower than dmax , defined below . this formula ( 5 ) is easily derived from fig1 c which diagrams the case where d = dmax , which is the condition necessary for the flat bottom to disappear from the engagement portions c - 1 of the optical fiber guide block c . by making it so that the intersection a - 4 is at a position that is shallower than dmax , some of the surface b - 1 will remain between the concavities b - 2 because the surface b - 1 ( surface wherein the concavities are ground ) of the mold material depicted in fig7 a through 7e is flat . when optical fiber engagement portions c - 1 are formed in an optical fiber guide block c using such a mold b as this , what is obtained is an optical fiber guide block c wherein the bottoms of the optical fiber engagement portions c - 1 are comprised of flat surfaces ( fig3 b and 3c ). the grindstones a of the present invention are mainly used as grindstones which are turned , as represented in fig7 a through 7e . in order to machine the desired mold using the grindstone in this manner , it is necessary : ( 2 ) that either the main grinding surfaces form symmetrical turning surfaces each of which are centered on a turning shaft , or that the shape thereof be such that imaginary symmetrical turning surfaces can be circumscribed about the main grinding surfaces when the axis of symmetry is made to coincide with the turning axis of the grindstone . diagramming this yields fig9 a . in this figure , at points h , i , and j , etc ., about the periphery of the grindstone , in the grindstones a that are set forth in the first through the fifth invention , the main grinding surface p constitutes a symmetrical turning surface , relative to axis x , in the periphery of the grindstone . however , this does not mean that machining cannot be performed unless it is with a grindstone a having symmetrical turning surfaces , as in fig9 a . in some cases it will be possible to perform the machining even if , as in fig9 b , a concavity e is made in the periphery , or a groove g is made in the main grinding surface p , or a chip k develops . that being so , the grindstones a of the present invention include those having shapes as in fig9 b , so long as , taking the main grinding surface p in fig9 a as an imaginary symmetrical turning surface , the grindstone a is such that it can circumscribe such imaginary surface . by the main grinding surface p , moreover , is meant a surface that , of the surfaces of the grindstone a , is primarily used in grinding . there is no problem with having a projection u in a portion not used in grinding , as depicted in fig9 b . in such case , the portion with the projection u is rendered so that it is not contained in the main grinding surface p . grinding machining is performed , while turning a grindstone a , perpendicularly to the surface b - 1 of a mold material b , as diagrammed in fig7 a through 7e , so that , taking the surface of the mold material as the reference , the depth is made so that the intersection a - 4 diagrammed in fig1 is at a position which is deeper than dmin , as previously defined . after forming a concavity b - 2 extending in the longitudinal dimension while moving the grindstone a as depicted in the drawing , the relative positions of the grindstone a and the mold material b are shifted in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction by a pitch of 2yo , and grinding is again done with the grindstone a , so that the depth becomes the same as was formed previously , and so that the concavity b - 2 formed previously is paralleled . this process is done repeatedly to grind - machine concavities b - 2 in a number equal to the number of optical fiber engagement portions which are to be fabricated by press - molding process plus 1 . it is preferable that the mold material b here have the anti - oxidation properties required for use in press - molding glass , that it be non - reactive with glass , and that it exhibit neither morphological nor plastic change in a high - temperature environment . silicon carbide , tungsten carbide , alumina , zirconia , crystalline glass , silicon , and cermets of titanium carbide and titanium nitride , etc ., may be listed as specific materials . as to the grindstone a for grinding these mold materials b , it may be a resin - bonded diamond grindstone or a metal - bonded diamond grindstone or the like . the grinding process noted above may be performed with a dicing machine or other grinding - machining apparatus used for precision machining . to add some points here to what has already been said about the shape of the grindstone a , circular arc shapes , flat shapes , and parabolic shapes may be mentioned specifically as shapes for the cross - section of the tip thereof . if the shape is that of a circular arc , or flat , then not only will the grindstone fabrication be comparatively easy , but there will be little degradation in the shape of the tip due to wear , as compared to grindstones having a pointed tip , and the grinding - machining of the whole shape can be done stably . when the angle θ is equal to or smaller than θc , then , as diagrammed in fig4 a through 4c , if the cross - sectional shape of the grindstone tip is not contained within the area described earlier , press - molding process cannot be performed wherewith optical fiber f crown exposure is possible . when , on the other hand , the angle θ is larger than θc , then optical fiber f crown exposure becomes independent of the cross - sectional shape of the tip of the grindstone a that is used . in other words , even if a grindstone having a sharp tip is used , a mold b can be obtained for forming an optical fiber guide block c wherewith crown exposure of the optical fiber f is possible . the depth to which the concavities b - 2 are ground , that is , the depth of the concavities b - 2 of the mold b , must be such that the intersection diagrammed in fig1 is at a position which is deeper than dmin defined earlier . when the position of that intersection a - 4 is at dmin or shallower than dmin , then , when an optical fiber f is engaged in an optical fiber engagement portion c - 1 , the optical fiber f will come in contact with the bottom of the optical fiber engagement portion c - 1 , the optical fiber f will be pushed up from the two support points of the optical fiber engagement portion c - 1 , and it will cease to be possible to restrain the position of the optical fiber f in the direction in which the optical fibers f are aligned . when the optical fibers f are engaged and aligned in the optical fiber engagement portions c - 1 by a mold b that satisfies the conditions noted above , the crown exposure of each optical fiber f is possible , and an optical fiber guide block c is obtained wherein the optical fibers f are stably engaged in the optical fiber engagement portions c - 1 . the optical fibers f are engaged and aligned in these optical fiber engagement portions c - 1 , the side surfaces of the crown - exposed optical fibers are pressed down under the pressing surface of a pressure block , and bonded and secured . in this condition , an optical fiber array is obtained wherein the optical fiber sides are supported at three points , namely at two points by the optical fiber engagement portions , and at one point by the pressing surface of the pressure block , looking at a cross - section perpendicular to the optical axes of the optical fibers . the light input / output end surfaces of this optical fiber array are optically polished and made ready for actual use . when the cross - section of the grindstone tip is shaped as a circular arc , if the radius of curvature r of the circular arc increases , and the apex of the grindstone tip moves outside of the straight line a - 2 - c , outside of the region bounded by the tangent lines a - 2 , the straight line a - 7 - 1 , and the straight line a - 2 - c , as diagrammed in fig1 then the points c - 2 ( which are points on the optical fiber guide block c that correspond to points a - 2 - a and a - 2 - b in fig1 ) at which are supported the optical fiber sides f - 1 in the optical fiber guide block c in fig3 a through 3c cease to be positioned on the main grinding surfaces a - 1 . in other words , the angles subtended by the tangent lines on the cross - sectional contour of the optical fiber engagement portions c - 1 at point c - 2 , and by the tangent lines on the contour of the forming surfaces b - 0 in the mold b that forms the points c - 2 , cease to be the angle θ subtended by the two tangent lines a - 2 that touch the main grinding surfaces of the grindstone . now , to explain further about the grinding depth of the concavities b - 2 , it is desirable that the grinding depth , that is , the depth of the concavities b - 2 , be such that the intersection a - 4 in fig1 be at a position that is shallower than dmax , defined earlier . the reason is that , because the surface of the mold material b in which the concavities are ground is flat , when the grinding depth is made as noted above , some of