text
stringlengths 1.55k
332k
| label
int64 0
8
|
|---|---|
the toroid - free ballast of the present invention will be described in further details with reference to the accompany drawings . please refer to fig2 , which illustrates a toroid - free ballast according to an embodiment of the present invention comprising a filter and rectifier circuit 10 and a switch and resonant circuit 20 , as well as an exemplary lamp load 30 . the filter and rectifier circuit 10 is coupled to input ends of the switch and resonant circuit 20 with its output ends , and being further coupled to an ac power supply to convert input ac voltage to dc voltage after filtering out the electromagnetic interference thereof . in the embodiment , the filter and rectifier circuit 10 is a full bridge rectifier circuit comprising a bridge rectifier ( d 1 ˜ d 4 ), a filter comprised of an inductor l 0 and a resistor r 0 in shunt connection and an electrolyte capacitor c 1 shuntly connected across terminals 1 and 3 of the bridge rectifier ; the filter is coupled with the ac power supply at one end via a fuse fu while coupling with terminal 2 of the bridge rectifier at another end . the switch and resonant circuit 20 is coupled to the lamp load 30 with its output ends and including : two transistors q 1 , q 2 , wherein emitter of the transistor q 1 is connected with collector of q 2 via a resistor r 5 , a junction point s is located between the resistor r 5 and the collector of the transistor q 2 , and a capacitor c 2 is connected across collector of the transistor q 1 and the junction point s ; a resistor r 1 is coupled to terminal 3 of the filter and rectifier circuit 10 with its one end and coupled to base of the transistor q 1 with its another end ; a resistor r 7 is coupled to the base of the transistor q 1 with its one end and coupled to the junction point s with its another end via a diode d 5 in series connection ; a resistor r 3 is coupled to the base of the transistor q 1 with its one end , while its another end is serially connected with a capacitor c 7 and a inductor lb 1 for coupling with terminal 3 of a secondary winding t 1 of a transformer t ; and emitter of the transistor q 2 is connected with terminal 6 of a secondary winding t 2 of the transformer t via a resistor r 6 , while base of the transistor q 2 is connected with the junction point s via a resistor r 2 ; a resistor r 8 is coupled to the base of the transistor q 2 with its one end , while its another end is serially connected with a diode d 6 for coupling with terminal 6 of the secondary winding t 2 of the transformer t ; a resistor r 4 is coupled to the base of the transistor q 2 with its one end , while its another end is serially connected with a capacitor c 8 and a inductor lb 2 for coupling with terminal 5 of the secondary winding t 2 of the transformer t ; a primary winding t 3 of the transformer is coupled with a lamp tube of the lamp load 30 with its terminal 2 , while its terminal 1 and terminal 4 of the secondary winding t 1 are connected at the junction point s ; the secondary windings t 1 , t 2 provide drive current for the transistors q 1 , q 2 of the circuit , and the terminal 2 of the primary winding t 3 is connected with the lamp tube and a capacitor c 5 whereby enabling the primary winding t 3 and the capacitor c 5 form a resonant circuit . the lamp load 30 comprises the lamp tube and the capacitors c 4 , c 5 wherein the capacitor c 4 is used for dc blocking ; and at both ends of the lamp tube two connection points a , b , a ′, b ′ are respectively provided , the capacitor c 5 in shunt connection with the lamp tube is connected across one connection point b , b ′ at both ends of the lamp tube ; another connection point a ′ at one end of the lamp tube is coupled with the terminal 2 of the primary winding t 3 , while another connection point a at another end of the lamp tube is coupled with the collector of the transistor q 1 via the capacitor c 4 . according to one preferred embodiment , the capacitor c 5 is further in shunt connection with a preheating device , and preferably a ptc preheating device , such as a ptc thermistor . please refer to fig3 , a toroid - free ballast according to another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated , which further comprises an optional power factor correction circuit 40 with respect to the one in fig2 . it should be noted that the necessity of the arrangement of the optional power factor correction circuit 40 depends on the power to be attained by the toroid - free ballast . the circuit 40 is coupled to the output end of the filter and rectifier circuit 10 with its input end and coupled to the input end of the switch and resonant circuit 20 with its output end . the power factor correction circuit 40 comprises a mos switching transistor vt 1 , a booster inductor l , a booster diode vd , an output capacitor c 0 and a power factor correction controller ( apfc controller ) integrated circuit for connecting power factor and adjusting its input dc voltage so that the output dc voltage will not be affected_by the change of load to maintain the stable power factor ; wherein the booster inductor l is coupled to terminal 3 of bridge rectifier with one end and coupled to the collector of the transistor q 1 with another end through the booster diode vd ; the booster diode vd is coupled with terminal 1 of the bridge rectifier at its cathode via the output capacitor c 0 and coupled with the terminal 1 of the bridge rectifier via the mos switching transistor vt 1 , while the gate of the mos switching transistor vt 1 is coupled to the power factor correction controller apfc controller . please refer to fig4 , a toroid - free ballast according to a further embodiment of the present invention is illustrated , wherein the switch and resonant circuit 20 further comprises a resonant capacitor c 6 with respect to the embodiment shown in fig3 . the working principle of the present invention is as follows : the inductor l 0 and resistor r 0 of the filter and rectifier circuit 10 of the present invention are being employed for eliminating the clutter interference in the power source and preventing the clutter signals from entering into the ballast or preventing the high frequency signals in the ballast from entering into the power source ; the rectifying diodes d 1 - d 4 convert input ac current to dc current such that a stable dc current is obtained at positive terminal of the electrolyte capacitor c 1 . the mos switching transistor vt 1 , booster inductor l , booster diode vd , output capacitor c 0 and the power factor correction controller ( apfc controller ) integrated circuit form a feedback type power factor correction circuit which enables a power factor larger than 0 . 9 . transistors q 1 , q 2 form a half bridge resonant circuit ; when q 2 conducts , a current flows through the capacitor c 4 , two sets of filaments of the lamp tube , capacitor c 5 , primary winding t 3 of the transformer t and the transistor q 2 to form a closed circuit , whereby generating an induced electrodynamic potential on the primary winding t 3 of the transformer and also an induced electrodynamic potential on the secondary windings t 1 , t 2 of the transformer , wherein the ends denoted with represent a positive polarity ; the voltage polarity of energy storage inductors , namely the secondary windings t 1 , t 2 , will be varied due to the variations of the current during the charging process , in this way , transistors q 1 , q 2 conduct and cut off in an alternate manner thereby forming a high frequency signal for excitation of the lamp tube . in the circuitry , the capacitor c 7 , inductor lb 1 , capacitor c 8 and inductor lb 2 form a oscillation circuit in the secondary loop , wherein the oscillation frequency can be altered by changing the values of the inductance and capacitance . while the parameters of the main resonant circuit formed with the primary winding t 3 of the transformer t and capacitor c 5 can be matched with one another , the entire circuitry will be operated in a stable condition . the resonant capacitor c 6 in the circuitry will facilitate the optimum ignition of the lamp tube . it should be appreciated that the above are merely provided for illustrating but not limiting the present invention . while the present invention has been described in details with references to above embodiments , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various amendments may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof as required , and those alterations and / or modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention shall all fall into the scope of the following claims .
| 7 |
by using a new methodology as described herein , it is possible to detect relatively low concentrations ( e . g ., tens ppm , hundreds ppb ) of reducing gases and , with some applied limitations , and selectively distinguish certain gases from one another . the functioning of sensors and calculation of their parameters may be observed during a state of dynamic equilibrium . in a steady state , any small variation or oscillation surrounding the predominant average value are deemed insignificant and are thrown out from the calculation . as a result , limitations occur and the sensor &# 39 ; s output parameters are only predictable and calculated for a particular range of changing input parameters . for example , sensors work correctly within limited changing characteristics of the sensitive layer under gas influences . due to the influence of internal factors in the body of the sensor , such as diffusion and recombination , discarding these small changes in relation to the predominant average value is incorrect and produces erroneous results . taking into account the periodic changes surrounding the predominant average value of the potential barrier , equation 2 describes and allows analysis of processes in the sensitive layer of a sensor , and is free from the limitations described above . where q is the charge , g is the conductance constant , eo is the amplitude of the internal electric field , and ex is the amplitude of the electric field at the boundary of the microcrystal which prevents carriers from moving freely . equation 2 can be simplified to an analysis of a second order differential equation in the following form : where lambda , λ , is some constant , p ( t ) is a function of time which does not greatly vary with its average value . the function p ( t ), can be then rewritten as : where alpha , α , and mu , μ are constants and μ & lt ; 1 and f ( t ) is a periodic function of t with an angular frequency , omega , ω , for which : ∫ 0 ω f ( t ) dt = 0 ( equation 5 ) if α * λ & lt ; 0 , then at a small enough μ there exists a place of instability . for α * λ & lt ; 0 , equation 3 can be written in the form below ( equation 6 ), which describes the range of stability and only in this range can solutions be predicted and calculated . as a result , it is possible to determine domains of dynamic stability and instability separated by the occurrence of resonant oscillations , in which the amplitude is raised to detectable levels . ( see fig6 .) 1 . under the influence of flow of gas on the reactive layer of a sensor , the value of the potential barrier does not change gradually with a change in concentration ; instead there exist domains of dynamic stability , where parameters can be predicted and domains of dynamic instability , where parameters are unpredictable . 2 . only within domains of stability , it is possible to determine the influence of the external factors to the sensors &# 39 ; sensitive layer . 3 . since the domains of stability and instability possess varying widths , and can be regulated by changing certain parameters of the system , such as temperature , pressure , etc ., the method provides a way to determine desired domains for different applications . 4 . measurement procedures within individual areas of dynamic stability can be established and also allow to travel between domains under control of certain parameters and conditions . 5 . comparing the domains of stability and instability for different gases produces the ability to perform selective analysis of the gases in the mixture . 6 . the boundaries between zones of dynamic stability and instability can be found by scanning and detecting increasing amplitudes of oscillations in the diapason of the changing measurement parameters . 7 . detrimental factors simply deform the widths of domains of stability and instability without destroying them and are also taken into account in the method . 8 . each gas is described by a differential equation . a gaseous mixture may be described by a system of differential equations . the individual equations and the system of equations may be solved by conventional methods . a device implementing the proposed method works as follows . an investigated gaseous mixture , for example the exhaled breath from a patient , is prepared and collected in a gas preparation unit of the device , before processing . one purpose of the gas preparation unit is to promote conditions such that the investigated gaseous mixtures at any time will be measured under reproducible or consistent conditions . the pressure , volume and temperature of the gaseous mixture can vary within the gas preparation unit . variations may be regulated with the aid of a microprocessor . equilibrium , in many cases , is preferably achieved before processing of any gas sample . a prepared gaseous mixture is then passed to a measurement assembly , which serves to determine the concentration of different components in the gaseous mixture . internal conditions inside the measurement assembly , the control and regulation of various parameters , and influences on the process of passing the gases through the sensors , such as air quality , temperature of the sensing layer , speed at which the gaseous mixture is delivered to the sensing layer of the sensor , and the quality of the gaseous mixture itself , etc ., are preferably regulated by one or more control units , which use the developed algorithm thus realizing the method . after measurement , the processed gaseous mixture is expelled from the measurement assembly , preparing the unit for a subsequent measurement . the measurement assembly includes a predetermined number of sensors , which react with individual components of the gaseous mixture . the sensors &# 39 ; outputs , a series of analog signals , are then passed to a data acquisition unit for amplification , filtration and digitization by an analog - to - digital converter ( adc ). once digitized , the prepared data is transferred to a data consolidation unit . the data consolidation unit serves to collect , store , and transfer information from each individual sensor to the microprocessor upon receiving a request . this allows for the consolidation and synchronization of individual subsystems , preventing the loss of data and increasing the dependability at the device . a data stream then leaves the data consolidation unit directed for processing in the control unit . the control unit may be considered a large unit because it may be comprised of various subsystems . these subsystems are responsible for , for example , performing data conversion , providing internal communication between subsystems and producing necessary commands to accomplish device functionalities . the dsp - based data processing unit ( dpu ) functions to perform the actions of the control unit and houses the algorithm that controls the work of all subsystems in the device . the dpu also houses the algorithm to process the gathered data , thus realizing the proposed method . the dpu may communicate directly with the control unit and preferably shares data produced by the data consolidation unit . the control unit performs , controls , and regulates the functionalities of the device . the functions of the control unit may include : 1 . receives processes , communicates and transfers data to the different units through a common interface . achieved results are gathered and saved to a database and may be displayed in some form relatively soon after successful measurement and processing . the display may take the form of an indicator , light , flashing of a light , a digital result , text - based message , email notification , etc . 2 . controls actions performed by the electro - mechanical modules such as the pump , heater , piston , etc . the control unit receives and analyzes the signals from various mechanisms and performs the necessary actions and responses according to built - in application software . the control unit is a multifunctional unit , which includes not only standard components , but also preferably contains an original custom logic block . this block has original design circuitries for detecting areas of stability and instability in the changing parameters of the gaseous mixture as predicted by the described methods . circuitries and their functionalities are described below . the custom logic block is capable of managing data in 3d space and in three or more dimensions when performing calculations or computations . further , the custom logic block is capable of treating a system of solutions for a plurality of unknown functions in addition to solving for an individual unknown function . independent modules , measurement tools and / or supplemental devices , when needed , are connected through the interface to the device . the device may include subassemblies and application software for calculating , locating and determining the boundaries of domains of stability and instability as described herein . boundaries may be determined by analyzing some or all of the output data , which reflects changes in the parameters of the gaseous mixture . furthermore , the subsystems used in the control unit insure reliability and dependability as well as provide ways to troubleshoot and diagnose the device in its entirety . the major units and their constraints are described below . the gas preparation and measurement assembly unit , 300 , shown in fig2 , works in the following manner according to one implementation of the invention — with reference to fig4 which shows the detailed structure of the gas preparation and measurement assembly with a sensor . a gaseous mixture , such as exhaled breath , is pumped with pump 2 , 350 , to the gas chamber , 340 , as shown in fig4 . the pressure and volume of the gaseous mixture in the gas chamber , 340 , is regulated by , for example , a change in a position of a piston ( not shown ). the heating element , located in pressure and temperature control subsystem , 330 , built to work with the gas chamber , 340 , heats the mixture in the chamber to an assigned or designated temperature . the gas chamber 340 , is comprised of two cylinders , one , 342 , inside the other , 341 . the double walls and the inner cavity prevent or reduce the exchange of heat with the surroundings . a valve ( not shown ) prevents the gaseous mixture from leaving the gas chamber 340 , allowing the mixture to reach equilibrium , i . e . pv ( pressure and volume )= constant at an assigned temperature . then , the valve is opened , allowing the mixture to move into the sensors unit , 320 , for processing . the output signal of the sensors unit , 320 , is then passed to the control unit , 200 , while the gaseous mixture itself is exhausted to prepare the sensor unit , 320 , for subsequent measurements . if a mixture of gases is being measured , then the sensors unit , 320 , is modified according to the assembly of the sensors unit , 390 , illustrated in fig5 . the sensors unit , 390 , has a given number of sensors n ( shown as 1 , 2 . . . n ), each of which is configured for the detection of a particular gas . the configuration for the detection of a specific gas requires the heating of the sensitive layer within a sensor to a temperature , which corresponds with the temperature at which the specific gas is most active . each particular gas has its own optimal temperature . the heating of the sensing layer inside the sensor is achieved through the utilization of an internal , built - in heating element ( not shown ) in the sensor . the speed with respect to time with which the gaseous mixture enters the sensors unit , 320 , the time the gaseous mixture is in contact with the sensing layer of a sensor and other parameters are regulated , for example , by adjusting amount of gas and gas flow being delivered to the sensor housing . the gas which passes through or over the sensor , for example , sensor # 1 of sensor unit 390 in fig5 , is collected in a reservoir ( not shown ). this gas can be utilized for further analysis , such as for determining the composition of the mixture or simply can be released back into the surroundings . the sensors &# 39 ; output signals — analog signals changing with respect to time — are detected and processed in the electronic subsystem ( s ) of the proposed device . refer to fig2 - 5 . the electronic subsystems work in the following manner according to one implementation of the invention . the outputs of the sensors , in form of analog signals , are transferred to the inputs of a data acquisition unit , 100 in fig2 . in the data acquisition unit , signals are amplified , filtered , and &# 39 ; converted to a digital form . an analog - to - digital converter , 110 , is used . then the processed signal enters the data consolidation unit , 500 , where fifos and other storage elements are used to save and synchronize the data streams produced inside the internal subsystems . this ensures the functionality and reliability of the processor , the control unit , 200 , and the entire device . fig3 shows the structure of the control unit , which is responsible for controlling the major processes and functionalities of different components and the device itself , including power distribution , security , mechanical arms control , valve operations , piston movement , etc . the control unit also treats and prepares information to be transferred between the internal units . original custom logic , 222 , implemented in the control unit , is involved in the detection of the boundaries of stability and instability — such as the boundaries , which separate stable and unstable regions , shown in fig6 . with reference to fig3 , the indicated subsystem includes an asynchronous block , 227 , that operates the application software to determine the domains of stability and instability through the analysis of the changes in the output parameters of the gaseous mixture as outlined by the methods described herein . the control unit subsystem also includes time - dependent logic components ( not shown ), switching capacitors and other elements used to determine and analyze the characteristics of oscillation occurring at the boundaries of domains of stability and instability . the data processing unit , 400 , shown in fig2 includes an implemented algorithm that realizes one embodiment of a proposed method as well as algorithms that utilize proper operations of the device and appropriate software applications to insure continuity , reliability and dependability of the individual subsystems and their interaction within the device . furthermore , the algorithms define and control the data stream ( s ) within the device , transferring the data through the interface . standard protocols such as universal asynchronous receiver / transmitter uart ( serial ), 226 , ethernet ( tcp / ip ), 224 , flash , 225 , and others can be implemented to aid and utilize the information exchange . sampling , sensing and calculation of values related to a concentration of a gas may be repeated so as to perform uninterrupted monitoring of a gas . such repeating may be done as frequently as possible for continuous monitoring , or may be done at predefined intervals so as to provide intermittent updates of values related to a gas concentration or intermittent monitoring of a gas . time may be utilized as a parameter in processing to assist in determining if or when the system is in the stable or unstable domain at the general instant of when the measurement occurs . simultaneous measurement of various gases in a gaseous mixture can be made utilizing the methods described herein by distributing incoming gas into different channels each equipped with its own sensor for the targeted gas and then using the methods described herein to calculate the concentration of each gas in its respective channel . for example , one channel could measure a concentration of nitrogen , and a second channel could measure a concentration of oxygen . in one implementation , ambient air is pumped into the system to clear the sensor area of measured gases and prepare the sensing layer of the sensor for subsequent measurements , reducing the time between measurements . the methods described herein allow monitoring the state of the system in real time , when a measurement is being performed . in another implementation , the methods described herein do not require prior preparation or calibration of the sensors or system in order to take a measurement . periodicity . above in equation 4 and equation 6 , f ( t ) is a periodic function of time t . in the system and methods described herein , a physical parameter may be periodically changed with respect to time to set up the initial parameters of the equation or equations to solve . periodicity as used herein refers to a repeating pattern with respect to time . the following are three examples of implementing periodicity into the system . gas flow . according to one implementation , a sample is continuously delivered to the sensor for measurement by the sensor in a straight forward , uniform manner . for example , the sample is held at a first constant pressure when released to the sensor . periodicity can be introduced by varying the gas flow to the sensor in a uniform , repeated pattern . that is , the speed of the gas flow is regulated such that for two seconds the gas flows to the sensor , then stops , then flows for the same amount of time , then stops . alternatively , as another example , the gas flow is slowed instead of stopped by reducing an opening of a valve separating the sample from the sensor , or by varying the pressure of the gaseous sample by pressurizing the gaseous sample to one of various predetermined pressures at certain times during a measuring or sampling period . a pattern repeats or cycles until all measurement data is collected from the sensor . alternatively , gas flow is provided at one speed ( e . g ., volume or mass per unit time ) for a certain time , then increased or decreased to another speed for a same or different time , and then returned to the original speed . setting a repeating pattern by manipulating the flow of the sample onto or through the sensor for measurement is one way to implement periodicity for the initial condition of mathieu &# 39 ; s equation . electric current . alternatively , periodicity may be implemented by varying a physical condition related to the electric current associated with the device or system . for example , periodicity may be introduced by varying the supplied voltage to the output of the sensor . in contrast to published data sheets from commercial sensor vendors which indicate a constant voltage supply to a sensor &# 39 ; s output leads , to implement periodicity in the instant system , an initial voltage can be varied according to a pre - set repeated pattern . according to a first implementation , a first pre - determined constant voltage between three and five volts is supplied over an initial time interval . at the end of the initial time interval ( e . g ., 10 seconds , 15 seconds ), the voltage is modified to another pre - determined voltage for another time interval . this procedure is repeated for a predetermined period such as two minutes . successive two minute intervals may repeat the changes according to the first two minute interval . while the implementation has been described with respect to seconds , the time interval may be reduced to milliseconds , micro - seconds and so forth to a desired level of periodicity . the numbers above are merely used to provide an illustration . accordingly , the applied voltage to the output of the sensor is the parameter that is used to provide the condition of periodicity to the system . alternatively , a varying resistance or varying amount of current flowing in the system can be utilized to introduce the periodicity to the system and calculations associated therewith . surface geometry . yet another way to implement a repeatable pattern in the system for measuring concentration of a gas is to physically change the topology of the sensing layer of the sensor . according to presently available commercial sensors , each sensor has a continuous , uniform and rectangular sensing surface area with which gas molecules interact or chemically react to produce an electrical output . according to a first theoretical understanding of the measuring mechanism , the sensing layer at rest produces a particular output . upon flow of a gas sample over the sensing layer , gas molecules chemically react with the surface of the sensor . the electrical output changes as a result of the chemical reaction between molecules of the sensing layer and molecules of the gas or gaseous mixture . ( or electrical output changes as a result of the number of gas molecules absorbed by the sensing layer ). one factor that affects this chemical interaction and ultimately the output of the sensor , which is then used to calculate the concentration by employing mathieu &# 39 ; s equation or variation thereof , is the distance between the gas molecules and molecules of the sensing layer . according to a first implementation , the sensing layer is uniform , i . e . one flat , level surface . the density ( number of the absorbed molecules divided by area ) is constant . the length of the reacting surface area is constant . according to a second implementation of the system , a sensing layer is formed such that the flux of gas molecules react with different areas of the sensing layer and the sensing surface is not constant but rather the topology of the sensing layer changes in a preformed , repeatable manner . a simple design for the sensing layer is a square wave , or a step - up step - down function that repeats in one or two dimensions . this can be done with one material or combining several materials for the purpose of achieving and introducing this change of one level , then a higher or lower level , then return to the original level , and then repeating the sequence for the length of the sensing layer . effectively , the resistance of the sensing layer is periodically varied , which is one of the initial parameters utilized in mathieu &# 39 ; s equation . if resistance is not constant but rather is varied with respect to time in a repeatable , periodic fashion then such physical or geographic variation of the sensor surface acts to provide periodicity . conclusion . although the present invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments , it will be evident that modifications and changes can be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader spirit of the invention . accordingly , the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative sense rather than in a restrictive sense . similarly , while certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings , it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative and not restrictive of the broad invention and that this invention is not limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described therein , since various other modifications may be made according to the abilities of those ordinarily skilled in the art upon studying this disclosure . the disclosed embodiments may be readily modifiable as facilitated by enabling technological advancements without departing from the principals of the present disclosure .
| 0 |
referring now specifically to the drawings , a hypothetical system according to which the present invention can be practiced is illustrated in fig1 and broadly designated at 10 . the invention is usable in a wide variety of circumstances and environments . the environment chosen to illustrate the invention is a residential system in which incoming mail , newspapers or the like is deposited in an outside terminal 11 and delivered via a pneumatic tube 12 to an inside terminal 13 . air flow is provided to pneumatic tube 12 by a conduit 14 interconnecting pneumatic tube 11 with a blower 15 . all of these components are described in detail below . however , the system described in general above is only one of several configurations which are possible using the teachings of this application . for example , a system such as illustrated in fig1 may also be used in a commercial or industrial environment for delivery of interoffice memoranda , drawings , blueprints and even assembly parts of a size limited only by the size of the carrier . of course , the system may have a number of different terminals , all connected together in particular configurations to best suit the circumstances . the terminology &# 34 ; outside &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; inside &# 34 ; terminal is chosen only for purposes of illustration and clarity . of course , the terminals may be arranged in any desirable configuration with all terminals located &# 34 ; inside &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; outside &# 34 ; a structure and with the two types of terminals connected together in a wide variety of combinations and permutations . by way of illustration , a single outside terminal can be connected to a plurality of inside terminals in a linear or a spoke arrangement , or outside terminals on opposite ends of a system with one or more interposed inside terminals can be constructed . these examples in no way exhaust the configurations which are possible . a carrier 20 is transported back and forth between outside terminal 11 and inside terminal 13 . carrier 20 is illustrated in fig2 and comprises a cylindrical tubular body 21 constructed of a high - impact plastic material , the walls of which define an interior chamber 22 for receiving and carrying contents , such as mail , newspapers , or other objects as the particular situation requires . a closed end , enlarged annular ring 23 encloses one end of carrier 20 . an open end , enlarged annular plastic ring 24 surrounds the other end of carrier 20 and define with the adjacent end of body 21 an opening 25 through which the contents of the carrier 20 enter and exit . a thin steel ring 28 is set into the top of the axial end of ring 24 . a pair of spaced - apart sealing rings 26 , 27 provide a seal between carrier 20 and pneumatic tube 12 while at the same time providing a relatively low friction contact surface . it has been found that a dense felt material or a filled elastomer performs well . opening 25 is closed by a cover 30 and designed to be magnetically attracted to steel ring 28 by means of a series of permanent magnets 31 which are spaced at predetermined intervals around the periphery of cover 30 in axially - extending alignment with the walls of carrier body 21 and ring 28 . the number and strength of the magnets required are determined empirically based upon the size and weight of carrier 20 . in the present embodiment , six magnets 31 spaced equally around cover 30 have been found sufficient . however , a lesser number of elongate , arcuate - shaped magnets are also envisioned . in the embodiment disclosed herein , the body 21 has an outside diameter of 7 in . ( 17 . 8 cm .) and an inside diameter of 63 / 4 in . ( 17 cm .). the overall diameter of carrier 20 is 77 / 8 in . ( 20 cm .) and its length is 17 in . ( 43 cm .). this is more than sufficient for almost any sized mail as well as a standard newspaper . carrier 20 weighs 8 lb . ( 3 . 6 kg .) and the cover weighs 1 / 2 lb . ( 0 . 28 kg .). magnets 31 are each 1 / 2 in . ( 1 . 3 cm .) in length and 5 / 8 in . ( 1 . 6 cm .) in diameter . as noted above , six of these magnets 31 are sufficient to hold the cover 30 in place while carrier 20 is in transit and yet permit removal when required . cover 30 is very slightly less in diameter than rings 26 , 27 and has a chamfered leading edge to provide space for slight side - to - side movement within pneumatic tube 12 . referring now to fig3 - 6 , the transit of carrier 20 between terminals 11 and 13 is described . pneumatic tube 12 is designed with an inside diameter only just large enough to permit passage of carrier 20 with a minimum of friction and yet with a seal sufficiently close to permit differential air pressure to act on carrier 20 . for the dimensions of the carrier 20 described above , an inside diameter of 8 in . ( 20 . 3 cm .) is proper . curves are radiused as required to permit carrier 20 to pass through the curve without contact between the wall of tube 12 and the leading and trailing ends of carrier 20 . in fig3 - 6 pneumatic tube 12 connects outside terminal 11 with inside terminal 13 . valves 33 , 34 permit pneumatic tube 12 to be closed against air flow through its opposing ends adjacent outside and inside terminals 11 , 13 , respectively . a sensor 36 is positioned in tube 12 intermediate terminals 11 and 13 . if , as is shown in fig1 blower 15 is positioned adjacent the dwelling and is thus nearer inside terminal 13 , sensor 36 is likewise positioned closer to terminal 13 than terminal 11 in order to reduce the length of conduct 14 . conduit 14 divides into two conduit segments 14a , 14b and interconnect with tube 12 at spaced - apart junctions on opposite sides of sensor 36 . a two - way valve 37 at the junction of conduit 14 and conduit segments 14a , 14b permits air to flow into and out of tube 12 through either conduit segment 14a or 14b . blower 15 has a positive pressure port 39 and a negative pressure port 40 connected to conduit 14 by two - way valves 41 , 42 , respectively . valves 41 , 42 switch between airflow communication between conduit 14 and atmosphere as is shown . in fig3 the carrier 20 is being transported from outside terminal 11 to inside terminal 13 . as will be described below , carrier 20 is dropped into tubes 12 from within outside terminal 11 . gravity and differential air pressure therefore provide initial impetus . valve 33 is open allowing atmospheric pressure to fill in behind carrier 20 and valve 34 is closed so that an enclosure is defined in tube 12 in advance of carrier 20 . valves 37 , 41 and 42 are arranged so that blower 15 functions to discharge air under pressure to atmosphere through valve 41 . air is evacuated from tube 12 through conduit segment 14a downstream of sensor 36 . negative pressure thus created causes air entering through valve 33 to push carrier 20 towards terminal 13 . sensor 36 controls the operation of valves 37 , 41 and 42 and initiates the change as carrier 20 passes sensor 36 . referring to fig4 valve 37 closes conduit segment 14a and opens conduit segment 14b . valve 41 interrupts air flow from positive pressure port 39 to atmosphere and redirects pressurized air into conduit 14 . valve 42 interrupts air flow from conduit 14 into negative pressure port 40 provides atmospheric pressure to negative pressure port 40 . valve 33 closes , creating a closed chamber behind carrier 20 while valve 34 opens to permit air in front of carrier 20 to exit to atmosphere . therefore , high pressure air delivered from blower 15 to tube 12 behind carrier 20 propels carrier 20 towards and into inside terminal 13 . in effect , carrier 20 is pulled the first half of the distance to the other end of tube 12 and pushed the remaining distance . in fig5 and 6 the carrier is being transported from the inside terminal 13 to the outside terminal 11 . the operation is exactly reversed from that described above . valve 34 is open and valve 33 is closed . air is pulled from tube 12 is advance of carrier 20 which has been dropped into tube 12 from terminal 13 . air exits tube 12 through conduit segment 14b and passes into negative pressure port 40 of blower 15 , then out positive pressure port 39 to atmosphere . when sensor 36 detects passage of carrier 20 , valve 33 opens and valve 34 closes . valve 37 closes segment 14b and opens segment 14a . pressurized air is diverted from atmosphere to conduit 14 by a valve 41 and air at atmospheric pressure enters negative pressure port 40 through valve 42 . carrier 20 is thereby propelled the remaining distance to outside terminal 11 . the arrangement described above is particularly efficient and economical . because of the unique &# 34 ; pull - push &# 34 ; arrangement , all of the air handling can be done away from the terminals 11 and 13 . this reduces noise substantially and eliminates a considerable amount of piping . in addition , the accelerating effect of gravity as the carrier drops into tube 12 on one end and the decelerating effect of gravity on the other end are effectively utilized . manipulation of the carrier 20 at the inside terminal 13 is necessary because of the position of the cover 30 on one end of carrier 20 and because the magnetic securement of the cover 30 to carrier 20 requires that the carrier 20 always travel through pneumatic tube 12 with the cover 30 on the leading end . for purposes of explanation the assumption is made that some object has been placed in the carrier 20 at the outside terminal 11 . the carrier 20 is dispatched to the inside terminal 13 where cover 30 must first be removed . then , the contents of carrier must be removed and the lid replaced . finally , carrier 20 must be reoriented to that it can travel in the opposite direction back to outside terminal 11 with cover 30 on the leading end . as is shown schematically in fig7 through 18 , carrier 20 is received from pneumatic tube 12 into a tube segment 50 contained within inside terminal 13 . ( see fig1 through 25 and below for a discussion of the detailed operation of the inside terminal 13 ). carrier 20 is held in a position within tube segment 50 where cover 30 projects upwardly above the upper edge of tube segment 50 ( fig7 ). tube segment 50 is then translated laterally out of axial alignment with tube 12 , the cover 30 being &# 34 ; sheared &# 34 ; off and held in a stationary position ( fig8 ). once clear of tube 12 , tube segment 50 is pivoted about a central axis ( fig9 ). carrier 20 with its cover 30 now removed moves with tube segment 50 and its contents fall out under the influence of gravity ( fig1 ). after the contents have been emptied , tube segment 50 pivots back into an upright position ( fig1 ) and then translates back into axial alignment with tube 12 . in so doing , carrier 20 is brought back into axial alignment with cover 30 and the magnetic attraction between the two parts causes cover 30 to be reseated on carrier 20 ( fig1 ). this completes the first phase of the carrier manipulation . if desired , the above sequence can be stopped at fig1 , that is , with the carrier 20 in an upright position but still laterally spaced from tube 12 and with no cover 30 . in this position objects can be placed in carrier 20 while in the inside terminal 13 before being returned to the outside terminal . in either case , the movement shown in fig1 completes the first phase of the carrier manipulation . however , before carrier 20 can be returned to outside terminal 11 , carrier 20 must be reoriented with cover 30 in the lower position . referring now to fig1 , carrier 20 is lowered just enough to bring cover 30 into tube segment 50 and then held in this position . tube segment 50 is then translated laterally out of axial alignment with tube 12 ( fig1 ) and rotated on its own axis 180 degrees to reorient carrier 20 with its cover in the downwardly facing position ( fig1 and 16 ). then , tube segment 50 translates laterally back into axial alignment with tube 12 ( fig1 ) and , when desired , carrier 20 is transported by pneumatic tube 12 back to the outside terminal ( fig1 ). outside terminal 11 operates in essentially the same manner as inside terminal 13 insofar as reorientation of the carrier 20 is concerned . since outside terminal 11 merely opens to receive mail , etc . but does not empty contents , the sequence illustrated in fig7 through 12 are not performed . as mentioned above , however , terminals 11 and 13 may be joined in any desired combination and the terminology &# 34 ; inside &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; outside &# 34 ; are used only for illustrative purposes . referring now to fig1 , a overall view of the inside terminal 13 is shown . the simultaneous translation and pivoting movement described above is achieved by mounting tube segment 50 in a frame 51 mounted between two sets of vertically spaced , longitudinally extending tracks 53 by means of nylon rollers 54 and 55 . frame 51 is moved along tracks 53 by a drive chain 56 mounted on two sets of spaced apart sprockets 58 , 59 and 60 , 61 . sprockets 58 and 60 are connected by a shaft 62 and sprockets 59 and 61 are mounted on independent arbors . an driven chain 65 connects sprockets 60 and 61 for unison rotation . one end of drive chain 56 is attached to a spring 67 . the other end of chain 56 is connected to an air cylinder 68 having a relatively long throw piston rod 69 . frame 51 is attached to drive chain 56 by means of a clamp 70 . activation of cylinder 68 causes piston rod 69 to retract , pulling chain 56 and causing frame 51 and tube segment 50 secured thereto to be pulled along tracks 53 . to return tube segment 50 to the position in axial alignment with tube 12 , cylinder 68 is deactivated and spring 67 pulls frame 51 back to aligned position . tube segment 50 is pivoted by a chain 75 mounted on one side of frame 51 formed of spaced - apart plates . one end of chain 75 is connected to the piston rod 76 of an air cylinder 77 mounted on frame 51 and the other end of chain 75 to a spring 78 , also mounted on frame 51 . chain 75 passes around a pair of spaced - apart sprockets 80 , 81 mounted on frame 51 and a sprocket 82 mounted at the pivot axis of tube segment 50 . activation of cylinder 77 causes piston rod 76 to retract and tube segment 50 to pivot clockwise as viewed in fig1 . any contents in carrier 20 fall into the bottom of inside terminal 13 , which functions as a storage area . preferably , this area is sufficiently large to allow accumulation of a large quantity of mail and newspapers over a period of several weeks of unattended use . deactivation of cylinder 77 permits spring 78 to pull chain 75 in the opposite direction causing tube segment 50 to pivot counterclockwise . referring now to fig2 through 25 , removal and replacement of cover 30 is described in further detail . when carrier 20 enters inside terminal 13 , it is held in place by a spring - loaded entry latch 90 , as is best shown in fig2 and 23 . as carrier 20 passes the upwardly articulated arm of latch 90 , latch 90 is pushed out of the way and snaps back into position under the reduced diameter lower lip of ring 24 , holding carrier 20 in the position shown in fig2 . note in fig2 that cover 30 is positioned above the upper edge of tube segment 50 in a stationary cap 91 . a pair of pivotally mounted latch fingers 92 , 93 are shown in fig2 and 22 in a normally open position to permit cover 30 to move past into cap 91 . these latch fingers 92 , 93 are then pivoted inwardly under cover 30 and engage the underside of the lower lip of cover 30 , as is shown in fig2 . another pair of latches 98 , 99 are spring - loaded to move into a holding position across the top of the carrier 20 and below the now - removed cover 30 . then , tube segment 50 is translated laterally out of alignment with tube 12 . cover is pushed off of the top of carrier 20 by this lateral movement and is held suspended in cap 91 by latch fingers 92 , 93 . ( see also fig7 and 8 ). as tube segment 50 and carrier 20 therein are inverted to empty the contents , latches 98 , 99 prevent carrier 20 from falling out of tube segment . when carrier is moved back into axial alignment with tube 12 , latch fingers 92 , 93 and latches 98 , 99 retract and cover 30 is reseated on carrier 20 by magnetic attraction . retraction of latches 98 , 99 occurs as tube segment moves back into alignment with cap 91 , the latches 98 , 99 being curved sufficiently in the axial direction to be engaged by tube segment 50 itself . ( see also fig1 ). now carrier 20 is ready to be reoriented with cover 30 in the downwardly facing direction . latch 90 is retracted by the upward push of a small air cylinder 95 ( compare fig2 and 25 ). carrier 20 drops a short distance and is caught by a return latch 97 , which also catches under the lip of ring 24 in the manner described above . note that the cover 30 is now below the level of cap 91 and within tube segment 50 . latch fingers 92 , 93 now move inwardly again , this time over the top of cover 30 . therefore , when carrier 20 is inverted ( see fig1 and 17 ) it is held in position by latch fingers 92 , 93 until carrier 20 is sent back to outside terminal 11 , at which time latch fingers 92 , 93 are retracted and carrier falls under its own weight down pneumatic tube 12 . referring now to fig2 , the outside terminal 11 is shown in further detail . pneumatic tube 12 terminates at a slight tilt and delivers carrier 20 into a tube segment 100 normally positioned in axial alignment with tube 12 . carrier 20 is held in position in tube segment 100 by latches which move into position in exactly the same manner as do latches 90 and 91 in the inside terminal ( see fig2 and 25 ). cover 30 is positioned within a cap 103 which is then pivoted away from axial alignment with tube segment 100 by an air cylinder 104 in the manner shown in fig2 . air cylinder 102 rotates plate valve 33 to open and close tube 12 . the cover 30 is held within cap 103 by means of a plate 106 over which the cap 103 moves . this exposes the open end of carrier 20 . when desired , mail , newspapers , etc . can be placed into carrier 20 through access door 107 positioned on the front surface of outside terminal 11 . before delivery of carrier 20 back to inside terminal 13 , cover 30 is placed on top of carrier 20 by swinging cap 103 back into axial alignment with tube segment 100 . as with inside terminal 13 , carrier 20 must be reoriented so that the end of carrier 20 having cover 30 leads . this is accomplished by pivotally mounting tube segment 100 midway between its opposing ends and mounting a sprocket 108 to the pivot . a chain 109 engages dsprocket 108 and is connected on one end to a piston rod 110 of an air cylinder 111 . the other end of chain 109 is attached to a spring 112 . activation of air cylinder 111 rotates tube segment 100 clockwise 180 degrees so that cover end of carrier 20 is directed downwardly into tube 12 . at the appropriate time , carrier 20 is dropped into tube 12 and is transported through tube 12 to inside terminal 13 , as described above . outside terminal 11 is provided with a large compartment 114 for storage of items too large to fit into carrier 20 . this may be used by the occupant to leave oversized items for pick - up , or by a mail carrier or delivery person to leave oversized items for later collection by the occupant . the pneumatic and electrical controls , including relays , microswitches , sensors and logic boards are in and of themselves conventional and do not require detailed explanation to one of ordinary skill in the art . the operational logic is described above and , as noted , is subject to variation within the scope of the invention . design of necessary control components is a function of the particular combination of terminal types , numbers and configurations chosen for a given application , in addition to the particular way in which the carrier 20 will be transported between terminals , i . e ., the incorporation of delay features and the like into the apparatus and method described above . a method and apparatus for automatic transfer of a carrier between terminals is described above . various details of the invention may be changed without departing from its scope . furthermore , the foregoing description of the preferred embodiment according to the present invention is provided for the purpose of illustration only and not for the purpose of limitation -- the invention being defined by the claims .
| 1 |
embodiments of the present invention teach methods for developing sets of individually identifiable saw sensor tag devices that operate well together , incorporating diversity techniques and codes that have good autocorrelation properties and low cross correlation properties over a desired time range , substantially reducing code collision interference problems . a first embodiment of the present invention utilizes direct sequence spread spectrum ( dsss ) coding combined with both time diversity and frequency diversity to construct sets of individually identifiable sensors or sensor - tags . dsss coding is alternatively called bpsk ( binary phase shift keying ) or binary sequence coding . in this technique , a code consists of n bits , each taking on the value of either + 1 or − 1 . the time length of the bit determines the bandwidth ( bw ) of the code in the frequency domain ( the shorter a bit is in time , the wider the bw and vice versa ). the saw implementation of a dsss code utilizes at least two saw transducers , generally one to generate the dsss code and another that receives the saw launched by the dsss transducer . [ alternate implementations can utilize one transducer and one or more reflectors .] of course , being reciprocal devices , the designation of one transducer as an “ input ” transducer and the second as an “ output ” transducer is arbitrary , as they are interchangeable . in the simplest form , a dsss coded saw device consists of an input transducer containing the dsss code , and an output transducer that bandlimits the frequency response of the dsss code . the dsss transducer consists of interdigitated electrodes connected to one of two bus bars . the specific electrode configuration can be any of a wide range of known configurations , including non - split electrodes , split electrodes , three electrodes per wavelength , spudt , and other configurations . one embodiment of the transducer utilizes split electrodes , wherein two electrodes are connected to bus bar # 1 , and the next two electrodes are connected to bus bar # 2 , a pattern that repeats for the entire length of one bit . at the end of a bit , the pattern either repeats for another bit , or switches polarity , so that the electrodes that were connected to bus bar # 1 are now connected to bus bar # 2 , and vice versa . continuity of the pattern from bit to bit indicates that the code has sequential bits of the same polarity , while switching connections as described indicates that the bit sequence has undergone a polarity transition , from + 1 to − 1 , or from − 1 to + 1 . similar polarity changes can be effected in alternate electrode patterns in a similar fashion . as mentioned previously , the length in time of each bit of the dsss code determines the null - to - null bandwidth of the code spectrum in the frequency domain . the output transducer in the saw device may band - limit the frequency response ; if the output transducer bw is narrower than the code bw this band - limiting will in effect change the coding of the device and alter its performance in a system . one example is the 13 - bit barker code . there is only one known barker code with 13 bits , and it has desirable autocorrelation properties — namely the autocorrelation peak has an amplitude of 13 , and the time sidelobes have a magnitude that alternates between 0 and 1 , as shown in fig1 . since the sidelobes result from the time - shifted multiplication and integration of the sequence with itself , the behavior exhibited is the best possible behavior attainable with a biphase modulated signal . implementation of a barker code in a saw device , however , is influenced by the characteristics of how the device is built . consider a simple saw device with a 13 - bit barker coded input transducer and an uncoded output transducer that functions as a bandpass filter to band - limit the frequency response of the barker code . the barker coded transducer will be implemented using bits that are a specific number of acoustic wavelengths long ( at the operating center frequency of the device ). the longer these bits are in time , the narrower the frequency response of the barker code is , and thus the less it will be band - limited by an output transducer of a set bandwidth . ( bit length also impacts overall sensor response length , which influences implementation of time diversity — more short responses can fit into a given overall time length ). for a set bit length in time , the narrower the output transducer in frequency , the more the barker code spectrum is band - limited , which effectively modifies the code and its correlation properties . for example , fig2 shows two plots of the idealized autocorrelation response of a saw device with an input 13 - bit barker coded transducer with bits that are 9λ long , and an uncoded output transducer . in fig2 ( a ) , the output transducer has a wide bandwidth of 55 . 5 mhz , so the spectrum of the barker code is not band - limited much and the correlation response is nearly ideal ( compare to fig1 ). in fig2 ( b ) , the output transducer is only 15 mhz wide , and as a result of the band - limiting of the barker code spectrum , the autocorrelation response is severely degraded . thus , device design requires careful tradeoffs between dsss code bit length , output transducer bandwidth , overall sensor response time length , and time diversity and frequency diversity requirements of the system . the inventors utilized a 13 - bit barker code , with both time diversity and frequency diversity , to implement a set of 100 individually identifiable sensors and sensor - tags . note that in this case we do not use the term “ individually coded ” because the code in each device is the same . instead , we utilize the good properties of the autocorrelation function of the barker code to enable time diversity , and use frequency diversity to augment the set size further . fig3 shows the correlation response of this set of sensors . the autocorrelation response 10 of one selected sensor is shown , along with the cross correlation 12 of this sensor with the other 99 devices in the set . in order to determine appropriate sensor design guidelines , it is necessary to consider the system architecture of the wireless reader system that will be used to interrogate the devices . while embodiments of the present invention , using both time and frequency diversity in connection with dsss codes with specific properties ( including barker codes and others discussed below ), can be used with a range of reader types , one embodiment for the reader is a correlation - based spread spectrum differential delay measurement system . in this system , a repetitive broadband noise - like signal ( for example a pseudo - noise ( pn ) code ) is transmitted to activate all of the sensors in the field of view of the reader , and the combined signal reflected from the sensor ( s ) is received by the transceiver . toggling of the transmit and receive signals , so that the transmit signal is off when the receiver antenna is on , and vice - versa , is desirable to avoid large crosstalk signals that would occur with continuous transmit and receive operation . in addition to being sent to the sensor ( s ), the transmitted signal is passed through a set of at least two reference filters , designed as matched filters for the sensor responses . thus , if the sensor has two acoustic paths at different frequencies , there will be two filters with different frequencies in the reference path to correlate with the responses from the respective sensor acoustic path . if the sensor devices contain codes , the reference filters will likewise contain the same codes . an arbitrary number of acoustic tracks can be implemented on the sensor ( or sensors ), and a matching set of reference path filters will be needed to read and interpret the responses of this set of sensors . the reference filters can be implemented in hardware or as a software radio , and can be used to interpret the combined response of a set of wireless sensors , to read and obtain identification and measurement data from each sensor . a software implementation of the reference filter ( s ) is particularly advantageous when time diversity techniques are being used ( along with code and other diversity techniques ), as the received composite response signal from the set of sensors can be digitized , and then digitally “ windowed ” in time to compare the responses occurring in selected time slots ( references to the time at which the interrogation signal was transmitted ) with digital representations of each reference matched filter . digitization of the received sensor signal can be performed at rf , or at a lower sampling rate using baseband or near - baseband sampling techniques . amplitude levels , and ratios of these levels , from different acoustic tracks and sensors can be useful in making specific measurements , as can other sensor device performance parameters such as correlation peak delays , differences between such peaks , along with other system parameters . this system performs an averaging process over multiple pn code interrogation sequences , increasing signal to noise ratio and pulling low spread spectrum sensor signals out of the system noise . when implemented as a software radio , the received combined signal is sampled ( either at rf or using subsampling ), accumulated , and then correlated with the reference response appropriate for each sensor . data post - processing enables extraction of the identification , response , and distance from the reader of each sensor . this reader system utilizes the correlation properties of the codes to identify sensor devices with specific codes , and the time and frequency diversity as well to identify and read specific sensors . as with any other wireless saw sensor system , if the cross correlations of the desired sensor response with all other sensor responses are zero , there would be no ambiguity in sensor identification and no effect of code interactions on sensor accuracy and calibration . in reality , though , it is not possible to construct codes that have no interaction with each other , provided the codes operate in the same time and frequency ranges . what is necessary for good system performance is to have codes with good autocorrelation performance ( low sidelobes relative to the peak in the autocorrelation response ); and that the cross correlations of each sensor code with other codes is zero at the peak of the autocorrelation function ( or the center of the cross correlation responses ); and preferably that the cross correlations of each sensor code with other codes is zero or very small over the entire main peak of the autocorrelation function , and a small region outside the main peak to allow for variation in time of the different sensor responses in an asynchronous system and changes in response times due to variations in sensed parameters . random placement of sensors will introduce random time offsets between the responses due to the rf propagation delay of the signals , and changes in sensor temperature and other sensed parameters can also change the rf signal delay . one family of conventional binary dsss codes with good cross correlation properties commonly use is the well known “ gold ” code family . fig4 shows the cross correlations of three 31 - bit gold codes selected for good cross correlation performance . note that at the peak 14 of the autocorrelation of code 31 . 1 , the cross correlation 16 with code 31 . 2 has a value of − 5 while the cross correlation 18 with code 31 . 3 is 3 . this level of cross correlation is large enough that a correlation - based receiver will exhibit errors of up to 35 % or more in the amplitude of each sensor response due to contributions from the other two sensors . this occurs with only three sensors present , and is clearly an unacceptably large level of error . while data post - processing can correct for some inter - sensor interference , it is not possible to correct for this high level , and thus sensors utilizing these gold codes are not well suited for use in an asynchronous passive multisensor system . code selection for zero cross correlation at the center of the cross correlation response : forcing the cross correlations of two or more codes to be zero at the center of the cross correlation response can be accomplished in biphase modulated ( bpsk ) codes by proper code selection . computer aided code generation and evaluation algorithms can evaluate all possible binary codes of a given length , first evaluating the codes individually to select those with good autocorrelation properties , and subsequently considering the cross correlation performance of all possible pairs of codes ( made up of codes with good autocorrelation performance ) to generate pairs of codes that cross correlation to zero at the center of the response . pairs of codes that have cross correlation responses that remain low in the region near the center can also be selected , with the lowest possible response levels being 0 alternating with ± 1 . with traditional dsss codes , the signal is a series of bits with values of + 1 and − 1 . with two dsss codes of length n bits , the cross correlation function has length ( 2n − 1 ) bits . the cross correlation calculation multiplies the response levels of the two codes at each bit and sums these multiplied values ( which can also be only + 1 or − 1 ). when two different codes of the same length ( n ) are exactly aligned , the sum of the products of the two codes produces the value of the cross correlation at the autocorrelation peak . this can only be zero if n is even , since this allows for an equal number of + 1 and − 1 values to cancel . for odd n , the minimum cross correlation value at this central point is 1 . since the autocorrelation peak has size n , the best cross to auto correlation ratio is 1 / n for odd n and 0 for even n . clearly 0 provides a lower level of interaction . “ good ” codes can be selected for which each sequential bit away from the center causes the cross correlation to increase or decrease by 1 . this produces a branching type structure , where the best response has 0 at the center , 1 or − 1 one bit away , then 0 , then 1 or − 1 , etc . thus , ordinary dsss codes have a fundamental limit for the cross correlation function amplitude proportional to 1 / n . if codes can be designed to alternate between + 1 , 0 , and − 1 , the integrated interaction across the main autocorrelation peak will be zero , reducing the code cross correlation interference . fig5 shows the correlation responses for three 28 - bit binary dsss codes selected for zero cross correlation at the center 20 and cross correlations 22 that stay at or below a magnitude of 1 over two bit intervals on either side of the center . the autocorrelation response peak is 24 . proper code selection can also produce bpsk codes that produce cross correlations that integrate over a specified timeframe to a value of zero , which can also improve codeset performance . measurement of this set of three codes in a correlation - based receiver with asynchronous sensor operation results in errors in individual sensor reading of up to 7 . 5 %, a substantial improvement over prior gold codes , but still not ideal . forcing the cross correlations to be zero at each time sample over an extended range cannot be accomplished in a bpsk code . embodiments of the present invention address this problem by introducing weighting to the bpsk signal to produce a time domain amplitude modulated bpsk code that can force the code cross correlation functions to be zero across the desired time interval . standard dsss coded use weights of + 1 or − 1 for each bit as described above . amplitude weighting these bits , i . e . allowing bit values between these limits ( in an analog fashion , or in fixed increments of 0 . 1 or another selected value ) provides the flexibility needed to construct codes that produce zero cross correlation over the main autocorrelation peak time range , and a prescribed time range outside of this range . these codes will have zero or near zero interactions , allowing use in wireless sensor systems without significant interference . thus , amplitude weighting of the dsss code to force cross correlations to be zero over a range of times covering the main autocorrelation response of each sensor , and a small range around that region to allow for variations in response with temperature and with changes in the sensed parameter ( s ), provides significant advantages over prior art . fig6 ( a ) shows a 3 - dimensional view of the center 9 bits of the cross correlation responses of a set of 4700 , 13 - bit amplitude weighted spread spectrum codes . fig6 ( b ) shows a 2 - d view of a subset of the data in fig6 ( a ) . note that all cross correlations remain below a value of 0 . 2 * 13 = 2 . 6 over a 9 bit range ; selected pairs are significantly lower . fig7 shows the auto and cross correlations of the saw implementation of two weighted spread spectrum codes designed to have zero cross correlations over an extended range around the response center . measurement of sensors incorporating these codes using a correlation based receiver exhibits reduced errors that are roughly an order of magnitude lower than for binary dsss codes with zero cross correlation at the center of the response . in addition to the coding techniques and other diversity techniques described above , embodiments of the invention also incorporate the use of chirp saw elements with different chirp slopes as an added dimension of diversity . while chirp slope has previously been used to identify individual sensors , it has not previously been combined with the other diversity techniques as in embodiments of the present invention . a group of 32 individually identifiable sensors was developed using a combination of time diversity , frequency diversity , and two distinct ( and opposite ) chirp slopes . another embodiment of the present invention involves construction of a set of preferred codes using a process whereby codes , a “ primary ” code and a set of “ secondary ” codes , are used to construct a set of codes with improved cross correlation performance . the primary code is selected to have desirable autocorrelation properties . a set of secondary codes is selected that has desirable cross correlation properties , generally including having zero cross correlation at the center of the response , and preferably over a small time range about the center point . to construct each “ fractal ” code , the primary code is concatenated with itself a number of times equal to the number of bits in the secondary code , with each repetition of the primary code amplitude weighted based on the amplitude of the corresponding secondary code bit . fig8 shows the cross correlation responses of a set of four 5 - bit amplitude weighted spread spectrum codes with zero cross correlation at the center , which will be utilized as the secondary codes for fractal code formation . each plot shows the autocorrelation of one code , and the cross correlation of that code with the other three codes in the set . note that while the cross correlation responses are zero at the center point , the cross correlation performance away from the center is not particularly outstanding . the 5 - bit barker code [ 1 1 1 − 1 1 ] exhibits a mathematical autocorrelation of [ 1 0 1 0 5 0 1 0 1 ], which is good autocorrelation performance . since the secondary code used governs the amplitude of the repeated primary code , it is important to use a set of secondary codes with good cross correlation properties , with a primary with good autocorrelation . by way of example , if the set of four code with cross correlation performance shown in fig8 were used to fractal into a 5 - bit barker code , the cross correlations of the resulting set of four codes would be that shown in fig9 . note that for the resulting set of codes , the cross correlations of code 1 with codes 2 , 3 , and 4 have peaks nearly as large as the autocorrelation peak for code 1 and located very close in time to said autocorrelation peak . thus , this set of sensors would exhibit very poor performance when used together in a multisensor system . however , if the four codes from fig8 are instead used as secondary codes , with the 5 - bit barker used as a primary code , the resulting codes have cross correlation performance shown in fig1 . note that the largest cross correlation peaks have now been shifted out in time , 5 bit lengths away from the autocorrelation peak . this set of codes would have significantly improved performance over those of fig9 . this process of constructing codes in a “ fractal ” manner can be repeated more than once , and can be performed using binary or amplitude weighted spread spectrum codes , or a combination of the two . fig1 shows the auto and cross correlation performance of a set of four codes formed by using a 5 - bit barker code as a primary code and an amplitude weighted set of four 5 - bit codes that has been refined to produce zero cross correlation over a small region near the center of the response . note that the cross correlation of this set of four 5 - bit fractal codes is now identically zero over a broad , 9 - bit wide region across the center of the response . this set of codes exhibits superior code collision avoidance , even when used in sensors subject to widely varying environmental conditions and placed at random rf delays ( within a broad range ). this is one key improvement of embodiments of the present invention over prior art . the process of fractal code construction can be repeated to produce longer codes that also exhibit outstanding performance . another embodiment of the present fractal code invention is provided in fig1 , which shows the autocorrelation of one 125 - bit code and the cross correlation between that code and three others , when all four codes were produced by fractal repeating ( in a weighted fashion ) a 5 - bit barker code ( primary ) into the four 25 - bit codes corresponding to the correlation performance shown in fig1 . this set of codes has zero cross correlation over a 50 - bit wide range around the center ! this outstanding performance can also be achieved for short codes , one example of which is provided in fig1 . this shows the cross correlation of two 20 - bit codes , produced by fractal code composition , that have zero cross correlation over the center 17 bits of the 39 - bit long cross correlation response ! such exceptional performance can produce sets of codes that operate well in asynchronous cdma systems , and require only minimal data post - processing to accurately extract sensor identification , measurement ( s ), and distance from the wireless reader for a set of sensors at random locations and subject to random environmental conditions or measurands ( temperature , etc .). the inventors have used the advanced coding techniques taught herein , in combination with time and frequency diversity , to implement a set of 32 individually identifiable temperature sensors , and larger sets are possible . codes can be constructed that are symmetric in time , allowing convenient implementation in saw reflector structures . the application of the code construction techniques taught herein has focused on producing coded saw devices with desirable performance . however , the utility of these codes would extend to any multi - user communication system that would benefit from improved code independence and reduction in code collision . cdma wireless communication systems , digital and analog and mixed signal , radar , and other applications could potentially benefit from application of the techniques of embodiments of the present invention . the focus on saw implementations of these codes is not intended to be restrictive , as other applications would benefit from these techniques as well . practical implementation of dsss codes in saw devices places constraints on device design . for a given piezoelectric substrate , the number of electrodes that can be used in a standard , in - line transducer is limited by practical considerations . for example , for yz lithium niobate , transducers that exceed 150 wavelengths long can suffer from multiple reflections — where the acoustic wave launched at the beginning of the transducer is reflected from electrodes further on in the transducer , introducing interfering signals . this condition is commonly referred to as “ overcoupling ”. to avoid overcoupling , designers maintain transducer lengths under certain guidelines . for dsss codes , this sets a limit on the number of bits and bit length combination that can be implemented in a single acoustic track . for instance , again on yz lithium niobate , a 16 - bit code can only have about 9 / bit , while a 28 - bit code can only have about 5λ / bit to remain within design guidelines . however , these constraints have implications on the bandwidths that can be quite restrictive , since the shorter the code bits the wider the code spectrum . use of longer bits to produce narrower code spectra is beneficial for system reasons ( antenna efficiency and increased frequency diversity ), but is normally precluded by the excessive length of in - line transducers as bit length increases . for example , a code with 5λ / bit at 250 mhz would have a bw of 100 mhz . embodiments of the present invention improve over prior art by utilizing slanted , tapered , or stepped tapered transducer structures to implement dsss codes with long bits by distributing the bits laterally across multiple parallel acoustic tracks on the sensor device . for example , a 28 - bit dsss code with 5λ / bit at 250 mhz would be 140λ long with a bw of 100 mhz . increasing bit length to 20λ / bit would reduce the bw to 25 mhz , but would increase transducer length to 560λ — far too long to implement in - line . breaking the coded into four channels , each with 7 bits , produces acoustic tracks with 140λ long transducers , but maintains the reduced bw of 25 mhz . a sample of some of these device embodiments is shown in the attached sketches . this set is illustrative in nature , and is by no means exhaustive . fig1 shows one embodiment of the present invention . device 200 comprises a piezoelectric substrate ( also called a die ) on which are formed at least two saw elements , at least one of which is a transducer . in fig1 , the left saw element 202 is a transducer , which serves to receive an exciting signal from an input / output antenna that is not shown . alternatively , these devices can operated in a wired configuration without an antenna . transducer 202 converts the input electrical signal into a surface acoustic wave signal , that propagates outward to the right ( at a minimum ) in three acoustic tracks 206 , 208 , and 210 along the surface of the die . the acoustic wave is received by the corresponding sub - transducers of saw transducer 204 . this generates an output response , which can be reflected back to the transceiver wirelessly through an antenna , or in wired form . the two transducers 202 and 204 can be fed in parallel through a single antenna or wired connection . transducer 202 is constructed to keep the number of electrodes in each individual acoustic channel under the maximum limit appropriate for the piezoelectric substrate of interest to avoid overcoupling . each track of transducer 202 contains multiple spread spectrum code bits 212 , each of which is shown with a “+” or “−” in fig1 . the bits shown in this example are equal amplitude , as shown by the uniform overlap of electrodes for all bits . amplitude weighted codes , by comparison , could be implemented using unequal electrode overlap lengths ( apodization ), or using other weighting methods such as withdrawal weighting or electrode width weighting , among others . fig1 illustrates that embodiments similar to that in fig1 can be extended to include as many acoustic tracks as needed to implement longer codes , to avoid overcoupling . device 300 in this example includes a number (& gt ; 3 ) of acoustic tracks 306 , 308 , . . . , 310 , each containing a portion of the spread spectrum code bits 312 in transducer 302 , and a receiving transducer segment in output transducer 304 . as mentioned previously , this device can be interrogated wirelessly using one or two antennas , or can be measured in a wired format . fig1 shows an embodiment where device 400 includes slanted transducer 402 , conventional transducer 404 ( which is shown as a wide aperture transducer in this example ), and four acoustic tracks 406 , 408 , 410 , and 412 . in this example , only one bit of the spread spectrum code is shown in each track of transducer 402 , although more can be included . two surface treatments 414 and 416 are shown , which can be chemically sensitive films ( for use in chemical sensors ), biological moieties ( for biosensors ), or other treatments that will implement the desired sensor function in those tracks . fig1 illustrates schematically an amplitude weighted spread spectrum coded device 500 that includes a traditional uncoded transducer 502 and an amplitude weighted spread spectrum coded transducer 504 . the coded transducer 504 includes a number “ k ” of code bits , each of which is amplitude weighted by a weighting factor , indicated by w 1 through w k in fig1 . this figure illustrates a coded transducer embodiment that utilizes a single acoustic track , but extension of this concept to produce amplitude weighted coded transducers spanning multiple acoustic tracks is also within the scope of the present invention . fig1 illustrates schematically a set 600 of n spread spectrum coded devices 602 , 604 , through 606 utilizing time diversity . as can be seen from the coded transducers 608 in fig1 , the operating frequency and spread spectrum codes utilized in each device in the set are the same . output transducers 610 are illustrated as being the same saw elements in each device ( 602 through 606 ), with the output transducer on each device being located within one of a set of specified time slots τ 1 through τ n , indicated by 612 , 614 through 616 in fig1 . a system reading this set of sensors can identify which device is responding by determining which time slot the detected correlation peak occurs within . this schematic illustration , as is the case for all of the illustrations of diversity techniques herein , shows just one acoustic track , and as above can be extended to multiple acoustic paths . also , for all of the illustrative embodiments shown , practical sensors utilizing this technique would generally have more than one response combined to make a measurement ( at least one reference response and at least one sensing response ). thus a practical device would normally include at least two sets of the saw elements illustrated in fig1 ( or the other illustrations shown ), or some combination thereof . fig1 illustrates schematically a set 700 of spread spectrum coded devices 702 , 704 through 706 , utilizing frequency diversity . as can be seen from the coded transducers 708 in fig1 , the spread spectrum codes utilized in each device in the set are the same ( there is no code diversity ). as in other illustrative examples , the specific code shown is for convenience of schematic representation only , and has no significance . as and additional diversity technique , the operating frequency of each of the transducers varies for each device , indicated in fig1 by the variation in electrode spacing for the transducers in device 702 as compared to device 704 or device 706 , or others in the set . output transducers 710 are illustrated as being the same saw elements in each device ( 702 through 706 ), adjusted to operate at the frequency of the input transducer , with the output transducer on each device being located within the same specified time slots ( selected from the set of possible time slots τ 1 through τ n ), with the selected delay indicated by τ in fig1 . fig2 illustrates schematically a set 800 of spread spectrum coded devices 802 , 804 through 806 , utilizing both time and frequency diversity . on each device , the possible time slots for the output transducer positioning are shown with dashed rectangles , each of which is labeled with the acoustic delay corresponding to the center of that time slot ( τ1 through τ n ). time diversity if implemented by placing the output transducer in one of the time slots for each device , so that for a given operating frequency there can be n devices with different time delays operable . the first time slot is indicated by 814 , while the last time slot is 816 . frequency diversity is implemented by including devices operating at m different frequencies ( f 1 through f m ) within the same set . in fig2 , device 802 has coded transducer 808 operating at frequency f 1 , with a matched frequency output transducer . similarly , device 804 has coded transducer 810 operating at frequency f 2 , and device 806 has coded transducer 812 operating at frequency f m . for each operating frequency ( f 1 through f m ), distinct devices can be constructed with output transducers in up to n time slots , producing a set of m × n distinct devices . as previously mentioned , functional sensor devices often operate in a differential manner , and sets of two or more distinguishable responses can be combined within the same sensor ( on one or more substrates ) to implement various sensor and tag devices . fig2 illustrates schematically a set 900 of spread spectrum coded devices 902 through 904 through 906 through 908 utilizing code diversity , time diversity , and frequency diversity . a set of j codes ( codes 1 through j ), are combined with a set of m operating frequencies ( f 1 through f m ), and with a set of n time delays ( τ 1 through τ n ), producing a set of up to j * m * n possible individually identifiable device responses . note that the time slots are aligned between devices , as indicated in slot a ( 918 ) and slot n ( 920 ). as previously , these may be used individually or together in sets to effect desired sensing and identification functions . by way of illustration , in fig2 transducer 910 utilizes code 1 at frequency f 1 , with the output transducer in time slot n . transducer 912 utilizes code 1 at frequency f m , with the output transducer in time slot 2 . transducer 914 utilizes code j at frequency f 1 , with the output transducer in time slot 1 . transducer 916 utilizes code j at frequency f m , with the output transducer in time slot 3 . since the set of possible combinations is large , only four devices are shown in fig2 by way of example . fig2 and 23 show yet another diversity technique that can be incorporated with time diversity and frequency diversity , specifically chirp slope diversity . chirp slope diversity takes the place of code diversity , producing sets of individually identifiable devices of size equal to (# of time slots )*( number of frequency bands )*( number of different chirp slopes ). fig2 shows a simple differential reflective delay line temperature sensor 1000 embodiment utilizing chirped input transducers 1004 and reflective multistrip couplers ( rmsc ) 1002 . the time different δτ between the rmsc reflectors is doubled due to the reflective device operation , and provides for a sensitive temperature sensor response . device 1000 has two input / output chirped transducers 1004 , each of which has a varying frequency across the time length of the transducer . a linear upchirp ( going from low to high frequency from left to right ) is shown for simplicity , although different nonlinear chirps can be used , and both up and down chirps are useful ). the input transducer chirp slope is ( f high − f low )/( transducer length in time ). the reflected responses from the rmscs are further spread by the chirp transducers , and the spread spectrum response can be de - chirped in the receiver using the appropriate chirp ( with a chirp sense that is the opposite of that introduced by the sensor ). although not shown , this technique can be combined with time and frequency diversity as mentioned , to produce larger sets of individually identifiable devices . fig2 shows yet another embodiment of a reflective differential delay line chirped temperature sensor 1100 . in this embodiment , the rmscs of fig2 have been replaced with chirped saw reflectors 1102 . these reflectors 1102 are half the time length of the chirp transducers 1104 , have the same chirp sense ( up or down ), and have the same chirp bandwidth . hence the chirp slope of the reflectors is twice that of the transducers . for a given die length , this embodiment may allow realization of a greater time bandwidth product ( bt ), resulting in greater processing gain for the sensors . the larger the time delay between reflected responses δτ , the greater the temperature sensitivity of the device . if time diversity is being utilized in connection with this embodiment , care must be taken to ensure that the separation δτ is selected so that resulting reflections occur within desired time slots over the operating range of the device .□ of course , different types of reflectors or output transducers can be utilized other than those illustrated herein without deviating from the intent of the present invention . the illustrations included herein are exemplary in nature , and do not encompass all aspects of the present invention . one skilled in the art would recognize that the improvements provided by embodiments of this invention can be implemented using any of a wide range of known electrode structures , including but not limited to split electrodes , non - split electrodes , three electrodes per wavelength , and spudt structures . symmetric codes can be implemented using reflector structures . the use of chirp transducers with varying chirp slopes is also within the scope of embodiments of the present invention . it should be noted that the one - sided layout of the devices in fig3 could equally well be implemented using a two - sided die , with reflectors or output transducers on one side of the input / output transducer . performance of such two sided devices would clearly be affected by the time orientation of the spread spectrum code . one skilled in the art will recognize that there are a wide range of device embodiments that can be used to implement sensor , tag , and sensor tag devices according to embodiments of the present invention . all of the devices described and / or illustrated can be implemented in single - track formats , or in multiple acoustic track formats . they can be provided with electrical shorting pads in the deposition region ( s ) or portions thereof and / or the reference acoustic path ( s ) or portions thereof , if beneficial for the desired application ( to separate the electrical effects of the deposited film from the mass loading and viscoelastic properties ). inclusion of a temperature sensor device allows extraction of the effects of temperature , which can be done using the delay of the integral reference peak ( s ), or with separate temperature sensing elements as discussed above . inclusion of multiple differential delay lines , preferably operable in different frequency ranges , with different coating treatments allows separation of conductive effects from those involving mass loading and viscoelasticity . the transducers and / or reflectors described thus far are all non - dispersive , and similar embodiments could be envisioned that utilize transducers that are tapered , slanted , stepped tapered , apodized , withdrawal weighted , ewc , udt , spudt , dispersive , and / or waveguide structures . even a reflective array compressor structure could be used to implement such a deposition monitor , although such a device structure would be unnecessarily complex for most applications . all of these techniques could also be used incorporating dispersive and harmonic techniques . also , one skilled in the art will recognize that these devices can be implemented on various substrate materials , and can utilize various acoustic wave propagation modes , in order to achieve performance required for specific applications . performance to measure deposition of or interaction with vapors , liquids , polymers , solids , and numerous other quantities can be achieved . operation at high temperatures can be accomplished using langasite , langanite , ot langatate , or other substrate capable of operating at high temperatures . in order to measure conductive films , a substrate with high electromechanical coupling coefficient may be used . electrodes and busbars of saw elements can be made from materials appropriate to survive the application environment , including the ability to withstand high or low temperatures , and chemical environments . the broad nature of the embodiments described here are clear , and one skilled in the art will understand that there is a wide variety of device configurations that can be generated using combinations of one or more of the techniques discussed . the embodiments of the inventions described herein and illustrated in the figures provide device embodiments capable of monitoring deposition of a wide range of materials , including but not limited to ultrathin films and nanomaterials . while some preferred forms and embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described , it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes and modification may be made without deviating from the inventive concepts set forth above . embodiments of the present invention have been described in relation to particular examples , which are intended in all respects to be illustrative rather than restrictive . those skilled in the art will appreciate that many different combinations of materials and components will be suitable for practicing the disclosed embodiments of the present invention . other implementations of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein . various aspects and / or components of the described embodiments may be used singly or in any combination . it is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only , with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims .
| 7 |
the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to a few preferred embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings . in the following description , numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention . it will be apparent , however , to one skilled in the art , that the present invention may be practiced without some or all of these specific details . in other instances , well known process steps and / or structures have not been described in detail in order to not unnecessarily obscure the present invention . while not wishing to be bound by theory , the inventor believes that the ion angular distribution may be controlled by altering the dc potential between the substrate and the edge ring , thus optimizing the equipotential lines of the plasma sheath for a given plasma process . in an advantageous manner , changes may be made to the electric field around the substrate edge by changing an rf coupling of an edge ring . in an embodiment , the chuck is substantially electrically isolated from the edge ring . for example , if the dc potential of the substrate edge is substantially the same as the dc potential of the edge ring , the ion angular distribution is generally uniform . consequently , in an area of the plasma sheath above both the substrate and the edge ring , a set of ion vectors are formed that are substantially perpendicular to the substrate . however , if the dc potential of the substrate edge is substantially different to the dc potential of the edge ring , the ion angular distribution is generally non - uniform . consequently , in an area of the plasma sheath above both the substrate and the edge ring , a set of ion vectors are formed that tend to point either toward or away from the substrate . in an advantageous fashion , the dc potential on the edge ring may be independently controlled from that of the substrate . consequently , the difference between the dc potential of the substrate to the dc potential of the edge ring may be optimized in order to control the angular distribution of the positively charged ions in the plasma around the edge of the substrate . for example , if the dc voltage of the edge ring is negative and substantially similar to that of the substrate ( e . g ., v substrate - v edge ring ≈ 0 ), angular ion distribution is substantially uniform , with a set of vectors that are substantially perpendicular to the substrate , in an area of the plasma sheath above both the substrate and the edge ring . this angular profile may be useful for anisotropic etch applications , such as etching contacts and trenches with high aspect ratios . in addition , certain devices require the etch features ( e . g ., high aspect ratio contacts , vias or trenches ) to assume a particular directionality in order to , for example , enable a particular etch feature to make contact with another underlying feature . for example , if a vertical via etch is required to allow the via to make contact with an underlying feature , a deviation from etch verticality may cause the via to miss the intended underlying feature , thereby resulting in a defective device and affecting yield . for these applications , precise control of ion directionality at the substrate edge to achieve proper etch directionality is a critical requirement . in contrast , if the dc voltage of the edge ring is more positive ( less negative ) than that of the substrate ( e . g ., v substrate - v edge ring & lt ; 0 ), the angular ion distribution profile is substantially non - uniform , with a set of vectors that tend to point toward the substrate edge . this angular profile may be useful for edge polymer removal . unlike wet cleaning processes , the current invention allows edge polymer removal in an all - dry ( e . g ., process , etc .) with minimal effluent across a wide variety of vacuum - compatible materials ( e . g ., silicon , metals , glass , ceramics , etc .). for example , a common dry etch process involves ion - assisted etching , or sputtering , in which ions are used to dislodge material from the substrate ( e . g ., oxide , etc .). generally ions in the plasma enhance a chemical process by striking the surface of the substrate , and subsequently breaking the chemical bonds of the atoms on the surface in order to make them more susceptible to reacting with the molecules of the chemical process . referring now to fig3 a - b , a set of simplified diagrams showing a capacitively coupled plasma processing system with optimized ion angular distribution is shown , according to an embodiment of the invention . fig3 a shows a simplified diagram of a capacitively coupled plasma processing system in which the dc potential of the edge ring is substantially greater than that of the substrate . in general , a source rf generated by source rf generator 110 is commonly used to generate the plasma as well as control the plasma density via capacitively coupling . as previously mentioned , certain etch applications may require the upper electrode to be grounded with respect to a lower electrode frequency rf signal within ˜ 20 khz thru 800 khz . other etch applications may require the upper electrode to be grounded with respect to an rf signal that is at least one of 2 mhz , 27 mhz , and 60 mhz . still other etch applications may require the upper electrode to be grounded with respect to all of the rf signal frequencies previously mentioned . generally , an appropriate set of gases is flowed through an inlet in upper electrode 102 , and subsequently ionized to form a plasma 104 , in order to process ( e . g ., etch or deposit ) exposed areas of substrate 106 , such as a semiconductor substrate or a glass pane , positioned with an edge ring 112 ( e . g ., si , etc .) on an electrostatic chuck 108 , which also serves as a powered electrode . edge ring 112 generally performs many functions , including positioning substrate 106 on chuck 108 and shielding the underlying components not protected by the substrate itself from being damaged by the ions of the plasma . edge ring 112 may further sit on coupling ring 120 ( e . g ., quartz , etc . ), which is generally configured to provide a current path from chuck 108 to an edge ring 112 . in general , in an advantageous manner , a configurable dc power source 316 may be coupled to edge ring 112 through rf filter 314 . rf filter 314 is generally used to provide attenuation of unwanted harmonic rf energy without introducing losses to dc power source 316 . in an embodiment , rf filter 314 includes a switch module that allows a positive or negative current polarity to be selected , as well as a path to ground . in an embodiment , the rf filter 314 includes vacuum relays . harmonics are generated in the plasma discharge and may be kept from being returned to the dc power source by the rf filter . in this case , since dc power source 316 sources a positive voltage , the dc potential of the edge ring is substantially higher than that of the substrate in a typical plasma process . thus , the angular ion distribution profile is thus substantially non - uniform , with a set of vectors that tend to point toward areas of lower potential , such as the substrate edge . this application is highly useful for polymer removal from the substrate edge , as mentioned earlier . referring now to fig3 b , a simplified diagram is shown of a capacitively coupled plasma processing system in which the dc potential of the edge ring is substantially similar to that of the substrate ( e . g ., v substrate - v edge ring ≈ 0 ). generally speaking , the dc potential on the substrate during processing tends to be negative with respect to ground , and thus when the edge ring is coupled to receive a negative potential ( with respect to ground ), the dc potential of the edge ring and the dc potential of the substrate are substantially equal . consequently , angular ion distribution is substantially uniform , with a set of vectors that are substantially perpendicular to the substrate in an area of the plasma sheath above both the substrate and the edge ring . as previously stated , this perpendicular angular profile may be useful for anisotropic etch applications , such as etching contacts and trenches with high aspect ratios . it is also possible to , for example , couple the ground terminal of the dc power source , in which case the edge ring may have a higher potential ( being at ground ) than the dc potential of the substrate ( being generally negative during processing , in an embodiment ). in this case , the angular ion distribution will also tend toward the substrate edge , albeit to a lesser degree than when the edge ring is coupled to receive voltage from the positive terminal of the dc power source ( as in the case of fig3 a ). in an embodiment , a feedback circuit may be provided to monitor the dc voltage of the substrate ( which may vary during the various process steps and process substeps ). the monitored dc voltage of the substrate may be employed as a feedback signal in an appropriate control circuit to control the dc voltage delivered to the edge ring , thereby allowing the appropriate ion directionality to be maintained even if the dc voltage of the substrate changes . in an embodiment , the dc voltage of the edge ring may be provided by a rf power source ( e . g ., a rf power source that may be different from the rf power source delivering rf power to the lower electrode ). thus , dc voltage control of the edge ring relative to the dc potential of the substrate is the thrust of the techniques of various embodiments disclosed herein , and the actual edge ring dc voltage control arrangement to provide / maintain the dc voltage to the edge ring may differ depending on implementations . while this invention has been described in terms of several preferred embodiments , there are alterations , permutations , and equivalents , which fall within the scope of this invention . it should also be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing the methods and apparatuses of the present invention . although various examples are provided herein , it is intended that these examples be illustrative and not limiting with respect to the invention . further , the abstract is provided herein for convenience and should not be employed to construe or limit the overall invention , which is expressed in the claims . it is therefore intended that the following appended claims be interpreted as including all such alterations , permutations , and equivalents as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention . for example , although the present invention has been described in connection with lam research plasma processing systems ( e . g ., exelan ™, exelan ™ hp , exelan ™ hpt , 2300 ™, versys ™ star , etc . ), other plasma processing systems may be used ( e . g ., capacitively coupled , inductively coupled , etc .). this invention may also be used with substrates of various diameters ( e . g ., 200 mm , 300 mm , lcd , etc .). furthermore , the term set as used herein includes one or more of the named element of the set . for example , a set of “ x ” refers to one or more “ x .” advantages of the invention include substantial control of ion angular distribution around the substrate edge . additional advantages include cleaning a bevel polymer during an in situ strip process , optimizing the plasma process , and improving substrate yield . having disclosed exemplary embodiments and the best mode , modifications and variations may be made to the disclosed embodiments while remaining within the subject and spirit of the invention as defined by the following claims .
| 7 |
fig1 illustrates the combining end of a corrugated paper board machine for producing triple wall corrugated paper board that is , a composite board comprising three corrugated paper mediums interposed between four spaced flat paper liners . it will be understood that the corrugations of corrugated medium of paper are corrugated transversely of the path of travel through the machine and adhesively applied to the liner sheets . three mediums 11 , 12 and 13 are corrugated and the ridges of the corrugations are adhesively secured to liner sheets 14 , 15 , 16 in a well - known manner , in manufacturing steps not shown in fig1 to form three composite webs known as single face webs 7 , 8 , 9 . the three single face webs 7 , 8 , 9 are passed over preheater drums 19 in order to prepare the free ridges of the corrugations , opposite the respective liner of the sheets , for receiving an adhesive . an outer or fourth liner 17 , which comprises a sheet of liner board , is similarly passed around a preheater drum 18 . the three preheated single face webs 7 , 8 , 9 are brought to upper , intermediate and lower gluing rolls 20 , 21 , 22 . adhesive is controlled on the gluing rolls 20 , 21 , 22 by ductor rolls 25 , 26 , 27 . the gluing rolls 20 , 21 , 22 , in turn , apply the adhesive to the ridges of the corrugations which extend transversely of the direction of the path of travel of the three single face webs and fourth liner which are juxtaposed and brought together beneath a first endless belt 24 in the heating and drying section 28 of a so - called double facer or double backer 23 . in the double backer 23 , the adhesive bearing ridges of the still exposed corrugations 11 , 12 of the first two single face webs 7 , 8 are contacted with liners 15 , 16 of the contiguous underlying single face webs 8 , 9 , respectively , while the adhesive bearing ridges of corrugations 13 of the third single face web 9 are contacted with the fourth liner 17 . the double backer 23 is a very long two part machine having heating and drying section 28 composed of a series of flat , internally heated steam plates 31 over which the above - described sandwich of single face webs and fourth liner are passed . the upper face of the lower run of the belt 24 is weighed down by weight rollers 32 to press the sandwich into good heat transfer relationship with the heated steam plates 31 . the sandwich is then passed to the second part of the double backer 23 known as cooling or pulling section 29 . in the cooling section , the heated stream plates 31 are replaced by a second endless belt 33 which helps to pull the board through the entire machine . board cooling begins at this point and when the board leaves the cooling section 29 , it is a completed , permanently bonded , material . in accordance with the invention , a retractable wiper assembly 34 or 36 is provided adjacent to the upper or intermediate gluing rolls 20 or 21 respectively . the wiper assemblies 34 or 36 includes a wiper 35 which is engaged against the adjacent rotatable gluing roll 20 or 21 to wipe a circumferential band of adhesive off of the gluing roll so that , transverse to the direction of travel , a predetermined width of the ridges of the corrugated medium does not receive the adhesive and is not adhered to the underlying sheet in a narrow bending area 38 . as shown in fig2 the nonadhesive band is formed over a transverse width remote from the longitudinal edge 39 . the bend area 38 has a broader width than that needed for the scores which will form the bending line . as the endless sheet of corrugated paper board leaves the double backer 23 , it enters a portion of the combiner known as the triplex or slitter 37 . the triplex 37 typically has two functions . first , it places flap scores in the board at the proper position . second , it trims the edge of the board . a slitter mechanism 40 is arranged in the triplex aligned with the bend area 38 downstream of the cooling section 29 . the slitter mechanism 40 , as shown in fig2 and 3 , comprises a rotatable shaft 43 which carries a pair of blades 42 , 44 . the blades 42 , 44 are bevelled on one side only , the sides opposing each other . the blades form a pair parallel slits 47 , 49 perpendicular to the corrugations through the first single face web 7 or first two single face webs 7 , 8 to form a removable slit strip 48 . the board is next passed to the scoring mechanism 50 which comprises superimposed upper and lower score wheels 51 , 52 that place score lines 65 , 67 ( see fig6 ) into the portion of the underlying board intermediate the slits 47 , 49 . the upper score wheel 51 has a profile designed to indent the board to form score line 65 in the single face sheet 9 at a point at which the bend is to be made , intermediate the slits 47 , 49 . the lower score wheel 52 is profiled to form an score line 67 into the liner 17 and medium 13 . further downstream of the scoring mechanism 50 , a plough 60 is provided for lifting and diverting the slit strip 48 of the board that overlies the bend area . the plough 60 , as shown in fig4 comprises a j - shaped metal member or shank having a first end formed into a blade 61 and a second end comprising a clamping mechanism , for clamping the plough to the triplex for support which is composed of a semi - circular sector 62 and a complementary semi - circular clasp 63 with flanges for bolting the plough into position . a deflector plate 66 is mounted on the shank 64 proximate to the blade 61 . a first leg 68 of the shank of the plough 60 , leaving the blade 61 , is connected to the second leg 69 of the shank of the plough via a turnbuckle 59 . in operation , the plough 60 is set with the blade 61 just above the liner 16 of the third single face web 9 and below the corrugated medium 12 of the intermediate single face web 8 in the longitudinal path of the board . the plough blade 61 thus lifts the slit strip 48 off the board . the slit strip 48 is then pushed along the upper surfaces of the blade and or shank , or both , until it bears against the deflector plate 66 which is vertical metal plate , set at an angle relative to the travel direction of the board by virtue of an angular relation of the plate relative to the shank or of the shank relative to the path of travel or both . thus , the slit strip 48 is diverted from the path of travel of the board and is then vacuumed away for shredding and recycling by conventional means ( not shown ). if the blades 42 , 44 of the slitter mechanism 40 are set to cut only through the first single face web 7 , then the blade 61 of the plough 60 is set intermediate the medium 11 of the first single face web 7 and the liner 15 of the second single face web 8 . it will be understood , in such case , the score wheels 51 and 52 are set to form the score lines into the second single face web 8 or the fourth liner 17 , or both , and that the slit strip will compose only a portion of the first single face web 7 . when only the single face web 7 is to be slit , the wiper assembly 34 is engaged with gluing roll 20 to wipe a band of adhesive away from the roll and leave an adhesive free band on medium 11 . when the first two single face webs are to be slit , wiper assembly 36 is engaged against gluing roll 21 to wipe a band of adhesive therefrom and leave an adhesive free band on medium 12 . as shown in fig5 , 8 and 9 , the removal of the slit strip 48 leaves a generally rectangular groove 70 in the board , the score lines 65 , 67 having been formed in the third single wall sheet 9 and fourth liner 17 underlying the groove 70 . as shown in fig8 the bend area in the direction of the corrugations to which adhesive 75 was omitted is wider than the width of the groove 70 . thus , a portion of corrugated mediums of the second single face web 8 is not bonded to the liner 16 of the third single face web 9 by adhesive 75 along an area 72 on either side of the substantially rectangular groove 70 . in actuality , however , due to the rigidity of the materials which are adhered to each other , the medium of the single face web 8 is held in a fixed position against the liner of the underlying single wall sheet 9 at the area 72 . the scoring produced by the score wheels allows a portion of the board , defining flap 74 , to be bent along a longitudinal line of bend relative to the remaining portion of the board which will typically define a panel 76 of a box to be formed from the board . the groove 70 allows the flap to be bent normal to the panel so that the assembled box may rest flat without rocking yet the force required to bend the board is considerably reduced .
| 1 |
an illustration of a 3gpp 8 - state parallel concatenated convolutional code ( pccc ), with coding rate 1 / 3 , constraint length k = 4 is illustrated in fig3 . an implementation using siso log - map decoders is illustrated in fig4 . in accordance with an exemplary embodiment , a turbo codes decoder block 23 has concatenated max log - map siso decoders a 42 and b 44 connected in a feedback loop with interleaver memory 43 and interleaver memory 45 . signals r 2 , r 1 , r 0 are received soft decision signals of data path from the system receiver . signals xo 1 and xo 2 are output soft decision signals of the log - map decoders a 42 and b 44 , respectively , which are stored in the interleaver memory 43 and memory 45 module . signals z 2 and z 1 are the output of the interleaver memory 43 and interleaver memory 45 . z 2 is fed into log - map decoder b 44 and z 1 is looped back into log - map decoder a 42 through adder 231 . each interleaver memory 43 , 45 , shown in fig2 , includes one interleaver 201 and a dual - port ram memory 202 . input memory block 41 , shown in fig2 , includes dual - port ram memory 211 . control logic module ( clsm ) 47 consists of various state - machines , which control all the operations of the turbo codes decoder . the hard - decoder module 46 outputs the final decoded data . more particularly , as illustrated in fig3 , r 0 , is data bit corresponding to the transmit data bit u , r 1 , is the first parity bit corresponding to the output bit of the first rsc encoder , and r 2 , is interleaved second parity bit corresponding to the output bit of the second rsc encoder . in accordance with the invention , corresponding ones of data bits r 0 is added to the feedback signals z 1 , then fed into the decoder a . corresponding ones of data bits r 1 is also fed into decoder a for decoding the first stage of decoding output xo 1 . z 2 and corresponding ones of r 2 are fed into decoder b for decoding the second stage of decoding output xo 2 . in accordance with the invention , as shown in fig6 , the turbo codes decoder utilizes a sliding window of block n 61 on the input buffers 62 to decode one block n data at a time , the next block n of data is decoded after the previous block n is done in a circular wrap - around scheme for pipeline operations . in another embodiment , the sliding window of block n is used on the input buffer memory so that each block n data is decoded at a time one block after another in a pipeline scheme . in accordance with the invention , the turbo codes decoder decodes an 8 - state parallel concatenated convolutional code ( pccc ). the turbo codes decoder also decodes a higher n - state parallel concatenated convolutional code ( pccc ) as illustrated in fig4 , the turbo codes decoder functions effectively as follows : received soft decision data ( rxd [ 2 : 0 ]) is stored in three input buffers memories 41 to produce data bits r 0 , r 1 , and r 2 that correspond to data words . each output data word r 0 , r 1 , r 2 contains a number of binary bits . a sliding window of block n is imposed onto each interleaver memory blocks 43 , 45 to produce corresponding ones output data words . a sliding window of block n is imposed onto each input memory to produce corresponding ones of r 0 , r 1 , and r 2 , output data words . in accordance with the method of the invention , when an input data block of size n is ready , the turbo decoder starts the log - map decoder a , in block 23 , to decode the n input data based on the soft - values of r 0 , z 1 , and r 1 , then stores the outputs in the interleaver memory a . the turbo decoder also starts the log - map decoder b , in block 23 , to decode the n input data based on the soft - values of r 2 and z 2 , in pipelined mode with a delay latency of n , then stores the output in the interleaver memory . the turbo decoder performs iterative decoding for l number of times ( l = 1 , 2 , . . . , m ). when the iterative decoding sequence is complete , the turbo decoder starts the hard - decision operations to compute and produce soft - decision outputs . as shown in fig7 , siso log - map decoders 42 , 44 include a branch metric ( bm ) computation module 71 , a state metric ( sm ) computation module 72 , a log - map computation module 73 , a bm memory module 74 , a sm memory module 75 , and a control logic state machine module 76 . soft - value inputs enter the branch metric ( bm ) computation module 71 , where euclidean distance is calculated for each branch , the output branch metrics are stored in the bm memory module 74 . the state metric ( sm ) computation module 72 reads branch metrics from the bm memory 74 and computes the state metric for each state ; the output state - metrics are stored in the sm memory module 75 . the log - map computation module 73 reads both branch - metrics and state - metrics from bm memory 74 and sm memory 75 modules to compute the log maximum a posteriori probability and produce soft - decision output . the control logic state - machine module 76 provides the overall operations of the decoding process . as shown in fig7 which is one example of 3gpp turbo codes decoder , the log - map decoder 42 44 functions effectively as follows : the log - map decoder 42 , 44 reads each soft - values ( sd ) data pair input , then computes branch - metric ( bm ) values for all paths in the turbo codes trellis 80 as shown in fig8 a ( and trellis 85 in fig8 b ). the computed bm data is stored into bm memory 74 . the process of computing bm values is repeated for each input data until all n samples are calculated and stored in bm memory 74 . the log - map decoder 42 44 reads bm values from bm memory 74 and sm values from sm memory 75 , and computes the forward state - metric ( sm ) for all states in the trellis 80 as shown in fig8 a ( and trellis 85 in fig8 b ). the computed forward sm data is stored into sm memory 75 . the process of computing forward sm values is repeated for each input data until all n samples are calculated and stored in sm memory 75 . the log - map decoder 42 44 reads bm values from bm memory 74 and sm values from sm memory 75 , and computes the backward state - metric ( sm ) for all states in the trellis 80 as shown in fig8 a ( and trellis 85 in fig8 b ). the computed backward sm data is stored into the sm memory 75 . the process of computing backward sm values is repeated for each input data until all n samples are calculated and stored in sm memory 75 . the log - map decoder 42 44 then computes log - map posteriori probability for u = 0 and u = 1 using the bm values and sm values from bm memory 74 and sm memory 75 . the process of computing log - map posteriori probability is repeated for each input data until all n samples are calculated . the log - map decoder then decodes data by making soft decision based on the posteriori probability for each stage and produces soft - decision output , until all n inputs are decoded . the branch metric ( bm ) computation module 71 computes the euclidean distance for each branch in the 8 - states trellis 80 as shown in the fig8 a based on the following equations : where sd 0 and sd 1 are soft - value input data and g 0 and g 1 are the expected input for each path in the trellis 80 . g 0 and g 1 are coded as signed antipodal values , meaning that 0 corresponds to + 1 and 1 corresponds to − 1 . therefore , the local euclidean distances for each path in the trellis 80 are computed by the following equations : as shown in the exemplary embodiment of fig9 , the branch metric computing module includes one l - bit adder 91 , one l - bit subtracter 92 , and a 2 ′ complemeter 93 . the euclidean distances is computed for path m 1 and m 5 . path m 2 is 2 ′ complement of path m 1 . path m 6 is 2 ′ complement of m 5 . path m 3 is the same path m 2 , path m 4 is the same as path m 1 , path m 7 is the same as path m 6 , path m 8 is the same as path m 5 , path m 9 is the same as path m 6 , path m 10 is the same as path m 5 , path m 11 is the same as path m 5 , path m 12 is the same as path m 6 , path m 13 is the same as path m 2 , path m 14 is the same as path m 1 , path m 15 is the same as path m 1 , and path m 16 is the same as path m 2 . the state metric computing module 72 calculates the probability a ( k ) of each state transition in forward recursion and the probability b ( k ) in backward recursion . fig1 shows the implementation of state - metric in forward recursion with add - compare - select ( acs ) logic . fig1 shows the implementation of state - metric in backward recursion with add - compare - select ( acs ) logic . the calculations are performed at each node in the turbo codes trellis 80 ( fig8 a ) in both forward and backward recursion . fig1 shows the forward state transitions in the turbo codes trellis 80 ( fig8 a ). fig1 shows the backward state transitions in the turbo codes trellis 80 ( fig8 a ). each node in the trellis 80 as shown in fig8 a has two entering paths : one - path 84 and zero - path 83 , from the two nodes in the previous stage . in an exemplary embodiment , the acs logic includes an adder 132 , an adder 134 , a comparator 131 , and a multiplexer 133 . in the forward recursion , the adder 132 computes the sum of the branch metric and state metric in the one - path 84 from the state s ( k − 1 ) of previous stage ( k − 1 ). the adder 134 computes the sum of the branch metric and state metric in the zero - path 83 from the state ( k − 1 ) of previous stage ( k − 1 ). the comparator 131 compares the two sums and the multiplexer 133 selects the larger sum for the state s ( k ) of current stage ( k ). in the backward recursion , the adder 142 computes the sum of the branch metric and state metric in the one - path 84 from the state s ( j + 1 ) of previous stage ( j + 1 ). the adder 144 computes the sum of the branch metric and state metric in the zero - path 83 from the state s ( j + 1 ) of previous stage ( j + 1 ). the comparator 141 compares the two sums and the multiplexer 143 selects the larger sum for the state s ( j ) of current stage ( j ). a ( k )= max [( bm 0 + sm 0 ( k − 1 )), ( bm 1 + sm 1 ( k − 1 )] b ( j )= max [( bm 0 + sm 0 ( j + 1 )), ( bm 1 + sm 1 ( j + 1 )] time ( k − 1 ) is the previous stage of ( k ) in forward recursion as shown in fig1 , and time ( j + 1 ) is the previous stage of ( j ) in backward recursion as shown in fig1 . the log - map computing module calculates the posteriori probability for u = 0 and u = 1 , for each path entering each state in the turbo codes trellis 80 corresponding to u = 0 and u = 1 or referred as zero - path 83 and one - path 84 . the accumulated probabilities are compared and the u with larger probability is selected . the soft - decisions are made based on the final probability selected for each bit . fig1 a shows the implementation for calculating the posteriori probability for u = 0 . fig1 b shows the implementation for calculating the posteriori probability for u = 1 . fig1 shows the implementation of compare - and - select for the u with larger probability . fig1 shows the implementation of the soft - decode compare logic to produce output bits based on the posteriori probability of u = 0 and u = 1 . the equations for calculating the accumulated probabilities for each state and compare - and - select are shown below : sum — s 01 = sm 3 i + bm 7 + sm 1 j sum — s 02 = sm 4 i + bm 9 + sm 2 j sum — s 03 = sm 7 i + bm 15 + sm 3 j sum — s 04 = sm 1 i + bm 4 + sm 4 j sum — s 05 = sm 2 i + bm 6 + sm 5 j sum — s 06 = sm 5 i + bm 12 + sm 6 j sum — s 07 = sm 6 i + bm 14 + sm 7 j sum — s 10 = sm 1 i + bm 3 + sm 0 j sum — s 11 = sm 2 i + bm 5 + sm 1 j sum — s 12 = sm 5 i + bm 11 + sm 2 j sum — s 13 = sm 6 i + bm 13 + sm 3 j sum — s 14 = sm 0 i + bm 2 + sm 4 j sum — s 15 = sm 3 i + bm 8 + sm 5 j sum — s 16 = sm 4 i + bm 10 + sm 6 j as shown in fig7 , the control logic module controls the overall operations of the log - map decoder . the control logic state machine 171 , referred as clsm , is shown in fig1 . the clsm module 171 ( fig1 ) operates effectively as follows . initially , the clsm module 171 operates in idle state 172 . when the decoder is enabled , the clsm module 171 transitions to calc - bm state 173 , where the branch metric ( bm ) module starts operations and monitors for completion . when branch metric calculations are completed , referred to as bm - done , the clsm transitions to calc - fwd - sm state 174 , where the state metric module ( sm ) begins forward recursion operations . when the forward sm state metric calculations are completed , referred to as fwd - sm - done , the clsm transitions to calc - bwd - sm state 175 , where the state metric module ( sm ) begins backward recursion operations . when backward sm state metric calculations are completed , referred to as bwd - sm - done , the clsm transitions to calc - log - map state 176 , where the log - map computation module begins calculating the maximum a posteriori ( map ) probability to produce soft decode output . when log - map calculations are completed , referred to as log - map - done , the clsm module 171 transitions back to idle state 172 . the branch - metric memory 74 and the state - metric memory 75 are shown in fig7 as the data storage components for bm module 71 and sm module 72 . the branch metric memory module is a dual - port ram that contains m − bits of n memory locations as shown in fig1 . the state metric memory module is a dual - port ram that contains k − bits of n memory locations as shown in fig1 . data can be written into one port while reading at the other port . as shown in fig4 , the interleaver memory a 43 stores data for the first decoder a 42 and interleaver memory b 45 stores data for the second decoder b 44 . in iterative pipelined decoding , the decoder a 42 reads data from interleaver memory b 45 and writes results data into interleaver memory b 43 , the decoder b 44 reads data from interleaver memory a 43 and write results into interleaver memory b 45 . as shown in fig2 , the de - interleaver memory 41 includes a de - interleaver module 201 and a dual - port ram 202 , which contains m − bits of n memory locations . the interleaver is a turbo code internal interleaver as defined by 3gpp standard etsi ts 125 222 v3 . 2 . 1 ( 2000 - 05 ), or other source . the interleaver permutes the address input port a for all write operations into dual - port ram module . reading data from output port b are done with normal address input . the interleaver memory module uses an interleaver to generate the write - address sequences of the memory core in write - mode . in read - mode , the memory core read - address is normal sequences . as shown in fig2 , the input buffer memory 43 45 comprises of a dual - port ram 211 , which contains m − bits of n memory locations . as shown in fig4 , the turbo decoder control logics module 47 , referred to as tdclsm , controls the overall operations of the turbo codes decoder . log - map a 42 starts the operations of data in memory b 45 . at the same time , log - map b starts the operations in memory a 43 . when log - map a 42 and log - map b 44 finish with block n of data , the tdclsm 47 starts the iterative decoding for l number of times . when the iterative decoding sequences are completed , the tdclsm 47 transitions to hard - dec to generate the hard - decode outputs . then the tdclsm 47 transitions to start decoding another block of data . turbo codes decoder performs iterative decoding by feeding back the output z 1 , z 3 of the second log - map decoder b into the corresponding first log - map decoder a before making decision for hard - decoding output . as shown in fig2 , the counter 233 counts the preset number l times . an implementation of a diversity m - channels baseband processor sub - system is illustrated in fig2 for processing multiple orthogonal received signals rx ( 0 ) to rx ( m − 1 ) from multipath signals which arrive at the antennas after being reflected from buildings , trees or hills . in accordance with an exemplary embodiment , a diversity m - channels baseband processor sub - system 12 comprises a turbo codes decoders 23 , an n - point complex - fft processor 24 ( fast fourier transform ) for demodulating orthogonal signals rx ( 0 ) to rx ( m − 1 ), m - multiple of pre - processors 21 for pre - processing of orthogonal signals rx ( 0 ) to rx ( m − 1 ), and a diversity processor 22 . in accordance with an exemplary embodiment , each identical pre - processor 21 contains an i / q demodulator 251 , a guard - interval removal 252 for removing cyclic prefix , a clock recovery ( afc ) 254 for reconstructing the clock , and the dll digital phase - lock - loop 253 for re - sync and timing - correction . in accordance with an exemplary embodiment , the diversity processor 22 contains a combiner 261 for processing a pair of diversity channel rx ( i ) and rx ( j ), and a matched filter 262 for generate an output signal r ( k ). in accordance with an exemplary embodiment , the n - point complex fft processor 24 process orthogonal signals from diversity m - channels r ( i ). in accordance with an exemplary embodiment , the diversity m - channels baseband processor sub - system functions effectively as follows : the received orthogonal signals rx ( 0 ) to rx ( m − 1 ) were initially processed by the i / q demodulator 251 for demodulating the rx signal into baseband i / q components . the baseband i / q components are then passed thru a guard - interval removal 252 for removing cyclic prefix to produce the clean i / q baseband signals . a clock recovery ( afc ) 254 computes i / q signals to calculate the phase - error during transmission due to noise and multipath fading effect . the phase - error output is used to drive the digital phase - lock - loop to correct sample timing for i / q demodulator to produce better quality of signals . the baseband i / q components are then passed thru a diversity processor 22 for further processing of multipath signals . the i and q components are then passed to the n - point complex fft processor 24 . the fft processor 24 performs the complex fast fourier transform ( fft ) for the i and q sequences of n samples to transform them into n points of complex - coefficient outputs . in accordance with an exemplary embodiment , an n - point complex - fft processor 24 processes each of the m - channels i / q signals , where the i component is mapped into real - coefficient input , and q is mapped into the imaginary - coefficient input of the fft processor . the fft processor processes i / q signals and produce a set of complex - coefficient outputs that are fed into mux 25 and then shifted into the turbo codes decoder 23 . each set of ( i , q ) is loaded into the mux 25 then shifted into the turbo codes decoder baseband processor 23 , where data is iteratively decoded until a final decision hard - decoded bit is produced for the output that correspond to each bit - stream . in accordance with an exemplary embodiment , the turbo codes decoder block 23 has concatenated max log - map siso decoders a 42 and b 44 connected in a feedback loop with interleaver memory 43 and interleaver memory 45 . signals r 2 , r 1 , r 0 are received soft decision signals from complex - coefficient output of the fft processor . the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing ( ofdm ) is a technique used to divide the broadband channel into sub - channels where multiple adjacent channels transmit their carriers &# 39 ; frequency , which are orthogonal to each other . the sum of all carriers can be transmitted over the air to the receiver where each channel &# 39 ; s carrier can be separated without loss of information due to interferences . in ofdm the subcarrier pulse used for transmission is chosen to be rectangular . this has the advantage that the task of pulse forming and modulation can be performed by a simple inverse discrete fourier transform ( idft ). accordingly in the receiver we only need a forward fft to reverse this operation . the invention presents a method to divide the broadband into multiple sub - channels and uses an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing method implemented by n - point complex fft processors to effectively divide the broadband high - speed channel into multiple slow - speed n sub - channels where multiple adjacent channels transmit their carriers &# 39 ; frequency which are orthogonal to each other . forward complex fft takes sample data , multiplies it successively by complex exponentials over the range of frequencies , sums each product and produces the results as sequence of frequency coefficients . the results array of frequency coefficients is called a spectrum . the equation of a forward complex fft is shown below : where x ( n ) are inputs sampled data and x ( k ) is sequence of frequency coefficients . as shown in fig2 , an n - point complex fft processor 24 takes sampled data ( i , q ) from the diversity processor 22 output where the “ i ” component is mapped as real part and the “ q ” component is mapped imaginary part into the input of an n - point complex fft processor . after processing period , the complex fft processor then produces an output sequence of frequency coefficients . the sequence of frequency coefficients are then fed into the mux 25 and shifted into the turbo codes decoder 23 . as shown in fig2 , an pre - processor 21 comprises an iq demodulator 251 for demodulating the received signal into i and q baseband signal components , a digital phase - lock - loop ( dll ) and local carrier generator 253 produces phase - correct sample frequency , an a clock recovery ( afc clock circuit ) 254 , a guard interval ( gi ) remover 252 for deleting guard interval . in accordance with an exemplary embodiment , the pre - processor functions effectively as follows : received signals entering the iq demodulator 251 are demodulated with a local carrier to produce the i and q component signals . the i and q signals are shifted completely through the guard interval remover 252 where the cyclic - prefix is removed from each i and q signal . the i and q signals are inputted into the clock - recovery circuit 254 where the i and q sample will be phase detected and the phase - error will be calculated . the phase - error output will be used to control the dll local carrier generator circuit 253 . as shown in fig2 , the diversity processor 22 comprises a combiner 261 , a matched filter 262 , and antenna selection algorithm 263 . in accordance with an exemplary embodiment , the diversity processor 22 functions effectively as follows : the antennas selection algorithm will select an optimum pair of diversity channels . for each channel rx ( i ), the algorithm 263 will find an adjacent channel rx ( j ) to form an optimum pair of diversity channels . the combiner 261 will combiner signals of the two diversity channel . the matched filter 261 will process the signal ad produce an result output r ( i ). fig3 shows a preferred embodiment of a mobile wireless system in which the mobile wireless terminal 301 transmits unidirectional signals to the base - station 272 . fig3 illustrates a unidirectional radiation wave lobe 311 in vertical pattern side view indicating only a single radiation lobe toward the base - station . fig3 illustrates a unidirectional radiation wave lobe 321 in horizontal pattern top view indicating only a single radiation lobe toward the base - station . fig3 shows a preferred embodiment of a phased array antenna 331 comprising of an array [ 4 × 4 ] of radiating elements 332 . a different preferred embodiment of array [ n × n ] of radiating elements can be used for phased array antenna . fig3 illustrates a preferred embodiment of a beam steering phased array antenna system comprising a signal feed processor 344 for feeding signals to the antennas , the phase shifters 342 associates with each radiation elements 332 for varying the phases of the signals before feeding to the radiating elements 332 for transmitting signal wave patterns 343 at the calculated angle θ , a digital signal processing ( dsp ) phase processor 341 for calculating the phase shifting steps data for the phase shifters 342 based on the steering angle θ of radiating waves 343 using the following equation : fig3 illustrates a preferred embodiment of a transmitter system with beam steering phased array [ n × n ] antenna comprising a tx baseband processor 352 wherein the turbo codes encoder 354 encodes the transmitting data into coded words and then sending coded words to the inverse fast fourier transform ( ifft ) engine 353 for modulating into an ofdm signals , a transmitter 351 further sends the ofdm signals to the signal feed processor 344 for distributing signals to the phase shifter 342 for transmitting to the antennas 332 , the phase shifters 342 associates with each radiation elements 332 varies the phases of the signals before feeding to the radiating elements 332 for transmitting the signal wave patterns 343 at the calculated angle θ , a digital signal processing ( dsp ) phase processor 341 calculates the phase shifting values for the phase shifters 342 based on the required steering angle θ of radiating waves 343 , and a phased array [ n × n ] antenna 332 radiates wave lobe toward the base - station 272 , a base station tracker 355 is used to track the current base station that the device is communicated . a clock management logic 391 is used to control the clock distribution to target modules by turning off clock to the inactive modules . a power management logic 381 is used to control the power distribution to target modules by turning off power to the inactive modules . in accordance with a preferred embodiment , the base station tracker 355 determines the current location of the base station relative to the mobile device and provides the information to the dsp phase processor 341 . the dsp phase processor 341 calculates the phase required , based on the current location of the base station , to control the phase shifter 342 angles . the phase shifter 342 varies the transmit signals received from the signal feed processor 344 and controls the angles of the transmitting waves 343 for steering the transmitting waves toward the current base station . fig3 illustrates a preferred embodiment of a smart phone wireless terminal indicating the arrangement of the phased array [ n × n ] antennas 361 in the backside of the device which radiates signal wave patterns 362 toward the base - station 272 at an angle θ . fig3 illustrates a preferred embodiment of a smart phone wireless terminal frontside view indicating the arrangement of solar - cell panels for charging the battery . because the reduced energy required for transmitting signals , the wireless mobile device power consumption is reduced significantly so that it employs solar - cell panels for charging its battery which achieves the green - energy goal . fig3 illustrates a preferred embodiment of a smart phone wireless terminal power management logic ( pml ) comprising a power management logic ( pml ) 381 controls the distributing of power to the target modules only when need it . when a module needs to operate , the pml will turn - on the power to that module , otherwise the module power will be off . a sequence of monitoring and controlling power distributing on / off to the modules will greatly reduce the power consumption of the wireless terminal and achieves the green - energy goal . a solar power charger logic 382 for charging the battery 383 . fig3 illustrates a preferred embodiment of a smart phone wireless terminal clocks management logic ( cml ) comprising a clocks management logic ( cml ) 391 controls the distributing of clock signal to the target modules only when need it . when a module needs to operate , the pml will turn - on the clock to that module , otherwise the module clock will be off . a sequence of monitoring and controlling clock distributing on / off to the modules will greatly reduce the power consumption of the wireless terminal and achieves the green - energy goal .
| 8 |
referring now to the drawing , a cmos driver circuit is shown . a plurality of transistors are provided , each having a source , gate and drain nodes . thus , a first n - channel transistor m1 , a second n - channel transistor m2 , a third n - channel transistor m3 , a fourth n - channel transistor m4 , a fifth p - channel transistor m5 , and a sixth n - channel transistor m6 are provided . a circuit input i is provided which is connected to the gate node of the first transistor m1 and the gate node of the second transistor m2 through an inverter inv . in addition the input i is connected to the gate node of the third transistor m3 , the fifth transistor m5 , and the sixth transistor m6 . the drain nodes of the fifth transistor m5 , the sixth transistor m6 and the fourth transistor m4 are connected to a drain supply voltage vdd . the source nodes of the first transistor m1 and the second transistor m2 are connected to ground . a capacitor cap has one side connected to the point 3 at the source node of the fifth transistor m5 and the drain node of the third transistor m3 . the other side of the capacitor cap is connected to an output o . the source node of the fourth transistor m4 and the drain node of the second transistor m2 are connected at 4 to the output o . the source node of the third transistor m3 and the drain node of the first transistor m1 are connected to a point 2 which is connected to the source node of the sixth transistor m6 and the gate node of transistor m4 . when the input i is low , transistors m1 , m2 , m5 are on and the transistors m3 , m6 , m4 are off . the capacitor cap has its node 3 charged to a high level and the output node o is at a low level . when the input i goes high , m1 , m2 , m5 are off and transistors m3 , m6 and m4 are on . the node 2 is charged high , because of m6 being on and because of some charge sharing of the charge on the capacitor cap through transistor m3 . because the capacitor cap was already charged when the input i was low , less time is required for the node 2 to reach the ( vdd - vt ) level where vt is the threshold level . when this occurs , transistor m6 turns off . concurrently the output node o is driven to a high level by transistor m4 . as the output level rises , the transistor m4 is overdriven and the node 2 is bootstrapped because the voltage across the capacitor cap remains constant . using 1 . 25 um technology , the total internal delay of the driver circuit is about 1 . 2 ns for a driver with 100 ohms output impedance . if complementary signal inputs are available , the internal delay will be less . the lengths of the interconnects between transistor m1 and m2 and between transistor m3 and m4 can be adjusted for delay skew so that the short circuit current at the output stage through transistor m4 and m2 can be minimized . this results in smaller current spikes . at low temperatures , charge retention of the capacitor cap is better ( charge decay constant tends to infinity ), latchup immunity is improved and hence the performance is still better . for 100 ohm transmission lines , the present driver provides a match termination with internal delays less than 1 ns . the present invention , therefore , is well adapted to carry out the objects and attain the ends and advantages mentioned as well as others inherent therein . while a presently preferred embodiment of the invention has been given for the purpose of disclosure , numerous changes in the details of construction , and arrangement of parts , will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art , and which are encompassed within the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims
| 7 |
in this application hand weapon means a weapon which discharges , has a civilian defensive use , is primarily designed for use against living things when used offensively or defensively and is designed to be either partly or totally hand supported during use . hand weapons include such things as handguns , rifles , shotguns , tear gas sprayers , electric shocking devices and small hand held rocket launchers such as the gyro - jet . in this application criminal usefulness of a hand weapon refers to the usefulness of a hand weapon for illegal acts where one person willfully threatens or injuries another person with the weapon . in this application , articles and apparatuses can be used for linking objects together . for example , a jack and a plug can rigidly link one object to another . cords , cables and chains are examples of nonrigid articles that can nonrigidly link two objects together . this allows one of the objects to undergo a change of position while the other remains stationary . a transmitter and a receiver can also nonrigidly link two objects . this occurs when the receiver , in physical contact with one of the objects , is receiving a signal that is being transmitted by the transmitter which is in physical contact with the other object . fig1 illustrates a handgun 10 having a revolver part 11 , a steel box 12 and a 20 m × 0 . 318 cm braided nylon cord 13 which links the box to the revolver part 11 . the box 12 is an open steel box large enough to hold the revolver part 11 . it measures 30 cm × 15 cm × 15 cm . its walls are 0 . 7 cm thick and it weighs 10 kg , whereas the revolver part 11 measures 18 cm × 10 × 4 cm and weighs 1 kg . in this application unwieldy object refers to any inanimate object weighing more than 0 . 5 kg and / or having a volume of more than 40 cc and / or being incapable of being forced without damage into a shape having a length of less than 25 cm . this means that the box can be classified as an unwieldy object . an unwieldy object can also be nonrigid , e . g ., it can be a length of chain weighing 0 . 6 kg that is continuous with a length of chain that links the unwieldy chain to the weapon . the cord 13 is permanently joined to the box 12 in the center of the inside bottom of the box 12 . the joining method comprises drilling a hole 14 in the box 12 , passing the cord 13 through the hole 14 and then pressing the steel surrounding the hole 14 to deform it inward to securely hold the cord 13 . the revolver part 11 is a revolver of conventional design with a hole 15 drilled into the handle . the cord 13 is joined to the revolver part 11 by the same method that it is joined to the box 12 . the handgun 10 is designed for defensive use in homes , businesses and vehicles with the box 12 remaining stationary and the cord 13 allowing portability and concealability of the revolver part 11 within the limits of the cord 13 . the cord 13 cannot be easily removed at either of its ends , however , it can be easily cut to allow the revolver part 11 to be carried to any location without the hindrance of the box 12 . therefore , a hand weapon of this type would be suited for use only in jurisdictions having a law against the cutting of its cord or the possession of the weapon with its cord cut . although it is possible to use other weights , sizes , materials , etc ., those used with this handgun 10 are good choices . the weight and bulk of the box 12 give the handgun 10 poor portability and concealability for locations requiring the moving of the box 12 . however , since most defense with a hand weapon is within a relatively small area , the 20 m cord 13 allows the handgun 10 to be adequate for defense in homes , businesses and vehicles . in such uses , the box 12 can be kept concealed or unconcealed in an out of the way place and the revolver part 11 can be carried or kept in a handy place . fig2 and 3 illustrate a handgun 20 having a revolver part 21 , a block 22 and a 20 m × 0 . 318 cm electric cable 23 which nonrigidly links the revolver part 21 to the block 22 . the block 22 measures 30 cm × 15 cm × 15 cm and weighs 10 kg , whereas the revolver part 21 measures 18 cm × 10 cm × 4 cm and weighs 1 kg . the cable 23 has 3 30 gage ( awg ) thinly insulated wires . one of the wires is a signal wire 24 for carrying a signal , one is a power wire 25 for carrying power and one is a ground wire ( not illustrated ) for both the signal and power . all three of the wires continue past both ends of the cable 23 . at the block end of the cable each of the wires randomly winds for 1 m through the block 22 before reaching a code generator 26 . the code generator 26 as well as any other code generator described hereinafter can be an ic such as an icl8038 . it is an oscillator that can be set to produce signals up to 300 k hz . the revolver part 21 is a revolver of essentially conventional design with a hole 27 drilled in its handle . the cable 23 is permanently joined to the revolver part 21 by passing it through the hole and then pressing the steel surrounding the hole 27 to deform it inward to securely hold the cable . inside the revolver part 21 the signal wire 24 is connected to an ic 28 , the power wire 25 is connected to the ic and a normally off switch 29 and the ground wire is connected to the ic 28 , a battery 30 , which is accessible for replacement , and a trigger blocking apparatus 31 which can block complete movement of the trigger 32 . the ic 28 has a decoding part and an output power sufficient to drive the trigger blocking apparatus 31 . this ic 28 as well 28 as well as the other ics of this application can be made by a custom ic manufacturer having the capability of making ics based on functional descriptions such as those contained herein . electronic engineer &# 39 ; s master catalogue , electronic buyer &# 39 ; s news handbook and directory , ic master , and electronic buyer &# 39 ; s guide are directories that contain listings of such manufacturers . the switches of this application are the same as part 17 of u . s . pat . no . 4 , 488 , 370 and the triggers and trigger blocking apparatuses are the same as parts 60 through 70 of that same application . the block 22 is made of opaque epoxy 33 and the amount of weight and volume contributed to the block 22 by the code generator 26 and wires is negligible . the code generator 26 and wires leading to it are firmly embedded without access in the epoxy 33 . this construction makes it almost impossible to significantly reduce to size of the block 22 or to tamper with the electronic parts embedded in it without damaging one or more of the parts . the block was formed by pouring freshly mixed opaque epoxy 33 into a mold with the code generator 26 and wires . the code generator 26 , signal wire 24 , and ic 28 are essential parts of a system for determining whether or not the block 22 is linked to the revolver part 21 . although this system uses a wire and electricity for carrying a signal it is also possible to use some other type of system , such as a fiber optic system . it is also possible to place the code generator 26 in the revolver part 21 and route the output of the code generator 26 in a loop from the revolver part 21 to the block 22 and back to the revolver part 21 . in this handgun 20 and in any other handgun described hereinafter having a trigger blocking apparatus , the trigger blocking apparatus and the part of the trigger in contact with the trigger blocking apparatus are enclosed in the revolver part which has been welded shut or the revolver part is provided with a lockable and unlockable part for accessing the apparatus and the apparatus is enclosed in the revolver part behind the lockable and unlockable part . welding serves as a means for preventing access to the trigger blocking apparatus 31 without causing damage to the weapon . use of a lockable and unlockable part permits legal repairs and maintenance on the enclosed parts without damage to the weapon in a jurisdiction having a legal restriction on accessibility of the parts . the handgun 20 is designed for defensive use in homes , businesses and vehicles with the block 22 remaining stationary and the cable 23 allowing portability and concealability of the revolver part 21 within the limits of the cable . the trigger 32 controls the switch 29 and slightly pulling the trigger 32 for firing closes the switch . this sends power from the battery 30 through the power wire 25 to the ic 28 and to the code generator 26 . the power causes the code generator 26 to generate a sine wave signal with a frequency based on a serial number assigned to the handgun 20 . the signal is coupled to the ic 28 through the signal wire 24 . the decoder circuitry of the ic decodes the signal . decoding of the signal results in the ic 28 sending power to the trigger blocking apparatus 31 . in this handgun 20 and in any other handgun described hereinafter having a trigger blocking apparatus , the apparatus prevents firing when not receiving power from the ic by blocking complete trigger movement and allows firing when receiving power by not blocking any trigger movement . thus , in this handgun 20 after the trigger blocking apparatus 31 begins receiving power , firing can be accomplished by a continuation of trigger pull . because the handgun &# 39 ; s electronic processing is very fast , firing of the handgun can be made to feel no different than firing a conventional weapon . if the cable 23 is cut to unlink the revolver part 21 from the block 22 , no signal will be received by the ic 28 . consequently , the ic 28 will not send power to the trigger blocking apparatus 31 . with no power going to the trigger blocking apparatus 31 , the apparatus 31 will block complete trigger movement and the handgun 20 will not be able to be fired . also , since no signal will be received by the ic 28 if one of the electronic parts in the block 22 has been damaged or if the battery 30 is weak or missing , the handgun will not be able to be fired under those conditions either . fig2 a illustrates a circuit that can be used as an alternative to the ic 28 of fig2 . it consists of a decoder 34 , and a solenoid driver 35 . the power supply to both the decoder 34 and the driver 35 is connected to the switch 29 . the input to the decoder 34 is connected to the signal wire 24 . the output of the solenoid driver 35 is connected to the solenoid part of the trigger blocking apparatus 31 . the decoder 34 and any other decoder described hereinafter can be an ic decoder , e . g . a 567 ic tone decoder will decode frequencies up to 500 k hz . the driver 35 and any other driver described hereinafter can be a solid state device such as a transistor or a mechanical device such as a spst reed relay in parallel with a reversed biased diode for protection against inductive voltage spikes . closing the switch for firing turns on the code generator 26 and decoder 34 . the decoder 34 decodes any signal sent to it from the code generator 26 . this turns on the solenoid driver 35 which energizes the solenoid part of the trigger blocking 34 apparatus to allow firing . it is important that the handgun 20 has good resistance to tampering and circumvention . such resistance is provided by welding shut the revolver part or providing it with a lockable access part , by the small diameter of the wires which makes them easy to cut or break and difficult to splice , by embedding and winding the wires in the epoxy 33 which makes it difficult to cut into the epoxy without cutting at least one wire , by the use of a code system instead of a fairly nonspecific direct current which is easily obtained with batteries and by the use of a trigger blocking apparatus 31 that prevents firing if it does not receive power instead of one that prevents firing if it receives power which can be easily circumvented by removing the battery . in all of the other hand weapons described hereinafter having similar parts there is also the same resistance to tampering and circumvention offered by those parts . all of the electronic parts of the handgun 20 and the mechanical parts of the trigger blocking apparatus 31 can be regarded as an apparatus for reducing the criminal usefulness of a hand weapon ( in this case , the handgun formed by the remaining parts of the revolver part 21 ) comprising a means for linking the weapon to a certain unwieldy object ( epoxy 33 ) and a means for preventing the discharging of the weapon based on the weapon not being linked to the object at that time . in this application based on , when referring to discharging , refers to a basic condition for preventing discharging . a basic condition can be expressed in other ways which essentially mean the same thing , e . g ., in the case of this handgun 20 , it could be stated that firing is not prevented or is allowed or enabled based on electrical continuity of the cable . in addition , variations in the actual prevention of firing are within the scope of the basic condition for preventing discharging , e . g . there could be a delay before discharging is prevented . although it is possible to use other weights , sizes , materials , systems , etc ., those used with this handgun 20 are good choices . the weight and bulk of the block 22 give the handgun poor portability and concealability for locations requiring the moving of the block 22 . however , since most defense with a hand weapon is within a relatively small area , the 20 m cable 23 allows the handgun 20 to be adequate for defense in homes , businesses and vehicles . in such uses , the block 22 can be kept concealed or unconcealed in an out of the way place and the revolver part 21 can be carried or kept in a handy place . fig4 and 5 illustrate a handgun 40 having a revolver part 41 , a block 42 and a three prong plug 43 and a jack 44 for linking and unlinking the block 42 and the revolver part 41 . the plug 43 projects from the block 42 and the jack 44 is built into the revolver part 41 so that when the revolver part 41 is linked to the block 42 , it will lie on its side on the block 42 . the plug 43 and jack 44 can electrically link or unlink 3 30 gage ( awg ) thinly insulated wires in the revolver part 41 to like wires embedded in the block 42 . one of the wires is a signal wire 45 for carrying a signal , one is a power wire 46 for carrying power and one is a ground wire ( not shown ) for both the signal and power . each of the wires in the block 42 randomly wind for 1 m through the block 42 before reaching a code generator 47 . in the revolver part 41 , the signal wire 45 is connected to an ic 48 , the power wire 46 is connected to a battery 49 which is accessible for replacement , a normally off switch 50 and the ic 48 and the ground wire is connected to the battery 49 , the ic 48 , and a trigger blocking apparatus 51 . the block 42 is made of opaque epoxy 52 and the amount of weight and volume contributed to the block 42 by the code generator 47 and wires is negligible . the code generator 47 and wires leading to it are firmly embedded without access in the epoxy . this construction makes it almost impossible to significantly reduce to size of the block 42 or to tamper with the electronic parts embedded in it without damaging one or more of the parts . the block 42 was formed by pouring freshly mixed opaque epoxy into a mold with the code generator 47 and wires . the code generator 47 , signal wire 45 , and ic 48 are essential parts of a system for determining whether or not the revolver part 41 was linked to the block 42 at any time during the immediately preceding 10 minute period . the ic 48 has a decoding part , a timing part and an output power sufficient to drive the trigger blocking apparatus 51 . the handgun 40 is designed for defensive use in homes , businesses and vehicles with the block 42 remaining stationary and the revolver part 41 having 10 minutes of fireability after being unlinked from the block 42 . except for the electronic parts and the mechanical parts of the trigger blocking apparatus 51 , the revolver part 41 is essentially a revolver of conventional design . when not being used , the revolver part 41 can be linked to block 42 by means of the plug 43 and jack 44 . this allows power to be sent from the battery 49 to the code generator 47 through the power wire 46 , jack 44 and plug 43 . the power causes the code generator 47 to generate a sine wave signal with a frequency based on a serial number assigned to the handgun 40 . the signal is coupled to the ic 48 for decoding through the signal wire 45 , plug 43 and jack 44 . to use the handgun 40 , the revolver part 41 is unlinked from the block 42 and carried to the location where it is to be fired . the switch 50 is controlled by the trigger 53 and slightly pulling the trigger 53 for firing closes the switch 50 . this sends power to an input on the ic 48 and if the revolver part 41 was linked to the bock 42 at any time during the immediately preceding 10 minute period , the ic 48 will send power to the trigger blocking apparatus 51 . if the revolver part 41 was not linked to the block 42 at any time during the immediately preceding 10 minute period , the ic 48 will not send power to the trigger blocking apparatus 51 . with no power going to the trigger blocking apparatus , the apparatus 51 will block complete trigger movement and the handgun 40 will not be able to be fired . thus , in order for this handgun 40 to be fired , its revolver part 41 must have been linked to its block 42 during the immediately preceding 10 minute period . in addition , since no signal will be received by the ic 48 if one of the electronic parts in the block 42 has been damaged or if the battery 49 is weak or missing , the handgun 40 will not be able to be fired under those conditions either . fig4 a illustrates a circuit that can be used as an alternative to the ic 48 of fig4 . it consists of a decoder 54 , a 10 minute timer 55 , and and gate 56 and a solenoid driver 57 . the power inputs of all of the parts are connected to the battery 49 . the decoder 54 is connected to the signal wire 45 . one input of the and gate 56 is connected to the switch 50 and the other to the timer 55 output . the output of the solenoid driver 57 goes to the solenoid part of the trigger blocking apparatus 51 . the timer can be an ic timer / counter having a logic 1 output during timing and the capability of being triggered and retriggered by the output of the decoder 54 and of being set to provide a 10 minute period . when the decoder 54 decodes the signal generated by the code generator 47 , its output triggers the timer 55 and continues to retrigger it as long as it decodes the signal . when the switch 50 is pulled during timing , both and gate inputs and the output are at the 1 level . this turns on the solenoid driver 57 which energizes the solenoid part of the trigger blocking apparatus 51 to allow firing . all of the electronic parts of the handgun 40 and the mechanical parts of the trigger blocking apparatus 51 can be regarded as an apparatus for reducing the criminal usefulness of a hand weapon ( in this case the handgun formed by the remaining parts of the revolver part 41 ) comprising a means for linking and unlinking the weapon to a certain unwieldy object ( epoxy 52 ) and a means for preventing the discharging of the weapon based on the weapon not being linked to the object during a past certain period . although other weights , sizes , materials , times , etc ., may be used , those used for this handgun 40 are good choices . the weight and bulk of the block 42 give the handgun poor portability and concealability for locations requiring the moving of the block 42 . it makes the handgun 40 useless for constant illegal carrying as a concealed weapon and for crimes lasting more than 10 minutes while allowing the handgun 40 to be adequate for defense in homes , businesses and vehicles . since most defense with hand weapons requires less than 10 minutes and a person can momentarily link the revolver part 41 and block 42 or use a backup weapon if more time is needed , there is no great disadvantage to the 10 minute limit . in addition , it is possible to use an electric cord having a jack and plug to link the jack 44 and plug 43 and therefore the handgun 40 and the block 42 . this will allow unlimited firing in an area determined by the length of the cord while not making the handgun 40 useful for crimes requiring concealed carrying of the weapon . fig6 and 7 illustrate a handgun 60 having revolver part 61 and a 20 m electric cored 62 with a three prong plug 63 at one end and a linking sensor 64 at the other . the plug fits into standard 120 volt 15 and 20 amp grounded outlets . it can be electrically connected to and disconnected from the electrical power and ground existing at those outlets , thereby linking and unlinking the revolver part 61 and an unwieldy object which in this case is a live wiring system , e . g . in a house . the linking sensor 64 and an ic 65 are essential parts of a system for determining if the revolver part 61 has been linked to a live wiring system during the entire immediately preceding 24 hour period . the linking sensor , located in the revolver part 61 , can be a sensor for sensing 110 - 130 volts ac , a grounded outlet analyzer which senses liveness and grounding or a frequency decoder such as a 567 ic tone decoder ( in series with an appropriate resistor ) set to decode a 60 hz signal . the sensor output goes to the ic 65 . the ic 65 has timing and other circuitry and its output goes to a trigger blocking apparatus 66 . a battery 67 supplies power to the sensor 64 ( if needed ), ic 65 and a normally off switch 68 which is controlled by the trigger 69 . the handgun 60 is designed for defensive use in homes and businesses with the cord 62 allowing relatively good portability and concealability of the revolver part 61 within the limits of the cord 62 . except for the electronic parts and the mechanical parts of the trigger blocking apparatus 66 , the revolver part 61 is essentially a revolver of conventional design . after being plugged into an outlet for at least 24 hours , the handgun 60 can be fired . slightly pulling the trigger 69 for firing closes the switch 68 . this sends power to an input on the ic 65 and causes the ic 65 to send power to the trigger blocking apparatus 66 if the revolver part 61 has been linked to a live wiring system during the entire immediately preceding 24 hour period . this allows firing . if the revolver part 61 has not been linked to a live wiring system during the entire immediately preceding 24 hour period , no power will be sent to the trigger blocking apparatus 66 and the apparatus will prevent the firing of the handgun 60 . thus , in order for the handgun 60 to be fired , it must undergo a period of at least 24 hours during which it must remain linked to a live wiring system and it must still be linked when the trigger 69 is pulled . in addition , since all of the electronic parts depend on adequate battery power for operation , the handgun cannot be fired unless it has had a good battery 67 in it for at least 24 hours . fig6 a illustrates a circuit that can be used as an alternative to the to the ic 65 . it is based on a linking sensor that has a logic 1 level output when the handgun 60 is not linked to a live wiring system . it consists of a 24 hour timer 70 , a capacitor 71 , two resistors 72 and 73 , a two input and gate 74 and a solenoid driver 75 . the timer &# 39 ; s trigger is connected to the linking sensor 64 and to an rc network consisting of the capacitor 71 and the resistors 72 , 73 which are grounded . one of the gate &# 39 ; s inputs is connected to the switch 68 and its other input is connected to the output of the timer 70 . the output of the solenoid driver 75 is connected to the solenoid part of the trigger blocking apparatus 66 . the timer 70 can be an ic timer / counter that has the capability of a logic 0 level output during timing , of being set to provide a 24 hour period and of being triggered and retriggered by a 1 level . the rc network has a capacitance which permits triggering by the battery 67 and linking sensor 64 and resistances which discharge the capacitor 71 quickly enough for the timer 70 to be triggered in the event that the battery 67 is connected , disconnected and then quickly reconnected . the timer 70 is triggered through the capacitor 71 when the battery 67 is connected and retriggering by the battery 67 is prevented by the same capacitor 71 . battery triggering prevents firing of the handgun 60 until the battery 67 has been connected for at least 24 hours . after a 24 hour period of being linked to a live wiring system , the output of the timer 70 goes to the 1 level . then when the switch 68 is closed , there will be 1 levels on both inputs and the output of the and gate 74 which will turn on the solenoid driver 75 . turning on the solenoid driver 75 energizes the solenoid part of the trigger blocking apparatus 66 which allows firing . the electronic parts of the handgun 60 together with the mechanical parts of the trigger blocking apparatus 66 can be regarded as an apparatus for reducing the criminal usefulness of a hand weapon ( in this case the handgun formed by the remaining parts of the handgun 60 ) comprising a means for linking the weapon to a certain unwieldy object , ( a live wiring system ) and a means for preventing the discharging of the weapon based on the weapon not being linked to the object for a certain amount of time during a past certain period . many variations of the handgun 60 are possible . it could be made so that it could still be fired for a certain period of time after removing the plug 63 from a outlet if it became necessary to do so during use . or a a code signal could be periodically sent over utility lines and the handgun could have a decoder for its linking sensor 64 . although it is possible to use other lengths , times , systems , etc ., those used with this handgun 60 are good choices . they make this handgun useless for many crimes . however , the handgun &# 39 ; s usability inside of a relatively small area is not greatly different than that of a conventional handgun . the 20 m of relatively good portability provided by the cord 62 makes it adequate for defense in homes and businesses . since most hand weapons used for defense in homes and businesses remain in the same location for long periods until they are needed , the 24 hour requirement of this handgun is not a great disadvantage for the average user . in addition , it is possible to use an extension cord with this handgun 60 to allow firing of the handgun in a larger area while not appreciably increasing its criminal usefulness . the larger area could be advantageous for large homes or business buildings . fig8 a , 9 and 9a illustrate a handgun 80 having revolver part 81 , a base station 82 . the base station 82 measures 30 cm × 15 cm × 15 cm and weighs 10 kg , whereas the revolver part 21 measures 18 cm × 10 cm × 4 cm and weighs 1 kg . illustrated in the base station 82 is a base station battery 83 , a 1 m 30 gage ( awg ) power supply wire 84 , a code generator 85 , a 1 m 30 gage signal wire 86 , a transmitter 87 , a 1 m 30 gage transmission wire 88 , and a transmitting antenna 89 . illustrated in the revolver part 81 is a decoder 90 , a receiver 91 , an antenna 92 , a solenoid driver 93 , a trigger blocking apparatus 94 , a revolver part battery 95 which is accessible for replacement , a normally off switch 96 and a trigger 97 . the base station 82 is made of opaque epoxy 98 and the wires run randomly through it . the amount of weight and volume contributed to the base station 82 by the battery 83 , code generator 85 , transmitter 87 , transmitting antenna 89 , and wires is negligible . the battery 83 is accessible for replacement , however the code generator 85 , transmitter 87 and wires are firmly embedded without access in the epoxy 98 . this construction makes it almost impossible to significantly reduce to size of the base station 82 or to tamper with the electronic parts embedded in it without damaging one or more of the parts . the base station 82 was formed by pouring freshly mixed opaque epoxy into a mold with the code generator 85 and wires . the handgun 80 is designed for defensive use in homes , businesses and vehicles with the base station 82 remaining stationary and the revolver part 81 carried and used within about 30 m of the base station 82 . except for the electronic parts and the mechanical parts of the trigger blocking apparatus 94 , the revolver part 81 is essentially a revolver of conventional design . the code generator 85 , transmitter 87 , antennas , decoder 90 and associated wiring are essential parts of a system for determining whether or not the revolver part 81 is linked to the base station 82 . power in the base station 82 is supplied to the code generator 85 and transmitter 87 when the base station battery 83 is connected . this causes the code generator 85 to generate a signal consisting of a sine wave with a frequency based on a serial number assigned to the handgun 80 . this signal is sent to the transmitter 87 which transmits it by way of the transmission wire 88 and antenna 89 . power in the handgun part 81 is supplied to the receiver 91 , decoder 90 and solenoid driver 93 by the revolver part battery 95 via the switch when the trigger 97 is slightly pulled for firing . the receiver 91 is tuned the same frequency as the transmitter 87 and has a sensitivity such that it cannot receive the signal unless it is within about 30 m of the base station 82 . thus , being within about 30 m of the base station 82 is necessary for linking the revolver part 81 to the base station 82 . if the receiver 91 receives the signal , it demodulates it and sends it to the decoder 90 which decodes it . decoding turns on the solenoid driver 93 which energizes the solenoid part of the trigger blocking apparatus 94 which allows firing . if the receiver 91 does not receive the signal , no power is sent to the trigger blocking apparatus 94 and the handgun 80 cannot be fired . thus , in order for the handgun 80 to be fired , its revolver part 81 must be within about 30 m of its base station 82 . the electronic parts of the handgun 80 together with the mechanical parts of the trigger blocking apparatus 94 can be regarded as an apparatus for reducing the criminal usefulness of a hand weapon ( in this case the handgun formed by the remaining parts of the handgun 80 ) comprising a means for linking the weapon to a certain unwieldy object , ( epoxy ) and a means for preventing the discharging of the weapon based on the weapon not being linked to the object at that time . many variations of the handgun 80 are possible , e . g ., the signals could be sound or infrared instead of radio , reception distance could be 40 m , the power to the base station 82 could be supplied by a 120 volt ac grounded outlet and the live grounded wiring system could also serve as an unwieldy object , there could be a time requirement for the 120 volt system to be plugged in , there could be a coded signal sent out over the 120 volt power system which would have to be decoded in order for discharging to occur , the transmitter 87 could remain off until a receiver on the base station received a signal transmitted by a transmitter on the revolver part when the trigger 97 is pulled , this system would avoid disclosing the presence of the handgun which might be helpful information to a criminal , etc . although other signals , distances , time requirements are possible , those used with this handgun 80 are good choices . they make this handgun useless for many crimes , however , the handgun &# 39 ; s usability inside of a relatively small area is not greatly different than that of a conventional handgun . the 30 m of relatively good portability makes it adequate for defense in homes and businesses . since most hand weapons used for defense in homes and businesses remain in the same location for long periods until they are needed , the 24 hour requirement of this handgun is not a great disadvantage for the average user . in addition , it is possible to use an extension cord with this handgun 80 to allow firing of the handgun 80 in a larger area while not appreciably increasing its criminal usefulness . the larger area could be advantageous for use in large homes or business buildings . while the above description contains many specificities these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention , but rather as exemplifications of the preferred embodiments thereof . many variations are possible without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims and their legal equivalents .
| 5 |
in a transmission housing 4 of a vehicle , a shifting transmission 2 possesses a main transmission 6 and thereon , an auxiliary range gearing in the form of a planetary transmission 8 . the planetary transmission 8 includes a planet carrier 10 , which is designed as a common component with an output drive 12 of the shifting transmission 2 . about the output drive shaft 12 is a flange 14 and the output drive 12 is supported by a bearing arrangement 16 in the transmission housing 4 . the planet carrier 10 has several , evenly distributed planet bolts 18 about its circumference . of these planet bolts 18 , in the illustrations , only one bolt is shown . on the planet bolt 18 , supported by a roller bearing 22 , is shown only one planet gear 20 . distributed orderly about the circumference of the planet carrier 10 would normally be three or five such planet gears 20 . the roller bearing 22 is constructed as a double row , cylindrical roller bearing or an equivalent needle bearing . the planet gear 20 is externally encompassed by an internal gear 24 , which exhibits a shift toothing 26 . the shift toothing 26 engages itself in a base plate 30 . the base plate 30 is held in non - rotatable fashion in the transmission housing 4 . in this arrangement , the base plate 30 can be cast into the transmission housing 4 , or be clamped between the individual elements of the transmission housing 4 as a separate plate . a shaft 32 serves as the possible drive of an auxiliary power take - off and is supported by a bearing arrangement 34 in the transmission housing 4 . the planet carrier 10 has a projection 36 located on that side of the planetary transmission 8 which is opposite to the output drive shaft 12 , on which the planet carrier 10 is held by a roller bearing 38 in the transmission housing 4 . also , a countershaft 40 of the main transmission 6 is supported in a bearing arrangement 42 in the transmission housing 4 . a main drive shaft 44 of the main transmission 6 carries a toothed gear 46 on its end for the reverse gear ratio . the gear 46 is placed on the main drive shaft 44 with allowance for small radial play . this light play is typical for a shifting transmission with a power branching into two countershafts . at the end of the main drive shaft 44 is provided a pin 45 , which exhibits a slotted profile . the pin 45 includes a pressure bolt 48 , which is pressed in an outward direction by a spring 50 . on this account , the pressure bolt 48 extends itself through a sun gear 52 of the planetary transmission 8 , which has been placed on the pin 45 of the main drive shaft 44 , whereby the main drive shaft 44 bases itself in the sun gear 52 . between the sun gear 52 and the output drive shaft 12 , i . e ., the planet carrier 10 , is placed a shell 54 with a disk . this arrangement allows a common fitting and a mutual sliding between the sun gear 52 on the output drive shaft 12 . accordingly , the speed of rotation of the sun gear 52 and that of the output drive shaft 12 need not be the same . on the sun gear 52 are two toothed pressure compensators 56 and 58 , which restrict any axial movement of the planet gear 20 relative to the sun gear 52 . however , in this connection , a contact of the planet gear 20 against the toothed pressure compensators 56 , 58 is allowed , in order to pick up an axially directed force , which said force results from inclined toothing of the planetary transmission 8 . two additional toothed pressure compensators 60 and 62 are placed radially within the internal gear 24 and again permit a contacting meeting of the planet gear 20 . the two toothed pressure compensators 60 and 62 restrict an axial movement of the planet gear 20 relative to the internal gear 24 . by way of this arrangement of the toothed pressure compensators 56 , 58 , 60 and 62 , the sun gear 52 , the planet gear 20 and the internal gear 24 move themselves as a packet . this unified movement is such that an axial movement , introduced by the sun gear 52 , and transferred by the planet gear 20 results in an equally directed axial movement of the internal gear 24 . in fig1 , the pressure bolt 48 coacts with a detent 64 , i . e ., a holding means , within a sliding sleeve 66 and thereby engage the detent 64 . by this means , the sliding sleeve 66 is held in a neutral position . the sliding sleeve 66 has a first internal toothing 68 ( fig2 ), which engages itself in an external toothing 70 on the sun gear 52 and a non - rotatable connection between the sliding sleeve 66 and the sun gear 52 is established ( see fig2 ). for the formation of a non - rotatable connection between the sliding sleeve 66 and the main drive shaft 44 , the sliding sleeve 66 has a second internal toothing 72 , which engages itself in an external toothing 74 on the main drive shaft 44 . for the bringing about of an optional , non rotatable connection of the main drive shaft 44 with the planet carrier 10 for the formation of a direct binding of the main transmission 6 with the output drive shaft 12 at a continuing equal speed of rotation , the sliding sleeve 66 has a shift - toothing 76 , which can engage itself in a shift toothing 78 on the projection 36 of the planet carrier 10 . fig1 presents the planetary transmission 8 in a neutral position . neither the shift - toothing 26 and 28 , nor the shift - toothing 76 and 78 engage each other . the pressure bolt 48 enters into the detent 64 on the sliding sleeve 66 . the sun gear 52 finds itself positioned to the right ( as seen in the drawing ). the planet gear 20 is supported on the planet bolt 18 only on a cylindrical roller bearing of the roller bearing 22 . the planetary transmission 8 is load free , hence a simple bearing suffices , which brings about a small loss . if now the sliding sleeve 66 is pushed to the left by an actuator ( not shown in the drawing ), then the sliding sleeve 66 , likewise , draws the sun gear 52 to the left by actuating a ring 80 left being in accord with the drawing . this motion is described in fig2 . the planet gear 20 is , likewise , moved and accompany therewith by the toothed pressure compensators 56 and 58 and , in turn , brings the internal gear 24 to the left along with it , powered by the toothed pressure compensators 60 and 62 . by this action , the two shift toothings 26 and 28 engage each other , whereby the internal gear 24 becomes non - rotatably affixed . thereby , the planet carrier 10 turns in a known manner , as compared to the main drive shaft 44 in a slower ratio . at this point , the planetary transmission 8 is under a loaded condition , because the total torque is now being taken over by the planet gear 20 . on this account , it is necessary , that the bearing support of the planet gear 20 be reinforced by the planet bolt 18 . due to the sliding of the planet gear 20 to the left by the sun gear 52 , the planet gear 20 is also drawn onto the second cylindrical roller bearing of the roller bearing support 22 . the situation now is that a clearly increased load capacity of the roller bearing support 22 is made available . instead of several cylindrical roller bearings , a multi - row bearing can be considered , in particular , a two - row needle bearing . if now , the sliding sleeve 66 , as illustrated in fig2 , is pushed to the right by the ( unseen ) actuator , then the sliding sleeve 66 moves the sun gear 52 , likewise , to the right ( per the drawing ) by way of the detent 64 and the pressure bolt 48 . the planet gear 20 is pushed by the toothed pressure compensators 56 and 58 onto the sun gear 52 and of itself then pushes , the internal gear 24 to the right into the neutral position by way of the toothed pressure compensators 60 and 62 according to fig1 . at this point , the sun gear 52 with the shell 54 lies against the planet carrier 10 . if the sliding sleeve 66 is caused to move to the right out of the neutral position ( fig1 ), then the force of the spring 50 on the pressure bolt 48 is overcome by the detent 64 and the sliding sleeve 66 moves further to the right . when this occurs , the sun gear 52 is not complementarily moved axially . on this account , the sun gear 52 and therewith the planet gear 20 slidingly cover a small path back , as does the sliding sleeve 66 which moves the sun gear 52 and therewith the planet gear 20 . the shift toothing 76 on the sliding sleeve 66 engages the complementary shift toothing 78 on the projection 36 of the planet carrier 10 , whereby a non - rotatable connection between the main drive shaft 44 and the output drive shaft 12 is achieved . this is presented in fig3 . thereby , in a known way , the planet carrier 10 turns itself in reference to the main drive shaft 44 at the same speed of rotation . now the planetary transmission 8 runs free from load , while the total torque is taken over by the planet carrier 10 . the bearings of the planet gear 20 on the planet bolt 18 must not be supported , so that the planet gear 20 can be carried only on a cylindrical roller bearing of the roller bearing 22 as is the case in the neutral position . fig4 illustrates a changed design of the sliding sleeve 66 . in this case , the sliding sleeve 66 is constructed as being of one part with the sun gear 52 . in this arrangement , during an axial sliding of the sliding sleeve 66 , within the three possible shift positions , the sun gear 52 and therewith the planet gear 20 and the internal gear 24 always move in common . on this account , it is necessary that sufficient operational space be made available in the planetary transmission 8 . the attainment of the slow ratio is carried out as is explained in regard to fig2 . by means of the one piece design of the sliding sleeve 66 and the sun gear 52 , the pressure bolt and the detent can be eliminated . if now the sliding sleeve 66 is pushed to the right , ( per drawing ) by an actuator and out of the shifting position for the slow ratio , then the sliding sleeve 66 necessarily pushes the attached sun gear 52 with it , likewise to the right . the planet gear 20 slides along , being pushed by the toothed pressure compensators 56 and 58 on the sun gear 52 and , on its own , pushes the internal gear 24 with the aid of the toothed pressure compensators 60 and 62 . as this occurs , the internal gear 24 moves to the right until the neutral position shown in fig4 is reached . the sun gear 52 does not lie on the planet carrier 10 . if the sliding sleeve 66 is pushed further to the right out of the neutral position ( shown in fig4 ), then accordingly , the sleeve 66 also axially pushes the sun gear 52 to the right . the shift toothing 76 on the sliding sleeve 66 engages in the shift toothing 78 on the projection 36 of the planet carrier 10 , whereby a non - rotatable connection is brought about between the main drive shaft 44 and the output drive shaft 12 . the planetary transmission 8 runs free of load again , because the entire torque is taken over by the planet carrier 10 . the support of the planet gear 20 on the planetary bolt 18 must not be reinforced , so that the planet gear 20 , as is the case in the neutral position , can be carried only by a cylindrical roller bearing of the roller bearing 22 . for the formation of a stable end position , and for the avoidance of an undesirable problematic sliding , it is possible that the toothing 26 , 28 and 76 to 78 be designed with a roll - back . by way of the arrangement , according to the invention , a dog - clutch type shifting device is formed for a planetary transmission which is placed on the main drive shaft of the transmission . the shifting of the rapid ratio of the auxiliary range gear train by direct connection is done free of load . the short shifting path of the toothings on the auxiliary range gear train enables short operating levers on the planetary bolts . roll bearings carry the planet gears safely on the planetary bolts . fundamentally , the invented shifting apparatus is adaptable , both for a shifting transmission with one countershaft as well as for a shifting transmission with a load splitter requiring several countershafts .
| 5 |
the present invention is illustrated by the following examples in detail , which in no way should be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention . 1 . 0 g of shr1258 ( prepared according to pct patent application publication wo2011029265 ) and 0 . 4 g of maleic acid were dissolved in 25 ml of isopropyl alcohol by heating . a solid was present while refluxing . after removing from heating , the obtained mixture was stirred to cause a precipitate . the resulting precipitate was collected by filtration and then dried at 45 ° c . under vacuum overnight to obtain 0 . 85 g of shr1258 dimaleate crystal . yield : 60 %. x - ray diffraction pattern is shown in fig1 in which there are characteristic peaks at 6 . 28 ( 14 . 06 ), 6 . 74 ( 13 . 10 ), 10 . 60 ( 8 . 34 ), 11 . 58 ( 7 . 64 ), 13 . 50 ( 6 . 55 ), 14 . 90 ( 5 . 94 ), 15 . 80 ( 5 . 60 ), 18 . 26 ( 4 . 85 ), 20 . 66 ( 4 . 30 ), 21 . 14 ( 4 . 20 ), 22 . 96 ( 3 . 87 ), 24 . 34 ( 3 . 65 ), 25 . 54 ( 3 . 49 ), and 26 . 12 ( 3 . 41 ). the dsc pattern is shown in fig2 , with a sharp heat absorption peak at 131 . 429 ° c . the crystal was defined as form i crystal . 1 . 0 g of shr1258 and 0 . 4 g of maleic acid were dissolved in 20 ml of ethanol by heating . after removing from heating , the mixture was stirred overnight ( the solid that separated was sticky ). the next day , 30 ml of diethyl ether were added to the mixture and stirred . the resulting precipitate was collected by filtration , washed with diethyl ether and then dried to obtain 1 . 03 g of yellow solid . yield : 73 . 5 %. x - ray diffraction pattern of this solid is shown in fig3 in which there are no characteristic peaks . the dsc pattern is shown in fig4 , with no heat absorption peak below 170 ° c . it was determined that the product was an amorphous form . 1 . 0 g of shr1258 dimaleate ( prepared according to example 2 ) was added to 5 ml of methanol and the mixture was heated to reflux until a solution was obtained . the solvent was removed by evaporation under vacuum , and 20 ml of isopropyl alcohol were added . the solid was dissolved completely by heating , and some solid was present while refluxing . after removing from heating , the mixture was left to cause crystallization . the precipitate was collected by filtration and dried to obtain 0 . 80 g solid . yield : 80 . 0 %. it was determined to be form i crystal of shr1258 dimaleate after comparing the x - ray diffraction patterns and dsc patterns . 2 . 0 g of shr1258 and 0 . 8 g of maleic acid were heated to dissolve in 26 ml of ethanol and tetrahydrofuran mixture ( at a volume ratio of 1 : 1 ). the solution was stirred in a 45 ° c . water bath with solid separated . after removing from heating , the mixture was stirred to cause crystallization . the precipitate was collected by filtration and dried at 45 ° c . under vacuum overnight to obtain 2 . 3 g of crystal . yield : 82 . 0 %. it was determined to be form i crystal of shr1258 dimaleate after comparing the x - ray diffraction patterns and dsc patterns . 1 . 0 g of shr1258 dimaleate solid ( prepared according to example 2 ) was added to 5 ml of water . the mixture was heated to reflux until a solution was obtained . the solution was stirred to cause as precipitate , and a sticky solid appeared the next day . the precipitate was collected by filtration and dried to obtain 0 . 68 g solid . yield : 68 . 3 %. it was determined to be an amorphous form of shr1258 dimaleate from the x - ray diffraction patterns and dsc patterns . the form i crystal of shr1258 dimaleate prepared in example 1 and the amorphous form of shr1258 dimaleate prepared in example 2 were placed open in the air to test the stability in various conditions including illumination ( 4500 lux ), heating ( 60 ° c . ), and humidity ( rh 90 %). the investigation duration was five and ten days , and the hplc analysis results are shown in table 1 . the form i crystal of shr1258 dimaleate and the amorphous form of shr1258 dimaleate were placed open in the air in various conditions including illumination , heating , and humidity . the results show that the stability of the form i crystal of shr1258 dimaleate and amorphous form of shr1258 dimaleate are similar under illumination without any statistically significant difference . the form i crystal of shr1258 dimaleate is more stable than amorphous shr1258 dimaleate under high temperature and high moisture conditions . the form i crystal of shr1258 dimaleate prepared in example 1 was grinded , heated and pressed , then evaluated by x - ray diffraction and dsc patterns . the results show that the crystal is stable and the data is shown in table 2 .
| 2 |
fig1 is a flowchart demonstrating an exemplary method according to one embodiment of the invention . as seen in fig1 , a method according to one or more embodiments of the invention collects system - wide information comprising operational data from a plurality of sensors , extraneous data , and transactional data ( step 102 ). as used herein , a “ system ” refers to a plurality of components and / or subsystems utilized in the production of a good or service . the system may be spread throughout several geographic locations and / or include one or distinct subsystems . for example , an oil and gas collection system may comprise several subsystems , such as : reservoirs , wells , plants , and / or export subsystems . thus , “ system - wide information ” includes information regarding one or more components throughout several subsystems . in this regard , embodiments of the invention view the production of the goods or services at the process or business level rather than single discrete components . as used herein , operational data includes data originating at or otherwise obtained ( directly or indirectly ) from any of a plurality of sensors throughout a system that measures one or more operation parameters within the system . in one such embodiment , the operational data may be collected substantially upon being received or measured at the sensor . for example , one or more sensors may measure data on a consistent basis over a period of time . as one example , in the oil and gas industry it may be desirable to collect data regarding oil pressure of a collection point every second . in that scenario , the sensor may consistently provide operational data for collection . in yet other embodiments , operational data may be stored on one or more computer - readable mediums in one or more formats for subsequent collection . in certain embodiments of the invention , not all of the operational data measured at one or more sensors is collected . for example , only a fraction of the total detected parameters from a specific sensor may be included in any collection efforts . for example , merely because a parameter is measured every second , there is no requirement that every data point is collected . rather , in one embodiment , only a predetermined fraction of the data ( e . g ., one data point per minute ) may be collected in step 102 . indeed , while the operational data may be collected in a “ system - wide ” manner , there is no requirement that the collected data include data from every sensor in the system . rather , the collection of “ system - wide ” operational data as used herein is data that is received from a plurality of sensors that are located in different components within a system , and wherein at least one datum is collected from a sensor that is considered part of a different component than at least another sensor and is not directly connected to the other component mechanically , hydraulically , or electrically or otherwise directly dependent on at least one other component . for example , the failure of one component having a sensor would not directly impact the working order of another component . indeed , some components within the system may , in the minds of those skilled in the art , not even be considered to have a tangential relationship with another component . as explained below , however , the inventors have discovered novel methods and systems for discovering relationships between components throughout a system and predicting loss events based upon the measurements of sensors within the system . as used herein , the term “ collect ” also encompasses the storage on one or more computer - readable mediums . indeed , the collection of data is not required to be a single event , rather the collection of data may encompass irregular storage of data across several computer - readable mediums . furthermore , various embodiments of the invention may be implemented with computer devices and systems that exchange and process data . in fact , with the benefit of this disclosure , those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that several computing and / or networking environments may be utilized to carry out one or more embodiments of the invention . for discussion purposes , fig2 provides an exemplary environment for performing one or more embodiments of the invention . elements of an exemplary computer system are illustrated in fig2 , in which the computer 200 is connected to a local area network ( lan ) 202 and a wide area network ( wan ) 204 . computer 200 includes a central processor 210 that controls the overall operation of the computer and a system bus 212 that connects central processor 210 to the components described below . system bus 212 may be implemented with any one of a variety of conventional bus architectures . computer 200 can include a variety of interface units and drives for reading and writing data or files . in particular , computer 200 includes a local memory interface 214 and a removable memory interface 216 respectively coupling a hard disk drive 218 and a removable memory drive 220 to system bus 212 . examples of removable memory drives include magnetic disk drives and optical disk drives . hard disks generally include one or more read / write heads that convert bits to magnetic pulses when writing to a computer - readable medium and magnetic pulses to bits when reading data from the computer readable medium . a single hard disk drive 218 and a single removable memory drive 220 are shown for illustration purposes only and with the understanding that computer 200 may include several of such drives . furthermore , computer 200 may include drives for interfacing with other types of computer readable media such as magneto - optical drives . unlike hard disks , system memories , such as system memory 226 , generally read and write data electronically and do not include read / write heads . system memory 226 may be implemented with a conventional system memory having a read only memory section that stores a basic input / output system ( bios ) and a random access memory ( ram ) that stores other data and files . a user can interact with computer 200 with a variety of input devices . fig2 shows a serial port interface 228 coupling a keyboard 230 and a pointing device 232 to system bus 212 . pointing device 232 may be implemented with a hard - wired or wireless mouse , track ball , pen device , or similar device . computer 200 may include additional interfaces for connecting peripheral devices to system bus 212 . fig2 shows a universal serial bus ( usb ) interface 234 coupling a video or digital camera 236 to system bus 212 . an ieee 1394 interface 238 may be used to couple additional devices to computer 200 . furthermore , interface 238 may be configured to operate with particular manufacture interfaces such as firewire developed by apple computer and i . link developed by sony . peripheral devices may include touch sensitive screens , game pads scanners , printers , and other input and output devices and may be coupled to system bus 212 through parallel ports , game ports , pci boards or any other interface used to couple peripheral devices to a computer . computer 200 also includes a video adapter 240 coupling a display device 242 to system bus 212 . display device 242 may include a cathode ray tube ( crt ), liquid crystal display ( lcd ), field emission display ( fed ), plasma display or any other device that produces an image that is viewable by the user . sound can be recorded and reproduced with a microphone 244 and a speaker 246 . a sound card 248 may be used to couple microphone 244 and speaker 246 to system bus 212 . one skilled in the art will appreciate that the device connections shown in fig2 are for illustration purposes only and that several of the peripheral devices could be coupled to system bus 212 via alternative interfaces . for example , video camera 236 could be connected to ieee 1394 interface 238 and pointing device 232 could be connected to usb interface 234 . computer 200 includes a network interface 250 that couples system bus 212 to lan 202 . lan 202 may have one or more of the well - known lan topologies and may use a variety of different protocols , such as ethernet . computer 200 may communicate with other computers and devices connected to lan 202 , such as computer 252 and printer 254 . computers and other devices may be connected to lan 202 via twisted pair wires , coaxial cable , fiber optics or other media . alternatively , radio waves may be used to connect one or more computers or devices to lan 202 . a wide area network 204 , such as the internet , can also be accessed by computer 200 . fig2 shows a modem unit 256 connected to serial port interface 228 and to wan 204 . modem unit 256 may be located within or external to computer 200 and may be any type of conventional modem , such as a cable modem or a satellite modem . lan 202 may also be used to connect to wan 204 . fig2 shows a router 258 that may connect lan 202 to wan 204 in a conventional manner . a server 260 is shown connected to wan 204 . of course , numerous additional servers , computers , handheld devices , personal digital assistants , telephones and other devices may also be connected to wan 204 . the operation of computer 200 and server 260 can be controlled by computer - executable instructions stored on a computer - readable medium 222 . for example , computer 200 may include computer - executable instructions for transmitting information to server 260 , receiving information from server 260 and displaying the received information on display device 242 . furthermore , server 260 may include computer - executable instructions for transmitting hypertext markup language ( html ) and extensible markup language ( xml ) computer code to computer 200 . as noted above , the term “ network ” as used herein and depicted in the drawings should be broadly interpreted to include not only systems in which remote storage devices are coupled together via one or more communication paths , but also stand - alone devices that may be coupled , from time to time , to such systems that have storage capability . consequently , the term “ network ” includes not only a “ physical network ” 202 , 204 , but also a “ content network ,” which is comprised of the data — attributable to a single entity — which resides across all physical networks . returning now to specific implementations , fig3 more clearly shows an exemplary system that may benefit from one or more embodiments of the invention . as shown on the top left side of the figure , pump 302 is operatively connected to pipe 304 , which terminates at separator 306 . pump 302 may be used to pump a liquid , such as crude oil being excavated from an underwater drilling facility . as the liquid is passed to separator 306 , sensor 308 may measure temperature of the liquid within pipe 304 . those skilled in specific arts , such as oil and gas production , understand that specific processes of pumping oil may not utilize the structures shown in fig3 , however , the basic teachings of fig3 are shown to demonstrate that the systems and methods of the invention may be applied to a vast array of multi - component systems . likewise , pump 310 may be used to pump the same or different material than the material being pumped by pump 302 , such as crude oil . as the gas travels through pipe 312 to separator 314 , sensor 316 measures a parameter , such as pressure , temperature , estimated flow rate , etc . the functionality of pump 302 is not dependent upon the functionality of pump 310 and vice - versa . specifically , each pump ( 302 , 310 ) may pump a different gas or liquid to a different separator and does not rely on an output of the other to function . thus , in the embodiments shown in fig3 , pumps 302 and 310 are considered part of different subunits within the system and that the failure of pump 302 would not directly impact the functionality of pump 310 . thus , some components of the system ( e . g ., such as pumps 302 and 310 ), may , in the minds of those skilled in the art , not even be considered to have a tangential relationship with each other . to the contrary , the failure of a cooling system , for example , for one of the pumps 302 , 310 may directly impact the output of the pump , such as lower output and or the failure of the pump , resulting in no output . like pumps 302 and 310 , separators ( 306 , 314 ) may also be geographically spaced apart and thus considered different subunits or subsystems of the overall system . fig4 b ( discussed in more detail later ) shows further subsystems that may be within the system shown in fig3 . as further seen in fig3 , each of the separators 306 , 314 may be used to separate the natural gas from the oil . for example , extracted gas from separators 306 , 314 may travel by pipes 318 , 320 , respectively to field gas compressors ( see element 322 ). pipe 318 may comprise sensor 324 that measures a parameter and pipe 320 may comprise sensor 326 that measures a parameter , such as flow rate , compression , temperature , and / or combinations thereof . conversely , the remaining oil product may travel by pipes 328 and 330 to a different processing subunit or subsystem ( see element 332 ). as explained in more detail later in the specification , subsystems utilized in processing the extracted gas from pipes 318 and 320 are distinct from subsystems utilized for processing the oil , however , information one subsystem may be used to predict loss event and / or the severity of a loss event that may occur in another subsystem . as discussed above in regards to step 102 , extraneous data may also be collected . as used herein , extraneous data excludes any data directly regarding the creation , processing , or manufacturing of the goods or services being produced by the system . for example , extraneous data may include data that either 1 ) originated outside the system , or 2 ) data originating inside the system regarding the measurement of an external impact source upon the system and would exclude any man - made intended input or output of the system or data regarding the processing or manufacturing of the goods and / or services . using the system of fig3 as an example , the output , electrical consumption , and or working parameters of the pumps 302 , 310 and / or the separators 306 , 314 would not be considered extraneous data . outside forces acted upon one or more of the components of fig3 , however , would be considered extraneous data . in one embodiment , extraneous data may include event data , such as environmental data . the extraneous data may be collected directly from a plurality of sensors connected to or associated with the system . yet in other embodiments , the sensors are not associated with the system . in either embodiment , the sensors would measure extraneous data , as opposed to system operational data . yet in other embodiments , the data , such as weather data may be historical and obtained after the occurrence of the event from which the data relates to . in this regard , there is no requirement that the data utilized be received from a sensor . rather , the extraneous data may be already modified or otherwise manipulated , for example subjected to statistical analysis before collection at step 102 . the data may be stored on one or more computer - readable mediums . in yet other embodiments , the extraneous data may be modeled from an event and not be actual results or information received at one or more sensors during the event . step 102 further includes the collection of transactional data . as used herein , transactional data includes any data comprising information regarding the intentional modification of the system . in one embodiment , the transactional data comprises maintenance data . maintenance data ( or any type of transactional data ) may include what component was added or removed from the system of fig3 , such as one or more of the pumps 302 , 310 and / or separators 306 , 314 . maintenance data may also include the part number , the manufacturer of the component , the individual who made the addition or removal of the component , the time and / or date of the modification , or other situational data surrounding the intentional input or output to the system . as shown in fig1 , the method may further include step 104 which comprises the selection of at least a portion , if not all , of the information from the system - wide information collected at step 102 to conduct statistical analysis upon . in one embodiment , it may be determined that all the data collected may be utilized , however , in other embodiments it may not be either feasible and / or desirable to utilize all of the collected data . for example , several industries , including the oil and gas industry , employ complex systems that comprise thousands of sensors in a plurality of different configurations . for example , a pump , such as pump 302 may report a measured parameter every second or even several parameters every second , whereas another sensor located either upstream or downstream from the pump , such as sensor 224 may only report a sensor parameter every minute or hour . as would be appreciated by those skilled in the art , it may not be feasible to utilize every value from every sensor given the large quantity of sensors and / or parameter values for those sensors . therefore , in one embodiment , the step of selecting which of the collected system - wide information to conduct statistical analysis on comprises the utilization of a threshold . a threshold may be any value point in which parameters either above or below that value point are not considered in further analysis . for example , the utilization of every data point may introduce errors from impacts that are not likely to occur again . using collected extraneous data as an example , the exclusion of event data regarding weather that is unlikely to occur again through a predefined time - period may be beneficial . a frequency threshold may also be utilized to exclude data associated with such an event or any event that did not occur above a certain frequency . for example , parameters obtained from a sensor regarding the wind ( e . g . speed and / or duration ), rainfall ( e . g ., speed , duration , accumulation ), or combinations thereof may be utilized . either taken individually or in combination , such sensor parameters may define a time period for which to exclude operational data and / or transactional data correlating to that particular time of the event . in yet another embodiment , an impact threshold may be utilized remove a portion of the collected data from further analysis . for example , if a repetitive occurrence routinely or consistently provides an impact below a significant amount , data associated with the impact may be excluded . in yet another embodiment , the impact is considered unavoidable . the impact threshold may be environmental , economic , relate to health and safety , and combinations thereof . further embodiments of the invention may include step 106 , where one or more features or attributes are built from operational data from at least one of the plurality of sensors in the system . such a process may be useful , for example , to investigate what sensors provide data of interest , how to best amplify the signals with transformations or features , and determine what transformation or features are most pertinent for a given sensor . those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that there are a wide variety of features that may be used in the various embodiments of the invention . some exemplary features and their descriptions are provided in table 1 . the inventors have found the features provided in table 1 to provide successful and favorable results , however , the scope of the invention is not limited to the disclosed features . furthermore , those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that one or more different features may be applied to specific groups of sensor data while other features are applied to another group . still yet , in certain embodiments , specific sensor data may not have features applied . in certain embodiments , step 106 may be incorporated into step 104 , yet in other embodiments , step 106 is independent from step 104 . for example , in one instance where step 106 is incorporated into step 104 , the features are applied to data before step 104 , and thus the results of step 106 may be used in determining which of the sensor data is utilized in one or more further steps . in another embodiment , step 106 may be conducted after 104 , however , the results of step 106 may be used in subsequent processes utilizing step 104 . specifically , in one embodiment , upon the application of the features , it may be determined to alter the selection of the portion of the collected system - wide information that is utilized . thus , step 104 may be repeated . yet in embodiment where steps 104 and 106 are independent , step 106 may only be used on a subset of the data selected in step 104 . yet , in other embodiments , step 106 may be omitted . as shown in step 108 , a plurality of statistical models may be applied to the selected operational data , extraneous data , and transactional data ( whether with , partially with , or without one or more features applied to at least a portion of the selected data ). specifically , the models are applied to determine a best - fit model in regards to the correlation among the operational data and extraneous data with the transactional data to predict events and impacts of the predicted events . in one embodiment , each of a selected group of statistical models are applied to the data . yet in another embodiment , only one or more specific statistical models are applied to specific data . for example , if one statistical model is more accurate at predicting a specific event and / or the impact of that loss when applied to data specific to one or more sensors , then the model ( s ) may only be applied to that data . in yet further embodiments , as systems change or extraneous forces upon the systems change , one model that was highly accurate when applied to specific data may no longer be the best model , thus according to certain embodiments , the models may be used to further test the accuracy of selected models . furthermore , step 108 may further comprise the investigation of any correlation of specific sensor data with other sensor data . those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that there are a wide variety of statistical models that may be used in the various embodiments of the invention . some exemplary models that may be used in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention include a baysean network which provides a probabilistic approach where a structured model is created with conditional probabilities defined for relationships between nodes in the model . similarity based modeling ( i . e ., smartsignal sbm ) may be also be used as a non - parametric technique that constructs a function surface entirely based on training data by using interpolation to produce estimates for every point . decision trees may also be used , where internal nodes are simple decision rules on one or more attributes and leaf nodes are predicted class labels . other algorithms that may be used include multivariate linear regression and support vector machines . the inventors have also discovered that multivariate gaussian models are especially accurate in specific embodiments of the invention to predict loss events in the oil and gas extraction industry . the models may be used to provide an outcome for predicting events and impacts of the predicted events . the predicted events are events which will cause a loss in terms of economic , environmental , and / or health and safety . in one embodiment , impacts are measured in regards to specific economic impact , environmental impact , and health and safety impact . in certain embodiments , step 110 may be utilized to apply the best - fit model to predict events and impacts of the predicted events . for example , fig4 a and 4b show exemplary displays of predicted events . fig4 a shows an exemplary display that graphically presents predicted loss events . the display may also include historical and substantially recent or present events . fig4 b shows an exemplary display that schematically presents the predicted loss events shown in fig4 a , such as for conveying information of where within the system the predicted event may occur . those skilled in the art will readily understand that fig4 b may be presented in conjunction with , or independently of fig4 a , and vice - versa . looking first to fig4 a , display 400 extends along an x - axis and a y - axis . in one embodiment , the y - axis is divided into discrete components or subunits of a system , such as the system shown in fig3 and / or 4 b . in another embodiment , each element of the y - axis comprises a category of loss . thus , in both exemplary embodiments , the elements of the y - axis does not show data collected from a sensor , but rather specific loss ( es ) that are predicted ( or have occurred ). for example , the first component along the y - axis is component 402 . component 402 may represent what is referred to in the oil and gas industry as a mono - ethylene glycol system (“ meg system ”). specifically looking to fig4 b , exemplary display 410 shows a portion of a system having a meg subsystem ( element 412 ). for example , any gas transported to element 332 of fig3 may enter through element 408 shown in fig4 b , pass through various components and subsystems and be delivered to the meg system 412 . indeed , in one embodiment , the entire system including all the subsystems shown in fig3 may be provided in display 410 , thereby providing a user with a system overview . in certain embodiments , the user may zoom into or otherwise select groups of subsystems or individual subsystems . as shown within element 412 , which represents the meg system , the system typically comprises an injection unit 414 that injects material having anti - freeze like properties into the flow lines transporting gas to limit or prevent gumming . thus , by using a meg system , more oil and / or gas may be extracted over a set period of time . historically , however , it is hard to predict the failure of the meg system and even more difficult to predict the impact of the failure on a process or business level . returning to fig4 a , the x - axis of display 400 represents time . the time may be divided into any measurement of time , such as days , hours , minutes , seconds , or combinations thereof . for discussion purposes only , each time division in display 400 is 1 day . in one embodiment , the display may be adjusted or manipulated by a user . for example , a user may expand upon the predicted loss event , such as altering the time scale to determine a specific hour or minute the predicted loss event is to occur . looking to display 400 , the majority of the display is a uniform shade , indicating that a loss event is not predicted ( or has not occurred ). there are , however , some different shades in the chart that are indicative of a loss event . looking specifically to component 402 ( representing the meg system ), a loss event is not expected for several days , however , as indicated by element 404 , there is a predicted loss event . for example , while the meg system prevents gumming of the lines , too much water in the flow lines may result in salt build up within the lines . thus , the shading and / or coloring of element 404 may be used to indicate the estimated loss or the severity of the loss . indeed , knowing an estimated time - frame for a predicted loss event may be advantageous in further reducing the impact . for example , most industrial processes have “ planned losses .” for example , production facilities may have scheduled down times where the production of products or services are reduced or ceased . for example , systems may need to be flushed and / or refueled on a routine basis . thus , by knowing the timing of the planned losses and the estimated timing of the predicted loss , it may be feasible to take corrective or remedial measures during the planned loss events to prevent the unplanned loss event . in one embodiment , a cheaper corrective measure may be feasible as a short - term fix to allow the system to operate until taking a second more - intensive corrective measure during the planned loss period . furthermore , in the embodiment shown in fig4 a , both historical data and predictive data are displayed . the user may “ click on ” or otherwise select past data to determine what the loss event was , the severity of the loss event , and / or the corrective measure taken in an attempt to mitigate or eliminate the loss event . in this regard , if another loss event for that category or component is predicted , the user may readily view the past corrective measures to determine the effectiveness of past actions . fig4 c shows another exemplary display 420 that may be used in conjunction with one or more embodiments of the invention . specifically , upon conducting step 110 shown in fig1 , where the best fit model is applied to determine loss events and the predicted impact of the loss events , display 420 may be used to provide information regarding the timing , location , severity , and cause ( s ) of the loss event . as seen in the upper portion of display 420 , the shading of element 404 indicates that there is a severe predicted loss event within a specific time - frame for the meg system ( represented by row 402 ). the bottom portion of display 420 provides a schematic diagram of one or more subsystems of the system that may be used to more clearly show where the predicted loss is likely to occur . in one embodiment , visual cue 422 may be associated with one or more components of the meg system 412 to indicate the location of the predicted loss event . in other embodiments , a user may zoom into or otherwise view information regarding individual pieces within specific components that are likely to fail , so the user can determine if one is readily available or be ordered . in another embodiment , the potential cause ( s ) of the predicted loss event may also be graphically displayed . specifically , element 424 ( labeled “ temperature sensor ”) may represent a temperature sensor on a pipe carrying gas or oil . temperature sensor 424 may be highlighted or otherwise marked to indicate a potential cause of a loss . the marking may be used to indicate that the temperature within the pipe has exceeded a predefined limit or has risen at a pace that is above a predefined limit . for example , as discussed above , an increase in the temperature of the pipes carrying oil and / or gas may indicate an elevated concentration or volume of water within the pipes . in one embodiment , the user may “ click on ” or otherwise select temperature sensor 424 to determine the temperature , the rate of increase , or other information . furthermore , display 420 may also be associated with displays 500 and 510 of fig5 a and 5b , as discussed in more detail below , to view potential preventative measures . while the use of coloring and / or shading has been described to convey exemplary embodiments , any indicia that visually conveys a severity of the loss is within the scope of this invention . furthermore , those skilled in the art will readily understand that other cues , such as sounds , may be used in conjunction with or independent of the visual cues to indicate a loss or severity of said loss . for example , another exemplary view of predicted losses is shown in fig5 a . display 500 extends along an x - axis and a y - axis . the y - axis represents the predicted loss based upon millions of barrels of oil ( abbreviated in the oil and gas industry as “ mboe ”). the x - axis of display 500 represents the estimated costs based upon business impact . for example , element 502 , labeled “ meg system o ” is predicted to result in a loss of about 54 to about 59 millions of barrels of oil and an estimated total cost of about 3200 to about 3450 . utilizing the exemplary view in fig5 a may be useful when users want to quickly determine what subsystems or components are likely to result in a loss event . display 500 may also be adjusted to show specific time periods , for example , to display any predicted loss events until the next planned shutdown of a process ( planned loss event ). yet in another embodiment , the user may be able to determine more information regarding the loss event , such more specific information regarding the component or subunit expect the fail , and / or the impacts of the loss event in regards to the economic impact , the environmental impact , and / or the impact on the health and safety . for example , fig5 b shows an exemplary display ( 510 ) that may provide information regarding a predicted loss event and actions to correct or remedy the loss event . for example , display 510 may be presented to a user that “ clicks on ” or otherwise selects to view the loss event 502 shown in fig5 a . in another embodiment , display 510 may be presented to a user upon “ clicking on ” or otherwise selecting a portion of the meg system 412 of fig4 b . as shown in fig5 b , display 510 extends along an x - axis and a y - axis . the y - axis represents the predicted average loss based upon millions of barrels of oil . the x - axis represents the estimated costs for each of the displayed preventative measures . as seen , preventative measures 512 , 514 , and 516 , are each shown by way of the average loss in oil and average total costs . for example , performing either “ corrective ” measure ( element 512 ) costs slightly less than performing “ preventative maintenance ” measure ( element 514 ), however , “ preventative maintenance ” ( 514 ) results in losing much less in terms of mboe . conversely , “ predictive measure ” ( element 516 ) costs more than both of the above alternatives ( elements 512 and 514 ), however , results in much less loss when measuring mboe . in certain embodiments , the preventative measures ( 512 , 514 , and 516 ) may also be viewed in context of not performing any action to eliminate or reduce the impact of the predicted loss event . for example , element 518 ( labeled “ breakdown ”) indicates the predicted loss due to not taking any corrective or preventative action . as would be appreciated by those skilled in the art , the determination of the severity of the loss event may be tailored to a specific business &# 39 ; need . for example , corporations are becoming increasingly aware that consumer &# 39 ; s purchasing decisions may be based on how the company is perceived on impacting the environment . therefore , in one embodiment , even a slight environmental impact coupled with a large economic impact , may be treated as significantly more important than even an economic impact that is twice as large . likewise , any predicted loss regarding the health and safety of workers or surrounding residents may be treated significantly more important , even when not coupled with an economic and / or environmental impact . step 112 may then be applied to determine at least one intervention that may reduce or eliminate the impact of the predicted event ( s ). in select embodiments , the intervention ( s ) may be displayed on a display device , such as being associated with display 510 . in one embodiment , interventions are displayed on a display device , wherein at least one intervention differs from another intervention in regards to at least on impact selected from the impact group consisting of : environmental , economic , health and safety , and combinations thereof . for example , a first intervention that calls for repairing a first component may dramatically reduce the economic impact , however , may not substantially reduce an environmental impact . in contrast , a second intervention may reduce the economic impact to a lesser extent , however , will substantially reduce an environmental impact . in certain situations , the second intervention will require different actions and / or components to be repaired than if the first intervention is undertaken . yet in other situations , the interventions may differ in only the time and / or worker to conduct at least a portion of the intervention . as seen in fig1 , as an intervention is applied ( for example , following the determination in step 112 ), more data could be collected , such as by repeating step 102 . while the repetition of step 102 is shown in fig1 as following step 112 , the collection of data may be continuous throughout the process and be conducted before , during , or after any of the other steps shown in fig1 . furthermore , other methods may be utilized in conjunction with or independently of the preceding steps . for example , step 114 may be conducted following the preceding steps . at step 114 , the accuracy of the best fit model may be determined , specifically , the actual outcome in terms of economic , environmental , and health and safety can be compared with the predicted outcome according to the predictions based upon the best fit model . not only can the impacts be measured and compared , but the time period in which the loss event was predicted to occur may be compared with the actual timing of a loss event . indeed , any prediction directly or indirectly based upon the best - fit model may be compared at step 114 . in addition or as an alternative to determining the accuracy of the best fit model , the actual outcome may be compared to other models , such as the models from step 108 , to determine if another model is more accurate than the best - fit model initially chosen at step 108 . the present invention has been described herein with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that a person understanding this invention may conceive of changes or other embodiments or variations , which utilize the principles of this invention without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims . all are considered within the sphere , spirit , and scope of the invention .