the flat surface b - 1 of the mold material b remains as a forming surface sandwiched between the concavities b - 2 . in such a mold b as this , the spaces between the concavities b - 2 are flat and have no edges which are sharp or thin , wherefore there is no danger of the tips of the concavities b - 2 in the mold b being chipped , thus making the mold b easy to handle . if , on the other hand , the depth of the concavities is made deeper than dmax , defined earlier , then sharp and thin edges are produced between the concavities which readily chip and easily lead to problems . when press - molding an optical fiber guide block c , such a mold b as this forms flat surfaces at the bottom of the optical fiber engagement portions c - 1 . in glass press - molding process that forms flat bottoms like this , after the optical fiber engagement portions c - 1 are formed , the stresses that are produced in the tips between the concavities of the mold and in the bottoms of the optical fiber engagement portions c - 1 are dispersed in a cooling process , which functions to reduce chipping and cracking in the tips between the concavities in the die . after subjecting the mold material b to the concavity grinding process , the portions b - 5 that are outside of the concavities b - 2 - 1 and b - 2 - 2 that are positioned outermost among the plurality of concavities b - 2 , in fig1 a , and that are connected at least with the bottoms of the outermost concavities b - 2 - 1 and b - 2 - 2 , are machined so that they are brought into the same plane b - 6 as the bottoms of the concavities b - 2 - 1 and b - 2 - 2 (( 1 ) concavity machining →( 2 ) ideal machining →( 3 ) mold ). this process is hereinafter called two - sided machining . by this two - sided machining , a mold is obtained having a shape such that the portions on both sides of the mold and the bottom of the concavities b - 2 are positioned in the same plane b - 6 . in an optical fiber array comprising an optical fiber guide block c that is press - formed by such a mold b as this , a pressure block , and optical fibers , the gap between the bonding surfaces of the optical fiber guide block c and pressure block can be made uniform at every place . however , in cases where the bottoms of the concavities in the mold b are not flat ( when the grindstone tip shape is made sharp ), when performing the two - sided machining , if the positions of the centers of the outermost concavity bottoms b - 2 - 1 and b - 2 - 2 and the ends of the portions removed by the two - sided machining are not accurately positioned , an unwanted non - machined portion having the shape of a projection b - 7 , as diagrammed in fig1 b , will be made . when , however , the bottom of the concavities in the mold b are made flat ( when the grindstone tip shape is made flat ), then , as diagrammed in fig1 c , the positioning precision tolerance can be made as large as the width of the flat bottom of the concavity b - 2 , so there will be no remaining unmachined portion having the shape of the projection b - 7 due to a positioning error . the two - sided machining can be performed accurately by using a dicing machine or other precision machining apparatus in doing the grinding . after shape - machining the mold as described in the foregoing , a mold release thin film ( s ) is formed , at least on the forming surfaces b - 0 of the mold , to facilitate post - formation die separation of the object being press - formed . the mold release thin film ( s ) may be carbon - based or platinum alloy - based , etc . molds such as this are used to press - form the material being formed , at a press - formable temperature . using such molds as this , for example , a down die is formed integrally by taking such a mold and another mold for forming the pedestal of an optical fiber guide block for holding an optical fiber sheath and securing these in a frame , using trunk dies and an up die , placing the material to be formed in the space bounded by the down die , trunk dies , and up die , and conducting press - molding at a press - formable temperature . optical fiber engagement portions are thus formed in the glass that is formed , and an optical fiber guide block is obtained . the molds of the present invention are not limited to examples in which an optical fiber guide block such as noted above is used . optical component mounting boards and optical component securing hardware , etc ., used in precisely positioning light - emitting devices or light - sensing devices , in addition to optical fibers , can be employed in forming the optical fiber engagement portions . any glass that is press - formable can be used as the glass to be formed . however , glass having a low coefficient of thermal expansion , a yield point below 600 °, and outstanding uv transmissivity is desired . glasses containing sio 2 , b 2 o 3 , and zno , for example , may be recommended . any other commercially sold press glass may be used . the values for yo and ro arrived at by making compensations based on the mean coefficient of thermal expansion between the glass transition temperature and the room temperature of the mold material and the glass that are press - formed during mold fabrication . now , in describing the embodiment set forth in the foregoing , it is presupposed that , unless the three - point support condition is satisfied , the sides of the optical fiber ends will develop clearance ( gaps ) between the optical fiber engagement portions or with the pressing surface of the pressure block , making it very difficult to effect holding and securing with high location accuracy . in actuality , however , it has been found that , even in a condition wherein the optical fibers are embedded inside the optical fiber engagement portions so that crown exposure can no longer be effected , if the range of the radius of curvature r of the grindstone a is expanded as noted below , light connection losses can be kept within allowable limits when an optical fiber array is used in a condition wherein crown exposure can no longer be effected . in the range where rmin & lt ; r ≦ rmax , when optical fibers are engaged and positioned in optical fiber engagement portions in a crown - exposed condition , and the optical fibers are pressed down with a pressure block , the optical axes of the optical fibers are aligned on a straight line in a cross - section perpendicular to the optical axes . in the expanded range rmin *≦ r ≦ rmin , the amount of optical fiber crown exposure δ will be δ ≦ 0 . in this condition , when the optical fiber engagement portions c - 1 are covered with a pressure block m , as diagrammed in fig1 , each of the plurality of optical fibers f will be secured in one of the positions where it is restrained within a range bounded by the pressing surface m - 1 of the pressure block m and the optical fiber engagement portion c - 1 . because the crown - exposure amount δ is δ ≦ 0 , however , the optical axes p of the optical fibers f will not be aligned in a straight line in a cross - section perpendicular to the optical axes p . by making r ≧ rmin *, however , even if δ ≦ 0 , the amounts by which the optical axes p of the optical fibers f are shifted away from the straight line will become smaller . this amount of shift is relative to the depth dimension of the optical fiber engagement portions c - 1 , but the amount of shift in the positions of the optical axes p of the optical fibers f relative to the direction of optical fiber alignment will also become smaller . when r & lt ; rmin *, the amount of shift in the optical axes p of the optical fibers f will become larger , as will the optical connection loss when this optical fiber array is used . moreover , when single mode fiber ( having a core diameter φ = 10 μm and an outer diameter 2ro = 125 μm ) is used for these optical fibers , it is possible to keep the optical connection loss between optical fiber arrays , or between an optical fiber array and another component ( such as when light waveguides having a core diameter of φ are configured in an array ) within 0 . 