| 6 |
the high level of functionality associated with the h - smg b 1 of fig1 , and the high expected volumes of h - smgs ( typically one in each home , which depending on the size of the utility can be 100 , 000 s to millions of devices ) leads to a number of problems : high cost and complexity of procuring certificates : in some markets , particularly germany , certificates must meet high national security levels and can only be procured from appropriately certified root ca . high operational costs and certificate management : the h - smg b 1 may require multiple digital certificates covering transport security , signing data , encrypting content object , key transport , and these need to be updated at intervals ( e . g . every 18 months ). system vulnerability : a complex hardware item in the home can present a vulnerability in the system ( e . g . in case of its failure ) and because it acts as a local storage point of meter data and recipient of demand control commands . significant effort has to be made to prevent , detect and report tamper attacks by customers and other parties . hardware security module ( hsm ) in the h - smg : depending on the security requirements of the utility provider , it may be necessary to store private keys using an hsm . this may again increase the cost and complexity of the h - smg b 1 . firmware update load : necessity to maintain firmware updates of complex functionality of the h - smg may cause high load to the wan , and logistical problems with managing downloads without causing network congestion . overall h - smg b 1 cost : in some markets the functionality needed for the box can be high , leading to high capital costs to the utility for installation . these drawbacks and problems may be improved by the present solution . a remote gateway or smart meter gateway is provided to manage devices in the home and in particular those devices operating within regulatory constraints that place high security requirements on the system . the replacement home device itself is smaller , cheaper and dumber , with the intelligence centralised at the remote gateway . a new network entity , the remote gateway or server based smart meter gateway , s - smg ( represented by b 3 in fig2 ), may run within a data centre e 3 , and performs the functionality typically provided by a h - smg b 1 , except for termination of the physical layer and link layers . a lower complexity hub or local gateway b 2 is introduced within the property 20 . the local gateway b 2 establishes a permanently connected ip tunnel c 2 over a wan c 1 to the remote gateway b 3 . several variations may be used , including : ( a ) if a cable wan is used , then the local gateway b 2 may be represented by a cable modem and the ip tunnel may be achieved using a docsis ( data over cable service interface specification ) service flow from the cable modem , for example . ( b ) if a cellular wan is used , then the local gateway b 2 may be a cellular m2m device , for example using 2g , 2g +, 3g or lte radio access network , and the ip tunnel may be achieved using ipsec protocol , for example . functions of the local gateway b 2 may include any one or more of : 1 . phy and data link connections to utility meters and / or utility devices . ( a ) procure single certificate for tls ( b ) import single certificate for b 3 for tls functions of the remote gateway b 3 may include any one or more of : 4 . manage wan communications with utility management components d 1 , d 2 , d 3 . ( a ) own key pairs for wan communications ( b ) key pairs used by smart meters ( c ) procure own certificates for tls , sig , enc ( d ) create , manage and delete certificates for smart meters . ( e ) import content level certificates for utility management components d 1 , d 2 , d 3 for sig , enc , aut . a communications component or server b 4 may be part of the remote gateway b 3 or be a separate device . this communications component b 4 may have any or all of the following functionality : ( f ) procure its own certificates for tls ( g ) import transportation certificates for utility management components d 1 , d 2 , d 3 for tls . therefore , the local gateway b 2 now only needs certificates to secure the ip tunnel ( e . g . the procurement of its own certificate for tls , represented by function 9 ( a ), and import of the tls certificate of the s - smg , represented by function 9 ( b )). smart meters and other devices ( e . g . home display a 3 , switchable load a 4 , micro generator a 5 ) in the home ( e . g . any wired meters a 1 , or wireless meters a 2 ) may remain unchanged ( when compared with the system 10 of fig1 ). these devices a 1 - a 5 may connect to the local gateway b 2 , using existing wired or wireless physical and data link connections , as if they were connecting to the h - smg b 1 of fig1 . the local gateway b 2 may receive messages from smart meters a 1 , a 2 , and other energy devices in the home a 3 , a 4 , a 5 , and forwards these messages over the established ip tunnel c 2 to the remote gateway b 3 . likewise , the local gateway b 2 may receive messages from the remote gateway b 3 over the established ip tunnel c 2 and forward these over a smart meter network e 1 ( i . e . a local network of utility meters ) or a home area network e 2 ( i . e . a local network of other devices ) to the utility meters or energy devices in the home ( a 1 - a 5 ). to achieve this , the local gateway b 2 terminates the physical layer ( iso layer 1 ) and associated data link layer protocols ( iso layer 2 ) towards the smart meters and other energy devices ( function 1 ). this can include but is not restricted to the following : rs - 485 + hdlc ( high - level data link control ) wireless m - bus ( en 13757 - 4 ) ieee 802 . 15 . 4 ( sub - ghz or 2 . 4 ghz ) the local gateway b 2 may use the ip tunnel c 2 to relay protocol messages received , between the devices a 1 - a 5 and the remote gateway b 3 ( function 10 ). this includes but is not limited to the following protocols : tls oms ( open metering system ) security — afl ( authentication and fragmentation layer ) m - bus ( en 13757 - 3 ), including security and application layer sml ( smart message language , defined in iec 62056 - 5 - 3 - 8 ) dlms / cosem ( device language message specification / companion specification for energy metering ) ( iec 62056 - 6 - 2 ) the secure smart meter network in the home e 1 may be managed remotely by the remote gateway b 3 . this is represented by function 2 . this may be achieved by termination within the remote gateway b 3 of the transport security protocols ( e . g . tls ) used by smart meter devices a 1 , a 2 . this may include authentication of access from devices a 1 , a 2 . it also may include the ability of the remote gateway b 3 to create , manage and delete certificates for smart meters ( a 1 , a 2 ), represented by function 9 ( d ). these digital certificates may be generated from a root certificate or otherwise obtained . similarly , the secure home area network e 2 may be managed remotely by the remote gateway or server b 3 . this is represented by function 3 . this may be achieved by termination within the remote gateway b 3 of the transport security protocols ( e . g . tls ) used by han devices ( a 3 , a 4 , a 5 ). this may include authentication of access from devices a 3 , a 4 , a 5 . cryptographic operations no longer carried out by the h - smg b 1 of fig1 and these are now carried out by the remote gateway b 3 . this is represented by function 7 . this may include the following procedures : ( a ) generation of random numbers ( b ) negotiation of keys ( c ) generation of signatures ( d ) verification of signatures this may be achieved by implementing application layer security within the remote gateway b 3 rather than the h - smg b 1 . an advantage of this is that the local gateway in the home ( or other property ) no longer needs to implement a ( hardware ) secure module , which leads to a saving in complexity and cost . generation of key pairs and their secure storage may be performed by the remote gateway b 3 . this is represented by function 8 . this may include any one or more of the following procedures : ( a ) generation of own key pairs for communication over the wan for : tls , sig ( content data signature ) and enc ( content data encryption ) ( b ) creation , management and deletion of key pairs used by the smart meters . aspects of communication to remote parties may also be handled remotely the ( one or more ) remote gateway b 3 , as opposed to being handled by the smg device in the home ( h - smg b 1 shown in fig1 ). this may be represented by functions 4 , 9 ( c ), 9 ( e ), 9 ( f ) and 9 ( g ) above . remote parties may be those that consume data from the home , or provide commands or data to entities in the home . for example : ( a ) meter data management system d 1 operated by the energy retailer . ( b ) local system controllers d 2 , who control local systems in the home a 4 , a 5 . ( c ) remote system for configuration of the remote gateway d 3 . ( 1 ) key pairs for wan communication may be generated by the remote gateway b 3 ( as mentioned in function 8 ( a ) above ) ( 2 ) certificates may be procured from a certificate authority at the remote gateway b 3 from a certificate authority for content level security ( sig representing a certificate for signing content , and enc representing a certificate for encrypting content ). this is represented by function 9 ( c ) above . ( 3 ) certificates may be imported at the remote gateway b 3 representing remote parties d 1 , d 2 , d 3 for operations at the application level ( sig representing a certificate for signing content , enc representing a certificate for encrypting content , and aut representing a certificate for external authentication ). this is represented by function 9 ( e ) above . ( 4 ) a dedicated communications component or server b 4 may be used to handle traffic from one or more remote gateway b 3 instances ( which in turn represent data from a plurality of homes ) towards the remote communications parties d 1 , d 2 , d 3 . this may involve the handling of authenticating access , and transport security for the remote parties . the communications component or server b 4 can achieve secure transport towards the remote entities using a single public key to represent itself ( function 9 ( f ) above ), rather than needing a separate public key to represent each household or property . it can manage the installation of transport level certificates for remote parties d 1 , d 2 , d 3 — represented by function 9 ( g ) above , which may be logistically easier to manage than installing these at potentially millions of instances of devices in the home . meter data handling decisions may now be performed remotely by a network server , i . e . the remote gateway b 3 . this is represented by function 5 above . this includes decisions to schedule readings taken from the smart meters a 1 , a 2 , and to schedule the upload of readings to remote parties ( e . g . d 1 , d 3 ), and managing of ‘ on - demand ’ reading commands from remote parties ( e . g . d 1 ). the remote gateway b 3 may also provide one or more functions including : ( a ) calculation of the customer charge explicitly for the purpose of display on the ‘ home display ’ a 3 , and ( b ) sending of the calculated charge to the home display a 3 using for example dlms / cosem . the functionality level of a local gateway b 2 is lower than an h - smg b 1 . for example , a hardware security module may not be require in the local gateway b 2 . this may reduce cost and implementation complexity . the operating cost ( in computing requirements , network requirements and financial terms ) of the system 100 ( see fig2 ) may be reduced . the functionality may be achieved using fewer ( or only a single certificate at the local gateway b 2 ) in order to secure the ip tunnel c 1 . the system ( fig1 ) of an h - smg typically involves the procurement of multiple certificates that may have to meet a high level of national or regulatory security requirements . multi - tenancy : to improve efficiency and reduce system complexity it may be advantageous to implement a multi - tenanted concept — i . e . multiple households or properties may be served from a single device . however , this can be difficult to implement and manage in practice . therefore , utility companies may resort to a 1 : 1 ratio of deployment of smart meter gateway ( smg ) per household or property . this may be due to planning complexity ( i . e . logistically easier to assume one smg per household or property ). however , the s - smg or remote gateway b 3 approach makes multi - tenancy more achievable because the capability is concentrated in a cloud environment . savings may be significant given that rollout of such devices to each property may occur for tens of thousands or even millions of households . a dedicated communications server of function b 4 ( either combined or separate from the remote gates b 3 ) may handle communication links using a single transport certificate to represent traffic from a large number of local gateways b 2 . security : security may be improved , in particular for transfer over cable infrastructure , as the modulation inherent at the physical layer provides additional protection . to illustrate the cost saving , a rollout of a high functionality system ( i . e . based on the prior art system 10 of claim 1 ) may be estimated at 200 for each of 100 , 000 homes . for this system it is estimated that six certificates are needed per h - smg b 1 ( covering transport security , signing data , key transport ) meeting the required high level of national security requirements . these certificates may cost 1 each , for example . these need to be renewed every 18 months , resulting 4 per device p . a . a ) h - smg cost — 20 m over rollout period b ) operational cost of certificates ( estimated ) 400 , 000 p . a , once rollout completed . a ) local gateway b 2 cost — 1 m over rollout period b ) operational cost of certificates 66 , 000 p . a . once rollout completed . fig3 shows a schematic diagram of the system 200 for managing utility meters and gateways . this figure shows the interaction between the remote gateway b 3 , a plurality of local gateways b 2 over one or more wans and utility management components d 1 , d 2 , d 3 . as described previously , there may be several remote gateways b 3 operating on the system 200 but only one is shown on this figure . the remote gateway b 3 contains a data store 210 for storing static and dynamic data as well as obtained and generated certificates , for example . parts of the data store may be highly secure , e . g . implemented on a hardware security module , representing an efficiency saving over storing the equivalent data in distributed secure elements in home gateways . processor 220 is used to execute the logic to implement the method and manage the data and devices . the remote gateway b 3 also contains memory such as ram 230 . the functionality of the communications component or server b 4 may be incorporated in to the remote gateway b 3 or may be separate ( not shown in this figure ). a certificate authority 240 may be used to generate digital certificates provided to the various components that require them . these digital certificates are provided to the remote gateway b 3 , the local gateways b 2 and the utility management components d 1 , d 2 , d 3 . several certificate authorities 240 may be used and several instances of remote gateways b 3 may be provided either at different parts of the network or within a single server , for example . as will be appreciated by the skilled person , details of the above embodiment may be varied without departing from the scope of the present invention , as defined by the appended claims . for example , utility meters and utility meter data has been described . however , other utility devices and utility data may be managed by the system and method . this may include devices to consume a utility ( e . g . a boiler , heater , air conditioner , lighting , etc .) and the data may include control commands or usage information . many combinations , modifications , or alterations to the features of the above embodiments will be readily apparent to the skilled person and are intended to form part of the invention . any of the features described specifically relating to one embodiment or example may be used in any other embodiment by making the appropriate changes .
| 7 |
embodiments of the invention describe a cover for a handheld computer . in the following description , for the purposes of explanation , numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention . it will be apparent , however , that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details . in other instances , well - known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention . an embodiment of the invention provides a cover for use with a handheld computer . the cover is at least partially formed from a deformable material such as an elastomer . the cover includes features to enable it to attach to a handheld computer so as to protect components of the handheld computer . in an embodiment , a cover for a handheld computer includes a rigid frame , a coupling mechanism , and a deformable layer . the rigid frame has a first dimension measured along a lengthwise axis of the handheld computer . the deformable layer has a second dimension measured along the lengthwise axis of the cover . the second dimension is larger than the first dimension . the coupling mechanism is configured to detachably connect the cover to the handheld computer . as used herein , a dimension is a length , or width of an object measured along a particular axis . the first dimension may correspond to a length of the cover where the rigid member extends , and the second dimension may correspond to a length of the cover having the deformable layer . the cover is detachably connected to the handheld computer because a user can manipulate its coupling mechanism to connect the cover to the handheld computer , and to detach the cover from the handheld computer . among some advantages provided by embodiments of the invention , a majority of the cover &# 39 ; s exterior material is padded by the deformable layer . in particular , a region of the cover is padded with no interior rigidity . another region of the cover may also include a thicker cross - section comprising additional material for the deformable layer . the cover protects a front panel of the handheld computer , but the deformable layer avoids unwanted pressure from damaging or activating the handheld computer . in particular , portions of the cover with added cushion characteristics are positioned over areas of the handheld computer where a display and buttons are provided . portions of the cover having added cushion characteristics include the region of the cover having no internal rigidity , and regions of the cover having added thickness . the padding provided by the deformable layer in these portions dampens forceful contact that can damage the display . one or more of these regions may also dampen unwanted contact that may actuate one of the buttons on the handheld computer . [ 0026 ] fig1 is a front view of a cover 100 for a handheld computer 200 . the cover 100 includes a top edge 102 and a bottom edge 104 . an attachment panel 105 extends from the top edge 102 . the attachment panel 105 includes a coupling mechanism to enable the cover to detachably connect to handheld computer 200 . the front view shows a front surface 115 of cover 100 . the front surface 115 is intended to form an exterior of cover 100 when the cover is attached to handheld computer 200 and used to protect the handheld computer &# 39 ; s front panel 212 . the cover 100 extends along a lengthwise axis z . a display opening 112 is provided on cover 100 . fig1 shows an interior of cover 100 having a rigid frame 130 . the cover 100 maybe formed from a combination of rigid frame 130 overlaid by a deformable layer 140 . in particular , deformable layer 140 may envelope all or a majority of rigid frame 130 . therefore , rigid frame 130 may be primarily interior on cover 100 , while deformable layer 140 forms a majority of the cover &# 39 ; s exterior . the term majority means more than 50 %. in an embodiment , rigid frame 130 extends a first length l1 along the lengthwise axis z . the deformable layer 140 extends a second length l2 along the lengthwise axis . the length l2 is greater than l1 . in one embodiment , l2 corresponds to more than 90 % of the overall length of cover 100 , measured from attachment panel 105 to bottom edge 104 . the deformable layer 140 extends into a region 145 that does not contain rigid frame 130 . a length of region 145 is l2 - l1 . therefore , a thickness of region 145 contains only deformable material , with no internal rigidity , so as to provide added cushion characteristics to cover 100 . the region 145 may correspond to where cover 100 protects the display , and / or overlays the buttons 216 ( fig7 ) of handheld computer 200 . in an embodiment , the length of region 145 ( l2 - l1 ) corresponds to a majority of the cover &# 39 ; s overall length ( l2 ). thus , l2 may be at least 50 % greater than l1 . in one application , l2 may be more than 100 % greater than l1 . the rigid frame 130 maybe assembled to attachment panel 105 . the rigid frame 130 is unitarily constructed . the term unitarily formed means that the component is formed during a single manufacturing process . for example , rigid member 130 may be unitarily formed as a result of a molding process that creates it . the rigid frame 130 may be formed from rigid plastic in the molding process . alternatively , materials such as metals may be used to form rigid frame 130 . furthermore , rigid frame 130 and deformable layer 140 may each be unitarily combined . that is , deformable layer 140 is combined with rigid member 130 using a manufacturing process that causes the two components to be formed into one item . in particular , deformable layer 140 maybe molded onto rigid frame 130 after the rigid frame is formed , so that deformable layer 140 envelopes rigid member 130 , and is inseparable from the rigid member without damage . to this end , a suitable material for deformable layer 140 is an elastomer . alternatively , deformable layer 140 may be attached to rigid member 130 using glue or traditional coupling mechanisms , such as fasteners . specific examples of materials that could alternatively be used for deformable layer 140 include deformable plastic , rubber , thick leather or fabric , vinyl , a material with a sponge or foam core , or other materials and material combinations that provide a cushion characteristic to cover 100 . the rigid frame 130 may be partially exposed in some regions of front surface 115 . a display opening 112 maybe formed on a segment of cover 100 . the display opening 112 may be formed by rigid frame 130 . a perimeter 116 of display opening 112 exposes rigid frame 130 . in addition , a strip 132 or other region adjacent to attachment surface 105 may be exposed . a non - opaque material 122 may be provided in the opening 112 . the non - opaque material 122 may correspond to glass or translucent plastic . in one embodiment , the non - opaque material 122 may be press fitted into the opening 112 . a button opening 122 is provided on the cover towards bottom edge 104 . the button opening 122 is positioned to enable one of the buttons 216 ( see fig7 ) of handheld computer 200 to be accessible when the cover 100 is resting on front panel 212 of the handheld computer . one of the buttons 216 on front panel 212 maybe exposed to enable a user to actuate the handheld computer . a width of cover 100 is variable over the length l2 . in one embodiment , the width of cover 100 increases near where button opening 122 is located . the width of cover 100 may correspond to w1 where cover 100 is to overlay the display 230 ( fig7 ). the width of cover 100 may correspond to w2 where cover 100 is to overlay the buttons 216 ( fig7 ) of handheld computer 200 . [ 0037 ] fig2 is a rear view of cover 100 . a back surface 125 of cover 100 is configured to rest adjacent to the front panel 212 of cover 100 when the cover is used to protect the front panel 212 . the back surface includes a padded region 150 . the padded region 150 may be provided on a portion of cover 100 corresponding to portions of l1 and l2 . thus , the padded region 150 is a segment that extends over portions of rigid frame 130 ( shown in phantom ). in one embodiment , padded region 150 extends a majority of l2 . the padded region 150 may be formed from an extra thickness of material used for deformable layer 140 . for example , padded region 150 may correspond to where deformable layer 140 has extra elastomer material . alternatively , padded region 150 may correspond to where additional material , such as foam core , is provided to protrude from back surface 125 . by enabling the padded region 150 to extend from back surface 125 , features of handheld computer 200 are better protected against unwanted contact . in particular , padded region 150 may be dimensioned to fit into a recess of the handheld computer &# 39 ; s front panel 212 where the display 230 ( fig7 ) resides . in this way , additional protection can be provided to the display 230 ( fig7 ), which is vulnerable to sharp contact . [ 0040 ] fig2 also shows a coupling mechanism for attaching cover 100 to handheld computer 200 , under an embodiment of the invention . the coupling mechanism may correspond to a pair of clips 162 , 162 , which insert into corresponding openings of handheld computer 200 . an example of a coupling mechanism for use with an embodiment of the invention is described in detail by u . s . patent application ser . no . 09 / 570 , 362 , hereby incorporated by reference . the coupling mechanism enables cover 100 to be attached and detached to handheld computer 200 by a user . the cover can be moved about a top of handheld computer 200 . one position of cover 100 is adjacent to the front panel 212 of handheld computer 200 , with front surface 115 forming the exterior of cover 100 . another position of cover 100 is adjacent to a back panel 222 ( fig5 ) of handheld computer 200 , with rear surface 125 forming the exterior of cover 100 . [ 0041 ] fig3 is a side view of cover 100 . as shown , an overall length of padded region 150 corresponds to the length l3 , measured along the lengthwise axis z . the length l3 may encompass all or portions of l1 . the deformable layer 140 may also include a bent segment 155 near the bottom 104 . the bent segment 155 may be used to match a contour on the surface of the handheld computer &# 39 ; s front panel 212 . in an embodiment , a coupling mechanism for cover 100 includes attachment panel 105 , a bridge 155 , and clips 162 . the bridge 155 connects clips 162 to attachment panel 105 . the bridge 155 is pivotally connected to attachment panel 105 . the attachment panel 105 is contoured to reach over a top of handheld computer 200 . in particular , attachment panel 105 may be arced to reach over the top of handheld computer 200 . the clips 162 extend downward from attachment panel 105 . the shape of attachment panel 105 facilitates motion of cover 100 between positions against the front panel 212 and back panel 222 of handheld computer 200 . the clips 162 can be pivoted into an engaged position using bridge 155 . [ 0044 ] fig4 is a front view of a cover attached to a handheld computer , with the handheld computer shown in phantom . the front surface 115 of cover 100 forms an exterior for the combination of cover 100 and handheld computer 200 . the cover 100 is configured so that display opening 112 and non - opaque material 122 are positioned over the display 230 ( fig7 ) of handheld computer 200 . one or more of the buttons 216 of handheld computer 200 may extend from button opening 122 . the cover 100 may be shaped to overlay all of the handheld computer &# 39 ; s display 230 ( fig7 ), and all of the handheld computer &# 39 ; s buttons 216 ( fig7 ) except for one or more exposed buttons . the buttons 216 exposed by opening 116 may be configured to switch handheld computer 200 into an active state . the attachment panel 105 connects into a top housing segment 204 of handheld computer 200 . the top housing segment 204 may include a midframe , contained between exterior shells of handheld computer 200 . openings 264 ( fig6 ) to receive the coupling mechanism may be provided on the top housing segment 204 . a decorative groove 223 may be provided on front panel 212 of handheld computer 200 . the groove 223 may trace a geometry that at least partially surrounds the display 230 ( fig7 ) and buttons 216 ( fig7 ) of handheld computer 200 . the general shape of cover 100 may match the geometry of the groove 223 . the cover 100 may be dimensioned so that groove 223 is visible as an outline of the cover &# 39 ; s perimeter , when the cover is positioned adjacent front panel 212 of handheld computer 200 . [ 0048 ] fig5 is a rear view of cover 100 in an extended position about the handheld computer 200 . the cover 100 is shown in an intermediate position , between resting against front panel 212 ( fig4 ) and back panel 222 ( fig5 ) of handheld computer 200 . from the rear , front surface 115 of cover 100 is moved over the top housing surface 204 of handheld computer 200 so as to be interior on cover 100 when adjacent to back panel 222 . the attachment panel 105 is contoured about top housing surface 204 . the clips 162 can secure into openings 264 ( fig6 ) of handheld computer 200 ( fig4 ). the bridge 155 enables cover 100 to pivot about top housing segment 204 . as such , cover 100 can be moved from the front panel 212 to the back panel 222 . when in the extended position , clips 162 are extended vertically into openings at the top housing segment 204 of handheld computer 200 . [ 0050 ] fig6 is a simplified front view of a handheld computer that is configured to attach to a cover , under an embodiment of the invention . the handheld computer 200 includes openings 264 in the top housing surface 204 to receive clips 162 . the openings 264 may be formed into a midframe of the handheld computer &# 39 ; s housing . while embodiments of the invention describe cover 100 pivotally connected to the top edge of handheld computer 200 , other embodiments may provide for other connection configurations . in particular , cover 100 may be connectable to one of the sides of the handheld computer 200 . alternatively , the cover 100 may be connectable to a bottom of the handheld computer 200 . the cover may also be permanently attached to the handheld computer , rather than detachably connected . thus , one embodiment contemplates that the cover 100 is fixed to the handheld computer so as to not be detachable . in the foregoing specification , the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments thereof . it will , however , be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention . the specification and drawings are , accordingly , to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense .
| 6 |
referring now in more detail to the drawings in which like parts have like identifiers , fig1 illustrates an exploded perspective view of a connector 10 for engaging open aperture soil reinforcement grids 12 to blocks 14 in earth retaining walls 16 , according to the present invention as illustrated in fig3 and 4 . the connector 10 assembles from an first member 18 that matingly engages an elongate second member 20 . the first member 18 defines a plurality of pins 22 extending from a first field 24 of the first member . the pins 22 are spaced - apart along the longitudinal length of the first member 18 . each pin 22 extends in a first direction from a first side of the first member 18 . the first member 18 also defines a second field 26 lateral of the pins 22 along its longitudinal length . the second field 26 is recessed relative to the first field 24 . the transition between the first field 24 and the second field 26 is defined by a wall 28 which forms a stop for a purpose discussed below . the first member defines an exterior bearing surface 30 , a back side 32 , and a front edge 34 . an edge 36 between the bearing surface 30 and the back side 32 is preferably radiused . the front edge 34 is partially radiused to define a tapered edge with the first field 24 . the second member 20 likewise defines an exterior bearing surface 40 , a back side 42 , and a front edge 44 . an edge 46 between the bearing surface 40 and the back side 42 is preferably radiused . the front edge 44 is preferably partially radiused to define a tapered portion . the second member 20 defines a plurality of openings 50 extending from a first field 52 . the openings 50 are spaced - apart along the longitudinal length of the second member 20 . the openings 50 align with the pins 22 of the first member 18 . the second member 20 also defines a second field 56 lateral of the openings 50 along its longitudinal length . the second field 56 is recessed relative to the first field 52 . the transition between the first field 52 and the second field 56 is defined by a wall 58 which forms a stop for a purpose discussed below . fig2 illustrates a side view of the connector 10 shown in fig1 . each pin 22 defines an oblique surface 60 at a distal end . the angle of the oblique surface conforms to the slope of the bearing surface 40 relative to the first field 52 of the second member 20 . the recessed second fields 26 and 56 cooperatively define opposing walls of a channel 62 in the connector 10 . as best illustrated in fig3 the channel 62 receives an enlarged portion 64 of the soil reinforcement grid 12 as the first member 18 and the second member 20 matingly connect together , as discussed below . fig4 illustrates a perspective view of the earth retaining wall 16 in which connectors 10 engage open aperture soil reinforcement grids 12 for communicating the tensile loading of backfill 70 on the soil reinforcement grids to the wall . the wall 16 comprises a plurality of stacked , interconnected blocks 14 which receive the connectors 10 engaged to the soil reinforcement grids 12 in aligned channels 112 in the blocks 14 . the soil reinforcement grids 12 extend laterally of the wall 16 into the backfill 70 at selected vertical intervals . the sheet - like grid 12 is a stiff extruded planar structure formed by a network of spaced - apart members 72 which connect to spaced - apart transverse ribs 74 . the connection of the members 72 to the ribs 74 define apertures 76 in the lattice - like grid 12 . the apertures 76 define an open space between the adjacent members 72 and ribs 74 . the apertures 76 receive soil , gravel , or other backfill materials for interlocking the grid 12 to the backfill material which is retained by the wall 16 , as discussed below . in a preferred embodiment , the grid 12 is made of synthetic material , such as plastic . the wall 16 comprises at least two tiers 80 , 82 of the blocks 14 . two soil reinforcement grids 12 are illustrated extending laterally from the wall 16 . the blocks 14 define a front face 84 for the wall 16 . the blocks 14 in each tier 80 , 82 are placed side - by - side to form the elongated retaining wall 16 . soil , gravel , or other backfill material 70 is placed on an interior side 86 of the wall 16 . each of the blocks 14 are defined by opposing side walls 100 , opposing front face 104 and back face 106 , and opposing top and bottom sides 108 , 110 . the block 14 defines a channel 112 extending between the opposing sides 100 . in a preferred embodiment , the channel 112 defines a triangular shape in cross - sectional view . in a preferred embodiment , the triangular channel 112 is substantially equilateral . the channel 112 opens to a slot 114 that extends laterally from the channel 112 to the back side 106 of the block 14 . the slot 114 preferably defines opposed tapered edges 115 in the back face 106 ( best illustrated in fig6 ). in the illustrated embodiment , the channel 112 has a base surface 116 which is substantially parallel to the front face 104 . in this embodiment , the slot 114 preferably opens to the channel 112 at an apex . the channel 112 defines a pair of bearing surfaces 118 , 120 , for a purpose discussed below . the opening to the slot 114 is preferably between the two bearing surfaces 118 , 120 . the blocks 14 are preferably pre - cast concrete . as is conventional with blocks for earth retaining walls , the illustrated embodiment of the block 16 includes matingly conformable top and bottom surfaces 108 , 110 . in the illustrated embodiment , the top surface 108 defines a raised portion and a recessed portion . the opposing bottom 110 likewise defines a recess portion and an extended portion . the recess portion in the top 108 opposes the extended portion in the bottom 110 . the raised portion in the top surface 108 opposes the recess portion in the bottom surface . when blocks 14 are stacked in tiers 80 , 82 , the recessed portion of blocks in the lower tier 80 receive the respective extended portion of the blocks 14 in the upper tier 82 . similarly , the raised portions in the lower tier 80 are received in the respective recesses of the upper tier 82 . in this way , the blocks 14 in vertically adjacent tiers 80 , 82 are matingly engaged . with reference to fig6 a design for the connector 10 may be described as the combination of the frictional loading between the block 14 and the connector 10 and the pull out frictional loading of the reinforcement grid 12 and the connector 10 . both components must exceed the pull out force p on the reinforcement grid 12 . this is described as follows , where : p 1 is the pull - out loading for the reinforcement grid 12 , which equals the resisting force of the friction between the connector 10 and the bearing surfaces 118 , 120 in the block 14 . n is the normal loading between the bearing surface 118 , 120 and the surfaces 30 , 40 of the connector 10 . n g is the loading on the reinforcement grid 12 from the loading n . s is the friction loading between the reinforcement grid 12 and the bearing surfaces 118 , 120 . s g is the friction loading between the reinforcement grid 12 and the connector 10 . α a is the angle between the normal load n and a perpendicular line to the reinforcement grid 12 , which is one - half the angle defined by the bearing surfaces 118 , 120 . φ is the friction angle between the bearing surface 118 , 120 and the surfaces 30 , 40 of the connector 10 . this angle controls the self - locking attribute of the apparatus of the present invention . δ is the apparent friction angle of the connector 10 to the reinforcement grid interface . the frictional loading between the block 14 and the connector 10 is described by the following equations : the mobilized peak pull - out resistance is represented by the frictional load between the reinforcement grid 12 and the bearing surfaces 118 , 120 of the channel 112 and between the reinforcement grid 12 and the connector 10 . the tensile loading on the reinforcement grid 12 accordingly is resisted by four surfaces of frictional loading . the pull - out resistance of the reinforcement grid 12 within the connector 10 is described by the normal load applying friction in the horizontal direction , which opposes the pull - out force of the reinforcement grid : p 2 = 2 ( n cos α − n tan φ sin α ) tan δ ( eq . 7 ) in evaluating failure criterion , the connector 10 within the channel must have sufficient pull - out resistance ( i . e ., the reinforcement grid 12 must not pull out of the connector 10 ): tan δ ≥ sin α + tan φ cos α cos α - tan φ sin α ( eq . 9 ) tan δ ≥ tan α + tan φ 1 - tan α tan φ ( eq . 10 ) tan δ ≧ tan ( α + φ ) ( eq . 11 ) the reinforcement grid 12 is locked within the connector 10 through the interlocking pins 22 , and the connector 10 achieves ultimate strength bearing against the bearing surfaces as long as the pins 22 are sufficiently strong . pull - out failure is not anticipated , and thus , eq . 12 that δ ≧( φ + α ) holds . with reference to fig1 , and 4 , eq . 12 that the connector 10 is used in the wall 16 constructed by placing at least two stacked tiers 80 , 82 of the blocks 14 side - by - side to define the length of the wall . the blocks 14 are aligned so the channels 112 extend longitudinally through the wall 16 with the slot 114 extending towards the back side of the wall . the connector 10 assembles by sandwiching a portion of one of the soil - reinforcement grids 12 between the first member 18 and the second member 20 . the pins 22 align with the openings 50 which slidingly receive the pins . the pins 22 extend through the respective apertures 76 in the grids 12 . the enlarged portion 64 of the grid 12 is received in the channel 62 . the walls 28 , 58 define a stop that bears against the enlarged portion 64 . the assembled connector 10 with the soil - reinforcement grid 12 sliding is received in the channel 112 . a portion of the soil - reinforcement grid 12 is slidingly received within the slot 114 and extends laterally of the wall 16 . the lateral portion of the grid 12 is covered with backfill 70 . the tensile loading on the grid 12 causes the connector 10 to move into bearing contact with the bearing surfaces of the channel . the bearing surfaces 30 , 40 of the first member 18 and the second member 20 engage the bearing surfaces 118 , 120 and lock the grid 12 to the block 14 and thus to the wall 16 . the connector 10 , being engaged to the soil - reinforcement grid 12 that is loaded by the backfill 70 , mechanically engages the two bearing surfaces of the channel such that the tensile loading is distributed across the block . fig5 illustrates an exploded perspective view of an alternate embodiment 150 of the connector 10 for engaging open aperture soil reinforcement grids 12 to blocks 14 in earth retaining walls 16 , according to the present invention . the connector 150 assembles from a two members 152 . each member 152 defines a plurality of pins 154 extending from a first field 156 and alternating openings 158 . the pins 154 and openings 158 are spaced - apart along the longitudinal length of the member 150 . the member 150 also defines a second field 160 lateral of the pins 154 and openings 158 along its longitudinal length . the second field 160 is recessed relative to the first field 156 . the transition between the first field 156 and the second field 160 defines a wall 162 which forms the stop for the enlarged portion 64 of the grid 12 . the member 150 defines an exterior bearing surface 166 , a back side 168 , and a front edge 170 . an edge 172 between the bearing surface 166 and the back side 168 is preferably radiused . the front edge 170 is partially radiused to define a tapered edge with the first field 156 . the connector 150 assembles by slidingly receiving the respective pins 154 of one member 152 within the openings 158 of a second one of the members 152 . while the use of the members 152 has longitudinally extending overlap portions at the opposing distal ends of the connector 150 , the common member requires one mold to manufacture rather than two different molds . while this invention has been described in detail with particular reference to the preferred embodiments thereof , the principles and modes of operation of the present invention have been described in the foregoing specification . the invention is not to be construed as limited to the particular forms disclosed because these are regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive . moreover , modifications , variations and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention as described by the following claims .
| 4 |
as shown in fig1 a vehicular steer - by - wire system is indicated generally by the reference numeral 10 . the system 10 includes an input member or steering wheel 12 , a coupling or steering shaft 14 connected to the steering wheel 12 , a steering - angle sensor 16 connected to the shaft 14 , a steering - torque sensor 18 connected to the shaft 14 , an electronic controller 20 operably connected with the steering - angle sensor 16 and the steering - torque sensor 18 , an output or road - wheel actuator 22 coupled in signal communication with the controller 20 , and an output member or road - wheel 24 mechanically connected to the road - wheel actuator 22 . as may be recognized by those skilled in the pertinent art based on the teachings herein , various modifications may be made to this exemplary embodiment without departing from the scope or spirit of the present disclosure . for example , the steering wheel 12 may be replaced or supplemented with any of a number of input members for receiving the desired steering inputs of an operator , such as a control yoke or a joystick . in addition , although the exemplary steering - torque sensor 18 is mechanically coupled to the steering wheel 12 through the steering shaft 14 , various other torque - sensing schemes may be apparent to those skilled in the pertinent art based on the teachings herein , such as , for example , integral piezo - electric sensors and non - contact electromagnetic sensors . the steering - angle sensor is typically embodied by an optical encoder , but may alternatively be embodied by , for example , a potentiometer or other device for sensing angular displacement . the controller 20 is an electronic circuit comprising a digital micro - controller integrated circuit (“ ic ”) such as , for example , an hc68000 series micro - controller ic manufactured by motorola corporation . the controller 20 receives as input the electronic signal 27 produced by the steering - angle sensor 16 and the electronic signal 26 produced by the steering - torque sensor 18 , and produces as output a control signal 42 for the road - wheel actuator 22 . the control signal 42 has a power level that is capable of powering an actuator , and is input to the road - wheel actuator 22 that mechanically actuates the road wheel 24 according to the control signal 42 . as shown in fig2 the controller 20 of fig1 implements a control function indicated generally by the reference numeral 21 . the control function 21 receives as inputs a differential torque signal 26 from the steering - torque sensor 18 , a steering - angle signal 27 from the steering - angle sensor 16 , and a vehicle speed signal 29 indicative of the relative velocity of the vehicle ( not shown ) with respect to the travel medium ( e . g ., road or land surface , also not shown ). a position ratio unit 39 corresponding to a desired steering - ratio function that varies according to the current value of the steering - angle signal 27 and the speed signal 29 , processes the steering - angle signal 27 . under normal operation , the steering - angle sensor 16 detects the position and movement of the steering wheel 12 and sends a steering - angle signal 27 to the controller 20 . the controller 20 combines the steering - angle signal 27 with the vehicle speed signal 29 to produce the road wheel control signal 42 that is sent to the road - wheel actuator 22 for controlling the steering angle of the road wheel 24 . thus , under normal operation , the output signal 26 produced by the torque sensor 18 is not required for determination of the command signal 42 . it shall be understood that the road wheel command signal 42 may also correspond to additional sensor signals and functions , as may be desirable for alternate applications . the control function 21 is used in the calculation of the road - wheel control signal 42 . the position ratio unit 39 receives the steering - angle signal 27 . the position ratio unit 39 also receives the vehicle speed signal 29 . the steering - angle signal 27 and the vehicle speed signal 29 are used as inputs to unit 39 , which comprises a multiplier , to generate a variable steering ratio signal at unit 39 . the resulting variable steering ratio signal is passed to a road wheel command switch 37 . it will be recognized that although the exemplary position ratio unit 39 comprises a multiplier , other means for serving the function of the multiplier may be substituted therefor , such as , for example , a non - linear algorithm or a three - dimensional look - up table . the integration sub - function 28 has an anti - windup feature and integrates the differential torque signal 26 over time to produce a signal 30 indicative of the torque applied to the steering wheel 12 . the system 10 can have the integration sub - function 28 in or out . when the integration sub - function 28 is out , a change in direction in the torque sensor 18 causes the corresponding control signal 42 to the road wheels 24 to be immediate . with the integration sub - function 28 in , the system 10 changes direction at a slower rate than the torque input signal 26 , as it unwinds the integration sub - function 28 before a direction change occurs . a variable gain function 32 scales the gain applied to the signal 30 based on the speed signal 29 to produce a speed - weighted steering - correction signal 34 . the speed - weighted signal 34 is then limited according to limiting function 36 in order to create a speed - limited steering correction signal 38 , and thus to avoid an excessive change in steering angle at higher vehicle speeds . the controller 20 generally receives signals from the sensors 16 and 18 , and determines whether each received signal is valid or erroneous , as described below . the switch 37 is used to selectively pass either the output of block 36 in a fail - safe or backup mode , corresponding to the torque signal 26 , or the output of unit 39 in a normal mode , corresponding to the position signal 27 , to a road - wheel position command generator 40 . in the backup mode where the controller 20 is receiving a valid signal 26 from the steering - torque sensor 18 , but not receiving a valid signal 27 from the steering - angle sensor 16 , the switch 37 determined by the road - wheel position command generator 40 to produce a signal 42 corresponding to the speed - limited signal 38 for controlling the road - wheel actuator 22 in accordance with the differential torque signal 26 . in the normal mode of operation , the controller 20 receives a valid signal from the steering - angle sensor 16 and the switch 37 determined by the road - wheel position command generator 40 to produce a signal 42 corresponding to the output of the steering - angle sensor 16 for controlling the road - wheel actuator 22 . thus , the output of unit 39 is selected as an input of block 37 and is passed through to signal 42 . block 40 controls the output selection of block 37 according to input signals 27 , 29 and 26 that correspond respectively to hand wheel position , vehicle speed , and steering wheel torque . from these signals , block 40 determines how to route signal 38 and the signal from unit 39 through block 37 . when a position fault is detected , block 37 determined by block 40 routes signal 38 as an output ; when no position fault is detected , block 37 routes a signal from unit 39 as an output . in an alternate embodiment , the torque sensor is used to steer the system in the primary normal mode , and the position sensor is used in the secondary backup mode . accordingly , when the alternate embodiment controller receives a valid signal from the steering - angle sensor but no valid signal from the steering - torque sensor , the switch determined by the road - wheel position command generator to produce a signal corresponding to the output of the steering - angle sensor for controlling the road - wheel actuator . turning to fig3 the switch 37 of fig2 operates in correspondence with a control algorithm , which is indicated generally by the reference numeral 44 . the control algorithm 44 embodies a method for determining whether the steering - angle sensor 16 may be providing an erroneous signal . decision block 46 shows that a measured torque signal 26 received from the steering - torque sensor 18 that is in excess of a normal threshold value is considered to be potentially indicative of an erroneous signal from the steering - angle sensor 16 . if the measured torque value is not greater than the threshold value , the decision block fails and the function returns without setting a steering - angle sensor failure flag , thus indicating a valid signal . however , if the decision block detects a steering input torque above a normal threshold , the steering - angle sensor signal itself is differentiated to determine its current time - rate of change . as shown in decision block 48 , if the steering - angle rate of change is negligible , the steering - angle sensor failure flag is set to true as shown in function block 50 , thus indicating an erroneous steering - angle signal . as may be recognized by those of ordinary skill in the pertinent art , various other methods for determining the reliability of the respective signals from the steering - angle sensor 16 and the steering - torque sensor 18 may be employed without departing from the scope or spirit of the teachings herein . for example , even if the time - rate of change of the signal produced by the steering - angle sensor 16 is not negligible in the presence of an abnormally high steering - torque sensor signal 26 , the steering - angle sensor signal 27 may still be flagged as invalid if the signal 27 received from the steering - angle sensor 16 is highly discontinuous as might be indicative of other failure modes wherein the signal produced by the steering - angle sensor 16 is not truly indicative of the road wheel angle desired by the vehicle operator . likewise , the validity of the signal 26 received from the torque sensor 18 may be determined in accordance with the steering - angle signal 27 and the speed signal 29 . for example , if the steering - angle signal 27 represents a large angular movement and the vehicle speed signal 29 indicates a slow vehicle speed , a very low torque signal 26 may be suspect depending on the level of power - assist and other possible input signals such as , for example , signals indicative of road surface conditions such as rain or ice . any signal determined to be suspect may be assigned a confidence index as well as a set failure flag . thus , if both the steering - angle sensor and the steering - torque sensor are suspected of failure , the control circuit 20 may still produce a control signal that is most likely to permit the operator to maintain control of the vehicle . any suitable output actuator 22 may be substituted for the road - wheel actuator 22 for application to multiple vehicle types . for example , actuators suitable for marine use would be used to control one or more rudders on a boat , and actuators suitable for aviation use would be used to actuate one or more control surfaces on an aircraft . the natural instinct of an operator using the input device in the presence of restricted motion or seizure of the input device would be to turn it in the desired direction of travel , producing an increased torque . a signal from the steering - torque sensor may therefore be used to sense a torque level in a particular direction , even in the absence of measurable movement from the input device . this facilitates a method of utilizing a signal from the steering - torque sensor to control the output device or road wheel angle until the input torque is reduced . an output or road - wheel actuator is provided that converts the control output , which corresponds to one or both of the steering - angle sensor and steering - torque sensor signals , into motion of the output device or steered road - wheel . this disclosure contemplates the optional use of multiple torque sensors and multiple position sensors in order to provide additional hardware redundancy . one such embodiment comprises two torque sensors and two position sensors in place of the single torque sensor and single position sensor described in the primary exemplary embodiment . it shall be recognized that although it is currently preferable to incorporate a vehicle speed signal such as signal 29 of the exemplary embodiment , such signal is not required . accordingly , an alternate embodiment controller does not receive nor require any signal indicative of vehicle speed . vehicles incorporating the above described and like embodiments may be safely controlled in emergency situations such as those corresponding to partial failures of the steer - by - wire system . steering control is also enhanced in non - failure modes of operation by using the signal representing the torque applied to the input device to enhance the rate of change of the output signals . redundancy is enhanced while the number of additional components to implement this enhancement are minimized , thereby reducing the cost of providing the redundancy and reducing the packaging constraints within the vehicle . while exemplary embodiments have been shown and described , various modifications and substitutions may be made thereto without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure . accordingly , it will be understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of illustration only , and that such illustrations and embodiments as have been disclosed herein are to be construed in an exemplary sense , and not as limiting to the claims .
| 1 |
the following describes some preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings : fig6 shows the outline of arrangement of a tape recorder according to this invention as an embodiment thereof . in fig6 components of the recorder similar to these shown in fig1 to 4 are indicated by the same reference numerals . a pg signal is obtained from a rotation detector 11 which detects the rotation of a rotary cylinder 2 . the pg signal is supplied to a motor control circuit 15 , which causes the cylinder 2 to rotate at a predetermined speed and also at a predetermined phase . another rotation detector 12 is arranged to detect the rotation of a fly - wheel 14 of a capstan 13 . the output of the fly - wheel rotation detector 12 is supplied to the motor control circuit 15 . during a recording operation , the circuit 15 controls the capstan 13 to have it rotate at a predetermined speed . the above - stated pg signal is supplied also to a window pulse generating circuit 16 and a gate pulse generating circuit 17 . the phasic relation of window and gate pulses generated by these circuits 16 and 17 to the pg signal is as shown in the timing chart of fig7 ( a ) to 7 ( i ). fig7 ( a ) shows the pg signal . the pg signal is at a high level while a head 3 is moving from the point b to another point g shown in fig3 . fig7 ( b ) to 7 ( g ) respectively show window pulses which indicate recording and reproducing timing in and from the areas ch1 to ch6 . in fig7 ( a ) to 7 ( i ), full lines indicate signals relative to the head 3 while broken lines indicates signals relative to another head 4 . when an operation part 18 is manually operated , an applicable area is designated for recording or reproduction with either a recording or reproducing operation mode also designated by the manual operation . then , an area designation circuit 19 supplies an area designation data thus obtained to the gate pulse generating circuit 17 . the circuit 17 generates a desired gate pulse signal . a gate circuit 20 is arranged to have one of the above stated window pulses of fig7 ( b ) to 7 ( g ) selectively . supplied thereto on the basis of the area designation data as control gate pulse for each of the heads 3 and 4 assuming that the area ch2 , which is shown in fig4 is of the window pulse of fig7 ( c ). during a recording operation , an analog audio signal coming via a terminal 21 is sampled by a pcm audio circuit at a timing according to the window pulse of fig7 ( c ). the sampled signal becomes a digital data and is subjected to the above - stated signal processing operation . the audio signal is thus processed to become an audio data for recording . a pilot signal generating circuit 23 is arranged to generate tracking pilot signals of different frequency values f1 , f2 , f3 and f4 in the order of rotation of f1 → f2 → f3 → f4 . meanwhile , an oscillator 60 generates another pilot signal having a predetermined frequency value of f5 . an adder 61 adds the signal of the frequency f5 to each of the pilot signals of frequency values fl to f4 to produce mixed signals . then , another adder 24 adds each of the mixed signals to the recording audio data produced from the pcm audio circuit 22 . the output of the adder 24 is appropriately gated by the gate circuit 20 , as mentioned in the foregoing , and is written into the area ch2 by the heads 3 and 4 . thus , in addition to the tracking pilot signals , the pilot signal of frequency f5 is recorded also together with the pcm audio signal . the above - stated frequency f5 must be arranged to be unaffected by the azimuth angle and to be lower than the frequency band associated with the above - stated pcm audio signal . in the case of reproduction , the signal reproduced by the heads 3 and 4 is supplied to a low - pass filter ( hereinafter referred to as lpf ) 25 and to the pcm audio circuit 22 via the gate circuit 20 also according to the window pulses of fig7 ( c ). in this instance , unlike in the case of recording , the pcm audio circuit 22 performs a signal processing operation including an error correcting process , a time - base extending process , a digital - to - analog conversion process , etc ., to obtain a reproduced analog audio signal , which is produced from a terminal 21a . the lpf 25 is arranged to separate the above - stated pilot signals for tracking and to supply them to an atf circuit 26 . the atf circuit 26 is arranged to give a tracking error signal operating in accordance with a known four frequency method . in other words , the atf circuit uses the reproduced tracking pilot signals and also pilot signals which are generated by the pilot signal generating circuit 23 in the same order of rotation as in the case of recording in a well known manner . a tracking error signal which is thus obtained is supplied to the motor control circuit 15 . with the error signal thus supplied , the circuit 15 performs tracking control by adjusting the travelling speed of the tape 1 via the capstan 13 . meanwhile , a gate circuit 27 is under the control of the gate pulses shown in fig7 ( h ) and 7 ( i ). in other words , signals reproduced from areas other than the reproducing area are supplied to an area discrimination circuit 28 . the area discrimination circuit 28 is arranged in the following manner : fig8 shows an example of arrangement of this circuit 28 . fig9 ( a ) to 9 ( u ) show , in a timing chart the operating timing of various parts of fig8 . referring to fig8 terminals 30 and 33 are arranged to receive signals reproduced by the heads 3 and 4 . terminals 31 and 34 are arranged to receive the above - stated gate pulses of fig7 ( h ) and 7 ( i ). a terminal 32 is arranged to receive the pg signal . the circuit arrangement consists of a discrimination circuit 37 for an a head ( or the head 3 ); a discrimination circuit for a b head ( or the head 4 ); and a decoder 47 which is arranged to serial - to - parallel convert the outputs of these discrimination circuits 37 and 38 and to produce them in the form of a data consisting of six bits . since the two discrimination circuits 37 and 38 are arranged in the same manner , the internal details of the circuit 38 are omitted from the following description . the operation of the area discrimination circuit 28 is as follows : let us now assume for the sake of description that the area ch2 is the area being reproduced ; the areas ch1 , ch4 and ch6 have a signal recorded therein ; and the areas ch3 and ch5 have no signal recorded therein . a monostable multivibrator group 42 is arranged to be triggered by the rise of the pg signal which is in fig9 ( a ). each member of the monostable multivibrator group 42 is arranged to have such a time constant that makes their outputs as shown in fig9 ( e ) to 9 ( i ), respectively . more specifically , assuming that a minute length of time ( 1 / 30 × 1 / 2 × 1 / 5 × 1 / 10 sec or thereabout ) is δt , the time constant of each of the group of monostable multivibrators 42 corresponding to n - th channel ( or area ) subsequent to the channel ch1 , is arranged to become the time δt ( sec ) when the value n is 1 and to become ( n - 2 )/ 300 + δt ( sec ) when the value n is 2 or larger than 2 . another group of monostable multivibrators 43 , which are arranged to be triggered by the fall of the outputs of the monostable multivibrator group 42 , gives six different pulses of a predetermined width . the time constant of each of the monostable multivibrators 43 is arranged to be about 1 / 60 × 1 / 5 × 4 / 5 sec . as is apparent from the waveforms shown in fig9 ( j ) to 9 ( q ), each area can be detected at its middle point by means of the pulses obtained , from these multivibrators 43 . all the outputs of the multivibrator group 43 are supplied to an or gate 44 . then , they are supplied to an and gate 45 as sampling pulses . they are also used as clock pulses for the serial - to - parallel converting operation of the decoder 47 . the and gate 45 obtains a logical product of the output of the or gate 44 and the gate pulse which is shown at fig9 ( c ) and is mentioned in the foregoing . by this , recorded conditions are detected only for the areas other than the reproducing area . meanwhile , the reproduced signal is supplied to a band - pass filter 39 ( bpf ) to have the pilot signal of frequency f5 separated there . the output of the bpf 39 , which is as shown in fig9 ( q ), is detected by a detection circuit 40 and is then compared with a reference voltage at a comparison circuit 41 . the output of the comparison circuit 41 is sampled at an and gate 46 the output thus sampled is a signal indicative of the recorded condition of each area and is as shown in fig9 ( t ). this signal is processed through the decoder 47 and is produced from the terminals 48 - 53 in the form of parallel data . in case that all the areas ch1 to ch6 have been already recorded , the levels of signals or data produced from these terminals 48 to 53 of the decoder 47 become a high level ( h ). if all the areas have not been recorded the levels of all these signals become a low level ( l ). these parallel data are then supplied to a display device 29 which consists of light emitting diodes ( led &# 39 ; s ) or the like . the display device thus enables the operator to know the recorded conditions of these areas . with the tape recorder arranged according to this invention in the manner as described above , the recorded conditions of all the areas of the multi - channel arrangement can be simultaneously found . in the embodiment described , the recorded conditions of the areas are described as to be detected during reproducing . however , it goes without saying that the recorded conditions are likewise detectable also during recording or during a high speed tape feeding operation . further , the recording conditions can be immediately detected as long as the magnetic tape 1 is in a state traceable by the rotary heads 3 and 4 . even in cases where neither the oscillator 60 of the frequency f5 nor the adder 61 is additionally provided , the recorded conditions of all the areas chl to ch6 can be likewise detected . an embodiment which is arranged in that manner is as shown in fig1 , 11 and 12 . fig1 shows the outline of an arrangement of a tape recorder according to this invention as a further embodiment thereof mentioned above . the components similar to corresponding ones shown in fig6 are indicated by the same reference numerals and details of them are omitted from description here . the embodiment includes an area discrimination circuit 28 &# 39 ; which is arranged in the same manner as the area discrimination circuit shown in fig8 ; and a bpf 39 which is arranged to mainly filter , for example , an rf signal . this arrangement permits detection of the recorded conditions of all the areas without necessitating the additional recording of the pilot signal of frequency f5 . in this case , however , it is necessary to make the tracing width of the rotary heads 3 and 4 wider than the pitch of recording tracks . further , it is also conceivable to detect , by means of the area discrimination circuit 28 &# 39 ;, the tracking pilot signals instead of detecting the frequency component f5 or the rf signal . in that instance , the above - stated tracking pilot signal components fl , f2 , f3 and f4 are separated by means of an lpf 39 &# 39 ; which is arranged as shown in fig1 . in the case of fig1 , the area discrimination circuit 28 &# 39 ; is adapted solely for audio signals . in the event of a tape recorder designed solely for audio signals , the recorded conditions of all the areas are detectable by the arrangement of the embodiment described above . let us now consider a video - audio tape recorder which is capable of operating as a vtr in accordance with the recording format as shown in fig2 and is also capable of recording or reproducing video signals or audio signals with the audio signal recording area 6 of fig2 arranged in the same manner as the area ch1 as shown in fig4 . in recording an audio signal , for example , individually in the area ch5 in accordance with the recording pattern shown in fig4 let us assume that the tape 1 has already been recorded in a manner as shown in fig2 . in that instance , the record in the area ch5 is individually erased before the audio signal is recorded therein . meanwhile , the pilot signals for tracking remain unerased in other areas ch2 , ch3 , ch4 and ch6 . in case that the area discrimination circuit 28 &# 39 ; indicated in fig1 is arranged with the above taken into consideration , the arrangement of this circuit 28 &# 39 ; becomes as shown in fig1 . in fig1 , the same component elements as those shown in fig1 are indicated by the same reference numerals and the detailed description of them is omitted from the following description of this example : the circuit 28 &# 39 ; in this case includes a bpf 67 which is arranged to detect the color subcarrier wave of a video signal included in a reproduced signal . assuming that the video signal has been recorded in accordance with the so - called low band converting method , the bpf 67 is arranged to have a passband from 600 to 800 khz or thereabout . meanwhile , the heads 3 and 4 are arranged to have such azimuth angles that are having no adverse effect on the band of about 600 to 800 khz . the low band color subcarrier component , which is detected by the bpf 67 , is detected by a detection circuit 68 and is then supplied to a comparison circuit 69 to be compared with a reference voltage . variable resistors 63 and 64 and fixed resistors 65 and 66 form a pair of voltage dividers , which are arranged to divide a voltage vref &# 39 ; indicated in the drawing . they provide different reference voltages to comparison circuits 41 and 69 in such a way as to compensate for a difference between the recording level of the pilot signals for tracking and that of the low band converting color subcarrier wave . assuming that a tracking pilot signal and a color subcarrier wave are detected from a specific area , the circuit 28 &# 39 ; judges that no pcm audio signal is recorded . if the color subcarrier wave is not detected while the tracking pilot signal is detected , a pcm audio signal is considered to be recorded in that area . accordingly , the output of a logic gate 70 comes to indicate the recorded condition of the pcm audio signal in each of the areas in a timing sharing manner . then , parallel data are produced from the terminals 48 to 53 of the decoder 47 in the same manner as the case of the preceding example shown in fig1 . in the case of the example shown in fig1 , the discrimination as to whether a video signal has been recorded or hot is accomplished by detecting the color subcarrier wave . however , this arrangement may be replace with a different arrangement in which the same discrimination is accomplished by detecting any other frequency component that is peculiar to the video signal .
| 6 |
the apparatus of fig1 is of the type comprising a reservoir 2 in which the gaseous fuel is stored in the liquid phase , a burner 3 intended for receiving the fuel in a gaseous phase coming from the reservoir 2 and for mixing it with combustion air in order to generate a flame 4 , or any form of combustion of this gas , in the vicinity of which a heat - distributing member 5 is arranged . arranged between the reservoir 2 and the burner 3 is a flow regulator / evaporator 6 whose presence is intended not only to guarantee the passage in the gaseous phase of the fuel coming from the reservoir 2 , before it reaches the burner 3 , but also to limit the gas flow which supplies the flame 4 to a value situated between two limiting values , a lower limit corresponding to the operating threshold of the apparatus and an upper limit constituting a limiting safety value beyond which this operation would be dangerous . finally , there is provided , between the flow regulator / evaporator 6 and the burner 3 , a flap valve 11 , making it possible to extinguish the flame 4 by cutting off the flow of fuel in the gaseous phase . as shown in fig1 the flow regulator / evaporator 6 of the supplying means according to the invention consists of two porous masses 6a , 6b arranged one after the other with provision , therebetween , of a chamber 7 known as a recondensation chamber . in order to prevent the temperature of the heat - distributing member 5 from exceeding the maximum safe value , the two porous masses 6a and 6b are chosen with an inherent porosity such that the sum of the pressure losses which they generate is equal to the pressure loss which corresponds to the gas flow required to maintain to an average temperature of the heat - distributing member 5 situated between the two limiting values mentioned above . the separation of the flow regulator / evaporator into two independent porous masses 6a , 6b has no effect , therefore , on the normal operation of the apparatus . in contrast , this separation necessarily has the effect that the porous mass 6b situated downstream of the other has a permeability greater than the sum of the permeabilities of the two masses 6a , 6b , one which the flow regulator / evaporator would have to possess if it were not separated into two . the result is , therefore , that the flow , through this second porous mass 6b , of the fuel stored in the recondensation chamber 7 , is much greater than the average flow passing through the two masses 6a , 6b during normal operation of the apparatus . the presence of this recondensation chamber 7 arranged between the two porous masses 6a , 6b therefore clearly has the effect of creating , when the apparatus is turned on , a transitional operating mode , during which the gas flow will be much greater than the flow of the normal operating mode ( corresponding to the flow of the stored fuel in the recondensation chamber through the mass 6b ). this high - flow transitional operating mode therefore permits a much more rapid temperature rise of the heat - distributing member 5 than if the recondensation chamber 7 did not exist . of course , to assume that the maximum safe temperature of the heat - distributing member 5 is never exceeded , the quantity of fuel stored in the recondensation chamber 7 must not exceed the quantity required for raising the temperature of the heat - distributing member to a value below the limiting safety temperature . the volume of the recondensation chamber 7 is therefore determined by this required quantity of fuel but it is advantageously adjustable . moreover , the time required for the passage , through the second porous mass 6b , of the quantity of fuel stored in the recondensation chamber 7 and which is a function of the permeability of the porous mass 6b , determines the time required for the heat - distributing member 5 to reach its normal operating temperature . fig2 shows two curves , one curve 8 , illustrating the operation of a conventional type of gaseous fuel supplying means and the other curve 9 , illustrating the operation of the gaseous fuel supplying means according to the invention . in this fig2 the times are plotted as abscissae and the temperatures as ordinates . the two curves 8 and 9 correspond to normal operating flow rates permitting maintenance , during this normal operation , of the heat - distributing member 5 at an average temperature situated between the minimum operating threshold temperature mini of the apparatus and the maximum temperature maxi beyond which the operation of this apparatus would be dangerous . the curve 8 , which illustrates the operation of supplying corresponding to a constant flow not preceded transitional operating mode of accelerated flow , shows that a time t2 is necessary for the heat - distributing member to reach a temperature t1 , whereas the curve 9 , which corresponds to an operation in which the normal steady operating mode is preceded by an operating mode with accelerated flow , shows that a time t1 is necessary in order to reach this same temperature t1 . by comparing the curves 8 and 9 it can be seen , in addition , that the time t1 is substantially half the time t2 . in steady operating mode , that is to say after the transitional operating mode , the recondensation chamber 7 is filled with fuel in the gaseous state and at an intermediate pressure between the gas vapor pressure at the temperature of the apparatus and atmospheric pressure , the porous mass 6a , of the flow regulator / evaporator 6 , arranged upstream ensuring a flow of fuel exclusively in the gaseous phase . this intermediate pressure depends on the respective values of the permeabilities of two porous masses 6a and 6b of the flow regulator / evaporator 6 . when turned off , that is to say when the gas flow is zero at the outlet of the porous mass 6b situated downstream , a condensation of the fuel takes place within the recondensation chamber which is brought about by the search for equilibrium between , on the one hand , the pressure which prevails upstream of the porous mass 6a of the flow regulator / evaporator 6 , situated upstream , that is to say between the pressure which prevails in the reservoir 2 and which corresponds to the vapor pressure of the fuel present in the liquid phase and , on the other hand , that which prevails downstream of the porous mass 6a , that is to say in the recondensation chamber 7 . this equilibrium - searching phenomenon is relatively lengthy since the transfer of mass through the porous mass 6a of the regulator 6 is effected by capillarity phenomena within a mesoporous medium . during this time , the heat - distributing member 5 cools down . as soon as the first drop of condensate appears inside the recondensation chamber 7 , the pressure inside this chamber becomes equal to the fuel vapor pressure . eventually , this chamber 7 fills entirely with liquid condensate . when the apparatus is turned on again , the instantaneous flow through the downstream element 6b of the flow regulator / evaporator 6 is obviously markedly higher than the normal operating flow since the pressure in the recondensation chamber 7 is now equal to the fuel vapor pressure . if , for example , the permeabilities of the porous masses 6a and 6b of the regulator 6 are equal and consequently if these individual permeabilities are equal to twice the collective permeability corresponding to the normal operating flow , the flow corresponding to the transitional operating mode through only the mass 6b will be twice that corresponding to the normal operating mode . of course , the duration of the transitional operating mode is a function , on the one hand , of the volume of the recondensation chamber and , on the other hand , of the permeability of the porous mass 6b situated downstream . theoretically , as long as there is a single drop of condensate in this recondensation chamber 7 , the transitional operating mode persists with a flow which is accelerated by the high value of the pressure in this recondensation chamber 7 . in practice , the evaporation rate can be limited in time by the weakness of the liquid - vapor interface inside the recondensation chamber 7 , reducing the pressure to a value below the fuel vapor pressure , but this in no way changes this acceleration effect of the flow during the transitional operating mode . the increase of the fuel flow during the transitional period therefore obviously has the effect of accelerating the heating of the heat - distributing member in such a way that this member reaches its normal operating temperature more rapidly without , however , this temperature being able to exceed the maximum safe operating temperature of the apparatus , since the transitional operating mode with accelerated fuel flow stops when any trace of fuel in the liquid phase has disappeared from the recondensation chamber 7 . according to a simple embodiment of the invention , each porous mass 6a , 6b of the regulator 6 consists of a mesoporous membrane . an interesting feature of the operation of the combustible gas supplying means according to the invention should also be noted . in effect , for safety reasons which are easy to understand , it is necessary that , when the heat - distributing member 5 has reached its optimum operating temperature and the gas supply is cut off , the thermal inertia of this heat - distributing member 5 does not permit its instantaneous return to ambient temperature . if , within a relatively short time compared with this total cooling time of the heat - distributing member 5 , the fuel - supplying means are again ignited , it is essential that the transitional operating mode with accelerated gas flow is not able to intervene or , if it intervenes , it is absolutely essential that it is able to operate only for a very short time so as to prevent heat being supplied to the still hot heat - distributing member 5 from causing the maximum safe temperature to be exceeded . the slowness of the recondensation phenomenon by mass transfer within the porous medium constituting the upstream mass 6a of the flow regulator / evaporator 6 makes it possible to avoid such a risk . in fact , the heat - distributing member 5 will have reached ambient temperature before the first drops of liquid fuel have formed in the recondensation chamber 7 , since , upon interruption of the gas flow , the pressure in this chamber 7 was at a value below the vapor pressure which prevails in the main reservoir 2 . the phenomenon of mass transfer in the porous medium of the upstream porous mass 6a of the regulator 6 will first have to ensure that the pressure of the recondensation chamber returns to the vapor pressure before the recondensation actually starts .
| 5 |
a description will now be given of the preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings . in the drawings , the same numeral notation refers to the same element . the drawings and the following detailed descriptions show specific embodiments of the invention . in the preferred embodiment , polymeric adhesive was employed to manufacture the flexible diaphragm and spinal needle was employed as the sheath . numerous specific details including materials , dimensions , and products are provided to illustrate the invention and to provide a more thorough understanding of the invention . however , it will be obvious to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced using other materials for the sheath and flexible diaphragm and without these specific details . fig1 a is an outside perspective view of a needle 12 and an optical fiber 16 , disposed in the needle 12 , of a fiber - optic sensing system 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the invention . referring to fig1 a and 1b , the basic structure of the fiber - optic sensing system 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the invention is schematically illustrated . fig1 a is a sectional outside perspective view of the fiber - optic sensing system 1 . in fig1 a , the essentials of the fiber - optic system 1 including a sheath 12 and an optical fiber 16 , disposed in the sheath 12 , are shown . in this case , the outer sheath 12 is a spinal needle . fig1 b is a cross section view of the sheath 12 and the optical fiber 16 of fig1 a along a - a line . as shown in fig . 1b , the sheath 12 has a sealed tip 122 , a main body 124 and a formed - through opening 126 formed on the main body 124 and sealed with a diaphragm 14 . in this case , an original opening at distal end ( needle tip ) 122 is sealed with a polymeric adhesive . also in this case , the opening 126 is machined near the needle tip and is sealed by a flexible polymeric diaphragm 14 . the optical fiber 16 has a distal end 162 and a head end ( not shown ). the optical fiber 16 thereon includes a fiber - grating - based sensor 18 a . in this case , the fiber - grating - based sensor 18 a is a fiber bragg grating ( fbg ). the optical fiber 16 with the fbg 18 a is inserted into the interior of the needle 12 . the portion of the optical fiber 16 with the fbg 18 a written to the core of the optical fiber 16 is stuck to the inside surface of the flexible diaphragm 14 . the fiber - optic sensing system 1 also includes an optical device and a signal processing device ( not shown ). the optical device functions emitting a sensing light signal into the second end of the optical fiber 16 and receiving a first reflected light signal resulting from the sensing light signal reflected by the fiber - grating - based sensor 18 a . when the needle 12 is inserted into a region , for example , a fluid medium or soft tissue , where a physical parameter needs to be measured , the region affects the fiber - grating sensor 18 a through the diaphragm 14 to induce a variation on the first reflected light signal . the signal processing device is coupled to the optical device , and functions interpreting the variation on the first reflected light signal into the physical parameter . taking pressure as example , pressure in the region will cause a deformation of the diaphragm 14 . the fbg 18 a will be deformed as well and the characteristic bragg wavelength will be shifted away from its initial position . the amount of shift is proportional to the pressure acting on the diaphragm 14 . by measuring the shift in the reflected bragg wavelength using a suitable signal processing device , the pressure can be deduced . fig2 shows the variation in pressure measured when a pressure transducer was inserted inside the space between two vertebral discs and the vertebrate segment is subjected to different axial loading . the pressure transducer was obtained by employing the embodiment illustrated in fig1 a and 1b using a 26 - g ( 0 . 45 mm outer diameter ) spinal needle as the outer sheath . besides using a short period fiber bragg grating , long period grating ( lpg ) can also be used as the fiber - grating - based sensor , e . g ., long period fiber grating or surface corrugated long period fiber grating . fig3 shows another embodiment using the lpg as the fiber - grating - based sensor 18 b . the lpg 18 b will attenuate a characteristic spectrum when a broad spectrum light is passed through it . this characteristic spectrum will shift with strain applied to the lpg 18 b . however , such a characteristic attenuation spectrum is only evident from the transmitted light . to allow this spectrum to be measured at the proximal end , a mirror coating 164 is plated at the distal end 162 of the optical fiber 16 to reflect the transmitted spectrum back . this is illustrated in the embodiment in fig3 . since the flexible diaphragm 14 as well as the optical fiber 16 deform by bending , the induced strain in the in - fiber sensor ( the fiber - grating - based sensor ) 18 a can be amplified by moving the sensor region further away from the neutral axis ( i . e . the axis without extension or contraction under bending ). since the in - fiber sensor 18 a essentially situated at the core of the optical fiber 16 , the above requirement can be achieved by moving the fiber core as far from the flexible diaphragm 14 as possible . fig4 shows yet another embodiment that employs an optical fiber 16 with off - centered core to achieve this purpose . such an off - centered core may be achieved during the manufacturing of the optical fiber 16 . it can also be obtained by selective etching of the cladding on a standard fiber . fig5 shows yet another embodiment to improve sensitivity by moving the core of the optical fiber 16 as far from the flexible diaphragm 14 as possible . it is achieved by bonding a low stiffness fiber 166 between the diaphragm 14 and the optical fiber 16 . the stiffness of the additional fiber 166 is chosen to be low so as keep the flexural rigidity of the whole diaphragm / fibers structure low to ensure a higher strain at the fiber core . fig6 shows yet another embodiment to increase the pressure sensitivity by introducing some notches 168 in the cladding of the optical fiber 16 in the vicinity of the in - fiber sensor 18 a . these notches 168 will induce strain concentration and amplify the strain at the sensor region . for person skilled in the art , there will be other similar ways to increase the strain and thus the sensitivity of the pressure sensor . for clarity of explanation , a separate technique is employed in each of the above embodiments to increase the sensitivity of the pressure sensor . there is no reason that the different techniques cannot be combined together and applied to the same transducer to obtain the maximum increase in sensitivity . moreover , in the above embodiments , only one opening and one sensor have been employed . in practice , more openings with multiple in - fiber sensors in the same or multiple optical fibers may be employed to allow the pressure or temperature at multiple sites to be measured . it is well known that fiber - grating - based sensor is sensitive to strain as well as temperature . if temperature fluctuation occurs during measurement , the resulting change in the characteristic spectra will be the combined effect of temperature and pressure variations . fig7 shows an embodiment that may be used to compensate for the temperature induced drift in the characteristic spectra . an additional fiber - grating - based sensor 20 in the optical fiber 16 in the vicinity of the original fiber - grating - based sensor 18 a underneath the diaphragm 14 is employed . this additional fiber - grating - based sensor 20 is fixed to the sheath 12 and so is isolated from the pressure of the surrounding environment ( the region ) such that the physical parameter is shielded by the sheath 12 and will not affect the additional fiber - grating - based sensor 20 . however , another physical parameters , such as temperature , that cannot be shielded by the sheath 12 will still affect the additional fiber - grating - based sensor 20 . thus variation in the local temperature will cause shift in the characteristic spectrum of the additional fiber - grating - based sensor 20 . this enables the local temperature to be monitored . the latter can be used both as additional information as well as to provide temperature drift correction to the pressure sensor ( the original fiber - grating - based sensor ) 18 a . fig8 a shows yet another embodiment of the fiber - grating - based sensor 18 a that uses a slightly different layout as the above embodiments . in this embodiment , the opening 126 is not sealed so that fluid under pressure may flow into the distal part of the sheath 12 . a flexible diaphragm 14 a is situated inside the sheath downstream of the opening 126 to isolate any fluid from going into the proximal end of the sheath 12 . the optical fiber 16 is fixed at the distal end 162 using an adhesive 32 upstream of the opening 126 . the diameter of the optical fiber 16 near the diaphragm 14 a is enlarged by attaching additional material ( enlarged section ) 34 such as polymeric adhesive to the optical fiber 16 . the enlargement is made as large as the inside diameter of the sheath 12 can accommodate but still allows smooth axial motion should the optical fiber 16 extend under pressure . this enlarged section 34 is attached to the interior of the sheath 12 through the flexible diaphragm 12 . as the pressure of the fluid acts on the enlarged section 34 , the optical fiber 16 will be elongated , straining the fiber - grating - based sensor 18 a and modulating the characteristic light spectrum reflected . the amount of elongation or the pressure sensitivity can be controlled by choosing the ratio of diameters of the enlarged section 34 and that of the optical fiber 16 . an 60 μm optical fiber with a 300 μm diameter enlargement will give a wavelength shift of about 330 μm for 1 mpa pressure change . fig8 b shows a modification of the embodiment of fig8 a , wherein the opening 126 is sealed with another flexible diaphragm 14 b to form a closed space in the sheath 12 between the sheath downstream and upstream . the closed space is previously filled with a fluid . since the diaphragm 14 b and the fluid inside the sheath 12 are flexible , thus they will still respond to pressure fluctuation outside the sheath 12 . to sum up , the description of the above - mentioned preferred embodiments is for providing a better understanding on the strengths and spirits of this present invention , not for limiting the domain of the invention . moreover , it aims to include various modification and arrangement parallel in form into the domain of the patent applied by this present invention . due to the above mentioned , the domain of the patent applied by the invention should be explained in a macro view to cover all kinds of possible modification and arrangement of equal form .
| 0 |
shown in fig1 a , 1 b are embodiments of respective reflector systems 1 a , 1 b that can be used either with sources 2 that emit both light and sound together , or light or sound separately , and are surrounded by an interior medium 3 on the reflective side and exterior medium 4 on the non - reflective side . the reflector shape can be any of the standard shapes known in the art , or other inventive shapes such as shown in fig2 c . the inventive reflector 1 a , 1 b efficiently reflects and delivers both light and sound emissions from source 2 . so that the reflector 1 a , 1 b efficiently reflects light , it has any of the standard sets of coatings 5 known in the art , such as an aluminum coating with an overcoating of sio 2 , mgf 2 , or multiple layers of such or other dielectrics , which may be chosen to optimize the reflectivity of a desirable optical spectral region . so that the reflector 1 a ( fig1 a ) also efficiently reflects the desired sound spectrum while in media 3 and 4 , the material 6 , width 7 and thickness 8 are chosen appropriately . for example , if media 3 and 4 are the same or similar in terms of their acoustic impedance properties , the material 6 is chosen to have a high impedance mismatch with the media . as a further example , many metal materials such as steel have a high impedance mismatch with air or other gaseous media . for sound frequencies with a corresponding half - wavelength on the order of or larger than the width 7 , the sound will diffract and not be well reflected by the reflector . consequently , the width 7 is chosen to be a large enough size to reflect the longest wavelength desired to have efficient reflection for the particular use . furthermore , thickness 8 also is such to produce high reflectivity for the largest desired acoustic wavelength . if the thickness 8 is too small , then for long enough wave - lengths , the reflectivity will be low even with sufficient width 7 . to demonstrate the principle of choosing the material 6 , width 7 and thickness 8 , consider the example of a symmetrical reflector 1 a with a surrounding water medium ( 3 and 4 ), the reflector of which has high acoustic reflectivity for wavelengths shorter than about sixty inches . this reflector 1 a will have a width 7 of about 30 inches . then , based on knowledge known in the art , a steel material 6 with a thickness of 2 inches has high reflectivity of sixty inch wavelength sound , whereas an aluminum material with a thickness of 2 inches would have low reflectivity . furthermore , steel with a thickness of 0 . 5 inches would also have very low reflectivity of sixty inch wavelength sound . similarly for other combinations of media ( 3 and 4 ) and a desired upper limit on acoustic wavelength with high reflectivity , the material 6 , width 7 and thickness 8 are chosen using relationships known in the art . so that the reflector 1 b ( fig1 b ) efficiently reflects sound , the center 9 material has a high impedance mismatch with the medium 3 , whereas the material 6 can be any thin material . for instance , if the reflector is in water , then the center 9 could be air or other gaseous medium , and the material 6 could be a plastic or other such material with an approximate match in impedance to the medium 3 . similarly , for combinations of media ( 3 and 4 ) and a desired upper limit on acoustic wavelength with high reflectivity , the materials 6 and 9 , width 7 and thickness 8 are chosen using relationships known in the art . the theory behind the material and thickness selection is now described . sound is reflected from an object when its acoustic impedance is not well matched to that of the propagating medium ( e . g ., air or water ). in addition , the frequency of the wave and the thickness of the object also determine the magnitude of the sound reflection , since long wavelengths transmit easily through thin walls . a source such as a sparker is an impulsive source that can generate a broadband spectrum . acoustic properties differ among different materials and not all materials are suitable for reflectors . an example may be understood by selecting hot rolled steel as the material . for a flat plate with wave impinging at normal incidence , and neglecting dissipation , the power reflection coefficient r is given by : where 1 is the thickness of the plate , k is the wavenumber , z 1 is the impedance of the medium and z 2 is the impedance of the plate material . here it can be seen that the reflection coefficient is low at low frequency ( k 1 is small ) as well as at each half wavelength ( k 1 = nπ ). increasing the thickness is the easiest way to improve reflection , especially at low frequency as seen in fig2 a which plots the reflection coefficient as a function of frequency for a steel plate thickness series from 0 . 5 to 2 inches . the impedance also affects the width of the resonance as seen by comparing aluminum to steel as shown in fig2 b . for the best reflection across the widest frequency range , the thickness and acoustic impedance should be as large as possible . the reflectors 1 a , 1 b ( fig1 a , 1 b ) also have a feed penetration 10 that may support a source 2 , and provide the means to power and control the source . the source 2 may be located at a focus of the reflector 1 a , 1 b or other position that results in light and / or sound being directed to a useful location . furthermore , the source 2 may be of a type that emits both light and sound , either simultaneously or sequentially . the source 2 could be a pulsed electric discharge in air or water or other medium 3 , which generates both sound and light . the source also could be a pulsed electrical discharge initiated with a wire . shown in fig3 a , 3 b are diagrams illustrating a parabolic reflector ( pr ) 11 and an orthogonal parabolic reflector ( opr ) 12 . the pr 11 , a concept known - in - the - art , can collect incoming parallel rays and concentrate them at the focus 14 or , conversely , light rays emitted from the focus 14 are collected and transmitted as outgoing parallel rays . the opr 12 , another concept known - in - the - art , utilizes the principle of the pr . the opr has a line source 15 , placed along the axis of rotation 15 a . rotating a section of the parabola 16 around the source 15 generates a reflector surface that directs light and / or sound emitted from the source 15 to the focus 14 of the parabola 16 . the opr 12 projects output that is perpendicular to the line source 15 , to a single focal spot 14 . however , many sources 15 have output that is incoherent or in some way is emitted over many directions , so that much of the output is directed away from the focus 14 . fig3 c illustrates a compound orthogonal parabolic reflector ( copr ) 13 . the copr 13 includes an opr element 13 a and a reflective extension 17 . the addition of the extension 17 increases the efficiency of transferring emission to a focal volume 18 , a region of high intensity in the vicinity of the focus 14 . the extension 17 is shown to be conical , but may be any shape that increases the delivery of output from the source 15 to the focal volume 18 . illustrated in fig4 are several additional features afforded by the copr . for an appropriately shaped extension 17 the focal volume is outside the open end . this enables the focal volume to , for instance , encompass the surface of a corner 19 . if the source 15 is a pulsed lamp of a high enough intensity , then this inventive system could be used to prepare , clean , strip paint from , or otherwise affect a surface . although the embodiment in fig4 shows a corner surface 19 , any shaped surface is contemplated by the principles of the present invention . further , the embodiment in fig4 has an opening 20 for implementing , powering and controlling the source 15 . further , an effluent capture 21 may be attached or otherwise connected to the extension 17 for removing materials , gases , vapors and otherwise associated with delivering output to the focal volume 18 from the source 15 . a nozzle 22 or other means may be attached or otherwise affixed to the extension 17 for delivering a gaseous or liquid material incident on the surface 19 for the purpose of acting synergistically with the output from the source 15 to affect processes at the surface 19 . in addition , the nozzle 22 may include a shaped tip 23 to shape the output delivered to the focal volume 18 . further , a brush 24 may be attached to or otherwise affixed to the extension 17 that may come in contact with the surface before and / or after the source 15 output impinges on it , to further participate in affecting the surface or materials removed or added to the surface . illustrated in fig5 a , 5 b , 6 a , 6 b , 7 a , 7 b are further detailed embodiments of practical features of the inventive copr , including those embodied in fig4 . with reference to fig5 a , 5 b , a tip 23 is attached to the open end of the extension 17 , with a channel 25 defined as part of an effluent capture 21 . although the tip 23 defines a circular shaped opening 26 adjacent to the surface 19 , it is understood that all feasible shapes for delivering output to different specific shaped surfaces are contemplated in accordance with principles of the present invention . the effluent capture 21 shown is a simple channel 25 in the embodiment in fig5 b , but any means for transferring materials from regions at or near the surface 19 are understood to be included in the invention . furthermore , the effluent capture 21 may have a pump or other means to provide suction for removing the materials , and may include filters or other means for removing processed materials from the air or other medium that contains any materials associated with the process at the surface . fig6 a , 6 b show an additional embodiment of the extension 17 with a tip 23 and brush 24 , where the brush 24 is mounted in a way to allow rotation . this provides a way , for instance , to clean the surface 19 before and / or after output from the source 15 is incident on the surface 19 . it is understood that other shapes of brushes 24 , powered or un - powered are included in the invention . fig7 a , 7 b show an additional embodiment of the extension 17 with an effluent capture 21 and a nozzle 22 oriented to provide inflow toward and along the surface 19 in such a way that the inflow proceeds to the channel 25 . further , the embodiment shows an electrical driver 26 mounted on , or in the vicinity of , the outside of the opr 12 , with means for electrical connection 27 to the source 15 . the proximity of the electrical driver 26 to the source 15 provides a low inductance arrangement advantageous for fast risetime and short pulse sources . referring now to fig8 a , 8 b , another embodiment utilizes a linear eroding source 28 oriented as the source 15 , which in this case consists of two electrodes 35 but which in general could consist of any eroding source 28 . this configuration provides the means for the output from the source 28 to be transferred to the focal volume 18 even as the emission region changes due to erosion or other source movements along the axis of rotation 15 a . this embodiment also provides for a support 29 to fix the source , 15 or 28 , in place along the axis 15 a . the embodiment shows the support 29 consisting of three linear supports , but may consist of any other number or shapes of supports that may effectively maintain the location of the source , 15 or 28 . further , this embodiment includes conducting elements 30 to provide the means for electrical current to flow back to the electrical driver 26 to complete the circuit . referring to fig9 a , 9 b , a further embodiment employs a linear source 15 that is initiated by a wire 31 . an electrical driver 26 supplies energy to the wire 31 so as to vaporize or explode it , thereby producing a plasma which emits both sound and light . the wire 31 is of a diameter 32 and length 33 to optimize the sound and / or light in the medium 3 . other embodiments of the invention in addition may have a wire feed 34 to supply additional wires 31 for repetitive pulse operation . 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 scope of the invention encompassed by the appended claims .
| 1 |
referring to the drawing figures , fig1 illustrates the problem associated with reception in a mobile environment having a fading channel and one aspect of the solution provided by the present invention . fig1 shows a graph showing received power level from a typical fading channel versus time . the location of the power fade is shown relative to a typical time slot . the time slot is shown enlarged and includes a preamble and a coded digital verification color code field ( cdvcc ), which comprise known data that is used to initialize a receiver system employing the equalizer of the present invention . at the lowest portion of fig1 equalization processing in accordance with the present invention is illustrated with the arrows &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; b &# 34 ;, in which the equalizer of the present invention processes forward and time reversed computations through the location of the power fade in order to accomplish the objectives of the present invention . this will be more fully described below with reference to fig2 and 3 . fig2 is a block diagram of a digital cellular mobile telephone receiver system 20 incorporating a maximum likelihood sequence estimation based equalizer 21 in accordance with the principles of the present invention . the system 20 comprises an amplifier 22 whose output is coupled by way of a downconverter , comprising a frequency source 23 and a mixer 24 , to an analog filter 25 . an analog to digital converter 26 is coupled to the analog filter 25 in order to digitize the downconverted data . a matched filter 27 is coupled between the analog to digital converter 26 and the equalizer 21 of the present invention . the equalizer 21 comprises a memory 30 , a 4 - state equalization trellis 31 that is adapted to calculate maximum likelihood sequence estimation metrics , a channel impulse response estimator 32 , and an equalizer control circuit 33 . a serially coupled agc circuit 35 and gain control circuit 38 are coupled to the amplifier 22 . the equalizer control circuit 33 is coupled to an output of the matched filters 27 and is coupled to an input to the frequency source 23 . symbol sampling ( bit timing ) time control circuitry 37 is coupled to the equalizer control circuit 33 and the acquisition circuit 36 and provides control signals to the analog to digital converter 26 . the output of the matched filters 27 is coupled to the agc circuit 35 and the acquisition circuit 36 and to the equalizer control circuit 33 that is employed to control the frequency source 23 and provide training data for use in initializing the equalizer 21 . in operation , a partially filtered if signal with a center frequency of 85 . 05 mhz enters the gain controllable amplifier 22 . the resulting signal is then downconverted using the frequency source 23 and the mixer 24 to 461 . 7 khz . this signal is then filtered using a narrow analog filter 25 to reject most of the received signals outside the 30 khz band of interest . the resulting signal is then sampled and converted to 8 - bit digital samples using the analog to digital ( a / d ) converter 26 . a 16 tap fractionally spaced digital fir filter 27 then performs matched filtering to produce symbol spaced samples which enter the equalizer 21 . temporally offset matched filters 34 that are substantially the same as the matched filters 27 are provided for use by the symbol timing control circuit 37 , via the equalizer control circuit 33 . the principles of maximum likelihood sequence estimation employed in the equalizer 21 have been described in technical literature starting in the early 1970 &# 39 ; s . a useful outline is found in &# 34 ; adaptive maximum - likelihood receiver for carrier - modulated data transmission systems &# 34 ;, by g . ungerboeck , ieee trans . on communications , vol . com - 22 , pp . 624 - 636 , may 1974 . another description of the maximum likelihood sequence estimation technique is provided in the reference &# 34 ; digital communications - 2nd edition .&# 34 ;, by j . g . proakis , 1989 , pp . 610 - 642 . the maximum likelihood sequence estimation process is outlined as follows . the channel has an inpulse response containing significant energy in , say , n symbols . assume that the transmitter sends a sequence of symbols , much longer than n . the transmitted sequence may be described as the transitions between states , where each state corresponds to a group of n - 1 transmitted symbols . the states , therefore , correspond to overlapping groups of transmitted symbols . in consecutive states , therefore , all but one constituent symbol are the same , and the possible transitions between states are correspondingly constrained . as each sample is received , the equalization trellis 31 considers every possible sequence of n symbols that could have contributed to its value , by convolving that sequence with the estimated channel impulse response . for each hypothesized sequence , the result of the convolution corresponds , or fails to correspond , in some way ( defined by a statistic called a metric ) to the measured sample . on an individual basis , the hypothesized sequence with the closest match to the measured sample ( the best metric ) is the most likely to have been transmitted . however , over many samples and under the constraint that only certain state transitions are possible , the path ( sequence of states ) with the minimum cumulative metric has maximum likelihood , and this is what the decoder selects . the system 20 has no a priori knowledge of the form of the encoder employed in the transmitter . performance of the equalizer 21 therefore depends on the accuracy of the estimate of the encoder &# 39 ; s state , the channel impulse response ( cir ). fig2 also shows the signals used in estimating the channel impulse response . the objective is to estimate the form of the transversal finite impulse response filter that would take as its input the transmitted information symbols { a ( n )}, and produce at its output the samples taken from the matched filter , { z ( n )}. during the transmission of preambles and coded digital verification color codes , the receiver knows the values of { a ( n )}. however , at other times , only the estimated values { a d ( n )} are available for use in the channel impulse response estimation process . this dependence leads to a significant performance - degrading possibility . if decision errors emerge from the equalizer , and these are then used to update the estimate of the channel impulse response , then further decision errors become more probable leading in a circular fashion to further decision errors and breakdown of the equalization process . this phenomena is referred to as a &# 34 ; channel impulse response tracking breakdown &# 34 ;. such difficulties are most likely to arise at the periods of minimum signal - to - noise ratio , or when the received signal power is at its minimum during reception of a slot . within the is - 54 standard , which describes the interface between mobile and base equipment for north american digital cellular systems , each information time slot is preceded by a known sequence , designated as the &# 34 ; preamble &# 34 ;. as viewed by the receiver , therefore , information in the time slot is bounded on both sides by known sequences ; the preamble for this slot and the preamble for the subsequent slot . consequently , this equalizer 21 is adapted to mitigate the effects of a channel impulse response tracking breakdown . by finding the most probable instant at which the problem might occur , equalizer operation approaches that instant from both forward and a time - reversed directions , both of which begin with known information sequences that are useful for training . assuming that a channel impulse response tracking breakdown occurs , this approach minimizes the number of affected symbols by predicting the failure point and avoiding equalization beyond that point . at 100 km / hr , which is the maximum speed specified in is - 55 , which describes the mobile unit minimum performance requirements , the average time between fades are on the order of 12 milliseconds . given time slot durations of about 6 . 7 milliseconds , there is only a small possibility of two significant fades occurring within a time slot . however , very close to the center of the slot is the coded digital verification color code field . even after a channel impulse response tracking breakdown , the channel impulse response estimator 32 is very likely to recover during processing of the coded digital verification color codes due to the certainty of the transmitted data . hence , the underlying period for which multiple fades are a concern in around 3 . 5 milliseconds . the chance of more than one deep fade occurring during this time is very low . consequently , time - reversed equalization improves bit error rate performance in the digital cellular environment . the present equalizer 21 uses a 4 - state architecture , corresponding to n = 2 , where n is the length of the estimated channel impulse response . this choice assumes that the energy in two ( symbol - spaced ) samples of the channel &# 39 ; s impulse response dominates . to avoid channel impulse response tracking breakdown problems , reverse equalization is used for those symbols following the minimum power point in a received time slot . more specifically , fig3 shows the processing performed in the maximum likelihood sequence estimation based equalizer 21 of fig2 . the first step involves finding the location of the power fade ( box 51 ) in terms of symbol number . processing starts in the forward direction toward the location of the power fade . the symbol number is set to 0 ( box 52 ), and then incremented ( box 53 ). a decision is made whether the symbol then processed is a training symbol ( box 54 ). if the symbol encountered is a training symbol , then training data is inserted ( box 57 ). if a training symbol is not processed , then the equalization trellis is employed to generate metrics and , if possible , a decision ( box 55 ). this is accomplished using equations outlined below . then it is determined if a decision has been made ( box 56 ). if a decision has been made , then an estimate of the channel impulse response is generated ( box 58 ). if the decision is not made , or once the channel impulse response estimate has been generated , then the symbol number is compared to the location of the power fade plus a predetermined number of additional symbols ( box 59 ). processing is then repeated by incrementing the symbol number ( box 53 ) and repeating steps ( boxes 54 - 59 ) until the fade location plus a predetermined number of additional symbols has been reached . once the desired symbol location is reached in ( box 59 ), then processing is performed in the reverse direction starting with the preamble of the next succeeding time slot , namely symbol number 177 , for example . the symbol number is set to 178 ( box 62 ), and then decremented ( box 63 ). a decision is made whether the symbol then processed is a training symbol ( box 64 ). if the symbol encountered is a training symbol , then training data is inserted ( box 67 ). if a training symbol is not processed , then the equalization trellis is employed to generate branch metrics and a decision ( box 65 ). this is accomplished using the equations outlined below . then it is determined if a decision has been made ( box 66 ). if a decision has been made , then an estimate of the channel impulse response is generated ( box 68 ). if the decision is not made , or once the channel impulse response estimate has been generated , then the symbol number is compared to the location of the power fade less a predetermined number of additional symbols ( box 69 ). processing is then repeated by decrementing the symbol number ( box 63 ) and repeating steps ( boxes 64 - 69 ) until the fade location less a predetermined number of additional symbols has been reached . more particularly , and in operation , samples entering the equalizer 21 may be identified as z ( n ), and the output decisions may be identified as a ( n ). the probability of correctness of a ( n ) depends on location within the bursts . when a ( n ) is known with certainty the values of a ( n ), denoted a t ( n ), are used by the channel impulse response estimator 32 for training . at other times , the best estimate of a ( n ) is the output of the traceback decision process of the equalization trellis 31 , denoted a d ( n ). the equalization trellis 31 operates as follows . equalization proceeds in the forward direction from the beginning of the preamble up until m symbols after the minimum power symbol . in the reverse direction , the same occurs with processing continuing m symbols beyond the minimum power point . this overlap ensures that trace - back through the trellis in all likelihood converges to a single path by the minimum power point . traceback for actual decisions does not occur until the completion of the equalization process . in addition to final traceback , however , there is a need for tentative decisions during equalization , to provide data estimates for the channel impulse response estimation to remain current . a trade - off in determining these tentative decisions arises ( a ) because the more up - to - date the information is , the more up - to - date the channel impulse response estimate can be ( remembering that the channel is far from stationary at high speeds ), and ( b ) the higher the number of symbols that are considered before tentative decisions are made , the more accurate the decisions will be ; and hence , the lower the probability that errors are introduced into the channel impulse response estimation . in the case of 4 - state equalization there is very little sensitivity to the number of constraint lengths of delay introduced . branch metrics are calculated in the equalizer 21 using the following equation : ## equ1 ## where app -- state ( l ) represents a hypothetical state in combination with potential input data ; a h ( 1 , n ) is a corresponding transmitted signal ( constellation point ), c represents the current estimate of the channel &# 39 ; s impulse response , and z is the measured output of the matched filter 27 . the channel estimator 32 utilizes a second order least mean square algorithm to determine the coefficients of the transversal filter 27 that is an estimate of the channel . ## equ2 ## where c 0 ( k ) and c 1 ( k ) are complex values of estimated channel impulse response taps , c s0 ( k ) and c n ( k ) are complex intermediate values related to the estimated channel impulse response taps , permitting second order operation , k 1 and k 2 are the real gain values controlling the tracking rate of the channel impulse response estimation process , z ( k ) are complex symbol spaced sampled outputs of the receiver matched filter , and a ( k ) are complex estimated or known values of transmitted symbols . the values k 1 and k 2 within these equations control the rate of adaptation , and ( conversely ) the sensitivity to noise and decision errors . consequently , to minimize the error rate , a trade - off between ability to track changes in the channel and degradation in performance due to imperfect input information is needed to optimize the values of k 1 and k 2 . the optimal values of k 1 and k 2 vary as a function of instantaneous signal to noise ratios , and thus as a function of depth of fade . therefore , algorithms for modifying the values during each burst have been evaluated , with considerable improvement in performance relative to that achievable with constant settings . one approach for modifying k 1 and k 2 has provided good performance and is as follows : 1 . set the values of k 1 and k 2 that will apply at the symbol determined to correspond to the deepest fade ; k 1 -- fade . 2 . adjust each value linearly ( with preset slope -- k1 -- slope and k2 -- slope ) to reach the selected values at the fade location , using : ## equ3 ## where k 1 -- fade is the real value of k 1 at the symbol with the maximum estimated fade depth , k 2 -- fade is the real value of k 2 at the symbol with the maximum estimated fade depth , k 1 -- slope is the real increment in k 1 applied during processing of each symbol , k 2 -- slope is the real increment in k 2 applied during processing of each symbol , and fade -- location is the symbol number at the maximum estimated fade depth , and last -- location is the symbol number of the final symbol . estimation of the location of the power fade entails use of the received symbols from the matched filter 27 , and the settings on the agc circuit 35 that were active during reception of those symbols . as the response of the amplifier 22 to the agc circuit settings is effectively instantaneous , the primary delays in utilizing this information arise in the matched filter 27 . this filter 27 is a linear phase filter ( constant delay ), so the available input information can be easily transformed into an accurate estimate of the envelope power . this envelope is averaged by a rectangular fir filter over about ten symbol times , with very good performance . after completion of acquisition , the carrier frequency offset should be less than 200 hz . to operate without impairment , this offset should be on the order of 20 hz or less . thus , estimation of and correction for carrier offset must continue after acquisition . the method employed utilizes the fact that when frequency offset occurs , the taps of the channel impulse response will rotate consistently at a rate proportional to the offset . changes in tap phases over fixed periods , therefore , provide an observable characteristic to apply to frequency control . note that random phase changes occur in addition to these consistent rates of change , so filtering is used to extract the frequency offset . in practice , offsets of around 1000 hz can be resolved although the maximum expected offset after acquisition is 200 hz . the approach used is as follows : 1 . during the reception of each burst , the half of that burst that does not include the deepest fade is selected for tracking . this scheme is aimed at avoidance of the very high rates of change in phase that typically accompany transitions through low signal amplitudes . 2 . two samples of each of the two estimated channel impulse response taps are recorded : just after the preamble ( or leading into the postamble if the fade occurred during the first half of the slot ), and 20 symbols later ( or 20 symbols earlier ). at a symbol rate of 24 , 300 symbols per second , a 100 hz offset would result in an average rotation of 29 . 6 degrees during the 20 symbol period . for any rotation in excess of 180 degrees , the observed rotation would be less than 180 degrees but in the opposite direction . this aliasing could impact performance for frequency offsets above about 300 hz . in typical operation , however , the detriment to performance resulting from such aliasing has proved minimal , due to the anti - aliasing filtering inherent in the tracking . the selection of a sampling window of 20 symbols was based on concern about this aliasing . otherwise , a longer window would improve noise immunity . 3 . from information determined during the bit timing fine tuning , the dominant tap is selected . using the recorded settings for this tap , a phase change is calculated , yielding an estimate of the frequency offset . 4 . these estimates are then filtered over many bursts to reduce the &# 34 ; noise &# 34 ; that arises primarily due to the random ( zero mean ) presence of doppler offsets and gaussian noise . the filter output provides an estimate of the carrier offset and can be used to directly update the frequency control hardware . the offset is given by : where freq -- observed is derived from the observed phase change , the constant k fo controls the convergence rate of the estimation process , f -- offset -- estimate k is the estimated frequency offset at frame &# 34 ; k &# 34 ;, and k fo is a constant controlling the convergence rate of the frequency tracking . if f -- offset -- estimate reaches half the resolution of the frequency source , then a step in frequency is applied , e . g ., if the resolution is 20 hz and f -- offset -- estimate exceeds 10 hz , then a 20 hz change in reference is applied . at the same time f -- offset -- estimate is reinitialized . referring to fig5 it illustrates a flow diagram showing the processing performed by the equalizer 20 to implement carrier frequency offset compensation . utilizing an already located fade , a decision ( box 100 ) is made as to whether to use the first or second half of the received slot for frequency offset estimation . based on this decision , samples are taken twenty symbols apart in the appropriate half of the slot ( boxes 101 , 102 ). for the selected case , individual taps are compared and the larger is chosen ( decisions 103 , 104 ). the phases of the chosen tap at the selected two times are then subtracted ( boxes 105 - 108 ) to produce &# 34 ; freq -- observed &# 34 ;, a noisy estimate of the offset . this is filtered ( box 109 ) to generate an accurate estimate of the offset . if an adjustment in setting of the frequency control would reduce this offset , then a decision is made to do so ( decision 110 ); and the decision is then implemented ( box 111 ). the equalizer is reasonably insensitive to errors in bit timing . however , for the following reasons , symbol timing adjustments continue during equalizer operation . the initial estimate produced by acquisition may differ sufficiently from optimal timing so that performance would benefit from adjustment . the transmit and receive symbol timing clocks may differ by about 5 ppm , resulting in drift of about 0 . 1 μs per frame ( or a symbol every 8 seconds ). this drift must be compensated for . in practice , individual independently - delayed signal paths will randomly rise and diminish in average strength , resulting in situations that would be best catered for by different symbol timing . optimal symbol timing depends on an ability to track these changing situations . the operation of the symbol timing control is as follows . the approach has similarities to the early - late gating schemes frequently employed in direct - sequence spread spectrum receivers . as each burst is received , a measure of the error between the expected preamble and the actual received preamble is generated . in addition , in alternating frames , similar measures are made on time advanced and retarded versions of the same input samples . if no timing adjustment is necessary , the error generated with the existing timing should be less ( on average ) than either of the others . adjustments are made when this is not the case or there is a consistent disparity between the advanced and retarded error estimates . this process is simply a search for bit timing that minimizes the error statistic , as illustrated in fig4 . the control loop used includes an estimator of any consistent change in timing , corresponding to drift with respect to the transmitter . drift in the order of 10 ppm can be compensated for by this loop . this search for a minimum may be hampered by the possible presence of a local ( non - global ) minimum . in fact , for this statistic the presence of two minima is common ( corresponding to the two taps implicit in the equalizer structure -- see fig1 ). the approach taken to resolve this conflict is as follows . the more advanced minimum is presumed to be the preferred sampling time . multiple minima typically arise when there is a small level of delay spread , i . e ., less than about 10 μs . under such conditions the ratio of magnitudes of the estimated paths in the ( symbol - spaced ) channel impulse response differs significantly in the region of the more advanced minimum from that in the more retarded case . thus , the ratio of tap magnitudes provides a statistic from which to conclude the appropriateness of a selected minimum . with reference to fig6 a and 6b they show flow diagrams illustrating the processing performed by the equalizer 20 to implement bit timing control . inputs ( box 80 ) include the on - time and time - offset samples ( z ( n ) and z offset ( n )), and a flag to indicate the direction of the time offset . the on - time samples are fed into the equalizer 20 just as they are during normal training 83 . similarly , the time offset samples are fed to the equalizer 20 ( box 84 ). in both cases , the branch metrics ( on the known correct paths ) are accumulated over the latter symbols to provide measures ( error cum and error offset cum ) of the degree to which the samples match expectations . in a separate process the magnitudes of each of two taps estimated as the channel impulse response at the end of the training process are calculated ( box 85 ). averaging the ratio of these taps over a number of frames ( boxes 86 - 89 ) permits a judgement to be made as to whether the bit timing has selected an inappropriate local minimum . if a threshold ( box 90 ) is reached , then bit timing will be advanced by a full symbol time ( box 91 ). taking account of the relative time at which samples were taken ( box 92 ), the error cum and error offset cum measures are combined to generate a noisy estimate of an appropriate timing adjustment ( boxes 93 , 94 ). this estimate is then filtered ( box 95 ) to generate an actual timing offset adjustment . to compensate for consistent drift , an additional term &# 34 ; drift -- est &# 34 ; monitors and compensates for this effect . thus there has been described a maximum likelihood sequence estimation based equalization method for use in mobile digital cellular receivers . it is to be understood that the above - described embodiments are merely illustrative of some of the many specific embodiments which represent applications of the principles of the present invention . clearly , numerous and other arrangements can be readily devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention .
| 7 |
before describing the present invention , prior art variable displacement dosing pumps generally have included a closed housing with a cam rotated by a drive shaft causing a reciprocating movement of the piston in the pumping chamber causing a driver fluid to be pressurized and depressurized and thus creating movement of a diaphragm . these known diagraph pumps work horizontally causing inefficient refill and piston lubrication . generally , as to the present invention , fig1 illustrates an inventive diaphragm pump 10 which includes a motor “ m ” 11 that rotatably drives a cam 12 at a desired speed to move piston “ pt ” 14 vertically downwardly and upwardly inside the piston bore “ pb ” 16 . a driver fluid “ f ” 17 is provided in a driver fluid chamber or reservoir 18 so as to communicate with a pump chamber “ pc ” 19 of the piston bore 16 , wherein the driver fluid 17 enters through a refill port 20 that opens sidewardly or radially into the piston bore 16 to supply driver fluid 17 into the pump chamber 19 . with continuing descent of the piston “ p ” 14 during motor operation , trapped driver fluid 17 , which is located in the pump chamber 19 in front of the piston “ pt ” 14 , is pressurized and thereby pressurizes an energized diaphragm “ d ” 22 movably supported in a pump head 23 . pressurized diaphragm “ d ” 22 moves forward into a process fluid chamber 24 and pushes out the process fluid 25 through a discharge port “ dp ” 26 . during the upward return stroke of the piston “ pt ” 14 , the pressurized driver fluid 17 is depressurized when the piston 14 clears the refill port “ r ” 20 . the diaphragm “ d ” 22 moves back to its original position by an attached spring 28 and a precise amount of process fluid 25 is filled inside the process chamber through the suction port “ sp ” 30 . the discharge port 26 and suction port 30 are controlled by check valves so that process fluid flow is from the suction port 30 through to the discharge port 26 . in case of accidental overpressure of the driver fluid 17 behind the energized diaphragm “ d ” 22 , a pressure relief port “ p ” 34 is provided which is controlled by a spring - biased pressure relief valve 35 that opens when overpressure is encountered to allow the excess driver fluid 17 to flow there through causing excess pressure to be expelled out into the driver fluid chamber 18 which is in fluid communication with the relief port 34 . in more detail as to fig1 , the pump 10 comprises a generally u - shaped base plate 36 that is mountable to any suitable support surface by mounting flanges 37 . the base plate 36 also includes a plate - like pump support 38 defining an upward - facing support surface 39 . the pump 10 further comprises a housing unit 40 which comprises a main housing 41 that is directly mounted to the pump support 38 . the top of the main housing 40 supports an intermediate housing body 42 which in turn supports an upper housing body 43 . one side of the main housing 40 also supports the pump head 23 as will be described further . first as to the main housing 40 , as seen in fig1 , 2 and 4 , the main housing has a bottom end formed with a first chamber or pocket 45 , and a second chamber or pocket 46 . the first chamber 45 provides an air space between the base 36 and the portion of the main housing 40 that is disposed next to the piston bore 16 and pump chamber 19 which helps insulate these cavities from the surrounding environment . similarly , the second chamber 46 is located next to the pump head 23 and provides additional thermal separation between the pump head 23 and the remaining portions of the main housing 40 . the main housing 40 includes an outer housing wall 48 and an inner chamber wall 49 which is radially spaced inwardly from the outer wall 48 to define the driver fluid reservoir 18 radially therebetween . the fluid reservoir 18 thereby has an annular shape surrounding the inner chamber wall 49 . the outer wall 48 also includes a bore 51 which normally is closed by a set screw 52 ( fig1 ) but is removable to help indicate the level of the driver fluid 17 within the reservoir 18 . the inner wall 49 further defines an open - ended central bore 53 ( fig4 ) which opens vertically upwardly into the intermediate housing body 42 and opens downwardly into a transverse fluid passage 54 that allows the driver fluid 18 to flow transversely from the pump chamber 19 to the diaphragm 22 for operation thereof by reciprocation of the piston 14 . the transverse fluid passage 54 therefore has an inner end 55 receiving driver fluid 17 from the pump chamber 19 , and an outer end 56 that widens into a secondary passage 55 so as to open into and fluidly communicate with the pump head 23 as will be described further hereinafter . since the fluid passage 54 receives pressurized driver fluid 17 , this fluid 17 is then able to communicate with the diaphragm 22 through communication with the secondary fluid passage 55 . if the fluid is over - pressurized , the aforementioned relief port 34 is provided that opens radially through the outer housing wall 48 . in particular , the outer housing wall 48 includes an enlarged valve section 56 that is provided with a vertically elongate passageway 57 comprising a valve seat 58 that receives the tapered or pointed valve body 35 a ( fig4 and 5 ) of the relief valve 35 therein . this passageway 57 has a tapered inner end 59 that cooperates with the tapered end of the relief valve 35 so as to selectively block fluid flow therethrough . the passageway 57 at this location further communicates with a relief passage 60 that opens radially downwardly into the secondary fluid passage 55 described above . during over - pressurization , the driver fluid 17 is able to enter the relief passage 60 to unseat or move the relief valve body 35 a upwardly away from the tapered passage end 59 and allow the driver fluid 18 to flow into the passageway 57 , into the relief port 34 and then into the driver fluid reservoir 18 described above . normally , the valve body 35 a is maintained in a closed position by a spring 61 which allows the relief valve 35 to selectively open and close while automatically returning the valve 35 to the normally closed position . the spring force also sets the maximum pressure of the driver fluid 17 before pressure is released . the passageway 57 is enclosed by a valve cap or closure 62 which prevents leakage of the driver fluid 17 from the passageway 57 . as such , the relief valve 35 allows excess driver fluid 17 to be automatically returned to the reservoir 18 without affecting the desired operating pressure of the driver fluid 17 when operating the diaphragm 22 . once the operating pressure is returned to the desired operating level , the valve 35 would automatically close in response to the spring 61 or other biasing or closing means . for the pumping operation , the inner chamber wall 49 is provided with a plurality of the refill ports 20 which are circumferentially spaced apart and open radially through the entire thickness of the inner wall 48 . to define the pump chamber 19 and piston bore 16 , the inventive pump 10 includes a liner sleeve sub - assembly 65 ( fig4 , 8 and 9 ) which slidably fits downwardly into the central bore 53 . the liner sleeve assembly 65 comprises a cylindrical holder 66 having an upper mounting flange 67 , which includes a fastener bore 68 that allows for secure engagement to the inner chamber wall 49 . the outer surface of the holder 66 includes circumferential grooves 69 that receive seals like o - rings therein to seal the holder 66 relative to the inside surface of the central bore 53 . the holder 66 includes a long cylindrical liner or sleeve 71 which is preferably formed of steel and defines the pump chamber 19 at the bottom end 72 thereof and the piston bore 16 at the upper end 73 thereof . to allow for entry of the driver fluid 18 through the refill ports 20 into the pump chamber 19 , respective liner ports 75 and holder ports 76 are provided on diametrically opposite sides of the liner 71 and holder 66 so as to thereby align with the refill ports 20 and essentially define radial extensions of the refill ports 20 . hence , reference to the refill ports 20 herein comprises the actual ports 20 formed in the inner chamber wall 49 as well as the port extensions defined by the liner ports 75 and holder ports 76 which together define continuous radial passages between the reservoir 18 and the pump chamber 19 . as seen in fig4 , piston 14 at the top end of stroke clears the refill ports 20 at least partially so as to allow a balanced level of the driver fluid 17 which can flow into the pump chamber 19 if necessary through the refill ports 20 . during downward travel during the pump stroke , the bottom end of the piston 14 extends into the pump chamber 19 as diagrammatically represented by reference line 78 which thereby causes the piston 14 to close the refill ports 20 and drive the fluid 17 out of the pump chamber 19 and into the transverse fluid passage 54 for driving operation of the diaphragm 22 . as the piston 14 travels upwardly through its return stroke , the bottom end of the piston 14 eventually clears the refill ports 20 at least partially to then release any fluid pressure in the pumped or driven fluid and allow the driver fluid 18 to refill the pump chamber 19 for subsequent pumping . reciprocating operation of the piston 14 thereby causes the driver fluid 18 to reciprocatingly drive the diaphragm 22 as will be described further herein . all of the refill ports 20 , pump chamber 19 and pressure relief port 34 are in common communication with the reservoir 18 so that separate systems are not required to accommodate the separate functions of refilling the pump chamber 19 , driving the driver fluid 17 with the piston 14 , and releasing over - pressurization through the relief valve 35 . further , it is not necessary to seal the driver fluid 17 within this fluid system so that wear - susceptible seals between the piston 14 and the liner 71 are avoided , which avoids any wear problems or leakage of fluid which might occur if a piston were to require elastomeric seals or other types of seals to prevent leakage of a driven fluid . to effect driving of the piston 14 , the motor 11 is provided with a cam assembly 79 ( fig3 ) which connects a rotatable drive shaft 80 of the motor 11 with the piston 14 . more particularly as to fig1 and 11 , the piston 14 is formed as part of a piston sub - assembly 81 which comprises a piston rod 82 that mounts within a support bracket 83 . the support bracket 83 includes a connector pin 84 that pivotally joins the support bracket 83 to a drive collar 85 having a central cam - receiving bore 86 extending there through . referring to fig3 and 4 , the motor drive shaft 80 is supported by a first bearing 88 that provides support to the shaft 80 on the upper end of the upper housing body 43 . the bearing 88 is supported within a motor flange 89 that in turns mounts with the motor 11 to the housing body 43 by mounting plate assembly 90 . the inboard free end of the motor shaft 80 supports a cam sub - assembly ( fig3 , 6 and 7 ) for driving operation of the piston assembly 81 . in particular , the cam assembly 79 has a cam body 91 through which passes a central axis 92 that defines a rotation axis 93 for the cam assembly 79 during shaft rotation . the motor - driven end of the axle 92 includes a shaft - receiving bore 94 that receives the motor shaft 80 therein ( fig3 ) which is then secured therein by a set screw 95 . this end of the axle 92 has the bearing 98 mounted thereon to support such end , while the axle 92 has a free end 97 opposite the driven end 96 which is configured to receive an additional bearing 98 thereon . to drive the piston assembly 81 , the cam body 91 is formed with an outer , radially - projecting hub 99 that has a circular outer surface which extends about a center hub axis that is positioned eccentric to the rotation axis 93 . as such , the hub 99 is formed eccentrically relative to the shaft axis 93 so that the hub 99 effectively works as a cam . the circular hub 99 is rotatably fitted within the circular bore 86 of the drive collar 85 so that rotation of the cam body 91 causes reciprocating vertical motion of the piston assembly 81 during rotation of the motor shaft 80 . referring to fig3 , 12 and 13 , the axle end 97 is supported by a bearing sub - assembly 101 which comprises a mounting cover 102 formed with a shallow bearing seat 103 for receiving the aforementioned bearing 98 therein . the bearing seat 103 includes a spring 104 to ensure proper axial positioning of the bearing 98 . the cover 102 has an outer mounting flange 105 formed with holes for receiving fasteners there through that secure to the upper housing body 43 . next as to fig3 , the upper housing body 43 also includes a removable top cap 106 that allows for the driver fluid 17 to be poured into the open vertical column or passageway defined internally by the intermediate housing body 42 and upper housing body 43 . preferably , the driver fluid 17 is any suitable type of oil or other working fluid which can be poured through the top cap 106 to appropriately fill the reservoir 18 to the appropriate level indicated by the set screw 52 . other types of fluids are suitable . since this fluid is able to flow freely into and around the various components including the piston 14 itself , the driver fluid 17 not only serves as a pump driver for the diaphragm 22 , but also serves as a lubricant that lubricates the movable components including the piston 14 as it moves relative to the opposing interior surface of the steel liner 71 and the interior liner surface which forms the piston bore 16 and pump chamber 19 . next as to the pump head 23 , said pump head 23 is best illustrated in fig5 , 14 and 15 . the pump head 23 comprises an inner head body 110 and an outer head body 111 which define opposing interior faces 112 and 113 defining an interface therebetween . the surfaces 112 and 113 have central cavities which face in opposing relation and define a circular , thin cavity that defines the process fluid chamber 24 . the fluid chamber 24 on the outboard side communicates with the discharge port 26 and suction port 30 by angled ports 114 and 115 , wherein the angled ports minimize friction loss so as to further improve pump efficiency and also eliminate build - up of air pockets . the inner and outer head bodies 110 and 111 are joined together by fasteners 117 extending through fastener bores 118 . the outer head body 111 also includes an indicator 119 showing the flow direction which would be dictated by the check valves in the discharge port 26 and suction port 30 . the diaphragm 22 preferably comprises a flexible , circular disk 121 which is formed from elastomeric teflon and has an outer rib 122 that seats within opposing grooves formed in the head body faces 112 and 113 . the rib 122 is sandwiched or compressed between the interface of the inner and outer head bodies 110 and 110 and defines a fluid - tight seal therebetween . the disk 121 thereby sealingly separates the process fluid chamber 24 , which is on the outboard side of the diaphragm 22 , from an inner driver fluid chamber 123 , which is on the inboard side of the diaphragm 22 , such that axial flexing of the diaphragm disk 121 effects variations , i . e . increases and decreases in the volume of the pump chamber 24 and thereby effects pumping operation of the process fluid 25 that passes through the angled ports 114 and 115 into and out of the process fluid chamber 24 . the diaphragm 122 includes a stainless steel drive head 125 on the driven fluid side which drive head 125 has a connector collar 126 that is threadedly engaged with the shaft 126 of a bolt 127 . the head 128 of the bolt 127 has a spring 129 disposed in compression between the bolt head 128 and a divider wall 130 to normally bias the diaphragm 122 axially rightwardly in fig1 . this divider wall 130 includes passages 131 ( fig5 ) which allows for driver fluid to flow into the driver fluid chamber 123 adjacent the inboard side of the diaphragm 22 . to mount the pump head 23 to the main housing body 41 , the inner head body 110 has an inboard flange 135 which fits in sealed engagement into a corresponding cavity in the main housing body 41 ( fig2 ). the flange 135 defines a fluid passage 136 which aligns with and opens into the corresponding fluid passage 55 of fig4 . as such , the driver fluid 17 during pump operation is driven through the passages 54 , 55 , 136 and 131 , and into the pump chamber 123 so as to pressurize the inboard side of the diaphragm 22 and effect axial displacement or deformation of the central portion of the diaphragm 122 leftwardly in fig1 during the pumping stroke of the piston 14 . during the return stroke of the piston 14 , the driver fluid 17 can then flow out of these passages so that the spring - energized diaphragm 22 is then driven rightwardly by the aforementioned spring 129 . the diaphragm 22 therefore is energized to provide for spring - assisted suction of the process fluid into the process fluid chamber 24 during the return stroke which provides for positive suction and very accurate dosing of the process fluid . hence , reciprocating upward and downward movement of the piston 14 causes a corresponding reciprocating horizontal movement of the diaphragm 22 to effect pumping of the process fluid . the improved dosing pump 10 provides a required supply of pressurized process fluid 25 to an injection point even against varying gas or liquid pressures . this pump 10 eliminates the use of elastomeric sealing within the piston configuration , and eliminates failing of the pump due to seal wear . further the internal pressure release valve 35 protects the pump structures from premature failure , and providing the driver fluids 17 as a lubricant thereby lubricates the working components of the pump . the above - described embodiments of the invention are intended to be examples of the present invention and alterations and modifications may be effected thereto , by those of skill in the art , without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined solely by the claims appended hereto .
| 5 |
fig4 shows a block diagram of a base station in which external signals are received by a line concentrator 5 through an antenna 6 , an antenna duplexer 7 , a receiver 8 and a decoder 9 while signals are sent to repeaters through an encoder 10 , a transmitter 11 , the antenna duplexer 7 , and the antenna 6 . a telephone exchange 12 is connected to the line concentrator 5 . an originating call signal detector 13 is connected between the decoder 9 and the line concentrator 5 , while a terminating call signal generator 14 is connected between the encoder 10 and the line concentrator 5 . the outputs of the detector 13 and the originating call signal generator 14 are inputted to an or gate circuit 15 , and its output is applied to a synchronizing pulse generator 16 for battery saving . the synchronizing pulse generator 16 is connected to the encoder 10 via a bs - sync signal generator 17 . fig5 is a block diagram showing a repeater embodying the invention , in which 18 and 19 show antennas , 20 and 21 antenna duplexers , 22 and 23 receivers , 24 and 25 transmitters , and 26 and 27 regenerators which are connected as shown . receivers 22 and 23 , and transmitters 24 and 25 are connected to a power source 29 through a switch 28 . an originating call signal detector 30 is connected to the regenerator 26 , and the output of the detector 30 is supplied to one input of an or gate circuit 31 and to a reset terminal r of a counter 32 . to the regenerator 27 is connected a bs - sync signal detector 33 , the output thereof being supplied to the clock input of the counter 32 and to one input of an and gate circuit 34 . the output of the counter 32 is supplied to the other input of the and gate circuit 34 , the output thereof being supplied to the reset terminal r of a flip - flop circuit 35 . the q output of the flip - flop circuit 35 is supplied to the control terminal of switch 28 and to the other input of the or gate circuit 31 via a timer 36 . the output of the or gate circuit 31 is supplied to the set terminal s of the flip - flop circuit 35 . a pulse generator 100 includes the or gate circuit 31 , counter 32 , and gate circuit 34 , flip - flop circuit 35 and timer 36 . fig6 is a block diagram showing a terminal device embodying the invention in which 37 designates an antenna , 38 an antenna duplexer , 39 a transmitter , 40 a receiver , 41 and 42 regenerators , 43 a line concentrator , 44 , 45 and 46 telephone sets . an originating call signal generator 47 is connected between the line concentrator 43 and the regenerator 41 . the output of the originating call signal generator 47 is supplied to one input of an or gate circuit 48 and the reset terminal r of a counter 49 . the transmitter 39 and the receiver 40 are connected to a power source 51 through a switch 50 . to the regenerator 42 is connected a bs - sync signal detector 52 , the output thereof being supplied to the clock input of the counter 49 and one input of an and gate circuit 53 with other input supplied with the output of the counter 49 . the output of the and gate circuit 53 is applied to the reset terminal r of a flip - flop circuit 54 . the q output of this flip - flop circuit 54 is connected to the control terminal of the switch 50 and to the other input of the or gate circuit 48 via a timer 55 . a pulse generator 200 includes the or gate circuit 48 , counter 49 , and gate circuit 53 , flip - flop circuit 54 and timer 55 . the system of this invention operates as follows . in fig1 at the initial state , the repeaters 2 and 3 and the terminal device 4 operate to constantly supply power to the transmitter and receiver . when the talking lines are idle , the base station sends out a synchronizing signal ( bs - sync signal ) of a predetermined period for the battery saving type power supply , as shown at section ( a ) in fig3 . illustrated at sections ( b ) through ( d ) in fig3 are power supply voltage waveforms in the repeaters 2 and 3 and the terminal device 4 . thus , when the repeaters 2 and 3 and the terminal device 4 detect thrice , for example , the bs - sync signal at a correct period , the battery power saving type power supply is initiated . the interval of the on / off operation of the power supply is predetermined such that the bs - sync signal sent out from the base station at a predetermind period must be received while the power is being supplied to the transmitters and receivers of the repeaters 2 and 3 and the terminal device 4 . more particularly , when the repeaters 2 and 3 or the terminal device 4 continuously detect 3 times the bs - sync signal , the supply of power to the transmitters and receivers in these stations are interrupted for a definite time ( t1 shown at ( b ) in fig3 ) before the fourth bs - sync signal arrives . thereafter , power is again supplied to detect the fourth bs - sync signal and in response to the detection , the source is again on / off controlled for a predetermined time . this cycle of operation is repeated . thus , the power is supplied intermittently to save power consumption . where no more bs - sync signal is detected , the battery saving type power supply is stopped until the signal is again continuously detected 3 times . the terminating call operation will now be described . at the base station , when a terminating call to the terminal device is detected , the transmission of the bs - sync signal is stopped at once . accordingy , the battery saving in all stations is stopped . thereafter , a talking line is connected to commence talking . in the case of an originating call , the terminal device 4 sends out an originating call signal . this signal is transmitted to the base station 1 while the transmitters and receivers of all stations are operating . as the base station detects the originating call signal , the bs - sync signal is terminated in the same manner as in a terminating call signal . as a result , the battery saving type power supply is stopped in all stations to connect a talking line . when all talking lines are interrupted , the base station transmits again the bs - sync signal to resume the battery saving type power supply . the operations of the base station , the repeaters and the terminal device will be described in more detail . in fig4 when both originating call and terminating call are not made , the synchronizing pulse generator 16 for the battery saving type power supply operates , and in response to its output , the bs - sync signal generator 17 operates , and the bs - sync signal thus generated is sent to the repeaters and the terminal device through encoder 10 , transmitter 11 , antenna duplexer 7 and antenna 6 . when the telephone exchange 12 produces a terminating call signal , it is detected by a ringer in the line concentrator 5 , and the terminating call signal generator 14 produces terminating call signals for respective time divisioned time slots . when the terminating call signal is detected even in only one time slot , the or gate circuit 15 is enabled to stop the operation of the synchronizing pulse generator 16 for the battery saving type power supply . on the other hand , in the case of an originating call , the originating call signal transmitted from the terminal device 4 via repeaters will be detected by the originating call signal detector 13 via antenna 6 , antenna duplexer 7 , receiver 8 and decoder 9 . in accordance with the output of the originating call signal detector 13 , the line concentrator 5 connects a time slot in which the originating call has been commenced to the telephone exchange 12 . at the same time , the or gate circuit 15 is enabled to stop the operation of synchronizing pulse generator 16 for the battery saving type power supply . as described above , where there is an originating call or a terminating call , the transmission of the bs - sync signal is stopped , whereas when neither the originating call nor the terminating call is present , the transmission of the bs - sync signal continues . turning now to fig5 when neither the terminating call nor originating call present , the base station transmits the bs - sync signal which is detected by the bs - sync signal detector 33 via antenna 19 , antenna duplexer 21 , receiver 23 and regenerator 27 . the number of the bs - sync pulse outputted by the detector 33 is counted by the counter 32 and when its count reaches a predetermined value ( three in an example shown in fig3 ), its output is applied to the reset input r of the flip - flop circuit 35 via and gate circuit 34 . thus , the flip - flop circuit 35 is reset by the bs - sync pulse to apply an output to switch 28 for opening the same , thereby interrupting the power supply to receivers 22 and 23 , and transmitters 24 and 25 from the power source 29 . at the same time , this output of the flip - flop circuit 35 starts operating the timer 36 . after a predetermined time interval t 1 in fig3 which is determined by the timer and which is slightly shorter than the period of the bs - sync signal , the timer produces an output to enable the or gate circuit 31 for setting again the flip - flop circuit 35 , whereby power is supplied again to receivers 22 and 23 and transmitters 24 and 25 until the supply of power is stopped in response to the next bs - sync signal ( the fourth bs - sync signal in fig3 ). while the power is being supplied to the receivers and transmitters , the bs - sync signal is transmitted to the repeaters and the terminal device on the downstream side via transmitter 25 , antenna duplexer 20 , and antenna 18 . in this manner power is supplied to the repeaters by the battery saving type power supply system in accordance with the bs - sync signal sent from the base station . when a terminating call occurs , the battery saving is terminated since the bs - sync signal from the base station is stopped . when an originating call occurs , the originating call signal is detected by the originating call signal detector 30 via antenna 18 , antenna duplexer 20 , receiver 22 , and regenerator 26 . the output produced by the detector 30 enables the or gate circuit 31 to set the flip - flop circuit 35 , whereby the switch 28 is closed to supply power to the transmitters and receivers from the power source 29 . at the same time , the counter 32 is reset by the output of the originating call signal detector 30 and the source power is supplied to the transmitters and receivers for an interval sufficient for the count of the counter 32 to reach a predetermined number . consequently , the originating call signal will be transmitted to the base station via transmitter 24 , antenna duplexer 21 and antenna 19 . upon detection of the originating call signal , the base station immediately stops the generation of the bs - sync signal so that the battery saving type power supply of the repeaters is also stopped . in fig6 the terminal device also operates in the same manner as the repeaters . an originating call signal is produced by the originating call signal generator 47 when the hook - off condition of the telephone sets 44 , 45 and 46 is detected by the line concentrator 43 . thus , when either one of the telephone sets 44 , 45 and 46 hooks off , the or gate circuit 48 is enabled by the output of the originating call signal generator 47 to set the flip - flop circuit 54 . at the same time , since the counter 49 is reset , power is supplied to the transmitter 39 and the receiver 40 from the power source 51 for a sufficient time described above . during this interval , an originating call signal is sent to the base station so as to stop the battery saving type power supply in the same manner as in the repeaters . in the case of terminating call too , since transmission of the bs - sync signal from the base station is stopped , the battery saving type power supply is stopped in the same manner as in the repeaters . referring to fig7 the signal format of the bs - sync on time division - multiplex basis will be described in greater detail . fig7 shows in sections ( a ) through ( c ) data signals respectively transmitted from the base station 1 , the first repeater 2 , and the second repeater 3 . a string of control time slots ts o to ts n within one frame of the data signal is shown at section ( d ) in fig7 and a string of signals contained in the time slot ts o is illustrated at ( e ) in fig7 . especially , in the data signal at sections ( a ) to ( c ), a hatched frame contains a time slot ts o in which the bs - sync signal occurs and a non - hatched ( blank ) frame contains a time slot ts o in which the bs - sync signal does not occur . at the initial state , the receivers in the repeaters 2 and 3 and the terminal device 4 are always maintained in an operative state . as shown by a portion a in fig7 the base station sends out the bs - sync signal of a definite period while any talking line is not used . as shown by a portion ○ 6 in fig7 the bs - sync signal is arranged in a time slot ts o containing a frame synchronizing signal ( portion ○ 7 ), which time slot is periodically sent out from the base station . at each period , the data in that time slot is stored in a ram , and the cpus in the repeaters and the terminal device read the data in the ram to detect the bs - sync signal when there is a bs - sync bit . when the bs - sync signal is detected 3 times at a correct period ( portion ○ 5 ), the battery saving type power supply is started and the next interval of supplying the power is determined such that the bs - sync signal sent at a predetermined period ( portion ○ 1 ) during the operation of the receiver will be exactly received ( portion ○ 2 ). as the bs - sync signal is not detected , the battery saving type power supply is stopped until this signal is detected again 3 times continuously . when a repeater detects a frame synchronizing signal ( portion ○ 7 ) contained in the control time slot , it repeats all data in the control time slot to a succeeding repeater . in other time slots , a sub - frame synchronizing signal is detected to be repeated in the same manner . as described above , the repeating operation continues until the bs - sync signal is detected three times , so that a control time slot where the bs - sync signal bit is raised is sent at least three times to any station . accordingly , as soon as the frame synchronizing signal is detected under the supply of power a predetermined time after initiation of the battery saving , the repeating operation is initiated which continues until the bs - sync signal is detected again three times . at first let us consider a terminating call operation . when arrival of a terminating call signal is detected at the terminal device , the base station immediately stops the bs - sync signal ( portion ○ 3 ). this stops the battery saving type power supply in all stations . after that , a talking line is connected , permitting talking . in the case of an originating call , the terminal device sends out an originating call signal which is transmitted to the base station while the receivers of all stations are operating . when the base station detects the originating call signal , it stops transmission of the bs - sync signal in the same manner as in the case of terminating call , with the result that the battery saving type power supply in all stations is stopped and the talking line is connected . when all talking lines are interrupted , the base station transmits again the bs - sync signal to resume the battery saving type power supply ( portion ○ 4 ). as described above , according to this invention , a bs - sync signal is transmitted at a definite period from a base station , and repeaters and a terminal device perform the battery saving type power supply in synchronism with the bs - sync signal . according to this system , the battery saving type power supply is possible even in a tdm system including a plurality of repeaters . furthermore , so long as the communication system is of the time division type , this invention is applicable to either the digital or the analogue type . the bs - sync signal may be of any type of signal format .
| 8 |
the soap stocks which comprise starting material for the process herein described are by - products from the processing of fats and oils which are natural products . they are , therefore , subject to substantial variability as to their composition , properties and processing characteristics , even when they derive from nominally similar prior processing of nominally similar fat or oil . in particular , since it is one of the objects of the prior alkali refining process to remove impurities from the refined oil product , the impurities present in the by - product soap stock are subject to great variability . it is , therefore , desirable that methods for further processing of soap stocks not be critically sensitive to substantial variability in the starting soap stock , and this is true of the present process . nonetheless , it will sometimes be found necessary to make adjustments in one or more of the processing conditions within the scope of the present invention to adapt this method for efficient processing of any particular soap stock . in general these adjustments will be straightforward applications of conventional engineering principles and well within the skill of those knowledgeable in soap stock , glyceride oil , or fatty acid processing . the process may be regarded as commencing with a vacuum distillation step , as indicated above , using as starting material an acid oil comprising amixture of fatty acid glyceride and fatty acid and having a ph less than about 7 . as already indicated , this acid oil starting material can be partially or totally derived from soap stock from alkali refining , but it may also derive either totally or in part from other sources , such as low grade or contaminated fatty oil - or fatty acid - containing by - product from other processes . where soap stock is to comprise all or part of the ultimate source of fatty acids produced by this process , and where any shipment or storage before distilling is contemplated , it will usually be found advantageous to acidulate the soap stock and separate the resulting acid oil phase for shipment or storage , since otherwise a great deal of water will be required to be shipped and / or stored . as acidulating acid for both acidulation steps , aqueous sulfuric acid of about 10 to 30 percent concentration is preferred , but other concentrations up to about 50 percent can be used advantageously . other strong inorganic acids such as hydrochloric acid can also be employed for the acidulation . the ph in the acidulated mixtures in both acidulation steps is preferably about 2 to 4 and the acidulating temperature in both acidulations from about 40 to 100 ° c ., preferably about 90 ° c . it is preferred to avoid boiling so as to minimize the production of undesirable foam . the separations of the acid oil phases from the aqueous saline phases following the acidulation steps can be accomplished by allowing the mixtures to settle and then decanting one phase from the other , but in commercial processes separation by centrifuging may ordinarily be found more economical . it may sometimes be found advantageous to add conventional cosolvents or surfactants to improve the degree and / or speed of separation and it will normally be desirable to wash the separated acid oil phases with water or with one of the aqueous saline phases recycled for this purpose . each separation step in the process may consist of a single - stage separation or may be a cascaded multi - stage separation . the distillation step or steps can be performed in conventional vacuum distillation apparatus , preferably as a stripping distillation without substantial fractionation of the crude fatty acid distillates . it may , however , be desirable to separate in the distillation step a more volatile impurity fraction from the crude fatty acid distillate . the distillation temperatures required will be from about 180 to 300 ° c . with pressures from about 1 to 10 torr . the saponification can be accomplished with any strong aqueous alkali , but sodium hydroxide solutions are ordinarily preferred . it is generally desirable to use only a small excess of alkali above that stoichiometrically required to saponify the fatty acid glycerides and neutralize any free fatty acids present , e . g . about 2 - 5 % excess , but the saponification can be done with larger excesses of alkali up to as much as 100 percent excess . while alkali excesses even greater than 100 percent can be employed in the saponification , the use of large excesses is unnecessary and should ordinarily be avoided in order to fully realize the benefit of the present invention in reducing the amount of alkali consumed and the amount of salt by - product produced upon subsequent acidulation . the saponification should be done at elevated temperatures , preferably at about 90 ° c ., and can be done at atmospheric pressure . it is preferred that the saponifying mixture not be boiled , since this tends to produce undesirable foaming . while the process can advantageously be operated as either a batch process or a continuous process or as a composite process with some steps operated batchwise and others operated continuously , in commercial practice a continuous process will ordinarily be found most advantageous . in designing a plant to perform this process , only conventional selection of equipment for the various steps and incidental piping , connections , valves , holding tanks , and control and measuring devices is required . since corrosive chemicals such as alkali and mineral acid are present in the process , conventional engineering practice will require that much of the material of construction of the apparatus employed will be corrosion resistant . austenitic stainless steels , for example , will be satisfactory in most circumstances . among the advantages of the present process are that it can be operated efficiently with the consumption of significantly less alkali and mineral acid , with production of correspondingly less salt by - product , than a process in which the soap stock is directly saponified before any free fatty acid is removed by stripping distillation . it is also found that the present process produces crude fatty distillates having relatively little color and low contamination with unsaponifiable impurities . these crude fatty acid distillates will , nonetheless , frequently be subjected to further processing for additional purification and separation , as by fractional vacuum distillation . as compared to high temperature , high pressure direct hydrolysis , saponification splits the fatty glycerides with minimal impurity formation and in equipment of relatively modest cost and complexity of operation . the process according to the flow diagram of fig4 will be illustrated by this example , in which all parts are by weight . 22 , 000 parts of a commercial acid oil comprising a mixture of acid oils conventionally derived from vegetable oil soap stocks , the major proportion being derived from cottonseed oil soap stocks by mineral acid acidulation followed by separation from the aqueous saline phase , is used as starting material . the acid number of this material is 83 , its saponification number 194 , its ph 4 and it contains one percent moisture . this acid oil is first vacuum distilled in a stripping tower at 230 ° c . and 6 torr to give 15 , 050 parts of a first crude fatty acid distillate having acid number of 199 and gardner color of 9 . 14 , 650 parts of still residue having specific gravity of 0 . 91 , acid number of 65 and saponification number of 182 is transferred to a stirred reactor . 3 , 943 parts of 50 percent sodium hydroxide solution together with sufficient water to give a 50 percent soap solution is added thereto and the mixture maintained between 80 and 90 ° c . for two hours . sulfuric acid solution containing 2 , 450 parts of sulfuric acid is slowly added and the acidulated mixture stirred for 11 / 2 hours while the temperature is maintained between 90 and 95 ° c . this mixture has a ph of 3 and is centrifuged to separate the acid oil phase and the aqeous saline phase . 13 , 200 parts of the separated acid oil phase is recovered and re - cycled to the vacuum distillation tower and there distilled at 235 ° c . and 6 torr . 8 , 580 parts of a second crude fatty acid distillate are recovered and have substantially the same properties as the first distillate . as indicated above , the exact conditions , yields and properties will vary somewhat depending upon the rather variable composition of the starting material which comprises by - product from the processing of natural products .
| 2 |
turning now to fig1 the present invention can be understood by considering by way of example the simple data communication system shown . in this system , two modems , labeled modem a and modem b and designated 20 and 22 respectively , are coupled together via a transmission channel 24 . according to the present invention a training sequence is initially transmitted for example , from modem a to modem b . this training sequence can be the same training sequences frequently used to establish modem synchronization . the training sequence includes preferably upper and lower band edge energy as well as energy at the center frequency or carrier frequency of the system . this signal passes through channel 24 where the amplitude distortion of the channel affects the signal received by modem b . modem b separates the received frequencies into upper band edge , lower band edge and carrier frequencies . modem b then compares the amplitudes the signals and maps those amplitudes to a predetermined code . this code relates to the characteristics of channel 24 , and the code transmitted back to modem a . modem a then decodes the transmitted code and appropriately selects one of a plurality of equalizers for use in future transmissions to modem b . preferably , the code is transmitted via a highly robust secondary channel such as is commonly used in such data communications . preferably such secondary channel data is transmitted with a very high degree of reliability at a very low rate such as 75 or 150 bps but this is not to be limiting as primary channel can also be used . secondary channel communications are known and described , for example , in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 385 , 384 to rosbury et al ., which is hereby incorporated by reference . turning now to fig2 an arrangement is shown for analyzing the training sequence transmitted by modem a in the procedure described above . transmission channel 24 is coupled to a transmission line interface 30 which may include line drivers , amplifiers , matching circuitry , loop back circuitry as well as other known circuitry used to interface a modem transmitter and receivers to a transmission line . the received signal is delivered to node 32 which is in turn coupled to each of three filters 34 , 36 and 38 . filter 34 is a bandpass filter centered around the lower band edge . filter 36 is a bandpass filter centered about the carrier frequency and filter 38 is a bandpass filter centered about the upper band edge . filters 34 and 38 are frequently already present in the modem for extracting timing or other information as described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 455 , 665 to kromer and u . s . patent application ser . no . 654 , 187 to martinez which are hereby incorporated by reference . in the example shown in fig2 the example of a 1700 hz carrier frequency is used . such carrier is common on , for example , a four phase qam 2400 symbols per second modem having a constellation such as that shown in fig3 . the training sequence used for the present invention may be generated from the constellation of fig3 by simply transmitting the repeating pattern abababab . . . for a sufficiently long period of time . this transmitter output signal can be modeled by equation 1 as follows : θ 1 = phase shift of the lower band edge signal due to channel and filter characteristics . θ 2 = phase shift of the upper band edge signal due to channel and filter characteristics . in this case , the two band - edge signals will occur at f c - f s = 500 hz ( lower ) and f c + f s = 2900 hz ( upper ). the outputs of filters 34 , 36 and 38 at nodes 44 , 46 and 48 respectively are applied to multipliers 54 , 56 and 58 respectively . these multiplier outputs at nodes 64 , 66 and 68 respectively are applied to low pass filters 74 , 76 and 78 convert the squared signals to adc voltage level present at nodes 84 , 86 and 88 . since a data modem typically is provided with an automatic gain control , the absolute levels of these three signals representative of upper and lower band edge and carrier frequency are not important . there absolute levels will be managed by the modem &# 39 ; s automatic gain control . for purposes of the present invention , it is only the amplitudes of the upper band edge and lower band edge signals relative to the carrier signal which is important . however , those skilled in the art will recognize that an analysis of absolute levels may alternatively be used in the present invention . the voltage at node 86 is subtracted from the voltage at node 84 by subtractor 90 to produce a different signal dl at node 92 . similarly , the voltage at node 86 is subtracted from the voltage at node 88 by a subtractor 96 to produce a different signal dh at node 98 . since it is not vital for purposes of the present invention that an absolute correction of the amplitude distortion be achieved in the transmitter , rather only a coarse adjustment is to be achieved , the level at node 92 is processed by a quantizer 100 to produce a quantized signal l1 at node 102 . in a similar manner the signal present at node 98 is quantized by a quantizer 106 to produce a quantized signal l2 at node 108 . these quantized signals are received by a mapper / encoder 110 which processes a l1 and l2 and maps those levels into a code to be transmitted by a secondary channel transmitter 112 . secondary channel transmitter 112 provides this code to line interface 30 for transmission over transmission channel 24 to the modem at the other end . the mapping function performed by mapper / encoder 110 may very greatly depending upon the speed of the modem ( and thus the amount of amplitude distortion and noise which can be tolerated by the modem ), the number of equalizers which can be efficiently implemented as well as the amount of variation present in the types of transmission lines to be corrected . by way of example , fig4 and 6 describe the operation of mapper encoder 110 for a transmission line which may be subject to amplitude distortion of low frequency signals ranging from gain of several db down to attenuation of perhaps approximately 6db . in this illustrative example shown in fig4 signal dl is quantized to a value of plus 1 for signals greater than zero db relative to the reference signal at node 86 . ( it should be noted that a mapping of the dc voltages at nodes 84 , 86 and 88 to actual db level should be generated to correlate the actual db values to relative dc levels ). attenuation as great as minus 3 db relative to the carrier is quantized to zero at l1 and attenuation greater than 3 db is quantized to minus 1 at l1 . turning to fig5 the high frequency quantization assumes that attenuation will generally be present for the high frequencies . this has generally been found to be the case in most data communications transmission lines . the quantization shown in fig5 will accommodate attenuation from approximately zero db down to approximately minus 12 or 14 db relative to the carrier frequency . signals greater than minus 3 db are quantized to pulse 1 at l2 . signals between minus 3 db and minus 9 db are quantized to 0 at l2 and signals less than minus 9 db are quantized to minus 1 at l2 . turning now to fig6 it is seen that with the quantization shown in fig4 and 5 nine possible equalizers may be utilized depending upon the measured values quantized to l1 and l2 . by way of example , for l1 equals zero and l2 equals zero , equalizer number 5 would be selected . this equalizer would preferably have approximately one and a half db of gain at the lower band edge and approximately 6 db of gain at the upper band edge . this allows for correct equalization of signals falling in the central region of the ranges corresponding to l1 equals zero and l2 equals zero . those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that other quantizations and other mappings may be suitable for various applications . in the present example nine possible equalizers may be accommodated but this should not be limiting . since non equalizers may be uniquely characterized in the present example , the desired equalizer may be encoded as a four bit binary number as shown . thus , only four bitts of information need be transmitted to establish the equalizer to be used in the remote transmitter . those skilled in the art will also recognize that the codes as well as the relative levels of attenuation , etc . in the present example are merely illustrative and not be limiting . it will also be appreciated that some amount of overhead will likely be needed in order to effect transmission of an entire message so that more than four bits of information will likely change hands in order to actually implement the present invention . more exact equalization can be achieved by providing more levels of quantization as well as an associated increase in the number of available equalizers . turning now to fig7 a block diagram of circuitry used to process the coded signal transmitted by secondary channel transmitter 112 is shown . line interface 30 is coupled to a primary channel receiver 120 which is used to process incoming user data . a secondary channel receiver 122 is also coupled in parallel to primary channel receiver 120 and coupled to line interface 30 . secondary channel receiver 122 provides the coded signal transmitted by transmitter 112 to a decoder 126 . decoder 126 controls a switch bank 128 which is used to couple one of a plurality of equalizers 130 , 132 and 134 into the transmitter signal path . depending upon the switch selection , any one of n possible equalizers may be placed between a primary channel transmitter 138 and line interface 30 . the selected equalizer may be also be used to process the transmission from secondary channel transmitter 140 . the system shown in fig7 may be viewed either as a conceptual description of the present invention or may be viewed as an operable physical embodiment where equalizers 1 through n are separate and distinct analog equalizer filters or digital equalizer filters . the block diagram shown in fig7 is helpful in understanding the principle of the present invention . however , in preferred embodiments of the present invention digital technology is used for implementing the transmitter equalizer and the selection of equalizers is accomplished by modification or selection of digital filter coefficients . one such implementation is shown in fig8 . in this implementation , a coded signal from secondary channel 122 is provided to a decoder 150 which decodes the signal and passes it on to a microprocessor 152 . microprocessor 152 is coupled to a memory 156 which may be a read only memory . memory 156 stores a plurality of sets of equalizer coefficients for use by an equalizer 160 . in accordance with the coded signal received by microprocessor 152 , the microprocessor unloads a predetermined set of equalizer coefficients from memory 156 and transfers that set of coefficients to a coefficient memory 162 which may be a random access memory . the desired filter characteristics may thus be implemented by appropriately selecting from a predetermined group of equalizers characterized by a plurality of sets of equalizer coefficients . of course those skilled in the art will recognize that the currently available high speed powerful microprocessors are capable of performing many of the functions shown in the functional blocks of fig8 . for example , decoder 150 , microprocessor 152 , and equalizer 160 may all be implemented by a signal microprocessor . processors such as the tms 320 series digital signal processors by texas instruments ® are well suited to this type of application . turning now to fig9 an alternative embodiment is shown in which the coded signal from secondary channel receiver 122 is passed to a decoder 180 this decoder 180 is used to map the coded signal to a memory address pointer . this pointer is then transmitted to a digital equalizer 182 which is coupled to a coefficient memory 186 which includes a plurality of sets of equalizer coefficients in different locations thereof . in this embodiment , the pointer is utilized to instruct equalizer 182 what portion of the coefficient memory contains the desired equalizer coefficients needed to affect equalization . of course those skilled in the art will recognize that numerous architectures may be utilized for effecting implementation of a variety of different equalizers without departing from the present invention . accordingly , the present invention is not limited to the specific examples shown herein . turning now to fig1 , another embodiment of the present invention is shown . this embodiment contemplates the use of separate equalizers for the upper frequency range and for the lower frequency range . in accordance with this embodiment , the coded signal received by secondary channel receiver 122 may actually be a coded form of the individual quantized levels l1 and l2 or alternatively it can be a code as previously described . this coded signal is decoded by decoder 200 in order to ascertain which type of equalization is to be utilized for both high frequencies and for low frequencies . the high frequency equalization is selected by appropriate closure of one of the switches in a switch bank 202 . depending on the switch which is closed , any of high frequency filters 204 , 206 through 208 may be selected to be interposed in the signal path . in a similar manner any of the switches in switch bank 220 may be selectively closed in order to route the signal to be equlized through any of equalizers 222 , 224 through 228 . it should be noted that the embodiment shown in fig1 may be viewed in a manner similar to that of the embodiment shown in fig7 in that it may be interpreted as a conceptual block diagram or an actual physical embodiment . the actual process for the present invention may be summarized by the flow diagram shown in fig1 . the process starts at step 300 after which a training sequence is transmitted from modem a to modem b at step 302 . at step 304 , the training sequence is received by modem b and the upper and lower band edge and carrier frequencies are separated . at step 306 the relative amplitudes of the three separate signals are compared and in step 310 the relative amplitudes are mapped to a code . at step 312 the code is transmitted from modem b back to modem a and at step 314 modem a decodes the receiver code and selects and appropriate equalizer which it then interposes in its transmit signal path . the process terminates at step 316 . many variations are of course possible without departing from the present invention . thus it is apparent that in accordance with the present invention an apparatus that fully satisfies the objectives , aims and advantages is set forth above . while the invention has been described in conjunction with a specific embodiment , it is evident that many alternatives , modifications 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 spirit and broad scope of the appended claims .