2 db ( a specification deemed necessary in the fields of optical communications and measurement , etc .) by making rmin **≦ r ≦ rmax ( where rmin **= rmin -( φ / 10 ). if 0 is within this range , then optical fiber crown exposure is possible irrespective of the cross - sectional shape of the grindstone tip ( i . e . the cross - sectional shape of the bottom of the concavities in the mold ), and there is no need to consider a minimum value for r in order to make crown exposure possible . accordingly , nothing is changed from before the expansion . the mold fabrication method described thus far , wherein a mold material is machined by grinding with a grindstone having a cross - sectional shape perpendicular to two main grinding surfaces that approximates the cross - sectional shape perpendicular to the optical axes of the optical fibers when those optical fibers are engaged and arrayed in optical fiber engagement portions in an optical fiber guide block , forming concavities in prescribed positions and in a prescribed direction , affords advantages in that high - precision molds having shapes faithful to their design can be fabricated with good reproducibility and good productivity . the present invention is not limited to the fabrication of optical fiber guide blocks in which optical fiber engagement portions are arrayed at a constant pitch . the invention may also be applied to an optical fiber guide block having but one optical fiber engagement portion . for example , two concavities such as are diagrammed in fig8 e may be formed at an interval of 2yo , and , if two - sided machining is performed , as diagrammed in fig1 a through 11c , a mold can be obtained for fabricating an optical fiber guide block having but one optical fiber engagement portion . depending on the case , if a mold release thin film ( s ) is formed on the forming surfaces , and a material to be forming such as glass is press - formed , an optical fiber guide block having but one optical fiber engagement portion can be obtained . as is diagrammed in fig8 e , moreover , a plurality of concavities b - 2 may be formed at a pitch 2yo and made into a concavity group 1 , and then a plurality of concavities b - 2 formed at a different pitch 2yo &# 39 ; to make a concavity group 2 , making forming surfaces that form optical fiber engagement portions between the concavity groups . in such case also , as expedient , if a mold release thin film ( s ) is formed on the forming surfaces , and glass or other material for forming is press - machined , it is possible to obtain an optical fiber guide block comprising a portion wherein optical fibers are arrayed at a pitch interval of 2yo , and a portion wherein they are arrayed at 2yo &# 39 ;. a mold was fabricated for press - molding a glass preform , fabricating an optical fiber guide block wherein are positioned and secured the optical input / output ends of single mode quartz glass fiber such as is widely used in the fields of optical communications and optical measurement . the number of cores in the optical fibers engaged in the optical fiber engagement portions in the optical fiber guide block is 8 , with a pitch 2yo of 250 μm . the optical fiber radius is 62 . 5 μm . the parameters pertaining to the grindstone used in machining the concavities in the mold for forming the optical fiber engagement portions in the optical fiber guide block , and to the shape of the concavities , are listed in table 1 . cross - sections of a mold corresponding to table 1 are diagrammed in fig1 a and 14b . table 1______________________________________angle crown rangeθ rmin rmax dmin dmax r d expos for ( deg ) ( μm ) ( μm ) ( μm ) ( μm ) ( μm ) ( μ ) δ ( μm ) δ ( μm ) ______________________________________40 51 . 04 70 . 52 223 . 1 343 . 4 61 . 0 300 10 & lt ; 37 . 4750 42 . 22 75 . 42 182 . 6 268 . 0 52 . 2 240 10 & lt ; 45 . 3660 29 . 0 81 . 84 154 . 0 216 . 5 39 . 0 190 10 & lt ; 52 . 8370 9 . 49 90 . 1 132 . 0 178 . 5 19 . 5 150 10 & lt ; 59 . 974 -- 94 . 02 124 . 5 165 . 8 19 . 5 140 13 . 3 & lt ; 62 . 6880 -- 100 . 68 114 . 2 148 . 9 19 . 5 130 21 . 5 & lt ; 66 . 7190 -- 114 . 28 99 . 1 125 . 0 19 . 5 110 33 . 9 & lt ; 73 . 22______________________________________ if the crown - exposure amount δ is first determined for angle θ assuming constant pitch 2yo , r may be determined by the following equation for the range rmin & lt ; r & lt ; rmax . d is the depth of the intersection a - 4 . the actual grinding depth ( depth of grindstone tip apex referenced against mold material surface ) will be the value obtained by subtracting the value of r [{ 1 / sin ( θ / 2 )}- 1 ] from d . the &# 34 ;--&# 34 ; symbol in the rmin column indicates that a positive value is obtained for crown exposure if r & lt ; rmax . in this embodiment , the cross - section of the concavities ( grindstone cross - section ) is v - shaped and the cross - section of the bottoms ( grindstone tip cross - section ) is shaped as a circular arc . the mold material used was tungsten carbide . the grindstone used in grinding the concavities was made of diamond grit . in table 1 , r is the radius of curvature of the circular arc and d is the depth of the concavities . the surface of the mold material machined was a flat surface . a dicing machine was used in grinding the concavities . in the surface of the mold material , 9 concavities , that being the number of optical fiber cores 8 plus 1 , were formed , extending in the prescribed direction at a pitch of 250 μm and parallel to one another . at this time , the positions of the concavities in the mold material were adjusted so that a position shifted by a half pitch yo , which is half the distance between the center of one concavity and the center of an adjacent concavity , forms the center of an optical fiber engagement portion . flat forming surfaces were left remaining between the concavities in all of the molds , in a shape wherewith it is possible to form optical fiber guide blocks comprising optical fiber engagement portions having flat bottoms . when the pitch yo and the optical fiber radius ro have the values noted above , the boundary condition demanded for the shape of the grindstone tip is that angle θ be θc = 74 °. at angles exceeding 74 °, molds can be obtained wherewith optical fiber crown exposure is possible irrespective of the cross - sectional shape of the grindstone tip . after forming 9 concavities in this manner , a dicing machine was used to perform two - sided machining on the bottom of the outermost concavities and the ends of the portions removed by two - sided machining . after the two - sided machining , a mold release thin film ( s ) made of platinum was formed on the forming surfaces to yield a mold equipped with mold release thin film ( s ). next , mold machining was performed using a grindstone having a flat tip shape . in table 2 are listed parameters pertaining to the grindstone and to the mold concavities . mold cross - sections corresponding to table 2 are presented in fig1 a and 15b . in this figure , w is the width of the flat forming surface b - 0 - 1 between the concavities b - 2 . table 2______________________________________ grind - crownangle stone expo - rangeθ rmin dmin dmax tip w d sure for ( deg ) ( μm ) ( μm ) ( μm ) ( μm ) ( μm ) δ ( μm ) δ ( μm ) ______________________________________40 51 . 04 223 . 1 343 . 4 78 . 7 300 10 83 . 950 42 . 22 182 . 6 268 . 0 63 . 1 240 10 88 . 960 29 . 0 154 . 0 216 . 5 45 . 0 190 10 93 . 870 9 . 49 132 . 0 178 . 5 24 . 0 150 10 98 . 374 -- 124 . 5 165 . 8 14 . 3 140 10 100 . 180 -- 114 . 2 148 . 9 10 130 16 . 7 102 . 790 -- 99 . 1 125 . 0 10 110 30 . 9 106 . 7______________________________________ the grindstone tip width w is determined using parameter r &# 39 ; that satisfies the following formula . when the pitch yo and the optical fiber radius ro have the values noted above , the boundary condition demanded for the shape of the grindstone tip is that angle θ be θc = 74 °. at angles exceeding 74 °, molds can be obtained wherewith optical fiber crown exposure is possible irrespective of the cross - sectional shape of the grindstone tip . this is the same as in embodiment 1 . using such grindstone , concavity - grinding machining and two - sided machining were performed as in embodiment 1 . however , because the bottoms of the mold concavities are flat , the precision of positioning the ends of the portions removed by two - sided machining and the bottoms of the outermost concavities was kept within the width of the flat bottoms . in this manner , shape machining was performed so as not to make a mold having any unnecessary projections . the mold material was tungsten carbide . the grindstone used was made of the same substance as in embodiment 1 . after the shape machining , a mold release thin film ( s ) made of platinum was formed on the forming surfaces of the mold to yield a mold equipped with mold release thin film ( s ). using the molds disclosed in embodiments 1 and 2 , an optical fiber guide block c was formed , as depicted in fig1 , and an 8 - core optical fiber array was fabricated , as depicted in fig1 a and 17b , using the optical fiber guide block c and a pressure block m . in this embodiment , as diagrammed in fig1 a through 18d , a mold d that forms a pedestal c - 3 that carries an optical fiber sheath in the optical fiber guide block c depicted in fig1 , and a mold b of the present invention , equipped with a mold release thin film ( s ) h , are integrated in a securing frame e to form a down die , while , separately , a cavity z was configured , using trunk dies f to form the optical fiber guide block sides , and an up die g to form the bottom of the optical fiber guide block . glass preforms j having the compositions noted in table 3 were placed inside the cavity z , and , at the forming temperatures noted in table 3 , the glass preforms j were put under pressure by the up and down dies . table 3__________________________________________________________________________glass composition *. sup . 1sio . sub . 2 4 . 0 4 . 0 23 . 3 4 . 0 4 . 0 4 . 8 13 . 3geo . sub . 2 -- 5 . 0 -- -- -- -- -- b . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 27 . 2 32 . 2 22 . 2 32 . 2 37 . 2 32 . 2 32 . 2zno 54 . 5 40 . 5 42 . 5 40 . 5 40 . 2 40 . 7 44 . 0mgo -- -- -- -- -- -- 1 . 0cao -- -- -- -- -- -- 1 . 5sro -- -- -- -- -- -- -- bao -- -- -- -- -- -- -- pbo -- -- -- -- -- -- --( a )*. sup . 2 54 . 5 40 . 5 42 . 5 40 . 5 40 . 2 40 . 7 46 . 5al . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 2 . 5 1 . 0 7 . 5 1 . 0 2 . 5 9 . 0 5 . 5 ( b )*. sup . 3 88 . 2 82 . 7 95 . 5 77 . 7 82 . 4 86 . 7 97 . 5li . sub . 2 o 2 . 5 2 . 5 4 . 5 2 . 5 -- 2 . 5 2 . 5la . sub . 2 o 9 . 3 13 . 3 -- 13 . 3 15 . 3 4 . 3 -- y . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 -- -- -- 5 . 0 -- -- -- tio . sub . 2 -- -- -- -- 0 . 4 -- -- zro . sub . 2 -- 1 . 5 -- 1 . 5 1 . 5 1 . 5 -- nb . sub . 2 o . sub . 5 -- -- -- -- 0 . 4 -- -- ta . sub . 2 o . sub . 5 -- -- -- -- -- 5 . 0 -- sb . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 *. sup . 4 -- -- 0 . 5 -- -- -- -- parametertransition 465 ° c . 500 ° c . 470 ° c . 500 ° c . 530 ° c . 510 ° c . 495 ° c . pointyield point 495 ° c . 540 ° c . 500 ° c . 530 ° c . 555 ° c . 540 ° c . 520 ° c . mean cte *. sup . 5 64 63 62 66 67 64 66uv perm . *. sup . 6 81 % 85 % 91 % 84 % 80 % 81 % 83 % forming temp 545 ° c . 593 ° c . 553 ° c . 584 ° c . 595 ° c . 592 ° c . 573 ° c . __________________________________________________________________________ *. sup . 1 values for each component are in values of wt %. *. sup . 2 represents zno , mgo , cao , sro , bao , and pbo total content . *. sup . 3 represents sio . sub . 2 , geo . sub . 2 , b . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 , ro ( r = zn , mg , ca , sr , ba , pb ), and al . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 total content . *. sup . 4 represents amount added outside composition proportions . *. sup . 5 represents mean coefficient of thermal expansion from room temperature to 400 ° c ., in × 10 . sup .- 7 /° c . units . *. sup . 6 represents transmissivity of uv radiation of 350 nm wavelength through a test piece 2 mm in thickness . after sufficient glass packing , the molding k was removed from the die to yield an optical fiber guide block c . into the optical fiber engagement portions c - 1 of the optical fiber guide block c fabricated as noted above , 8 quartz - glass single mode fibers were engaged and secured , as diagrammed in fig1 a and 17b . then , with the optical fiber sheath mounted on the pedestal c - 3 , a uv - hardening adhesive was applied , and the optical fiber sides were pressed down with a glass pressure block m having a flat pressing surface m - 1 . the adhesive was then irradiated with uv rays through the glass , thereby hardening the adhesive and setting the optical fibers . the light input / output end surfaces of the optical fiber array fabricated in this manner were optically polished to complete the optical fiber array . after this polishing , the vicinity of the secured optical fibers so secured was examined under an electron microscope , from the end surfaces . this confirmed that all eight of the optical fibers were supported at three points . the optical fiber array was then subjected to a thermal cycle in which it was found that the total optical - connection loss fluctuation amplitude was within 0 . 3 db . no changes in the location accuracy of the optical fibers were observed after these tests , nor were seen any changes in the condition wherein the optical fibers were held and secured by three - point support . when materials other than tungsten carbide , as noted above , were used as the mold material , the same good results were obtained . thus , by employing the present invention , optical fiber crown exposure can be effected , making it possible to secure the ends of optical fibers by three - point support , and thereby enabling optical fibers to be stably held and secured with high location accuracy . if the radius of the imaginary circle that forms the minimum radius of curvature of concavities shaped as circular arcs in a mold is within the expanded range , as provided , it is possible to effect stable holding and securing at high location accuracy , even without employing three - point support , and to keep the optical - connection loss in an optical fiber array within allowable limits .
| 1 |
fig1 shows an electrical energy source u 1 , which is configured to drive a current i 1 with the aid of an inductor l 1 . for this purpose , a switch s 1 downstream from inductor l 1 is closed to ground with the aid of an actuator a 1 . switch s 1 includes a first electrode e 1 and a second electrode e 2 . in fig1 , the two electrodes e 1 , e 2 are in electrical contact with one another . inductor l 1 is charged with magnetic energy with the aid of current flow i 1 . fig2 shows the system represented in fig1 after switch s 1 has been opened with the aid of actuator a 1 . due to the fact that switch s 1 is now open , an ignition spark f has formed between electrodes e 1 and e 2 , which are now spatially separated from one another . its energy is provided by the magnetic field of inductor l 1 . if switch s 1 or the system of electrodes e 1 , e 2 is situated within a combustion chamber ii and ignitable mixture is situated in the area of ignition spark f , the ignition spark may be used to ignite the mixture . fig3 shows a schematic diagram of one possible spatial embodiment of two electrodes e 1 , e 2 . first electrode e 1 is curved at least in sections ( within combustion chamber ii ) and is contacted , at a distal end , at a contact point 11 with the aid of a movable second electrode e 2 . second electrode e 2 is movably mounted in the direction of an arrow p , so that a gap may be established between first electrode e 1 and second electrode e 2 . the system represented in fig3 may be supplied with current , for example , by a system represented in fig1 and 2 . second electrode e 2 is configured as the actuator with the aid of magnetic core m and a coil s 1 enclosing magnetic core m , to be shifted in a predefined way via a voltage signal u ( t ) of a voltage source 12 . the actuator is situated outside the combustion chamber , so that it is protected against thermal , chemical , and mechanical influences . fig4 shows the system represented in fig3 , after second electrode e 2 has been shifted in the direction of arrow p . a narrow point 10 , at which electrodes e 1 , e 2 have a minimum distance from one another , has now formed at contact point 11 shown in fig3 . the current flow results in an ignition spark f , the length of which increases as the shifting of second electrode e 2 increases . foot points ff 1 , ff 2 of ignition spark f do not migrate along the surfaces of electrodes e 1 , e 2 . the required ignition voltage may be reduced in this way , but stationary ignition spark foot point pairs ff 1 , ff 2 result in fixed spark erosion . in addition , the spark gap ( apart from its length ) is essentially static and is not movable in a predefined manner . for ignition to be successful , it is therefore necessary to bring the ignitable mixture to the very limited spatial area of ignition spark f . fig5 a shows an embodiment of an ignition system of an ignition unit according to the present invention , including a first stationary electrode e 1 , a second movable electrode e 2 , and a third stationary electrode e 3 . first electrode e 1 and third electrode e 3 include two essentially parallel sections 13 , 14 , at the outer / distal end of which they approach one another via an essentially gabled structure 15 , 16 . second electrode e 2 is in electrical contact with the end section 15 of first electrode e 1 and the end section 16 of third electrode e 3 . second electrode e 2 has a convex surface facing end sections 15 , 16 , which is similar to the upper face of a lens . a ( non - depicted ) current from the ignition unit flows through the electrical connection between first electrode e 1 and second electrode e 2 and between second electrode e 2 and third electrode e 3 . the current through first electrode e 1 and second electrode e 2 is caused by a voltage source u 1 , an inductor l being provided in series with voltage source u 1 and being used as an energy store . if movable electrode e 2 in the configuration shown is in contact with first electrode e 1 and third electrode e 3 , a current flows through inductor l , which generates a contact - breaking spark in each case when second electrode e 2 is moved away from first and third electrode e 1 , e 3 , as will be discussed in conjunction with the following figures . the movement of second electrode e 2 is made possible by two coils s 1 and s 2 . both are situated around a housing 18 outside of combustion chamber ii . a magnetic core m is situated within housing 18 , which is mechanically , which may be rigidly , coupled to second electrode e 2 . a current flow through first coil s 1 effectuates a movement in a first