| 7 |
the present invention is directed to content aware resizing of audiovisual and image content . reference may be made below to specific elements , numbered in accordance with the attached figures . the discussion below should be taken to be exemplary in nature , and not as limiting of the scope of the present invention . the scope of the present invention is defined in the claims , and should not be considered as limited by the implementation details described below , which as one skilled in the art will appreciate , can be modified by replacing elements with equivalent functional elements . reference below is made in respect of fig6 through 14 and fig1 through 18 to an authoring environment in respect to the discussion , such as for example a desktop publishing environment . the scope of the present invention should not be considered as limited by these implementation details , as one skilled in the art will appreciate , which can be modified such that embodiments of the invention may operate with or without user intervention or may be employed in display and presentation environments to a user , such as described in fig1 . further in fig1 reference is made to a portable device in the determination of the parameters in establishing aspects of the resizing operation which extend beyond the intended image size . the scope of the present invention should not be considered as limited by these application details , as one skilled in the art will appreciate , which can be varied according to the particular portable device but also apply to the wider range of devices upon which user activities may require content aware image resizing . within the background to the invention discussed supra descriptions of fig1 through 5 have been included and are not repeated here . referring to fig6 there is depicted an exemplary flow according to an embodiment of the invention . as shown a source image 610 is provided for which a resizing operation is required within an authoring environment , the authoring environment omitted for clarity . the content aware resizing process then generates first horizontal saliency map 620 and first vertical saliency map 625 which represent the horizontal and vertical saliencies within the image which are determined from equations 3 and 4 below : saliency horizontal ( n ij )=| i ( n i , j + 1 )|−| i ( n i , j − 1 )| ( 3 ) saliency vertical ( n i , j )=| i ( n i + 1 , j )−|( i ( n i − 1 , j )| ( 4 ) where i ( n i , j ) is the intensity of the i th , j th pixel in the image . each of the first horizontal saliency map 620 and first vertical saliency map 625 are then scaled to generate second reduced horizontal saliency map 630 and second reduced vertical saliency map 635 . these are then employed to generate the cost functions for removing a pixel seam in each of the horizontal and vertical directions . a selected vertical seam from second reduced horizontal saliency 630 is shown as pixel path 645 projected onto resizing image 640 . removal of the pixels identified by pixel path 645 would reduce the horizontal dimension of the source image 610 . alternatively insertion of replica pixels identified by pixel path 645 would increase the horizontal dimension . accordingly the source image 610 is scaled based upon a pixel path that is determined through the scaling transformation in respect of the horizontal and vertical saliencies defined in equations ( 3 ) and ( 4 ) supra . referring to fig7 a there is depicted a process flow 700 a according to an embodiment of the invention in establishing a pixel path within a reduced saliency map . the process starts with first pixel map 710 a of dimension 5 × 3 , which represents a subset of a reduced saliency map such as second reduced horizontal saliency map 630 or second reduced vertical saliency map 635 in fig6 supra . the process then determines the interconnected paths between the pixels on the first row and the second that are connected , resulting in second pixel map 720 a which shows this connectivity between the first row and second row such that the process then sums these paths giving the middle summation in third pixel map 730 a together with the mapping of connectivity between the summed second row and third row . the resultant summation being shown in fourth pixel map 735 a along with the connectivity paths from each row to the next . according to an embodiment of the invention process flow 700 a is set to detect the minimum summation in the pixel path and thereby determines this is in the summed path provided in fifth pixel map 740 a . accordingly the pixels within the subset of the saliency map are selected as depicted by sixth pixel map 745 a . in the final step the process removes these pixels thereby generating seventh pixel map 750 a which is now of dimension 4 × 3 . in the process according to the embodiment of the invention this pixel removal in the reduced saliency map follows removal of pixels within the audiovisual content , such as described below in respect of fig1 . it would evident to one skilled in the art that process flow 700 a does not take into account the pixels removed from the saliency map such as is evident in the comparison of sixth and seventh pixel maps 745 a and 750 a respectively where simply the pixel path selected has been removed . in other embodiments of the invention , for instance where a portion of the saliency map has a localized reduction in saliency compared with the overall saliency map the reduction algorithm may perform some form of compensation such as shown below in table 1 . as shown on the left is seventh pixel map 750 a according to process flow 700 in fig7 . on the right is a compensated pixel map representing the same pixel path removal but where now pixels adjacent the removed pixel are re - calculated according to equations sa and sb below : s k + l ( i − 1 , j )= s k ( i − 1 , j )+ s k ( i , j )/ 2 ( 5a ) s k + 1 ( i − 1 , j )= s k ( i + 1 , j )+ s k ( i , j )/ 2 ( 5b ) where s k ( i , j ) represents the saliency value at the i th , j th pixel for step k in the image resizing process . it would be apparent that similar equations as equations 5a and 5b exist for removing a horizontal pixel path . such a compensated pixel map locally increases saliency above the initially calculated values upon removal of a pixel path which would weight a subsequent pixel path determination away from the same region of the saliency map such that multiple pixel path determinations do not always run through the same portion of the saliency map and hence the original image . it would be evident to one of skill in the art that the selected path within process 700 a by virtue of having the lowest summation of saliencies represents a path of pixels that have low difference in intensity to their neighbouring pixels in a particular direction . these pixels are not necessarily at a minimum within the reduced saliency map for the other direction and hence not necessarily the same pixels as would be selected in the process of a vidan when employed on the same image . as such removing these pixels from the image should not significantly affect the content for the user whilst allowing the image dimension to be reduced . it would evident to one skilled in the art that zero saliency or very low saliencies may reflect areas of consistent intensity rather than lack of content . as such regions where saliencies exceed a predetermined threshold may be subjected to a second process to determine whether they are simply pixels reflecting low intensity variations and hence sacrificial content or significant content of consistent intensity . for example the second process may be to calculate and compare a second saliency for a particular pixel , see for example equations 5c and 5d below ; with the first saliency such that upon a precondition being met the calculated saliency is replaced with a predetermined value . saliency2 horizontal ( n i , j )=| i ( n i , j + n )|−| i ( n i , j − n )| ( 5c ) saliency2 horizontal ( n i , j )= di ( i , j )/ dj ( 5d ) referring to fig7 b there is depicted a process flow 700 b according to an embodiment of the invention in establishing a pixel path within a reduced saliency map . the process starts with first pixel map 710 b of dimension 5 × 3 , which represents a subset of a reduced saliency map such as second reduced horizontal saliency map 630 or second reduced vertical saliency map 635 in fig6 supra . the process then determines the interconnected paths between the pixels on the first row and the second that are connected , resulting in second pixel map 720 b which shows this connectivity between the first row and second row such that the process then sums these paths giving the middle summation in third pixel map 730 b together with the mapping of connectivity between the summed second row and third row . the resultant summation path being shown in fourth pixel map 735 b along with the connectivity paths from each row to the next . according to an embodiment of the invention process flow 700 b is set to detect the maximum summation in the pixel path and thereby determines this is in the summed path provided in fifth pixel map 740 b . accordingly the pixels within the subset of the saliency map are selected as depicted by sixth pixel map 745 b . in the final step the process adds these pixels into the first pixel map 710 b thereby generating seventh pixel map 750 b which is now of dimension 6 × 3 . it would be evident to one of skill in the art that the selected path within process 700 b by virtue of having the highest summation of saliencies represents a path of pixels that have high difference in intensity to their neighbouring pixels . as such replicating those pixels within the image that relate to those within the reduced saliency map should preserve the visually significant content for the user whilst allowing the image dimension to be increased . it would be apparent to one skilled in the art that the pixel path selection in fig7 a and 7 b may be subject to additional constraints or determined on alternative basis . for example it may be a constraint that the pixel path originates within a predetermined distance of the image edge such that the central image content is preserved irrespective of its pixel saliency summation , where the assumption is that most significant content is within the central portion of the image . alternatively a summation may be performed over predetermined regions of the second saliency map such that regions of higher than average accumulated saliency are identified and preserved . optionally the pixel path selection when the adjustment is a significant percentage of the original image dimension may be established such that pixel paths should be maximized in one direction and minimized in another . similarly where pixel path selection has been described as seeking a minimum / maximum the converse of seeking the maximum / minimum for the same image resizing operation exists . many alternatives exist within the scope of the invention . referring to fig7 c there is depicted a process flow 700 c wherein repeated pixel path determinations are made upon the reduced second saliency map according to an embodiment of the invention for reduced processing complexity and improved speed . as such within process 700 c a first reduced saliency map 710 c is shown , equivalent for example to first pixel maps 710 a and 710 b of fig7 a and 7 b respectively or predetermined portions of second reduced horizontal saliency map 630 or second reduced vertical saliency map 635 in fig6 supra . first reduced saliency map 710 c is a 8 × 5 array of reduced saliency data , being either the horizontal saliency or vertical saliency of that localized region of the image as reduced saliency map 710 c is a reduced dimensional matrix of the corresponding first saliency map , for example first horizontal saliency map 620 or first vertical saliency map 625 as disclosed in fig6 . as such a pixel within first reduced saliency map 710 c represents n pixels , wherein n represents the scale reduction applied to the corresponding first saliency map . saliency s ( i , j ) may alternatively be defined for example by equations 6 and 7 below rather than by equations 3 and 4 . where i ( i , j ) represents the intensity of the ith , r pixel in the source image . in first pixel summation map 720 c the summed saliency values s ( i , j ) from each pixel within the top row to the bottom row are shown for connected paths . also shown is first pixel path 725 c selected from the first pixel summation map 720 c , in this case based upon the lowest sum . the pixels within the image content being resized and first reduced saliency map 710 c corresponding to the first pixel path 725 c are then removed resulting in second reduced saliency map 730 c , i . e . pixels s ( 1 , 4 )= 2 , s ( 2 , 4 )= 1 , s ( 3 , 4 )= 1 , s ( 4 , 4 )= 2 , and s ( 5 , 5 )= 5 are removed . corresponding pixels in the image are removed that correspond to the selected pixels in first pixel path 725 c thereby reducing the image width based upon its content . using second reduced saliency map 730 c the summation process is repeated and second pixel summation map 740 c is generated . again a pixel path 745 c is established such that the corresponding pixels within the second reduced saliency map 730 c are removed , i . e . pixels s ( 1 , 1 )= 1 , s ( 2 , 2 )= 3 , s ( 3 , 1 )= 3 , s ( 4 , 1 )= 3 , and s ( 5 , 1 )= 4 . again corresponding pixels in the reduced image from the previous removal of pixels are removed , further reducing the width of the image . removal of the selected pixels in second reduced saliency map 730 c results in third reduced saliency map 750 c . as above the process then generates third pixel summation map 760 c and selects the next pixel path 765 c . applying the selected path to third reduced saliency map 750 c results in fourth reduced saliency map 770 c of dimensions 5 × 5 i . e . removing pixels s ( 1 , 3 )= 3 , s ( 2 , 2 )= 3 , s ( 3 , 3 )= 1 , s ( 4 , 2 )= 3 , and s ( 5 , 2 )= 5 . as such it would be evident to one skilled in the art that the reduction of the image is accomplished without recalculating the reduced saliency maps from the corresponding horizontal saliency map or vertical saliency map , such as horizontal saliency map 630 and vertical saliency map 640 in fig6 . as such scaling the image is achieved with a significant reduction in the processing complexity when compared with the prior art of content aware image resizing , such as s . aviden et al who recalculate the top level pixel maps from the resultant image after each “ seam ” is carved or inserted . such a reduction in processing complexity beneficially provides for the pixel path methodology to be deployed within portable consumer electronics with reduced processing capabilities when compared to laptop pcs with dual - core 2 ghz processors and 4 gb ram . it would be apparent to one of skill in the art that the pixel path adjustment provided within each of the image content and saliency maps as a result of pixel path determination within the reduced saliency map may not always remove the corresponding number of pixels within these higher plane maps , such as described below in fig1 . it would be apparent that image resizing may require an increase / decrease in a number of pixels that does not match an integer scaling ratio , i . e . a prime number , which requires either the saliency mapping be performed with a scaling equal to the prime number , not be scaled , or be left at a size not matching the target . considering simply resizing involving between 1 and 1000 pixels there are 168 prime numbers . for example , removing 367 pixels may be achieved with 367 single pixel path removals which is time consuming but leads to the desired result . alternatively as described in embodiments of the invention the scaling provides an increased speed , for example 183 removals of 2 pixel wide paths , 92 removals of 4 pixel wide paths , 61 removals of 6 pixel wide paths , or 37 removals of 10 pixel wide paths . in all cases the final image is at the incorrect final dimension . accordingly it would be apparent that providing the process with the ability to removal a number of pixels within the image content that does not match the scaling allows the final image to be scaled in a content aware manner to the correct final dimension . accordingly , 36 removals of 10 pixel wide path with a ÷ 10 scaling may be followed by a final 7 pixel wide leaves the image at the target resize dimension . similarly applying 36 removals of 6 pixel wide paths followed by a final single wide pixel path . accordingly the process may dynamically select a scaling to meet the requirements for speed and processing whilst achieving the final target dimension . referring to fig7 d there is depicted a process flow 700 d wherein repeated pixel path determinations are made upon the second saliency map according to an embodiment of the invention for reduced processing complexity and improved speed . as such within process 700 d a first reduced saliency map 710 d is shown , equivalent for example to first pixel maps 710 a and 710 b of fig7 a and 7 b respectively or predetermined portions of second reduced horizontal saliency map 630 or second reduced vertical saliency map 635 in fig6 supra . first reduced saliency map 710 d is a 8 × 5 array of reduced saliency data , being either the horizontal saliency or vertical saliency of that localized region of the image as reduced saliency map 710 c is a reduced dimensional matrix of the corresponding first saliency map , for example first horizontal saliency map 620 or first vertical saliency map 625 as disclosed in fig6 . as such a pixel within first reduced saliency map 710 d represents effectively n pixels , wherein n represents the scale reduction applied to the corresponding first saliency map . in first pixel summation map 720 d the summed saliency values s ( i , j ) from each pixel within the top row to the bottom row are shown for connected paths . also shown is first pixel path 725 d selected from the first pixel summation map 720 d , in this case based upon the lowest sum . the pixels within the saliency map , not shown for clarity but being that from which first reduced map 710 d was derived , corresponding to the first pixel path 725 d are then removed . the resulting saliency map , also now shown for clarity , is then reduced to yield second reduced saliency map 730 d , of dimensions 7 × 5 , which whilst globally similar to first reduced saliency map 710 d as only a portion of the pixels were removed differs in those pixels identified by region 735 d , i . e . pixels s ( 1 , 4 )= 4 , s ( 2 , 4 )= 6 , and s ( 3 , 4 )= 2 . as discussed supra the corresponding pixels in the image were also removed in addition to those within the saliency map corresponding to the selected pixels in first pixel path 725 d thereby not only reducing the image width but doing so based upon its content . the process flow 700 d then uses second reduced saliency map 730 d to repeat the summation process from which second pixel summation map 740 d is generated . again a pixel path 745 d is established based upon the minimum saliency summation and the process flow 700 d then removes corresponding pixels within both the image and saliency map . from this resulting modified saliency map , not shown for clarity process flow 700 d calculates the third reduced saliency map 750 d . third reduced saliency map 750 d of dimensions 6 × 5 is again globally similar to second reduced saliency map 730 d , as only a portion of the pixels within the saliency map were removed which forms the source of third reduced saliency map 750 d , but differs in region 755 d which differs now in s ( 3 , 1 )= 6 , s ( 4 , 1 )= 5 , and s ( 5 , 1 )= 6 . again process flow 700 d performs another summation process resulting in third pixel summation map 760 d and selects the next pixel path 765 d having lowest saliency summation . applying this selected path to both the image and saliency map as discussed supra further reduces the image width based upon its content and results in a new saliency map , not shown for clarity , from which a fourth reduced saliency map 770 d , now of dimensions 5 × 5 is generated . as the dimensions of the reduced saliency map reduces the region that differs from the preceding reduced saliency map increases typically . as such , now region 775 d now differs in s ( 1 , 3 )= 5 , s ( 1 , 4 )= 6 , s ( 2 , 3 )= 7 , s ( 2 , 4 )= 7 , s ( 3 , 3 )= 4 , s ( 3 , 4 )= 5 , s ( 4 , 2 )= 4 , s ( 4 , 3 )= 5 , and g ( 5 , 3 )= 7 as such it would be evident to one skilled in the art that the reduction of the image is accomplished according to the embodiment of the invention presented in fig7 d without recalculating the saliency maps from the corresponding image . however , unlike the preceding embodiment in fig7 c the reduced saliency maps are calculated from the applicable horizontal saliency map or vertical saliency map , such as horizontal saliency map 620 and vertical saliency map 625 in fig6 , which is reduced during the process . as such scaling the image is achieved with a significant reduction in the processing complexity when compared with the prior art of content aware image resizing , such as s . aviden et al who recalculate the top level pixel maps from the resultant image after each “ seam ” is carved or inserted . optionally the pixel path selected is based upon multiple conditions . for example , the pixel path selected is not only one meeting a minimum summation or a maximum summation such as presented supra in respect of fig7 a and 7 b but is one where the pixel path is one with a low summation and results in the minimum change in an overall measure of the reduced saliency map for example . considering portable devices today with significant market share within their respective markets such as research in motion &# 39 ; s popular blackberry 8100 , 8300 and 8700 series cellular telephones employing an intel pxa901 processor at 312 mhz with 16 mb ram , nintendo &# 39 ; s dsi handheld game console employs two arm processors , an arm9e processor operating at 133 mhz and an arm7tdmi coprocessor operating at 33 mhz , with the arm9e processor controlling game play and image processing , and apple &# 39 ; s ipod portable audiovisual media players series including the nano and 40 which employ dual 80 mhz arm 7tdmi processors . all of these devices support internet access and hence would benefit from dynamic image processing when browsing the internet as their capabilities are increased . as such embodiments of the invention support use within portable consumer devices to dynamically resize image with content aware scaling in real - time thereby allowing them to access any published audiovisual or image content already in existence without requiring preprocessing by desktop publishing software suites and increased file sizes to handle the header embedded seam carving sequence such as taught by s . aviden . it would be evident to one skilled in the art that the path selection step resulting in third pixel path 765 c could have selected from four potential paths , optionally the pixel path content aware image resizing process may have secondary routing protocols that establish which of these to select preferentially . for example the secondary protocol may be to avoid vertical pixel combinations wherever possible , thereby removing s ( 1 , 3 )→ s ( 2 , 2 )→ s ( 3 , 3 )→ s ( 4 , 3 )→ s ( 5 , 2 ) as an option , or seeks to remove pixels at the edge of the image thereby favoring s ( 1 , 3 )→ s ( 2 , 2 )→ s ( 3 , 3 )→ s ( 4 , 2 )→ s ( 5 , 1 ). referring to fig8 there is depicted according to an embodiment of the invention image process flow 800 wherein pixel path selection is determined from one of two different second reduced saliency maps , being first and second reduced saliency maps 820 and 830 respectively , wherein each second saliency map is derived from a common first saliency map 810 . according a source image 805 provides the pixel intensity array i ( i , j ) that acts as the source data for calculating saliency horizontal ( n i , j ) and saliency vertical which form the basis of horizontal saliency map 810 a and vertical saliency map 810 b . this step in the process flow being common to two users , one on a laptop computer 860 and another on a cellular telephone 870 . the process in execution upon the laptop computer 860 generates a first pair of reduced saliency maps 830 which are then used to generate dynamically scaled first and second resized images 840 and 850 as the user adjusts the onscreen dimensions of a web browser whose content includes the source image 805 . in contrast the process in execution upon a cellular telephone 870 generates a second pair of reduced saliency images 820 that are then used to generate third resized image 880 . accordingly the process runs on the two different devices in a manner that adjusts to suit the device upon which it is executing . it would be evident to one skilled in the art that a resizing operation geared to a 240 × 320 pixel 2 . 1 ″ cellular telephone 870 display has different requirements to one displaying images upon a 17 ″ 1920 × 1080 display on a laptop computer 860 . as a result the process according to embodiments of the invention allows for content aware image resizing that is configurable to the device upon which the process is operating . this configurable processing is not contained within the prior art content aware resizing approaches discussed supra . now referring to fig9 there is depicted a flow 900 according to an embodiment of the invention wherein pixel path selection is made within a second reduced saliency map and interpolated for image adjustment during image resizing . as such there is shown a source image 910 upon which a resizing operation is to be performed , the intensity data i ( i , j ) of which is employed in generating first saliency map 920 from which second reduced saliency map 930 is generated . the second reduced saliency map 930 is then the data source for the pixel path determination process , such as presented supra in respect of fig7 a , 7 b and 7 c . a pixel path portion 940 of the determined pixel path 935 from second reduced saliency map 930 is shown comprising a 4 × 4 matrix with selected pixels 945 infilled . within this example scaling between first saliency map 920 and second reduced saliency map 930 is a factor of 3 . as such pixel path portion 940 is scaled back by a factor of 3 to generate expanded pixel path 950 within which selected pixels 945 are shown as highlighted pixels 955 . next flow 900 executes an interpolation process to generate interpolated pixel map 960 wherein the selected pixels 955 are shown together with interpolated pixels 964 . next each selected pixel 955 and interpolated pixel 964 are replaced by pixel path element 972 which are determined as the average of each neighbouring pixel 974 , i . e . p ( i , j )=( i ( i − 1 , j )+ i ( i + 1 , j ))/ 2 . the pixel path elements 972 are then inserted into the original image 910 to generate resized image 980 . it would be evident that within fig9 the flow 900 described relates to an increase in image dimensions as opposed to a reduction . accordingly the process described in fig7 c and 7d supra for selecting sequential paths and removing them to reduce a dimension may be applied in reverse and multiple pixel paths inserted into the image . accordingly rather than the saliency maps and reduced salience maps decreasing in dimension they would increase . it would evident to one skilled in the art that generation of pixel path elements 972 may be varied , such as for example rather than using the average of neighbouring pixels the value inserted is that representing the pixel with the minimum value between the neighbouring pixels 974 and interpolated pixel 964 . now referring to fig1 there is depicted a limitation within the prior art of s . aviden in u . s . pat . no . 7 , 477 , 800 wherein seam carving removes pixels with significant image content . as shown a source image 1010 is presented that contains a first region 1015 of very little variation , being an item of clothing for one of the two individuals within the source image 1010 . the prior art of s . aviden was employed by w . wedler for this source image 1010 ( see image resizing by seam carving — project 2 — computational photography at carnegie mellon university , http :// www . cs . cmu . edu / afs / andrew / scs / cs / 15 - 463 / f07 / proj2 / www / wwedler ). shown in second image 1020 are multiple seams 1025 determined for an image reduction process wherein a majority of the multiple seams 1025 run through the first region 1015 as a result when these seams are removed to generate resized image 1030 the first region 1015 is removed preferentially resulting in second region 1035 which has essentially removed the majority of the torso of the individual within the image . as discussed supra in respect of fig7 a an automated resizing process upon a device may having generated a first saliency map or second reduced saliency map according to the invention have identified that a substantial region within the map that had low saliency , namely first region 1015 , such that pixel paths would preferentially pass through it , for example by comparing saliencies calculated using for example equation ( 3 ) with either equation ( 5c ) or ( 5d ), or through another process . in these circumstances either replacing saliencies with a predetermined value such that these pixels were not preferentially selected or removing paths calculated through these pixels would result in retention of such a region . within a desktop publishing application such a restriction may be made using a mask applied to the second reduced saliency map from which the pixel paths are selected . such an approach according to an embodiment of the invention within an authoring environment is shown in fig1 wherein there is depicted a process flow 1100 establishing a pixel path within a saliency map , subsequently referred to as pixel maps . the process starts with first pixel map 1110 of dimension 5 × 3 , which represents a subset of a saliency map such as second reduced horizontal saliency map 630 or second reduced vertical saliency map 635 in fig6 supra for example . the process then determines the interconnected paths between the pixels on the first row and the second , resulting in second pixel map 1120 which shows this connectivity between the first row and second row . however , s ( 1 , 5 )=| i ( i , j + 1 )− i ( i , j − 1 )|= 2 for example , has been masked , shown by hatching in that cell in first and second pixel maps 1110 and 1120 respectively . as such the connectivity mapping between the first and second rows does not include s ( 2 , 5 )→ s ( 1 , 5 ) such that when the process sums these paths giving the middle summation in third pixel map 1130 this path is not calculated or mapped . third pixel map 1130 also showing connectivity mapping between the summed second row and third row . the resultant summation path for the 5 × 3 array being shown in fourth pixel map 1135 along with the connectivity paths from each row to the next . according to an embodiment of the invention process flow 1100 is set to detect the minimum summation in the pixel path and thereby determines this is in the summed path shown in fifth pixel map 1140 . the selected path as shown in fourth pixel map 1140 being s ( 1 , 1 )→ s ( 2 , 2 )→ s ( 3 , 1 ) whereas in fig7 a supra using the same pixel map , without the masking applied to s ( 1 , 5 ), the path selected was s ( 1 , 5 )→ s ( 2 , 4 )→ s ( 3 , 5 ). accordingly the pixels within the subset of the saliency map are selected as depicted by sixth pixel map 1145 which are then removed by the process to generate seventh pixel map 1150 which is now of dimension 4 × 3 with s ( 1 , 5 )= 2 still protected for subsequent pixel map operations . it would be evident that rather than limiting the connectivity mapping aspect of the process flow that alternatively the saliency value stored may be replaced with a saliency value that would remove the pixel from summed routes . for example where the pixel path process seeks a minimum summation making the protected pixels have high saliency would remove then from the pixel path selection , similarly where the pixel path process seeks a maximum summation making the protected pixels have low saliency would remove then from the pixel path selection . other options would be apparent to one of skill in the art . referring to fig1 there are depicted the results of prior art linear scaled 1220 and an embodiment of the invention in content aware scaled image 1230 as applied to an original image 1210 . in linear scaled 1220 the woman &# 39 ; s face is distorted whereas by protecting this portion 1205 of the original image 1210 the content aware scaled image 1230 has a woman with a longer body as desired but with a natural head proportion . in other authoring applications it may be appropriate to remove content preferentially . such a process 1300 is depicted in fig1 according to an embodiment of the invention . the process starts with first pixel map 1310 of dimension 5 × 3 , which represents a subset of a saliency map such as second reduced horizontal saliency map 630 or second reduced vertical saliency map 635 in fig6 supra for example . the process then determines the interconnected paths between the pixels on the first row and the second that are connected , resulting in second pixel map 1320 which shows this connectivity between the first row and second row . however , whilst connectivity s ( 2 , 2 )→ s ( 1 , 1 ) represents a lower summation than s ( 2 , 2 )→ s ( 1 , 2 ) the process 1300 forces this connectivity so that pixel s ( 1 , 2 ) is contained within the calculated summations . s ( 1 , 2 )=| i ( i , j + 1 )− i ( i , j − 1 )|= 5 for example , has been masked , shown by shading in that cell in first and second pixel maps 1310 and 1320 respectively . as such the connectivity mapping continues to third pixel map 1330 showing connectivity mapping between the summed second row and third row . the resultant summation path for the 5 × 3 array being shown in fourth pixel map 1335 along with the connectivity paths from each row to the next . according to an embodiment of the invention process flow 1300 is set to detect the minimum summation in the pixel path and thereby determines this is in the summed path provided in fifth pixel map 1340 . the selected path as shown in fourth pixel map 1340 being s ( 1 , 2 )→ s ( 2 , 2 )→ s ( 3 , 1 ) whereas in fig7 a supra using the same pixel map without the masking to s ( 1 , s ) being applied the path selected was s ( 1 , s )→ s ( 2 , 4 )→ s ( 3 , 5 ). accordingly the pixels within the subset of the saliency map are selected as depicted by sixth pixel map 1345 which are then removed by the process to generate seventh pixel map 1350 . it would be evident that rather than limiting the connectivity mapping aspect of the process flow that alternatively the saliency value stored may be replaced with a saliency value that would removes the pixel from summed routes . for example where the pixel path process seeks a minimum summation making the preferred pixels have low saliency , i . e . zero , would preferentially weight to these pixels in pixel path selection , similarly where the pixel path process seeks a maximum summation making the protected pixels have high saliency would remove then from the pixel path selection . other options would be apparent to one of skill in the art . such options may in some circumstances force the pixel path selection to these pixels even when local pixel paths may have had summations that previously weighted path selection to them . now referring to fig1 there is depicted an embodiment of the invention wherein within an authoring environment image content within a source image 1410 is identified by the user as being both preferentially removed and protected in the pixel path determinations and image resizing . accordingly in first image 1420 the user has selected the far left individual for removal with first removal mask 1422 , but being conscious of the middle left individual and the background tower has protected these with first and second protection masks 1424 and 1426 respectively . then applying a content aware image resizing process according to an embodiment of the invention yields first output image 1430 wherein the selected individual has been removed but the overall content has minimal artifacts to indicate to a viewer that the image was processed . an alternate authoring is shown in second image 1440 where the user has selected the far right individual for removal with second removal mask 1442 , but being conscious of the middle right individual and the background building has protected these with third and fourth protection masks 1424 and 1426 respectively . then applying a content aware image resizing process according to an embodiment of the invention yields second output image 1450 wherein the selected individual has been removed but the overall content has minimal artifacts to indicate to a viewer that the image was processed . it was noted supra that a content aware image resizing process according to embodiments of the invention may be deployed within a range of electronic devices including portable devices allowing the process to resize images retrieved by users rather than requiring all images they access be authored in a suite providing header encoded seam carving sequences such as taught within the prior art by s . aviden . referring to fig1 there is depicted a process flow 1500 according to an embodiment of the invention wherein pixel path determination for content aware image resizing is executed upon a portable device in dependence upon characteristics of the portable device . as such the process begins at step 1502 where the user opens a web browser interface , or accesses the internet and retrieves a web page through a specific internet access application such as the browsers within blackberry and iphone pdas rather than windows internet explorer , mozilla , etc . as such in step 1504 they access a web page and as part of that digital content relating to an image is downloaded in step 1506 . the application in execution upon the user &# 39 ; s electronic device establishes the display dimensions for the downloaded image in step 1508 and then in step 1510 retrieves device settings relating to the portable device the user is using , not shown for clarity . subsequently in step 1512 the image scaling ratio required for the image is determined and then , based upon the device settings and image , scaling the scaling ratio of the reduced saliency pixel map is determined in step 1514 . next in step 1516 the horizontal saliency map 1h is generated , and subsequently in step 1518 the vertical saliency map iv is calculated . these together with the scaling ratio of the saliency maps determined in step 1514 are used to calculate horizontal reduced saliency map 2h and vertical reduced saliency map 2v in steps 1520 and 1522 . in step 1524 a counter is set , x = 1 , and in step 1526 applicable pixel paths within reduced saliency horizontal and vertical maps 2h ( x ) and 2v ( x ) respectively are determined . next in step 1528 these pixel paths are scaled as appropriate , such as discussed supra in respect of fig9 and then an interpolation is performed in step 1530 to establish the applicable horizontal and / or vertical seams . in step 1532 these interpolated pixels are replaced by “ proper ” pixels which are generated using the neighboring pixels according to a predetermined algorithm . this determined pixel seam is then applied to the image in step 1534 and the pixel path is then applied to the saliency maps 1h ( x ) and 1 v ( x ) as appropriate in step 1536 . then in step 1538 the process determines whether the image size required has been achieved , which if it has results in the process moves to step 1542 and terminating . if further resizing is required the process moves to step 1540 , increments the counter , x = x + 1 , and loops back to step 1520 so that the process can continue such as described for example in respect of fig1 , which as outlined allows multiple pixel path selection without recalculation of the saliency energy map such as outlined supra . it would be evident to one skilled in the art that the characteristics of the portable device retrieved in the process flow and impacting the content aware resizing process may be other than display dimensions and may include but not be limited to processor speed , processor loading with other applications , graphics display driver settings , and battery status . for example , a low resolution display combined with a low processor speed may result in employing a high scaling ratio between saliency map and reduced saliency map whilst high resolution display and high processor speed may typically employ a low scaling ratio unless the battery status is of a low battery wherein minimizing processing may become more important such that a high scaling ratio is again employed . other combinations and eventualities would be evident to one of skill in the art . it would be apparent that under some circumstances it would be desirable to perform the pixel path based content aware resizing in a manner that is less precise or faster than described in respect of embodiments presented supra in respect of fig6 through 15 . referring to fig1 there is depicted a process 1600 wherein pixel path determination is made upon a reduced second saliency map according to an embodiment of the invention which is a variant of fig9 and provides reduced processing complexity and improved speed . hence , as with the supra embodiments a source image 1610 is initially converted to a first saliency map 1620 which is then scaled , by a factor n , to provide reduced saliency map 1630 . the embodiment in fig1 does not specifically address horizontal and vertical versions of the first saliency map 1620 and reduced saliency map 1630 for simplicity . accordingly as presented supra in respect of fig9 the process determines a pixel path 1640 comprising pixels 1645 , but now in generating scaled pixel path 1650 rather than discrete pixels being selected and the path interpolated the scaled pixel path has n × n pixels selected as groups 1655 , where n was the scaling ratio applied to the first saliency map , such that the pixel path is n pixels wide and continuous across the image . as such a single pixel path removal step removes n pixels in either the horizontal or vertical direction thereby reducing the processing by a factor of n . it would evident to one skilled in the art that the factor n as discussed supra in respect of fig8 may be dynamically determined based upon static characteristics of the device but also optionally dynamic aspects of the device such as processor load and battery status for example . within the embodiments presented supra the consideration has been to digital content that relates to images and hence of a static content temporally unless resized by the activities of the user . however , it would be evident that the digital content accessed by users may include additionally audiovisual content such as downloaded or streamed according to international video standards such as audio video interleave ( avi ), movie picture experts group ( mpeg , e . g . mp4 ), and windows media video ( wmv ). referring to fig1 there is depicted a process 1700 relating to multiple pixel path selection for content aware image resizing of audiovisual data . hence there is shown an audiovisual sequence 1710 comprising a series of “ frames ” 1710 a through 1710 n . as first “ frame ” 1710 a is received it is converted to first saliency map 1720 a which is then converted to first reduced saliency map 1730 a as discussed supra in respect to other embodiments of the invention , and then the pixel path ( s ) is / are selected as shown in first path map 1740 a . such a sequence may be repeated for each “ frame ” such as shown for n th frame 1710 n wherein the nth saliency map 1720 n is generated , converted to n th reduced saliency map 1730 n resulting in nth path map 1740 a . such a process 1700 may exploit any of the adaptations identified within the preceding embodiments of the invention in fig6 through 16 to adapt to the scenario of audiovisual content presentation and / or authoring . optionally the same reduced saliency map may be applied for several “ frames ” to reduce processing complexity . it would be apparent that potentially allowing the content aware resizing to operate independently upon each “ frame ” may result in perceivable discontinuities . as such automated dynamic masking for protection / deletion of elements of the image such as discussed supra in respect of fig1 through 14 may be considered . such an automated processing for example being based upon recognizing an approximate repetitive feature in the saliency map or reduced saliency maps . alternatively preference within a pixel path determination of a subsequent “ frame ” is weighted according to previous pixel paths . such an approach being illustrated in fig1 where a first “ frame ” 1820 through generation of a first saliency map 1820 results in the selection of a first pixel path 1835 within first reduced saliency map 1830 . processing of a subsequent “ frame ” 1840 through second saliency map 1850 and second reduced saliency map 1850 results in identification of second and third pixel paths 1862 and 1864 respectively . however , process 1800 applies a weighting to each of the second and third pixel paths which in this embodiment is determined pixel path 1835 . as shown second pixel path 1862 differs in 2 pixels selected but third pixel path 1864 differs in 8 . hence , the weighting for second pixel path 1862 would be higher as it matches more closely to first pixel path 1835 thereby lending to a reduction in visual discontinuities perceived by the viewer . it would be apparent to one skilled in the art that the embodiments presented supra have typically been described with an initial generation of a first saliency map and then the generation of a reduced saliency map . alternatively the reduced saliency map may be generated without the storage or maintenance of the first saliency map . it would also be apparent that the scale between first saliency map and reduced saliency energy map has been presented as a constant within the above - described embodiments . optionally the scale may be varied across the image , such non - linear scaling being optionally predetermined or established in dependence upon characteristics of the device displaying the image or content of the image . alternatively the scaling may be varied between the vertical and horizontal directions of the image . in the above embodiments recalculation of the saliency map has been presented as occurring at the initialization of the process and that subsequently reduced saliency maps are employed in determining the pixel paths . it would be apparent to one skilled in the art that substantial image resizing may make it beneficial to perform a recalculation of the saliency map at a predetermined point in the process ; this may optionally be a number of pixel seam adjustments or a percentage of the image adjustment for example . in the above embodiments discussion with respect to a particular format are for discussion purposes only as the embodiments are applicable to audiovisual content in multiple formats and multiple standards . in the above embodiments where adjustment of the process has been presented this has been considered primarily from the perspective of adjusting the process in dependence upon characteristics of the device upon which it is being executed . optionally the process may be adjusted in respect to the audiovisual content itself , for example a different scaling process may be applied to jpeg files than is applied to tiff files . in the above embodiments the process has been described by consideration of different saliency maps and reduced saliency maps for the horizontal and vertical aspects of the image resizing . it would be evident to one skilled in the art that the process may alternatively be performed with single reduced saliency “ maps ” ( i . e . a three - dimensional arrays for example ) wherein each pixel within each reduced saliency map for example is a different plan , i . e . g ( i , j , k ) such that for example k = 1 represents the horizontal reduced saliency map and k = 2 the vertical reduced saliency map . it would be evident that such an approach may be extended such that additional planes denoted by k relate to alternate saliency calculations , masking data for protection of content , masking data for denoting content to remove etc . the above - described embodiments of the present invention are intended to be examples only . alterations , modifications and variations may be effected to the particular embodiments by those of skill in the art without departing from the scope of the invention , which is defined solely by the claims appended hereto .
| 6 |
referring to fig1 and 2 , the plots shown illustrate a recording of an example suspension system event of a test vehicle &# 39 ; s front and rear wheels , respectively , traveling down the same patch of road . in fig1 reference 70 represents the comer relative position signal as measured by a body - wheel relative position sensor of a known type . the relative position signal 70 is plotted against the wheel speed signal 72 , which is produced in response to a known wheel speed sensor of the type used to control anti - lock brake systems . the relative position signal 70 is primarily a low frequency signal , i . e ., in the one hertz range , and the wheel speed signal 72 contains both the low frequency component reflected in the relative position signal and a high frequency component , i . e ., in the fifteen hertz range , indicated by the closely spaced dips and swells . in general , the low frequency component represents body motion and the high frequency component represents wheel motion . a known type of sensor for providing the wheel speed signal comprises a toothed ring that rotates with the wheel and a fixed variable reluctance sensor that creates a stream of pulses having a frequency proportional to the rotational speed of the toothed ring . the rotational velocity of the toothed ring is proportional to the radius of the wheel &# 39 ; s tire , which fluctuates in response to disturbances in the road and in response to vehicle load transfers such as occur during cornering , vehicle braking or vehicle acceleration . as the tire radius decreases , the wheel and ring rotate faster and as the tire radius increases , the wheel and ring rotate slower . for example , when a vehicle first encounters a rise in the road , the vehicle body travels downward relative to the road . as the vehicle passes the peak of the rise , the body travels upward relative to the road , then downward again as the vehicle exits the rise . in this event , the suspension and tires will compress , expand , and compress again with the downward , upward and then downward movement of the body . the resulting suspension compression , expansion and compression is measured as a change in the relative positions or velocities between the wheels and the body and the compression , expansion and compression of the tires causes the tires to rotate faster , slower , then faster again , which response is reflected in the wheel speed signal 72 . the graph in fig2 illustrates the relative position signal 74 for the semi - trailing arm rear suspension of the same vehicle over the same patch of road . as can be seen , the phase and frequency of the relative position signal 74 matches that of the front relative position signal 70 . the rear wheel speed signal 76 , on the other hand , behaves differently than the front wheel speed signal 72 . while it is evident that the rear wheel speed signal contains both low ( i . e ., one hertz ) and high ( i . e ., fifteen hertz ) frequency components responsive to comer suspension activity , the relationship between suspension activity and wheel speed for the rear suspension is clearly different than that of the front suspension this difference can be understood now with reference to fig3 . the response of the wheel 78 to road inputs in suspensions such as the semi - trailing arm rear suspension is to pivot with lower arm 82 about the arm &# 39 ; s pivot point 84 . the wheel speed sensor is mounted at the end 80 of the arm 82 , with the exciter ring mounted to the vehicle wheel 78 . the primary response of the sensor output is to the road speed of the wheel 78 . as mentioned above , a secondary response is introduced when road inputs cause deflection of the wheel 78 and fluctuations in the rolling radius of the wheel 78 . another secondary response is introduced when arm 82 pivots about point 84 , affecting the relative position of the speed sensor with respect to the exciter ring . assuming the wheel 78 is rotating in the direction indicated by arrow 81 , during compression , there is a net reduction in the wheel speed output of the wheel speed sensor while the pivot arm 84 is pivoting and , during rebound or extension , there is a net increase in output of the wheel speed sensor while the pivot arm 84 is pivoting . the effects of this pivoting motion on the wheel speed signal are a factor not encountered in a strut - type suspension . the result of the pivoting motion is that the body vertical motion components of the wheel speed signal , i . e ., fluctuations in the body frequency range , here 1 hz , are phase shifted between π / 2 and π radians with respect to body vertical motion components of the wheel speed signal 72 in fig1 . this invention recognizes that suspensions exist that impart a relative phase shift on the body motion information component of the wheel speed sensor signals . the relative phase shift introduces errors into estimations of body heave , pitch and / or roll velocity or other body motions and , depending upon the mount of the phase shift , can render some or all of such estimations unsuitable for use as control inputs for a chassis control system . as described herein , a control is provided for estimating the modal velocities of the vehicle body in a manner that compensates for a relative phase shift imparted by a suspension on the body vertical motion component of the wheel speed sensor signal . referring now to fig4 the example shown illustrates a vehicle chassis control system that provides anti - lock braking and variable force suspension control . while a separate traction control actuator is not shown , it is understood that such an actuator may be included in the system . the wheel lock control system ( anti - lock brake system ) shown includes , on wheel 13 , a brake unit 10 operated by hydraulic pressure from master cylinder 12 and hydraulic boost unit 14 in response to depression of the brake pedal 17 by the vehicle operator . brake line 16 and a pressure modulator 18 provide the path of hydraulic fluid under pressure from the master cylinder 12 to the brake unit 10 . the brake unit 10 is illustrated as a disc brake system that includes a caliper 20 located at a rotor 22 . the wheel 13 also includes a wheel speed sensor assembly comprising an exciter ring 24 that rotates with the wheel and an electromagnetic sensor 26 that monitors the rotation of the exciter ring to provide a signal having a frequency proportional to the rotational speed of the wheel . the wheel rotational speed signal from the sensor 26 is provided to an electronic controller 28 that includes a microprocessor 29 . the electronic controller 28 controls the pressure modulator 18 in a known manner to modulate and / or limit the brake pressure applied to the wheel brake assembly 10 to prevent a wheel lock - up condition . during vehicle braking , when the controller 28 senses a an incipient lock - up condition of the wheel 13 , the pressure modulator 18 is controlled to regulate the braking pressure to the wheel to maintain the braking of the wheel in a stable braking region . the pressure modulator example shown includes a dc torque motor 30 having an output shaft that drives a gear train 32 that , in turn , rotates a linear ball screw actuator 34 . the ball screw actuator 34 contains a linearly stationary ball screw that , when rotated , linearly positions a ball nut 36 . the ball nut 36 terminates in a piston 38 that is either extended or retracted within cylinder 42 depending on the direction of rotation of the torque motor 30 . the cylinder 42 forms a portion of the fluid path between the master cylinder 12 and the wheel brake 10 . included within this fluid path is a normally closed ball check - valve 44 that , when closed , isolates the master cylinder 12 from the wheel brake unit 10 . the ball check valve 44 is maintained in an open position by the piston 38 when piston 38 is positioned in the extended ( home ) position within the cylinder 42 illustrated in fig4 . when the check valve 44 is open , fluid communication is provided between the master cylinder 12 and the wheel brake unit 10 . this position is the normal inactive position of the pressure modulator 18 so that normal braking of the wheel of the vehicle is provided upon actuation of the brakes by the vehicle operator , and the modulator 18 is transparent to the braking system . however , when torque motor 30 is operated by the electronic controller 28 to modulate the braking pressure in the wheel brake unit 10 , the piston 32 is retracted allowing the ball check valve to seat and isolate the master cylinder 12 from the wheel brake unit 10 as long as the pressure in the cylinder 42 is less than the pressure from the master cylinder 12 . further retraction of the piston 38 functions to increase the volume of the cylinder 42 , thereby decreasing the pressure applied to the wheel brake unit 10 . by controlling the dc torque motor 30 in a known manner , a pressure at the wheel brake 10 is modulated to control values less than the master cylinder pressure output until such time that the piston 38 again unseats the ball check valve 44 or until the pressure generated by the pressure modulator at the wheel brake 10 exceeds the fluid pressure output of the master cylinder 12 . when this latter condition exists , the ball check valve 44 is opened by the differential fluid pressure , which limits the pressure of the wheel brake unit 10 to that of the master cylinder 12 . in this manner , the wheel cylinder pressure never exceeds the operator &# 39 ; s established pressure . the vehicle body 11 is supported by four wheels 13 ( only one shown ) and by four suspensions including springs of a known type ( not shown ). each suspension includes a variable - force real time controllable damper 21 ( only one shown ) connected between wheel 13 and body 11 at the suspension point to exert vertical force opposing relative vertical motion between wheel 13 and body 11 . although many such suspension arrangements are known and appropriate to this invention , actuator 21 , in one example , comprises an electrically controllable , variable force damper in parallel with a weight bearing coil spring in a parallel shock absorber / spring or mcpherson strut arrangement . a description of an example variable force damper suitable for use as actuator 12 is the continuously variable damper described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 282 , 645 , assigned to the assignee of this invention . the outputs of rotational velocity sensors 26 are processed in the brake controller 28 and also provided to suspension controller 50 , including microprocessor 52 . controller 50 processes the signals to determine estimates of the activity of vehicle body 11 and / or wheels 13 and generates an output actuator control signal on line 48 to control each variable force actuator 21 in real time . input signals for the determination of the output actuator control signals may also be provided to controller 50 by a conventional brake switch on brake pedal 17 and by a throttle position sensor ( not shown ) to provide anticipation of vehicle pitch ( lift / dive ) and by a vehicle speed sensor 46 and a steering wheel angular position sensor 19 to provide anticipation of vehicle roll . obtaining such signals is easily achieved through the use of known types of sensors available to those skilled in the art . in this example , line 61 transfers , from suspension controller 50 to the brake electronic controller 28 , signals representative of the states of operation of the vehicle suspension system , which states include suspension relative velocity , body absolute heave , pitch and / or roll velocity , and / or wheel absolute velocity signals determined via implementation of this invention . the configuration shown is one example , the processing of the input signals may take place in either controller , as desired by the system designer , or in a single controller implemented to control both suspension and brake functions . with the exception of the improvements set forth herein and in the pending applications referred to herein , the control functions of the brake controller 28 and suspension controller 50 , including signal input and output processing and the general brake and suspension control functions , are of a type well known to those skilled in the art and further detail of the brake controller 28 , suspension controller 50 and the controls implemented therein need not be set forth herein . referring now to fig5 the suspension control 102 receives the wheel speed signals represented by bus 106 to various processing functions represented by blocks 108 , 112 , 116 and 120 , 124 and 128 . block 108 determines an indicator of vehicle longitudinal acceleration to represent the vehicle body &# 39 ; s potential to dip or lift in response to braking or acceleration of the vehicle . block 108 first determines a weighted average of the wheel speeds of the four vehicle wheels as follows : where v ave is the weighted average of the wheel speeds , k 1 , k 2 , k 3 and k 4 are scale factors and ω lf , ω rf , ω lr , and ω rr are the left front , right front , left rear and right rear wheel speeds , respectively . the sum of the scale factors k 1 - 4 equals unity and the scale factors are set at fixed values proportioned between front and rear so that all of the wheels yield a constant result when their scale factors are multiplied by the individual wheel average rotational velocity variation in response to road inputs . for example , where , δω lfave , δω rfave , δω lrave and δω rrave are the average wheel rotational velocity variations in response to a given road input . the weighted average is then differentiated , for example , through a band pass filter having a center frequency around 1 hz to produce an estimate of vehicle longitudinal acceleration . if the estimated acceleration at block 108 has a magnitude greater than a predetermined threshold corresponding to a vehicle propensity to lift or dive , a longitudinal acceleration flag is set , whose state is indicated on line 110 . if desired , block 108 can be omitted and the signal on line 110 can be provided if a hard braking or hard acceleration is detected , for example , from a sensor indicating change in throttle opening or sudden change in brake pressure or depression of the brake pedal . block 112 responds to the wheel speed signals on bus 106 to estimate a heave velocity of the vehicle body . the estimation of the heave velocity can be better understood with reference now to fig6 . the wheel speed signals are provided to block 146 whose output is provided to block 150 . block 146 imparts a relative phase shift on the wheel speed signals that have body vertical motion components out of phase with the actual vehicle body motion . block 146 then performs the required transform to estimate the desired body modal velocity , which , in this case , is heave velocity . for example , in an example vehicle with a strut - type front suspension and a semi - trailing arm rear suspension , the rear suspension , as explained above , imparts a phase lag of approximately ninety degrees on the body vertical motion information content of the wheel speed signal . in this example , block 146 phase shifts the wheel speed signals to bring them into proper phase alignment , allowing the transform at block 150 to be performed . the phase shift function of block 146 can be accomplished several ways . for example , the front wheel lag f signals can be coupled to a lag filter of a known type to add to the front wheel speed signals the same lag already in the rear wheel speed signals due to the rear suspension , thus phase - aligning the all four wheel speed signals . alternatively , the rear wheel speed signals can be processed into an estimation filter using a known model of suspension performance to impart a phase advance on the body motion components of the rear wheel speed signals to bring them into phase alignment with the front wheel speed signals . in many controls it is imperative that the phase adjustment take place in real time . to this end , the function of the relative phase shift block 146 can be combined with the function of the transform block 150 into a single step . for example , the transform equation is provided to impart the desired relative phase shift while also imparting the desired transform . this approach works in limited situations and may impart some error on the result , however , it has been found suitable for use in the vehicle with the strut - type front suspension and the semi - trailing arm rear suspension . more particularly , blocks 146 and 150 are combined into a single step with a relative phase - shifting transform as follows : where h vu is referred to as the un - filtered heave velocity . this relative phase shifting transform compares with the heave velocity transform disclosed in the above - mentioned pending application , u . s . ser . no . 08 / 441 , 369 , represented as : the difference is that the new transform , by reversing the signs of the rear wheel speed signals , imparts a phase shift of π radians on the rear wheel signals . it is noted that the π 2 radians phase shift is a bit more than required to compensate for the phase shift induced by the rear suspension and , thus , an error margin is present in the transform . however , the accuracy of the transform is sufficient for the suspension system control and the speed in which the phase shift and transform are produced justify the error margin introduced . the output of the transform at block 150 is provided on line 152 to the second order band pass filter at block 154 . an example band pass filter implementation is provided as : where y ( n ) is the filter output at time n , x ( n ) is the filter input at time n and a 1 , b 1 , and b o are filter constants selected to pass frequencies typical of vehicle body motion , i . e ., typically in the one hertz range . the band pass filter 154 is switchable in response to the longitudinal acceleration signal on line 110 , changing the constants a 1 , b 1 , and b 0 during longitudinal acceleration events to make the filter more responsive by narrowing the range of frequencies passed through the filter , specifically , to cut off frequencies in 0 . 5 hz range and below . the output of the band pass filter 154 is then provided on line 156 to low pass filter 158 whose output is provided on line 160 to a second low pass filter 162 . b o th low pass filters are first order low pass filters which are easily implemented in software . an example generic low pass filter equation is : where the filter constants a 0 and b 0 are set to eliminate any high frequency signal components , i . e ., introduced by the signal sampling , that were not eliminated by the band pass filter . the resultant output on line 114 is the estimated heave velocity of the vehicle body . referring again to fig5 block 116 responds to the wheel speed information to estimate a vehicle body pitch velocity and provide that estimation on line 118 . more particularly , referring now also to fig7 the pitch velocity estimation resembles the same generic structure as the heave velocity estimation -- that is a relative phase shift 166 combined with a transform 170 . as in the heave velocity transform , the relative phase shift can be implemented as : ( i ) a lag filter to impart relative phase lag on the front wheel speed signals to align the phase of the body vertical velocity components with the phase of like components of the rear wheel speed signals ; ( ii ) an estimation filter to impart a relative phase advance on the rear wheel speed signals to align the phase of the body vertical velocity components with the phase of like components of the front wheel speed signals ; or ( iii ) a combined phase shift and transform . in a preferred example , the functions of the relative phase shift 166 and transform 170 are combined according to the following function : where p vu is referred to as the un - filtered pitch velocity and k 1 , k 2 , k 3 and k 4 are the coefficients described above with reference to block 108 ( fig5 ). it is noted that the relative phase shifting pitch transform above differs from the pitch transform in the above mentioned pending application , u . s . ser . no . 08 / 441 , 369 , in which the pitch transform was described as : where wb is the wheel base of the vehicle ( this factor is also taken into account by the coefficients x 1 - 4 above ). the sign change for the front wheel speeds appears to shift their phase π radians , but with the implementation of block 182 described below , it is clear that the phase shift is applied to the rear wheels . the signal output from block 170 on line 172 is then band pass filtered by second order band pass filter 174 which provides its output signal on line 176 to another second order band pass filter 178 . the two second order band pass filters 174 , 178 are implemented because the signal output from the block 170 still contains significant road speed information , which , for purposes of defining body motion , a bias that is desirably removed by filtering . each of the second order band pass filters are implemented using the generic equation described above with reference to block 154 in fig6 . the band pass filters 174 , 178 are centered around the frequency of body motion , typically 1 hz . the band pass filters 174 and 178 also attenuate high frequency elements introduced by the signal sampling from the wheel speed sensors . the estimation on line 180 is then inverted at block 182 to compensate for the sign convention used in the transform . the output of block 182 on line 184 is then multiplied by a gain at block 186 to scale the signal on line 184 as desired by the system designer . the gain at block 186 is preferably switchable in response to the signal on line 110 , so that a reduced gain is provided when a longitudinal acceleration signal is indicated . in an alternative example , the gain at block 186 may be built into the filters 174 , 176 . the output of the block 186 is the estimated pitch velocity of the vehicle body . referring again to fig5 block 120 receives the wheel speed sensor information from bus 106 and provides the roll estimation on line 122 . the roll estimation may be simply computed as ω rf - ω lf , which result is then filtered , for example , by a band pass filter and a low pass filter to isolate body motion , remove any accumulated offset and remove high frequency noise . by using only the front wheel speeds as inputs to the roll estimation , the effects of relative phase shift can be avoided since the front wheels are always in phase with respect to each other . however , if it is desired to use all four wheel speed signals as inputs to the roll transform , a relative phase shift can be implemented as discussed above either before the transform , or in certain instances , together with the transform . blocks 124 and 128 isolate for each wheel the body comer vertical motion content and the wheel vertical motion content of the wheel signal and provide those signals on lines 126 and 130 , respectively . more particularly , referring now also to fig8 both the body comer and wheel vertical motion contents are determined in the same manner . block 192 represents a determination of the weighted average of the wheel speed signals as described above with reference to block 108 ( fig5 ). the weighted average is provided on line 194 to summation block 196 where it is subtracted from the individual wheel speed ( which may have been previously filtered by a low pass filter to eliminate noise introduced in the sampling ), represented on line 190 . the output of summation block 196 on line 198 is provided to band pass filter 200 . band pass filter 200 has a first set of coefficients to isolate the body vertical motion content of the signal on line 198 , i . e ., in the one hertz range . band pass filter 200 also has a second set of coefficients to isolate the wheel vertical motion content of the signal on line 198 , i . e ., in the 15 to 20 hz range , this range may vary from vehicle to vehicle . the results of the band pass filter 200 are the comer body and wheel content signals on lines 126 and 130 respectively . the band pass filter coefficients may vary for front and rear suspensions as different types of suspensions and the effects of varying front and rear loads may require separate free tuning of the filter 200 . referring again to fig5 the signals on lines 114 , 118 , 122 , 126 and 130 are provided to the suspension control algorithm block 132 , which may be responsive to other input signals . block 132 implements a control algorithm to determine actuator commands for the suspension actuator in response to the signals and outputs those commands on bus 134 . an example suitable control is set forth in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 570 , 288 , which describes body and wheel command components . the body components are determined by body modal velocity signals such as provided on lines 114 , 118 and 122 . the wheel command components may be omitted according to this example and the signal on line 126 may be used for quadrant checking to ensure that the control commands are implemented according to known sky - hook control functions as exemplified in the u . s . pat . no . 5 , 570 , 288 . the signals on lines 126 and 130 carrying the comer body and wheel contents of the wheel speed signals are also provided to the dynamic normal force determination block 138 . more particularly , referring now also to fig9 the dynamic normal force determination block 138 receives the body and wheel signals on lines 126 and 130 , provides them to the estimation filters 208 and 210 , tuned to the wheel and body frequencies respectively , to provide estimations on lines 212 and 214 of the wheel and body accelerations for each comer of the vehicle . kalman filters implementing models of the suspension system may be implemented to estimate comer acceleration from the signals on lines 126 and 130 . these filters may be similar to that exemplified in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 454 , 630 , assigned to the assignee of this invention . the estimated body comer and wheel vertical accelerations on lines 212 and 214 are then provided to block 216 . block 216 utilizes the known masses of the vehicle body and wheels to compute a dynamic normal force between each tire and the road responsive to the body comer and wheel vertical accelerations . the resultant normal force estimates between each wheel and the road are then used to control the braking system in a manner such as described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 454 , 630 , or as described in pending u . s . patent application , ser . no . 08 / 547 , 084 . because the details of such control are fully set forth in said patent and pending application and are not central to this invention , they are not repeated herein . referring now to fig1 , an example control routine implemented by a suspension controller to control the variable force suspension actuators starts and moves to blocks 300 and 302 where it inputs the speed sensor information and determines the wheel rotational velocities responsive to the wheel rotational velocity sensors . alternatively , this step may be performed by the vehicle brake system controller and the results provided to the suspension controller through a data bus . at block 304 the routine determines the body heave , pitch and roll velocities using the relative phase shifts to achieve phase alignment of the body vertical motion components of the speed signals as described above with reference to fig5 - 7 . then block 306 determines the body and wheel comer content signals described above with reference to fig5 and 9 . at block 308 , the routine outputs the body and wheel comer signals to the brake controller and then , at block 310 , the routine runs the suspension controller algorithm such as referred to above with respect to u . s . pat . no . 5 , 570 , 288 or such as described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 062 , 658 , the disclosures of which are both incorporated herein by reference . it will readily apparent to those skilled in the art that there are a variety of suspension control routines in the public domain and available to those skilled in the art that make use of body modal velocity signals and any such control routines may be implemented at block 310 to be used with this invention . at block 312 , the suspension control commands are output to the actuator 21 ( fig4 ) and the command routine is ended , to be repeated with every control loop of the suspension controller . referring now to fig1 , an example control implemented by the brake controller is starts at block 320 where it receives the wheel rotational velocity signals and computes the rotational velocities responsive thereto . at block 322 , the routine receives the body and wheel comer content signals from the suspension controller . at block 324 , the routine computes the dynamic normal force as described above with reference to fig9 in response to the body and wheel content comer signals and then at block 326 , the routine determines the brake control commands responsive to both the dynamic normal force and the wheel rotational velocities in the manner set forth , for example , in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 454 , 630 . the resultant brake control commands are then output at block 328 to control the brake actuators to effect the desired braking response . as described above , the filtering in the body modal velocity estimation is implemented after the relative phase shift and transform are completed . in another example , the filters to isolate the body vertical motion content of the wheel speed signals can be done prior to the relative phase shifting and transform . in this example , the filtering may be combined with the phase shift function by implementing a filter , for example , that implements the band pass function and imparts a desired lag . such falters are well known to those skilled in the art . it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the brake control algorithm referred to herein is an example brake control algorithm and that any other suitable brake control algorithm responsive to the comer body and wheel vertical motion content signals may be used instead . it will also be understood that the brake system and suspension system hardware illustrated are examples and any controllable brake and suspension system hardware may be used with this invention .
| 1 |
first , having regard to the figures , typical cell structures for a bobbin cell 10 and coin or button cell 40 are shown . for ease of discussion , similar cell components are shown having identical reference numerals . each cell includes a container or can 12 , which may be nickel plated steel or any other convenient can of the sort generally used for the manufacture of primary or secondary cells . within the can 12 there is an anode 14 , a separator 16 , and a cathode 18 . typically , the separator may be a single layer of a cellulosic , non - woven material or it may be a dual layer having a separate fibre reinforcement and an ion permeable layer . in the bobbin cell , there is extending downwardly into the anode 14 is a nail or current collector 20 , which pierces and extends through the cell closure 22 , by which the cell is sealed as by crimping such as at 24 . typically , the nail or current collector is made of brass or bronze . each cell has a negative cap 26 associated with and in the electrical conductivity with anode 14 , either directly or , in the case of the bobbin cell 10 , through the nail or current collector 20 . in a usual embodiment of a bobbin cell such as that shown in fig1 the positive terminal is formed such as by a pip 28 formed in the can 12 ; an insulative washer or cup 30 is placed below the anode 14 ; and in the embodiment shown , the separator 16 extends down into the insulative cup 30 , which protects the anode from coming into contact with the can 12 . it will also be noted in the embodiment of fig1 that the separator 16 extends up to contact and interfere with the bottom surface of the closure member 22 . a relief membrane 32 is shown moulded into the closure member 22 , and it is intended to burst at a pre - determined pressure in the event of a significant build up of internal gas pressure within the cell . the coin or button cell 40 uses the can 12 as its positive terminal ; and it is crimped over the grommet 34 so as to insulate the positive and negative terminals of the cell from each other . what the present invention provides , therefore , is a rechargeable electrochemical cell having a container 12 , an anode 14 , a separator 16 , and a manganese dioxide cathode 18 . there is an ion conductive electrolyte present within the cell , providing the ion transfer medium for current to flow between the cathode and the anode , and a closure member 22 or grommet 34 which is also a closure member . as noted , all of the internal components are sealed within the container . as discussed , the usual embodiments of the present invention contemplate the use of aqueous alkaline electrolyte . however , non - aqueous , non - alkaline electrolytes may be used in some circumstances , but within the ambit of and otherwise in keeping with the teachings of the present invention -- for example , lithium cells . in keeping with one provision of the present invention , the cathode of a bobbin cell is restricted from significantly changing its dimensions during discharge by interference at its outer periphery and its bottom with the internal surfaces of the container 12 , at its inner periphery by interference with the separator 16 , and at its top by interference with the underside of the closure member 22 . the cathode of a coin or button cell is likewise restricted by the container 12 and separator 16 . usually , as noted , the anode may be zinc ; but it may in certain circumstances be chosen from any one of the group consisting of zinc , hydrogen , iron , cadmium , mercury , lead , bismuth , and lithium . in general , bobbin cells according to the present invention are cylindrical , having the cathode in the form of an annulus or a series of rings or pellets , and a cylindrical anode axially placed within the cathode . coin or button cells have both the cathode and anode in the form of a disc or wafer . it is usual , and will be shown in examples below , that the cathode may have certain additives admixed to its formulation . in general , from about 4 % to about 8 % by weight of the cathode is the alkaline electrolyte -- generally 6 n koh to 12 n koh . still further , in general the cathode will contain a small amount of graphite -- usually in the amount of from about 5 % to about 15 % by weight of the cathode -- to increase the electrical conductivity characteristics thereof . moreover , the cathode may contain a small quantity of conductive carbon such as carbon black or other equivalent conductive carbon materials , generally in the range of from about 0 . 1 % to about 10 % or as much as 15 % by weight of the cathode . as noted above , a further formulation of the cathode according to the present invention will provide for the addition of a small quantity of fibres to the cathode . in general , those fibres are conductive , and they may be chosen from the group consisting of carbon fibres , graphite fibres , carbon fibres plated with nickel , carbon fibres plated with silver , graphite fibres plated with nickel , graphite fibres plated with silver , copper fibres plated with nickel , and copper fibres plated with silver . the fibres ( which are milled carbon fibres and / or chopped carbon fibres ) will generally have a length of from about 100 microns up to about 5 centimeters ; and a typical fibre is carboflex tm provided by ashland carbon fibres of ashland , ky . the fibres , especially conductive fibres , may typically be present in the cathode in the amount of from about 0 . 1 % to about 5 . 0 % by weight thereof . in - keeping with the present invention , several processes for the addition of fibres to the mno 2 cathode formulation are considered . in one instance , chemical grade mno 2 ( cmd ) may be precipitated in a carbon fibre slurry . in another instance , electrochemical grade mno 2 ( emd ) may be prepared in an acidic electrolyte e . g . h 2 so 4 . mnso 4 where carbon fibres are suspended in the acidic electrolyte . as noted above , yet a further embodiment of the present invention is for an unconstrained cathode having as an admixture thereto a small quantity of metal - based additive chosen from the group consisting of zinc , zinc oxide , and zinc stearate . generally , that metal - based additive may be present in the amount of from about 1 . 0 % to about 5 . 0 % by weight of the cathode . it is postulated that the presence of the metal - based additive within the cathode does , itself , create a specific charge or potential gradient within the cathode . this tends to repel the likelihood of zincate migration , and , this in turn tends to inhibit the unwanted development of hetaerolite within the cathode . thus , the unexpected consequence of the addition of the metal - based additive to the cathode is that , rather than effectively &# 34 ; poisoning &# 34 ; the cathode , the metal - based additive acts to repel the migration of the polluting elements that would poison the cathode . the present invention also provides a method of preparing a cathode mix for use in a rechargeable alkaline electrochemical cell , where the cell is substantially as described above . as noted , the cell will comprise internal components which include a cathode , an anode , a separator , and an alkaline electrolyte ; and those internal components are sealed within the container by a closure member . further , as noted , the cathode mix will generally comprise manganese dioxide , together with from about 4 % to about 8 % by weight thereof of the alkaline electrolyte -- usually 6 n to 12 n koh ; and optionally from about 5 % to about 15 % by weight thereof of graphite ; and optionally from about 0 . 1 % to about 10 . 0 % by weight thereof of conductive carbon ; and optionally from about 0 . 1 % to about 5 . 0 % by weight thereof of conductive fibres which may be chosen from the group consisting of carbon fibres , graphite fibres , carbon fibres plated with nickel or silver , graphite fibres plated with nickel or silver , or copper fibres plated with nickel or silver ; and optionally from about 1 . 0 % to about 5 . 0 % by weight of the cathode of a metal - based additive which may be chosen from the group consisting of zinc , zinc oxide , and zinc stearate . ( a ) mixing the manganese dioxide and any of the optional admix components to form a uniform dry mix ; ( b ) adding the amount of alkaline electrolyte to be used in the cathode composition to the uniform dry mix , and continuing to blend the mix ; ( c ) screening the mix to remove agglomerates therefrom , and continuing to blend and screen until a uniform moist blended mix is achieved ; ( h ) placing the pellets in the appropriate cell containers for use as cathodes in the cells to be manufactured . typically , step ( g ) of forming the cathode pellets or annular sleeves is carried out at pressures ranging from about 1 , 000 newtons per square cintimeter ( n / cm2 ) to about 20 , 000 newtons per square centimeter ( n / cm2 ). the method of the present invention may optionally be followed by a further step of recompacting the cathode pellet ( s ), after it ( they ) has ( have ) been placed in the cell container . the recompaction is generally carried out at the same pressure or within the same pressure range noted above . one or several pellets may be used in a cathode for a bobbin cell ; fig1 suggests that three pellets may be used in the cell that is illustrated . what now follows are a number of examples of various cells manufactured in keeping with the present invention , whereby various formulations of unconstrained cathodes have been provided and tested , with the results being given in each instance . in this case , a cathode was provided having a small additional amount of graphite fibres and a small additional amount of zinc stearate included in the cathode formulation . a standard anode was provided , and cells were tested , as noted : test results showed that the cells according to the above formulations averaged 375 cycles at a discharge of 420 mah / day . they were discharged into 24 ohms , and showed a 14 % depth of discharge of the cathode , with a 60 % depth of discharge of the anode . the cells ultimately had anode failure . here , cells having the standard anode composition noted above were built , and the additives in the cathode included graphite fibre and metallic zinc . the cathode formulation was as follows : the cells were tested as above in example 1 , cycling at 420 mah per day into 24 ohms . once again , the cells were discharged to about 14 % depth of discharge of the cathode , and about 60 % depth of discharge of the anode ; they averaged 375 cycles ; and once again the cells failed in an anode failure . in this case , tests were made to determine the effect of the addition of zno to the cathode formulation , and a slightly different anode composition was used , all as follows : ______________________________________ test control______________________________________mno . sub . 2 80 . 03 % 83 . 03 % graphite 9 . 00 % 9 . 00 % graphite fibre 1 . 00 % 1 . 00 % carbon 0 . 47 % 0 . 47 % electrolyte 6 . 50 % [ 9n koh ] 6 . 50 % [ 9n koh ] zno 3 . 00 % 0______________________________________ it will be noted that the control cells had no zno added to the cathode formulation ; and that the test cells had 3 . 00 % zno added to the formulation with that much less mno 2 content . the cells were cycled at 500 mah per day into 10 ohms , and showed a 19 % depth of discharge of the cathode and a 67 % depth of discharge of the anode . all cells failed in anode failure ; however , the control cells without the zno additive only had a cycle life of 35 cycles , whereas the test cells had a cycle life of 75 cycles . in this case , an anode composition as noted in example 3 was used , and the cathode had no fibre or other additives but was constructed in a manner so as to substantially fill all of the space allotted to it within the container , with substantially no void space above the cathode beneath the cell closure . here , the cells were cycled at 420 mah per day into 24 ohms , and were calculated to have a 45 % depth of discharge of the cathode , and a 50 % depth of discharge of the anode . the cells were cycled for 400 cycles , and there was an apparent imminent cathode failure when the tests were terminated . this series of tests was carried out to determine the relative amounts of in - cell gassing of cells made according to the present invention compared with cells having copper cages , either uncoated or coated with graphite . in this series of tests , the cathode formulation was identical to that of example 4 , noted above , and the anode composition was as follows : two sets of control cells were made , one having copper cages , the other having the same copper cages coated with graphite . the test cells were in keeping with the present invention , and had unconstrained cathodes -- i . e ., no cages . the cell were subjected to 75 deep discharge cycles ( or as noted ), being discharged in each instance to 0 . 9 v into 3 . 9 ohms . the cage cells exhibited identical electrical performance , and the gassing performance of all cells was observed . the following were the performances noted of the caged and the test cells with unconstrained cathodes in keeping with this invention : ______________________________________ control ( cage ) cells test cells______________________________________initial capacity [ ah ] 6 . 0 6 . 0cycle 10 [ ah ] 3 . 3 3 . 3cycle 20 [ ah ] 3 . 0 3 . 0cycle 30 [ ah ] 1 . 0 * 2 . 7failure mode short n / a______________________________________ * two of three cells shorted at this time . the in - cell gassing was observed , and was noted to be the lowest in the test cells in keeping with this invention ; with the cage cells having coated cages being higher , and the cage cells having uncoated cages showing the highest gassing activity . the present invention has been described above and shown in a variety of examples . it has been noted that in its widest concept , the present invention provides an unconstrained mno2 cathode for use in rechargeable cells , and finds its widest application in rechargeable cells having aqueous alkaline electrolytes . the invention is applicable to bobbin cells and to coin or button cells ; and in optional forms the cathode of the present invention may have admixed to its formulation such items as fibres ( usually conductive fibres ), graphite , conductive carbon , and a metal - based additive such as zinc , zinc oxide or zinc stearate . the scope of the present invention is determined by the accompanying claims .
| 7 |
the present invention may be embodied as a texture material composition adapted to be combined with an aerosol and dispensed using an aerosol dispensing system . in the following discussion , example generic texture material compositions formulated in accordance with the principles of the present invention will first be described . after the description of the example generic texture material composition , two specific example texture material compositions formulated in accordance with the principles of the present invention will be described . next , several example aerosol assemblies for dispensing the example texture material compositions will be described with reference to fig1 and 2 . finally , examples of stored material obtained by combining , in an aerosol dispensing assembly , texture material concentrate obtained using the example formulations described herein with propellant material will be described . in this section , example generic formulations of texture material compositions of the present invention will be provided . each of these formulations yields a texture material concentrate that is combined with a propellant and possibly other materials in an aerosol assembly as will be described in further detail below . the following table ia - 1 contains a first example generic formulation of a texture material composition of the present invention . in the following table ia - 1 , components of the first example generic formulation are listed in the first column , and first and second ranges of these components are listed by percentage weight of the total weight of the composition in the second and third columns . in the forgoing table ia - 1 , the medium evaporating solvent evaporates at a slower rate than the fast evaporating solvent and at a higher rate than the slow evaporating solvent . the following table ia - 2 lists , for each of the components of table ia - 1 , an example material or example materials that may be used to perform those functions . the following table ib - 1 contains a first example generic formulation of a texture material composition of the present invention . in the following table ib - 1 , components of the first example generic formulation are listed in the first column , and first and second ranges of these components are listed by percentage weight of the total weight of the composition in the second and third columns . the following table ib - 2 lists , for each of the components of table ib - 1 , an example material or example materials that may be used to perform those functions . the attached exhibit a contains tables a - 1 and a - 2 containing examples of a texture material composition adapted to be combined with an aerosol and dispensed using an aerosol dispensing system in accordance with the principles of the present invention . each value or range of values in tables a - 1 and a - 2 represents the percentage of the overall weight of the example texture material composition formed by each material of the texture material composition for a specific example , a first example range , and a second example range . one example of a method of combining the materials set forth in tables a - 1 and a - 2 is as follows . materials a , b , c , and d are combined to form a first sub - composition . the first sub - composition is mixed until material d is dissolved ( e . g ., 30 - 40 minutes ). materials e and f are then added to the first sub - composition to form a second sub - composition . the second sub - composition is mixed until materials e and f are well - dispersed ( e . g ., at high speed for 15 - 20 minutes ). material g is then added to the second sub - composition to form a third sub - composition . the third sub - composition is mixed well ( e . g ., 10 minutes ). typically , the speed at which the third sub - composition is mixed is reduced relative to the speed at which the second sub - composition is mixed . next , materials h , i , and j are added to the third sub - composition to form the example texture material composition of the present invention . the example texture material composition is agitated . material k may be added as necessary to adjust ( e . g ., reduce ) the viscosity of the example texture material composition . the attached exhibit b contains a table b containing examples of a texture material composition adapted to be combined with an aerosol and dispensed using an aerosol dispensing system in accordance with the principles of the present invention . each value or range of values in table b represents the percentage of the overall weight of the example texture material composition formed by each material of the texture material composition for a specific example , a first example range , and a second example range . one example of a method of combining the materials set forth in table b is as follows . materials a , b , c , and d are combined to form a first sub - composition . the first sub - composition is mixed until material d is dissolved ( e . g ., 30 - 40 minutes ). materials e and f are then added to the first sub - composition to form a second sub - composition . the second sub - composition is mixed until materials e and f are well - dispersed ( e . g ., at high speed for 15 - 20 minutes ). material g is then added to the second sub - composition to form a third sub - composition . the third sub - composition is mixed well ( e . g ., 10 minutes ). typically , the speed at which the third sub - composition is mixed is reduced relative to the speed at which the second sub - composition is mixed . next , materials h , i , and j are added to the third sub - composition to form the example texture material composition of the present invention . the example texture material composition is agitated . material k may be added as necessary to adjust ( e . g ., reduce ) the viscosity of the example texture material composition . the example texture material composition of the present invention may be combined with an aerosol propellant in an aerosol dispensing system to facilitate application of the example texture material composition to a surface to be textured . alternatively , the example texture material composition may be entrained in a stream of pressurized fluid such as air and deposited on a surface to be textured . example methods for applying the example texture material thus include an aerosol dispensing system , hand - operated spray pump , hopper spray gun , or the like . in this section , several example aerosol assemblies for dispensing texture material compositions of the present invention will be described . in addition to the example aerosol assemblies described herein , the texture material compositions of the present invention may be dispensed using aerosol assemblies such as those depicted and described in u . s . pat . nos . 7 , 278 , 590 and 7 , 500 , 621 and u . s . patent application publication nos . us / 2013 / 0026252 and us / 2013 / 0026253 . referring now to fig1 of the drawing , depicted at 20 a therein is a first example aerosol dispensing system constructed in accordance with , and embodying , the principles of the present invention . the first example dispensing system is adapted to spray droplets of dispensed material 22 a onto a target surface 24 a . the example target surface 24 a has a textured portion 26 a and an un - textured portion 28 a . accordingly , in the example use of the dispensing system 20 a depicted in fig1 , the dispensed material 22 a is or contains texture material , and the dispensing system 20 a is being used to form a coating on the un - textured portion 28 a having a desired texture pattern that substantially matches a pre - existing texture pattern of the textured portion 26 a . fig1 further illustrates that the example dispensing system 20 a comprises a container 30 a defining a chamber 32 a in which stored material 34 a and pressurized material 36 a are contained . the stored material 34 a is a mixture of texture material and propellant material in liquid phase , while the pressurized material is propellant material in gas phase . fig1 further illustrates that the first example aerosol dispensing system 20 a comprises a conduit 40 a defining a conduit passageway 42 a . the conduit 40 a is supported by the container 30 a such that the conduit passageway 42 a defines a conduit inlet 44 a arranged within the chamber 32 a and a conduit outlet 46 a arranged outside of the chamber 32 a . the conduit outlet 46 a may alternatively be referred to herein as an outlet opening 46 a . the example conduit 40 a is formed by an inlet tube 50 a , a valve housing 52 a , and an actuator structure 54 a . the conduit passageway 42 a extends through the inlet tube 50 a , the valve housing 52 a , and the actuator structure 54 a such that the valve housing 52 a is arranged between the conduit inlet 44 a and the actuator structure 54 a and the actuator structure 54 a is arranged between the valve housing 52 a and the conduit outlet 46 a . arranged within the valve housing 52 a is a valve system 60 a . a first flow adjustment system 70 a having a first adjustment member 72 a is arranged to interface with the valve system 60 a . a second flow adjustment system 80 a having a second adjustment member 82 a is arranged in the conduit passageway 42 a to form at least a portion of the conduit outlet 46 a . the valve system 60 a operates in a closed configuration , a fully open configuration , and at least one of a continuum or plurality of partially open intermediate configurations . in the closed configuration , the valve system 60 a substantially prevents flow of fluid along the conduit passageway 42 a . in the open configuration and the at least one intermediate configuration , the valve system 60 a allows flow of fluid along the conduit passageway 42 a . the valve system 60 a is normally in the closed configuration . the valve system 60 a engages the actuator member structure 54 a and is placed into the open configuration by applying deliberate manual force on the actuator structure 54 a towards the container 30 a . the first flow adjustment system 70 a is supported by the container 30 a to engage the actuator structure such that manual operation of the first adjustment member 72 a affects operation of the valve system 60 a to control the flow of fluid material along the conduit passageway 42 a . in particular , the first adjustment system 70 a and the valve system 60 a function as a flow restrictor , where operation of the first adjustment member 72 a results in a variation in the size of the conduit passageway 42 a within the valve system 60 a such that a pressure of the fluid material upstream of the first flow adjustment system 70 a is relatively higher than the pressure of the fluid material downstream of the first flow adjustment system 70 a . in general , a primary purpose of the first flow adjustment system 70 a is to alter a distance of travel of the dispensed material 22 a . the first flow adjustment system 70 a may also have a secondary effect on the pattern in which the dispensed material 22 a is sprayed . the second adjustment system 80 a is supported by the actuator structure 54 a downstream of the first adjustment system 70 a . manual operation of the second adjustment member 82 a affects the flow of fluid material flowing out of the conduit passageway 42 a through the conduit outlet 46 a . in particular , the second adjustment system 80 a functions as a variable orifice , where operation of the second adjustment member 82 a variably reduces the size of the conduit outlet 46 a relative to the size of the conduit passageway 42 a upstream of the second adjustment system 80 a . a primary purpose of the second flow adjustment system 80 a is to alter a pattern in which the dispensed material 22 a is sprayed . the first flow adjustment system 70 a may also have a secondary effect on the distance of travel of the dispensed material 22 a . to operate the first example aerosol dispensing system 20 , the container 30 a is grasped such that the finger can depress the actuator structure 54 a . the conduit outlet or outlet opening 46 a is initially aimed at a test surface and the actuator structure 54 a is depressed to place the valve system 60 a in the open configuration such that the pressurized material 36 a forces some of the stored material 34 a out of the container 30 a and onto the test surface to form a test texture pattern . the test texture pattern is compared to the pre - existing texture pattern defined by the textured portion 26 a of the target surface 24 a . if the test texture pattern does not match the pre - existing texture pattern , one or both of the first and second adjustment systems 70 a and 80 a are adjusted to alter the spray pattern of the droplets of dispensed material 22 a . the process of spraying a test pattern and comparing it to the pre - existing pattern and adjusting the first and second adjustment members 72 a and 82 a is repeated until the dispensed material forms a desired texture pattern that substantially matches the pre - existing texture pattern . leaving the first and second adjustment systems 70 a and 80 a as they were when the test texture pattern matched the pre - existing texture pattern , the aerosol dispensing system 20 a is then arranged such that the conduit outlet or outlet opening 46 a is aimed at the un - textured portion 28 a of the target surface 24 a . the actuator structure 54 a is again depressed to operate the valve system 60 a such that the pressurized material 36 a forces the stored material 34 a out of the container 30 a and onto the un - textured portion 28 a of the target surface to form the desired texture pattern . referring now to fig2 of the drawing , depicted at 20 b therein is a fifth example aerosol dispensing system constructed in accordance with , and embodying , the principles of the present invention . the fifth example dispensing system is adapted to spray droplets of dispensed material 22 b onto a target surface 24 b . the example target surface 24 b has a textured portion 26 b and an un - textured portion 28 b . accordingly , in the example use of the dispensing system 20 b depicted in fig2 , the dispensed material 22 b is or contains texture material , and the dispensing system 20 b is being used to form a coating on the un - textured portion 28 b having a desired texture pattern that substantially matches a pre - existing texture pattern of the textured portion 26 b . the example dispensing system 20 b comprises a container 30 b defining a chamber 32 b in which stored material 34 b and pressurized material 36 b are contained . the stored material 34 b is a mixture of texture material , propellant material in liquid phase , and propellant material in liquid phase . fig2 further illustrates that the first example aerosol dispensing system 20 b comprises a conduit 40 b defining a conduit passageway 42 b . the conduit 40 b is supported by the container 30 b such that the conduit passageway 42 b defines a conduit inlet 44 b arranged within the chamber 32 b and a conduit outlet 46 b arranged outside of the chamber 32 b . the conduit outlet 46 b may alternatively be referred to herein as an outlet opening 46 b . the example conduit 40 b is formed by an inlet tube 50 b , a valve housing 52 b , and an actuator structure 54 b . the conduit passageway 42 b extends through the inlet tube 50 b , the valve housing 52 b , and the actuator structure 54 b such that the valve housing 52 b is arranged between the conduit inlet 44 b and the actuator structure 54 b and the actuator structure 54 b is arranged between the valve housing 52 b and the conduit outlet 46 b . arranged within the valve housing 52 b is a valve system 60 b . a first flow adjustment system 70 b having a first adjustment member 72 b is arranged to interface with the valve system 60 b . a second flow adjustment system 80 b having a second adjustment member 82 b is arranged in the conduit passageway 42 b to form at least a portion of the conduit outlet 46 b . the valve system 60 b operates in a closed configuration , a fully open configuration , and at least one of a continuum or plurality of partially open intermediate configurations . in the closed configuration , the valve system 60 b substantially prevents flow of fluid along the conduit passageway 42 b . in the open configuration and the at least one intermediate configuration , the valve system 60 b allows flow of fluid along the conduit passageway 42 b . the valve system 60 b is normally in the closed configuration . the valve system 60 b engages the actuator member structure 54 b and is placed into the open configuration by applying deliberate manual force on the actuator structure 54 b towards the container 30 b . the first flow adjustment system 70 b is supported by the container 30 b to engage the actuator structure such that manual operation of the first adjustment member 72 b controls the flow of fluid material along the conduit passageway 42 b . in particular , the first adjustment system 70 b functions as a flow restrictor , where operation of the first adjustment member 72 b results in a variation in the size of a portion of the conduit passageway 42 b such that a pressure of the fluid material upstream of the first flow adjustment system 70 b is relatively higher than the pressure of the fluid material downstream of the first flow adjustment system 70 b . in general , a primary purpose of the first flow adjustment system 70 b is to alter a distance of travel of the dispensed material 22 b . the first flow adjustment system 70 b may also have a secondary effect on the pattern in which the dispensed material 22 b is sprayed . the second adjustment system 80 b is supported by the actuator structure 54 b downstream of the first adjustment system 70 b . manual operation of the second adjustment member 82 b affects the flow of fluid material flowing out of the conduit passageway 42 b through the conduit outlet 46 b . in particular , the second adjustment system 80 b functions as a variable orifice , where operation of the second adjustment member 72 b variably reduces the size of the conduit outlet 46 b relative to the size of the conduit passageway 42 b upstream of the second adjustment system 80 b . a primary purpose of the second flow adjustment system 80 b is to alter a pattern in which the dispensed material 22 b is sprayed . the first flow adjustment system 70 b may also have a secondary effect on the distance of travel of the dispensed material 22 b . to operate the fifth example aerosol dispensing system 20 b ( of the second example class of dispensing systems ), the container 30 b is grasped such that the finger can depress the actuator structure 54 b . the conduit outlet or outlet opening 46 b is initially aimed at a test surface and the actuator structure 54 b is depressed to place the valve system 60 b in the open configuration such that the pressurized material 36 b forces some of the stored material 34 b out of the container 30 b and onto the test surface to form a test texture pattern . the test texture pattern is compared to the pre - existing texture pattern defined by the textured portion 26 b of the target surface 24 b . if the test texture pattern does not match the pre - existing texture pattern , one or both of the first and second adjustment systems 70 b and 80 b are adjusted to alter the spray pattern of the droplets of dispensed material 22 b . the process of spraying a test pattern and comparing it to the pre - existing pattern and adjusting the first and second adjustment members 72 b and 82 b is repeated until the dispensed material forms a desired texture pattern that substantially matches the pre - existing texture pattern . leaving the first and second adjustment systems 70 b and 80 b as they were when the test texture pattern matched the pre - existing texture pattern , the aerosol dispensing system 20 b is then arranged such that the conduit outlet or outlet opening 46 b is aimed at the un - textured portion 28 b of the target surface 24 b . the actuator structure 54 b is again depressed to operate the valve system 60 b such that the pressurized material 36 b forces the stored material 34 b out of the container 30 b and onto the un - textured portion 28 b of the target surface to form the desired texture pattern . as generally described above , a texture material concentrate is combined with a propellant to form stored material that is arranged within an aerosol assembly . in this section , several examples of such stored material formulations will be described . the following table iv - 1 contains a first example stored material in which the concentrate portion is formed by the first example generic formulation described above in table ia - 1 . in this table iv - 1 , the generic material is listed in column 1 , the function of each generic material is listed in column 2 , and first and second ranges of the generic materials as a percentage of the total stored material are listed in columns 3 and 4 . the propellant material is any hydrocarbon propellant material compatible with the remaining components of the stored material . the hydrocarbon propellant in table iv - 1 is typically one or more liquidized gases either organic ( such as dimethyl ether , alkanes that contain carbons less than 6 , either straight chain or branched structure , or any organic compounds that are gaseous in normal temperature ), or inorganic ( such as carbon dioxide , nitrogen gas , or compressed air ). the propellants used in current formulations are dimethyl ether ( dme ) and a - 70 . the following table iv - 2 contains a second example stored material in which the concentrate portion is formed by the second example generic formulation described above in table ia - 2 . in this table iv - 2 , the generic material is listed in column 1 , the function of each generic material is listed in column 2 , and first and second ranges of the generic materials as a percentage of the total stored material are listed in columns 3 and 4 . the propellant material is any hydrocarbon propellant material compatible with the remaining components of the stored material . the hydrocarbon propellant in table iv - 2 is typically one or more liquidized gases either organic ( such as dimethyl ether , alkanes that contain carbons less than 6 , either straight chain or branched structure , or any organic compounds that are gaseous in normal temperature ), or inorganic ( such as carbon dioxide , nitrogen gas , or compressed air ). the propellants used in current formulations are dimethyl ether ( dme ) and a - 70 . the following table iv - 3 contains a third example stored material in which the concentrate portion is formed by the first example specific formulation of tables a of exhibit a . in this table iv - 3 , the generic material is listed in column 1 , the function of each generic material is listed in column 2 , and an example and first and second ranges of the generic materials as a percentage of the total stored material are listed in columns 3 , 4 , and 5 , respectively . the propellant material is any hydrocarbon propellant material compatible with the remaining components of the stored material . the hydrocarbon propellant in table iv - 3 is typically one or more liquidized gases either organic ( such as dimethyl ether , alkanes that contain carbons less than 6 , either straight chain or branched structure , or any organic compounds that are gaseous in normal temperature ), or inorganic ( such as carbon dioxide , nitrogen gas , or compressed air ). the propellants used in current formulations are dimethyl ether ( dme ) and a - 70 . the following table iv - 4 contains a fourth example stored material in which the concentrate portion is formed by the first example specific formulation of table b of exhibit b . in this table iv - 4 , the generic material is listed in column 1 , the function of each generic material is listed in column 2 , and an example and first and second ranges of the generic materials as a percentage of the total stored material are listed in columns 3 , 4 , and 5 , respectively . the propellant material is any hydrocarbon propellant material compatible with the remaining components of the stored material . the hydrocarbon propellant in table iv - 4 is typically one or more liquidized gases either organic ( such as dimethyl ether , alkanes that contain carbons less than 6 , either straight chain or branched structure , or any organic compounds that are gaseous in normal temperature ), or inorganic ( such as carbon dioxide , nitrogen gas , or compressed air ). the propellants used in current formulations are dimethyl ether ( dme ) and a - 70 .
| 2 |
turning now to fig5 an uncontrolled ferroresonant transformer ballast is generally designated by the reference number 100 . the ferroresonant transformer ballast 100 includes an e - shaped piece 102 and an i - shaped piece 104 . an input coil 106 , capacitor coil 108 and lamp coil 110 are spaced from each other and wound around a center leg 112 of the e - shaped piece 102 . a leakage inductance magnetic shunt 114 is positioned around the center leg 112 at a longitudinal location between the input coil 106 and the capacitor coil 108 . the leakage inductance shunt 114 cooperates with an opposing surface of the e - shaped piece 102 to define a first shunt air gap 116 . a lamp choke magnetic shunt 118 is positioned around the center leg 112 at a longitudinal location between the capacitor coil 108 and the lamp coil 110 . the lamp choke shunt 118 cooperates with an opposing surface of the e - shaped piece 102 to define a second shunt air gap 119 . an output capacitor ( not shown ) is to be coupled across the terminals of the capacitor coil 108 , and a lamp ( not shown ) is to be coupled across the terminals of the lamp coil 110 . consequently , the lamp coil 110 ( as distinct from the capacitor coil 108 ) serves to isolate the lamp from the output capacitor . further , the lamp choke shunt 118 serves as a choke in series with the lamp . unlike the prior ferroresonant transformer shown by the equivalent electrical circuit in fig4 the lamp current as used with the ferroresonant transformer ballast 100 of fig5 has a lower crest factor due to the leakage inductance contributed by the lamp choke shunt 118 . the lower crest factor permits the use of any type of lamination for the ferroresonant transformer ballast core from a low grade strip steel ( see fig6 ) to a high grade &# 34 ; ei &# 34 ; lamination as shown in fig5 . with reference to fig6 a ferroresonant transformer ballast 120 has like reference numbers for like parts with the ferroresonant transformer ballast 100 of fig5 . the ferroresonant transformer ballast 120 differs from the ferroresonant transformer ballast 100 of fig5 in that the ballast 120 has a core 122 fabricated from strip steel as opposed to the e and i -- shaped pieces 102 , 104 used for the ferroresonant transformer ballast 100 of fig5 . the ferroresonant transformer ballast 120 further includes an input coil 106 , capacitor coil 108 , lamp coil 110 , leakage inductance magnetic shunt 121 and lamp choke magnetic shunt 123 . fig7 is the equivalent electrical circuit of the integrated ferroresonant transformer ballasts shown in fig5 and 6 , where coils 124 represent the input coil , an inductance 126 having reactance x s represents the leakage reactance , an inductance 128 having reactance x m represents the saturable magnetizing reactance of the core , coils 130 represent the capacitor coil , a capacitor 132 having capacitive reactance x c and voltage v c is the output or resonant capacitor , inductance 134 having reactance x lamp represents the inductance of the lamp choke shunt , coils 136 represent the lamp coil , and lamp 138 is the discharge lamp load . the lamp open circuit voltage is set by the lamp coil turn ratio and the system resonance gain which must be high enough for the lamp to strike . after the lamp ignites , its initial voltage will drop to approximately 10 % of its steady state value . this low voltage will cause the lamp to draw more current which is limited by the leakage reactance of the lamp shunts . the lamp current i lamp can be calculated as follows : by the proper choice of x lamp , the lamp current i lamp will be limited to a predetermined maximum value . this initial increase in current is desirable for warming up the lamp faster which in turn prolongs the operating life of the lamp 138 . as the lamp temperature and voltage reach steady state values , the lamp current will reduce to its rated value as determined by equation ( 1 ). the ferroresonant transformer ballast will regulate the lamp output by keeping the output capacitor voltage v c level constant in the same manner as does a constant voltage ferroresonant transformer . since all of the right - hand side terms of equation ( 1 ) are constant , it follows that the lamp current i lamp will also be constant . there are several advantages associated with ferroresonant transformer ballasts . first , the lamp high voltage is independent of the output capacitor voltage which makes it possible to use standard 660 volt capacitors for any lamp voltage which may vary from 300 volts rms for low power lamps to over 2000 volts rms for higher power lamps . the lamp shunts limit the lamp current to a predetermined maximum value and reduce the crest factor of the lamp current . third , a low voltage isolated sensor winding added to the lamp coil allows a simple and safe method to monitor its voltage . fourth , any type of lamination from low grade strip steel to high grade &# 34 ; ei &# 34 ; laminations may be employed . the ferroresonant transformer ballasts of fig5 - 7 can be improved by providing a current feedback closed loop ferroresonant transformer which provides the user with full control over the lamp output . a controlled ferroresonant transformer varies the resonance gain without saturating the core by switching an external linear inductor in parallel with the output or resonant capacitor in order to simulate core saturation with respect to output voltage regulation . a control circuit detects both the lamp current and voltage , and varies the duty cycle of an ac power switch to generate an appropriate inductance and resonance gain in order to regulate the lamp output . to better understand the functioning of a controlled ferroresonant transformer ballast , reference will be made first to fig8 - 10 which illustrate prior controlled ferroresonant transformer technology . turning first to fig8 a controlled ferroresonant transformer 140 is shown where like elements are labeled by like reference numbers with respect to the ferroresonant transformer ballast of fig5 . a control inductance coil 142 replaces the lamp coil 110 of fig5 . this type of ferroresonant transformer is discussed more fully in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 573 , 606 to kakalec , and is used as a voltage regulator with a switched control inductor that simulates core saturation . fig9 shows a plot of the output voltage v c and the capacitor current i c . the equivalent electrical circuit of this controlled ferroresonant transformer is shown in fig1 where coils 144 represent the input coil , inductance 146 having reactance x s is the leakage inductance , resistance r represents the equivalent dc resistance of all the windings , coils 148 represent the capacitor coil , capacitor 150 having reactance x c and voltage v c is the output capacitor , coil 152 having reactance x l represents a control inductance , coil 154 having reactance x m represents the magnetizing inductance , and switch 156 is preferably a solid state switch , operated by a control circuit 158 for switching the control inductance into and out of parallel relationship with the output capacitor 150 in order to simulate core saturation . turning now to fig1 - 16 , a controlled ferroresonant transformer ballast according to the present invention will be explained in detail where like elements with respect to the ferroresonant transformer of fig8 are labeled with like reference numbers . with reference to fig1 , a controlled ferroresonant transformer ballast is generally designated by the reference number 200 . the controlled ferroresonant transformer ballast 200 is different , in part , from the ferroresonant transformer of fig8 with respect to the type and placement of windings around the center leg 112 . the windings wound around the center leg 112 are an input coil 106 , capacitor coil 108 , power supply coil 202 , lamp coil 110 and voltage sense coil 204 . as can be seen in fig1 , the capacitor coil 108 and the power supply coil 202 generally occupy the same longitudinal position on the center leg 112 between a lamp choke shunt 118 and a leakage inductance shunt 114 . the lamp coil 110 and voltage sense coil 204 generally occupy the same longitudinal position on the center leg 112 between the lamp choke shunt 118 and the i - shaped piece 104 . as can be seen from fig1 , the controlled ferroresonant transformer ballast is fabricated from &# 34 ; ei &# 34 ; laminations . however , a controlled ferroresonant transformer ballast may also be fabricated from strip steel because of a low crest factor associated with the ferroresonant transformer ballast 200 . as shown in fig1 , a controlled ferroresonant transformer ballast 206 employs strip steel for the core 208 . fig1 schematically shows an equivalent electrical circuit 210 of the controlled ferroresonant transformer ballasts of fig1 and 12 . coils 212 represent the input coil , an inductance 214 having reactance x s represents the leakage inductance , coils 216 represent the capacitor coil , capacitor 218 having reactance x c and voltage v c is the output capacitor , coil 220 having reactance x lamp is the inductance of the lamp shunt , coils 222 represent the lamp coil ,, and coil or inductor 224 having reactance x l represents an external switched inductor . a control circuit 226 receives inputs from a lamp voltage sensor 228 and lamp current sensor 230 and has a control output 232 for opening and closing a switch 234 to switch the inductor 224 into and out of parallel relationship with the output capacitor 218 in response to the sensors 228 and 230 in order to simulate core saturation . the operation of the controlled ferroresonant transformer ballast embodied in fig1 - 13 consists of three stages : ignition , warm - up and steady state . with respect to the ignition stage : at start - up , the control circuit 226 forces the lamp open circuit voltage to rise to a maximum value in order to strike the lamp . during warm - up , the control circuit 226 will sense the lamp low voltage and increase its current by keeping the switch 234 open for as long as v lamp is below its steady state value . as the lamp warms - up , its v lamp will increase and the control circuit 226 will gradually increase the duty cycle of the switch 234 bringing the lamp current to its rated value by reducing the equivalent capacitive reactance x eq = x l in parallel with x c . after the lamp reaches its steady state value , the control circuit 226 will sense the lamp current via the lamp current sensor 230 and maintain the lamp current at a constant value independently of the input voltage v in . fig1 is a plot of the various waveforms v lamp , i lamp , v c and i c of the controlled ferroresonant transformer ballast depicted by the equivalent electrical circuit of fig1 . important advantages in utilizing a controlled ferroresonant transformer ballast is a low crest factor of the lamp current which is critical for the employment of metal - additive gas discharge lamps , and a high input power factor which is a characteristic of all ferroresonant transformers . fig1 schematically illustrates an embodiment of the control circuit 226 of fig1 used in conjunction with a ferroresonant transformer to form a controlled ferroresonant ballast 235 embodying the present invention . the control circuit includes a lamp voltage sensor 236 preferably wound around a magnetic core of the ferroresonant transformer ballast 235 to sense the lamp voltage , and further includes a lamp current sensor 238 preferably positioned adjacent to the supply line to the lamp in order to sense the lamp current . the lamp voltage sensor 236 is coupled to an input of a dc reference module 240 , and the lamp current sensor 238 is coupled to an input of a first rectifier 242 . a power supply coil 244 is coupled to an input of a second rectifier 246 . an output of the first rectifier 242 is coupled via a potentiometer 248 to a first input of an error amplifier 250 . an output of the dc reference module 240 is coupled to a second input of the error amplifier 250 . an output of the error amplifier 250 is coupled to a first input of a comparator 252 . a ramp generator 254 has an input coupled to an output of the second rectifier 246 , and an output coupled to a second input of the comparator 252 . an output of the comparator 252 is coupled to an input of a drive circuit or buffer 256 . an output of the drive circuit 256 is coupled a control input of a switch 258 , such as the gate of a silicon - controlled rectifier switch , which is coupled in series with a switched control inductor 260 . the control inductor 260 is electrically coupled in parallel with an output capacitor 262 of a ferroresonant transformer ballast circuit when the switch 258 is closed . the operation of the control circuit of fig1 will now be explained with respect to the three lamp operating stages : ignition , warm - up and steady state . during the ignition stage , the average lamp voltage rises with that of the output capacitor , and the lamp current is zero before the lamp ignites . the operation of the control circuit of fig1 will now be explained with respect to the three stages of a ferroresonant ballast : ignition , warm - up and steady state . during the ignition stage , the lamp voltage sensor 236 and the lamp current sensor 238 respectively generate voltage signals proportional to the voltage level across the lamp 40 and the current level flowing through the lamp . because the lamp 40 has not yet been ignited , the current flowing through the lamp 40 is approximately zero amps , and therefore the voltage level generated by the current sensor is approximately zero volts . consequently , the difference between the voltage signals generated by the voltage sensor 236 and the current sensor 238 is a relatively high value which is amplified by the error amplifier to produce an error signal v e . an alternating voltage is induced in the power supply coil 244 which is in turn rectified by the second rectifier 246 . the rectified voltage signal is then input into the ramp generator 254 to produce a sawtooth signal having a period equal to one half of the alternating input signal supplied to the ferroresonant transformer at the input coil . the relatively high v e signal and the ramp signal are then input into the comparator 252 . the comparator generates a digital output of &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; ( i . e ., output goes high ) during the portion of the ramp signal cycle when the ramp signal rises above the level of v e . because v e is a relatively high signal before ignition , the ramp signal generally does not rise above the level of v e . consequently , the output of the comparator remains at a digital output of &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; ( i . e ., output remains low ), and the switch 258 remains open so that no current can be diverted from the output capacitor 262 to the switched control inductor 260 . therefore , full current can be directed to charge the output capacitor 262 so that the voltage across the output capacitor 262 may rise . because the lamp coil 110 is magnetically coupled to the capacitor coil 108 , as the voltage across the output capacitor 262 rises , the voltage across the lamp 40 also rises until the lamp voltage level is high enough to strike the lamp ( i . e ., turn the lamp on ). during the warm - up stage immediately after ignition of the gas discharge lamp 40 , v lamp drops in voltage , i lamp is high , and in turn v e is relatively high such that the switch 258 remains open to increase i lamp for as long as v lamp is below its steady state value . as the lamp warms - up , its voltage v lamp will increase , which in turn will decrease v e generated by the error amplifier 250 . as v e decreases , the portion of each cycle of the ramp signal which is at a higher level than that of v e will increase resulting in the comparator being turned high for a greater portion of each cycle of the ramp signal . as a consequence , the drive circuit 256 closes the switch 258 for an increasingly greater portion of each cycle of the ramp signal ( i . e ., the duty cycle of the switch 262 increases ). increasing the duty cycle of the switch 258 brings the lamp 40 current to its rated value by reducing the equivalent capacitive reactance x eq = x l in parallel with x c . after the lamp 40 reaches steady state , the control circuit will sense the lamp current and maintain it at a constant level independently of the input voltage received from the input coil . fig1 is a graph of an error amplifier voltage signal 264 , a ramp generator voltage signal 266 , switch control or gate voltage signal 268 and control inductor current signal 270 . as can be seen in fig1 , when the voltage of the ramp signal 266 rises above that of the error signal 264 , the gate signal 268 used for controlling a silicon - controlled switch is activated in response to the comparator 252 going high in order to allow current ( as shown by the inductor signal 270 ) to flow through the control inductor 260 . the lamp current may be adjusted by components ( not shown ) for varying the reference voltage of the error amplifier . such components may be , for example , logic control switched resistors and opto - isolators which interface with plcs . while the present invention has been described in several preferred embodiments , it will be understood that numerous modifications and substitutions can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention . accordingly , the present invention has been described in several preferred embodiments by way of illustration , rather than limitation , and the scope of this patent disclosure shall not be determined primarily from the scope of the appended claims .
| 7 |
the following description is presently contemplated as the best mode of carrying out the present invention . this description is not to be taken in a limiting sense but is made merely for the purpose of describing the principles of the invention . the scope of the invention should be determined by referring to the appended claims . fig1 shows a prior - art example full - scan or partial - scan integrated circuit or circuit under test ( cut ) 102 with three clock domains , cd 1 103 to cd 3 105 , and three system clocks , sys_ck 1 117 to sys_ck 3 119 . each system clock controls one clock domain . furthermore , cd 1 103 and cd 2 104 interact with each other through the crossing clock - domain logic block ccd 1 106 . cd 2 104 and cd 3 105 interact with each other through the crossing clock - domain logic block ccd 2 107 . in addition , the cut 102 is a scan - based integrated circuit . that is , all or part of its storage cells are replaced with scan cells sc and all scan cells sc are connected into one or more scan chains scn . a conventional ate ( automatic test equipment ) 101 is used to detect or locate stuck - type or non - stuck - type faults in scan - test mode . the ate 101 provides both scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 108 to se 3 110 , as well as scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 117 to sck 3 119 , to the cut 102 . during the shift cycle , stimuli , 111 to 113 , will be shifted into all scan cells sc through all scan chains scn within the three clock domains cd 1 103 to cd 3 105 simultaneously . note that the shift cycle can operate either at its rated clock speed ( at - speed ) or at any reduced clock speed ( reduced - speed ). after the shift cycle is completed , functional clocks are applied to all or part of the three clock domains to capture test responses into scan cells sc . during the capture cycle , each clock can operate either at - speed or at reduced - speed . after the capture cycle is completed , the test responses , 114 to 116 , captured by all scan cells sc are shifted out through scan chains scn for direct comparison at the ate 101 . the three clock domains , cd 1 103 to cd 3 105 , are originally designed to operate at 100 mhz , 50 mhz , and 66 mhz , respectively . during self - test or scan - test , the ate 101 will take over the control of all system clocks . based on power management requirements and target test types , the ate 101 will provide proper clock waveforms for scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 117 to sck 3 119 . note that a conventional ate should provide all test control signals including scan enable ( se ) signals and scan clocks . in addition , the ate should also provide test stimuli and analyze test responses . this is the key reason why a conventional ate is complicated and expensive . fig2 shows an example full - scan or partial - scan integrated circuit or circuit under test ( cut ) 205 with three clock domains , cd 1 206 to cd 3 208 , and three system clocks , sys_ck 1 246 to sys_ck 3 248 , where a unified test controller 202 , in accordance with the present invention and controlled directly by an ate ( automatic test equipment ) 201 , is used to detect or locate stuck - type or non - stuck - type faults in scan - test mode . the ate 201 provides test stimuli 217 to the cut 205 and compares test responses 216 from the cut 205 with expected values to determine if the cut 205 is faulty or not . the ate 201 also provides a scan mode signal scan_mode 211 , a global scan enable signal gse 212 , and a test clock test_clock 213 to the unified test controller 202 . the unified test controller 202 passes the scan mode signal from the ate 201 to the cut 205 . in addition , it generates three scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 224 to se 3 226 , and three scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 228 to sck 3 230 , for the three clock domains , cd 1 206 to cd 3 208 , respectively . these scan enable ( se ) signals and scan clocks ( scks ) are generated in response to the global scan enable signal gse 219 , the test clock test_clock 220 , and system clocks , sys_ck 1 221 to sys_ck 3 223 . the unified test controller 202 also has two shift registers : a capture phase selector 203 and a test type selector 204 . these two shift registers are chained together and can be accessed from the ate 201 through the tdi ( test data in ) 214 and tdo ( test data out ) 215 ports . depending on the value of the capture phase selector 203 , the capture order determined by the phases of the scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 228 to sck 3 230 , can be selected . depending on the value of the test type selector 204 , waveforms for scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 228 to sck 3 230 , can be generated to detect or locate either stuck - type or non - stuck - type faults . with the use of the unified test controller 202 , the function of the ate 201 can be dramatically simplified since scan test control signals , including scan enable ( se ) signals and scan clocks ( scks ) for all clock domains , can now be generated by the unified test controller 202 instead of the ate 201 . this makes it possible to use a low - cost dft ( design - for - test ) tester or a low - cost dft debugger to test or diagnose a scan - based integrated circuit with large size and high complexity . fig3 shows an example full - scan or partial - scan integrated circuit or circuit under test ( cut ) 307 with three clock domains , cd 1 308 to cd 3 310 , and three system clocks , sys_ck 1 367 to sys_ck 3 369 , where a unified test controller 303 , in accordance with the present invention and controlled by an ate ( automatic test equipment ) 301 through a tap ( test access port ) controller 302 , is used to detect or locate stuck - type or non - stuck - type faults in scan - test mode . the ate 301 provides test stimuli 320 to the cut 307 and compares test responses 319 from the cut 307 with expected values to determine if the cut 307 is faulty or not . the ate 301 also provides an external test clock ext_test_clock 318 as well as a standard five - pin tap interface , tms ( test mode select ) 313 , tdi ( test data in ) 314 , tdo ( test data out ) 315 , tck ( test clock ) 317 , and optionally trstb ( test reset ) 316 , to the unified test controller 303 . the tap controller 302 generates a scan mode signal scan_mode 331 for the cut 307 from the values shifted - in from the ate 301 through the tdi 322 port . in addition , it generates shift_dr 326 , capture_dr 327 , update_dr 328 , and clock_dr 329 signals for the unified test controller 303 . these signals are used to generate an internal global scan enable ( gse ) signal for the unified test controller 303 . the unified test controller 303 generates three scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 345 to se 3 347 , and three scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 348 to sck 3 350 , for the three clock domains , cd 1 308 to cd 3 310 , respectively . these scan enable ( se ) signals and scan clocks ( scks ) are generated in response to an internal global scan enable ( gse ) signal , the tck clock 339 , the external test clock ext_test_clock 341 , and system clocks , sys_ck 1 342 to sys_ck 3 344 . the unified test controller 303 also has three shift registers : a clock type selector 304 , a capture phase selector 305 , and a test type selector 306 . these three shift registers are chained together and can be accessed from the tap controller 302 through the tdi 333 and tdo 334 ports . depending on the value of the clock type selector 304 , either the tck clock 339 or the external test clock ext_test_clock 341 can be selected as an internal test clock . depending on the value of the capture phase selector 305 , the capture order determined by the phases of the scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 348 to sck 3 350 , can be selected . depending on the value of the test type selector 306 , waveforms for scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 348 to sck 3 350 , can be generated to detect or locate either stuck - type or non - stuck - type faults . with the use of the unified test controller 303 together with the tap controller 302 , the function of the ate 301 can be further simplified since scan test control signals , including scan enable ( se ) signals and scan clocks ( scks ) for all clock domains , can now be generated by the unified test controller 303 instead of the ate 301 . the ate 301 only needs to provide some initial control values and a tck clock through a standard tap interface . this makes it possible to use a low - cost dft ( design - for - test ) tester or a low - cost dft debugger to test or diagnose a scan - based integrated circuit with large size and high complexity . fig4 shows a prior - art example full - scan or partial - scan integrated circuit or circuit under test ( cut ) 403 with three clock domains , cd 1 404 to cd 3 406 , and three system clocks , sys_ck 1 414 to sys_ck 3 416 , where a conventional bist ( built - in self - test ) controller 402 , connected directly to an ate ( automatic test equipment ) 401 , is used to detect or locate stuck - type or non - stuck - type faults in self - test mode . the conventional bist controller 402 usually contains prpgs ( pseudo - random pattern generators ) to generate pseudo - random patterns as test stimuli 455 for the cut 403 to detect or locate stuck - type or non - stuck - type faults . test responses 456 from the cut 403 are compressed by misrs ( multiple - input signature registers ) into test signatures . the signatures are then compared with corresponding expected values , and a pass / fail signal 428 will be set to indicate if the cut 403 is faulty or not . fig5 shows an example full - scan or partial - scan integrated circuit or circuit under test ( cut ) 507 with three clock domains , cd 1 508 to cd 3 510 , and three system clocks , sys_ck 1 561 to sys_ck 3 563 , where a unified test controller 502 , in accordance with the present invention and controlled directly by an ate 501 , is used to detect or locate stuck - type or non - stuck - type faults at reduced - speed or at - speed in self - test mode . the ate 501 provides a scan mode signal scan_mode 515 , a bist ( built - in self - test ) mode signal bist_mode 516 , a global scan enable signal gse 513 , and a test clock test_clock 514 to the unified test controller 502 . the unified test controller 502 passes the scan mode signal and the bist mode signal from the ate 501 to the cut 507 . in addition , it generates three scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 525 to se 3 527 , and three scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 528 to sck 3 530 , for the three clock domains , cd 1 508 to cd 3 510 , respectively . these scan enable ( se ) signals and scan clocks ( scks ) are generated in response to the global scan enable signal gse 521 , the test clock test_clock 522 , and system clocks , sys_ck 1 533 to sys_ck 3 535 . the unified test controller 502 also has two shift registers : a capture phase selector 503 and a test type selector 504 . these two shift registers are chained together and can be accessed from the ate 501 through the tdi 517 and tdo 518 ports . depending on the value of the capture phase selector 503 , the capture order determined by the phases of the scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 528 to sck 3 530 , can be selected . depending on the value of the test type selector 504 , waveforms for scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 528 to sck 3 530 , can be generated to detect or locate either stuck - type or non - stuck - type faults . the new bist controller 505 now contains prpgs ( pseudo - random pattern generators ) to generate pseudo - random patterns as test stimuli 566 for the cut 507 to detect or locate stuck - type or non - stuck - type faults . test responses 567 from the cut 507 are compressed by misrs ( multiple - input signature registers ) into test signatures . the signatures are then compared with corresponding expected values , and a pass / fail signal 536 will be set to indicate if the cut 507 is faulty or not . this pass / fail value is stored in the error indicator 506 , which is also chained together with the capture phase selector 503 and the test type selector 504 . this means that proper set - up values can be shifted into the capture phase selector 503 and the test type selector 504 while the pass / fail signal value can be shifted out for observation through the tdi 517 and tdo 518 ports . with the use of the unified test controller 502 , the function of the ate 501 and the bist controller 505 can be dramatically simplified since scan test control signals , including scan enable ( se ) signals and scan clocks ( scks ) for all clock domains , can now be generated by the unified test controller 502 . in addition , such a unified test controller is common to both self - test and scan - test . this makes it possible to a low - cost dft ( design - for - test ) tester or a low - cost dft debugger to test or diagnose a scan - based integrated circuit with large size and high complexity . the dft design flow will also be simplified . fig6 shows an example full - scan or partial - scan integrated circuit or circuit under test ( cut ) 609 with three clock domains , cd 1 610 to cd 3 612 , and three system clocks sys_ck 1 682 to sys_ck 3 684 , where a unified test controller 603 , in accordance with the present invention and controlled by an ate ( automatic test equipment ) 601 through a tap ( test access port ) controller 602 , is used to detect or locate stuck - type or non - stuck - type faults at reduced - speed or at - speed in self - test mode . the ate 601 provides an external test clock ext_test_clock 615 as well as a standard five - pin tap interface , tms ( test mode selection ) 617 , tdi ( test data in ) 618 , tdo ( test data out ), 619 , tck ( test clock ) 616 , and optionally trstb ( test reset ) 620 , to the unified test controller 603 . the tap controller 602 generates a scan mode signal scan_mode 634 and a bist ( built - in self - test ) mode signal bist_mode 635 for the cut 609 from the values shifted - in from the ate 601 through the tdi 625 port . in addition , it generates shift_dr 628 , capture_dr 630 , update_dr 629 , and clock_dr 631 signals for the unified test controller 603 . these signals are used to generate an internal global scan enable ( gse ) signal for the unified test controller 603 . the unified test controller 603 generates three scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 646 to se 3 648 , and three scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 649 to sck 3 651 , for the three clock domains , cd 1 610 to cd 3 612 , respectively . these scan enable ( se ) signals and scan clocks ( scks ) are generated in response to a global scan enable ( gse ) signal , the tck clock 642 , the external test clock ext_test_clock 643 , and system clocks , sys_ck 1 654 to sys_ck 3 656 . the unified test controller 603 also has three shift registers : a clock type selector 604 , a capture phase selector 605 , and a test type selector 606 . these three shift registers are chained together and can be accessed from the tap controller 602 through the tdi 636 and tdo 637 ports . depending on the value of the clock type selector 604 , either the tck clock 642 or the external test clock ext_test_clock 643 can be selected as an internal test clock . depending on the value of the capture phase selector 605 , the capture order determined by the phases of the scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 649 to sck 3 651 , can be selected . depending on the value of the test type selector 606 , waveforms for scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 649 to sck 3 651 , can be generated to detect or locate either stuck - type or non - stuck - type faults . the new bist controller 607 now contains prpgs ( pseudo - random pattern generators ) to generate pseudo - random patterns as test stimuli 687 for the cut 609 to detect or locate stuck - type or non - stuck - type faults . test responses 688 from the cut 609 are compressed by misrs ( multiple - input signature registers ) into test signatures . the signatures are then compared with corresponding expected values , and a pass / fail signal 665 will be set to indicate if the cut 609 is faulty or not . this pass / fail value is stored in the error indicator 608 , which is also chained together with the clock type selector 604 , the capture phase selector 605 , and the test type selector 606 . this means that proper set - up values can be shifted into the clock type selector 604 , the capture phase selector 605 , and the test type selector 606 while the pass / fail signal value can be shifted out for observation through the tdi 636 and tdo 637 ports . with the use of the unified test controller 603 together with the tap controller 602 , the function of the ate 601 and the bist controller 607 can be further simplified since scan test control signals , including scan enable ( se ) signals and scan clocks ( scks ) for all clock domains , can now be generated by the unified test controller 603 instead of the ate 601 and the bist controller 607 . the ate 601 only needs to provide some initial control values and a tck clock through a standard tap interface . this makes it possible to use a low - cost dft ( design - for - test ) tester or a low - cost dft debugger to test or diagnose a scan - based integrated circuit with large size and high complexity . the dft design flow will also be simplified . fig7 shows a block diagram 700 of a unified test controller 701 , in accordance with the present invention , consisting of a capture clock generator 703 , a capture phase selector 702 , a test type selector 704 , and three domain clock generators , 705 to 707 , each for generating the scan enable ( se ) signal and the scan clock ( sck ) for each of three clock domains . the global scan enable signal gse 708 can be provided externally from an ate ( automatic test equipment ) or generated internally by a tap ( test access port ) controller . it is used to define the boundary between shift and capture cycles for all clock domains . the test clock test_clock 709 is provided from an ate either as a tck clock in a boundary - scan design or as a direct external test clock . a clock type selector can be used to select a desired one . the tdi ( test data in ) 710 and tdo ( test data out ) 711 ports are used to set proper values into the capture phase selector 702 and the test type selector 704 . three capture phase selection signals , capture_phase_select 1 712 to capture_phase_select 3 714 , are generated based on the set - up values stored in the capture phase selector 702 . in addition , three test type selection signals , test_type_select 1 721 to test_type_select 3 723 , are generated based on the set - up values stored in the test type selector 704 . the capture clock generator 703 generates three capture clocks ( ccks ), cck 1 715 to cck 3 717 , in response to the global scan enable gse 708 , the test clock test_clock 709 , and the three capture phase selection signals , capture_phase_select 1 712 to capture_phase_select 3 714 . furthermore , three domain clock generators , 705 to 707 , generate scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 724 and se 3 726 , as well as scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 727 and sck 3 729 , for all clock domains , in response to the capture clocks ( ccks ), cck 1 715 to cck 3 717 , system clocks , sys_ck 1 718 to sys_ck 3 720 , and test type selection signals , test_type_select 1 721 to test_type_select 3 723 . note that the function of a unified test controller is general in the sense that it can be used for both self - test and scan - test . by using a unified test controller , the dft ( design - for - test ) design flow will be greatly simplified . in addition , it makes it easy to use a low - cost dft tester , a low - cost dft debugger , or a bist ( built - in self - test ) solution in testing or diagnosing a scan - based integrated circuit with large size and high complexity . fig8 shows a block diagram 800 of a global scan enable generator 801 of one embodiment of the present invention to generate a global scan enable ( gse ) signal . the global scan enable generator 801 contains one d flip - flop 802 with both asynchronous set and reset pins . the shift_dr signal 803 and the update_dr signal 804 are used to control the asynchronous set pin and the asynchronous set pin of the d flip - flop 802 , respectively . the output of the d flip - flop 802 becomes the global scan enable gse 805 . note that both the shift_dr signal 803 and the update_dr signal 804 are from a tap ( test access port ) controller that is constructed according to a selected boundary - scan standard such as the ieee 1149 . 1 std . fig9 shows a block diagram 900 of a test clock generator 901 and a clock type selector 902 of one embodiment of the present invention . the clock type selector 902 is a shift register , and proper set - up values can be shifted into it through the tdi ( test data in ) 905 and tdo ( test data out ) 906 ports . the set - up values are used to generate the clock type selection signal clock_type_select 907 . if clock_type_select 907 is logic value “ 0 ”, the test clock generator 901 will select the external test clock ext_test_clock 904 as the test clock test_clock 908 . if clock_type_select 907 is logic value “ 1 ”, the test clock generator 901 will select the tck clock 903 as the test clock test_clock 908 . note that the test clock test_clock 908 is selectively synchronized to either the tck clock 903 or the external test clock ext_test_clock 904 . fig1 a shows the waveforms 1000 of three capture clocks ( ccks ), cck 1 1006 to cck 3 1008 , as well as a global scan enable signal gse 1003 and a free - running test clock test_clock 1001 . the test clock serves as a reference clock and the global scan enable ( gse ) signal serves for timing controls . in response to the test clock test_clock 1001 and the global scan enable signal gse 1003 , the capture clock generator 703 shown in fig7 generates the waveforms , 1015 to 1017 , for the three capture clocks ( ccks ), cck 1 1006 to cck 3 1008 , respectively . note that non - overlapping capture clocks ( ccks ), cck 1 1006 to cck 3 1008 , are generated for both shift ( gse = 1 ) and capture ( gse = 0 ) cycles . these capture clocks ( ccks ) will then be used to guide the generation of clock - domain based scan clocks ( scks ) by the domain clock generators , 705 to 707 , shown in fig7 . fig1 b shows the waveforms 1050 of three capture clocks ( ccks ), cck 1 1056 to cck 3 1058 , as well as a global scan enable signal gse 1053 and a free - running test clock test_clock 1051 . the test clock serves as a reference clock and the global scan enable ( gse ) signal serves for timing controls . in response to the test clock test_clock 1051 and the global scan enable signal gse 1053 , the capture clock generator 703 shown in fig7 generates the waveforms , 1065 to 1067 , for the three capture clocks ( ccks ), cck 1 1056 to cck 3 1058 , respectively . note that capture clocks ( ccks ), cck 1 1056 to cck 3 1058 , are generated as overlapping waveforms for the shift cycle ( gse = 1 ) but as non - overlapping waveforms for the capture ( gse = 0 ) cycle . these capture clocks ( ccks ) will then be used to guide the generation of clock - domain based scan clocks ( scks ) by the domain clock generators , 705 to 707 , shown in fig7 . fig1 a shows the waveforms 1100 of three scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1113 to sck 3 1115 , as well as various scan enable ( se ) signals 1110 including one global scan enable signal gse and three scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 to se 3 , for three clock domains . waveforms for the three corresponding capture clocks ( ccks ), cck 1 1101 to cck 3 1103 , are also shown . the waveforms of the three scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1113 to sck 3 1115 , are generated in response to the global scan enable signal gse 1110 and the capture clocks ( ccks ), cck 1 1101 to cck 3 1103 , and they are used to detect or locate stuck - type faults in self - test or scan - test mode , in accordance with the present invention . in this example , the waveforms of the three scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 to se 3 , are the same as that of the global scan enable signal gse 1110 . note that non - overlapping scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1113 to sck 3 1115 , are generated for both shift ( gse , se 1 , se 2 , se 3 = 1 ) and capture ( gse , se 1 , se 2 , se 3 = 0 ) cycles . as illustrated by pulses , 1116 to 1118 , this clocking scheme can reduce both peak power consumption and average power dissipation in the shift cycle . in the capture cycle , clock - domain based capture pulses , 1119 to 1121 , are applied to detect or locate all stuck - at faults , bridging faults , and iddq ( idd quiescent current ) faults within all three clock domains , such as cd 1 206 to cd 3 208 shown in fig2 , and within crossing clock - domain logic blocks , such as ccd 1 209 and ccd 2 210 shown in fig2 . fig1 b shows the waveforms 1150 of three scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1163 to sck 3 1165 , as well as various scan enable signals 1160 including one global scan enable signal gse and three scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 to se 3 , for three clock domains . waveforms for the three corresponding capture clocks ( ccks ), cck 1 1151 to cck 3 1153 , are also shown . the waveforms of the three scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1163 to sck 3 1165 , are generated in response to the global scan enable signal gse 1160 and the capture clocks ( ccks ), cck 1 1151 to cck 3 1153 , and they are used to detect or locate stuck - type faults in self - test or scan - test mode , in accordance with the present invention . in this example , the waveforms of the three scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 to se 3 , are the same as that of the global scan enable signal gse 1160 . note that scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1163 to sck 3 1165 , are generated as overlapping waveforms for the shift cycle ( gse , se 1 , se 2 , se 3 = 1 ) but as non - overlapping waveforms for the capture cycle ( gse , se 1 , se 2 , se 3 = 0 ). as illustrated by pulses , 1166 to 1168 , this clocking scheme can reduce the time needed for the shift cycle . in the capture cycle , clock - domain based capture pulses , 1169 to 1171 , are applied to detect or locate all stuck - at faults , bridging faults , and iddq ( idd quiescent current ) faults within all three clock domains , such as cd 1 206 to cd 3 208 shown in fig2 , and within crossing clock - domain logic blocks , such as ccd 1 209 and ccd 2 210 shown in fig2 . fig1 a shows the waveforms 1200 of three scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1213 to sck 3 1215 , as well as various scan enable ( se ) signals 1210 including one global scan enable signal gse and three scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 to se 3 , for three clock domains . waveforms for the three corresponding capture clocks ( ccks ), cck 1 1201 to cck 3 1203 , are also shown . the waveforms of the three scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1213 to sck 3 1215 , are generated in response to the global scan enable signal gse 1210 and the capture clocks ( ccks ), cck 1 1201 to cck 3 1203 , and they are used to detect or locate non - stuck - type faults at - speed with the capture launch ( double capture ) scheme in self - test or scan - test mode , in accordance with the present invention . in this example , the waveforms of the three scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 to se 3 , are the same as that of the global scan enable signal gse 1210 . note that non - overlapping scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1213 to sck 3 1215 , are generated for both shift ( gse , se 1 , se 2 , se 3 = 1 ) and capture ( gse , se 1 , se 2 , se 3 = 0 ) cycles . as illustrated by pulses , 1216 to 1218 , this clocking scheme can reduce both peak power consumption and average power dissipation in the shift cycle . in the capture cycle , clock - domain based at - speed double - capture pulses , & lt ; 1219 , 1220 & gt ;, & lt ; 1221 , 1222 & gt ;, and & lt ; 1223 , 1224 & gt ;, are applied to detect or locate all transition and path delay faults at - speed within all three clock domains , such as cd 1 206 to cd 3 208 shown in fig2 . fig1 b shows the waveforms 1230 of three scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1243 to sck 3 1245 , as well as various scan enable signals 1240 including one global scan enable signal gse and three scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 to se 3 , for three clock domains . waveforms for the three corresponding capture clocks ( ccks ), cck 1 1231 to cck 3 1233 , are also shown . the waveforms of the three scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1243 to sck 3 1245 , are generated in response to the global scan enable signal gse 1240 and the capture clocks ( ccks ), cck 1 1231 to cck 3 1233 , and they are used to detect or locate non - stuck - type faults at - speed with the capture launch ( double capture ) scheme in self - test or scan - test mode , in accordance with the present invention . in this example , the waveforms of the three scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 to se 3 , are the same as that of the global scan enable signal gse 1240 . note that scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1243 to sck 3 1245 , are generated as overlapping waveforms for the shift cycle ( gse , se 1 , se 2 , se 3 = 1 ) but as non - overlapping waveforms for the capture cycle ( gse , se 1 , se 2 , se 3 = 0 ). as illustrated by pulses , 1246 to 1248 , this clocking scheme can reduce the time needed for the shift cycle . in the capture cycle , clock - domain based at - speed double - capture pulses , & lt ; 1249 , 1250 & gt ;, & lt ; 1251 , 1252 & gt ;, and & lt ; 1253 , 1254 & gt ;, are applied to detect or locate all transition and path delay faults at - speed within all three clock domains , such as cd 1 206 to cd 3 208 shown in fig2 . fig1 c shows the waveforms 1260 of three scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1273 to sck 3 1275 , as well as various scan enable signals 1270 including one global scan enable signal gse and three scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 to se 3 , for three clock domains . waveforms for the three corresponding capture clocks ( ccks ), cck 1 1261 to cck 3 1263 , are also shown . the waveforms of the three scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1273 to sck 3 1275 , are generated in response to the global scan enable signal gse 1270 and the capture clocks ( ccks ), cck 1 1261 to cck 3 1263 , and they are used to detect or locate non - stuck - type faults , including 2 - cycle delay faults , at - speed with the capture launch ( double capture ) scheme in self - test or scan - test mode , in accordance with the present invention . in this example , the waveforms of the three scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 to se 3 , are the same as that of the global scan enable signal gse 1270 . note that scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1273 to sck 3 1275 , are generated as overlapping waveforms for the shift cycle ( gse , se 1 , se 2 , se 3 = 1 ) but as non - overlapping waveforms for the capture cycle ( gse , se 1 , se 2 , se 3 = 0 ). as illustrated by pulses , 1276 to 1278 , this clocking scheme can reduce the time needed for the shift cycle . in the capture cycle , at - speed double - capture pulses , & lt ; 1281 , 1282 & gt ; and & lt ; 1283 , 1284 & gt ;, are applied to detect or locate all transition and path delay faults at - speed within the corresponding clock domains , such as cd 2 207 and cd 3 208 shown in fig2 . on the other hand , half - reduced - speed double - capture pulses , & lt ; 1279 , 1280 & gt ;, are applied to detect or locate all 2 - cycle delay faults at - speed in the corresponding clock domain , such as cd 1 206 shown in fig2 . fig1 a shows the waveforms 1300 of three scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1319 to sck 3 1321 , as well as three scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 1310 to se 3 1312 , for three clock domains . waveforms for the three corresponding capture clocks ( ccks ), cck 1 1301 to cck 3 1303 , are also shown . the waveforms of the three scan clocks ( scks ), ck 1 1319 to sck 3 1321 , are generated in response to a global scan enable ( gse ) signal and the capture clocks ( ccks ), cck 1 1301 to cck 3 1303 , and they are used to detect or locate non - stuck - type faults at - speed with the last - shift launch scheme in self - test or scan - test mode , in accordance with the present invention . in this example , the three scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 1310 to se 3 1312 , have different waveforms . note that non - overlapping scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1319 to sck 3 1321 , are generated for both shift ( gse , se 1 , se 2 , se 3 = 1 ) and capture ( gse , se 1 , se 2 , se 3 = 0 ) cycles . as illustrated by pulses , 1322 to 1324 , this clocking scheme can reduce both peak power consumption and average power dissipation in the shift cycle . in the capture cycle , clock - domain based at - speed last - shift launch pulses , 1326 , 1328 , and 1330 , are applied to detect or locate all transition and path delay faults at - speed within all three clock domains , such as cd 1 206 to cd 3 208 shown in fig2 . fig1 b shows the waveforms 1335 of three scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1354 to sck 3 1356 , as well as three scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 1345 to se 3 1347 , for three clock domains . waveforms for the three corresponding capture clocks ( ccks ), cck 1 1336 to cck 3 1338 , are also shown . the waveforms of the three scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1354 to sck 3 1356 , are generated in response to a global scan enable ( gse ) signal and the capture clocks ( ccks ), cck 1 1336 to cck 3 1338 , and they are used to detect or locate non - stuck - type faults at - speed with the last - shift launch scheme in self - test or scan - test mode , in accordance with the present invention . in this example , the three scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 1345 to se 3 1347 , have different waveforms . note that scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1354 to sck 3 1356 , are generated as overlapping waveforms for the shift cycle ( gse , se 1 , se 2 , se 3 = 1 ) but as non - overlapping waveforms for the capture cycle ( gse , se 1 , se 2 , se 3 = 0 ). as illustrated by pulses , 1357 to 1359 , this clocking scheme can reduce the time needed for the shift cycle . in the capture cycle , clock - domain based at - speed last - shift launch pulses , 1361 , 1363 , and 1365 , are applied to detect or locate all transition and path delay faults at - speed within all three clock domains , such as cd 1 206 to cd 3 208 shown in fig2 . fig1 c shows the waveforms 1366 of three scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1385 to sck 3 1387 , as well as three scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 1376 to se 3 1378 , for three clock domains . waveforms for the three corresponding capture clocks ( ccks ), cck 1 1367 to cck 3 1369 , are also shown . the waveforms of the three scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1385 to sck 3 1387 , are generated in response to a global scan enable ( gse ) signal and the capture clocks ( ccks ), cck 1 1367 to cck 3 1369 , and they are used to detect or locate non - stuck - type faults , including 2 - cycle delay faults , at - speed with the last - shift launch scheme in self - test or scan - test mode , in accordance with the present invention . in this example , the three scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 1376 to se 3 1378 , have different waveforms . note that scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1385 to sck 3 1387 , are generated as overlapping waveforms for the shift cycle ( gse , se , se 2 , se 3 = 1 ) but as non - overlapping waveforms for the capture cycle ( gse , se , se 2 , se 3 = 0 ). as illustrated by pulses , 1388 to 1390 , this clocking scheme can reduce the time needed for the shift cycle . in the capture cycle , at - speed last - shift launch pulses 1394 and 1396 are applied to detect or locate all transition and path delay faults at - speed within the corresponding clock domains , such as cd 2 207 and cd 3 208 shown in fig2 . on the other hand , half - reduced - speed last - shift launch pulse 1392 is applied to detect or locate all 2 - cycle delay faults at - speed in the corresponding clock domain , such as cd 1 206 shown in fig2 . fig1 a shows a block diagram 1400 a of a unified test controller 1401 a connected to a bist ( built - in self - test ) controller with three pairs of prpgs ( pseudo - random pattern generators ) and misrs ( multiple - input signature registers ), & lt ; 1408 a , 1417 a & gt ;, & lt ; 1409 a , 1418 a & gt ;, and & lt ; 1410 a , 1419 a & gt ;, in accordance with the present invention , which are used to test or diagnose a scan - based integrated circuit or circuit under test ( cut ) 1402 a with three clock domains , cd 1 1403 a to cd 3 1405 a , in self - test mode . three prpgs , 1408 a to 1410 a , are used to generate pseudo - random patterns for the three clock domains , cd 1 1403 a to cd 3 1405 a , one prpg for each clock domain . phase shifters , 1411 a to 1413 a , are used to break the dependency between different outputs of the prpgs . the bit streams coming from the phase shifters become test stimuli , 1446 a to 1448 a . three misrs , 1417 a to 1419 a , are used to generate signatures for the three clock domains , cd 1 1403 a to cd 3 1405 a , one misr for each clock domain . space compactors , 1414 a to 1416 a , are used to reduce the number of bit streams in test responses , 1457 a to 1459 a . space compactors are optional and are only used when the overhead of a misr becomes a concern . the outputs of the space compactors are compressed by misrs , 1417 a to 1419 a . the contents of the misrs , 1417 a to 1419 a , after all test stimuli are applied become signatures , 1463 a to 1465 a , respectively . the signatures are then compared by comparators , 1420 a to 1422 a , with corresponding expected values . the error indicator 1423 a is used to combine the individual pass / fail signals , 1466 a to 1468 a , to a global pass / fail signal 1469 a . the unified test controller 1401 a controls the whole bist test process by providing scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 1427 a to se 3 1429 a , and scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1430 a to sck 3 1432 a . some additional data and control signals 1433 a are also provided to conduct other control tasks . all storage cells in prpgs , 1408 a to 1410 a , and misrs , 1417 a to 1419 a , can be connected into a scan chain from which predetermined patterns can be shifted in for reseeding and computed signatures can be shifted out for analysis . this configuration helps in increasing fault coverage and in facilitating fault diagnosis . generally , a plurality of prpg - misr pairs can be used in a flexible manner . in addition , any prpg - misr pair can be further split into two or more smaller prpg - misr pairs . furthermore , two or more prpg - misr pairs can be further merged into a larger prpg - misr pair . fig1 b shows a block diagram 1400 b of a unified test controller 1401 b connected to a bist ( built - in self - test ) controller with two pairs of prpgs ( pseudo - random pattern generators ) and misrs ( multiple - input signature registers ), & lt ; 1408 b , 1416 b & gt ; and & lt ; 1409 b , 1417 b & gt ;, in accordance with the present invention , which are used to test or diagnose a scan - based integrated circuit or circuit under test ( cut ) 1402 b with three clock domains , cd 1 1403 b to cd 3 1405 b , in self - test mode . two prpgs , 1408 b and 1409 b , are used to generate pseudo - random patterns for the three clock domains , cd 1 1403 b to cd 3 1405 b . two clock domains , cd 1 1403 b and cd 2 , 1404 b , share the same prpg 1408 b . this will reduce the prpg overhead . phase shifters , 1410 b to 1412 b , are used to break the dependency between different outputs of the prpgs . the bit streams coming from the phase shifters become test stimuli , 1444 b to 1446 b . two misrs , 1416 b to 1417 b , are used to generate signatures for the three clock domains , cd 1 1403 b to cd 3 1405 b . two clock domains , cd 1 1403 b and cd 2 1404 b , share the same misr 1416 b . this will reduce the misr overhead . space compactors , 1413 b to 1415 b , are used to reduce the number of bit streams in test responses , 1455 b to 1457 b . space compactors are optional and are only used when the overhead of a misr becomes a concern . the outputs of the space compactors are compressed by the misrs , 1416 b and 1417 b . the contents of the misrs , 1416 b and 1417 b , after all test stimuli are applied become signatures , 1461 b to 1463 b , respectively . the signatures are then compared by comparators , 1418 b to 1420 b , with corresponding expected values . the error indicator 1421 b is used to combine the individual pass / fail signals , 1464 b to 1466 b , into a global pass / fail signal 1467 b . the unified test controller 1401 b controls the whole bist test process by providing scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 1425 b to se 3 1427 b , and scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1428 b to sck 3 1430 b . some additional data and control signals 1431 b are also provided to conduct other control tasks . all storage cells in prpgs , 1408 b and 1409 b , as well as misrs , 1416 b and 1417 b , can be connected into a scan chain from which predetermined patterns can be shifted in for reseeding and computed signatures can be shifted out for analysis . this configuration helps in increasing fault coverage and in facilitating fault diagnosis . fig1 c shows a block diagram 1400 c of a unified test controller 1401 c connected to a bist ( built - in self - test ) controller with one pair of prpg ( pseudo - random pattern generator ) and misr ( multiple - input signature register ) & lt ; 1408 c , 1415 c & gt ; in accordance with the present invention , which are used to test or diagnose a scan - based integrated circuit or circuit under test ( cut ) 1402 c with three clock domains , cd 1 1403 c to cd 3 1405 c , in self - test mode . one prpg 1408 c is used to generate pseudo - random patterns for the three clock domains , cd 1 1403 c to cd 3 1405 c . three clock domains , cd 1 1403 c to cd 3 1405 c , share the same prpg 1408 c . this will further reduce the prpg overhead . phase shifters , 1409 c to 1411 c , are used to break the dependency between different outputs of the prpgs . the bit streams coming from the phase shifters become test stimuli , 1442 c to 1444 c . one misr 1415 c is used to generate signatures for the three clock domains , cd 1 1403 c to cd 3 1405 c . three clock domains , cd 1 1403 c to cd 3 1405 c , share the same misr 1415 c . this will further reduce the misr overhead . space compactors , 1412 c to 1414 c , are used to reduce the number of bit streams in test responses , 1453 c to 1455 c . space compactors are optional and are only used when the overhead of a misr becomes a concern . the outputs of the space compactors are compressed by the misr 1415 c . the content of the misr 1415 c after all test stimuli are applied becomes the signatures , 1459 c to 1461 c . the signature is then compared by the comparators , 1416 c to 1418 c , with corresponding expected values . the error indicator 1419 c is used to combine the individual pass / fail signals , 1462 c to 1464 c , to a global pass / fail signal 1465 c . the unified test controller 1401 c controls the whole bist test process by providing scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 1423 c to se 3 1425 c , and scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1426 c to sck 3 1428 c . some additional data and control signals 1429 c are also provided to conduct other control tasks . all storage cells in the prpg 1408 c and the misr 1415 c can be connected into a scan chain from which predetermined patterns can be shifted in for reseeding and computed signatures can be shifted out for analysis . this configuration helps in increasing fault coverage and in facilitating fault diagnosis . fig1 d shows a block diagram 1400 d of a unified test controller 1401 d and one decompressor - compressor pair & lt ; 1408 d , 1409 d & gt ;, in accordance with the present invention , which are used to test or diagnose a scan - based integrated circuit or circuit under test ( cut ) 1402 d with three clock domains cd 1 , 1403 d to cd 3 1405 d , in scan - test mode . the decompressor 1408 d can be a reconfigurable prpg ( pseudo - random pattern generator ) or a broadcaster . it serves the purpose of expanding compressed test stimulus data applied from external pins to test the internal circuit core 1402 d . this will reduce the test data storage requirements and simplify the external test interface , which results in lower test costs . the compressor 1409 d can be misr ( multiple - input signature register ) or a compactor . it serves the purpose of compressing test responses from the internal circuit core 1402 d as compressed test response data for external observation or comparison at the ate ( automatic test equipment ) 1413 d . this will reduce the test data storage requirements and simplify the external test interface , which results in lower test costs . the unified test controller 1401 d controls the whole test process by providing scan enable ( se ) signals , se 1 1414 d to se 3 1416 d , and scan clocks ( scks ), sck 1 1417 d to sck 3 1419 d . some additional data and control signals 1420 d are also provided to conduct other control tasks . generally , a plurality of decompressor - compressor pairs can be used in a flexible manner . in addition , any decompressor - compressor pair can be further split into two or more smaller decompressor - compressor pairs . furthermore , two or more decompressor - compressor pairs can be further merged into a larger decompressor - compressor pair . fig1 shows the flow diagram 1500 of a computer - readable program in a computer - readable memory , in accordance with the present invention , to cause a computer system to perform a method for synthesizing a unified test controller for testing or diagnosing a plurality of clock domains in a scan - based integrated circuit in self - test or scan - test mode . the computer - readable program accepts the user - supplied hdl ( hardware description language ) code at rtl ( register - transfer level ) or netlist at gate - level 1502 together with the user - supplied test constraint files 1501 as well as the chosen foundry library 1503 . the test constraint files 1501 contain all set - up information and scripts required for compilation 1504 , unified test controller synthesis 1506 , and unified test controller integration 1507 , so that the computer - readable program can produce the final synthesized hdl code or netlist 1509 with the unified test controller . the hdl test benches and ate ( automatic test equipment ) test programs 1508 are also generated in order to verify the correctness of the unified test controller in the scan - based integrated circuit in self - test or scan - test mode . all results and errors are saved in the report files 1510 . fig1 shows an electronic design automation system 1600 , which includes a processor 1602 , a bus 1605 coupled to the processor , a computer - readable memory 1601 coupled to the bus , an input device 1603 , and an output device 1604 . the computer - readable memory 1601 contains a computer - readable program , in accordance with the present invention and described in fig1 , to cause the electronic design automation system 1600 to perform a method for synthesizing a unified test controller for testing or diagnosing a plurality of clock domains in a scan - based integrated circuit in self - test or scan - test mode . the processor 1602 may represent a central processing unit of a personal computer , workstation , mainframe computer or other suitable digital processing device . the memory 1601 can be an electronic memory or a magnetic or optical disk - based memory , or various combinations thereof . a designer interacts with the broadcast scan test design software run by the processor 1602 to provide appropriate inputs via an input device 1603 , which may be a keyboard , disk drive or other suitable source of design information . the processor 1602 provides outputs to the designer via an output device 1604 , which may be a display , a printer , a disk drive or various combinations of these and other elements . having thus described presently preferred embodiments of the present invention , it can now be appreciated that the objectives of the invention have been fully achieved . and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that many changes in construction & amp ; circuitry , and widely differing embodiments & amp ; applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . the disclosures and the description herein are intended to be illustrative and are not in any sense limitation of the invention , more preferably defined in scope by the following claims .
| 6 |
fig1 is a perspective view showing the dock fender 24 and sleeve 12 in position attached to a piling 10 of a dock 11 . dock fender 24 comprises a vertically positioned elongated tube 26 having a cap 30 at the uppermost end and a seal 32 at the lowermost end . the lowermost end of tube 26 preferably extends below the water level , while the uppermost end of tube 26 containing cap 30 extends a sufficient height above the water so that boats contacting dock fender 24 will contact the outer surface of dock fender 24 below cap 30 . as is seen in more detail in fig2 tube 26 preferably is a hollow pipe preferably made of polyvinylchloride ( pvc ) having an inside diameter of 4 inches . the thickness of the wall of pipe 24 is preferably 1 / 4 inch but may be as thick as 1 / 2 inch . the typical length of tube 26 is about ten feet but may be of variable lengths from a few feet to over twenty feet . the dimensions given are merely exemplary and are not intended to be for limitation . a dock fender strengthening means 28 , which is typically a common wooden 2 × 4 , extends through the middle of tube 26 to add strength to dock fender 24 . cap 30 and seal 32 are also made of polyvinylchloride ( pvc ). cap 30 fits securely over the top of tube 26 and prevents water from entering the top of tube 26 . to prevent cap 30 from being dislodged , a lag bolt 23 is threaded through cap 30 into the dock fender strengthening means 28 . because tightening lag bolt 23 into dock fender strengthening means 28 causes a depression in the top of cap 30 where water may accumulate , lag bolt 23 is preferably coated with a silicone sealer , such as is commonly used in the marine environment , to prevent water intrusion into tube 26 . cap 30 preferably contains a vent 31 for allowing air to enter tube 26 . thereafter , the air may circulate within tube 26 around dock fender strengthening means 28 . allowing air to enter and circulate within tube 26 reduces the deterioration of dock fender strengthening means 28 caused by moisture within tube 26 . vent 31 may be just a void in cap 30 which void may be closable by a hinged covering or any other means for closing openings which are common in the boating industry and related fields . seal 32 at the bottom end of tube 26 prevents water from entering tube 26 at the lower end of tube 26 . seal 32 is a cap which fits securely over the bottom of tube 26 . seal 32 is sealingly connected to tube 26 by waterproof glue suitable for sealing pvc parts as is well known in the art . this waterproof connection prevents water from entering tube 26 through the bottom of tube 26 . dock fender 24 is attached to piling 10 through sleeve 12 . sleeve 12 is a multi - layered tube having about the same exterior diameter as tube 26 . sleeve 12 preferably has three concentric layers around a hollow center . the inner layer 14 is preferably a one - half inch thick layer of an elastomer material such as rubber . outside inner layer is middle layer 16 which adds strength to sleeve 12 . preferably , middle layer 16 comprises four layers of canvas or nylon to impart strength , as well as a degree of resiliency to sleeve 12 . middle layer 16 is also approximately one - half inch thick . outside middle layer 16 is outer layer 18 comprising a one - half inch layer of elastomer material such as rubber which adds to the shock absorbing capacity of the sleeve 12 . the outer surface of outer layer 18 is preferably colored . this coloring is merely decorative and serves no functional purpose . once again , although explicit dimensions for the thickness and number of layers has been given , it is to be understood that this is by way of example and not by limitation . dock fender 24 is attached to sleeve 12 by means of lag bolts 22 extending through brackets 20a disposed on the interior surface of sleeve 12 . lag bolts 22 extend through the multiple layers 14 , 16 , 18 of sleeve 12 , through the wall of tube 26 and are secured into dock fender strengthening means 28 within tube 26 . sleeve 12 , in turn , is secured to piling 10 by means of lag bolts 22 extending through brackets 20b disposed on the interior surface of sleeve 12 opposite brackets 20a , through the layers 14 , 16 , 18 of sleeve 12 into piling 10 . in this way , dock fender 24 is attached to sleeve 12 which in turn is attached to dock piling 10 . it has been found that the initial tightening of lag bolts 22 into the respective dock piling 10 or tube 26 and dock fender strengthening means 28 creates an effective initially watertight seal between the lag bolts 22 and sleeve 12 . however , because of movement of the dock fender 24 , from waves or docking and mooring of boats , and because the lowermost sleeve 12 is sometimes attached to a dock piling 10 so that sleeve 12 is underwater at high tide , the initially watertight seal between lag bolts 22 and sleeve 12 often leaks water into tube 26 . therefore , a silicone sealer , such as is commonly used in the marine environment , is preferably placed around lag bolts 22 prior to screwing lag bolts 22 through sleeve 12 into the respective dock piling 10 or tube 26 and dock fender strengthening means 28 . because the uppermost sleeve 12 is above the water at high tide , it may not be necessary to place the silicone sealer around the lag bolts 22 extending through this sleeve 12 , in order to preserve the watertight seal . the silicone sealer prevents the intrusion of water into tube 26 . brackets 20a , b as well as lag bolts 22 are preferably made of stainless steel to prevent rust from exposure to the moisture necessarily present in the marine environment . in operation , as a boat approaches dock 11 for mooring , when the boat contacts dock fender 24 , the impact of the boat upon dock fender 24 is dissipated through sleeve 12 . the impact of the boat on dock fender 24 is dissipated primarily due to the resilient , deformable material which comprise the layers 14 , 16 , 18 of sleeve 12 . although most of the shock absorbing capacity of the dock fender 24 comes from the resiliency of sleeve 12 , there is an amount of resiliency inherent in the pvc of tube 26 . this inherent resiliency of tube 26 adds to the overall shock absorbing of dock fender 24 . this absorption of the impact upon dock fender 24 reduces the impact , and consequently the effect of the impact on both dock fender 24 and the boat . the presence of sleeve 12 provides a cushioning effect to impacts upon dock fender 24 . therefore , it is not necessary to replace dock fender 24 nor repair damage to a boat using dock 11 as often as has been required with prior art dock fenders . in addition , once a boat has been securely moored to dock 11 , the effect of the boat &# 39 ; s movement and consequent contact with dock fender 24 due to the motion of water through wave action or through the wakes of passing boats is minimized due to the shock absorbing effect of sleeve 12 . the shock absorbing effect of sleeve 12 in this context has the same benefits upon both dock fender 24 and the boat using dock fender 24 described above . an additional benefit of placing sleeve 12 between piling 10 and dock fender 24 is that no matter what angle a boat impacts dock fender 24 , the force of the impact will be dissipated through sleeve 12 . this dissipation from any angle is due to sleeve 12 &# 39 ; s resistance to deformability in any direction because of the tubular shape of sleeve 12 . it is particularly important to be able to dissipate the impact of a boat on dock fender 24 from any direction because a boat is likely to impact dock fender 24 from any direction , both as the boat approaches the dock 11 for mooring and as the boat is moved by wares and wakes while moored . in this way , both the boat and dock fender 24 are protected during impact . while the instant invention has been described in connection with the specific embodiment , it is to be understood that this description is given by means of example and not by means of limitation . for example , the composition of sleeve 12 , although given as a preferred embodiment , is not critical to the operation of the invention . it is within the scope of the invention to include any means for resiliently connecting a dock fender 24 to a piling 10 which can dissipate the force of the impact of a boat on dock fender 24 from any direction . in addition , the specific structure of dock fender 24 , including having a wooden 2 × 4 insert as the dock fender strengthening means 28 , is not critical to the instant invention as long as a fender is provided which has sufficient strength to absorb the impact of a boat in the conditions for which such dock fenders are found and which has means for connecting to sleeve 12 . it is clear that changes and modifications can be made to the foregoing description and still be within the scope of the invention . further , it is understood that obvious changes and modifications will occur to those persons skilled in the art .
| 4 |
a preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a system that comprises a small low cost radio frequency ( rf ) tag as shown in fig1 - 5 , that contains its own memory , a light sensor ( e . g . a photodetector ), an optional display and optional light emitting diodes . as shown in fig4 , these tags may be placed directly on the side of the box of shipped items ( e . g . autoparts ) or pallet and will continuously record data including the time and light levels within a cargo container or other repository , and write this log to the internal memory of the tag . in addition , the tags may be interrogated by a radiofrequency transmitter contained in the warehouse of fig6 or the truck of fig7 . this radiofrequency system may be based on low - frequency ( e . g . 300 khz ) induction and may require large ( e . g . 5 ′ to 50 ′ radius ) loop field antennas placed in the ceiling or the floor of the truck . these loop antennas may also be used to segregate different regions of the truck or other repository to improve detection of light level changes caused by an unauthorized intrusion into the cargo container ( by contrast with another , non - intruded , area of the cargo container . in addition each truck or ship may be equipped with a small computer and a global positioning system ( gps ) receiver . as the truck drives along the highway , the computer may interrogate , periodically , the tags in the back of the vehicle , as indicated in fig6 . the tags may read the current light levels and other events once a minute , once in 10 minutes , once every three hours etc . and this data may be transmitted via satellite or via cell phone periodically to a centrally located application services provider ( asp ). as the data are acquired at the asp it may be displayed ( see lower part of fig8 ) on a web - enabled report in real - time with location of the truck , as determined by a gps device carried by the truck . in addition the asp may write the data log directly to a cd in real - time . this cd can be a write only device so the log is prominent , cannot be tampered with and has been recorded away from the truck by an independent auditor in real - time . as shown in fig9 , at the end of the run the tag may use an algorith to calculate and display a checksum based on the light levels ( e . g . visible or infrared ) experienced at the tag . the asp can independently calculate a checksum using the same algorithm based on its permanent record of the data stored at the asp . in the simplest form of the system , these checksums will simply be compared upon delivery to confirm that the no unauthorized intrusions into the repository have occurred . as will be understood , this data may be stored permanently on a write - once - only cd - r disk at the asp &# 39 ; s data storage apparatus and even archived by an independent auditor ( e . g . kpmg ) who would have exclusive access to the cd - r disc . an alternative method ( lower half of fig9 ) may be to remove the tags from the freight , harvest the log contained in each tag by way of a pc it the delivery site . the pc may , of course , be connected to the asp server via the internet where the pc cannot , in real - time , readily compare the tag log as well as the asp . moreover , a report that has been independently audited can be printed on the site to confirm that the shipment is acceptable ( no unauthorized intrusions or openings caused by theft or terrorism ) within a few minutes after arrival . it is also possible to record the data log of light level event data in a data storage apparatus located on the truck if a write - once - only cd - r disc is used to prevent alteration by improperly motivated individuals ( see fig1 ). in that case , care must be taken to prevent any compromise of the audit trail since the computer in the truck may be exposed to tampering before the data is recorded on the cd - r disc ( e . g . by the driver or other individuals who own the shipment ). fig1 shows light level event data collected from an array of light sensors on security tags , attached directly to cargo containers held in a ship , warehouse , or other higher level repository , which are connected by cabling to a transceiver which receives gps data and transmits wirelessly ( e . g . via satellite ) to a remote asp for unalterable recording on a write - once - only cd on a “ real time ” basis . fig1 shows light level event data collected from an array of light sensors on security tags , attached directly to cargo containers held in a ship , warehouse , or other higher level repository , which are connected by wireless transmission to a field antenna connected to a transceiver which receives gps data and transmits wirelessly ( e . g . via satellite ) to a remote asp for unalterable recording on a write - once - only cd on a “ real time ” basis . while the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof , numerous obvious changes and variations may readily be made by persons skilled in the field of shipping and storage . accordingly , the invention should be understood to include all such variations to the full extent embraced by the claims .
| 6 |
with reference to fig1 a and 1b , one embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a so - called single slip structure type optical switch will be explained . fig1 a is a perspective view of the optical switch , in which a bypass waveguide 101 which has a single slip structure is provided with an optical amplification portion 102 . fig1 b shows the cross - sectional structure ( taken along the line b -- b &# 39 ; of fig1 a ) of the bypass waveguide 101 . in this embodiment , an ingaasp waveguide layer 104 ( absorption edge wavelength λg = 1 . 15 μm ), an inp barrier layer 105 , an ingaasp waveguide layer 106 ( absorption edge wavelength λg = 1 . 30 μm ), an inp cladding layer 107 and an ingaasp cap layer 108 were successively grown on an inp substrate 103 by lpe method . thereafter , the ingaasp cap layer 108 was removed and the inp cladding layer 107 and the ingaasp waveguide layer 106 were removed except for those portions in the amplification region within the bypass waveguide by a selective etching method . then , an inp cladding layer 107 and an ingaasp cap layer 108 were grown again on the whole surface . thereafter , waveguides having the cross - sectional configuration shown in fig4 a and 4b were formed by ordinary lithography and etching techniques , as being waveguides 109 which were out of the amplification portion and as being a waveguide which was in the amplification portion 101 . the waveguides thus formed had a width of 5 μm . the x - crossing angle of the waveguides was 14 °, and the y - branch angle of the waveguides was 7 °. the optical switch thus formed was provided with carrier injection regions 110 for an optical switch operation and electrodes 112 for carrier injection into the associated regions by use of ordinary electrode forming technique . fig4 c shows the cross - sectional structure of a waveguide including a carrier injection region 110 of the optical switch formed as described above . to form the carrier injection regions 110 , zn diffusion method was employed . other features of the waveguide structure shown in fig4 a and 4b are that the junction loss is small since the waveguide layer 104 is common to the amplification portion and the optical switch portion and that the polarization dependence is small since the optical amplification layer 106 amplifies the evanescent component in the guided light . the operation of the thus produced optical switch will next be explained with reference to fig5 and 6 . in characteristic evaluation , semiconductor laser light having a wavelength of 1 . 3 μm was applied to the input end 511 . in the arrangement shown in fig5 the electrodes of the optical switch portion and the amplification portion were connected to provide a common terminal 515 to drive both the carrier injection portions at the same time . at that time , the output end 512 was substantially completely switched to the output end 513 when the injection current was about 200 ma , and the insertion loss and the crosstalk were 3 db and - 30 db , respectively , which were 5 db and 10 db smaller than those of a device provided with no optical amplification portion . next , the two carrier injection portions were individually driven by use of the arrangement shown in fig6 that is , by use of terminals 616 and 617 provided in connection with the respective electrodes of the optical switch portion and the optical amplification portion . when the optical switch portion and the optical amplification portion were supplied with injection currents of about 120 ma and about 200 ma , respectively , the direction of propagation of the light with a wavelength of 1 . 3 μm input from the input end 611 was substantially completely changed from the output end 612 to the output end 613 . the insertion loss and the crosstalk were - 2 db and - 30 db , respectively . that is , it was possible to obtain a gain of 2 db . as a result , it was possible to confirm the basic functions of the present invention for reducing or eliminating loss and reducing crosstalk . although in this embodiment the range structure shown in fig3 was employed for the waveguides , it is , of course , possible to obtain the same advantageous effects by use of gain type optical waveguide structures in addition to refractive index type optical waveguide structures such as those of loaded type , bh type and csp type , which are ordinary optical waveguide structures . fig1 , 11 and 12 respectively shows examples of specific optical waveguide structures of loaded type , bh type and csp type . when these optical waveguide structures are employed , it is also preferable to reduce the loss in the junction between the amplification portion and the switch portion and reduce the polarization dependence in the amplification portion as in the ridge type waveguide structure of the foregoing embodiment . it should be noted that the reference numeral 114 in fig1 denotes a buried layer ( region ) which is a semiconductor ( inp or the like ) region for confining the light propagated through the waveguide region 104 and the injected current within the mesa region in the center . further , although in the foregoing embodiment an ingaasp material was employed as a semiconductor material , the same advantageous effect is also obtained by use of other semiconductor materials such as iii - v group semiconductor materials such as gaalas , ingaalas , etc . and ii - vi group semiconductor materials . with reference to fig7 one embodiment of the optical switch array according to the present invention will be explained . in this embodiment , 16 semiconductor optical switches of the type shown in fig1 a were integrated to produce a complete lattice - type 4 × 4 optical switch array having 4 inputs and 4 outputs , as shown in the figure . since the bypass waveguide that is part of the slip of the single or double slip structure type optical switch according to the present invention has a function by which only an optical signal which is to be exchanged passes therethrough , which is unavailable in the conventional optical switches , it is possible to realize an optical exchange function which is not present in the prior art . with the prior art arrangement , i . e ., the arrangement shown in fig8 wherein optical amplifiers are disposed at the input or output ends , respectively , in an optical switch array , the output ends 831 , 832 , 833 and 834 to which optical signals input from the input ends 811 , 812 , 813 and 814 are to be output depend on which ones of the switch units disposed at the lattice points in the optical switch array turn on , and since the path , length , etc . of the waveguides differ depending upon each particular connecting condition , if the optical amplifiers 821 , 822 , 823 and 824 disposed at the input or output ends are operated under a constant condition , it is impossible to adjust variations in loss due to the connecting condition . for example , optical signals from the input ends 811 , 812 , 813 and 814 are output to the output end 831 when the switch units 411 , 421 , 431 and 441 turn on , respectively . since the length and condition of the waveguides differ for each path , the loss value differs for each path , as a matter of course . in contrast , the optical switch array shown in fig7 that comprises semiconductor optical switches of the present invention enables adjustment loss variations due to the difference in path , length , etc . of the waveguides depending upon the connecting condition since a switch unit disposed at each lattice point has each individual optical amplification function . more specifically , since the path from an input end to an output end is uniformly determined by which one ( s ) of the switch units at the lattice points turn on , it suffices to unconditionally determine an amplification degree at each lattice point in accordance with the loss in this path . in this embodiment , in order to confirm this function , the optical amplification degrees of four switch units 311 , 312 , 313 and 314 in the arrangement shown in fig7 were individually adjusted so that the optical signal input from the input end 711 was output to the output ends 731 , 732 , 733 and 734 with the same light intensity and so that the insertion loss was 5 db . the values of the current required were 200 , 220 , 230 and 260 ma , respectively . similarly , the optical amplification degrees of the remaining 12 switch units 321 , 322 , 323 , 324 , 331 , 332 , 333 , 334 , 341 , 342 , 343 and 344 were individually adjusted so that the optical signals input from the input ends 712 , 713 and 714 were output to the output ends 731 , 732 , 733 and 734 with the same light intensity and so that the insertion loss was 5 db . as a result , it was possible to confirm the novel function of the present invention that an optical signal input from any input end is output to any output end with the same light intensity . with reference to fig9 one embodiment of an optical exchange that utilizes the optical signal monitor function of the present invention will be explained . an optical signal input from the input end 911 was monitored on the basis of a change in the terminal voltage in the optical amplification portion of each of the switch units 311 , 312 , 313 and 314 ( in the figure , the reference numerals 921 to 924 denote optical switch unit driving power supplies having a voltage monitor circuit and therefore serving also as monitor means ), thereby reading the header portion in the optical signal to discriminate an output end to be connected from the others . in response to the signal discriminated , the corresponding switch unit 312 was turned on so that the signal would be output to the corresponding output end 932 . further , in this state , the contents of the signal were monitored on the basis of a change in the terminal voltage in the optical amplification portion of the switch unit 312 to distinguish the point of time of the end of the call , and when the call finished , the switch unit 312 was turned off to cut off the connection to the output end 932 . as a result , it was possible to confirm the optical signal monitor function of the present invention and that it is possible to realize an optical exchange having a high level of function .
| 7 |
in one embodiment of the invention , approximately 344 . 8 kg of water , 15 . 0 kg magnesium aluminum silicate , and 0 . 2 kg butylated hydroxytoluene are first combined and mixed at 75 - 80 ° c . to form the aqueous phase . the mixing can be by side scrape agitation at a fixed speed . the resulting aqueous phase is a suspension . second , approximately 20 . 0 kg of cetyl alcohol , 15 . 0 kg of stearic acid , 20 . 0 kg of stearyl alcohol , 25 . 0 kg of methyl gluceth - 10 , 0 . 9 kg of methylparaben , 0 . 1 kg of propylparaben , and 20 . 0 kg of glycerin are mixed together at medium speed at about 75 - 80 ° c . to form the non - aqueous phase . the mixing can be at medium speed in a lightning mixer . the resulting non - aqueous phase is a suspension . the second step can be performed before , after or concurrently with the first step . then , the non - aqueous phase is added to the aqueous phase and the combined biphasic mixture is cooled to a temperature in the range of 68 ° c . to 72 ° c ., or about 70 ° c ., after which about 17 . 5 kg of arlacel ® 165 , 0 . 25 kg tretinoin and 0 . 050 kg fluocinolone acetonide are added and stirred with cooling . when the mixture reaches 60 ° c ., 0 . 25 kg citric acid is added with mixing and cooling . when the temperature reaches 55 ° c ., 20 . 0 kg hydroquinone is added with mixing and cooling . when the temperature reaches about 50 ° c ., the mixture is homogenized with a homogenizer , with continued cooling . when the mixture reaches 45 ° c ., 1 . 0 kg of sodium metabisulfite is added with stirring and cooling . typically , the sodium metabisulfite is added about 30 minutes after the addition of the hydroquinone . the mixing can be at fixed speed in a side scrape agitator . the resulting composition of matter is an emulsion , i . e ., a cream . the presence of sodium metabisulfite in the cream prevents the oxidation of hydroquinone . the addition of sodium metabisulfite as the cream is cooling advantageously results in a well - mixed composition of matter , with the sodium metabisulfite evenly mixed throughout the cream and preventing the oxidation of the hydroquinone throughout the cream . another advantage of the process of the invention is that by controlling the temperature at which the components , including hydroquinone , are added , the cream does not turn as brown , resulting in a more pleasing - colored product . we found that the addition of the emulsifier following the mixing of the non - aqueous and aqueous phases to be advantageous for the making of the pharmaceutical composition of the invention . when we attempted to make a cream product using a standard technique of adding the emulsifier to the non - aqueous phase and then mixing with the aqueous phase , we found that no emulsion formed . however , when we added the emulsifier to the mixture of the non - aqueous and aqueous phases with cooling , according to the method of the invention , we found that a useful emulsion did form . this emulsion formed even though the relative proportion of the non - aqueous and aqueous phases according to the successful method of the invention was the same as when an emulsion did not form using the standard technique of adding a non - aqueous phase containing an emulsifier to an aqueous phase . the resulting tri - luma ™ cream contains fluocinolone acetonide , hydroquinone and tretinoin in a hydrophilic cream base for topical application . each gram of tri - luma ™ cream contains as active ingredients , fluocinolone acetonide 0 . 01 % ( 0 . 1 mg ), hydroquinone 4 % ( 40 mg ), and tretinoin 0 . 05 % ( 0 . 5 mg ), and as inactive ingredients , butylated hydroxytoluene , cetyl alcohol , citric acid , glycerin , glyceryl stearate , magnesium aluminum silicate , methyl gluceth - 10 , methylparaben , peg - 100 stearate , propylparaben , purified water , sodium metabisulfite , stearic acid , and stearyl alcohol . see , table 1 . fluocinolone acetonide is a synthetic fluorinated corticosteroid for topical dermatological use and is classified therapeutically as an anti - inflammatory . it is a white crystalline powder that is odorless and stable in light . the chemical name for fluocinolone acetonide is ( 6 , 11 , 16 )- 6 , 9 - difluoro - 11 , 21 - dihydroxy - 16 , 17 -[( 1 - methylethylidene ) bis ( oxy )]- pregna - 1 ,- 4 - diene - 3 , 20 - dione . the molecular formula is c 24 h 30 f 2 o 6 and molecular weight is 452 . 50 . hydroquinone is classified therapeutically as a depigmenting agent . it is prepared from the reduction of p - benzoquinone with sodium bisulfite . it occurs as fine white needles that darken on exposure to air . the chemical name for hydroquinone is 1 , 4 - benzenediol . the molecular formula is c 6 h 6 o 2 and molecular weight is 110 . 11 . tretinoin is all - trans - retinoic acid formed from the oxidation of the aldehyde group of retinene to a carboxyl group . it is highly reactive to light and moisture . tretinoin is classified therapeutically as a keratolytic . the chemical name for tretinoin is : ( all - e )- 3 , 7 - dimethyl - 9 -( 2 , 6 , 6 - trimethyl - 1 - cyclohexen - 1 - yl )- 2 , 4 , 6 , 8 - nonatetraenoic acid . the molecular formula is c 20 h 28 o 2 and molecular weight is 300 . 44 . tri - luma ™ cream is typically supplied in 30 g aluminum tubes , ndc 0299 - 5950 - 30 , and is stored at controlled room temperature 68 to 77 ° f . ( 20 - 25 ° c .). the details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth in the accompanying description above . although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present invention , the preferred methods and materials are now described . other features , objects , and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and from the claims . in the specification and the appended claims , the singular forms include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise . unless defined otherwise , all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs . all patents and publications cited in this specification are incorporated by reference . the following examples are presented to more fully illustrate the preferred embodiments of the invention . these examples should in no way be construed as limiting the scope of the invention , as defined by the appended claims . percutaneous absorption of unchanged tretinoin , hydroquinone and fluocinolone acetonide into the systemic circulation of two groups of healthy volunteers ( total n = 59 ) was found to be minimal following 8 weeks of daily application of 1 g ( group i , n = 45 ) or 6 g ( group ii , n = 14 ) of tri - luma ™ cream . for tretinoin quantifiable plasma concentrations were obtained in 57 . 78 % ( 26 out of 45 ) of group 1 and 57 . 14 % ( 8 out of 14 ) of group ii subjects . the exposure to tretinoin as reflected by the c max values ranged from 2 . 01 to 5 . 34 ng / ml ( group i ) and 2 . 0 to 4 . 99 ng / ml ( group ii ). thus , daily application of tri - luma ™ cream resulted in a minimal increase of normal endogenous levels of tretinoin . the circulating tretinoin levels represent only a portion of total tretinoin - associated retinoids , which would include metabolites of tretinoin and that sequestered into peripheral tissues . for hydroquinone quantifiable plasma concentrations were obtained in 18 % ( 8 out of 44 ) group i subjects . the exposure to hydroquinone as reflected by the c max values ranged from 25 . 55 to 86 . 52 ng / ml . all group ii subjects ( 6 g dose ) had undetectably low post - dose plasma concentrations . for fluocinolone acetonide , groups i and ii subjects had undetectably low post - dose plasma concentrations . the following tests may be helpful in evaluating patients : ( a ) acth or cosyntropin stimulation tests ; ( b ) the a . m . plasma cortisol test ; and ( c ) the urinary free cortisol test . two efficacy and safety studies were conducted in 641 melasma patients between the ages of 21 to 75 years , having skin phototypes i - iv and moderate to severe melasma of the face . tri - luma ™ cream was compared with three possible combinations of two of the three active ingredients [( 1 ) hydroquinone 4 % ( hq )+ tretinoin 0 . 05 % ( ra ); ( 2 ) fluocinolone acetonide 0 . 01 % ( fa )+ tretinoin 0 . 05 % ( ra ); ( 3 ) fluocinolone acetonide 0 . 01 % ( fa )+ hydroquinone 4 % ( hq )], contained in the same vehicle as tri - luma ™ cream . the patients were instructed to apply their study medication each night , after washing their face with a mild soapless cleanser , for 8 weeks . the patients were also instructed to apply a thin layer of study medication to the hyperpigmented lesion , making sure to cover the entire lesion including the outside borders extending to the normal pigmented skin . the patients were provided a mild moisturizer for use as needed and a sunscreen with spf 30 for daily use . moreover , the patients were instructed to avoid sunlight exposure to the face , wear protective clothing protective clothing and avoidance of sunlight exposure to the face was recommended . the patients were evaluated for melasma seventy at baseline and at weeks 1 , 2 , 4 , and 8 of treatment . primary efficacy was based on the proportion of patients who had an investigators &# 39 ; assessment of treatment success , defined as the clearing of melasma at the end of the eight - week treatment period . the majority of patients enrolled in the two studies were white ( approximately 66 %) and female ( approximately 98 %). tri - luma ™ cream was demonstrated to be significantly more effective than any of the other combinations of the active ingredients . patients experienced improvement of their melasma with the use of tri - luma ™ cream as early as 4 weeks . however , among 7 patients who had clearing at the end of 4 weeks of treatment with tri - luma ™ cream , 4 of them did not maintain the remission after an additional 4 weeks of treatment . after 8 weeks of treatment with the study drug , patients entered into an open - label extension period in which tri - luma ™ cream was given on an as - needed basis for the treatment of melasma . in studies , after 8 weeks of treatment with tri - luma ™ cream , most patients had at least some improvement . some had their dark spots clear up completely ( 38 % in one study and 13 % in another ). in most patients treated with tri - luma ™ cream , their melasma came back after treatment . the remission periods appeared to shorten between progressive courses of treatment . additionally , few patients maintained complete clearing of melasma ( approximately 1 to 2 %). based on melasma severity at the beginning of the trial , 161 patients were assessed for improvement at day 56 of treatment . 61 % ( 99 patients ) experienced symptom improvement from “ moderate ” to “ mild ” or “ cleared ”, and 68 % ( 25 ) showed improvement from “ severe ” to “ mild ” or “ cleared ” over the 8 - week treatment period as shown in table 3 . in the controlled clinical trials , adverse events were monitored in the 161 patients who used tri - luma ™ cream once daily during an 8 - week treatment period . there were 102 ( 63 %) patients who experienced at least one treatment - related adverse event during these studies . the most frequently reported events were erythema , desquamation , burning , dryness , and pruritus at the site of application . the majority of these events were mild to moderate in severity . adverse events reported by at least 1 % of patients and judged by the investigators to be reasonably related to treatment with tri - luma ™ cream from the controlled clinical studies are summarized ( in decreasing order of frequency ) as follows : in an open - label long - term safety study , patients who have had cumulative treatment of melasma with tri - luma ™ cream for 6 months showed a similar pattern of adverse events as in the 8 - week studies . the following local adverse reactions have been reported infrequently with topical corticosteroids . they may occur more frequently with the use of occlusive dressings , especially with higher potency corticosteroids . these reactions are listed in an approximate decreasing order of occurrence : burning , itching , irritation , dryness , folliculitis , acneiform eruptions , hypopigmentation , perioral dermatitis , allergic contact dermatitis , secondary infection , skin atrophy , striae , and miliaria . the foregoing description has been presented only for the purposes of illustration and is not intended to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed , but by the claims appended hereto .
| 0 |
the preferred embodiment of the present invention uses an optical sensor , such as an infrared proximity sensor , to measure the depth of the suprasternal notch , as shown in fig1 . a light source 100 shines light on the skin of the suprasternal notch 101 , and the reflected light is received by photocell 102 . ( the term “ photocell ” is used to refer to any device whose output is light sensitive , e . g ., a photodiode , phototransistor , etc .) the combined sensor assembly 107 may be mounted on any surface which is relatively immobile with respect to the skin of the suprasternal notch , such as the sternum 106 . a suitable method for attachment is to mount the sensor 107 on cantilever 103 , which is then glued to the sternum using double - sided adhesive tape 104 . preferably , the double - sided adhesive tape is not glued directly to the skin , but is glued to a layer of soft , spongy , low irritant , low allergenic self - adhesive material 105 . a suitable material is duoderm ®, available from convattec , of princeton , n . j . the sensor is mounted such that the optical paths of light source and photocell are approximately normal to and centered over the skin at the deepest point of the suprasternal notch . the advantage of the layer of duoderm is that it can remain in place on the skin for long periods , and the sensor can be removed and reapplied multiple times without trauma to the skin . cantilever 103 can itself be made from a semiflexible material , such as foam or silicone rubber with embedded aluminium reinforcing , so that it can be bent to conform to suit the subject and adjust the distance from the skin of the suprasternal notch . alternatively , or in addition , sensor 107 can be mounted on the cantilever with adjusting screws so as to adjust the distance of the sensor from the skin of the suprasternal notch . to gain a lower profile , it is convenient to have the optical axis of the sensor parallel with the sternum and use a small mirror to direct the light path at the skin of the suprasternal notch . another low profile arrangement is to surface mount the sensor electronic components directly onto the cantilever . small to moderate inspiratory and expiratory efforts cause quasi - linear movement of the skin of the suprasternal notch , with inspiratory efforts causing the skin to be sucked inwards , away from the sensor , and active expiratory efforts to cause the skin to bulge outwards , towards the sensor . progressively larger efforts cause progressively smaller increments in skin movement , and efforts of more than about ± 10 to 20 cmh 2 o pleural pressure produce little further change in the signal . this is convenient , because small efforts produce measurable deformations in the skin , and it is desired to detect small efforts . in a typical arrangement , the light source 100 of the sensor is an infrared light emitting diode , and the photocell 102 of the sensor is a photoresistor , photodiode , or phototransistor . for example , using a commercially available ee - sf5 photomicrosensor available from omron corporation , of kyoto , japan , the electrical output ( light current ) increases quasi - linearly for distances from zero to about 4 millimeters , and then decreases quasi - exponentially for distances greater than 5 millimeters , as shown in fig2 . ( at short distances , a reduced amount of light is detected because of light angle considerations .) therefore , in the preferred embodiment , the sensor assembly is placed so that the front face of the combined sensor 107 is approximately 8 millimeters from the skin . inspiratory efforts will cause the distance to increase , resulting in a quasi - exponentially decreasing electrical signal , and expiratory efforts will cause an increasing signal . in an alternative embodiment , the sensor could be positioned and sized such that it is the ascending portion of the curve of fig2 that is operative , with the light current output increasing with increasing distance . it is also possible not to glue the cantilever to the skin , but to hold it in place using a bandage , harness , or similar mechanism . alternatively , the cantilever may be attached to a tight stretch garment such as a lycra ® t - shirt . combining both alternatives , the cantilever may be mounted on a large disc of soft , thin , high - friction material such as silicone , typically 10 centimeters in diameter , which may be held by friction in contact with the skin by a harness , bandage , stretch lycra t - shirt , etc . a very low durometer silicone will tend to have a higher coefficient of friction . the large , soft , thin , disc of high friction material may be perforated with multiple holes in order to allow the skin to breathe . changes in body posture , for example , turning the head , extending the neck , or rolling from back to side , can change the depth of the suprasternal notch independently of respiratory effort . therefore , it is desirable to be able to automatically maintain the signal corresponding to zero effort to be zero , independently of ( non - breathing related ) body changes . normally , inspiratory effort is active and expiration is passive . in the preferred embodiment discussed so far using the ee - sf5 sensor , inspiratory effort causes a decreasing light current , as shown in fig2 . therefore , for convenience , the output from the photosensor 102 is inverted , so that inspiration produces a positive signal . this signal is then amplified and zero - adjusted so that zero effort produces an output signal of zero . changes in posture will tend to change the distance between sensor and skin , which will change the output voltage for zero effort . it is desirable to automatically adjust for such changes in posture , so that zero effort once again produces zero output signal . if the optical sensor has been set up so that a positive signal corresponds to inspiratory effort , and if the patient is not making active expiratory efforts , the minimum signal during a breath will correspond to zero effort . a trough detector , comprising a capacitor charged by the sensor output via a resistor , and discharged by the sensor output via a diode , with the resistor - capacitor time constant long compared with a breath but short compared with the interval between postural changes , will track this minimum effort . a suitable time constant is ten seconds . preferably , the diode is in the feedback loop of an operational amplifier to provide correct operation close to zero signal . a subtractor operational amplifier then subtracts the output of the trough detector from the output from the sensor to yield the effort signal . a suitable circuit block diagram for the entire assembly is shown in fig3 . point ( a ) is the output from a phototransistor or other light - responsive detector , point ( b ) is the output after inversion by inverter 201 , point ( c ) is the output from the trough detector 202 , and point ( d ) is the zero - corrected effort signal output . fig4 shows the action of the entire assembly . the top tracing is the true respiratory effort , as might be measured using an esophageal pressure transducer , recorded for a period of 4 minutes , or 60 breaths . the peak inspiratory effort varies in amplitude with a period of 30 seconds . the second tracing shows the signal from the phototransistor , at point ( a ). this signal is upside down , because increasing effort causes the skin to recede from the sensor , causing a reduction in light current from the phototransistor . thus , zero effort is represented by the flat upper envelope of the waveform at the leading and trailing ends of the tracing . during the second of the four minutes , the dc offset changes , to simulate the effect of a change in posture leading to the sensor being held closer to the skin ( more light output ) at zero effort . the third tracing shows the signal at point ( b ), after inversion . here , zero effort is represented by the flat lower envelope of the waveform at the leading and trailing ends of the tracing . the heavy line on the fourth tracing shows the signal at point ( c ), which is the output of the trough detector . for convenience , the signal at point ( b ) is reproduced as a thin line along with the output of the trough detector . the trough detector tracks the dc shift in the signal during the second minute of the tracing . the reason for this is as follows . consider that capacitor 206 has charged through resistor 205 to the potential at point ( b ). if the potential at point ( b ) rises above that of the capacitor , the potential at the output of operational amplifier 207 will be greater than that of the capacitor , and diode 207 will be reverse biased . the capacitor potential rises slowly through resistor 205 to the potential at point ( b ), but it takes several breaths for this to happen . but if the input at point ( b ) drops below the capacitor level , operational amplifier 207 conducts current through the diode . the capacitor voltage thus decreases rapidly to the lowest level of the input . the output at point ( d ) is shown in the bottom tracing — it is the difference ( formed in subtractor 203 ) of the signal at point ( b ) and the heavy line shown in the tracing for the signal at point ( c ). the net result is that the final output signal at point ( d ) is zero for zero effort ( along the horizontal axis of the tracing ), even if the light output changes due to a change in posture , and the signal increases with increasing effort . the above functionality can also be performed by a microprocessor which executes a program that samples the sensor output signal , tracks the minimum signal over a moving time window long compared with a breath but short compared with the interval between body movements ( such as 10 seconds ), and subtracts the minimum signal from the sensor output signal to yield the effort signal . the signal from the optical sensor may be used to trigger a conventional ventilator instead of the ventilator &# 39 ; s usual triggering means . in one embodiment , the effort sensor is combined with a prior art spontaneous mode bilevel ventilation control — the mask pressure is set to a high pressure ( such as 20 cmh 2 o ) if the effort signal exceeds a threshold , and set to a low pressure ( such as 4 cmh 2 o ) otherwise . a block diagram of such an arrangement is shown in fig5 . effort sensor 300 ( the device of fig1 - 4 ) supplies zero and body position corrected effort signal 301 to trigger circuit 303 , which produces pressure request output signal 304 . as shown by the two functions depicted in the drawing , if the input exceeds the threshold on conductor 302 , the pressure request signal is set to a high value , and to a low value otherwise . these two values control the two pressures of a conventional ventilator . fig6 shows a block diagram of a servo - controlled pressure generator and air delivery system controlled by the same pressure request output signal 304 . the pressure request signal is fed to the pressure request input 400 of servo 401 , whose output 402 is used to control a controllable pressure source 403 ( such as a blower with variable speed motor or control valve , or compressed gas and control valve ). air ( which may be enriched with oxygen ) from the controllable pressure source is fed via hose 404 to mask 405 and ultimately vented through exhaust 406 . a pressure sensor ( transducer ) 408 measures mask pressure via hose 407 , and the electrical output 409 from the pressure sensor is fed back to the servo 401 . when the patient commences inspiratory effort , the pressure in the pleural cavity falls , causing the effort signal to exceed the threshold , and the higher pressure is applied . in patients with severe obstructive lung disease , requiring relatively high pressures , the intrathoracic pressure will remain negative during the patient &# 39 ; s inspiration , because the mask pressure is not immediately transmitted to the alveoli . when the patient ceases making inspiratory effort at the end of inspiration , the intrathoracic pressure will suddenly rise , making the effort signal go back to zero , or even negative in the case of actively exhaling patients . at this point , the effort signal drops back below the threshold , and the device selects the lower pressure , permitting expiration to occur . the same type of effort sensor signal can be used to trigger still another prior art controlled ventilator , one which exhibits what is known as spontaneous plus timed backup bilevel ventilation . with such a ventilator , the mask pressure is switched to the higher pressure if the effort signal goes above a threshold indicating start of active inspiration , and then switched back to the lower pressure when the effort signal falls below the threshold indicating end of active inspiration , as described above , but in the event that the start of active inspiration is not detected within a specified time from the start of the previous active inspiration ( or alternatively , within a shorter specified time from the end of the active inspiration ), a machine generated “ timed ” breath is delivered by switching to the higher pressure for a specified duration . in general , the output of trigger 302 can be used to replace the trigger of any known class of ventilator , switching the ventilator from the expiratory to the inspiratory sub - cycle when the effort signal goes above a threshold , or from the expiratory to the inspiratory sub - cycle when the effort signal goes below a threshold , or both . such ventilators include but are not limited to volume cycled ventilators , pressure support ventilators , volume servo - ventilators , and proportional assist ventilators . 3 . degree of support proportional to the effort signal , as measured directly using the effort sensor : effort reducing ventilatory support thus far , what has been described is the triggering of a conventional control means between an inspiratory and an expiratory state . a further aspect of my invention relates to adjusting the degree of support to be proportional to the effort signal . the output e ( t ) on conductor 301 from the effort sensor 300 in fig5 may be delivered to an amplifier which generates a pressure request signal p ( t ), such that this is the desired pressure , and it is equal to a bias level p 0 plus a pressure that is proportional to the patient &# 39 ; s effort . the pressure request signal p ( t ) is then applied to the pressure request input 400 in fig6 . ( an actual circuit for implementing this embodiment of the invention is identical to that of fig5 with the difference that trigger circuit 303 is replaced by a circuit for generating the function of equation 1 .) it is instructive to compare this embodiment of the invention ( effort reducing ventilatory support ) with conventional proportional assist ventilation . proportional assist ventilation provides an instantaneous pressure which is a function of airflow f ( t ), as follows : p ( t )= p 0 + rf ( t )+ e ∫ f ( t ) dt , f ( t )& gt ; 0 ( equation 2 ) in these equations , r is the resistance of the subject &# 39 ; s airway , and the product rf ( t ) represents a desired pressure component which compensates for the way the airway impedes air flow . the term e ∫ f ( t ) dt represents a desired pressure component which compensates for the elastic recoil of the patient &# 39 ; s lungs . a first difference between the effort reducing ventilatory support of the invention and the prior art proportional assist ventilation is that there is no need to measure respiratory airflow f ( t ), with its attendant problem of leaks . a second difference is that there is no integral term with effort reducing ventilatory support , whereas with proportional assist ventilation there is such an integral term . a third and crucial difference , which follows in part from the second difference , is that with effort reducing ventilatory support there is no triggering between two states , whereas with proportional assist ventilation ( and most other known forms of ventilatory support ) there is such triggering . specifically , with proportional assist ventilation , equations 2 and 3 define two trigger conditions . consider for example the state of affairs at the end of an inspiration using 100 % proportional assist , in which r equals the resistance of the subject &# 39 ; s airway , and e equals the elastance of the subject &# 39 ; s lungs and chest wall . at this moment , the term rf ( t ) is zero ( because airflow f ( t ) is zero ), but the term e ∫ f ( t ) dt is non - zero , and exactly balances the elastic recoil of the patient &# 39 ; s lungs . since expiration is passive , nothing happens . there is no airflow , and the subject cannot breathe out . it is necessary to switch to equation 3 in order for the patient to be able to breathe out . on the other hand , in effort reducing ventilatory support ( equation 1 ), there is no concept of triggering between two states , an inspiratory state and an expiratory state . again consider affairs at the end of inspiration . as soon as the subject starts to reduce inspiratory effort , the delivered pressure will start to reduce , exactly in parallel with the muscular effort . by the time the inspiratory effort is zero , the mask pressure will have returned to the minimum level p 0 , and the degree of support will have returned to zero , as desired , with no need for a trigger . with effort reducing ventilatory support the desired pressure - controlling function does not change abruptly ; rather , it changes continuously in proportion to the patient &# 39 ; s effort ( i . e ., there are no trigger - controlled discontinuities ). a fourth difference from proportional assist ventilation is that in proportional assist ventilation it is necessary to either know or empirically determine values for r and e in equation 2 , the subject &# 39 ; s airway resistance , and lung plus chest wall elastance , respectively . in particular , the use of values of r or e larger than 100 % of the corresponding physiological values causes unstable run - away of the control algorithm . on the other hand , with effort reducing ventilatory support , it is not necessary to know or determine any parameters and , as will become apparent , even arbitrarily high values of the parameter k in equation 1 can in principle be used without causing instability or runaway . it is instructive to compare the current invention with ppap ( proportional positive airway pressure ), as taught in estes u . s . pat . no . 5 , 794 , 615 , in which the controlling equation is here , the desired variable pressure component is a function of airflow only . although there is no trigger in equation 4 , pressure is still proportional to flow , and not to effort . the difference between ppap and effort reducing ventilatory support is particularly apparent in the presence of high elastic work of breathing because of the very absence of a term in equation 4 proportional to the integral of flow , which means that with ppap , only resistive , as opposed to elastic , work is unloaded , whereas with the present invention both resistive and elastic work are unloaded . in addition , ppap still has the problem of working incorrectly in the presence of severe or changing leak , whereas effort reducing ventilatory support is uninfluenced by leak . as with pav ( equations 2 and 3 ), with ppap ( equation 4 ) k must be specified to suit the patient ; and large values of k lead to instability , which is not the case with the present invention . in all forms of ventilatory support that include a trigger , factors unrelated to respiratory effort , for example , sensor noise or oscillations in intrapleural pressure due to heartbeat can cause false or premature switching between the ventilator inspiratory state ( typically , a high pressure or inspiratory flow ) and the ventilator expiratory state ( typically , a low pressure or expiratory flow ). with effort reducing ventilatory support there is no such problem . instead , such cardiogenic pressure oscillations merely cause minor transient changes in mask pressure , which approximately cancel out the intrathoracic pressure changes caused by the heartbeat . an interesting secondary effect is that this will somewhat unload the work of the heart , and this will be of advantage to patients with cardiac failure . 4 . degree of support adjusted to servo - control effort to be near zero : effort canceling ventilatory support if the gain k in effort reducing ventilatory support is sufficiently high , the control algorithm becomes a simple proportional servo - controller , in which the patient &# 39 ; s respiratory effort is the controlled variable , and is servo controlled to be near zero ( effort canceling — not just reducing — ventilatory support ) by increasing the mask pressure if the effort is positive , and decreasing the mask pressure if the effort is negative . in practice , a simple proportional controller of modest gain ( for example , 10 cmh 2 o generated pressure per 1 cmh 2 o change in intrapleural pressure ) is adequate , but a pid controller , fuzzy controller , adaptive controller , fuzzy adaptive controller , or any other known controller could also be used , in order to produce somewhat better control . in each case , the controller is simply fed with the effort signal e ( t ) as the controlled , or input , variable , the output from the controller is added to po to achieve the desired instantaneous output pressure p ( t ), and a suitable pressure request signal is sent to the blower to generate an instantaneous mask pressure of p ( t ). as previously stated , an advantage of this method is that the effort signal e ( t ) does not have to be linear or even calibrated , and can saturate at high effort , without interfering with useful operation . the only requirements for the device to perform usefully are that the effort signal should be approximately zero for zero effort , greater than zero for all positive efforts , and less than zero for all negative efforts . if the effort sensor output is substantially non - zero at zero effort , the mask pressure will depart from the desired resting pressure p 0 . the circuit of fig3 solves this problem by passing the effort signal through a trough detector with a time constant long compared with a single breath but short compared with any drift in the zero value for the effort sensor , and correcting the effort sensor for zero drift by subtracting the trough signal . the other advantages of effort reducing ventilatory support are also maintained , including no need to customize parameters for a particular patient , immunity to false triggering from cardiogenic pressure oscillations , and some degree of unloading of the work of the beating heart . in the embodiments described above , the effort sensor is an optical sensor detecting movement of the skin of the suprasternal notch . however , any other form of effort sensor could also be used , for example , invasively measured pleural or transdiaphragmatic pressure , electromyogram signals from diaphragm , intercostal , or accessory respiratory muscles , or electroneurogram signals to these muscles . similarly , the pressure request signal could be used to control any other kind of ventilatory support device , such as a pneumobelt , rocking bed , cuirasse , iron lung , venturi , or transtracheal ventilator . in general , and in particular in all of the above embodiments of the invention , the pressure at end expiration , p 0 , can be set sufficiently high to treat coexisting obstructive sleep apnea . such a pressure can be determined in advance using any conventional manual or automatic cpap titration technique . alternatively , a suitable pressure can be determined empirically during actual therapy with the current invention . during effort - canceling ventilatory support , as described in the present application , any additional pressure drop across a partially narrowed upper airway will be automatically compensated for by an equal increase in mask pressure , so it is only necessary to set p 0 high enough to prevent passive collapse . the value p 0 can be automatically adjusted to treat coexisting obstructive sleep apnea by calculating a measure of the conductance of the airway , for example , by using a forced oscillation method , and increasing p 0 if conductance is below a threshold . during ventilatory support with the present invention , obstructive sleep apnea can be distinguished from central sleep apnea with closed vocal cords by inspecting the effort signal . if , during a period of zero respiratory airflow ( apnea ) the effort signal shows ongoing inspiratory efforts , then the apnea is obstructive and the end expiratory pressure should be increased . conversely , if the effort signal reveals the absence of effort , then the apnea is central , and in general pressure should not be increased . the determination of the presence or absence of respiratory effort during an apnea , and the subsequent increase or non - increase in end expiratory pressure can be performed automatically . finally , the value po can be automatically increased in the event that the ratio of the effort signal to respiratory airflow is larger than a threshold , indicating an obstructive hypopnea . although the invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments , it is to be understood that these embodiment are merely illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention . numerous modifications may be made therein and other arrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .
| 0 |
as shown in fig1 , a client source endpoint 5 , such as a workstation on a corporate network or a private home network , or a computer connected to an internet service provider ( isp ), is configured with client software 8 associated with an internet protocol ( ip ) forwarder / relay service 15 described below . the source endpoint 5 is coupled to a firewall 10 which limits inbound and outbound access to and from the source endpoint 5 . the firewall 10 is coupled to a communication medium 12 such as a wide area network or the internet . the source endpoint 5 establishes communications through the firewall 10 and the communication medium 12 to the ip forwarder / relay service 15 . the service 15 can be implemented , for example , as a cluster of servers or a geographically dispersed set of servers . the number of servers can be increased as needed to partition the load of many clients . fig1 depicts a forwarding session in which the ip forwarder / relay service 15 connects through a communication medium 17 to a destination endpoint 20 . the communication medium 17 can be any public network . the destination endpoint 20 can be any server or workstation that has connectivity with the communication medium 17 . in a forwarding session , data can be forwarded back and forth between the source endpoint and destination endpoint applications . the source endpoint 5 establishes a session using client software 8 to the service 15 . the service 15 can forward data to other endpoints , such as the destination endpoint 20 , that are not cognizant of the ip forwarder / relay service . in forwarding mode , the service 15 and the destination endpoint 20 use transport level communications ( e . g ., a tcp / ip connection ) to transfer information between them . fig2 illustrates a relay session in which the ip forwarder / relay service 15 establishes a virtual connection between the source endpoint 5 and the destination endpoint 20 to relay data back and forth . as shown in fig2 , the ip forwarder / relay service 15 and the destination endpoint 20 have connectivity to a common communication medium 17 . connectivity to the destination endpoint 20 is through a firewall 18 . to conduct a relay session , client software 23 must be installed on the destination endpoint 20 as well so that both endpoints 5 , 20 can establish a session to the service 15 . fig3 illustrates components of the client software 8 installed on the source endpoint 5 to permit a forwarding or relay session to occur . similar software components must be installed on the destination endpoint 20 for a relay session to occur . internet applications 30 , 32 , 34 , each of which has a user interface , can include buddy list applications such as aol &# 39 ; s aim ™ or microsoft &# 39 ; s msn messenger ™. alternatively , the applications 30 , 32 , 34 can include telnet , file transfer , multi - user gaming or other types of network applications . the applications operate in the application layer of the protocol stack . a standard application transport interface 35 , such as sockets or winsock2 , operates below the applications . the transport interface 35 , also called an application programming interface ( api ), acts as a bridge between the application and the transport control protocol / internet protocol ( tcp / ip ) suite . the client software 8 , 23 includes additional elements in the session layer of the protocol stack below the transport interface 35 . a name resolution layer 37 and data layer 39 , which can be combined or implemented separately , examine and process an application &# 39 ; s tcp / ip data and name resolution operations and can perform actions such as header addition / removal and modification of name resolution requests . an optional funneler component 40 in communication with the data layer 39 can be installed to combine the data from several applications into a single data stream to transmit or divide a combined received data stream into individual application streams . framing information can be used to associate the data with local applications . a security / firewall traversal layer 43 ( s / ft layer ) performs two main functions . first , the s / ft layer 43 can provide support for privacy and / or authentication between the source endpoint 5 and the ip forwarder / relay service 15 . in a relay session , the s / ft layer 43 also can provide end - to - end privacy and / or authentication support for virtual communications between the source endpoint 5 and the destination endpoint 20 . the security provisions can be based , for example , on standards such as secure socket layer ( ssl ) or a combination of any known cryptography techniques . in addition , the s / ft layer 43 establishes a firewall traversing session , or tunneling session , that allows data communication between the source endpoint 5 and the ip forwarder / relay service 15 . the s / ft layer 43 automatically determines the appropriate proxied protocol , such as http , ftp or socks4 / 5 , to use to tunnel application data through a firewall . the determination may include operations such as examining the local proxy configuration information and dynamically probing the firewall with test connections to the ip forwarder / relay service 15 or it may involve consulting a dynamic host consulting protocol ( dhcp ) server or using a service discovery protocol such as service location protocol ( slp ), jini , or universal plug and play ( upnp ). if , for example , http is used as the proxied protocol , request pipelining and multi - part return messages can be used to support two - way symmetric communications . data in the s / ft layer 43 may be directed to ( or from ) the funneler 40 if support for multiple internet applications is required . alternatively , a separate instance of the s / ft layer 43 can reside in each application &# 39 ; s process space and data can be sent over per - application firewall traversal sessions . firewall traversal sessions are initiated by the endpoints 5 , 20 . as previously noted , a firewall traversal session 7 is established between the source endpoint 5 and the ip forwarder / relay service 15 in both forwarding and relay modes of operation . in the forwarding mode ( fig1 ), an actual tcp connection or user datagram protocol ( udp ) association for transporting application data can be made between the ip forwarder / relay service 15 and the destination endpoint 20 . the forwarding mode can enable client / server applications that otherwise would have difficulty traversing firewalls . exemplary applications include client / server - based buddy lists , multi - user games , and ip telephony conferencing . in the relay mode , a firewall traversal session also is established from the destination endpoint 20 to the service 15 . thus , the ip forwarder / relay service 15 acts as an intermediary between two ( or more ) separate firewall traversal sessions . virtual tcp connections or virtual udp associations are set up between the source and destination endpoints 5 , 20 . in addition to client / server applications , the relay mode can also enable peer - to - peer applications that otherwise would have difficulty traversing firewalls such as peer - based buddy lists , multi - user games , and ip telephones . destination network addresses , as well as other information used to multiplex or demultiplex application data , are conveyed in headers contained within the transported session data . the ip forwarder / relay service 15 can add , remove and examine session headers and can establish mapping functions to facilitate the forwarding or relaying of data to the intended endpoint ( s ). in forwarding mode , when an application on the destination endpoint 20 requires that network addressing information be included in its payload , the ip address for the application running on the source endpoint 5 can be made to appear as if it is the ip address of the service 15 . in one implementation , the service 15 uses a domain name system ( dns ) host naming convention to identify endpoints 5 , 20 . other directory systems also can be supported by the service 15 . the ip forwarder / relay service is assigned a domain name , for example “ service . com .” users at the endpoints 5 , 20 are assigned sub - domain names . in one implementation , the sub - domain names are based upon information readily known by others such as a name . thus , john smith might register as “ jsmith . service . com .” in some instances , a sub - domain such as “ jsmith . service . com ” may not be sufficient to identify a unique endpoint 5 , 20 . for example , a user may use the service 15 from a variety of locations . to avoid naming conflicts , zip codes and / or locations may be added to the sub - domain names . thus , an endpoint associated with a user &# 39 ; s workplace , “ work . jsmith . 97211 . service . com ,” can be distinguished from a mobile endpoint “ mobile . jsmith . 97211 . service . com ” that is associated with the same user . the assigned sub - domain name can be used to configure the system software 8 , 23 for a given endpoint 5 , 20 . a user at a source endpoint 5 attempting to relay data to a destination endpoint 20 through the ip forwarder / relay service 15 does not necessarily need to know beforehand the full sub - domain name of the destination endpoint . to illustrate , a destination endpoint may be a private home network with several computers . a fully qualified domain name ( fqdn ) for one computer could be “ denpc . home . jsmith . 97211 . service . com .” if the user at the source endpoint 5 knows only “ service . com ” or “ jsmith . 97211 . service . com ,” the client system software 8 can provide a dialog box with a list of the constituents of the private home network to choose from . furthermore , the dialog box approach can be extended to allow endpoints to be distinguished by unique identifiers other than sub - domain names . as indicated by fig4 , a user enters 200 at least the service domain name into the system to request use of the service 15 . for example , the user would enter the domain name “ service . com .” the name resolution layer 37 of the client system software 8 intercepts 210 the domain name information that was entered into the system . for requests that involve the service , the name resolution layer 37 returns 220 either a special non - routeable ip address or else an ip address from a local pool associated with the given service 15 . the name resolution layer 37 records 230 a table entry associating the requested name with the returned ip address . that information then is shared 240 with the data layer 39 . the particular application 30 , 32 , 34 initiates 250 a transport level communication , for example , a tcp connection or udp message , using the returned ip address . the initiation request is intercepted 260 by the data layer 39 . the data layer 39 then retrieves the previously - recorded table entry to obtain the complete information needed to determine 270 whether a firewall traversal session to the service 15 should be established and whether the session should use the forwarding or relay mode . depending upon the domain name entered originally , the data layer 39 may require more information in order to decide whether a forwarding or relay session is necessary . if a fully qualified user domain name such as “ jwblow . 23114 . service . com ” originally were supplied , then the relay mode of operation would be used . on the other hand , if only the domain name “ service . com ” were originally entered , the data layer 39 would recognize the service host name , but would need additional information to determine whether the session should use the forwarding or relay mode . specifically , the user would supply either a real destination ip address or physical host name for the forwarding mode , or would select a fully qualified domain name ( fqdn ) within the service for the relay mode . to obtain the needed information , the data layer 39 can query the user with a dialog box . once the user has supplied the requested information , the data layer 39 issues 280 a name resolution request so that a server within the service 15 can be assigned for the firewall traversal session . the resolution request , which includes a virtual host name associated with the client endpoint 5 , bypasses the name resolution layer 37 and is issued directly to a domain name resolving server in the ip forwarding / relay service 15 . the service 15 returns 290 an ip address that the physical server uses during the firewall traversal session . fig5 and 6 illustrate various techniques that the ip forwarding / relay service 15 can employ to assign a physical server to be used for the firewall traversal session . the features are scalable and can be used to map virtual host names to a large number of geographically dispersed servers . in one implementation , shown in fig5 , a dns server 80 within the ip forwarder / relay service 15 uses hierarchical partitioning as the basis for selecting the proper physical server ( e . g . 82 , 84 , 86 or 88 ) to establish a session . the dns table 90 contains a set of regular expressions to compactly specify a static mapping relationship between the endpoint virtual host names and the physical servers 82 through 88 . according to the table 90 , servers 82 through 84 service requests directed to zip code 97211 and servers 86 through 88 service requests for zip code 99999 . within these two groups , the servers are selected based on the first letter of the user name . fig6 shows a dispatch / switching server model that can be used for dynamic mapping of endpoint virtual host names . the source endpoint 5 sends a virtual host name resolution request to a dispatch server 92 in the service 15 . based on information received from a load balancing system 94 , the dispatch server 92 returns the ip address of a particular switching server 96 , 98 , 100 , that will provide the ip forwarding / relay functionality for the client endpoint session . the load balancing system 94 communicates with the various switching servers 96 , 98 , 100 to track the loading of those servers dynamically . in some implementations , the load balancing system 94 can be incorporated into the dispatch server 92 . after a switching server 96 , 98 or 100 has been assigned , the client endpoint 5 sets up a session to the assigned switching server . an internal dynamic directory can be used in the name resolution process to map an endpoint to a server . in that case , the load balancing system 94 can monitor the dynamic loading of each switching server and assign the least loaded switching server 96 , 98 , 100 to handle the session . a corresponding entry can be added to the internal directory to reflect the assignment . the entry contains the mapping from a specific endpoint , such as the endpoint 5 , to the assigned switching server . it allows the service 15 to match client endpoints for relay mode and establish a virtual connection between them . once the ip address for the session server is obtained , the data layer 39 at the client endpoint 5 establishes 300 a firewall traversal session for the application 30 , 32 or 34 . once established , the application &# 39 ; s ip flow can be tagged 310 by the client software 8 with an indication of whether the service 15 should operate in forwarding or relay mode . alternatively , the service 15 can determine whether forwarding mode or relay mode is to be used based on the destination endpoint &# 39 ; s physical address or virtual host name supplied by the source endpoint 5 . as illustrated in fig7 , in the forwarding mode , a session server 60 establishes 315 the required tcp connection or udp association 62 and forwards the data to the ip address for the destination endpoint 20 . in the relay mode , a session server 64 can use its own domain name system or an internal dynamic directory to identify 320 the physical server 66 for the destination endpoint 20 . assuming that the destination endpoint 20 is listening for tcp / ip requests , a tcp connection or udp association is established 325 between the source and destination servers 64 , 66 , creating a virtual connection between the source 5 and destination endpoints 20 . table entries can be recorded 330 so that future sessions between the endpoints occur over established connections within the service . in some situations , a single server may act as both the source and destination servers 64 , 66 . an application that is listening for incoming requests for transport level communications connections ( e . g ., tcp connections or udp messages ) can be handled as follows . the data layer 39 at the destination endpoint 20 can use local policies and configurations to determine whether the applications 30 , 32 , 34 require remote listening at the service 15 and a corresponding firewall traversal session . the local policies may indicate that remote listening always is used for certain applications , while for other applications the user should be prompted for further input using , for example , a dialog box . where remote listening is to be used , the data layer 39 in the destination endpoint 20 establishes a firewall traversal session to the physical server assigned to the local user in the same manner as described above for the source endpoint 5 . information about an individual listen request is conveyed over the firewall traversal session to the service 15 . such information can include the fully qualified domain name and application port number for the destination endpoint 20 . as described above , a user can enter the service domain name ( e . g ., “ service . com ”) as the destination address to initiate use of the service 15 . in other implementations , instead of entering the service domain name , the user can specify an actual ip address or host name . an automatic determination of whether forwarding mode is appropriate can be made based on the address . for example , network addresses outside an internal domain specified through configuration of the client system software 8 , 23 , or discovered from standard network configuration parameters such as the user &# 39 ; s subnet , are likely to need forwarding . the software 8 , 23 can also be configured to recognize specific addresses for which forwarding is required . alternatively , forwarding mode can be used as a backup after a direct attempt at connection to an external address fails . to increase efficiency , a dns resolution request for a destination endpoint 20 should resolve successfully only if the destination endpoint is , in fact , listening on at least one port . also , search directories contain entries for listening endpoints . such features can increase the likelihood of obtaining a connection in relay mode to a destination endpoint and can reduce the overhead associated with setting up a firewall traversal session for which connections will eventually fail because there is no corresponding listening endpoint . in some implementations , each client endpoint on an internal network can include the software components discussed in connection with fig3 . alternatively , a local routing agent can be used . the local routing agent makes it unnecessary for each endpoint located in an internal network to be equipped with system software 8 , 23 . the local relay agent can act as a virtual router for all inbound communication . the ip forwarder / relay service 15 requires only the address of the local relay agent . the agent then handles the distribution and redirection of communication to particular machines in the internal network , as well as the sessions to the ip forwarder / relay service 15 . a hop component 50 ( fig3 ) also can be included in the client software 8 , 23 to allow a direct connection to the destination endpoint 20 to be made under certain circumstances . in particular , as shown in fig8 , when only the source endpoint 5 is located behind a firewall 10 and both the source and destination endpoints include the client software 8 , 23 , a direct firewall traversal session can be established between the endpoints 5 , 20 instead of using the relay mode of operation of the service 15 . in such a situation , the service 15 initially can be used to determine whether the relay mode of operation should be used to provide the virtual connection or whether the hop layer 50 in the source endpoint 5 should be instructed to initiate a direct session with the destination endpoint 20 over a communication medium 19 . alternatively , the hop layer 50 may first attempt a direct session with the destination endpoint 20 and upon failure to establish communications fallback to using the service 15 in the relay mode of operation . use of virtual host names for identifying parties registered with the service also can facilitate maintaining a connection to a destination endpoint when the source endpoint 5 roams between networks . for example , if the source endpoint 5 is a wireless , mobile device that can roam from one network to another , the service 15 can maintain the connection to the destination endpoint 20 even if the connection to the source endpoint temporarily is lost . in the event that the connection to the source endpoint 5 is lost temporarily , the destination endpoint 20 would not be made aware of that fact because its connection to the service 15 is maintained . to reestablish the session between the source endpoint 5 and the service 15 , the client software 8 can retain information regarding the state of the session . when connectivity to the service 15 subsequently is reestablished , the information regarding the state of the lost session can be used to allow the session to continue from the point when the connection was lost . various features of the system can be implemented in hardware , software , or a combination of hardware and software . for example , some aspects of the system can be implemented in computer programs executing on programmable computers . each program can be implemented in a high level procedural or object - oriented programming language to communicate with a computer system . furthermore , each such computer program can be stored on a storage medium , such as read - only - memory ( rom ) readable by a general or special purpose programmable computer , for configuring and operating the computer when the storage medium is read by the computer to perform the functions described above .
| 7 |
fig1 shows the improved system for the fast transfer of channel microcode from the maintenance subsystem 60 to main memory 40 . the network shown in fig1 indicates a maintenance subsystem 60 connected to central processing module 10 through a serial interface 60si . a central processing module 10 is connected through dual system busses 22a and 22b to a main memory 40 and an input / output module 50 . the main memory 40 has a dedicated portion 40cm for holding the channel microcode which is used by the channel adapters 50ca in the i / o module 50 for communicating to specialized peripheral devices which require specialized instructions provided by the channel microcode . the central processing module 10 ( cpm ) has a maintenance controller 12 which communicates with the maintenance subsystem 60 in order to allow the &# 34 ; pre - loading &# 34 ; of massive microcode data from the maintenance subsystem 60 over to a flash memory 15 which then will have the channel microcode data readily available for distribution without the need to wait for transmission from the maintenance subsystem 60 . a data path array 20 uses a processor bus 14b to communicate with the processor 14 and the microcode ram 18 . a programmable array logic controller designated control pal 16 provides the control signals to the processor 14 , microcode ram 18 and data path array 20 for the handling of data transfers . in the improved system of fig1 the maintenance controller 12 provides a high speed parallel transfer bus 12b between the maintenance controller and the data path array 20 and further provides two control channels , 12c1 to the control pal 16 and 12c2 to the data path array 20 . the previously used jtag lines 12p , 12c and 12d are now only used for diagnostic purposes and are no longer required for transfer of microcode data words . the flash memory storage ram 15 is a nonvolatile unit which provides a pre - loaded method of storing the microcode data within the central processing module , cpm10 , itself , so that it is not necessary to wait for time - consuming loading from the maintenance subsystem . the flash memory 15 thus provides a large on - card data storage facility for maintenance controller 12 having an associated flash memory . under normal operations with the improved system of fig1 the maintenance subsystem 60 will pre - load channel microcode into the flash memory ram 15 and then , on system initialization , the channel microcode will be transferred from the database stored within the flash memory ram 15 . thus , the microcode data can be transferred on the new bus 12b to the data path array 20 and under control signals from the control pal 16 , and then can be transferred over one of the system busses 22a , 22b to the dedicated section 40cm in the main memory 40 . this transfer path is very fast when compared to the serial path 60si from the maintenance processor 64 . only when there is a new set of channel microcode words being added to the system , does the channel microcode database come across the serial interface 60si from the tape cartridge 61 on the hard disk 62 . further , at this time , the flash memory ram 15 will be updated with the new database for the new channel microcode items . enhanced channel microcode write loop : as seen in fig1 there is added two new direct controls on lines 12c1 ( 4 lines ) and 12c2 ( 6 lines ) and a new direct bus 12b ( 16 lines ) from the maintenance controller 12 in order to provide for an enhanced channel microcode &# 34 ; write loop .&# 34 ; the enhanced loop then allows the maintenance controller 12 to utilize the fast wide parallel paths of bus 12b over to the main memory 40 via the system busses 22a , 22b , rather than using the previous slow , serial jtag paths , 12p , 12c and 12d of fig1 and 2 . the new direct lines allow the maintenance controller 12 to emulate the actions that the processor 14 would normally have to take using high speed bus 14b if it were writing to main memory 40 . data path array ( fig1 ): the data path array 20 of fig1 provides the connection between the processor bus 14b on one side and the system busses 22a and 22b on the other side . the data path array has a path for addresses and for data information which then can be written to the main memory 40 . under the earlier art , for each word written by the maintenance subsystem 60 into the main memory 40 , the values for the address data and the main word data had to be shifted serially and slowly bit by bit ( not in parallel as with the wide bus 12b ) by means of the jtag path 12d into the boundary 20s of the data path array 20 . then , the data path array 20 could source these values to the system busses 22a , 22b , for writing into the main memory 40 . in the enhanced configuration , there is provided an additional high speed parallel wide bus path 12b onto the data path array 20 from the maintenance controller 12 . these new direct connections include four control signals on line 12c1 and six control signals on lines 12c2 , plus a 16 - bit data transfer bus 12b ( mp -- data ). by using the wide high speed 16 - bit direct bus 12b , this allows the necessary wider fields ( address = 32 bits ; data = 52 bits ) to be much more quickly built up in the data path array 20 than could possibly have been done using the earlier &# 34 ; serial &# 34 ; jtag shifting method . the signals involved in the new direct interface are described below in table i . table i______________________________________mp . sub .-- laddb signal from the maintenance controller 12 causing the current value on the mp . sub .-- data bus 12b to be loaded into the selected portion of the data path array address register , 20a . mp . sub .-- strdatlb signal from the maintenance controller 12 causing the current value on the mp . sub .-- data bus to be loaded into the selected lower portion of the data path array data register , 20d . mp . sub .-- strdatub signal from the maintenance controller 12 causing the current value on the mp . sub .-- data bus to be loaded into the selected upper portion of the data path array data register , 20d . mp . sub .-- regsek ( 1 : 0 ) two signals from the maintenance controller used to select which half of the address register is to be loaded or which half of the upper / lower portion of the data register in the data path array is to be loaded . mp . sub .-- addincb signal from the maintenance controller causing the value in the data path array address register 20a to be incremented by one . ______________________________________ thus , the direct interface from the maintenance controller - flash memory over the high speed parallel transfer bus 12b to the data path array 20 , while minimal as to hardware impact , is significant as to enhancing the write channel microcode loop . the address value need only be issued &# 34 ; once &# 34 ; by the flash memory 15 and maintenance controller 12 and thereafter is easily and quickly incremented to the next address value by the control pal 16 . further , the data values to be written into the main memory 40 as channel microcode values can be issued by the maintenance controller 12 in a fraction of the time and effort previously expended . also , significantly , the previously required time for the maintenance software and the maintenance processor 64 to calculate the new address for &# 34 ; each microcode word &# 34 ; to be transferred , is now saved . once the address and the data are in the data path array 20 , all that is necessary is to emulate the processor paths to main memory 40 via the system bus 22a and 22b and that the necessary high - speed control signals on bus lines 12c1 and 12c2 be activated as they would be for normal processor operations . this is so since previously the processor 14 was utilized to transfer microcode data on the high speed processor bus 14b over to the data path array 20 thus tying up the processor 14 in a long consuming operation . enhanced mode control pal : the control pal 16 in fig1 is the master logic which decodes the processor commands and controls the steering of all data into and out of the data path array 20 . the control pal 16 also provides all the control and timing signals required for system bus operations to or from the main memory 40 . all bus traffic on the internal processor bus 14b is directed by control signals from the control pal 16 . the control pal controls all actions at the full clock speed of the processor 14 . all bus access and protocol for the busses 22a , 22b operations is directed by signals from the control pal 16 . thus , all the necessary controls are already in place to write data over the system bus 22 into main memory 40 . the control pal 16 already has the necessary signals to steer the address value and the data value in the data path array 20 onto the system busses 22a , 22b . signals already exist for operation of all system bus and main memory operations . the control pal 16 can function at full processor speed rather than the slow serial bit by bit type of situation as was previously required . the important and normal control signals for the control pal 16 are indicated below in table ii . table ii______________________________________control pal ( 16 ) signals______________________________________wb . sub .-- out signal when active indicates that a memory write operation is active . this signal initiates a system bus write operation . biu . sub .-- cmd ( 2 : 0 ) signals indicating the type of active system operation ; equals &# 34 ; 110 &# 34 ; for system bus write operations . dout . sub .-- msel ( 3 : 0 ) bus steering controls to the data path array 20 . controls what values are driven onto the system busses , 22 . rdcmplt signal indicating that the current system bus operation has completed successfully . for a write operation , this signal indicates that the write operation is totally complete . for a read operation , this signal indicates the availability of the system read data with the data path array registers . ______________________________________ the signals indicated in table ii were used in earlier versions in the control pal 16 . however , the new enhanced system operates to add a simple direct way by which the maintenance controller 12 can cause the sequences , that normally control the signals , to be executed . in basic effect , the new direct controls from the maintenance controller 12 simply operate to &# 34 ; logically - or &# 34 ; into the existing control logic for these signals . table iii indicated below , provides the logic equations for the control signals indicated in table ii for the control pal 16 . the new , added maintenance controller terms are denoted . these equations indicate that very little new logic was necessary to add to the existing control terms in order to provide the fast write pathing system . the logic equations for the maintenance controller 12 are indicated hereinbelow in table iii . table iii______________________________________logic equation description______________________________________wb . sub .-- out = wb . sub .-- empty /+ wboutff normal logicmpff3 * mp # wrb / maintenance controller termbiu . sub .-- cmd ( 2 ) = sndmsgff * rtodff / normal logic + wb . sub .-- out normal logic + readlkff normal logicbiu . sub .-- cmd ( 1 ) = wb . sub .-- out normal logic + readlkff normal logic + rdmissff * read4 normal logicbiu . sub .-- cmd ( 0 ) = sbdnsgff * wb . sub .-- out / normal logic + rtodff * wb . sub .-- out / normal logic + readlkff * wb . sub .-- out / normal logic + rdmissff * wb . sub .-- out /* read4 normal logicdout . sub .-- msel ( 3 , 2 ). . . normal logic + write * mpff3 / maintenance controller termdout . sub .-- msel ( 1 ) =. . . normal logic + mpff3dout . sub .-- msel ( 0 ) =. . . normal logic + mpff3 *( a # cvoutf + b . sub .-- cvoutf ) maintenance controller termrdcmplt := rdcmplt /* scmpltff * rdmissff normal logic +. . . normal logic + rdcmplt /* scmpltff * mpff3 maintenance controller term______________________________________signals ending with &# 34 ; b &# 34 ; are active lownotes : := means to set a d - flip - flop = means a gate ( combinatorial ) term + means logical - or * means logical - and / means logical - not . . . means more normal logic not shown______________________________________glossary ( for table iii ) wb . sub .-- out : this is the write buffer output signal which indicates that a write operation to memory is activewb . sub .-- empty : this is the write buffer empty signal which indicates ( when low ) that it is not empty and that a write operation can start .+ wboutff : this is the signal from the synchronization flip - flop used in write out operations .+ mpff3 : this is the state flip - flop for the control sequence of fig4 . mp . sub .-- wrb : this is the signal from the maintenance controller 12 used to initiate a write operation . biu . sub .-- cmd ( 2 ): this involves three signals ( 2 : 0 ) which indicates what particular current memory operation is active . sndmsgff : this signa indicates a send message operator is active . rtodff : this signal indicates that a read - time - of - day op is active . readlkff : this flip - flop indicates that a read - lock operator ( op ) is active . rdmissff : this flip - flop indicates a read operation to memory is active . read4 : this indicates that a four - word read operation is active . dout . sub .-- msel ( 3 : 0 ): this involves four signals to steer outputs onto the system busses into the data path array . write : this signal signifies a write operator decode operation . mpff3 /: this is the state flip - flop shown in fig4 in the &# 34 ; off &# 34 ; state . a . sub .-- cvoutf : this is the system bus command valid signal for the ( sa ) system bus 22a as shown by the output flip - flop . b . sub .-- cvoutf : this is a system bus command valid ( cv ) output flip - flop for the second system bus ( sb ) 22b . rdcmplt : this signal indicates that the current system bus operation has completed successfully . this is done via a processor clock signal . scmpltff : this signal indicates the current system bus operation has completed successfully , but is done via the system bus clock , rather than the processor bus clock . ______________________________________ in addition to the new logical - or terms (+) seen in table iii , a small enhanced sequence to handle the protocol for direct control from the maintenance controller 12 is added to the circuitry of the control pal 16 . this is discussed in the following section involving the direct protocol . enhanced mode - direct protocol : in order to provide ability to emulate the parallel high speed processor bus 14b by the usage of the added high - speed , wide bus structure 12b by the maintenance controller 12 , a four - signal direct interface is made between the maintenance controller 12 and the control pal 16 . the control pal operates at the maximum clock rate which is that of the processor 14 . the maintenance controller 12 operates at a much slower clock rate . thus , the new direct interface must provide for this asynchronous condition . this is accomplished by a handshaking arrangement . of the four new signals in the direct interface , only three are used for writing the channel microcode into the main memory 40 . these four control signals are indicated below in table iv . table iv______________________________________mp . sub .-- wrb write control signal from the maintenance controller 12 indicating that the control pal 16 should execute a microcode ram write operation . mp . sub .-- doneb return handshake signal from the control pal 16 indicating that the current operation is now complete . mp . sub .-- rdb ( not used here ) mp . sub .-- memop signal from the maintenance controller 12 indicating that the control pal should execute a system bus ( memory ) type of operation______________________________________ these are active low signals . the incoming signal mp -- wrb shown in table iv is captured in a flip - flop called mpwrbffb in the control pal 16 . this synchronizes the signal to the processor clock 10 rate . the internal flip - flops in the control pal 16 are then used in the control sequence . these flip - flops are designated 16f in the control pal 16 of fig1 . these include three flip - flops , 16f ( ff1 , ff2 , ff3 ), internal to the control pal 16 , which are used to control the sequence of the protocol and the fast bus controls . fig4 shows the sequence of control operations . referring to fig4 the first state condition at ( a ) shows the idle situation where the three flip - flops mpff1 /, mpff2 /, and mpff3 / are in the &# 34 ; off &# 34 ; condition . this is seen in the &# 34 ; initial &# 34 ; stages of lines ( f ) ( g ) ( h ) of fig5 indicating the new control sequence . then transitioning from state ( a ) to state ( b ), there is seen a maintenance controller 12 write flip - flop operation and a maintenance controller memory operation where at state ( b ) the third flip - flop mpff3 is turned &# 34 ; on .&# 34 ; this enables the data path array 20 to have data available to the system bus and addresses available to the system bus . it also enables the control pal 16 to select a write op command and to provide a memory select command to select addresses and data which then enables the system bus to perform a normal write operation . on the transition from ( b ) to ( c ), fig4 the signal rdcmplt ( of table ii ) operates to turn &# 34 ; off &# 34 ; the third flip - flop ( mpff3 ) and turn &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; the second flip - flop ( mpff2 ) at which condition the system bus 22 indicates that the write operation is completed and the main memory 40 has now received one word of channel microcode written into it . on the transition from ( c ) to ( d ), the handshake protocol indicates the return handshake signal from the control pal 16 indicating that the current operation is now complete ( mp -- doneb of table iv ). here at ( d ) the first and second flip - flops are &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; ( mpff1 , mpff2 ) while the third flip - flop is &# 34 ; off &# 34 ; ( mpff3 /) after which the system returns to the idle condition at ( a ). fig5 is a timing diagram showing the timing of the protocol , the sequential operation of the flip - flops and the various normal control signals involved in writing the channel microcode over the system busses 22a , 22b to the main memory 40 . fig5 indicates how the processor path emulation sequence of bus 12b occurs for accomplishing the fast writing of channel microcode . line ( a ) of fig5 shows the processor clock while lines ( b ), ( c ), ( d ), ( e ) show the interface protocol . lines ( f ), ( g ), ( h ) show the operation of the flip - flops for the new control sequence . lines ( i ) through ( j ), ( k ), ( l ) and ( m ) show the completion of the memory write operation over the system bus . first the maintenance controller 12 ( after its flash memory 15 has already been pre - loaded from maintenance subsystem 60 ) initiates a write operation using the enhanced direct protocol signals , mp -- memop and mp -- wrb . with these signals , it signifies to the control pal 16 that a write operation to main memory 40 is desired . these signals cause the third flip - flop mpff3 of the new control sequence to be set as shown in fig5 line f . these control flip - flops ( fig4 ) then accomplish most of the remaining effort to be done . as was seen in the equations of table iii , the normal signal wb -- out is forced &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; by the third flip - flop mpff3 . once the signal wb -- out is &# 34 ; on ,&# 34 ; it automatically ( via the control pal logic 16 ) causes a system bus operation to occur . this logic automatically initiates and executes a memory write operation . the only special actions that are required are that the signals dout -- msel ( 3 : 0 ) be used for the steering of the maintenance controller address and data into the data path array 20 and on to the system busses 22a , 22b . as with normal control logic , fig5 indicates that there is a delay or &# 34 ; wait &# 34 ; time while the slower system bus operation takes place . when the operation is complete , the signal rdcmplt is issued , line m of fig5 which indicates the completion of the write operation . this signal then terminates the enhanced control sequence and enhanced direct protocol procedures . thus , a full speed normal system bus write operation occurs to the main memory 40 in behalf of the maintenance controller 12 for the writing of the channel microcode without the need to access the maintenance subsystem 60 since all the required information already resides in the flash memory 15 of the central processing module . the enhanced fast emulation path is seen to be implemented with very minimal hardware costs . the new bus 12b and the controls 12c1 and 12c2 onto the data path array 20 take up some possible 22 additional array connection pins which , in most cases , are normally available and thus the change to the use of the data path array is freely arranged . the extra silicon usage internal to the data path array 20 is there for the taking . in the case of the enhanced direct interface protocol sequence and the extra &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; terms built into the control pal 16 , again this is completely implemented using spare capacity within the existing control pal 16 and thus no new hardware is added . the interconnections for the control signals on the bus do add a few more etch connections on the printed circuit board , but however , the cost of these is rather negligible . the enhanced fast write to the memory system described herein provides the capability for a large or massive channel microcode database to be quickly loaded into main memory from a pre - loaded flash memory each time the system is initialized . by using high - speed , wide bus paths and emulating the normal controls utilized by the high - speed processor logic , this system provides the loading to be virtually invisible to the human operator where , in previous architectures , the time to transfer and load the microcode was measurable in several minutes of time which was often deemed frustrating and unacceptable . while a single preferred embodiment of the fast write system has been described , it should be understood that other embodiments could still be implemented which are defined by the following claims .
| 6 |
referring to fig1 - 5 , a lighting fixture according to the invention comprises a lamp housing 10 , a junction box assembly 40 and a flexible metal conduit 30 interconnecting the lamp housing and the junction box and protecting wiring within . lamp housing 10 comprises a metallic tubular lower body 12 , a finned metallic upper housing 16 and a metallic , generally square two - part top housing 18 ( shown as transparent in fig2 , 3 and 4 ). lower body 12 houses a removable reflector 13 having a bottom annular trim flange 14 ; and it has two tangential , oppositely directed retention springs 15 that removably secure the lamp housing 10 in a properly sized installation hole h in ceiling c , with trim flange 14 bearing against the lower surface of the ceiling . junction box 40 simply rests on the ceiling near the lamp housing . three screws 22 securely fasten the three - sided , u - shaped bottom half 20 of top housing 18 to fins of upper housing 16 . the inverted box - shaped top half 24 of top housing 18 fits over and is secured to the upstanding sides of bottom half 20 by two screws 26 . one end of conduit 30 is received in an aperture 28 in one side of top half 24 and is retained therein by a suitable wire - protecting metallic connector 32 , such as the flanged connector disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 880 , 387 ( incorporated herein by reference ). the same or a similar connector 34 secures the other end of conduit 30 to an end of junction box 40 . the conductivity afforded by these connectors enables metallic conduit 30 to provide an electrical grounding path from lamp housing 10 to junction box 40 , which is grounded as described below . a lamp assembly 19 is mounted to the bottom of upper housing 16 so as to be disposed within lower body 12 when the lower body is joined to the upper housing . light generated by the lamp assembly is dispersed and / or focused by reflector 13 , while heat generated by the lamp assembly is dissipated by the finned heat sink of upper housing 16 . as used herein , “ lamp assembly ” means a light source of any type powered by electricity , such as an incandescent lamp ( e . g ., conventional tungsten filament or halogen ), a compact fluorescent lamp , an led light engine , etc . in the illustrated preferred embodiment , the lamp assembly is an led light engine , such as a high output xsm led module manufactured by xicato ( http :// www . xicato . com / products . php ). as shown in fig4 and 4a , upper housing 16 is joined to lower body 12 , preferably by means of external threads 27 on the mounting ring of lamp assembly 19 , those threads mating with internal threads 29 at the upper end of lower body 12 . the inherent adjustability of this threaded connection accommodates small variations in the length of reflector 13 , which may be due to manufacturing tolerances , allowing for accurate close positioning of the small upper - end aperture of reflector 13 relative to lamp assembly 19 for proper optical performance . a nylon - tipped set screw 17 prevents relative rotation of the threaded parts after adjustment . insulated conductors w in protective flexible conduit 30 emerge in top housing 18 , extend through upper housing 16 and are connected to lamp assembly 19 . preferably , as seen in fig3 a , conductors w terminate in top housing 18 in a first connector half 21 , which mates with a second connector half 23 wired via conductors 25 to lamp assembly 19 . such a connector arrangement facilitates removal and replacement of lamp assembly 19 . alternatively , twist - on connectors can be used in top housing 18 to connect conductors w to conductors 25 . conductors w emerge from the other end of conduit 30 in junction box 40 , where they are connected to a power supply 42 as more fully described below . also within conduit 30 is a flexible tether 36 that emerges in top housing 18 where it is secured by a crimped eye - lug 37 riveted at 38 to the top half 24 of that housing . the other end of tether 36 emerges from conduit 30 in junction box 40 where it is secured to junction box chassis 44 by a crimped eye - lug 46 and a screw 47 . the length of tether 36 is selected such that it functions as a strain relief cable to prevent undue strain on the conductors w and their connections , and preferably to prevent undue tensile loading on flexible conduit 30 . tether 36 preferably is conductive and preferably is made of braided galvanized or stainless steel . if metallic , tether 36 provides an electrical grounding bond between lamp housing 10 and junction box 40 . the preferred path of tether 36 is through flexible conduit 30 as illustrated , but the tether instead could run externally of the conduit , optionally loosely tied to the conduit by tape , nylon ties or other means . referring to fig5 - 14 , chassis 44 closely surrounds power supply 42 , which is mounted in a generally rectangular central aperture 45 in the base of chassis 44 . a broad longitudinal mounting flange 48 protruding from one longer side of aperture 45 has two mounting slots 50 near its distal edge . two additional mounting slots 52 are formed in the base of chassis 44 near the proximal end of flange 48 . as seen in fig5 , 8 and 12 - 14 , two mounting straps 54 pass through slots 50 , 52 and surround power supply 42 to firmly secure it in position against flange 48 . for the sake of simplicity , mounting straps 54 are omitted from fig9 - 11 . nylon cable ties may be used as mounting the straps ; however , any suitable mounting hardware could be used depending on the configuration of the power supply and / or any mounting tabs it may have . axially spaced circular end plates 60 , 62 are riveted at 63 to apertured tabs 56 , 58 , respectively , at the ends of chassis 44 . each end plate has a peripheral notch 64 that accommodates a resilient spring clip 66 , which is riveted at 67 to a narrow longitudinal flange 68 protruding from one edge of chassis 44 . each of the two spring clips 66 has a shoulder 70 that engages an end of sleeve - like cylindrical cover 72 ( see fig1 and 2 ), the two shoulders acting as opposing stops to trap the cover in a closed position closely surrounding chassis 44 and end plates 60 , 62 . inward finger pressure on either spring clip 66 allows its shoulder 70 to clear the end of cover 72 , which can then be slid open axially past the depressed spring clip as shown in fig5 and completely removed , if desired . any other suitable arrangement could be used instead of the illustrated spring clips to releasably maintain the cover 72 in a closed position . such devices could be mounted on chassis 44 , on one or both end plates 60 , 62 or on the cover 72 itself . by way of example only , each end plate 60 , 62 could carry a linearly or pivotally retractable member ( spring - loaded or otherwise ), which when extended acts as a stop against an end of the cover 72 to keep it closed . alternatively , one or more screws could secure the cover to chassis flange 68 or to an adjacent tab carried by an end plate . furthermore , while a right circular cylinder is the preferred shape of the junction box , the shape of the end plates and the matching cross - section of the cylindrical cover could vary somewhat as long as the described functionality is not impaired . in order to facilitate below - ceiling installation and removal of the lighting fixture assembly as described below , the maximum width of the junction box 40 should be no greater than the maximum width of the lamp housing 10 ( excluding retention springs 15 ). chassis 44 divides the interior of the junction box into two compartments 80 , 90 in which wiring for different voltages is separately maintained . in the preferred embodiment , power supply 42 is a step - down transformer ( driver ) that converts line ( supply ) voltage fed to input compartment 80 to a lower voltage for powering the led light engine of lamp assembly 19 from output compartment 90 . thus , the input leads 82 of power supply 42 are disposed in input compartment 80 ( shown with plug - in connectors in fig1 and 13 ), while the lower voltage output and control leads 92 are disposed in output compartment 90 ( shown with twist - on connectors in fig1 and 14 ). as used herein , the term “ power supply ” broadly means any device that converts , conditions or otherwise modifies or adapts supplied electrical power for a specific load or application . end plate 60 has an opening 74 through which line voltage and ground conductors ( not shown ) are fed to input compartment 80 , which also houses a ground wire ( see fig1 and 13 ) secured to chassis 44 by a screw 77 ( see fig1 ). through branch wiring can be accommodated via opening 74 by using an appropriate duplex connector . end plate 62 has an opening that supports a conventional , outwardly projecting thermal protector 76 , which is connected to wiring in input compartment 80 ( see fig1 and 13 ). end plate 62 also has an opening 78 in which an end of conduit 30 is received and is secured by connector 34 ( see fig5 ). conductors w in conduit 30 thus communicate with lower voltage output compartment 90 , where they are connected to driver output leads 92 ( see fig1 and 14 ). an opening in end plate 60 adjacent output compartment 90 is closed by a knockout 79 , which can be removed for the separate entry of low voltage control wiring , such as for a lamp dimming control . installation of the lighting fixture assembly is straightforward . cover 72 is released and slid open over conduit 30 in the direction of lamp housing 10 to expose input compartment 80 . supply wiring above the ceiling is pulled through the fixture installation hole h , passed through and clamped in opening 74 ( using an appropriate connector ) and connected to input leads 82 and the fixture ground wire . cover 72 is then slid closed and latched . junction box 40 is then passed upward through the installation hole h followed by flexible conduit 30 . junction box 40 simply rests on the upper surface of the ceiling . with retention springs 15 squeezed around lower body 12 , the lamp housing 10 is pushed upwardly into the installation hole until the springs pop out above the ceiling , locking the fixture in place . a slight clockwise twist of the reflector 13 seats it firmly against the ceiling . the fixture can be removed from the ceiling easily by first twisting the reflector 13 slightly counterclockwise while applying slight downward pressure . once the retention springs 15 are accessible , they are squeezed together and the lamp housing is pulled down out of the installation hole , followed by flexible conduit 30 and junction box 40 . while a preferred embodiment has been chosen to illustrate the invention , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims . while the lighting fixture of the invention has been described as well - suited for a retrofit , ceiling - supported installation , the lamp housing and junction box components could also be removably mounted on a joist - supported pan or frame above a ceiling . furthermore , the advantage of compactness realized by the described junction box configuration would make it suitable for use in other applications or situations as long as applicable electrical code requirement are observed .
| 5 |
referring now to the figures of the drawing in detail , the apparatus used in the invention comprises a belt drum 1 with a cylindrical supporting surface and a belt carrying ring 2 with a cylindrical inner surface 2 a , the lateral surface of a cylinder respectively being meant . at least one of the two components , but preferably both , is or are segmented in the known way and expandable and retractable in the radial direction . the method according to the invention is described in more detail on the basis of the buildup of a belt package comprising four belt plies 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 and having two belt edge pads 7 between the second and third belt plies 4 , 5 . a belt package built up in such a way is used , for example , in the pneumatic vehicle tires for heavy trucks . the radially innermost belt ply 3 is referred to as the first belt ply , and the radially outermost belt ply 6 is referred to as the fourth belt ply . the belt plies 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 are produced in a known way from cut - to - length webs of steel cords embedded in a rubber compound . to build up the four - ply belt package , the third belt ply 5 and subsequently the fourth belt ply 6 are automatically placed onto the cylindrical belt drum 1 and automatically spliced . referring , first , to fig1 , there is shown the finished sub - package comprising the belt plies 5 and 6 on the belt drum 1 . the belt carrying ring 2 is then moved over the belt drum 1 and retracted in the radial direction to reduce its inside diameter . by means of clamping devices that are not represented , the belt carrying ring 2 takes over the sub - package comprising the third and fourth belt plies 5 , 6 . fig2 shows the belt drum 1 and the belt carrying ring 2 just before the takeover of the sub - package at the two belt plies 5 , 6 . while the two belt plies 5 , 6 remain positioned on the belt carrying ring 2 , the first belt ply 3 and subsequently the second belt ply 4 are automatically placed on the cylindrical belt drum 1 and automatically spliced . then , the two belt edge pads 7 , profiles made of a rubber compound , are placed on at the side edges of the belt ply 4 . fig3 shows this stage of the buildup of the sub - package comprising the belt plies 3 , 4 and the pads 7 . then , the belt carrying ring 2 is positioned over the belt drum 1 , as represented in fig4 . by radial expansion of the segments of the belt drum 1 , the components on the belt drum 1 — the first and second belt plies 3 , 4 and the two belt edge pads 7 — are joined to the third and fourth belt plies 5 , 6 on the belt carrying ring 2 . then , the clamping of the belt plies 5 , 6 is released and the belt carrying ring 2 is moved into a position to the side of the belt drum 1 , as fig5 shows . the finished belt package is then on the belt drum 1 . the buildup of the green tire with a belt package produced in such a manner can be carried out in a known way . in particular , the finished belt package is provided with a tread , transferred to a transfer device and transferred by the latter to an already built up tire carcass and positioned on the tire carcass . in the case of belt packages built up by the method according to the invention , the need for a belt ply to be applied directly to a substructure having a contoured supporting surface is avoided . this would be the case for instance if the third belt ply 5 were applied directly to the second belt ply 4 , provided with the two belt edge pads 7 . in this case , it would no longer be possible to place the third and fourth belt plies on automatically and splice them automatically . in the case of the embodiment represented here , the sub - package comprising the first and second belt plies 3 , 4 and the two belt edge pads 7 is increased in diameter , in order to be joined to the second sub - package comprising the third and fourth belt plies 5 , 6 . as an alternative to this , it may also be envisaged to reduce the sub - package comprising the third and fourth belt plies 5 , 6 in diameter to establish the join with the belt sub - package comprising the first and second belt plies 3 , 4 and the two belt edge pads 7 . the reduction in diameter is effected by means of the belt carrying ring 2 . in the case of a further possible alternative , the two sub - packages may be joined together by increasing the diameter of the belt drum 1 and at the same time reducing the diameter of the belt carrying ring 2 . a number of belt carrying rings and a number of belt drums may be used . as a result , the buildup of the belt package can be performed in a largely flexible manner . for instance , in the case of a further configurational variant that is not separately shown , it is possible for the spliced third belt ply 5 to be transferred from the belt drum onto a belt carrying ring and the fourth belt ply 6 to be automatically placed on its own on the belt drum and spliced . joining together of the two belt plies 5 , 6 can be performed in a way analogous to the method steps shown in fig3 to 5 . equally , the sub - package may be created from the first and second belt plies with the two belt edge pads 7 subsequently placed on . it may in this case be envisaged to place belt edge strips on additionally in the case of one or more of the belt plies 3 , 4 , 5 and 6 . as described , the belt drum or the belt drums can provide a cylindrical supporting surface . as an alternative to this , it is possible to provide a supporting surface that is slightly concavely contoured in cross section on the belt drum or the belt drums . in an analogous way , the segments of the belt carrying ring or rings may also be contoured , here by means of a curvature that is slightly convex in cross section . the convex surface of the ring 2 and the concave peripheral surface of the drum 1 are illustrated in fig6 .
| 8 |
the following description of certain examples of the invention should not be used to limit the scope of the present invention . other examples , features , aspects , embodiments , and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description , which is by way of illustration , one of the best modes contemplated for carrying out the invention . as will be realized , the invention is capable of other different and obvious aspects , all without departing from the invention . accordingly , the drawings and descriptions should be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive . enlarged vein structures or varices are found within the body in a variety of locations . these enlarged vein structures can include arteries , and have thinner wall structures that can cause bleeders when subjected to trauma , or disease conditions such as portal hypertension or hemorrhoids . with portal hypertension , the enlarged varices about the esophagus can rupture and cause chronic bleeding into the esophagus . if severe , the condition can require surgical intervention to staunch the bleeding and leave a structure in place that can prevent further damage to the vein or artery . fig1 and 2 illustrates an example of a surgical device 25 capable of stopping the flow of blood with an adhesive 65 at a surgical site such as the esophagus . surgical device 25 can control blood loss by capturing tissue with a tissue acquisition system or vacuum system , and then using an adhesive injection system to inject an adhesive into or onto the captured tissue to staunch blood loss , place a barrier about the varices , and protect the wound site . the surgical device 25 as shown in fig1 has a distal portion that is small in cross section so it can be inserted into a working channel 85 of an endoscope 80 . endoscope 80 is a common surgical access instrument that has a scope handle 81 , a steerable flexible shaft 82 , a viewing element 84 at a distal tip 83 to view the surgical site , and the working channel 85 extending from handle 81 to distal tip 83 . endoscopes are commonly inserted into the mouth or anus to use natural body orifices to gain access to surgical sites within the patient . surgical device 25 generally extends from a handle 34 to an end effector 30 . fig1 shows the handle 34 extending from a proximal end of the working channel 85 and the end effector 30 extending from a distal end of the working channel 85 . the surgical device 25 is positionable with respect to the operative channel 85 of endoscope 80 in rotation , insertion , and extraction . a flexible shaft 32 operatively couples end effector 30 to the handle 34 . the vacuum system 50 of the surgical device 25 has a vacuum source 51 and a vacuum control 56 to control the delivery of vacuum to the handle 34 . vacuum is supplied through a hose 54 extending from vacuum control 56 . a longitudinally moveable vacuum cannula 52 ( fig2 ) is operably connected to hose 54 and extends from handle 34 , through flexible shaft 32 , to the end effector 30 . vacuum cannula 52 moves proximally and distally within handle 34 and flexible shaft 32 in response to proximal and distal manipulation of chamber control 53 on handle 34 . a conical vacuum chamber 55 attaches to a distal tip of the vacuum cannula 52 and is operably coupled to vacuum source 51 and vacuum control 56 by vacuum cannula 52 and hose 54 . as shown in fig2 , vacuum passageways 58 are provided in vacuum cannula 52 to conduct vacuum to vacuum chamber 55 . vacuum chamber 55 is best shown in fig1 - 5 , and is a collapsible and expandable structure . vacuum chamber 55 has a fully open conical shape of fig1 and 5 and can be collapsed to a partially closed position of fig4 , to the nearly closed position of fig3 , and to a fully closed cylindrical shape with pleats and folds within flexible shaft 32 ( not shown ). as vacuum chamber 55 is collapsed , a series of pre - induced folds 59 located about the periphery are used to control collapsing , and are best shown in fig3 and 4 . as shown , vacuum chamber 55 is formed from a spring material that has a naturally open conical shape . in the full open position , the folds 59 could induce local distortion and prevent vacuum chamber 55 from attaining a smooth conical shape . distal and proximal movement of chamber control 53 on handle 34 moves vacuum cannula 52 and attached vacuum chamber 55 distally and proximally relative to flexible shaft 32 . distal movement of vacuum cannula 52 moves vacuum chamber 55 out of the confines of flexible shaft 32 and allows the vacuum chamber 55 to expand . alternately , proximal motion of a fully open vacuum chamber 55 into flexible shaft 32 closes vacuum chamber 55 by bringing vacuum chamber 55 into camming action with an inner surface 33 of flexible shaft 32 . an angle 57 is cut onto a distal end of vacuum chamber 55 to enhance angular contact of the vacuum chamber 55 with the wall of the esophagus , and to ensure a good vacuum seal . to ensure safety and efficacy during insertion into the body and during positioning , vacuum chamber 55 can be withdrawn fully into flexible shaft 32 . vacuum chamber 55 can be constructed from a number of engineering materials such as but not limited to thin sections of engineering thermoplastics such as mylar , silicone , polytetraflouroethylene ( teflon ) and the like , or thin sections of metals such as titanium , nitinol or aluminum . nitinol vacuum chambers 55 could undergo a phase change as they are opened or collapsed . alternately , by way of example , vacuum chamber 55 can be constructed with an umbrella - like construction as shown in fig5 with a series of ribs 59 a joined to a thinner conical section of flexible fabric or film material 59 b . film material 59 b could also be springy . alternately , by way of example , ribs 59 a can be constructed as thicker ribs 59 a molded onto the film material 59 b , rigid separate ribs attached to an opening structure like that used in an umbrella ( see fig5 ), or a springy an umbrella type construction with flexible cantilever spring ribs . the flexible cantilever spring ribs can be pre - bent to expand into a conical rib structure to open the film material 59 b . film material 59 b can be materials such as but not limited to rubber compounds such as nitryl , polyethelene , polypropelene , polytetraflouroethylene , papers , and surgical fabrics with or without coatings , or films ( not shown ) and the like . additionally , by way of example , a spring could be provided to open the umbrella shape . the adhesive system 60 has an adhesive reservoir 61 containing an adhesive 65 and a pump 62 . pump 62 moves adhesive 65 from the adhesive reservoir 61 , into an adhesive cannula 63 extending therefrom , and out of an applicator tip 64 at a distal end of adhesive cannula 63 . adhesive cannula 63 of surgical instrument 25 extends from adhesive reservoir 61 , passes through handle 34 , through flexible shaft 32 into end effector 30 , and operably attaches to applicator tip 64 . adhesive cannula 63 is movable proximally and distally by proximal and distal movement of an applicator control 66 located at a proximal end of handle 34 . distal motion of applicator control 66 moves applicator tip 64 distally out of a distal end of flexible shaft 32 . proximal motion of applicator control 66 moves applicator tip 64 and adhesive cannula 63 proximally back into the distal end of the flexible shaft 32 . the extension of vacuum chamber 55 and applicator tip 64 from flexible shaft 32 creates the end effector 30 . additionally , the adhesive system 60 could be a multiple chamber adhesive system 60 a containing any number of chambers greater than one . each chamber can contain contents such as adhesive 65 which can be single or multi - part , an adhesive initiator 68 , or alternate chemical agents 69 listed below . for example , a multiple chamber adhesive system 60 a could have the adhesive reservoir 61 containing an adhesive 65 and a second chemical agent chamber 61 a . both chambers 61 , 61 a are operably attached to pump 62 and an alternate adhesive cannula 63 a to dispense the contents of chambers 61 and 61 a . alternate adhesive cannula 63 a can comprise a dual or multi - lumen tube that distributes both adhesive 65 and adhesive initiators 68 and / or chemical agents 69 from applicators 64 , 122 in any combination . a mixer 70 could be placed downstream from pump 62 and pump 62 could contain one or more members operably connected to different chambers . for example , a dual chamber syringe could have dual pistons or pumps to dispense the contents from a chamber . alternately by way of example , any type of pump could be used such as but not limited to piston , diaphragm , rotary , and siphon . if desired , the contents of both chambers could be applied neat or mixed from applicators 64 , 122 ( see below ). the cross section of fig2 shows end effector 30 with adhesive cannula 63 slidably moveable in vacuum cannula 52 and surrounded by passageways 58 for the passage of vacuum to vacuum chamber 55 . adhesive tip 64 has a sharp 67 on the distal end and is fixedly attached to longitudinally moveable adhesive cannula 63 and moves in response to movement of the applicator control 66 . to prevent unwanted tissue damage from the sharp 67 during insertion into the patient and positioning in the body , adhesive tip 64 is moved proximally into flexible shaft 32 to present the blunt end of flexible shaft 32 . distal motion of applicator control 66 moves adhesive tip 64 and sharp 67 distally to pierce tissue . activation of pump 22 forces adhesive 65 from the sharp 67 of the adhesive tip 64 . by way of example , adhesive 65 could be a single part or a dual part adhesive that is a polymerizable and / or cross - linkable material such as but not limited to a cyanoacrylate adhesive . the adhesive 65 can be fluid and for example , may be but not limited to a monomeric ( including prepolymeric ) adhesive composition , a polymeric adhesive composition , or any other natural or artificial biocompatible compound that can adhere to tissue . in embodiments , the monomer may be a 1 , 1 - disubstituted ethylene monomer , e . g ., an . alpha .- cyanoacrylate . when cross linked , the cyanoacrylate changes from a liquid to a solid . cross linked adhesive 76 a can be a rigid or flexible and can be non - permeable or permeable . if desired , adhesive 76 can be a single part or dual part adhesive , and / or can contain one or more additives 77 . adhesive 65 can be polymerized by moisture , blood , saline or adhesive initiators 68 . adhesive initiators 68 can also be used to set up or polymerize the adhesive 65 and can be but are not limited to base compounds and the like . examples of suitable chemical agents 69 include , such as but are not limited to , image enhancement media , anesthetics , sclerotic or necrosing agents plasticizing agents , thixotropic agents , buffers , catalysts , fillers , micro particles , adhesion initiators , thickeners , solvents , drugs , medicaments , natural or synthetic rubbers , stabilizers , ph modifiers , bioactive agents , cross - linking agents , chain transfer agents , fibrous reinforcements , colorants , preservatives , formaldehyde reducing or scavenging agents , flavorants , perfumes , mixtures thereof , and the like . other suitable single part and dual part adhesives 65 , adhesion initiators 68 , and chemical agents 69 may be found in united states application 20040190975 by goodman et al . which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety . fig6 shows an esophagus 90 , the gastro - esophageal junction 91 and the stomach 92 . a plurality of vascular structures are located about the esophagus 90 . the patient has experienced chronic acid reflux which has eroded and thinned the esophagus 90 and a mucosal layer 93 to create a thin area 94 above the gastro - esophageal junction 91 on the right side of the esophagus 90 . the patient suffers from portal hypertension which is an increase in the pressure within the portal vein caused by a blockage in the blood flow throughout the liver . this reduced blood flow results in increased pressure in the portal vein and has caused enlarged veins or varices 95 to develop across the esophagus 90 and stomach 92 , with one behind thin area 94 . the varices 95 are distended and fragile , and can rupture and bleed easily when the patient suffers from severe coughing or vomiting . as shown the varices 95 above the gastroesophageal junction 91 have a bleeder 96 . the thin mucosal layer allows acid reflux to reach and irritate the varices 95 which slows or prevents proper healing , as well as providing reduced reinforcement of varices 95 . fig7 shows the flexible shaft 82 of the endoscope 80 inserted into the patients esophagus 90 . the end effector 30 of the surgical device 25 extends from the working channel 85 in distal tip 83 of endoscope 80 . viewing element 84 is used to locate the thin area 94 and the bleeders 96 ( fig6 ) in the esophagus 90 . the end effector 30 of the surgical device has been extended from the working channel 85 of the endoscope 80 and vacuum chamber 55 has been expanded and placed over thin area 94 . a vacuum is being applied from vacuum source 51 to capture the thin area 94 and varices 95 within vacuum chamber 55 . fig8 is a cross section of the end effector 30 on the thin area 94 of the esophageal tissue . vacuum chamber 55 is capturing and drawing the thin area 94 comprising mucosa 93 and varices 95 into vacuum chamber 55 with the application of vacuum from vacuum source 51 . the sharp 67 on applicator tip 64 has been moved distally from flexible shaft 32 and is piercing the mucosal layer 93 and tissue about varices 95 . fig9 is the cross sectional view of fig8 after the applicator tip 64 is extended further into the esophageal tissue and adhesive 65 has been injected about the varices 95 . adhesive 65 emerges from sharp 67 of applicator tip 64 under pressure from pump 62 and has separated mucosal layers 93 about varices 95 . adhesive 95 begins to set from bodily moisture to stop or staunch the bleeding and creates a protective cap 97 of adhesive about the varices 95 . the protective cap 97 is integrated into tissue to prevent falling off , and prevents the patient from experiencing additional chronic bleeding . to remove the surgical device 25 , the applicator tip 64 is first withdrawn from tissue , the vacuum is released to de - capture thin area 94 of the esophagus 90 , the vacuum chamber 55 is pulled distally to close into the flexible shaft 32 , and the endoscope 80 and surgical device 25 are removed from the patient . fig1 shows an alternate method of sealing a bleeder with surgical device 25 and adhesive 65 . in this view , the thin area 94 is drawn into vacuum chamber 55 with vacuum , and adhesive 65 is pumped over the surface of mucosal layer 93 . when adhesive 65 sets from moisture in the tissue , it forms an exterior protective cap 97 a within the esophagus 90 . once protective cap 97 a is formed , the bleeders are stopped , a protective bandage or barrier is in position to prevent acid reflux irritation , the barrier promotes healing , and the protective cap 97 a re - strengthens the area to prevent varices 95 from protruding into esophagus 90 when the patient coughs or vomits . an alternate embodiment of this device could be used for laparoscopic or arthroscopic surgeries rather than with surgeries that require placement into an endoscope 80 . fig1 . shows a handheld surgical device 100 having a treatment head 120 suitable for placement at a desired surgical location . treatment head 120 is well suited for use in open surgeries as well as being sized to fit within a laparoscopic trocar cannula or into a small incision for endoscopic or laparoscopic surgeries . the surgical device 100 has a flexible or malleable shaft 105 attached to treatment head 120 and a handle 101 . grips 102 are fixedly attached to handle 101 for the surgeon to grasp . vacuum source 51 and vacuum control 56 provide vacuum to treatment head 120 to draw tissue therein , the vacuum conducted through vacuum cannula 52 and shaft 105 to a cylindrical vacuum head 121 . vacuum head 121 is clear so the surgeon can view inside during use . an alternate applicator tip 122 is located within treatment head 120 and is attached to a longitudinally moveable applicator cannula 123 . applicator cannula 123 is operably attached to a longitudinally moveable control 124 such that proximal and distal motion of control 124 results in proximal and distal motion of applicator cannula 123 and alternate applicator tip 122 . adhesive system 60 contains adhesive 65 in an adhesive reservoir 61 and is operably attached to applicator cannula 123 by cannula 67 . activation of pump 62 moves adhesive 65 from adhesive reservoir 61 into cannula 67 , into applicator cannula 123 , and dispenses adhesive 65 from alternate applicator tip 122 . a sharp 122 a can be placed on a distal end of alternate applicator tip 122 . alternately , by way of example , surgical device 100 could use an expanding and contracting vacuum chamber 55 rather than a fixed vacuum head 121 . an example of treatment using surgical device 100 would involve inserting the surgical device 100 into a patient through a trocar cannula . as shown in fig1 , the device is moved to a desired site to treat one of a number of varices 95 . the vacuum head 121 is placed at the desired site and vacuum is applied from vacuum source 51 to draw tissue therein . the surgeon maneuvers the endoscope to view the site through the clear vacuum head 121 ( not shown ) and has decided to extend the alternate applicator tip 122 close to the tissue rather than pierce the tissue with sharp 122 a . adhesive 65 is being applied over the varices 95 to staunch the bleeding . it should be appreciated that any patent , publication , or other disclosure material , in whole or in part , that is said to be incorporated by reference herein is incorporated herein only to the extent that the incorporated material does not conflict with existing definitions , statements , or other disclosure material set forth in this disclosure . as such , and to the extent necessary , the disclosure as explicitly set forth herein supersedes any conflicting material incorporated herein by reference . any material , or portion thereof , that is said to be incorporated by reference herein , but which conflicts with existing definitions , statements , or other disclosure material set forth herein will only be incorporated to the extent that no conflict arises between that incorporated material and the existing disclosure material . while the present invention has been illustrated by description of several embodiments and while the illustrative embodiments have been described in considerable detail , it is not the intention of the applicant to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail . additional advantages and modifications may readily appear to those skilled in the art . for example , the adhesives listed are merely exemplary and many other adhesives and chemical compounds fall within the scope of the present invention .
| 0 |
the copying apparatus of the present invention is of the liquid development and transfer type which can selectively copy sheet originals such as documents and the like or thicker originals such as books and the like , as desired . referring to fig1 an embodiment of the copying apparatus according to the present invention includes a housing 1 , a sheet original transport means 2 , and an original carriage 3 for supporting thereon a thick original ( hereinafter referred to as &# 34 ; book original &# 34 ;) and covered with an original keep cover 4 . the apparatus further includes a pair of guide rails 5 1 and 5 2 for the original carriage , a cassette 6 containing therein a stock of transfer paper sheets p , and a lid 7 for the cassette which may also serve as a tray for receiving transfer paper sheets discharged out of the apparatus after image transfer . there are further seen an auxiliary tray 8 , an operating portion 9 including a main switch 10 , a group of alarm lamps 11 1 - 11 4 , a re - start lamp switch 12 which is to be further described , a button 13 for changing over the mode of operation between a mode for copying sheet originals and a mode for copying book originals , a knob and copy button 14 for selecting a mode for continuously producing multiple copies of a book original , a botton 15 for urgently stopping the continuous copy mode for a book original , and a dial 16 for adjusting the density of desired copies . with reference to fig2 the operation of such copying apparatus will first be described as to the case where sheet originals are to be copied . a sheet original is inserted from the right of the apparatus into the nip between the rolls 18 1 and 18 2 of the sheet original transport means 2 which are rotated in synchronism with a photosensitive drum 17 which is normally rotated after a certain time for start preparation as will be described later , and then the inserted sheet original is transported leftwardly . as soon as the leading edge of the sheet original is detected by a lamp 19 and a light receiving element 20 , the rolls 18 1 and 18 2 are temporarily stopped from rotaing , and thus the original is also stopped . subsequently , when the photosensitive drum 17 comes to a predetermined position , a start signal for the original is produced to rotate the rolls 18 1 and 18 2 again so that the original is further transported leftwardly in synchronism with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 17 , whereafter it is discharged upwardly by rolls 21 1 and 21 2 . during that while , the original is illuminated from therebelow at an illuminating station 22 by four lamps 24 as it is moved on a glass plate . the image of the original is optically directed by a mirror 25 and a mirror lens 26 through an exposure station 27 to the surface of the photosensitive drum 17 , thus forming an image thereon . the photosensitive drum 17 comprises a photosensitive layer covered with a transparent dielectric layer and is normally rotated in clockwise direction as viewed in fig2 . the photosensitive drum 17 is first charged with positive polarity by a primary charger 29 supplied with a high voltage of positive polarity from a high voltage source 28 . when the charged surface portion of the photosensitive drum 17 comes to the exposure station 27 , the image from the illuminating station is projected on such portion of the drum 17 through a slit while it is discharged by an ac discharger 30 supplied with a high ac voltage from the high voltage source 28 . then that surface portion of the photosensitive drum 17 is subjected to an overall exposure by a lamp 31 , thus forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface portion thereof , whereafter the image carrying surface portion of the photosensitive drum 17 enters a developing means 32 . the developing means 32 comprises a container 34 for containing a body of developing liquid 33 , a pump 35 ( fig5 ) for stirring and raising the developing liquid , and an electrode 36 normally biased toward the photosensitive drum by a spring 37 so as to maintain a slight clearance with respect to the drum surface . the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 17 is developed into a visible image with the aid of toner particles contained in the developing liquid and raised onto the electrode 36 by the pump 35 . subsequently , at a post charger 38 , the image carrying surface portion of the photosensitive drum 17 is charged with a negative high voltage from the high voltage source to remove the excess liquid from the surface of the photosensitive drum 17 without disturbing the developed image thereon . thereafter , a sheet of transfer paper p is fed from a paper feed station and brought into intimate contact with the image carrying surface of the photosensitive drum 17 so that the image on the photosensitive drum 17 is transferred onto the sheet of transfer paper p with the aid of a positive high voltage applied thereto at a transfer charger 39 from the voltage source 28 . after the image transfer , the transfer paper p is separated from the photosensitive drum 17 by a separator belt 40 , and then directed to a drying - fixing station 41 . the photosensitive drum 17 is cleaned by the edge portion 42 1 of a blade cleaner 42 urged into contact with the drum 17 to remove any residual amount of liquid with toner , thus becoming ready for a subsequent cycle of copying operation . the developing liquid as removed from the photosensitive drum 17 by the blade cleaner 42 flows along grooves 17 1 formed around the opposite ends of the drum 17 , and thence into the developing means 32 for reuse . on the other hand , sheets of transfer paper p are contained in the cassette 6 which is removably mounted with a cassette rail 6 1 fitted into a cassette receiving rail 154 . various types of cassette may be available in accordance with various sizes of transfer sheet and may be readily interchangeable as desired . the sheets of transfer paper p are supported on an inner plate 43 within the cassette 6 and the inner plate 43 is biased upwardly by a spring 44 so as to normally urge the pile of transfer paper p against separator pawls 45 formed on the forward end of the cassette at the opposite sides thereof . by suitably selecting the spring constant of the spring 44 , the pressure force with which the sheets of transfer paper p are urged against the separator pawl 45 may be maintained substantially constant irrespective of the number of the transfer paper sheets p in the cassette 6 . when the photosensitive drum reaches its predetermined position , a signal is produced to lower a normally rotating paper feed roll 46 into contact with the uppermost sheet of transfer paper p so that the paper feed roll 46 cooperates with the separator pawl 45 to separate the uppermost transfer paper sheet p from the others and feed it leftwardly as viewed in fig2 . however , since register rolls 47 1 and 47 2 located ajacent to the cassette are stopped immediately after the feed roll 46 has been lowered , the transfer paper p fed out of the cassette 6 tends to be slack between guides 48 1 and 48 2 with the leading edge thereof bearing against the area of contact between the register rolls 47 1 and 47 2 . immediately thereafter , the photosensitive drum 17 produces a paper feed signal , in response to which the register rolls 47 1 and 47 2 start to rotate , thus feeding the transfer paper p at a speed equal to the peripheral speed of the photosensitive drum 17 . on the other hand , the paper feed roll 46 is again raised away from the stock of transfer paper p after a predetermined time , and thereafter the separated transfer paper is continuously fed only by the register rolls 47 1 , 47 2 and subsequent feed means . the transfer paper separator belt 40 may be in the form of a narrow endless belt which passes from a separator roll 49 disposed in very closely spaced relationship with the photosensitive drum 17 , and over a deflecting pulley 50 , pulleys 52 1 , 52 2 , deflecting pulley 51 , pulley 52 3 back to the separator roll 41 . the portion of the separator belt 40 extending between the pulley 52 3 and the separator roll 49 bears against the drum 17 at a portion thereof corresponding to one end of the transfer paper sheet , and the portion of the separator belt 40 extending between the pulleys 52 1 and 52 2 is caused by the deflecting pulleys 50 , 51 to follow a path deviated from the path of the transfer paper . the separator belt 40 is driven by the separator roll 49 at a speed substantially equal to the speed of the photosensitive drum 17 . a portion of the separator belt 40 is sandwiched between one side edge of a transfer paper sheet p and the outer surface of the photosensitive drum 17 when the transfer paper p is brought into intimate contact with the photosensitive drum 17 during the image transfer process . thus , the separation of the separator belt 40 from the photosensitive drum 17 as accomplished at the separator roll 49 will force one side edge of the transfer paper sheet p to be also separated from the photosensitive drum 17 . once its side edge is so separated , the transfer paper p may be entirely separated from the photosensitive drum 17 owing to its own self - supporting strength and to the action of the air blown from a blower 53 ( fig3 ) via a duct 54 and through an air outlet 55 1 , whereafter the transfer paper may be passed toward the drying - fixing station 41 . at the drying - fixing station 41 , the unfixed transfer paper p is conveyed on a conveyor belt 57 driven by a roll 56 , in the leftward direction as viewed in fig2 so that the paper p is dried and fixed by the air blown from the duct 54 and intensely heated just below a heater 58 . most of the air thus heated by the heater 58 and consumed for the drying is sucked into the blower 53 ( fig3 ) through an intake port 59 disposed below the belt 57 so that such air may be circulated for reuse in the drying and fixing process . the transfer paper p thus dried and fixed may be electrically discharged by a discharger 60 so as to remove any residual charge from the surface of the paper p , whereafter it is passed via a discharge roll 61 to a discharge port 62 and discharged therethrough onto the lid 7 of the cassette 6 which also serves as a reception tray . with reference to fig4 description will now be made of the operation of the above - described apparatus when used to copy book originals . the change - over of the operation mode from the foregoing mode for copying sheet originals to a mode for copying book originals may be accomplished in the manner described hereunder . the change - over button 13 is first depressed to cause counter - clockwise pivotal movement of a lever 63 2 about a pin 63 3 through the cooperation between a lever 13 1 and a projection 63 1 integral with the lever 63 2 , thus lowering a roll 63 to disengage this roll 63 downwardly from a sheet original positioning groove 65 formed at one end of a cam 64 mounted to the lower portion of the original carriage 3 , which is thus allowed to move leftwardly as viewed in fig2 until the roll 63 is received into a book original positioning groove 66 . such movement of the original carriage 3 from its position for sheet originals to its position for book originals cuts off the supply of electrical drive to the sheet original transport means 2 , thereby changing over the entire circuit to the book original copying position . in this operative position , the forward end of a book original to be copied , i . e . the forward end 67 1 of the original carriage &# 39 ; s glass plate 67 ( fig2 ) assumes the position which was occupied by the lamp 19 and light receiving element 20 in the sheet original copying mode . a book original to be copied is placed on the carriage &# 39 ; s glass plate 67 with the forward end thereof registered with the forward end 67 1 of the glass plate , and then the book original is held by the keep cover 4 ( fig2 ). thereafter , the copy button 14 &# 39 ; ( fig . 1 ) is depressed to produce an original start signal from the photosensitive drum 17 in the same way as described above with respect to the case of sheet original . this signal energizes an electromagnetic plunger sl3 so that upon disengagement of the roll 63 from the groove 66 the original carriage 3 is moved leftwardly as viewed in fig2 and at the same speed as the peripheral speed of the photosensitive drum 17 to accomplish a through - slit exposure . upon completion of such exposure , the original carriage 3 stops its leftward movement in response to its own signal corresponding to the size of the book original , whereupon the carriage 3 assumes its backward or rightward movement . the speed of this return movement is higher than the speed of the forward movement to increase the copying efficiency . upon return of the original carriage to its initial position for the book original copying , the drive to the original carriage 3 is cut off to stop it with the roll 63 received in the groove 66 . where multiple copies of the same book original are to be obtained continuously , this may readily be accomplished by means of counter means 14 operatively associated with the copy button 14 &# 39 ;. the counter means 14 converts the movement of the original carriage 3 into a count through the cam 64 and crank 69 shown in fig4 so as to hold the copy button 14 &# 39 ; in depressed position until a present number of copies has been counted up , thus enabling multiple copies to be provided . in the other points , the operation of the apparatus for book originals is identical with that for sheet originals . in the present embodiment of the copying apparatus , the photosensitive drum 17 can copy originals of variable width up to that of jis ( japanese industrial standard ) a3 format and has a circumferential length somewhat greater than the length of the a3 format . therefore , where the originals to be copied are sheet originals , one of sheet originals of a3 format may be fed for copying per full rotation of the photosensitive drum or two of sheet originals of a4 format may be fed at a time in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis thereof . if book originals are to be copied , the forward stroke ( exposure stroke ) of the original carriage 3 is followed by the return stroke which requires substantially as much time as the forward stroke , and thus the length of time required for providing one copy of a book original will be approximately twice the time required for one copy of a sheet original . more specifically , for originals of a3 format , one copy may be provided every two full rotations of the photosensitive drum , and for originals of a4 format , one copy may be provided per full rotation of the photosensitive drum . such cycle difference arising from the different sizes of paper may be detected by a signal from the cassette 6 , and the cycle difference arising from the different types of original may be detected by a signal resulting from the change in position of the original carriage . description will now be made of the start preparation preceding to an ordinary copying cycle and of the rest position and restart succeeding to the completion of one copying cycle . as has been described above , the copying apparatus of the present embodiment is of the liquid development type whereby toner particles in the developing liquid are fixed by evaporation and desiccation of carrier liquid . also , the blade cleaner 42 , which may be formed of elastomer such as urethane rubber , nitride rubber , fluorine rubber , polysulfide rubber , acrylic rubber or the like and which is used to clean the photosensitive drum 17 to remove the toner or developing liquid remaining thereon after the image transfer , usually tends to permit a very small amount of toner to build up in the neighborhood of the cleaner &# 39 ; s edge portion 42 1 . if the apparatus is stopped and left under such condition for many hours , the carrier collected at the edge portion 42 1 would evaporate to solidify the toner . if the apparatus is re - started to rotate the drum 17 under such condition , the solidified toner would injure the edge 42 1 of the cleaner 42 and / or the surface of the photosensitive drum 17 or might adversely affect the formed image on the drum surface . for these reasons , the copying apparatus of the present embodiment is arranged so that closing of the main switch 10 does not result in rotation of the drum 17 but only allows rotation of the pump in the developing means 32 ( fig5 ) to stir and introduce the developing liquid 33 upwardly into a liquid supply pipe 70 ( fig2 ) so as to pour onto the blade cleaner 42 . after the solidified toner at and near the cleaner &# 39 ; s edge portion 42 1 is fluidized in a predetermined time , the photosensitive drum 17 begins to rotate and the fluidized toner is wiped off . after the photosensitive drum 17 has made at least one - half rotation , the rolls 18 1 and 18 2 of the sheet original transport means 2 begin to rotate and enable a copying cycle to take place . on the other hand , if the power source should be left connected even after completion of the copying cycles , the photosensitive drum 17 will continue its rotation and this is not desirable in respect of the service life of the drum 17 and / or the blade cleaner 42 . to avoid this , the copying apparatus of the present embodiment is also arranged so that when no further copying cycle is wanted after a previous one , the drum 17 may be automatically stopped into a rest position irrespective of &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; position of the main switch 10 . the time allowed for such rest position is selected to a value longer than the time required for a sheet of transfer paper p with a copy image thereon to be discharged out of the apparatus and for the entire surface of the photosensitive drum 17 to be cleaned up . in such rest position , depression of the re - start switch 12 in the operating portion 9 will return all the apparatus parts to the position which was taken before the rest position . as shown in fig6 the drum gear 77 is provided with a cam 157 adapted to actuate switches ms1 and ms4 to produce an original start signal , a cam 158 adapted to actuate switches ms2 and ms5 to produce a paper feed and register signal , a cam 159 adapted to actuate switches ms81 and ms82 to produce a jam detecting signal , and a cam 160 adapted to actuate a switch ms7 to produce a drum stop signal . the cam 160 is meant to predetermine the rest position for the drum and the portion of the drum which is to be stained with the cleaning blade during its rest position . the present embodiment is so designed that such stained portion of the drum may not be used as an image forming area . front and rear rails 5 1 and 5 2 are fixed to the upper ends of the frames 71 and 72 so as to slidably support the original carriage 3 by means of rollers to be described . the original carriage 3 comprises a portion for copying book originals and a sheet original transport portion 2 . the sheet original transport portion 2 has a gear 89 at one end thereof as seen in fig3 and this gear is driven from a drive source in the apparatus body . referring to fig7 and 8 , the drive received by the gear 89 may be transmitted through a synchro - pulley 90 coaxial with the gear 89 , a synchro - belt 91 and a synchro - pulley 92 to a roll 21 1 , and at the same time transmitted through a synchro - pulley 93 to a synchro - pulley 94 , from which the drive is transmitted to a roll 18 1 under the control of clutch cl1 . the operative connection will now be described with reference to fig3 and 6 . the drive from main motor m1 is transmitted via sprocket 96 , chain 95 , sprocket wheel 98 to drive a relay shaft 97 . the chain 95 also drives sprocket wheels 99 and 100 rotatably mounted on the shafts of electromagnetic clutches cl2 and cl3 . behind the clutches cl2 and cl3 , sprocket wheels 101 and 102 different in number of teeth are secured to the shafts of these clutches , and these two sprockets wheels are connected together by a chain 103 . attached to the other end of the clutch cl2 is a drum 104 on which is wound a wire 105 in several turns . the wire 105 is guided therefrom in a cross fashion to pass around a pulley 106 , and has the opposite ends thereof secured to the opposite ends of an angle 107 2 ( fig1 ) forming a part of the original carriage 3 . the original carriage may be reciprocated by changing over the two clutches cl2 and cl3 to rotate the drum 104 in normal and reverse directions . one end of the relay shaft 97 carries a gear 108 which is in meshing engagement with the aforesaid drum gear 77 , so as to transmit the drive from the motor to the drum gear . between the drum gear 77 and the gear 89 of the original carriage is a relay gear train 109 - 111 for transmission of the drive . where a sheet original is to be copied , the gears 89 and 111 are in engagement as shown , but where a book original is to be copied , the original carriage is shifted to break such engagement . another gear 116 is in meshing engagement with the drum gear 77 to drive the separator roll 49 , which in turn drives conveyor belt 57 via sprocket wheel 117 , chain 118 , sprocket wheel 119 and drive roll 56 . the other end of the relay shaft 97 carries thereon a sprocket wheel 112 for transmitting the drive via chain 113 and sprocket wheel 114 to paper feed control means 115 . by the paper feed control means designated at 115 in fig6 the paper feed roll 46 ( fig2 ) will be lowered to begin feeding paper in response to a paper feed signal . after a preceding sheet of transfer paper has passed the register roll 47 1 , this roll will be temporally stopped . subsequently , the leading edge of a subsequent sheet of transfer paper now being fed will strike the roll 47 1 to form a loop . when the paper feed signal disappears , the register roll 47 1 will resume its rotation to start the transfer paper and the paper feed roll 46 will rise to its initial position . these operations are all controlled electrically and mechanically . referring now to fig7 and 8 , a connector 149 is provided on the underside of the original carriage and connected to a connector 150 in the apparatus body . this connection is broken when a book original is to be copied , because the original carriage is slightly displaced in that case as described previously . also provided are cams 151 , 152 and 153 ( fig5 and 7 ) on the underside of the angle 107 2 . the cam 151 is engageable with a microswitch ms14 to detect whether the original carriage is in the position for copying sheet originals or in the position for copying book originals , thereby changing over the electric circuit . the cam 152 is engageable with a microswitch ms12 to stop the original carriage when it has moved backwardly during a book original copying cycle . the cam 153 is engageable with microswitches ms10 and ms11 to produce a reversing signal for formats a4 and a3 . in the illustrated embodiment , a cassette 6 loaded with a stock of transfer paper is inserted in the apparatus body 1 by means of rails 6 1 and 154 ( see fig9 - 12 ). a cam 6 2 will strike a microswitch ms19 in the apparatus body and produce a signal indicating the proper positioning of the cassette . where the cassette inserted contains paper of format a4 or smaller size , a cam 6 3 will actuate switches ms13 and ms16 to change over the circuit into a position for copies of format a4 . cassette 6 has a semi - fixed lid 7 1 and an openable lid 7 2 , which may be opened upon insertion of the cassette and also may serve as copy receiving tray . separator pawls 45 are provided at the opposite sides of the paper feed end of the cassette 6 . an embodiment of the paper feed means according to the present invention will now be described in detail . in fig1 , an uppermost sheet p &# 39 ; of copy paper stock p is fed by paper feed roll 46 and the leading edge thereof strikes against the nip between register rolls 47 1 and 47 2 which are then stationary , so that the fed sheet will form a loop as indicated by p &# 39 ;. subsequently , the register rolls 47 1 and 47 2 are driven by a signal from the apparatus , thus timing the paper feed . the operation of the paper feed roll and the register rolls has conventionally been controlled in the following manner : as soon as the drive to the paper feed roll 46 is connected , the drive to the register rolls 47 1 and 47 2 is disconnected to stop the register rolls ; subsequently , the loop of the copy paper p &# 39 ; is formed , whereupon the drive to the register rolls is connected and at the same time the drive to the paper feed roll is disconnected . according to this method , there are provided only two positions , i . e . a position in which the paper feed roll is stationary while the register rolls are rotating and a position in which the paper feed roll is rotating while the register rolls are stationary . therefore , control of these positions may be simply accomplished by a single switch having a normally open contact and a normally closed contact corresponding to the said two positions , respectively . such a system has a demerit that no subsequent feed cycle is allowed before the leading edge of preceding copy sheet has passed through the register rolls , but such a demerit would lead to no essential inconvenience in the copying apparatus of the type using a reciprocable optical system , because this provides the time allowance for the return stroke . however , if the aforesaid conventional system is used with a copying apparatus for sheet originals wherein no return stroke is involved and originals can be inserted in succession , paper feed means would encounter a barrier in accelerating the copying speed . the present invention also intends to provide paper feed means which can reduce the time interval between a preceding copy sheet and a subsequent copy sheet by the use of a control circuit identical with the conventional system . fig1 shows an embodiment of such paper feed means . in this embodiment , paper feed roll 46 is normally driven to rotate from a drive source in the apparatus body . the paper feed roll 46 may also be vertically moved by reciprocal movement of paper feed control shaft 131 via paper feed lever and arm 133 and 134 , so that the paper feed roll 46 may ride on the stock of copy paper p with the aid of its own weight or spring action so as to assume a paper drive position for feeding an uppermost paper sheet p &# 39 ;, and may be raised away from the stock of paper p so as to assume a paper feed stop position . the register rolls 47 1 and 47 2 can repeat rotation and stoppage alternately . as shown in fig1 , solenoids sl1 and sl2 are provided to effect the aforesaid control of the paper feed roll 46 and register 47 1 , 47 2 . these solenoids may be energized by a single microswitch having a normally open contact and a normally closed contact , i . e . by a single paper feed signal . when a paper feed signal enters in synchronism with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 17 , the normally open contact is closed to energize the solenoid sl1 so that the roll 46 is lowered to start paper feed . at the same time , the normally closed contact is opened to deenergize the solenoid sl2 , but the register rolls 47 1 and 47 2 should not be allowed to stop their rotation before the leading edge of a preceding copy sheet p has passed through these rolls . therefore , the rolls 47 1 and 47 2 continue to rotate until the preceding copy paper has completely passed therethrough . after the rolls 47 1 and 47 2 have stopped rotating , the leading edge of a succeeding copy sheet p &# 39 ; strikes the nip between the rolls 47 1 and 47 . sub . 2 so that the copy sheet p &# 39 ; forms a loop . thereafter , the paper signal is cut off to deenergize the solenoid sl1 and energize the solenoid sl2 , so that the register rolls 47 1 and 47 2 resume their rotation to start the copy sheet p &# 39 ;, whereupon the paper feed roll 46 is raised to stop its paper drive . thus , timed paper feed cycles may be mechanically accomplished according to the present invention . in fig1 and 20 , shaft 120 is normally rotated as a paper feed control drive source via chain 113 and sprocket 114 . a gear 121 secured to the shaft 120 has a cam 123 connected thereto by means of spring clutch 125 . the cam 123 is adapted to pivotally move a cam follower 132 to thereby rotate the paper feed control shaft 131 . the drive of the gear 121 is also transmitted to a gear 122 which is free relative to the shaft of the register roll 47 1 , and the gear 122 in turn drives the roll 47 1 via a spring clutch 140 . the aforesaid timed paper feed cycles may be provided by controlling the operation of the spring clutch 140 through a time delay mechanism . when no paper feed takes place , the solenoids sl1 and sl2 are in inoperative and operative conditions , respectively . in such a case , the cam 123 pivotally moves the cam follower in clockwise direction as viewed in fig1 , and accordingly the shaft 131 and lever 133 ( fig1 ) are also pivotally moved in the same direction , thus raising the paper feed roll 46 away from the stock of copy paper p . thus , with the solenoids being inoperative , the paper feed control lever 128 connected to link 129 by pin 129 1 is pulled by spring 130 to rotate clockwise about the shaft 128 1 until the lever strikes against a stop 128 2 , whereby the end pawl of this lever is engaged in a notch 127 formed in the flange of the cam 123 adjacent to the clutch 125 , thereby stopping the cam 123 in that position , and at the same time , actuating a minute pawl on the circumferential surface of the outer wheel 126 of the spring clutch 125 to loosen the spring and disengage the clutch 125 , thus cutting off the drive to the cam 123 . a spring 124 for preventing reverse rotation is provided between an inner clutch wheel 121 1 integral with the gear 121 and an inner clutch wheel 123 1 integral with the cam 123 . solenoid sl2 attracts link 135 rightwardly as viewed in fig1 or 22 , thus rotating pin 135 &# 39 ; and lever 135 1 in counter - clockwise direction . this causes pin 135 2 or lever 135 3 formed on the lever 135 1 to be actuated in counter - clockwise direction , thereby disengaging the upper end pawl of the lever 135 3 from the surface of delay drum 137 1 which is free relative to the shaft of the register roll 47 1 . a lever 135 4 connected to the lever 135 4 by a spring 138 is also rotated counter - clockwise to engage its upper end pawl in the notch 137 1 of the delay drum 137 1 . thereupon , the register roll 47 1 is driven by gears 121 , 122 through spring 140 1 and driven shaft 140 2 of the spring clutch 140 . the delay drum 137 1 , which is urged against the driven shaft 140 2 by spring receiver 137 7 and spring 136 secured to the register roll shaft 47 1 and frictional keep ring 137 6 slidably mounted on that shaft through the cooperation between pin 137 4 and slot 137 5 , is prevented from rotating by the engagement between the said pawl 135 4 and the notch 137 2 . when a paper feed signal enters , solenoids sl1 and sl2 are energized and deenergized , respectively , by a common switch , as described previously . in fig2 , link 129 and lever 128 are actuated to release cam 123 and outer clutch wheel 126 , so that the drive from the gear 121 is transmitted to spring 125 and cam 123 , which is thus rotated clockwise to cause cam follower 132 to drop into the recessed step 123 2 of the cam 123 and pivotally move in counter - clockwise direction , whereupon the paper feed roll 46 rides on the stock of copy paper p to start paper feed . upon deenergization of the solenoid sl2 , the lever 135 1 is pulled back by the spring 139 and the lever 135 4 is rotated clockwise , so that the delay drum 137 1 is frictionally driven to rotate counter - clockwise by the driven shaft 140 2 . the lever 135 3 is urged against the surface of the drum by the spring 138 ( fig2 ). during the while the delay drum 137 1 rotates about 300 ° as shown in fig2 , the preceding copy sheet has passed through the register rolls 47 1 , 47 2 and the leading edge of the subsequent copy sheet has not yet reached the register rolls . at this point of time , the end pawl of the lever 135 3 is engaged with another notch 137 3 formed in the delay drum 137 1 to prevent the rotation of the drum 137 1 and at the same time to hold the coarse surface ( or minute pawls ) of the outer clutch wheel 140 . as a result , the clutch spring 140 1 is loosened to cut off the drive to the register roll 47 1 . thus , the leading edge of the copy sheet fed by the paper feed roll 46 strikes the nip between the register rolls 47 1 and 47 2 which are now stationary , so that the copy sheet forms a loop to provide timing for the copying . when the paper feed signal disappears , the solenoid sl2 attracts the link 135 to disengage the lever 135 3 from the notch 137 3 and thereby release the outer clutch wheel 140 , so that the register roll 47 1 is rotated to start the copy sheet . thereupon , the solenoid sl1 is deenergized , but because the lever 128 is then riding on the circumferential surface of the cam 123 ( which is greater in diameter than the outer clutch wheel 126 ), the cam 123 is rotated to actuate the cam follower 132 to raise the paper feed roll 46 , whereupon the notch 127 is engaged by the lever 128 to bring about the position of fig2 in which the cam 123 is stopped . the delay drum 137 1 is stopped at the position of fig2 where the notch 137 2 thereof is engaged by the lever 135 4 , and thus it is ready for a subsequent cycle . in the above - described embodiment , the paper feed roll 46 is vertically moved to control the paper feed , but alternatively the control may be accomplished by intermittently rotating the paper feed roll while making it always bear against the stock of copy paper . in this latter case , the cam 123 may be replaced by a gear to rotate and stop the shaft of the paper feed roll 46 . further , in the apparatus of the type in which an original carriage or an optical system for the through - slit exposure is reciprocated , the paper feed signal may also be produced by such reciprocating member . the present invention is characterized in that a single signal source or a single drive source is used to accomplish a cycle of operation which comprises the steps of starting the paper feed by means of the paper feed roll 46 , completing the feeding of a preceding copy sheet through the register rolls 47 1 , 47 2 and stopping these rolls , feeding a subsequent copy sheet until the leading edge thereof reaches the register rolls to form a loop , starting the paper feed action of the register rolls , and stopping the rotation of the paper feed rolls . to accomplish this , there is provided a transmission system leading from drive source 114 , 120 via clutch 125 to rotatable paper feed control member 123 , and a transmission system leading from the drive source via clutch 140 to register rolls 47 1 , 47 2 . thus , a paper feed signal enters to release the rotatable control member 123 from its blocked position ( resulting as from members 126 - 130 ) and thereby start the paper feed while starting to rotate timing members ( such as delay drum 137 1 , link 135 , levers 135 1 , 135 3 , 135 4 ) which control the clutch in the transmission system leading to the register rolls ; after a pedetermined time ( i . e . the time required for a preceding copy sheet to completely pass through the register rolls 47 1 , 47 2 ), the timing members are operated to stop the register rolls 47 1 , 47 2 , whereupon the leading edge of a subsequent copy sheet strikes these rolls to form a loop ; thereafter the paper feed signal is cut off to stop the paper feed , whereupon the register rolls 47 1 and 47 2 reverse their directions of rotation to start the copy sheet nipped therebetween . in this way , paper feed can be effected with accurate timing . moreover , the construction for this purpose can be provided by a relatively simple mechanical construction . furthermore , when applied to the copying apparatus of the type which permits successive insertion of originals , as described previously , the paper feed system of the present invention enables successive originals to be received in synchronism with the paper feed speed provided by the present invention , thus enhancing the copying speed . an embodiment of the means for repeating the copying cycle in the copying apparatus of the present invention will be described hereunder . such means is effectively applicable to repeat the copying cycle as frequently as desired . for example , where each ten copies of five different originals are to be obtained by the copying apparatus of the present invention , the number of copies desired may be set to the value &# 34 ; 10 &# 34 ;, whereafter a first original may be set in position and then a copy button depressed , whereby the apparatus will continue its operation until ten copies of the first original are produced , whereupon the apparatus is stopped . simply by depressing the copy button again , the same process may be repeated for each of the other four originals , thus providing ten copies of them each . with the conventional system for such repeated operation , resetting to a set value has taken place during the depression of the button and this could cause an error in the desired number of copies because the resetting could not be completed if the button was released after a short - time depression . according to the present invention , however , no such error can occur because once the copying cycles up to a set value have been completed , the resetting to the set value is automatically effected as will be described below . description will finally be made of the electric control in an embodiment of the copying apparatus according to the present invention . in the copying apparatus according to the previous embodiment , the original carriage 3 is provided with a book original carriage means 67 ( glass plate ) and a sheet original transport means 2 supported on the angles slidable along rails 5 1 , 5 2 by means or rollers . the sheet original transport means has a gear 89 at the forward end thereof , and this gear is driven from drum gear 77 integral or coaxial with photosensitive drum 17 via relay gears 109 - 111 , as shown in fig3 and 4 . the drive imparted to the gear 89 is transmitted via synchro - pulleys 90 , 92 and synchro - belt 91 to roll 21 1 , and further via synchro - belt 93 to pulley 94 , and thence to roll 18 1 under the control of clutch cl1 . the drive from main motor m1 of fig2 is transmitted via sprocket wheel 96 , chain 95 , sprocket wheel 98 , relay shaft 97 and gear 108 to drive drum gear 77 and photosensitive drum 17 . when sheet originals are to be copied , gears 89 and 11 are in engagement , but when book originals are to be copied , gear 89 is displaced out of engagement with gear 11 as described below . chain 95 also drive sprocket wheels 99 and 100 rotatably mounted on the shafts of electromagnetic clutches cl2 and cl3 . behind the clutches cl2 and cl3 , sprocket wheels 101 and 102 different in number of teeth are secured to the shafts of these clutches , and these two sprocket wheels are connected by a chain 103 . attached to the shaft of the clutch cl2 is a drum 104 on which is wound a wire 105 in several turns . the wire 105 is guided therefrom in a cross fashion to pass around a pulley 106 , and has the opposite ends thereof secured to the front and rear ends of the original carriage 3 . the original carriage may be reciprocated by selectively using the two clutches cl2 and cl3 to rotate the drum 104 in normal and reverse directions . the gear ratio of gears 101 and 102 is selected such that the return stroke of the carriage may be faster than the forward stroke . when copying operation is started and preparatory operations for developing and other various means are completed , the photosensitive drum 17 begins rotating while the original carriage 3 is stopped in its normal position for copying sheet originals with gears 89 and 111 in engagement and with rolls 21 1 , 21 2 , 18 1 , 18 2 being in rotation . when a sheet original is inserted from the right of the apparatus into the nip between rolls 18 1 and 18 2 , it is transported leftwardly . as soon as the leading edge of the sheet original is detected by lamp 19 and light receiving element 20 , the rolls 81 1 and 18 2 are temporally stopped from rotating , and thus the original is also stopped . when the photosensitive drum 17 comes to a predetermined position , the cam 157 of drum gear 77 actuates microswitches ms1 and ms4 ( operable for format a4 or smaller sizes ) in succession to produce an original start signal , whereupon the rolls 18 1 and 18 2 resumes their rotation so that the original is further transported leftwardly in synchronism with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 17 and discharged upwardly out of the apparatus by rolls 21 1 and 21 2 . change - over of the operation mode to a book original copying mode may be accomplished by depressing change - over button 13 to cause counter - clockwise pivotal movement of lever 63 2 about pin 63 3 , as viewed in fig4 through the cooperation between lever 13 1 and projection 63 1 , thus lowering roll 63 to disengage this roll downwardly from sheet original positioning groove 65 formed in cam 64 mounted to the lower portion of the original carriage 3 . when the original carriage 3 is moved leftwardly , the roll 63 is received into book original positioning groove 66 by means of spring 63 4 , and the sheet original transport means 2 is also moved with the carriage 3 to break the engagement between gears 89 and 111 . at this time , the forward end 67 1 of the original carriage &# 39 ; s glass plate 67 assumes the position which was occupied by the photoelectric means 19 , 20 during the sheet original copying mode . thereupon , a book original to be copied is placed on the carriage &# 39 ; s glass plate 67 with the forward end thereof registered with the forward end 67 1 of the glass plate , and then the book original is held by the keep cover 4 ( fig2 ). thereafter , the copy button 14 &# 39 ; ( fig1 ) is depressed to produce an original start signal from the photosensitive drum 17 in the same way as described above with respect to cause of sheet original . this signal energizes an electromagnetic plunger sl3 so that upon disengagement of the roll 63 from the groove 66 the original carriage 3 is moved forwardly in synchronism with the photosensitive drum 17 to accomplish a through - slit exposure . upon completion of such exposure , the original carriage 3 stops its movement in response to its own signal corresponding to the size of the book original , whereupon the carriage 3 assumes its rapid backward movement and stops at its start position determined by roll 63 and groove 66 . where multiple copies of the same book original are to be obtained continuously , this may readily be accomplished by means of the aforesaid counter means 14 operatively associated with the copy button 14 &# 39 ;. at each reciprocal movement of the original carriage , cam 64 and crank 69 are rotated to actuate the ratchet mechanism of the counter means so that the original carriage 3 is reciprocated as frequently as the set number of copies , whereafter the copy button 14 &# 39 ; is released to stop the original carriage 3 . in the present embodiment of the copying apparatus , the photosensitive drum 17 can copy originals of variable width up to that of jis a3 and has a circumferential length somewhat greater than the length of a3 format . therefore , where the originals to be copied are sheet originals , one of sheet originals of a3 format may be fed for copying per full rotation of the photosensitive drum or two of sheet originals of a4 format may be fed at a time in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis thereof . if book originals are to be copied , the forward stroke ( exposure stroke ) of the original carriage 3 is followed by the return stroke which requires substantially as much time as the forward stroke , and thus the length of time required for providing one copy of a book original will be approximately twice the time required for one copy of a sheet original . more specifically , for originals of a3 format , one copy may be provided every two full rotations of the photosensitive drum , and for originals of a4 format , one copy may be provided per full rotation of the photosensitive drum . such cycle difference arising from the different sizes of paper may be detected by a signal from the cassette 6 , and the cycle different arising from the different types of original may be detected by a signal resulting from the change in position of the original carriage . formats a3 and a4 are taken as examples in the illustrated embodiment . as shown in fig1 - 16 , a cassette for format a4 or smaller size of paper ( fig1 ) or a cassette for format a3 ( fig1 ) is provided with a pawl 6 2 for providing a signal representing the completion of the cassette loading through microswitch ms19 . the cassette for format a4 or smaller size ( fig1 ) is provided with a cam 6 3 for actuating microswitches ms13 and ms16 . photoelectric means 155 and 156 are provided to detect the presence of transfer paper through apertures 6 4 and 43 1 formed in the bottom and intermediate plates of the cassette , respectively . as shown in fig5 cams 151 - 153 are provided on the underside of the original carriage 3 . the cam 151 actuates microswitch ms14 to detect a position of the original carriage corresponding to the original thereon . more specifically , when the original carriage is in the shown position for sheet originals , the cam 151 opens the change - over microswitch ms14 - a in the book original control circuit of the circuitry shown in fig1 . the cam 152 actuates microswitch ms12 to stop the original carriage 3 at a predetermined position . the cam 153 actuates microswitch ms10 for originals of a4 or smaller size , and actuates microswitch ms11 for originals of a3 size , thereby providing a signal for moving the original carriage in reverse direction . the electric control circuit arrangement for controlling various parts of the copying apparatus will be described with reference to fig1 . before a sheet original is transported to the sheet original transport means 2 on the original carriage 3 , the light receiving element 20 forming the original detecting photoelectric means 19 , 20 will produce an electromotive force , and transistor q1 and accordingly original detecting relay k4 will be in off state . through the normally closed contact k4 - 2 of the relay k4 , electromagnetic clutch cl1 will be energized to drive gear 89 which in turn will drive original transport roll 18 1 . when a sheet original is transported by rolls 18 1 , 18 2 and the leading edge thereof reaches the detector means 19 , 20 , transistor q1 and relay k4 will assume on state and the normally closed contact k4 - 2 of the relay k4 will be opened to deenergize clutch cl1 , thus stopping the original temporally . when the cam 157 of rotating drum gear 77 closes original start microswitch ms1 ( fig3 ), relay k5 will be energized through a circuit of k4 - 2 - k5 - d8 - k8 - 2 - ms1 , and self - hold with the aid of contact k5 - 1 , so that clutch cl1 will be energized through contact k5 - 2 , thus starting transportation of the sheet original . at the same time , a cassette when inserted will intercept the light to photoelectric means 155 , 156 so that transistor q3 , cassette insertion signal microswitch ms19 and paper stock deficiency indicator lamp pl1 will all be in off state , and thus normally closed contact k8 - 2 remains closed . where the transfer paper p in the cassette 6 is of size a3 , microswitch ms13 closes its contact a3 and microswitch ms16 is open . when the drum 17 is further rotated to actuate a subsequent original start microswitch ms4 , no response will occur for an original of size a3 but , if the original is of a4 or smaller size , relay k5 will again energize clutch cl1 through a circuit of k4 - 2 - k5 - d8 - k8 - 2 - ms4 - d2 - ms13 - a4 , whereby a second sheet original of size a4 will begin to be transported during one rotation of the drum 17 . on the other hand , relay k6 is energized through a circuit of k8 - 2 - d7 - k6 - normally closed contacts of ms0 :, 81 , and self - holds with the aid of k6 - 1 and k4 - 1 . rotation of the photosensitive drum 17 causes cam 157 to actuate paper feed microswitches ms2 and ms5 . where the original is of size a3 , microswitch ms2 will deenergize the normally energized solenoid sl2 and make a circuit of k6 - 2 - sl1 , thereby controlling the paper feed rolls 46 , 47 1 of fig1 to feed a sheet of transfer paper . where the original is of a4 or smaller size , solenoids sl1 and sl2 will be changed over irrespective of the open or closed position of ms16 - a4 - ms5 , thus feeding two sheets of transfer paper for each one rotation of the drum 17 . in the illustrated circuitry , microswitches ms80 , 81 are adapted to be actuated by the cam 159 of drum gear 77 so that their normally closed contacts may hold the relay k6 in on state , and in addition , these switches serve to produce a jam detection signal . when the interval between successive sheet originals is nearly equal to the spacing between rolls 18 and 21 , it will be seen from the time chart of fig1 that the contacts k4 and k5 are operative at a shorter interval than the microswitch ms2 . therefore , when the contact k4 ( instead of k6 ) is used , the solenoid sl1 will not be energized even if a sheet original has properly passed the rolls 18 and 21 , thus failing to effect paper feed . for this reason , use is made of relay k6 which may be operated for a perdetermined time irrespective of the length of originals , with the aid of microswitches ms80 , 81 provided on the drum 17 so as to be actuated later than the microswitch ms2 . when the original carriage 3 is displaced until the leading edge thereof reaches the detecting station ( corresponding to the position assumed by photoelectric means 19 , 20 during the sheet original copying operation ), as described above , connectors 149 , 150 will be disconnected and the position detector cam 151 on the underside of the original carriage will actuate microswitch ms14 to close its book original contact ms14 - a . when copy start button 14 &# 39 ; is depressed , microswitch ms9 will be closed to make a circuit of ms14 - a - ms9 - k8 - 1 - k1 - ms11 - a3 - ms13 - a3 , through which the relay k1 will be energized and self - hold with the aid of its contact k1 - 1 . the cam 157 on the drum gear 77 will close the original start switch ms1 to make a circuit of k3 - 2nc - k1 - 2 - k2 - ms1 , through which relay k2 for forwardly driving the orignal carriage will be energized and self - hold with the aid of its contact k2 - 1 . contact k2 - 3 will be closed to energize the solenoid sl3 , so that the engagement between roll 63 and groove 66 will be released to unlock the carriage 3 . closing of contact k2 - 2 will energize the clutch cl2 to move the carriage 3 forwardly . cam 153 will actuate microswitch ms10 ( for reversing the carriage movement in case of size a4 ) or microswitch ms11 ( for reversing the carriage movement in case of size a3 ) which is located in the path of the carriage , whereby relay k1 and accordingly relay k2 will be deenergized to disengage clutch cl2 , thus stopping the carriage 3 . the reversing contact of the microswitch ms10 or ms11 will energize relay k3 for reversely driving the original carriage , to thereby make a circuit of ms12 - k3 - ms10 - a3 - d1 - ms13 - a4 or ms12 - k3 - ms11 - a4 - ms13 - a3 , and the relay k3 will self - hold with the aid of its contact k3 - 1 . through the contact k3 - 2 of this relay , the solenoid sl3 will be energized to drive the carriage 3 in the opposite direction . when the carriage 3 returns to a predetermined position ( i . e . when the leading edge 67 1 of the carriage reaches the detecting position ), cam 152 will actuate microswitch ms12 to open this switch and accordingly deenergize relay k4 and clutch cl3 , thus stopping the carriage 3 at this position . start button 14 &# 39 ; may be again depressed to repeat the above - described operation , or alternatively the apparatus will be automatically operated in response to counter means 14 . thus , according to the present invention , the electrophotographic copying apparatus using the drum type image transfer system can be simply and readily changed over between the sheet original copying mode and the book original copying mode without requiring the cumbersome detachment and reassemblage of the attachments . moreover , the detection of the sheet original &# 39 ; s position and the detection of the carriage &# 39 ; s position during the book original copying mode take place at the same position and this enables the use of a common start signal from the photosensitive drum to simplify the control of the starting operation . during the sheet original copying mode , if the originals are of the size which permits two copies to be produced per full rotation of the photosensitive drum , the transportation of such originals and the feeding of copy or transfer sheets may take place in synchronism with each other to thereby enhance the efficiency of the copying operation . throughout the specification , the detection of the sheet original &# 39 ; s position and the detection of the book original carriage &# 39 ; s position have been described as taking place at the same position , but actually it is desirable that the stop position for the original carriage should be set to a position slightly more distant from the illuminating means 22 than the stop position for sheet originals , in view of the fact that the possible difference in inertia or the possible difference in the time required for stabilization of movement may occur between the sheet original and the original carriage when they are started to move by a common signal . such an additional distance for the original carriage &# 39 ; s stop position must be determined within a range which will in no way affect the start signal from the drum and the operation sequence of the various microswitches , and furthermore , the paper feed microswitches ms2 and ms5 must be used exclusively for the sheet original copying mode while additional two microswitches must be provided for use in the book original copying mode or alternatively , the copy paper feed signal must be produced in accordance with the movement of the original carriage .
| 6 |
[ 0017 ] fig1 is a cross - sectional view of one embodiment of a liner remover assembly 10 . the assembly 10 is shown having three major portions . the first portion or gripping portion 11 is designed to engage the liner 70 in a cylinder assembly 75 ( partially shown ). the second portion or the securing portion 12 helps place the assembly 10 over the cylinder assembly 75 and provides support during removal of the liner 70 . the third portion or the removal portion 14 assists in the removal of the liner 70 from the cylinder assembly 75 . the gripping portion 11 can preferably include a conical shaped wedge 15 , a rod 60 , at least one collet 20 , a plate 35 , a first thrust bearing assembly 42 , and a first nut 50 . the wedge 15 can be any shape so long as it able to engage the liner 70 as required . the wedge 15 can preferably be made from a metal , an alloy such as titanium , chromium , manganese , iron , nickel , copper , zinc , silver , tin , tungsten , platinum , gold , lead , steel or similar materials . however , the wedge 15 may also be made from a polymer or a combination of polymers . the wedge 15 can be solid or at least partially hollowed ( as shown ) so long as it is strong enough to cause the collet 20 to engage the liner 70 as required . the wedge 15 can be threaded and / or welded at a first end 17 of the rod 60 . the rod 60 has one or more threads on its outer surface . the collet 20 as used herein may be anything that has one surface that can mate with the liner 70 and another surface that can mate with the wedge 15 . the collet 20 can be solid or at least partially hollowed so long as it is strong enough to engage the liner 70 as required . one or more collets 20 may be provided and can form a cavity 23 to receive the wedge 15 and the rod 60 , however , preferably there are two collets 20 , and more preferably there are four collets 20 . the inner surface of the collet 20 and the outer surface of the wedge 15 are complementary to each other to provide maximum contact with each other . the collet 20 can preferably be made from a metal , an alloy such as titanium , chromium , manganese , iron , nickel , copper , zinc , silver , tin , tungsten , platinum , gold , lead , steel or similar materials . however , the collet 20 can also be made from a polymer or a combination of polymers that can engage and grip the liner 70 . the collet 20 may have on the outer surface at least one or more annular grooves 32 to receive one or more rings 30 . rings 30 bind the collets 20 together until they are expanded radially by the wedge 15 . a flange 25 is provided at one end of the collet 20 to mate with an upper surface of the cylinder assembly 75 and preferably allows the collet , the wedge 15 and a portion of the rod 60 to enter the liner 70 . the gripping portion 11 also includes the plate 35 that may be annularly shaped and can encapsulate the first nut 50 and the first thrust bearing assembly 42 . the first thrust bearing assembly 42 can further include a retaining ring 40 , and a first thrust bearing 41 that can be disposed between a first set of washers 37 . the first thrust bearing assembly 42 may serve to decrease the friction between the plate 35 and the first nut 50 , thereby making it easier to turn or torque the first nut 50 . the plate 35 may be coupled to the collets 20 to prevent the collets from travelling in an axial direction when the first nut 50 is rotated in a first direction , thereby moving the wedge 15 and rod 60 in an axial direction . the plate 35 may be solid or may have apertures or slots therein for viewing into the cylinder 75 . additionally , the plate 35 may be any shape so long as it prevents the movement of the collets 20 axially when required . the first nut 50 , the annular plate 35 , and the first thrust bearing assembly 42 are threaded or coupled to the rod 60 . in the gripping operation , a torquing apparatus such as a wrench , pliers or similar apparatus ( not shown ) torques ( or turns ) the first nut 50 in the first direction causing the first end 17 of rod 60 and the wedge 15 to move towards the first nut . this movement causes the wedge 15 to move further into the cavity 23 and forces the collets 20 radially outward to engage the liner 70 as shown in fig2 . the first nut 50 can be torqued in the first direction , as required , to force the collets 20 to expand radially and grip the liner 70 . additionally , the collets 20 can be expanded radially to fit various sizes of liners 70 , thereby decreasing the number of liner remover assemblies 10 required to be available at the shop . the securing portion 12 can include a bridge 45 that can be constructed and arranged to mate with an upper surface of the cylinder assembly 75 . the bridge 45 may include a platform 47 and at least one supporting member 49 , but preferably has two or more supporting members . the bridge 45 can provide the initial support for the assembly 10 when it is placed on the cylinder assembly 75 . additionally , the bridge 45 can assist in the removal of the liner 70 from the cylinder assembly 75 by providing support for a second nut 55 to rotate the rod 60 which lifts the gripping portion 11 and the liner 70 . the bridge 45 can preferably be from a metal or an alloy such as titanium , chromium , manganese , iron , nickel , copper , zinc , silver , tin , tungsten , platinum , gold , lead , steel or similar materials . however , the bridge 45 can also be made from a polymer or a combination of polymers that are capable of withstanding the force required to lift the liner 70 from the cylinder assembly 75 . additionally , the bridge 45 and the support members 49 may be annular in shape or any other shape so long as it provides support as described above . the removal portion 14 can include a second thrust bearing assembly 51 , a second nut 55 and a second end 80 of the rod 60 . the second thrust bearing assembly 51 may be positioned between the second nut 55 and the bridge 45 , and can include a second set of washers 39 having a second thrust bearing 48 disposed between the washers . the second end 80 of rod 60 can be adapted to receive a lifting member such as an eyehook 90 ( fig2 ), which can be attached to a conventional hook and chain . the second end 80 can further include an aperture to receive a pin 65 therein . the pin 65 can secure the eye hook 90 to the rod 60 . the eye hook 90 can be attached at all times or attached when it is needed such as to lift a heavy liner 70 or stuck liner that requires additional force . the second nut 55 and the second thrust bearing assembly 51 can be threaded or coupled to rod 60 . in the removal operation ( fig3 ), the torquing apparatus can be applied to the second nut 55 in the first direction , which rotates the rod 60 , causing the gripping portion 11 , and liner 70 , to move axially towards the second nut . the torquing can continue until the liner 70 is removed at least partially from the cylinder assembly 75 or at a point where the liner can be removed by hand or other means . [ 0024 ] fig2 is a cross - section view of the liner remover assembly 10 engaging a liner 70 from the cylinder assembly 75 . the liner remover assembly 10 is placed on an upper surface of the cylinder assembly 75 and the collets 20 , wedge 15 and a portion of the rod 60 is inserted into the cylinder to engage the liner 70 . the first nut 50 is torqued , thereby causing the rod 60 and the wedge 15 to move axially and forcing the collets 20 to move radially outward and engage the liner 70 . [ 0025 ] fig2 also illustrates an alternative embodiment of the liner remover assembly 10 wherein a lifting member such as a handle or an eyehook 90 is attached to the second end 80 of the rod 60 . the eye hook 90 is constructed and arranged for use with a hand or other devices such as a hook and chain . the eyehook 90 can include a central region 95 capable of receiving a hook ( not shown ) or similar devices . the central region 95 can be partially defined by a first guiding member 100 and a second guiding member 102 that converge at point 105 . the guiding members 100 , 102 can guide a hook to point 105 if the hook is initially placed on either guiding member 100 , 102 . by having the hook at point 105 , the liner remover assembly 10 can be balanced and the liner 70 can be lifted with minimal swaying . [ 0026 ] fig3 illustrates the removal of the liner 70 . the second nut 55 has been torqued by the torquing apparatus ( not shown ) causing the rod 60 to travel in the direction indicated by the arrow . once the liner 70 is moved passed a certain point in the cylinder assembly 75 , it can be easily removed . the collets 20 can be disengaged from the liner 70 by rotating the first nut 50 in a second direction , thereby allowing the liner to be removed by hand , pliers or similar devices . alternatively , a hand ( human ) or hook can be used to grab the eyehook 90 and lift the entire liner remover assembly 10 along with the engaged liner 70 from the cylinder assembly 75 . additionally , all the components described above and herein can be made from a polymer , a metal or an alloy such as titanium , chromium , manganese , iron , nickel , copper , zinc , silver , tin , tungsten , platinum , gold , lead , steel or any combination thereof . the many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the detailed specification , and thus , it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such features and advantages of the invention which fall within the true spirits and scope of the invention . further , since numerous modifications and variations will readily occur to those skilled in the art , it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described , and accordingly , all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to , falling within the scope of the invention .
| 8 |
referring to fig1 and 2 , typical semiautomatic handgun 10 of the type known generically as model 1911 or model 1911 - a1 is shown . it utilizes a single column magazine wherein the rounds are stacked linearly on top of one another . a one - piece unit 12 formed of a trigger bow 14 and a trigger body 16 is slidably engaged by opposed facing slots 18 , 20 extending fore and aft within grip handle 22 . as may be noted , trigger body 16 surrounds a typical single column magazine 24 removably disposed within grip handle 22 . a grip safety 26 is inserted within opening 28 defined by opposing interior sides 30 , 32 of grip handle 22 . it may be further noted that the width defined by sides 30 , 32 is sufficient to accommodate both trigger body 16 and magazine 24 . as is conventional , grip panels 34 , 36 are disposed on opposed sides of the grip handle . the trigger body serves the function of transferring the motion of the trigger bow linearly around the magazine . during assembly of the handgun , one piece unit 12 composed of the trigger bow and trigger body is inserted through opening 28 into engagement with opposed facing slots 18 , 20 and advanced forwardly . the rear end of the trigger body and opening 28 are covered upon attachment of grip safety 26 . referring jointly to fig3 and 5 , there is shown a semiautomatic model 1911 ( or model 1911 - a1 handgun 50 having a grip handle 52 adapted to receive a staggered two - column magazine , sometimes referred to as a high capacity magazine . such a magazine is wider than the conventional magazine and requires a grip handle wider than that of more conventional handguns of this type . to accommodate the wider magazine , trigger bow 54 ( see fig5 ) must be apertured with a wider opening than the more conventional trigger body to accommodate the wider magazine . rear edges or flanges 56 , 58 of grip handle 52 curve inwardly toward one another to define a standard width w therebetween . it may be noted that the width w between flanges 56 , 58 is less than the width between sides 60 , 62 of the magazine receiving channel of frame 64 and within the grip handle . slots 66 , 68 , extending fore and aft within grip handle 52 and upwardly of the magazine must be spaced apart in a facing relationship a sufficient distance to accommodate fore and aft translation of trigger bow 54 . trigger bow 54 , having trigger body 70 formed a unitary part thereof , is necessarily substantially wider than the width defined by flanges 56 , 58 . these dimensional relationships require openings or cut - outs 72 , 74 in inwardly turned flanges 56 , 58 to accommodate the slots . a conventional grip safety , such as grip safety 26 shown in fig1 and 2 , would only be capable of filling opening 76 between flanges 56 , 58 . this would result in rectangular shaped openings commensurate with the cross - section of slots 66 , 68 being disposed on opposed sides of the grip safety . such openings would have a negative impact upon comfort of the user , safety to the user , potential for intrusion of foreign matter , and reliability . the solution proposed herein includes that of forming opposed handgrips attached to grip handle 52 to include extensions penetrably insertable within cut - outs 72 , 74 . this solution necessarily requires removable and reassembly of the handgrips each time the handgun is to be field stripped . such disassembly and reassembly is unnecessary , creates a situation for potential loss of parts , reduces the likelihood of using aftermarket handgrips more comfortable to the user , and requires handgrips with an easily broken off extension . to solve the problem of exposed cut - outs 72 , 74 , grip safety 80 was developed , as particularly illustrated in detail in fig5 , 7 and 8 . grip safety 80 includes a conventionally configured body 82 for penetrable engagement within opening 76 intermediate flanges 56 , 58 . a pair of extensions 84 , 86 , rectangular in vertical cross - section , are configured to penetrably engage slots 66 , 68 disposed in flanges 56 , 58 . upon such engagement , or openings 72 , 74 created by these two slots will become closed . to provide comfort to a shooter , back surface 88 of grip safety 80 is contoured to carry through the curvature of the posterior opposed sides of grip handle 52 . additionally , faces 90 , 92 of extensions 84 , 86 are contoured to mate with the contour of the respective adjacent surfaces of the grip handle . grip safety 80 thereby provides all the benefits of a conventional grip safety and it closes the open posterior openings or cut - outs or openings 72 , 74 formed by slots 66 , 68 disposed in grip handle 52 . upon field stripping or partial disassembly , the opposed grip panels ( such as grip panel 72 shown in fig1 ) need not be disassembled . most grip safeties for handguns of the type described herein include a rearwardly extending upwardly located shield to prevent the user &# 39 ; s hand from interferingly engaging with the hammer and from being positioned too high and interfering with rearward movement of slide 104 ( see fig3 ad 4 ). to permit a user &# 39 ; s hand to be as high up on grip handle 52 as possible , shield 100 of grip safety 80 includes a depression 102 formed therein for receiving knob 106 of the hammer . this depression permits undersurface 108 of shield 100 to be as high as possible without impeding arcuate movement of the hammer and its associated knob 106 . the user &# 39 ; s hand is thereby protected against injury due to rearward movement of slide 104 and against injury by knob 106 due to downward arcuate movement of the hammer . while the principles of the invention have now been made clear in an illustrative embodiment , there will be immediately obvious to those skilled in the art many modifications of structure , arrangement , proportions , elements , materials and components used in the practice of the invention which are particularly adapted for specific environments and operating requirements without departing from those principles .
| 5 |
the regulating system shown in the drawing serves to provide a gas / air mixture for a gas burner ( not shown ). with reference to fig1 a gas flow can be fed to the burner ( not shown ) via a first line 10 . a gas - regulating valve 11 and two gas safety valves 12 , 13 are assigned to the first line 10 carrying the gas flow . the gas - regulating valve 11 and the gas safety valves 12 , 13 may be of any desired design . the construction and mode of operation of gas safety valves and gas - regulating valves are sufficiently known from the prior art . furthermore , a combustion - air flow can be fed to the burner ( not shown ) via a second line 14 . the combustion - air flow is produced by a fan 15 , the rotational speed of which is determined by a motor 16 assigned to the fan 15 . a restrictor or choke point 17 is arranged inside the second line 14 carrying the combustion - air flow . in the region downstream of the choke point 17 , the first line 10 carrying the gas flow opens into the second line 14 carrying the air flow . in this region , the first line 10 carrying the gas flow is terminated by gas nozzle 18 . a sensor 19 is arranged between the first line 10 carrying the gas flow and the second line 14 carrying the combustion - air flow . the sensor 19 is connected by a first measuring point 20 to the first line 10 carrying the gas flow , namely upstream of the gas nozzle 18 in the direction of flow of the gas . furthermore , the sensor 19 is connected by a second measuring point 21 to the second line 14 carrying the combustion - air flow , namely upstream of the choke point 17 in the direction of flow of the combustion air . the sensor 19 is designed as a differential - pressure sensor , in particular as a flow - rate meter or anemometer . the pressure difference between the gas pressure and the combustion - air pressure can therefore be determined by means of the sensor 19 . if the gas pressure matches the combustion air , the flow through the sensor 19 designed as flow - rate meter or anemometer is equal to zero . if the combustion - air pressure is higher than the gas pressure , a flow from the second measuring point 21 in the direction of the first measuring point 20 can be detected . on the other hand , if the combustion - air pressure is lower than the gas pressure , a flow from the first measuring point 20 in the direction of the second measuring point 21 can be detected by the sensor 19 . the pressure ratios of gas pressure and combustion - air pressure can therefore be determined by the sensor 19 from the rate of flow through the sensor 19 and from the direction of flow . depending on these pressure ratios , the sensor 19 generates an electrical or electronic signal 22 . this electrical or electronic signal 22 is fed to a control unit or regulating unit 23 , which generates a regulating signal 24 for an actuator 25 of the gas - regulating valve 11 . to insure a variable transmission ratio between gas pressure and combustion - air pressure or gas flow and combustion - air flow , the electrical or electronic signal 22 of the sensor 19 is balanced with an auxiliary signal 27 in a summing device 26 , specifically before the signal 22 is fed to the regulating unit 23 . the output signal 30 of the summing device 26 is therefore fed as input signal to the regulating unit 23 , the output signal 30 being an additive superimposition of the signals 22 , 27 . the auxiliary signal 27 is a signal which functionally depends on a rotational speed of the fan 15 . the auxiliary signal 27 is obtained in an evaluating device 28 from a rotational - speed signal 29 of the fan 15 or of the motor 16 of the fan 15 . since the auxiliary signal 27 functionally depends on the rotational speed of the fan 15 , it directly follows that the auxiliary signal 27 depends on the combustion - air flow or combustion - air pressure . unlike the exemplary embodiment shown , it is possible to generate the auxiliary signal 27 in another way . thus it is not absolutely necessary for the auxiliary signal 27 to be determined from the rotational speed of the fan . it is also conceivable to provide an additional sensor ( not shown ) for determining the combustion - air flow and thus for generating the auxiliary signal 27 . to provide a gas / air mixture with a variable transmission ratio between gas pressure and combustion - air pressure , the procedure with the regulating system according to the invention is therefore as follows : an electrical or electronic signal 22 which corresponds to the pressure difference between the gas pressure and the combustion - air pressure is determined by means of the sensor 19 . this electrical or electronic signal 22 is balanced with an auxiliary signal 27 . to this end , the electrical or electronic signal 22 and the auxiliary signal 27 are added . the auxiliary signal 27 depends on the combustion - air flow , in particular on the rotational speed of the fan 15 . the output signal 30 , determined from the signals 22 , 27 , of the summing device 26 is fed to a regulating unit 23 , which generates a regulating signal 24 for the actuator 25 of the gas - regulating valve 11 . in this case , the regulating signal 24 is determined in such a way that the regulating unit 23 changes the gas flow to the effect that the input signal for the regulating unit 23 , that is the signal 30 determined from the signals 22 , 27 , assumes a value of zero . a factor which determines the transmission ratio between gas flow and combustion - air flow can be determined in the evaluating device 28 . this factor is a multiplication factor . the higher this multiplication factor is , the higher is the transmission ratio . the transmission ratio can be varied by varying the multiplication factor .
| 5 |
it is to be understood that the invention may assume various alternative orientations and step sequences , except where expressly specified to the contrary . it is also to be understood that the specific devices and processes illustrated in the attached drawings , and described in the following specification are simply exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts defined in the appended claims . hence , specific dimensions , directions or other physical characteristics relating to the embodiments disclosed are not to be considered as limiting , unless the claims expressly state otherwise . fig1 ( a ) and 1 ( b ) show a first exemplary embodiment of a heat shield configuration according to the present invention having a heat shield 1 , which is used for shielding a catalytic converter 2 situated in the interior of the heat shield 1 . the catalytic converter 2 may be , for example , a catalytic converter for treating exhaust gases of an internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle . the exhaust treatment action of the catalytic converter 2 is best within a specific temperature range . this temperature range is to be reached as rapidly as possible , but is not to be exceeded . the catalytic converter 2 is enclosed essentially completely and on all sides by the heat shield 1 . in this way , the catalytic converter 2 and its environment are insulated especially well from one another in regard to temperature influences and noise . in addition , the encapsulation is used so that the catalytic converter 2 reaches the operating temperature required for optimal exhaust treatment rapidly . the cold start phase may thus be shortened by rapid temperature increase in the interior of the heat shield 1 , which is a significant advantage in regard to the expected exhaust gas standard euro 5 . fig1 ( a ) shows the heat shield 1 having the catalytic converter situated in its interior during the warm - up phase to the optimal operating temperature of the catalytic converter 2 . in this phase , the closure 6 , which is located on the top side of the heat shield and encloses an opening present there in the form of a through opening in the heat shield , is completely closed . the heat generated during operation of the internal combustion engine therefore remains in the interior of the heat shield 1 and heats the catalytic converter rapidly to the desired operating temperature . in the case shown , the closure 6 completely comprises a flap 13 . the flap is expediently manufactured from the same material as the heat shield 1 and is fastened thereto using at least one hinge . above a specific limiting temperature ( or another measured variable representative for the temperature in the environment of the catalytic converter ), the flap 13 is opened using an actuating device 7 in the form of a positioning motor . to be able to establish reaching the limiting temperature , a temperature sensor 8 is fastened to the inside 3 of the heat shield 1 . after an analysis described later in connection with fig4 , the actuating device 7 comes into action if exceeding the fixed limiting temperature is established and opens the flap 13 , which is connected to the rod 14 , via a push and pull rod 14 . this is shown in fig1 ( b ). with rising temperature in the interior of the heat shield 1 and correspondingly increasing opening by the actuating device 7 , the closure 6 exposes an increasingly larger opening cross - section of the through opening 5 . the opening of the closure 6 and the exposure of the through opening 5 upon exceeding the predefined limiting temperature ensure that heat accumulated in the interior of the heat shield 1 may escape through the through opening , as illustrated by the arrows . overheating of the catalytic converter 2 in the interior of the heat shield 1 is thus avoided . if the temperature in the interior of the heat shield 1 sinks again , the actuating device 7 closes the closure back in the direction toward the starting situation shown in fig1 ( a ). the through opening 5 is closed by the closure 6 again . in this way , too strong reduction of the temperature in the interior of the heat shield 1 is prevented . another cold start of the engine would again occur with closed closure 6 , so that the catalytic converter 2 in the interior of the heat shield 1 may again be brought rapidly to the required operating temperature . these procedures are repeatable arbitrarily often with good reproducibility , so that optimum operating conditions of the catalytic converter may be ensured with very good noise protection simultaneously . fig2 ( a ) through 2 ( c ) show a refinement of the heat shield configuration from fig1 ( a ) and 1 ( b ). in addition to the first closure 6 , a further closure 6 a is provided in the heat shield 1 , which may close a further through opening 5 a in the top area of the heat shield 1 . the functional principle of both closures corresponds to that of the preceding exemplary embodiment . for simplification , the measuring device 8 is no longer shown . fig2 ( a ) shows the state of the heat shield 1 in the warm - up phase . both closures 6 and 6 a are closed , so that the heat remains in the interior of the heat shield 1 and contributes to rapidly reaching the operating temperature of the catalytic converter 2 . above a first limiting temperature , which may result in overheating of the catalytic converter 2 especially in full load operation , the first closure 6 is opened in the way described above and exposes the through opening 5 on the top right side of the heat shield 1 , so that the hot air indicated by the arrows may escape from the interior of the heat shield 1 . the second closure 6 a is still closed in this phase . it is first opened by the second actuating device 7 a upon further temperature increase in the interior of the heat shield 1 . this is shown in fig2 ( c ). to achieve the opening of the closures 6 and 6 a at different limiting temperatures , the actuating devices 7 , 7 a are activated in such a way that they open at different limiting temperatures . cooler air may enter through this through opening into the interior of the heat shield 1 due to the exposure of the through opening 5 a . the colder air flows along the top side of the catalytic converter 2 , cools it , and entrains hot air through the through opening 5 on the top right side of the heat shield out of its interior . in this way , effective cooling of the catalytic converter is possible even at very high exhaust gas temperature . the exemplary embodiment described thus allows the catalytic converter to operate under essentially constant temperature conditions even in the event of relatively strongly oscillating exhaust gas temperature . fig3 ( a ) and 3 ( b ) show an alternative heat shield configuration , in which the heat shield 1 does not completely enclose the catalytic converter 2 , but rather is open on its bottom side . the lower edge only has a small distance to the neighboring component 15 , which radiates heat in operation of the engine . the measuring device 8 is again not illustrated . as in the exemplary embodiment from fig1 ( a ) through 1 ( c ), the heat shield only has one closure 6 . the small distance between heat shield 1 and neighboring component 15 accelerates the achievement of the operating temperature of the catalytic converter 2 with closed closure 6 . upon reaching the limiting temperature , the closure 6 is opened by the actuating device 7 , as shown in fig3 ( b ). the hot air from the interior of the heat shield may escape through the opening 5 . the suction thus arising causes cooler air to flow behind through the space between heat shield 1 and neighboring component 15 , so that an optimal operating temperature of the catalytic converter 2 is ensured in spite of the heat radiated by the component 15 . the space between heat shield 1 and neighboring component 15 may be tailored — insofar as this is possible in the existing space — to this operating temperature of the catalytic converter 2 and the radiation of the component 15 . fig4 illustrates the sequence upon actuation of the closure 6 using the actuating device 7 in the form of a block diagram . a measuring device 8 ascertains measurement data for a measured variable relevant for the function of the object 2 to be shielded continuously or at fixed intervals . this may be the temperature in the environment of the catalytic converter , for example . the ascertained measured data is transmitted in a way known per se to an analysis unit 9 and analyzed there . the analysis unit compares the measured data to a previously established limiting value , such as a limiting temperature . if the analysis unit 9 establishes that the limiting value has been exceeded , it transmits the result to the control unit 10 . in turn , this transmits a control signal to the actuating device 7 , because of which it opens the closure 6 to the predefined extent . the closing procedure runs correspondingly , if it is established the temperature falls below the limiting temperature . analysis and control units may also be unified in a shared device and installed in the heat shield configuration separately from or jointly with the measuring device 8 . in the case of a particulate filter , a measuring apparatus 8 may be for the pressure in the interior of the particulate filter . the ascertained measured data is compared to a previously established base pressure by the analysis unit 9 in this example . if this pressure is exceeded , this is relayed via the control unit 10 to the actuating device 7 , on the basis of which it closes the closure 6 in the predefined procedure . this opening procedure runs correspondingly if the pressure falls below the limiting pressure after oxidative regeneration of the particulate filter , for example . a second limiting pressure may also be established , which is below the first limiting pressure for the closing . the sequence for other measured signals runs comparably . fig5 shows a partial section of a further embodiment of the present invention in the area of the closure 6 , which may be opened and closed by an actuating device 7 . the mode of operation corresponds to those of the preceding figures . the curves of the heat shield 1 and the closure 6 are adapted to the external contour of the object to be shielded , whose external outline is illustrated by the line 16 . by tailoring the curves , the heat shield having closure 6 may be brought very close to the object to be shielded . the solid line at 6 illustrates the open position of the closure , and the dashed line lying underneath illustrates the closed position of the closure . fig6 and 7 show alternative embodiments of the closure 6 . fig6 shows an embodiment in which the opening 5 in the heat shield 1 is a recess in the external edge area . the opening 5 is closable using a slide 11 as the closure 6 . the closure 6 may be displaced in the direction of the arrow using the actuating device 7 . a situation having almost completely open closure and nearly completely exposed opening 5 is shown . fig7 shows an embodiment similar to fig6 , but having a rotating slide 12 as the closure 6 . the rotating slide is fastened to the heat shield 1 at a point 17 using screw or rivet connections and is mounted at this point so it is rotatable . by actuating the actuating device 7 , namely by extending the rod 14 , which is fastened to the rotating slide 12 so it is rotatable at the point 18 , more or less , the rotating slide may be pivoted around the point 17 , as is illustrated by the double arrow . the through opening 5 in the heat shield is correspondingly covered more or less by the rotating slide 12 . in accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes , the present invention has been described in what is considered to represent its preferred embodiments . however , it should be noted that the invention can be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described without departing from its spirit or scope .
| 1 |
for the better understanding of the present invention , an rf remote control voice recognition breathalyzer operational signal will be first describe and a vehicle installed breathalyzer immobilizer interlock devise and further on , a mobile phone with a voice recognition breathalyzer along with videophone breathalyzer will be described . as shown in fig1 - a . rf voice recognition breathalyzer system 80 comprises of , a rf transmitter 27 for transmitting a unique remote control rf signals controlled by a processor using a microphone 81 and a breath sensor 82 connected to said processor to process user given verbal password with breath , during said given password speech . [ 0017 ] fig1 - b illustrates extendable mouthpiece 23 used for full lung inhale exhale test . a tri - color led 22 is used to indicate visual operation status . a multi - tone beeper 20 is used to indicate audible operation status . a reset button 24 is used to turn the system on . transmit buttons 26 and 28 is used for transmitting rf commands . [ 0018 ] fig1 - c illustrates alphanumeric lcd display 25 indicating visual operation status . as shown in fig1 - d illustrates a mobil phone with a built - in voice recognition breathalyzer 90 comprises , a microphone 81 and a breath sensor 21 circuitry connected to a processor to process user given password and breath content and a speaker 91 for user to receive verbal instruction . and a rf transceiver 95 to communicate with a monitoring station or to transmit verbal or dtmf commends to a vehicle mount immobilizer cpu . additionally fig1 - e illustrates a videophone with a built - in voice recognition breathalyzer 70 comprises , a microphone 81 and a breath sensor 21 circuitry in handset 78 connected to a processor to process user given password and breath content . a camera 71 to take video images of the user . a tft screen 72 used as a monitor and a transceiver 95 to communicate with a monitoring station . as shown in fig2 - a an immobilizer cpu 36 for receiving commands from voice recognition breathalyzer 48 or receiving 32 rf commands from rf voice recognition breathalyzer 80 . and communicate with wrist transceiver 40 for monitoring the presence of person to be monitored and transmit 37 a signal to vibrate the operators wrist transceiver for the operator to give verbal breath test . receive command signals and sent event reports through a gsm phone / pager 29 and to communicate with a monitoring station 60 . a buzzer / speaker 30 is used to create audible or verbal signal to alert the operator to give verbal breath test and controlling vehicle mount led 38 indicating system arm disarm status . controlling vehicle horn 31 to hunk during operator sobriety test fail . controlling the flashing of vehicle emergency lights 33 to indicate operator sobriety test fail . controlling vehicle ignition interlock 34 and 39 and controlling vehicle mount vibrator 47 to signal driver to give random breath sobriety test . battery 35 is used as power supply . as shown in fig2 - b a watch style wrist transceiver 40 having a battery 44 as power supply for transmitting a unique id coded signal to vehicle mount immobilizer cpu . and receiving signals from a vehicle mount immobilizer cpu and upon receiving said signal vibrate the built - in vibrator 46 to signal the operator of vehicle to give verbal breath test into the breathalyzer . and a temper proof conductive strap 42 is being used to avoid the operator from removing the wriest transceiver . the present invention utilizes a rf remote control voice recognition breathalyzer 80 powered by a battery 17 . in order to operate the rf voice recognition breathalyzer 80 user voice must be programmed first . pressing button 24 turns the power on . then pressing buttons 26 and 28 together three times the voice recognition breathalyzer 80 will enter in voice learning mode . the led 22 will flash red / yellow indicating the system is in learning mode , the operator gives given password speech , led 22 start to flash again red / yellow signaling to the operator to repeat given password again for confirmation . if proper password given the led 22 blinks one time green indicating given password has been learned successfully . if person operating the voice recognition breathalyzer is required to be tested every time to operate the voice recognition breathalyzer 80 then button 26 must be press one time within time window right after completion of voice learning process . note : when button 26 is pressed right after voice learning process only one person one time can be programed in the system . if button 28 is pressed right after learning process multiple user voice can be programed , by first user first giving given spoken password into the voice recognition breathalyzer and then entering the system into voice learning mode . if password learning process failed the led 22 blinks one time yellow . user will repeat the process again . operation : in order to operate the rf voice recognition breathalyzer the user first pushes the reset button 24 to power up the system , within few seconds the built in beeper 20 beeps and led 22 flashes green or the alphanumeric lcd 25 displays system ready symbol or letters . the operator gives a given spoken password into the microphone 81 and breath sensor 21 by holding the voice recognition breathalyzer 80 an inch away from operators mouth . once given speech and breath received the voice recognition breathalyzer 80 analyzes user given verbal password and breath breath content . if no alcohol found , the led 22 turns momentary green or lcd 25 display indicates “ pass ” symbol , the voice recognition breathalyzer 80 transmits a test pass signal or at a given time window allows the user to press button 26 to transmit said pass signal to a vehicle mount receiver 32 cpu 36 which upon receipt of said signal disables said vehicle ignition immobilizer 34 and 39 and the operator successfully can start the vehicle . if the operator given verbal password breath contains alcohol . the rf voice recognition breathalyzer 80 produces a warning beep through the built - in beeper 20 and led 22 will flash red or lcd 25 displays “ failed ” symbol and the voice recognition breathalyzer 80 automatically transmits a unique rf failed coded signal , giving the operator “ 0 ” tolerance to operate any vehicle or machinery . in some application the voice recognition breathalyzer 80 could be programed not automatically to transmits “ fail ” rf signal transmission . in the preferred embodiment of the invention if operator is allowed to operate a vehicle with certain amount of bac in his or her system . the present invention allows the vehicle operator within a short time frame after given verbal “ failed ” test , to give a full lung inhale exhale breath test into said breathalyzer mouth piece 23 which require full lung exhale breath pressure in order to let given breath to pass through said mouth piece to determine exact amount of alcohol in operators system . if full lung exhale test is below certain setting threshold , then the voice recognition breathalyzer 80 will transmit a unique “ pass ” code signal with breath alcohol content data . if full lung inhale exhale test failed , then the voice recognition breathalyzer 80 transmits a breath test “ fail ” signal containing data information amount of bac found in the operators system . after given verbal breath “ fail ” test , if operators full lung breath exhale sample given does not contain any amount of alcohol , because it is off some one else &# 39 ; s given breath or bogus air exp . air from a balloon . or a bike pump or given in un properly , the rf voice recognition breathalyzers 80 beeper 20 will beep . led 22 turns on momentary “ red ” or alphanumeric lcd screen displays “ error ” symbol and transmits a rf “ error ” coded signal . in order to save battery the present invention has auto power shut down features . and if and when there is low battery condition within the rf voice recognition breathalyzer 80 the led 22 turns steady yellow or alphanumeric lcd 25 displays “ low battery “ signal ”. and rf voice recognition breathalyzer transmits a low battery rf unique coded signal . in the present invention a voice recognition breathalyzer not necessarily has to be a remote control 80 operated . according to the invention a voice recognition breathalyzer 48 could be installed in a vehicle and connected to a vehicle mount immobilizer cpu 36 rf voice recognition breathalyzer could be used in many deferent application , such as when it &# 39 ; s used with a vehicle mount immobilizer cpu 36 unit . when the immobilizer cpu 36 receives breath test “ pass ” signal from voice recognition breathalyzer 80 unit , the operator can start the vehicle engine successfully . during vehicle ignition “ on ” position the immobilizer cpu 36 will random prompt audio - visual signal through beeper 30 . led 38 . vibrator 47 to the operator of vehicle in order the operator to give verbal given password into said rf voice recognition breathalyzer 80 or into voice recognition breathalyzer 48 during driving to avoid the driver from drinking during driving . if driver gives the proper password containing nontoxic breath . the voice recognition rf breathalyzer 80 or voice recognition breathalyzer 47 transmits a “ pass ” code signal . the immobilizer cpu 36 upon receiving the “ pass ” signal , it operates in its normal operating mode . if the operator fails to give proper password or no password at all or gives password containing toxic breath within a predetermine time , the immobilizer cpu 36 will flash the vehicle lights 33 . honks the vehicle horn 31 , and immobilize the vehicle ignition 34 , or fuel pump circuitry . the vehicle mount immobilizer cpu 36 capable of receiving unique coded signal from an rf voice recognition remote control unit . wherein an rf voice recognition remote control unit is used by individuals for whom it is not necessary for breath sobriety test to disarm said vehicle immobilizer cpu . the immobilizer cpu 36 will disarm by receiving coded rf signal from said voice recognition remote control unit . said vehicle immobilizer cpu 36 upon receiving said unique coded signal will not initiate random audio - visual 30 and 38 , or vibrating signals 46 and 47 to the operator , for the operator to give given verbal password into said voice recognition breathalyzer . in the preferred embodiment of the invention a gps receiver 49 is connected to a mobile phone / pager 29 or a satellite modem , and said mobile phone 29 is connected to said vehicle cpu 36 unit . if and when said vehicle immobilizer cpu 36 receives a unique test “ fail ” signal from said voice recognition breathalyzer 80 and 48 . the vehicle immobilizer cpu 36 sends a signal containing information relating to said vehicle and driver id along with sobriety test fail code to said vehicle gsm phone , or pager unit 29 , and said gsm phone / pager unit 29 , signals a monitoring station 60 with information containing operator id with breath test fail data , vehicle id along with it &# 39 ; s location . said monitoring station upon receiving said signal can locate said vehicle by using a pc containing gps map software , and send a signal to said particular vehicle immobilizer cpu 36 , through said vehicle mount gsm / phone or pager 29 , to immobilize said vehicle engine at a safe speed . in the present invention , the monitoring station could utilize a data base server or a internet server , which could give law enforcement agency direct access to said database via portable or desk pc . in the present invention , the monitoring station 60 at any given time can sent verbal or audible signal to the operator of a particular vehicle to give given verbal password into a voice recognition breathalyzer 48 and 80 , for on spot sobriety test , through said vehicle mount gsm phone or pager modem . the present invention could be used in a more effective way , by utilizing a temper proof wrist watch style transceiver unit 40 , warn by the person to be monitored , transmitting a rf coded signal periodically , or upon receiving a rf signal from said vehicle mount transceiver cpu 36 . when the immobilizer cpu 36 receives wrist transmitter signal , at a predetermine time the immobilizer cpu 36 will initiate audio - visual 30 and 38 , vibrating signal 47 , or a rf signals to a wrist transceiver 40 to vibrate the built - in vibrator 46 , signaling to the operator to give a given verbal password into said voice recognition breathalyzer 80 or 48 . in addition a voice recognition breathalyzer , could be utilized in a phone , or a mobile phone 90 , capable of analyzing user breath content . when person to be monitored gives the given password into said voice recognition phone , the phone 90 and 70 has a built in microphone with voice recognition circuitry 81 , to receive and analyze given password . a breath sensor with breathalyzer circuitry 21 to receive and analyze given breath sample ( s ). and a phone transceiver 90 and 70 , to communicate with a monitoring station or to give commands to disarm vehicle immobilizer or to start the vehicle . a lcd 92 or tft screen 72 to display alphanumeric given commands or used as a monitor . and a camera to capture the photo images of the user and sent the photo image to a monitoring station 60 . operation : user ( s ) voice is preprogrammed into the voice recognition breathalyzer phone 90 and 70 . the user first press the reset button to power up the voice recognition breathalyzer phone . when user gives given password into said voice recognition phone 90 and 70 , the voice processor upon voice recognition signals the breathalyzer processor to process users given breath sample , if given sample is nontoxic , the operator can give verbal or dtmf commands to disarm a particular vehicle equipped with a immobilizer cpu 36 through a vehicle mount gsm phone or a pager 29 receiver unit . if given password breath is toxic , then the speaker gives a warning beep and the lcd display indicates “ fail ” symbol , the user can not sent verbal or dtmf commands . in the present invention , a monitoring station 60 , can signal a phone user at any given time by giving verbal or audible signals through said phone 90 and 70 , for the operator of said phone 90 and 70 , to give verbal password into said voice recognition breathalyzer phone 90 and 70 , for system to identify and to analyze user given breath sample , during given speech , and send said user iid information along with breath test fail information to a monitoring station 60 . the monitoring station 60 to determine precise bac reading , signals the operator to perform full lung inhale exhale breath into said voice recognition breathalyzer phone 70 and 90 , and said phone breathalyzer processor circuitry 21 upon analyzing said given verbal password with breath content , sends said process breath content data to a monitoring station 60 . in addition the built in camera 72 can capture and send photo images through a modem to a monitoring station 60 , for pictorial identification verification of the user by said monitoring station pc .
| 1 |
ceramides occupy a major position , most especially in the upper layers of the epidermis , that is to say in the stratum corneum . there are several types of ceramides , depending on their localization and their function within the epidermis . the term ceramide , taken in its strict sense , comprises only lipids consisting of a sphingosine linked to a fatty acid or fatty acid derivative via its amine function . the ceramides in the stratum corneum are made up of 6 chromatographically distinct fractions , having a different polarity according to the degree of unsaturation ( which can be zero ) or hydroxylation of their chains , their length and their number . according to the present invention , it is possible to use one or more ceramides of formula ( i ), optionally combined with other types of ceramides , as mollifying agents . furthermore , the compositions of the present invention can contain one or more anti - aging active agents of identical or different kinds . the ceramides used in particular in the compositions of the present invention can be of natural origin or synthetic , and may be of type ii ( for example n - oleoyldihydrosphingosine ), of type iii ( for example n - stearoylphytosphingosine ), of type iv ( for example n -( α - hydroxybehenoyl ) dihydrosphingosine ) or of type v ( for example n -( α - hydroxypalmitoyl ) dihydrosphingosine ). it is also possible to use the mixtures of ceramides present in the skin , described by downing ( the journal of investigative dermatology , vol . 84 , pp . 410 - 412 ( 1985 )). it is also possible to use as mollifying agent a preparation containing , in addition to these mixtures of ceramides , cholesterol , free fatty acids such as oleic acid , triglycerides such as triolein and squalene , in order to arrive at a mixture mimicing the epidermal lipids . this preparation may be used at a concentration ranging from 0 . 01 to 10 % by weight , and preferably from 0 . 05 to 5 % by weight , based on the total weight of the composition of the present invention . from these simple ceramides , it is possible , in addition , to use complex ceramides which can have properties similar to those of the simple ceramides . in particular , sphingolipids such as oligoglycoceramides ( gangliosides ), monoglycoceramides ( cerebrosides ), acylmonoglycoceramides , and hydroxyacylmonoglycoceramides may be used . sphingophospholipids such as sphingomyeline may also be used . these simple or complex ceramides can be of vegetable origin , such as , for example , the wheat glycoceramides sold by the company ard or a mixture of glycolipids ( containing glycoceramides , phospholipids and triglycerides ) sold under the trade name ceramide vegetal by the company inocosm . the amount of mollifying agent used in the present invention depends on the amount of anti - aging active agent used . the mollifying agent / anti - aging active agent weight ratio can , for example , be chosen to be from 0 . 0001 : 1 to 100 , 000 : 1 , preferably from 0 . 01 : 1 to 1000 : 1 . moreover , the amount of anti - aging active agent is in practice from 0 . 0001 to 20 % by weight , preferably from 0 . 01 to 10 % by weight , based upon the total weight of the present composition . the present composition may contain any anti - aging active agent possessing an irritant effect . examples of active agents to which the invention applies include α - hydroxy acids or β - hydroxy acids , which can be linear , branched or cyclic , saturated or unsaturated . the hydrogen atoms of the carbon chain can , in addition , be substituted with halogens or halogenated alkyl , acyl , acyloxy , alkoxycarbonyl or alkoxy radicals having from 2 to 18 carbon atoms . as α - hydroxy acids which can be used in the present invention , glycolic , lactic , malic , tartaric , citric and mandelic acids may be mentioned . as β - hydroxy acids , salicylic acid as well as its acylated derivatives such as those described in fr - a - 2581542 and ep - a - 378986 , such as 5 - n - octanoylsalicylic acid and 5 - n - dodecanoylsalicylic acid , and 2 - hydroxyalkanoic acids , and their derivatives such as 2 - hydroxy - 3 - methylbenzoic acid and 2 - hydroxy - 3 - methoxybenzoic acid , may be mentioned . it is also possible to use as active agents α - or β - keto acids , retinoids , anthralin , anthranoids ( for example those described in ep - a - 319 , 028 ), peroxides such as benzoyl peroxide , minoxidil , capsaicin , lithium and / or zinc salts , antimetabolites such as 5 - fluorouracil and vitamins such as vitamin c . the retinoids to which the invention applies are , in particular , retinol , all - trans - or 13 - cis - retinoic acids , retinaldehyde or the compounds mentioned in fr - a - 2 , 676 , 052 , ep - a - 210 , 929 , ep - a - 292 , 348 , ep - a - 199 , 636 , fr - a - 2 , 570 , 377 , fr - a - 2 , 590 , 566 , fr - a - 2 , 601 , 359 , ep - a - 325 , 540 , ep - a - 232 , 199 , ep - a - 552 , 282 , ep - a - 284 , 288 , ep - a - 170 , 105 and fr - a - 2 , 422 , 677 . the compositions of the present invention can , in addition , contain a vegetable , mineral ( petrolatum ), silicone ( cyclomethicone ), fluorinated ( perfluoro polyether ) or synthetic ( purcellin oil ) oil , an aqueous phase , hydrophilic adjuvants such as gelling agents ( clay , xanthan gum ), hydrating agents , cicatrizing agents such as glycerol and allatoin as well as their derivatives and compositions containing them , antioxidants ( vitamin e ), preservatives , opacifying agents , lipophilic adjuvants such as essential oils , colorants , and perfumes , as well as pigments ( titanium or zinc oxides ) and fillers . the present composition may also contain hydrophilic or lipophilic screening agents , for screening out visible and / or ultraviolet rays , as well as dermatological active agents . these adjuvants may be present in a total amount of from 0 . 1 to 10 % by weight , preferably from 1 to 5 % by weight , based on the total weight of the composition . the compositions according to the present invention can take the form of an oily solution , an aqueous gel , a serum , a lotion , a water - in - oil ( w / o ) or oil - in - water ( o / w ) emulsion and / or a dispersion of lipid vesicles ( ionic or nonionic ). for an emulsion , a ( w / o ) or ( o / w ) emulsifying system is used , as appropriate . when a dispersion of lipid vesicles is used , these latter can constitute the emulsifying system . the emulsifying system is typically present in an amount of from 0 . 1 to 10 % by weight , preferably 1 to 5 % by weight , based on the total weight of the composition . as an ( o / w ) emulsifier which can be used in the present invention , there may be mentioned peg - 50 stearate and peg - 40 stearate , sold , respectively , under the trade names myrj 53 and myrj 52 by the company ici , and sorbitran tristearate sold under the trade name span 65 by the company ici . as a ( w / o ) emulsifier which can be used in the present invention , there may be mentioned the polyglyceryl - 4 isostearate / cetyldimethicone copolyol / hexyl laurate mixture sold under the trade name abil we 09 by the company goldschmidt , and isostearyl diglyceryl succinate sold under the trade name imwitor 780 k by the company huls . in another embodiment , the present invention also provides a method for the treatment of acne , wrinkles and / or fine lines on the skin , as well as a process for combating aging of the skin , by applying to the skin an effective amount of the present composition defined above . other features of the invention will become apparent in the course of the following descriptions of exemplary embodiments which are given for illustration of the invention and are not intended to be limiting thereof . in all the following examples , the amounts are given in % by weight , based on the total weight of the composition . the term &# 34 ; qs 100 &# 34 ; means that a sufficient quantity of that ingredient is present so that the sum of the amounts for all ingredients totals 100 % by weight . ______________________________________fatty phase : cetyl alcohol 7glyceryl stearate 2 . 5peg - 50 stearate 2 . 5groundnut oil ( mollifying agent ) 6 . 2isopropyl myristate 3n - oleoyldihydrosphingosine ( mollifying agent ) 0 . 5salicylic acid ( active agent ) 0 . 5aqueous phase : alcohol 6water qs 100______________________________________ ______________________________________phase a : 5 - n - octanoylsalicylic acid 1 . 0n - oleoyldihydrosphingosine 0 . 1sweat almond oil 14 . 1shea butter 7 . 0ppg - 3 myristyl ether ( emcol 249 - 3k ) 5 . 0 ( co - emulsifier and solvent ) preservative ( propylparaben ) 0 . 1polysorbate 60 ( tween 60 ) 2 . 5sorbitan stearate ( span 60 ) 2 . 5phase b : cyclomethicone 4 . 0xanthan gum 0 . 2carboxyvinyl polymer 0 . 5phase c : triethanolamine ( neutralizing agent ) 0 . 5water 2 . 0phase d : preservative ( methylparaben ) 0 . 2glycerol 5 . 0water qs 100______________________________________ the constituents of phase a are melted at 85 ° c ., phase a is then cooled to 70 ° c . and phases b , and then c and d are introduced into it with stirring . the mixture is cooled to room temperature . a hydrating day cream is obtained , which acts against the natural aging of the skin . the cytotoxicity ( 3 -( 4 , 5 - dimethyl - 2 - thiazolyl )- 2 , 5 - diphenyltetrazolium bromide test ) of emulsions according to example 2 , containing different percentages of 5 - n - octanoylsalicylic acid , 0 . 25 %, 0 . 5 % and 1 %, respectively , in the presence of increasing concentrations of n - oleoylidihydrosphingosine , 0 %, 0 . 25 %, 0 . 50 %, 1 % and 2 %, respectively , on a reconstructed epidermis obtained by inoculating human keratinocytes onto a collagen - coated millipore filter was studied . 100 mg of emulsion are incubated for 3 hours on the reconstructed epidermis ( with each measurement carried out in duplicate ), and the cell viability is then measured immediately after rinsing off the emulsion with phosphate - buffered saline ( pbs ). the experiment was carried out two times on three different batches . fig1 presents the individual results for each batch and fig2 shows the mean for the three batches . the results obtained on the three batches are in agreement : after 3 hours of incubation , the emulsions containing 0 . 25 % of 5 - n - octanoylsalicylic acid do not display cytotoxicity ; in the presence of 0 . 5 % of 5 - n - octanoylsalicylic acid , a dose - dependent effect of n - oleoyldihydrosphingosine on cell viability becomes apparent . this effect permits considerable protection of cell viability , which in the absence of n - oleoyldihydrosphingosine is 50 %, and in the presence of 2 % of n - oleoyldihydrosphingosine reaches its maximum level ( 100 % cell viability ); the concentration of 1 % of 5 - n - octanoylsalicylic acid is very cytotoxic after 3 hours of incubation ; only 20 % of viable cells remain . this cytotoxicity is nevertheless decreased by the incorporation of n - oleoyldihydrosphingosine in the composition . in effect , the mean cytotoxicity obtained with 2 % of n - oleoylidhydrosphingosine is then very close to 50 %. this application is based on french patent application 94 - 00173 , filed on jan . 10 , 1994 , which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . obviously , numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . it is therefore to be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein .
| 0 |
darbeevision , abbreviated dvn , is a method of adding stereo ( 3d ) information to a normal flat ( 2d ) image using a procedure called the darbee transform . in the one - sided darbee transform , ( dto ), the additional information is supplied by an additional camera looking at a natural scene , or an additional viewport looking at a synthesized 3d virtual world . the additional camera is horizontally displaced from the primary camera by an interoccular distance , typically 2 to 3 inches , corresponding to the distance between the two human eyes . for special effects , the cameras can be spaced less than the interoccular distance , resulting in hypostereo , or they can be spaced more than the interoccular distance , resulting in hyperstereo . the additional camera can correspond to either the left or the right eye , with the remaining eye being the original view . in the symmetrical darbee transform , ( dts ), the additional information is supplied by two additional cameras looking at a natural scene , or two additional viewports looking at a synthesized 3d virtual world . typically the additional cameras are horizontally displaced from the primary camera by half the interoccular distance . the generalized symmetrical darbee transform allows for any number of pairs of additional cameras . dvn processed image , with both l and r image information added the canonical one - sided darbee transform with left image information added is d r =┌└( 1 + a ) r − dl b + b ┘┐, eq . 1 d l =┌└( 1 + a ) l − dr b + b ┘┐. eq . 2 one can see that the core procedure is to defocus and subtract one image from the other . this transform can be implemented mathematically pixel - by - pixel , but it requires that intermediate terms , such as ( 1 + a ) r , take on values that are whiter - than - white (& gt ; 1 ), and that − dl b go blacker - than - black (& lt ; 0 ). in the case of color images , each of the red , green and blue ( rgb ) channels ( or their linear vector equivalents , such as yuv or yiq ) must be processed independently . if the source is a computation such as 3d graphics for a video game , then a real time convolver is required , but the pixel image inversions , additions and clippings are simple pixel operations . using the canonical one - sided darbee transform , the pixel operations to create d r are just subtract the left image term from the right image term , i . e . ( 1 + a ) r − dl b . fig1 shows an image - processing block diagram implementing the one - sided darbee transform for d r . many image processing programs , such as adobe photoshop ™, do not allow pixel operations that go above white or below black , or if they do , they may clip intermediate values at white ( 1 ) or black ( 0 ) before proceeding to the next operation . therefore , we will develop a version of the darbee transform such that , when intermediate clipping occurs , only pixel values that would have ended up being clipped regardless will be affected . in what follows , we will examine the case where d r is obtained by adding the left image information , but the opposite case for d l is easily obtained by interchanging the terms l and r . d r =┌└( 1 + a ) r − dl b + b ┘┐, eq . 3 d r =┌└( 1 + a ) r + d − d − dl b + b ┘┐, eq . 3 a d r =┌└ r + ar − d + d ( 1 − l b )+ b ┘┐. eq . 4 the quantity 1 − l b is simply the inverted defocused image l b , which looks like an ordinary photographic negative . its pixels clearly remain in the range 0 ≦ x ≦ 1 , so no clipping occurs . d r =┌└( 1 + a ) r + d ( 1 − l b )− d + b ┘┐. eq . 5 the terms ( 1 + d ) r + d ( 1 − l b ), prior to clipping , sum to a value which is always positive with a range from 0 to 3 . 3 is attained when d = 1 , r is white and l b is black . to prevent clipping while the two terms are accumulated , we simply prescale them by ⅓ , thus now no intermediate operations will exceed 1 , even when d = 1 , r = 1 and l b = 0 . subtracting ⅓ d will cause clipping at black , but those pixel values would have ended up clipped anyhow . multiplying by 3 will clip at white , as would have occurred regardless . 3 . add ( mix ) the two contrast - diminished images together . 4 . subtract [ 1 3 ( d - b ) ] [ 1 3 ( d - b ) ] . the image - processing program will clip any negative pixel values at black . 5 . increase the contrast of the mixed images by 3 and allow the image - processing program to clip the final values at white . fig1 shows an image - processing block diagram implementing the one - sided darbee transform for d r which allows intermediate clipping and uses a photographic negative image in place of a mathematical image with negative pixel values . with the symmetrical darbee transform , information from three images l , c , and r is combined . the position of the center camera , c is typically midway between the l and r cameras . following the steps above , the version suitable for use by ordinary image - processing programs is d c = ⌈ 3 ⌊ ( 1 3 + 1 3 a ) r + 1 6 d ( 1 - l b ) + 1 6 d ( 1 - r b ) - 1 3 ( d - b ) ⌋ ⌉ . eq . 8 note that it is algorithmically possible to use more than two additional cameras added as pairs of n cameras . in that case , the symmetrical darbee transform generalizes to here there are i pairs of defocused cameras displaced symmetrically about the center camera . it is also possible to weight the added camera pairs by a function ƒ i which decreases a distance i from the center camera , which ranges ( 0 ≦ ƒ i ≦ 1 ), and whose sum d c = ⌈ ⌊ ( 1 + a ) c + b - d 2 ∑ i = 1 n f i ( l bi + r bi ) ⌋ ⌉ . eq . 10 using optics with visible light , defocusing is trivial . algorithmically , the same effect can be achieved by a mathematical convolution of an image with a two - dimensional convolution kernel . this operation corresponds to a spatial low - passing of the image . the kernel is an even function typically decreasing symmetrically from 1 at the center pixel to 0 on both sides . the one - dimensional shape of the kernel ( along a diameter ) can be a rectangle , a tent , a gaussian , or some other function . two - dimensionally , the kernel can take the shape of a circle , a square , or something else . its width w can be from one to several pixels on each side , plus the center pixel . in practice , successful results have been achieved for a 640 by 480 pixel images using a two - dimensional circular convolution kernel whose diameter is in the shape of a gaussian with a width w ( or diameter ) of 15 pixels total . presumably , w should scale with the image resolution , with a value of two percent of the width of the image in pixels being reasonable . the diameter in pixels should be an odd number . for high - resolution images , the computation cost of the convolution operation will be high , although , as stated previously , simple optical defocusing achieves the same result trivially . the a parameter can be left at 0 or it can be linked to d , with a typical linkage ranging from the b parameter can usually be left at 0 . it can also be linked to d by setting it to a value such as in order to make videos or movies in darbeevision , it is highly desirable for the processed image to be viewable in real time , so that the camera convergence and the parameters w , d , a and b can be varied as the scene requires . if the source of the image is optical , camera defocusing and a video mixing board are all that is required . the foregoing methods of implementing the darbee transform require that the image information be available in video or computer form , i . e . as arrays of pixel values . when it is desired for the image to remain always on film , a post - processing method can be implemented using an optical printer . the procedure can be understood using eq . 4 , repeated here for convenience : d r =┌└ r + ar − d + d ( 1 − l b )+ b ┘┐. eq . 4 first , the r image is reduced in contrast by a factor a using a neutral - density filter , and the negative image 1 − l b is likewise reduced in contrast by a factor d . then one optically mixes the reduced - contrast r image with the reduced - contrast defocused negative image 1 − l b . that reduced - contrast combined image ar + d ( 1 − l b ) is then optically mixed with the r image to create r + ar + d ( 1 − l b ). that image is printed to the final master print , but underexposed by a factor of d + b . the darbee transform basically involves blurring and subtracting one image of a stereo pair from the other image . because image subtraction is not a commonly available image - processing option , a negative ( inverted ) image is instead added . this simple procedure is easily accomplished in adobe photoshop ™ by following the steps below . movies can also be processed similarly frame - by - frame using adobe premiere ™ or similar programs . 1 . one first opens the image file desired to be processed using the darbeevision ( dvn ) procedure . one can use ctri - o to do this . we will assume that the image file contains a stereo pair of images arranged side - by - side for “ cross - eyed viewing ,” i . e . with the right - eye image on the left and the left - eye image on the right . 2 . using the rectangular marquee tool , outline the image on the right . 3 . cut out the outlined image using ctrl - x . 4 . create a new layer either by using the layer menu or by typing alt - l alt - w alt - l . a new layer will appear on the layer menu , but one will not see anything else appear on the screen . 5 . paste the cut image onto the new layer using ctrl - v . 6 . invert the pasted image ( make it a negative image ) using ctrl - i , or by using the image & gt ; adjust & gt ; invert menu command . 7 . set the opacity of the inverted image to 50 % using the opacity control in the layer menu . 8 . select the move tool and slide the inverted image to the left over the other image . one can use the arrow keys to fine - tune the placement of the image so that the object of most interest has the best convergence . 9 . using the filter & gt ; blur & gt ; gaussian blur . . . menu command , call up the gaussian blur menu . set the blur radius to a number of pixels that is approximately one - hundredth the width of the image in pixels . one can experiment with different radii to achieve a pleasing “ glow ” around features in the image . images that have a lot of disparity ( areas that are misconverged ) generally will need a larger blur radius . 10 . use the crop tool to select the borders of the overlaid image . sometimes one will have to crop part of the borders of the image if it was necessary to misregister the two images in order to achieve the convergence wanted . one also might want to crop borders where the gaussian blur shows up due to boundary conditions . 11 . press the enter key to crop the image . 12 . set the opacity to 25 %. 13 . if it is desired to save the original right image , turn off layer 1 by clicking on its eye icon . 14 . one can now save the original unaltered image using ctrl - shift - s . rename the image with a “ _r ” suffix to show that it is the right image of the pair , and change its format to jpg using the dropdown format menu . one can accept the default jpg options when the menu appears . 15 . now turn layer 1 back on by clicking on its eye icon . 16 . flatten the image down to one layer ( the background ) by using alt - l alt - f , or by using the layer & gt ; flatten image menu command . 17 . increase the image contrast by 50 % using alt - i alt - a alt - c or by using the image & gt ; adjust & gt ; brightness / contrast menu command . leave the brightness at 0 . 18 . one can now save the processed image using ctrl - shift - s . one can add the suffix “ _o25_r08_c50 ” to designate it as using an opacity of 25 %, a gaussian blur radius of 8 and a final contrast increase of 50 %. one can accept the default jpg options when the menu appears . 19 . the procedure is now complete . the image has been enhanced using the darbeevision algorithm . three - dimensional information has been added to a two - dimensional image in such a way that objectionable double - image artifacts do not appear . there is also a contrast - stretching effect that makes the image appear more vibrant , along with an image - sharpening effect that makes the image appear clearer . one can experiment with other opacity values for adding the blurred - inverted image in step 12 . higher values add more of the blurred - inverted image . if one changes the opacity in step 12 , one will have to compensate by varying the final contrast of the flattened image in step 17 . one can also experiment with varying the brightness in step 18 . when one does such experiments , it is useful to compare the results to the original right image that was saved in step 14 . simply open the original image using ctrl - o and place it on the screen next to the dvn image . a sample image is given in fig3 and a darbeevision - processed image is given in fig4 . in fig5 is illustrated one apparatus 100 for carrying out the darbeevision method for processing images . the apparatus 100 includes a first camera 102 and a second camera 104 focused on an object 105 . a computer 106 is coupled to the cameras 102 and 104 and includes a ram 108 and a rom 110 . film processing circuitry 112 is coupled to the computer 106 . an optical printer 114 and a cd ( dvd ) writer 116 are also coupled to the computer 106 . the cameras 102 and 104 can be still cameras , moving picture cameras or video cameras . software is provided , stored in the ram 108 or the rom 110 , for blurring and subtracting one image of a stereo pair from the other image of the same pair . the stereo pair can be captured using film or with a video apparatus or a digital camera . the stereo pair alternatively can be derived from two viewports within a three - dimensional computer - generated scene . also , the image processing by the film processing circuitry 112 can be performed as the stereo pair is captured or in post - production after the stereo pair is captured . the image blurring can be performed by optical defocusing or by a mathematical convolution operation . the image subtraction can be performed by creating a negative of the image to be subtracted and adding it to the other image of the stereo pair . in the computer 106 or in the film processing circuitry the contrast of the unblurred image is inked to the contrast of the blurred image . alternatively , the contrast of the unblurred image is adjusted independently with respect to the contrast of the blurred image and the combined image can be linked to the contrast of the blurred image . the brightness of the combined image can be adjusted independently with respect to the contrast of the blurred image . the convergence of the combined image can be adjusted as the stereo pair is captured . further , the convergence of the combined image can be adjusted during post production by spatially translating one image with respect to the other . in using the darbeevision method , a minimum distance can be established between a viewpoint for the unblurred image and a viewpoint of the blurred image which is in the range of about one pixel and can be as low as zero . preferably , the contrast of the unblurred and blurred images , and the brightness of the combined images are all reduced to avoid black or white clipping during processing , and a final step is provided of increasing the contrast of the combined image . the images remain in film format and the processing is performed using the optical printer 114 and the film processing circuitry 112 . if desired , more than one blurred image can be combined with the unblurred image . the second camera 110 preferably is of lower resolution with respect to the first camera 108 . also , the second camera 110 is preferably attached to the first camera 108 , and , where possible , attached to the lens of the first camera 108 . after the processing of the digitally formatted image or sequence of images is completed , the digitally formatted data can be stored in the ram 108 or supplied to the cd ( dvd ) writer 116 for burning or writing a compact disc ( dvd ) containing the digitally formatted image data for image ( s ) having enhanced contrast and a perceived enhanced depth of field . from the foregoing description , it will be apparent that the method and apparatus of the present invention and the enhanced digital image data created , have a number of advantages , some of which have been described above , and others of which are inherent in the invention . also , it will be understood that modifications can be made to the method , apparatus and enhanced digital image data , without departing from the teachings of the invention . accordingly , the scope of the invention is only to be limited as necessitated by the following claims .