direction of magnetic core m within the magnetic field permeating coil s 1 according to the principle of electrodynamics . this first direction may point , e . g ., in the direction of return spring 17 , which is compressed in the course of such a movement and generates a restoring force . the same applies for a current flow through second coil s 2 . this second coil is configured to deploy an action of force as a function of the direction of a current flow , in a way similar to that of return spring 17 , the action of force causing second electrode e 2 to move in the direction of narrow point 10 . an alternative use or control of second coil s 2 makes it possible to add the electromagnetic forces of first coil s 1 and second coil s 2 and , therefore , to achieve a great displacement with a largely linear application of force and , additionally , to use two currents generated independently of one another . a further advantage of the use of a second coil s 2 ( in addition to or instead of return spring 17 ) is its centering effect on a magnetic core m . in the example shown , currents i 1 , i 2 are provided by ( non - depicted ) control units . for example , an engine control unit or a control unit provided for ignition could also be configured to generate the two coil currents i 1 , i 2 . fig5 b shows the system represented in fig5 a after second electrode e 2 has moved away , in the direction of arrow p , from the gabled structure of the end sections of first electrode e 1 and third electrode e 3 . due to the fact that second electrode e 2 has moved away from first electrode e 1 , a first ignition spark f 1 has formed between the two , in an area having a minimum distance in the form of a narrow point 10 including a first ignition spark foot point ff 11 on first electrode e 1 and including a second ignition spark foot point ff 12 on second electrode e 2 . this first ignition spark is situated in an area of narrow point 10 between first electrode e 1 and second electrode e 2 . correspondingly , due to the fact that second electrode e 2 has moved away from third electrode e 3 , a second ignition spark f 2 has formed between second electrode e 2 and third electrode e 3 in an area of narrow point 10 having a third ignition spark foot point ff 22 on second electrode e 2 and having a fourth ignition spark foot point ff 21 on third electrode e 3 . the system is apparently symmetrically configured . fig5 c shows the system represented in fig5 b after second electrode e 2 has been moved further away from the end sections of first electrode e 1 and third electrode e 3 in the direction of arrow p . first ignition spark f 1 and second ignition spark f 2 have migrated in the direction of the minimum distance between first electrode e 1 and third electrode e 3 , i . e ., in the direction of arrows p 1 and p 2 , respectively . the surface geometry of electrodes e 1 , e 2 and e 3 is configured in such a way that ignition spark foot points ff 11 - ff 22 have migrated in the direction of arrow p 1 and p 2 in the course of the movement of second electrode e 2 . if ignition spark foot points ff 12 , ff 22 situated on second electrode e 2 migrate further in the direction of arrows p 1 , p 2 , respectively , the foot points of ignition sparks f 1 , f 2 meet on the surface of second electrode e 2 , whereby sparks f 1 , f 2 fuse . fig5 d shows the result of the movement of second electrode e 2 in the direction of arrow p . ignition spark foot points ff 12 , ff 22 situated on second electrode e 2 have met , in response to which first ignition spark f 1 and second ignition spark f 2 have fused to form a single ignition spark f . since ignition spark f , which now extends in a v - shape , attempts to shorten in accordance with the minimum energy principle , the situation shown in fig5 e sets in . in fig5 e , the ignition spark , with its foot points , has migrated to the points on first electrode e 1 and third electrode e 3 having the minimum distance from one another . this spark gap finally satisfies the minimum energy principle for ignition spark f . by viewing fig5 a through 5 e in combination it becomes apparent how much surface area ignition sparks f 1 , f 2 and ignition spark f have passed through due to the movement of second electrode e 2 . the probability that the ignition spark or ignition sparks will ignite an ignitable mixture is substantially increased as compared to a fixed spark gap according to the teaching of the related art . fig6 shows an electrode geometry , which is an alternative to the electrode system represented in fig5 . the electrode sections of electrodes e 1 , e 3 situated in combustion chamber ii are cylindrical or rod - shaped , for example , it being possible for their cross - section to be circular , elliptical , or rectangular . the two linearly approach one another in the direction of the combustion chamber on an imaginary axis through the actuator and in the direction of movement of second electrode e 2 . the mode of operation of the system is identical to that discussed in conjunction with fig5 . fig7 shows an alternative system and embodiment of three electrodes e 1 , e 2 , e 3 . a first electrode e 1 and a third electrode e 3 are helically situated along a conic ( or “ conical ”) enveloping surface . a second electrode e 2 is situated underneath the two electrodes e 1 , e 3 , which initially contacts the two electrodes e 1 , e 3 in the configuration shown . although these are diametrically opposed with respect to the axis of the cone , the gap between first electrode e 1 and third electrode e 3 tapers in the direction of tip s of the cone . at a first point in time t = t 0 ( as explained in conjunction with fig5 a through 5 e ), two contact - breaking sparks are generated , one between first electrode e 1 and second electrode e 2 and one between second electrode e 2 and third electrode e 3 , and subsequently fuse at the base of the cone as a result of second electrode e 2 moving away from first electrode e 1 and third electrode e 3 . this process has already been described in conjunction with fig5 a through 5 e . after fused ignition spark f t1 between first electrode e 1 and third electrode e 3 has been generated , it attempts to shorten the spark gap to be bridged , in order to satisfy the minimum energy principle . ignition spark f t1 therefore migrates upward in the cone in the direction of tip s , the ignition spark completing one rotation about the axis of rotational symmetry of the cone , as is indicated by arrow p 3 . at a point in time t = t 2 , ignition spark f t1 has “ screwed ” its way further up the electrode spiral , so that , as ignition spark f t2 , it now has a shorter length than before . in order to satisfy the minimum energy principle , ignition spark foot points ff 1 , ff 2 migrate further up electrodes e 1 , e 3 until , at a later point in time t = t 3 , they form an ignition spark f t3 , which has arrived at a narrow point 10 between electrodes e 1 , e 3 between two points having a minimum distance . fig8 shows an alternative system of three combustion chamber electrodes e 1 , e 2 , e 3 . first electrode e 1 and third electrode e 3 are situated essentially symmetrically with respect to axis of symmetry y and symmetrically with respect to the axis of motion of second electrode e 2 . first electrode e 1 and third electrode e 3 have two local narrow points 10 a , 10 b , between which the two electrodes e 1 , e 3 have concave sections . in other words , the gap between the electrodes increases so as to form a cavity in an area between local narrow points 10 a , 10 b . within the cavity formed in this way , a movable second electrode e 2 is shown in three possible positions a ), b ), c ). second electrode e 2 has an essentially spherical end section , which has a smaller radius than the cavity formed between first electrode e 1 and third electrode e 3 . in this way , it is possible that second electrode e 2 in position a ) has a contact point 11 , 12 with first electrode e 1 and third electrode e 3 , respectively , at its outermost end , whereas ( after having moved in the direction of arrow p ) it has a contact point 11 , 12 , respectively , in the direction of its suspension . in a position b ) shown , second electrode e 2 is situated between positions a ) and b ), in which it has a narrow point , e . g ., with the points of the concave electrode surfaces having a maximum distance from axis of symmetry y . in position a ), a contact - breaking spark may be generated between first electrode e 1 and second electrode e 2 as well as between third electrode e 3 and second electrode e 2 . if second electrode e 2 is now moved out of position a ) into position b ), the narrow points between second electrode e 2 and stationary electrodes e 1 , e 3 , respectively , migrate along the spherical surface of second electrode e 2 as well as along corresponding points on the hollow - sphere shaped surfaces of first electrode e 1 and third electrode e 3 . second electrode e 2 finally reaches its end position c ), in which it once more has contact with stationary electrodes e 1 , e 3 . a further contact - breaking spark may therefore be generated in this position by reversing the direction of movement of second electrode e 2 until finally , in position a ), it comes into contact once more with first electrode e 1 and third electrode e 3 . in this way , retracting reciprocating movement of the second electrode ( e . g ., in two consecutive ignition cycles ) may be provided according to the present invention . a basic concept of the present invention is to dynamically generate an ignition spark of an ignition unit for an internal combustion engine , in a predefined manner , with the aid of a movable arrangement of at least one electrode . at the same time , the spark gap is moved , rotated , pivoted or modified in some other way at a first point in time with respect to a second point in time in order to break through different combustion chamber volumes at different points in time . the probability of successfully igniting an ignitable mixture is increased as a result , so that lean mixtures and less homogeneous mixtures may be used . in addition , electrode erosion may be avoided , since the ignition spark foot point on a particular electrode migrates over time on the surface of the electrode . even though the aspects according to the present invention and advantageous specific embodiments have been described in detail with reference to exemplary embodiments illustrated with the aid of the attached figures , those skilled in the art will consider modifications and combinations of features of the exemplary embodiments shown to be possible without departing from the scope of the present invention , the scope of protection of which is defined by the attached claims .
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as shown in the exemplary drawings , the present invention is embodied in a retainer , indicated generally by the reference numeral 10 , for securing a lid 12 to a container 14 in which a floral bouquet 16 is arranged . the retainer 10 decoratively attaches the lid 12 to the container 14 as an integral part of the bouquet 16 and reduces the chance that the lid 12 will become lost or broken by the florist or customer . further , the retainer 10 of this invention is relatively inexpensive to manufacture , reliable and simple to use , and may be installed completely by hand . as best shown in one preferred form in fig1 - 4 , the retainer 10 comprises a rigid shaft 18 and a flexible crossbar 20 which are connected together by a conventional fastener 22 to form generally a t - shaped assembly . as explained more fully below , the crossbar 20 is adapted to be inserted into a groove 24 provided on the underside of the lid 12 , and the shaft 18 is adapted for insertion into a body of stalk supporting material 26 , typically florist &# 39 ; s foam , which holds the stalks of the flowers and other materials comprising the floral bouquet 16 within the container 14 . the shaft 18 preferably is made of metal , wood , plastic or another rigid material that resists bending and will support the weight of the lid 12 once the shaft 18 is inserted into the foam 26 . further in this regard , the shaft 18 also must be of sufficient length to be firmly anchored in the foam 22 . the cross - sectional area of the shaft 18 also must be small enough to facilitate insertion of the shaft 18 into the foam 26 . in the preferred embodiment , the shaft 18 is circular in cross - section and resembles a thin tube , but it can be of triangular , rectangular , hexagonal or other shapes if desired . the shaft 18 preferably is coupled to the center of the crossbar 20 to allow a substantially equal amount of flexing of the crossbar 20 on opposite sides of the shaft 18 . alternatively , the shaft 18 may be joined at any point between the ends of the crossbar 20 so long as there is a sufficient amount of flexure to insert the crossbar 20 into the groove 24 of the lid 12 . however , the shaft 18 must not be coupled too close to one end of the crossbar 20 . otherwise , the shaft 18 will interfere with a lip 28 of the groove 24 upon insertion of the crossbar 20 . the crossbar 20 preferably is made of plastic , soft wood or another flexible yet resilient material . flexibility is necessary to permit adequate deformation of the crossbar 20 and insertion into the groove 24 provided on the underside of the lid 12 . resiliency is required to maintain the ends of the crossbar 20 in snug contact with the groove 24 , as described more fully below . the substantially rectangular structural configuration of the crossbar 20 in the preferred embodiment provides several important functional advantages . the flat , substantially square - shaped ends of the crossbar 20 provide firm engagement with corresponding sections of the groove 24 and maintain a fixed relationship between the lid 12 and the crossbar 20 . if the crossbar 20 was , for example , round instead of flat , the lid 12 would be undesirably permitted to rotate about the axis of the round crossbar . it is understood that only the portions of the crossbar 20 which engage the groove 24 need to be of the flat , square - shaped configuration described above . the length of the crossbar 20 preferably is slightly longer than the diameter of the circle defined by the groove 24 . thus , after insertion , there is a slight bend in the crossbar 20 which , due to the resilient properties of the crossbar 20 , causes the ends of the crossbar 20 to exert a radial force upon the groove 24 . this force maintains the fixed position of the lid 12 with respect to the crossbar 20 and prevents undesirable rotation of wobbling of the lid 12 . it is understood that the length of the crossbar 20 can be increased or decreased to accomodate lids of various sizes and groove diameters . to maintain the desired flexibility and resiliency of the crossbar 20 , the thickness of the crossbar 20 which generally governs the bending characteristics described above , should be increased as the length of the cross - bar 20 from one end of the groove 24 to the other increases . the use of the retainer 10 now will be explained . the user , typically a florist , holds the shaft 18 in one hand and the lid 12 in the other . one end of the crossbar 20 is inserted into the groove 24 of the lid 12 , and then , the user pushes down on the shaft 18 so that the crossbar 20 begins to bend . eventually , the crossbar 20 will bend far enough to cause the uninserted end of the crossbar 20 to pass beyond the lip 28 and snap into the groove 24 . the lid 12 , which now is firmly secured to the crossbar 20 , is ready for placement in an appropriate position in the floral bouquet 16 . to attach the lid 12 to the floral bouquet 16 , the lid 12 is grasped firmly , and the end of the shaft 18 is pushed into a desired location in the foam 26 . the lid 12 may be decoratively positioned in any desired position so that it becomes an attractive and integral part of the arrangement . with the lid 12 firmly secured in this fashion , the likelihood that it will become lost or broken is reduced substantially . to remove the lid 12 from the floral bouquet 16 after the flowers have died , the lid 12 is grasped firmly and pulled away from the bouquet 16 removing the shaft 18 from the foam 26 . to remove the crossbar 20 from the lid 12 , the user , usually a customer at this point , grabs the end of the shaft 18 furthest from the crossbar 20 and applies a torque which forces the end of the shaft 18 down towards one end of the crossbar 20 . this bends the crossbar 20 and eventually forces the other end of the crossbar 20 over the lip 28 and out of the groove 24 . alternatively , the shaft 18 may be pulled directly up and away from the underside of the lid 12 . this causes both ends of the crossbar 20 to bend substantially equally , as best illustrated by the phantom lines of fig4 . once removed , the retainer 10 may be thrown away if desired . from the foregoing , it will be appreciated that the retainer of this invention allows a simple and effective means for attaching a lid to a container in which a floral bouquet is arranged . while a particular form of the invention has been illustrated and described , it will be apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . accordingly , it is not intended that the invention be limited , except as by the appended claims .