| 6 |
a container box , when inflated will turn into a tent like building . columns and walls are made of carbon - fiber composite material . once inflated columns are treated with resin to harden them and then filled with concrete to act as columns of the building . the walls will be pretreated and attached to the columns . the walls will be filled with durable material such as concrete , sand or a composite material to strengthen them . the building is blast resistant and bullet proof . therefore the building can be used in battle zones . the inflatable building provides shelter for its habitants from attacks . it can be transported easily and easy to deploy . during manufacturing one module of shelter is placed in each box . each shelter will have about 64 square meters of usable area when inflated . the deployment of the shelter and finishing up the structure by adding concrete to it upon deployment will at most take about couple of days . the building once deployed and finished can withstand external threats such as earthquake , explosions , and bullets . the building is a portable , light and compact structure . it can be deployed by a helicopter . from the start of inflating the building , it can be ready for residency within 48 hours . it can be fully furnished and ready to be lived in within one week . it is a multi - modular structure . easy to build , easy to use , easy to maintain and easy to fix during and after a combat . it is blast resistant against rpg , hand grenade , mortar and plastic explosives . it is bullet proof against high velocity bullets and 0 . 30 to 0 . 45 caliber bullets . it is fire proof . it is easy to clean and easy to repair . it is self sustainable . the roof can carry solar panel and rain water collection system is used . the structure is portable . frp ( fiber reinforced polymer ) material is used . carbon - fiber composite material is preferred , but other materials such as fiber - glass and kevlar can also be used . resin infused carbon - fiber frp is used because of its strength to weight ratio . the structure is compact . it can be folded and fit into a container . container is a light container and portable . it is water resistant , wind resistant , heat and cold resistant . the container acts as a protective shell during the period of storage of the structure . the structure is inflatable and water proof against snow , rain , extreme winds , freezing cold and extreme hot . fig1 shows blast resistant inflatable building ( brib ) 17 which comprises columns 8 , walls 2 , door 18 , windows 19 , ceiling arches 11 , roof sections 4 and ceiling arch center point 21 wherein all ceiling arches 11 are connected to . in fig1 , brib 17 is shown in a hexagonal shape . the shape can be triangle , rectangle , pentagon , hexagonal or any other suitable shape . in this embodiment hexagonal shape is used . there are six columns 8 that are connected to each other with six walls 2 . each column 8 has ceiling arch 11 connected to it wherein ceiling arches 11 connect to each other at ceiling arch connector 21 . before brib 17 is packed in a box , roof sections 4 may be attached to ceiling arches 11 and walls 2 . this way , when the box is opened , ceiling arches 11 are inflated . roof sections 4 are formed between ceiling arches 11 as they are attached to ceiling arches 11 and walls 2 before inflatable building is packed in a box . alternatively , brib 17 can be packed in a box without attaching roof sections 4 to ceiling arches 11 and walls 2 . in that setup , roof sections 4 are attached to ceiling arches 11 and walls 2 after the box is opened and after ceiling arches 11 are inflated . fig2 shows another view of blast resistant inflatable building ( brib ) 17 . hexagonal shape is used to form brib 17 in this embodiment . however any other shape could be used . there are eight columns 8 . each column 8 is connected to another column by wall 2 . the top of each column 8 are connected to ceiling arch center point 21 by ceiling arches 11 . there are six ceiling arches 11 and there is one ceiling arch center point 21 . roof 4 is placed between two ceiling arches 11 . brib 17 is automatically inflated when the box is opened . alternatively , air can be inserted into ceiling arch center point 21 , and the air moves into ceiling arches 11 and columns 8 such that brib 17 structure inflates . fig3 shows another view of blast resistant inflatable building 17 . hexagonal shape is used to form brib 17 in this embodiment . however any other shape could be used . there are eight columns 8 . each column 8 is connected to another column by wall 2 . the top of each column 8 are connected to ceiling arch center point 21 by ceiling arches 11 . there are six ceiling arches 11 and there is one ceiling arch center point 21 . roof 4 is placed between two ceiling arches 11 and walls 2 . brib 17 is either automatically inflated or manually inflated from ceiling arch center point 21 . when air is inserted into ceiling arch center point 21 , the air moves into ceiling arches 11 and columns such that brib 17 structure inflates . fig4 shows column 8 and wall 2 connected to each other . column 8 has shell 13 and inner part 12 . shell 13 is made of bi - axial carbon fiber tubes . however any other material can be used in shell 13 . wall 2 has inner part 11 and side 9 . wall 2 material is pretreated carbon fiber panel . the design is portable therefore a collapsible mechanism is possible . fig5 a shows how brib 17 can be combined with other inflatable buildings to form larger structure 53 . wall 12 can be placed around larger structure 53 . fig5 b shows multiple brib 17 are connected together . the shape of brib 17 in fig5 b is hexagonal . fig5 c shows inflatable buildings that are in rectangle shapes . fig5 d shows pentagon shapes and fig5 e shows triangle shapes . all these shapes can be used to build brib 17 . fig5 f shows multiple inflatable buildings 17 in hexagonal shape being connected together to form a larger structure 54 . another embodiment of the invention is shown in fig6 . in fig6 ceiling arches 60 connect to each other at ceiling arch center unit 21 . structure 61 does not have separate columns . instead , ceiling arch 60 is a continuous structure from ceiling arch center unit 21 to floor . each ceiling arch 60 is connected to ceiling arch center unit 21 . the shape of the structure in fig7 is hexagonal . any other shape could be used in which case the number of arches 60 would change . for example if a rectangle shape is used then there would be four arches 60 . if a triangle shape is used then three arches 60 would be used . an embodiment of the invention is shown in fig1 . in this embodiment , each wall 2 of the hexagon shaped structure 17 is about 4 meters . total span will be over 8 meters . the height of the walls 2 is about 2 . 10 meters . ceiling arch center point 21 , where all arches 11 and roof pieces 4 meet will be about 3 . 68 meters above ground . columns 8 can be made from bi - axial carbon fiber tubes with a thickness of about 2 to 16 mm but preferably 6 to 8 mm . arches 11 will have a total length of about 13 to 14 meters and a span of 8 meters from bottom center to center of the column 8 . arches 11 are connected to the outer shell , the i - box , and also are connected at the ceiling arch center point 21 . wall 2 and roof 4 are either readily connected or are attached to the structure 17 once it is inflated . all system elements are present inside of one i - box . each i - box contains only one module of blast resistant inflatable building ( brib ) 17 . each brib 17 has approximately 64 m 2 of living space , and multiple modules can be connected side by side as shown in 5 a . selecting hexagon shape makes it easier to connect brib 17 together to generate a larger structure , however any other shape can be used for brib 17 . brib 17 is an inflatable module and therefore fiber reinforced polymer ( frp ) material is used . in this embodiment of the invention , wall 2 is a rectangle and wall 2 dimensions are given below . these dimensions are approximate dimensions : a . height : 210 cm . b . width : 400 cm . c . thickness : 5 - 7 mm . d . total depth : 20 cm . walls 2 are pretreated carbon fiber panels . brib 17 is portable therefore a collapsible mechanism is possible . wall 2 will close in like an accordion instrument as shown in fig7 . this set up saves space during transportation . once fully opened and attached to the arches 11 as shown in fig1 or fig2 , walls 2 are filled with a material that will stop the fragments from an explosion , or bullets fired from large caliber weaponry . roof 4 is in curved triangular shape and is made of pretreated carbon fiber panels . roof 4 approximate dimensions are : e . height : 158 cm . f . length : 300 cm . g . width : 400 cm . h . thickness : 5 - 7 mm . i . total depth : 20 cm . arch 11 has a tube shape with a thickness of about 6 to 8 mm . tube diameter is about 50 cm . the tube has an outer skin of vacuum raisin infusion . the tube has an inner bladder , which will inflate the structure . the inner bladder also acts as an inner cast during vacuum infusion process . bi - axial tube approximate dimensions are j . height : 368 . 54 cm . k . length : 635 cm . l . span : ˜ 350 cm . m . tube detail : ceiling arch center point 21 acts as the middle topside of the brib 17 structure . as shown in fig6 . when the structure is in a box , the only way to inflate the structure is through ceiling arch center point 21 . when opened , ceiling arch center point 21 will provide access to each bladder in each arch 11 , as well as the back - up bladder in case the bladder leaks air for any reason . ceiling arch center point 21 is also connected to the bottom part of the box . a cable stretching from the bottom to the ceiling arch center point 21 will limit the height of the structure while being inflated therefore proving the shape desired . fig8 shows ceiling arches and wall will close in like an accordion instrument . this set up saves space during transportation . once fully opened and attached to the arches 11 as shown in fig1 or fig2 , walls 2 are filled with a material that will stop the fragments from an explosion , or bullets fired from large caliber weaponry . fig9 a shows how multiple brib 17 are connected together to form a larger structure 23 . fig9 b shows single brib 17 . fig9 c shows ceiling arches and roof sections . fig9 d shows walls of the brib 17 . fig9 f shows walls 2 , columns 8 and ceiling arch arches 11 connected together . fig1 shows another embodiment of the invention . in fig1 , blast resistance inflatable building 62 has ceiling arches 60 of fig6 . ceiling arches 60 connect to each other at ceiling arch center unit 21 . brib 62 does not have separate columns . instead , ceiling arch 60 is a continuous structure from ceiling arch center unit 21 to floor . each ceiling arch 60 is connected to ceiling arch center unit 21 . wall 65 is located between two ceiling arches 60 . roof sections 66 are attached between walls 65 and ceiling arches 60 for each segment . the shape of the structure in fig7 is a hexagonal shape . there are six ceiling arches 60 , six roof sections 66 and six walls 65 . any other shape could be used in which case the number of arches 60 , roof sections 66 and walls 65 would change . for example if a rectangle shape is used then there would be four arches 60 , four roof sections 66 and four walls 65 . in this embodiment , each wall 65 of the hexagon shaped brib 62 is about 4 meters . total span will be over 8 meters . the height of the walls 65 is about 2 . 10 meters . ceiling arch center point 21 , where all arches 60 and roof sections 66 meet will be about 3 . 68 meters above ground . there are no columns used in this embodiment as ceiling arches 60 are continuous structure and expands from the floor to ceiling arch center point 21 . ceiling arches 60 will have a total length of about 14 meters to 16 meters . the half point length for ceiling arch 60 is about 7 meters and spans over about 4 meters . ceiling arches 60 are connected to the outer shell , the i - box , and also are connected at the ceiling arch center point 21 . wall 65 and roof section 66 are either readily connected or are attached to the structure 17 once it is inflated . all system elements are present inside of one i - box . each i - box contains only one module of blast resistant inflatable building ( brib ) 62 . each brib 62 has approximately 64 m 2 of living space , and multiple modules can be connected side by side as shown in 5 a . selecting hexagon shape makes it easier to connect brib 62 together to generate a larger structure , however any other shape can be used for brib 62 . brib 62 is an inflatable module and therefore fiber reinforced polymer ( frp ) material is used . in this embodiment of the invention , wall 65 is a rectangle and wall 65 dimensions are given below . these dimensions are approximate dimensions : p . height : 210 cm . q . width : 400 cm . r . thickness : 5 - 7 mm . s . total depth : 20 cm . walls 65 are pretreated carbon fiber panels . brib 62 is portable therefore a collapsible mechanism is possible . wall 65 will close in like an accordion instrument as shown in fig7 . this set up saves space during transportation . once fully opened and attached to the arches 60 as shown in fig6 , walls 65 are filled with a material that will stop the fragments from an explosion , or bullets fired from large caliber weaponry . roof section 66 is in curved triangular shape and is made of pretreated carbon fiber panels . roof section 66 approximate dimensions are : t . height : 158 cm . u . length : 300 cm . v . width : 400 cm . w . thickness : 5 - 7 mm . x . total depth : 20 cm . ceiling arch 60 has a tube shape with a thickness of about 6 to 8 mm . tube diameter is about 50 cm . the tube has an outer skin of vacuum raisin infusion . the tube has an inner bladder , which will inflates the structure . the inner bladder also acts as an inner cast during vacuum infusion process . bi - axial tube approximate dimensions are y . height : 368 . 54 cm . z . length : 635 cm . aa . span : ˜ 350 cm . bb . tube detail : ceiling arch center point 21 acts as the middle topside of the brib 62 structure as shown in fig6 . when the structure is in a box , the only way to inflate the structure is through ceiling arch center point 21 . when opened , ceiling arch center point 21 will provide access to each bladder in each ceiling arch 60 , as well as the back - up bladder in case the bladder leaks air for any reason . ceiling arch center point 21 is also connected to the bottom part of the box . a cable stretching from the bottom to the ceiling arch center point 21 will limit the height of the structure while being inflated therefore proving the shape desired . while the foregoing written description of the invention enables one of ordinary skill to make and use what is considered presently to be the best mode thereof , those of ordinary skill will understand and appreciate the existence of variations , combinations , and equivalents of the specific embodiment , method , and examples herein . the invention should therefore not be limited by the above described embodiment , method , and examples , but by all embodiments and methods within the scope and spirit of the invention .
| 4 |
the method will now be described with reference to fig1 . as set forth above , this method was developed with a view to liquefying natural gas to form liquid natural gas ( lng ). the description of application of the method to lng should , therefore , be considered as an example . referring to fig1 , a pressurized pipeline natural gas stream 1 provides natural gas to users through line 29 , valve 30 to flow distribution 37 . a natural gas stream 2 is routed through flow control valve 3 . the controlled flow enters the gas pre - treatment unit 5 through line 4 . pre - treatment is to remove contaminants and may not be required if the gas used is of sufficient quality . the pre - treated gas exits through line 6 and is mixed with recycled gas stream 25 through valve 26 . the mixed gas stream 7 enters heat exchanger 8 where it is pre - cooled . the pressurized pre - cooled gas stream 9 enters expander 10 where the pressure is dropped resulting in a substantial temperature drop . the nearly isentropic expansion also produces torque and therefore shaft power that is converted into electricity through generator 11 . the expanded gas stream 12 enters lng receiver 13 where the liquid and vapour fractions are separated . the vapour stream 17 is routed through heat exchanger 8 to pre - cool inlet gas stream 7 . the now warmed gas stream 18 enters compressor 20 through line 19 for re - compression . the compressor 20 shaft power is provided by a gas engine 22 which receives its fuel from gas line 21 . the compressed recycled gas stream 23 is cooled in heat exchanger 24 before mixing it with inlet feed gas stream 6 through line 25 . to prevent a buildup of nitrogen in the recycle gas stream 25 , a bleeding gas stream 27 is routed to gas transmission line 29 through valve 28 . the cooling of compressed recycled gas stream 23 is provided by a once through heat exchange from gas transmission line 29 . the required gas coolant is routed through valve 31 and line 32 into heat exchanger 24 and the once through flow is returned to gas transmission line 29 through line 34 and valve 33 . the lng receiver 13 accumulates the lng produced . lng exits receiver 13 through stream 14 to supply lng product pump 15 , where it is pumped to storage through line 16 . a main feature of this invention is the simplicity of the process which eliminates the use of external refrigeration systems . another feature of the invention is the flexibility of the process to meet various operating conditions since the ratio of lng production is proportional to the cold vapour stream generated and recycled . the invention also provides for a significant savings in energy when compared to other processes since it uses its recycled vapour stream as the coolant medium , the process produces its own refrigeration stream . the proposed invention can be used in any lng production plant size . referring to fig2 , the main difference from fig1 is in the heat exchanger to cool recycle stream 23 . in fig2 , the heat exchanger 50 is an air cooling heat exchanger where ambient air is used to cool stream 23 . this process orientation provides an alternative method to produce lng at albeit less efficient than when using heat exchanger 24 as shown in fig1 . a pressurized pipeline natural gas stream 1 provides natural gas to users through line 29 , valve 30 to flow distribution 37 . a natural gas stream 2 is routed through flow control valve 3 , and enters the gas pre - treatment unit 5 through line 4 . the pre - treated gas exits through line 6 and is mixed with recycle gas stream 25 through valve 26 . the mixed gas stream 7 enters heat exchanger 8 where it is pre - cooled . the pressurized pre - cooled gas stream 9 enters expander 10 where the pressure is dropped resulting in a substantial temperature drop . the nearly isentropic expansion also produces torque and therefore shaft power that is converted into electricity through generator 11 . the expanded gas stream 12 enters lng receiver 13 where the liquid and vapour fractions are separated . the vapour stream 17 is routed through heat exchanger 8 to pre - cool inlet gas stream 7 . the now warmed gas stream 18 enters compressor 20 through line 19 for re - compression . the compressor 20 shaft power is provided by a gas engine 22 which receives its fuel from gas line 21 . the compressed recycled gas stream 23 is cooled in heat exchanger 51 before mixing it with inlet feed gas stream 6 through line 25 . to prevent a buildup of nitrogen in the recycle gas stream 25 , a bleeding gas stream 27 is routed to gas transmission line 29 through valve 28 . the cooling of compressed recycled gas stream 23 is provided by an air cooling heat exchanger 51 . the lng receiver 13 accumulates the lng produced . lng exits receiver 13 through stream 14 to supply lng product pump 15 , where it is pumped to storage through line 16 . referring to fig3 , the main difference from fig1 and 2 is the recovery of natural gas liquids before expansion . this is achieved by circulating a portion of the generated liquid natural gas ( lng ), stream 42 and mixing it in 43 with the pre - cooled gas stream 51 to meet the temperature required to condense the heavier fractions present in the natural gas stream such as ; butane , propane and ethane . this process orientation provides an alternative method to produce both lng and ngls . a pressurized pipeline natural gas stream 1 provides natural gas to users through line 29 , valve 30 to gas flow transmission line 37 . a natural gas stream 2 is routed through flow control valve 3 , and enters the gas pre - treatment unit 5 through line 4 . the pre - treated gas exits through line 6 and is mixed with recycle gas stream 25 through valve 26 , the mixed gas stream 7 enters heat exchanger 8 where it is pre - cooled . the pressurized pre - cooled gas stream 43 enters mixer 44 , a lng stream 42 is also added to mixer 44 . the addition of lng stream to mixer 44 is controlled by temperature control valve 41 . the mixed stream 45 , enters separator 46 where the ngls are separated and accumulated . the ngls exit separator 46 through line 47 to ngl pump 49 and pumped to storage through line 50 . the pressurized , pre - cooled and de - liquified gas stream 9 enters expander 10 where the pressure is dropped resulting in a substantial temperature drop . the nearly isentropic expansion also produces torque and therefore shaft power that is converted into electricity through generator 11 . the expanded gas stream 12 enters lng receiver 13 where the liquid and vapour fractions are separated . the vapour stream 17 is routed through heat exchanger 8 to pre - cool inlet gas stream 7 . the now warmed gas stream 18 enters compressor 20 through line 19 for re - compression . the compressor 20 shaft power is provided by a gas engine 22 which receives its fuel from gas line 21 . the compressed recycled gas stream 23 is cooled in heat exchanger 24 before mixing it with inlet feed gas stream 6 through line 25 and valve 26 . to prevent a buildup of nitrogen in the recycle gas stream 25 , a bleeding gas stream 27 is routed to gas transmission line 29 through valve 28 . the cooling of compressed recycled gas stream 23 is provided by a once through heat exchange from gas transmission line 29 . the required gas coolant is routed through valve 31 and line 32 into heat exchanger 24 and the once through flow is returned to gas transmission line 29 through line 34 and valve 33 . the lng receiver 13 accumulates the lng produced . lng exits receiver 13 through stream 14 to supply lng product pump 15 , where it is pumped to storage through line 16 . a portion of the produced lng is routed through line 38 to high pressure lng pump 39 . the pressurized lng liquid stream is controlled by temperature valve 41 to a pre - set temperature through temperature transmitter 47 . the controlled lng stream 42 enters mixer 44 to cool and condense the desired natural gas liquids . the proposed invention addresses both large and small plants in which process simplicity and ease of operation are the main components . the invention eliminates the need for refrigeration cycle plants and the use of proprietary mixed refrigerants . by simplifying the process , it reduces capital , maintenance , and operations costs . in the preferred method , natural gas is first pre - cooled with produced cold vapor then expanded through a gas expander . the gas expander produces electricity . the expanded gas produces a vapour and a liquid stream . the vapour stream is recycled by first pre - cooling the feed gas to the expander and then recompressed , cooled and recycled . a portion of the produced lng provides the cold energy required as a recycle stream to cool and liquefy the pre - treated natural gas stream to recover desired natural gas liquids . the proposed invention eliminates the practice and use of mixed refrigerant cycles resulting in lower capital and operating costs . the process is applicable to any lng plant size . it should be noted that the motive force for the compressor can be provided by an electric motor versus a gas driven engine as proposed . moreover , the compressed vapour stream can be discharged into gas transmission line 29 rather than recycled as proposed . 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 element is present , unless the context clearly requires that there be one and only one of the elements . the scope of the claims should not be limited by the preferred embodiments set forth in the examples , but should be given a broad purposive interpretation consistent with the description as a whole .
| 5 |
according to the invention , the wavelength selectivity obtained with a given diffraction grating is improved by mounting the grating in the cavity at an angle of incidence near grazing with respect to the beam travelling away from the excited medium , thereby illuminating the whole width of the grating . the use of the grating at grazing incidence in the littrow mounting is possible but is accompanied by three difficulties : 1 . diffraction gratings blazed for angles above 80 ° are not available commercially today , unless diffraction from back facets is used . 2 . when rotating the grating for tuning purposes , not only is the wavelength changed , but also the laser linewidth which depends strongly on θ as can be seen from the equations ( 1 ) and ( 2 ). 3 . the direction of the zeroth order diffraction of the grating is changed when tuning the wavelength . if this beam is used as the output laser beam it should have a fixed direction . due to these difficulties it is suggested , according to the invention , to use as a wavelength selector the combination of grating and reflecting means described by hulthen and lind with the grating mounted at grazing angle with respect to the optical axis of the laser . fig1 illustrates a wavelength selector according to this invention , mounted at one side of a tunable laser cavity . as an illustration of the invention , fig1 refers to a side - pumped pulsed dye laser . the laser cavity includes a fixed reflecting means 12 , a dye cell 14 , and a wavelength selector 16 constructed and operative in accordance with an embodiment of the invention and comprising of a diffraction grating 18 and a reflecting means 20 such as a mirror or grating . the active medium 22 is excited in the dye cell 14 by the focussed radiation of the pumping source 24 , the focussing being performed by the lens 26 . the optical cavity is defined to be between the reflector 12 and the wavelength selector 16 with the active medium 22 and the intracavity beam 28 lying along an optical axis 29 . more precisely , the laser cavity is defined by the reflector 12 and the reflecting means 20 , which in the preferred embodiment are both totally reflecting plane mirrors . mirror 20 is the tuning element of the wavelength selector and it is pivotally mounted -- as illustrated schematically at 21 -- so that it may be rotated for wavelength tuning around an axis perpendicular to the plane of the drawing . a portion 30 of the beam 28 incident on the grating 18 is diffracted in the direction of the rotatable mirror 20 , while the remaining portion 32 of the beam is reflected out in the zeroth order of diffraction . in the preferred embodiment , this reflected portion 32 is used as the output beam of the laser . due to the angular dispersion of the diffracted beam 30 , only a narrow wavelength range is reflected by mirror 20 back along the direction of incidence of beam thereon , the wavelength depending on the orientation of the mirror 20 with respect to the grating 18 . the back reflected beam 30 is diffracted again by the grating ( in the same order as in the first diffraction ) and is returned to the excited ( active ) medium 22 . the zeroth order of this second diffraction is reflected out and is lost . the beam coming back into the excited medium has an angular dispersion dθ / dλ given by equation ( 3 ) where θ is the angle between the incident beam 28 and the normal to the grating , a is the groove - spacing of the grating , and m is the diffraction order . the angular dispersion , dθ / dλ , is twice as large as that obtained in the usual littrow arrangement under the same conditions ( assuming the same values for a , m and θ ). this increase in dispersion is due to the fact that the beam is diffracted twice before returning to the active medium . thanks to the strong dependence of the dispersion on the angle θ as expressed by equation ( 3 ), a very high angular dispersion may be achieved when the grating is mounted near grazing , thereby achieving a narrow passive bandwidth . when the illumination is near grazing incidence , the whole width of the grating may be illuminated , thereby achieving the highest selectivity obtainable with the grating . the wavelength selector 16 is mounted in the cavity in an autocollimation arrangement so that the beam travelling away from the wavelength selector towards the active medium is collinear with the beam 28 incident on the grating 18 along axis 29 . with the angular dispersion given by eq . ( 3 ), the single - pass bandwidth of the cavity becomes , according to eq . ( 1 ) ## equ4 ## the linewidth of the output beam is generally smaller than the passive bandwidth due to multiple - pass effect . to obtain a narrow bandwidth δλ , a highly dispersive grating should be used ( which dictates a small value of a / m ) and the angle θ should be as high as possible , that is as close to 90 ° as possible . θ is only limited by the grating width ; thus , the grating should be large enough to intercept the beam completely at the desired angle of incidence . the alignment of the cavity is very simple and no focusing is required . the cavity has low losses and may be shorter than one containing a telescope . also the use of expensive lenses is eliminated . other special features of this arrangement are : 1 . narrow bandwidth . the highest selectivity obtainable with a given grating may be achieved , since all its grooves may be illuminated . 2 . the cavity is free from any glass components apart from the dye cell itself . 3 . the output coupling may be varied by varying θ , since the intensity of zeroth order depends strongly on θ . this enables matching of the cavity to the gain of the laser material . 4 . the wavelength is tuned by rotating mirror 20 . a large tuning range is obtained , and a linear wavelength readout is possible via a mechanical sine drive . 5 . the cavity is short , and thus the laser efficiency is improved for a given pumping pulse duration . 6 . since only a narrow line on the grating is illuminated , the constraints on the grating rotation mechanism are less severe than in a cavity containing a telescope . 7 . this cavity design permits a continuous bandwidth variation by varying the angle θ [ see eq . ( 4 )]. as an illustration of the invention a nitrogen - laser - pumped dye laser was constructed , and operated successfully . the grating 18 used was a 15 cm wide echelle grating made by bausch & amp ; lomb catalog no . 35 . 03 - 19 - 451 having 316 grooves per mm and a blaze angle of 63 ° 26 &# 39 ;. the fixed reflector 12 and the tuning reflector 20 were both aluminum coated mirrors with a reflectivity of about 90 %. the use of dielectric coated mirrors would involve lower losses and is therefore preferred . the dye cell used was a molectron model dl 051 cuvette , with a magnetic stirrer , filled with a solution of rhodamine 6g in hexafluoroisopropanol ( 2 . 5 × 10 - 3 m ). the focussing lens was a cylindrical quartz lens made by oriel ( u . s . a .) with a focus length of 50 mm . the length of the cavity was 25 cm ( in another experiment a shorter cavity of 20 cm was used ) when measured to the middle of the echelle 18 . the nitrogen laser used for pumping was a home - made longitudinally excited laser operating at a repetition rate of 10 pps with 50 kw peak power and a pulse duration of 12 nsec ( fwhm ). the grating 18 was used in the wavelength selector 16 in the strongest diffraction order at grazing incidence . it should be noted that the strongest order in the present arrangement will not be in general the same order which is strongest in a littrow arrangement . when operating the laser near 5700 a , the ninth order of the echelle was used , while in the littrow arrangement the tenth order would have been indicated . since a grating 18 with many diffraction orders is used , undesirable direct feedback may occur when the equation for the littrow arrangement ( 2a sin θ = mλ ) is satisfied for an order higher than the one used . to prevent such an undesirable feedback , the grating 18 should be tilted a little around axis 34 defined by the intersection of grating &# 39 ; s surface and the plane of the drawing . the grooves of the grating should remain however perpendicular to axis 34 . if a grating 18 with a groove spacing satisfying 1 / 2λ & lt ; a & lt ; λ is used in first order , only a single diffraction order exists so that such a tilt is not necessary . a grating with such a groove spacing is preferred . another disadvantage of the high - order echelle compared with a grating which diffracts only one order is that a superposition of different orders at slightly different wavelengths is possible in the present arrangement . the beam , diffracted twice in the ninth order before returning to the active medium , may be overlapped by beams diffracted at other combinations of orders , such as ( 8 + 10 ) or ( 10 + 8 ). if this happens , the spectrum of the output beam 32 will contain several narrow lines . such a superposition was prevented in the present example by using a small mirror 20 , and by mounting it far enough from the grating 18 , so that only a single combination of orders could exist . the superfluorescent beam 28 incident on the grating 18 was diffraction limited , due to the large distance ( 45 mm ) between mirror 12 and the active medium . the far - field divergence of this beam was measured and was found to be 2 . 3 mrad ( half - angle ). the large width of the echelle 18 made it possible to operate at an angle of incidence as high as 89 ° 30 &# 39 ;. at this angle , the calculated angular dispersion [ eq . ( 3 )] was 65 mrad / a and the corresponding single - pass bandwidth [ eq . ( 4 )] was 0 . 07 a . this compares favourably with the angular dispersion of 0 . 7 mrad / a and the single - pass bandwidth of 6 . 5 a obtained with the same echelle - grating operating at littrow - mounting at tenth order of diffraction . the typical peak power obtained with rhodamine 6g was 4 kw in pulses of 4 nsec ( fwhm ). the linewidth was measured by photographing the fringes of a fabry - perot interferometer with a free spectral range of 0 . 5 cm - 1 and was found to be 0 . 08 cm - 1 or a little less than 0 . 03 a ( near 5700 a ). the measured half - angle divergence of the output beam was about 1 mrad . a tuning range of about 400 a was obtained by rotating mirror 20 . the measured linewidth and divergence of the output beam 32 were found , as expected , to be smaller than the single - pass values ( δλ = 0 . 07 a ; δα = 2 . 3 mrad ). this indicated that several round trips were carried out in the cavity during excitation time by virtue of the short cavity . the shortness of the cavity was also responsible for the wide tuning range obtained despite the small amount of feedback from the grating 18 . the lasing efficiency , tuning range and output beam divergence of the dye laser tuned by the wavelength selector here described were similar to those of lasers fitted with intracavity beam expanders . but , in view of the advantages listed on pages 10 - 11 and especially the simplicity of the design , this invention seems to present an attractive alternative . since , as mentioned above , the use of a grating having a single order of diffraction is preferred , experiments were performed with two such gratings : a bausch & amp ; lomb model 35 . 53 - 05 - 290 having 1800 grooves per mm and a blaze angle of 26 ° 45 &# 39 ;; and a non - blazed holographic grating with 2000 grooves per mm made by jobin - yvon ( france ) catalog no . 100 hm23 . both satisfy the condition 1 / 2λ & lt ; a & lt ; λ for the wavelength range between 5600 a and 7000 a , and both operated successfully in the dye laser described above ; the holographic grating showed superior performance by virtue of its higher diffraction efficiency . the wavelength selector 16 may be used in a laser cavity without employing the reflected beam 32 as the output laser beam . other output coupling techniques may be used , e . g . mirror 12 can be made partially transmitting to couple out the energy as in h / a / nsch - type lasers . in such an arrangement , the output beam has the advantage of lower background of amplified spontaneous emission ; however , the efficiency may be lower since the strong beam 32 reflected from the grating is lost . an improvement in the wavelength selector 16 may be the use of a cylindrical mirror as the reflective means 20 , with the axis of the cylinder lying in the plane of the drawing , in order to reduce radiation losses . now , referring to fig2 an improved wavelength selector 16 is shown with an etalon 40 introduced between the grating 18 and mirror 20 . the etalon which may be a solid etalon or an air - spaced etalon provides a further line - narrowing . walk - off problems are eliminated since the beam travelling through the etalon 30 is in general larger ( in one dimension ) than the beam 28 . this fact also improves the wavelength selection contributed by the etalon due to the small divergence of the large beam 30 . the assembly 42 of etalon 40 and mirror 20 must be mounted on a common pivotal mount which may be rotated as illustrated schematically at 44 . rotation of the assembly 42 provides coarse tuning ( as when rotating only the grating in h / a / nsch - type lasers ), since the etalon orientation with respect to beam 30 is unchanged during rotation . fine tuning ( etalon tuning only ) is achieved by rotating only the etalon 40 about a pivotal mount illustrated schematically at 46 while the common mount assembly 42 remains fixed . for broadband fine tuning , both rotations relative to pivotal mounts 44 and 46 must be simultaneously performed . alternatively , &# 34 ; pressure - tuning &# 34 ; as described by wallenstein and h / a / nsch in optics communications volume 14 , page 353 ( 1975 ), may be used for the simultaneous tuning . the etalon must be large enough to intercept the beam 30 . an air - spaced etalon , burleigh model vs - 25 with the spacing adjusted to 5 mm was added to the wavelength selector described above with the holographic grating 18 . the dye laser tuned by this wavelength selector was successfully operated . fig3 shows another improved wavelength selector , in which the reflecting means 20 in fig1 is a second grating 50 which increases the wavelength selectivity . the grating 18 is in grazing incidence as before , while grating 50 is mounted in the conventional littrow mounting with respect to the beam 30 . in the arrangement of fig3 grating 18 may be mounted at a smaller angle of incidence , and this can be of help if the use of small gratings is preferred . also , a higher lasing efficiency is expected if the grating 18 is mounted at a less steep incidence angle since a higher diffraction efficiency is obtained . it should be noted that the gratings 18 and 50 must be mounted so that their relative orientation is as shown in fig3 in order to achieve addition of the angular dispersions contributed by each of the gratings . otherwise , the angular dispersions of the gratings may cancel each other . in this arrangement , grating 18 may be considered as a kind of beam expander which offers -- in addition to angular dispersion -- continuously variable one - dimensional beam expansion . the magnification factor is m = cos φ / cos θ , where φ is the angle between beam 30 and the normal to grating &# 39 ; s surface ; m may vary between 5 and 150 by varying θ ( up to 89 ° 40 &# 39 ; for most practical purposes ). a dye laser was constructed in accordance with this design with a holographic grating 18 and echelle 50 . the laser operated successfully with this improved wavelength selector and its performance was found to be similar to that of the laser constructed according to the design of fig1 . the wavelength selector 16 need not necessarily be the end element of the cavity as in the embodiment of fig1 . it may be introduced between the reflectors 12 and 60 which define the laser cavity as illustrated in fig4 . alternatively , it may be mounted outside a cavity defined between two reflectors 12 and 70 as illustrated in fig5 thereby forming a coupled resonator . the reflectors 60 in fig4 and 70 in fig5 may be , for example , a wedged quartz window which provides a reflection of about 4 %. the arrangements illustrated in the fig4 and 5 may be useful in a laser having a relatively low gain in which a higher cavity q - factor ( i . e . smaller output coupling ) is required . the &# 34 ; grazing incidence &# 34 ; method here used is applicable to various cavity configurations , and the specific designs shown in fig1 to 5 are given only as an illustration of the possibilities . other cavity configurations amenable to the method of the invention are a ring - laser cavity or a longitudinal pumping arrangement . also , other output coupling techniques may be used . due to the possibility of controlling the output coupling , optimum operation may be obtained with different laser materials . the invention seems to be applicable to different types of lasers and in different applications as well as in spectrometers and parametric oscillators . it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention and the invention is not to be considered limited to what is shown in the drawing and described in the specification .
| 7 |
with reference to fig1 there is depicted an electrical circuit diagram 100 illustrating the effective local power supply non - switching capacitance c 0 and an equivalent local switching capacitance c s . every single electrical element being part of the analyzed electrical circuit provides a certain capacitance . for the analysis according to the present invention the provided capacitance of each electrical element is divided in two different kinds . the first kind is a so called switching capacitance c s , i . e ., a capacitance which has to be charged whenever the respective electrical element changes it state or switches . the second kind , in contrast , is a non - switching capacitance c 0 which is not affected by the changing of the state of the electrical element nor by its switching . the non - switching capacitance c 0 , however , keeps some electrical charge which might be supplied into the power supply network . charging a switching capacitance c s of an electrical element during a switching event is the major physical effect which needs external power supply support . due to the high switching speed , the inductance domination of the power supply path mainly dominates the behavior of the voltage level provided by the power supply network to the switching electrical elements . because of this , an external power supply cannot instantly provide sufficient electrical charge demanded by an electrical element in order to charge the switching capacitance c s . instead , the electrical charge needed to charge the switching capacitance c s is at first taken from a non - switching capacitance c 0 being situated very closely in relation to the switching location . hence , only a fraction of the entire non - switching capacitance c 0 is available to provide the electrical charge that is needed in the moment of an switching event . hence , an initial voltage collapse or voltage level variation du of the nominal power supply voltage level u 0 might occur . all physical structures , such as gates , transistors , electrical lines or even capacitors , can be illustrated by using an equivalent circuit diagram , in which , for a specific operation range , the physical structures are represented by a set of base components . from such a representation , the values for the non - switching capacitance c 0 and the switching capacitance c s can be extracted . the non - switching capacitance c 0 behaves like an ordinary capacitor being directly connected between a ground line gnd and a supply voltage line vh . the switching capacitance c s behaves like a capacitor being connected in series with a switch 102 between the ground line gnd and the supply voltage line vh , as illustrated in fig1 . from the actual chip content placement , the distribution of c 0 and c s for a worst case scenario can be extracted . however , as aforementioned , not only worst case scenarios may be calculated . now with reference to fig2 there is depicted a perspective view of a regular three layer power grid 200 in a multiple layered power distribution system to be analyzed in accordance with the present invention . in a lower layer , a first and a second ground line are running in the y - direction in parallel to a first and a second supply voltage line 206 and 208 . in order to illustrate that the ground and supply voltage lines serve to provide electrical circuits with energy , a gate 210 consisting of two cmos transistors are exemplary drawn between the first ground line 202 and the first supply voltage line 206 . all lines of a middle layer are running orthogonal in view of the lines of the lower layer , i . e ., in x - direction . in the middle layer there are drawn a third , a fourth and a fifth supply voltage line 212 , 214 , 216 respectively , a third and a fourth ground line 218 and 220 respectively , and four signal lines 222 situated between the third ground line 218 and the fourth supply voltage lines 214 . in an upper layer a sixth and a seventh supply voltage line 224 and 226 are running in parallel to a fifth and sixth ground line 228 and 230 . as it can be seen in fig2 different ground lines as well as different supply voltage lines are connected to each other forming a multiple layered coplanar wiring structure . it is acknowledged that the presented power grid is only an example and other structures , either regular or irregular , might be the starting point for the method and device in accordance to the present invention . the complicated structure is analyzed and converted in a new representation having a reduced complexity . in a preferred embodiment , the power distribution system , such as the one shown in fig2 is reduced to an equivalent pair of parallel planes as shown in fig3 . in fig3 there is shown a perspective view of a converted representation 300 of the power distribution system as used in accordance with the present invention . the converted representation 300 is formed by a single plane pair having a lower plane 302 as ground and a structure of interconnected electrical elements representing the behavior of the power distribution system forming a upper layer 304 . the upper layer includes a plurality of connection points 306 . at these connection points 306 four resistance / conductance elements ( r - l - elements ) 308 in the upper layer and at least a capacitance element 310 join together . the capacitance element 310 has the other terminal connected to the lower ( ground ) layer 302 . the other terminals of the r - l - elements 308 of the upper layer are itself connected to other connection points 306 which are arranged in a grid like structure . in the front left corner , a voltage source 312 illustrates a connection of the power distribution system to the supply voltage . several current sources 314 illustrate the switching activity of the simulated power distribution system . it is acknowledged that the present invention is not restricted to a reduction to a single plain pair as shown in fig3 . moreover , any number of planes not larger than the number of the layers of the real power distribution system may be taken . now with reference to fig4 there is depicted a perspective view of a lumped equivalent of a single segment as used in the conversion process according to the present invention . each portion or segment of the real power distribution system gets converted into such a lumped equivalent . in an upper layer there is one connection point 402 . at the connection point 402 , four resistance / conductance elements ( r - l - elements ) 404 , 406 , 408 and 410 respectively , are positioned in the upper layer . from the connection point 402 a capacitance element 412 , a conductivity element 414 and a current source 414 run to the ground layer . all the different r - l - elements 404 to 410 are combined with there neighboring elements when combining all single segments to the model as shown in fig3 . alternatively , a distributed parameter system may be used instead of a representation with r - l - elements , i . e ., the r - l - elements may be replaced by transmission line segments . with reference now to fig5 there is depicted a flow chart illustrating a method for analyzing the dynamic behavior of an electrical circuit to determine whether a voltage level provided by a power distribution system might leave a predetermined voltage range during operation of the electrical circuit according to the present invention . as an input , the information about power grid , the circuits and the activity in form of a description is needed , as illustrated by blocks 500 , 502 and 504 . the power grid description contains the wiring geometries and material information that impacts the wiring / propagation properties , such as the line width , height , spacing , conductivity , losses , dielectric constant etc . the circuit description contains the circuit parameters that impact the power noise . typically this includes the placement and routing , switching and non - switching capacitance . instead of final routing , an routing estimate is possible . since in real life scenarios , not all gates switch at every clock cycle , from the activity information , i . e ., the probability of a gate switching in one clock cycle , is taken into consideration . however , if the exact switching activity is not known , an estimate might be taken instead . from the power grid description , characteristic parameters of the equivalent planes are derived as depicted by block 506 . this may be performed by means of extraction tools . as a result of the extraction , characteristic parameters of parallel planes r ., l ., c ″ and g ″ are derived . this is done by dividing the parallel planes of the power distribution system into segments , such as multiple square portions . then , as a preparation for the numerical simulation of the power grid , the created segments are represented by lumped elements as illustrated by block 508 and as shown in fig4 . the segments may be of any shape , preferably of square or rectangular shape . in a preferred embodiment of the present invention , the extracting tool is based on electromagnetic field solvers . however , basically any tool or methodology able to extract lumped element equivalents is suitable to be used . for example , any 3d extraction for the cells may be used . in case of homogenous wiring structures , also 2d extraction is eligible . block 510 represents the extraction of information from the circuit description . from the circuit description , the distribution of non - switching circuit capacitance c 0 is available . inside a cell all non - switching capacitance c 0 and the power wiring capacitance c w is collected into one lumped capacitance value c b = c 0 + c w , as illustrated by block 512 . usually but not necessarily the wiring capacitance can be neglected , i . e ., c w & lt ;& lt ; c 0 , compared to the non - switching circuit capacitance , i . e ., c b ≅ c 0 . on the other hand , switching circuit capacitance c s are extracted from the circuit information as illustrated by block 514 . the influence of the switching circuit capacitance c s on the behavior of the power distribution system is considered by taking the activity information into account as depicted by block 516 . in the derived representation of the power distribution system the circuit switching and activity may be modeled by equivalent switching current distribution i s . from all such information derived from a first representation of the power distribution system formed by the power grid , the circuit information , and the activity information , a converted and simplified representation is built that can be simulated . the converted representation may looks like an 2d transmission line model as shown in fig3 . alternatively the conductance g may also be added to this model . furthermore , r and l elements of adjacent cells can be merged . finally , as illustrated by block 518 , the voltage change du is calculated and then displayed in relation to the respective segment of the power distribution system . furthermore , displaying the calculated maximum voltage level variation du includes the step of creating a two or three - dimensional illustration representing the circuit area indicating the calculated voltage level variation du in accordance with the values determined for each portion . thereby , two or three - dimensional illustration is preferably divided in the same way as the circuit or chip area . displaying the noise voltage by animation of time varying noise voltage may also be possible . the collapse matrix depends on how the functional units are built up , where they are placed on the chip and how the functional switching event is distributed . because of the efficient processing scheme the calculation of the power collapse matrix can be done during chip content placement and , thus , guide to a power noise optimized and balanced design . if the analysis exhibits too high collapse values , either additional power supply decoupling capacitors can be placed into the critical areas or the switching density has to be reduced by spreading out the affected circuits into a larger area , or power wiring could be changed . this analysis feedback loop provides a method to reduce on - chip voltage noise . with reference now to fig6 there is depicted a view of a three - dimensional illustration representing the circuit area indicating a calculated maximum voltage level variation du in accordance with the values determined for each portion of said circuit area according to the present invention . particularly , the example shows a graphical picture of a calculated power collapse matrix , calculated according to the methodology of this invention . however , for the sake of clarity , the grid is not so finely drawn as the actual measurements have been . furthermore , only certain ranges of the calculated voltage level variation du are marked by different pattern . it is acknowledged that an actual representation contains more details and the view of the three - dimensional representation of the results is preferably depicted by using different colors which represent specific ranges of voltage level variation , e . g ., the portion of the illustration having a calculated voltage level variation in the range from 0 . 3 to 0 . 325 volts could be colored green . [ 0046 ] fig7 shows a chart depicting a horizontal scan of the three - dimensional illustration of fig6 . actually measured on - chip power voltage collapse values 701 and calculated values 702 . minor deviations are noticeable for chip areas without any switching activity . the collapse there is propagated from areas with switching activity . however , the most critical areas having a significant voltage level variation are calculated with a minimum of variation from the actually measured values . finally with reference to fig8 there is depicted a two - dimensional illustration representing the distribution of switching capacitance c s on a chip , whereby the line between arrows 800 and 802 mark the axis , along which the power noise shown in fig7 was simulated and measured . however , for the sake of clarity the grid is not so finely drawn as the actual measurements have been . furthermore , only certain ranges of the actual values of the switching capacitance c s are marked by different pattern . it is acknowledged that an actual representation contains more details and the two - dimensional representation . while the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described herein , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction herein disclosed , and the right is reserved to all changes and modifications coming within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims .
| 6 |
fig1 illustrates an exemplary human - wearable recall device . a wearer 100 is shown wearing a recall device 102 on a necklace . it should be understood , however , that a wearer need not be human , but that animals , vehicles , and other objects may wear a recall device for the purpose of selectively recording monitored environmental conditions . an exploded view of the recall device 102 is shown in box 104 . a camera 106 , which may include a fish - eye lens , a wide angle lens , or any other kind of lens , is positioned in the center of the recall device 102 , although the camera 106 may be positioned at other locations in the recall device 102 . four light emitting diodes ( leds ) are shown on the face of the recall device 102 . led 108 signals detection of an audio capture condition , such as an increase in detected audio level over a given threshold or a substantial change in average audio level within a given period . led 110 signals detection of a motion capture condition , such as a detected change of angle of greater than a threshold ( e . g ., 20 °). led 112 signals detection of a light level capture condition , such as a substantial change in average light level within a given period or an increase in detected light level over a given threshold . led 114 signals detection of a temperature capture condition , such as an increase in detected ambient temperature level over a given threshold or a substantial change in ambient temperature level within a given period . other capture conditions than those listed above may alternatively be employed . a serial port 116 is shown in the recall device 102 to download data monitored by the recall device 102 to a computer system . recorded data from various in the recall device 102 is saved into memory in the recall device 102 . such data may also be downloaded via the serial port 116 to a more substantial computer system , such as a desktop computer , for subsequent analysis ( e . g ., using a microsoft excel spreadsheet application or other analysis tools ). internal settings , such as condition parameters , time settings , etc ., may also be uploaded to the recall device 102 via the serial port . a wireless transceiver ( not shown ) is coupled to an antenna running up the cord 118 . the wireless transceiver may be used to upload and download data as well as to interface with wireless networking protocols , such as wi - fi and bluetooth , and to detect radio frequency signals . fig2 illustrates an internal plan view 200 and an external perspective view 202 of an exemplary recall device . specific components of exemplary recall devices are described herein ; however , it should be understood that other components may be employed in other implementations of a recall device . a microcontroller ( not shown ) is mounted to the underside of the printed circuit ( pc ) board 204 . in one implementation , a microchip 20 mhz pic16f876 microcontroller is used . a camera 206 and lens 208 are operably connected to the pc board 204 of the recall device . in one implementation , a 50 mm × 30 mm × 14 mm sipix snap 300 kpixel camera module with an additional f2 , f2 . 2 , mm lens from edmunds optics is employed . in an alternative configuration , a philips key008 camera is employed with an added 2 . 9 mm lens from edmunds optics . an interface to the shutter and mode controls of the camera are provided by reed relays , although other switching elements , such as optical mosfet transistors , may alternatively be employed . an accelerometer 210 is mounted to the pc board 204 . in the illustrated implementation , a single dual axis +/− 10 g adxl210 accelerometer from analog devices is employed . in alterative implementations , multiple multi - axis or single axis accelerometers may be employed . for example , individual single axis accelerometers may be configured to detect acceleration in each of three axes ( x , y , and z ). in an alternative implementation , the 3 axes are designated as roll , pitch and yaw , and a gyroscope is used to detect yaw ( rotational acceleration ). a light level sensor 212 mounted to the pc board 204 . in one implementation , a digital ambient light level sensor from taos , inc ., such as the tcs230 , is employed to detect magnitudes of and changes in ambient light levels in experienced by the recall device and , therefore , by the wearer . a change in ambient light level represents an exemplary capture condition that can indicate movement of the wearer from one room to another or from inside to outside . in addition , a change in ambient light level may be imitated by a gesture , such as waving one &# 39 ; s hand across the recall device to create a shadow on the light level sensor . as such , an image capture may be triggered by the wearer &# 39 ; s gestures without requiring the wearer to actually touching a trigger switch on the recall device . in one such implementation , the delay between detection of the capture event and the triggering of the image capture is prolonged at least as long as a predefined delay period in order to allow proper aiming of the camera at a target . an ambient temperature sensor ( not shown ) is mounted to the pc board 204 . in one implementation , a national semiconductor lm75 sensor is employed to detect magnitudes and changes in ambient temperature levels experienced by the recall device . a change in ambient light level represents an exemplary capture condition that can indicate , for example , movement of the wearer from inside to outside . a serial bus port 214 is mounted to the pc board 204 . in one implementation , a universal serial bus interface is employed , although other serial ports , such as an rs - 232 interface or irda interface , or any other data port , may be employed . the serial bus port ( or other interface ) may be used to upload and download data to / from the recall device . leds 216 indicate detection of various capture events , as discussed with regard to fig1 . fig3 illustrates a schematic of components 300 in an exemplary recall device . a microcontroller 302 is coupled to control a camera 304 using a shutter control line 306 and a mode control line 308 . a signal issued by the microcontroller 302 on the shutter control line 306 triggers an image capture in the camera 304 . a signal issued by the microcontroller 302 on the mode control line 308 sets the camera in high resolution mode , low resolution , or triggers an erasure of a captured image . a lens 310 , such as a normal lens , a wide angle lens , or a fish eye lens , is connected to the camera 304 . a battery 312 , such as a nimh aa 1 . 5 volt battery , powers the illustrated recall device , including the camera 304 . a step - up circuit 314 increases the voltage provided by the battery 312 to 3 . 7 volts to power the microcontroller 302 and other components on the pc board . an i 2 c bus 316 connects a memory block 318 to the microcontroller 302 . the memory block 318 may be used to store logged sensor data and captured images and sound . in one implementation , two 128 kbyte flash memory chips ( microchip 24lc512 ) are employed . in an alternative implementation , a larger and possibly removable memory modules , such as an sd or mmc card , can be connected will allow up to 1 gbyte of storage . a real time clock chip 320 ( dallas / maxim ) and an ambient temperature sensor 322 ( national semiconductor lm75 ) also connected to the microcontroller 302 by the i 2 c bus 316 . at least one accelerometer 324 is connected to the microcontroller 302 to detected changes in location and movement . in the illustrated implementation , three single axis accelerometers 326 are employed , one for each axis ( x , y , and z ). a serial bus interface 328 , such as a usb or rs - 232 interface , is connected to the microcontroller 302 to allow uploading and downloading of data . an audio recording circuit 330 is also connected to the microcontroller 302 to record ambient sound . in one implementation , the audio recording circuit 330 can record continuously for a period of time , although in other implementations , the audio recording circuit 330 is triggered to record in response to detection of a capture condition . a digital light level sensor 332 is connected to the microcontroller 302 to detect light level capture conditions . an rf transceiver 334 and an antenna 336 are connected to the microcontroller to provide or detect wi - fi signal communications , to detect rfid transponders , and / or to detect rf signals . in one implementation , a 433 mhz transceiver is employed . in another implementation , a 2 . 4 ghz radio receiver is employed to detect wireless networks . if the recall device is brought into proximity of a computer having wireless communication capabilities , the recall device can access and transfer images , audio , and other sensor data to the computer ( e . g ., using bluetooth or wi - fi ). as such , a remote computer system can be used to provide device settings , such as camera settings , sensor settings , time settings , etc . another user interface mode may be employed in a recall device having a no capacity or limited capacity for switches , buttons , etc . to enable transmission of captured and logged data to a computer system without requiring switches , the camera may be set in a predefined position ( e . g ., face - down on a table ). on power up , one or more accelerometers that detect the predefined position can trigger an automatic download of data to a computer over a wireless network link without any user intervention . other exemplary input components that may be employed for monitoring and logging sensor data , including without limitation a global positioning system ( gps ) transceiver ( e . g ., a gps transceiver from garmin geko with 10 m resolution and geographic location , altitude , and compass direction detection ), a heart rate monitor ( e . g ., a polar monitor ), a video camera , a gyroscope for detecting rotational conditions ( e . g ., adxrs gyroscope from analog devices ), a chemical sensor ( e . g ., a figaro carbon monoxide sensor or a smoke detector ), a reverse - biased led providing a crude optical motion detection based on ambient light changes , and a passive infrared radiation detector ( e . g ., a seiko passive infrared temperature detector ) for detecting humans up to 2 . 5 m from the wearer . other exemplary capture conditions may be satisfied by a change in sound level , a change in light level , a change in motion ( e . g ., as detected by an accelerometer or gyroscope ), a change in heart rate , a change in ambient temperature or the wear &# 39 ; s body temperature , a change in chemical composition of local environment ( e . g ., air ), detection of a wi - fi signal , detection of an rfid transponder , or expiration of a real time clock period . the various combinations of these components may be used to selectively capture ambient sound and images based on detection of a potentially interesting condition , marked by detection of a capture condition . in this manner , the selective image and sound capture make more efficient use of storage resources by avoiding continuous capture of uninteresting conditions . fig4 illustrates exemplary operations 400 of a selective image capture process . a monitoring operation 402 monitors motion of a camera using at least one accelerometer . a detecting operation 404 detects an environmental condition experienced by the camera that is designated as a “ capture condition ”. a capture condition indicates that something that has been previously associated with a potentially interesting environmental event has occurred . for example , if movement from one room to another is deemed to be an interesting environmental event , changes in ambient light level may be deemed to indicate that the wearer has moved to a different room . in one implementation , an exemplary detecting operation includes the following steps described in pseudocode : ( 1 ) read ambient light level in lux using tcs230 in current monitoring interval ( 2 ) compare current light level reading with the light level reading from previous monitoring interval ( e . g ., 1 second ago ) ( 3 ) if current reading & lt ; 50 % of previous reading or current reading & gt ; 200 % of previous reading , then indicate capture condition ( 4 ) goto detect_light_level a purpose of detecting the capture condition is to “ prime ” the triggering of an image capture . however , as the recall device is a wearable device , subject to jitter , the image capture itself is delayed ( i . e ., managed ) until a stable condition is detected by the accelerometer . therefore , a delay operation 406 delays a trigger operation 408 until a stable condition is detected by the accelerometer ( s ). in this manner , the quality ( e . g ., clarity ) of the captured image is expected to be better than an image from an unmanaged image capture . a stable condition is detected when one or more of the accelerometers in the camera detect movement within a predefined range or at or below a predefined threshold . for example , an exemplary recall device may be set to detect a stable condition when all accelerometers sense no movement in their respective axes . however , this setting may severely limit the likelihood of an image capture during periods of otherwise acceptable camera movement , such as when the wearer is standing nearly still . accordingly , the stable condition may be set to less than a threshold degree change in angle ( e . g ., 20 °) of any given accelerometer output during a measurement period ( e . g ., 1 second ). in one implementation , an exemplary delay operation includes the following steps described in pseudocode : ( 5 ) read tilt angle ( s ) of accelerometer ( s ) in current monitoring interval ( 6 ) compare tilt angle ( s ) with tilt angle ( s ) from previous monitoring interval ( e . g ., 1 second ago ) ( 7 ) if any tilt angle difference exceed 20 degrees , goto capture_image ( 8 ) trigger image capture in camera ( 9 ) return after detection of the stable condition , a triggering operation 408 triggers an image capture through the camera module . in alternative implementations , other environmental states may also be captured , including without limitation an audio recording for a given period of time , a gps reading , a real time clock reading , etc . a purpose of the capture events is to establish a snapshot of the environment as it existed in the temporal proximity of a capture condition . thereafter , the captured data may be downloaded to a computer system to facilitate reconstruction of the environmental conditions associated with a potentially relevant event . in another implementation , image capture ( including video capture ) may occur continuously or periodically , even in the absence of a previous capture condition . for example , the recall device detects a stable condition and triggers an image capture to memory . thereafter , a temporally proximate capture condition is detected so the captured image is maintained in association with the subsequent capture condition . if no temporally proximate capture condition is detected , the captured image may be deleted from memory to manage storage space . in this manner , the environmental conditions existing just prior to a capture event may be captured and efficiently recorded . a similar algorithm may be applied to audio recordings and other sensory data . fig5 illustrates exemplary sensor readings 500 relative to image capture events . data 502 indicates readings of an accelerometer associated with the x axis over time . data 504 indicates readings of an accelerometer associated with the y axis over time . ( accelerometer readings in the chart correspond to an angle . for example , in one implementation , an accelerometer signal with amplitude 0 represents 0 degrees , an accelerometer signal with amplitude 90 represents 90 degrees , etc .) data 506 indicates readings of an ambient light level sensor . data 508 indicates image captures triggered by detection of a capture condition followed by detection of a stable condition . as shown at time 510 , a capture condition has been detected based on the dramatic change in the light level data 506 followed by detection of a stable condition , as indicated by both data 502 and 504 . in contrast , at time 512 , a dramatic change in light level data 506 represents a capture condition , but an image capture is delayed until time 514 , when the stable condition is detected with regard to both data 502 and 504 . by managing captures in this manner , images are selectively captured based on detection of a potentially interesting event coupled with a stable period . fig6 illustrates an image 600 captured through a normal lens , an image 602 captured through a fish - eye lens , and a corrected version 604 of the fish - eye image . using commercially available image editing software , an image captured through the fish - eye lens may be corrected to remove the radial distortion introduced by the fish - eye lens . coupling the fish - eye image capture with the correction software allows a wearer to capture a maximum amount of environment in an image and to later remove the radial distortion to obtain a relatively normal image . as such , the use of a fish - eye lens is particularly suited to a recall device which captures images with relatively random alignment with the environment . it should be understood that a variety of data can be logged and downloaded to a computer system for post - processing and / or analysis in order to reconstruct events in the wearer &# 39 ; s recent experience . exemplary outputs of the recall device may include without limitation a continuous audio log ; a sequence of audio snapshots ; a sequence of image snapshots ; a sequence of gps location , altitude , and direction readings ; a motion log ; an ambient temperature log ; a heart rate log ; an rfid detection log ; and a wireless network detection log . furthermore , in applications intended to facilitate memory recall , a technique referred to as “ rapid serial visual presentation ” or rsvp may be employed . rsvp represents the electronic equivalent of riffling a book in order to assess its content , as described in “ rapid serial visual presentation : a space - time trade - off in information presentation ”, oscar de bruijn and robert spence , http :// www . iis . ee . ic . ac . uk /˜ o . debruijn / avi2000 . pdf , may 2000 . using this technique , a user interface , such as on the recall device or on a client computer system to which the captured data is downloaded , can rapidly display the images in the sequence in which they were captured , under direct user control of various factors , including without limitation speed , direction , and the number of simultaneously visible images . such display may be combined with temporally synchronized audio captured by the recall device or other logged data . manufacturers have not put gps features in small portable digital cameras at present due to high battery drain . the adxl210 accelerometer use about 1 / 130th of the power of a gps transceiver when operating ( typically , 0 . 6 ma ) and , therefore , may be used as an efficient power management component . in one implementation , an accelerometer may be used as a power management component for the gps receiver . as gps receiver integrated circuits generally use much current ( e . g . 80 ma ), the batteries powering the system can be drained easily . by periodically sampling the motion read by the accelerometer ( e . g ., every second or so ), the gps can be switched off if there is no movement because no change in gps location has occurred . when movement is detected by the low power accelerometer , the gps system can be switched back on . a similar power management mechanism can be used to power off the camera , which also has a high current drain . other sensor inputs , such as light level sensors , can be used for power saving . for example , a camera need not powered in the presence of total darkness . the embodiments of the invention described herein are implemented as logical steps in one or more computer systems . the logical operations of the present invention are implemented ( 1 ) as a sequence of processor - implemented steps executing in one or more computer systems and ( 2 ) as interconnected machine modules within one or more computer systems . the implementation is a matter of choice , dependent on the performance requirements of the computer system implementing the invention . accordingly , the logical operations making up the embodiments of the invention described herein are referred to variously as operations , steps , objects , or modules . the above specification , examples and data provide a complete description of the structure and use of exemplary embodiments of the invention . since many embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention , the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended .
| 7 |
illustrative embodiments and exemplary applications will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings to disclose the advantageous teachings of the present invention . fig1 is a perspective view of a thermal inkjet large format printer / plotter incorporating the teachings of the present invention . the printer 10 includes a housing 12 mounted on a stand 14 . the housing has left and right drive mechanism enclosures 16 and 18 . a control panel 20 is mounted on the right enclosure 18 . a carriage assembly 100 , illustrated in phantom under a transparent cover 22 , is adapted for reciprocal motion along a carriage bar 24 , also shown in phantom . the position of the carriage assembly 100 in a horizontal or carriage scan axis is determined by a carriage positioning mechanism 110 ( not shown ) with respect to an encoder strip 120 ( not shown ) as discussed more fully below . a print medium 30 such as paper is positioned along a vertical or media axis by a media axis drive mechanism ( not shown ). as is common in the art , the media axis is denoted as the ` x ` axis and the scan axis is denoted as the ` y ` axis . fig2 is a perspective view of the carriage assembly 100 , the carriage positioning mechanism 110 and the encoder strip 120 . the carriage positioning mechanism 110 includes a carriage position motor 112 which has a shaft 114 extending therefrom through which the motor drives a small belt 116 . through the small belt 116 , the carriage position motor 112 drives an idler 122 via the shaft 118 thereof . in turn , the idler 122 drives a belt 124 which is secured by a second idler 126 . the belt 124 is attached to the carriage 100 and adapted to slide therethrough . the position of the carriage assembly in the scan axis is determined precisely by the use of the code strip 120 . the code strip 120 is secured by a first stanchion 128 on one end and a second stanchion 129 on the other end . the code strip 120 may be implemented in the manner disclosed and claimed in a copending application entitled improved code strip in a large - format image - related device , ser . no . 07 / 785 , 376 , filed oct . 30 , 1991 , by wilcox et al ., the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference . as disclosed in the reference , an optical reader ( not shown ) is disposed on the carriage assembly and provides carriage position signals which are utilized by the invention to achieve optimal image registration in the manner described below . fig3 is a perspective view of a simplified representation of a media positioning system 150 utilized in the inventive printer . the media positioning system 150 includes a motor 152 which is coaxial with a media roller 154 . the position of the media roller 154 is determined by a media position encoder 156 . the media position encoder includes a disc 158 having a plurality of apertures 159 therein . an optical reader 160 provides a plurality of output pulses which facilitate the determination of the roller 154 and , therefore , the position of the media 30 as well . position encoders are well known in the art . see for example , economical , high - performance optical encoders by howard c . epstein et al , published in the hewlett packard journal , october 1988 , pages 99 - 106 . the media and carriage position information is provided to a processor on a circuit board 170 disposed on the carriage assembly 100 ( fig2 ) for use in connection with pen alignment techniques of the present invention . ( the terms pen and cartridge are used interchangeably herein as is common in the art .) returning to fig1 the printer 10 has four inkjet pens , 102 , 104 , 106 , and 108 that store ink of different colors , e . g ., black , yellow , magenta and cyan ink , respectively . as the carriage assembly 100 translates relative to the medium 30 along the x and y axes , selected nozzles in the thermal inkjet cartridge pens 102 , 104 , 106 , and 108 are activated and ink is applied to the medium 30 . the colors from the three color inkjet pens are mixed to obtain any other particular color . fig4 is a right - bottom perspective view of the carriage assembly 100 of the present invention showing the sensor module 200 . the carriage assembly 100 positions the inkjet pens and holds the circuitry required for interface to the heater circuits in the inkjet pens . the carriage assembly 100 includes a carriage 101 adapted for reciprocal motion on a front slider 103 and a rear slider 105 . a first pen cartridge 102 is mounted in a first stall of the carriage 101 . note that the ink jet nozzles 107 of each pen are in line with the sensor module 200 . as mentioned above , full color printing and plotting requires that the colors from the individual pens be precisely applied to the media . this requires precise alignment of the carriage assembly . unfortunately , paper slippage , paper skew , and mechanical misalignment of the pens in conventional inkjet printer / plotters results in offsets in the x direction ( in the media or paper axis ) and in the y direction ( in the scan or carriage axis ). this misalignment of the carriage assembly manifests as a misregistration of the print images applied by the individual pens . this is generally unacceptable as multi - color printing requires image registration accuracy from each cartridge to within 1 one - thousandth of an inch or 1 mil . in accordance with the present teachings and as discussed more fully below , a test pattern 40 is generated whenever any of the cartridges are disturbed by activation of selected nozzles in selected pens . the test pattern is depicted in the magnified view of fig5 . the manner by which the test pattern 40 is generated and utilized to effect accurate image registration is discussed more fully below . as depicted most clearly in fig2 an optical sensor module 200 is mounted on the carriage assembly 200 . optical sensors are known in the art . see for example , u . s . pat . no . 5 , 170 , 047 entitled optical sensor for plotter pen verification , issued dec . 8 , 1992 to beauchamp et al ., the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference . the sensor module 200 optically senses the test pattern and provides electrical signals to the processor on the circuit board 170 indicative of the registration of the images thereon . fig6 a is a right - front perspective view of the sensor module 200 utilized in the system of the present invention . the sensor module 200 includes an outer housing 210 with two protrusions 212 and 214 adapted to receive first and second mounting screws . the outer housing 210 provides electrostatic discharge ( esd ) protection for the module 200 . fig6 b is a right - rear perspective view of the sensor module 200 . fig6 c shows a right - rear perspective view of the sensor module partially disassembled to reveal the outer housing 210 and an inner assembly 220 . the inner assembly 220 is adapted to be retained within the outer housing 210 . a flexible circuit 216 is disposed on the inner housing 220 . the flexible circuit 216 includes an amplifier and contacts for interfacing the sensor module to the processor circuit as discussed more fully below . fig6 d is a right - rear perspective view of the inner assembly 220 of the sensor module 200 of the present invention partially disassembled . as illustrated in fig6 d , the inner assembly includes an optical component holder 222 and a cover 224 . fig6 e is a right - rear perspective view of the optical component holder of the sensor module of the present invention disassembled . as illustrated in fig6 e , the optical component holder 222 is adapted to hold first and second lenses 226 and 228 in a fixed position relative to a phase plate 230 . returning to fig6 d , first and second light emitting diodes ( leds ) 232 and 234 are mounted on the flexible circuit 240 along with a photodetector 240 and amplifier and other circuit elements ( not shown ). the light emitting diodes and the photodetector are of conventional design and have a bandwidth which encompasses the frequencies of the colors of the inks provided by the pens 102 - 108 ( even numbers only ). the leds 232 and 234 are retained at an angle by first and second apertures 236 and 238 , respectively , in the cover 224 of the holder 222 . the cover 224 is secured to the holder 222 by first and second screws 231 and 233 which extend through first and second apertures 235 and 236 , respectively , in the cover 224 and which are received by threads ( not shown ) in the holder 222 . the functional relationships of the components of the sensor module are illustrated in the schematic diagram of fig7 . light energy from the leds 232 and 234 impinges upon the test pattern 40 on the media 30 and is reflected to the photodetector 240 via the first and second lenses 226 and 228 , respectively , and the phase plate 230 . the lenses 226 and 228 focus energy on photodetector 240 via the phase plate 230 . the phase plate 230 is a symmetrical grating constructed of plastic or other suitably opaque material . fig8 a is a top view of the phase plate 230 . a symmetrical array of transparent openings 242 are provided in the opaque material . in accordance with the present teachings , as illustrated in fig8 b , the line widths in the test pattern 40 for the carriage axis patterns 404 and 406 of fig5 are equal to the horizontal spacings between the transparent openings 242 in the phase plate 230 . likewise , as illustrated in fig8 c , the line widths in the test pattern 40 in the media axis patterns 408 of fig5 are equal to the vertical spacings between the transparent openings 242 in the phase plate 230 . the use of the phase plate 230 permits a simple , inexpensive optical arrangement to be used to quickly scan the pattern in each direction of movement . as the sensor module 200 scans the test pattern 40 in either the carriage scan axis or the media scan axis , an output signal is provided which varies as a sine wave . as discussed more fully below , the circuitry of the present invention stores these signals and examines the phase relationships thereof to determine the alignment of the pens for each direction of movement . the alignment procedure of the present invention by which the system corrects for carriage axis misalignment , paper axis misalignment and offsets due to speed and curvature will now be disclosed . as a first step in the alignment procedure , the test pattern 40 of fig5 is generated . the first pattern 402 is generated in the scan axis for the purpose of exercising the pens 102 - 108 ( even numbers only ). the first pattern 402 includes one segment for each cartridge utilized . for example , the first segment 410 is yellow , the second segment 412 is cyan , the third segment 416 is magenta and the fourth segment 418 is black . next , the second , third and fourth patterns 404 , 406 and 408 , respectively , are generated . the second pattern 404 is used to test for pen offsets due to speed and curvature . the third pattern 406 is used to test for misalignments in the carriage scan axis . the fourth patterns 408 are used to test for misalignments in the media axis . the invention is best understood with reference to the carriage and media scan axis alignment techniques thereof . the carriage scan axis alignment pattern 406 is generated by causing each pen to print a plurality of horizontally spaced vertical bars . as mentioned above , the thickness of the bars is equal to the spacing therebetween which is also equal to the width of the transparent openings in the phase plate 230 and the spacings therebetween . in the third pattern 406 the first segment 420 is cyan , the second segment 422 is magenta , the third segment 424 is yellow and the fourth segment 426 is black . pen misalignments in the carriage scan axis are illustrated in fig9 which shows a frontal representation of the first , second , third and fourth inkjet cartridges 102 , 104 , 106 and 108 positioned a height ` h ` over the media 30 for movement along the carriage scan axis . as is known in the art , the distances d12 , d23 , and d34 between the cartridges vary because of the mechanical tolerances and imperfections in the manufacturing of the device . this results in undesired displacements in the placement of the ink drops of one cartridge with respect to another cartridge . pen misalignments in the carriage scan axis are corrected by scanning the third pattern 406 along the carriage scan axis with the sensor module 200 . as the sensor module 200 illuminates the third pattern 406 , the lenses 226 and 228 thereof ( fig6 e ) focus an image on the phase plate 230 and the photodetector 240 . in response , the photodetector 240 generates a sinusoidal output signal which is the mathematical convolution of the phase plate pattern and the test pattern 406 . fig1 is a block diagram of the electronic circuit 300 utilized in the alignment system of the present invention . the circuit 300 includes an amplification and filtering circuit 302 , an analog to digital converter 304 , a slave microprocessor controller 306 , a sample pulse generator circuit 308 , a carriage position encoder 310 , a media position encoder 312 , a master control and data processing unit 314 , a carriage and media axis servo - control mechanism 316 , a digital to analog converter 318 and a light control circuit 320 . the electrical signals from the sensor module 200 are amplified , filtered and sampled by the slave microprocessor 306 . the carriage position encoder 310 provides sample pulses as the carriage assembly 100 moves along the encoder strip 120 of fig1 and 2 . a sample pulse generator circuit 308 selects pulses from the carriage position encoder 310 or the media position encoder 312 depending on the test being performed . fig1 is a graph illustrative of the quadrature outputs of the carriage and media position encoders . fig1 illustrates the sample pulses generated by the sample pulse generator circuit 308 . the slave microprocessor 306 uses the sample pulses to generate sample control signals for the analog - to - digital converter 304 . on receipt of a sample control pulse , the analog - to - digital converter 304 samples the output of the amplification and filter circuit 302 . this is illustrated in fig1 , 14 and 15 . the output of the sensor module 200 is illustrated in fig1 . fig1 shows how the output of the sensor module 200 appears after amplification and filtering . fig1 is a graph which illustrates how the output of the amplification and filtering circuit 302 is sampled to provide data which is input to the slave microprocessor controller 306 . the digitized samples are stored in memory for each direction of movement in the slave microprocessor controller 306 . the master control and data processing unit 314 mathematically fits a reference sine wave to the sample points stored in memory , using a least squares fit algorithm or other suitable conventional algorithm , and computes a phase difference between the reference sine wave and the sensed sine wave . the location of the phase difference provides an indication as to which cartridge is out of alignment . the polarity of the phase difference indicates the direction of misalignment and the magnitude of the phase difference indicates the magnitude of the misalignment . offsets for each cartridge are generated by the master control and data processing unit which are stored in the machine . these offsets are used to control activation of the pens as the assembly is scanned in the carriage axis via the servo mechanisms 316 . sensor module light activation is provided by the slave microprocessor controller 306 , a digital - to - analog converter 318 and a light control circuit 320 . other corrections which must be made in the carriage scan axis are for 1 ) image misplacement due to the velocity of the carriage and 2 ) image displacements due to curvature of the platen . fig1 is a magnified bottom view of the thermal inkjet nozzles of each of the pen cartridges 102 , 104 , 106 and 108 , respectively . typically , only 96 of the 104 nozzles ( e . g ., nozzles numbered 5 - 100 ) are used for printing . the remaining eight nozzles are used for offset adjustment as discussed more fully below . as the printheads move in forward and reverse directions at a height h above the media 30 , as depicted in fig9 the images created by the nozzles deviate from ideal as shown in fig1 . fig1 shows offsets due to speed and the effect of platen curvature for a print image . at a higher speed v 2 , a greater offset from ideal results . when the media is supported by a curved platen , such as that shown at 154 in fig3 a height differential δ , as illustrated in fig1 , exists . fig1 is a magnified side view of a nozzle 102 above a curved platen 154 . the variation in height due to curvature of the platen increases the delay time for the ink to reach the media . this manifests as curvature in the line as illustrated at ( d ) in fig1 where the dashed line represents the ideal image shape and location . the present invention corrects for offsets due to speed and curvature as discussed below . offsets due to speed are corrected first by printing images from a single cartridge ( e . g ., the black cartridge 102 ) at three different speeds in each direction . this is illustrated at 430 - 440 ( even numbers only ) in the bidirectional pattern 404 of the test pattern 40 of fig5 . the bidirectional pattern 404 is generated by causing each pen to print a plurality of horizontally spaced vertical bars . as mentioned above , the thickness of the bars is equal to the spacing therebetween which is also equal to the width of the transparent openings in the phase plate 230 and the spacings therebetween . first the first section 430 is printed at the lowest speed , e . g ., 13 . 33 inches per second ( ips ) from right to left . next , the second section 432 is printed at the same speed from left to right . then the third section 432 is printed at the next highest speed ( 16 . 67 ips ) from right to left and the fourth section 436 is printed from left to right at the same speed . finally , at the highest speed , e . g ., 26 . 67 ips , the fourth section 438 is printed from right to left and then the sixth section 440 is printed from left to right at the that speed . next , the pattern 404 is scanned and a phase for each section is determined in the manner described above . the measured phase difference between sections allows for a correction due to speed as illustrated in fig1 ( e ). to correct for offsets in the scan axis , for a given speed , the difference in the phases between sections of the pattern associated with the two directions of travel is calculated and translated to a time of flight delay value b . the delay b for each speed is used to determine a least squares fit line 510 therebetween . this is illustrated in the graph of delay versus speed of fig1 . this least squares fit calculation results in the slope of the line ` m ` and the b axis intercept ` b o `. in equation form : where m is the slope , v c is the speed or velocity , and b o is a constant which represents the b axis intercept . for a given speed , v c , knowledge of the slope m and the constant b o allows for a calculation of the delay b required to correct for the offset . correction for curvature is effected by adding an additional delay ( e . g . 25 % or 1 . 25 × b ). as illustrated in fig1 ( f ), this has the effect of joining the curved tails of the segments to create an image in which the curvature is less discernible to the naked eye of the casual observer . correction of pen offsets in the media axis and between pens another source of image misregistration derives from paper slippage on the roller or platen 154 . in accordance with the present teachings , correction for paper or media slippage is effected by first printing the media axis test pattern 408 of the test pattern 40 of fig5 . as mentioned above , the thickness of the bars is equal to the spacing therebetween which is also equal to the width of the transparent openings in the phase plate 230 and the spacings therebetween . the pattern 408 includes five columns of vertically spaced horizontal bars 1 - 5 . each column has three rows segments 1 - 3 . the first row in each column is created by scanning the carriage assembly 100 in the carriage axis and causing one cartridge ( e . g ., the cartridge containing cyan ink ) to print . thus , each column has a first row of cyan colored bars . in the second row , a different colored cartridge is activated in each column with the exception that the cyan cartridge 108 is activated in the second row of the first and fifth columns . finally , the cyan cartridge is activated for the third row of each column in the pattern 408 . media axis pen alignment is effected by scanning the pattern 408 with the sensor module 200 along the media axis , column by column and calculating phase data p ij , in the manner described above , where i denotes the row and j denotes the column . the phase data is stored in a matrix as shown below : ## equ1 ## ideally , p 11 = p 31 . thus , by comparing the phases of the first row to those of the third row , paper slippage or &# 34 ; walk &# 34 ; within one pen over a given distance may be detected and corrected in the manner described below . image registration between colors is calculated in the manner set forth below : p m / c represents pen offset in the media axis between the cyan pen 108 and the magenta pen 106 , p y / c represents pen offset in the media axis between the cyan pen 108 and the yellow pen 104 , and p k / c represents pen offset in the media axis between the cyan pen 108 and the black pen 102 . the pen offsets in the media axis between pens are corrected by selecting certain nozzles for activation . in fig1 , for example , initially nozzles 5 through 100 may be activated for all pens . as a result of the phase difference calculations , it may be necessary to activate nozzles 3 - 98 of the second pen 104 , nozzles 1 - 96 of the third pen 106 and nozzles 7 through 102 of the fourth pen 108 . this selective nozzle activation scheme has the effect of offsetting the images produced by the pen in the media axis . thus , the present invention has been described herein with reference to a particular embodiment for a particular application . those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the present teachings will recognize additional modifications applications and embodiments within the scope thereof . it is therefore intended by the appended claims to cover any and all such applications , modifications and embodiments within the scope of the present invention .
| 1 |
modification , cloning and expression of polynucleotides that code for polypeptides which are capable of hydrolytic cleavage of zen and / or at least one zen derivative amino acid substitutions , insertions or deletions were performed by mutation of the nucleotide sequences by means of pcr using the “ quick change site - directed mutagenesis kits ” ( stratagene ) according to the instructions . as an alternative , complete nucleotide sequences were also ordered ( geneart ). the nucleotide sequences generated by means of pcr mutagenesis and / or ordered from geneart optionally also contained a c - or n - terminal 6 × his tag on an amino acid level and were integrated by means of standard methods into expression vectors for expression in e . coli or p . pastoris , transformed in e . coli or p . pastoris and expressed in e . coli and p . pastoris ( j . m . cregg , pichia protocols , second edition , isbn - 10 : 1588294293 , 2007 ; j . sambrook et al ., 2012 , molecular cloning , a laboratory manual , 4 th edition , cold spring harbor ), wherein any other suitable host cell may also be used for this task . the designation “ expression vector ” relates to a dna construct that is capable of expressing a gene in vive or in vitro . in particular this is understood to refer to dna constructs that are suitable for transferring the polypeptide coding nucleotide sequence into the host cell to integrate into the genome there or to be present freely in the extrachromosomal space and to express the polypeptide coding nucleotide sequence intracellularly and optionally also to remove the polypeptide from the cell . the designation “ host cell ” refers to all cells containing either a nucleotide sequence to be expressed or an expression vector and being capable of synthesizing a polypeptide according to the invention . in particular this is understood to include prokaryotic and / or eukaryotic cells , preferably p . pastoris , e . coli , bacillus subtills , streptomyces , hansenula , trichoderma , lactobacllus , aspergillus , plant cells and / or spores of bacillus , trichoderma or aspergillus . the soluble cell lysate in the case of e . coli and / or the culture supernatant in the case of p . pastoris was / were used for determination of the catalytic properties of the polypeptides . to determine the k m value , v max , k cat and the specific activity , the polypeptides were selectively enriched chromatographically by standard methods over nickel - sepharose columns . the determination of the protein concentration was performed by means of standard methods , either being calculated by the bca method ( pierce bca protein assay kitprod # 23225 ) or preferably photometrically with the specific extinction coefficients for the respective proteins that are available online with the protparam program at http :// web . exdasv . org / protparam ( gastelger e . et al . ; protein identification and analysis tools on the expasy server , in john m . walker ( ed ): the proteomics protocols handbook , humana press , 2005 , pp . 571 - 607 ). the determination of the percentage sequence identity based on the total polypeptide length of the polypeptides with eh amino acid sequences having the sequence id numbers 1 to 15 relative to one another ( table 1 ) was performed with the help of the blast program ( basic local alignment search tool ), in particular with blastp , which can be used at homepage of the national center for biotechnology information ( ncbi ; http :// www . ncbi . nlm . nih . gov /). it is thus possible to compare two or more sequences with one another according to the algorithm of altschul et al ., 1997 ( nucleic acids res . ( 1997 ), 25 : 3389 - 3402 ). the basic settings were used as the program settings in particular . however : “ max target sequence ”= 100 ; expected threshold ”= 10 ; “ word size ”= 3 ; “ matrix ”= blosom62 ; “ gap costs ”=“ existence : 11 ; extension : 1 ”; “ computational adjustment ”=“ conditional compositional score matrix adjustment .” to determine the conserved amino acid sequence segments , the polypeptides having sequence id numbers 1 to 6 , which have a sequence identity of at least 70 % with one another , were compared with the help of the cobalt software ( j . s . papadopoulos and r . agarwala , 2007 , cobalt : constraint - based alignment tool for multiple protein sequences , biolnformatics 23 : 1073 - 79 ) while using the standard parameters , in particular the parameters (“ gap penalties ”: − 11 , − 1 ; “ end - gap penalties ”: − 5 , − 1 ; “ use rps blast ”: on ; “ blast e - value ”: 0 . 003 ; “ find conserved columns and recompute ”: on ; “ use query clusters ”: on ; “ word size ”: 4 ; “ may cluster distance ”: 0 , 8 ; “ alphabet ”: regular ; “ homology conversation setting ”: 3 bits ). the result of this analysis represents the conserved amino acids . the following ranges of at least five successive conserved amino acids were defined as the conserved amino acid sequence segments , namely with respect to the segment having the sequence id no . 1 , the segments a from position + 24 to position + 50 , b from position + 52 to position + 77 , c from position + 79 to position + 87 , d from position + 89 to position + 145 , e from position + 150 to position + 171 , f from position + 177 to position + 193 , g from position + 223 to position + 228 , h from position + 230 to position + 237 , i from position + 239 to position + 247 , j from position + 249 to position + 255 , k from position + 257 to position + 261 , l from position + 263 to position + 270 , m from position + 272 to position + 279 , n from position + 297 to position + 301 and o from position + 303 to position + 313 . the determinations of the percentage sequence identity of the polypeptides to one another and of the conserved amino acid sequence segments of the individual polypeptides relative to the conserved amino acid sequence segments of the sequence having the sequence id no . 1 were formed as described above . the results are presented in tables 1 and 2 . to determine their ability to degrade zen into the nontoxic or less toxic metabolites hzen and dhzen , the polypeptide with the sequence id no . 1 , coded by the nucleotide sequence having the sequence id no . 17 was synthesized as such and with a c - terminal and / or n - terminal 6 × his tag in e . coli as described in example 1 . the polypeptides with the amino acid sequences having the sequence id numbers 2 to 15 which were coded by the nucleotide sequences having the sequence id numbers 18 to 31 , were labeled with 6 × his exclusively at the c - terminus . 100 ml portions of an e . coli culture having an optical density ( od 600 nm ) of 2 . 0 - 2 . 5 were harvested by centrifugation at 4 ° c . and resuspended in 20 ml brunner mineral medium ( dsmz microorganisms medium number 462 , 2012 ). the cell suspensions were lysed by treating three times with a french press at 20 , 000 psi . the resulting cell lysates were used in a 1 : 10 , 1 : 100 or 1 : 1000 dilution prepared in brunner mineral medium including 0 . 1 mg / ml bsa ( bovine serum albumin ). for the zen degradation experiments , 9 . 9 ml brunner mineral medium was used , including 0 . 1 mg / ml bsa , 0 . 1 ml dilute cell lysate and 31 μl zen substrate stock solution . on the whole , the cell lysates were thus diluted 1 : 1000 , 1 : 10 , 000 and / or 1 : 100 , 000 . the zen substrate stock solution used was a 2 . 08 mm zen solution ( 40 vol % can + 60 vol % h 2 o ). to prepare this solution , zen in crystalline form ( biopure standard from romer labs , article no . 001109 , purity at least 98 %) was weighed and dissolved accordingly . each degradation batch was carried out in 25 ml glass vials and incubated at 25 ° c . and 100 rpm for a total of 120 hours with agitation . at the times 0 , 0 . 5 , 1 , 2 , 5 , 24 , 47 , 72 and 120 h , a sample of 1 ml was taken each time , the polypeptides were heat inactivated for 10 minutes at 99 ° c . and stored at − 20 ° c . after thawing the sample , the insoluble constituents were separated by centrifugation . zen , hzen and dhzen were analyzed by means of lc / ms / ms . to do so , the metabolites were separated chromatographically on a phenomenex luna c18 ( 2 ) column having the dimensions 250 mm × 3 mm and a particle size of 5 μm , using as the mobile phase an acetonitrile - water mixture with a formic acid concentration of 1 ml / l . the uv signal at 270 nm was recorded using electrospray ionization ( esi ) as the ionizing source . zen , hzen and dhzen were quantified by means of qtrap / lc / ms / ms ( triple quadrupole , applied biosystems ) in the enhanced mode . after 24 hours at the latest , substantial amounts of zen could not be detected any more in any of the batches . most of the zen , i . e ., more than 80 %, was converted into hzen or dhzen . fig1 shows the degradation of zen over time and the increase in hzen as well as dhzen for a 1 : 10 , 000 diluted cell lysate solution as an example for untagged ( fig1 a ) as well as for c - terminal 6 × his tagged ( fig1 b ) and n - terminal 6 × his tagged ( fig1 c ) polypeptide with the sequence id no . 1 . it can be seen here clearly that 1 ) the reaction of zen takes place directly and completely because almost no zen could be detected any longer in the first sample ( 0 h ), which was taken immediately after the start of the experiment , and 2 ) no mentionable losses of activity occurred as a result of attaching a tag , whether c - terminal or n - terminal . to determine the capability of polypeptides to also transform zen derivatives , in addition to zen , into nontoxic and / or less toxic metabolites , the polypeptides having the sequence id numbers 1 to 15 were prepared as described in example 3 with c - terminal his tag and the respective synthetic nucleotide sequences with the sequences having sequence id numbers 17 to 31 were used as the cell lysates in degradation 15 . the degradation experiments were performed as described in example 3 , where each polypeptide was tested with each zen derivative selected from the group comprised of α - zel , β - zel , α - zal , β - zal , z14g , z14s and zan , the cell lysates were used in a total dilution of 1 : 10 , 000 . instead of a 2 . 08 mm zen solution ( 40 vol % can + 60 vol % h 2 o ), equimolar , i . e ., 2 . 08 mm solutions of the zen derivatives were used as the substrate stock solution . α - zel , β - zel , α - zal , β - zal and zan were obtained from sigma and used as standards for the analysis . z14g and z14s were prepared in a purity of at least 90 % according to the methods such as those described by p . krenn et al ., 2007 ( mykotoxin research , 23 , 4 , 180 - 184 ) and m . sulyok et al ., 2007 ( anal . bioanal . chem . 289 , 1505 - 1523 ) and used as standards for the analysis . another difference in comparison with example 3 is that only one sample was taken , namely after 24 hours . the reduction in concentration of the zen derivatives during the degradation experiment was quantified by means of lc / ms / ms . α - zel , β - zel , z14g and z14s were measured by the method of m . sulyok et al . ( 2010 , food chemistry , 119 , 408 - 416 ); α - zal , β - zal and zan were measured by the method of p . songsermaskul et al . ( 2011 , j . of animal physiol . and animal nutr ., 97 , 155 - 161 ). it was surprisingly found that only 0 to max . 13 % of the starting amounts of the zen derivatives was present after 24 hours of incubation in all the degradation experiments . specific activity and enzyme kinetic parameters of the polypeptides as well as variants thereof the specific activity of the polypeptides and variants thereof was determined photometrically , wherein all the polypeptides used had a c - terminal 6 × his tag . the preparation , enrichment and purification of the polypeptides and / or variants thereof were performed as described in example 1 . degradation of zen to hzen was measured on the basis of the reduction in absorption at the wavelength of 315 nm . the molar extinction coefficients ( ε ) of zen and hzen were determined experimentally and were found to amount to 0 . 0078895 l μmol − 1 cm − 1 and 0 . 0030857 l μmol − 1 cm − 1 . the extinction coefficients have a strong dependence on ph and therefore the activity must always be measured precisely at the same ph and preferably also in the same matrix . the measurements were performed in a 50 mm tris - hcl ph = 8 . 2 buffer solution in quartz cuvettes in a wavelength range of 200 to 2500 nm in a uv - vis photometer ( hitachi u - 2001 ) at 32 ° c . a 2 . 08 mm zen solution ( 40 vol % acn + 60 vol % h 2 o ) was used as the zen substrate stock solution . to prepare this solution , zen in crystalline form ( biopure standard from romer labs , article no . 001109 , purity at least 98 %) was weighed and dissolved accordingly . the zen substrate dilutions ( 0 . 79 μm , 1 . 57 μm , 2 . 36 μm , 3 . 14 μm , 4 . 71 μm , 6 . 28 μm , 7 . 85 μm , 9 . 42 μm , 10 . 99 μm , 12 . 56 μm , 14 . 13 μm , 15 . 71 μm , 17 . 28 μm and 18 . 85 μm ) were prepared with 50 mm tris - hcl ph = 8 . 2 . the polypeptide solutions were diluted to a final concentration of approximately 70 ng / ml using 50 mm tris - hcl buffer ph = 8 . 2 . the zen substrate dilutions were preheated to 32 ° c . in a water bath . 100 μl portions of the respective zen substrate dilution were mixed with 0 . 2 μl polypeptide solution , and the absorption was measured for 5 minutes , whereupon each combination of polypeptide solution and zen substrate dilution was measured at least twice . taking into account the extinction coefficients of zen and hzen , the reaction rate was calculated for each substance concentration on the basis of the slope in the absorption over time . the designations “ k m value ” or “ michaelis - menten constant ” relate to a parameter for describing the enzymatic affinity of the units μm or mm , which are calculated with the help of the linear hanes plots according to h . bisswang ( 2002 , enzyme kinetics , isbn 3 - 527 - 30343 - x , page 19 ), wherein the function “ enzyme kinetics , single substrate ” in the sigmaplot 12 . 0 program is preferably used for this purpose . the designations “ catalytic constant of the enzyme reaction ” or “ k cat value ” relate to a parameter for describing the conversion rate of a polypeptide and / or enzyme , which is given in s − 1 and is preferably calculated with the help of the “ enzyme kinetic , single substrate ” function of the sigmaplot 12 . 0 program . the “ maximum enzyme rate ” or “ v max value ” is given in units of μm / s or mm / s and is determined with the help of the linear hanes plot by analogy with the k m value , wherein the function “ enzyme kinetic , single substrate ” of the sigmaplot 12 . 0 program is preferably used for this . the specific activity was calculated by means of v max and the enzyme concentration used according to the equation wherein one unit is defined as hydrolysis of 1 μmol zen per minute at 32 ° c . in 50 mm tris - hcl buffer solution , ph = 8 . 2 . the raw data for determination of the enzyme parameters k m , v max , k cat and the specific activity are given below for the polypeptide having the sequence id no . 1 . table 3 shows the reaction rates at the respective zen substrate concentrations , while fig2 shows the respective michaelis - menton graphs and table 4 shows the corresponding enzyme kinetic parameters . the enzyme solution that was used had a concentration of 68 ng / l . the specific activities of the polypeptides tested are 8 . 25 u / mg for sequence id no . 1 , 10 . 56 u / mg for sequence id no . 2 , 8 . 36 u / mg for sequence id no . 3 , 8 . 33 u / mg for sequence id no . 4 , 8 . 56 u / mg for sequence id no . 5 , 9 . 95 u / mg for sequence id no . 6 , 3 . 83 u / mg for sequence id no . 7 , 2 . 57 u / mg for sequence id no . 8 , 4 . 87 u / mg for sequence id no . 9 , 5 . 12 u / mg for sequence id no . 10 , 3 . 88 u / mg for sequence id no . 11 , 2 . 78 u / mg for sequence id no . 12 , 6 . 43 u / mg for sequence id no . 13 , 3 . 33 u / mg for sequence id no . 14 and 7 . 76 u / mg for sequence id no . 15 . the specific activities of the polypeptide variants tested are listed in table 5 and table 6 . to determine the capabilities of polypeptides to degrade naturally occurring zen and zen derivatives in a complex matrix and at a low ph , contaminated corn was mixed with different concentrations of one of the polypeptides having the sequence id numbers 1 to 6 and the degradation of zen and zen derivatives was tracked . the contaminated corn was ground and used in the degradation experiment wherein a batch would consist of 1 g ground contaminated corn , 8 . 9 ml 100 mm acetate buffer ph 4 . 0 and 0 . 1 ml polypeptide solution . enriched and purified polypeptide solutions were prepared as described in example 5 , diluting them to a concentration of 10 mu / ml , 100 mu / ml and / or 1000 mu / ml . thus in absolute amounts 1 mu (= 1 mu per gram corn ), 10 mu (= 10 mu per gram corn ) and / or 100 mu (= 100 mu per gram of corn ) were used in the batch . each degradation batch was carried out in 25 ml and incubated at 37 ° c . and 100 rpm with agitation . before adding the enzyme and / or after 1 hour of incubation , a sample of 1 ml was taken , the polypeptide was heat inactivated at 99 ° c . for 10 minutes and the sample was stored at − 20 ° c . after thawing the sample , the insoluble constituents were separated by centrifugation . concentrations of zen and zen derivatives were measured by means of lc / ms / ms as described by m . sulyok et al . ( 2007 , anal . bioanal . chem ., 289 , 1505 - 1523 ). the zen and zen derivative content in this corn was 238 ppb for zen , 15 ppb for α - zel , 23 ppb for β - zel , 32 ppb for z14g and 81 ppb for z14s . table 7 shows the percentage reduction in the zen and zen derivative content in the degradation experiment . to prepare additives for hydrolytic cleavage of zen , fermentation supernatants of polypeptides expressed by p . pastoris and having the sequence id numbers 1 , 2 , 6 and 13 were purified by microfiltration and ultrafiltration ( exclusion limit : 10 kda ) under standard conditions and concentrated up to a dry substance concentration of approximately 9 % by weight . following that , these polypeptide - containing solutions were also processed further to form dry powders under standard conditions in a spray dryer ( mini b290 from büchi ). these four powders were subsequently designated as z1 , z2 , z6 and z13 . z1 , z2 , z6 and / or z13 were additionally mixed with bentonite having an average grain size of approximately 1 μm in a ratio of 1 % by weight of additives z1 , z2 , z6 and / or z13 and 99 % by weight bentonite in an overhead agitator . the resulting additives are designated as additives z1 . b , z2 . b , z6 . b and z13 . b . in addition , z1 , z2 , z6 and z13 were mixed with bentonite and a vitamin trace element concentrate in a ratio of 0 . 1 % by weight additive z1 , z2 , z6 and / or z13 , 0 . 9 % by weight vitamin trace elements concentrate and 99 % by weight bentonite in an overhead agitator . the resulting additives were designated as additive z1 . bvs , z2 . bvs , z6 . bvs and z13 . bvs . 100 g of the additives z1 . bvs , z2 . bvs , z6 . bvs and z13 . bvs contained 200 mg iron sulfate , 50 mg copper sulfate , 130 mg zinc oxide , 130 mg manganese oxide , 2 . 55 mg calcium carbonate , 160 mg vitamin e , 6 . 5 mg vitamin k3 , 6 . 5 mg vitamin b1 , 14 mg vitamin b2 , 15 mg vitamin b6 , 0 . 15 mg vitamin b12 , 150 mg nicotinic acid , 30 mg pantothenic acid and 5 . 3 mg folic acid . the additives were extracted for 30 minutes in a 50 mm tris - hcl buffer ph = 8 . 2 and diluted further in the same buffer so that the final concentration of polypeptide was approximately 70 ng / ml . following that , the zearalenone - degrading effect of these solutions was determined as described in example 5 . the corresponding activities were 8 . 230 u / g for z1 , 9 . 310 u / g for z2 , 9 . 214 u / g for z6 , 83 u / g for z1 . b , 92 u / g for z2 . b , 90 u / g for z2 . c , 57 u / g for z13 . b , 8 u / g for z1 . bvs , 9 u / g for z2 . bvs , 9 u / g for z6 . bvs and 6 u / g for z13 . bvs . the ability to degrade zen derivatives α - zel , β - zel , α - zal , β - zal , z14g , z14s and zan by the additives z1 , z2 , z6 , z13 , z1 . b , z2 . b , z6 . b , z13 . b , z1 . bvs , z2 . bvs , z6 . bvs and z13 . bvs was tested as described in example 4 , but instead of 100 μl of a cell lysate , 100 μl of a polypeptide solution with a polypeptide concentration of approximately 70 ng / ml was used . after incubating for 6 hours , only max . 15 % of the starting amount was present as unhydrolyzed zen derivative . to determine the temperature optimum of the polypeptides having seq id numbers 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 11 , 12 and 15 , they were cloned with a c - terminal 6 × his tag as described in example 1 , expressed in e . coli and purified . in preliminary experiments , the concentration at which a complete conversion of zen could be ensured under the experimental conditions was determined ( teorell - stenhagen buffer ( teorell and stenhagen , a universal buffer for the ph range of 2 . 0 to 12 . 0 . biochem ztschrft , 1938 , 299 : 416 - 419 ), ph 7 . 5 with 0 . 1 mg / ml bsa at 30 ° c .) after an experimental time of 3 hours . the preparations were used in the concentrations thus determined in the degradation batches for determining the optimum temperature . the experiments were carried out in a pcr cycler ( eppendorf ) using the temperature gradient function at 20 ° c .± 10 ° c ., at 40 ° c .± 10 ° c . and , if necessary , at 60 ° c .± 10 ° c . ( 10 temperatures in the respective range ; temperatures predefined by the pcr cycler ). for the batches teorell - stenhagen buffer was mixed with the corresponding enzyme concentration and 0 . 1 mg / ml bsa plus 5 ppm zen at the respective optimum ph . batches with 0 . 1 mg / ml bsa and 5 ppm zen without addition of an enzyme were used as negative controls . after 0 h , 0 . 5 h , 1 h , 2 h and 3 h incubation time , a sample was taken per incubation temperature , heat inactivated for 10 minutes at 99 ° c . and stored at − 20 ° c . after thawing , the samples were transferred to hplc vials . zen , hzen and dhzen were analyzed by hplc - dad . to do so the metabolites were separated chromatographically on a zorbax sb - aq c18 column with the dimensions 4 . 6 mm × 150 mm and a particle size of 5 μm . a methanol - water mixture with 5 mm ammonium acetate was used as the mobile phase . the uv signal at 274 nm was recorded . the metabolites were quantified by including entrained standard series . the optimum temperatures were determined on the basis of the slopes determined for the degradation curves , where the optimum temperature was defined as the temperature at which the slope was the greatest . table 8 shows the optimum temperatures . to determine the thermal stability of polypeptides with the seq id numbers 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 11 , 12 and 15 , they were cloned with a c - terminal 6 × his tag as described in example 1 , expressed in e . coli and purified . they were then incubated in the pcr cycler with a gradient function at the respective optimum temperature ± 10 ° c . after 0 min , 15 min , 30 min and 60 min , one sample was taken per batch and per temperature . these pre - incubated samples were then used in a degradation experiment in the teorell - stenhagen buffer at the respective optimum ph with 0 . 1 mg / ml bsa and 5 ppm zen . in preliminary experiments , the concentration at which a complete reaction of zen could be ensured after an experimental duration of 3 hours under the experimental conditions ( teorell - stenhagen buffer , ph 7 . 5 with 0 . 1 mg / ml bsa at 30 ° c .) was determined for each polypeptide . the respective enzyme concentration thereby determined was used in the batches . the degradation batches were incubated at 30 ° c . sampling was performed after 0 h , 0 . 5 h , 1 h , 2 h and 3 h incubation time . next , the polypeptides were heat - inactivated for 10 minutes at 99 ° c . and the samples were stored at − 20 ° c . after thawing the samples were transferred to hplc vials and analyzed by hplc - dad , as described in example 8 . thermal stability is defined as the temperature at which the polypeptides have a 50 % residual activity in comparison with the optimum temperature after 15 minutes of pre - incubation . as a measure of the activity , the slope in the degradation curves is used . the temperature stabilities are shown in table 9 . to determine the optimum ph of the polypeptides having the seq id numbers 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 11 , 12 and 15 , they were cloned with a c - terminal 6 × his tag as described in example 1 , expressed in e . coli and purified . in preliminary experiments , the concentration at which a complete conversion of zen could be ensured after an experimental duration of 3 hours under the experimental conditions was determined for each polypeptide ( teorell - stenhagen buffer , ph 7 . 5 with 0 . 1 mg / ml bsa at 30 ° c .). the respective enzyme concentration was used in the batches . the degradation batches were carried out in stenhagen buffer at ph levels of 3 . 0 , 4 . 0 , 5 . 0 , 5 . 5 , 6 . 0 , 6 . 5 , 7 . 0 , 7 . 5 , 8 . 0 , 8 . 5 , 9 . 0 , 9 . 5 , 10 . 0 , 11 . 0 and 12 . 0 . for the degradation batches with 0 . 1 mg / ml bsa and 5 ppm zen , incubation was done at 30 ° c . batches in teorell - stenhagen buffer were used as the negative controls at ph 3 . 0 , ph 7 . 0 and ph 12 . 0 with 0 . 1 mg / ml bsa and 5 ppm zen . sampling was performed after an incubation time of 0 h , 0 . 5 h , 1 h , 2 h and 3 h . next the polypeptides were heat - inactivated for 10 minutes at 99 ° c . and the samples were stored at − 20 ° c . after thawing , the samples were transferred to hplc vials and analyzed by hplc - dad as described in example 8 . the optimum ph was determined on the basis of the slopes found for the degradation curves , wherein the ph at which the slope was the greatest was defined as the optimum ph . table 10 shows the optimum ph levels . to determine the ph stability , the polypeptides from example 10 were incubated for one hour at 25 ° c . in teorell - stenhagen buffer at ph 5 . 0 and at the respective optimum ph . these pre - incubated samples were used in a degradation experiment in the same concentrations of the respective polypeptide as those used to determine the optimum ph in 100 mm tris - hcl buffer at the respective optimum ph with 0 . 1 mg / ml bsa and 5 pm zen in the batch . the batches were incubated at the respective optimum temperature . sampling was performed after 0 h , 0 . 5 h , 1 h , 2 h and 3 h incubation time . next the polypeptides were heat inactivated for 10 minutes at 99 ° c . and the samples were stored at − 20 ° c . after thawing , the samples were transferred to hplc vials and analyzed by means of hplc - dad as described in example 8 . the ph stability is defined as the percentage residual activity of the polypeptides at ph 5 . 0 relative to the activity at the respective optimum ph . the ph stabilities for 5 . 0 are shown in table 11 . the degradation of zen to hzen and dhzen was performed as an example for the polypeptides with sequence id numbers 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 11 , 12 and 15 . the degradation batches were carried in teorell - stenhagen buffer ph 7 . 5 with 0 . 1 mg / ml bsa and 5 ppm zen . the degradation batches were incubated at 30 ° c . sampling was performed after 0 h , 0 . 5 h , 1 h , 2 h and 3 h incubation time . next the polypeptides were heat - inactivated for 10 minutes at 99 ° c . and the samples were stored at − 20 ° c . after thawing , the samples were transferred to hplc vails and analyzed by hplc - dad , as described in example 8 . the polypeptide concentration was selected so that complete degradation was achieved after approximately 3 hours . fig3 shows the degradation kinetics , where the y axis shows the concentration of zen , hzen and dhzen in micromoles per liter ( μmol / l ) and the x axis shows the incubation time in hours ( h ).
| 8 |
the present invention simplifies the process of creating a midi file by automatically adding accompaniment tracks to a main melody track created by the user . the user may music editing software on a cellular phone or computer , for example , to create the midi files according to the present invention . please refer to fig2 . fig2 is a diagram illustrating a main melody 60 entered by a user according to the present invention . fig2 shows the first seven notes of the children &# 39 ; s , song “ twinkle , twinkle little star ” as an example for the main melody 60 . for creating the main melody 60 , a user would be presented with an interface allowing the user to select a type of note ( such as a whole note , half note , quarter note , etc .) and a pitch of the note ( such as a , c , g , etc .). the user could add notes one note at a time until the main melody 60 shown in fig2 is complete . once the main melody 60 is entered , the main melody 60 can then be converted into a standard midi track format . please refer back to fig1 . the midi file 30 shown in fig1 contains the first track 36 , the second track 38 , and the third track 40 . for showing how the main melody 60 can be converted into a midi track of the midi file 30 , the second track 38 will be used as an example . please refer to fig3 and fig4 . fig3 is a detailed diagram of the second track 38 of the midi file 30 shown in fig1 . fig4 is a chart showing timing of each event in the second track 38 . suppose that the second track 38 contains the main melody 60 created by the user . the present invention first involves analyzing the main melody 60 for creating the second track 38 based on the main melody 60 . the second track 38 contains a track header 50 , a plurality of delta times 52 , a plurality of non - note events 54 , and a plurality of note - events 56 . the delta time 52 is placed before each non - note event 54 and note - event 56 for indicating a period of elapsed time before that event . since the non - note events 54 do not play any notes in the second track 38 , the delta time 52 before each non - note event 54 is equal to “ 00 ”. the delta time 52 is varied to change the duration of notes that are specified in the note - events 56 . for instance , each quarter note would have a delta time 52 of 78 ( measured in hexadecimal ; equal to 120 decimal ) clock ticks . all of the non - note events 54 and note - events 56 are shown in rows of fig4 . seven columns in fig4 show an event number given for reference , the delta time 52 value , a play sequence indicator , the byte representation of the event , a period of the event , a type of note played , and the event type . the delta time 52 value shows the amount of time that elapses between the previous event and the current event . the event period shows how long each event is valid for . three different event types are shown in fig4 . the non - note events 54 do not affect audible notes , the note - on events are the start of new notes , and the note - off events are the endings of notes . to further illustrate the events shown in fig4 the first six events will be briefly described . the first two events are non - note events , each having a delta time of “ 0x00 ” ( hexadecimal ) preceding it . the third event is a note - on event having a delta time of “ 0x00 ” preceding it . the byte representation for this event is “ 90 3c 64 ”, wherein the “ 3c ” byte represents a pitch of the note being played and the “ 64 ” byte represents a volume of the note . by looking at the delta time 52 for the following event , which is “ 0x78 ”, we can determine that the event period for this event is equal to “ 0x78 ”, meaning that this is a quarter note . the fourth event is a note - off event having a delta time of “ 0x78 ” preceding it . the byte representation for this event is “ 90 3c 00 ”, meaning that the volume of the previous note has now been set to “ 00 ”, which is zero volume . since the delta time 52 immediately following this note - off event is equal to “ 0x00 ”, this event has a period of 0 . the fifth event is a note - on event having a delta time of “ 0x00 ” preceding it . the following delta time 52 is “ 0x78 ”, making the fifth event another quarter note . in fact , the fifth event plays the same note as the previous note immediately after the previous note has stopped playing . the sixth event is a note - off event having a delta time of “ 0x78 ” preceding it . the sixth event terminates the note that was begun in the fifth event . therefore , so far a total of two notes have been played , with each note having the same pitch and same duration . this is equal to playing the first two notes shown in fig2 . please refer to fig5 . fig5 is a diagram illustrating the main melody 60 of fig2 being divided into measures . since 4 / 4 time is the most popular timing for songs used in electronic devices , 4 / 4 time will be used to break the main melody 60 into a first measure 62 and a second measure 64 . the first measure 62 contains four quarter notes and the second measure 64 contains two quarter notes and a half note . please refer to fig6 . fig6 is a chart of an event buffer showing all of the note - on events shown in fig4 . after the user creates the main melody 60 , the each note will be added to an event buffer . each note - on event is stored along with its event period , and the measure that the note is placed in . for example , the first note has a tone of “ 3c ”, which is converted into “ 60 ” in decimal . the event period for the first note is “ 0x78 ”, which is the same as 600 ms . the event buffer for the first measure will hold four quarter notes and the event buffer for the second measure will hold two quarter notes and one half note . once the main melody 60 has been divided into measures and written to a track of the midi file 30 ( in this case , the second track 38 ), the user is prompted to enter a desired key of the accompaniment tracks for each measure of the main melody 60 . if there was a key change in the main melody - 60 , the key of the accompaniment could easily be changed by specifying a different key for those corresponding measures of the accompaniment . please refer to fig7 . fig7 illustrates assigning keys to measures of the main melody 60 for changing a key of the accompaniment . as the example in fig7 shows , the first measure 62 is assigned an accompaniment key of d , and the second measure 64 is assigned an accompaniment key of e . in addition to specifying the key of the accompaniment corresponding to each measure of the main melody 60 , the user is also asked to select a style of music such as jazz , dance , etc . based on the style selection made by the user , accompaniment measures will be retrieved from a database . for simplicity , the database only stores accompaniment measures in the key of c . any other accompaniment keys will be generated by shifting from the key of c . please refer to fig8 . fig8 illustrates shifting a key of the accompaniment according to the present invention . an accompaniment database 74 stored in a memory 72 contains accompaniment measures for each available style of accompaniment music , and feeds these accompaniment measures to a key shifter 70 . the key shifter 70 is a device used to shift a key of the accompaniment music based on a measure key input to the key shifter 70 . for instance , to change a key of the accompaniment from c to d , an increase of two half steps is required . therefore , a value of “ 2 ” could be added to the pitch of all notes in the accompaniment measures retrieved from the database . please refer to fig9 . fig9 is a diagram of shifting the key of accompaniment tracks according to the present invention . the first measure 62 of the main melody 60 is shown as having a key of d selected for the accompaniment chord therefore the accompaniment needs to be shifted from the key of c to the key of d . a value of “ 2 ” is then added to the pitch of each note in the accompaniment tracks . please refer to fig1 . fig1 is a chart illustrating the offsets of different keys from the key of c . to go from the key of c to the key of a , for example , a value of “ 9 ” could be added to the pitch of each note or a value of “ 3 ” could be subtracted from the pitch of each note , depending on the desired octave . please refer to fig1 . fig1 is a flowchart illustrating creating the midi file 30 according to the present invention method . steps contained in the flowchart will be explained below . step 142 : the user edits the notes of the main melody 60 by selecting a duration and pitch of each note ; step 144 : determine if the user is finished editing the main melody 60 ; if so , go to step 150 ; if not , go back to step 142 ; step 150 : calculate the total number of measures of the main melody 60 ; go to step 194 ; step 194 : the user edits the accompaniment key corresponding to each measure of the main melody 60 ; step 196 : determine if the user is finished editing the accompaniment keys ; if so , go to step 198 ; if not , go back to step 194 ; step 198 : the user selects the style of music for the accompaniment such as jazz , dance , etc ; step 200 : combine the main melody 60 with the accompaniment measure - by - measure based on the selected style and key of the accompaniment , and output the midi file 30 ; go to step 250 ; and please refer to fig1 . fig1 is a flowchart further illustrating calculating the total number of measures in the main melody 60 ( step 150 in the flowchart of fig1 ) according to the present invention method . steps contained in the flowchart will be explained below . step 154 : calculate the total period of a measure based on the period of a quarter note ; step 158 : determine if the end of the main melody track has been reached ; if so , go to step 176 ; if not , go to step 160 ; step 164 : determine if this event is a note - on event ; if so , go to step 168 ; if not , go to step 166 ; step 166 : adjust the timer by adding up all previous delta times ; go to step 158 ; step 170 : determine if this event is over the period of the current measure ; if so , go to step 172 ; if not , go to step 174 ; step 172 : create a buffer for the next measure ; step 174 : put this event into the corresponding measure buffer ; go to step 166 ; and please refer to fig1 . fig1 is a flowchart further illustrating combining the main melody . 60 with accompaniment tracks ( step 200 in the flowchart of fig1 ) according to the present invention method . steps contained in the flowchart will be explained below . step 204 : open the midi file 30 for writing ; step 206 : write the midi file header 32 ; step 208 : determine if all tracks have been written to the midi file 30 ; if yes , go to step 220 ; if not , go to step 210 ; step 210 : write the track header for the current track ; step 212 : determine if all data for all measures has been written for the current track ; if so , go back to step 208 ; if not , go to step 214 ; step 214 : read the style and key for the accompaniment corresponding to the current measure ; step 216 : shift the key of the accompaniment for this measure based on the selected key ; step 218 : write the data for this measure into the midi file 30 ; go back to step 212 ; step 220 : close the file to finish the writing process ; and compared to the prior art , the present invention method allows users to create a midi file by simply editing a main melody , selecting an accompaniment key for each measure of the main melody , and selecting a style of the accompaniment . this improved process for creating midi files allows users to create their own songs quickly and easily . moreover , even users with no knowledge of music theory can still create sophisticated music files . those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention . accordingly , the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims .
| 6 |
hereinafter , exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings . fig1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an image forming system according to an exemplary embodiment . this image forming system includes an image forming apparatus 1 which is operated as a so - called multi - function peripheral having a scanning function , a printing function , a copying function , and a facsimile function , a network 2 connected to the image forming apparatus 1 , a terminal apparatus 3 connected to the network 2 , a facsimile apparatus 4 connected to the network 2 , and a server apparatus 5 connected to the network 2 . here , the network 2 includes an internet line or a telephone line . in addition , the terminal apparatus 3 instructs the image forming apparatus 1 to form images via the network 2 , and includes , for example , a pc ( personal computer ). in addition , the facsimile apparatus 4 transmits and receives facsimiles to and from the image forming apparatus 1 via the network 2 . further , the server apparatus 5 transmits and receives data ( including programs ) to and from the image forming apparatus 1 via the network 2 . in addition , the image forming apparatus 1 includes an image reading unit 10 which reads images recorded on a recording material such as paper , an image forming unit 20 which forms images on a recording material such as paper , a user interface ( ui ) 30 which receives instructions related to operations using the scanning function , the printing function , the copying function , and the facsimile function from a user and displays messages to the user , a transmission and reception unit 40 which transmits and receives data to and from the terminal apparatus 3 , the facsimile apparatus 4 and the server apparatus 5 via the network 2 , and a controller 50 which controls operations of the image reading unit 10 , the image forming unit 20 , the ui 30 , and the transmission and reception unit 40 . further , in the image forming apparatus 1 , the scanning function is realized by the image reading unit 10 , the printing function is realized by the image forming unit 20 , the copying function is realized by the image reading unit 10 and the image forming unit 20 , and the facsimile function is realized by the image reading unit 10 , the image forming unit 20 , and the transmission and reception unit 40 . in addition , the transmission and reception unit 40 may be provided as one for the internet line and one for a telephone line separately . the image reading unit 10 , the image forming unit 20 , the ui 30 , the transmission and reception unit 40 , and the like are an example of the functional units . fig2 is a hardware block diagram illustrating an example of the internal configuration of the controller 50 provided in the image forming apparatus 1 shown in fig1 . the controller 50 as an example of the information processing device includes a cpu ( central processing unit ) 51 as an example of the execution unit which controls the respective units of the image forming apparatus 1 by executing various operations , and a bus bridge 52 which is connected to the cpu 51 and transmits and receives a variety of data to and from the cpu 51 . in the controller 50 , the bus bridge 52 is connected to a memory bus 53 which performs transmission and reception of data at a first clock and a pci ( peripheral component interconnect ) bus 54 which performs transmission and reception of data at a second clock of lower frequency than the first clock . in addition , the controller 50 includes a rom ( read only memory ) 55 , a nonvolatile ram ( random access memory ) 56 , and a volatile ram 57 . the rom 55 , the nonvolatile ram 56 , and the volatile ram 57 are connected to the memory bus 53 . further , the controller 50 includes a ui interface circuit ( ui if ) 61 for controlling the ui 30 , a scan interface circuit ( scan if ) 62 for controlling the image reading unit 10 , a print interface circuit ( print if ) 63 for controlling the image forming unit 20 , a network interface circuit ( network if ) 64 for controlling the transmission and reception unit 40 , and a general purpose interface circuit ( general purpose if ) 65 for controlling a general purpose interface such as a usb ( universal serial bus ). in addition , the ui if 61 , the scan if 62 , the print if 63 , the network if 64 , and the general purpose if 65 are connected to the pci bus 54 . in addition , in the exemplary embodiment , a card reader 70 which reads and writes data from and into , for example , an installed memory card is connected to the general purpose if 65 . the ui if 61 , the scan if 62 , the print if 63 , the network if 64 , the general purpose if 65 , and the pci bus 54 are an example of the communication unit . in addition , the controller 50 further includes a clock generator 58 which generates a reference clock which is used as a clock reference where the respective units ( the cpu 51 and the like ) constituting the controller 50 operate , and a timer 59 which performs clocking according to an operation of the cpu 51 and the like . the controller 50 is powered on and off by a main switch msw . in addition , the ui 30 , the image reading unit 10 , the image forming unit 20 , the transmission and reception unit 40 , and the card reader 70 are powered on and off by sub - switches ssw 1 to ssw 5 which are controlled by the controller 50 . the controller 50 in the exemplary embodiment is constituted by , for example , a one - chip microcontroller . however , the controller 50 may be constituted by plural chips . in addition , in the controller 50 of the exemplary embodiment , the cpu 51 can directly access the rom 55 , the nonvolatile ram 56 , and the volatile ram 57 . in the following description , the rom 55 , the nonvolatile ram 56 , and the volatile ram 57 connected to the memory bus 53 are collectively referred to as a “ main memory ” in some cases . here , the rom 55 as a storage device includes a so - called mask rom , a variety of proms ( programmable roms : for example , an otp rom ( one time programmable rom ), a uv - eprom ( ultra - violet erasable programmable rom ), an eeprom ( electrically erasable programmable rom )), a flash memory , and the like . in addition , in this example , the flash memory is used as the rom 55 . in addition , the nonvolatile ram 56 as an example of the storage device includes a nonvolatile memory which can maintain information even if power is not supplied thereto , such as an mram ( magnetoresistive ram ), a feram ( ferroelectric ram ), a pram ( phase change ram ), a reram ( resistance ram ). in addition , in this example , the mram which can read and write data at higher speed than the flash memory used as the rom 55 , is used as the nonvolatile ram 56 . in addition , the volatile ram 57 includes a volatile memory which may not maintain information unless power is supplied , such as a dram ( dynamic ram ) or an sram ( static ram ). further , in this example , the dram is used as the volatile ram 57 . in the exemplary embodiment , the nonvolatile ram 56 and the volatile ram 57 read and write data together at the first clock . for this reason , the nonvolatile ram 56 has a reading and writing performance equivalent to that of the volatile ram 57 ( in this example , dram ). when the main switch msw is turned off , storage contents of register groups and cache memories ( also constituted by a volatile memory ) provided in the cpu 51 are cleared . in addition , storage contents of the volatile ram 57 provided in the controller 50 are also cleared . on the other hand , even if the main switch msw is turned off , storage contents of the rom 55 and the nonvolatile ram 56 provided in the controller 50 are not cleared . further , the nonvolatile ram 56 maintains contents stored before the main switch msw is turned off . further , when an initial program loader ( ipl ) described later is also activated , storage contents of the register groups and the cache memories provided in the cpu 51 are cleared ( reset ). fig3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a memory map formed by the above - described main memory ( the rom 55 , the nonvolatile ram 56 , and the volatile ram 57 ). in this example , a compressed os region a 01 and a compressed program region a 02 are disposed in the rom 55 . an os development region a 11 , a program / variable development region a 12 , and a history region a 13 are disposed in the nonvolatile ram 56 . in addition , the history region a 13 includes an activation flag region a 13 a which stores an activation flag as an example of the activation history , a constituent element status region a 13 b which stores a constituent element status , and a log region a 13 c which stores a log . in addition , a work region a 21 and a buffer region a 22 are disposed in the volatile ram 57 . among them , the compressed os region a 01 disposed in the rom 55 stores an initial program loader ( ipl ) and an operation system ( os ) ( compressed os ) as an example of the compressed basic program , which are programs executed by the cpu 51 in the controller 50 , when the image forming apparatus 1 is activated . in addition , the compressed program region a 02 disposed in the rom 55 stores a program as an example of the control program for operating each constituent element capable of being mounted in the image forming apparatus 1 of the exemplary embodiment , and variables as an example of the state variables used in the program , in a state of being collected and compressed for each constituent element . for example , in the example shown in fig3 , the compressed program region a 02 stores a compressed program ( compressed program for constituent element 1 ) where a program and variables for operating a constituent element 1 are compressed , a compressed program ( compressed program for constituent element 2 ) where a program and variables for operating a constituent element 2 are compressed , a compressed program ( compressed program for constituent element 3 ) where a program and variables for operating a constituent element 3 are compressed , and the like . in addition , the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . , described here respectively correspond to the image reading unit 10 , the image forming unit 20 , the ui 30 , the transmission and reception unit 40 , the card reader 70 , and the like described above , which are attachable to and detachable from the main body of the image forming apparatus 1 , and perform predefined functions singly or along with other constituent elements when installed in the image forming apparatus 1 . as such , in the exemplary embodiment , plural compressed programs corresponding to the respective constituent elements capable of being mounted in the image forming apparatus 1 are stored in advance in the compressed program region a 02 disposed in the rom 55 , regardless of constituent elements ( the image forming apparatus 1 shown in fig1 does not include the card reader 70 ) of the image forming apparatus 1 which are actually used . thereby , exchange of the rom 55 or update of the programs stored in the rom 55 due to change in a device constituent element of the image forming apparatus 1 may not be performed . next , the os development region a 11 disposed in the nonvolatile ram 56 stores an os obtained by the cpu 51 developing ( decompressing ) the compressed os stored in the rom 55 . the program / variable development region a 12 stores a program and variables which are obtained by the cpu 51 developing the compressed program read from the above - described compressed program region a 02 . for example , in the example shown in fig3 , the program / variable development region a 12 stores a program and variables for operating the constituent element 1 ( program / variable for constituent element 1 ), a program and variables for operating the constituent element 2 ( program / variable for constituent element 2 ), a program and variables for operating the constituent element 3 ( program / variable for constituent element 3 ), . . . . in addition , the variables are parameters which can be rewritten so as to correspond to variations in functions of the respective constituent elements . the compressed program has an initial value of each of the variables . the variables will be described later . in addition , in the history region a 13 disposed in the nonvolatile ram 56 , the activation flag region a 13 a stores a flag ( activation flag ) indicating whether or not the image forming apparatus 1 is activated in the past . here , the activation flag region a 13 a stores “ on ( 1 )” if the image forming apparatus 1 is activated in the past , and stores “ off ( 0 )” if the image forming apparatus 1 is not activated in the past . in addition , in the history region a 13 disposed in the nonvolatile ram 56 , the constituent element status region a 13 b stores a device constituent element when the image forming apparatus is previously activated ( hereinafter , referred to as a “ previous device constituent element ”) as a constituent element status . here , in the constituent element status region a 13 b , in relation to each constituent element which may be installed in the image forming apparatus 1 , “ on ( 1 )” is stored if there is the constituent element , and , “ off ( 0 )” is stored if there is no constituent element . furthermore , in the history region a 13 disposed in the nonvolatile ram 56 , the log region a 13 c stores contents of instructions received by the image forming apparatus 1 , contents when a device constituent element is changed , contents of generated errors , and the like , as log data . in addition , the work region a 21 disposed in the volatile ram 57 stores data which is temporarily generated when the cpu 51 executes programs . the buffer region a 22 disposed in the volatile ram 57 stores data regarding instructions ( data output to the respective ifs ( in this example , the ui if 61 , the scan if 62 , the print if 63 , the network if 64 , and the general purpose if 65 ) via the pci bus 54 ) output to each constituent element of the image forming apparatus 1 when the cpu 51 processes data . the variables are parameters which are necessary for the controller 50 to refer to when performing functions of each constituent element and vary when each constituent element performs functions . therefore , the variables may be referred to as parameter variables in some cases . for example , if a constituent element is the image reading unit 10 , the variables are parameters regarding a ccd for performing image reading . characteristics of the ccd vary with the passage of time or temperature . therefore , parameters for correcting disparities due to temperature , heat , voltage , and the like of the ccd are necessary as variables . in addition , the variables vary according to variations in states of the image reading unit 10 . if a constituent element is the image forming unit 20 , an amount of paper or the like , an amount of toner , and the like are necessary as variables . in addition , if a constituent element is the transmission and reception unit 40 , a calendar , the time of day , a period ( timer ), and the like are necessary as variables . as described above , the variables are parameters corresponding to constituent element states , and thus are necessary to read and rewrite from a connected constituent element , for example , even when the image forming apparatus 1 is powered on ( main switch msw described later ) and is activated . in addition , in a case where a constituent element is operated and thereby variables vary , the variables are necessary to rewrite for each case of the variation . for example , if a constituent element is the image forming unit 20 , when a cassette holding paper or the like is drawn and inserted , an amount of paper or the like may be increased or decreased . therefore , the image forming unit 20 acquires variables regarding an amount of paper or the like using the drawing and inserting of the cassette as a trigger and transmits the acquired variables to the controller 50 . in other words , the constituent elements such as the image reading unit 10 , the image forming unit 20 , and the transmission and reception unit 40 detect variations in the respective states and transmit variables to the controller 50 . in addition , in the controller 50 , the cpu 51 rewrites variables of the program / variable development region a 12 corresponding to each constituent element . the variables are referred to by the cpu 51 in the controller 50 and are used to control the respective constituent elements such as the image reading unit 10 , the image forming unit 20 , and the transmission and reception unit 40 . in addition , some of the variables are transmitted to the ui 30 and are used for display of states of the constituent elements such as the image reading unit 10 , the image forming unit 20 , and the transmission and reception unit 40 , and issuing of alerts for paper supply request or the like to the user . next , an activation process of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described . fig4 is a flowchart illustrating an activation process of the image forming apparatus 1 shown in fig1 . fig4 shows an operation of the cpu 51 . here , the image forming apparatus 1 includes a constituent element 1 , a constituent element 2 , a constituent element 3 , . . . . in addition , the constituent element 1 , the constituent element 2 , the constituent element 3 , . . . are connected to the image forming apparatus 1 via the respective ifs ( in the example shown in fig2 , the ui if 61 , the scan if 62 , the print if 63 , the network if 64 , and the general purpose if 65 ) provided in the controller 50 of the image forming apparatus 1 . in addition , the controller 50 of the image forming apparatus 1 enters on and off states by the main switch msw , and the constituent element 1 , the constituent element 2 , the constituent element 3 , . . . enter on and off states by sub - switches ssw 1 , ssw 2 , ssw 3 , . . . . when the main switch msw of the controller 50 is turned on ( step s 1 ), the cpu 51 reads the initial program loader ( ipl ) stored in the os region a 01 of the rom 55 via the bus bridge 52 and the memory bus 53 and activates the read ipl ( step s 2 ). when the ipl is executed , the cpu 51 first detects device constituent elements of the image forming apparatus 1 using the respective ifs connected via the bus bridge 52 and the pci bus 54 ( step s 3 ). here , it is assumed that the constituent element 1 , the constituent element 2 , the constituent element 3 , . . . included in the image forming apparatus 1 are detected . in addition , in step s 3 , for example , a hardware method of detecting whether or not a connector or the like is physically connected to each if may be used , and , for example , a software method of detecting whether or not communication can be performed with a connection target via each if may be used . next , an activation flag is read and acquired from the activation flag region a 13 a in the history region a 13 of the nonvolatile ram 56 ( step s 4 ). in addition , the cpu 51 determines whether or not the activation flag is off ( 0 ), that is , whether or not the present activation is an initial activation ( step s 5 ). hereinafter , a case where affirmative determination ( yes ) is performed in step s 4 will be described , and a case ( a case of a in fig4 ) where negative determination ( no ) is performed will be described later ( refer to fig6 described later ). in a case where affirmative determination ( yes ) is performed in step s 5 , that is , the present activation process is an initial activation process , the cpu 51 reads a compressed os from the compressed os region a 01 of the rom 55 so as to be developed , and stores the developed os in the os development region a 11 in the nonvolatile ram 56 ( step s 6 ). in addition , the developed os ( hereinafter , referred to as an os ) is activated from the os development region a 11 in the nonvolatile ram 56 ( step s 7 ). from here , the cpu 51 is changed to the ipl and is controlled by the os . here , steps s 6 and s 7 are an example of the third procedure . next , the cpu 51 turns on a sub - switch sswx ( where x is 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . ) corresponding to a single constituent element included in the device constituent elements via the controller 50 ( step s 8 ). it is determined whether or not the sub - switches ssw 1 , ssw 2 , ssw 3 , . . . of all the constituent elements are turned on in the present device constituent elements detected in step s 3 ( step s 9 ). if negative determination ( no ) is performed in step s 9 , the flow returns to step s 8 where the sub - switches sswx of the remaining constituent elements of the present device constituent elements are continued to be turned on . as described above , the sub - switches ssw 1 , ssw 2 , ssw 3 , . . . are controlled by the controller 50 . when the sub - switches ssw 1 , ssw 2 , ssw 3 , . . . are turned on , the constituent element 1 , the constituent element 2 , the constituent element 3 , . . . respectively perform initialization ( refer to fig5 described later ). each constituent element includes a processor or a rom for controlling the constituent element by executing various operations in the same manner as the cpu 51 . in addition , when the initialization is performed , stored contents of a register group and a cache memory ( also constituted by a volatile memory ) provided in the processor are cleared , and then a program for controlling each constituent element is read from the rom and is set in the register group . thereby , transition to an operable state is performed . in addition , the constituent element 1 , the constituent element 2 , the constituent element 3 , . . . also perform the initialization when receiving a reset signal rst as an example of the initialization signal from the cpu 51 . next , the cpu 51 reads ( transmits ) a compressed program corresponding to a single constituent element included in the device constituent elements from the compressed program region a 02 of the rom 55 , develops the compressed program read , and stores a program and variables obtained by developing the compressed program in the program / variable development region a 12 of the nonvolatile ram 56 ( step s 10 ). thereafter , the cpu 51 activates the program ( step s 11 ) and transmits a response request signal req ( denoted by a req signal in fig4 ) for establishing communication ( synchronizing ) with the corresponding constituent element ( step s 12 ). steps s 10 and s 11 are an example of the first procedure . in relation to the present device constituent elements detected in step s 3 , it is determined whether or not storage of programs and variables corresponding to all the constituent elements in the program / variable development region a 12 , activation of the programs , and transmission of the response request signal req are completed ( step s 13 ). if negative determination ( no ) is performed in step s 13 , the flow returns to step s 10 , compressed programs corresponding to the remaining constituent elements of the present device constituent elements are read , and development of the compressed programs read , storage of programs and variables obtained through the development , activation of the programs , and transmission of the response request signal req are continued to be performed . then , when finishing a process ( response process ) for the response request signal req , the constituent element 1 , the constituent element 2 , the constituent element 3 , . . . transmit an affirmative response signal ack to the cpu 51 via the respective ifs . therefore , the cpu 51 determines whether or not the affirmative response signal ack is received ( step s 14 ). if affirmative determination ( yes ) is performed in step s 14 , the cpu 51 requests the constituent elements from which the affirmative response signal ack is received in step s 14 to transmit variables and receives the variables . in addition , the cpu 51 stores ( rewrites ) the variables in regions corresponding to the constituent elements of the program / variable development region a 12 of the nonvolatile ram 56 with the received variables ( step s 15 ). in relation to the present device constituent elements detected in step s 3 , it is determined whether or not reception of the affirmative response signal ack corresponding to all the constituent elements , and reception and storage of variables are completed ( step s 16 ). if negative determination ( no ) is performed in step s 16 , the flow returns to step s 14 , and reception of the affirmative response signal ack corresponding to the remaining constituent elements of the present device constituent elements , and reception and storage of variables are continued to be performed . in addition , if the affirmative response signal ack is not received in step s 14 ( negative determination ( no ) is performed in step s 14 ), the cpu 51 transmits generation of errors ( error information ) to the ui 30 ( step s 20 ), stopping ( halt ) ( denoted by hlt in fig4 ) may be performed , or , as described later , the reset signal rst may be transmitted to a constituent element from which the affirmative response signal ack is not received so as to perform initialization again . in a case where the initialization is performed again , the response request signal req is transmitted again , and it is determined whether or not the affirmative response signal ack may be received ( refer to fig6 and 9 described later ). the cpu 51 stores “ on ( 1 )” in the activation flag region a 13 a in the history region a 13 of the nonvolatile ram 56 as an activation flag ( step s 17 ). next , the cpu 51 stores a constituent element status that constituent elements which exist are in an “ on ( 1 )” state and constituent elements which do not exist are in an “ off ( 0 )” state , in the constituent element status region a 13 b in the history region a 13 ( step s 18 ). in addition , a log on which the device constituent elements and contents of executed processes are reflected is created , and the created log is stored in the log region a 13 c of the history region a 13 ( step s 19 ). in this way , the activation process of the image forming apparatus 1 finishes , and the image forming apparatus 1 enters an operable state ( standby state ). when the use of the image forming apparatus 1 finishes , the sub - switches ssw 1 , ssw 2 , ssw 3 , . . . and the main switch msw are turned off . this is performed through a series of operations where a user gives an instruction for turning off the switches to the ui 30 , thus the cpu 51 turns off the sub - switches ssw 1 , ssw 2 , ssw 3 , . . . and then turns off the main switch msw . in addition , when the image forming apparatus 1 is not used , in order to reduce power ( energy ) consumption ( save energy ), the cpu 51 may perform determination according to predefined conditions , and turn off the sub - switches ssw 1 , ssw 2 , ssw 3 , . . . and the main switch msw . fig5 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the communication control between the controller 50 and the respective constituent elements ( constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 ,) in the initial activation process . in fig5 , the time proceeds from the above to the below on the figure . in fig5 , the same steps as shown in fig4 are given the same reference numerals . in addition , in a case where the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . respectively are indicated so as to be divided , the numbers of the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . are added following the hyphen (-). as described above , the controller 50 , that is , the cpu 51 ( denoted by the controller 50 in fig5 , and , hereinafter , denoted by the controller 50 ( cpu 51 )) performs communication with the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . via the respective ifs so as to acquire variables from the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . provided in the image forming apparatus 1 . the controller 50 , that is , the cpu 51 reads and develops a compressed os , stores the developed os ( step s 6 ), and activates the os ( step s 7 ). in addition , the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) turns on the sub - switches ssw 1 , ssw 2 , ssw 3 , . . . ( steps s 8 - 1 , s 8 - 2 , s 8 - 3 , . . . ). thereby , each of the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . performs initialization ( steps s 101 - 1 , s 101 - 2 , 101 - 3 , . . . ). the initialization is performed independently for each of the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . . in addition , the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) reads and develops the compressed program for constituent element 1 , the compressed program for constituent element 2 , the compressed program for constituent element 3 , . . . corresponding to the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . , stores the developed program / variable for constituent element 1 , program / variable for constituent element 2 , program / variable for constituent element 3 , . . . , and activates the program for constituent element 1 , the program for constituent element 2 , the program for constituent element 3 , . . . ( steps s 10 - 1 , s 10 - 2 , s 10 - 3 , . . . , and steps s 11 - 1 , s 11 - 2 , s 11 - 3 , . . . ). further , response request signals req 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . are respectively transmitted to the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . ( steps s 12 - 1 , s 12 - 2 , s 12 - 3 , . . . ). when receiving the corresponding response request signal req 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . , the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . perform a process ( response process ) for response to the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) ( steps s 102 - 1 , s 102 - 2 , s 102 - 3 , . . . ). in addition , the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . transmit affirmative response signals ack 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . to the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ). the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) receives the affirmative response signals ack 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . from the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . ( steps s 14 - 1 , s 14 - 2 , s 14 - 3 , . . . ). thereby , communication is established between the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) and each of the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . . thereafter , the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) acquires variables from each of the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . , and rewrites variables by storing the variables in corresponding regions ( refer to fig3 ) of the program / variable development region a 12 of the nonvolatile ram 56 ( steps s 15 - 1 , s 15 - 2 , s 15 - 3 , . . . ). thereby , the image forming apparatus 1 enters an operable state ( standby state ). in fig5 , the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) reads and develops the next compressed program and stores the developed program and variables without waiting for reception of the affirmative response signals ack after transmitting the response request signals req ( for example , the compressed program for constituent element 2 is read and developed in step s 10 - 2 after the response request signal req 1 is transmitted in step s 12 - 1 of fig5 ). this is because the cpu 51 has a ( multitasking ) function of capable of executing plural programs in parallel . when the cpu 51 receives the affirmative response signals ack while reading and developing the compressed programs and storing the developed programs and variables , the cpu requests for transmission of variables in response thereto . in addition , the cpu 51 may receive the affirmative response signals ack after transmitting the response request signals req , and then may read and develop the next compressed program and store the developed program and variables ( single task ). next , a case where negative determination ( no ) is performed in step s 4 ( the case of a in fig4 ) will be described . the case where negative determination ( no ) is performed in step 4 is a case of second and following activation processes . fig6 is a flowchart illustrating the second and following activation processes of the image forming apparatus 1 . since the acquired activation flag is on ( 1 ), the present activation corresponds to the second and following activation . therefore , an os and program and variables corresponding to each constituent element are stored in the program / variable development region a 12 . therefore , the cpu 51 activates a developed os which is stored in the os development region a 11 of the nonvolatile ram ( step s 31 ). in addition , the cpu reads ( acquires ) a constituent element status from the constituent element status region a 13 b of the history region a 13 of the nonvolatile ram 56 ( step s 32 ). further , it is determined whether or not there is a change as compared with the device constituent elements detected in step s 3 shown in fig3 ( step s 33 ). here , if negative determination ( no ) is performed , a sub - switch sswx ( where x is 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . ) corresponding to a single constituent element included in the device constituent elements is turned on ( step s 34 ). it is determined whether or not the sub - switches ssw 1 , ssw 2 , ssw 3 , . . . of all the constituent elements are turned on in the present device constituent elements detected in step s 3 shown in fig3 ( step s 35 ). if negative determination ( no ) is performed in step s 35 , the flow returns to step s 34 where the sub - switches sswx of the remaining constituent elements of the present device constituent elements are continued to be turned on . in addition , the cpu 51 activates a program corresponding to each constituent element , which is developed and stored in the program / variable development region a 12 of the nonvolatile ram 56 ( step s 36 ). next , the cpu 51 transmits the response request signal req to each constituent element ( step s 37 ). step s 36 is an example of the second procedure . in relation to the present device constituent elements detected in step s 3 shown in fig3 , it is determined whether or not activation of corresponding programs and variables and transmission of the response request signal req are completed ( step s 38 ). if negative determination ( no ) is performed in step s 38 , the flow returns to step s 36 , activation of programs corresponding to the remaining constituent elements of the present device constituent elements and transmission of the response request signal req are continued to be performed . then , when executing and finishing a process ( response process ) for the response request signal req , each constituent element transmits the affirmative response signal ack to the cpu 51 via the respective ifs . therefore , the cpu 51 determines whether or not the affirmative response signal ack is received ( step s 39 ). hereinafter , a case where affirmative determination ( yes ) is performed in step s 39 will be described . in addition , a case where negative determination ( no ) is performed in step s 39 will be described later . if affirmative determination ( yes ) is performed in step s 39 , the cpu 51 requests the constituent elements from which the affirmative response signal ack is received in step s 39 to transmit variables and receives the variables . in addition , the cpu 51 stores ( rewrites ) the variables in regions corresponding to the constituent elements of the program / variable development region a 12 of the nonvolatile ram 56 with the received variables ( step s 40 ). in relation to the present device constituent elements detected in step s 3 shown in fig3 , it is determined whether or not reception of the affirmative response signal ack corresponding to all the constituent elements , and reception and storage of variables are completed ( step s 41 ). if negative determination ( no ) is performed in step s 41 , the flow returns to step s 39 , and reception of the affirmative response signal ack corresponding to the remaining constituent elements of the present device constituent elements , and reception and storage of variables are continued to be performed . then , the flow returns to b of the flowchart shown in fig4 , a log on which contents of the executed processes are reflected is created , and the created log is stored in the log region a 13 c of the history region a 13 ( step s 19 of fig4 ). if negative determination ( no ) is performed in step s 33 , that is , the previous device constituent elements are different from the present device constituent elements , for example , the cpu 51 stores “ off ( 0 )” in the activation flag region a 13 a of the history region a 13 of the nonvolatile ram 56 as an activation flag ( reset of the activation flag ) ( step s 42 ). in addition , the flow may return to c of fig4 , and the ipl may be activated in step s 2 . in this case , the above - described initial activation process is performed . in addition , based on the present constituent elements , programs and variables which are not stored in the program / variable development region a 12 of the nonvolatile ram 56 may be read and developed from the rom 55 , the developed programs and variables may be stored , the programs may be activated , and then the flow may proceed to step s 34 . at this time , the flow may not proceed to b of fig3 but returns to step s 18 of fig3 such that constituent element statuses corresponding to the present constituent elements are stored in the constituent element status region a 13 b of the history region a 13 of the nonvolatile ram 56 . fig7 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the communication control between the controller 50 and the respective constituent elements ( constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 ,) in the second and following activation processes . in fig7 , the same steps as shown in fig6 are given the same reference numerals . in addition , in a case where the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . respectively are indicated so as to be divided , the numbers of the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . are added following the hyphen (-). the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) activates an os ( step s 31 ), and the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) turns on the sub - switches ssw 1 , ssw 2 , ssw 3 , . . . ( steps s 34 - 1 , s 34 - 2 , s 34 - 3 , . . . ). thereby , each of the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . performs initialization ( steps s 101 - 1 , s 101 - 2 , s 101 - 3 , . . . ). the initialization is performed independently for each of the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . . in addition , the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) activates the program for constituent element 1 , the program for constituent element 2 , the program for constituent element 3 , . . . corresponding to the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . ( steps s 36 - 1 , s 36 - 2 , s 36 - 3 ). further , response request signals req 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . are respectively transmitted to the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . ( steps s 37 - 1 , s 37 - 2 , s 37 - 3 , . . . ). when receiving the corresponding response request signal req 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . , the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . perform a process ( response process ) for response to the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) ( steps s 102 - 1 , s 102 - 2 , s 102 - 3 , . . . ). in addition , the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . transmit affirmative response signals ack 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . to the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ). the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) receives the affirmative response signals ack 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . from the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . ( steps s 39 - 1 , s 39 - 2 , s 39 - 3 , . . . ). thereby , communication is established between the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) and each of the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . . thereafter , when the communication is established between the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) and each of the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . , the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) acquires variables from each of the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . , and rewrites variables by storing the variables in corresponding regions ( refer to fig3 ) of the program / variable development region a 12 of the nonvolatile ram 56 ( steps s 40 - 1 , s 40 - 2 , s 40 - 3 , . . . ). thereby , the image forming apparatus 1 enters an operable state ( standby state ). fig8 a and 8b are diagrams illustrating the time required for the first activation process and the second and following activation processes through comparison . fig8 a shows the time required for the activation process for the first time ( initial activation ) and fig8 b shows the time required for the activation processes from the second time and thereafter ( second and following activation ). as shown in fig8 a , in the initial activation process , there is a necessity of the time for reading and development of a compressed os , storage of the developed os , reading and development of a compressed program , and storage of developed program and variables . in contrast , in the second and following activation , such time is not necessary , and thus the image forming apparatus 1 can be started in a short time . as an example , in the initial activation , if 10 seconds for reading and development of a compressed os , storage of the developed os , and activation of the os , and about 30 seconds for reading and development of a compressed program , storage of developed program and variables , and activation of the program are necessary , that is , the time required for the initial activation process is about 40 seconds . in contrast , in the second and following activation , since the os and the program developed and stored in the nonvolatile ram 56 are activated , starting can be performed in several seconds . since acquisition and storage of variables of each of the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . are necessary for each activation process , the time required for them is long . as described above , in the exemplary embodiment , it is possible to shorten the time required for the second and following activation processes of the image forming apparatus 1 . for this reason , the start time of each constituent element is shortened by employing a fixing device using induction heating ( ih ) in the image forming unit 20 , and thereby the start time of the image forming apparatus 1 is shortened . next , referring to fig6 again , if negative determination ( no ) is performed in step s 39 , that is , a case where the affirmative response signal ack is not received from any of the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . will be described . at this time , the cpu 51 transmits the reset signal rst to a constituent element ( any of the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . ) from which the affirmative response signal ack is not received , in order to perform an initialization process of the constituent element again ( step s 51 ). the constituent element which receives the reset signal rst performs the initialization process again . in addition , the cpu 51 reads and develops a compressed program corresponding to the constituent element from the compressed program region a 02 of the rom 55 , and overwrites the developed program and variables in a region corresponding to the constituent element of the program / variable development region a 12 of the nonvolatile ram 56 ( step s 52 ). in addition , the program is activated ( step s 53 ). next , the cpu 51 transmits the response request signal req to the constituent element again ( step s 54 ). thereafter , the cpu 51 determines whether or not the affirmative response signal ack is received ( step s 55 ). if affirmative determination ( yes ) is performed in step s 55 , the cpu 51 requests the constituent element to transmit variables and receives the variables . in addition , the cpu 51 stores ( rewrites ) the variables in a region corresponding to the constituent element of the program / variable development region a 12 of the nonvolatile ram 56 with the received variables ( step s 40 ). in relation to the present device constituent elements detected in step s 3 , it is determined whether or not reception of the affirmative response signal ack corresponding to all the constituent elements , and reception and storage of variables are completed ( step s 41 ). if negative determination ( no ) is performed in step s 41 , the flow returns to step s 39 , and reception of the affirmative response signal ack corresponding to the remaining constituent elements of the present device constituent elements , and reception and storage of variables are continued to be performed . then , the flow returns to b of the flowchart shown in fig4 , a log on which contents of the executed processes are reflected is created , and the created log is stored in the log region a 13 c of the history region a 13 ( step s 19 of fig4 ). in addition , if negative determination ( no ) is performed in step s 55 , the cpu 51 transmits generation of errors ( error information ) to the ui 30 ( step s 56 ), stopping ( halt ) ( hlt ) may be performed . fig9 is a diagram illustrating overwriting of programs and variables in the program / variable development region a 12 . the cpu 51 , in step s 52 , reads and develops a compressed program corresponding to the constituent element ( the constituent element 2 in fig9 ) from the compressed program region a 02 of the rom 55 , and overwrites the developed program and variables in a region corresponding to the constituent element ( constituent element 2 ) of the program / variable development region a 12 of the nonvolatile ram 56 . fig1 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the communication control between the controller 50 and the respective constituent elements ( the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . ) in an activation process when the affirmative response signal ack is not received from any of the respective constituent elements ( the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . ). in fig1 , a description is made from the steps ( steps s 36 - 1 , s 36 - 2 , s 36 - 3 , . . . ) where the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) activates the program for constituent element 1 , the program for constituent element 2 , the program for constituent element 3 , . . . corresponding to the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . in fig7 . next , the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) transmits response request signals req 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . to the respective constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . ( steps s 37 - 1 , s 37 - 2 , s 37 - 3 , . . . ). here , it is assumed that the constituent element 2 is not initialized in a normal state . when receiving the corresponding response request signal req 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . , the constituent elements 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . perform a process ( response process ) for response to the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) ( steps s 102 - 1 , s 102 - 2 , s 102 - 3 , . . . ). then , when finishing the process ( response process ) for the response request signals req 1 , 3 , . . . , the constituent element 1 , the constituent element 3 , . . . transmit affirmative response signals ack 1 , 3 , . . . to the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ). the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) receives the affirmative response signals ack 1 , 3 , . . . from the constituent elements 1 , 3 , . . . ( steps s 38 - 1 , s 38 - 3 , . . . ). thereby , communication is established between the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) and each of the constituent elements 1 , 3 , . . . . in addition , the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) acquires variables from each of the constituent elements 1 , 3 , . . . , and rewrites variables by storing the variables in corresponding regions ( refer to fig3 ) of the program / variable development region a 12 of the nonvolatile ram 56 ( steps s 40 - 1 , s 40 - 3 , . . . ). however , since the constituent element 2 is not initialized in a normal state , even if the response request signal req 2 is received and the response process ( step s 102 - 2 ) is performed , the affirmative response signal ack 2 may not be transmitted to the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ). therefore , the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) may not receive the affirmative response signal ack 2 from the constituent element 2 . at this time , in a case where the predefined time set by the timer 59 from the time point when the response request signal req 2 is transmitted is measured , the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) determines that communication is not established ( time - out ), and transmits the reset signal rst to the constituent element 2 ( step s 51 ). when receiving the reset signal rst , the constituent element 2 performs initialization ( step s 103 ). on the other hand , the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) reads and develops the compressed program for constituent element 2 from the compressed program region a 02 of the rom 55 , and overwrites the developed program for constituent element 2 and variables in a region of the constituent element 2 of the program / variable development region a 12 ( step s 52 ). in addition , the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) activates the program for constituent element 2 ( step s 53 ) and transmits the response request signal req again ( step s 54 ). when the constituent element 2 enters a normal state through the re - initialization , the constituent element 2 receives the response request signal req 2 , performs a response process ( step s 104 ), and transmits an affirmative response signal ack 2 to the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ). in addition , when the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) may receive the affirmative response signal ack 2 from the constituent element 2 ( step s 55 ), communication between the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) and the constituent element 2 is established . when the communication between the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) and the constituent element 2 is established , the controller 50 ( cpu 51 ) acquires variables from the constituent element 2 , and rewrites variables by storing the variables in a corresponding region of the program / variable development region a 12 of the nonvolatile ram 56 ( step s 40 - 2 ). as described above , in the exemplary embodiment , for example , in relation to at least one of plural constituent elements , the cpu 51 measures the time after transmission of the response request signal req using the timer 59 , and determines that abnormality is generated as time - out if the affirmative response signal ack is not received even after the predefined time has elapsed . in addition , the cpu 51 transmits the reset signal rst to a constituent element from which the affirmative response signal ack is not received so as to initialize the constituent element , reads and develops a compressed program for the constituent element from the compressed program region a 02 of the rom 55 , and overwrites the developed program and variables in a region corresponding to the constituent element of the program / variable development region a 12 of the nonvolatile ram 56 . in addition , the cpu 51 activates the program and retransmits the response request signal req . as in the above - described example , if there is a problem in initialization of a constituent element , the constituent element may return to a normal state through re - initialization . in this case , the constituent element transmits the affirmative response signal ack in response to the response request signal req , and thereby communication is established . the activation process finishes , and the image forming apparatus 1 enters an operable state ( standby state ). in addition , even if inconvenience is caused due to rewriting of data of a program stored in the program / variable development region a 12 of the nonvolatile ram 56 , a compressed program is read and developed again , and the program is overwritten , thereby returning to a normal state . in addition , these processes are performed under the control of the cpu 51 . further , although , in the exemplary embodiment , the compressed program region a 02 storing each compressed program is disposed in the rom 55 , the present invention is not limited thereto . in other words , the compressed program region a 02 may be disposed in the server apparatus 5 ( refer to fig1 ) connected to the image forming apparatus 1 via the network 2 , or a memory card installed in the card reader 70 . in addition , in this case , the server apparatus 5 or the memory card installed in the card reader 70 may be set as a target where each compressed program is read when the ipl is executed . in addition , although , in the exemplary embodiment , the program / variable development region a 12 and the history region a 13 are disposed in the nonvolatile ram 56 , and the work region a 21 and the buffer region a 22 are disposed in the volatile ram 57 , the present invention is not limited thereto , and , for example , the program / variable development region a 12 , the history region a 13 , the work region a 21 , and the buffer region a 22 may be disposed in the nonvolatile ram 56 . further , although the compressed os region a 01 and the compressed program region a 02 are disposed in the rom 55 , for example , the compressed os region a 01 , the compressed program region a 02 , the program / variable development region a 12 , the history region a 13 , the work region a 21 , and the buffer region a 22 may be disposed in the nonvolatile ram 56 . in addition , although , in the exemplary embodiment , a case where the controller 50 is incorporated into the image forming apparatus 1 has been described as an example , the present invention is not limited thereto and may be applied to an apparatus which is constituted by combinations of plural units and of which a configuration may be modified due to attachment and detachment of the plural units . the foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention has been provided for the purposes of illustration and description . it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed . obviously , many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art . the embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications , thereby enabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and with the various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated . it is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the following claims and their equivalents .