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the present invention is directed to ofdm as the transmission method , and the subcarriers in use are adaptive to the volume of traffic in that interface , or the modulation format which is further determined by channel quality . one or some dedicated subcarriers are used to notify the receiver of the bandwidth to be used in future transmission ( for example , from the third ofdm frame ). based on this information , the receiver adjusts its internal components , either to power off ( or hibernate ) some more ( if bandwidth decreases ), or power on ( or awake ) corresponding elements ( if bandwidth increases ). in receiver side , elements that might be powered off or hibernated include digitizer module ( analog to digital converter , adc ) and fft ( fast fourier transform ) blocks . in high speed application , the digitizer usually contains several interleaved lower - speed adcs . when bandwidth in use is reduced , the overall sampling rate can be decreased , which means some lower - rate adcs might be put in power saving mode ( powered off or hibernated ). for desired throughput , the receiver usually has multiple ofdm demodulation blocks working in parallel , and the total processing capacity of these parallel blocks matches the overall adc sampling rate . when some adcs turn inactive , the samples rate to be processed goes lower , so some ofdm demodulation modules can be in power saving mode as well . the energy adaptation is also achieved from transmitter . like the parallel processing in receiver side , transmitter also contains multiple ofdm modulators to work in parallel . when output bandwidth is decreased , the output sampling rate can be reduced , some ofdm modulators might be in power saving mode and the remaining active modulator modules still provide enough capacity . because the output signals sampling rate is reduced , if dac ( digital to analog converter ) is still working at full clock rate , in one embodiment , output signals can be extended to multiple dac output clock cycles , or output zeros for the other dac output clock cycles . in one embodiment , the dac clock frequency is reduced accordingly to match the samples rate of ofdm modulators . in case output sampling rate is decreased , either by reducing dac clock frequency or extending ofdm modulator output sample period or outputting zeros between valid samples , a corresponding analog filter can be applied to remove harmonic spectra . referring now in detail to the figures in which like numerals represent the same or similar elements and initially to fig2 , which shows an overall block diagram of a system employing the invention . having described preferred embodiments of a system and method ( which are intended to be illustrative and not limiting ), it is noted that modifications and variations can be made by persons skilled in the art in light of the above teachings . it is therefore to be understood that changes may be made in the particular embodiments disclosed which are within the scope of the invention as outlined by the appended claims . having thus described aspects of the invention , with the details and particularity required by the patent laws , what is claimed and desired protected by letters patent is set forth in the appended claims . when the receiver is initially started , it samples with maximum sampling rate and demodulates using maximum fft size , so that even when transmitter is using lower sampling rate and bandwidth , the receiver is still able to obtain the information carried by f d , to further track the sampling rate and bandwidth given by the transmitter and sample / demodulate accordingly . then the receiver will be synchronized ( in terms of bandwidth usage configuration ) with transmitter side to perform energy savings . ofdm is digital multi - carrier modulation method , using a large number of closely - spaced orthogonal subcarriers to carry data . each subcarrier can be individually modulated , and the modulation format can be flexibly selected . 1 ) each sub - carrier can be individually modulated and the modulation format can be flexibly selected ; sub - carriers can be dynamically allocated based on transmission or network requirement 2 ) flexible modulation format selection , so when signal quality goes lower , the system may use larger bandwidth with lower modulation format ; while in case signal quality is higher , the system may change to lower bandwidth with higher modulation format 3 ) multi - path ( or channel fading ) tolerance , which can help to eliminate cd compensation in optical communications with these advantages , and also with the development of high - speed converters ( including digital - to - analog converter or dac , and analog - to - digital converter or adc ), ofdm is believed to be a good candidate in wide area of optical communications , from access network ( such as passive optical network ) to long haul transmission ( such as 40g or 100g transmission link ). a typical ofdm transmitter includes ofdm modulator , digital resampler , digital - to - analog converter ( dac ), and optionally an analog filter . ofdm modulator further includes symbol mapping module , to convert from binary bit stream to certain symbols such as qpsk or 16qam ; and ifft ( inverse fast fourier transform ) module , to convert frequency domain signal to time domain for transmission . digital resampler changes sampling rate to adapt the speed of dac . the most popular case is to interpolate the ifft output samples to higher sampling rate , by inserting zeros between the samples and then applying low pass filter . dac converts signal from digital to analog domain for transmission . ofdm receiver performs the reverse operation of an ofdm transmitter , which includes : optional analog filter , analog to digital converter ( adc ), resampler , and ofdm demodulator . similarly , the resampler changes the adc input sampling rate to adapt the needs of ofdm demodulator ; ofdm demodulator applies fft to convert signals to frequency domain , performs equalization , and then de - maps the symbols to binary sequence . in optical communication , the required digitizing rate is usually higher than a single adc element can handle . so the most popular solution is applying power splitter to input signals , and further inputting to multiple sub - adc channels . these sub - adc channels sample the signal in interleaving mode , so that when the output from these sub - adcs are combined , they will provide time - equally sampled signal with rate of n × s where n is the number of sub - adcs and s is the sampling rate of each sub - adc . for better explanation , the following uses term “ ofdm block ” for the symbols generated from one ifft and after adding cyclic prefix ( when necessary ). the main embodiment of the present invention is for a line interface using ofdm as the modulation format , providing maximum transmission capacity c , under the case of m - point fft and sampling rate s ; in case lower bandwidth is needed , either because of lower traffic load or higher modulation format to be used ( because of better channel quality ), system capacity is reduced to ( roughly ) c / 2 ̂ n ( n = 1 , 2 , . . . ), by using ( m / 2 ̂ n )- point fft and sampling rate of s / 2 ̂ n . when sampling rate is reduced , for both transmitter and receiver , some of the parallel processing modules might be eligible to be powered off or hibernated , while still provide enough processing capacity . the decision for the number of subcarriers to be used is based on traffic load . the present invention uses constant base subcarrier frequency and fixed duration for each ofdm block . when the system changes to lower bandwidth , it always uses lower frequency subcarriers and frees those of higher frequencies . the transmitter makes decision on the subcarriers to be used from the next d - th ofdm block , where d is determined by receiver reaction time ( such as the power on or awaken time for all the functional modules ), and sends this information to the receiver . one or several dedicated subcarriers f d is pre - defined to carry such information . f d is located within the lowest bandwidth range , to guarantee that it always exists and is transmitted to the receiver . multiple ofdm blocks may be framed to carry such configuration and other control information ; fec ( forward error correction ) field can be applied to the frame for better tolerance , or crc ( cyclic redundancy check ) can be used to check for the correctness . fig2 is the block diagram for an exemplary embodiment of the present invention . transmitter 102 takes input 162 from prior processing and first uses ofdm modulator 108 to generate ofdm signal in digital domain . ofdm modulator 108 is under the control of bandwidth decision module 106 , which uses the input from traffic status monitor 104 . based on the traffic information , block 106 decides the bandwidth needed , and further determines the sampling rate and fft size . such decision is input to ofdm modulator 108 through signal 118 . block 108 follows this decision to modulate the input signal . this information is also framed with other management information , or with data to be transmitted , and modulated by 108 to dedicated subcarrier ( s ) ( say subcarrier ( s ) f d ), to notify the receiver about future bandwidth and sampling rate in use . f d can be any subcarrier within the minimum bandwidth b m . in an exemplary embodiment , the information carried by f d spans several ofdm blocks and is encapsulated using certain framing scheme . following ofdm modulator 108 includes an optional resampler 110 to adapt the sampling rate to dac 112 , which converts discrete signal ( in digital domain ) to continuous ( analog domain ). filter 114 is to remove the high - frequency aliases caused by dac 112 . the optical transmitter 116 converts the signal from electrical to optical and ready for transmission through link 126 . optionally block 110 , 112 , and / or 114 are also controlled by block 106 over respective signal links 120 , 122 , 124 , to adjust resampling rate , or dac clock rate , or selects the corresponding filter bandwidth . in the receiver side ( module 130 ), the optical receiver 146 first converts the input signal from optical domain to electrical , followed by optional low pass filter 144 to remove high frequency noise . adc 142 digitizes the continuous signal to discrete for digital processing . an optional resampler 140 matches the sampling rate difference between that needed by ofdm demodulator 138 and adc 142 . ofdm demodulator 138 processes the sampled signal and recovers the original information . the information in subcarrier f d which contains bandwidth usage information is passed to processing decision block 136 through signal 148 , to further configure the related blocks including : bandwidth of filter 144 , sampling rate of adc 142 , resampling rate of resampler 140 , and fft size etc . used in ofdm demodulator 138 . the processing decision block 136 communicated back with the ofdm demodulator 137 through signal link 148 . the processing decision block also can communicate with the resampler 140 , adc 142 and filter 144 through respective signal links 150 , 152 and 154 . when the receiver is initially started , it samples with maximum sampling rate and demodulates using maximum fft size , so that even when transmitter is using lower sampling rate and bandwidth , the receiver is still able to obtain the information carried by f d , to further track the sampling rate and bandwidth given by the transmitter and sample / demodulate accordingly . then the receiver will be synchronized ( in terms of bandwidth usage configuration ) with transmitter side to perform energy savings . the aforementioned energy savings can be achieved from three modules as in fig2 : partially powering off / hibernating the adcs ; powering off / hibernating some of the resampler modules , and / or changing re - sampling rate ; powering off / hibernating some of the ofdm demodulator modules . these actions are configured by processing decision module 136 , which decodes the control information carried in fixed subcarrier . when the digitizer consists of multiple interleaved adc channels , the sampling rate can be changed by powering off or hibernating ( 1½ ̂ n ) of the total interleaved channels , where ½ ̂ n gives the portion of bandwidth to be used . for example , if the input signal reduces to ¼ of full bandwidth , the sampling rate can be ¼ of full - rate accordingly , which means ( 1¼ )= ¾ of the interleaved adc channels can be powered off or hibernated . this example is further illustrated in fig3 . digitizer 200 includes 4 sub - adcs , numbered from 212 to 218 ; energy saving control block 222 , and samples reassembly block 220 . signal input is first replicated by power splitter 202 to 4 instances , numbered from 204 ˜ 210 , each feeding one sub - adc , such as signal 204 feeds sub - adc 212 . these sub - adcs work in interleaved mode , for example 212 samples at time ( k * t 0 + 0 ), 214 samples at time ( k * t 0 + ¼ * t 0 ), 216 samples at ( k * t 0 + ½ * t 0 ), and 218 samples at ( k * t 0 +* t 0 ), where t 0 is the sampling period of each sub - adc . these sub - adcs are controlled by energy saving control block 222 , to stay in working mode or energy saving mode ( powered off or hibernated ). block 222 further receives control information from processing decision module ( block 136 in fig2 ) to take action . in this illustration , sub - adcs 214 ˜ 218 are in power saving mode while 212 is working , so digitizer 212 provides ¼ of full sampling rate . the outputs from the sub - adcs are organized by samples reassembly block 220 , which selects the active sub - adc ( s ) and outputs the samples in time order . when adc sampling rate is reduced , the samples to be processed in one frame period will be reduced accordingly . this may enable a single resampler module to process multiple blocks in one ( maximum ) block period , and some other resampler modules be put in energy saving mode . one problem to consider is the processing overhead for overlapping samples : usually this resampler module uses fir ( finite impulse response ) filter , which takes several clock cycles ( when implemented in serial mode ) to fill - up the filter taps before outputting valid samples . the processing of multiple ( shorter ) blocks in one ( longest ) block period will increase the overhead percentage , so certain speed up is needed to enable energy savings from resampler module . the resampler module may also take responsibility when lower rate than adc capability is preferred and low pass filter is needed to remove higher frequency noise . in such cases the resampler takes higher sampling rate than required and outputs only those needed by ofdm demodulator . the main change in ofdm demodulator is the fft size : when sampling rate changes to ½ , the fft size ( and number of output samples in equalization and demapping modules ) changes to ½ of previous as well . accordingly , the processing time for one ofdm block will be shorter . same as resampler module , some ofdm demodulators can be put in energy saving mode . the receiver operation is controlled by processing decision block 136 , which takes demodulated information from ofdm demodulator 138 . this procedure is summarized in fig3 . the energy saving in transmitter side is also achieved from 3 different modules : ofdm modulator , resampler , and dac . ofdm modulator operation is similar to demodulator in receiver side , in that it uses shorter ifft size and outputs lower sampling rate when throughput is lower . in this case a single modulator can handle multiple ( shorter ) ofdm blocks in one ( longest ) ofdm block time , so some other ofdm modulator blocks can be put in energy saving mode . with reduced sampling rate output from ofdm modulator ( s ), if dac clock rate can be adjusted to accept lower number of input samples , the resampler module 110 in fig2 may also generates shorter samples for each ofdm block . this enables some of the resampler modules to be put in energy saving mode the same way as in receiver side . by reducing the dac clocking rate ( if applicable ), dac power consumption will be reduced as well . the operation procedure is given in flow chart in fig5 . as mentioned above , the bandwidth decision module 106 makes decision on the bandwidth to be used . this is further derived from output traffic monitoring result : if the recent average traffic is lower than bandwidth in use , reduce the transmitted signal bandwidth by half ; if higher than bandwidth in use , double the transmitted signal bandwidth ( if not in full bandwidth ). alternatively , traffic monitoring can be achieved by monitoring the queue status : if the traffic in queue is lower than configured threshold ( say threshold 1 ), reduce the bandwidth by half ( unless it is already the lowest ); if the traffic in queue is higher than another threshold ( say threshold 2 ), double the bandwidth . this queue can be in egress port , or by certain approach ( for example , using maximum queue length ) in ingress ports . note that when the system encounters better channel quality ( based on the feedback from receiver ), it may use higher modulation format , which is equivalent to increased maximum interface rate , which results in lower traffic to maximum - interface - rate percentage , so the above embodiments can be applied as well . to avoid confusion or complicated control procedure in receiver side , the system may always use the lowest modulation format ( e . g ., qpsk ) for control information ( in particular the bandwidth usage message ). the application of the present invention can be any optical interface that applies ofdm modulation , such as but not limited to , point - to - point metro or core optical interface , ofdm - based passive - optical - network ( pon ). the foregoing is to be understood as being in every respect illustrative and exemplary , but not restrictive , and the scope of the invention disclosed herein is not to be determined from the detailed description , but rather from the claims as interpreted according to the full breadth permitted by the patent laws . it is to be understood that the embodiments shown and described herein are only illustrative of the principles of the present invention and that those skilled in the art may implement various modifications without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention . those skilled in the art could implement various other feature combinations without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention .
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