| 6 |
with reference to fig1 to fig4 , the method of power generation with tide buoyancy and gravity ratio energy storage according to the present invention includes several steps which are performed repeatedly , the cycle thereof equal to a tide cycle . a tide cycle includes stages of initiation , rising tide , high tide , and falling tide . the method includes : step a : at initiation stage as illustrated in fig1 , making the buoy 3 hermetic and empty ; step b : at rising tide , with reference to fig1 and 2 , converting the potential energy of the buoy 3 rising by buoyancy into the gravitational potential energy of the energy storage component 8 ; step c : as illustrated in fig3 , when close to high tide or at high tide , filling the buoy 3 with water : opening the upper valve 21 and the lower valve 2 , then tide water entering the buoy through the lower valve 2 , the air in the cavity of the buoy being discharged through the upper valve 21 such that tide water fills the buoy quickly ; step d : still referring to fig3 , at falling tide , closing the upper valve 21 and the lower valve 2 such that the buoy 3 becomes a hermetic body with water filled , and converting the potential energy of the buoy 3 falling under gravity into the gravitational potential energy of the energy storage component 8 ; step e : as shown in fig4 , converting the gravitational potential energy of the energy storage component 8 into electrical energy ; and corresponding to the method of the present invention , fig1 to fig4 illustrate a power generation system with tide buoyancy and gravity ratio energy storage , which may be configured by at least one system unit 100 shown in fig1 to fig4 . the system unit 100 includes a buoy 3 and an energy storage component 8 , and corresponding to the step b , further includes an primary energy conversion device , which converts the potential energy of the buoy 3 rising by buoyancy into the gravitational potential energy of the energy storage component 8 ; and corresponding to the step c , further includes an ratio energy conversion device , which converts the potential energy of the water - filled buoy 3 falling under gravity into the gravitational potential energy of the energy storage component 8 ; and corresponding to the step e , further includes a power generation device , which converts the gravitational potential energy of the energy storage component 8 into electrical energy . the buoy control device , the primary energy conversion device , the ratio energy conversion device and the power generation device are illustrated in the preferable embodiment in fig1 - 4 , but not limited to it . the skilled person in the art may make any modification or alternation for the devices of the system within the spirit of the present invention . as shown in fig1 , the buoy 3 has an empty cavity 1 , and an upper valve ( intake and drainage valve ) 21 and a lower valve ( intake and exhaust valve ) 2 . the upper valve 21 and the lower valve 2 can be but not limited to solenoid valves . logic control units like plc may control execution units , for instance , driving mechanisms , hydraulic or pneumatic driving units , to close or open the upper valve 21 and the lower valve 2 . for the purpose of clear observation , the logic control units , and the execution mechanisms are not shown . the upper valve 21 , the lower valve 2 , and the corresponding logic control units and execution mechanisms constitute the buoy control device of the power generation system with tide buoyancy and gravity ratio energy storage . the buoy control device may close the upper valve 21 and the lower valve 2 in step a of the aforementioned method , and open them in the step c , and in turn close them again in step d . more details about the process will be described thereafter . the logic control units and execution mechanisms of the buoy control device could be integrated in some cases . the aforementioned is not to exhaust the embodiment of the buoy control device , the person skilled in the art could according to the spirit of the invention in face of particular case select or combine the prior art to configure various kinds of the control device to open or close the buoy 3 . still referring to fig1 , the primary energy conversion device includes a buoy bracket 7 , a lifting member 10 and a clutch for lifting member 11 . the buoy bracket 7 connects the buoy 3 via a pivot shaft 6 , and they both may rotate about the shaft 6 , such that this flexible connection can adapt to the swing of the buoy 3 caused by tide water . the buoy bracket 7 is provided with a clutch 11 for lifting member by means of which it can join releasably with the lifting member 10 , and a clutch 17 for lowering member by means of which it can join releasably with lowering member 16 . but it will be understood through the description for the working process that the buoy bracket 7 may not connect to lifting member 10 and lowering member 16 at the same time . the lifting member 10 hangs the energy storage component 8 at its lower end by rope 9 ( a flexible drawing member ), and connects with the right end of rope 12 ( a driving flexible member ) at its upper end . the length of the rope 9 is schematically shown , and it will be understood that the length thereof is far longer than that shown in the drawings . the engagement between the clutch 11 for lifting member and the lifting member 10 or between the clutch 17 for lowering member and the lowering member 16 can be of various ways . the lifting member 10 and the lowering member 16 are both tie rods . for example , tie rods 10 and 16 are formed with ratchets , and correspondingly , clutches 11 and 17 are also formed with matching ratchets . in some of the embodiments thereafter , the lifting member 10 is referred to as lifting ratchet rod , lifting rod , ratchet rod , or simplified as tie rod , and the lowering member 16 is referred to as lowering ratchet rod , lowering rod , ratchet rod , or simplified as tie rod . correspondingly , the clutch 11 and the clutch 17 are respectively referred to as clutch for lifting ratchet rod and clutch for lowering ratchet rod , or both simplified as clutch . the energy storage component 8 is depicted as a square in the drawings , but its shape is not limited to it . the energy storage component 8 can be supplied with very low cost , such as using soil , sand , seawater or the like , and can be referred to as solid energy storage component , because it needs no longer running water to store energy as that in the prior art . it will be understood through the following description that the energy storage component 8 stores gravitational potential energy mainly via gaining a lifting height , and its weight is equal to the displacement of the buoy 3 , and its material depends on the requirement of the overall structure on its volume ( without requirements on strength ). when the overall structure requires the volume of the energy storage component 8 to be relatively small , metals , even heavy metals ( steel , lead , mercury and the like ) may be employed ; when there is no requirement on its volume , concrete or even packed pebble , gravel , soil or water may be employed , so as to reduce the cost . ropes 9 and 12 may be flexible members constituted by any materials with high tensile strength , such as steel wire rope , fiberglass , chains . still referring to fig1 , a ratio energy conversion device includes a buoy bracket 7 , a lowering member 16 and a clutch 17 for lowering member . rope 12 is guided by ratchet wheel 130 , and connects to the upper end of the lowering member 16 at its left end . the lower end of the lowering member 16 may connect releasably to the clutch 17 for lowering member and positioning clutch 18 , but not at the same time . the positioning clutch 18 is fixed on connecting seat 19 mounted on platform which is higher than the horizontal plane 22 . the buoy bracket 7 connecting with the buoy 3 can go up and down along with it . the connecting seat 19 has a through hole , through which the lowering member 16 can move up and down without any restriction . still referring to fig1 , the power generation device includes a generator ( not shown in the drawing ) and ratchet wheel 130 . the ratchet wheel 130 includes outer ring 13 and inner ring 14 , in which the outer ring 13 functions as a pulley wheel and is wrapped around by the flexible member 12 . there can be just unidirectional transmission between outer ring 13 and inner ring 14 , and in the drawing , the direction of the unidirectional transmission is clockwise , i . e . the falling direction of the energy storage component 8 . the inner ring 14 of the ratchet wheel 130 is mounted on spindle 15 , which may rotate synchronously along with the former . said clutches 11 , 17 , 18 and the control device controlled by the buoy may be provided integrally ( the following description bases on this integral manner and all the devices controlling them are referred to as control device ) or separately , and the skilled in the art can , depending on demand , choose control devices with any control manner such as electrically , pneumatically , hydraulically . hereinafter , an operating cycle of the power generation system with tide buoyancy and gravity ratio energy storage according to the present invention will be described in conjunction with fig1 - 4 . fig1 shows the system in the initial stage of the tidal cycle when the lower valve 2 and the upper valve 21 are both closed , the cavity 1 is hermetic body , and the buoy 3 is in seawater under the pressure from the energy storage component 8 , full filled with air to make the buoy 3 in state of hermetic empty pontoon , and with its upper surface just above the seawater . meanwhile , the gravity of the energy storage component 8 is applied to the buoy bracket 7 via the engagement between the clutch 11 and the tie rod 10 , and the buoyancy which the buoy 3 is subjected to is equal to the gravity . at rising tide , the buoy 3 , subjected to greatest buoyancy , begins to rise , and the buoy bracket 7 rises therewith , when the buoy bracket 7 connects the lifting member 10 via the clutch 11 for lifting member , while it disengages with the lowering member 16 , that is , both the clutch 17 for lowering member and the positioning clutch 18 are released . because the tie rod 10 is joining with the buoy bracket 7 , it rises at the same time , along with which the energy storage component 8 begins to lift and thus to store the gravitational potential energy . the lowering member 16 , linked with the lifting member 10 via rope 9 and always moving along the direction opposite to the lifting member 10 , thus begins to fall . moreover , the energy storage component 8 drives the outer ring 13 of the ratchet wheel 130 rotate reversely to the spindle 15 , the spindle 15 and the inner ring 14 of the ratchet wheel 130 remaining static . as depicted in fig2 , the buoy 3 reaches close to the highest position when the first energy storage of the energy storage component 8 is finished . comparing fig2 with fig1 , it will be found that the energy storage component 8 has ascended by a height roughly equal to the difference of the tide . as shown in fig3 , at high tide , the control devices open the lower valve 2 and the upper valve 21 , and tide water fully fill the cavity 1 quickly . while the tide water begins to recede , owing to that after the buoy 3 is fully filled , the control devices close the lower valve 2 and the upper valve 21 , the buoy 3 may be referred to as a heavy hermetic body filled with water , the weight of which is greater than that of the energy storage component 8 . during falling tide , the buoy 3 descends under the gravity thereof . meanwhile , the clutch 17 is closed , and the buoy bracket 7 joins with the lowering rod 16 , while the clutch 11 for lifting member and the positioning clutch 18 are released . therefore , when the buoy 3 falls , the buoy bracket 7 and the lowering rod 16 descend while the lifting member 10 and the energy storage component 8 ascend . when the buoy 3 falls 0 . 2 m close to the surface of low tide , the clutch 17 is closed and grips the tie rod 16 and at the same time the clutch 18 on the platform is closed and grips the tie rod 16 as well , such that the buoy stopped at the position approximate to the sea level . at this time , the elevation height of the energy storage component 8 is the difference of the tide minus the height of the buoy 3 . where the height of the buoy 3 is far less than the difference of the tide , the elevation height of the energy storage component 8 approximately equals the difference of the tide , therefore , the total elevation height of the energy storage component 8 approximately equals the double of the difference of the tide , realizing “ ratio elevation ”, thus realizing the ratio energy storage . as shown in fig4 , when the lower valve of the buoy is about 0 . 2 m above the sea level , the clutches 17 , 18 are controlled to stop the buoy 3 and the lower valve 2 and the upper valve 21 are opened at the same time . after the sea water was drained , the lower valve 2 and the upper valve 21 is shut and the buoy 3 restores empty . meanwhile , the clutches 17 , 11 are released and the empty and hermetic buoy 3 , under its gravity , descends into the sea , and returns to its initial position , ready for next tidal cycle . at this time , the positioning clutch 18 is closed and grips the upper rod 16 , and the energy storage component 8 is kept at the highest position . before next tide comes ( that is , at the still tide ), the energy storage component 8 can be released sequentially according to the procedures , so as to achieve continuous power generation , in which the releasing way for the component 8 will be described hereinafter . after releasing the energy storage component 8 , i . e . after releasing the clutch 18 , the component 8 descends , and drives the outer ring 13 of the ratchet wheel 130 to rotate , which outer ring 13 drives the whole ratchet wheel 130 to rotate clockwise , which ratchet wheel 130 drives spindle 15 of generators or generator sets to generate electricity , thereby the gravitational potential energy of the energy storage component 8 is converted into electrical energy . this method converts the tidal energy directly into rotation torque of the main spindle 15 , which actuate directly speed reducers so as to drive generators to generate electricity , without using power machines like hydraulic turbines , turbomachines to convert hydroenergy into electrical energy , thus improving the energy conversion efficiency , simplifying devices and reducing the cost significantly . according to the previous description , during the rising tide and falling tide , the energy storage component 8 is subjected to the buoyancy of the empty buoy and the gravity of the water - filled buoy respectively , and under the effect of the primary energy conversion device and the ratio energy conversion device , it is lifted to a height twice the tide difference h , the weight of the energy storage component is equal to the discharge capacity of the buoy , therefore accomplishing the transmission and storage from the energy of the tide difference to the energy storage component . during the process , there is little energy loss , and owing to that the lifting height is twice the difference of the tide , the potential energy in the energy storage component is twice the tidal energy that the buoy covers ( e = mg2h , where m is the mass of the buoy ). fig5 illustrates the second embodiment of the present invention , which is a seawater desalination system 200 with tide buoyancy and gravity ratio energy storage , comprising a power generation system unit 100 of the first embodiment , a seawater evaporation tower 30 and a steam condensation tower 31 . the seawater evaporation tower 30 is configured with a vacuum pump 32 , which is associated with the transmission spindle 15 , that is , the transmission spindle 15 connects the vacuum pump 32 with a power transmission mechanism such that the former can drive the latter to work . in this embodiment , the power generation system unit 100 can only work as a dynamical system to supply driving force but not to generate electricity ( the power generation sets are canceled ). the seawater evaporation tower 30 in this embodiment is a barrel with a fixed volume , and is optionally provided with a water heater 33 . seawater is sucked into the water heater 33 from the water inlet 34 , and after being heated in the water heater 33 , it goes into the seawater evaporation tower 30 . at the bottom of the seawater evaporation tower 30 is seawater , and the vacuum pump 32 connects the upper portion thereof via pipelines 36 a . the vacuum pump 32 vacuumizes the seawater evaporation tower 30 to form negative pressure therein , which urges water to evaporate out from seawater , and suck the evaporated water . the vacuum pump 32 also connects the condensation tower 31 containing cooling water via pipeline 36 b , in which cooling water is filled and coil pipes 35 are arranged through the cooling water . the high - pressure vapor from the vacuum pump 32 passes through the coil pipe 35 and is cooled by the cooling water , finally condensing into fresh water and entering the container 36 , while strong brine discharged from the seawater evaporation tower 30 enters the container 35 , in which the strong brine can be utilized to produce salt . fig6 and 7 shows the third embodiment of the present invention , which is a seawater desalination system 300 with tide buoyancy and gravity ratio energy storage . the seawater desalination system 300 of the embodiment is formed on the basis of the power generation system in the first embodiment , in which the energy storage component is replaced with a floating and spreading seawater evaporation tower 40 , and the rope 9 originally connecting the energy storage component is lengthened , and is guided around pulley assemblies 23 , 23 a to extend to the land , and likewise , the ratchet pulley assembly 130 originally driving the transmission spindle 15 is moved to the land . the ratchet wheel 130 , the seawater evaporation tower 40 and the like are supported by the bracket 20 a on the land , while the bracket 20 on the offshore platform 5 supports pulley assembly 23 a comprising a bearing spindle 15 a and a fixed pulley 14 a . the principle of the third embodiment on the utilization of tidal energy is identical essentially with that of the sixth embodiment thereafter . the seawater evaporation tower 40 includes a floating barrel 41 a and a stationary barrel 41 b , in which the stationary barrel 41 b is provided with an annular sealing groove 42 , and the lower portion of the floating barrel 41 a is inserted into the sealing groove , and can move up and down therein . after being inserted into the sealing groove 42 , the floating barrel 41 a covers the stationary barrel 41 b , and when putting liquid like seawater in the sealing groove 42 , the seawater evaporation tower 40 becomes sealed . furthermore , the sealing space defined by the floating barrel 41 a and the stationary barrel 41 b may be varied and the sealing structure may be another type other than liquid sealing . the seawater evaporation tower 40 extends its internal space through the upward movement of the floating barrel 41 a , so as to form negative pressure . seawater is introduced into the lower portion of the stationary barrel 41 b by means of pipeline 43 a , in which there is provided with a solenoid valve 44 a . in the stationary barrel 41 b , a condensed water collection tray 49 is supported at a height away from the bottom thereof , the tray exporting the fresh water or mixture of water and steam to the condensation tower through the pipeline 43 b , in which pipeline 43 b is provided with a solenoid valve 44 b . at the lower portion of the stationary barrel 41 b is disposed via pipelines 43 c in which is provided with solenoid valve 44 c . the strong brine flows into the pipeline 43 c from its bottom and at last out of the stationary barrel 41 b . between the inner wall of the stationary barrel 41 b and the condensed water collection tray 49 , there is provided with a condensed water scraper 48 , which is used to guide the condensed water into the collection tray 49 . at the bottom of the collection tray 49 is disposed with a fresh water export pipe 43 b . the seawater evaporation tower 40 is better to be configured with a water heater , for instance a solar water heater . the seawater in the pipeline 43 a is that heated by the water heater . as illustrated in fig6 , during the rising tide to the falling tide , tide exerts the buoy bidirectionally , such that the rope 9 lifts the floating barrel 41 a on the seawater evaporation tower 40 by a height 2h , and the volume of the seawater evaporation tower 40 extends and negative pressure is formed . after lifting a height 2h , the solenoid clutch 18 for tie rod is closed and grips the rod 16 , to keep the floating barrel 41 a at the highest position , continuously maintaining the vacuum degree in the seawater evaporation tower 40 . with the intake solenoid valve 44 a opened , the seawater , under negative pressure , flows through the solar water heater into the stationary barrel 41 b . the preheated seawater , under negative pressure kept by the stationary barrel 41 b , evaporates quickly , with abundant vapor emerging . at low tide , the solenoid clutch 18 for tie rod is opened and releases the upper rod 16 , and the floating barrel 41 a descends under gravity , with the pressure in the stationary barrel 41 b increasing , and the vapor condenses into water and flows along the inner wall of barrel and then flows downward along the condensed water scraper 48 into the collection tray 49 . the floating barrel 41 a descends under gravity , and the mixture of water and steam is sent to a condensation tower ( not shown in fig6 , it can be understood with reference to fig5 ) and condensed continuously into fresh water . the salt concentration of the seawater in the evaporation tower 40 increases with the evaporation of water . the solenoid valve 44 c can be controlled to discharge the strong brine so as to produce salt , while the fresh seawater is sucked into the evaporation tower under the negative press thereof . with repeating this , it is possible to continuously produce fresh water and salt based on seawater . comparing with the second embodiment , the third one uses a floating and spreading seawater evaporation tower 40 , without the vacuum pump . as illustrated in fig6 , for the purpose of reducing the height of the bracket 20 a , the evaporation tower 40 is provided in a pit . fig7 a - 7 c show the fourth embodiment of the present invention , which adds a pressure tank 51 and a vacuum tank 50 on the basis of the first embodiment . the vacuum tank 50 and the pressure tank 51 both connect the upper valve 21 with pipelines . the pipelines connecting the pressure tank 51 is provided with a solenoid valve 510 , and the ones connecting the vacuum tank 50 with a solenoid valve 500 . as illustrated in fig7 a , at low tide , both the solenoid valve 510 and the solenoid valve 500 assume a close state , and the empty buoy 3 is not in communication with the pressure tank 51 and the vacuum tank 50 . as illustrated in fig7 b , at high tide , the lower valve 2 and the upper valve 21 are both opened , and tide water surges into the buoy 3 from the lower valve 2 , discharging the air therein . at this stage , the solenoid valve 510 is opened , the discharged air enters the pressure tank 51 . as depicted in fig7 c , at the stage of the buoy discharging water , the solenoid valve 510 is shut while the solenoid valve 500 is opened , and the seawater flows out of the buoy 3 under its gravity , which may form negative pressure in the buoy 3 , thus vacuumizing the vacuum tank 50 . the advantage of the fourth embodiment is that there are byproducts formed , that is , the pressure tank 51 and the vacuum tank 50 . apparently , the structure that the pressure tank 51 and the vacuum tank 50 connect the upper valve 21 can be applied to the embodiments both hereinabove and hereinafter . fig8 illustrates another embodiment of the power generation system with tide buoyancy and gravity ratio energy storage according to the present invention , i . e . the fifth embodiment . fig8 only shows a system unit 400 , and the whole system may be configured by at least one such system unit 400 . in fig8 , ( a ) is a front view , ( b ) is a cross - sectional view , and ( c ) is a top view . the main difference from the embodiment in fig1 is that , the system unit 400 in fig8 has an energy storage component region with several groups of energy storage components for continuously generating electricity . fig8 takes a , b , c groups as an example to illustrate , each of which components has the same way to store energy as that of the embodiment in fig1 , and the buoy bracket , multiple clutches , a lifting rod and a lowering rod coordinates with each other to complete the ratio energy storage . but they are different in releasing the stored energy . as shown in fig8 , all the groups share a buoy bracket 7 . after each group of “ energy storage components ” are lifted to the specified position , they are kept at specified height under the effect of the positioning clutch 18 , thus without the limitation from the tide cycle . the energy storage components are released and fall in a different time style upon specified procedures , so as to drive generator sets to continuously generate electricity . with reference to fig9 a - 9 h , the working process of the embodiment will be described as follows . 1 ) at initial stage ( as shown in fig9 a ): { circle around ( 1 )} other sea level : the sea level is at low tide . { circle around ( 2 )} the position of the buoy 3 and the state of the upper and lower valves : the buoy 3 is sunk into seawater under pressure of energy storage component 8 , air - filled and with its upper surface just above the seawater , and in a state of “ hermetic empty pontoon ”; the intake and exhaust valve ( the upper valve ) 2 and the intake and exhaust valve ( the lower valve ) 21 are both closed ( it can be understood referring to fig2 ). { circle around ( 3 )} the state of the solenoid clutches and the ratchet rods : the solenoid clutch 11 is closed and grips the ratchet rod 10 ; the solenoid clutch for rod 17 and 19 is opened , and the ratchet rod 16 is released . { circle around ( 4 )} the position of the energy storage components 8 : the gravity of each group “ energy storage component ” a , b , c is applied to the buoy bracket 7 via the engagement between the clutchs 11 and the tie rods 10 , and the buoyancy which the buoy 3 is subjected to is equal to the gravity , and the energy storage components 8 is at the lowest position . { circle around ( 5 )} the state of the ratchet wheel 130 : the ratchet wheel 130 do not rotate . { circle around ( 6 )} the state of the spindle 15 : the spindle 15 does not rotate . 2 ) at the stage of rising tide , as shown in fig9 b : { circle around ( 1 )} the sea level : the sea level rises gradually from the position at low tide to that at high tide ; { circle around ( 2 )} the position of the buoy and the state of the upper and lower valves : the buoy , under buoyancy , rises to the position at high tide and is fully filled with air ; the intake and exhaust valve ( upper valve ) 2 and the intake and exhaust valve ( lower valve ) 21 are both closed ( it can be understood referring to fig2 ). { circle around ( 3 )} the state of the solenoid clutches and the ratchet rods : during the rising of the sea level , the solenoid clutch 11 keeps closed and grips the ratchet rod 10 ; after reaching the position at high tide , the solenoid clutch 11 is opened and releases the ratchet rod 10 , while the solenoid clutch 17 is closed and grips the ratchet rod 16 ; the solenoid clutch 18 is opened , and the ratchet rod 16 can slide therein . { circle around ( 4 )} the position of the energy storage components : during the rising of the sea level , the solenoid clutch 11 mounted on the buoy bracket 7 grips the ratchet rod 10 , and draws all the “ energy storage components ” to rise gradually to the position at high tide ; { circle around ( 5 )} the state of the ratchet wheel 130 : the energy storage components 8 are linked with the tie rod 16 via chain 12 around the outer ring 13 of the ratchet wheel 130 , and when the energy storage components 8 ascend , the components drive the outer ring 13 to rotate reversely to the spindle 15 , and due to the unidirectional transmission between the ratchet wheels 130 , the outer ring 13 does not drive the spindle 15 . { circle around ( 6 )} the state of the spindle 15 : the spindle 15 does not rotate . 3 ) at the stage of high tide , still as shown in fig9 b : { circle around ( 1 )} the sea level : the sea level remains at the position at high tide ; { circle around ( 2 )} the position of the buoy and the state of the upper and lower valves : the buoy 3 remains at the position at high tide , and the electromagnetic control system is actuated to open the intake and drainage valve 2 and the intake and exhaust valve 21 , seawater filling the buoy at high tide , and after that , the electromagnetic control system is actuated to shut the intake and drainage valve 2 and the intake and exhaust valve 21 and the buoy 3 becomes “ a water - filled pontoon ”, and descends under gravity . { circle around ( 3 )} the state of the solenoid clutches and the ratchet rods : the solenoid clutch 11 is opened and releases the ratchet rod 10 ; the solenoid clutch 17 for rod is closed and grips the ratchet rod 16 ; the solenoid clutch 18 for rod is opened , and the ratchet rod 16 can slide therein . { circle around ( 4 )} the position of the energy storage components : all the “ energy storage components ” a , b , c assume the position at high tide ; { circle around ( 5 )} the state of the ratchet wheel 130 : both the ratchet wheel 130 do not rotate ; { circle around ( 6 )} the state of the spindle : the spindle 15 does not rotate ; 4 ) at the stage of falling tide , still as shown in fig9 b { circle around ( 1 )} the sea level : the sea level descends from the position at high tide to that at low tide ; { circle around ( 2 )} the position of the buoy and the state of the upper and lower valves : the buoy 3 descends from the position at high tide , and when the intake and drainage valve 2 arrives at the position which is 0 . 2 m away from the sea level , the solenoid clutches 17 , 18 are controlled to stop the buoy 3 from descending . the electromagnetic control system is actuated to open the intake and drainage valve 2 and the intake and exhaust valve 21 , such that seawater is discharged by free fall ; and after the seawater is drained , the intake and drainage valve 2 and the intake and exhaust valve 21 are shut and the buoy 3 restores “ a hermetic empty pontoon ”, then the clutches 11 , 17 , 18 is controlled such that the buoy goes into the seawater gradually by the weight of the energy storage components and itself and returns to the position at initial stage . { circle around ( 3 )} the state of the solenoid clutches and the ratchet rods : the solenoid clutch 11 is opened and releases the ratchet rod 10 ; when tide begins to fall , the solenoid clutch 17 is closed and grips the ratchet rod 16 such that the ratchet rod 16 draws the energy storage components 8 to ascend with the falling of the buoy 3 ; when the buoy 3 falls 0 . 2 m close to the surface of low tide , the clutch 17 is closed and grips the tie rod 16 and at the same time the clutch 18 on the platform is closed and grips the tie rod 16 as well , so as to keep the buoy at the position close to the sea level . energy storage components 8 is drew by the ratchet rod 16 and chain 12 and go on elevating from the position at high tide , the elevation height is the difference of the tide h minus the height of the buoy h ( where h is far less than h , h can be omitted , and the elevation height of the buoy is h ), therefore , the total elevation height of the energy storage component 8 approximately equals the double of the difference of the tide , that is , 2h . when the energy storage components 8 reach the highest position , the solenoid clutch 18 is closed and grips the tie rod 16 , and keeps the components 8 at the highest position , and at this time the potential energy of the components 8 is e = mg2h , i . e . doubles the energy of the tidal energy ; { circle around ( 5 )} the state of the ratchet wheel 130 : when the rod 16 descends , the outer ring 13 of the ratchet wheel 130 and the spindle 15 rotate anticlockwise , without driving the spindle 15 ; { circle around ( 6 )} the state of the spindle : the spindle 15 does not rotate ; 5 ) at the stage of first low tide ( after the falling tide , and before the next rising tide ), as shown in fig9 c { circle around ( 1 )} sea level : the sea level is at low tide again { circle around ( 2 )} the position of the buoy 3 and the state of the upper and lower valves : the buoy 3 is in seawater under pressure from the energy storage components 8 , air - filled and with its upper surface just above the seawater , and assumes a state of “ hermetic empty pontoon ”; the intake and drainage valve 2 and the intake and exhaust valve 21 are both closed . { circle around ( 3 )} the state of the solenoid clutches and the ratchet rods : for the purpose of continuously generating electricity , not all the energy storage components are allowed to release energy at low tide . the total the energy storage components are divided into three groups , a , b , c , and plc controls according to program , to open the solenoid clutch 18 for rod and release the ratchet rod 16 , thereby each energy storage component descends from the highest position under gravity . chain 12 drives the outer ring 13 and the spindle 15 to rotate in the same direction , such that the spindle 15 transfers the torque to speed reducers and generator sets . each group releases energy in the following way : group a : the solenoid clutches 11 , 17 , 18 are all opened , and releases the ratchet rod 10 , 16 in such a manner that each energy storage component in group a falls in different time to release energy ; group b : the solenoid clutch 18 is closed and grips the ratchet rod 16 ; group c : the solenoid clutch 18 is closed and grips the ratchet rod 16 ; { circle around ( 4 )} the position of the energy storage components , as shown in fig9 c ; each group of energy storage component moves and releases energy in the following way : group a : at low tide , each energy storage component in group a falls in different time to release energy . upon the low tide is over , all of them have reached the lowest point from the highest position 2h , with the process of releasing energy finished , and the spindle driven to rotate to generate ; group b and c : at low tide , they keep at the highest position , and during rising tide — high side — falling side , they work in turn , in such a manner to ensure that at each stage there are always some energy storage components releasing energy , so as to drive the spindle to generate electricity continuously . { circle around ( 5 )} the state of the ratchet wheel 130 : group a : when energy storage components thereof descend , the chain 12 drives the outer ring 13 and the spindle 15 to rotate in the same direction , such that the torque of the outer ring 13 , through the ratchet wheel 130 , is transferred to inner ring 14 , thus driving the spindle 15 to rotate . group b and c keep at the highest position , and their corresponding ratchet wheels do not rotate : { circle around ( 6 )} the state of the spindle 15 : the spindle 15 is driven by the energy storage components of group a to rotate clockwise , thus the speed reducer is driven so as to bring the generator to work to generate electricity . 6 ) at the stage of second rising tide , as shown in fig9 b : { circle around ( 1 )} the sea level : the sea level rises gradually from the level at low tide to that at high tide ; { circle around ( 2 )} the position of the buoy and the state of the upper and lower valves : the buoy rises to the position at high tide under buoyancy , with air filled ; the intake and exhaust valve 2 and the intake and exhaust valve 21 are both closed . { circle around ( 3 )} the state of the solenoid clutches and the ratchet rods : group a : the solenoid clutch 11 keeps closed and grips the ratchet rod 10 ; after arriving at the position at high tide , the solenoid clutch 11 is opened and releases the ratchet rod 10 , while the solenoid clutch 17 is closed and grips the ratchet rod 16 ; group b : the solenoid clutch 18 is opened , and releases the ratchet rod 16 so as to descend the energy storage components of group b ; group c : the solenoid clutch 18 is closed , and grips the ratchet rod 16 so as to keep the energy storage component of group c at the highest position ; group a : the solenoid clutch 11 on the buoy bracket 7 grips the ratchet rod 10 , and draws all the “ energy storage components ” of group a to rise gradually to the position at high tide and a second cycle of energy storage begins ; group b : at rising tide , group b descends from the highest position , and drives the spindle to work ; group c : keep the energy storage component of group c at the highest position ; { circle around ( 5 )} the state of the ratchet wheel 130 : group a : the energy storage components rises , chain 12 drives the outer ring 13 of the ratchet wheel to rotate reversely to the spindle 15 , and due to the unidirectional transmission between the ratchet wheel 130 , the spindle 15 is not affected . group b : the energy storage components falls , and drives the outer ring 13 of the ratchet wheel 130 and the spindle 15 to rotate in the same direction , and the torque is transferred to the spindle 15 ; group c : the energy storage components keep still , and the ratchet wheel 130 does not rotate ; { circle around ( 6 )} the state of the spindle 15 : the spindle 15 , driven by the energy storage components in group b , rotates anticlockwise , and drives speed reducers to operate on generators for generating electricity . 7 ) at the stage of second high tide , still as shown in fig9 d { circle around ( 1 )} the sea level : the sea level remains at the position at high tide ; { circle around ( 2 )} the position of the buoy and the state of the upper and lower valves : the buoy 3 remains at the position at high tide , and the electromagnetic control system is actuated to open the intake and drainage valve 2 and the intake and exhaust valve 21 , seawater filling the buoy at high tide , and after that , the electromagnetic control system is actuated to shut the intake and drainage valve 2 and the intake and exhaust valve 21 and the buoy 3 becomes “ a water - filled pontoon ”, and descends under gravity . { circle around ( 3 )} the state of the solenoid clutches and the ratchet rods : group a : the solenoid clutch 11 is opened and releases the ratchet rod 10 ; the solenoid clutch 17 is closed and grips the ratchet rod 16 ; the solenoid clutch 18 is opened , and the ratchet rod 16 can slide therein . group b : the solenoid clutches 11 , 17 , 18 are all opened , and the ratchet rod 10 and the ratchet rod 16 slide , thus the energy storage components descending . group c : the solenoid clutch 18 is closed and grips the ratchet rod 16 , thus the energy storage components remain at its position . group a : the energy storage components assume the position at high tide ; group b : the energy storage components descends ; group c : the energy storage components remain at the highest position . { circle around ( 5 )} the state of the ratchet wheel 130 : group a : the ratchet wheel 130 does not move ; group b : the outer rings of the ratchet wheel 130 moves along the same direction , and drive the spindle to move ; group c : the ratchet wheel 130 does not move ; { circle around ( 6 )} the state of the spindle : the spindle , driven by the energy storage components of group b , rotate clockwise to drive generators to generate electricity ; 8 ) at the stage of second falling tide , referring to fig9 d and 9 e : { circle around ( 1 )} the sea level : the sea level descends from the position at high tide to that at low tide ; { circle around ( 2 )} the position of the buoy and the state of the upper and lower valves : the buoy 3 descends from the position at high tide , and when the intake and drainage valve 2 assumes the position which is 0 . 2 m away from the sea level , the solenoid clutches 17 , 18 are controlled to stop the buoy 3 from descending . the electromagnetic control system is actuated to open the intake and drainage valve 2 and the intake and exhaust valve 21 , such that seawater is discharged in free fall ( as shown in fig9 ); and after the seawater is drained , the intake and drainage valve 2 and the intake and exhaust valve 21 are shut and the buoy 3 restores a “ hermetic empty pontoon ”, then the buoy goes into the seawater gradually by the weight of the energy storage components and itself and returns to the position at initial stage . { circle around ( 3 )} the state of the solenoid clutches and the ratchet rods : group a : the solenoid clutch 11 is opened and releases the ratchet rod 10 ; when tide begins to fall , the solenoid clutch 17 is closed and grips the ratchet rod 16 such that the ratchet rod 16 draws the energy storage components to ascend with the falling of the buoy 3 ; when the buoy 3 falls 0 . 2 m close to the surface of low tide , the clutch 17 is closed and grips the tie rod 16 and at the same time the clutch 18 on the platform is closed and grips the tie rod 16 as well , so as to keep the buoy at that position . group b : the solenoid clutches 11 , 17 , 18 are all opened , such that the ratchet rods 10 , 16 may slide , and the energy storage components descend to the lowest position . group c : the solenoid clutches 18 is closed and grips the ratchet rod 16 , such that the energy storage components do not descend . group a : energy storage components are drew by the ratchet rod 16 and chain 12 and go on elevating from the position at high tide to the highest position 2h . upon that the energy storage components reach the highest position , the solenoid clutch 18 is closed and grips the tie rod 16 , and keeps the components at the highest position ; group b : the solenoid clutches 11 , 17 , 18 are all opened , such that the ratchet rods 10 , 16 may slide , and the energy storage components descend gradually to the lowest position . group c : the solenoid clutches 18 is closed and grips the ratchet rod 16 , such that the energy storage components do not descend . { circle around ( 5 )} the state of the ratchet wheel 130 : group a : the outer rings of the ratchet wheel 130 rotates along the reverse direction with that of the spindle , and thus do not drive the spindle 15 ; group b : the outer rings 13 of the ratchet wheel 130 rotates along the same direction with that of the spindle , and thus to drive the spindle 15 ; group c : the outer rings 13 of the ratchet wheel 130 does not rotate . { circle around ( 6 )} the state of the spindle : the spindle , driven by the energy storage components in group b , rotates clockwise so as to drive generators to generate electricity ; 9 ) at the stage of third low tide , as shown in fig9 e : { circle around ( 1 )} the sea level : the sea level is at low tide ; { circle around ( 2 )} the position of the buoy 3 and the state of the upper and lower valves : the buoy is in seawater under pressure from the energy storage components , air - filled and with its upper surface just above the seawater , and assumes a state of “ hermetic empty pontoon ”; the intake and drainage valve 2 and the intake and exhaust valve 21 are both closed . { circle around ( 3 )} the state of the solenoid clutches and the ratchet rods : group a : the solenoid clutches 11 , 17 , 18 are all opened , and releases the ratchet rod 10 , 16 , in such a manner that each energy storage component in group a falls in different time to release energy ; group b : the solenoid clutch 11 is closed and grips the ratchet rod 10 ; group c : the solenoid clutch 18 is closed and grips the ratchet rod 16 ; group a : at low tide , each energy storage component in group a falls in different time to release energy . upon the low tide is over , all of them have reached the lowest point from the highest position 2h , with the process of releasing energy finished , and the spindle driven to rotate to generate . group b : energy storage components thereof descends to the lowest position ; group c : energy storage components thereof keeps at the highest position . { circle around ( 5 )} the state of the ratchet wheel 130 : group a : when energy storage components thereof descend , the chain drives the outer ring rotate with the spindle along the same direction , such that the torque of the outer ring , via the ratchet wheel 130 , is transferred to inner ring , thus driving the spindle to rotate . group b : energy storage components thereof reach the lowest position , and the ratchet wheel 130 does not rotate ; group c : energy storage components thereof keep at the highest position , and their corresponding ratchet wheel 130 does not rotate : { circle around ( 6 )} the state of the spindle : the spindle is driven by the energy storage components of group a to rotate clockwise , thus driving a speed reducer , and in turn the speed reducer drives the generator to generate electricity . 10 ) at the stage of third rising tide , as shown in fig9 f : { circle around ( 1 )} the sea level : the sea level rises gradually from the level at low tide to that at high tide ; { circle around ( 2 )} the position of the buoy and the state of the upper and lower valves : the buoy rises to the position at high tide under buoyancy , with air filled ; the intake and exhaust valve 2 and the intake and exhaust valve 21 are both closed . { circle around ( 3 )} the state of the solenoid clutches and the ratchet rods : group a , group b : the solenoid clutch 11 keeps closed and grips the ratchet rod 10 ; after arriving at the position at high tide , the solenoid clutch 11 is opened and releases the ratchet rod 10 , while the solenoid clutch 17 is closed and grips the ratchet rod 16 ; group c : the solenoid clutches 11 , 17 , 18 is opened , and release the ratchet rod 16 , the energy storage component descending from the highest position ; group a , group b : the solenoid clutch 11 on the buoy bracket grips the ratchet rod 10 , and draws all the “ energy storage components ” to rise gradually to the position at high tide and a third cycle of energy storage begins ; group c : energy storage components thereof descend from the highest position ; { circle around ( 5 )} the state of the ratchet wheel 130 : group a , group b : the energy storage components rises , and the chain drives the outer ring of the ratchet wheel 130 rotates reversely to the spindle , and due to the unidirectional transmission of ratchet wheel 130 , the spindle 15 is not affected . group c : the energy storage components fall , and the ratchet wheel 130 rotate in forward direction ; { circle around ( 6 )} the state of the spindle : the spindle , driven by the energy storage components in group c , rotates clockwise , and drives speed reducers to operate on generators for generating electricity . 11 ) at the stage of third high tide , as shown in fig9 f . { circle around ( 1 )} the sea level : the sea level remains at the position at high tide ; { circle around ( 2 )} the position of the buoy and the state of the upper and lower valves : the buoy remains at the position at high tide , and the electromagnetic control system is actuated to open the intake and drainage valve 2 and the intake and exhaust valve 21 , seawater filling the buoy at high tide , and after that , the electromagnetic control system is actuated to shut the intake and drainage valve 2 and the intake and exhaust valve 21 , and the buoy 3 becomes “ a water - filled pontoon ”, and descends under gravity . { circle around ( 3 )} the state of the solenoid clutches and the ratchet rods : group a , group b : the solenoid clutch 11 is opened and releases the ratchet rod 10 ; the solenoid clutch 17 is closed and grips the ratchet rod 16 ; the solenoid clutch 18 is opened , and the ratchet rod 16 can slide therein . group c : the solenoid clutches 11 , 17 , 18 are all opened , and release the ratchet rod 10 and the ratchet rod 16 , thus the energy storage components descending from the highest position . group a , group b : the energy storage components assume the position at high tide ; group c : the energy storage components thereof descends from the highest position ; { circle around ( 5 )} the state of the ratchet wheel 130 : group a , group b : the energy storage components rises , and by the chain &# 39 ; s drive the outer ring 13 of the ratchet wheel 130 rotates reversely to the spindle , and due to the unidirectional transmission between the ratchet wheel 130 , the spindle is not affected . group c : the energy storage components falls , and the ratchet wheel 130 rotate clockwise ; { circle around ( 6 )} the state of the spindle : the spindle , driven by the energy storage components of group c , rotates to drive generators to generate electricity ; 12 ) at the stage of third falling tide , referring to fig9 f and 9 g : { circle around ( 1 )} the sea level : the sea level descends from the position at high tide to that at low tide ; { circle around ( 2 )} the position of the buoy and the state of the upper and lower valves : the buoy descends from the position at high tide , and when the intake and drainage valve 2 assumes the position which is 0 . 2 m away from the sea level , the solenoid clutches 17 , 18 are controlled to stop the buoy 3 from descending . the electromagnetic control system is actuated to open the intake and drainage valve 2 and the intake and exhaust valve 21 , such that seawater is discharged in free fall ( as shown in fig9 b ); and after the seawater is drained , the intake and drainage valve 2 and the intake and exhaust valve 21 are shut and the buoy 3 restores a “ hermetic empty pontoon ”, then the buoy goes into the seawater gradually under the weight of the energy storage components and itself and returns to the position at initial stage . { circle around ( 3 )} the state of the solenoid clutches and the ratchet rods : group a , group b : the solenoid clutch 11 is opened and releases the ratchet rod 10 , when tide begins to fall , the solenoid clutch 17 is closed and grips the ratchet rod 16 such that the ratchet rod 16 draws the energy storage components to ascend with the falling of the buoy ; when the buoy 3 falls 0 . 2 m close to the surface of low tide , the clutch 17 is closed and grips the tie rod 16 and at the same time the clutch 18 on the platform is closed and grips the tie rod 16 as well , so as to keep the buoy at that position . group c : the solenoid clutches 11 , 17 , 18 are all opened and release the ratchet rods 10 , 16 , thus the energy storage components descending . group a , group b : energy storage components reach the highest position 2h . group c : the energy storage components descend . { circle around ( 5 )} the state of the ratchet wheel 130 : group a , group b : the energy storage components rises , the chain drives the outer ring of the ratchet wheel 130 rotates reversely to the spindle , and due to the unidirectional transmission of ratchet wheel 130 , the spindle is not affected . group c : the energy storage components falls , and the ratchet wheel 130 rotates in forward direction . { circle around ( 6 )} the state of the spindle : the spindle , driven by the energy storage components in group c , rotates clockwise so as to drive generators to generate electricity . 13 ) at the stage of fourth low tide , as shown in fig9 h . from this stage , the movement of the first cycle is repeated , and the groups of energy storage components , under the effect of tide , ascend and descend continuously in different time according to the above procedures , converting tidal energy into mechanical energy of the energy storage components , which drives the spindle to rotate continuously , thus generating electricity uninterruptedly . in different cycles , there is difference only in the way of the relative movements between the energy storage components of the group b and group c . fig1 to fig1 shows the sixth embodiment of the present invention , which is a system unit 500 . the power generation system with tide buoyancy and gravity ratio energy storage may be configured by at least one system unit 500 . the sixth embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the energy storage components 8 and the ratchet rod 10 is connected flexibly through the rope 9 which is lengthened for meeting the need in cluster applications . furthermore , the energy storage components 8 is placed in a position away from the platform 5 , on which rope 12 connecting rod 10 and rod 16 is wrapped around pulley assembly 23 a which comprises a fixed pulley and a spindle on which the fixed pulley is disposed , and the transmission spindle 15 , the outer ring 13 and the inner ring 14 of the ratchet wheel 130 in the first embodiment are moved on the land 26 away from the platform 5 , and are supported by the bracket 20 a , and all the operation of the whole device keeps identical . the meaning of the embodiment is that : the torques generated by multiple energy storage components 8 can be conveniently converged into one spindle 15 , thus the superposition of the collected torque and energy is realized , which addresses the key problem existing in the industrialization of tidal energy . apparently , the energy storage components of the embodiment depicted in the fig1 - 12 may be the ones which store energy by groups and release energy storage by groups mentioned in the fifth embodiment . fig1 shows the seventh embodiment of the present invention , which is presented as a system unit 600 . the power generation system with tide buoyancy and gravity ratio energy storage may be configured by at least one of system unit 600 . this embodiment is different from the sixth embodiment in that there is provided with a pit 261 on the land 26 below energy storage components 8 , which may result in reduction of the height of the bracket 20 a which supports the ratchet wheel 130 and the spindle 15 . fig1 shows the eighth embodiment of the present invention , which is a cluster combining a plurality of system units 500 in the sixth embodiment or 600 in the seventh embodiment . as shown in fig1 , above the sea surface 22 is provided with a plurality of system units 500 or 600 , which suspend the energy storage components 8 on the same transmission spindle 15 by the rope 9 traveling over the coastline 25 and directed through the pulley sets 23 . the transmission spindle 15 is provided on the land 26 , and is supported by the bearing 152 . each rope 9 has corresponding ratchet wheels 13 , 14 . the energy storage components 8 may drive the spindle 15 to rotate on the aforementioned principles , especially , on the principles according to the fifth embodiment . the spindle 15 drives the transmission mechanism 151 ( for instance , a belt transmission mechanism 151 , but not limited to it ), which mechanism drives the speed increaser 27 , which in turn , outputs the dynamic force to a uniform speed flywheel 28 , and the uniform speed flywheel 28 drives the generation module 29 to generating electricity . in the aforementioned embodiments , via the descending of the energy storage component 8 , the spindle 15 is driven to rotate , but with too low speed , therefore improper to drive generators directly . a speed increaser 27 is needed to improve the speed , which can be a pin - cycloidal gear planetary speeding gear box which has a wide speed range ( if it is of two - stage , the transmission ratio thereof may be 1 : 121 ˜ 7569 ), works efficiently ( above 90 %), and can increase the rotation speed effectively to above 350 n / min , which is suitable to drive generator . in the aforementioned embodiments , at the output end of the speed increaser is mounted with a uniform speed flywheel 28 which prestores 1 ˜ 2 cycles of tidal energy , in order to keep the speed of the generator stable when the energy storage components operate alternatively and external load varies . fig1 shows the ninth embodiment which forms a three - dimensional energy integrated utilization field with tide , wind force , and solar energy . traditional methods of solar power generation and wind power generation , when applied to large - scale construction , have two disadvantages , which result in large scale of investigation for power plants , and very high cost of power generation , affecting the development of the solar and wind power generation : 1 . both a wind farm and a solar power plant need to occupy a large area of land , which not only increases the cost of construction and management , but also , from the perspective of resource utilization , produces great waste of land resource . 2 . both wind and solar power generation need a large quantity of battery groups and inverters to ensure the continuous generation and the quality of power , which not only increases the cost of power generation , but also brings secondary pollution from chemicals produced during the long - period operation and maintenance of batteries . as shown in fig1 , a three - dimensional energy integrated utilization field with tide , wind force , and the sun , includes a power generation system with tide buoyancy and gravity ratio energy storage which comprises of a plurality of ( three shown in the drawing ) system units 500 or 600 and a seawater desalination system with tide buoyancy and gravity 200 . on each offshore platform of system units 500 , 600 , 200 , there are provided with solar heaters 91 and wind driven generators 90 , in which the solar heaters 91 constitute a solar heater cluster while the wind driven generators 90 constitute a wind driven generator cluster . a plurality of energy storage components in the system units 500 or 600 constitute an energy storage component cluster 92 , which stores tidal energy in the accordance with the way in the aforementioned embodiments . the energy storage component cluster 92 with stored tidal energy drives the same transmission spindle 93 , and at the same time , the energy storage component of the seawater desalination system 200 drives the spindle 93 as well . the spindle 93 , supported by a bearing block 93 a , on the one hand , drives a speed increaser box 95 by a transmission mechanism 94 a , the speed increaser box 95 driving the uniform speed flywheel 96 , which in turn , drives generator sets 97 to generate electricity ; on the other hand , the spindle 93 drives the vacuum pump 95 b by a transmission mechanism 94 b , the vacuum pump 95 b sucking air from the seawater evaporation tower 82 such that negative pressure is formed in the seawater evaporation tower 82 , and thus the seawater heated by the solar water heater 91 is delivered to the seawater evaporation tower 82 through pipelines , and subsequently , evaporates quickly under negative pressure , to form low - pressure steam , which is sucked by vacuum pump 95 b . the low - pressure steam is pressurized in the vacuum pump 95 b to form high - pressure steam , and the high - pressure steam is delivered outward the steam pressure tank 98 which connects the output end of the vacuum pump 95 b with pipelines . the steam pressure tank 98 is configured with electric heaters 81 , the electrical power of which is provided by that generated from the wind driven generators 90 , and electric heaters 81 further heats the high - pressure steam in the steam pressure tank 98 . the output end of the steam pressure tank 98 connects the steam turbine 99 with pipelines , and the output high - pressure steam drives the turbine 99 to rotate . the power output shaft of steam turbine 99 connects with the uniform speed flywheel 96 b , which drives the generator sets 97 b . after driving the turbine , the steam loses energy and its temperature goes down to condense into fresh water , and the remained gas may be sent to a condenser , and is further processed into fresh water . as shown in the drawing , the high - pressure steam in the turbine 99 is retrieved in the form of fresh water into the fresh water receiver 83 while the brine in the seawater evaporation tower 82 enters the brine receiver 84 . as can be seen from fig1 , the wind driven generators 90 is mounted on the very columns which are built on the offshore platform of the system units , therefore overcoming the problem that the wind power generation systems occupy large area of land . similar to the embodiment shown in fig5 , in the embodiment in fig1 , the seawater evaporation tower 82 can be provided with an electrical heater . the electrical heater is powered directly by the wind driven generator 90 and heats the seawater in the evaporation tower , which effectively improves the evaporation rate , and the generating rate of the steam . the steam pressure tank 98 ( also referred to as gas storage tank ) may also be provided with an electrical heater 81 powered directly by the wind driven generator 90 , which may increase the steam pressure in the gas storage tank so as to drive the turbine 99 to move . due to that there is no requirement in the quality and continuity of power , it is no need to distribute power through storage batteries and inverters , decreasing significantly the cost of wind power , and improving the utilization efficiency of electrical energy . in the embodiment of fig1 , there is large area on the “ offshore platform ” of the system units for mounting “ solar water heaters ”, therefore overcoming the problem that the solar energy collection panels occupy large area of land . the embodiments shown in figures may employ cost - effective “ coil - type solar water heaters ” to utilize the solar energy to heat directly seawater . the heated seawater is sucked into the evaporation tower under the negative pressure therein . high temperature seawater may improve effectively the evaporation rate and the generating rate of the steam . although the seawater desalination system 200 with tide buoyancy and gravity illustrated in fig1 is identical or substantially identical with that in fig5 , the former can be replaced with the seawater desalination system with floating and spreading seawater evaporation tower 40 shown in fig6 and fig7 . the seawater desalination system 200 not only desalinates seawater , but also drives turbogenerators to generate electricity . compared with the prior art , “ the offshore platform ” built above the sea surface shown in the embodiment in fig1 may serve to support the equipments of the tidal power generation system . but the tidal power generation equipments only cover relatively small area of the platform surface , therefore , the platform surface can be arranged as “ a solar collection field ”, that is , a place for installing solar power generation devices or solar heating devices or the like ; above the platform , there can be arranged as “ a wind power collection field ”, that is , the space for installing wind driven generation devices and the like ; below the platform , there can be arranged as “ a tidal energy collection field ”, as a result of this , “ a three - dimensional space for integrally utilizing energy ” is formed . it reduces the cost of tidal power generation system and solves the problems of occupying large area of land and high operation cost existing in wind power and solar power . because of the combination among wind power , solar power , and tidal power , the output way of the wind energy and solar energy changes , that is , there is no need to output the wind electricity separately from the solar electricity , but the electrical energy produced by wind force is utilized directly for heating the seawater in “ the seawater evaporation tower ” without the use of inverters , and the solar energy is utilized directly for heating seawater by means of solar water heater 91 ( for instance , coil pipe heater ), and sends the heated water into “ the seawater evaporation tower ” without the conversion into electrical power . having been heated by wind power and solar energy , seawater can evaporate in a higher rate and be converted into more steam , which improves the generation capacity of the tidal power generation system . the integral utilization of the three - dimensional energy can reduce significantly the cost of the system in investment and operation , and make it possible to utilize industrially clean renewable natural energy integrally . the integral utilization of the three - dimensional energy solves the problem that wind power and solar power must employ huge battery groups and inverters , and produces fresh water and sea salt as well as electricity .
| 5 |
the following description of the preferred embodiments is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention , its application , or uses . fig2 represents an exploded view of a chuck mechanism 20 according to the teachings of first embodiment to the invention . the chuck 20 includes a spindle 22 defining a bit accepting through bore 24 , a jaw assembly 26 , a socket 28 , and an impact assembly 31 . intersecting the through bore 24 are bit engaging jaw elements 32 of the jaw assembly 26 . the jaw elements 32 , which have a bit engaging surface 34 and a threaded drive surface 36 , are slidably positioned within angularly disposed channels 38 . the spindle 22 can have a forward section 35 , a collar 37 and a rearward section 39 . the forward section 35 can have a center bit accepting through bore 24 formed therein , while the collar 37 can have a plurality of angularly disposed channels 38 formed therethrough which intersect the center through bore 24 . the rearward section can have a threaded hole 41 , which is adapted to threadingly engage an output spindle of a power tool ( not shown ). the socket assembly or socket 28 is annularly disposed about the jaw elements 32 . the socket 28 preferably defines an interior threaded bore 40 , which is configured to interface with the threaded drive surface 36 of the jaw elements 32 . under normal operation of the tool , the socket 28 co - rotates with the jaw elements 32 and therefore does not move relative to the jaw elements 32 . to tighten or loosen the jaw elements 32 , the jaw assembly 26 is rotated relative to the socket 28 . this can occur by holding the socket 28 fixed and rotating the jaw assembly 26 . the relative rotation of the jaw assembly 26 causes the jaw elements 32 to move together though guideways 38 when the jaw assembly 26 is rotated in a first or tightening direction with respect to the socket 28 and to disengage when the jaw assembly 26 is rotated in a second or loosening direction relative to the socket 28 . the socket 28 is formed of two rings ( 42 and 44 ). the first ring 42 having the interior threaded surface 40 and a ramp interface surface 51 . the second ring 44 having a ramped surface 50 configured to interface with the ramp interface surface 51 of the first ring 42 and a plurality of engagement teeth 52 . the impact assembly 31 is rotationally fixed to the body of the tool and is configured to prevent or resist rotation of the socket 28 to drive the jaws 32 . the impact assembly 31 has an impact ring 54 , which has a plurality of engagement teeth 57 that are configured to interface with the corresponding engagement teeth 52 of the second ring 44 . the impact assembly 31 also has a spring 58 and a spring bearing element 60 which are configured to apply axial forces to the impact ring 54 . as best seen in fig3 ( wherein some details of the fig2 embodiment have been omitted ), when chucking a tool bit as described for the prior art , upon rotation of the jaw assembly 26 in the first or tightening direction , the threaded engagement between the jaws 32 and first ring 42 will initially cause first ring 42 to also rotate in the first direction . second ring 44 , however , will be restrained from rotation by the engagement between teeth 52 and teeth 57 . thus , first ring 42 will rotate relative to second ring 44 and ramped legs 51 will slide into the deep end 53 of ramped surface 50 . when ramped legs 51 are in the deep end of ramped surface 50 there can be no further relative rotation between first ring 42 and second ring 44 . at that point the impact ring 54 effectively engages first ring 42 via teeth 52 and 57 and via second ring 44 . since first ring 42 is then prevented from rotating , there will be relative rotation between first ring 42 and jaw assembly 26 causing jaws 32 to move inward as described for the prior art . when the jaws 32 contact the shank of the bit and can no longer move axially the orbiting jaws 32 will then force first ring 42 to rotate , which in turn will cause second ring 44 to rotate . as shown in fig4 , during chucking , continued rotation of the jaw assembly 26 in the first or tightening direction will cause the rotationally coupled rings 42 and 44 to operate as in the prior art and will induce the reciprocating and impacting movement of impact ring 54 as previously described . in this preferred embodiment , however , the sloped interface 50 allows the interface ring 44 to move axially away from the spring bearing element 60 thus allowing the spring 58 to lengthen . this results in the spring 58 applying a smaller force to the impact ring 54 of the impact assembly 31 . this in turn results in a reduced tightening torque applied to the jaw elements 32 and bit interface when the jaw elements are engaging a bit . as best seen in fig5 , during unchucking of a drill bit , upon rotation of the jaw assembly 26 in the second or loosening direction , the threaded engagement between the jaws 32 and first ring 42 will initially cause first ring 42 to also rotate in the second direction . second ring 44 , however , will be restrained from rotation by the engagement between teeth 52 and teeth 57 . thus , first ring 42 will rotate relative to second ring 44 and ramped leg 51 will slide into the shallow end 55 of ramped surface 50 . when ramped legs 51 are in the shallow end of ramped surface 50 there can be no further relative rotation between first ring 42 and second ring 44 . at that point impact ring 54 effectively engages first ring 42 via teeth 52 and 57 and via second ring 44 . as seen in fig6 , continued rotation of the jaw assembly 26 in the second or loosening direction will cause rotationally interlocked first ring 42 and second ring 44 to initially rotate along with the jaw assembly 26 . rotation of second ring 44 will cause the socket teeth 52 to ride over the ring teeth 57 and urge the impacting ring 54 in a rearward direction away from the threaded socket 28 . since the spring 58 biases the impacting ring 54 forwardly , the socket teeth 52 will periodically strike the ring teeth 57 as the threaded socket 28 rotates . the impact of the socket teeth 52 and the ring teeth 57 will generate a torque that will eventually overcome the static friction between the first ring 42 and jaws 32 , at which point the first ring will break free of the jaws . further rotation of the jaw assembly 26 will result in relative rotation between jaws 32 and first ring 42 , since rotation of first ring 42 is resisted via the interlocked second ring 44 , teeth 52 and 57 , and impact ring 54 . the continued relative rotation between rotating jaws 32 and nonrotating first ring 42 will cause the jaws to move axially rearward and outward , thus releasing the bit from the chuck . advantageously in this embodiment , since second ring 44 was forced rearward when ramped leg 51 moved to the shallow end 55 of ramped surface 50 , spring 58 is compressed relative to its condition during chucking / tightening as described above . this results in the spring 58 applying a larger force to the impact ring 54 of the impact assembly 31 during unchucking . this in turn results in an increased loosening torque applied to the jaw elements 32 and bit interface when the jaw elements 32 are disengaging a bit . fig7 represents an exploded view of the chuck assembly 70 according to another embodiment of the invention . disposed about the spindle 22 and jaw elements 32 is a single piece socket 28 . the socket 28 defines a threaded through bore 40 which is configured to interface with the threaded drive surface 36 of the jaw elements 32 . the socket 28 has an interface surface 72 having a plurality of ramp engagement teeth 74 . as described above , an impact assembly 80 is configured to apply relative anti - rotational forces to the socket 28 . the impact assembly 80 has a impacting ring 82 , and first and second spring interface members 84 and 60 . further disposed between the socket 28 and the impacting ring 82 is a biasing spring 29 that functions to separate the components when the drill is in drive mode . when a drill bit is to be chucked in the chuck assembly 70 , the top cover shell 112 of the housing is rotated to align the projections 86 on second spring interface members 84 with a deep locking recess 134 in the top cover shell 112 . the spring 58 urges the impacting ring 82 through spring interface member 84 , forwardly so that the ring teeth 71 engage the socket teeth 74 . the engagement of the ring teeth 71 engages the socket teeth 74 thereby resisting relative rotation between the impacting ring 82 and the threaded socket 28 . as the spring constant of biasing spring 29 is lower than spring 58 , it is compressed . as best seen in fig8 , subsequent rotation of the spindle 22 in a first rotational direction causes relative rotation between the spindle 22 and the threaded socket 28 that drives the jaw members 32 toward the rotational axis of the spindle 22 and tightens the jaw members 32 against the shank of the drill bit . relative rotation of the impacting ring 82 in the first tightening direction with respect to the first spring interface member 84 causes the impacting ring 82 and the first spring interface member 84 to move together . this allows the spring member 58 to lengthen and reduces the force applied by the spring 58 to the impacting ring 82 and , therefore , the amount of force applied by the impacting ring 82 on the socket 28 . this reduces the amount of forces applied by the jaw drive &# 39 ; s relative rotation with respect to the jaw elements 32 when the jaw elements are engaging a bit . the first spring interface member 84 , which is rotationally fixed , has a ramp surface 88 that interfaces with a corresponding ramp surface 89 on the impacting ring 82 . the ramped surface can be of the form of a recess ( as shown in fig8 and 9 , or a projection as shown in fig7 ). in this regard , the ramp surface 88 between the impacting ring 82 and the first spring interface member 84 are configured to allow restricted relative rotation therebetween . as previously described , continued rotation of the spindle 22 and jaws 32 will cause the socket 28 to begin to rotate with the spindle 22 , causing the socket teeth 74 to ride over the ring teeth 71 and urge the impacting ring 82 and first spring interface member 84 in a rearward direction away from the threaded socket 28 . since the spring 58 biases the impacting ring 82 forwardly , the socket teeth 74 will periodically strike the ring teeth 71 as the threaded socket 28 rotates . the impact of the socket teeth 74 and the ring teeth 71 will generate a torque that is applied to the threaded socket 28 . as best seen in fig9 , during unchucking of a drill bit , upon rotation of the jaws 32 and spindle 22 in the second or loosening direction , the impacting member 82 is rotated in the second direction , the first spring interface member 84 is moved away from the impacting ring 82 , causing compression of the spring 58 . due to the initial frictional forces , the socket teeth 74 may be caused to ride over the ring teeth 71 and urge the impacting ring 82 and first spring interface member 84 in a rearward direction away from the threaded socket 28 . since the spring 58 biases the impacting ring 82 forwardly , the socket teeth 74 will periodically strike the ring teeth 71 as the threaded socket 28 rotates . the impact of the socket teeth 74 and the ring teeth 71 will generate a torque that is applied to the threaded socket 28 . this increases the force applied from the spring 58 to the impacting ring 82 . this in turn increases the amount of forces applied by socket 28 relative rotation with respect to the jaw elements 32 . the impact of the socket teeth 74 and the impacting teeth 71 will generate a torque that will eventually overcome the static friction between the socket 28 and jaws 32 , at which point the socket 28 will break free of the jaws 32 . further rotation of the jaw spindle 22 and jaws 32 will result in relative rotation between jaws 32 and impacting ring 82 , since rotation of impacting ring 82 is resisted via the first spring interface member 84 , teeth 52 and 57 . the continued relative rotation between rotating jaws 32 and non - rotating impacting ring 82 will cause the jaws 32 to move axially rearward and outward , thus releasing the bit from the chuck . when the drill bit is to be normally driven in forward or reverse by the chuck assembly 70 , the top cover shell 112 of the housing is rotated to decouple the projections 86 on second spring interface members 84 from the deep locking recess 134 in the top cover shell 112 . this compresses spring 58 and allows spring 29 to urge the impacting ring 82 rearward so that the ring teeth 71 disengage the socket teeth 74 to thereby allowing rotation of the threaded socket 28 with the jaw elements 32 . with general reference to fig1 and 14 , which represent chuck mechanisms 90 according to another embodiment of the invention . an impact assembly 92 is configured to apply rotational forces to the socket 28 to tighten or loosen the jaws depending on the rotational direction as described above . the impact assembly 92 is formed of an impacting ring 94 , a spring 58 , and a spring support member 96 . as previously mentioned , the impacting ring 94 has a plurality of ramp engagement teeth 98 configured to interface with the corresponding teeth 100 formed in the socket 28 . the spring support member 96 is axially moveable with respect to the socket 28 to alter the compression of the spring 58 . as best seen in fig1 , the spring support member 96 can be located in a first location which compresses the spring 58 to a first length allowing the spring to apply a first force on the impacting ring 94 . alternatively , the spring support member 96 can be located in a second location ( see fig1 ), which compresses the spring 58 to a second length , to apply a second force on the impacting ring 94 . as described , the first force being less than the second force . annularly disposed about the spring support member 96 is a threaded member 102 which can be provided to allow a user to manually adjust the axial position of the spring support member 96 . thus , rotation of the threaded member 102 allows the user to manually adjust the forces applied from the impact assembly 92 onto the socket 28 and jaw elements 32 to either tighten or loosen the jaw elements 32 with respect to the tool bit . as best seen in fig1 - 17 , the spring support member 96 can alternatively be coupled to an annularly disposed housing 104 via a pair of support cam pins 106 . the support cam pins 106 are disposed within a pair of cam slots 108 formed in the support housing 104 . rotation of the spring support member 96 in a first and forward direction places the cam pins 106 of the spring support plate in a first forward axial location , thus placing a first force on the impacting ring 94 . when the spring support member 96 is rotated into a second or reverse direction , the cam pins 106 of the spring support member 96 are positioned into a second location 110 , thus decreasing the amount of force applied by the springs 58 through the impacting ring and socket 28 onto the threads of the jaw elements 32 . as best seen in fig1 , the housing can optionally have a cam slot which allows complete disengagement of the impacting ring 94 from the socket 28 . in this way , the spring support 96 can be used to engage or disengage the self - tightening feature of the chuck . the description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and , thus , variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention are intended to be within the scope of the invention . for example , it is envisioned that mechanisms can vary the amount of force applied to the thrust bearing to the self - tightening chuck assembly depending upon whether the chuck is loosening or tightening jaws . these include varying the slope of the ramps of the interface between the thrust bearing and the jaw drive . additionally , it is envisioned that the spring assembly can be formed of a plurality of spring elements , the actuation of which dependent upon whether the tool is in a drive , tight , or loose configuration . such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention .
| 1 |
describing now the drawings , it is to be understood that to simplify the showing thereof only enough of the structure of the safety or monitoring apparatus has been illustrated therein as is needed to enable one skilled in the art to readily understand the underlying principles and concepts of this invention . turning now specifically to fig1 of the drawings , an exemplary embodiment of the inventive safety or monitoring apparatus is illustrated therein in combination with an externally powered firing weapon 10 , especially a gatling firing weapon , of which only six weapon barrels 11 are visible . these six weapon barrels 11 are fixed to a not particularly shown rotor which is mounted for rotation about a firing weapon axis 12 in a manner which is known as such . at a point a cartridges 13 are fed to the breech mechanisms of the weapon barrels 11 in a manner further described hereinbelow . at a position b the cartridges 13 are fired in a manner which is likewise known as such . at a position c there is determined by means of a sensor element whether the cartridge was properly fired . at a position d empty cartridge cases 14 are ejected , as will also be described further hereinbelow . the feed means for feeding ammunition to the firing weapon 10 possess an ammunition feed housing 15 which defines a predetermined travel path t for the cartridges 13 and in which three star or finger wheels 16 , 17 and 18 are appropriately rotatably mounted . these three star or finger wheels 16 , 17 , 18 are driven by means of a here not particularly illustrated gear wheel drive . the first star or finger wheel , which is designated as an infeed star or finger wheel 16 , possesses five - take up or receiving locations or pockets 22 for the cartridges 13 . the second star or finger wheel , designated as a transfer star or finger wheel 17 , possesses only four take - up or receiving locations or pockets 23 for the cartridges 13 to be fed to the firing weapon 10 . the third star or finger wheel , designated as an ejection star or finger wheel 18 , possesses eight effective or active take - up or receiving locations for the empty cartridge cases 14 . the above - mentioned ammunition feed housing 15 possesses three openings 19a , 20a and 21 . one of these openings constitutes an infeed opening 19a which communicates with an infeed channel 19 , and the ammunition , i . e . the cartridges 13 to be fired , are fed through this infeed opening 19a and the infeed channel 19 . a further one of these openings constitutes an outfeed opening 20a of the ammunition feed housing 15 and communicates with an outfeed channel 20 through which in all cases unfired but still live cartridges are received by and remain on a not particularly shown endless chain or belt . on the other hand , the empty cartridge cases 14 of the fired cartridges 13 are ejected through the third or ejection opening 21 in the ammunition feed housing 15 . the cartridges 13 are infed through the infeed opening 19a and the infeed channel 19 in a manner which is known as such and by means of a here not particularly illustrated endless conveyor or any other known suitable conveying means . the cartridges 13 located in the infeed channel 19 are held or engaged by the take - up or receiving locations or pockets 22 of the first or infeed star or finger wheel 16 and are transported to a position e . at this position e each cartridge 13 is not only located in the take - up or receiving location or pocket 22 of the first or infeed star or finger wheel 16 but also already in the take - up or receiving location or pocket 23 of the second or transfer star or finger wheel 17 . from this position e the cartridge 13 can be fed either to the position a of the firing weapon 10 by means of the second or transfer star or finger wheel 17 or returned back through the outfeed channel 20 to the outfeed opening 20a by means of the first or infeed star or finger wheel 16 as indicated by the two arrows 24 and 25 . as a deflector or deflecting means two segments or segment members 26 and 27 are provided in order to either feed the cartridges 13 in the direction of the arrow 24 to the firing weapon 10 or return the cartridges 13 in the direction of the arrow 25 back into an ammunition container or magazine . each of these two segments or segment members 26 and 27 can be selectively displaced from an operative position into an inoperative position . if one segment or segment member , namely , for instance , the segment or segment member 27 is located in the operative position , then , the cartridges 13 arrive at the firing weapon 10 . if the other segment or segment member , namely the segment or segment member 26 is located in its operative position , then the cartridges 13 travel through the outfeed channel 20 and are received by and remain on the endless chain or belt and subsequently can be returned to the ammunition container or magazine . in accordance with fig2 to 4 the two segments or segment members 26 and 27 are displaceably arranged in a housing 28 . four guide pins 30 are fixed in a floor or base 29 of the housing 28 and protrude into related bores or holes of the two segments or segment members 26 and 27 in order to accurately guide these two segments or segment members 26 and 27 in the housing 28 . at each end of the two segments or segment members 26 and 27 there are fastened related pins 31 which project into related bores or holes of two balancing or rocker beams 32 . the two balancing or rocker beams 32 serving as coupling means for the segment members 26 and 27 are mounted for pivoting about related pins 33 in the housing 28 and serve the purpose of lowering one of the two segments or segment members when the other one of the two segments or segment members 26 and 27 is raised i . e . one of the two segments is moved towards the cartridge base in the direction of the lengthwise cartridge axis , whereas the other segment is moved away from the cartridge base in the direction of the lengthwise cartridge axis . two sets or stacks 34 of cup or belleville springs or equivalent structure tend to push or urge the segment or segment member 26 from its lowermost position shown in fig3 into its uppermost position . an operating cable 35 is secured to the segment or segment member 26 by means of a bolt 36 and is capable of pulling or displacing this segment or segment member 26 against the force of the sets or stacks 34 of the cup springs or the like into the illustrated lowermost position . in the starting position in accordance with fig3 and 4 , the operating cable 35 is tensioned and the sets or stacks 34 cup springs are compressed . the segment or segment member 26 is located in its lowermost or inoperative position and the segment or segment member 27 is located in its uppermost or operative position . consequently , the cartridges 13 arrive at the firing weapon 10 in this starting position of the segments or segment members 26 and 27 . in accordance with fig5 two first or infeed star or finger wheels 16 are fixed to a shaft 40 and two second or transfer star or finger wheels 17 are fixed to a shaft 44 . these two shafts 40 and 44 are located in the ammunition feed housing 15 shown in fig1 between two walls 37 and 38 and are journalled in these walls 37 and 38 by means of four related ball bearings 39 . the cartridge 13 which , according to fig1 is located at the position e , is held by the four star or finger wheels 16 and 17 and by one of the two segments or segment members 26 and 27 and , according to fig5 is additionally held by a disk or plate 41 which engages a withdrawal groove 42 provided in the cartridge 13 . this is necessary so that the cartridge 13 does not topple or tilt in the direction of the arrow 43 as soon as such cartridge is held by only one of the two star or finger wheels 16 or 17 when transported out of the position e in the direction of one of the arrows 24 and 25 . the mode of operation of the safety or monitoring apparatus described hereinbefore is as follows : when starting a continuous or series firing operation , the cartridges 13 are transported by means of a not particularly shown conveying apparatus from the ammunition container or magazine through the infeed opening 19a and the infeed channel 19 , see fig1 and are placed into the position e by the first or infeed star or finger wheel 16 . due to the fact that the two segments or segment members 26 and 27 are in the starting position shown in fig3 the cartridges 13 are subsequently brought to the position a , see fig1 by means of the second or transfer star or finger wheel 17 , see arrow 24 . from this position a the cartridges 13 are inserted into the weapon barrel 11 by a here not particularly illustrated breech mechanism and thereafter the breech mechanism is locked . the cartridge 13 is fired at the position b , see fig1 . the empty cartridge case 14 is withdrawn from the weapon barrel 11 at the position c , see fig1 and arrives at the position d , see also fig1 at which it is engaged by the third or ejection star or finger wheel 18 and ejected through the ejection opening 21 . when a firing delay occurs , i . e . when the cartridge 13 does not react in time to the piercing of its detonator , or in the case of a hang - fire condition , the cartridge case 14 cannot be withdrawn from the weapon barrel 11 at the position c as intended . the presence of a delayed firing cartridge in the position c is detected by means of a suitable sensor element which is known as such and therefore not particularly here illustrated . the two segments or segment members 26 and 27 are then displaced from their starting position shown in fig3 by means of the operating cable 35 and the action of the spring sets or stacks 34 , see fig2 . consequently , one of the two segments or segment members 26 and 27 , namely the segment or segment member 26 is moved into its operative position and the other segment or segment member , namely the segment or segment member 27 is moved into its inoperative position . hence the cartridges 13 no longer move from their position e to the position a of the firing weapon 10 but are transported in accordance with the arrow 25 through the first or infeed star or finger wheel 16 to the outfeed opening 20a and the outfeed channel 20 . irrespective of whether the cartridges 13 are moved in accordance with the arrow 24 to the position a or in accordance with the arrow 25 to the outfeed channel 20 , such cartridges are held , as shown in fig5 by the disk 41 which projects into the cartridge withdrawal groove 42 . therefore , any toppling or tilting movement of the cartridge 13 in the direction of the arrow 43 , see fig5 can be reliably prevented . 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 .
| 5 |
the present invention provides an improved synthesis of seco (−) cbi ( 5 - hydroxy - 3 - amino - 1 -[ s ]-( chloromethyl )- 1 , 2 - dihydro - 3h - benz ( e ) indole ) ( 7 ), and also improved syntheses of dc1 and its derivative compounds that use seco (−) cbi as a reagent . optionally , the synthesis of seco (−) cbi can utilize 1 , 3 - dihydroxynapthalene as a starting material , which is inexpensive and readily available . the term “ dc1 and its derivatives ” as used herein refers to cc - 1065 analogs having , as their alkylating subunit “ a ,” a cyclopropabenzidole ( cbi ) subunit in its open chloromethyl form in place of the cyclopropapyrroloindole ( cpi ) unit of cc - 1065 . dc1 compounds further comprise “ b ” and “ c ” subunits that are indole units or analogs thereof . the “ b ” and “ c ” subunits are linked by an amide bond , and provide carboxyl and amino functional groups for attachment via amide bonds to the “ a ” subunit and a disulfide - containing moiety , respectively . thus the “ b ” and “ c ” subunits are not particularly limited , and can be , for example , any of the compounds of formulae ( v )-( xii ), or related compounds disclosed in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 585 , 499 ; 5 , 475 , 092 ; and 5 , 846 , 545 . thus , the “ b ” and “ c ” subunits of dc1 can include 2 - carboxy - indole or 2 - carboxy - benzofuran derivatives , or both , as represented by the compounds of formulae ( v )-( xii ). as may be ascertained from the natural cc - 1065 and from the properties of the analogs that have been published ( e . g . warpehoski et al , 31 j . med chem . 590 - 603 ( 1988 ), boger at al , 66 j . org chem . 6654 - 6661 ( 2001 )), the “ b ” and “ c ” subunits can also carry different substituents at different positions on the indole or benzofuran rings , corresponding to positions r 1 - r 6 of formulae ( v )-( xii ), and retain potent cytotoxic activity . within formulae ( v )-( xii ), r 1 to r 6 , which may be the same or different , independently represent hydrogen , c 1 - c 3 linear alkyl , methoxy , hydroxyl , primary amino , secondary amino , tertiary amino , or amido . examples of primary amino group - containing substituents are methyl amino , ethyl amino , and isopropyl amino . examples of secondary amino group - containing substituents are dimethyl amino , diethyl amino , and ethyl - propyl amino . examples of tertiary amino group - containing substituents are trimethyl amino , triethyl amino , and ethyl - isopropyl - methyl amino . examples of amido groups include n - methyl - acetamido , n - methyl - propionamido , n - acetamido , and n - propionamido . within formulae ( v )-( xii ), r ″ represents an amine or substituted or unsubstituted c 1 - c 20 alkyl amine that is capable of forming an amide bond to a carboxyl of the disulfide - containing moiety of dc1 . the preferred embodiment of r ″ is — nh 2 . the disulfide - containing moiety that is used in the synthesis of dc1 is of the structure hooc — r 7 — s — r 8 , wherein r 7 represents a linker region that is not particularly limited and can be , for example , a substituted or unsubstituted c 1 - c 20 alkyl group , a polyethylene glycol spacer , and the like . thus , r 7 can represent methyl , linear alkyl , branched alkyl , cyclic alkyl , simple or substituted aryl or heterocyclic or a polyethylene glycol chain . examples of linear alkyls represented by r 7 include methyl , ethyl , propyl , butyl , pentyl and hexyl . examples of branched alkyls represented by r 7 include isopropyl , isobutyl , sec .- butyl , tert .- butyl , isopentyl and 1 - ethyl - propyl . examples of cyclic alkyls represented by r 7 include cyclopropyl , cyclobutyl , cyclopentyl and cyclohexyl . examples of simple aryls represented by r 7 include phenyl and naphthyl . examples of substituted aryls represented by r 7 include aryls such as phenyl or naphthyl substituted with alkyl groups , with halogens , such as cl , br , f , nitro groups , amino groups , sulfonic acid groups , carboxylic acid groups , hydroxy groups and alkoxy groups . heterocyclics represented by r 7 are compounds wherein the heteroatoms are selected from o , n , and s , and examples include furyl , pyrrollyl , pyridyl , ( e . g ., a 2 - substituted pyrimidine group ) and thiophene . r 8 represents any suitable thiol leaving group that is capable of undergoing a disulfide exchange reaction whereby dc1 can be attached , for example , to a cell specific reagent such as an antibody or any of the cell binding agents disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 475 , 092 . preferred embodiments of r 8 include — sch 3 and thiopyridyl . other examples include — salkyl , — saryl , glutathione , cysteine and the like . the term “ protecting group ” ( r ) as used herein represents any group that is capable of protecting the amino or phenolic hydroxyl group to which it is attached from further reaction and which is further capable of controlled subsequent removal , for example by treatment with an acid or base . thus , amino - protecting groups stable to base treatment are selectively removed with acid treatment , and vice versa , and can be used to protect the amino group in the synthesis of seco (−) cbi herein . examples of such groups are the fmoc ( e . atherton and r . c . sheppard in the peptides , s . udenfriend , j . meienhofer , eds ., academic press , orlando , 1987 , volume 9 , p . 1 ), and various substituted sulfonylethyl carbamates exemplified by the nsc group ( samukov et al ., tetrahedron lett , 1994 , 35 : 7821 ; verhart and tesser , rec . trav . chim . pays - bas , 1987 , 107 : 621 ). additional amino - protecting groups include but are not limited to , carbamate - protecting groups , such as 2 - trimethylsilylethoxycarbonyl ( teoc ), 1 - methyl - 1 -( 4 - biphenylyl ) ethoxycarbonyl ( bpoc ), t - butoxycarbonyl ( boc ), allyloxycarbonyl ( alloc ), 9 - fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl ( fmoc ), diphenyloxycarbonyl , 2 , 2 , 2 - trichloroethyl oxycarbonyl , diisopropylmethyl oxycarbonyl , 1 - adamantyl oxycarbonyl , vinyl oxycarbonyl , methoxy benzyl oxycarbonyl , nitrobenzyl oxycarbonyl , cyclohexyl oxycarbonyl , cyclopentyl oxycarbonyl , and benzyloxycarbonyl ( cbz ); amide - protecting groups , such as formyl , acetyl , trihaloacetyl , benzoyl , and nitrophenylacetyl ; sulfonamide - protecting groups , such as 2 - nitrobenzenesulfonyl ; and imine - and cyclic imide - protecting groups , such as phthalimido and dithiasuccinoyl . those skilled in the art are familiar with such equivalent amino - protecting groups . as an example , which is not intended to be limiting , amino protecting groups such as 2 , 6 - dinitrobenzenesulfonyl , 4 - nitrobenzenesulfonyl or 2 , 4 - dinitrobenzenesulfonyl groups may be used . alternatively , another amino protecting group may be used instead of a sulfonyl protecting group . the formation of the amide bonds in the synthesis of seco (−) cbi and dc1 can be catalyzed by a variety of agents known to those of skill in the art . for example , carbodiimides are used to mediate the formation of a peptide bond between a carboxylate and an amine , and water soluble and insoluble species of carbodiimide can be selected as appropriate . edc ( 1 - ethyl - 3 -( 3 - dimethylaminopropyl ) carbodiimide hydrochloride ) is preferred . other examples of amide coupling reagents useful in the present invention include edc together with sulfo - nhs , cmc ( 1 - cyclohexyl - 3 -( 2 - morpholinoethyl ) carbodiimide ), dcc ( dicyclohexyl carbodiimide ), dic ( diisopropyl carbodiimide ), woodward &# 39 ; s reagent k , n , n ′- carbonyldiimidazole , pybop ( benzotriazole - 1 - yl - oxy - tris - pyrrolidinophosphonium heaxflurophosphate ), tbtu ( 2 -( 1h - benzotriazole - 1 - yl )- 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - trtramethyluronium tetrafluoroborate ), hbtu ( 2 -( 1h - benzotriazole - 1 - yl )- 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - trtramethyluronium hexafluorophosphate ), bop ( benzotriazole - 1 - yl - oxy - tris -( dimethylamino )- phosphonium hexafluorophosphate ), pybrop ( bromo - tris - pyrrolidino - phosphonium hexafluorophosphate ), and the like . the isolation of the (−) enantiomer of the diprotected seco (−) cbi precursor , a compound of formula ( iii ), is an important step in the synthesis of seco (−) cbi . isolation of the (−) enantiomer can be carried out by any method known to those of skill in the art for the separation of enantiomers . for example , the use of a chiral matrix and liquid chromatography is preferred . most preferably , hplc over a chiral column is used . it is a benefit of the present invention that the separation of the (−) enantiomer is performed upon the di - protected precursor rather than upon seco (−) cbi ( 7 ), as described above . suitable chiral matrices include , for example , chiralpak ad column ( diacel ), chiralcel od , chiralcel oj , and the like . the term “ suitable conditions ,” as applied herein to specific aspects of the synthesis of seco (−) cbi and dc1 , such as in reference to alkylation or ring - closure reactions , represents both the specific methods disclosed in the examples herein and those equivalent methods , suitably adapted to the specific dc1 species that is to be synthesized , known to those of skill in the art . the synthesis of dc1 requires the coupling , via amide bonds , of seco (−) cbi , a “ b ” and “ c ” subunit , and a disulfide - containing moiety . the order in which these components are coupled is not critical and the synthesis can be easily adapted such that the couplings occur in any order . thus , seco (−) cbi and the “ b ” and “ c ” subunits can be first coupled and then the disulfide - containing moiety can be attached , or the disulfide - containing moiety and the “ b ” and “ c ” subunits can be first coupled and then the seco (−) cbi can be attached . both processes are illustrated in the examples herein . it is further within the scope of the present invention that the “ b ” and “ c ” subunits need not be first coupled via an amide bond in the synthesis of dc1 according to the present invention . thus , it is within the scope of the present invention that , for example , seco (−) cbi and the “ b ” subunit are coupled , then the “ c ” subunit and the disulfide - containing moiety are coupled , and then dc1 is synthesized by coupling through the “ b ” and “ c ” subunits . because dc1 comprises a linear sequence of 4 parts , it will be apparent that many permutations of the synthesis of dc1 according to the present invention are readily attainable . the invention will now be illustrated by reference to certain non - limiting examples . unless otherwise stated , all percentages , ratios , parts , and the like , are by weight . a summary of the exemplary syntheses ( fig1 - 3 ) is followed by a detailed description of each step . the improved synthesis of cbi exemplified herein ( fig1 ) starts with1 , 3 - dihydroxy - naphthalene ( 1 ). amination by treatment with ammonia at 125 to 140 ° c . in a pressure vessel provided 4 - hydroxy - 2 - napthylamine 2 , which was then converted to the di - t - boc compound 3 by treatment with di - tert - butyldicarbonate . iodination with n - iodosuccinimide proceeded in 86 % yield to produce 4 , which was alkylated to give compound 5 in 93 % yield . ring closure of 5 using tri - butyltin hydride in the presence of 2 , 2 ′- azobisisobutyronitrile ( aibn ) proceeds smoothly in 94 % yield to give the racemic di - t - boc - seco - cbi 6 in 94 % yield . separation of the racemic mixture is readily performed using a chiral hplc column eluting with 20 % isopropanol in hexane , where the retention times of the two isomers differ by 17 minutes , to give the desired di - t - boc - seco (−) cbi isomer 6b . deprotection with hydrochloric acid provided seco (−) cbi , 7 . two independent synthetic routes for the conversion of seco - cbi 7 to dc1 - sme 16a are exemplified and are designated path a ( fig2 ) and path b ( fig3 ). in path a ( fig2 ), the bis - indolyl moiety bearing a disulfide - containing substituent was synthesized , and then coupled in the final step to seco - cbi . in path b , the bis - indolyl moiety was linked to seco - cbi , and the disulfide - containing substituent was introduced in the final step ( fig3 ). in path a , ethyl 5 - nitroindole - 2 - carboxylate ( 8 ), which is commercially available , was hydrolyzed to the acid 9 , which was then converted into the tert - butyl ester 10 . catalytic reduction of 10 with hydrogen provided the amino ester 11 in quantitative yield . coupling of 11 with 5 - nitroindole - 2 - carboxylic acid ( 9 ) in the presence of o -( benzotriazol - 1 - yl )- n , n , n ′, n ′- tetramethyluronium tetraflouroborate ( tbtu ) provided the nitro - bis - indolyl ester 12 in 89 % yield . reduction of the nitro group by catalytic hydrogenation , followed by coupling of the resulting amino compound 13 with 3 -( methyldithio ) propanoic acid provided 14a . the ester group in 14a was hydrolyzed with trifluoroacetic acid to give carboxylic acid 15a . coupling of 15a with seco - cbi , in the presence of edc provided dc1 - sme ( 16a ). reduction of dc1sme with dithiothreitol provided dc1 ( 17 ). in path b , 5 - nitroindole - 2 - carboxylic acid 9 was first condensed with ethyl 5 - aminoindole - 2 - carboxylate 18 to provide the bis - indolyl ester 19 . alkaline hydrolysis of 19 , followed by coupling with seco - cbi provided the bis - indolyl - seco - cbi compound 21 . reduction of the nitro group in 21 with hydrogen over pd / c provided the amino - bis - indolyl - seco - cbi compound 22 . coupling of 22 with 3 -( methyldithio ) propanoic acid provided dc1 - sme 16a . melting points were measured using an electrothermal apparatus and are uncorrected . nmr spectra were recorded on a bruker avance400 ( 400 mhz ) spectrometer . chemical shifts are reported in ppm relative to tms as an internal standard . mass spectra were obtained using a bruker esquire 3000 system . ultraviolet spectra were recorded on a hitachi u1200 spectrophotometer . analytical hplc was performed using a beckman coulter gold 125 system equipped with a beckman coulter system gold 168 variable wavelength detector and a chiralcel od 4 . 6 × 250 mm column . preparative hplc was performed on a r & amp ; s technology zonator system equipped with a hitachi uv detector , using a self - packed chiralcel od 7 . 5 × 50 cm column . thin layer chromatography was performed on analtech gf silica gel tlc plates . silica gel for flash column chromatography was from baker . all solvents used were reagent grade or hplc grade . synthesis of seco (−) cbi ( 5 - hydroxy - 3 - amino - 1 -[ s ]-( chloromethyl )- 1 , 2 - dihydro - 3h - benz ( e ) indole ) according to the scheme of fig1 . a solution of 1 , 3 - dihydroxynaphthalene ( 1 , 50 g , 0 . 312 mol ) in liquid ammonia ( 200 ml ) at − 78 ° c . was sealed in a 1 l steel bomb containing a glass liner . the reaction mixture was warmed to 135 ± 10 ° c . and 1300 psi for 14 h with vigorous stirring . the vessel was allowed to cool to 60 ° c ., and the ammonia was released slowly . the remaining traces of ammonia were removed by co - evaporation with thf ( 2 × 150 ml ) under a stream of argon at 60 ° c . the intermediate 4 - hydroxy - 2 - naphthylamine ( 2 ) was not isolated but was immediately converted to the di - tert - butyloxycarbonyl protected compound 3 . a solution of di - tert - butyl dicarbonate ( 175 g , 0 . 801 mol ) in dry thf ( 300 ml ) and n , n - diisopropylethylamine ( 140 ml , 0 . 803 mol ) were sequentially added to the bomb . the bomb was re - sealed , and the contents were warmed at 100 ° c . with stirring for 4 h . the bomb was cooled to room temperature , opened , and the residue partitioned between saturated aqueous nacl ( 800 ml ) and ethyl acetate ( 500 ml ). the aqueous phase was extracted with ethyl acetate ( 200 ml × 2 ). the combined organic layers were dried ( magnesium sulfate ), filtered , and concentrated under reduced pressure . chromatography on silica gel ( 1 : 8 to 1 : 4 ethyl acetate / hexane ) and recrystallization with ethyl acetate / ethanol / hexane provided pure 77 . 41 g ( 69 %) of the title compound ( 3 ). 1 h nmr ( cdcl 3 , 400 mhz ) 8 . 14 ( d , 1h , j = 8 . 1 hz ), 7 . 66 ( d , 1h , j = 8 . 1 hz ), 7 . 43 ( dd , 1h , j = 6 . 8 , 8 . 2hz ), 7 . 35 ( dd , 1h , j = 6 . 8 , 82 hz ), 7 . 22 ( d , 1h , j = 1 . 8 hz ), 7 . 15 ( br , 1h , nh ), 6 . 69 ( s , 1h ), 1 . 59 ( s , 9h ), 1 . 37 ( s , 9h ); 13 c nmr ( cdcl 3 ) 153 . 71 , 152 . 9 , 136 . 11 , 135 . 20 , 128 . 12 , 128 . 01 , 126 . 81 , 126 . 03 , 123 . 61 , 107 . 94 , 102 . 95 , 82 . 98 , 82 . 10 , 28 . 93 , 27 . 69 ; ms m / z 382 . 52 ( m + na ) + . a solution of compound 3 ( 24 . 50 g , 68 . 24 mmol ) and n - iodosuccinimide ( nis ), ( 17 . 70 g , 74 . 73 mmol ) in 250 ml of thf / methanol ( 1 : 1 ) was stirred at − 40 ° c . under argon in the dark for 5 min . toluenesulfonic acid ( 0 . 86 g , 4 . 52 mmol ) was then added , and the reaction mixture was stirred under argon in the dark at − 40 ° c . for 2 h , and then at room temperature for 2 h . the mixture was diluted with ether ( 800 ml ), washed with saturated aqueous nahco 3 and saturated aqueous nacl , dried over magnesium sulfate , filtered and concentrated in vacuo . flash chromatography on silica gel ( ethyl acetate / hexane 1 : 10 ) was followed by the isolation of the desired product . crystallization from ethanol / ethyl acetate / hexane afforded 28 . 46 g ( 86 %) of the title compound 4 . rf = 0 . 48 ( 10 % ethyl acetate / hexane ). 1 h nmr ( cdcl 3 , 400 mhz ) 8 . 27 ( d , 1h , j = 8 . 0 hz ), 7 . 98 ( dd , 1h , j = 1 . 5 , 8 . 1 hz ), 7 . 83 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 55 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 18 ( br , 0 . 8h , nh ), 1 . 62 ( m , 18h ); ms m / z 508 . 36 ( m + na ) + . to a solution of compound 4 ( 940 mg , 1 . 86 mmol ) in 20 ml of dry dmf was added nah ( 60 % in mineral oil , 150 mg , 3 . 75 mmol ) under an argon atmosphere . after stirring the mixture at 0 ° c . for 30 min , e , z - 1 , 3 - dichloropropene ( 1 . 50 ml , 14 . 57 mmol ) was added . the reaction mixture was stirred at 0 ° c . under argon for 2 h , then neutralized with 1 . 0 m nah 2 po 4 , and extracted with ethyl acetate . the organic layer was dried over magnesium sulfate , filtered and concentrated in vacuo . flash chromatography on silica gel ( ethyl acetate / hexane 1 : 9 ) afforded 1 . 01 g ( 93 %) of the desired compound 5 . r fz = 0 . 37 , r fe = 0 . 32 ( 1 : 8 ethyl acetate / hexane ). ( e : z vinyl chlorides and di - t - boc rotamers ). 1 h nmr ( cdcl 3 , 400 mhz ) 8 . 26 ( d , 2h , j = 7 . 7 hz ), 7 . 96 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 59 ( br , 4h ), 7 . 20 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 16 ( s , 1h ), 6 . 17 - 6 . 07 ( m , 4h ), 4h ), 4 . 64 ( dd , 1h , j = 6 . 2 , 15 . 2hz ), 4 . 53 ( dd , 1h , j = 6 . 2 , 14 . 7hz ), 4 . 31 ( dd , 1h , j = 6 . 0 , 15 . 0hz ), 3 . 84 ( dd , 1h , j = 7 . 5 , 15 . 0 hz ), 1 . 58 ( s , 9h ); 1 . 33 ( s , 9h ); 13 c nmr ( cdcl 3 ) 153 . 78 , 151 . 08 , 150 . 98 , 133 . 31 , 133 . 29 , 128 . 66 , 128 . 61 , 127 . 50 , 127 . 41 , 126 . 41 , 121 . 68 , 119 . 03 , 84 . 22 , 84 . 11 , 80 . 99 , 77 . 20 , 28 . 20 , 27 . 66 ; ms m / z 582 . 8 ( m + na ) + . to a solution of compound 5 ( 1 . 36 g , 2 . 43 mmol ) in dry benzene ( 100 ml ) were added tri - n - butyltin hydride ( 0 . 70 ml , 2 . 52 mmol ) and 2 , 2 ′- azobis ( isobutyronitrile ) ( aibn ) ( 30 mg , 0 . 18 mmol ). the mixture was stirred under argon at room temperature for 30 min and then refluxed at 80 ° c . for 2 h . the reaction mixture was cooled , and the solvent was removed in vacuo . flash chromatography on silica gel ( ethyl acetate / hexane 1 : 9 ) afforded 1 . 01 g ( 94 %) of the desired compound 6 . r f = 0 . 34 ( 1 : 9 ethyl acetate / hexane ); 1 h nmr ( cdcl 3 , 400 mhz ) 8 . 12 ( br , 1h ), 7 . 91 ( d , 1h , j = 8 . 4 hz ), 7 . 69 ( d , 1h , j = 8 . 4 hz ), 7 . 50 ( dt , 1h , j = 1 . 0 , 6 . 9 , 7 . 0 hz ), 7 . 37 ( dt , 1h , j = 0 . 9 , 6 . 9 , 6 . 9 hz ), 4 . 27 ( br , 1h ), 4 . 12 ( t , 1h , j = 9 . 0 + 10 . 0 hz ), 3 . 99 ( m , 1h ), 3 . 90 ( dd , 1h , j = 2 . 4 , 11 . 0 hz ), 3 . 45 ( t , 1h , j = 10 . 8 + 10 . 8 hz ), 1 . 58 ( s , 18h ); 13 c nmr ( cdcl 3 ) 152 . 27 , 151 . 84 , 147 . 99 , 130 . 17 , 127 . 62 , 124 . 33 , 122 . 46 , 122 . 22 , 108 . 95 , 83 . 78 , 52 . 80 , 46 . 13 , 28 . 36 , 27 . 79 ; ms m / z 456 . 9 ( m + na ) + . resolution of ( 6 ): the enantiomeric mixture of compound 6 ( 1 . 0 g in 20 ml of ethyl acetate ) was resolved on an hplc preparative column ( 20 mm , 7 . 5 × 50 cm , packed with diacel chiralcel od ) using 15 % isopropanol - hexane eluant ( 180 ml / min ). the two enantiomers eluted with retention times of 18 . 5 minutes [ 6a (+) enantiomer ] and 35 . 8 minutes [ 6b (−) natural ( 1s ) enantiomer ]. 6b (−)−( 1s ): [ α ] 25 =− 49 . 6 ° ( c = 5 . 25 chcl 3 ). to a solution of 6b ( 100 mg , 0 . 25 mmol ) in 5 ml of ethyl acetate , was added conc . hcl ( 0 . 2 ml ) and triethylsilane ( 0 . 2 ml ). after stirring for 3 h under argon , the mixture was diluted with 10 ml of 1 : 1 dichloromethane / toluene and evaporated to dryness . the dry solid was co - evaporated three times with dichloromethane / toluene and then immediately used for coupling to di - indole compounds without further purification , (˜ 90 % pure ), ms m / z 234 . 78 ( m + h ) + . exemplary synthesis of dc1 according to the scheme of path a ( fig2 ) to a stirred solution of ethyl - 5 - nitroindole - 2 - carboxylate ( 8 ) ( 25 . 0 g , 106 . 8 mmol ), in 500 ml of thf - methanol ( 1 : 1 , v / v ) at room temperature , was added a solution of naoh ( 40 g , 1 . 0 mmol ) in 300 ml of water . the resulting deep red - brown solution was stirred for 3 h , then quenched by acidification to ph 1 with dilute hcl . the precipitated product was collected by vacuum filtration , and the remaining dissolved product was extracted with thf / ethyl acetate ( 1 : 2 , v / v , 2 × 400 ml ). the precipitate was dissolved in thf and this solution was combined with the organic layers from the extractions , supra . drying over magnesium sulfate , filtration , concentration in vacuo , and crystallization of the residue from thf / ethyl acetate / hexane afforded 21 . 1 g ( 96 % yield ) of 5 - nitroindole - 2 - carboxylic acid ( 9 ). 1 h nmr ( dmso ), 11 . 50 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 20 ( d , 1h , j = 8 . 4 hz ), 6 . 85 ( s , 1h ), 6 . 70 ( m , 2h ). to a stirred solution of 9 ( 12 . 8 g , 61 . 2 mmol ) in dry thf ( 200 ml ) under argon was added oxalyl chloride ( 12 . 0 ml , 137 . 5 mmol ) followed by dmf ( 0 . 1 ml ), which caused a vigorous evolution of gas . after 40 min , the reaction mixture was evaporated to dryness . the resulting solid was re - dissolved in thf ( 150 ml ), cooled to ˜ 30 ° c ., and stirred under argon . a solution of potassium t - butoxide ( 1 . 0 m in thf , 140 ml , 140 mmol ) was then added dropwise over 45 min , and stirring was continued for an additional 45 min . the reaction was quenched with 600 ml of water , neutralized with few drops of a 10 % aqueous solution of h 3 po 4 and extracted with ethyl acetate ( 3 × 400 ml ). the organic extracts were washed with saturated aqueous nahco 3 , water , and then dried over magnesium sulfate , filtered , concentrated and crystallized with ethanol / hexane to afford compound 10 ( 9 . 62 g , 85 % yield ). r f = 0 . 35 ( 1 : 5 ethyl acetate / hexane ); 1 h nmr ( cdcl 3 ), 11 . 63 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 66 ( dd , 1h , j = 0 . 5 , 1 . 3hz ), 8 . 20 ( dd , 1h , j = 0 . 5 , 9 . 0 hz ), 7 . 48 ( dd , 1h , j = 0 . 5 , 9 . 1 hz ), 7 . 28 ( dd , 1h , j = 0 . 9 , 11 . 1 hz ), 1 . 63 ( s , 9h ); 13 c nmr 160 . 39 , 142 . 12 , 138 . 11 , 132 . 10 , 126 . 78 , 120 . 22 , 119 . 83 , 111 . 98 , 109 . 82 , 82 . 91 , 28 . 26 ; ms m / z 285 . 43 ( m + na ) + . a 500 ml par hydrogenation bottle was charged with compound 10 ( 5 . 80 g , 22 . 14 mmol ), 10 % pd / c ( 0 . 6 g ) and methanol / thf ( 150 ml , 1 : 4 v / v ), and purged with hydrogen . the reaction mixture was shaken with 50 psi h 2 over night . the catalyst was removed by filtration and the solvent was evaporated to give 4 . 98 g ( 97 % yield ) of the title compound 11 as brown solid . 1 h nmr ( dmso ), 11 . 42 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 18 ( d , 1h , j = 8 . 3 hz ), 6 . 83 ( s , 1h ), 6 . 71 ( s , 1h ), 6 . 67 ( d , 1h , j = 8 . 4 hz ), 1 . 62 ( s , 9h ). this product is unstable and therefore it was immediately used in the following step . to a mixture of compounds 9 ( 4 . 70 g , 22 . 81 mmol ) and 11 ( 5 . 20 g , 22 . 41 mmol ) in dmf ( 200 ml ) were added under argon o -( benzotriazol - 1 - yl )- n , n ′, n ′- tetramethyluronium tetraflouroborate ( tbtu , 10 . 5 g , 32 . 70 mmol ) and diisopropylethylamine ( dipea , 8 . 0 ml , 45 . 83 mmol ). the reaction mixture was stirred overnight . the mixture was concentrated and then suspended in ethyl acetate and aqueous nahco 3 ( satd .). the solid compound was filtered , washed with water , and then re - suspended with aqueous 1 m nah 2 po 4 , ph 3 . 0 , filtered , and washed again with water . the solid was then dried under vacuum to yield 12 ( 8 . 40 g , 89 % yield ). r f = 0 . 31 ( 1 : 2 thf / hexane ); 1 h nmr ( dmso ), 12 . 43 ( s , 1h ), 11 . 69 ( s , 1h ), 10 . 41 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 77 ( d , 1h , j = 2 . 2 hz ), 8 . 13 ( dd , 2h , j = 2 . 3 , 9 . 0 hz ), 7 . 64 ( t , 2h , j = 9 . 2 hz ), 7 . 47 ( d , 1h , j = 8 . 9 hz ), 7 . 08 ( s , 1h ), 1 . 59 ( s , 9h ); 13 c nmr ( dmso ), 161 . 48 , 159 . 53 , 142 . 19 , 140 . 38 , 136 . 30 , 135 . 27 , 132 . 28 , 130 . 30 , 127 . 43 , 127 . 25 , 120 . 57 , 120 . 12 , 114 . 08 , 113 . 74 , 108 . 22 , 106 . 64 , 81 . 74 , 28 . 84 ; ms m / z 443 . 85 ( m + na ) + . a 250 ml parr hydrogenation bottle was charged with compound 12 ( 2 . 40 g , 5 . 71 mmol ), 10 % pd / c ( 0 . 3 g ), and dma ( 50 ml ), and purged with hydrogen . the reaction mixture was shaken with 40 psi h 2 over night . the catalyst was removed by filtration and the solvent was evaporated to give 2 . 05 g ( 92 % yield ) of the title compound 13 as a brown solid . 1 h nmr ( dmso ), 11 . 75 , ( s , 1h ), 11 . 67 ( s , 1h ), 10 . 17 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 10 ( d , 1h , j = 1 . 2 hz ), 7 . 59 ( t , 2h , j = 8 . 8 hz ), 7 . 45 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 35 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 17 ( dd , 1h , j = 0 . 8 , 8 . 0 hz ), 7 . 06 ( d , 1h , j = 2 . 0 hz ), 1 . 57 ( s , 9h ); ms m / z 390 . 72 ( m + na ) + . this product is unstable and therefore it was used immediately in the following step . to a solution of 13 ( 2 . 0 g , 5 . 12 mmol )) in dma ( 30 ml ) was added of 3 -( methyldithio ) propionic acid ( 0 . 90 g , 5 . 92 mmol ), edc ( 3 . 0 g , 15 . 33 mmol ) and dipea ( 0 . 90 ml , 5 . 12 mmol ). the reaction mixture was stirred over night under argon , and then diluted with 70 ml of 1 . 0 m nah 2 po 4 , ph 6 . 0 and extracted with thf / ethyl acetate ( 1 : 1 , 4 × 70 ml ). the organic layers were combined , dried over magnesium sulfate , filtered and evaporated . the residue was purified by silica gel chromatography ( 1 : 3 acetone / toluene ) and crystallized from thf / hexane to yield compound 14a ( 2 . 30 g , 86 % yield ). mp = 279 - 283 ° c . ( dec ), r f = 0 . 31 ( 1 : 3 thf / toluene ); 1 h nmr ( cd 3 cocd 3 ), 10 . 75 ( d , 2h , j = 3 . 07 hz ), 9 . 50 ( s , 1h ), 9 . 14 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 20 ( d , 1h , j = 2 . 0 hz ), 8 . 14 ( d , 1h , j = 1 . 8 hz ), 7 . 62 ( dd , 1h , j = 2 . 0 , 8 . 9 hz ), 7 . 46 ( dd , 2h , j = 0 . 7 , 8 . 1 hz ), 7 . 34 ( dd , 1h , j = 2 . 0 , 10 . 8 hz ), 7 . 26 ( d , 1h , j = 1 . 5 hz ), 7 . 07 ( dd , 1h , j = 0 . 9 , 2 . 1 hz ), 3 . 05 ( t , 2h , j = 7 . 1 hz ), 2 . 76 ( t , 2h , j = 7 . 0 hz ), 2 . 42 ( s , 3h ), 1 . 57 ( s , 9h ); 13 c nmr 169 . 42 , 161 . 58 , 160 . 32 , 135 . 31 , 134 . 76 , 133 . 56 , 133 . 40 , 133 . 12 , 130 . 86 , 128 . 72 , 128 . 27 , 120 . 27 , 118 . 75 , 113 . 69 , 113 . 09 , 113 . 02 , 112 . 69 , 108 . 27 , 103 . 58 , 81 . 66 , 37 . 28 , 34 . 00 , 28 . 41 ; ms m / z 547 . 88 ( m + na ) + . a mixture of compound 14a ( 300 mg , 0 . 57 mol ) and et 3 sih ( 1 . 5 ml ) in dichloromethane ( 30 ml ) was stirred under argon . trifluoroacetic acid ( 7 . 0 ml ) was added and the mixture was stirred for 3 h , and then diluted with toluene ( 25 ml ). the mixture was evaporated to dryness and crystallized with thf / toluene / hexane to yield compound 15a ( 245 mg , 92 % yield ). 1 h nmr ( dmso ), 11 . 71 ( s , 1h ), 11 . 61 ( s , 1h ), 10 . 10 ( s , 1h ), 9 . 92 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 11 ( d , 1h , j = 1 . 9 hz ), 8 . 02 ( d , j = 1 . 7 hz ), 7 . 55 ( dd , 1h , 2 . 0 , 11 . 0 hz ), 7 . 42 ( d , 1h , j = 8 . 8 hz ), 7 . 39 ( d , 1h , j = 8 . 8 hz ), 7 . 34 ( d , 1h , j = 2 . 0 hz ), 7 . 31 ( dd , 1h , j = 2 . 0 , 8 . 8 hz ), 7 . 08 ( d , 1h , j = 1 . 3 hz ), 3 . 06 ( t , 2h , j = 7 . 0 hz ), 2 . 75 ( t , 2h , j = 7 . 0 hz ), 2 . 45 ( s , 3h ); 13 c nmr ( dmso ), 168 . 70 , 162 . 79 , 159 . 47 , 134 . 37 , 133 . 56 , 132 . 44 , 131 . 98 , 131 . 64 , 126 . 96 , 126 . 75 , 119 . 62 , 117 . 74 , 113 . 04 , 112 . 46 , 112 . 35 , 111 . 44 , 107 . 36 , 103 . 37 , 36 . 03 , 33 . 01 ; ms 490 . 81 ( m + na ) + . to a solution of compounds 7 ( 55 mg , 0 . 20 mmol ) and 15a ( 100 mg , 0 . 21 mmol ) in dma ( 7 . 0 ml ) was added edc ( 120 mg , 0 . 62 mmol ) under argon . the reaction mixture was stirred overnight , then a few drops of 50 % acetic acid were added , and the mixture was evaporated to dryness . the residue was purified by column chromatography over silica gel ( 20 % to 30 % acetone in toluene ) and crystallized with thf / toluene / hexane to afford dc1sme ( 16a ) ( 108 mg , 79 % yield ). r f = 0 . 40 ( 3 : 7 acetone / toluene ); 1 h nmr ( cd 3 cocd 3 ) 10 . 91 ( s , 1h ), 10 . 88 ( s , 1h ), 9 . 64 ( s , 1h ), 9 . 56 ( s , 1h ), 9 . 27 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 35 ( d , 1h , j = 1 . 9 hz ), 8 . 25 ( d , 1h , j = 8 . 0 hz ), 8 . 17 ( d , 1h , j = 1 . 9 hz ), 8 . 07 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 88 ( d , 1h , j = 8 . 3 hz ), 7 . 64 ( dd , 1h , j = 2 . 0 , 8 . 1 hz ), 7 . 58 - 7 . 50 ( m , 3h ), 7 . 38 - 7 . 35 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 31 ( d , 1h , j = 1 . 7 hz ), 7 . 26 ( d , 1h , j = 1 . 7 hz ), 4 . 86 ( dd , 1h , j = 8 . 7 , 11 . 0 hz ), 4 . 80 ( dd , 1h , j = 2 . 3 , 10 . 9 hz ), 4 . 30 ( m , 1h ), 4 . 07 ( dd , 1h , j = 3 . 1 , 11 . 0 hz ), 3 . 83 ( dd , 1h , j = 8 . 4 , 11 . 2 hz ), 3 . 09 ( t , 2h , j = 7 . 1 hz ), 2 . 83 ( t , 2h , j = 7 . 1 hz ), 2 . 45 ( s , 3h ); 13 c nmr 169 . 56 , 161 . 10 , 160 . 43 , 155 . 13 , 143 . 50 , 134 . 78 , 134 . 46 , 133 . 55 , 133 . 34 , 133 . 03 , 132 . 57 , 131 . 21 , 128 . 80 , 128 . 69 , 128 . 21 , 124 . 22 , 124 . 02 , 123 . 53 , 123 . 44 , 120 . 16 , 118 . 79 , 116 . 45 , 113 . 91113 . 02 , 112 . 95 , 112 . 73 , 106 . 78 , 103 . 72 , 101 . 63 , 56 . 01 , 47 . 73 , 43 . 10 , 37 . 25 , 34 . 01 , 23 . 00 ; ms m / z 706 . 71 ( m + na ) + , 708 . 58 , 707 . 71 , 722 . 34 ( m + k ) + , 724 . 42 . to a solution of compound 13 ( 1 . 00 g , 2 . 56 mmol ) in dma ( 15 ml ) was added of 3 -( 2 - pyridyldithio ) propionic acid ( 0 . 475 g , 2 . 21 mmol ), edc ( 1 . 26 g , 6 . 56 mmol ), and dipea ( 0 . 20 ml ). after stirring under argon overnight , the mixture was diluted with 70 ml of 1 . 0 m nah 2 po 4 , ph 3 . 0 and extracted with thf / ethyl acetate ( 1 : 1 , 4 × 60 ml ). the organic layers were combined , dried over magnesium sulfate , filtered , evaporated , and purified by silica gel chromatography ( 1 : 5 thf / dichloromethane ). the product was isolated and recrystallized with thf / ethyl acetate / hexane to yield 1 . 13 g ( 87 % yield ) of the title compound 14b . mp = 285 - 290 ( dec ), r f = 0 . 31 ( 1 : 5 thf / toluene ); 1 h nmr ( cd 3 cocd 3 ), 10 . 78 ( d , 2h , j = 14 . 3 hz ), 9 . 52 ( s , 1h ), 9 . 23 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 45 ( dd , 1h , j = 0 . 9 , 4 . 8 hz ), 8 . 23 ( d , 1h , j = 1 . 9 hz ), 8 . 17 ( d , 1h , j = 1 . 8 hz ), 7 . 84 ( dd , 1h , j = 1 . 0 , 8 . 1 hz ), 7 . 78 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 64 ( dd , 1h , j = 2 . 1 , 8 . 9 hz ), 7 . 49 ( t , 2h , j = 8 . 8 hz ), 7 . 35 ( dd , 1h , j = 2 . 0 , 8 . 9 hz ), 7 . 29 ( d , 1h , j = 1 . 5 hz ), 7 . 25 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 10 ( dd , 1h , j = 0 . 8 , 2 . 1 hz ), 3 . 21 ( t , 2h , j = 7 . 0 hz ), 2 . 85 ( t , 2h , j = 7 . 0 hz ), 1 . 60 ( s , 9h ); 13 c nmr 169 . 15 , 161 . 57 , 160 . 86 , 150 . 44 , 138 . 22 , 135 . 30 , 134 . 78 , 133 . 58 , 133 . 13 , 130 . 86 , 128 . 27 , 125 . 75 , 121 . 73 , 120 . 26 , 120 . 05 , 118 . 75 , 113 . 68 , 113 . 09 , 113 . 03 , 112 . 70 , 108 . 26 , 103 . 56 , 81 . 64 , 36 . 74 , 35 . 25 , 28 . 41 ; ms m / z 610 . 48 ( m + na ) + , 626 . 56 ( m + k ) + . a mixture of compound 14b ( 115 mg , 0 . 195 mol ) and et 3 sih ( 0 . 30 ml ) in dichloromethane ( 4 . 0 ml ) was stirred to under argon . to the milky mixture was added trifluoroacetic acid ( 1 . 0 ml ), and the mixture became clear . after stirring for 2 hrs , the reaction mixture was diluted with 5 ml of toluene . the mixture was evaporated to dryness and crystallized with thf / toluene / hexane to yield of 93 mg ( 90 % yield ) of compound 15b . 1 h nmr ( dmso ), 12 . 92 ( br , 0 . 7h ), 11 . 74 ( s , 1h ), 11 . 63 ( s , 1h ), 10 . 11 ( s , 1h ), 9 . 92 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 47 ( dd , 1h , j = 0 . 9 , 4 . 6 hz ), 8 . 13 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 02 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 81 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 56 ( d , 1h , j = 9 . 0 hz ), 7 . 41 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 34 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 28 - 7 . 21 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 10 ( s , 1h ), 3 . 15 ( t , 2h , j = 7 . 0 hz ), 2 . 77 ( t , 2h , j = 6 . 9 hz ); 13 c nmr 168 . 34 , 162 . 70 , 159 . 42 , 159 . 16 , 149 . 61 , 137 . 80 , 134 . 34 , 133 . 53 , 132 . 41 , 131 . 88 , 131 . 63 , 128 . 96 , 126 . 90 , 126 . 69 , 121 . 18 , 119 . 60 , 119 . 19 , 112 . 98 , 112 . 42 , 112 . 31 , 111 . 42 , 107 . 47 , 35 . 53 , 33 . 97 ; ms m / z 532 . 31 , ( m + h ) + , 553 . 41 , 554 . 52 ( m + na ) + ; to a solution of compounds 7 ( 25 mg , 0 . 094 mmol ) and 15b ( 50 mg , 0 . 094 mmol ) in 10 ml of dma was added edc ( 120 mg , 0 . 62 mmol ) under argon . after stirring overnight , a few drops of 50 % acetic acid and toluene ( 5 ml ) were added , the mixture was evaporated to dryness , and the residue was purified by silica gel chromatography ( 30 % acetone in toluene ). the product was isolated and recrystallized from thf / toluene / hexane to afford 48 mg ( 68 % yield ) of the title compound 16b . ms m / z 769 . 43 ( m + na ) + , 771 . 51 , 785 . 62 ( m + k ) + . exemplary synthesis of dc1 according to the scheme of path b ( fig3 ) a 500 ml par hydrogenation bottle was charged with ethyl 5 - nitroindole - 2 - carboxylate ( 8 ) ( 5 . 0 g , 21 . 36 mmol ), 10 % pd / c ( 0 . 3 g ), methanol / thf ( 150 ml , 1 : 4 v / v ), and was purged with hydrogen . the reaction mixture was shaken with 40 psi h 2 overnight . the catalyst was removed by filtration and the solvent was evaporated to give 4 . 10 g ( 94 % yield ) of the title compound 18 as a brown solid . 1 h nmr ( cdcl 3 ), 8 . 77 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 26 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 23 ( t , 1h , j = 0 . 8 hz ), 7 . 21 ( d , 1h , j = 0 . 7 hz ), 7 . 03 ( dd , 1h , j = 0 . 7 , 1 . 5 hz ), 6 . 93 ( dd , 1h , j = 0 . 7 , 1 . 6 hz ), 6 . 80 ( dd , 1h , j = 2 . 2 , 8 . 6 hz ), 4 . 38 ( dd , 2h , j = 7 . 2 , 14 . 3 hz ), 1 . 40 ( t , 3h , j = 7 . 2 hz ); 13 c nmr ( cdcl 3 ) 162 . 02 , 140 . 30 , 138 . 14 , 131 . 87 , 128 . 45 , 127 . 77 , 117 . 12 , 112 . 50 , 107 . 36 , 105 . 86 , 60 . 87 , 14 . 41 . this product is unstable and therefor it was used immediately in next step . to a mixture of compounds 9 ( 1 . 020 g , 5 . 00 mmol ) and 18 ( 1 . 02 g , 4 . 95 mmol ) in dmf ( 30 ml ) was added tbtu ( 4 . 0 g , 12 . 40 mmol ) and dipea ( 1 . 8 ml ) under argon . the reaction mixture was stirred overnight . after concentration , the mixture was diluted with ethyl acetate ( 30 ml ) and saturated nahco 3 ( 150 ml ), and the solid was suspended between the two layers . the solid compound was filtered , washed with water and then re - suspended with 1 m nah 2 po 4 , ph 3 . 0 , filtered , and washed with water again . the product was dried under vacuum to provide compound 19 ( 1 . 543 g , 79 % yield ). r f = 0 . 31 ( 1 : 2 thf / hexane ); 1 h nmr ( dmso ), 12 . 45 ( s , 1h ), 11 . 90 ( s , 1h ), 10 . 43 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 77 ( d , 1h , j = 1 . 9 hz ), 8 . 15 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 13 ( dd , 1h , j = 2 . 2 , 9 . 1 hz ), 7 . 70 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 61 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 46 ( d , 1h , j = 8 . 9 hz ), 7 . 18 ( s , 1h ), 4 . 35 ( dd , 2h , j = 7 . 1 , 14 . 1 hz ), 1 . 35 ( t , 3h , j = 7 . 1 hz ); 13 c nmr ( dmso ), 161 . 22 , 158 . 68 , 141 . 32 , 139 . 50 , 135 . 37 , 134 . 60 , 131 . 47 , 128 . 01 , 126 . 56 , 126 . 38 , 119 . 92 , 119 . 27 , 118 . 59 , 113 . 27 , 112 . 87 , 112 . 60 , 107 . 77 , 105 . 69 , 60 . 43 , 14 . 31 ; ms m / z 443 . 85 ( m + na ) + . to a solution of compound 19 ( 630 mg , 1 . 60 mmol ) in dmso ( 15 ml ) was added naoh ( 1 . 0 g ) in 5 . 0 ml of h 2 o . after stirring for 1 h , the mixture was concentrated and co - evaporated three time with 10 ml of h 2 o at 60 ° c . under reduced pressure . the residual solution was diluted with cold methanol and h 2 o , yielding a solid . the solid compound was filtered and dried under vacuum to give compound 20 ( 530 mg , 90 % yield ). 1 h nmr ( dmso ), 12 . 48 ( s , 1h ), 11 . 75 ( s , 1h ), 10 . 44 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 77 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 15 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 10 ( d , 1h , j = 9 . 3 hz ), 7 . 69 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 60 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 44 ( d , 1h , j = 8 . 9 hz ), 7 . 10 ( s , 1h ); 13 c nmr ( dmso ), 161 . 91 , 158 . 66 , 141 . 32 , 139 . 52 , 135 . 45 , 134 . 44 , 131 . 26 , 128 . 01 , 126 . 72 , 126 . 39 , 119 . 47 , 119 . 25 , 118 . 02 , 113 . 24 , 112 . 88 , 112 . 48 , 107 . 23 , 105 . 71 ; ms m / z 386 . 66 387 . 85 ( m + na ) + . to a solution of compounds 7 ( 20 mg , 0 . 072 mmol ) and 20 ( 25 mg , 0 . 068 mmol ) in dma ( 3 . 0 ml ) was added edc ( 40 mg , 0 . 20 mmol ) under argon . the reaction mixture was stirred overnight , a few drops of 50 % acetic acid was added , and the mixture was evaporated to dryness . the residue was purified by preparative tlc on silica ( 40 % acetone in toluene ) to afford 25 mg of compound 21 . 1 h nmr ( dmf - d 7 ) 12 . 54 ( s , 1h ), 11 . 73 ( s , 1h ), 10 . 60 ( s , 1h ), 10 . 58 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 80 ( d , 1h , j = 2 . 3 hz ), 8 . 42 ( d , 1h , j = 1 . 9 hz ), 8 . 25 ( d , 1h , j = 8 . 5 hz ), 8 . 19 ( dd , 1h , j = 2 . 1 , 9 . 1 hz ), 8 . 09 ( br , 1h ), 7 . 95 ( d , 1h , j = 8 . 3 hz ), 7 . 82 ( d , 1h , j = 1 . 5 hz ), 7 . 79 ( d , 1h , j = 9 . 1 hz ), 7 . 74 ( dd , 1h , j = 2 . 0 , 8 . 9 hz ), 7 . 62 ( d , 1h , j = 8 . 8 hz ), 7 . 58 ( dt , 1h , j = 1 . 7 , 7 . 0 + 7 . 0 hz ), 7 . 42 ( dt , 1h , j = 1 . 2 , 7 . 0 + 7 . 0 hz ), 7 . 33 ( d , 1h , j = 1 . 7 hz ), 4 . 91 ( t , 1h , j = 11 . 0 hz ), 4 . 77 ( dd , 1h , j = 2 . 1 , 11 . 1 hz ), 4 . 33 ( m , 1h ), 4 . 13 ( dd , 1h , j = 3 . 1 , 11 . 1 hz ), 3 . 97 ( dd , 1h , j = 7 . 9 , 11 . 1 hz ); 13 c nmr 163 . 35 , 161 . 48 , 160 . 05 , 155 . 79 , 142 . 98 , 137 . 18 , 135 . 03 , 133 . 22 , 133 . 16 , 131 . 50 , 128 . 85 , 128 . 45 , 128 . 11 , 124 . 62 , 124 . 02 , 123 . 76 , 120 . 33 , 119 . 36 , 118 . 70 , 116 . 45 , 114 . 00 , 113 . 08 , 106 . 97 , 105 . 02 , 101 . 53 ; ms m / z 602 . 96 ( m + na ) + , 604 . 78 , 603 . 81 , 618 . 64 ( m + k ) + , 620 . 48 . a solution of compound 21 ( 10 mg , 0 . 017 mmol ) in dma ( 2 . 5 ml ) was treated with pd / c ( 10 mg ), 5 μl of hcl ( conc .) and dma ( 2 . 5 ml ). after the air was removed evacuated , hydrogen was introduced via a hydrogen balloon overnight . the catalyst was removed by filtration and the solvent was evaporated to give compound 22 as a brown solid . the solid compound was used directly without further purification . to a solution of compound 22 in dma ( 2 ml ) under argon was added 3 -( methyldithio ) propionic acid ( 5 mg , 0 . 032 mmol ) and of edc ( 15 mg , 0 . 078 mmol ). after stirring overnight , two drops of 50 % acetic acid were added to the mixture and the mixture was evaporated to dryness . the residue was purified by preparative silica gel chromatography ( 40 % acetone in toluene ) to afford 6 mg of dc1 - sme ( 16b ). ms m / z 706 . 66 ( m + na ) + , 708 . 79 , 707 . 86 ; 1 h nmr data is the same as above dc1 . certain patents and printed publications have been referred to in the present disclosure , the teachings of which are hereby each incorporated in their respective entireties by reference . while the invention has been described in detail and with reference to specific embodiments thereof , it will be apparent to one of skill in the art that various changes and modifications can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope thereof .
| 2 |
in order that the invention may be fully understood , preferred embodiments thereof will now be described with reference to , and as illustrated in , the accompanying drawings . fig1 a and 1b show , in plan and section , schematic views of a portion of a flexible disk file for which the record / playback head subject of the present invention is particularly suitable . in this file , a flexible record disk 1 ( shown in dotted outline in the plan view ) is rotated in the direction shown by arrow 32 , supported on an air bearing above a stabilizing &# 34 ; bernoulli &# 34 ; backing plate 2 provided with two converging chordal bends 3 so as to present a generally concave surface to the disk . such a backing plate is described and claimed in a co - pending u . s . application for letters pat . ser . no . 847 , 376 filed on oct . 31 , 1977 , now abandoned , which is a continuation of ser . no . 775 , 233 filed on mar . 7 , 1977 , now abandoned , and assigned to the assignee of the present invention . during operation , corresponding chordal bends are induced in the rotating flexible disk 1 which serve to stiffen and stabilize that portion of the disk lying between the bends . a slot 4 through the plate 2 is provided between the convergent ends of the two chords to enable a record / playback head 5 subject of this invention to access the surface of the disk facing and supported over the plate 2 . the head 5 is carried by a noncompliant support at the end of a swinging arm actuator 6 mounted for pivotal movement about pivot axis 7 . the head 5 projects though the slot and into the plane of rotation of the flexible disk 1 . under normal operating conditions , a further air bearing created between the head and the disk prevents contact between them . since the head 5 is moved in a curved path ( such as that shown by arrow 30 ) across the disk surface in this example , the slot 4 through the plate is correspondingly curved . clearly there are other forms of actuator mechanism , including linear actuators , which may be used in place of the swinging arm actuator schematically shown . linear actuators may , in some cases , be preferred in that the alignment of the transducing element , the head gap in this example , with respect to the recording tracks on the disk remains constant during access operations . the backing plate and flexible disk assembly need not be permanently fixed on and be integral with a drive unit as shown in fig1 but can be provided in a disk cartridge which is loaded onto the drive unit when required for use . such cartridges are designed but even so , mechanical tolerances at the cartridge / drive interface can result in variation of penetration depth of the head which is fixed in the drive into the plane of rotation of the disk in the cartridge from one cartridge to another . thus , in order to maintain uniform recording and playback characteristics from one cartridge to another it is desirable for the disk flying height over the head and especially over the transducing element of the head to be kept substantially constant despite variations in head penetration depth . fig2 shows the record / playback head 5 in more detail . the head shown is a magnetic record / playback head consisting of a conventional two - part ceramic head block 8 sandwiching a ferrite recording element 9 defining a transducing means therein , such as a head gap 10 , and carrying the record playback winding 11 . although the head records data magnetically , the invention which is concerned with the profile or contour of the head , is equally applicable to heads using other techniques , for example , optical techniques , thin film , technology , to record and playback data . also , the two - part ceramic head block 8 may be fabricated from any non magnetic material while the ferrite recording element 9 can be fabricated from any magnetic material . although the description hereinafter will be directed to a record / playback head with a spherically shaped contour , this should not be regarded as a limitation on the scope of the invention since it is contemplated that the invention described herein is not limited to a head having a spherically shaped interface but is applicable to other types of head face profile or contours . also , the transducing means need not be a gap but may be other means such as a thin film element or a magnetically inert area fabricated in the recording element by conventional techniques . the operating surface 12 of the head , that is the surface containing the head gap 10 has a conventional spherically shaped contour produced by machine lapping with a typical radius lying between 18 mm and 50 mm . the head , however , is provided with the novel feature of a groove 13 , in this case a circular groove , which completely surrounds the head gap 10 . typical dimensions of the groove are as follows : the head block in this example had a length of 3 mm and a breadth of 1 . 5 mm . experiments were conducted with heads incorporating the invention and comparisons were made with conventional spherical heads . the results of the tests are now described with reference to fig3 a , 3b and 4a and 4b of the drawings . fig3 a shows three curves illustrating the change of flying height with increasing penetration of a conventional spherical surface head into the plane of rotation of a flexible disk . the curves are for heads with surface radii of curvature of 25 mm , 38 mm and 50 mm respectively . fig3 b shows a similar set of curves for annulus heads according to the invention with surface radii of curvature also of 25 mm , 38 mm and 50 mm respectively . the dimensions of the annular groove were the same for all heads as follows : comparison of these two sets of curves shows that in all cases the annulus head ( fig3 b ) maintains a more constant flying heating for changes in head / disk penetration than do the corresponding conventional spherical heads ( fig3 a ). furthermore , the change in radii of curvature of the surface of the annulus head has considerably less effect on head flying height than is the case for the spherical heads . fig4 a shows two curves illustrating the change in flying height with increasing head penetration for a conventional spherical head located at two extreme radial positions , namely 40 mm and 65 mm . with respect to the disk surface , fig4 b shows curves for the annulus head over the same range . in this case the improved performance of the annulus head is even more striking than in the previous figure . whereas a considerable change in flying height with a conventional head is observed as the radial position of the head , relative to the disk , changes the flying height of the annulus head only shows a small increase for corresponding changes . furthermore , the flying height of the conventional head varies considerably at each radial location in response to changes in penetration whereas the flying height for corresponding changes in penetration of the annulus head remains substantially unchanged . the tests conducted on the annulus head showed a marked performance improvement over the conventional spherical head and showed not only that substantially constant flying height can be maintained during operational conditions but also to some extent that the flying height can be determined by careful selection of the dimensions of the annular groove . although the tests were conducted with many heads with different groove dimensions and surface curvatures , clearly the experiments were not exhaustive and it is not intended that the invention be limited to a specific range of groove dimensions and surface radius of curvature . in the head described with reference to fig2 the apex of the curved surface , that is the highest point with respect to the plane of the backing plate through which it protrudes , coincides with the centre of the head gap . during the course of investigating the head performance , adjustments were made to the roll and pitch of the head . roll and pitch are the angular rotations of the head about its longitudinal and lateral axes passing through the centre of spherical curvature . no improvement was found to be associated with roll angles other than zero but an improvement in performance was found to be associated with a non - zero pitch angle . fig5 shows a part cut - away longitudinal section through a portion of a head provided with an annular groove according to the invention illustrating the pitch adjustment which resulted in the improved performance . the annular groove 13 in the head is centered on the apex 14 of the curved surface 12 as before , but this time the head gap 10 is offset from the apex so that the disk passes over the apex before the head gap . stated another way , the apex precedes the gap in the direction of head rotation . although it has been shown that spherical heads with a continuous groove surrounding the transducing element perform better than conventional spherical heads , an optimum design for the working environment described is as follows : the head so far described can be used along or in combination with a stabilizer as described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 003 , 091 assigned to the assignee of the present invention . the stabilizer described in the aforesaid patent comprises a toroidal core 20 which in use is mounted surrounding the head 5 ( fig6 ). the torodial core is shaped so as to present a convex surface 22 towards the disk and in its preferred form has a continuous apex which , with respect to the plane of the backing plate , is located between the middle and the outer periphery of the surface . the gap between the head and the toroidal core is closed . further details of the structure of the stabilizer can be obtained by reference to the aforementioned patent . whilst the performance of the various heads tested is dependant to some extent upon the nature of the test vehicle used , in this case a disk file using a bernoulli backing plate with a specific profile , it is not intended that the invention should be limited to heads used only in such disk files . the head whilst being particularly suited for use in such a disk file is also useful in other environments utilizing flexible medium provided the medium is constrained in use to move in the absence of the head fixed plane . the head is , therefore , useful for use with disk files with differently contoured or flat bernoulli backing plates ; for use in files employing stacks of rotating flexible disks where the rotation of each disk is maintained substantially constant by the near proximity of one or more of the adjacent rotating disks in the stack ; and for use with longitudinally moving tape in moving head or fixed head tape drives . the head preferred for the disk drive specifically described herein is symmetrical so that no problems are encountered as a result of head ` yaw ` during access operations associated with the swinging arm actuator . thus the head groove is circular and the surface of the head is spherical . with a linear actuator this symmetry , although probably preferable from a manufacturing standpoint , is not essential . 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 .
| 6 |
a crucible 1 shown in fig1 has a base 2 and a plurality of side walls 3 rigidly connected to the base 2 . the base 2 and the side walls 3 partially surround an interior 4 to receive a silicon melt . the crucible 1 has a longitudinal axis 5 oriented perpendicular to the base 2 . a coating 8 is provided on an inner side 6 of the base 2 and on inner sides 7 of the side walls 3 . it is also possible for the crucible 1 to be uncoated . a plurality of nuclei 9 are anchored in the base 2 , the nuclei 9 being arranged distributed in a structured manner in the base 2 . in this case , the nuclei 9 are provided in such a way that they project through the coating 8 into the interior 4 of the crucible 1 and come into contact with the silicon melt to be poured into the crucible 1 . it is also possible for the nuclei 9 to be anchored in accordance with a statistical distribution and therefore without a specific preferred orientation in the crucible 1 . in particular , it is also possible to provide the nuclei 9 in at least one side wall 3 . the nuclei 9 have at least one compound from a group of elements from the iii , iv or v main group of the periodic table of elements . in particular , compounds of elements of the iii , iv or v main group with oxygen are also possible , al 2 o 3 being above all particularly suitable . beo has also proven to be a suitable nucleating agent for the crucible 1 according to the invention even if be is an element of the ii main group . moreover , ceramic materials have a small lattice disregistry with respect to silicon and are well wetted by the silicon melt as they have a chemical affinity to silicon , such as , for example sic . moreover , further carbides , but also nitrides , phosphides and oxides and therefore also silicates are possible as alternative nuclei 9 . compounds of elements of the iii and v main group have proven to be particularly suitable as these elements are also used as doping materials and therefore their effect as extraneous materials is reduced . further possible materials for the nuclei 9 are therefore sio , sio 2 , si 3 n 4 , bn , bp , alp , alas and an . these compounds have in common that their melt temperature is above that of silicon and is therefore greater than 1412 ° c . the effective nuclei density for the method according to the invention to produce silicon is particularly important , which will be dealt with in more detail below . the effective nuclei density in the crucible 1 according to the invention is between 0 . 001 and 100 nuclei per cm 2 , in particular between 0 . 01 and 10 nuclei per cm 2 and , in particular , between 0 . 03 and 5 nuclei cm 2 . in this case , the nuclei 9 used have a size of 0 . 01 to 50000 μm , in particular between 0 . 1 and 5000 μm and , in particular , between 1 and 500 μm . the method according to the invention for producing silicon with the crucible 1 according to the invention will be described in more detail below . firstly , the crucible 1 with the base 2 and the side walls 3 is provided . nuclei 9 are then provided at least on the inner side 6 of the base 2 in such a way that they are rigidly anchored to the base 2 and can come into direct contact with the silicon melt , even when the base 2 and / or the side walls 3 have a coating 8 . this crucible 1 is filled with the silicon melt , the silicon melt , proceeding from the nuclei 9 , firstly solidifying primarily in a planar manner until the inner side 6 provided with the nuclei 9 is substantially covered with planar silicon particles . a bulk crystal growth then takes place in a preferred growth direction 10 oriented perpendicular to the inner sides 6 , 7 . finally , the silicon body which has solidified in the crucible 1 is removed . the nucleation on the nuclei 9 will be described in more detail below . owing to the use of the nuclei , a critical undercooling necessary for nucleation compared to the remaining regions of the inner sides 6 , 7 of the crucible , which have no nuclei 9 , is reduced . the use of nuclei 9 means that the nucleation starts at a temperature reduction of a few k in relation to the melt temperature of silicon , whereas a nucleation at a greater temperature difference from the silicon melt temperature is to be expected at the remaining points of the inner sides 6 , 7 of the crucible . the nuclei 9 growing first determine the structure of the semiconductor body . a second embodiment of the invention will be described below with reference to fig2 . structurally identical parts have the same reference numerals as in the first embodiment , reference being hereby made to the description thereof . structurally different , but functionally similar parts have the same reference numerals with an a placed afterwards . an important difference of the crucible 1 a is the arrangement of the nuclei 9 , which are provided directly on the base 2 a of the crucible 1 a . in this case , the nuclei 9 can also be arranged randomly distributed as in the first embodiment of the crucible according to the invention and also be arranged on the inner sides 7 of the side walls 3 a . accordingly , it is also possible to configure the crucible 1 a without a coating 8 . a third embodiment of the invention will be described below with reference to fig3 . structurally identical parts have the same reference numerals as in the first embodiment , reference being hereby made to the description thereof . structurally different , but functionally similar parts have the same reference numerals with a b placed afterwards . the important difference from the first embodiment is the arrangement of the nuclei 9 in the coating 8 b of the crucible 1 b . this means that the nuclei 9 are independent of the base 2 b and the side walls 3 b of the crucible 1 b . in particular , neither the base 2 b nor the side walls 3 b have nuclei 9 and are also not connected to the nuclei 9 . the nuclei 9 are arranged in the coating 8 b in accordance with the first embodiment in such a way that they project at least partially into the interior 4 of the crucible 1 b for nucleation . in the third embodiment , the coating 8 b of the crucible 1 b is imperative . thus , the nucleation proceeding from the nuclei 9 starts directly on the coating 8 b . as also in the two first embodiments , the nuclei 9 may be arranged statistically distributed in the coating 8 b . in particular , it is possible for only certain walls of the crucible 1 b to be provided with nuclei , while other walls are free of nuclei . in the embodiment shown , the inner side 6 of the base 2 b and the inner side 7 of the side wall 3 b shown on the left in fig3 has nuclei 9 . a fourth embodiment of the invention will be described below with reference to fig4 . structurally identical parts have the same reference numerals as in the first embodiment , reference being hereby made to the description thereof . structurally different , but functionally similar parts have the same reference numerals with a c placed afterwards . the important difference from the first embodiment is the arrangement of the nuclei 9 on the coating 8 , it being possible for the nuclei 9 to be loosely applied or burnt into the coating 8 of the crucible 1 d . the nuclei 9 project into the interior 4 of the crucible 1 d and , as an alternative to the arrangement shown distributed in a structured manner , may also be arranged statistically distributed . it is also possible for the side walls 3 of the crucible 1 c to have nuclei 9 . according to a further embodiment not shown in a figure , monocrystalline nuclei 9 are used on the crucible base 2 , which have a preferred growth direction 10 , which is oriented parallel to the longitudinal axis 5 . for this purpose , sic scales are preferably used , which , because of their planar geometry embed on or in the coating 8 of the crucible 1 and therefore have the preferred growth direction 10 along the growth direction of the silicon melt . accordingly , the preferred growth direction 10 also applies to the solidifying silicon , which has a particularly positive effect on subsequent processes during the production of silicon cells . this applies , in particular , to a surface texture of a silicon cell . a preferred possibility for producing the nucleating particles on the inner sides 2 , 3 of the crucible 1 or on its coating 8 , is the use of a carrier medium in the form of a paste or a liquid with dispersed nuclei , in the form of a paste with dispersed metal , such as , for example , aluminium paste with rear metalisation , or in the form of precursors . in this case , the paste or the precursor is applied with the aid of a spray device , such as , for example , according to the principle of an inkjet print by spraying on , in accordance with a “ gateau cream spray bag ” by dropping on or by punch pressure on the inner sides 2 , 3 . by means of a following temperature process step , the starting materials of the paste with dispersed metal or of the precursor react to form the nucleating material and the particles of the paste with dispersed nuclei sinter with the crucible surface or its coating 8 . the carrier medium evaporates before the silicon melts .
| 8 |
usually the tape will be provided with an overcoat layer ; however , as previously indicated we do not exclude the possibility of the recording layer being sufficiently robust as to obviate the need for a protective overcoat layer . where an overcoat layer is present , it may have a thickness of the dimensions mentioned previously . preferably the backcoat layer and the opposite tape surface so contacted will have compositions and surface morphologies such that the ber characteristic does not undergo an increase of 6 × 10 - 4 , 100 % and / or does not exceed 8 × 10 - 4 when the tape is subjected to , and preferably in excess of , 10 4 ( more preferably 5 × 10 4 ) winding passes . by &# 34 ; winding pass &# 34 ; we mean winding of a sample of tape from one spool to the other and in accordance with the winding regime described hereinafter . &# 34 ; ber &# 34 ; refers to the ratio of correctly read data bits to the number of data bits resulting from initial laser writing . usually , the material compositions and surface morphologies of the overcoat and backcoat layers will be such that the ber remains within 50 %, more preferably within 35 % and most preferably within 20 %, of its initial value when the tape is subjected to up to the number of winding passes specified above . preferably the optical tape is of the type which is intended to be written and read by means of laser radiation transmitted through the overcoat layer , in which event the overcoat layer preferably has a substantially smooth morphology so that its thickness remains substantially uniform thereby eliminating the need for variation of focusing of the laser radiation to compensate for variation in overcoat thickness . in this instance , the backcoat will have a morphology imparting suitable surface texture to enhance the static coefficient of friction . the substantially smooth overcoat layer may nevertheless have properties which enhance μs e . g . the overcoat layer may have a surface energy which serves to enhance μs and this may be achieved for instance by avoiding the use of a slip agent in the overcoat composition or using such an agent sparingly therein . the backcoat likewise may have a surface energy which serves to enhance μs . in preferred embodiments of the invention where the backcoat layer has a surface texture , the backcoat layer comprises a layer of cured material comprising at least one polymer wherein the surface texture is imparted primarily by the polymer or polymers per se . where the context admits , the terms &# 34 ; polymerisation &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; polymer &# 34 ; as used herein include reference to homo - and co - polymerisation and to homo - and co - polymers respectively and the term monomer herein includes reference to oligomer . thus , the surface texture is primarily imparted by the polymer ( s ) per se rather than by an inorganic filler . in this way , compared with conventionally used inorganic fillers , the peaks of the surface texture tend to be less angular , ie . the peaks tend to be relatively smooth and do not tend to present abrasion promoting discontinuities . the surface texture may be induced at least in part and preferably primarily as a result of evaporation of a volatile vehicle from a coating composition containing said vehicle and the unpolymerised component ( s ). usually , the surface texture will be provided substantially entirely by the polymer ( s ) per se but , in some instances , the surface texture may involve a minor contribution from other sources . for example , as referred to more specifically hereinafter , the material may incorporate a nucleating agent the presence of which may contribute to the surface relief but only to a relatively insignificant extent . the method of forming the backcoat preferably comprises coating the substrate with a solution or dispersion of material in a volatile liquid vehicle , drying the coating to remove the volatile vehicle , the material comprising at least one polymerisable component such that the drying process is effective to impart a surface texture to the dried layer formed by the coating of material , and curing the dried layer to retain said surface texture . usually the surface texture will comprise peaks and troughs distributed substantially uniformly over the entirety of the layer of material . typically the average roughness ( r a as measured using perthometer , a machine manufactured by mahr of germany for measuring surface roughness in a conventional manner by means of a stylus ) is up to about 2 microns and more usually within the range 0 . 1 - 1 . 0 microns . according to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided an optical tape recording medium comprising a substrate in the form of a tape , a layer of optical recording material applied to one face of the tape , an overcoat layer overlying the recording layer and a backcoat applied to the opposite face of the tape whereby the backcoat and overcoat layers contact one another when the tape is in spooled form , the backcoat layer and the overcoat layer each comprising organic polymeric materials , the overcoat layer being substantially smooth and the backcoat layer having a surface texture with an average roughness ra in excess of 0 . 05 and preferably at least 1 micron imparted thereto substantially entirely by the morphology of the polymeric material per se , the polymeric materials comprising said overcoat and backcoat layers being such that the ber of the recording layer does not exceed 8 × 10 - 4 after subjecting the recording tape to , and preferably in excess of , 10 3 winding passes ( more preferably 10 4 , and most preferably 5 × 10 4 winding passes ). preferably the average surface roughness ra will not exceed about 2 microns and will usually be no greater than 1 . 0 micron . the surface texture will usually be such that a major proportion . preferably substantially all , of the surface effects are formed by retraction of the component or at least one of the components of the coating and / or , where the coating comprises at least two components , phase separation between at least two of the said components . said polymer or polymerisable component may comprise a metal acrylate and / or methacrylate , or a monomer , or a combination thereof . to avoid unnecessary repetition , hereinafter the term &# 34 ;( meth ) acrylate &# 34 ; will be used in place of the phrase &# 34 ; acrylate and / or methacrylate .&# 34 ; it is preferred that substantially no shrinkage of the coating as a result of a chemical process , for example polymerisation and cross - linking , occurs prior to the curing of the metal ( meth ) acrylate and / or monomer . if any such shrinkage of the coating occurs , it is preferred that it does not contribute substantially , in relation to the retraction and / or phase separation , to the surface effects of the coating . suitably , a major proportion , preferably substantially all of the surface effects of the coating are formed before the metal ( meth ) acrylate and / or monomer is cured . by &# 34 ; monomer &# 34 ; is meant a true monomer and / or an oligomer / pre - polymer which can be uv , electron beam and / or thermally cured . the amount , structure , molecular weight and functionality of the monomer can influence the morphology and properties of the cured coating . the monomer can be selected to optimise the coating requirements for a particular application , such as surface roughness ; optical properties , eg haze ; mechanical properties , eg abrasion resistance ; flexibility ; adhesion ; solvent / chemical resistance ; and weatherability . the monomer is suitably a uv - reactive species , and more preferably a compound having an acrylate functional group . particularly suitable monomers include acrylate ester monomers , urethane acrylate oligomers and n - vinyl lactam monomers . preferred acrylate ester monomers include acrylate esters having a plurality of acrylate groups , with trimethylolpropane triacrylate ( tmpta ), ethoxylated tmpta ( tmpteoa ), tripropylene glycol diacrylate ( tpgda ), and dipentaerythritol monohydroxy pentaacrylate ( dpepa ) being particularly preferred . preferred acrylate oligomers include polyester acrylates and epoxy acrylates , with oligomeric acrylate thioethers -- for example tmpta -[ s - tmpta ] n - s - tmpta where n is 0 to 2 which is available from rbhm gmbh under the trade name plex 6696 - 0 , and urethane acrylates , especially aliphatic urethane acrylate oligomers , being particularly preferred . the monomer may also be a cationic cured epoxy compound -- such as a cycloaliphatic di - epoxide , for example 3 , 4 - epoxycyclohexylmethyl - 3 &# 39 ;, 4 &# 39 ;- epoxycyclohexane carboxylate available under the trade name degacure k126 from degussa . in this case it is desirable that a cationic photoinitiator , such as a triarylsulphonium salt , is present . a blend of acrylate ester monomer and / or acrylate oligomer and / or n - vinyl lactam monomer may also be used as the monomer , particularly a blend of dpepa and plex 6696 - 0 . a n - vinyl lactam monomer , if present in the blend , may suitably comprise up to 40 % by weight and preferably no more than 30 % by weight of the blend . if desired , a cationic cured epoxy compound may also be included in any blends of monomers . as herein described and employed , the metal ( meth ) acrylate preferably comprises a multivalent metal ion , for example a transition metal ion such as zirconium , more preferably a divalent metal ion such as zinc , cobalt , nickel or copper . a metal acrylate is generally preferred to a metal methacrylate . a particularly preferred metal acrylate is zinc diacrylate . the metal ( meth ) acrylate and / or monomer may conveniently be applied to the substrate in a coating medium comprising a solution or dispersion of the metal ( meth ) acrylate and / or monomer in a suitable volatile vehicle , particularly an organic solvent or dispersant medium . the volatile vehicle may then be removed , suitably by drying to evaporate the vehicle . suitable organic media include common solvents -- for example acetone and tetrahydrofuran and preferably those which have a hydrogen bonding capability such as alcohols , particularly methanol . deposition of the metal ( meth ) acrylate and / or monomer solution or dispersion onto the polymeric substrate is effected by conventional film coating techniques -- for example , by gravure roll coating , reverse roll coating , dip coating , bead coating , slot coating or electrostatic spray coating . the solution or dispersion is suitably applied in an amount such that the thickness of the applied layer when dried is of the order of 5 μm or less , more usually 0 . 5 to 4 μm . the degree of surface texture obtained can be controlled by varying the rate of drying of the metal ( meth ) acrylate and / or monomer layer ; for example rapid drying of , for example , zinc diacrylate ( 1 min at 100 ° c .) can produce a regular microcrystalline structure imparting texture and light scattering to the coated film . as mentioned previously , a nucleating agent may be present in the coating composition and serves to provide sites in the substantially un - cured coating at which the metal ( meth ) acrylate or monomer can crystallise . a suitable nucleating agent may already be present , for example , in the metal ( meth ) acrylate or the monomer ; for instance , commercially available grades of zinc diacrylate which have been investigated have been found to contain small quantities of a material which is insoluble in a suitable coating solvent for example methanol . preliminary analysis has indicated that this material is partially polymerised zinc diacrylate and / or zinc stearate . when solutions of commercially available zinc diacrylate , for example , technical grade zinc diacrylate available from rohm , are prepared in methanol some ( of the order of 0 . 1 % by weight compared to the amount of zinc diacrylate ) of the higher molecular weight material remains suspended in solution for several days as a colloidal dispersion . the colloidal component aids formation of surface texture , remains stable in the coating solution and may be uniformly distributed in the coated layer after drying . where a separate nucleating agent is employed , it may comprise a conventional nucleating agent such as silica , preferably amorphous silica , or carbon black , both available from degussa under the trade names aerosil tt600 and printex xe2 respectively . once the solvent has been removed from the metal ( meth ) acrylate and / or monomer layer , it is necessary to cure the layer in order to fix the surface texture produced during the solvent removal regime . suitable curing methods include polymerisation of the metal ( meth ) acrylate , for example by electron beam curing ; thermal curing , preferably using thermal initiators , especially thermal free radical initiators such as inorganic or organic peroxides , for example benzoyl peroxide , azo compounds , for example 2 , 2 &# 39 ;- azobisisobutyronitrile ; but photopolymerisation is preferred . photopolymerisation is suitably achieved by exposing the solvent - free metal ( meth ) acrylate layer to high intensity ultra - violet ( uv ) light , for example using a mercury arc lamp , preferably a medium pressure mercury arc lamp , providing uv light having a wavelength of about 240 to about 370 nm and preferably 260 to 370 nm . uv - curing can be performed in air , or if required , for example to increase the curing rate , in an inert atmosphere such as nitrogen . initiation of photopolymerisation may be effected in the presence of a photoinitiator , wide range of which are commercially available for use in a system comprising a metal ( meth ) acrylate and / or a monomer . the photoinitiator is preferably incorporated in an amount ranging from 0 . 1 to 20 %, more preferably 2 to 12 % by weight of the total reactive components . suitable photoinitiators include benzoins , benzoin alkyl ethers , benzil ketals , acetophenone derivatives , for example dialkyl acetophenones and di - chloro and tri - chloro acetophenones , and particularly irgacure 651 and irgacure 907 both of which are available from ciba geigy . the coating composition preferably comprises both the monomer and the metal ( meth ) acrylate . it will be understood that the monomer will be able to cure in the presence of the metal ( meth ) acrylate . the amount , structure , molecular weight and functionality of the monomer can influence the morphology and properties of the cured coating . the monomer can be selected to optimise the coating requirements for a particular application , such as surface roughness ; optical properties , eg haze ; mechanical properties , eg abrasion resistance ; flexibility ; adhesion ; solvent / chemical resistance ; and weatherability . the amount of monomer in the coating composition can vary over a wide range , preferably from 0 to 95 %, more preferably 60 to 90 %, and particularly 66 to 85 % by weight of the total reactive components . when the coating composition comprises a metal ( meth ) acrylate , particularly zinc diacrylate , and a monomer , the metal ( meth ) acrylaze may separate out from the monomer to form a two - phase system , as the solvent is removed by for example drying . the morphology of the resulting surface coating is dependent on the ratio of the salt to the monomer can be described as a discontinuous metal ( meth ) acrylate phase or ionomeric phase embedded in a continuous polymeric phase . depending upon the compatibility of the metal ( meth ) acrylate and the monomer , it is possible that some of the monomer may be incorporated in the ionomeric phase and / or that some of the metal ( meth ) acrylate may be incorporated in the polymeric phase . the presence of a monomer in the coating formulation may result in an improvement in the durability of the resulting surface textured coating . in order to secure phase separation , the coating composition may also comprise a polymer component , in addition to the monomer and / or the metal ( meth ) acrylate , which suitably is substantially incompatible with at least one other component of the composition and preferably all of the components of the composition . suitable polymer components include high molecular weight ( eg . 1000 to 5000 , more preferably 3000 to 4000 ) epoxy polymers such as bisphenol a epichlorohydrin condensates for example epikote 1009 , an epoxy resin available from shell and cellulosic polymers for example cellulose acetate . the amount of polymer component in the coating composition may vary over a wide range and is determined by the application for which the medium is required . the polymer component may be present in an amount of up to 90 %, preferably 1 to 80 % and especially 20 to 60 % by weight of the total reactive components . if desired , a supercoat may be applied to the surface textured coating of a medium according to the invention to provide protection therefor . in order to retain the benefit of the surface relief of the surface textured coating it is highly desirable that the supercoat follows the contours of the surface relief and is applied in a layer of substantially uniform thickness . we have found that a supercoat having a low surface energy , preferably not more than 44 dyne / cm , more preferably not more than 36 dyne / cm and especially in the range 16 to 36 dyne / cm , is particularly advantageous . such supercoats reduce the affinity between the supercoat of the recording medium and the opposite surface thereof . suitably the low surface energy supercoat comprises a hydrocarbon wax , a silicone polymer / prepolymer , desirably silicone ( meth ) acrylates -- for example ebecryl 1360 available from union carbide , and / or fluorinated polymers / prepolymers -- for example 2 , 2 , 3 , 3 tetrafluoropropylmethacrylate available from rohm gmbh . the thickness of the supercoat will depend upon the application for which the medium is produced but is preferably in the range 1 nm to 2 μm and especially 1nm to 0 . 5 μm . prior to deposition of the surface textured coating medium onto the polymeric substrate the exposed surface thereof may be subjected to a surface - modifying treatment to provide a receptive layer thereon . the treatment may be chemical or physical , a convenient treatment , because of its simplicity and effectiveness , which is particularly suitable for the treatment of a polyolefin substrate , being to subject the exposed surface of the substrate to a high voltage electrical stress accompanied by corona discharge . alternatively , the receptive layer may be created by pretreating the substrate with a medium known in the art to have a solvent or swelling action on the substrate polymer . examples of such media , which particularly suitable for the treatment of a polyester substrate , include a halogenated phenol dissolved in a common organic solvent , for example a solution of p - chloro - m - cresol , 2 , 4 - dichlorophenol , 2 , 4 , 5 - or 2 , 4 , 6 - trichlorophenol or 4 - chlororesorcinol in acetone or methanol . in addition , and preferably , the treatment solution may contain a partially hydrolysed vinyl chloride - vinyl acetate copolymer . such a copolymer conveniently contains from 60 to 98 per cent of vinyl chloride , and from 0 . 5 to 3 % of hydroxyl units , by weight of the copolymer . the molecular weight ( number average ) of the copolymer is conveniently in a range of from 10 , 000 to 30 , 000 and preferably from 16 , 500 to 25 , 000 . a suitable receptive layer is formed by coating the polymeric substrate with a coating composition comprising an acrylic or methacrylic polymer , preferably comprising at least one monomer derived from an ester of acrylic acid , especially an alkyl ester where the alkyl group contains up to ten carbon atoms such as methyl , ethyl , n - propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , isobutyl , terbutyl , hexyl , 2 - ethylhexyl , heptyl , and n - octyl . polymers derived from an alkyl acrylate , for example ethyl acrylate and butyl acrylate , together with an alkyl methacrylate are preferred . polymers comprising ethyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate are particularly preferred . the acrylate monomer may be present in a proportion in the range 30 to 65 mole %, and the methacrylate monomer may be present in a proportion in the range of 20 to 60 mole other monomers which are suitable for use in the preparation of the acrylic or methacrylic polymer , which may be used instead of , but are preferably copolymerised as optional additional monomers together with esters of acrylic acid and / or methacrylic acid , and derivatives thereof , include acrylonitrile , methacrylonitrile , halo - substituted acrylonitrile , halo - substituted methacrylonitrile , acrylamide , methacrylamide , n - methylol acrylamide , n - ethanol acrylamide , n - propanol acrylamide , n - methacrylamide , n - ethanol methacrylamide , n - methyl acrylamide , n - tertiary butyl acrylamide , hydroxyethyl methacrylate , glycidyl acrylate , glycidyl methacrylate , dimethylamino ethyl methacrylate , itaconic acid , itaconic anhydride and half esters of itaconic acid . other optional monomers include vinyl esters such as vinyl acetate , vinyl chloracetate and vinyl benzoate , vinyl pyridine , vinyl chloride , vinylidene chloride , maleic acid , maleic anhydride , styrene and derivatives of styrene such as chloro styrene , hydroxy styrene and alkylated styrenes , wherein the alkyl group contains from one to ten carbon atoms . a preferred acrylic or methacrylic polymer derived from 3 monomers comprises 35 to 60 mole % of ethyl acrylate : 30 to 55 mole % of methyl methacrylate : 2 - 20 mole % of methacrylamide , and particularly in a ratio of 46 / 46 / 8 mole % respectively . the molecular weight of a suitable acrylic or methacrylic polymeric component can vary over a wide range but the weight average molecular weight is preferably within the range 40 , 000 to 300 , 000 , and more preferably within the range 50 , 000 to 200 , 000 . another suitable receptive layer is formed by coating the polymeric substrate with a mixture of the aforementioned acrylic or methacrylic polymer and a styrene / butadiene copolymer . a preferred styrene / butadiene copolymer has a molar ratio of styrene : butadiene of approximately 1 . 4 : 1 . 0 . a preferred acrylic or methacrylic polymer for mixing with the styrene / butadiene copolymer comprises methyl methacrylate / ethyl acrylate / methacrylamide , preferably in a ratio of 46 / 46 / 8 mole % respectively . the weight ratio of the styrene / butadiene copolymer to acrylic or methacrylic polymer can vary over a wide range , preferably from 1 . 0 : 0 . 1 to 10 . 0 , more preferably from 1 . 0 : 0 . 25 to 4 . 0 , and particularly 1 . 0 : 1 . 0 . a preferred receptive layer has a low surface energy which facilitates retraction of the surface textured coating composition to form the surface textured coating . such a receptive layer suitably comprises any of the materials which may be employed in a low surface energy supercoat as herein described . desirably such a receptive layer may chemically react with the surface textured coating to promote adhesion between the receptive layer and the surface textured coating and preferably comprises ( meth ) acrylate double bonds which react with ( meth ) acrylate groups in the surface textured coating for example when the said coating is cured . if desired , a plurality of treatments may be sequentially applied to a substrate . the treatment is suitably applied at a concentration or intensity which will yield a receptive layer having a dry thickness generally less than 1 μm , and preferably from 0 . 05 to 0 . 5 μm . a polyester substrate , for example a polyethylene terephthalate film , may require one or more of the aforementioned surface treatments in order to obtain adequate adhesion of the surface textured layer to the substrate . the substrate of the optical tape according to the invention may be formed from any synthetic , film - forming polymeric material . suitable thermoplastics materials include a homopolymer or copolymer of a 1 - olefin , such as ethylene , propylene and but - 1 - ene , a polyamide , a polycarbonate , and , particularly , a synthetic linear polyester which may be obtained by condensing one or more dicarboxylic acids or their lower alkyl ( up to 6 carbon atoms ) diesters , eg terephthalic acid , isophthalic acid , phthalic acid , 2 , 5 - 2 , 6 - or 2 , 7 - naphthalenedicarboxylic acid , succinic acid , sebacic acid , adipic acid , azelaic acid , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diphenyldicarboxylic acid , hexahydroterephthalic acid or 1 , 2 - bis - p - carboxyphenoxyethane ( optionally with a monocarboxylic acid , such as pivalic acid ) with one or more glycols , particularly aliphatic glycols , eg ethylene glycol , 1 , 3 - propanediol , 1 , 4 - butanediol , neopentyl glycol and 1 , 4 - cyclohexanedimethanol . a polyethylene naphthalate , and particularly a polyethylene terephthalate film is preferred , especially such a film which has been biaxially oriented by sequential stretching in two mutually perpendicular directions , typically at a temperature in the range 70 ° to 125 ° c ., and preferably heat set , typically at a temperature in the range 150 ° to 250 ° c ., for example -- as described in british patent gb - a - 838708 . the substrate may also comprise a polyarylether or thio analogue thereof , particularly a polyaryletherketone , polyarylethersulphone , polyaryletheretherketone , polyaryletherethersulphone , or a copolymer or thioanalogue thereof . examples of these polymers are disclosed in ep - a - 1879 , ep - a - 184458 and us - a - 4008203 , particularly suitable materials being those sold by ici plc under the registered trade mark stabar . blends of these polymers may also be employed . suitable thermoset resin substrate materials include addition -- polymerisation resins -- such as acrylics , vinyls , bis - maleimides and unsaturated polyesters , formaldehyde condensate resins -- such as condensates with urea , melamine or phenols , cyanate resins , isocyanate resins , epoxy resins , functionalised polyesters , polyamides or polyimides . a polymeric film substrate for production of a medium according to the invention may be unoriented , or uniaxially oriented , but is preferably biaxially oriented . a thermoplastics polymeric substrate is conveniently biaxially oriented by drawing in two mutually perpendicular directions in the plane of the film to achieve a satisfactory combination of mechanical and physical properties . simultaneous biaxial orientation may be effected by extruding a thermoplastics polymeric tube which is subsequently quenched , reheated and then expanded by internal gas pressure to induce transverse orientation , and withdrawn at a rate which will induce longitudinal orientation . sequential stretching may be effected in a stenter process by extruding the thermoplastics substrate material as a flat extrudate which is subsequently stretched first in one direction and then in the other mutually perpendicular direction . generally , it is preferred to stretch firstly in the longitudinal direction , ie the forward direction through the film stretching machine , and then in the transverse direction . a stretched substrate film may be , and preferably is , dimensionally stabilised by heat - setting under dimensional restraint at a temperature above the glass transition temperature thereof . the coating composition forming the backcoat layer may be applied to a receptive surface of an already biaxially oriented , and preferably heat - set , film substrate . however , we do not exclude the possibility of applying said coating composition at other stages during the production of the substrate . eg . at an intermediate stage between the stretching stages referred to above . the thickness of the substrate of a medium according to the invention may vary over a wide range , but generally will be up to 300 , especially from 2 to 75 μm . the thicknesses of the respective layers deposited on the substrate are usually minor by comparison therewith . a medium according to the invention may therefore be expected to exhibit a total thickness of from about 5 to 310 μm , especially 10 to 260 μm . one or more of the polymeric layers of a tape according to the invention may conveniently contain any of the additives conventionally employed in the manufacture of thermoplastics polymeric films . thus , agents such as anti - static agents , dyes , pigments , voiding agents , lubricants , anti - oxidants , anti - blocking agents , surface active agents , slip aids , gloss - improvers , prodegradants , ultra - violet light stabilisers , viscosity modifiers and dispersion stabilisers may be incorporated in the substrate and / or receptive layer ( s ) and / or surface textured backcoat layer , as appropriate . the invention is illustrated by reference to the accompanying drawings in which : fig1 is a diagrammatic sectional view through an optical recording medium having a backcoat applied thereto ; and fig2 is a graph illustrating the variation of ber with tape winding cycles for an optical tape having a backcoat in accordance with the invention and for a optical tape having a backcoat incorporating an inorganic filler . fig3 is a diagrammatic illustration of the tape transport mechanism of an optical tape recorder used for testing purposes . referring to fig1 the optical recording medium illustrated is in a form suitable for use as a flexible optical tape . however , it will be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to media of the optical tape type as shown in fig1 . the medium comprises a flexible substrate 10 which is coated on one face with a subbing or smoothing layer 12 . the reverse face of the substrate is coated with a backcoat 13 which , in conventional tape recording media would incorporate inorganic filler particles , such as alumina , so as to impart a surface relief to the reverse side of the substrate . a thin layer 15 of material , eg . a suitable metal , is applied to the smooth surface of the subbing layer 12 to provide a surface which is highly reflective with respect to the wavelength used for writing into and reading from the medium . an amorphous recording layer 18 of a dye combined with a thermoplastic binder is solvent coated over the reflecting layer 15 . a number of suitable dyes for use in the recording layer 18 are disclosed in our prior u . s . pat . no . 4606859 . the binder is typically an amorphous polyester thermoplastic resin . an overcoat layer 20 is superimposed on the recording layer 18 , the overcoat layer being of a material which is highly transmissive to the laser radiation used for writing and reading the medium and which will be compatible with the reverse surface of the substrate and may also serve to protect the recording layer from the environment and from damage by for example abrasion . the substrate 10 may comprise for example a 75 micron or less thick film of melinex which is a biaxially orientated polyethylene teraphthalate film ( melinex is a registered trade mark of imperial chemical industries plc ) and has sufficient flexibility to function , when coated with the layers 12 , 15 , 18 and 20 , as a flexible optical tape medium which may be wound up on a spool in a similar manner to magnetic tape media . the dye is selected so as to have an absorption peak slightly shifted away from the reading and writing wavelength , typically 830 nm . the overcoat layer is typically composed of tough and hard material such as a radiation cured urethane acrylate or epoxy acrylate . the recording medium shown in fig1 is intended to be written into and read back using conventional techniques involving moving the medium relative to an optical recording head operable in writing or reading modes using a laser beam adjusted to higher or lower power levels according to the mode of operation , recording being effected with increased power and read back with reduced power . the laser beam is focused onto the recording layer 18 through the overcoat layer 20 . information may be represented digitally by using pit length ( ie . the length of the pit in the direction of relative movement between the recording head and the medium ) or pit position to store binary information and the information is read back by applying threshold techniques to detect the reflectivity variations caused by the presence of the pits . in accordance with the invention , the backcoat and overcoat layers are such that the static coefficient of friction therebetween is somewhat in excess of that employed in conventional magnetic tape media so as to secure the advantages previously referred to in the context of reduced layer - to - layer slippage during tape storage and transport . although we do not exclude such possibility , the surface relief provided by the backcoat in securing an appropriate μs is not afford by the inclusion of an inorganic filler incorporated in the backcoat composition ; instead the required surface texture is imparted at least primarily by the morphology of the polymer ( s ) forming the backcoat . a polyethylene terephthalate film was melt extruded , cast onto a cooled rotating drum and stretched in the direction of extrusion to approximately 3 times its original dimensions . the cooled stretched film was then coated on both surfaces with an aqueous receptive layer composition containing the following ingredients : ______________________________________acrylic resin 3 . 125 liters ( 16 % w / w aqueous based latex of methylmethacrylate / ethyl acrylate / methacrylamide : 46 / 46 / 8 mole %, with 25 % by weight methoxylatedmelamine - formaldehyde ) ludox tm 0 . 43 liters ( 50 % w / w aqueous silica slurry of averageparticle size approximately 20 nm , supplied by du pont ) ammonium nitrate 0 . 20 liters ( 10 % w / w aqueous solution ) synperonic n 0 . 50 liters ( 27 % w / w aqueous solution of a nonyl phenolethoxylate , supplied by ici ) demineralised water to 100 liters______________________________________ the ph of the mixture being adjusted to 9 . 0 with dimetylamino ethanol ( prior to the addition of the lucox tm ). the receptive layer coated film was passed into a stenter oven , where the film was dried and stretched in the sideways direction to approximately 3 times its original dimensions . the biaxially stretched coated film was heat set at a temperature of about 200 ° c . by conventional means . final film thickness was 75 μm , with a dry coat weight of approximately 0 . 3 mgdm - 2 . the textured surface backcoat layer was derived from coating compositions 1a to 1f as indicated below and was applied to the receptive layer by &# 34 ; bead &# 34 ; ( meniscus ) coating . ______________________________________ composition (% w / w ) 1a 1b 1c 1d 1e 1f______________________________________zinc 0 . 56 1 . 4 2 . 23 3 . 07 3 . 90 1 . 50diacrylateplex -- -- -- -- -- 4 . 256690 - 6sartomer 1 . 3 3 . 25 5 . 21 7 . 16 9 . 12 4 . 25399irgacure 0 . 14 0 . 35 0 . 56 0 . 77 0 . 98 0 . 70907methanol 98 . 0 95 . 0 92 89 . 0 86 . 0 89 . 3total 2 . 0 5 . 0 8 . 0 11 . 0 14 . 0 10 . 7 (% w / w reactivecomponents ) ______________________________________ zinc diacrylate supplied by rohm : plex 6690 - 6 is an oligomeric acrylate thioether supplied by rohm ; sartomer 399 is a dipentaerythritol monohydroxy pentaacrylate supplied by sartomer ; irgacure 907 is 2 - methyl - 1 -(( 4 - methylthio ) phenyl )- 2 - morpholino - propanone - 1 supplied by ciba geigy . the applied wet coating was approximately 12 μm thick and was dried in an oven at 100 ° c . for up to 20 seconds depending on line speed . the dried coating was cured by one pass of the film at 24 meters per minute ( mpm ) for examples 1a to 1e , 30 mpm for example 1f under a pair of focused 118 w / cm ( 300 w / inch ) uv lamps ( microwave generated type h bulb fusion systems ) in a nitrogen purged atmosphere . films 1c and 1f were thereafter coated on the opposite side of the substrate to the backcoat with identical layers comprising a reflective layer , a dye / polymer layer and an overcoat layer to form an optical recording element having the structure described in fig1 but excluding the subbing layer . each of films 1c and 1f were produced with overcoat layers of approximately 30 nm thickness , and samples of film 1c were also produced with a thickness of approximately 220 nm : these films are herein designated as 1c 30 , 1f 30 and 1c 220 . ______________________________________reactive components (% w / w ) 64 . 5 ebecryl 220 ( ucb ) hexafunctional aromatic urethane acrylate21 . 5 ebecryl 210 ( ucb ) difunctional aromatic urethane acrylate3 . 8 ebecryl 1360 ( ucb ) silicone acrylate3 . 4 uvecryl p115 ( ucb ) amino acrylate6 . 8 irgacure 907 ( ciba geigy ) solvent system (% v / v ) 75 industrial methylated spirits20 acetone5 diacetone alcohol______________________________________ for the production of a thick overcoat ( approx 220 nm ), the coating solution comprised 3 . 75 % w / v reactives to solvent and for the thin overcoat ( approx 30 nm ), it comprised 0 . 40 % w / v reactives / solvent . the properties of the cured films were assessed and the results are given in table 1 . surface roughness was measured using a perthometer s6p surface measuring and recording instrument having a &# 34 ; free tracing system &# 34 ; and a datum pick - up no ftk 3 - 50 to measure the average roughness ( ra ) and the average groove distance ( rsm ) on the film under test . table 1______________________________________1a 1b 1c . sub . 220 1c . sub . 30 1d 1e 1f . sub . 30______________________________________r . sub . a0 . 13 0 . 30 0 . 45 0 . 45 0 . 59 0 . 83 0 . 43r . sub . sm64 81 99 99 127 166 190μs0 . 96 0 . 61 0 . 87 1 . 03 0 . 81 0 . 95 2 . 45μd0 . 18 0 . 13 0 . 15 0 . 70 0 . 16 0 . 19 2 . 15______________________________________ μs and μd respectively represent the static and dynamic coefficients of surface friction . surface friction was determined using lloyd jj t5k &# 34 ; tensile tester &# 34 ; available from instron ltd . a sample of the film was laid on the base plate of the instrument with the surface textured coating face down and a second sample of the film was secured , with surface textured coating facing down , to a block having a weight exerting a downward force of 5 . 88n . the block was placed on the first - mentioned sample . the dwell time , that is the time for which the samples were in contact prior to the block being moved was about 10 seconds . a wire was attached to the block and the tensile tester was operated at a cross - head speed of 50 mm / minute . the force on the wire required to move the block with the samples in contact was measured by the load cell to give a static and a dynamic friction reading . the samples of film to be tested were allowed to equilibrate for one hour at a temperature of 20 ° c . and 60 % relative humidity . in the case of examples 1a , 1b , 1d and 1e , because these were not dye coated and overcoated , a sample of film 1c was laid on the base plate and samples of film 1a , b , d or e were secured to the block . the procedure of example 1 was repeated , with identical substrate and receptive layers , but the textured surface layer was derived from a coating composition comprising : ______________________________________sartomer sr368 1 . 0 % w / w ( tris ( 2 - hydroxyethyl ) isocyanurate triacrylatesupplied by cray valley products ) irgacure 907 0 . 7 % w / wmethanol 98 . 9 % w / w______________________________________ the applied wet coating was dried in an oven at 125 ° c . for 10 seconds to provide a dry coat weight of approximately 110 mg / m 2 . the dried coating was cured by one pass of the film at 30 mpm under two focused 300 w / inch ( 118 w / cm ) medium pressure mercury arc lamps ( fusion systems type h ) in nitrogen . the cured coat thickness was approximately 0 . 7 μm . the film was treated on the opposite side of the substrate to the back coat with a coating identical to that applied to the opposite side of the substrate in examples 1c 30 and 1f 30 . the coating properties of the cured film were assessed and the surface roughness was measured as ra 0 . 07 and rsm & lt ; 36 and the static coefficient of static friction was measured as 1 . 1 to 1 . 4 . the procedure of example 1 was repeated with an identical substrate and receptive layers but the textured surface layer was derived from a coating the following composition and contained a conventional filler ( silica ). the coating composition was formed by dispersing aerosil r972 into a mill base formulation by bead milling for 40 mins . ______________________________________component % w / w______________________________________ebecryl 5129 29 . 93isopropyl alcohol 29 . 93methanol 29 . 93aerosil r972 9 . 99isocetyl stearate 0 . 23______________________________________ the mill base was slowly diluted with solvent plus photoinitiators to give a coating composition comprising : ______________________________________component % w / w______________________________________ebecryl 5129 * 10 . 0aerosil r972 1 . 0isocetyl stearate 0 . 02irgacure 907 0 . 4uvecryl p115 * 0 . 4isopropyl alcohol 3 . 0acetone 61 . 83methanol 19 . 25diacetone alcohol 4 . 1______________________________________ ebecryl 5129 ( ucb ) is a hexafunctional aliphatic urethaneacrylate ; aerosil r972 ( degussa ) is a hydrophobic surface treated silica , average primary particle size - 16 nm and bet surface area - 110 ± 20 m 2 / g ; uvecryl p115 ( ucb ) is an aminoacrylate co - initiator . the applied wet coat was approximately 12 microns thick and was dried in an oven at 80 ° c . for 40 seconds . the dried coating was cured by one pass of the film at 10 meters / min under a pair of focused 118 w / cm ( 300 w / inch ) uv lamps ( microwave generated type h bulb fusion systems ) in a nitrogen purged atmosphere . the film obtained in example 3 ( comparative ) was treated on the uncoated side of the film to enable evaluation thereof as optical data storage media . the film was treated to provide an identical coating to that on the opposite side of the back coat of example 1f 30 . the overcoat was 30 ± 5 nm thick in each case . the film of example 3 so prepared was found to have a surface roughness of 0 . 09 ( r a ) and friction coefficients of 0 . 58 ( μs ) and 0 . 41 ( μd ). the films of examples 1f 30 , 2 and 3 ( comparative ) were slit into 35 mm tapes and the wear characteristics of the two films were assessed by subjecting the tapes to the following winding regime . initially the data is written along the length of the sample tape to be cycled , the data being written over a length of 9 . 8 meters . the data is read prior to any cycling to obtain a measure of the raw bit error rate . data is read at selected locations within the written 9 . 8 m length , for example a number of 64 mbyte files are read . using the transport mechanism of a creo 1003 optical tape recorder , as illustrated diagrammatically in fig3 the tape was cycled from supply reel 50 to take up reel 52 via a path defined by idlers 54 and capstan 56 , and then returned to the supply reel . data is read by read / write head 58 located adjacent the capstan . the sample tape is transferred between the supply reel and the take - up reel at a constant speed of 3 m / sec . each transfer of the tape from one reel to the other is a pass so that the tape undergoes two passes in the course of being unwound from the supply reel and then rewound back onto the supply reel . during transfer of the tape between the supply reel and the take - up reel , part of the data - bearing section of the tape is left unwound to ensure that some data remains stored in the supply reel thereby providing a control by accessing and reading the uncycled data at intervals throughout the test . after every 100 passes , the data is read in the cycled and &# 34 ; uncycled &# 34 ; regions and the ber determined . the ber provides a measure of the ratio of correctly read data bits to the number of data bits resulting from initial laser writing . the results of this test are indicated in table 2 and by the graph of fig2 . the testing on the film of example 3 was discontinued after 10000 passes in view of the high ber reached at that stage . testing of the film of example 1f 30 in contrast was continued beyond 60000 passes and still continued to give low ber &# 39 ; s . this illustrates that , whilst a relatively high μs can be obtained by using a filled backcoat layer as in example 3 , the ber rapidly deteriorates upon repeated cycling ; in contrast , using a non - filled backcoat layer as in example 1f 30 and 2 provides a virtually constant ber with repeated cycling even when μs is much higher . table 2______________________________________ber / 10 . sup .- 4 example 3cycles example 1f ( thin ) example 2 ( comparative ) ______________________________________0 6 . 04 0 . 081 6 . 86100 -- 0 . 149 8 . 54200 -- 0 . 176 9 . 47300 -- 0 . 200 10 . 4400 -- 0 . 231 11 . 4500 6 . 17 0 . 256 11 . 8600 -- 0 . 272 12 . 3700 -- 0 . 291 12 . 8800 -- 0 . 310 13 . 61000 6 . 18 0 . 334 14 . 41500 6 . 14 0 . 401 15 . 82000 6 . 27 0 . 449 16 . 52500 6 . 19 0 . 505 17 . 63000 6 . 17 0 . 546 18 . 53500 6 . 05 0 . 592 19 . 04000 6 . 05 0 . 635 19 . 64500 6 . 19 0 . 691 19 . 85000 6 . 19 0 . 745 20 . 35500 6 . 22 0 . 814 20 . 66000 6 . 08 0 . 865 21 . 16500 6 . 32 0 . 923 21 . 57000 6 . 20 0 . 988 21 . 87500 6 . 28 1 . 04 22 . 18000 6 . 35 1 . 11 22 . 58500 6 . 10 1 . 17 22 . 99000 6 . 30 1 . 23 23 . 69500 6 . 24 1 . 28 24 . 010000 6 . 27 1 . 32 24 . 420000 6 . 41 2 . 67 -- 30000 6 . 61 3 . 80 ( at 28000 ) -- 40000 6 . 67 -- 50000 6 . 50 -- 60000 6 . 84 -- ______________________________________
| 8 |
in an embodiment of the present invention , the extended release tablet comprises of active ingredient and water soluble rate controlling polymer and optionally conventional excipients including a binder . these tablets are coated with a combination of water insoluble polymer . the coating optionally includes a water soluble polymer or substance as a channeling agent . the functional coated tablets are further coated with water soluble polymer as non functional coat . according to the embodiment of the present invention the active ingredient is used as such , inclusive or exclusive of the binder , if the crystal morphology is favoring direct compression . however , if the particles are not favoring direct compression and granulation is required then it is carried out either as ‘ dry granulation ’ or as ‘ wet granulation ’. the dry granulation process involves the mixing of drug with the binder or directly with the rate controlling hydrophilic polymer or both , followed by slug formation on tablet press or using the roll compactors . the process of wet granulation includes aqueous or non aqueous granulation . the wet granulation process comprises the admixing of the active ingredient with ‘ diluent ’ or mixture of ‘ diluent ’ and rate controlling hydrophilic polymer , and granulation of the blend with the binder mass to form the wet mass followed by drying and sizing . the binder may optionally be admixed with the dry blend and granulation performed with aqueous or non aqueous solvent . the solvent for the non aqueous granulation is selected from ethanol , isopropyl alcohol and dichloromethane . according to the present invention , the pharmaceutical composition contains levetiracetam as an active ingredient . the levetiracetam may be present in an amount from about 40 % to about 80 %, more preferably form about 50 % to about 75 % by weight of extended release composition . in the preferred embodiment of the present invention levetiracetam is granulated using aqueous granulation with a binder solution . the binder used is essentially important to impart compressibility , flow property and strength / hardness . the binder can be selected from polyvinyl pyrrolidone , hydroxypropyl cellulose , hydroxypropyl methylcellulose ( low viscosity grade ), methyl cellulose , starch , pregelatinized starch , modified corn starch , polyacryl amide , poly - n - vinyl amide , sodium carboxymethyl cellulose , polyethylene glycol , gelatin , polyethylene oxide , poly propylene glycol , tragacanth , alginic acid , combinations there of and other materials known to one of ordinary skill in the art . the binder may be present in an amount from about 0 . 01 % to about 10 %, preferably from about 0 . 5 % to about 5 % by weight of the extended release composition . according to the embodiment of the present invention the active granules are blended with hydrophilic rate controlling polymer of high viscosity grade as a part of the matrix system . the high viscosity grade is the one which provide viscosity greater than 15 cps in a 2 % w / w solution . the hydrophilic rate controlling polymer in the matrix system includes hydroxyethyl cellulose , hydroxypropyl cellulose , sodium alginate , carbomer ( carbopol ™), sodium carboxymethyl cellulose , xanthan gum , guar gum , locust bean gum , poly vinyl acetate , polyvinyl alcohol and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose ( high viscosity grade ). the matrix forming polymer comprises from about 1 % to about 50 %, preferably from about 20 % to about 40 % by weight of the coated extended release composition . in yet another embodiment the present invention discloses an extended release pharmaceutical composition of levetiracetam which does not exhibit a food effect . the present invention provides an extended release compositions of levetiracetam which can be administered to a mammal ( including humans ) in fed state and which exhibits a mean ( auc fasting )/( auc fed ) of at least 0 . 80 . in particular , the present invention provides an extended release compositions of levetiracetam which can be administered to a mammal ( including humans ) in fed state and which exhibits a mean ( auc fasting )/( auc fed ) of at least 0 . 80 and / or with a lower 90 % confidence limit of at least 0 . 75 . according to the embodiment of the present invention , for definitional purposes , and specifically with respect to levetiracetam extended release compositions only , a dosage form of levetiracetam exhibits a food effect if , after dosing a population , once fasted and once fed , the mean ( auc fasting )/( auc fed ) is below the value 0 . 80 and / or the lower 90 % confidence limit for this ratio is below 0 . 75 . conversely , a dosage form of levetiracetam which does not exhibit a food effect is one which , when tested on a test population , exhibits a value for ( auc fasting )/( auc fed ) of at least 0 . 80 and / or a lower 90 % confidence limit for this value is at least 0 . 75 . the value for mean ( auc fasting )/( auc fed ) can be any value above 0 . 80 and still be within the scope of this invention , though it is preferred that it can have an upper ( mean ) limit of 1 . 25 , and / or an upper 90 % confidence limit of 1 . 40 or below . in addition to the above ingredients the extended release tablets as described here also contains the lubricant , anti adherent and a glidant . antiadherents include , by way of example and without limitation , magnesium stearate , talc , calcium stearate , glyceryl behenate , polyethylene glycols , hydrogenated vegetable oil , mineral oil , stearic acid and other materials known to one of ordinary skill in the art . glidants include cornstarch , talc , calcium silicate , magnesium silicate , colloidal silicon dioxide , silicon hydrogel and other materials known to one of ordinary skill in the art . lubricants include , by way of example and without limitation , calcium stearate , magnesium stearate , sodium stearyl fumerate , glyceryl palmitostearate , glyceryl stearate , mineral oil , stearic acid , and zinc stearate and other materials known to one of ordinary skill in the art . the glidants , lubricants and anti adherents are individually present in the range from about 0 . 01 % to about 5 % w / w of the coated tablets . preferably the glidants , anti adherents and lubricants are present in the range from about 0 . 5 % to about 4 % weight of the coated tablets , either alone or in combination . the formed extended release tablets are coated with a hydrophobic rate controlling polymeric coat and the rate controlling polymeric coat is composed of hydrophobic polymer , hydrophobic or hydrophilic plasticizer and / hydrophilic pore forming polymer ( channeling agent ). the hydrophobic film forming polymer is selected from the group consisting of cellulose ether such as ethyl cellulose , cellulose acetate , polyvinyl acetate , methacrylic acid esters neutral polymer , polyvinyl alcohol - maleic anhydride copolymers and the like . even the commercially available dispersion of film formers namely , eudragit l - 30d , eudragit ne 30d , aquacoat ecd - 30 , surelease e - 7 , eudragit rs 30d , eudragit rl 30d , etc . may be used for the purpose of providing rate controlling coat . the hydrophilic pore forming polymer in the rate controlling coat is said to be selected from copolyvidone , polyvinyl pyrrolidone , polyethylene glycols , hydroxyethyl cellulose , hydroxypropyl methylcellulose ( low viscosity grade ). in the current embodiment , the water insoluble polymer is present in an amount from 40 % to about 90 %, preferably from about 50 % to about 80 % by weight of the functional coating layer of extended release composition . the water soluble pore forming polymer is present in an amount from about 10 % to about 60 %, preferably from about 15 % to about 35 % by weight of the coating layer . additionally the coating dispersion may also comprise of plasticizer to modify the properties and characteristics of the polymers used on the coat of the compressed tablets . plasticizers useful in the invention can include , by way of example and without limitation , low molecular weight polymers , oligomers , copolymers , oils , small organic molecules , low molecular weight polyols having aliphatic hydroxyls , ester - type plasticizers , glycol ethers , poly ( propylene glycol ), multi - block polymers , single block polymers , low molecular weight poly ( ethylene glycol ), citrate ester - type plasticizers , triacetin , propylene glycol and glycerin . such plasticizers can also include ethylene glycol , 1 , 2 - butylene glycol , 2 , 3 - butylene glycol , styrene glycol , diethylene glycol , triethylene glycol , tetraethylene glycol and other poly ( ethylene glycol ) compounds , monopropylene glycol monoisopropyl ether , propylene glycol monoethyl ether , ethylene glycol monoethyl ether , diethylene glycol monoethyl , ether , sorbitol lactate , ethyl lactate , butyl lactate , ethyl glycolate , dibutylsebacate , acetyltributylcitrate , triethyl citrate , acetyl triethyl citrate , tributyl citrate and allyl glycolate . also the combination of the plasticizers can be used in the present formulation . the composition in the present embodiment preferably comprises 1 . 0 to 10 . 0 % of hydrophobic polymer per weight of the coated tablets ; optionally up to 5 % per weight of hydrophilic pore forming polymer of the coated tablets and optionally up to 2 % of plasticizer per weight of the coated tablets . according to the present invention , the non - functional coating is selected from the group of ready to form dispersion such as opadry . the opadry comprises of the hydrophilic ( low viscosity grade ) film forming polymer , suitable colorant and the opacifying agent . opacifying agent include by titanium dioxide and other materials known to one of ordinary skill in the art . colorant include , by way of example and without limitation , fd & amp ; c red no . 3 , fd & amp ; c red no . 20 , fd & amp ; c yellow no . 6 , fd & amp ; c blue no . 2 , d & amp ; c green no . 5 , d & amp ; c orange no . 5 , d & amp ; c red no . 8 , caramel , and ferric oxide , red , other f . d . & amp ; c . dyes and natural coloring agents such as grape skin extract , beet red powder , beta - carotene , annato , carmine , turmeric , paprika , and other materials known to one of ordinary skill in the art . it should be understood , that compounds used in the art of pharmaceutical formulation generally serve a variety of functions or purposes . thus , if a compound named herein is mentioned only once or is used to define more than one term herein , its purpose or function should not be construed as being limited solely to that named purpose ( s ) or function ( s ). without further description , it is believed that one of ordinary skill in the art can , using the preceding description and the following illustrative examples , make and utilize the compounds of the present invention and practice the claimed methods . the following examples are given to illustrate the present invention . it should be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific conditions or details described in these examples levetiracetam 500 mg was sifted through s . s . sieve of mesh 40 and was then granulated with aqueous polyvinyl pyrrolidone solution and the granulated mass was dried at 50 ° c . the dried granules were sized through s . s . sieve of 20 mesh and these granules were blended with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose , lubricated with magnesium stearate and colloidal silicon dioxide and the lubricated granules were compressed into tablets . as mentioned in table 1 the tablets of example 2 were further coated with aqueous dispersion of hydrophobic rate controlling ethyl cellulose to weight gain of 2 . 96 % w / w of the compressed tablet . following the functional coating the tablets were cured at 55 ° c . for 1 hour . levetiracetam 500 mg was sifted through s . s . sieve of mesh 40 and was then granulated with aqueous polyvinyl pyrrolidone solution and the granulated mass was dried at 50 ° c . the dried granules were sized through s . s . sieve 20 mesh and these granules were blended with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose , lubricated with magnesium stearate and colloidal silicon dioxide and lubricated granules were compressed into tablets . the compressed tablets were coated with the mixture of aqueous dispersion of ethyl cellulose and opadry to a weight gain of 9 . 60 % w / w of the compressed tablets . following the functional coating the tablets were cured at 55 ° c . for 1 hour . levetiracetam 500 mg was sifted through s . s . sieve of mesh 40 and was then granulated with aqueous polyvinyl pyrrolidone solution and the granulated mass was dried at 50 ° the dried granules were sized through s . s . sieve of 20 mesh and these granules were blended with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose , lubricated with magnesium stearate , talc and colloidal silicon dioxide and lubricated granules were compressed into tablets . the compressed tablets were coated with opadry to a weight gain of 2 % w / w of the compressed tablets . levetiracetam 500 mg was sifted through s . s . sieve of mesh 40 and was then granulated with aqueous polyvinyl pyrrolidone solution and the granulated mass was dried at 50 ° c . the dried granules were sized through s . s . sieve of 20 mesh and these granules were blended with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose , lubricated with magnesium stearate , talc and colloidal silicon dioxide and the lubricated granules were compressed into tablets . the tablets of example 5 and 6 , as mentioned in the table 4 , were coated with mixture of aqueous dispersion of ethyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose ( lv ; low viscosity ) in the ratio of 75 : 25 ( solid content ). the tablets were coated to target weight gain of 2 . 5 % w / w and 5 . 0 % w / w of the compressed tablets for example 5 and example 6 respectively . following the coating the tablet were cured at 65 ° c . for 1 hr . the coated tablets were further coated with opadry to a weight gain of 2 % w / w of the functional coated tablet . the extended release tablets of examples 1 to example 6 were tested for dissolution of levetiracetam using 900 ml of ph 6 . 8 phosphate buffer as dissolution media at 37 ° c . and in 40 - mesh basket ( usp type 1 ) at 100 rpm levetiracetam 750 mg was sifted through s . s . sieve of mesh 40 and was then granulated with aqueous polyvinyl pyrrolidone solution and the granulated mass was dried at 50 ° c . the dried granules are sized through s . s . sieve of 20 mesh and these granules were blended with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose and then lubricated with magnesium stearate , colloidal silicon dioxide and talc and the lubricated granules were compressed into tablets . the tablets as mentioned in the table 6 , were coated with mixture of aqueous dispersion of ethyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose lv in the ratio of 75 : 25 ( solid content ). the tablets were coated to target weight gain of 2 . 0 % w / w . following the coating the tablet were cured at 65 ° c . for 1 hr . the coated tablets were further coated with opadry to a weight gain of 2 % w / w of the functional coated tablet . levetiracetam 750 mg and carbopol were sifted through s . s . sieve of mesh 30 and were blended together . the blend was lubricated with glyceryl behenate , colloidal silicon dioxide and talc and the lubricated blend was compressed into tablets . levetiracetam 750 mg and kollidon sr ( polyvinyl acetate : polyvinyl pyrolidone , 8 : 2 ) were sifted through s . s sieve of mesh 30 and blended together . the blend was lubricated with glyceryl behenate , colloidal silicon dioxide and talc and the lubricated blend was compressed into tablets . the tablets as mentioned in the table 8 , were coated with mixture of aqueous dispersion of ethyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose ( lv ) in the ratio of 75 : 25 ( solid content ). the tablets were coated to target weight gain of 1 . 90 % w / w of the uncoated tablets . following coating the tablet were cured at 65 ° c . for 1 hr . the functional coated tablets were further coated with opadry to a weight gain of 1 . 87 % w / w of the functional coated tablet . levetiracetam 750 mg and hydroxyl propyl methyl cellulose ( hv ) were sifted through s . s . sieve of mesh 40 and blended together . the blend was compacted using a roll compactor ( chilsonator ) to form slugs . the slugs were sized in an oscillating granulator using a s . s . sieve of mesh 20 . obtained granules were lubricated with magnesium stearate , colloidal silicon dioxide and talc . the lubricated blend was compressed into tablets . the tablets as mentioned in the table 9 were coated with mixture of aqueous dispersion of ethyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose ( lv ) in the ratio of 75 : 25 ( solid content ). the tablets were coated to target weight gain of 1 . 78 % w / w of the uncoated tablets . following the coating the tablet were cured at 65 ° c . for 1 hr . the functional coated tablets were further coated with opadry to a weight gain of 1 . 75 % w / w of the functional coated tablet . levetiracetam 750 mg and hydroxylpropyl methylcellulose ( hv ) were sifted through s . s . sieve of mesh 40 and blended together . the blend was granulated using nonaqueous granulation using hydroxypropyl cellulose as the binder . the granulated mass was dried at 45 ° c . the dried granules were sized through s . s . sieve of mesh 20 and the granules were lubricated with magnesium stearate , talc and colloidal silicon dioxide . the lubricated blend was compressed into tablets . the tablets as mentioned in the table 10 were coated with mixture of aqueous dispersion of ethyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose lv in the ratio of 75 : 25 ( solid content ). the tablets were coated to target weight gain of 1 . 78 % w / w of the uncoated tablets . following the coating the tablet were cured at 65 ° c . for 1 hr . the coated tablets were further coated with opadry to a weight gain of 1 . 75 % w / w of the functional coated tablet . levetiracetam 750 mg was sifted through s . s . sieve of mesh 40 and was then granulated with non aqueous hydroxypropyl cellulose solution and the granulated mass was dried at 45 ° c . the dried granules are sized through s . s . sieve of mesh 20 and these granules were blended with hydroxyethyl cellulose and lubricated with magnesium stearate , colloidal silicon dioxide and talc . the lubricated granules were compressed into tablets . the tablets as mentioned in the table 11 , were coated with mixture of aqueous dispersion of ethyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose ( lv ) in the ratio of 75 : 25 ( solid content ). the tablets were coated to target weight gain of 1 . 78 % w / w . the coated tablet were cured at 65 ° c . for 1 hr . the functional coated tablets were further coated with opadry to a weight gain of 1 . 75 % w / w of the functional coated tablet . the extended release tablets of examples 8 to example 13 were tested for dissolution of levetiracetam using 900 ml of ph 6 . 8 phosphate buffer as dissolution media at 37 ° c . and in 40 - mesh basket ( usp type 1 ) at 100 rpm an in vivo study was conducted in healthy human volunteers to assess bioavailability of levetiracetam formulated as the extended release tablets of example 8 by comparison with a reference treatment with immediate release levetiracetam tablets . the study followed an open label , two - treatment , two - periods , comparative oral bioavailability study in healthy , adult , male , human subjects under fed conditions . the subjects received each of the two treatments during the course of the study , which was conducted at a single center . the subjects were given 1500 mg oral dose of levetiracetam . in the case of the ir formulation , which was provided as keppra ® tablets , two equally divided doses of 750 mg each were given at 12 hour interval beginning in the morning . in the case of the extended release formulation of example 8 , two tablets of 750 mg were given at a time in the morning . plasma levetiracetam concentrations were quantified by hplc method . samples were not diluted prior to analysis as all sample concentrations were within the limits of quantitation . pharmacokinetic parameters for levetiracetam were estimated by non compartmental methods . the parameters tmax , cmax , auc 0 → t , auc 0 →∞ were estimated during the studies and recorded in table 13 . mean plasma levetiracetam concentrations over the 36 hour assessment period are shown in fig2 . levetiracetam 750 mg was sifted through s . s . sieve of mesh 40 and was then granulated with aqueous polyvinyl pyrrolidone solution and the granulated mass was dried at 45 ° c . the dried granules are sized through s . s . sieve of mesh 20 and these granules were blended with hypermellose 2208 and lubricated with magnesium stearate , colloidal silicon dioxide and talc . the lubricated granules were compressed into tablets . the tablets as mentioned in the table 14 , were coated with mixture of aqueous dispersion of ethyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose ( e - 3 ) and polyethylene glycol . the tablets were coated to target weight gain of 3 . 5 % w / w . the coated tablets were cured at 65 ° c . for 1 hr . the functional coated tablets were further coated with opadry to a weight gain of 2 . 5 % w / w of the functional coated tablet . the extended release tablets of examples 16 - 18 were tested for dissolution of levetiracetam using 900 ml of ph 6 . 8 phosphate buffer as dissolution media at 37 ° c . and in 40 - mesh basket ( usp type 1 ) at 100 rpm a randomized two - treatment , two period , cross - over pharmacokinetic study was conducted in eighteen healthy , adult , male human subjects in both fast and fed conditions for the above formulations and the data obtained was compared with the data of keppra ® tablets . the following are a tabulation of the results of the study in both fast and fed conditions . comparison of data of the tablet of example 16 and keppra tablets in fasting conditions although certain presently preferred embodiments of the invention have been specifically described herein , it will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains that variations and modifications of the various embodiments shown and described herein may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . accordingly , it is intended that the invention be limited only to the extent required by the appended claims and the applicable rules of law .
| 0 |
the present invention provides an improved bevel angle adjustment mechanism for a circular saw . while shown operatively associated with a particular circular saw , those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention is not so limited in scope and is readily adaptable for use with a wide variety of circular saws . turning to the drawings in which identical or equivalent elements have been denoted with like reference numerals , an exemplary circular saw embodying the present invention is illustrated and identified generally at reference numeral 10 . the circular saw is shown to generally include a motor and gear case housing 12 which carries a conventional saw blade 14 rotating about an axis 16 . the saw blade is shielded in operation by upper and lower guards 18 and 20 , respectively . as is conventional , the upper guard 18 is mounted to the housing 12 . also conventionally , the lower guard 20 is pivotally and retractably connected to the upper guard 18 . a handle 22 is associated with a trigger switch 24 . in operation , the saw 10 as a whole is supported on a workpiece by a base or shoe 26 . a motor 28 is disposed within the housing 12 . in the exemplary embodiment illustrated , the motor 28 is conventionally powered by ac current delivered from a power cord ( partially shown at 30 ). alternatively , it will be understood by those skilled in the art , that the teachings of the present invention are equally applicable to battery power circular saws . an example of a battery powered circular saw which can be modified in accordance with the teachings of the present invention is illustrated and described in commonly assigned u . s . ser . no . 09 / 133 , 923 , filed aug . 13 , 1998 . u . s . ser . no . 09 / 133 , 923 is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein . to provide for depth of cut and bevel angle of cut adjustment , the shoe 26 is adjustably connected to the remainder of the circular saw 10 . the motor and gear case housing 12 , circular saw blade 14 , the handle 22 and the guards 18 and 20 form an integral subassembly 32 . for convenience in description , this integral subassembly will be referred to as the housing subassembly 32 . a principal component for adjustment of the depth of cut and the bevel angle of the cut is a mounting bracket 34 . as will be appreciated below , the mounting bracket 34 is attached to the shoe 26 for relative pivotal movement about a first axis a . additionally , the mounting bracket 34 is attached to the housing subassembly 32 for relative pivotal movement about a second axis b . the present invention includes a bevel angle adjustment mechanism which generally comprises the mounting bracket 34 and an upwardly extending flange or quadrant bracket 36 carried by the shoe 26 . in the exemplary embodiment illustrated , the quadrant bracket 36 is part of the shoe 26 and is integrally formed with the remainder of the shoe 26 from a die cast metal material . alternatively , it will be understood that the quadrant bracket 36 may be independently formed and fixedly attached to the shoe 26 by a suitable means such as riveting or bolting . the mounting bracket 34 and quadrant bracket 36 are pivotally interconnected by a pin 38 which defines the first pivot axis a . the first pivot axis a is substantially parallel to an axis defined by the circular saw blade 14 . the pin 38 passes through an aperture 39 provided in the bracket 34 and engages a boss portion 40 formed in the quadrant bracket 36 . the quadrant bracket 36 defines an arcuate slot 42 . an arcuate periphery of the quadrant bracket 36 is provided with a graduated scale or markings 45 to assist in setting a desired bevel angle . the graduated scale 45 cooperates with a pointer portion or indicator portion 47 of the mounting bracket 34 . to provide means for locking the subassembly housing 32 at a desired angular relationship relative to the base 26 , the present invention includes a locking arrangement 44 . the locking arrangement 44 includes a threaded bolt 46 which passes through a generally rectangular aperture 48 provided in the mounting bracket 34 and through the elongated slot 42 of the quadrant bracket 36 . as best shown in the exploded view of the fig3 the bolt 46 includes a squared shoulder 50 which cooperates with the sidewalls of the aperture 48 to prevent rotation of the bolt 46 . the bolt 46 threadably engages a nut 52 provided on the front side of the quadrant bracket 36 . the locking arrangement further includes a manually operated lever 54 which is mounted for rotation with the bolt 46 . rotation of the lever 54 in a first direction ( generally clockwise as shown in the drawings ) operates to tighten the nut 52 on the bolt 46 and thereby prevent relative rotation of the mounting bracket 34 and the quadrant bracket 36 . conversely , rotation of the lever 54 in a second direction ( generally counterclockwise as shown in the drawings ) allows the mounting bracket 34 to rotate relative to the quadrant bracket 36 . to provide means for positively locating the shoe 26 relative to the housing subassembly 32 at at least one predetermined bevel angle setting , one of the quadrant bracket 36 and the mounting bracket 34 includes a detent 56 and the other of the quadrant bracket 36 and the mounting bracket 34 includes a recess 58 . in the exemplary embodiment illustrated , the quadrant bracket 36 includes the detent in the form of a spherical ball 56 and the mounting bracket 34 includes a recess in the form of a stamped depression 58 . the stamped depression 58 is formed in a forward face 59 of the bracket 34 . alternatively , it will be understood that the stamped depression 58 can be replaced with a through hole ( not shown ). in the exemplary embodiment , the bracket 34 is formed to include a plurality of recesses or stamped depressions 58 . in one particular application , the bracket 34 includes two recesses 58 . however , any number of recesses 58 may be provided depending on the desired number of predetermined bevel angles . the spherical ball is biased toward the bracket 34 by a coil spring 60 . the coil spring 60 and the spherical ball 56 are disposed within an aperture 62 defined in the quadrant bracket 36 and held therein by a hollowing bushing 64 . the hollow bushing 64 is press fit into the aperture 62 . in the exemplary embodiment , a first one of the recess 58 a provided in the bracket 34 cooperates with the spherical ball 56 to define a first predetermined bevel angle setting . similarly , a second one of the recess 58 b cooperates with the spherical ball 56 to define a second predetermined angle setting . in one application , the first predetermined bevel angle setting is 45 ° and the second predetermined bevel angle setting is 22 . 5 °. again , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that any number of predetermined angles can be provided for with the addition of more recesses within the bracket 34 . in the exemplary embodiment illustrated , the mounting bracket 34 includes a pair of rearwardly extending flanges 66 . a pivot pin 68 passes through an aperture 70 provided in a forward portion of the upper guard 18 and through apertures provided in the rearwardly extending flanges 66 . the pivot pin 68 defines the second pivot axis b and permits the housing subassembly 32 to pivot relative to the shoe 26 . while not shown , it will be understood that the circular saw 10 includes a locking strap for locking the housing subassembly at a desired depth of cut setting relative to the shoe 26 . one suitable locking strap is shown and described in commonly assigned u . s . ser . no . 09 / 133 , 923 , filed aug . 13 , 1998 , referenced above . while the invention has been described in the specification and illustrated in the drawings with reference to a preferred embodiment , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims . in addition , many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof . therefore , it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment illustrated by the drawings and described in the specification as the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out this invention , but that the invention will include any embodiments falling within the description of the appended claims .
| 1 |
measurement of il - 1α may be made in more than one sample taken at different time points . thus , measurement of il - 1α may be made in samples taken at different time points pre - and / or post - operatively to predict , for example , rate of disease progression , likelihood of , or projected time to surgical intervention and / or progress to normalisation post - evar . observation of re - establishment of high titres after evar may also be diagnostic of late technical graft failure . such reliance on il - 1α as a biomarker will preferably employ an immunoassay for detecting il - 1α . suitable assays for this purpose are well known . they include double - sandwich elisa employing for example rabbit polyclonal antibodies specific for recombinant il - 1α as described in hansen et al . ( ibid ). a commercially available assay system may be employed , e . g . a milliplex map immunoassay from milllipore ( millipore , billerica , mass ., usa ) as used for the studies reported herein . this is based on the luminex bead system and may be conveniently used to assay a variety of analytes of interest simultaneously in a single sample . thus it may be desired to measure il - 1α together with one or more further analytes whose presence in serum is known to correlate with risk or progression of aaa , either in the same sample or one or more equivalent samples . these include , for example , il - 8 ( lindeman at al . ibid ; norgren et al . j . endovascular surgery 4 , 169 - 173 ; parodi et al . j . endovascular therapy ( 2001 ) 8 , 114 - 124 ) and secreted metaloproteinases such as mmp - 9 as noted above . the studies reported herein further support additional use of il - 8 as biomarker for aaa since reduction of serum il - 8 between pre - and post - evar samples was found , although antibody blockade of il - 8 in pre - operative serum had no effect on neutrophil recruitment to tnf - α primed endothelial cells . monitoring of both il - 1α and il - 8 in serum or plasma , preferably by measurement in the same sample , may be preferred in relation to predicting aaa progression , either alone or as part of data collection for a multi - variate predictive algorithm . finding of il - 1α , or both of il - 1α and il - 8 , at a serum concentration of at least about 50 pg / ml , e . g . about 50 - 100 pg / ml , may be taken as indicative of aaa , especially where there has been previous diagnosis of atherosclerosis . in some circumstances a functional assay for il - α and for il - 8 may be carried out as well as or instead of an immunoassay . detection of il - 1α in accordance with the invention may be supplemented by assessment of aneurysm size by ultrasound or ct scan and / or assessment of burden of mural thrombus by ct scan to aid determination of disease progression and / or necessity for surgical intervention . the studies reported below provide background to the invention and illustrate the invention by way of exemplification with reference to the following figures . fig1 . schematic diagram illustrating the flow based adhesion assay : ibidi slides containing endothelial cells were mounted on the stage of a video - microscope and attached via silicon tubing to a 50 ml glass syringe and an electronic switching valve . isolated neutrophils or pbs / alb were perfused through the slides at a wall shear stress of 0 . 05 pa . experiments were conducted in a 37 ° c . perspex cabinet and video recordings made . fig2 . cytokine and chemokine expression in aaa patient serum following evar . ( a ) levels of 10 cytokines and chemokines in pre - and post - operative patient serum were measured using luminex and presented as pg / ml ± sem , n = 17 . ( b ) levels of il - 1α in pre - and post operative serum for individual patients . ( c ) levels of il - 8 in pre and post - operative serum for individual patients . *= p & lt ; 0 . 05 , ** p & lt ; 0 . 01 for comparison between pre - and post surgery by paired t - test . fig3 . patient serum does not induce endothelial cell activation . ( a ) adhesion of neutrophils to endothelial cells which were untreated , treated with 5 u / ml or 100 u / ml tnf for 4 h as a control , or pre - treated with pre - or post - operative patient serum for 24 hrs . anova = p & lt ; 0 . 01 , **= p & lt ; 0 . 01 using bonferroni &# 39 ; s multiple comparison test . ( b ) behaviour of recruited neutrophils to endothelial cells stimulated with 100 or 5 u / ml tnf for 4 hrs = rolling ; = firmly adherent ; = transmigrated . there is a significant decrease in the proportion of neutrophils rolling on endothelial cells stimulated with 100 u / ml compared to 5 u / ml tnf , and a significantly higher level of transmigrated neutrophils . *= p & lt ; 0 . 05 , ** p & lt ; 0 . 01 by paired t - test respectively ; data are mean ± sem ; n = 3 . fig4 . neutrophil behaviour on endothelial cells . neutrophils recruited to endothelial cells treated with ( a ) 5 u / ml tnf - α , ( b ) 100 u / ml tnf - α , ( c ) pre - op , ( d ) post - op serum . phase bright cells are rolling or firmly adherent to the endothelial cell surface , transmigrated neutrophils are phase dark and underneath the endothelial cell monolayer . r = rolling neutrophils ; sa = surface adherent neutrophils ; tm = transmigrated neutrophils . fig5 . pre - operative serum from aaa patients primes endothelial responses to low dose tnf - α resulting in altered neutrophil behaviour . control and patient serum was used to prime endothelial cell for 24 hrs and 5 u / ml tnf - α added for the final 4 h . total neutrophil adhesion was assessed ( a ) and levels of neutrophil transmigration quantified ( b ). there is a significant difference between levels of transmigrated neutrophils on control vs pre - operative serum **= p & lt ; 0 . 01 by paired t - test . there is a significant inhibition of neutrophil transmigration on endothelial cells cultured with post - operative serum compared to pre - operative serum ,*= p & lt ; 0 . 05 by paired t - test ; data are mean ± sem ; n = 17 . fig6 . correlation between ail - 1α concentration and δ transmigration . the changes in il - 1α concentration and neutrophil transmigration pre - and post - surgery were calculated as a ratio and plotted against each other . there is a significant correlation between the change in il - 1α and the change in levels of neutrophil transmigration , p & lt ; 0 . 01 . fig7 . neutralising il - 1α inhibits endothelial cell priming by pre - operative serum from aaa patients . neutralisation of il - 1α in the presence of pre - operative serum reduces neutrophil transmigration across endothelial cells pre - treated with pre - operative serum . igg control antibody and anti - il - 8 had no effect on neutrophil transmigration . anova p =& lt ; 0 . 001 ; data are mean ± sem ; n = 6 . the serum of patients with aaa was screened for the presence of a number of cytokines before and 6 months after evar . patient serum was also utilised to stimulate cultured endothelial cells , which were subsequently tested in a flow - based neutrophil adhesion assay . in such flow assays , pre - operative serum did not directly activate endothelial cells to support neutrophil adhesion unless such cells were exposed to tnf - α . with such priming , there was significant increase in the number of neutrophils recruited into the sub - endothelial environment . in serum collected 6 months after evar , both il - 8 and il - 1α were found to be significantly reduced compared to levels seen in pre - operative serum and were normalised to the levels seen in control samples . moreover , reductions in the concentrations of these cytokines correlated with a loss in the ability of patient serum to cause neutrophil recruitment to tnf - a exposed endothelial cells . as also already noted above , antibody neutralisation of il - 1α in pre - operative serum , but not il - 8 , also completely removed the capacity for neutrophil recruitment in the same flow assay . seventeen patients with a mean age 80 . 3 ( range 69 - 88 ) and who were undergoing elective evar , had a mean aneurysm size of 6 . 9 cm ( range 5 . 4 - 10 ). fourteen patients had zenith and three had excluder devices implanted . all patients with aaa were asymptomatic , but one had a contained rupture . four patients had fenestrated evar for juxta - renal abdominal aortic aneurysm . the control cohort consisted of 8 patients with a mean age of 72 . 5 ( range 65 - 89 ), with no aortic aneurysm , as proven by computerized tomography ( ct ) scan performed for other diseases . blood samples were collected into vacuette z serum sep clot activator tubes ( greiner bio one ) from patients undergoing elective evar protocols pre - operatively and 6 months post - operatively . serum was isolated via centrifugation , aliquoted and stored until use at − 80 ° c . milliplex map immunoassay was purchased from millipore ( millipore , billerica , mass ., usa ). this assay is based on the luminex bead system which can assay over 20 analytes in a small volume ( 50 μl ) using flow cytometery technology . the serum concentration of il - 1 - α , il - 1β , il - 4 , il - 6 , il - 8 , il - 10 , ifn - γ , ip - 10 , mcp - 1 , tnf - α and tnf - β were measured using the luminex assay , carried out according to manufacturers instructions and as previous published ( tull et al . plos biology ( 2009 ) e1000177 ). serum concentrations were measured on a lx100 machine ( luminex corp , usa ) and calibrated against titrations of recombinant standard for each analyte using starstation software ( acs , usa ). human umbilical vein endothelial cells were isolated as previously described ( cooke et al . microvascular res . ( 1993 ) 45 , 33 - 45 ) and cultured in m199 ( gibco invitrogen compounds , paisley , scotland ) supplemented with 10 ng / ml epidermal growth factor , 35 μg / ml gentamycin , 1 μg / ml hydrocortisone ( all from sigma , uk ), 2 . 5 μg / ml amphotericin b ( gibco invitrogen compounds ) and 20 % fcs ( sigma ). primary cells were sub - cultured into six channel p - slide vi flow chambers ( ibidi , munich , germany ) until confluent . confluent endothelial cells were cultured for 24 h with medium in which fcs was substituted for 30 % serum from patients or aged matched controls . an additional control was endothelial cells cultured continuously in 20 % fcs . endothelial cells were then stimulated with 5 u / ml tnf - a ( sigma , uk ) for the final 4 hours of culture before flow assay . in some experiments function neutralising antibodies against il - 1α or il - 8 ( 10 μg / ml , both from r & amp ; d systems , uk ) were added to patient serum prior to addition to culture medium . human neutrophils were isolated from the blood of healthy donors by density - gradient centrifugation ( histopaque - 1077 and histopaque - 1119 ; sigma ) and suspended in phosphate buffered saline containing 0 . 1 % bovine serum albumin ( sigma ) ( pbs / alb ). six channel μ - slide vi flow chambers were mounted on a phase contrast video microscope ( inverted labovert , leitz ). fig1 shows a schematic representation of the assay with slide in situ . neutrophils were perfused across endothelial cells at 10 6 cells / ml at a wall shear stress of 0 . 05 pa for 4 minutes , followed by wash buffer ( pbs / alb ) to remove non - adherent cells . video recordings of 8 - 10 fields along the centre of the channel were made between 2 and 4 minutes of perfusion of wash buffer . records were digitized using image - pro plus ( mediacybernetics , bethesda , md .) and analysed for cell behaviour . the following parameters were evaluated : total numbers of neutrophils captured by endothelial cells from flow expressed as absolute adhesion / mm 2 / 10 6 cells perfused ; the proportions ( expressed as a percentage ) of these adherent cells that rolled ( phase bright spherical cells , revolving slowly over the surface ), became stably adherent ( phase bright , stationary cells typically spreading on the surface ) or which transmigrate through the endothelial monolayer ( phase - dark , spread cells migrating under the endothelial cells ). differences between individual treatments were evaluated by paired t - test . p & lt ; 0 . 05 were considered statistically significant . variation between multiple treatments was evaluated using anova , followed by bonferroni &# 39 ; s multiple comparison test . correlation was calculated using graphpad in built analysis . evar changes the concentration of cytokines and chemokines in patient serum the concentrations of cytokines and chemokines were analysed in serum collected from evar patients pre - operatively and 6 months post - operatively ( fig2 a ). one analyte ( il - 4 ) was not detectable in the serum of donors . ifn - γ , il - 1β , il - 10 , tnf - α and tnf - β were detectable at low levels (≦ 10 pg / ml ), but showed no variation between the pre - and post - operative evar patients . il - 6 was more abundant (≈ 50 pg / ml ), but again there was no significant change at the two time points assayed . ip10 ( cxcl10 ) and mcp - 1 ( ccl2 ) were present in high concentrations of ≈ 1 and ≈ 2 . 5 ng / ml respectively . these levels were maintained up to 6 months after evar . il - 1α and il - 8 were of particular interest , as they were present at relatively high concentrations ( 50 - 100 pg / ml ) in pre - operative serum and these levels were significantly reduced following evar ( fig2 a ). in fact the response of these two analytes to evar was remarkably consistent within the test group . all 17 patients showing a reduction in il - 8 titres , while il - 1α was reduced in 12 out of 17 patients ( fig2 b and 2 c ). as the serum levels of some inflammatory cytokines and chemokines were reduced by the evar protocol , it was investigated whether these changes would be functionally relevant in an integrated inflammatory model of leukocyte recruitment . endothelial cells cultured in flow chambers were stimulated with 30 % patient serum in endothelial cell culture medium . for comparison , matched endothelial cells were also stimulated with either low ( 5 u / ml ) or high ( 100 u / ml ) dose tnf - α . unstimulated endothelial cells did not support the adhesion of flowing neutrophils ( fig3 a ). when endothelial cells were stimulated with 100 u / ml tnf - α , they supported the adhesion of substantial numbers of purified flowing neutrophils ( fig3 a and 4 b ). analysis of neutrophil behaviour showed that after 4 minutes of perfusion and 2 minutes of wash to remove non - adherent cells , only a few were rolling while the majority were activated and apically adherent or activated and migrated through the endothelial cell monolayer ( fig3 b and 4 b ). in comparison , endothelial cells stimulated with a 5 u / ml concentration of tnf - a recruited significantly fewer flowing neutrophils ( fig3 a and 4 a ) and their behaviour was different ( fig3 b and 4 a ). a greater proportion were rolling or apically adherent after activation , while very few transmigrated into the sub - endothelial space . endothelial cells incubated with pre - operative or post - operative patient serum maintained confluent monolayers that were indistinguishable from tnf - α stimulated cells ( fig4 c and 4 d ). however , in the absence of exogenous tnf - α , serum treated cells did not support the adhesion of flowing neutrophils ( fig3 a , 4 c and 4 d ). pre - operative but not post - operative patient serum primes the response of endothelial cells to low dose tnf - α . although patient serum did not directly stimulate cultured endothelial cells to recruit flowing neutrophils , it was found that incubation of the endothelial cells with pre - operative serum primed the endothelial cells for responses to tnf - α . comparing neutrophil adhesion to endothelial cells pre - incubated with different serums prior to activation with 5 u / ml tnf - α , showed that there was a non - significant trend to increased neutrophil recruitment in the presence of patient serum compared to serum from the control cohort ( fig5 a ). however , the behaviour of recruited neutrophils was markedly different on endothelial cell monolayers which had been incubated with pre - operative serum . the number of neutrophils that transmigrated across the endothelial cell monolayer was dramatically increased ( fig5 b ). importantly however , post - operative serum could promote the recruitment of significantly fewer neutrophils . importantly , the ability of patient serum to prime endothelial cells for this response was absent in serum taken from patients 6 months after evar ( fig5 a ), implying that the agent ( s ) responsible for endothelial cell priming was no longer present in the serum . interestingly , the change in il - 1α concentration between pre - and post surgery correlates with the observed change in transmigration ( fig6 ), suggesting a causal relationship . the ability of pre - operative sera to prime endothelial cells for response to tnf - α is lost when the biological activity of il - 1α is neutralised . the ability of patient sera to prime endothelial cells was dramatically reduced after evar , and this loss of activity was associated with a consistent and significant reduction in the levels of il1 - α and il - 8 in the sera . thus , it was hypothesised that one of these molecules might be the endothelial cell priming agent . to examine this thesis , a number ( n = 6 ) of pre - operative serum samples were re - tested before and after the addition of function neutralising antibodies against il - 8 or il - 1α . fig7 shows that a non - specific igg control antibody or a function neutralising antibody against il - 8 had no effect on the ability of pre - operative patient sera to prime endothelial cells when assessed by quantifying neutrophil transmigrating into the sub - endothelial space . importantly however , the ablation of il - 1α activity in the pre - operative sera completely abolished endothelial cell priming . indeed , the levels of neutrophil transmigration were reduced to those seen in the post operative patient sera tested in parallel in the same experiments ( i . e . matched for endothelial cell and neutrophil donors ). by these studies , il - 1α has been implicated in the molecular and cellular pathology of aaa and is indicated to be a convenient serum biomarker for aneurysm severity and for determining successful outcome of evar . it is concluded that evar is a procedure which not only prevents aaa rupture , but also reduces levels of chronic systemic inflammation and this can account for the good long term outcome observed in evar patients . norgren et al . ( j . endovascular surgery ( 1997 ) 4 , 169 - 173 ) measured levels of tnf - α , il - 6 and il - 8 in evar patients pre - operatively , 24 hr post operative and 7 days post - operatively . levels of each were found to increase following surgical insult , as expected , but returned to baseline by 7 days . pardoi et al . ( j . endovascular therapy ) measured il - 8 by elisa in evar patients pre - surgery , and up to 72 hrs following surgery , finding that levels increased immediately after surgery , and fell by 72 hrs , although not to pre - operative levels . however , in those studies there was no measurement of il - 1α in the serum of aaa patients . detection of il - 1α at high concentration in pre - operative serum of aaa patients was a surprising finding contrary to prior indication that il - 1α is not a highly secreted molecule .
| 6 |
one or more specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below . in an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments , not all features of an actual implementation are described in the specification . it should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation , as in any engineering or design project , numerous implementation - specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers &# 39 ; specific goals , such as compliance with system - related and business - related constraints , which may vary from one implementation to another . moreover , it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming , but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design , fabrication , and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure . fig1 is a block diagram of a video unit 10 employing a light emitting diode (“ led ”) light engine 12 in accordance with embodiments of the present invention . in one embodiment , the video unit 10 comprises a digital light processing (“ dlp ”) projection television . in another embodiment , the video unit 10 may comprise a dlp - based video or movie projector . in still another embodiment , the video unit 10 may comprise another form of projection television . the led light engine 12 comprises multiple leds that are configured to project , shine , or focus colored light 14 at a digital micromirror device (“ dmd ”) 18 . in alternate embodiments , such as a black and white video system or a color wheel based system , the led light engine 12 may be configured to produce a single color of light . as will be described in greater detail below in regard to fig2 , and 4 , embodiments of the present invention enable multiple leds within the led light engine 12 to be efficiently employed in combination with each other to create light to project large video images . as illustrated , the led light engine 12 projects , shines , or focuses colored light 14 at the dmd 18 . the dmd 18 may be located on a digital light processing (“ dlp ”) circuit board 16 arrayed within an optical line of sight of the led light engine 12 . the dlp circuit board 16 may comprise the dmd 18 and a processor 20 . as described above , the dmd 18 may comprise up to one million or more micromirrors mounted on microscopic , electrically - actuated hinges that enable the micromirrors to tilt between a turned on position and turned off position . in the illustrated embodiment , the dmd 18 is coupled to the processor 20 . in one embodiment , the processor 20 receives a video input and directs the micromirrors on the dmd 18 to turn on or off , as appropriate to create the video image . in alternate embodiments the processor 20 may be located elsewhere in the video unit 10 . the colored light 14 that reflects off a turned on micromirror ( identified by a reference numeral 24 ) is reflected to a projecting lens 26 and then projected on to a screen 28 for viewing . on the other hand , the colored light 14 that reflects off of a turned off micromirror ( identified by a reference numeral 30 ) is directed somewhere else in the video unit 10 besides the screen 28 , such as a light absorber 22 . in this way , the pixel on the screen 28 that corresponds to a turned off micromirror does not receive the projected colored light 14 while the micromirror is turned off . in one embodiment , the colored light 14 from the led light engine 12 rapidly changes from red to green to blue and then back to red many times per second . when the dmd 18 receives this stream of rapidly changing colored light 14 , the micromirrors on the dmd 18 are directed rapidly turn on or off to create the video images . in one embodiment , this direction is provided by the processor 20 . this rapid turning on and off of the micromirrors is coordinated to match the sequence of colors in the colored light 14 . for example , when the colored light 14 is red , the micromirrors turn on or off as appropriate to generate the shades of red for a particular frame of video . specifically , one micromirror may turn on for 25 microseconds to contribute one shade of red to its associated pixel while another one of the micromirrors may turn on for 30 microseconds to contribute another shade of red to a different pixel while still another micromirror may turn off completely for some period of time if no red light is to be projected to a particular one of the pixels during a particular frame . in a similar fashion , the micromirrors generate shades of green and blue , if needed , when the colored light 14 is green or blue , respectively . those skilled in the art will appreciate that in alternate embodiments other colors of light may be employed besides or in addition to red , green , and blue . because these different colors of light are rapidly changing ( e . g . 30 times per second ), the viewer sees a cohesive image formed from the three colors of light on the screen 28 . for example , to create a particular shade for a particular pixel , the micromirror corresponding to that particular pixel may turn on for 20 microseconds of red light , 22 microseconds of green light , and 17 microseconds of blue light . alternately , the micromirror may turn on for 20 microseconds of red light and 20 microseconds of blue light , but remain turned off for green light . those skilled in the art will appreciate that millions of color combinations can be projected by varying the lengths of time that the micromirrors are turned on . the video unit 10 may also comprise the projection lens 26 to project the light reflected from the dmd 18 onto the screen 28 . in one embodiment , the projecting lens 26 facilitates the projection of turned - on light 24 by expanding the turned - on light 24 to cover the relatively large area of the screen 28 . in an alternate embodiment , the screen 28 may not be a part of the video unit 10 . for example , the screen 28 may be mounted on a wall and the video unit 10 may comprise a projector configured to project video across a room to the screen 28 . fig2 is a diagram of one embodiment of the led light engine 12 comprising an led ring 41 and a static reflector 46 in accordance with embodiments of the present invention . as illustrated , the led light engine 12 is comprised of a plurality of leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c oriented in an angular configuration to form the led ring 41 . the embodiment illustrated in fig2 comprises 15 leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c . while only three of the leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c are specifically labeled in fig2 , it will be appreciated that the discussion below may refer to all of the leds in the led ring 41 . alternate embodiments of the led ring 41 may comprise either more leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c or less leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c depending on the design of the video unit 10 . moreover , those skilled in the art will appreciate that the led ring 41 is merely one exemplary configuration of leds in the led light engine 12 . in alternate embodiments , other configurations besides the led ring 41 may be employed with the led light engine 12 . each of the leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c may comprise any one of a number of standard , projection quality leds , as known to those of ordinary skill in the art . in one embodiment , the leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c may comprise a variety of different colors of led 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c . for example , the embodiment illustrated in fig2 comprises five red leds 40 a , five green leds 40 b , and five blue leds 40 c . in alternate embodiments , different colored leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c may be used . the led light engine 12 may also comprise a static reflector 46 . in the embodiment illustrated in fig2 , the static reflector 46 is a conical prism . in alternate embodiments , different forms of reflectors , optics , or prisms may be employed to reflect light 44 from the leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c in the manner described below . the led light engine 12 may also comprise a plurality of lenses 42 . in the illustrated embodiment , the lenses 42 are arrayed in an annular configuration between each of the leds 40 a , 40 b and 40 c in the led ring 41 and the static reflector 46 . each of the lenses 42 is configured to focus light from one of the leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c at the static reflector 46 . for example , each of the lenses 42 may be configured such that one of the leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c is at a focal point on one side of the lens 42 and the static reflector 46 is at the focal point on the other side of the lens 42 . those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the location and configuration of the plurality of lenses 42 and the static reflector 46 may be altered to accommodate design considerations of various systems , such as the locations of the leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c . the led light engine 12 may also comprise an integrator 48 , which is also referred to as a light tunnel . the integrator 48 is configured to spread out , focus , or align the light generated by the leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c to evenly reflect off the dmd 18 ( fig1 ). in turning to operation of the led light engine 12 , when the leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c emit the light 44 , the lenses 42 focus the light 44 at the static reflector 46 . most of the light 44 is reflected off the static reflector 46 into the integrator 48 . the light 44 that enters the integrator 48 is spread out , focused or aligned , as appropriate , to create the colored light 14 . those skilled in the art will appreciate that from the perspective of the integrator 48 , all of the light 44 that enters the integrator 48 appears to be being generated at a point directly below or behind the static reflector 46 . in other words , the static reflector 46 combines the light produced by the leds 40 a , 40 b and 40 c ( and focused by the lenses 42 ) into what appears from the integrator &# 39 ; s 48 perspective to be a single light source that is produces as much a light as multiple leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c from the led ring 41 . those skilled in the art will appreciate that different colors of the led 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c may be used to produce the alternating red , green , and blue light that typically comprises the colored light 14 . as described above in the embodiment illustrated in fig2 , five of the fifteen leds 40 a , 40 b and 40 c may be red leds 40 a , five of the fifteen leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c may be green leds 40 b , and five of the fifteen leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c may be blue leds 40 c . in this embodiment , to create the colored light 14 that alternates from red to green to blue , the red leds are turned on momentarily ( flashed ) then the green leds are flashed , then the blue leds are flashed , then the red leds are flashed , and so forth . in this embodiment , the leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c alternate in color red , green , and blue around the led ring 41 . in alternate embodiments , the color distribution of the leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c may differ depending upon design considerations . for example , in one embodiment , there may be fewer green leds 40 b in the led ring 41 because green light has higher luminance than red light or blue light . as described above , single conventional leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c cannot be used to project large video images because a single conventional leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c do not typically produce enough light to project a large , continual video image . one of ordinary skill in the art , however , will appreciate that the light output from one of the leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c is generally inversely proportional to the ratio of the time that the led 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c is turned on versus the time that the led 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c is turned off . this ratio is known as the duty cycle . for example , conventional led - based projection systems comprise one red led 40 a , one green led 40 b , and one blue led 40 c . to create a sequence of colored light each of these leds is turned on for one third of the time ( i . e ., the red led flashes red , then the green led flashes green , then the blue led flashes blue , then the red led flashes red again , and so on ). for this reason , each of these leds is deemed to have a ⅓ duty cycle . operating with a ⅓ duty cycle , single conventional leds simply do not typically produce enough light to project a large video image . however , if the duty cycle of the led is decreased ( i . e ., the led has more time to “ rest ” between flashes ), a single individual led can produce enough light to project a large video image . in one embodiment , a duty cycle of less than ⅓ is employed . for example , with a duty cycle of 1 / 15 ( i . e ., turned on approximately 6 . 5 % of the time ), a single led can project a large video image . those skilled in the art , however , will appreciate that with a duty cycle of 1 / 15 , it takes approximately 15 leds to produce a continuous video image . fig3 is a diagram of another embodiment of the led light engine 12 comprising an led ring 41 and a rotating reflector 50 in accordance with embodiments of the present invention . for simplicity , like reference numerals have been used to designate those features previously described in reference to fig2 . similar to the embodiment of the led light engine 12 illustrated in fig2 , the embodiment of the led light engine 12 illustrated in fig3 comprises a plurality of leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c arranged in the led ring 41 around a plurality of lenses 42 , also arranged in a ring in the illustrated embodiment . this embodiment of the led light engine 12 also comprises the integrator 48 , as described above . the embodiment illustrated in fig3 comprises a rotating reflector 50 that rotates in a clockwise direction 52 . in one embodiment , the rotating reflector 50 comprises a parabolic mirror . whereas the static reflector 46 is placed at a location within the led light engine 12 that is amenable to simultaneously reflecting light from all of the leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c , the rotating reflector 50 is configured to sequentially focus the light from each particular one of the leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c in the led ring 41 as the rotating reflector 50 rotates in the counter clockwise direction 52 . by synchronizing the rotation of the rotating reflector 50 with the highly bright ( low duty cycle ) flashes of the leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c , sufficient light is reflected from the leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c to project a large continuous video image . for example , the rotating reflector 50 may begin facing a first red led 40 a . while the rotating reflector 50 is pointed at the first red led 40 a , the first red led 40 a will produce a flash of red light bright enough to project the video image . most of this red light will reflect off the rotating reflector 50 and into the integrator 48 . the rotating reflector 50 will then rotate to face the first green led 40 b and reflect the green light produced by the first green led 40 b . next , the rotating reflecting will rotate to face the first blue led 40 c and so forth around the led ring 41 . those skilled in the art will appreciate that from the perspective of the integrator 48 , there will appear to be a single light source producing a sequence of red , green , and blue light with sufficient brightness to project a large video image . fig4 is a diagram of another embodiment of the led light engine 12 comprising an led ring and an ellipsoidal reflector 52 in accordance with embodiments of the present invention . for simplicity , like reference numerals have been used to designate those features previously described in reference to fig2 and 3 . the embodiment of the led light engine 12 illustrated in fig4 comprises the leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c disposed in the led ring 41 , a plurality of ellipsoidal reflectors 52 , a reflector 54 , and the integrator 48 . each of the leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c is configured to produce the light 44 which reflects off the ellipsoidal reflectors 52 towards the reflector 54 . those skilled in the art will appreciate that the ellipsoidal reflectors 52 have two focal points . in one embodiment , as illustrated , the leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c will be placed at one of the focal points and the reflector 54 will be placed at the other focal point . the ellipsoidal reflectors 52 may achieve a result similar to the lenses 42 that were described above . in one embodiment , the ellipsoidal reflectors 52 are comprised of a plastic shell with a reflective paint or coating . in alternate embodiments , the ellipsoidal reflectors 52 may be constructed from any other suitable materials , as known to those of ordinary skill in the art . the embodiment of the led light engine 12 depicted in fig4 may function similarly to either the embodiment depicted in fig2 or the embodiment depicted in fig3 . specifically , in one embodiment , the reflector 54 comprises a stationary reflector and the leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c are configured to operate in combination to produce enough light to project a large video image , as described in relation to fig2 . in another embodiment , however , the reflector 54 comprises a rotating reflector and the leds 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c are configured to operate with a lower duty cycle ( e . g ., 1 / 15 ). in this embodiment , each individual led 40 a , 40 b , and 40 c is configured to produce enough light to project a large video image , as outline above in regard to fig3 . while the invention may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms , specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail herein . however , it should be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed . rather , the invention is to cover all modifications , equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following appended claims .
| 7 |
the aircraft boarding bridge or stairs is schematically hinted at and labelled 1 . the aircraft boarding bridge or stairs 1 has a head frame 3 , which is disposed at the front of the aircraft boarding bridge or stairs 1 in a u - shaped circumferential manner . the c - shaped profile 7 , 70 , which is more specifically screwed to the head frame 3 , is also disposed in a u - shaped circumferential manner on the head frame 3 . a sealing compound , for example made of silicone , is located between the c - shaped profile 7 , 70 and the head frame 3 , in order to prevent humidity from getting into the inside of the aircraft boarding bridge or stairs . the c - shaped profile 7 , 70 has a web 8 ; 80 , which serves to implement a screw connection with the head frame 3 . the web 8 ; 80 features two legs 9 ; 90 , 91 disposed at both ends in a u - shaped manner , wherein the two legs have first and second protrusions 10 , 11 ; 100 , 111 pointing toward each other . this results in a profile with a c - shaped cross - section . in order to be received by the c - shaped profile 7 , the hook member labelled 20 in fig1 has a u - shaped claw 22 , wherein the claw 22 serves to hook the strip - shaped hook member 20 into the first protrusion 10 of the c - shaped profile 7 . the strip 30 made of an elastomer , which may also be referred to as a keder , is provided in order to fix this hook member 20 with the claw 22 in the position shown in the figure . at one side of its longitudinal edge , the keder or strip 30 has a groove 33 , which captures the second protrusion 11 of the c - shaped profile 7 . the nose 35 , which engages behind the hook member 20 , is provided in order to reliably prevent the strip 30 from unintentionally slipping out . here , it can be seen that the hook member 20 is positively received by the c - shaped profile 7 in two spatial directions x and y . the hook member 20 first rests with a clearance in the c - shaped profile 7 , wherein the clearance is defined by a free space 40 between the hook member 20 and the free end of the second protrusion 11 . the strip 30 is driven into this free space 40 , so that the hook member 20 is ultimately held in the position shown in fig1 . the embodiment according to fig2 differs from that in fig1 in that the strip - shaped hook member 120 is merely l - shaped and does not have a u - shaped claw like the hook member 20 . in the embodiment according to fig2 , the hook member 120 is also held in position by the strip 30 . the strip 30 here also features a groove 33 to be received by the second protrusion 11 of the c - shaped profile 7 . the embodiment according to fig3 features a c - shaped profile 7 , which is configured in the same manner as in fig2 . here however , the c - shaped profile 7 receives a strip - shaped hook member 200 , wherein the hook member 200 is made of an elastomer . in order to receive the two protrusions 10 and 11 of the c - shaped profile 7 pointing toward each other , the hook member 200 has two grooves 240 , in which the protrusions 10 and 11 of the c - shaped profile engage , as can be gathered from fig3 . in the area of the two grooves 240 , there is a recess 210 , which serves to receive the strip 230 made of an elastomer material . this means that , in principle , the strip 230 forms a keder strip . in the embodiment according to fig4 , the c - shaped profile 70 features two legs 90 , 91 connected by the web 80 , which , at their ends , respectively have protrusions 100 , 111 pointing toward each other . the leg 91 is here configured in the manner of a shoe 95 . in the area of the shoe 95 , the strip - like hook member labelled 300 has a foot 310 , which is spaced apart from the protrusion 111 of the shoe 95 . the strip 330 made of an elastomer is introduced into the space formed by the gap , wherein , in order to prevent the strip 330 from getting out the shoe 95 under a load , the hook member 300 has a projection 315 in the area of the foot 310 . the hook member 20 , 120 , 200 , 300 additionally features the bellows 50 at one free end . 40 free space between the second protrusion and the hook member
| 8 |
a non - restrictive illustrative embodiment of the blood counting device according to the present invention will now be described . a non - restrictive illustrative embodiment of the blood counting method will be described concurrently . referring to fig1 , the blood counting device is generally identified by the reference 29 . the blood counting device 29 can be used as a stand - alone apparatus coupled to a personal computer 6 or integrated to a pet scanner 27 , as shown in fig1 . the blood counting device 29 comprises a main unit 5 , a pumping unit 7 and a detector assembly 3 . the main unit 5 incorporates the electronics to control the pumping unit 7 and the detector assembly 3 , and to communicate with the personal computer 6 or the pet scanner 27 , which are both equipped with software for remote control , data analysis and display . this fully integrated system and software are designed to be user friendly , reduce staff exposure to radiation and increase throughput of pharmacokinetic studies in biomedical and pharmaceutical research . blood , for example a micro - volumetric quantity of arterial or venous blood is drawn from a subject 1 , for example a living mouse or rat , using a catheter 2 , for example pe50 tubing . more specifically , the blood is drawn through the catheter 2 across the detector assembly 3 by the pumping unit 7 . as shown in fig2 , the detector assembly 3 comprises a detector cap 10 , a detector base 8 and an electronic casing 9 mounted on a rail member 11 . the detector cap 10 holds the catheter 2 . since the cannula ( not shown ) installed on the subject 1 is often very sensitive to catheter movement , the detector cap 10 is fixed and remains motionless on the rail member 11 . also , the subject 1 is positioned and maintained at the height of the detector assembly 3 , close to the detector cap 10 to shorten as much as possible the length of the catheter 2 and , in this way , minimize radioactivity dispersion and time shift between blood counter data and actual blood activity concentration within the subject 1 . the pumping unit 7 comprises a powered , mechanically operated syringe 4 to pump or draw blood from the subject 1 . one end of the catheter 2 is mounted on the needle of the syringe 4 . unit 7 is oriented so as to position the syringe 4 with the needle close to the detector cap 10 . this configuration , as shown in fig1 , contributes to shorten the length of the catheter 2 and maintain the catheter 2 as straight as possible . the syringe pump can be replaced by a peristaltic pump in a closed loop where blood is returned to the animal through a venous catheter . the detector base 8 holds the beta radiation detectors 19 ( fig5 ) and is attached to the electronic casing 9 . the electronic casing 9 encloses an electronic circuit ( not shown ) for amplifying , shaping and converting the signals from the beta radiation detectors 19 into digital pulses , setting a level of a detection threshold , and communicating with the main unit 5 . these pulses can be counted by the computer 6 or pet scanner 27 to provide a resulting count rate of the blood counting device . to enable placement of the catheter , the detector base 8 can be separated from the detector cap 10 and slid away on the rail member 11 a sufficient distance , for example a distance of up to around 5 cm . once the catheter 2 is set into place on the detector cap 10 , the detector base 8 can then be brought close to the detector cap 10 and the detector assembly 3 closed through bindings such as , for example bindings 12 as shown in fig3 . obviously , any other type of suitable bindings could be used for that purpose . the rail member 11 contributes to prevent movement of the catheter 2 during closure of the detector assembly 3 and allows only limited movement between the detector cap 10 and the detector base 8 . the rail member 11 also makes the detector assembly 3 a full entity that can be fastened on top of the main unit 5 , as shown in fig2 , or placed aside of that main unit 5 as shown in fig1 . referring to fig5 and 9 , a pair of beta radiation detectors 19 are mounted on the detector base 8 . it should be noted here that the blood counting device could operate with only one beta radiation detector and with more than two beta radiation detectors . the beta radiation detectors 19 are direct beta radiation detectors made of a pair of silicon photodiodes , for example with an active area of 3 mm × 30 mm and a 1 . 5 mm overall thickness . as better shown in fig9 , the beta radiation detectors 19 are placed face to face on opposite sides along the catheter 2 through which blood is being drawn to enhance efficiency of detection of beta particles . silicon photodiodes are very efficient at detecting beta radiation emitted from most typical radioisotopes used as radiotracers in clinical and biological studies , such as 11 c , 13 n , 15 f , 64 cu , 131 i , etc ., and rather insensitive to the x , gamma or annihilation radiation emitted by these radioisotopes . as a result , silicon photodiodes will not be affected in a significant manner by gamma rays emitted from the small amount of radioactivity contained in the blood within the catheter . moreover , due to the insensitivity of photodiodes to high energy gamma rays , as well as the small size and compact arrangement of photodiodes around the catheter , the resulting detector assembly 3 can be protected from external radiation sources , including the relatively high radioactivity within the subject , with a very thin shielding . the distance between the silicon photodiodes and the blood within the catheter 2 is kept as short as possible as the range of detection of beta particles is short . with common pe50 tubing , the detection volume within the catheter 2 between the pair of photodiodes is 8 μl and the blood radioactivity concentration scale is in kbq / μl or nci / μl . as indicated in the foregoing description , the beta radiation detectors 19 detects very small blood radioactivity level inside the catheter 2 from beta radiation without contamination by the very large amount of radioactivity , in the several mbq or mci range , which is present within the subject 1 . therefore , silicon pin photodiodes having a fairly thick depleted region at the junction are selected since they are highly sensitive to beta radiation while remaining rather insensitive to x , gamma and annihilation radiation . radiation shielding needed to protect the silicon photodiodes against external gamma radiation can then be very compact . blood inside the catheter forms an efficient conducting medium acting like an antenna for external emi ( electromagnetic interference ) and , therefore , brings emi very close to the very sensitive silicon photodiodes , often producing an interference signal of non - negligible amplitude . some emi shielding is thus provided . finally , silicon photodiodes are very sensitive to ambient light and must be operated in the dark . mechanical and electrical filtering can be used to avoid such disruptions . referring to fig3 , 4 and 5 , the enclosure of the detector assembly 3 is made of two complementary external layers 13 and 14 . the detector assembly 3 also comprises internal linings 15 and 16 both having grooves with appropriate curvatures to accommodate the catheter 2 in order to provide a light - tight assembly for the beta radiation detectors 19 . the internal linings 15 and 16 can be screwed to the inner faces of the external layer 13 and 14 , respective , through beveled holes such as 40 . the external layers 13 and 14 shield the beta radiation detectors 19 against external x , gamma or annihilation radiation , whereas the internal linings 15 and 16 shield the beta radiation detectors 19 against external emi . the external layers 13 and 14 of the detector assembly enclosure are made of dense and heavy material , such as lead , tungsten or similar high atomic number materials , with a sufficient thickness to substantially absorb external x , gamma or annihilation radiation and prevent such external radiation to reach the beta radiation detectors 19 . as shown in fig4 and 5 , the detector cap 10 comprises a shallow cavity 17 and the detector base 8 comprises a complementary embossment 20 whereby the detector base 8 and cap 10 of the detector assembly 3 interlock to protect the beta radiation detectors 19 from external x , gamma or annihilation radiation . the complementary cavity 17 and embossment 20 also contribute to protect the beta radiation detectors 19 from external light . the catheter 2 could lead a small amount of light to the beta radiation detectors 19 ; it is kept negligible by the curves such as 18 and extensions 21 and 28 , for example approximately 10 mm long , of the internal linings 15 and 16 , respectively . the extensions 21 and 28 also contribute to reduce emi sensitivity . the internal linings 15 and 16 are u - shaped and made of copper or another anti - emi material to enclose the beta radiation detectors 19 and the catheter 2 . as illustrated in fig8 , the internal linings 15 and 16 form a faraday cup 26 that provides effective shielding against emi from the surrounding equipment ( s ). the internal linings 15 and 16 also provide an easy and reproducible catheter 2 “ vs ” beta radiation detectors 19 relative positioning , therefore leading to a reproducible calibration of the device . more specifically , as shown in fig6 , the legs of the u - shaped internal lining 16 of the detector cap 10 defines groove sections 22 having a size suitable to easily receive and secure the catheter 2 in place . the base of the u - shaped internal lining 16 defines a generally rectangular cavity 23 . referring now to fig7 , the internal lining 15 of the detector base 8 defines , in an embossment 25 complementary to the cavity 23 , two grooves 24 to receive and position the beta radiation detectors 19 in such a manner that they face each other with a proper spacing therebetween to insert the catheter 2 with no dead space between the catheter and the confronting faces of the detectors 19 . the cavity 23 , embossment 25 and internal linings 15 and 16 form a tight interlocking assembly forming the faraday cup 26 and that position accurately the catheter 2 between the respective active areas of the beta radiation detectors 19 as shown in fig9 . measured absolute sensitivity and sensitivity limits for a pe50 - type catheter ( pe50 tubing ) and four common radioisotopes are reported in the following table 1 . efficiency losses are minimized by the use of thin wall pe catheter and optimal geometry . more specifically , with pe50 capillary tubing , a typical sensitivity of 10 to 30 cps /( kbq / μl ) [ 0 . 4 to 1 cps /( nci / μl )] is obtained for the most popular pet radioisotopes ( 18 f , 13 n , 11 c , 64 cu ). due to its mechanical design and compact shielding , the sensitivity of the blood counting device to radioactive background is only 5 cps for a 37 mbq ( 1 mci ) 18 f source 10 cm away from the detectors 19 . the small size of the beta radiation detectors 19 and shielding enables the design of a small - dimension detector assembly 3 that can be placed on the bed , having for example a size of 8 cm × 30 cm , of a typical small subject pet scanner 27 as shown in fig1 . the main unit 5 can be coupled to the bed of the pet scanner 27 whereby the subject 1 , the catheter 2 , the detector assembly 3 , the main unit 5 and the pumping unit 7 move with the bed of the pet scanner 27 as the subject 1 is placed in the camera field of view . the blood counting method and device according to the non - restrictive illustrative embodiment can be used , in particular but not exclusively to measure a blood time - activity curve in real time as micro - volumetric amounts of blood are drawn from the subject 1 , for example a living subject 1 through the catheter 2 . the subject 1 can be a small laboratory animal , such as a mouse , a rat , a hamster , a rabbit , etc . the blood counting method and device is also suitable for use with humans . the blood counting device may be qualified as a flow - through blood counting device . the blood counting device may include , amongst others the following features and / or advantages : direct beta ( positron or electron ) detection is performed using semiconductor photodiodes ; the size of the blood counting device , and particularly of the detector assembly , is kept to a minimum contrary to prior technologies using , for example , scintillation crystals coupled to a photomultiplier tube ; due to the geometry of the blood counting device , detection efficiency is maximized and catheter placement is highly reproducible , thus absolute calibration is stable and reproducible ; as the device draws blood from a subject , it can be easily coupled to an automated sampling device to collect micro - volumes of blood as a time - activity curve is being measured so that further analysis can be performed to determine plasma and metabolites activity as a function of time and final correction can be applied to the time - activity curve ; direct detection of beta particles with a semiconductor photodiode minimizes the detector size next to the subject and reduces the sensitivity of the blood counting device to ambient gamma radiation ; when using small catheter tubing , such as pe50 ( 0 . 58 mm id , 0 . 965 mm od ), a large fraction of the beta particles emitted from the radiotracers in the blood have sufficient energy to cross the catheter wall and escape from the tube ; the radiation detectors are highly sensitive to beta particles ( electrons or positrons ) but rather insensitive to gamma radiation , annihilation radiation ( 511 kev ) or x - rays emitted from the radioactive nuclides present in the blood ; the radiation detectors are arranged in pair in a compact configuration surrounding almost completely the catheter containing blood over a sufficient length to achieve high detection efficiency for beta particles ; an electronic acquisition circuit can be provided consisting of a charge sensitive preamplifier , a shaping amplifier and a microcontroller used to set a discriminator level and register event counts in real time ; the blood pumping unit can be programmable to draw small amounts of arterial or venous blood into a small catheter ( e . g ., pe50 tubing ) at a suitable rate for measuring the time - activity curve in pharmacokinetic studies of radiotracers ; hardware and software can be provided for automatically adjusting a lower level discriminator in such a manner as to reduce the background noise count rate to a pre - selected value ; a programmable controller can be set - up to automatically control the blood pumping unit , blood counting device and the electronic hardware to display the detector count rate in real time and record data in local memory or transfer them to a computer ; dedicated software can be provided to process recorded data and display a blood time - activity curve in real time , as it is being measured , including required corrections such as radioisotope decay , absolute sensitivity calibration , detector dead time , time lag and radioactivity dispersion ; and hardware and software can be provided to incorporate the blood counting data into a list mode data stream of an imaging device such as , for example a positron emission tomography ( pet ) scanner . although the present invention has been described in the foregoing description by way of a non - restrictive illustrative embodiment , this embodiment can be modified at will within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and nature of the subject invention .
| 6 |
referring now to fig1 , a ballast circuit 10 in accordance with the present invention is shown . the ballast circuit 10 has an inverter 20 which in fig1 is arranged in a half - bridge inverter topology . however , it should be understood that the invention may be embodied in other inverter circuits and may be used with any type of gas discharge lamp 16 . the invention reduces a filament heating voltage 14 below a desired maximum voltage level . a half - bridge inverter topology is illustrated because this inverter topology is commonly used to power high - impedance gas - discharge lamps 16 . lamps 16 are particularly sensitive to unbalanced filament currents and over - current pin problems caused when the filament heating voltage 14 heats the lamp filaments 12 during lamp dimming . the present invention is useful in reducing these effects . in addition , the invention may be utilized with lamps that are not high impedance gas discharge lamps 16 . inverter 20 receives a dc voltage 26 at v_rail and converts the dc voltage 26 into an ac voltage 28 that powers the lamps 16 . inverter 20 utilizes an inverter controller 30 , inverter switch devices 22 , and an inverter resonant circuit 24 that includes a resonant inductive component , 24 a , and a capacitive resonant component 24 b . inverter resonant circuit 24 may be tuned to the appropriate frequency for powering the gas discharge lamps 16 . in this particular embodiment , the inverter resonant circuit 24 is coupled between the inverter switches 22 at terminal 25 . as is known in the art , inverter switches 22 are switched at a switching frequency to generate a pulsed voltage 25 a . inverter resonant circuit 24 then filters the pulsed voltage 25 a to provide an ac voltage 28 at the appropriate frequency for powering the gas discharge lamps 16 . ballast circuit 10 may be operable to pre - heat the lamp filaments 12 prior to filament ignition and / or to dim the lamps 16 in accordance with a desired dimming level . in either case , the lamp filaments 12 are heated by a filament heating voltage 14 . however , the filament heating voltage 14 may reach excessively high levels when heating the filaments 12 . this may damage the lamps 16 and cause unbalanced filament currents and overcurrent pin problems when the lamps 16 are being dimmed . the invention reduces a voltage level of the filament heating voltage 14 below a desired maximum voltage level during the pre - heat period and / or during dimming to reduce these problems . in this embodiment , the lamp filaments 12 are connected in series . a filament heating component 40 is coupled to the inverter resonant inductive component 24 a to receive a filament heating voltage 14 from the inverter 20 . the filament heating component 40 may be a primary transformer winding 50 in filament heating transformer 36 . primary transformer winding 50 is connected to lamp filament 12 a and provides the filament heating voltage 14 to this lamp filament , 12 a . primary transformer winding 50 may also be magnetically coupled to secondary windings 60 which receive filament heating voltage 14 to heat the lamp filaments 12 b , 12 c . during a pre - heat period , the inverter controller 30 may operate in accordance with a pre - heat sequence to pre - heat the lamp filaments 12 . because the filament heating voltage 14 in this embodiment is received from the inverter resonant circuit 24 , the filament heating voltage 14 is associated with the ac voltage 28 . consequently , the switching frequency of the inverter switch devices 22 also determines the signal frequency of the filament heating voltage 14 . referring now to fig1 and 2 , primary resonant winding 50 of filament heating transformer 36 may also be part of a filament resonant tank 52 . inverter controller 30 operates the filament heating voltage 14 within a pre - heat frequency range 48 during the pre - heat period . pre - heat frequency range 48 is normally much higher than the frequency of operation during steady state . the frequency response bandwidth 52 a of the filament resonant tank 52 passes the filament heating voltage 14 operating at the pre - heat frequency range 64 b . however , the filament heating voltage 14 is blocked at frequencies near the inverter resonant frequency 24 c of the inverter resonant circuit 24 . in this manner , the filament heating voltage 14 is coupled to the lamp filaments 12 during the pre - heat period but blocked during full - lamp operation . this helps balance the filament currents and reduce overcurrent pin problems during full lamp operation after the pre - heat period . ballast circuit 10 may be a dimmable ballast and thus be operable to operate the lamps 16 at one or more dimming levels . inverter controller 30 may receive a dimming control signal 54 indicating a desired dimming level for the lamps 16 and adjust the switching frequency of the inverter switch devices 22 in accordance with this desired dimming level . typically , the switching frequency during lamp dimming is significantly higher than during full - lamp operation . at low dimming levels , the lamp current may be relatively low and thus may require that the lamp filaments 12 be heated to maintain the lamp filaments 12 at the appropriate temperature . the frequency response bandwidth 52 a of the filament resonant tank 52 may also be tuned to receive the filament heating voltage 14 at some or all of these dimming frequencies . one of the problems with the resonant devices 24 , 52 of the ballast circuit 10 is that the electrical component values have a high level of variability . given the high q of resonant devices 24 , 52 , this may lead to excessively high filament heating voltages 14 during the pre - heat period and / or during lamp dimming . accordingly , a control loop 38 is utilized to reduce the filament heating voltage 14 below a desired maximum voltage level . other embodiments of the control loop 38 may be utilized to reduce the filament heating voltage 14 during other lamp conditions , as the invention may be utilized any time the filament heating voltage 14 needs to be maintained below a desired maximum voltage level . in this embodiment , control loop 38 is connected to a feedback terminal 32 in inverter controller 30 and receives a feedback control signal 62 associated with a voltage level of the filament heating voltage 14 from the filament heating component 40 . filament heating component 40 may be any component that receives the filament heating voltage 14 or a signal associated with the filament heating voltage 14 . in this case , feedback control signal 62 is the filament heating voltage 14 itself . a single lamp application of ballast circuit 10 may receive the filament heating voltage 14 on a winding magnetically coupled to the inverter inductive component 24 a . in other embodiments , filament control signal 62 may not be the filament heating voltage 14 itself and may be indirectly related to the voltage level of the filament heating voltage 14 . in this embodiment , the feedback control signal 62 may be the same as the filament heating voltage 14 received on secondary winding 60 coupled to lamp filament 12 d . it should also be understood however that filament heating voltage 14 may be at a different voltage levels at each individual lamp filament , 12 a , 12 b , 12 c , 12 d . thus , the voltage level at filament resonant winding 50 may be different than the voltage level at secondary winding 60 coupled to the lamp filament 12 d . any of these voltage levels may be used to operate the control loop 38 . also , the value of the desired maximum voltage level may be dependent upon where the voltage level of the filament heating voltage 24 is being measured . while these voltage levels may be different , all of them change in accordance with a change in the amount of power transmitted by the filament heating voltage 14 . feedback control signal 62 is associated with the filament heating voltage 14 because its signal level also changes in accordance with changes in the amount of power transmitted by the filament heating voltage 14 . as inverter controller 30 changes the switching frequency of the inverter switch devices 22 , a voltage level of the filament heating voltage 14 also changes . response curve 64 a of filament resonant tank 52 may be shaped such that as the signal frequency 42 of the filament heating voltage 14 is moved away from a center frequency 52 c of the response curve 64 a , the voltage level of the filament heating voltage 14 is lowered . center frequency 52 c is generally the resonant frequency of the filament resonant tank 52 and may be the associated with a pre - heat frequency for powering the lamps 16 . this response curve , 64 a , may be shaped so that the filament heating voltage 14 has desired voltage levels at different stages of the pre - heat period and / or at designated dimming levels . in addition , response curve 64 a is also shaped so that filament heating voltage 14 is received within the pre - heat and / or dimming frequency signal ranges 64 b of filament heating voltage 14 but is blocked at the frequency 63 of the filament heating voltage 14 during full - lamp operation . control loop 38 may have a high pass filter 64 with a response curve 54 a that has a corner frequency 66 at or near the edge of pre - heat and / or dimming frequency signal ranges 64 b . in this case , feedback control signal 62 is ac . as the signal frequency 42 of the filament heating voltage 14 is lowered as the voltage level of the feedback control signal 62 is also lowered . once the feedback control signal 62 is outside the pre - heat and / or dimming frequency signal ranges 64 b , feedback control signal 62 is filtered out by high pass filter 64 and control loop 38 does not operate during full lamp operation . referring again to fig1 , during the pre - heat period and / or lamp dimming , control loop 38 is operable to generate an overvoltage control signal 34 if the filament heating voltage 14 is above a desired maximum voltage level . inverter controller 30 responds to reduce the overvoltage control signal 34 by adjusting the switching frequency of inverter switch device 22 . in this embodiment , this adjusts the signal frequency 42 of the filament heating voltage 14 and thus places the signal frequency 42 at a different position on the response curve 64 a of the filament resonant tank 52 . in turn , this lowers the voltage level of the filament heating voltage 14 . the inverter controller 30 may continue to adjust the switching frequency until the overvoltage control signal 34 has been eliminated . overvoltage control signal 34 may therefore be generated when the voltage level of the filament heating signal 14 is at or above a desired maximum voltage level . as mentioned above , the voltage level of the filament heating voltage 24 in this control loop 38 is the voltage across secondary winding 60 associated with heating lamp filament , 12 d . after feedback control signal 62 is filtered by high pass filter 64 , the feedback control signal 62 may be received by a converter 68 . converter 68 converts feedback control signal 62 from ac into a pulsed dc control signal 70 . in this embodiment , the converter 68 is a half - wave rectifier 68 a coupled to a capacitor c 2 . only one half - cycle of the feedback control signal 62 is transmitted through the half - wave rectifier 68 a . these half - cycles are then smoothed out by capacitor c 2 to form the pulsed dc control signal 70 . pulsed dc control signal 70 may provide a voltage across the voltage regulator 44 in the control loop 38 . so long as the voltage level of the pulsed dc control signal 70 is below an activation voltage level of the voltage regulator 44 , the voltage regulator 44 does not transmit and no overvoltage regulation signal 34 is generated . however , once the voltage level of the pulses of the pulsed dc control signal 70 are at or above the activation voltage level , an overvoltage control signal 34 is generated . thus , the activation voltage level of the voltage regulator 44 should be selected based on the desired maximum voltage level of the filament heating voltage 14 . in this embodiment , the voltage regulator 44 is a reverse biased zener diode and the breakdown voltage of the zener diode corresponds with the desired maximum voltage level of the filament heating voltage 14 . inverter controller 30 may be any type of control circuit utilized to control the switching frequency of an inverter switch device . in this embodiment , inverter controller 30 is an ic control chip , specifically the uba2014 driver chip . the circuit can take advantage of the characteristics of the chip to generate the overvoltage control signal 44 from the pulsed dc control signal 70 . to do this , a bootstrapped component r 1 is coupled to the feedback terminal 32 of the inverter controller 30 . bootstrapped component r 1 converts the output of the voltage regulator 44 into a smooth dc signal . a bootstrapped component r 1 is simply a component in which both the input and output of the component are driven substantially in unison . of course , practical limitations prevent the inputs and outputs of a bootstrapped component r 1 to be driven in perfect unison . however , bootstrapping techniques are known for approximating this effect . in this example , the bootstrapped component r 1 is a resistor coupled to a second resistor r 2 which is also connected to ground . when the voltage regulator 44 is activated , current is fed to resistor r 2 . because resistor r 1 is coupled to the chip , this raises the voltage on both sides of bootstrapped component r 1 . overvoltage control signal 34 is thus generated as a smooth dc signal . as the filament heating voltage 14 is lowered by the inverter controller 30 , the overvoltage control signal 34 is also lowered in a smooth fashion until the overvoltage control signal 34 is eliminated and the filament heating voltage 14 is below the desired maximum voltage level . thus , although there have been described particular embodiments of the present invention of a new and useful ballast circuit for a gas discharge lamp with a control loop to reduce a filament heating voltage below a maximum heating level it is not intended that such references be construed as limitations upon the scope of this invention except as set forth in the following claims .
| 7 |
the instant invention provides methods for selectively removing and recovering oleuropein aglycon from ovw . in one embodiment , the method involves the following steps : obtaining raw ovw comprising oleuropein , oleuropein aglycon , and conversion enzymes ; adding pomace oil to the raw ovw to concentrate oleuropein aglycon in a collection of floating solids ; adding citric acid and heat to form precipitated solids ; adding treated water to raw ovw to form additional precipitated solids and to increase oleuropein aglycon concentration ; adding a solvent mixture ( e . g ., hexane and acetone ) to extract the oleuropeins and further concentrate oleuropein aglycon ; and adding treated water during a final evaporation stage to facilitate oil separation , solvent removal , and further increase the total level of oleuropeins extracted . the resulting ovw can be used for direct irrigation , or further treatment by conventional waste water processes . for purposes of the present invention , the term “ raw ovw ” refers to an aqueous mixture containing a mixture of oleuropein , oleuropein aglycon , and any of the naturally occurring enzymes capable of hydrolyzing oleuropein to oleuropein aglycon ( i . e ., conversion enzymes ). in preferred embodiments , the raw ovw will be the product derived from a water wash of olive vegetation matter as in the manufacture of olive oil . in such embodiments , raw ovw will comprise the water from a washing step as well as endogenous water removed from the olive vegetation matter . the term “ treated water ” refers to raw ovw that has been processed to remove at least a portion of oleuropeins and oleuropein aglycon . preferably , treated water will retain a substantial quantity of conversion enzymes . the term “ floating solids ” refers to an oleuropein aglycon - rich collection of water - immiscible constituents that are less dense than water and tend to form or migrate to the surface of the ovw . the floating solids are often manifested as a foam on the surface of the ovw . the term “ precipitated solids ” refers to water - immiscible constituents that are at least as dense as water . the precipitated solids will commonly comprise oleuropein and various sugars . in at least one embodiment of the present invention , those constituents are removed by filtration or centrifugation . the initial step to recover the polyphenolics , oleuropein aglycon and it &# 39 ; s related compounds is to break the complex emulsion of the water . the initial step is to hold the olive vegetation water for 48 hours upon immediate production as a by - product of the olive oil or to by pass this holding phase and heat the water to 40 ° c . for 30 minutes in a vertical cylindrical steel vessel , preferably by steam . during this heating step the oleuropein is hydrolyzed to the aglycon ( oa ) by natural enzymes present in the olive vegetation water . the oa rises to the surface as a constituent of a water immiscible foam that can be continually removed by surface skimming or other conventional methods . the quantity of oleuropein aglycon can be increased in the floating foam by adding citric acid , olive pomace oil , and heat . preferably , about 0 . 01 % to about 1 . 0 % citric acid is added ; and more preferably , about 0 . 1 % citric acid . unless stated otherwise , all percentages are by weight . the olive pomace oil is preferably added in a quantity of about 2 % about 20 % of the raw ovw ; and more preferably to a volume equal to about 10 % of the volume of raw ovw . heat can also be exploited to increase the quantity of oa in the foam . in preferred embodiments , the temperature is increased to about 100 ° c . for about one hour . lower temperatures can be used for correspondingly longer periods to achieve substantially the same effect . during this heating step , additional solids precipitate and are suspended in the aqueous layer . the precipitated , or suspended , solids are high in oleuropeins , sugars , and other components . although not wishing to be bound by any theory , we believe that the higher level of oleuropeins gained from the addition of the olive pomace oil is due to the drying of the foam as it passes through the hot oil and because the oleuropein aglycon is more oil soluble than the other forms . the floating solids on the top layer of the foam are removed by filtration or skimming , and the precipitated solids in the aqueous bottom layer can be removed by filtration or centrifugation . in a preferred embodiment approximately half of the resulting water is added to a second batch of raw olive vegetation water , and the extraction / treatment described above is repeated . the final water from this second process is cleaner and more environmentally benign , and can be discharged as irrigation water or it can be disposed of by conventional water treatment methods . during this second treatment process , a higher percentage of solids can be recovered thereby increasing the yield since a greater percentage of conversion enzymes accumulate . this process of keeping half of the volume of treated water and adding the other half of the volume from fresh olive vegetation water can be repeated as necessary or until all of the water produced is treated . the recovered solids can be dried , e . g ., by heat or vacuum . in the second phase , the floating solids from the first phase are extracted by a mixture of solvents . preferably , the collected floating solids are first dried before the extraction step is performed . drying can take palce by air drying , under vacuum , with heat , or combinations thereof . suitable solvents are non - polar organic solvents or mixtures of solvents . non - polar organic solvents refers to organic solvents that are substantially immiscible with water , or those that are miscible with other organic solvents that are substantially immiscible with water . exemplary solvents are alkanes ( whether straight chain , branched , or cyclic ), ethers , petroleum ethers , aromatic solvents and substituted aromatic solvents ( e . g ., benzene , toluene , xylene ), polyols , and the like . preferred solvents include pentane , hexane , heptane , acetone , ethyl acetate , diethyl ether , dimethyl furan , and mixtures thereof . it is further preferred that the solvent or solvent mixture has a boiling point lower than that of water ( i . e ., & lt ; 100 ° c .). especially preferred solvents include a mixture of hexane and acetone . preferably , the hexane / acetone mixture is from about 40 / 60 (% by volume ) to about 60 / 40 ; and more preferably about 50 / 50 . in preferred embodiments , there are two additional steps in the extraction process . first , the non - polar solvent or solvent mixture is contacted with the recovered solids . the vertical cylindrical steel vessel , used as the heating equipment in the first step , can be used in this step . in a preferred embodiment , the solvent is pumped into a tank , pumped out of the bottom , and then re - circulated through the top until the desired concentration of oleuropein to oleuropein aglycon is obtained . preferably , the volume of solvent used is about one to three liters of solvent per kilogram solids , and more preferably , about two to one ( l / kg ). in a second step , the solvent is removed . solvent removal can be performed under vacuum , heat , or a combination thereof . preferably , solvent removal is performed by transferring the oleuropein aglycon product of the above extraction step to a second vessel . the second vessel is preferably a stainless evaporation / vacuum vessel , but can be any vessel suitable for removing solvent from a mixture or solution . generally , the solvent vapors coming off the mixture are routed through a loop and are cooled by water or an air cooler such that the condensed vapors are collected in a storage or collection vessel remotely from the oleuropein aglycon - rich mixture . this step of solvent removal is continued until the volume in the evaporation vessel is about one tenth the original volume . at this time , previously treated water is added to the vessel as necessary to precipitate oil and facilitate the total removal of solvent . the vessel is reheated to boiling with the solvent traveling through the same condenser loop to the solvent storage until the vapor temperature exceeds the boiling point of the solvent . the condensate is then directed back to the holding tank for the raw treatment of water until the consistency of the residue in the evaporation tank is a slurry or a pumpable mud . the slurry residue , which does not contain any solvent , is then pumped into pans for drying by the same means as in the first stage . the resulting product is about 40 % oleuropein aglycon as determined by hplc . remaining solids are natural olive solids . the other remaining end products also have potential uses . for example , the solid residue from the extraction step is high in sugar and is a suitable supplement for animal feed or alcohol fermentation . ( see fig . ii : olive water treatment - phase ii ; and fig . iii : phase ii )
| 0 |
fig1 shows a fixture 10 and a flat cam assembly 12 of a processing machine broadly denoted by the numeral 14 . for ease of understanding , only a single fixture 10 has been illustrated and will be described herein , although as well understood by those of ordinary skill in the art , a commercial version of the machine incorporating the principles of the present invention would have a series of the fixtures 10 moving in a closed loop of travel around an upright axis . similarly , although the cam assembly 12 of the machine 14 has been illustrated in a flat condition , such is for illustrative purposes only , and a commercial version of the machine would have the cam assembly arranged in a closed loop adjacent that of the fixtures . the fixture 10 is desirably similar to the fixture disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 569 , 072 issued oct . 29 , 1996 and titled &# 34 ; poultry processing mechanism having carcass stabilizer .&# 34 ; accordingly , the &# 39 ; 072 patent is hereby incorporated by reference into the present specification . fixture 10 includes a pair of upright , parallel rods 16 and 18 that extend between and are fixed to upper and lower members 20 and 22 respectively . members 20 , 22 are fixed to rotating parts of the machine so that the fixture 10 rotates as well about the central axis of the machine . fixture 10 also includes a carcass holder 24 that is vertically shiftable along the rods 16 , 18 as determined by a follower 26 projecting from the rear of the holder 24 and riding within a cam track 28 of the cam assembly 12 . holder 24 includes a block 30 preferably constructed of a synthetic material commonly referred to as &# 34 ; pet - p &# 34 ;, as well as a metal backstop 32 that projects outwardly and downwardly at an angle from the block 30 . the backstop 32 is so disposed that the backbone of the carcass lies flatly up against the backstop 32 during processing operations to thereby stabilize the carcass and properly locate critical portions thereof for the application of processing operations . the holder 24 also includes a shoulder yoke 34 projecting outwardly and upwardly from the backstop 32 generally adjacent the lower end thereof . the yoke 34 is disposed to receive the neck of the carcass as illustrated in fig7 - 14 and to bear up against the shoulders of the carcass on opposite sides of the neck . the yoke 34 includes a pair of laterally spaced apart , left and right cradles 36 and 38 respectively for receiving corresponding shoulders of the carcass , each cradle 36 , 38 having an outwardly and upwardly curved rod 40 whose arcuate lower surface serves as part of cam structure for operating the neck skin stretcher of the present invention as hereinafter described in more detail . as illustrated particularly in fig1 , the two rods 40 of the left and right cradles 36 , 38 diverge outwardly and upwardly away from the backstop 32 so as to facilitate entry and exit of the neck of the carcass during loading and unloading of the carcass on the fixture 10 . the block 30 of the holder 24 carries a pair of hip stabilizer arms 42 and 44 that pivot laterally about respective fore - and - aft pivots 46 and 48 . the stabilizer arms 42 and 44 are designed to coact with a stationary , transverse cam bar 50 fixed to the upright guide rods 16 , 18 below the block 30 so that , as the block 30 rises and falls on the rods 16 , 18 , the stabilizer arms 42 , 44 swing in and out about the pivots 46 , 48 to the extent determined by the interaction of the lower ends of the stabilizer arms and the cam bar 50 . as illustrated in fig7 - 14 , the upper ends of the stabilizer arms 42 , 44 undergird the hips of the carcass and clamp against opposite sides of the trunk of the carcass during the processing operation . fixture 10 further includes a slide block 52 carried on the guide rods 16 , 18 below the carcass holder 24 . the vertical disposition of the slide block 52 along the guide rods 16 , 18 is determined by a follower 54 projecting from the back of the slide block 52 and received within a cam track 56 . the slide block 52 pivotally supports a generally j - shaped carrier arm 58 via a pivot bolt 60 at the lower front corner of the slide block 52 , the carrier arm 58 being supported intermediate its two opposite ends by the pivot 60 . at its inner or lower end , the carrier arm 58 has a follower 62 which is received within another track 64 of the cam assembly 12 . the carrier arm 58 is thus caused to swing up and down about the pivot 60 to the extent determined by the follower 62 within the track 64 . the outer , upper end of the carrier arm 58 has a specially configured head 66 ( fig5 ) that supports both a knife 68 and a neck skin stretcher or stretching device 70 . the head 66 is rigidly affixed to the carrier arm 58 . the head 66 has a pair of opposite flat faces 72 and 74 which are spaced equally from an imaginary center line 76 ( fig4 ) passing through the head 66 in the same vertical plane as the central longitudinal axis of the carcass when mounted on the fixture 10 . the face 72 ( fig5 ) terminates inwardly at a diagonal edge 78 . at that location a recessed floor 80 extends in parallelism with the face 72 to the opposite extremity of the head 66 . as illustrated in fig4 the recessed floor 80 is slightly laterally offset from the center line 76 . a diagonally extending abutment shoulder 82 extends outwardly from the floor 80 at right angles thereto and intersects with the edge 78 . the opposite side of the head 66 also has a recessed floor 84 ( fig6 ), but the floor 84 is joined with its corresponding flat face 74 by an arcuately concave fillet 86 which leads outwardly to a convexly curved inner edge 88 of the face 74 . as shown in fig5 the knife 68 is fixed to the floor 80 on one side of the head 66 by a screw 90 . as illustrated in fig6 the screw 90 may be threaded into any selected one of three internally threaded receiving holes 92 , 94 and 96 so as to permit adjustment of the extent to which the knife 68 projects beyond the head 66 . the knife 68 comprises a flat blade which is generally trapezoidal when viewed in plan . one face of the knife blade 68 lies flatly up against the recessed floor 80 , while the flat top edge 98 of the knife blade butts up against the abutment shoulder 82 to prevent rotation of the knife about the fastening screw 90 . the knife has a pair of identical , downturned slitting hooks 100 and 102 at its two outer corners which , because of their identity , permit the knife 68 to be detached from the head 66 when one hook becomes dull and turned over to expose the other , sharpened hook for use . each hook 100 , 102 has a sharp point 104 and a concave cutting edge 106 leading away from the point 104 on the underside of the hook . it has been found that the knife 68 may take the form of a standard , commercially available , hook - style utility blade such as wiss no . rwk - 13v available from cooper tools of apex , n . c . however , the wiss blade is not a stainless steel blade , and it is believed that better performance can be obtained with a blade fabricated from stainless steel . therefore , to maintain a cutting edge for a longer duration and to promote sanitation , it may be necessary to fabricate the knife 68 from stainless steel . the stretcher 70 is pivotally mounted on the head 66 so that while it is presented to the carcass along with the knife 68 by the carrier arm 58 , it can also move relative to the knife 68 in a neck skin stretching motion . in this respect , the stretcher 70 comprises a pair of somewhat elliptical - shaped half segments 108 and 110 ( fig3 - 6 ), preferably constructed of nylon material , which are disposed on opposite sides of the head 66 . the inner surfaces of the segments 108 , 110 bear against and slide along the respective opposite faces 72 and 74 of the head 66 , and the segments 108 , 110 are pivotally mounted on the head 66 by a transverse pivot bolt 112 . pivot bolt 112 also clamps the two segments 108 , 110 together , augmented by a rear clamping bolt 114 extending between and passing through the segments 108 , 110 at a position rearwardly of the pivot axis defined by bolt 112 . a spacer 116 surrounds the clamp bolt 114 between the rear ends of segments 108 , 110 to maintain the appropriate spacing between the segments at that location . a helical tension spring 118 is hooked at its upper end to the spacer 116 and at its lower end to an anchor pin 120 rigidly affixed to and projecting outwardly from the carrier arm 58 . consequently , the spring 118 yieldably biases the stretcher 70 toward its non - operated , standby position illustrated in solid lines in fig5 and 6 . rotation of the stretcher 70 about the pivot 112 in a clockwise direction viewing fig5 is limited by engagement of the spacer 116 with a projecting abutment 121 on the head 66 . as illustrated in phantom lines in fig5 the stretcher 70 may be rotated in a counterclockwise direction to an operated position . when the stretcher 70 is in its standby position , the hook 100 of the knife 68 is protectively covered by the segments 108 and 110 , but when the stretcher 70 is in its operated position , and for some degree of travel prior to reaching such fully operated position , the hook 100 is exposed . the stretcher 70 is provided with a tapered receiving notch 122 at the working end thereof , which working end for convenience will hereinafter be referred to as the &# 34 ; nose 124 &# 34 ; ( fig5 ) of the stretcher . the notch 122 in the nose 124 is formed by opposed , mutually converging bevels 126 and 128 on the inner surfaces of the segments 108 , 110 in the area of the nose 124 . the bevels 126 and 128 are roughened such as by a series of transverse , shallow grooves 130 to promote frictional gripping of the neck skin of the carcass during operation . the segments 108 and 110 have upper external edge surfaces 108a and 110a ( fig3 - 6 ) in the area of the &# 34 ; nose &# 34 ; 124 and rearwardly therefrom along the top extremity of the stretcher 70 that serve as cam surfaces or cam structure during the skin stretching action of the stretcher 70 . in this respect , the segments 108 and 110 are aligned laterally with the rods 40 of the shoulder cradles 36 and 38 so that , as the carrier arm 58 swings into operation , the nose 124 and edge surfaces 108a , 110a come into operating contact with the rods 40 . consequently , the rods 40 cam the stretcher 70 through a stretching stroke or motion in response to swinging of the carrier arm 58 upwardly through an operating cycle . fig7 through 14 illustrate the use and operation of the present invention . in those figures , a poultry carcass 132 is shown suspended by its legs from a shackle 134 forming part of an overhead conveying line that moves the carcasses in spaced succession through the processing plant . the conveying line and the processing machine 14 are disposed such that the paths of travel of the carcasses 132 and the fixtures 10 intersect one another at the machine 14 . as the fixtures 10 of the machine 14 move in their closed loop of travel , each fixture becomes matched up with one of the carcasses on the conveying line until the slitting operation is completed , at which time the conveying line and the carcasses diverge from the machine 14 and move on to the next processing station . it will be understood that while only a single processing function has been illustrated as taking place on the machine 14 , in the commercial version one or more additional processing operations might be simultaneously performed on each carcass once it has been securely located and stabilized on a fixture . for example , in addition to the neck slitting operation occurring at the head end of the carcass pursuant to the present invention , a body cavity opening operation might be occurring at the posterior end of the carcass in accordance , for example , with the principles disclosed and claimed in concurrently filed , copending application ser . no . 08 / 792 , 928 titled &# 34 ; method and apparatus for making a contoured opening cut in a poultry carcass &# 34 ; and assigned to the assignee of the present invention . in fig7 the carcass 132 is shown as it is being received within the holder 24 . the condition of the fixture 10 corresponds to that shown in fig1 and 2 where the fixture 10 is at position a in its path of travel along the cam assembly 12 . the knife 68 and the stretcher 70 are swung away from the holder 24 in a standby condition at this time . the stretcher 70 is maintained by the spring 118 in its standby position bearing against the stop 121 . as the fixture 10 moves from position a to position b in fig1 the upper cam track 28 rises , while the two lower cam tracks 56 and 64 remain level . thus , as shown in fig8 while the knife 68 and stretcher 70 remain in their standby position , the holder 24 progressively rises on the guide rods 16 , 18 . this causes the shoulder yoke 34 to come up against the shoulders of the carcass and to slightly lift the carcass as the neck of the carcass projects down through the gap between the two opposite cradles 36 , 38 of the yoke 34 . simultaneously , the hip stabilizer arms 42 and 44 are cammed inwardly to firmly embrace the trunk of the carcass and to bear snugly up against the hips of the carcass immediately below the legs . this action thus has the effect of firmly locating , holding and stabilizing the carcass for the neck slitting operation . as the fixture 10 moves from position b to position c in fig1 the upper cam track 28 remains flat , while the two lower cam tracks 56 and 64 climb upwardly , the angle of ascent of the track 56 being slightly steeper than that of the track 64 . thus , as illustrated in fig9 the carcass remains stabilized while the knife 68 and stretcher 70 swing toward the carcass as a result of the carrier arm 58 starting its operating stroke . as the fixture 10 moves from position c to position d in fig1 the upper track 28 remains flat , while the two lower tracks 56 and 64 continue their respective climbs . thus , the carrier arm 58 continues to swing upwardly and to shift its pivot point 60 further up toward the carcass , all of which causes the knife 68 and stretcher 70 to approach the neck of the carcass as illustrated in fig1 . as the fixture 10 moves from position d to position e in fig1 the two upper tracks 28 and 56 remain flat , while the lower track 64 descends . thus , the pivot point 60 of the carrier arm 58 stays at the same height as in fig1 , but the descending lower track 64 causes the arm 58 to swing abruptly inwardly at its upper end , thus causing the stretcher 70 to come into contacting engagement with the neck 136 of the carcass in fig1 and 11a . as shown in fig4 the neck 136 lies in a concave centering channel 138 of the backstop 32 which projects downwardly at an angle from the holder block 30 . since the center line 76 of the stretcher 70 is in the same plane as the central longitudinal axis of the centering channel 138 , when the neck 136 is properly centered within the channel 138 , it is also properly centered with respect to the stretcher 70 . consequently , as the nose 124 of the stretcher 70 approaches the neck 136 in fig1 and fig1 a , the two segments 108 and 110 of stretcher 70 straddle the neck and guide the neck into the notch 122 . once within the notch 122 , the neck comes into contact with the beveled surfaces 126 and 128 of the notch so that the stretcher 70 can then be effective in pulling the neck skin downwardly into a taut condition as the process continues . it is important to note at this stage that as the carrier arm 58 swings from its fig1 position to its fig1 position , the nose 124 comes into operating engagement with the two upwardly curved rods 40 of the shoulder cradles 36 , 38 . consequently , continued counterclockwise swinging of the carrier arm 58 results in the stretcher 70 being rocked about the pivot bolt 112 in a counterclockwise direction viewing fig1 , 11 and 11a as the upper edges 108a and 110a contact and slide along the rods 40 . this action has two consequences . first , it causes the notched nose of the stretcher 70 to engage the neck skin to center the neck in the channel 138 and pull the loose skin downwardly along the underlying tissues of the neck . this causes the neck skin to become relatively taut and straightens out and lengthens any skin that may be bunched up near the shoulders . second , this action retracts the upper extremity of the stretcher down below the hook 100 of the knife 68 , thus exposing the knife 68 for contact with the neck skin . this condition is illustrated in an enlarged view in fig1 a , where the hook 100 is just ready to engage and penetrate the neck skin immediately below the shoulders . as the fixture 10 travels from position e to position f in fig1 the two upper tracks 28 and 56 remain flat , while the lower track 64 continues its descent . thus , as illustrated in fig1 and 12a , the stretcher 70 continues to be cammed counterclockwise to stretch and wipe along the neck skin , while the knife hook 100 punctures the skin at the base of the neck and enters a short distance into the neck cavity . as will be noted in fig4 however , because the knife hook 100 is offset slightly to the left of the center of the neck , the hook 100 misses the tracheae and the esophagus , which are typically located to the right side of the neck center . as the fixture 10 then travels from position f to position g in fig1 the upper track 28 stays flat while the two lower tracks 56 and 64 descend at substantially the same rate . this causes the carrier arm 58 to pull essentially straight down on the knife 68 in a direction parallel to the backstop 32 such that , as illustrated in fig1 , the knife hook 100 cuts a longitudinal slit 140 in the neck skin . although the nose 124 of the stretcher 70 moves down off the neck during the slitting stroke , it remains in engagement with the backstop 32 so as to stay rotated sufficiently that the knife hook 100 remains exposed . as the fixture 10 moves on past position g in fig1 the upper track 28 descends , the middle track 56 continues its descent at the same rate as before , and the lower track 64 starts a gradual ascent . this has the effect of swinging the carrier arm 58 in a clockwise direction out away from the carcass , withdrawing the knife hook 100 from the neck skin and allowing the tension spring 118 to flip the stretcher 70 back to its standby position covering the knife 68 . also , the holder 24 moves down away from and releases the carcass so that the conveyor line may then depart from the machine 14 and transport the carcass to the next processing station . consequently , the finished product appears as shown in fig1 .
| 0 |
in the following detailed description , reference is made to various specific embodiments of the invention . these embodiments are described with sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention . it is to be understood that other embodiments may be employed , and that various structural , logical and electrical changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention . the term “ substrate ” used in the following description may include any supporting structure including , but not limited to , a semiconductor substrate that has an exposed substrate surface . a semiconductor substrate should be understood to include silicon - on - insulator ( soi ), silicon - on - sapphire ( sos ), doped and undoped semiconductors , epitaxial layers of silicon supported by a base semiconductor foundation , and other semiconductor structures . when reference is made to a semiconductor substrate or wafer in the following description , previous process steps may have been utilized to form regions or junctions in or over the base semiconductor or foundation . the substrate need not be semiconductor - based , but may be any support structure suitable for supporting an integrated circuit . the term “ resistance variable material ” is intended to include chalcogenide glasses , and chalcogenide glasses comprising a metal , such as silver . for instance the term “ resistance variable material ” includes silver doped chalcogenide glasses , silver - germanium - selenide glasses , and chalcogenide glass comprising a silver selenide layer . the term “ resistance variable memory element ” is intended to include any memory element , including programmable conductor memory elements , semi - volatile memory elements , and non - volatile memory elements which exhibit a resistance change in response to an applied voltage . the term “ chalcogenide glass ” is intended to include glasses that comprise an element from group via ( or group 16 ) of the periodic table . group via elements , also referred to as chalcogens , include sulfur ( s ), selenium ( se ), tellurium ( te ), polonium ( po ), and oxygen ( o ). the invention is now explained with reference to the figures , which illustrate exemplary embodiments and where like reference numbers indicate like features . fig1 shows array and peripheral circuitry portions of a resistance variable memory element 100 constructed in accordance with the invention . it should be understood that the portions shown are illustrative of one embodiment of the invention , and that the invention encompasses other devices that can be formed using different materials and processes than those described herein . the memory element 100 has copper bond pads 92 in the periphery which are covered with nickel plating 82 . the pads 92 , as discussed below , are constructed such that the memory cell material 69 in the array was not exposed to copper during fabrication of the device 100 . further , and as described in more detail below , the copper bond pad 92 was not exposed to an oxygen ambient during device 100 fabrication , which could have oxidized the copper and degraded the quality of the bond pad 92 . for exemplary purposes only , memory element 100 is shown with an example of the circuitry 50 that the copper bond pads 92 may be used in connection with . in the array and periphery portions of a substrate 200 , transistors 40 are formed having source / drain active regions 101 in the substrate 200 . a first insulating layer 32 , e . g ., a boro - phospho - silicate glass ( bpsg ) layer , is formed over the transistor gatestacks . conductive plugs 41 , which may be formed of polysilicon , are formed in the first insulating layer 32 connecting to the source drain regions 101 in the substrate 200 . a second insulating layer 34 is formed over the first insulating layer 32 , and may again comprise a bpsg layer . conductive plugs 49 are formed in the second insulating layer 34 and are electrically connected to the conductive plugs 41 in the first insulating layer 32 which connects through some of plugs 41 to selected transistors 40 . a conductive bit line 55 is formed between the conductive plugs 49 in the second insulating layer 34 . the bit line illustrated has layers x , y , z formed of tungsten nitride , tungsten , and silicon nitride , respectively . a third insulating layer 36 is formed over the second insulating layer 34 , and again openings in the insulating layer are formed and filled with a conductive material to form conductive plugs 60 . next , metallization layers having conductive traces and / or contacts 91 are formed over the third insulating layer 36 and are insulated with an interlevel dielectric ( ild ) layer 38 . referring now to fig2 - 7 , an exemplary method of forming the bond pads 92 for memory element 100 in accordance with the invention is now described . it should be understood that the description of materials and fabrication steps just described for circuitry 50 were illustrative only , and that other types of integrated circuitry is within the scope of the invention . thus , for purposes of the remaining fabrication steps , the layers of the circuitry 50 are not depicted in the fabrication steps described with reference to fig2 - 7 . turning to fig2 , an inter level dielectric ( ild ) layer 40 is formed . in this layer 40 in the periphery , a dual damascene pattern is formed and filled with copper to create a copper connection 61 and a copper bond pad 92 . in both the array and the periphery , an oxide layer 56 and a nitride layer 57 are then deposited over the ild layer 40 . vias 62 are formed through layers 56 , 57 and the ild layer 40 and filled with a conductive material to connect with conductive areas of the circuitry 50 below ( such as contacts 91 of fig1 ). the vias 62 are filled with a conductive material , such as tungsten , and the vias 62 are either dry etched or chemical mechanical polished ( cmp ) to planarize the top of the vias 62 even with the nitride layer 57 . thus , at this stage , tungsten is exposed at the top of the vias 62 and the copper bond pad is covered with oxide layer 56 and nitride layer 57 . next , referring to fig3 , an oxide layer 63 is formed over the tops of the vias 62 and the nitride layer 57 . the oxide layer 63 is preferably thin , approximately 100 to about 500 angstroms thick over both the array and the periphery . a layer of photoresist 64 is formed over the oxide layer 63 . as shown in fig3 , a bond pad pattern is formed over pad 92 by patterning and developing the photoresist 64 , and as shown in fig4 , the opening is used to etch oxide layer 63 , nitride layer 57 , and oxide layer 56 down to the bond pad 92 . after etching , the photoresist 64 is stripped from the wafer . at this stage in fabrication , in the area of the periphery where the bond pad is patterned , the exposed copper 92 will oxidize slightly , however , so long as the this step is not prolonged , the oxidation will enable the next formation step . as shown in fig5 , nickel is plated selectively onto the copper bond pad 92 , forming a nickel cap 82 . the nickel plating may be accomplished by an electroless nickel bath . for example , without limiting the plating chemistry that may be utilized for this invention , the copper bond pad 92 is exposed to a plating nickel bath having a ph value of approximately 8 . the nickel bath may comprise a nickel salt and a reducing agent as well as a stabilizing agent . the temperature of the bath may be approximately 80 degrees celsius or less , depending on the rate of deposition desired . a lower temperature improves the uniformity of deposition while a higher temperature increases the plating rate . the nickel cap may be approximately 4000 angstroms thick . post - plating , the remaining oxide layer 63 is wet etched off , leaving the tungsten vias 62 exposed . memory cell formation and patterning can now occur . as shown in fig6 , cell material 69 is deposited on the array . the cell material 69 may include resistance variable cell material , like the materials necessary for construction of pcram memory cells constructed according to the teachings of u . s . pub . appl . nos . 2003 / 0155589 and 2003 / 0045054 , each assigned to micron technology inc . appropriate pcram cell materials include layers of germanium selenide , chalcogenide glass , and silver - containing layers creating a resistance variable memory device 100 . finally , a top electrode 70 is deposited over the cell material 69 as shown in fig7 . the top electrode 70 contacts the cell 69 and the periphery vias 62 . the electrode 70 can be patterned as desired . for example , the electrode 70 layer may be blanket deposited over the array ; or alternatively , an electrode 70 may be deposited in a pre - determined pattern , such as in stripes over the array . in the case of pcram cells , the top electrode 70 should be a conductive material , such as tungsten or tantalum , but preferably not containing silver . also , the top electrode 70 may comprise more than one layer of conductive material if desired . at this stage , the memory element 100 is essentially complete . the memory cells are defined by the areas of layer 69 located between the conductive plugs 62 and the electrode 70 . other fabrication steps to insulate the electrode 70 using techniques known in the art , are now performed to complete fabrication . fig9 illustrates that the memory element 100 is subsequently used to form an integrated circuit package 201 for a memory circuit 1248 ( fig8 ). the memory device 100 is physically mounted on a mounting substrate 202 using a suitable attachment material . bond wires 203 are used to provide electrical connection between the integrated chip bond pads 92 and the mounting substrate bond pads 204 and / or lead wires which connect the die 100 to circuitry external of package 201 . the embodiments described above refer to the formation of a memory device 100 structure in accordance with the invention . it must be understood , however , that the invention contemplates the formation of other integrated circuit elements , and the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above . moreover , although described as a single memory device 100 , the device 100 can be fabricated as a part of a memory array and operated with memory element access circuits . fig8 is a block diagram of a processor - based system 1200 , which includes a memory circuit 1248 , for example a pcram circuit employing non - volatile memory devices 100 fabricated in accordance with the invention . the processor system 1200 , such as a computer system , generally comprises a central processing unit ( cpu ) 1244 , such as a microprocessor , a digital signal processor , or other programmable digital logic devices , which communicates with an input / output ( i / o ) device 1246 over a bus 1252 . the memory 1248 communicates with the system over bus 1252 typically through a memory controller . in the case of a computer system , the processor system may include peripheral devices such as a floppy disk drive 1254 and a compact disc ( cd ) rom drive 1256 , which also communicate with cpu 1244 over the bus 1252 . memory 1248 is preferably constructed as an integrated circuit , which includes one or more resistance variable memory elements 100 . if desired , the memory 1248 may be combined with the processor , for example cpu 1244 , in a single integrated circuit . the above description and drawings are only to be considered illustrative of exemplary embodiments which achieve the features and advantages of the invention . modification and substitutions to specific process conditions and structures can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . accordingly , the invention is not to be considered as being limited by the foregoing description and drawings , but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims .
| 7 |
the commercially most attractive embodiment of the present invention would be applying to the underside of an upholstery fabric the required thickness of a suitable neoprene foam . as an alternative , the neoprene foam can be applied to the outside of the padding . this could be , for example , a polyurethane cushion to which would be attached integrally an outer layer of neoprene foam . it also is possible to achieve good flame resistance by simply placing an neoprene foam interliner between the covering and the padding . upholstery fabric often is coated at least on one side with a continuous layer of a plastic or elastomeric material , which gives it a leathery appearance . the individual fibers cannot be seen through the coating . in such a case , the neoprene foam of the present invention may be applied to the top side of the fabric , rather than to the underside , between the fabric and the plastic or elastomeric coating . in all these applications , the thickness of the neoprene foam layer can be as little as 1 / 16 inch ( about 1 . 6 mm .) and usually does not exceed 1 inch ( 2 . 54 cm .). the preferred thickness is about 1 / 8 - 1 / 4 inch ( about 3 . 18 - 6 . 3 mm .). it has been found that when the neoprene foam is applied directly to the underside of an upholstery fabric , to give a layer within the preferred thickness range , all the fabrics tested irrespective of the type of fiber and type of weave ( e . g ., &# 34 ; loose &# 34 ; vs . &# 34 ; tight &# 34 ;) passed the burning cigarette test . in fact , most of the fabrics tested qualified for the top rating , that is , exhibited a degradation area smaller than 1 . 5 inches ( 3 . 8 cm .) from the fire source in any direction . the precise testing technique will be described in the experimental part , below . in addition to woven upholstery fabrics , nonwoven fabrics made of a variety of fibers , natural or synthetic , can be used . the neoprene foam must be specially formulated to form on exposure to a burning cigarette or under the conditions of the radiant panel test a nonsmoldering char having structural integrity . usually , the following two ingredients will be present in the formulation : a char promoter and an inorganic , hydrated compound which retains most or all of its hydration water at the foam drying and curing temperature , but loses is below about 500 ° c . the char promoter may be any chemical compound or composition which is not volatile at the ignition temperature , is itself nonflammable or has low flammability , and forms at the ignition temperature a char - protecting structure , for example , by crosslinking , fusing or fluxing , increasing its bulk or by some other chemical reaction or physical change . suitable char promoters include , for example , urea / formaldehyde resins , melamine formaldehyde resins , melamine phosphate , phthalic anhydride , pyromellitic anhydride , sodium borate , calcium borate , zinc borate , and boric acid . phosphorus and boron compounds are known to promote char formation . all such compounds are commercially available under a variety of trade names . the char promoter can be added to the neoprene latex in dry form prior to frothing . if a resin , such as a melamine / formaldehyde resin , is used as the char promoter , it preferably should be added to the neoprene latex before the neoprene itself is isolated therefrom . dipping a formed neoprene foam in a resin solution or dispersion does not usually produce the desired effects . the inorganic , hydrated compound also is preferably added to the latex . the effective proportion of the char promoter will be about 5 - 15 parts per 100 parts by weight of neoprene ( phr ). the inorganic , hydrated compound can be , for example , hydrated alumina , hydrated magnesia , magnesium oxychloride , hydrated zinc borate , and hydrated calcium borate . the amount of the inorganic compound can vary . in the case of hydrated alumina , the effective proportion is about 10 - 180 parts per 100 phr , or even higher . when the amount of hydrated alumina decreases below the lower limit of this range , little protection , if any , is provided by this ingredient . above the upper limit , good fire protection is obtained , but the structural integrity of the foam sometimes is adversely affected at such high loading levels . however , there is no theoretical reason to limit the upper range of the hydrated alumina proportion . the proportion of other inorganic compounds should be based on equivalent amounts of available hydration water . it is to be noted that , while nonhydrated zinc borate and calcium borate can function as char promoters , hydrated zinc borate and hydrated calcium borate can function as both char promoters and hydration water sources . the neoprene itself can be a homopolymer of chloroprene or a copolymer of chloroprene with another organic monomer . usual monomers are vinyl compounds or olefinic compounds , such as , for example , styrene , a vinyltoluene , a vinylnaphthalene , 1 , 3 - butadiene , isoprene , 2 , 3 - dimethyl - 1 , 3 - butadiene , 2 , 3 - dichloro - 1 , 3 - butadiene , methyl vinyl ether , vinyl acetate , methyl vinyl ketone , ethyl acrylate , methyl methacrylate , methacrylamide , and acrylonitrile . the proportion of the organic monomer other than chloroprene can be up to about 60 % of the total polymer but usually less than 20 %. the preferred monomer is acrylonitrile or an α , β - unsaturated carboxylic acid , for example , acrylic acid or methacrylic acid . the preferred proportion of acrylonitrile or the carboxylic acid monomer is such that that proportion of the copolymer weight which is contributed by the nitrile or carboxyl groups (-- cooh ) is about 2 - 20 %. in the case of carboxyl groups , the usual proportion would be about 5 % or less . it has been surprisingly found that copolymers of chloroprene and acrylonitrile or an α , β - unsaturated carboxylic acid form under cigarette test conditions a char having good structural integrity , so that other char promoters either are not required or can be used in small amounts only . the neoprene polymer is prepared by any well - known technique , but usually by emulsion polymerization in the presence of a free radical initiator , such as an organic peroxide or hydroperoxide . a chain transfer agent , such as an alkyl mercaptan or a dialkyl xanthogen disulfide , also is present . chloroprene polymerizaton techniques are described in detail in the following u . s . patents : u . s . pat . no . 3 , 651 , 037 ( snow ); u . s . pat . no . 3 , 839 , 241 ( harrell ), particularly example 3 ; u . s . pat . no . 3 , 347 , 837 ( smith ); and belgian pat . no . 815 , 662 ( du pont company ). polymerization in aqueous emulsion results in a neoprene latex . neoprene foam is produced from a neoprene latex using a method similar to those used to produce natural or other synthetic latex foams . in this method , a neoprene latex is mixed with compounding ingredients , such as a char promoter , a hydrated inorganic compound , vulcanizing agents , antioxidants , fillers , fire retardants , plasticizers , and frothing aids . the latex compound is frothed , for example , by beating , whipping , or mixing air or a gas into the compound or by causing a gas to be formed in the latex in situ . a gelling agent may be added to the comonomer to cause the froth to set , or a heat - sensitizing agent can be added to cause the froth to gel when heated , or the froth may be gelled by drying in such a manner that the bubbles do not collapse as the froth dries . the froth is spread onto a fabric , release paper , or other suitable substrate and allowed to set to an irreversible gelled foam either through the use of a chemical gelling agent , by freezing , or by heating . the gelled foam is then dried at about 100 °- 120 ° c ., and vulcanized . any of the various vulcanizing agents are suitable , such as zinc oxide or magnesium oxide . suitable gelling agents include alkali metal silicofluorides , ammonium nitrate , or polyvinyl methyl ether . suitable plasticizers include petrolatum and other waxes . suitable frothing aids include ordinary soaps , sodium lauryl sulfate , cocoanut oil alkanolamides , ammonium stearate , and the like . typical fillers include aluminum silicates , aluminum oxides , titanium dioxide , and the like . flame retardant agents include those which have a known synergistic effect with halogenated compounds , such as antimony trioxide . a neoprene foam of this invention is unexpectedly effective even in a thin layer in protecting both the covering and the padding from fire damage . this is due to a localized neoprene foam char formation in the fire source area . this char itself is not consumed by fire under test conditions ( the fire does not propagate ). furthermore , by evolving water at higher temperatures , it provides a cooling effect , which prevents the fabric itself from igniting . the char is a good thermal insulator and thus prevents the padding under it from reaching a temperature at which it would volatilize . thus , for a temperature of about 500 ° c . at the point of contact with a source of fire , the temperature under the layer of neoprene char normally would not exceed about 300 ° c . in order to perform its function , the char must have sufficient structural integrity , that is , it must be able to support its own weight as well as the weight of the melting fabric which is being absorbed therein . in addition to the cigarette test , such as the above - mentioned california upholstered furniture test , neoprene foam - containing structures of the present invention have performed remarkably well in the &# 34 ; radiant panel test &# 34 ;, astm e 162 - 67 , which is designed to show flame resistance in a large scale fire environment . these results are remarkable because prior art &# 34 ; flameproof &# 34 ; structures were able to pass the cigarette test but performed poorly in the radiant panel test , or performed well in the radiant panel test but failed the cigarette test . furthermore , the excellent results in the present case were obtained for structures in which highly flammable fabrics ( such as cotton or rayon ) were used , without any &# 34 ; fireproofing &# 34 ; treatment of the fabrics themselves . this invention is now illustrated by the following examples , wherein all parts , proportions , and percentages are by weight unless otherwise indicated . this test is described in technical information bulletin no . 116 , state of california department of consumer affairs , bureau of home furnishings , sacramento , california , may , 1974 . it requires placing burning cigarettes on a smooth surface of test furniture and in various other locations , including the crevice between the seat cushion and the upholstered back panel . while the test requires testing on actual finished furniture , the tests in the following examples were run on furniture mockups . horizontal test panels consisted of a nominal 5 cm . ( 2 . 0 inch ) thick layer of cotton batting covered with a 20 × 20 cm . ( 8 × 8 in .) piece of fabric material . the vertical panels consisted of plywood support panels with a nominal 5 cm . ( 2 . 0 in .) thick layer of cotton batting , followed by a piece of 30 × 30 cm . ( 12 × 12 in .) test fabric stretched tightly over the surface , wrapped around the edges , and stapled to the backside . ( 2 ) a char develops more than two inches from the cigarette , measured from its nearest point . 2 . astm e 162 - 67 surface flammability test using a radiant heat energy source this test ( sometimes referred to in this disclosure as the radiant panel test ) employs a radiant heat source consisting of a 305 × 457 mm . ( 12 × 18 in .) panel in front of which an inclined 152 × 457 mm ( 6 × 18 in .) specimen of the material is placed . the orientation of the specimen is such that ignition is forced near the upper edge and the flame propagates downward . a factor derived from the rate of progression of the flame front is multiplied by another relating to the rate of heat liberation by the material under test to provide a flame spread index . the lower the numerical value of the flame spread index , the better is the flame resistance of the specimen . a typical recipe for preparing a neoprene latex foam is given in table i . table i______________________________________ dry weight______________________________________neoprene latex 100zinc oxide 4antimony trioxide 4petrolatum 2foamole ® ar . sup . ( 1 ) 6duponol ® waq . sup . ( 2 ) 2hydrated inorganic compound 0 to 150char promoter 0 to 20______________________________________ . sup . ( 1 ) foamole ® ar cocoanut oil alkanolamide , vandyke chemical co . . sup . ( 2 ) duponol ® waq sodium lauryl sulfate , e . i . du pont de nemour and company in examples 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , and 6 , which follow , it is shown that it is necessary to incorporate both a char promoter and a hydrated inorganic compound in the latex to protect a fabric and cotton batting sufficiently to pass a cigarette test . in examples 5 and 6 , no char promoter other than the comonomer methacrylic acid is used . neoprene latex type a was compounded as in table i without filler or char promoter . ( type a latex is prepared as described in example 3 of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 839 , 241 .) the latex was frothed in a hobart mixer with a wire whip to a wet froth density of 12 pounds per cubic foot ( 0 . 19 g / cm . 3 ). the froth was spread onto a rayon pile , cottonbacked fabric at a thickness of 0 . 25 in . the froth was dried and cured for two hours at 121 ° c . the coated fabric was tested by placing it over 1 - in . thick cotton batting in a seat / back chair configuration and placing the lighted cigarette in the crevice formed by the intersection of the seat and back . the heat from the cigarette charred the fabric and the neoprene foam . the char spread to a distance of more than two inches away from the cigarette and the cotton batting ignited . thus , the composite failed the cigarette test . the procedure outlined in example 1 was followed , except that 25 parts per hundred parts of neoprene ( phr ) of alumina trihydrate ( hydral ® rh31f , alcoa ) was added to the compound as the hydrated inorganic compound . when the cigarette test was repeated as above , the char area spread to more than two inches away from the cigarette and the cotton batting ignited . thus , the composite failed the text . the procedure outlined in example 1 was followed , except that 15 phr cyrez ® 933 ( melamine formaldehyde resin , american cyanamid ) was added to the latex compound as a char promoter . when the cigarette test was repeated as above , the char area spread to more than two inches away from the cigarette , and the cotton batting ignited . thus , the composite failed the cigarette test . the procedure outlined in example 1 was followed , except that 10 phr cyrez ® 933 and 25 phr alumina trihydrate were added as a char promoter and hydrated inorganic compound , respectively . when the cigarette test was repeated as above , the char area of the fabric spread to less than 0 . 5 inch away from the cigarette and the cotton batting did not ignite . thus , the composite passed the cigarette test . neoprene latex type b was compounded as in table i without filler or additional char promoter . ( latex type b is prepared with 3 phr methacrylic acid comonomer which acts as an effective char promoter .) the latex was frothed in a hobart mixer to a wet froth density of 14 pounds per cubic foot ( 0 . 22 g ./ cm . 3 ). the froth was spread onto a rayon pile , cotton - backed fabric at a thickness of 0 . 25 inch . the froth was dried and cured for two hours at 121 ° c . when the cigarette test was performed as above over 1 - in . cotton batting , the char area of the fabric spread to more than 2 inches away from the cigarette and the cotton batting ignited . thus , the composite failed the cigarette test . the procedure outlined in example 5 was followed , except that 25 phr alumina trihydrate was added to the latex compound as the hydrated inorganic compound . when the cigarette test was repeated as above , the char area spread to less than 0 . 5 inch away from the cigarette and the cotton batting did not ignite . thus , the composite passed the cigarette test . the procedures outlined in examples 1 through 6 were repeated , except that a woven polypropylene fabric was used to replace the rayon pile fabric . when cigarette tests were performed over 1 - in . cotton batting , it was found that foams prepared from latex type a failed unless 10 phr melamine formaldehyde resin and 25 phr hydrated alumina were both added . when foams prepared from latex type b were tested in the cigarette test , it was found that the composites failed unless 25 phr alumina trihydrate was added to the latex compound . the improvement in flame resistance caused by a neoprene foam interliner in the radiant panel test , astm e 162 - 67 , is shown in examples 8 through 14 . a rayon pile cotton - backed fabric was placed over a 1 - in . thick fiber glass batting , then the composite was tested in the radiant panel test . the flame spread index of the composite was 204 . this gave the base figure for this type of fabric in this test . the same rayon pile cotton - backed fabric was placed over a 1 - in . thick commercial &# 34 ; non - fire retardant &# 34 ; polyurethane foam and the composite was tested in the radiant panel test . the flame spread index of the composite was 618 . this gave the base figure for this type of fabric over a polyurethane foam . neoprene latex type b was compounded as in table i with 10 phr cyrez ® 933 and 25 phr alumina trihydrate as char promoter and hydrated inorganic compound , respectively . the latex was frothed to a wet froth density of 14 lbs ./ ft . 3 ( 0 . 22 g ./ cm . 3 ), and was spread onto the rayon pile cotton - backed fabric of example 9 at a thickness of 0 . 25 inch . the froth was dried and cured for two hours at 121 ° c . the coated fabric was placed over the 1 - in . thick &# 34 ; non - fire retardant &# 34 ; polyurethane foam , as in example 9 , and the composite was tested in the radiant panel test . the flame spread index of the composite was 235 . the procedure outlined in example 10 was repeated , except that 5 phr melamine formaldehyde resin and 150 phr hydrated alumina were used . when the coated rayon pile cotton - backed fabric was placed over a 1 - in . thick &# 34 ; non - fire retardant &# 34 ; polyurethane foam , and this composite was tested in the radiant panel test , the flame spread index of the composite was 156 . this value for the flame spread index was lower than that obtained in example 8 , where the uncoated fabric was tested over fiber glass . the procedure outlined in example 8 was repeated , except that the fabric used was a woven polypropylene fabric . when tested in the radiant panel test , the flame spread index of the composite was 303 . the procedure outlined in example 9 was repeated , except that the fabric used was a woven polypropylene fabric . when tested in the radiant panel test , the flame spread index of the composite was 996 . the procedure outlined in example 10 was repeated , except that the fabric used was a woven polypropylene fabric . when tested in the radiant panel test , the flame spread index of the composite was 278 . this value for the flame spread index was lower than that obtained in example 12 , where the uncoated polypropylene fabric was tested over fiber glass . examples 15 , 16 , and 17 , below , show that other latex foams can be applied to a fabric which will pass the cigarette test ; however , such coated fabrics do not perform comparably well in larger scale tests . a latex compound was prepared from a hycar ® ( b . f . goodrich ) acrylic latex type 2679 , using the formulation in table ii . table ii______________________________________ dry weight______________________________________hycar ® type 2679 100zinc oxide 4antimony trioxide 4petrolatum 2foamole ® ar 6duponol ® waq 2alumina trihydrate 150cyrez ® 933 5______________________________________ the compound was frothed in a hobart mixer to a wet froth density of 14 lbs ./ ft . 3 ( 0 . 22 g ./ cm . 3 ). the froth was spread onto a rayon pile , cotton - backed fabric at a thickness of 0 . 25 in . the froth was dried and cured for one hour at 280 ° f . when a portion of the coated fabric was tested in the cigarette test over cotton batting , the char area spread to less than 1 . 5 inches away from the cigarette and the cotton batting did not ignite . when a portion of the coated fabric was placed over a &# 34 ; non - fire retardant &# 34 ; polyurethane foam and the composite was tested in the radiant panel test , the composite had a flame spread index of 749 . this value was higher than that obtained for the uncoated fabric tested over polyurethane ( example 9 ). thus , this composition did not provide protection to the composite structure in the radiant panel test . a latex compound was prepared from a geon ® ( b . f . goodrich ) polyvinylchloride latex type 460x9 , using the formulation in table iii . ( see b . f . goodrich bulletin l - 15 , table 13 ). table iii______________________________________ dry weight______________________________________geon ® type 460x9 100duponol ® waq 1 . 7monoplex ® s - 73 . sup . ( 1 ) 8 . 2ammonium stearate 6tricresyl phosphate 60alumina trihydrate 150cyrez ® 933 24______________________________________ . sup . ( 1 ) rohm & amp ; haas co . this compound was frothed in a hobart mixer to a wet froth density of 14 lbs ./ ft . 3 ( 0 . 22 g ./ cm . 3 ). the froth was spread onto a rayon pile , cotton - backed fabric at a thickness of 0 . 25 in . the froth was dried at 200 ° f . for 30 min . and was cured at 270 ° f . for one hour . when a portion of the coated fabric was tested in the cigarette test over cotton batting , the char area spread to less than 1 . 5 inches away from the cigarette and the cotton batting did not ignite . when the portion of the coated fabric was placed over a &# 34 ; non - fire retardant &# 34 ; polyurethane foam and the composite was tested in the radiant panel test , the composite had a flame spread index of 507 . thus , this composition gives only a minor degree of protection to the tested structure . an 0 . 25 in .- thick section of pyrel ® &# 34 ; fire - retardant &# 34 ; polyurethane foam ( scott foam ) was placed over 1 - in . thick cotton batting and a woven polypropylene fabric was placed over this combination ( as described in belgian pat . no . 817 , 571 ). when the composite was tested in the cigarette test , the char area spread to less than 1 . 5 in . away from the cigarette and so the combination passed the test . an 0 . 25 - in . thick section of pyrel ® was placed over a 1 - in . thick &# 34 ; non - fire retardant &# 34 ; polyurethane foam , and a woven polypropylene fabric was placed over this combination . when the composite was tested in the radiant panel test , the flame spread index was 1514 . this value was higher than when the fabric was tested over the polyurethane foam without the pyrel ® interliner ( example 13 ). thus , the pyrel ® does not improve the protection of the fabric on the &# 34 ; non - fire retardant &# 34 ; polyurethane foam structure .
| 1 |
in view of what is needed in the industry , a flexible eco cell is hence created and disclosed herein . this cell can be easily applied into current auto place - and - route methodology . with this new cell and methodology , both design revision time and cost can be reduced and controlled easily . the following invention will provide a more detailed description of a flexible layout design of engineering change order ( eco ) base cell and its applications for chip design . one or more base cells may be built by layout style similar to gate array library base cells . the cells have features or element configuration as the standard logic cells . for embodiment , they keep the same pitch as a standard logic cell or gate array library , symmetrical in one or more directions . various elements such as the nwell , pwell , p + implant , n + implant vdd &# 39 ; s metal , vss &# 39 ; s metal , or od pick - up may keep the same width and height as the standard cell in the same chip . the source , gate , and the drain side are kept floating . the base cells can be transformed into targeted logic cells like inverter , nand , nor , xor , multiplexer , flip - flop , de - coupling capacitors ( decap ), etc . by programming or altering at least one metal layer of the chip . the base cells can be placed using block level or chip level auto placement . in an original design , one or more logic cells may be placed and connected through routing to form higher level functions , and one or more base cells may also be placed in predetermined locations as fillers to prepare for future revision needs . in design revision , the base cells can be transformed into the target cells through metals to silicon contacts , metals to polysilicon contacts , or other metal layer changes . then , the design revision can be achieved through auto routing . the design revision cost and cycle time can be substantially reduced at the same time . referring now to fig1 , there is base cell embodiment 100 illustrating various material layers and is not routed appropriately to form a logic or functional cell yet . fig1 shows the base cell with a virtual center line 102 , with respect to which all patterns of material layers are mirror symmetrical . patterns in different material layers may be formed separately with standard manufacturing processes . since devices such as nmos transistors and pmos transistors can be produced in each cell , the p side and n side are defined . nwell 104 provides a pool of substrate where one or more pmos transistors may be formed thereon . pwell 106 provides a pool of substrate where one or more nmos transistors sit on . polysilocon 108 together with gate oxide form mos transistor channel region when p + region 110 and n + region 112 are implanted . the p + implant forms the source and drain regions for pmos transistors . the n + 112 implant forms the source and drain regions for nmos transistors . n + implant and contacts 114 for nwell pickup connect nwell to vdd 116 . similarly , p + implant and contacts 118 for pwell pickup connect pwell to vss 120 . vdd and vss are provided by a pair of dc power sources as the voltage supply . it is further noted that each base cell is not connected with another base cell initially . fig2 illustrates how a basic cell 100 is transformed into a logic cell 200 by adding extra patterns in metals to silicon contacts 202 , metals to polysilicon contacts 204 and metal layer 206 . the extra patterns in these material layers may be used to route the transistors to form logic functions such as a de - coupling capacitor shown in this fig2 . this routed logic cell is shown in contrast to a floated base cell 100 to shown the differences . based on what the logic cell is , different patterns of routing in one or more material layers of silicon contacts 202 , metals to polysilicon contacts 204 and metals 206 will be implemented according to schematic designs . fig3 illustrates a portion of a circuit layout 300 with base before and after the base cells have been altered to form logic cells in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . the bottom section shows the portion of circuit before any eco revision , and the top section shows the same portion of the circuit after the revision . the circuit 300 uses four routed logic cells , 302 , 304 , 306 , and 308 in different locations , and has several un - routed base cells 310 arranged in spare regions as filler cells . initially , the unused base cells may be used to preserve spaces to add flexibility in future eco revision that might need additional transistors . when there is a need to make revision of the design , the base cells are to be altered by changing one or more layers of metals to silicon contacts 202 , metals to polysilicon contacts 204 and metals 206 . in this embodiment , logic cells 312 , 314 , 316 , 318 , 320 , 322 may be made from the respective base cells 310 . fig4 presents a flow chart 400 illustrating a simplified design change technique in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . the flow starts in the step 402 , where one or more standard cells and eco base cells are placed according to the needs of the preliminary design file . the eco base cells are placed in spare regions of the circuit . in the step 404 , standard cells are routed to form one or more functional cells , while one or more base cells are spared and preserved . in the step 406 , the layout is compared against the preliminary design file . in the step 408 , the device as specified in the layout will then be ready to tape out and go through one or more iterations of the step 410 , where the design is processed , and of the step 412 , where the design is tested . the step 414 determines whether the design needs further iterations of the steps 412 and 414 . for embodiment , a revision design file may be compared against the preliminary design file to see any changes needed , and whether these changes can be made by using the eco base cells . if no further processing and testing is needed , the flow goes to the step 416 , where it is determined if the device design may need to be changed . if the design does not need to be changed , the flow ends . alternatively , if the design needs to be changed and the eco base cells can be used for the change , at least one metal layer of at least one spared base cell is revised in the step 418 . the altered eco base cells are now the functional logic cells . in the step 420 , the functional cells are re - routed with the altered eco base cells . in the step 422 , the layout is further compared with the revised design . in the step 424 , it is determined if the flow needs further tape - out . if further tape - out is required , the flow goes back to the step 408 . if no further tape - out is required , the flow ends . although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a method and design for , it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown , since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims . accordingly , it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of the invention , as set forth in the following claims . the above invention provides many different embodiments or embodiments for implementing different features of the invention . specific embodiments of components and processes are described to help clarify the invention . these are , of course , merely embodiments and are not intended to limit the invention from that described in the claims .
| 6 |
reference is first made to fig1 , which illustrates a system 100 for providing interactively providing information to consumers ( not shown ). system 100 includes a system server 102 , one or more consumer computers 104 and one or more attendant computers 106 . system 100 also includes a communication network 110 , which may be the internet , a local area network or any other communication network capable of facilitating communication between computing devices . the system server 102 includes a server communication module 114 and a product database 116 . server communication module 114 is coupled to the network 110 . consumers use the consumer computers 104 to access system 100 . each consumer computer 104 includes one or more input devices 132 . for example , consumer computer 104 a includes a keyboard 134 , mouse 136 and a microphone 138 . consumer computer 104 b includes a keyboard 134 and a mouse 136 . each consumer computer 104 also includes one or more output devices 140 . for example , consumer computers 104 a and 104 b include a display screen 142 and a speaker 144 . each attendant computer 106 also includes input devices 132 including a keyboard 134 , mouse 136 and a microphone 138 . each attendant computer 106 also includes output devices including a display screen 142 and a speaker 144 . referring to fig2 , each consumer computer 104 is used to execute consumer client software 150 . consumer client software 150 includes a consumer media module 152 and a consumer communication module 154 . consumer communication module 154 is coupled to the network 110 . each attendant computer 106 is used to execute attendant client software 160 . attendant client software 160 includes an attendant media module 162 and an attendant communication module 164 . attendant communication module 164 is coupled to the network 110 . referring to fig1 , system 100 is operated by or on behalf of a product supplier ( not shown ), who may be a product manufacturer , wholesaler , retailer or other person or company that has an interest in the sales or marketing of products . consumers ( not shown ) access system 100 by using the consumer computers 104 , which may be the consumer &# 39 ; s own personal computers , may be located in retail stores or may be another computing device , such as a television set - top box , a portable personal data assistant or another type of computer . typically , a consumer will access system 100 to obtain information about a product . the consumer may use system 100 in advance of a potential purchase to learn about the product , while purchasing a product or after purchasing the product to obtain assistance when assembling or using the product . the attendant computers are operated by attendants ( not shown ). the attendants communicate interactively with consumers using system 100 to provide information to consumers about the supplier &# 39 ; s products . a consumer requests access to system 100 to obtain more information about a product . in response to the request , the consumer &# 39 ; s computer 104 is coupled to server 102 ( which may also be a world - wide - web server that hosts the supplier &# 39 ; s website ), which in turn allocates and couples an attendant computer 106 to the consumer &# 39 ; s computer 104 . the consumer and the attendant operating the allocated attendant computer engage in a text or voice chat and the attendant is able to provide the consumer with information in response to the consumer &# 39 ; s requests . the consumer is thus able to obtain customized information that may otherwise not be available to the consumer , or which may not be available on a convenient , timely basis . reference is next made to fig3 , which illustrates a method 1100 that allows a consumer to request information about a product using system 100 and which couples the consumer &# 39 ; s computer 104 to an attendant computer 106 , establishing an interactive information session between them . method 1100 begins in step 1102 , in which the consumer makes a request to interactively obtain information about a product . typically , the consumer will make this request while using the consumer computer 104 to view information about a product on the supplier &# 39 ; s website . product information on websites is limited to previously prepared information such as text , audio and two or three dimensional images that are pre - determined by the supplier . such pre - determined , previously recorded information is referred to herein as pre - recorded information . the pre - recorded information may include animations that demonstrate how a product can be assembled or used . however , such websites cannot provide dynamically generated , interactive and customized information that is provided to the consumer in response to the consumer &# 39 ; s request . to provide dynamic additional information , the supplier may use the present invention . the supplier may configure a button or other control on a web page to allow the consumer to initiate use of system 100 . for example , the consumer may click on a button marked “ obtain interactive multi - media information about this product ” on a web page relating to the product to interactively obtain information about the product . when the consumer does so , the button or control is configured to transmit an initiate interactive information service message 210 ( fig1 ) from the consumer &# 39 ; s computer 104 to the system server 102 . the initiate interactive information service includes the following information : ( a ) a reference to the consumer &# 39 ; s computer 104 . this may be an ip address or any other information that the system server 102 can use to transmit information to the consumer computer 104 . method 1100 will be explained with reference to consumer computer 104 a . ( b ) a reference to the product for which the consumer has requested additional information . the use of a button on a web page to initiate the use of system 100 is only an example , and step 1102 may include the use of any mechanism that allows a consumer to initiate the use of system 100 . for example , system 100 may be initiated automatically when a consumer accesses a web page by accessing a specific url , by entering a keyboard command , a voice command or any other mechanism for transmitting the initiate interactive information service message 210 to the system server 102 . access to system 100 may be restricted and a consumer may be required to enter a user or account identification and a password . method 1100 then proceeds to step 1104 , in which the system server 102 initiates execution of client software on the consumer computer 104 and on an attendant computer 106 . the server computer transmits an initiate consumer session message 212 ( fig1 ) to the consumer computer 104 a . in response to the initiate consumer session message 212 , the consumer client software 150 opens a display window 170 ( fig4 ) on the consumer computer 104 a . in the present embodiment , the consumer client software 150 may be configured to operate within a browser such as internet explorer ™, safari ™ or netscape ™ browser . in this case , the browser may initiate the execution of the consumer client software 150 in response to the initiate consumer session message 212 . the consumer client software 150 opens the display window 170 as a browser window . in another embodiment of the present invention , the consumer client software 150 may operate independently of a browser and may open a display window 170 directly within the operating system of consumer computer 104 a . in step 1104 , the system server 102 allocates an attendant computer 106 that can be linked to consumer computer 104 a . typically , a group of attendants will operate a group of attendant computers 106 . system server 102 selects one of the attendant computers 106 that is not already linked to another consumer computer 104 . for the purpose of the present example , the server allocates attendant computer 106 b to be coupled to consumer computer 104 a . the server computer 102 also transmits an initiate attendant session message 214 ( fig1 ) to the attendant computer 106 b . a display window 190 ( fig4 ) is opened on the attendant computer 106 b in a manner similar to the opening of the display window 170 on the consumer computer 104 a . the attendant client software 160 may operate within a browser or directly in the operating system of attendant computer 106 b . method 1100 then proceeds to step 1106 , in which at least one interactive communication link is established between consumer computer 104 a and attendant computer 106 b . an interactive audio communication link may be established between the consumer computer 104 a and the attendant computer 106 b to permit voice communication between the attendant and the consumer . the server computer 102 acts as an intermediary in the interactive audio communication link . audio data from the consumer computer 104 a is first transmitted to the system server 102 , which then transmits the audio data ( or corresponding audio data ) to the attendant computer 106 b . the audio data is then played at the attendant computer 106 b . similarly , audio data from the attendant computer originating from the attendant computer 106 b is transmitted to the system server 102 , which then transmits the audio data to the consumer computer 104 a and then played at the consumer computer 104 a . this allows the consumer and attendant to speak to one another . for example , the audio communications link may be established using voice over internet protocol (“ voip ”), which is well understood by skilled persons , or using any other mechanism or technology for establishing a two - way voice chat connection between the consumer computer 104 a and the attendant computer 106 b . as an alternative to an audio communication link , or in addition to an audio communication link , an interactive text communication link may be established between the consumer computer 104 a and the attendant computer 106 b , with the system server 102 acting as an intermediary . a text communication link allows the consumer and the attendant to engage in a text chat . in the present embodiment , the system server 102 is an intermediary in the interactive communication link . as a result , the system server 102 may optionally record the voice or text data exchanged between the attendant and the consumer . in another embodiment , the system server 102 may instruct the consumer computer 104 a and the attendant computer 106 b to establish an interactive communication link directly between them . if the system server 102 does not have access to the audio or text information exchanged between the consumer computer 104 a and the attendant computer 106 b , the system server 102 will not be able to record this information . in the present exemplary system 100 , an interactive audio communication link is established if possible . in the present embodiment , all of the attendant computers 106 are equipped with a microphone and a speaker ( which may be integrated into a headset worn by an attendant using the attendant computer ) to allow the attendants to participate in a voice chat over the interactive audio communication link . if the consumer computer 104 a is capable of participating in a voice chat with the allocated attendant computer 106 b , then an interactive audio communication link is established . otherwise an interactive text communication link is established between the consumer computer 104 a and the attendant computer 106 b . in other embodiments , both interactive audio and text communication links may be established . in other embodiments , some or all of the attendant computers 106 may not be configured for interactive voice communication . in this case , an interactive text communication link is created between the consumer computer 104 a and the attendant computer 106 b . the consumer media module 152 and the consumer communication module 154 cooperate to facilitate text or voice chat connections . the consumer media module 152 includes software that is capable of capturing audio at the consumer computer 104 and of playing audio received from the system server 102 . similarly , the consumer media module is capable of capturing text entered by the consumer at the consumer computer 104 and of displaying text information received from the system server 102 . the captured audio and text information is transmitted to the system server 102 by the consumer communication module 154 , which receives the information from the consumer media module . text and audio information from the system server 102 is received by the consumer communication module 154 , which then provides this information to the consumer media module 152 to be played or displayed . the consumer media module 152 and consumer communication module may be distinct software products that communicate with one another through an interface or they may be combined in an integrated software product . method 1100 next proceeds to step 1108 , in which the server sends product data ( fig1 ) relating to the product identified in the initiate interactive information session message 210 to consumer computer 104 a and the attendant computer 106 b . in the present embodiment , the product data 216 includes at least one 3d image of the product . the product data 216 may also include other types of information about the product , such as 2d images , video clips , audio clips , text information or animations . in other embodiments of the invention , the product data 216 may or may not include a 3d image of the product . the product data is stored in the product database 114 in system server 102 and is recorded in a format that is compatible with the components of the consumer and attendant media modules . the system server 102 transmits the product data 216 including one or more 3d graphic images of the product identified in the initiate interactive information session message 210 in step 1102 to the consumer communication module 154 , which makes in available to the consumer media module 152 for display and playback . the system server 102 also transmits the product data to the attendant communication module 164 , which makes the product data 216 available to the attendant media module 162 . the consumer media module 152 includes media display software capable of displaying or playing the various types of information included in the product data 216 . in the present example , the consumer media module 152 includes software capable of displaying a 3d graphic image in the consumer &# 39 ; s display window 170 . the 3d graphic display software is capable of displaying the 3d image from different viewpoints or camera positions , allowing the 3d graphic image to be rotated and the zoom distance from the 3d image to be changed . in other embodiments , the 3d graphic display software may not be capable of displaying the 3d graphic image from different zoom distances . in the present embodiment , the 3d graphic display software is the viewpoint platform ™, which is provided by viewpoint corporation of new york , usa . in other embodiments , any system capable of displaying 3d graphic images and allowing them to be displayed from different camera angles may be used . for example , quicktime virtual reality ( quicktime vr ™), macromedia shockwave ™, and other technologies may be used for this purpose . if the display window 170 operates is a browser window , the 3d graphic display software may be a plug - in component installed with the browser software . in the present embodiment , the consumer media module also includes software capable of displaying 2d images , text information and playing video clips , audio clips and animations . some of this software may be used to provide the voice or text chat functionality described above . in other embodiments , the software included in the consumer media module will correspond to the different types of information that the product supplier wishes to include in the product data 216 . the attendant media module 162 and the attendant communication module 164 are similar to the consumer media module 152 and consumer communication module in operation . the attendant media module 162 included in the attendant client software 160 is capable of displaying 3d graphic images from different camera angles and optionally , from different zoom distances . preferably , the 3d graphic display software in the client media module 152 and the attendant media module 162 utilize the same technology . in the present exemplary embodiment , the attendant media module 162 also includes the viewpoint platform 3d graphic display software . the product data 216 may also optionally include information about optional features of the product , such as different color options , additional components that may be purchased and used with the product . for example , if the product is a desk , the product data 216 may include information about different color schemes that the desk is manufactured in , add - on components such as a sliding keyboard drawer , a computer holder or related products such as matching chairs , shelves or filing cabinets . the product data 216 may also optionally include pre - recorded data such video , animations , audio or text information related to the product that describe the assembly or use of the product or are otherwise related to the product . in addition to the consumer media module 152 that is used to display the 3d graphic images included in the product data 216 , the consumer client software also includes components that are capable of displaying or otherwise playing ( in the case of audio data ) other product data transmitted to the consumer computer . if the display window 170 operates within a browser these additional components may also be plug - in components installed with the browser software . if the consumer client software 150 does not include a component required to play a part of the product data , the consumer client software may optionally be configured to download the required component . otherwise , that part of the product data may not be available to the consumer . reference is next made to fig4 , which displays an example display window 170 on the display screen 142 a of consumer computer 104 a and a corresponding example display window 190 b on the display screen 142 b of an attendant computer 106 b when an interactive information session is in progress between a consumer and an attendant . display window 170 includes session controls 172 , a graphics display 174 , graphics display controls 176 , a text chat display 178 , voice chat controls 180 , product option controls 182 and pre - recorded information controls . the session controls 172 provide an “ end interactive information session ” button to terminate the interactive information session . if the consumer clicks this button , the interactive information session is terminated and the display window 170 is closed . the graphics display 174 contains an image of an example product , a computer desk . the graphics display 174 has a pointer 186 on it , which can be used to indicate specific parts of the image displayed on the graphics display 174 and may also be used to change the camera position from which the product is displayed . the graphics display controls 176 allow the consumer to change the camera position from which the product is displayed in the graphics display 174 . in this exemplary embodiment , the graphics display controls 176 include a rotate up , rotate down , rotate left , rotate right , return to original position , zoom in and zoom out controls . in this exemplary embodiment , the camera position may also be changed using a mouse be clicking and dragging on the product display . this functionality is provided using the viewpoint platform , and could be provided using other technologies , as described above . this operation is not further explained here as a skilled person will be capable of configuring and using these 3d image display and manipulation tools . the text chat display 178 contains interactive text that has been typed by the consumer and the attendant during the interactive information session . the voice chat controls 180 allow the speaker volume and other aspects of the voice chat to be controlled by the consumer . the product option controls 182 allow the product to be displayed in different forms or modes . in the present example , the computer desk may be displayed with a sliding keyboard tray or a computer holder or any combination of these or none of them . the supplier may sell these components separately and use system 100 to advertise them to consumers who may or who have purchased the computer desk . the desk may also be displayed in three color schemes : black / brown ; black / white and brown / white . when a consumer chooses any one of the options or color schemes , the image of the product in the graphics display 174 is changed to match the consumer &# 39 ; s choices . data for each of the options and color schemes is included in the product data 216 delivered to the consumer computer 104 a in step 1108 . the pre - recorded information controls 184 allow the consumer to play the pre - recorded information included in the product data 216 . the specific format and titles of the pre - recorded information is included in the product data 216 . in the present example , the pre - recorded information includes eight animations illustrating six assembly steps for the desk and the installation of the keyboard tray and the computer holder . each animation is accompanied by audio information in which each assembly step is further explained . this information may be used to supplement information provided with the product . the pre - recorded information controls include an animation audio mute button , allowing the audio accompanying the animations to be muted so that the consumer and attendant may continue a voice chat uninterrupted while an animation is played . similarly , the attendant display 190 includes session controls 192 , a graphics display 194 , graphics display controls 196 , a text chat display 198 , voice chat control 200 and product option controls 202 . the display and operation of the components of the attendant display window 190 is similar to the display of the corresponding components of the consumer window 170 . the session controls 192 include one additional “ controller ” option , which is explained further below . during an interactive information session , the displays in the consumer display window 170 and the attendant display window 190 are generally synchronized . one of the consumer or the attendant is in control of the display and any changes made by the person in control ( the “ controller ” of the interactive information session ) to the display of the product on the graphics display is generally duplicated in the display of the other person ( the “ viewer ) of the interactive information session ). similarly , if the controller activates any previously recorded information , the same previously recorded information is displayed in the viewer &# 39 ; s display window . typically , animations and video clips will be played in the graphics windows 174 and 194 . the consumer and attendant may independently control their own input and output devices ( for example , speaker volumes , speaker mute or microphone mute ). the interactive communication links ( voice chat or text chat or both ) are not affected by which person is in control . the “ controller ” option in the attendant &# 39 ; s session controls 192 allows the attendant to determine whether the consumer or the attendant will be in control the image of the product in the graphics display windows 174 and 194 and the display or playing of pre - recorded information on both the consumer computer 104 a and the attendant computer 106 b . reference is next made to fig5 and 6 , which illustrate methods 1200 and 1300 that are used keep a 3d image shown in the graphics displays 174 and 194 synchronized between the consumer display window 170 and the attendant display window 190 . as described above , the attendant determines whether the consumer or the attendant is in control of the product display in the graphics displays 174 and 194 and the playing of pre - recorded information . method 1200 is performed on the controller &# 39 ; s computer ( the “ controlling computer ”). method 1300 is performed on the system server 102 and the viewer &# 39 ; s computer ( the “ viewing computer ”). method 1200 begins in step 1202 , in which the controller manipulates the product image in the graphics display on the controller &# 39 ; s display window . typically , the controller will do so by using the graphics display controls or by using the controller &# 39 ; s mouse . when the controller has completed the manipulation of the product image , or periodically following an “ update period ” during the manipulation of the product image , method 1200 proceeds to step 1204 . the update period will typically be in the range of 250 to 1000 ms , although the time period may be shorter or longer than this range . the controller may continue to manipulate the product image while the remaining steps of method 1200 are performed . in step 1204 , the current camera position is determined . the current camera position may be expressed using any coordinate system . for example , the camera position may be defined using polar coordinates relative to reference horizontal and vertical planes defined with respect to the 3d product image and using an orbit distance ( which corresponds to the zoom level ). the camera position may alternatively be defined using cartesian coordinates relative to a reference position . the product data in either case defines the reference planes or position relative to the 3d product image . in some embodiments , the camera position information may include a camera translation that indicates the direction in which the camera is pointed relative to the reference planes or the reference point . a skilled person will be able to calculate a camera position during or following an image manipulation by the controller . the camera position is then transmitted to the system server 102 in a camera position update message . in the present embodiment , the operation of determining the camera position is performed by the 3d graphic display software in the media module in the controller &# 39 ; s client software . this information is transmitted to the system server 102 by the communication module . method 1300 begins in step 1302 , in which the system server 102 receives the camera position update message from the controller &# 39 ; s computer . the system server records the camera position . method 1300 next proceeds to step 1304 in which the system server 102 transmits a copy or a version of the camera position update message to the viewer &# 39 ; s computer . method 1300 next proceeds to step 1306 . in step 1306 , the communication module in the viewer &# 39 ; s client software receives the camera position update message from the system server 102 and extracts the new camera position from it . the new camera position is passed to the 3d graphic display software in the media module of the viewer &# 39 ; s client software . the 3d graphic display software calculates an animation of the 3d image from the current camera position in the viewer &# 39 ; s display to the new camera position . if the new camera position was calculated during a manipulation of the 3d image by the controller on the controller &# 39 ; s display window 170 , then the camera position update message may optionally indicate this . if so , the animation may be calculated to be displayed over the update period . the 3d graphic display software then displays the calculated animation . the viewer &# 39 ; s 3d image is thus animated in a manner that generally corresponds to the manipulation of the image by the controller . the animation will not generally be identical to the manipulation of the image by the controller . each camera position update message is a comparatively lightweight message . by generating an animation at the viewing computer in response to the camera position update message , the display of the 3d image on the controlling and the viewing computer is generally synchronized by sending the camera position . the viewer &# 39 ; s client software is able to generate a corresponding animation since it has the previous camera position , the new camera position and the same 3d image as the controller &# 39 ; s client software . this provides an efficient mechanism for synchronizing the displays without transmitting comparatively lengthy graphic image data . as noted above , a camera position update message may contain some indication of the time over which an animation from the previous camera position to the new camera position should be displayed . in some cases , the new camera position should be displayed immediately , without any animation between the previous and new camera positions . for example , if the controller uses the rotate left button in the graphics display controls 176 , the graphic image on the controller graphics display 174 may be rotated to the left by some selected amount to a new camera position . the rotation may be smoothly animated or it may be immediately displayed with no animation . a camera position update message is transmitted to reflect the new camera position . the camera position update message may include an indication as to whether the transition from the previous camera position to the new camera position should be animated or not when the manipulation is displayed on the viewer &# 39 ; s graphic display 194 . method 1300 then ends . method 1300 is performed each time a camera position update message is received by the system server 102 from the controller &# 39 ; s computer . since method step 1204 in method 1200 is performed at the end of any manipulation of the 3d image by the controller , when the manipulation is completed , the images on the controller &# 39 ; s and viewer &# 39 ; s graphics displays 174 and 194 will be synchronized ( unless the controller has begun another manipulation ). if the controller performs a manipulation that lasts longer than the update period , the viewer &# 39 ; s graphics display is updated periodically , allowing the controller &# 39 ; s and viewer &# 39 ; s graphics displays 174 and 194 to stay generally synchronized . a skilled person will understand that the length of the update period and communication delays will introduce some latency between the controller manipulating the 3d product image on his own graphics display and a corresponding manipulation being displayed on the viewer &# 39 ; s graphics display . if a shorter update period is selected , the display of the 3d image on the controlling and the viewing computers will be more synchronized . if a longer update period is selected , the display will be less synchronized , but fewer camera position update messages will be transmitted from the controlling computer to the viewing computer ( although this may not be problematic since the camera position update message are short , lightweight messages ). in any case , when the controller has finished a manipulation , a camera position update message is transmitted and the two displays are synchronized . while methods 1200 and 1300 are being performed , the consumer and attendant may continuously use the text or voice ( or both ) interactive communication links established between their respective computers . the consumer may request information and the attendant may provide the requested information . the consumer and the attendant may manipulate the 3d image of the product to highlight and identify specific components and aspects of the product . the camera position update message is one type of update message that may be transmitted from the controlling computer to the system server 102 and then relayed from the system server 102 to the viewing computer . the nature of update messages transmitted from the controlling computer to the server , and from the server to the viewing computer will depend on the nature of the object that is being manipulated . as described above , a camera position update message relating to the manipulation of a 3d image may define the manipulation in polar , cartesian or other coordinates . if a 2d image is displayed in the controller &# 39 ; s display window 170 , a camera position update message describing a manipulation of the image may set out an x dimension translation a y dimension translation from the original position of the image when it was loaded , together with a zoom level for the image . the zoom levels for the x and y dimension may be differently controllable and the camera update message can describe the different zoom levels separately . referring to fig4 , a pointer 186 on the consumer &# 39 ; s display window 170 and a corresponding pointer 206 is displayed on the attendant &# 39 ; s display window 190 . the controller may move the pointer by moving a mouse 136 coupled to the controlling computer . when the pointer is moved , a pointer position update message , which is another type of update message , is transmitted from the controlling computer to the system server 102 . the pointer position update message is relayed by the system server 102 to the viewing computer . as the controller moves the pointer , the position of the pointer may be transmitted periodically in a series of pointer position update messages in a manner analogous to the transmission of a series of camera position update messages , as described above in relation to method 1200 . on the viewing computer , the position of the 102 is updated to correspond to the new position of the pointer on the controlling computer . the movement of the pointer may be animated , as described above in relation to the 3d image . the playing of pre - recorded information is also synchronized on the controlling and viewing computers . if the controller initiates the play of any pre - recorded information , a play pre - recorded information message ( which another type of update message ) is transmitted from the controlling computer to the system server 102 and then relayed from the system server 102 to the viewing computer . the same pre - recorded information is then played on the viewing computer . in some embodiments of the present invention , the pre - recorded information controls 184 may include controls to allow the pre - recorded information to be paused , reversed or played in a fast forward mode . if the controller uses such controls to manipulate the playing of the pre - recorded information , a play pre - recorded information message is transmitted from the controlling computer to indicate the manipulation . a play pre - recorded information may include information such as the playback rate ( for example , reverse half speed or forward double speed ) or a video frame number or a time point in a clip or audio block number at which the playback of the pre - recorded information has been paused . the client software on the viewing computer is responsive to the play pre - recorded information messages to initiate and manipulate the playing of pre - recorded information so that the playing of the pre - recorded information on the controlling and viewing computers is generally synchronized . the play pre - recorded information message is a lightweight message compared to typical pre - recorded video , audio or text information . depending on the nature of the pre - recorded information , a play pre - recorded information message may include other synchronization information . for example , a frame rate or data rate may be specified to ensure that the playback of the pre - recorded information proceeds at generally the same rate on both the controlling and viewing computers . this is not necessary for information that is played at a pre - determined rate regardless of the processor speed or other characteristics of the controlling or viewing computers . for example , this type of control will typically not be required for a video clip that has a standard playback rate . the playing of the pre - recorded information on the controlling and viewing computers is thus controlled and synchronized efficiently , without requiring any audio , video or text data comprising the pre - recorded information to be exchanged between the controlling and viewing computers while the pre - recorded information is played . video information may be played in the graphics display 174 or 194 . while the pre - recorded information is played , the controller may manipulate the pointer 186 or 206 to direct the viewer &# 39 ; s attention to specific aspects of the displayed information . the pointer will also be generally synchronized in the display windows on the controlling and viewing computers . at the same time , the controller and the viewer may engage in an interactive voice or text communication or both . system 100 provides a multi - media environment in which an attendant is able to more effectively provide information to a supplier &# 39 ; s customers compared to current voice - only or text - only help desk assistance provided by many product suppliers . system 100 allows the attendant to provide customized information to the consumer in real - time , rather than limiting a consumer to previously recorded information available on a website . referring to fig1 , in system 100 , the system server 102 transmits product data to both a consumer computer 104 and to an attendant computer 106 . the product data is used during the interactive information session . in another embodiment , the consumer or the attendant may add additional product data for a product during an interactive information session . for example , display window 170 may include an “ upload product data ” button . the consumer can click the button to initiate to open a dialog box allowing the consumer to identify a new piece of product data , which is then uploaded to the server 102 . the server 102 then transmits the product data to the attendant computer 104 . the controller of the session may then display the new product data in the controller &# 39 ; s display window . this triggers an update message that results in the new product data also being displayed in the viewer &# 39 ; s display window . the controller may then manipulate the new product data , or may discuss it with the viewer using the voice chat or text chat communication link between the two computers . for example , a consumer may take a digital picture of a product as the consumer has assembled it . the consumer may upload the picture to the system server , which then transmits the picture to the attendant computer . the controller of the session may then display the picture in the graphics window of the controller &# 39 ; s display window . both the controller and the viewer will see the picture and they may discuss it . the controller may also manipulate the picture in the same way as any other picture in the product data . reference is next made to fig7 , which illustrates a system 300 according to a second embodiment of the present invention . system 300 may be used for interactive product design by two or more users . system 300 includes a system server 302 and two or more user computers 304 . the system server 302 includes a server communication module 314 and a product database 316 , which is used to record product data . the system server 302 manages the creation and operation of an interactive and collaborative product design session . each user computer includes one or more input devices 132 and one or more output devices 140 . each user computer 304 is used to execute user client software 350 that comprises a user media module 352 and a user communication module 354 . the structure and operation of the user media module 352 corresponds to that of the consumer media module 152 described above in relation to system 100 . similarly , the structure and operation of user communication module 354 corresponds to that of the consumer communication module 154 described above . during a product design session , two or more users operate user computers 304 to view and modify a product that is under design . users join a product design session by logging into a product design website operated by the system server 302 or another computer system . once a user has logged in , the user may join a product design session . typically , a user will be invited to join the product design session by the product supplier at an appointed time . when the user logs in , the sessions to which the user has been invited may be listed and the user can select one of them . if the user has been invited to join only one session when he logs in , the user may be immediately joined to the product design session . in another embodiment , a user &# 39 ; s invitation to join a session may include a link directly to the session . for example , the user may receive an e - mail containing a url ( which may be in the form of an http link ) for a particular session . when the user accesses the url , the user is presented with a login page and after successfully logging in , the user is taken directly to the session , without having to identify the session specifically . in some embodiments , a user may be invited to join an ongoing session and may be sent an e - mail message with an embedded url to the session by one of the participants in the session . returning to a description of system 300 , when a user joins a product design session , a display window 370 is opened on the user &# 39 ; s computer 304 . this is done in a manner analogous to that described above in relation to system 100 and display windows 170 and 190 . the system server 302 maintains a record of each user that is part of a product design session . the system server 302 instructs the communication module 354 operating on each user computer 304 to join an interactive communications connection , which may be a voice chat connection or a text chat connection . in some embodiments of the invention , both voice chat and text chat connections may be established . reference is made to fig8 , which illustrates a typical display window 370 on a user computer 304 when system 300 is in use . the display window 370 includes session controls 372 , a graphics display 374 , graphics display controls 376 , a text chat display 378 , voice chat controls 380 , product option controls 382 and product design controls 384 and view controls 388 . the session controls 372 include “ control ” and “ view ” radio buttons and “ leave session ” button . as described above in relation to the system 100 , one of the participants in an interactive information session can be in control of the 3d image displayed in the graphics display 374 and other aspects of the session at one time . in system 100 , the attendant decides whether the consumer or the attendant is in control at any time . in system 300 , two or more users may collaborate in a product design session . any one of the users may take control of the product design session by clicking on the control radio button . when a user does so , the user communication module 354 in the user &# 39 ; s client software 350 transmits a “ taking control ” message to the system server 302 . that user then becomes the controller of the product design session . the system server 302 then transmits a “ release control ” message to the user communication module 354 operating on the user computer that previously had control of the product design session . each of those users becomes ( or remains ) a viewer . the user that has taken control may then modify the design of the product and may manipulate the view of the product in the graphics display 374 . in the display window 370 , an example product , a shoe , is shown . typically , a product supplier will define one or more parts or aspects of the product that can be modified by the user in a product design session . in the present example , the supplier has defined the tongue , laces and several panels of shoe &# 39 ; s uppers and the sole of the shoe as parts that can be modified independently of one another . in this example , the product design controls 384 are a group of buttons indicating different colors that could be used for different parts of the shoe . the user in control of the product design session may select one of the parts by moving the pointer 386 on to the part and clicking a mouse button . the user may then select a color for the part by selecting one of the product design controls . when a user does so , the user &# 39 ; s communication module 354 sends a change design message to the system server 302 , detailing the change that has been made . the change design message is a type of update message . the system server then sends a change design message to the other user &# 39 ; s computers 304 and the communication module 354 and media module 352 on the other user &# 39 ; s computers 304 update the display of the product to correspond to the design change . in the present embodiment , the supplier has also permitted some physical design changes to be made to the displayed shoe . in particular , the user in control of the product design session may choose different lace types ( flat or round ), different ankle heights ( low , medium or high ) and different widths for the shoe ( a , b , d , e , 2 e or 3 e ). when the user changes one of these aspects of the shoe , the display is modified to illustrate the change and a change design message is similarly sent to the system server 302 and propagated to the other user computers 304 . when the user in control of the session manipulates the display of the product by changing the camera position , the manipulation is also reported to the system server 302 in a camera position update message and propagated to the other user computers 304 in a manner analogous to that described above in relation to methods 1200 and 1300 . in system 300 , all user computers 304 that are in the view mode receive a camera position update message or a change design message whenever such a message is sent from the controlling computer 304 . this ensures that all of the users participating in the product design session see the product as its design evolves . in the present embodiment , the system server keeps a record of each update message , including each camera position update or change design message , that is sent to it . if a user joins a product design session after it has already begun , the server can update the additional user &# 39 ; s display window 370 by transmitting some or all of the change design messages and at least the most recent camera position update message . similarly , if a user becomes disconnected and must re - join a product design session , the user &# 39 ; s display window 370 can be updated . simultaneously with viewing the product in its current position and design , the users participating in a product design session may use their voice chat connection or text chat connection to discuss and collaborate on the design . in the present embodiment , all users participating in a product design session can hear the voice of all other users or read text entered by all other users . in another embodiment of the invention , a user may be allowed to select whether they wish to hear the voice or read the text messages of other specific users . users may also be permitted to control which other users can hear their own voice or see their text messages . view controls 388 are used to store views of the product and to display previously stored views . the user in control of a product design session may click on the store view button . the user &# 39 ; s communications module 354 sends a store current view message to the system server 302 , which stores the current view of the based on the camera position update messages and change design messages that it has received . the system server 302 also selects a name for the view and transmits a new view message to each of the user computers 304 participating in the product design session , including the user computer 304 that sent the store current view message . the new view message includes the current camera position and the current design of the product at the time of the view . the new view is not displayed in the display window 370 , but the name of the view is added to the list of stored views in the views controls 388 . subsequently , the user in control of a session can select one of these views to be displayed . a display stored view message is sent to the system server and propagated to all of the other user computers 304 and the stored view is displayed in the display window 370 on all of the user computers 304 . the users may thus store different views and quickly switch to the different views to compare different designs of the product . since each view is stored by reference to a camera position , the controlling user may then manipulate the 3d image beginning from the position of the view once it is displayed . view controls 388 may be provided in another embodiment of system 100 to provide view storing and retrieval functionality in that embodiment . in another embodiments of the present invention , the controller of a product design session may be able to add graphic or text annotations ( or both ) to the image displayed in the display window 370 . for example , such annotations may be two - dimensional images overlaid on the 3d image in the graphics display 374 . when such annotations or graphics are added to an image , an update message is used to cause annotation or graphic to be displayed on the user computers participating in a product design session . when a view is stored , the annotation is stored as part of the view and when the view is subsequently displayed , the annotation is also displayed . in another embodiment of system 300 , the product data may also include pre - recorded information and such information may be displayed on all of the user &# 39 ; s display windows , under the control of the controlling user , as described above in relation to system 100 through the use of different update messages . as noted above , the system server 302 records all update messages , including all camera position update and change design messages sent to it . the system server 302 also records all views that are stored during a session . this information may be retained after a product design session ends to allow the session to be continued or to allow the different designs considered during a session to be reviewed subsequently . the recorded information may also be used to re - create the session and in effect serve as a recording of the session . voice and text chat data may also be stored and may be replayed to recreate the product design session in whole or in part . a previously recorded session may be replayed as part of a subsequent product design session and two or more users may continue to collaborate on the design of a product , effectively continuing the previously recorded session . the users may add additional product information during a product design session by uploading additional product data to the server 302 , as was described above . the new product data is distributed to all of the user computer &# 39 ; s participating in the product design session and the controller may display or otherwise use the new product data . system 300 may also be used for interactive product demonstrations in which one of the users demonstrates a product to one or more other users . the user conducting the demonstration may maintain control over the session and may manipulate a 3d image , 2d image or use pre - recorded information to provide information to the other users , while the user participate in an interactive voice or text chat . the present invention has been described here by way of example only . the features of the various embodiments may be combined to form additional embodiments of the invention . in addition , various modification and variations may be made to these exemplary embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention , which is limited only by the appended claims .
| 6 |
the invention herein is generically crystalline zeolite having at least some tin within the zeolitic aluminosilicate or silicate framework . desirably , the host zeolite may be forms of type a , faujasites ( such as types y and x ), zsm - 4 , zsm - 5 , zsm - 8 , zsm - 11 , zsm - 12 , type l , offretite , type omega or mazzite , type beta , chabazite , csz - 1 , high silica zk4 , and various si / al ratio faujasites having different cation contents . the more desirable compositions of matter have a faujasite structure in a chemical composition range : where a = 0 . 2 to 1 . 0 , and x represents h + in most cases but may be other the cations , e . g ., sodium , potassium , magnesium , calcium , strontium , barium , lithium or ammonium . the tin substituted zeolites may be produced by a moderate temperature hydrothermal process utilizing a tin compound . there is some evidence that hydroxyl groups known to be found within the zeolite can be reacted with alcl 3 and the resulting al 3 + annealed into the framework tetrahedral positions . see dessau and kerr , zeolites , 4 , p . 315 ( 1984 ). while not wishing to be bound by theory , it appears that using the inventive process , zeolites containing some aluminum in framework positions can be reacted with tin compounds under the acidic hydrothermal conditions to replace some or all of the al 3 + with the sn 4 + in the tetrahedral sites . dealuminated materials , e . g ., faujasites probably also have some concentration of &# 34 ; hydroxyl nests &# 34 ; ( see barrer and makki , 1964 ), and these also probably react to permit migration of sn 4 + into the tetrahedral vacancies . in any event , the process of this invention involves treating one of the host zeolites mentioned above with a tin - bearing compound under acidic hydrothermal conditions so as to replace at least a portion of the framework aluminum with tin . since the reacting tin compound is acidic , the higher silica - containing materials yield products of highest retained crystallinity . prior dealumination or silication may therefore be desirable in some instances . an especially suitable tin compound is tin chloride . hydrochloric acid is suitable as acidifying agent when used with a chloride - containing tin compound . after mixture of the zeolite with the appropriate tin compound , the mixture is transferred to an autoclave and treated at a moderate temperature , e . g ., 100 ° to about 220 ° c ., under autogenous pressure . desired temperatures are 130 ° c . to 165 ° c . treatment time is not particularly critical , but should be sufficiently long to allow the desired extent of reaction to take place . one to five hours , preferably two to four hours , is reasonably sufficient . complete replacement of al 3 + by sn 4 + will result in a neutral framework having no cation exchange capacity . it may , of course , be desirable to change only a portion of the al 3 + and leave the zeolite with some cation exchange capacity and thereby allow the tin substituted zeolite to be further ion exchanged with a catalytic metal of some kind . such a partially exchanged composition is suitable for a support in , for instance , a bifunctional catalyst . the compositions disclosed herein may contain some waters of hydration which may be at least partially removed when the zeolites are subsequently employed as catalysts or sorbents . in addition , when the aluminum in the framework is only partially replaced by tin , the resulting cation exchange sites may be subjected to ion exchange with a solution containing various cations such as hydrogen , ammonium , metal cations from groups i to viii of the periodic table , or mixtures thereof , to provide a material suitable for catalytic conversion of hydrocarbons such as , e . g ., paraffin isomerization , aromatization , alkylation , catalytic cracking , hydrocracking or the like , or suitable for sorption . the class of zeolites disclosed herein is expected to have different catalytic adsorption properties as compared with the corresponding aluminosilicates . in addition , this class of zeolites is expected to have novel hydrocarbon conversion selectivities , ion exchange , and gas separation properties simply because the presence of tin in the zeolitic framework will influence support interactions with deposited metals , exchange cation and reactants . the examples which follow illustrate the invention . in all examples , parts and percentages are given by weight and temperatures in degrees centigrade unless otherwise noted . these examples are presented for the purposes of demonstration and are not intended to be limiting of the invention in any fashion . a 2 gm sample of a high silica dealuminated faujasite elz - 20 ( union carbide corporation ) was reacted with 3 . 7 gms of sncl 2 . 2h 2 o and 0 . 62 gm of hcl at 145 ° c . in a teflon lined autoclave for two days . the resulting product was filtered and washed with 50 gms of water . fig1 a shows an x - ray diffraction pattern for the faujasite before treatment . fig1 b shows the x - ray diffraction pattern of the resulting product . that and the electron microprobe analysis in fig3 a ( untreated zeolite ) and 3b ( after sncl 2 treatment ) show that the resulting material was quite similar to the original elz - 20 , but with appreciable tin and chloride included . the 29 si - masnmr ( major angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance ) spectra as shown in fig3 a and 3b shows essentially no change in the spectrum . the washed material was then reslurried with about 150 gms of water at 60 ° c . for 1 hr , filtered , and washed until the filtrate tested chloride - free with an agno 3 solution . microprobe analysis ( fig1 c ) now shows the material to contain only silicon and tin , and the x - ray diffraction analysis ( fig1 c ) shows good crystallinity retention but major peak intensity changes compared to fig1 a or fig1 b . analysis of the washed and slurried product by 29 si - masnmr is ( as shown in fig2 a , 2b and 2c ) essentially identical to the original elz - 20 in showing a peak at - 102 . 5 ppm ( vs . tms ) presumably associated with si ( 1sn ) and si ( 1al ). compared to the si ( 4si ) peak at - 107 . 9 ppm , the smaller peak had a relative intensity of about 20 %. this represents a faujasite having an si / sn ratio of about 22 . in comparison , electron microprobe analysis gave an si / sn ratio of 9 . 3 and an si / al ratio of 21 . 5 . consequently , it is clear that a significant portion of the aluminum has been replaced by tin . as can be seen by comparing fig1 a with fig1 c , except for some relative intensity changes , and a shift toward a slightly larger unit cell for the 1c material , the x - ray diffraction patterns are essentially the same . little , if any , indication of structure degradation is found . the stoichiometry of the final product is : a 2 gm sample of a faujasite ( elz - 20 - union carbide corp .) was intimately mixed with 5 . 6 gm of sncl 4 . 5h 2 o and and 1 gm of h 2 o . electron microprobe analysis of the initial elz - 20 material is shown in fig4 a . the mixture was placed into a 25 ml . teflon - lined autoclave and reacted in an air oven at 160 ° c . after quenching to room temperature , the zeolite product was washed and filtered . the product was highly crystalline , as shown by x - ray diffraction analysis , and provided the microprobe analysis shown in fig4 b . the sample was then refluxed in deionized water for one hour , filtered and washed with 50 gm h 2 o at 80 ° c . the microprobe analysis of this sample is shown in fig4 c . the initial material shown in fig4 a had an si / al ratio of about 2 . 1 , the material in fig4 b had an si / al ratio of about 4 . 5 ( although various particles in the sample gave si / al ratio as high as 12 indicating variable washing affects ); the thoroughly washed material in fig4 c had an si / al cation of about 1 and all detrital chloride was removed . the washed sample had si / sn analysis of about 19 . the product stoichiometry was therefore : having thus described the invention and provided examples thereof , it should be apparent to those having ordinary skill in this art that obvious variations of the composition and the process of making those compositions would be within the scope of this invention as claimed below .
| 8 |
fig1 is a perspective view of a first box 10 in accordance with the invention . box 10 is fabricated of card stock and is in the form of a rectangular solid , having parallel rectangular top and bottom panels 12 and 14 , respectively , parallel rectangular front and back panels 16 and 18 , respectively , and parallel rectangular left and right end panels 20 and 22 , respectively . box 10 is the package for a plurality of food items , such as taco shells and perhaps related filling materials for the taco shells . taco shells are widely available packaged twelve in a box . such a box measures about 1 . 875 inches ( 4 . 8 cm ) between panels 12 and 14 , 5 . 75 inches ( 14 . 6 cm ) between panels 16 and 18 and 7 . 25 inches ( 18 . 4 cm ) between panels 20 and 22 , and has a zip open means ( not shown ) along one of panels 20 and 22 for opening box 10 . box 10 is provided with score line means including a plurality , eight as shown , of closed recess - producing perforated score lines along which portions of box 10 are separable from each other . specifically , box 10 has eight closed recess producing score lines 24 , 26 , 28 , 30 , 32 , 34 , 36 and 38 . each of score lines 24 , 26 , 28 and 30 lies in panels 12 , 14 and 16 , while each of score lines 32 , 34 , 36 and 38 lies in panels 12 , 14 and 18 . since score lines 24 , 26 , 28 , 30 , 32 , 34 , 36 and 38 are identical , only one needs to be described in detail . the one chosen for description is score line 24 . score line 24 has straight parallel portions 40 and 42 in panel 16 , perpendicular to panels 12 and 14 and extending from panel 12 to panel 14 . score line 24 further has straight parallel portions 44 and 46 in panel 12 , perpendicular to panel 16 and forming continuations of portions 40 and 42 , respectively , and straight parallel portions 48 and 50 in panel 14 , perpendicular to panel 16 and forming continuations of portions 40 and 42 , respectively . portions 44 and 46 are joined by an arcuate portion 52 in panel 12 and centered midway between portions 44 and 46 and tangential thereto . the distance from panel 16 to the part of arcuate portion 52 that is farthest from panel 16 is about 1 . 875 inches ( 4 . 8 cm ). portions 48 and 50 are likewise joined by an arcuate portion ( not visible ) in panel 14 and centered midway between portions 48 and 50 and tangential thereto . the distance from panel 16 to the part of the last mentioned arcuate portion that is farthest from panel 16 is about 1 . 875 inches ( 4 . 8 cm ). the distance between portions 44 and 46 is about 1 . 25 inches ( 3 . 0 cm ). score line 24 is spaced about 0 . 5625 inch ( 1 . 4 cm ) from panel 20 and about 0 . 375 inch ( 1 . 0 cm ) from score line 26 . score line 28 is spaced about 0 . 375 inch ( 1 . 0 cm ) from score line 26 , and score line 30 is spaced about 0 . 375 inch ( 1 . 0 cm ) from score line 28 and about 0 . 5625 inch ( 1 . 4 cm ) from panel 22 . box 10 is also provided with additional score line means including a closed score line 60 lying in the plane parallel to and midway between panels 16 and 18 , about 2 . 875 inches ( 7 . 2 cm ) from each . score line 60 is in and bisects panels 12 , 14 , 20 and 22 , thus extending all the way around box 10 . box 10 may advantageously be reinforced adjacent to line 60 , as indicated at 61 , for stability portions of box 10 are separable from each other by the consumer to convert box 10 into a tray 62 ( fig2 ) having taco holding recesses and a base . more specifically , the card stock within each of score lines 24 , 26 , 28 , and 30 is removed to expose taco holding recesses 28 &# 39 ;, 30 &# 39 ;, 32 &# 39 ;, and 34 &# 39 ;, respectively . as shown in fig2 these recesses have rounded bottoms and parallel sides in panels 12 and 14 . the conversion of box 10 into tray 62 is completed by separating the card stock along base - producing score line 60 to provide tray 62 with an open base 60 &# 39 ;, on which tray 62 can be stored on a flat surface with taco holding recesses 28 &# 39 ;, 30 &# 39 ;, 32 &# 39 ;, and 34 &# 39 ; facing upwardly . as shown in fig2 a filled taco 64 can be held in a stable upright position . taco 64 is shown in recess 30 &# 39 ;. box 10 can be made to yield a second tray identical to tray 62 by removing the card stock within score lines 32 , 34 , 36 , and 38 . it is stated above that box 10 typically provides twelve taco shells and possibly related filling material . the two trays into which box 10 is convertible can handle eight filled tacos . one of those trays can be reused to the extent of handling four additional filled tacos before disposal . fig3 is a perspective view of a second box 70 in accordance with the invention . box 70 may be the same as box 10 in size and shape , having top and bottom panels 12 and 14 , respectively , front and back panels 16 and 18 , respectively , and left and right panels 20 and 22 , respectively . box 70 , like box 10 , also has additional score line means including a score line 72 extending therearound , similar to base producing score line 60 of box 10 . but score line 72 is not a base producing score line , as will appear more clearly . box 70 also has , in top panel 12 , a plurality , four as shown , of like closed recess - producing perforated score lines 79 , 76 , 78 , and 80 that traverse and are bisected by line 72 . socre lines 79 , 76 , 78 , and 80 are elongated with arcuate ends remote from line 72 . box 70 further has , in bottom panel 14 , four closed recess - producing perforated score lines ( not shown ), sized and shaped the same as lines 79 , 76 , 78 , and 80 , and directly in registry with lines 74 , 76 , 78 and 80 . box 70 is convertible into a tray 82 ( fig4 ) by separating box 70 along line 72 and thereupon removing the card stock within lines 79 , 76 , 78 , and 80 and the lines directly in registry therewith in panel 14 , thus to expose four taco holding recesses 74 &# 39 ;, 76 &# 39 ;, 78 &# 39 ;, and 80 &# 39 ;, filled taco 64 being shown in recess 76 &# 39 ;. the foregoing procedure also creates out of box 70 a second tray identical to tray 82 , but with the base being provided by panel 18 . fig4 is a perspective view of a third box 90 in accordance with the invention . box 90 may be the same size and shape as box 10 . box 90 has score line means including a single perforated score line 92 extending therearound . line 92 follows a zig - zag course 94 across one panel of box 90 and a zigzag course ( not seen ) in registry with course 94 across an opposite panel of box 90 . line 92 follows a straight course 96 across a further panel from one end of the unseen zig - zag course and a straight course ( not seen ) along the panel opposite the further panel and joining the opposite ends of course 94 and the unseen zig - zag course . box 90 is convertible into two trays 96 ( fig6 ) by separating the two halves of box 90 along line 92 . each tray 96 has a closed base 98 provided by one of the panels of box 90 and four upwardly facing v - shaped taco holding recesses 100 , 102 , 104 an 106 , filled taco 64 being shown in recess 102 . it is apparent that the invention achieves the stated objects and advantages and others . the disclosed details are exemplary and are not to be taken as limitations on the invention except as those details may be included in the appended claims .
| 8 |
referring to the drawings , a reloadable training munition 10 of the present invention is illustrated . the munition 10 comprises three main components , namely a reusable projectile 12 , a reusable shell base 14 and a reload insert 16 . the reusable projectile 12 has a nose section 18 which is designed to closely simulate the weight , flight stability and aerodynamic characteristics of an actual munitions projectile , but utilizing materials and manufacturing techniques to reduce the cost and allow the projectile to be reused numerous times without loss of performance . for example , an actual munition projectile could be a multi - component projectile made of plastic and foam components bonded together and the reusable projectile which would replace the actual munitions could be a single - piece , molded plastic projectile . depending upon the actual munition projectile the reusable projectile is replacing , the projectile can be solid or can be hollow . the reusable projectile has a reduced diameter neck portion 20 sized to provide an interference fit inside the reusable shell base and can be inserted into the shell base by hand . the reusable shell base 14 has the same internal and external dimensions as a single use shell base to preserve the interface and fit with the projectile and the weapon platform . the reusable shell base incorporates the hollow cavity 22 in the bottom of the shell which accepts the reload insert 16 . the internal diameter of a hollow cavity is designed with sufficient tolerance to allow the reload insert to be loaded or removed by hand . the reload insert 16 houses a blank cartridge 24 and a rupture disc 26 . the reload insert also has a vent hole 28 ( seen best in fig3 ) which together with the propellent cartridge and rupture disc form the high / low pressure propulsion system . to retain the reload insert within the reusable shell base , a mechanical attachment means is incorporated . for example as shown in fig2 , a threaded hole 30 extends from the external surface of the shell to the longitudinal axis of the shell and intersecting the hollow cavity 22 . a set screw 32 is threaded into the hole and can be tightened to move the screw towards the hollow cavity and engage the reload insert . consequently , when a reload insert is in place in the hollow cavity and the set screw tightened , the set screw provides a mechanical means of securing the reload insert into the reusable shell base . when the set screw is loosened , the reload insert can be easily removed by hand with simple hand tools such as an allen wrench . as shown in fig3 , other forms of mechanical retention systems can be utilized such as a spring loaded locking pin 34 . locking pin 34 includes a spring 36 which are positioned within a hole 38 extending into the shell base 40 . the end of the pin 34 engages a groove 42 extending around the parameter of the reload insert 44 . when inserting the reload insert , the pin would be displaced out of the hollow cavity by compressing the spring and then returning into the hollow cavity by spring force when the hole or groove and the external surface of the reload insert is aligned with the end of the pin . other embodiments of mechanical retention systems could include a lock wire or retaining ring that is placed in one end of the hollow cavity to secure the reload insert while maintaining the ease of loading and unloading . another example could be the reload insert itself could be threaded on its external surface to match threads on interior surface of the hollow cavity , providing a means to screw the reload insert in and out of the shell base using common tools . another mechanical means of retention could be designed into the interface between the reload insert and the shell base such as steps or grooves that could lock the reload insert in place when it is inserted and turned in the shell base . a locking groove system would incorporate a reload with features that are keyed to the same pattern as the opening in the shell base , the keyed feature positioned axially on the reload to align with a radial groove on the interior of the shell cavity . the reload is inserted until the keyed feature and the groove align , and then rotated to lock the reload in place . still another mechanical means of retaining the propulsion system reload could be an o - ring interface between the propulsion system reload and the interior surface of the hollow cavity in the shell base . the o - ring could be located either in a groove on the external surface of the propulsion system reload , meeting with the groove on the internal surface of the hollow cavity in the shell base , or vice versa wherein the o - ring is located in a groove on the internal surface of the hollow cavity of the shell base and mates with a groove on the surface of the propulsion system reload . fig3 also illustrates the principals of the high / low pressure propulsion system for the reload insert . the reload insert includes the vent hole 28 which separates the high pressure chamber 46 from the low pressure chamber 48 . the ammunition as shown in fig1 - 3 is , by way of example only , a 40 mm reloading training munition for non - lethal impact munitions , but the principals of the invention can easily be applied to other calibers and training ammunition applications . all of the present invention has been illustrated with respect to several embodiments thereof , it is not to be so limited since changes and modifications can be made which are within the intended scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed .
| 5 |
the rubber cement of the present invention comprises a seed rubber composition comprising a rubber component and a filler , and a solvent . in the seed rubber composition , the rubber component comprises a diene rubber which is similar to that in inner rubber members so that the properties ( in particular , tb and mod ) of the seed rubber of the rubber cement are improved to be close to those of the inner rubber members and the applied marks are distinctly observable . as the filler , silica is selected so that tb and mod are improved , and titanium dioxide is selected so that the whiteness of the applied rubber cement is enhanced and the mark is more distinctly observable . of course , other ingredients generally used in formulations of rubber compositions such as white fillers , vulcanization accelerators , vulcanization acceleration activator , vulcanizing agents , antioxidants , silane coupling agents and coloring agents can be suitably selected and used . the rubber cement of the present invention can be prepared by dissolving the components for the rubber cement into a solvent in accordance with a conventional method . the concentration of the rubber cement is not particularly limited and is selected in accordance with the rubber article to which the rubber cement is applied . when the concentration is excessively low , marks made with the rubber cement are less distinctly observable . when the concentration is excessively high , the operation of application becomes difficult . therefore , a suitable concentration should be selected . preferably the rubber composition comprises from about 10 to about 60 parts by weight of silica per 100 parts by weight of the rubber component . when the amount of silica is less than about 10 parts by weight , the reinforcement effect of silica is may be insufficient . when the amount of silica exceeds about 60 parts by weight , the workability in mixing may deteriorate . preferably the rubber composition comprises from about 5 to about 30 parts by weight of titanium dioxide per 100 parts by weight of the rubber component . when the amount of titanium dioxide is less than about 5 parts by weight , the whiteness may be insufficient . when the amount of titanium dioxide exceeds about 30 parts by weight , resistance to cleavage may deteriorate . the rubber cement can be applied to various types of rubber articles . as the portion to which the rubber cement is applied , it is preferable that a portion having a smaller internal strain is selected . in the following , a tire is taken as an example of the rubber article and the marking during lamination of tread materials is described . shearing strains and compressive strains are formed between inner components of the tire while loaded or during rotation of the tire . in general , a strain formed in the central portion of a belt are smaller than that formed at the end portion of the belt . therefore , the central portion is more suitable for applying the rubber cement . since the shearing strain increases as going farther from the central line in the axial direction of the tire , it is preferable that the rubber cement is applied in an area having a width of about 20 % or smaller of the width of the tread portion along the central line of the circumference of the tire ( the surface area s to which the rubber cement for marking can be applied , shown in fig1 ). to summarize the advantages of the present invention , by the use of the above rubber cement , sufficient resistance to cleavage between inner rubber members forming a laminate can be exhibited since the tensile strength ( tb ) and the modulus of elasticity ( mod ) of the seed rubber composition of the rubber cement are increased so that the properties of the rubber cement layer can be made as close as possible to the properties of the rubber members which contact the rubber cement layer . a bright color for the marking is also exhibited by the use of the above rubber cement . the correct positions of the inner rubber members can be easily and specifically decided by the use of the above rubber cement for marking purpose and the rubber articles having more accurate structures . the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to examples in the following . the formulations used in examples of the first aspect of the present invention and comparative examples are shown in table 1 . as the rubber article of the second aspect of the present invention , a tire is selected . the test of cleavage between a carcass ply p and a belt b in a crown portion of the carcass where the tread portion t is placed was conducted and the surface formed by the cleavage was observed . a marking character was placed with a rubber cement on a portion of 1 cm × 1 cm along the central line of the surface of a ply treat , and a tire having a size of 11r22 . 5 and a rib pattern was built and vulcanized . then , the prepared tire was dissected . the cleavage test between the carcass ply p and the first belt b 1 was conducted and the surface formed by the cleavage was observed . the results of the cleavage test and the observation are shown in table 1 . the rubber cement of the present invention comprising the rubber component , silica and titanium dioxide was used . the coated portion of the ply treat was remarkably white as expected . in the test of cleavage of the tire , the rubber cement was not exposed to the surface and the rubber surrounding the rubber cement was broken in the form of the aggregate fracture . the results showed that the excellent adhesion was achieved . in the test of cleavage after the lr drum test for 40 , 000 km , the surface formed by the cleavage was observed and it was shown that the rubber surrounding the rubber cement was broken in the form of the aggregate fracture . the results are shown in table 1 . the lr ( long run ) drum test is for a measurement of durability of a tire , which is measured by running a tire on a drum at a speed of 60 km / hour for a distance of 40000 km a rubber cement for marking lines on tread rubbers and a white side rubber used for passenger car tires ( psr ), which were available in a tire production plant , were used as the rubber cement for marking . in the test of cleavage , the fracture occurred within the rubber cement and the resistance to cleavage decreased markedly to about ¼of the ordinary value . the durability of the tire was also insufficient . the results are shown in table 1 . a rubber cement containing silica but no titanium dioxide was used . silica was used in an amount of 65 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the rubber component . although an excellent result was obtained in the test of cleavage , the workability by a banbury mixer was markedly poor . moreover , since titanium dioxide was not contained , the whiteness of the mark was insufficient . therefore , the rubber cement was not suitable for the cement for marking . the results are shown in table 1 . only example 1 , which has both silica and titanium dioxide in its formulation , provides a combination of acceptable properties for use as a rubber cement according to the present invention .
| 2 |
the mri system shown in fig1 includes a gantry 10 ( shown in schematic cross - section ) and various related system components 20 interfaced therewith . at least the gantry 10 is typically located in a shielded room . one mri system geometry depicted in fig1 includes a substantially coaxial cylindrical arrangement of the static field bo magnet 12 , a g x , g y and g z gradient coil set 14 and an rf coil assembly 16 . along the horizontal axis of this cylindrical array of elements is an imaging volume 18 shown as substantially encompassing the head of a patient 9 supported by a patient table 11 . an mri system controller 22 has input / output ports connected to display 24 , keyboard / mouse 26 and printer 28 . as will be appreciated , the display 24 may be of the touch - screen variety so that it provides control inputs as well . the mri system controller 22 interfaces with mri sequence controller 30 which , in turn , controls the g x , g y and g z gradient coil drivers 32 , as well as the rf transmitter 34 and the transmit / receive switch 36 ( if the same rf coil is used for both transmission and reception ). the mri sequence controller 30 includes suitable program code structure 38 for implementing mri data acquisition sequences available in the repertoire of the mri sequence controller 30 . cardiac signal acquisition apparatus 8 ( positioned as appropriate on the patient anatomy ) may be used to provide peripheral pulsatile and / or cardiac gating signals 13 to trigger the mri sequence controller 30 . the mri system 20 includes an rf receiver 40 providing input to data processor 42 so as to create processed image data to display 24 . the mri data processor 42 is also configured for access to image reconstruction program code structure 44 and to mr image memory 46 ( e . g ., for storing mr image data derived from processing in accordance with the exemplary embodiments and the image reconstruction program code structure 44 ). also illustrated in fig1 is a generalized depiction of an mri system program / data store 50 where stored program code structures ( e . g ., for image reconstruction such as non - contrast mra and pre - scan systole / diastole determinations within a cardiac cycle , operator inputs to same , etc .) are stored in computer - readable storage media accessible to the various data processing components of the mri system . as those in the art will appreciate , the program store 50 may be segmented and directly connected , at least in part , to different ones of the system 20 processing computers having most immediate need for such stored program code structures in their normal operation ( i . e ., rather than being commonly stored and connected directly to the mri system controller 22 ). indeed , as those in the art will appreciate , the fig1 depiction is a very high - level simplified diagram of a typical mri system with some modifications so as to practice exemplary embodiments to be described hereinbelow . the system components can be divided into different logical collections of “ boxes ” and typically comprise numerous digital signal processors ( dsp ), microprocessors , special purpose processing circuits ( e . g ., for fast nd conversions , fast fourier transforming , array processing , etc .). each of those processors is typically a clocked “ state machine ” wherein the physical data processing circuits progress from one physical state to another upon the occurrence of each clock cycle ( or predetermined number of clock cycles ). not only does the physical state of processing circuits ( e . g ., cpus , registers , buffers , arithmetic units , etc .) progressively change from one clock cycle to another during the course of operation , the physical state of associated data storage media ( e . g ., bit storage sites in magnetic storage media ) is transformed from one state to another during operation of such a system . for example , at the conclusion of an mr - imaging reconstruction process , an array of computer - readable accessible data value storage sites in physical storage media will be transformed from some prior state ( e . g ., all uniform “ zero ” values or all “ one ” values ) to a new state wherein the physical states at the physical sites of such an array vary between minimum and maximum values to represent real world physical events and conditions ( e . g ., the blood flowing in arteries of a patient over an imaging volume space ). as those in the art will appreciate , such arrays of stored data values represent and also constitute a physical structure — as does a particular structure of computer control program codes that , when sequentially loaded into instruction registers and executed by one or more cpus of the mri system 20 , cause a particular sequence of operational states to occur and be transitioned through within the mri system . the exemplary embodiments described below provide improved ways to process data acquisitions and / or to generate and display mr - images . time - resolved non - contrast mra ( magnetic resonance angiography ) can be obtained by successively acquiring mr images at small incremental delay ( repeat ) times throughout r - r cycle so as to surely include systole to diastole and the subtraction of dark signals at systole from the bright signals at or during diastole . this provides one or more images of blood travel between systole to diastole times in the cardiac cycle . however , since one does not initially know where the appropriate sub - period or sub - interval of a cardiac cycle resides in the pqrstu complex , all data is acquired with small increments of delay to acquire finely separated data acquisition sequences over a whole cardiac r - r period and then find the most suitable images at ( a ) diastole and ( b ) systole to subtract and produce the desired time - resolved fluid vascular ( e . g ., mra ) image . to reduce wasted resource usage , the exemplary embodiment first performs an ecg - prep rough scan with relatively large rough increments ( e . g ., like 100 ms ) to cover a whole cardiac cycle . fbi - navi or some similar program can be used to display a graph of the rough scan signal intensity versus delay time to allow operator selection of the beginning and the end of steep signal changes — and a finer final imaging increment that can be operator selected . the exemplary system can also automatically calculate the final scan repeat interval ( i . e ., how many times to repeat a scan within the defined interval ). for example , an auto - ecg mode as described in co - pending commonly assigned application 12 / 699 , 169 may be employed to use the heart rate to calculate systolic and diastolic periods and to determine systolic and diastolic triggering delays . the signals from the “ black ” systole image are automatically subtracted from the bright diastolic signals , or vice versa , to display time - resolved images ( 2d and 3d ). in cine mode , a sequence of such images can show flow - like hemodynamic images . similarly , in time - slip time - resolved images , a 2d bbti - prep scan can display an fbi - navi - like plot of bbti - prep results and an operator may select a desired period and / or repeat parameters for the data acquisition in 2d and / or 3d . time - resolved non - contrast images can be obtained using fbi - navi - aided selection of signal acquisition duration during a relevant signal changing area ( which alternatively can be automatically system selected to encompass detected steep slope periods instead of relying upon an operator &# 39 ; s selection ). an exemplary gui of the above interface and system scan operation and subtraction can produce flow - like images while allowing a reduction of scan time to obtain time - resolved non - contrast images in fbi and time - slip sequences . because one does not initially know when particular signal intensity changes occur within a cardiac cycle , multiple scans with a small increment ( for example , 10 msec ) have been used to cover a whole cardiac cycle , such as an r - r interval of 1 , 000 ms where using an increment of 10 ms would require 100 mri data acquisition sequences . using a 3rr interval per scan , 2d scan to make a 3d scan ( 2d spatial data with 1d in time ) will take 3rr × 100 = 300rrs or 300 cardiac beats . 300 × 1000 ms = 300 sec or 5 minutes . for sufficient 3d scans to collect 4d data ( 3d spatial data with 1d in time ), it may thus take 50 minutes for 10 slices . in addition , the post - acquisition processing of those extensive acquired data sets takes a long time ( e . g ., due to not initially knowing where the diastolic or high signal intensity is to be found for subtraction and where the lowest or peak systolic phase may be located ). as noted above , typically , due to not knowing the signal intensity curve for a particular patient in advance , a whole cardiac cycle of consecutively delayed slice images was acquired using single shot fse ( fase ) or any other suitable mra sequences ( epi , bssfp , etc .) with a small increment like 10 - 20 msec . now , however , in order to initially ascertain a rough signal intensity curve , an ecg - prep scan using a relatively large increment ( roughly like 100 ms ) can be used to cover a whole cardiac cycle , as shown in fig2 . by using an fbi - navi ( a plot of signal intensity versus ecg time ), one can select start and end scan times and a desired shorter increment for the consecutively delayed mri sequences as shown in fig3 . subtraction of lower intensity signals in systole from higher intensity signals at diastolic triggered images will give time - resolved mra images visually representing moving blood signals , as shown in fig5 where s1 , s2 , . . . sn are systolic phases 1 , 2 , . . . n . if displayed in cine mode ( fig6 ), non - contrast time - resolved mra can be seen . acquiring only the steep signal change from systolic to diastolic with the smaller delay increment allows an overall faster scan time for time - resolved non - contrast mra . further shortening of scan time can be made using : t2 plus ( 90 degree flip back pulse at the end of the acquisition to bring the x - y magnetization to the + z direction ) higher parallel imaging factor to shorten an actual single shot time and reducing the tr from 3rr interval to 1 or 2rr interval a keyhole type scan to share the peripheral k - space data using a full sample at the diastole ( or systole ) and a center part of k - space to acquire and share the non - acquired part ( elsewhere than a center ) to make images . this provides shorter scan time to obtain a non - contrast time - resolved in 2d spatial with 1d time images or 3d spatial with 1d time images . an easy to use gui can be provided for this time - resolved technique using the systolic to diastolic period by selecting the start and end of the scan period and by presetting the delay increment ( e . g ., by having the system calculate a repeat increment ). non - contrast time - resolved images ( 2d spatial + 1d time = 3d or 3d + 1d time = 4d ) imaging can be obtained using this type of ecg - prep or fbi - navi result . without this approach , one acquired a single shot fse image at a small repeat increment over the whole cardiac cycle , which takes a long time now , one can use the result of the initial rough fbi - navi to select the start and end time ( s ) of scan ( s ) and , if desired , a delay increment to cover the low intensity signal ( systolic ) to high intensity signal ( diastolic ) triggering times . the system may automatically calculate the repeat interval and acquire multiple scans in different phases ( 2d or 3d scans ) and subtract the systolic data from diastolic data ( or vice versa ) to display time - resolved mr images as flow dynamics . this approach can provide time - resolved non - contrast images obtained using fbi - navi , selection of duration ( signal change area , which can be automatically system selected ( steep slope detection ) or operator selected ). a friendly gui of the above interface and system scan operation and subtraction can produce flow - like images . in the exemplary embodiments , since the mr signal intensity versus time curve throughout an r - r interval of the cardiac cycle for a particular patient is not known in advance , a rough scan of the interval for a given patient may be utilized to quickly discern the location of systole and diastole timings . for example , as shown in fig2 , a succession of mri slice imaging sequences s1 , s2 . . . may be effected at relatively large intervals ( e . g ., 100 or so msec ) over the r - r interval for that patient ( which may approximate 650 to 1 , 300 msec or so ). in this manner , the mr signal intensity over the r - r interval is initially mapped out as depicted in fig2 so as to identify the timing of minimum mr signal intensity ( systole ) and the timing of maximum mr signal intensity ( diastole ). once the systole and diastole time points have been identified for that particular patient , then a more concentrated ( i . e ., more closely spaced in time series of successively delayed mri slice imaging sequences may be effected so as to capture the most desirable part of the r - r cycle , namely , between systole and diastole as depicted in fig3 . here , the mri sequences may be more closely spaced ( e . g ., 10 msec or so ) so as to provide the desired level of incremental change between images . this allows the use of techniques such as fbi ( fresh blood imaging )- navi in 2d and / or 3d acquisitions as time - resolved non - contrast mra images . when these successive images are displayed in cine mode , they appear as a hemodynamic display of blood flowing through vessels ( or other fluids flowing through other appropriate vessels ) within the imaged patient body part . however , by first doing an initial rough scan as in fig2 in order to map out the mr signal intensity curve during an r - r interval for a given patient and then concentrating only on the desired ( e . g ., systole / diastole ) part of that curve for the more finely closely separated series of images , one can effectively save a considerable amount of time . as depicted in fig4 , some patients may have an mr signal intensity curve that has more than one pair of minimum and maximum points . as shown in fig4 , for example , first minimum and first maximum systole / diastole points define a first interval i 1 that captures most of the positively sloped intensity curve for which a first sequence of images is then captured . however , in addition , this particular patient exhibits a second interval i 2 with a second minimum and a second maximum . accordingly , this second smaller interval defining a second smaller positively sloped region can also be captured in a second sequence of consecutively delayed slice imaging mri sequences as also depicted in fig4 . in effect , this permits the capturing of positively sloped portions of the intensity curve that occur in later time segments . fig5 schematically depicts idealized sections of a linear artery that has been imaged at various timings and then subtracted ( e . g ., diastolic - systolic ) to produce a series of images that can be displayed in cine mode ( e . g ., see fig6 ) to simulate a hemodynamic video display showing an advancing volume of blood through that imaged section of artery . while this type of fbi - navi display is , of course , known in the prior art , the use of an initial rough , longer interval , mapping sequence as in fig2 so as to permit restriction of the closer spaced successive images more precisely in a thusly identified systole / diastole interval as shown in fig3 and 4 greatly decreases the overall data acquisition time . changes in arterial signal intensity can be drastic from end systolic to early diastolic . however , each patient has a different timing for this change . in order to find the most relevant time period when there is increasing signal intensity , fbi - navi can be used to determine a rough estimation of systolic and diastolic triggering times ( e . g ., as acquired using an ecg - prep scan , single slice with multiple phases ). in order to reduce total acquisition time for time - resolved non - contrast mra , using the result of the prep - scan fbi - navi , time - resolved images can be more efficiently acquired in the period of drastically increasing signal change from late systole to early diastole . to efficiently obtain time - resolved non - contrast mra images , a drastically increasing signal change period from late systole to early diastole can be automatically determined using the fbi - navi , as shown in fig2 . thereafter , the system can automatically determine the optimum scan period . an operator can selectively determine the incremental delay and / or the system can calculate a suitable repeat time to acquire successively delayed slice images throughout the systole to diastole period . the system may then subtract each of the successive systolic images from the diastolic triggered image ( high intensity signal ) and can display the succession of subtracted images . the desired signal change period ( e . g ., late systole to early diastole ) as measured using pre - scan fbi - navi can then be acquired with a smaller delay increment — or a signal change period calculated by auto - ecg ( e . g ., see co - pending application ser . no . 12 / 699 , 169 ) can be used with a smaller increment . auto - ecg uses heart rate and the measured systolic and diastolic period to calculate a suitable delay interval . auto - ecg can also automatically determine systolic and diastolic triggering delays . the system also may automatically determine only the systole / diastole period and let the operator decide upon a desired incremental delay or suggested increment ( e . g ., 10 - 20 ms ). the system may then calculate an appropriate repeat time to acquire successive images through the relevant period . the system then subtracts the systolic images from the diastolic triggered image ( high intensity signal ) and displays the subtracted images . auto - ecg may use heart rate and the systolic and diastolic period to determine systolic and diastolic triggering delays . time - resolved non - contrast mra data can thus be acquired in a shorter time . the acquisition period can be selected in an easier manner and data processing ( e . g ., subtraction ), which is cumbersome to do manually , can be done in the system . the system display can be done without manual display in a cine mode . exemplary program code structure for a systole / diastole interval determination module is depicted at fig7 . there , the module is entered at 70 ( e . g ., via a suitable operator and / or system command associated with a desire to acquire / display time - resolved mra images ). at 72 , a wait loop is entered for operator selection of rough scan parameters . such operator selections may encompass , for example , items such as shown in box 74 where the operator may define start and stop scan period times ( e . g ., r - r interval ), the number of repeats or size of delay time increments or the like ( or may opt to simply let the system automatically determine these first rough scan parameters ). once operator inputs are completed , then a rough fbi - navi scan is performed at 76 . if further operator inputs are to be permitted ( i . e ., if fully automatic system operation is not desired ), then the resulting rough scan signal versus time data may be displayed at 78 before entering a wait loop at 80 for operator selection of the final systole / diastole scan parameters . as depicted in box 82 , such operator selections may include selections for more than one interval . however , for at least the first interval , the operator may enter start and stop scan times , as well as second smaller time intervals — or may merely opt to let the system automatically determine suitable smaller time intervals for the subsequent time - resolved mra scanning process . once final operator inputs have been completed , then control is passed to 84 for time - resolved non - contrast mra processes conducted in accordance with those operator - set parameters ( e . g ., as may be accomplished by exit to a separate module where conventional time - resolved non - contrast mra is performed within the more limited systole / diastole time interval ( s ) as determined by the rough scan processes described in the earlier portions of fig7 . of course , those in the art will appreciate that , if desired , substantially all of the processes set forth in fig7 could be programmed for automatic implementation by the system without repeated operator control inputs . for example , the operator inputs , if any , could be limited to the pre - setting of preference parameters or the like in an overall module for time - resolved non - contrast mra . while certain embodiments of the inventions have been described , these embodiments have been presented by way of example only , and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions . indeed , the novel methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms . furthermore , various omissions , substitutions and changes in the form of the methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions . the accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions .
| 6 |
this invention is a method of continuous bacteriophage production comprising a “ proliferator ” in which target “ bait ” bacteria and matching virulent bacteriophage are combined in a continuous flow reactor vessel under conditions of temperature , solution composition and residence time to replicate virulent bacteriophage , thereby increasing both the number of bacteriophage and its concentration in solution . phage concentration of the reactor outflow can be adjusted by the relative flow and concentration of input bacteria solution and bacteriophage solution , residence time and optionally , recycle of the output stream . the invention also provides for the control of flows in the reaction in response to real time analysis of component streams . as used herein the following definitions apply : a phage cocktail includes multiple , receptor independent phages for each target bacterial host . this is different from a phage panel , which is a collection of phages chosen to cover as wide a host range as possible . since some srb phages are known to be polyvalent — effective against more than one strain of srb ( or other bacteria ), there may not need be a separate cocktail for every strain of target bacteria . this panel of cocktails is designated herein as phage “ multi - panel ”. as used herein , the terms bacteriophage and virus are used interchangeably . this is because biologists have not consistently named all phage - like viruses as phage . for example , archaea , are preyed upon by archae virus , algae , by algal virus and fungi by mycovirus . all such virus and bacteriophage that replicate in the same way as bacteriophage are candidates for the process of this invention . bacteriophage also include engineered bacteriophage , that even thought modified from the “ wild ” phage ( as found in natural state ) will replicate in the same or similar way as “ wild ” phage . in order to produce sufficient amount of bacteriophage ( phage ) to treat large volume of water , phage numbers may be greatly increased and concentrated either on site of use or at a central location . propagation of virulent phages is achieved by attaching itself into its matching host bacteria , infection the host , replicating itself and rupturing the bacteria . an embodiment of this invention is a process for bacteriophage concentration and proliferation as illustrated in fig1 . when bacteriophage to be concentrated are anaerobic as are sulfate reducing bacteria ( srb ) it is preferred , and sometimes necessary for the entire system for proliferation / concentration to be blanketed with a non - oxygen gas — nitrogen preferred , since the srb will not survive if there is significant oxygen in the system . this precaution may not be required for phage of aerobic bacteria ( such as nocardonia and gardonia ) but may be used to reduce air born contamination of the system . there are many factors that influence the rate and efficiency of attachment of phage to host bacteria and the lyse of the problematic bacteria , including , but not limited to , temperature , pressure , medium in which they reside and concentration . concentration of both phage and bacteria are often critical to achieve meaningful replication since interaction between phage and bacteria is largely governed by the concentrations of both the phage and the host bacteria . mathematical models allow a theoretically calculation of the dynamics of the host and phage population change in a given system . phage start the life cycle by adsorbing to the hose cell , and virulent phage adsorption to the host cell generally results in the destruction of the host cell and release of progeny phage . unless the concentration is sufficiently high little replication will occur . therefore , it is critical in the method of the invention that the concentration of bacteria and phage be sufficient for maximum infection and replication . this criticality of concentration is described in the following : “ the rate at which phages adsorb to their host is determined by second - order kinetics , as described by the relationship − dp / dt = kpb , where k is the phage adsorption rate constant in ml / min , p is the phage concentration , and b is the bacterial concentration . although this process can be expressed in terms of second - order kinetics , under most conditions the behavior is pseudo - first order : during the adsorption process free phage are eliminated from the system by adsorption to a host bacterium , but the bacterium remains free in the system to adsorb additional phage . this relationship can also be expressed explicitly ( here in terms of the rate constant k ) as where p 0 is the initial concentration of free phage and p t is the concentration of free phage at time t . one conclusion which can be drawn from this expression is that the concentration of susceptible bacteria , b , and the adsorption rate constant , k , will strongly influence the rate at which free phage are able to locate and adsorb to their hosts . a second conclusion is that given constant parameters , the amount of phage adsorbed by bacteria in time period t is a constant proportion of the initial phage population . thus , if 50 % of the free phage in a given system are adsorbed during time t , the absolute number of phage adsorbed would be 50 if p 0 = 100 pfu , and 50 , 000 if p 0 were 100 , 000 pfu .” ( practical and theoretical considerations for the use of bacteriophages in the food systems , jason j gill , in bacteriophages in the control of food and waterborne pathogens , parviz m sabour and mansel w griffiths ed ., june 2010 , american society for microbiology press , washing d . c .) theoretical calculations based on the mathematical models , while are not the only factors covering phage replication , serve as guidelines for determining the amount of phage and the time required to replicate phage under ideal conditions . for example , table 1 shows the time ( in minutes ) required to adsorb a given percentage of phage ( for example , 50 %, 90 %, and 99 %) as a function of the target cell concentration ( in cfu / ml ), assuming k = 5 e − 8 ml / min ( a fast binding rate ). note this proportion is independent of the actual number of phage , so 50 % of 100 pfu / ml means 50 pfu / ml bound , and 50 % of 1 , 000 , 000 pfu / ml means 500 , 000 pfu / ml bound . based on the above theoretical calculations , it is necessary to have some idea about the amount of bacteria that need to be replicated for effective and timely phage attachment , infection and lyse of target bacteria , to kill as many target bacteria as possible , target cell concentration is less relevant as long as enough phage can be introduced into the system to adsorb greater than 90 % the cells in a timely manner . on the other hand , in a situation where timely amplification of phage ( net gain of progeny phage after lysis ) is desired , relative high concentrations of bacteria ( greater than 10 6 - 10 7 cfu / ml ) are required . thus , for practical application virulent phage and target bacteria concentrations will need to be above 10 6 particles / ml to achieve meaningful replication of phage and destruction of bacteria , assuming a medium to high rate constant k . the bacteriophages that may be concentrated and / or produced by this invention span the range of virulent bacteriophages , including engineered phages . the invention is most useful where large amounts of phage are required , as for example , in treatment of industrial bio - fouling in water systems , pipelines , oil and gas reservoirs and equipment and the like . in these applications , it will often be requires to prepare multiple bacteriophage , as for phage panels , phage cocktails and phage multi - panels . referring to fig1 , vessel 101 is a concentrator / proliferator . water containing target bacteria is pumped into vessel 101 through valve 120 ( by pump 114 ) where it is mixed in continuous flow with a bacteriophage panel or multi - panel virulent for the target bacteria strains , shown as being pumped , 110 , through valve 130 from vessel 104 to be mixed with the incoming bacteria - containing water in vessel 101 . some forms of srb bacteria will be substantially destroyed by its virulent phage in less than 20 minutes . the concentrator vessel is sized to provide a flow rate of concentrated bacteriophage solution sufficient to treat the desired volume of water for immediate use or storage . a 4 ft diameter vessel will have a volume of 12 . 6 ft 3 / ft of height . a 6 ft diameter vessel will have 28 . 3 ft 3 / ft . thus , a 4 ft diameter vessel , 8 ft tall will contain 100 . 8 ft 3 and a 6 ft diameter vessel , 8 ft tall will contain 226 . 4 ft 3 . a flow rate of 9 . 3 gpm in the 4 ft . diameter reactor and 37 . 7 gpm in the 6 ft . diameter reactor will provide 20 minute residence time ( equivalent to the time needed for substantially complete destruction of some strains of srb bacteria ). concentration of bacteriophage in the solution leaving vessel 101 depends , to an extent , upon the concentration of target bacteria in the incoming water . when matching bacteria is present some phages may be replicated by a factor of about 20 : 1 . therefore , for example , when the incoming water contains 2 × 10 6 pfu / ml the outgoing stream will contain 4 × 10 7 pfu / ml . if the replication is 100 : 1 then the out stream will have a phage concentration of 1 × 10 8 pfu / ml — a two orders of magnitude increase . if replication is only 10 : 1 the outlet stream will increase in concentration by one order of magnitude to 1 × 10 7 . the phage will continue replicating so long as it can effectively contact target bacteria in the water . thus , the replication will continue when the outgoing concentrated phage solution is mixed with bacteria - containing water , as for example in storage vessel 105 . however when the concentration of bacteria or phage falls much below 1 × 10 6 particles / ml the infection and replication slows to essentially non - activity . initially the concentrator / proliferator is fed with a solution of bacteriophage multi - panel ( mixture of virulent phages ) that have been separately generated — shown in vessel 104 and passed to the concentrator / proliferator through valve 130 . once the concentrator is functioning phage ( s ) may be supplied by recycle of a portion of the output stream through valve 128 . the amount of recycle will preferably be sufficient to provide a phage to target bacteria ratio of from 1 to 0 . 001 . in general , the recycle will contain about 20 times the concentration of phage as the concentration of target bacteria in the source water since some srb phages will replicate in target bacteria about 20 : 1 . some of the concentrated phage solution may be stored , as in one of the temporary storage tanks , 105 , for future use . in fig1 vessel 101 contains phages virulent for the target bacteria used to start the process . it may be replenished by recycle of the concentrated outflow of the phage concentrator 101 or from an external source . thus , in operation , the phage concentrator will take in target bacteria containing water through valve 120 . in either case , the phages will continue replicating if there are target bacteria present , substantially destroying the target bacteria . reactor vessel 101 may contain packing such as ceramic balls , spheres and other shapes or inert fibers , mesh and the like to enhance mixing and bacteria / phage contact / vessels 102 and 103 are used for culturing target bacteria which may optionally be added to the concentrator / proliferator 101 through valves 123 or 124 by pump 112 to increase the concentration of incoming bacteria and hence the amount of phages produced . such supplemental bacteria may also be varied to generate a desired mix of phage in the output stream . culturing of bacteria may be conducted on - site or at a centralized location . alternatively target bacteria may be concentrated from source water in a tangential flow filter system . such a system is illustrated in fig2 . referring to fig2 water is pumped from storage 308 by pump 305 to filter 304 — a coarse filter to remove larger particles and trash . from filter 304 the water passes by conduit 321 to tangential flow filter 301 , having a filter screen , 302 , of about 0 . 2 micron . the screen is sized to hold back srb bacteria and let smaller particle pass . the filter water may be recycled to the filter by pump 310 ( conduit 322 ). the filtrate passes to tank 306 where it may be directed as needed through conduit 320 . the illustration in fig2 shows the water source in vessel 308 . the water source may be any suitable source that contains target bacteria . in one embodiment the source will be the “ produced ” water from oil or gas wells . in general , “ produced ” water will contain salts ( e . g . nacl ) and the problematic target bacteria will be halophilic . thus , source bacteria that cannot survive or thrive in salt water will not be a problem in the well or reservoir . it will be desirable to isolate target halophilic bacterial from the well bore and formation . such bacteria can also be cultured as described above by using a brine culture solution . fig3 illustrates yet another more detailed three stage embodiment of the process of the invention applied to filamentous bacteria — it is equally applicable to other kinds of bacteria such as srb . the first section of the embodiment comprises of an intake filter ( 352 ) of ⅛ ″ mesh , a 1 - 2 ″ trash pump , a sonicator ( 351 ) of “ cleaning ” vs . “ cell disruption ” frequency , a coarse filter ( 352 ), followed by series of tangential , or cross flow filters to provide size separated streams . referring to fig3 phage and bacteria are pumped from a source container , 350 , through an ultrasound flow disrupturer ( sonicator ) ( 351 , into the first stage filter 361 ( stage 1 ) to tank 365 . return lines serve to further concentrate the size samples . flow passes through the initial conical particulate filter of 150 micron mesh size ( course filter ) so that flow containing particles of less than 150 micron will enter a 20 micron filter ( stage 1 ). outflow from the stage filters will be contained in tanks 365 , 366 or 367 as shown . the permeate will contain particles smaller than 20 microns . the stream will contain the particle size fraction 150 - 20 micron . in one embodiment , this size fraction will correspond to target bait filamentous bacteria . the 20 - 0 . 2 micron size will contain the bulk of the remaining bacterial species present in the intake fluid . in another embodiment this size fraction may contain target bacteria , or may be a waste stream . the retentate stream can be routed back for multiple passes . the permeate stream of particles smaller than 0 . 2 micron ( from stage 2 filter , 361 ) will pass through a 100 kilodarcy ( kd ) cross flow filter ( stage 3 , 363 ). the permeate will comprise of near sterilized fluid , the retentate will comprise of viral particles , including the required virulent phage and is passed to storage 368 . the near sterilized filtered fluid the “ liquor ” will constitute an ideal growth media . the appropriate size fraction corresponding to the desired bait bacteria , combined with the viral fraction in the “ liquor ” all at the most appropriate relative percentages will constitute the feed stream for a proliferator as in fig1 . in another embodiment the invention comprises the concentrator / proliferator , described above , with a real time analyzer / controller . the operation of the concentrator / proliferator with means for real time phage counting and control is illustrated in fig4 . vessel 101 ( fig4 ) is a bacteriophage concentrator / proliferator . water containing target bacteria is pumped from source 200 or 205 by pump 210 into vessel 101 through control valve 132 where it is mixed with bacteriophage virulent for the target bacteria , shown as being pumped with pump 110 through control valve 134 . initially the concentrator / proliferator will be fed with bacteriophage that has been separately generated — vessel 104 — and passed to the concentrator / proliferator through control valve 134 . once the concentrator / proliferator is functioning the bacteriophage phage is supplied by recycle of outgoing stream of phage concentrate through control valve 131 and phage from vessel 104 can be stopped . unit 400 in fig4 represents a real time analyzer / controller capable of determining both phage type and count and with control means ( such as a specially programmed computer connected to control means ) that is connected to control valves , such as 131 132 , 133 and 134 . the analytical means of unit 400 is fed sample streams ( or spot samples ) as illustrated by dotted lines 401 and 402 . the analyzer will determine the type and / or count of bacteria and of bacteriophage and pass the results to the control means of unit 400 . the control means is programmed to adjust the flow through control valves 131 , 132 , 133 and 134 to achieve predetermined ratios and concentrations in the flow streams . real time measurement makes it possible to adjust the flow rates of source water and bacteriophage solution as conditions change . for example if the outflow stream is too low in phage concentration , additional bacteria may be provided to increase the replicated phage thus increasing the concentration . real time measurement is also useful in determining when sufficient bacteriophage has been added to the source water to effect adequate destruction of target bacteria . the analyzer means may also be configured to allow read - out of concentration of bacteria and bacteriophage in the sample streams . the control means of unit 400 and of this invention , can easily be designed by those skilled in the art and is commercially available for purchase . the real - time analytical means for bacteria and / or bacteriophage is not so readily available at this time . wet chemical analytical means are available but take considerable time and , while useful , will not be ideal . for example , test kits are readily available to measure srb bacteria count such as sani - check srb test system ; a kit that contains tubes of culture media specifically formulated to promote the growth of anaerobic sulfate reducing bacteria and available from biosan laboratories , inc ., 1950 tobsal court , warren , mich . 48091 - 1351 . analysis of bacteria count , but not phage count , can be made by serial dilution to achieve a sufficient diluted concentration that the bacteria count can be determined with an adequate microscope . single particle mass spectrometry is the only current technology that can enumerate bacteria in real - time . single particle mass spectrometry ( spams ) was on outgrowth of an analyzer developed ( bioaerosol mass spectrometer — bams ) for military and civilian biodefense applications and was , in fact , first fielded in response to the u . s . postal service anthrax attacks of late 2001 . the spams technology is described in wo 2010 / 068366 published jun . 17 , 2010 , the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference . spams remains the only real - time technique that can detect , identify and quantify bacteria in real - time and has the added advantage of requiring no reagents and little or no sample preparation , consuming only electricity and sampling particles directly from the air . the spams operating principles are conceptually very simple . particles , whether biological or not , are suspended in a carrier gas if they are not in such a gas already . the spams system is maintained at vacuum and particles are driven in by product pressure . the particles are focused aerodynamically into a beam which is collimated by skimmers that separate the different stages of successively higher vacuum . the particles arrive at a tracking stage as a coherent beam of particles flying through high vacuum towards the center of the source region of a dual - polarity time - of - flight mass spectrometer . the particles are tracked by continuous wave laser ( s ) where their position and velocity are determined . this information is used to predict their precise time of arrival at the center of the source region and the velocity is used to determine their size . upon their arrival at the source of the mass spectrometers , each particle is individually desorbed and ionized by a pulsed laser and the positive and negative ions are detected by their respective mass spectrometer . the mass spectra are analyzed in real - time by a two stage pattern recognition algorithm and the particles are identified accordingly . in this manner , biological organisms are identified to at least the genus and often the species level . furthermore , because this process can be repeated at up to one kilohertz , the organisms can be detected and quantified even in a background of particles of thousands of times their own concentration . spams returns a fairly precise determination of the biological organisms being observed ( genus to species level ) at the low incremental cost of adding data to a digital library . the training process is highly automated as well , allowing non - pathogenic agents to be grown , analyzed and added to the library in hours or days . there is no other technology presently available that can detect biological organisms in real - time , identify them to the genus level , and return an answer in real - time . the analysis of spams data is a fairly important aspect of the system . because spams is a laser desorption / ionization technique , it tends to fragment the microorganisms into their small molecules with major metabolites being present at greater intensity than minor metabolites . the first stage of the analysis is the simple pattern recognition of the array of metabolites from the test mass spectra versus a library of previously collected mass spectra . any mass spectra that are sufficiently similar are subjected to a rules tree where the presence and absence of different metabolites are used to confirm the identity of the microorganism . in this manner , spams can discern , for example , b . atrophaeus spores from b . thuringiensis spores and can discern any form of bacillus spore from any vegetative bacterial cell . testing performed by independent referees for the defense advanced research projects agency ( darpa ) demonstrated the ability of spams to discern one species of bacillus spore from two others and one species of erwinia vegetative cell from three others . spams systems are also extremely field rugged as has been proven generation after generation . the original bams 1 . 0 systems were deployed to the top of mt . wilson , to the kashidoo climactic observatory and aboard the noaa ship ronald h . brown . the bams 1 . 5 system was operated during military training exercises at the national training center at ft . irwin for weeks in close proximity to military vehicles and ordinance . the bams 2 . 0 was operated successfully within 30 meters of a 10 , 000 lb . spartan stage i rocket motor “ crack and burn ” operation where the rocket motor was accidentally detonated when it was supposed to be deflagrated . not only did the instrument survive but it continued to operate , confirming the absence of ammonium perchlorate in the plume for the army . thus , in some embodiments of the invention is a phage production injection process as illustrated in fig4 that utilizes a spams derived analytical system and control to adjust the conditions and results of the process . all vessels such as 101 , 102 , 103 , and 104 are constructed of simple materials . they only need to be sufficiently strong to hold the solutions . corrosion is not a particular problem although they should be able to contain “ flowback ” water which will have salt and chemical additives . it is desirable that they be able to be sterilized with bleach solution . generally most plastic material used for tanks and vessels are suitable , including fiberglass , polypropylene , polyvinyl chloride and polyurethane . stainless steel will also be suitable . other commercially materials will be obvious to those skilled in the art . since bacteria growth , and to some extent phage proliferation , is temperature sensitive there is provided in one embodiment means for heating either the inlet streams to the vessels or heating the contents of the vessels . the streams may be heated by heat exchange , electrical heaters or any other suitable means known in the art . the contents of the vessels may be heated with electrical or steam heaters or other suitable heating means . these vessels are not especially heavy and the equipment is not extensive , therefore in one embodiment the proliferation / concentrator equipment — vessels 101 , 102 , 103 , 104 and associated pumps , valves and piping — are mounted on a movable platform so that they can easily be transported from well site to well site . these can be mounted on skids ( that can be lifted onto a truck bed ), or on a trailer or truck bed . location of and commercial production of commercial scale phage virulent srb as well as other phages can be accomplished by means described in prior art references such as published applications us 2009 / 0180992 , published jul . 16 , 2009 , us 2010 / 9243563 published sep . 30 , 2010 , wo / 2009 / 076642 and k . kamimura and m . araki : isolation and characterization of a bacteriophage lytic for desulfovrio salexigens , a salt - requiring . sulfate - reducing bacterium , applied and environmental microbiology , march 1989 , p . 645 - 648 , vol . 55 , no . 3 , the relevant disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference . other bacteria , including archaea may be similarly located , isolated and produced . in this specification , the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments . it will , however , be evident that various modifications and changes can be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims . the specification is , accordingly , to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense . therefore , the scope of the invention should be limited only by the appended claims .
| 2 |
the present invention teaches a variety of timing generation and recovery schemes for providing high precision clock synchronization in cascaded communications systems where each point of communication has a unique clock . to accomplish the high precision , one embodiment of the present invention teaches quantizing information related to phase relation between a master clock at the transmitter and a network link clock . this quantized phase information can be transmitted with very little bandwidth , recovered at the receiver and used to recover the timing information with high precision . a first embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to fig3 and fig4 . fig3 is a flow chart of a timing generation and recovery method 80 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . fig4 illustrates a block diagram of a communications system 100 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention . the communications system 100 includes a network link clock 102 generating a network link clock signal rn , a transmitter 104 , a receiver 106 , a network 108 coupling the transmitter 104 and the receiver 106 , and a master clock 110 generating a master clock signal rt . the network 108 may be a cable system , or any other suitable network . in fig3 , the method 80 begins at a master modem such as that present at a central office ( co ) etc . where data , a master clock signal rt and a network link clock signal rn are provided to a transmitter . in a step 82 , the transmitter 104 calculates a phase relation as a function f ( rt , rn ) between the master clock signal rt and the network link clock signal rn . the phase relation provides condensed information regarding the phase error between the two clock signals rt and rn . in preferred embodiments the function f ( rt , rn ) quantizes the phase information . in a step 84 , the transmitter 104 sends downstream data at a rate specified by the master clock signal rt , as well as transmitting the quantized phase signal . in certain embodiments , the quantized phase signal is transmitted via an overhead channel and takes minimal bandwidth relative to the data . in a step 86 , a receiver 106 receives the downstream data together with the phase signal , as well as the network link clock signal rn . in a step 88 , the receiver 106 recovers an estimate rt ′ of the master clock signal rt from the network link clock signal rn and the received phase signal . as will be appreciated , the embodiment described above with reference to fig3 and 4 presents a scheme at a relatively high level of abstraction . to further explain the present invention , the next several figs . provide some specific examples that are well suited for use in a wireline or wireless modem system . fig5 illustrates a block diagram of one suitable circuit for implementing a timing generation circuit 140 suitable within the transceiver 104 described above with reference to fig3 - 4 . as will be appreciated , the timing generation circuit 140 can be useful in a variety of applications . in communication system of fig5 , the network link clock signal rn and the master clock signal rt are well defined with respect to each other . the transmitter 104 includes a variable divider circuit 150 , a variable divider circuit 152 , a detector circuit 154 , a quantizer circuit 156 , and a modulus control circuit 158 . the variable divider 150 and the variable divider 152 are each controllable to divide the frequency of their input signal by an integer adjustable by arbitrary integer offsets +/− n and +/− m , respectively . this division process enables each divider to generate a reference signal with a common nominal rate . those dividers are necessary whenever the two clock frequencies rn and rt are not equal but are rationally related . additionally , the phase difference between the two signals controls the frequency dividers 150 and 152 via the modulus control block 158 . the detector 154 receives and measures a phase relation between the two reference signals rn and rt . the measured phase relation is fed into the quantizer circuit 156 that in turn generates the output signal f ( rt , rn ). the quantizer circuit 156 also provides an output signal for driving the modulus control circuit 158 . the modulus control circuit 158 provides output signals controlling the quantities +/− n , +/− m variation for the divider circuits 150 , 152 , respectively . fig6 shows a specific embodiment of a timing generation circuit 190 . the timing generation circuit 190 is for a communications system using a master clock signal rt having a frequency rate of 44 . 736 mhz and a network link clock signal rn having a frequency rate of 35 . 328 mhz . as will be appreciated , these are arbitrary but familiar and common frequencies for circuitry . for example , 44 . 736 mhz is the transmission rate of ds3 systems used in telephony as part of the synchronous digital hierarchy ( sdh ) system . the timing generation circuit 190 includes two variable modulus counters 200 and 202 used as variable dividers , two divider circuits 204 and 206 , two d - flip - flops 208 and 210 operating as the detector , a register 212 , and a divider circuit 214 . in this specific embodiment , the variable divider offsets +/− m and +/− n are both equal to +/− 1 . operation of the timing generation circuit 190 is as follows . the master clock signal rt is divided by the nominal value 233 at the variable modulus counter 200 to generate a 192 khz reference . similarly , the network link clock signal rn is divided by the nominal value 184 at the variable modulus counter 202 to generate a 192 khz reference . both reference signals are further divided by 24 to a nominal rate of 8 khz . both dividers are able to change their nominal dividing value by +/− 1 . the d - flip - flops are used to measure the phase relationship between the master clock signal rt and the network link clock signal , brought down to a nominal rate of 8 khz . if the d - flip - flop output is a “ 1 ” then “ phase ” is deleted by varying the modulus of the counter 202 to 183 and the modulus of the counter 200 to 232 simultaneously for one detector reference clock at 8 khz . changing the phase simultaneously results in a phase change relative to the master clock rt of : unit intervals ( ui ) of the rt clock . this phase change of approximately 0 . 25 ui is four times better than if one simply changed only the master clock signal rt modulus . by performing this phase adjustment every 8 khz , the maximum parts per million ( ppm ) that can be tracked is : the phase comparisons are made every 8 khz . the quantized phase relation is transmitted through an overhead channel every 4 khz ( once per frame ) and requires a minimum of 2 - bits per frame with no redundancy . having explained the operation of the transmitter according to the teachings of the invention , we now proceed to explain the operation of the receiver . fig7 illustrates a block diagram of one specific embodiment of a phase locked looped timing recovery circuit 240 . the timing recovery circuit is well suited for use in a communications system using a master clock signal rt having a frequency rate of 44 . 736 mhz and a network link clock signal rn having a frequency rate of 35 . 328 mhz . as will be appreciated , both the timing generation circuit 190 and the timing recovery circuit 240 are required in the present invention . the timing recovery circuit 240 includes a variable modulus counter 250 , a detector circuit 252 , a digital loop filter 254 , a digital - to - analog converter ( dac ) 256 , a voltage controlled oscillator 258 , a variable modulus counter 260 , and a modulus control circuit 262 . the network link clock signal rn is divided by 184 +/− 1 at the counter 250 to generate a 192 khz reference . the estimate of rt , rr , is divided by 233 +/− 1 at the counter 260 , to generate a 192 khz reference . the phase relation is recovered by the receiver modem using the overhead channel information via circuitry not illustrated and provided to the modulus control circuit 262 . the modulus control circuit 262 controls both variable modulus counters 250 and 262 according to the phase difference provided via the overhead channel . the detector 252 measures the phase relationship between rr and rn . the digital loop filter 254 is a lowpass filter , and the oscillator 258 generates rr according to a voltage provided by the dac 256 . the circuit of fig7 recovers the network link clock rn through the following process : after an initial acquisition period , the timing loop will reach a steady state where the output clock frequency rr matches the transmitter frequency rt . then the modulus circuitry comprising of 250 , 252 , 260 and 262 will re - create the phase variations of rn around the reconstructed clock rt by way of repeating the process followed at the transmitter ( fig5 ). next we present a further enhancement of the current invention that allows even finer phase granularity in the clock tracking system . fig8 illustrates a block diagram of a timing generation circuit 300 capable of providing finer precision than the timing generation circuit 190 of fig6 . the timing generation circuit 300 includes a variable modulus counter 302 , a detector 304 ( a d - flip - flop ), a phase accumulator circuit 306 , a fifo 308 , a delta - sigma modulator circuit 310 , a variable modulus counter 312 , a divider circuit 314 , a gate 316 , and a modulus control circuit 318 . the variable modulus counter 302 and the variable modulus counter 312 are each operable to vary by +/− n and +/− m from their nominal divide value respectively for each reference period . by properly selecting the integers m and n , the phase relationship between the references can be adjusted with fine precision . a d - flip - flop acting as the detector 304 continually measures the phase between the master clock and the network link clock references . any positive phase output , i . e . logic “ 1 ” from the detector 304 , results in “ phase ” being deleted for the next reference period by changing the network link clock modulus by − m and the master clock modulus by − n . any negative phase output , i . e . logic “ 0 ” from the detector 304 , results in “ phase ” being added to the next reference period by changing the network link clock modulus by + m and the master clock modulus by + n . each time a phase adjustment is made the amount of phase that is added or deleted relative to the network link clock can be calculated as phase adjustment =( 233 * m − 184 * n )/ 233 = phase resolution / 233 . thus when the sum of the phase accumulator 306 register 320 reaches a count of +/− 233 , then a single network link clock is added or deleted . the inverted output of the detector 304 is used to multiply the phase resolution value since for positive detector outputs phase is deleted . the logic “ 0 ” output is arithmetically interpreted as − 1 . the output of the phase accumulator 306 is examined at the frame rate 4 khz or once per frame . prior to transmission , the phase accumulator 306 is processed by the first order delta - sigma modulator 310 . it will be appreciated that higher order modulator schemes may be used . the modulator 310 helps reduce low frequency wander by pushing the low frequency wander components into the higher frequency bands , which could then be filtered by the receiving clock tracking circuitry . the modulator 310 operates at the frame rate 4 khz . when the 1 - bit output is high , a value 233 is added to the phase accumulator register 320 for a single reference period . this occurs since the logic ‘ 1 ’ output indicates that a single network link clock has been deleted . the average value of the 1 bit modulator 310 output represents the amount of phase added or deleted over a 4 khz frame . the block diagram of fig8 explains the required operations on the transmitter side in this enhanced embodiment of the invention . the operations on the receiver side are similar to the ones explained before based on the block diagram of fig7 . the difference in this embodiment is that the rn divider 260 is fixed to its nominal value 184 , while only the divider 260 is allowed to vary around its nominal value of 233 by +/− 1 . allowing for the addition / deletion of a single network link clock every 4 khz results in the ability of handling phase precision of +/− 80 ppm . recommended values are m = 4 , n = 5 , and phase resolution = 12 . in addition to the above mentioned examples , various other modifications and alterations of the invention may be made without departing from the invention . accordingly , the above disclosure is not to be considered as limiting and the appended claims are to be interpreted as encompassing the true spirit and the entire scope of the invention .
| 7 |
this invention relates to providing an alternating controlled square wave from a power source to a load . fig1 illustrates a coriolis flowmeter having a drive circuit that incorporates circuitry that operates in accordance with the present invention . coriolis flowmeter 100 includes a flowmeter assembly 110 and meter electronics 150 . meter electronics 150 are connected to a meter assembly 110 via leads 120 to provide for example , but not limited to , density , mass - flow - rate , volume - flow - rate , and totalized mass - flow rate information over a path 175 . a coriolis flowmeter structure is described although it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention could be practiced in conjunction with any apparatus having loads requiring currents of alternating voltage . a coriolis flowmeter structure is described although it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention could be practiced in conjunction with any apparatus having a vibrating conduit to measure properties of material flowing through the conduit . a second example of such an apparatus is a vibrating tube densitometer which does not have the additional measurement capability provided by a coriolis mass flowmeters . meter assembly 110 includes a pair of flanges 101 and 101 ′, manifold 102 and conduits 103 a and 103 b . driver 104 , pick - off sensors 105 and 105 ′, and temperature sensor 107 are connected to conduits 103 a and 103 b . brace bars 105 and 105 ′ serve to define the axis w and w ′ about which each conduit oscillates . when coriolis flowmeter 100 is inserted into a pipeline system ( not shown ) which carries the process material that is being measured , material enters flowmeter assembly 110 through flange 101 , passes through manifold 102 where the material is directed to enter conduits 103 a and 103 b . the material then flows through conduits 103 a and 103 b and back into manifold 102 from where it exits meter assembly 110 through flange 101 ′. conduits 103 a and 103 b are selected and appropriately mounted to the manifold 102 so as to have substantially the same mass distribution , moments of inertia and elastic modules about bending axes w — w and w ′— w ′, respectively . the conduits 103 a - 103 b extend outwardly from the manifold in an essentially parallel fashion . conduits 103 a - 103 b are driven by driver 104 in opposite directions about their respective bending axes w and w ′ and at what is termed the first out of phase bending mode of the flowmeter . driver 104 may comprise any one of many well known arrangements , such as a magnet mounted to conduit 103 a and an opposing coil mounted to conduit 103 b and through which an alternating current is passed for vibrating both conduits . a suitable drive signal is applied by meter electronics 150 to driver 104 via path 112 . pick - off sensors 105 and 105 ′ are affixed to at least one of conduits 103 a and 103 b on opposing ends of the conduit to measure oscillation of the conduits . as the conduit 103 a - 103 b vibrates , pick - off sensors 105 - 105 ′ generate a first pick - off signal and a second pick - off signal . the first and second pick - off signals are applied to paths 111 and 111 ′. the driver velocity signal is applied to path 112 . temperature sensor 107 is affixed to at least one conduit 103 a and / or 103 b . temperature sensor 107 measures the temperature of the conduit in order to modify equations for the temperature of the system . path 111 ″ carries temperature signals from temperature sensor 107 to meter electronics 150 . meter electronics 150 receives the first and second pick - off signals appearing on paths 111 and 111 ′, respectively . meter electronics 150 processes the first and second velocity signals to compute the mass flow rate , the density , or other property of the material passing through flowmeter assembly 10 . this computed information is applied by meter electronics 150 over path 175 to a utilization means ( not shown ). it is known to those skilled in the art that coriolis flowmeter 100 is quite similar in structure to a vibrating tube densitometer . vibrating tube densitometers also utilize a vibrating tube through which fluid flows or , in the case of a sample - type densitometer , within which fluid is held . vibrating tube densitometers also employ a drive system for exciting the conduit to vibrate . vibrating tube densitometers typically utilize only a single feedback signal since a density measurement requires only the measurement of frequency and a phase measurement is not necessary . the descriptions of the present invention herein apply equally to vibrating tube densitometers . in coriolis flowmeter 100 , the meter electronics 150 are physically divided into 2 components a host system 170 and a signal conditioner 160 . in conventional meter electronics , these components are housed in one unit . signal conditioner 160 includes drive circuitry 163 and pick - off conditioning circuitry 161 . one skilled in the art will recognize that in actuality drive circuitry 163 and pick - off conditioning circuitry 161 may be separate analog circuits or may be separate functions provided by a digital signal processor or other digital components . drive circuitry 163 generates a drive signal and applies an alternating drive current to driver 104 via path 112 of path 120 . the circuitry of the present invention may be included in drive circuitry 163 to provide an alternating current to driver 104 . in actuality , path 112 is a first and a second lead . drive circuitry 163 is communicatively connected to pick - off signal conditioning circuitry 161 via path 162 . path 162 allows drive circuitry to monitor the incoming pick - off signals to adjust the drive signal . power to operate drive circuitry 163 and pick - off signal conditioning circuitry 161 is supplied from host system 170 via a first wire 173 and a second wire 174 . first wire 173 and second wire 174 may be a part of a conventional 2 - wire , 4 - wire cable , or a portion of a multi - pair cable . pick - off signal conditioning circuitry 161 receives input signals from first pick - off 105 , second pick - off 105 ′, and temperature sensor 107 via paths 111 , 111 ′ and 111 ″. pick - off circuitry 161 determines the frequency of the pick - off signals and may also determine properties of a material flowing through conduits 103 a - 103 b . after the frequency of the input signals from pick - off sensors 105 - 105 ′ and properties of the material are determined , parameter signals carrying this information are generated and transmitted to a secondary processing unit 171 in host system 170 via path 176 . in a preferred embodiment , path 176 includes 2 leads . however , one skilled in the art will recognize that path 176 may be carried over first wire 173 and second wire 174 or over any other number of wires . host system 170 includes a power supply 172 and processing system 171 . power supply 172 receives electricity from a source and converts the received electricity to the proper power needed by the system . processing system 171 receives the parameter signals from pick - off signal conditioning circuitry 161 and then may perform processes needed to provide properties of the material flowing through conduits 103 a - 103 b needed by a user . such properties may include but are not limited to density , mass flow rate , and volumetric flow rate . fig2 illustrates a prior implementation of drive circuitry 163 including a prior art system for applying an alternating current to a load which is driver 104 . a sinusoidal signal is received by multiplier 204 from sensors 105 - 105 ′ ( fig1 ) via path 162 . the multiplier adjusts the drive amplitude . the adjusted signal from multiplier 204 is applied to amplifier 201 . amplifier 201 boosts the sinusoidal signal to a proper level to cause driver 104 ( fig1 ) to oscillate . a supply voltage is applied to amplifier 201 from current limiter 202 or 203 . current limiters 202 and 203 assure against excessively low impedance in a load such as driver 104 ( fig1 ). the polarity of the applied voltage is periodically reversed with respect to ground which is connected to driver 104 . the reversal of polarity allows driver 104 ( fig1 ) to impart energy to flow tubes 103 a and 103 b during both halves of each cycle of oscillation . the reversal of voltage polarity requires to separate supply rails vcc and vee . supply rails vcc and vee have opposite voltage polarities . the use of separate supply rails vcc and vee increase complexity of the circuit and increases power consumption . power consumption is increased because simple amplifiers 201 typically used in drive circuit 162 drive an out close but not equal to a supply rail . this requires additional voltage overhead to provide a certain voltage to driver 104 ( fig1 ). a second problem is that output voltage of drive circuit 162 is controlled . however , the conversion of electrical energy to kinetic energy in driver 104 is dependent upon current according to faraday &# 39 ; s law . even though applied voltage results in applied current , the relation between force applied and voltage applied is indirect and is dependent upon other factors . for example , the inductance of the coil and motion of conduits 103 a and 103 b effect the applied force applied . therefore , it is desirable to control current rather than voltage . another problem with drive circuit 163 shown in fig2 is the ability to maximize power delivered to driver 104 while constrained by intrinsic safety standards . intrinsic safety standards are set by various regulating agencies to assure that a spark or heat from a circuit does not ignite volatile material in an environment . intrinsic safety standards place limits on the maximum instantaneous voltage and current that may be delivered to a load such as driver 104 ( fig1 ). however , the force applied to conduits 103 a and 103 b is dependent upon the average value of current applied . thus , maximum efficiency is achieved by minimizing the difference between average current levels and a peak current level . since driver 104 ( fig1 ) utilizes sinusoidal current and the electro - mechanicai force generated is also a sinusoidal . the product of sinusoidal current and the electro - mechanical force generated is also a sinusoidal and is the useful power of the system . since a square current multiplied by a sinusoidal voltage produces more average power than the product of two sinusoids , a square wave current will allow lower peak values of current for the same average power . fig3 illustrates a drive circuit 163 that provides a constant square wave alternating current using a single power supply . in drive circuit 163 there is a single current source 333 . the polarity of voltage applied to a load , such as driver 104 ( fig1 ), is determined by two sets of switches in h - bridge circuit 350 . when a first set of switches including switch 301 and 302 are closed current flows in a first direction to driver 104 ( fig1 ). when the first set of switches is open and a second set of switches switch 303 and 304 , is closed , voltage is applied to driver 104 in a second opposite direction . when switches 301 and 302 are closed and switches 303 and 304 are open , current flows through driver 104 in the following manner . supply rail vcc applies current over path 314 to closed switch 301 and open switch 303 . current flows through switch 301 to path 315 and to driver 104 via path 315 . current then is flows to the driver and returns via path 316 . the current flows through closed switch 302 and over path 317 to current source 333 . current source 333 is connected to ground . when switches 303 and 304 are closed and switches 302 and 301 are open , current flows to driver 104 in the following manner . supply rail vcc applies current over path 314 to switch 303 . current flows through switch 303 and is applied via path 316 to driver 104 . current returns via path 315 and flows through closed switch 304 to path 317 . this is a direction that is opposite of the path provided by switches 301 and 302 . control circuitry 320 opens and closes switches 301 - 304 to change the polarity of voltage applied to driver 104 . a feedback signal is received by control circuitry 320 via path 162 . from the feedback signal , the control circuitry changes the direction of flow . in a preferred embodiment , control circuitry 320 includes a zero comparator . zero comparator includes a delay 321 and an invertor 322 that receive signals and alternately apply opposite signals to switches 301 - 304 to open and close the switches . delay 321 applies signals to switches 301 and 302 via paths 312 and 313 . invertor 322 applies signals to switches 303 and 304 via paths 310 and 311 . switches 301 - 304 are set for a constant impedance since changing the impedance of switches dynamically is difficult . amplitude is controlled in well known and conventional manners in current source 333 which receives an amplitude signal from path 163 via path 331 . this works because h - bridge 350 is essentially part of the load connected to the current source . since switches 301 - 304 are either completely opened or completely closed , the output appears as a square waveform . the above is a description of a preferred of circuitry for supplying a controlled square wave to a load . it is expected that those skilled in the art can and will design alternative circuits that infringe this invention as set forth in the claims below literally or through the doctrine of equivalents .
| 7 |
the following description of the presently contemplated best mode of practicing the invention is not to be taken in a limiting sense , but is made merely for the purpose of describing the general principles of the invention . the scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the claims . referring to fig1 shown is a perspective view of a cooling system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . shown is the cooling system 10 , three exhaust blowers 12 , a corrugated deflector 14 , nine fans 16 , a chassis 18 , a bottom 20 of the chassis 18 , and a backplane 22 . not shown are electronic components on electronic boards 24 the cooling system 10 is designed to cool . the nine fans 16 are coupled to the bottom 20 of the chassis 18 and are mounted vertically inside the chassis 18 . the corrugated deflector 14 is also coupled to the bottom 20 of the chassis 18 . a front edge of the corrugated deflector 14 is also coupled to a front edge of the chassis 18 at the bottom 20 of the chassis 18 . the corrugated deflector 14 curves from the bottom 20 of the chassis 18 upward toward the backplane 22 and a back edge of the corrugated deflector 14 is coupled to the backplane 22 . the backplane 22 is also coupled to the chassis 18 about midway through the depth of the chassis . above the backplane 22 and coupled to the chassis 18 are the three exhaust blowers 12 . a front edge of the corrugated deflector 14 is flat , i . e ., it is not corrugated , while a rear edge of the corrugated deflector 14 is corrugated . portions of the corrugated deflector 14 between the front edge and the rear edge transition from flat to corrugated . the corrugated deflector 14 also curves up from the bottom 20 of the chassis 18 , such that the front edge is substantially at the bottom 20 of the chassis 18 , while the rear edge is at a height approximately equal to top edges of the nine fans 16 . under normal operation , the nine fans 16 draw air from outside the chassis 18 into the chassis 18 and direct airflow at the corrugated deflector 14 . the corrugated deflector 14 , herein also the deflector 14 , causes lateral , i . e ., sideways , turbulence in the air such that the air mixes and flows in many directions . the curvature of the deflector 14 also causes the air to move in an upward direction toward the exhaust blowers 12 . in normal operation , this would cause air to flow over electronic boards 24 that extend from the backplane 22 and contain electronic components such as , for example , a hard drive . the electronic boards 24 are shown in fig4 . the air then flows out of the chassis 18 through the exhaust blowers 12 . the exhaust blowers 12 also act to cause air to be drawn out of the chassis 18 . in an alternative embodiment the number of fans 16 and the number of exhaust blowers 12 could be more or less than nine and three , respectively , and the mechanical relationship between the corrugated deflector 14 , the backplane 22 , and the chassis 18 may differ . the deflector 14 , in one embodiment is a molded piece of sheet metal . the deflector 14 is corrugated such that it causes lateral turbulence in the air flow , causing the air to move laterally ( sideways ) relative to the direction in which the air is blown by the nine fans 16 , and otherwise directed by the corrugated deflector 14 . the upward curvature of the corrugated deflector 14 causes the air to be deflected in an upward direction over the electronic boards 24 . referring to fig2 shown is side - view of the cooling system 10 of fig1 . shown is the cooling system 10 , one of the exhaust blowers 12 , one of the fans 16 , the corrugated deflector 14 , the backplane 22 , and the chassis 18 . the corrugated deflector 14 is shown coupled to the backplane 22 and to the bottom 20 of the chassis 18 . the curvature of the corrugated deflector 14 along with the uneven surface of the corrugated deflector 14 cause turbulence in the air that will flow over the electronic components . while the corrugated deflector 14 is shown coupled to the backplane 22 , the corrugated deflector 14 could also be coupled to the chassis 18 or to an electronic board 24 . the corrugated deflector 14 shown has parallel rounded grooves . this causes turbulence in the air flowing through the chassis 18 . the corrugated deflector 14 could also be shaped , for example , with ridged , pointed , or squared grooves . additionally the grooves do not need to be perfectly parallel to cause turbulence in the air . referring to fig3 shown is a front - view of the cooling system 10 of fig1 . shown is the cooling system 10 , the seven fans 16 , the backplane 22 , the chassis 18 , and three exhaust blowers 12 . this embodiment of the present invention shows seven fans 16 instead of nine fans 16 . as stated earlier , the present invention can have a variable number of fans 16 . in the present embodiment there are a large number of smaller fans 16 drawing air into the chassis 18 from the ambient instead of a small number of larger fans 16 . having a large number of smaller fans 16 prevents having a large change in the volume of air that is flowing through the chassis 18 in the event one of the fans 16 fails . for example , if two large fans 16 are used and one fails , a fifty percent reduction in the amount of air flow may result . whereas , if ten fans 16 are employed and one fails , only a ten percent reduction in the amount of air flow results . this assumes the speed of the fans 16 is not increased when a failure is detected . the present invention also advantageously includes circuitry that senses fan failure and adjusts the speed of remaining fans 16 if a failure is detected in one or more fans 16 . for example , if there are ten fans 16 and a failure is detected for one of the fans 16 , the remaining nine fans 16 will have their speed increased by ten percent to keep the total amount of air flowing through the chassis 18 almost constant . such circuitry is well known , e . g ., see u . s . pat . no . 6 , 000 , 623 and u . s . pat . no . 5 , 751 , 549 . one problem with prior art cooling systems is when a fan fails the electronics that such fan was cooling no longer have air flowing over them . advantageously , the present invention provides a system for cooling all the electronics within a chassis 18 even upon a fan failure . the corrugated deflector 14 insures air will continue to flow over all the electronic components even upon a fan failure . the turbulence caused by the corrugated deflector 14 causes air to flow over all the electronics even in the event one or multiple fans 16 fail . this is further shown in fig7 . referring to fig4 shown is a front - view of the cooling system 10 of fig1 with electronic boards coupled to the chassis 18 . shown is the cooling system 10 , the fans 16 , the exhaust blowers 12 , and three electronic boards 24 . the three electronic boards 24 are coupled to the chassis 18 and aligned perpendicular to the backplane 22 and parallel to the deflected turbulent air . the electronic boards 24 are above the corrugated deflector 14 such that the deflected turbulent air flows up through spaces between the three electronic boards 24 . although the three electronic boards 24 are shown aligned perpendicular to the backplane 22 they could be aligned in any direction without departing from the present invention . there could also be any number of electronic boards 24 within the chassis 18 . the size of the chassis 18 , also is independent of the invention , and could be very small or very large . referring to fig5 shown is a front - view of the cooling system 10 of fig1 showing the air flow through the chassis 18 . shown is the cooling system 10 , the fans 16 , the exhaust blowers 12 , three electronic boards 24 , and the air flow represented by arrows . the air is drawn into the chassis 18 by the fans 16 from the ambient . the air hits the corrugated deflector 14 which causes turbulence in the air . the air is also deflected in an upward direction by the curvature of the corrugated deflector 14 . additionally , the optional exhaust blowers 12 help to cause the air to exit the chassis 18 . the corrugated deflector 14 causes the air to rise in many directions , thus causing air to flow over all of the electronic components in the chassis 18 before exiting the chassis 18 through the exhaust blowers 12 . in another embodiment of the present invention the fans 16 could be located on the top of the chassis 18 with the corrugated deflector 14 curved downward , thus causing air to flow down over the electronic components . the corrugated deflector 14 would still cause turbulence in the air allowing it to flow over all the electronic components . upward flow is consistent with convention currents created as the air si heated by components on the electronic boards 24 . only three electronic boards 24 are shown , however , any configuration housing electronic components could be utilized in the present invention . as more boards are added the corrugated deflector 14 works to direct air sideways , making sure air flows between all the electronic boards 24 , thus adequately cooling all the electronic components within the chassis 18 . as shown , the air flows from the fans 16 , over the electronic components located on the electronic boards 24 , and out the exhaust blowers 12 . even in the event a fan 16 fails , air will still flow to over all the electronic components . this is more clearly shown and described with reference to fig7 . referring to fig6 shown is a front - view of the cooling system 10 of fig1 showing the air flow through the chassis 18 . shown is the cooling system 10 , the seven fans 16 , the three exhaust blowers 12 , and the air flow represented by arrows . shown is the air flow through the chassis 18 when all of the seven fans 16 are properly functioning . as shown the air at the bottom of the chassis 18 is coming up from the corrugated deflector 14 in many directions , not only the original direction the fan 16 was blowing the air . this is caused by the turbulence in the air , caused by the corrugated deflector 14 . the air then proceeds to flow up through the chassis 18 , cooling the electronic components , and out of the chassis 18 through the exhaust blowers 12 . optionally , the air could leave the chassis 18 through holes in the top of the chassis 18 rather than through the exhaust blowers 12 . referring to fig7 shown is a front - view of the cooling system 10 of fig1 showing the air flow through the chassis 18 when one of the fans 16 has failed . shown is the cooling system 10 , six functioning fans 16 , a failed fan 26 , the three exhaust blowers 12 , and the air flow represented by arrows . shown is the air flow through the chassis 18 when only six of the fans 16 are properly functioning . the failed fan 26 is no longer drawing air into the chassis 18 . similarly to fig6 the air at the bottom of the chassis 18 is still coming up from the corrugated deflector 14 in many directions , not only the original direction the fan 16 was blowing the air . this is caused by the turbulence in the air , caused by the corrugated deflector 14 . the turbulence in the air will cause air to flow above the failed fan 26 . advantageously , this provides a system that still causes air to flow over all of the electronic components inside the chassis 18 even in the event one or multiple fans 16 fail . the air then proceeds to flow up through the chassis 18 , cooling the electronic components , and out of the chassis 18 through the exhaust blowers 12 . optionally , the air could leave the chassis 18 through holes in the top of the chassis 18 rather than through the exhaust blowers 12 . in the event one or multiple fans 16 fail , the speed of the functioning fans 16 can be increased , such that the total amount of air flowing through the chassis 18 remains relatively constant . advantageously , the present invention provides for a fail safe cooling system 10 , such that electronic components will not overheat in the event of a fan 16 failure . additionally , in one embodiment a large number of fans 16 are used to blow air into the corrugated deflector 14 , such that in the event of a failure , the amount of air flowing through a chassis 18 is only reduced by a small percentage . optionally , a smaller number of fans 16 could be used and the speed of the fans 16 increased upon the failure of one of the fans 16 , such that the amount of air flowing through the chassis 18 remains relatively constant . referring to fig8 shown is a perspective view of the corrugated deflector with a plurality of directional air deflectors attached . shown is the corrugated deflector 14 , five directional air deflectors 28 , and adjustment bolts 30 . in fig8 the corrugations in the corrugated deflector 14 are not clearly shown . the directional air deflector 28 , shown , is coupled to the corrugated air deflector 14 . the directional air deflector 28 , curves upward toward the exhaust blowers 12 , such that air will be deflected upward toward the electronic components . advantageously , the directional air deflectors 28 are made from sheet metal . optionally , the directional air deflectors 28 could be many different shapes or materials . one or more directional air deflectors 28 could be used to direct air at electronic components that need a relatively greater amount of air flow to keep them from overheating . the directional air deflectors 28 are coupled to the corrugated air deflector 14 with adjustment bolts 30 . the adjustment bolts 30 come up through the corrugated air deflector 28 and through a hole in the directional air deflectors 28 . bolts are then coupled to the adjustment bolts 30 to keep the directional air deflectors 28 in place . there are multiple adjustment bolts 30 each directional air deflector 28 can be coupled to . shown in fig8 are multiple adjustment bolts 30 that do not go through the directional air deflectors 28 . the directional air deflectors can be easily moved to these different adjustment bolts 30 to adjust the direction of the air flow and direct additional air to hot spots . thus , in the present embodiment there are more adjustment bolts 30 than directional air deflectors 28 . however , in another embodiment there could be the same number of adjustment bolts 30 as directional air deflectors 28 . the corrugated air deflector 14 optionally can have many additional adjustment bolts 30 in it , such that the directional air deflectors 28 can be adjusted to many different positions within the chassis 18 , allowing for precise controlled deflection of the air flowing through the chassis 18 . optionally , the directional air deflectors 28 could be coupled to the chassis 18 . appropriate nuts ( not shown ), such as lock nuts , wing nuts , or the like , are used to secure the direction air deflectors 28 to the bolts 30 on the corrugated air defector 14 . the directional air deflectors 28 direct air to predetermined hot spots within the chassis 18 . a hot spot is any area within the chassis where the electrical components are more susceptible to overheating , thus requiring a relatively greater amount of air to flow over them . this is an optional feature that may only need to be used when certain electronic components need more air passing over them in order for them to avoid overheating . the optional directional air deflector 28 deflects air moving horizontally from the fans and redirects it to move in an upward direction , i . e ., vertically . this will direct a greater amount of air to specific places on the electronic boards 24 , such that electronic components that are more susceptible to overheating have more air flowing over them . this prevents the electronic components from overheating . advantageously , the directional air deflectors 28 can be adjusted within the chassis 18 in order to cool different hot spots . the directional air deflectors 28 can be moved closer or farther away from the fans 16 . additionally , the directional air deflectors 28 could be adjusted rotationally to more precisely direct air at hot spots . referring to fig9 shown is a side - view of the cooling system of fig1 showing the optional directional air deflector . shown is the cooling system 10 , the exhaust blower 12 , the backplane 22 , the corrugated deflector 14 , the fan 16 , and the directional air deflector 28 . the curvature of the directional air deflector 28 deflects a portion of the air moving in a horizontal direction into a vertical direction . the optional directional air deflector 28 need only be used in systems which have predetermined hot spots , thus requiring a relatively greater amount of airflow over the hot spots to prevent the electronic components from overheating . advantageously , the directional air deflectors 28 can be adjusted to tune where the air is flowing inside the chassis 18 . the directional air deflectors 28 can be moved in any direction in order to send a relatively greater amount of air to the hot spots . the directional air deflectors 28 can be adjusted to sit closer or farther from fans 16 . additionally , rotational adjustments can be made to the directional air deflectors 28 in order to better direct air to the hot spots . advantageously , the size and shape of the directional air deflectors 28 can be changed to adjust the amount of air being deflected and the direction of deflection . the tuning of the directional air deflectors 28 can be done at any time should the configuration of the electronic components change . thus , if a new electronic board 24 is added inside the chassis 18 , the directional air deflectors 28 could be tuned to direct air at any hot spots . additionally , new directional air deflectors 28 could be added to direct air at the new electronic components . while some air is being deflected by the directional air deflectors 28 the majority of the air coming from the fans 16 passes by the directional air deflector 28 either over the top or by the side of it . the air then comes into contact with the corrugated air deflector 14 and is deflected sideways by the corrugations and horizontally by the upward curvature of the corrugated deflector 14 . the corrugations cause the air to move sideways , filling the space behind the directional air deflectors , such that air will still flow over all the electronic components . however , a relatively greater amount of air will be directed to the predetermined hot spots by the directional air deflectors 28 . the corrugated air deflector 14 causes air to move into the areas behind the directional air deflectors 28 because of the sideways turbulence in the air caused by the corrugations . thus , the combination of the corrugated air deflector 14 and the directional air deflectors 28 allow for an even cooling of a plurality of electronic components in an environment where certain electronic components need more air flow . the cooling system 10 continues to function in the event one or more fans 16 fail to operate . while the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments and applications thereof , numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention set forth in the claims .
| 7 |
ts was first reported to kill cancer cells in culture by prasad more than 20 years ago ( prasad et al ., 1982 ). subsequently , the cancer killing effect of ts was confirmed by a vast majority of laboratories and this anti - neoplastic feature has extended to include over 90 % of human cancer types as listed below : the study of cancer using classic approaches for small laboratory animals has been limited to several methods with their corresponding assumptions . these methods include the inoculation of cancer cells , cancer cell xenografts and chemically induced cancer development using known carcinogens . the efficacy of a drug is evaluated by its effectiveness in controlling or reducing cancer growth and development . using these approaches , ts has been shown by different laboratories to be an effective anti - neoplastic agent , which not only reduced tumor progression , but also prevents cancer formation induced by known carcinogens . hence , ts has the features for an effective cancer prevention drug that has high potential as a chemotherapeutic agent , with no side effects . results on the effectiveness of ts on cancer growth in animal studies reported recently are summarized in table 1 below . during the past few years , major breakthrough in ts research has clearly delineated the mechanism by which ts causes cancer cell death without affecting normal cells . when given as intact molecule , ts exerts its anti - neoplastic effect by several current hypothesis of the apoptosis pathway . these include intra - and inter - cellular signaling pathways : ( 1 ) the tgf - beta ( transformed growth factor - beta ) pathway ; ( 2 ) the g protein kinases pathways consist of c - jun n - terminal kinase ( jnk ) and mitogen - activated protein kinase ( mapk ) pathways ; and ( 3 ) the fas ( cd95 / apo - 1 ) signaling pathway ( chen and goeddel , 2002 ; waljant , 2002 ). while this specific apoptotic function of ts has been reviewed ( kline et al . 2001 ), recent discoveries offered alternate novel mechanisms by which ts kills cancer cells before the occurrence of apoptosis . for example , neuzil et al . ( 2002 ) demonstrated that ts caused major disruption of cellular lysosomal prior to the induction of apoptosis in several lines of cancer cells in culture , indicating that apoptosis is secondary to lysosomal disruption . in addition , zhang et al . ( 2002 ) first reported that in human prostate cancer cells , ts inhibits the expression of the androgen receptors by means of transcriptional and post - transcriptional modifications of the androgen receptor protein . more importantly , ts strongly suppresses the expression of psa ( prostate specific antigen ), a functional clinical detector molecule for the diagnosis of human prostate cancer . therefore , it is clear that ts is able to regulate the expression of significant cellular proteins upward or downward , causing major membrane disruption before the occurrence of apoptosis . hence ts is a multi - functional molecule involved in at least several novel mechanisms in exerting its caner killing effects . in human , oral ingestion of ts was shown to convert to tocopherol due to extreme high level of esterase in the digestive juice ( howritt et al . 1984 , chessman et al . 1995 ). therefore , in order to maintain the intactness of the ts molecule , alternate routes of administration must be developed to ensure that ts is delivered per se in vivo . the present inventors sought to identify appropriate carriers and formulation mix for ts that are safe and effective for human transdermal as well as transmucosal deliveries . according to the reference of chemistry ( the merck index ), ts is not readily soluble in vegetable oils . after many trials and errors , and with the combination of heat as a variable during processing , the present inventors found appropriate formulating ratios of ts to dimethyl sulfoxide , to almond oil , to stearyl alcohol , petroleum jelly , mineral oil and to water , that can be effective and safe to be used in humans . from these formulations , the inventors developed a serious of gel and solid with ts that can be used for transdermal and transmucosal deliveries . the skin is the largest organ in human and it forms a natural barrier between the environment and the human body . thickness of skin differs a great deal according to sites and locations . it is composed of three layers : the epidermis , the dermis and the subcutaneous fatty tissue . the epidermis ranges from 0 . 15 to 0 . 80 mm in thickness and is the outermost part , called the stratum corneum or horny layer . this layer consists of several layers of flattened dehydrated dead cells . the dermis is 3 - 5 mm thick and is consisted of non - cellular tissues ( collagen and other structural proteins ). the dermis is rich in small blood and lymphatic vessels , nerves endings , hair follicles and sebaceous and sweat glands . penetration of drugs from the outside through the layers below the skin and their entrance into blood capillaries and vessels is called percutaneous ( also known as transdermal delivery ). transdermal delivery of drugs has several significant advantages over that of oral or injection . firstly , skin drug delivery avoids gastrointestinal hydrolysis and metabolism of drugs by intestinal mucosa cells . this route also avoids first - pass drug deactivation by the liver that occurs during oral intake of drugs , and therefore , extending the intactness and activity of drug given . more importantly , it allows multiple applications with little side effects often encountered with oral and injectable forms of drug administrations . in terms of health cost , there is a significant reduction of savings from incurring cost of technicians or nurses who are required for injectable drugs , because it can be self - administrated . conversely , there are limitations by which drugs are delivered by the transdermal route . molecules such as insulin cannot be given this way due to the large molecule size . also its hydrophilic nature renders it difficult to cross the membrane barriers . the charge of the molecule is also important in transdermal delivery of drugs ; for example , a charged molecule is far more difficult getting in than a non - charged molecule by transdermal means of administrations . the smaller mw , better penetration , compounds with a molecular weight around 500 ( mw of ts is 530 ) or lower , can be delivered with zero order kinetics ( bos , 2000 ) heat : heat is known to increase skin permeability , blood vessel wall permeability , rate - limiting membrane permeability as well as drug solubility in formulation both the drug / carrier as well as skin temperature highly influence the rate and amount of drug delivered . for example , it has been reported that a 5 - degree increase in skin temperature caused a 2 to 5 fold increase in drug delivered when given at a room with temperature raised to 40 ° c ., a 3 - fold increase in dermal crossing of salicylate was found in man ( hull , 2002 ) raising the skin temperature by direct infrared heating element has been shown to cause a 2 - 3 fold increase in delivered drug ( hull , 2002 ) ts is a small lipid soluble molecule with molecular weight of 530 . it has a melting point of 72 ° c . and it stays as solid in room temperature . it is heat stable and resistant to oxidation due to the free oh group of the molecule is blocked by condensation reaction with succinic anhydride . hence , ts is not an antioxidant . the formulations of the present invention involve using heat in processing method and the appropriate range ratios of ts : dimethyl sulfoxide : almond oil : stearyl alcohol : petroleum jelly : mineral oil : distilled water ( 1 : 0 . 01 to 0 . 4 : 0 . 05 to 0 . 4 : 0 to 0 . 1 : 0 to 0 . 1 : 0 to 0 . 1 : 0 . 01 to 0 . 05 respectively ). this formulated ts mix is applied to a heated skin area of 15 × 15 cm using slow message motion until all ts preparation is used up and absorbed by skin area ( between 5 - 10 minutes of message time ). area of skin selected should be the most proximal to the tumor site and thick skin areas such as the sole , knee , palm and areas covered with hair should be avoided . examples for different formulation ratios for transdermal administration for ts are shown below ( table 2 ). the present inventors discovered that the most effective amount of ts is between the ranges of 400 to 1200 mg . evidence from cell culture and animal studies revealed that the effective concentration of ts in destroying cancer cells ranges from 25 to 50 micromolar ( zhang et al . 2002 ). assuming that the blood volume of an adult individual is 6 liters and about half of ts administered is transferred from skin microvessels to blood , the amount of ts estimated by theoretical calculation required to achieve this level is around 250 mg of ts . the ts formulation can be used at a rate of 2 - 3 times a day , with 250 mg of ts for each administration to achieve the desirable level . the thinner the skin , the better transport — use skin area that is not thick ( avoid sole , palm , knee and area with hair ); the thinnest skin is near the human private part and behind the ears an area of about 1 square foot is the upper limit for area ; use the same site for all treatments it is best to start in the morning after bath or shower warm up selected skin site with a heated beanbag or other heating device , until skin is too hot for you to stand gently rub in the ts formulation with fingers within selected skin zone and message it in with slow but forceful motions cover site with dry cloth and reapply beanbag to keep the temperature of skin site warm the mucosal are specialized epithelial cells that line up different orifice of the human body and they include oral mucosa ( buccal , sublingual and gingival mucosa ), nasal mucosa , pulmonary mucosa , rectal mucosa and vaginal mucosa . these sites are rich in small blood vessels and are known targets for drug delivery ( for reviews , see van hoogdalem 1991 , yu and chien 1997 , lee 2001 and www . nlm . nih . gov / medlineplus ). the mucosa route of drug administration provides direct entry of drug into the systemic circulation thus avoiding the hepatic first - pass metabolism and degradation by gut enzymes . it has distinct advantage for patient who cannot tolerate oral or iv delivered drugs . in this case , intact absorption of ts by these routes is possible due to lack of digestive enzymes that hydrolyzed ts when taken orally . in addition , similar to the transdermal route , drugs given this way will escape immediate hepatic metabolism and hence rendering a longer half - life . however , there are limitations of such an approach and they resemble those disclosed under transdermal applications herein . formulation and application of ts for transmucosal delivery by rectal and vaginal routes ts is a low molecular weight lipid soluble compound that remains as solid in room as well as body temperatures . in order to fulfill the requirement of a liquid / gel form suitable for transmucosal delivery , it is necessary to develop a formulation so that the preparation can remain solid at room temperature but change to liquid state upon insertion to the human body . the present inventors developed such a formulation by using the appropriate proportion of ts to dimethyl sulfoxide to water to almond oil . this mixture has the range of ratios of ts : dimethyl sulfoxide : almond oil : stearyl alcohol : distilled water ( 1 : 0 . 1 to 0 . 6 : 0 . 05 to 0 . 2 : 0 to 0 . 1 : 0 to 0 . 15 , respectively ). differential temperatures and centrifugation were used during processing in order to transform ts from solid state to gel state and reversing it to solid state again . the final product with a bullet shape was formed after centrifugation at 4 degree c . it remains as solid in room temperature but once inserted to the human orifice , it melts at 36 degree c . examples for different formulation ratios for ts administration via transmucosal delivery are shown in table 3 . processing temperature is changed from room temperature to 75 degree c ., and then change to 4 degree c again with the aid of centrifugation . the present inventors discovered that the most effective amount of ts is between the ranges of 250 to 1000 mg . in general , drugs delivered by mucosal routes have a range of crossing into the human body at 30 to 50 % of the dose given . the calculation of effective dose is similar to that developed for transdermal route disclosed herein . therefore , to achieve a constant 25micromolar concentration of ts in blood , 250 mg ts will be administered twice a day . study with male and female human subjects via rectal and vaginal delivery are described below which demonstrated successful delivery of intact ts via the rectal and vaginal routes . judging from the number of human subjects reported in this study , there is no concern regarding the safety of this novel treatment procedure . the hydrolyzed products of ts are tocopherol ( vitamin e ) and succinic acid , an endogenous metabolite produced during the oxidation of carbohydrates , amino acids and fat . the upper safety limit for vitamin e is set at 1000 mg or 1 gm by the most recent issue of dri ( dietary reference intake ) for vitamin c , vitamin e selenium and carotenoids . the dri report was published in 2000 and one of the joint inventors of the present invention served on the committee from which the report was sponsored by the institute of medicine , us national academy of sciences ( chan et al . 2000 ). the upper dose limit claimed in the invention herein , is below or around the upper safety limit set at 1 gm by the institute of medicine for oral ingestion . a male subject , age 53 was given this ts formulation via dermal means at a dose of 300 mg three times a day spread under 6 hours intervals for a period of 7 days . blood was collected at day 0 , day 4 and day 8 . detailed protocol is shown in table 4 below . plasma was denatured in 2 volume of ethanol . samples were stored frozen pending for analysis . following extraction , levels of ts were determined by hplc method equipped with uv and fluoresce detectors ( slack et al . 1989 ). levels of ts in plasma were 0 , 24 . 5 and 28 . 1 micromolar ( micromole / liter ) for days 0 , 4 and 8 after transdermal treatment . as expected , level of ts was undetectable in plasma of two control subjects that were not treated with ts . since ts is a semi - synthetic compound , it will not be detected in individual who does not consume it . results from this study are shown in fig1 . a male and female subject was each given formulated ts in suppository form containing 250 mg of ts . they were instructed to insert it in the morning after bowel movement and shower , and repeat it before bedtime . blood was collected on day 0 , day 2 and day 4 . plasma was separated from blood and ts was determined as described above . results showed undetectable level of ts on day 0 of the study . levels of ts in plasma ranged from 20 to 40 - micromolar after 2 and 4 days of transmucosal administration . result from this study is shown in fig2 . a 80 - year - old male was found to have lymphoma in 2001 , with lumps protruding from the neck region . visits to oncologist resulted in chemotherapy treatments ( 3 - 5 days rounds 3 times with resting periods between treatments ). lumps were found to regress after chemotherapy . nine months later , the lymphoma recurred with new lump in the neck measured ( 7 . 5 × 1 . 23 × 4 . 2 cm ). patient started using the ts formulation around the neck region at a dose of 0 . 8 gm twice a day , and three weeks into treatment , tumor started to regress . after eight weeks into treatment , tumor size was reduced by half ( measured 3 cm in length ). complete regression of tumor occurred 12 weeks after treatment . a 50 - year - old male has metastasized prostate cancer in liver and bone . there is a lot of pain and patient is under prophylactic chemotherapy once a month . patient started to use the ts formulation at a dose of 0 . 4 gm three times a day at the end of november , 2002 . while there is no end point measurement made to determine tumors regression , two weeks into treatment , patient felt pain and discomfort level were reduced to more than half . with this improvement , patient opts to continue to use the ts formulation and benefits continue . a 52 - year - old male had recurring sarcoma on mid - penis in november 2002 . since this tumor is known not respond well to radiation and chemotherapy , doctor advised removal of organ to which the patient refused . after using the ts formulation for 4 weeks , tumor size was reduced by 30 %. patient continues to use formulation . a 53 - year - old female was found to have nasopharyngeal cancer ( stage 4 ) in august , 2002 . she went through radiotherapy and some limited chemotherapy because the patient has hepatitis b . the ts formulation was used 5 days before treatments and continued through out all treatments at a dose of 0 . 5 gm twice a day . despite of the stage 4 diagnoses , tumor regression was impressive and patient returned to work in february , 2003 . a 73 - year - old male has basal cell skin cancer for 20 years . the cancer recurs every year and treatment consisted of burning of skin tumor with either liquid nitrogen or dry ice . in september , 2002 , several lumps appeared on his face , and they were painful and sensitive to touch . he started using the ts formulation in late september , 2002 as topical lotion . partial recovery was detected after 3 weeks of continuous use . all spots were proclaimed clear by the patient after 8 weeks of treatment period . the invention described herein can be used as an anti - cancer drug alone or as an adjunct for cancer treatment for over 90 % of human cancer . it is very easy to administer ( self or by another ) and therefore has a superior saving value in cutting down the cost of technicians and nurses for injectable forms of drug delivery . it will also further cut cost in reducing the duration of hospital stay often associated with chemotherapy treatment . this low cost feature is especially in demand from developing countries or the third world where a lack of cancer treatment facility and cost may render most of the patients untreated . most importantly , these effective formulations and delivery methods are totally non - invasive and non - toxic . due to the lack of side effects and toxicity , much of the suffering caused by conventional chemo - and radiotherapy on cancer patients can be eliminated or significantly reduced . in the context of market development , products can be used for cancer patients , or for cancer survivors who fear the recurrence of cancer . it also has a market for the normal or healthy population who may opt to use the product periodically for prophylactic purposes . it is to be understood that the embodiments and variations shown and described herein are merely illustrative of the principles of this invention and that various modifications may be implemented by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention .
| 0 |
as shown in fig1 and 2 , the automatic capped writing element pencil 1 includes an outer tube 2 , an inner tube 4 , writing elements 6 , a spring 8 , and a fixer 10 . each of the writing elements 6 has a tip portion 12 at the front end and an element cap 14 having a hole 16 for receiving therein the tip portion 12 of the adjacent writing element . the tip portion 12 is a pre - sharpened writing element held by the element cap 14 . the writing element can be a pre - sharpened lead , a pre - sharpened crayon , or other segmental writing elements . the element cap 14 is made of plastic or metal . all the writing elements are positioned axially one by one . except the front - most one , the tip portion 12 of each writing element is received by the hole 16 of the preceding one . the front - most writing element 20 is held by the writing element outlet 18 of the outer tube 2 . some of the writing elements 6 together with the inner tube 4 are posited in the outer tube 2 . the spring 8 serves as the resilient element for keeping the inner tube 4 in an original position when the inner tube is not pressed . the other writing elements are stored in the inner tube 4 . a recess portion 22 is formed on the inner wall of the outer tube 2 to receive the spring 8 . a raised portion 24 is formed on the outer surface of the inner tube 4 for compressing the spring 8 . the stopper 10 is mounted at the upper end of the outer tube 2 for preventing the inner tube 4 from escaping from the outer tube 2 . the operation of the automatic capped writing element apparatus 1 is illustrated in fig3 - 6 . at the beginning , as shown in fig3 the spring 8 is not compressed and the inner tube 4 is in an original position 30 . then , as shown in fig4 the inner tube 4 is pushed from the top 28 to propel the writing element 36 . the bottom opening 26 of the inner tube 4 is engaged with the element cap of the writing element 36 . the writing elements 34 and 20 are also propelled by the writing element 36 . the writing element 20 held by the writing element - outlet is then replaced by the writing element 34 . the spring 8 is compressed by the raised portion 24 during the propelling process . when the inner tube 4 is released from the propelling force , as shown in fig5 the spring force generated by the spring 8 will urge the inner tube toward the original position 30 . however , because of gravity , the writing elements stored in the inner tube 4 will not be back to their original positions and the writing element 38 will escape from the bottom opening 26 to the bore 35 of the outer tube 2 . fig6 illustrates that the automatic capped writing element pencil 1 is used on an article 32 . because the element cap 37 of the writing element 38 is engaged with the bottom opening 26 of the inner tube , the writing element 34 which serving as the pen - tip will not be pushed back into the writing element - outlet 18 . fig7 and 8 illustrate an automatic capped writing element pencil 39 with retractable pen tip 41 . similar to the automatic capped writing element apparatus 1 , the automatic capped writing element pencil 39 also includes an outer tube 40 , an inner tube 42 , writing elements 46 , a spring 44 , and a fixer 48 . however , the automatic capped writing element pencil 39 further includes a locking mechanism 51 for fixing the inner tube 42 in a lower position when it is pressed . the locking mechanism 51 includes an opening 52 formed on the outer tube 40 and a flexible piece 54 formed on the inner tube 42 . when the inner tube 42 is in an original position , the flexible piece 54 is located above the opening 52 and is compressed by the inner wall of the outer tube 40 . when the inner tube 42 is pressed , the flexible piece 54 will raise from the opening 52 of the outer tube 40 . the outer tube further includes a clip 50 . the clip 50 has a tip portion 60 raised toward the opening 52 . the operation of the automatic capped writing element pencil 39 is illustrated in fig9 - 12 . fig9 shows that the pen - tip writing element 41 is retracted within the writing element outlet 43 and the flexible piece 54 is located above the opening 52 . when the inner tube 42 is pressed , the pen - tip writing element 41 is propelled to the writing element outlet 43 and held by it . the flexible piece 54 is moved to the opening 52 and raises up since it is not limited by the outer tube 40 . furthermore , the spring 44 is compressed during the propelling process . when the inner tube is released from the propelling force , the spring 44 will urge the raised portion of the inner tube 42 upwardly . however , as shown in fig1 , since the flexible piece 54 extends into the opening 52 , it will be engaged at the upper edge 58 of the opening 52 to prevent the inner tube 54 from returning back to the original position . to retract the pen - tip writing element 41 again , the user just has to put the pen - tip writing element 41 on an article 62 and press the tip portion 60 of the clip 50 . the flexible piece 54 is then compressed by the tip portion 60 and will no longer be engaged at the upper edge 58 . accordingly , the inner tube 42 is pushed by the spring 44 to return back to the original position 53 . at the same time , the pen - tip writing element 41 is pushed by the article 62 to be retracted within the outer tube 40 . fig1 illustrates the appearance of the automatic capped writing element pencil . for guiding the flexible piece 71 of the inner tube 72 , as shown in fig1 and 14 , a guiding slot 64 is formed on the casing tube 74 from the opening 65 to the rear end 66 of the casing tube 74 . the entrance of the guiding slot 64 formed on the rear end 66 is enlarged to make the assembling of the casing tube 74 and the inner tube 72 easier . the flexible piece 71 can be inserted from the enlarged entrance 67 to the slot 64 very easily and the trouble of aligning the flexible piece 71 and the guiding slot 64 is avoided . furthermore , a surface 70 corresponding to the front surface 68 of the inner tube 72 is formed on the inner wall of the outer tube 74 to serve as an end point of the propelling process of the inner tube 72 . fig1 illustrates that a curved portion 78 is formed on the casing tube 76 for helping the user to grasp the casing tube 76 more properly . fig1 shows the engagement between the lower opening 84 of the inner tube 82 and the element cap 88 of the writing element 86 . the lower opening 84 of the inner tube 82 has a saw - toothed rim to make a proper engagement . for the same purpose , the rim of the element cap 88 is sharpened . furthermore , the writing element 86 is slightly inclined to the wall of the outer tube 80 because of gravity . such a situation can make a better engagement between the inner tube 82 and the writing element 86 . the spring for urging the inner tube may be posited under or above the opening of the outer tube . fig1 illustrates an example of positing the spring above the opening . an opening 94 is formed on the casing tube 90 opposite to the tip portion 97 of the clip 96 . a flexible piece 98 is formed on the inner tube 92 . a recess 102 is formed on the inner wall of the casing tube 90 for receiving the spring 100 . the recess 102 is located above the opening 94 . a raised portion 104 of the inner tube 92 is formed above the spring 100 to compress it . fig1 illustrates a writing element stopper 112 formed near the writing element outlet 108 of the casing tube 106 to prevent the pen - tip writing element 110 from being pushed back into the writing element outlet 108 . as shown in fig1 , the writing element stopper 112 is a flexible piece bearing against the end of the pen - tip writing element 110 . furthermore , as illustrated in fig2 , raised strips 109 are formed around the pen - tip writing element 110 to reduce a contact area between the pen - tip writing element 110 and the writing element outlet 108 . such a structure can prevent the pen - tip writing element 110 from being stuck at the writing element outlet 108 . however , for an automatic writing element writing apparatus with retractable pen - tip writing element , a structure for maintaining the pen - tip writing element within the casing tube is needed while the pen - tip writing element is retracted . as shown in fig2 , the pen - tip writing element 120 is pushed by the article 122 to be retracted within the casing tube 114 . when the casing tube 114 is removed from the surface of the article 122 , the pen - tip writing element 120 will not fall down because it is supported by the raised structure 118 . the raised structure 118 is a flexible piece integrally formed on the wall of the casing tube 114 . it is also formed near the writing element outlet 119 . the raised structure 118 has inclined surfaces 124 and 126 facing the inner tube 115 and the writing element outlet 119 respectively . accordingly , the raised structure 118 is pushed away when the pen - tip writing element 120 is propelled toward the writing element - outlet 119 or pushed by the article 122 . while the invention has been described in terms of what are presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments , it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiment . on the contrary , it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures .
| 1 |
referring now to the drawings wherein like or similar elements are designated with identical reference numerals throughout the several views and figures , and wherein the various elements depicted are not necessarily drawn to scale , and in particular , to fig1 , there is shown a vending machine 100 and a handheld inventory checker 200 in accordance with the principles of the present invention . vending machine 100 is designed to dispense items 102 as chosen by a user or purchaser . as can be appreciated vending machine 100 could be virtually any type of vending machine , including , but not limited to a beverage vending machine , food or snack vending machine , medicine vending machine , and a merchandise vending machine . vending machine 100 includes an inventory monitor 104 . inventory monitor 104 is designed to keep track of various matters pertaining to the inventory of the items 102 stored in the vending machine . such matters include a real time inventory or count of each item 102 , the total number of items 102 , the total number of items 102 initially loaded into the vending machine each time filled , any possible expiration dates of items 102 , the time and date of the purchase of items 102 . it is anticipated that items 102 could be either all one type of an item , such would be the case with a newspaper vending machine , or items 102 could be a variety of items , such would be the case with a snack or beverage vending machine . vending machine 100 further includes a communication device which interfaces with inventory monitor 104 . as illustrated handheld inventory checker 200 , includes a display 202 , a control panel 204 , a holder 206 , and a communication interface 208 . in operation , vending machine 100 would be initially stocked with items 102 , and the inventory monitor 104 would update the data that it is designed to monitor ( such as described in the hereinabove ). after a select period of time , the owner or operator of the vending machine 100 would return to restock the vending machine . once the operator is within a certain distance from the vending machine 100 , the handheld checker 200 and the vending machine 100 would communicate therebetween . the information or data stored in the inventory monitor 104 would be communicated to the handheld checker 200 , whereby at least a portion of the data could then be displayed on display 202 . the data would allow the user to display on display 202 , such information as : the items that have been sold from the vending machine 100 ; the number of items remaining in the vending machine 100 ; and expired items : and , the number and type of items needed to restock the vending machine 100 . it is contemplated that handheld checker 200 could also be programmed to recommend different items to be placed in a particular vending machine based on historical sales of items . as many vending machine owner / operators generally have or service more that one vending machine , a unique electronic id could be assigned to each vending machine 100 such when the data stored in the inventory monitor 104 is communicated to the handheld checker 200 , the handheld checker 200 will be able to properly identify the data associated with each machine . vending machine 100 and handheld checker 200 can be configured to communicate by using various types of communications . for example , a wireless connection ( such as with an 802 . 11x or blue tooth protocol ) could utilized to established a communication connection between vending machine 100 and handheld checker 200 , which would be facilitated , in part by antenna 108 of vending machine 100 and antenna 208 of handheld checker 200 . it is further contemplated that a physical or wired connection could also be utilized for the communications between vending machine 100 and handheld checker 200 . in addition , handheld checker 200 could also be configured to communicate in either wireless or wired manner with a computer 300 or long term electronic storage device , where the user could download and store all the data received from their vending machines . an advantage of a vending machine 100 and handheld checker 200 utilizing a wireless communication , would be that the user could check the inventory of multiple vending machines all located within a select range at the same time , thereby saving time in preparing to restock the vending machines . referring now to fig2 , there is an exemplary embodiment of the handheld checker 200 . as illustrated handheld checker 200 includes a display 202 for displaying information gathered and processed to the user . examples of displayed items would be machine id number , time and date , items and quantity of each needed for that machine , expiration dates for remaining items , location of machine , and virtually any type of data determined to be useful to the user . as further illustrated , handheld checker 200 includes a control panel 204 for facilitating a user to control the operations of handheld checker 200 as well as for facilitating user input . the user , among other things , would be able to activate the operation of handheld checker 200 for checking inventories , and would enable control of the items displayed on display 202 such as by scrolling the items in display . control panel 204 could also include a power switch for turning on / off the handheld checker 200 . as further illustrated in fig2 , handheld checker 200 includes a device holder 206 to facilitate a strap connected to it or for enable hanging handheld checker 200 on a hook or other type of hanging device . as described above , handheld checker 200 includes a communication interface 208 for the transferring of data between handheld checker 200 and the vending machine 100 or computer 300 . although communication interface 208 is illustrated as a wireless interface , it is contemplated to be within the scope of this invention that a wired interface could also be utilized . in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention , handheld inventory checker 200 is microprocessor controlled handheld computer with software that would enable it to browse , query and obtain information corresponding to a vending machine &# 39 ; s inventory , process the data , and display , to the user , information corresponding to data received from the vending machine . it is contemplated that outer casing 210 of handheld checker 200 would be constructed a durable material , such as hard plastic , and that a transparent protective covering would also be utilized over display 202 . in the preceding detailed description , reference has been made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof , and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced . these embodiments , and certain variants thereof , have been described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention . it is to be understood that other suitable embodiments may be utilized and that logical changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention . the description may omit certain information known to those skilled in the art . the preceding detailed description is , therefore , not intended to be limited to the specific forms set forth herein , but on the contrary , it is intended to cover such alternatives , modifications , and equivalents , as can be reasonably included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims .
| 6 |
the best mode embodiments of the ice crusher of the present invention are described below in detail in combination with typical commercially available ice makers which are provided with ice storage bins . referring now to the drawings , an ice crusher 2 of the present invention as shown in fig1 is mounted on top of ice storage bin 6 and beneath an ice maker 4 . referring to fig2 and 4 , ice from ice maker 4 is funnelled into ice crusher 2 by an ice delivery hopper 11 , and ice which falls from hopper 11 may be directed to an ice crushing zone 10 in ice crusher 2 by a diverter plate 92 , a comb plate 78 , and an ice guiding plate 74 . ice is forced from crushing zone 10 through the slots 51 in a grate 50 by a plurality of crusher blades 36 , which are mounted on a crusher shaft 30 . the resulting crushed ice falls into ice storage bin 6 at a location directly below crushing zone 10 . ice crusher 2 includes a frame assembly comprising a plurality of angle irons ( 21a - 21f are shown in fig1 and 2 ) arranged orthogonally to form a box - like skeleton structure . the frame assembly supports a cabinet comprising a plurality of outer panels of which 7 , 8 , and 9 are depicted , an electric motor 20 , and an internal housing 3 having a pair of sidewalls 16 , 17 , a pair of end walls 15 , 19 , and an intermediate crushing chamber wall 18 . crusher shaft 30 is rotated through a system of belts and pulleys by an electric motor 20 which is secured to a motor base 23 through a pair of motor mountings 22 , one of which is shown . as may be seen best in fig2 a motor pulley 24 drives a belt 26 which in turn rotates a crusher pulley 34 which is keyed to and rotates crusher shaft 30 . referring now to fig3 and 5 , crusher shaft 30 is supported by a pair of bearing plates 32 , 33 which are mounted on sidewalls 16 , 17 , respectively , of housing 3 . a plurality of crusher blades 36 are mounted on crusher shaft 30 and keyed thereto by a key 31 , which extends substantially the length of shaft 30 . crusher blades 36 are kept in spaced - apart arrangement by a plurality of crusher blade spacers 38 . in the preferred embodiment of the present invention , the crusher blades 36 are arranged on crusher shaft 30 so that the ice striking portions 37 of blades 36 are staggered in proceeding from one to another and define a helix . as is evident from the embodiment shown in fig2 - 5 , adjacent blades are most preferably displaced about 45 ° apart . although other angular displacements may be used , an angular displacement between about 30 ° and about 60 ° is preferred . such a displacement of blades 36 with respect to each other has the advantages that it tends to distribute ice linearly in a manner similar to movement of material by a screw conveyor , which reduces the force required to crush the ice and improves the speed of crushing by not having all the ice engaged by the same crushing blades 36 even if all the ice falls at the same place along the length of shaft 30 . crushing grate 50 is provided with a plurality of projecting fingers 49 defining a series of slots 51 which have a width great enough to provide a small clearance , for example , in the range of about 1 / 8 inch to 3 / 8 inch , more preferably about 1 / 4 inch , between each side 51a , 51b of slots 51 and the corresponding edges 36a , 36b of crusher blades 36 . crushing grate 50 is supported near its outer ends by a pair of rails 52 , 53 , which are secured to housing sidewalls 16 and 17 , respectively , by screws 54 , 55 . grate 50 is movable along rails 52 , 53 for changing the clearance between the inner ends of slots 51 of crusher grate 50 and the distal ends of striking portions 37 of crusher blades 36 . the assembly 60 depicted in fig4 of the drawings is provided to change this clearance and consists of an arm 62 and a lever 64 which are each secured to a rotatable rod 68 by set screws 70 , 72 , respectively , as shown in fig6 . arm 62 is held in place in any one of apertures 65a - 65e by a pin 63 . pin 63 is retained in the selected one of apertures 65a - 65e by the force of a spring 71 which is transmitted to rod 68 through lever 64 . inward movement of the rod 68 against the force of spring 71 by moving a knob 67 inwardly ( see fig1 ) also moves arm 62 inwardly for releasing pin 63 from aperture 65a , thus permitting rod 68 , arm 62 and lever 64 to rotate . a link 66 is pivotally connected at one end to lever 64 by a pin 61 and at the other end to crusher gate 50 by a pin 69 . as shown in fig4 counterclockwise rotation of the assembly of knob 67 , rod 68 , arm 62 and lever 64 pulls grate 50 downwardly and increases the clearance between crusher blades 36 and the bottom of grate slots 51 , and thus increases the particle size of the crushed ice . this arrangement provides a simple , positive and effective means for adjusting the particle size of crushed ice provided by the crusher . ice crusher 2 is provided with an ice diverter assembly 88 for directing ice from ice maker 4 either to the ice crushing zone 10 of ice crusher 2 , as shown in fig4 or to an ice chute 13 , as shown in fig2 thus bypassing ice crushing zone 10 . ice diverter assembly 88 comprises a diverter plate 92 secured to a shaft 90 , which is rotatable from the position shown in fig2 to the position shown in fig4 by turning a handle 91 at the front of the ice crusher cabinet . when in its diverting position as shown in fig2 diverter plate 92 cooperates at its lower end with a lip 93 projecting inward from the top of intermediate wall 18 to bypass crushing zone 10 by directing all ice from the ice maker into the uncrushed ice chute 13 . a microswitch 98 is mounted on sidewall 17 and is activated by a cam element 94 which presses against an actuator arm 96 when diverter plate 92 is rotated out of its diverting position . diverter assembly 88 thus provides a means for activating electric motor 20 when diverter plate 92 is in a position to direct ice into crushing zone 10 . referring now to fig3 and 4 , a comb plate 78 having a plurality of teeth 79 defining a series of slots 80 is secured to housing sidewalls 16 , 17 and positioned between ice delivery hopper 11 and the crusher blades 36 adjacent to end wall 15 . comb plate 78 serves to help direct ice from the corresponding end of ice hopper 11 into crushing zone 10 . fig7 and 8 show a modification of the rotating crushing member in which a plurality of picks 46 are secured to the drum of a crusher rotor 44 and are spaced to pass sequentially through slots 51 in crushing grate 50 . the sequential positioning of picks 46 also preferably defines a helix and the picks may be staggered at the same angular displacements as portions 37 of blades 36 . as seen in fig7 and 8 , the drum of crusher rotor may comprise a plurality of segments , such as 44a and 44b , each of which is centered on a crusher rotor shaft 40 and held in position by a plurality of bolts 45 which also serve to transmit rotational force between rotor shaft 40 and crusher rotor 44 . crusher rotor 44 is provided with a pair of spacers 43 ( only one spacer being shown ) for separating the rotor from sidewalls 16 and 17 . shaft 40 rotates within a bearing block 42 and a similar bearing block ( not shown ) on the outer surface of sidewall 17 . in a preferred embodiment of the present invention , an ice breaker assembly is provided in the upper portion of ice crusher 2 , as shown in fig1 and 9 - 11 . the ice mounted on a bar drive shaft 100 and secured in spaced - apart relationship thereon by a plurality of bolts 105 . drive shaft 100 is mounted in bushings 106 , 107 and rotated by a pulley 101 which is driven by a belt 103 . as shown in fig1 a pulley 102 is mounted on ice crusher shaft 30 for driving pulley 101 . as should be recognized , the operation of ice crusher 2 may be independent of the operation of ice maker 4 , inasmuch as the operation of the former may be dependent only on the position of diverter plate 92 , which has a cam element that presses against actuator arm 96 of microswitch 98 when it is positioned as shown in fig4 . the operation of ice crusher 2 also may be interrelated with operation of ice maker 4 by electrical and / or electronic controls , such as those shown in fig1 and 13 and described in detail below . an electronic control system for the ice crusher 2 is now described with reference to fig1 and 13 . shown electrically connected to electric motor 20 , by wire 110 , is a container 112 attached to outer panel 7 at the rear of the cabinet . container 112 contains the printed circuit board 114 on which are mounted electronic components for controlling the operation of ice crusher 2 . the power for energizing the components on printed circuit board 114 and operating electric motor 20 is provided by electrical connection 116 , which for this embodiment comprises an a / c input of 115 volts , 60 hertz at single phase . it should be appreciated that a 230 a / c line voltage may also be used . a third connection 118 electrically connects printed circuit board 114 to at least one hot gas solenoid valve , which is provided in ice maker 4 as described below and whose function is to detect when ice maker 4 is about to start a &# 34 ; harvest cycle &# 34 ; whereby newly formed ice is to be dropped into ice hopper 11 . a wire 111 provides grounding for electric motor 20 . with reference to fig1 , printed circuit board 114 is shown as having a number of electronic and electrical components , which are discussed in detail below with reference to fig1 , soldered thereto . printed circuit board 114 has , for this embodiment , seven connectors on junction block 120 to which electrical connections are made to the electrical power , electric motor 20 and the two hot gas solenoid valves 122 and 124 . in particular , junction connectors 1 and 2 provide an electrical circuit to hot gas solenoid valve 122 ; junction connectors 3 and 4 provide an electrical circuit to hot gas solenoid valve 124 ; junction connectors 5 and 7 provide an electrical circuit for electric motor 20 ; and junction connectors 6 and 7 provide input from the a / c power source . the schematic of the electrical circuit representing the components mounted on printed circuit board 114 is illustrated in fig1 . junction connectors 1 , 2 , 3 , and 4 , which carry signals from hot gas solenoid valves 122 and 124 , are connected to corresponding opto - isolators u1 and u2 , which are conventional electrical devices having manufacturer type designation h11aa1 . opto - isolators u1 and u2 work in conjunction with corresponding resistors r1 and r2 to translate the respective inputs a and b from an a / c line level to the required operational d / c level of the circuit . opto - isolators u1 and u2 further isolate the rest of the components of the circuit from the input a / c signals . resistors r1 and r2 are current limiting resistors which limit the current flow through the diode sections of opto - isolators u1 and u2 . the outputs of opto - isolators u1 and u2 , at respective pins 5 thereof , are connected to a &# 34 ; pull - up &# 34 ; resistor r5 , which establishes a high logic level at nodes 126 , 126 when a low level &# 34 ; reset &# 34 ; is not being provided at either of output pins 5 of opto - isolators u1 and u2 . nodes 126 , 126 are connected to pin 6 of nand gate u3b and pin 8 of nand gate u3c . as shown , nand gates u3a and u3b are configured as a latch which acts to prevent inadvertent operation of electric motor 20 when the system is first turned on . the u3a and u3b latch is reset upon receipt of a low level &# 34 ; reset &# 34 ; signal provided by either of opto - isolators u1 and u2 at nodes 126 , 126 . gates u3a , u3b , u3c and u3d are part of a conventional quad 2 - input nand schmitt trigger ic chip u3 which is manufactured for example by rca under manufacturer designation 4093 . gate u3c acts as a logic level inverter for providing a signal at its output pin 10 to input pin 6 of a resetable programmable timer ic chip u4 , which performs the timing function of the system and has manufacturer designation 4541 . the clock frequency of timer ic chip u4 is determined by timing resistors r6 , r7 and timing capacitor c3 . a bypass capacitor c2 connecting timer ic chip u4 to ground prevents current spikes generated by ic chip u4 from affecting the other components of the system . nand gate u3d is one of the gates of quad 2 - input schmitt trigger ic chip u3 and is used as a switch for conditionally turning on relay k1 , via transistor q1 , when the logic level at its input pins 12 and 13 are not both high . the output of gate u3d , at pin 11 , is connected to the input of pnp transistor q1 , via resistor r4 , which limits the current flow through the base - emitter junction of transistor q1 . the collector of transistor q1 is connected at junction 128 to both relay k1 and a diode d5 , which is a &# 34 ; free - wheeling &# 34 ; diode connected across the coil of relay k1 to clamp any &# 34 ; fly back emf &# 34 ; when relay k1 is turned off . transistor q1 , diode d5 and relay k1 are conventional electronic components . a / c power is provided to junction connectors 6 and 7 , and subsequently to a transformer t1 . depending on how jumpers jmp1 , jmp2 and jmp1 are connected across the primary windings , transform t1 may be configured for either 120 volt a / c or 240 volt a / c operation . a 120 volt a / c is provided to the primary windings of transformer t1 for this embodiment . the a / c voltage at the secondary windings of transformer t1 is rectified by diodes d1 to d4 to provide a 12 volt d / c voltage at node 130 , which is used by the other electronic and electrical components of the system . in addition to the electrical circuit shown in fig1 , as is well known , for typical ice making machines , there is a bin thermostat ( not shown ) that is electrically connected to ice maker 4 and mounted within ice storage bin 6 for determining how much ice is available in the bin . in particular , for the present invention embodiment , the bin thermostat comprises sensing bulbs that are placed in both ice cube and crushed ice sections of ice storage bin 6 . in the instance where diverter plate 92 has been set to the position shown in fig2 whereby ice from the ice maker is directed into the uncrushed ice chute 13 , then into the appropriate section of the ice storage bin 6 , the sensing bulb of the bin thermostat will provide a signal to ice maker 4 to instruct it to stop producing ice if that section of storage bin 6 is sensed as filled with uncrushed ice . likewise , if diverter plate 92 has been positioned as shown in fig4 the sensing bulb of the bin thermostat in the crushed ice section of storage bin 6 will send a signal to ice maker 4 to instruct it to stop production of ice if that section of the storage bin is filled . as is common for both sensing bulbs , once either senses that additional ice is needed in the corresponding section of the ice storage bin , a signal is sent to ice maker 4 to instruct it to start producing ice . as is well known , there may be conventionally located within ice maker 4 one or more hot gas solenoid valves , such as valves 122 and 124 shown in fig1 . this embodiment contemplates that two ice makers are piggybacked one on top of the other , each of the ice makers having a corresponding one of the hot gas solenoid valves 122 and 124 . in essence , the circuitry for a hot gas solenoid valve detects when the ice maker has sufficiently converted water to ice to begin a &# 34 ; harvest cycle &# 34 ; whereby the formed ice in ice maker 4 is deposited into ice delivery hopper 11 . for the sake of clarity and since it is conventional , the circuitry of the ice maker that energizes and deenergizes the hot gas solenoid valve is not shown . for the discussion of the present invention embodiment , it is only necessary to realize that when the hot gas solenoid is energized , a signal is sent to the electrical circuit of fig1 . conversely , when the hot gas solenoid valve is deenergized , no signal is sent . with reference to fig1 and 13 , the electrical operation of ice crusher 2 is as follows . assume that electrical power switch 132 ( fig1 ) for the ice crusher 2 has been turned on . further assume that diverter plate 92 has been diverted to its diverting position as shown in fig2 such that cam element 94 presses against actuator arm 96 of microswitch 98 . at this time , as shown in fig1 , a complete circuit is formed for electrical circuit 110 and the circuit of fig1 is activated . insofar as both hot gas solenoid valves 122 and 124 , and their corresponding opto - isolators u1 and u2 , operate in the same manner , only hot gas solenoid valve 122 and its corresponding opto - isolator u1 will be discussed . when the circuit of fig1 is first activated , assuming that hot gas solenoid valve 122 has not detected the beginning of a harvest cycle in ice maker 4 , no signal is sent to input a by the solenoid valve circuit . accordingly , a logic low &# 34 ; power on pulse &# 34 ; signal is present at node 126 . this logic low signal is input to the latch comprising nand gates u3a and u3b , at pin 6 of gate u3b , for the duration as determined by the rc constant of resistor r3 and capacitor c4 . when the latch is thus set , a logic low is likewise present at input pin 13 of gate u3d which forces output pin 11 to a logic high state , thereby preventing pnp transistor q1 from conduction . as a consequence , relay k1 remains inoperative . as long as no logic high signal is present at node 126 , the output logic from the latch would remain low and relay k1 remains inactive . when hot gas solenoid valve 122 senses the beginning of a harvest cycle , i . e ., when ice maker 4 is ready to deposit its formed ice into delivery hopper 11 , an a / c signal is sent thereby to input a . this a / c signal is current limited by resistor r1 and fed to the input diode portion of opto - isolator u1 . from there the a / c signal is translated into a d / c signal and fed as a logic high state to node 126 . upon receipt of this &# 34 ; harvest &# 34 ; signal , the latch is reset , if the duration of rc constant has not already lapsed so that the latch is not already reset ; and a logic high signal is provided as an output from pin 4 of gate u3b to input pin 13 of gate u3d . at the same time , the reset logic high signal is provided as an input to pin 8 of gate u3c . this signal is inverted and provided as a logic low signal at output 10 and fed to input pin 6 of resetable programmable timer chip u4 , which causes timer chip u4 to provide a logic enable signal at its output pin 8 to input pin 12 of gate u3d . with both input pins 13 and 12 at logic high states , the output of gate u3d at pin 11 becomes a logic low state to thereby effect transistor q1 to conduct . as a consequence , relay k1 is energized to drive electric motor 20 to begin turning crusher pulley 34 and thereby blades 36 to crush the ice as it is harvested by the ice maker . as long as hot gas solenoid valve 122 continues to detect a harvest condition in ice maker 4 , an a / c signal is fed thereby to opto - isolator u1 and crusher electric motor 20 will continue to operate . at the end of the harvest cycle , hot gas solenoid valve 122 is deenergized and the a / c signal is no longer provided as an input to opto - isolator u1 . at this time , a logic low state is again present at node 126 and input pin 8 of gate u3c . in other words , the reset signal is now absent at node 126 and , as a consequence , a logic high signal is provided at output pin 10 of gate u3c to input pin 6 of timer chip u4 . with the reset signal absent , timer chip u4 begins to initiate its predetermined timing interval , preset by timing resistors r6 , r7 and capacitor c3 . during this preset rc time duration , the logic enable signal at output pin 8 of timer chip u4 is maintained so that relay k1 , and therefore electric motor 20 , remain energized . this time delay in which the ice crusher electric motor is kept running is desirable in that it allows sufficient time for all the freed ice remaining in the ice maker and in the delivery hopper of the ice crusher to be crushed and delivered to the ice bin . for the circuit of fig1 , a delay of approximately 1 to 1 1 / 2 minutes after the hot gas solenoid valve 122 has been deenergized is deemed to provide sufficient time for electric motor 20 to crush all the ice remaining in the hopper . at the end of the rc delay time interval , the signal at output pin 8 of timer chip u4 changes state . as a consequence , the signal at output pin 11 of gate u3d becomes logic high to thereby turn transistor q1 off . subsequently , relay k1 is deenergized and the operation of electric motor 20 is terminated . the material from which the various components are made is not critical and suitable materials may readily be selected by workers in the art . steel alloys , such as stainless steel , are well - suited for the cabinet , housing , shafts and the ice crushing elements , while plastic materials such as high density polyethylene are suitable for the ice diverting and guiding members , such as the ice hopper , ice chute walls and rails for the grate . the embodiments described herein are for the purpose of illustrating the present invention , and workers skilled in the art will recognize other variations thereof within the scope of this invention , which is limited only by the claims presented hereinafter and equivalents of the features described therein .
| 8 |
embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to fig4 and table 2 . table 2______________________________________co . sub . 2 gas boost pressure 25 kg / cm . sup . 2 gauge pressurelocation of co . sub . 2 hydrate latitude 41 . 5 ° northproduction apparatus longitude 144 . 5 ° eastplacement depth of the apparatus 200 mwater temperature there in feb . 2 ° c . water temperature there in aug . 3 ° c . ______________________________________ carbon dioxide gas 1 is pressurized to a gauge pressure of 25 kg / cm 2 by a booster 2 and led to a production device 4 for the production of carbon dioxide hydrate located at a depth of 200 m in the area of latitude 41 . 5 ° north and longitude 144 . 5 ° east through line 3 . the temperature of seawater at the depth of the location of the production device 4 is 2 ° c . in february and 3 ° c . in august , and the temperature and pressure conditions for the production of carbon dioxide hydrate are satisified sufficiently . the carbon dioxide hydrate produced in the production device 4 goes down in seawater and accumulates on an ocean floor . embodiment 2 of the present invention will be explained with reference to fig5 and table 3 . table 3______________________________________co . sub . 2 gas boost pressure 25 kg / cm . sup . 2 gauge pressurecooling temp . of co . sub . 2 gas 3 ° c . temp . of supplied water 3 ° c . ( fresh water or seawater ) location of disposing latitude 41 . 5 ° northco . sub . 2 hydrate longitude 144 . 5 ° eastdepth of co . sub . 2 hydrate disposal 200 mwater temperature there in feb . 2 ° c . water temperature there in aug . 3 ° c . ______________________________________ carbon dioxide gas 1 is pressurized to 25 kg / cm 2 by a booster 2 and led to a cooling device 4 through line 3 . the gas is cooled to 3 ° c . at the cooling device and led to an apparatus 9 for producing carbon dioxide hydrate through line 5 . also , fresh water or seawater 6 , temperature of which is 3 ° c ., is pressurized to 20 kg / cm 2 gauge pressure by a pump 7 and led to the apparatus 9 for producing carbon dioxide through line 8 to produce carbon dioxide hydrate . this carbon dioxide hydrate 10 is led to a depth of 200 m at latitude 41 . 5 degrees north and longitude 144 . 5 degrees east through a carbon dioxide hydrate carrier 11 and a descendent pipe 12 for carrying carbon dioxide hydrate down into the sea while maintaining its condition . the temperature in this sea area is 2 ° c . in february and 3 ° c . in august . carbon dioxide hydrate 10 remains stable under these conditions . it goes down into the sea 13 and accumulates on an ocean floor and is kept there in a stable manner . as shown in fig6 as an example , carbon dioxide ( co 2 ) collected from combustion exhaust gas is pressurized by a compressor 101 and cooled by a cooling device 102 . water which comes with co 2 is condensed and removed by a dehydrator 103 . the co 2 which has now become free of water is transported in the seawater through a co 2 pipeline 104 to an ocean floor and cooled indirectly by the seawater , temperature of which goes down gradually with depth . also , the water which has been pressurized by a water pump 107 is transported through a water pipeline 105 laid along the co 2 pipeline 104 and is cooled by the surrounding seawater . at a point where temperature satisfies the conditions for the formation of carbon dioxide hydrate for a given value of the pressure of carbon dioxide , the water in the water pipeline 105 is supplied to the co 2 pipeline and mixes with carbon dioxide to produce carbon dioxide hydrate . also , instead of using the water pump 107 and the water pipeline 108 , the surrounding cold seawater can be supplied to the co 2 pipeline 104 by way of an underwater pump 108 . the position at which water is supplied has no restrictions because even if carbon dioxide or water ( either fresh water or seawater ) is mixed in before temperature reaches a desired value , carbon dioxide hydrate would start forming when the mixture is cooled down to such temperature by the seawater surrounding the co 2 pipeline 104 as it is carried downward . furthermore , because carbon dioxide hydrate thus produced is a solid , the co 2 pipeline 104 may be stuffed up as carbon dioxide hydrate forms . however , if water is supplied in excess , this can be avoided because after the hydrate is produced a mixture of water and the hydrate , i . e ., a carbon dioxide hydrate slurry , forms . while the seawater pressure in the co 2 pipeline 104 near the region of hydrate production can be small , the temperature and pressure conditions for the stability of carbon dioxide hydrate 106 have to be satisfied at the point where carbon dioxide hydrate has sufficiently formed and where carbon dioxide hydrate 106 or its slurry is discharged from the co 2 pipeline 104 . the co 2 pipeline 104 extends to an area of the sea where such conditions are met , and then carbon dioxide hydrate 106 or its slurry is discharged . the discharged carbon dioxide hydrate 106 goes down and accumulates on an ocean floor because it has a larger specific gravity than seawater . carbon dioxide hydrate is mixed with water ( fresh water ) at 50 ata and 10 . 3 ° c . to produce carbon dioxide hydrate . when the pressure of the compressor 101 is chosen appropriately , carbon dioxide hydrate can be sufficiently produced even at a depth of 500 m and at a seawater temperature of 2 ° c ., for example . to carbon dioxide transported into the region of this depth and this seawater temperature , fresh water transported by the water pump 107 on the ground and cooled by the surrounding seawater through the water pipeline 105 is added to produce carbon dioxide hydrate 106 . the addition of water is not restricted to this form . the seawater pump 108 can also be disposed at a suitable position in the sea , and cold seawater nearby can be supplied to liquified carbon dioxide with this pump 108 . while 1 . 0 mole of carbon dioxide reacts on average with 7 . 3 moles of water to produce carbon dioxide hydrate , carbon dioxide dissolves into water about 10 % at 50 ata . therefore , in the case of producing a carbon dioxide hydrate slurry with 50 ton / hr of carbon dioxide hydrate and 50 ton / hr of water , for example , 17 . 1 ton / hr of carbon dioxide and 82 . 9 ton / hr of water need to react with each other . ( of 17 . 1 ton / hr of carbon dioxide , 12 . 5 ton / hr becomes the hydrate and the rest dissolves into water .) as we have described above , because heat ( 80 kcal per kg of the hydrate ) is generated when carbon dioxide hydrate is produced , this heat of formation has to be somehow released in order to produce carbon dioxide hydrate slurry and discharge it into the sea . this release of the heat of formation is done through a pipeline by way of indirect cooling with seawater , and a pipeline of 10 in . diameter needs to have a length of about 10 . 4 km from the point where seawater is added to carbon dioxide ( the extended portion of the co 2 pipeline ). of course , if the diameter of the pipe is larger , the length of the pipeline can be shorter . the carbon dioxide slurry 106 from which the heat of formation has been removed as described above is discharged into the sea stably and goes down to the bottom of ocean because its specific gravity is greater than seawater . with reference to fig7 we shall describe embodiment 4 for a first apparatus of the present invention . this apparatus is placed in the seawater 210 which satisfies the pressure and temperature conditions for the formation of carbon dioxide hydrate shown in fig9 . the carbon dioxide 207 which is continuously supplied to a container 201 from a carbon dioxide supply opening 202 comes into contact with the seawater which is injected through a plurality of injection ports 203 disposed on the side wall of the container 201 and which satisfies the pressure and temperature conditions for the production of carbon dioxide hydrate , and moves toward an outlet opening 206 as the hydrate 209 is produced . the product carbon dioxide hydrate 209 is a solid . in order to prevent it from sticking to the inner wall of the container 201 , therefore , a screw 205 whose diameter is close to the inner diameter of the container 201 is driven by a motor 204 so as to discharge the hydrate 209 from the apparatus through the outlet opening 206 . the heat generated when carbon dioxide hydrate forms is released through the wall of container 201 into surrounding seawater . because the hydrate discharged from the apparatus has a larger specific gravity than surrounding seawater , it goes down and accumulates on an ocean floor . the length and the diameter of the container are determined based on the amount of carbon dioxide and seawater supplied and on the pressure and the temperature which the apparatus feels at its : they should be sufficient for the formation of carbon dioxide hydrate . an example of the apparatus had an inner diameter ( d ) of 100 m and a length ( l ) of 10 m and was placed in the sea at a depth of 250 m and at a water temperature of 2 ° c . when 10 kg / hr of carbon dioxide and 30 kg / hr of seawater are supplied , the supplied carbon dioxide became carbon dioxide hydrate sufficiently , and through the discharge means the product went down to an ocean floor and accumulated . with reference to fig8 we shall describe another embodiment of the first apparatus of the present invention . carbon dioxide 207 sent under pressure and fresh water or seawater 208 mix with each other in a container 212 . the container 212 is disposed in the seawater or fresh water 210 which satisfies the appropriate temperature and pressure conditions for the production of carbon dioxide hydrate 209 . carbon dioxide hydrate 209 is a solid . when it sticks to the inner wall of the container 212 , the hydrate can be discharged by the pressure of the carbon dioxide 207 and the seawater or fresh water 208 supplied . the length and the diameter of the container 212 are adjusted based on the amount of carbon dioxide and seawater or fresh water and on the pressure and temperature conditions at the location of the container . they should be sufficient for the formation of carbon dioxide hydrate . because the hydrate discharged out of the apparatus has a larger specific gravity than surrounding seawater , it goes down and accumulates on an ocean floor . fig1 shows the entire structure of the apparatus for the treatment of carbon dioxide present in combustion exhaust gas according to the present invention . all or a part of exhaust gas containing carbon dioxide gas which comes out of a combustion furnace 301 and all of which has previously been discharged through a smokestack 302 is introduced to a preliminary treatment apparatus 303 so as to cool and remove unburned carbon , and then at a carbon dioxide separator 304 , only carbon dioxide is separated and concentrated . the gas which is now free of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere as a purified gas . next , the concentrated carbon dioxide gas is pressurized by a compressor 305 and sent to a deep ocean floor through a pipeline 309 and injected into a reaction device 310 from a nozzle 311 disposed at the tip of the pipeline . the pressure and the temperature in the reaction device 310 are sensed with a pressure gauge 307 and a thermometer 308 , respectively , and the outlet pressure of the compressor 305 is adjusted by a pressure controller 306 . because carbon dioxide hydrate 312 is produced in the reaction device 310 located at the ocean floor on which the measured temperature and pressure satisfy the conditions for the production of the hydrate , it can be fixed on a deep ocean floor almost permanently by dispersing it there . fig1 shows details of the structure of the reaction device 310 for the production of carbon dioxide hydrate . one or a plurality of nozzles 311 are disposed to form an end of the pipeline 309 , and the reaction device 310 is walled in to have upper and lower and side faces ( though the lower wall can be omitted ) so as to prevent unreacted carbon dioxide from escaping to the outside . also , the nozzles 311 have an elongated structure in the direction of ejection such that the reaction time ( residence time ) for the formation of the hydrate is sufficiently large . further , a driven propeller 313 is disposed at the inlet portion of the reaction device 310 in order to generate a flow of seawater for moving and dispersing the product carbon dioxide hydrate out of the device 310 . fig1 shows details of the structure of the ejector type nozzle 311 . this nozzle 311 comprises a contracting tube 331 , a parallel tube 332 and an expanding tube 333 , and the parallel tube 332 has an opening 334 . in this nozzle 311 , the pressure in the parallel tube 332 becomes lower , and therefore seawater is sucked in from the outside through the opening 334 . the seawater mixes sufficiently with carbon dioxide gas in the nozzle 311 , and a fine mixture of carbon dioxide and seawater is ejected from an ejection outlet .
| 2 |
referring now to fig1 , in fig1 a there is illustrated an embodiment in which cooling plates 2 and 3 are grounded and the capacitance between the substrate 1 and the cooling plates 2 and 3 is measured by capacitance monitor 4 . in this embodiment , cooling plates 2 and 3 are placed into position sequentially . in fig1 b the substrate is grounded and the capacitance between the cooling plates 2 and 3 and the substrate 1 is measured by capacitance monitors 4 in the circuit of the two cooling plates . the embodiment illustrated in fig1 b illustrates an embodiment in which the cooling plates may be moved simultaneously since the monitors can provide independent measurements and controls . this will occur because the substrate is grounded as to permit independent information concerning the capacitance between each plate and the substrate to be available for use in controlling independent movement of each plate . in each of these figures , substrate 1 is in position on a disk holder 5 and the substrate , and two cooling plates are all within housing 6 . when the cooling step is completed the cooling plates move away from the substrate and do so simultaneously after which the substrate may be moved from the cooling compartment . although measurements between the substrate and the cooling plates could be made using optical or inductive techniques to control spacing , capacitance can be measured with a simple circuit that is much less expensive than if optical or inductive sensors were employed . also the gap may be automatically adjusted correctly if there is a slight tilt to the substrate . this is understood if one considers that the capacitance is proportional to where da is an element of the surface of the substrate , x is the gap length , and the integral is over the surface of the substrate . similarly , the heat flux from the substrate is proportional to the same integral . thus , if there is a small tilt to the substrate , the gap that results in the set capacitance will provide the desired cooling . fig2 illustrates one technique to measure the capacitance in the circuit . in this figure , as in fig1 , 1 represents the substrate to be cooled , 2 and 3 represent the cooling plates , 5 represents the substrate carrier or lifter to support the substrate in the cooling chamber defined by walls 6 . in fig2 , the capacitance measuring circuit 4 measures the capacitance between the substrate and the cooling plates . oscillator 11 provides an ac signal with a single frequency . the frequency of the sine wave is somewhat arbitrary , but it is convenient to use a frequency that is low enough that stray inductance and capacitance does not cause confusion but is also high enough that the filtering from ac to dc can result in a signal with sufficient bandwidth to satisfy response times required for the application ( 10 khz to 1 mhz , for example ). the ac signal is reduced by a capacitive voltage divider comprising capacitor 15 and the capacitance measured between the substrate and the cooling plates . capacitors 12 and 13 comprise a reference voltage divider that reduces the same ac signal . the value of capacitor 13 can be chosen to be equal to the capacitance of the substrate to cooling plates in the initial state with the plates apart . for this initial condition the two input voltages into the difference amplifier 16 are equal , which will lead to an output voltage ˜ 0v when the cooling plates are in the “ out ” position . as the drive assemblies 7 move the plates in , the capacitance between the substrate and the cooling plates increases , resulting in a sine wave output which increases in magnitude as the plates get closer to the substrate . in the example shown , the output of the difference amplifier 16 is amplified with a bandpass amplifier 18 . this provides a method of increasing the signal to noise ratio , since the signal is amplified but most of the noise spectrum is not . the ac signal must then be rectified by a rectifier 19 to be useful as a control signal . the rectifier can be one of many types , such as a diode circuit as shown , or an rms ( root mean square ) amplifier . the output of the capacitance sensing circuit 4 can be used by motor controllers which control the drive circuits 7 . because there is only one sensing circuit in this figure , one plate must be moved into position , then the second . ( in fig1 b a circuit arrangement is provided to move both cooling plates at the same time relative to the substrate being cooled .) for each side , the motor controller can be given a set point that corresponds to the sensor signal a fixed distance from the desired final position . the pre - set velocity and deceleration will determine what that fixed distance is ( i . e . the distance the plate will travel between the time it begins to stop and the time it comes to a complete stop ). in a case in which there is a single control for each plate , when the first plate completes its motion , the second plate can start its motion . the second plate motion is stopped when the capacitance sensor signal reaches a second threshold which is higher than the first and corresponds to a capacitance sensor signal for a position a similar fixed distance before the desired final position . as should be apparent both sides can be made to move simultaneously by adding a second sensing circuit in the arrangement shown in fig1 b . however , this has not been found necessary for the speed of the system now being used . in operation , a substrate 1 is moved into position within cooling chamber 6 . the chamber is sealed and gas such as helium or hydrogen or a mixture of the two is fed into chamber 6 using tubular connection 8 to increase the pressure within the chamber to that desired for conductive heat transfer . cooling plate 2 is then moved by driver 7 to the desired position and then cooling plate 3 is moved to a like desired position . the pates 2 and 3 are maintained in this position for the desired time . thereafter the pressure in the chamber is again lowered to the level of the vacuum surrounding the chamber using the vacuum pump 10 and the cooling plates are separated away from substrate 1 . the chamber is opened and the substrate is then removed from chamber 6 and travels on for additional processing . the substrate then may be moved into other process stations for further processing . in all , it takes about 3 . 5 seconds from the time a substrate enters the compartment until the time it exits the compartment . this is typically the case in a compartment fitted for the system described in application ser . no . 10 / 361 , 308 when the system is running at a speed to produce about 800 completed disks per hour which permits the passage of a second to transport the disks between processing stations . fig3 shows the output for a system as described above in which a programmable servo motor controller 20 ( see fig2 ) is programmed to compare the capacitance sensor signal to a reference analog signal ( set point ) and move at a determined velocity inward until the two signals are equal then with a determined deceleration , stop . the set point thus corresponds to a position that is a fixed distance from the desired end point . when the first plate completes its move , a signal is sent to the servo controller 20 of the second plate to move the other cooling plate into position close to the substrate . for the data shown , the plates moved from a gap of 0 . 225 ″ to 0 . 025 ″ in less than 150 ms . at a gap of 0 . 225 inches the substrate has adequate space to enter between the two cooling plates notwithstanding the presence of the substrate carrier or lifter holding the substrate . substrates are cooled by 30 ° c . to 50 ° c . depending on conditions such as spacings , pressures , time , original temperature , etc . fig4 shows some data from a test of the reproducibility of the mechanism described in connection with fig2 . in this case , instead of a substrate , a stationary plate was used with two moving plates adjacent to each side with inductive sensors mounted in the stationary plate to measure the final position of the plates relative to the stationary plate . no attempt was made to make the two sides move to a similar distance separated from the stationary plate . the object instead for this set of graphs was reproducibility . after more than 6 , 000 cycles the chart below and fig4 a and 4b show the results obtained . standard average minimum maximum deviation side a . 0198 ″ . 0191 . 0216 . 0002 side b . 0208 . 0182 . 0237 . 0006 the b - side had a larger range because errors in a - side shift the read back at the desired b location . this is not necessarily bad , since if a ends up too close , b will tend to end farther away . this data illustrates that the method described can result in very precise reproducible placement of the cooling plates using a simple circuit . although these two plates equivalent to the cooling plates were not set in this experiment to adjust to an equal distance from the central plate , there is no question that such a result can obtain with a proper setting controlling movements and distances . while there has been shown and discussed what are presently considered a preferred embodiment , it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of this invention and the coverage of the appended claims .
| 6 |
the stackable , collapsible container of the present invention is shown generally as ( 10 ) in fig1 . the container ( 10 ) includes a removal , flexible inner liner ( 12 ) having an inlet opening ( 14 ) with a top cap ( 16 ) and a drain or outlet opening ( 18 ) with a threaded plug ( 20 ) therein . the inner liner ( 12 ) is constructed of polyethylene , such as that well known in the art to hold non - hazardous fluid material . the container ( 10 ) includes an outer skin ( 22 ). in the preferred embodiment , the outer skin ( 22 ) is constructed of a polypropylene fabric - like material . the outer skin ( 22 ) can be constructed of any lightweight material known in the art having strength characteristics sufficient to contain a flowable material . it is preferable that the outer skin ( 22 ) be waterproof or coated with a waterproof material in a manner such as that known in the art to allow the container ( 10 ) to be used outdoors as well as indoors . the outer skin ( 22 ) does not include the top of the container ( 10 ) to allow access to the inlet opening ( 14 ) through the top cap ( 16 ). as shown in fig1 , the container ( 10 ) includes a pallet type base ( 24 ) and a top ( 26 ) coupled together by a plurality of support poles ( 28 ). while the base ( 24 ) and top ( 26 ) may be constructed of any suitable material , in the preferred embodiment the base ( 24 ) and top ( 26 ) are compression molded of a forty percent fiberglass filled polypropylene homopolymer to withstand the significant loads placed upon the base ( 24 ) and top ( 26 ) during transport of flowable materials . as shown in fig2 , the base ( 24 ) is provided with a plurality of ribs ( 30 ) to create a plurality of tiny compartments ( 32 ). preferably , each compartment is provided with a drain hole ( 34 ) to allow for adequate drainage to prevent the growth of mildew and retention of water . the base is also molded with a plurality of flats ( 36 ) with downward sloping ramps ( 38 ) to facilitate emptying of a flowable material ( 40 ) through the outlet ( 18 ). ( fig1 and 2 ). as shown in fig2 , the base ( 24 ) is provided around a plurality of receivers ( 41 ) defining cavities , such as a plurality of holes ( 42 ) to support the support poles ( 28 ). preferably , the depth of the holes is at least twice as long as the width or diameter of the holes ( 42 ). as shown in fig3 , the side hole ( 44 ), or receiver , includes a main wall ( 46 ) defining a cavity ( 48 ). integrally molded into the main wall ( 46 ) is a first wedge ( 50 ). the main wall ( 46 ) is between three and thirty millimeters thick . the first wedge ( 50 ) includes a first sidewall ( 52 ), second sidewall ( 54 ) and a face ( 56 ). the first sidewall ( 52 ) and second sidewall ( 54 ) are wider near the top of the hole ( 44 ) than near the base ( 58 ), causing the wedge ( 50 ) to taper from the top ( 62 ) of the hole ( 44 ) to the base ( 58 ) of the hole ( 44 ). as shown in fig4 , the main wall ( 46 ) is wider near the top ( 60 ) than the base ( 58 ). this taper facilitates the extraction of the compression mold during the manufacturing process . given the depth of the hole ( 44 ) which , in the preferred embodiment , is between five and twenty centimeters , more preferably between ten and fifteen centimeters , and most preferably approximately fourteen centimeters , compression molding of such cavities is difficult if the cavities have non tapering walls . while shallower holes are easier to compression mold , they do not provide the support necessary for the support poles ( 28 ). while it is possible to compression mold a tapered wall all the way around the cavity ( 44 ), the tapered wall would not support the support poles ( 28 ) near the top ( 60 ) of the hole ( 44 ) and , therefore , would not adequately support the support poles ( 28 ). accordingly , applicant has provided the cavity with the plurality of wedges ( 50 ) with faces ( 56 ) which contact the support poles ( 28 ) from the top ( 60 ) to the base ( 58 ) of the cavity ( 48 ). the support pole ( 28 ) is in contact with the face ( 56 ) of the wedge ( 50 ) but is not in contact with the first sidewall ( 52 ) or second sidewall ( 54 ) of the wedge ( 50 ). while in the preferred embodiment the cavity is shown with four wedges ( 50 ) in each hole ( 44 ), the hole ( 44 ) may be provided with one to five , six or any desired number of wedges ( 50 ). in the preferred embodiment the exposed surface area of the main wall ( 46 ) is greater than the exposed surface area of the faces ( 56 ) of the wedges ( 50 ) to facilitate compression molding of the base ( 24 ). additionally , while the base ( 24 ) is molded to provide a substantially straight face ( 56 ) for contact with the support poles ( 28 ), the faces ( 56 ) may be curved and may be constructed of any dimensions plus or minus ten degrees from vertical , using any desired type of molding process . additionally , while the wedges ( 50 ) are shown to be of an interrupted construction from the top ( 60 ) to the base ( 58 ) of the hole ( 44 ), the wedges ( 50 ) may be constructed with a plurality of breaks which may be horizontal , vertical or any type of diagonal break . additionally , the wedges ( 50 ) may be positioned just near the top ( 60 ) of the hole ( 44 ), the base ( 58 ) of the hole ( 44 ), or may be staggered across the main wall ( 46 ) as desired . the hole ( 44 ) is preferably twice as deep as the diameter and the wedges ( 50 ) are at least twice as thick near the top as the bottom . additional receivers ( 61 ) defining additional holes ( 63 ) are constructed in a similar manner with four main walls ( 65 ), each having sidewalls ( 67 ) and ( 69 ). as shown in fig4 , immediately after the base ( 24 ) has been removed from the compression mold , a stainless steel washer ( 62 ) having an outer diameter of approximately 3 . 4 centimeters is dropped into the hole ( 44 ) to contact the base ( 58 ). as the base ( 24 ) cools and shrinks , the washer ( 62 ) is permanently secured to the base ( 58 ) of the hole ( 44 ). as shown in fig3 , secured to the exterior surface ( 63 ) of the main wall ( 46 ) are a plurality of ribs ( 64 ), ( 66 ), ( 68 ) and ( 70 ), which act as buttresses for the wedges ( 50 ), ( 72 ), ( 74 ) and ( 76 ) transporting lateral force from the support poles ( 28 ) through the wedges ( 50 ), ( 72 ), ( 74 ) and ( 76 ), through the main wall ( 46 ) to the ribs ( 64 ), ( 66 ), ( 68 ) and ( 70 ), and into the remainder of the base ( 24 ). as shown in fig2 , as the corner holes ( 78 ) do not provide for a standard buttress on the corner piece , the corner holes ( 78 ) are provided with a wedge buttress ( 80 ) which dissipates the forces on the wedge ( 82 ) to the sides ( 84 ) and ( 86 ) of the base ( 24 ). while a single rib can be used , the tendency is for a single rib to put such a great amount of pressure on such a small area so as to rupture the sides ( 84 ) or ( 86 ) of the base ( 24 ). the wedge ( 80 ), however , dissipates the force over a greater area , thereby reducing the likelihood of rupture . as shown in fig1 , as compression molding such a thick supportive wedge ( 80 ) at the corner near a hole ( 82 ) would likely lead to a failure during the compression molding process , the corner is provided with a cutout ( 88 ) which still allows the wedge ( 80 ) to dissipate forces to the sides ( 84 ) and ( 86 ) of the base ( 24 ), while reducing the thickness of the wedge ( 80 ) for the compression molding process to allow the mold to be extracted from the base without destruction of the wedge ( 80 ). when it is desired to utilize the stackable , collapsible container ( 10 ) of the present invention , a retention plate ( 90 ) compression molding of a glass filled material is secured in the slot ( 92 ) molded into the base ( 24 ) shown in fig2 and 5 . the base ( 24 ) is provided with a support wall ( 94 ) to add stability to the retention plate ( 90 ). the retention plate ( 90 ) is preferably provided with an opening ( 96 ) to accommodate the outlet opening ( 18 ) of the flexible liner ( 12 ). ( fig1 , 2 and 5 ). the retention plate is also provided with a pair of curved retainers ( 98 ) and ( 100 ) offset to the rear of the retention plate ( 90 ). as shown in fig1 , once the retention plate ( 90 ) has been set in place , the support poles ( 28 ) can be secured into the holes ( 42 ) of the base ( 24 ). as shown in fig1 and 5 , the support poles ( 28 ) engage the curved retainers ( 98 ) and ( 100 ) of the retention plate ( 90 ), preventing the retention plate ( 90 ) from being pushed outward past the support poles ( 28 ) by the force of the flowable material ( 40 ). the outer skin ( 22 ) is thereafter provided around the exterior of the corner support poles ( 28 ) and through the interior of the side support poles ( 28 ). thereafter , the flexible liner ( 12 ) is provided on the interior of the stackable , collapsible container ( 10 ) and the outlet opening ( 18 ) provided through the opening ( 96 ) in the retention plate ( 90 ) and the threaded plug ( 20 ) secured thereto . thereafter , the top ( 26 ) is provided over the support poles ( 28 ). the under side of the top ( 26 ) is provided with cavities to retain the support poles ( 28 ). as the cavities of the top ( 26 ) are much shallower than the holes ( 42 ) of the base ( 24 ), the cavities may be constructed with a one and one - half degree taper . alternatively , if desired , the cavities may be constructed with wedges in a manner similar to that described above in association with the holes ( 42 ). once the top ( 26 ) has been coupled to the support poles ( 28 ), the top cap ( 16 ) is removed and the flowable material ( 40 ) is provided into the flexible liner through the inlet opening ( 14 ). once the flexible liner ( 12 ) has been filled , the top cap ( 16 ) is reattached and , if desired , a flexible cover ( 102 ) constructed of any desired material , which may be flexible , solid or semi - flexible , is provided over the top ( 26 ) to protect the top cap ( 16 ) inlet opening ( 14 ) and flexible liner ( 12 ) from dust and damage . if desired , as shown in fig1 , the top ( 26 ) may be provided with locator pins ( 104 ). each locator pin ( 104 ) is provided with a front face ( 106 ) which extends above the top ( 26 ) of the container ( 10 ). the front face ( 106 ) is supported by a plurality of ribs ( 108 ), but may be supported by a solid block of material tapering downward from the front face ( 106 ) to the top ( 26 ) of the container ( 10 ). ( fig6 ). in addition to strengthening the top ( 26 ), the locator pins ( 104 ) also assist in locating containers ( 10 ) and ( 110 ) relative to one another when one container ( 110 ) is stacked on top of another container ( 10 ). ( fig7 ). as shown in fig6 , the bottom ( 112 ) of the feet ( 114 ) of the container ( 10 ) are provided with chamfered faces ( 116 ) sufficient to fit into mating engagement with the ribs ( 108 ) of the locator pins ( 104 ). when it is desired to stack the container ( 110 ) on top of the other container ( 10 ), even if the containers ( 110 ) and ( 10 ) are not perfectly aligned , as the container ( 110 ) is moved into position above the container ( 10 ), the ribs ( 108 ) of the locator pins ( 104 ) engage the chamfered faces ( 116 ) of the feet ( 114 ), guiding the container ( 110 ) into precise mating engagement with the locator pins ( 104 ) of the container ( 10 ). as shown in fig8 , when it is desired to transport the stackable , collapsible container ( 10 ) in a collapsed orientation , the flowable material ( 40 ) is removed from the flexible liner ( 12 ), the top ( 26 ) is removed from the support poles ( 28 ), and the support poles ( 28 ) and retention plate ( 90 ) are removed from the base ( 24 ). thereafter , the support poles ( 28 ) and retention plate ( 90 ) may be placed on top of the base ( 24 ) and the top ( 26 ) provided directly on top of the base ( 24 ). the bottom of the top ( 26 ) and top of the base ( 24 ) are preferably provided with small retainers to allow the top ( 26 ) and base ( 24 ) to fit into mating engagement . as the top ( 26 ) is provided with retainers ( 104 ) and the base ( 24 ) is provided with mating recesses ( 106 ), the stackable , collapsible container ( 10 ) may be stacked in the collapsed form shown in fig6 as well . the foregoing description and drawings merely explain and illustrate the invention , and the invention is not limited thereto , except insofar as the claims are so limited , as those skilled in the art that have the disclosure before them will be able to make modifications and variations therein without departing from the scope of the invention . by way of example , the stackable , collapsible container ( 10 ) of the present invention may be constructed of any desired dimensions and of any suitable material . additionally , any desired number of support poles ( 28 ) may be utilized and the base ( 24 ) and top ( 26 ) may be constructed of any suitable configuration .
| 1 |
in fig1 the reference numeral 1 indicates overall a device for measuring the quantity of liquid contained in a tank 2 . particularly , but not exclusively , the device 2 can be used for measuring the quantity of fuel contained in a motor vehicle tank . three level sensors 3 , 4 , 5 to be housed within the tank 2 in a predetermined relative position ; means 7 for processing information supplied by said level sensors which depends , when in use , on the liquid level sensed by each of them ; and indicator means 8 , 9 controlled by the processing means 7 for indicating the quantity of liquid contained in the tank 2 and , respectively , the inclination of the tank 2 ( and thus of the vehicle ) to a reference plane ( for example the horizontal plane ). conveniently , the sensors 3 , 4 , 5 are disposed along a circumference and spaced angularly apart by 120 °. fig2 and 5 show in greater diagrammatic detail the measuring devices 10 , 20 and 40 which constitute equivalent embodiments of the device 1 . for this reason , the same reference numerals are used to indicate components which are identical or operationally equivalent . with particular reference to fig2 the device 10 uses as level sensors variable resistors , each of which has its slider connected to a respective amplifier 13 , 14 , 15 having its respective output connected to a corresponding input of an adder circuit 16 . the output of this latter is connected to the fuel quantity indicator 8 . with particular reference to fig3 the device 20 uses as level sensors capacitors connected into three respective conditioning circuits 23 , 24 , 25 which are connected together in parallel and interposed between a square wave generator 21 and an adder circuit 26 , the output of which is connected to said liquid quantity indicator 8 . more specifically , the square wave generator 21 has an oscillation period t ( see the signal va of fig4 a ) proportional to the difference between capacities of the capacitors 27 and 28 which are connected to it externally . the capacitor 27 , of suitable form , is located in the tank 2 such that its plates are immersed in the liquid , which thus forms the dielectric . the capacitance of this capacitor is therefore directly proportional to the dielectric constant of the liquid . the capacitor 28 is chosen in such a way to have the same capacity of the capacitor 27 when the dielectric of this latter is air . the circuits 23 , 24 and 25 are identical and for this reason only the conditioning circuit 23 is described hereinafter in detail . the circuit 23 comprises essentially a pair of monostable circuits 30 , 31 having common inputs and having their outputs connected to respective inputs of a logic gate 36 of ex - or type . at time t0 , the signal va generated by the astable circuit 21 triggers both the output signals vb and vc ( see fig4 b and 4c ) of the monostable circuits 30 and 31 . the switching time t2 of the monostable circuit 30 is determined by a resistor 33 , the resistance of which is hereinafter indicated by r ( 33 ), and by the capacitor 3 , the capacitance c ( 3 ) of which depends on the fuel level in the tank 2 . the switching time t1 of the monostable circuit 31 is fixed , and is determined by a resistor 34 and capacitor 35 . the resistance ( r34 ) of the resistor 34 and the capacitance c ( 35 ) of the capacitor 35 are chosen such that under dry conditions the following relationship is valid : in this manner , when the tank is empty t2 = t1 , whereas when fuel is present t2 & gt ; t1 . the comparison between the signals vb and vc produces at the output of the logic gate 36 the signal , the duration t &# 39 ; of which is the difference between the duration t2 of the signal vc and the duration t1 of the signal vb , and is directly proportional to the level of the liquid between the opposing plates of the capacitor 3 ( and therefore to the respective wetted area a ), in that the portion of duration t1 , which is also present when liquid is absent between the plates , is subtracted from the signal vc . this portion in fact depends on the capacitance of the capacitor when it has air as its dielectric . the output of the logic gate 36 is connected to a respective input of the adder 26 by way of a conventional filter 39 formed from a resistor 37 and capacitor 38 . the filter 39 provides the mean value of the signal vd , expressed by the relationship : ## equ1 ## where vcc is the voltage relative to the logic value &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; of the signal vd ( for example + 5 v ). in other words , the voltage fed to the adder 26 is directly proportional ( by a constant which does not depend on the nature of the dielectric ) to the electrode area wetted by the liquid . with particular reference to fig5 the measuring device 40 illustrated therein uses preferably identical generic level sensors 3 , 4 , 5 which , by way of an interface unit 41 , are connected to a logic processing unit 42 conveniently comprising a microprocessor . the unit 42 exchanges information with a programmable read - only memory 43 ( for example of eprom type ), and controls the indicators 8 and 9 by means of respective control circuits 44 and 45 . before describing the operation of the aforesaid measuring devices , some theoretical considerations will be given . if for a particular tank the following function is known : where a , b , c are the liquid levels at three predetermined points of the tank ( see fig1 ), by measuring the three values a , b , c it is possible to obtain an accurate evaluation of the liquid quantity , independently of the attitude of the container , provided suitable computing means are available . the idea on which the present invention is based consists of evaluating the function f ( and thus the liquid quantity ) by the simple analog addition of the signals provided by three sensors , each structured such that the output signal is a precise function of the height wetted by the liquid . in particular , the three functions f ( a ), f ( b ), f ( c ) which characterise the three sensors must be such that their sum f ( a )+ f ( b )+ f ( c ) approximates as closely as possible to the function f ( a , b , c ). conveniently , polynomials of a sufficiently high order are chosen for these three functions , their coefficients being determined by regression on the function f ( a , b , c ) measured experimentally . on this basis , it is apparent that in principle and with particular reference to fig1 the measuring device according to the present invention can be structured in two different ways . more precisely , the sensors 3 , 4 and 5 can either be suitably shaped according to the shape of the tank and their arrangement in the tank ( in which case the processing means 7 need only be able to compute algebraic additions ), or can be all identical ( in which case the processing means 7 must be able to carry out the operations necessary to obtain the said three functions ). the device 10 of fig2 pertains to the first of the said cases , the resistors 3 , 4 , 5 being suitably shaped and the signal emitted by them being added algebraically in the adder 16 after suitable amplification in the respective amplifiers 13 , 14 , 15 . the device 20 of fig3 also pertains to the first case , in which the signals vd are added in the adder 26 after undergoing processing consisting essentially of compensation for the liquid dielectric constant ( by the frequency of the circuit 21 ), subtraction of the empty signal vb by the logic gate 36 , and subsequent filtration through the circuit 39 . the device 40 of fig5 can pertain either to the first case ( shaped sensors ) or to the second case ( identical sensors ). however , it is apparent that as the computing capacity of the unit 42 is available it is more convenient to use identical sensors and feed into the memory 43 all the information necessary to calculate the said functions f ( a ), f ( b ) and f ( c ). in this case , the inclination of the vehicle in which the tank 2 is fitted can also be calculated , by using the signals generated by the sensors 3 , 4 and 5 which have already been used for calculating the fuel quantity . the advantages obtained by the devices constructed in accordance with the present invention are apparent from an examination of their characteristics . firstly , the fuel quantity can now be indicated with high precision whatever the inclination or state of movement of the respective tank . moreover , secondary information regarding the attitude of the tank ( and consequently of the vehicle ) can be obtained without any significant cost increase in the device . finally , the device 40 of fig5 is particularly advantageous both from the initial installation and from the spares aspect , in that it requires a reduced stock availability as the sensors are all identical , so that to prepare such a device only a base portion , which is always identical , and a memory 43 , which is set for the particular tank in which the device is to be installed , need be provided . finally , it is apparent that modifications can be made to the described devices but without leaving the present invention . for example , the level sensors could also be of a different type , such as electrothermal . furthermore , these devices could be used for measuring the quantity of any liquid contained in tanks of any shape which are subject to variations in attitude or state of movement .
| 6 |
the following copending commonly assigned u . s . patent applications are directed to inventions which are closely related to that described herein : ( 1 ) u . s . patent application ser . no . 554 , 239 , filed july 17 , 1990 , &# 34 ; radiation - sensitive composition containing a poly ( n - acyl - alkyleneimine ) and use thereof in lithographic printing plates &# 34 ; by paul r . west et al . ( 2 ) u . s . patent application ser . no . 554 , 231 , filed july 17 , 1990 , &# 34 ; radiation - sensitive composition containing an unsaturated polyester and use thereof in lithographic printing plates &# 34 ; by paul r . west et al . ( 3 ) u . s . patent application ser . no . 554 , 230 , filed july 17 , 1990 , &# 34 ; radiation - sensitive composition containing both a vinyl pyrrolidone polymer and an unsaturated polyester and use thereof in lithographic printing plates &# 34 ; by paul r . west et al . and ( 4 ) u . s . patent application ser . no . 554 , 232 , filed july 17 , 1990 , &# 34 ; radiation - sensitive composition containing a vinyl pyrrolidone polymer and use thereof in lithographic printing plates &# 34 ; by paul r . west et al . as indicated hereinabove , the radiation - sensitive compositions of this invention contain a poly ( n - acyl - alkyleneimine ). the poly ( n - acyl - alkyleneimines ) are well known polymers , some of which are commercially available , and are described in , for example , u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 470 , 267 , 3 , 483 , 141 , 3 , 640 , 909 and 4 , 474 , 928 . they range in molecular weight from several thousand to several hundred thousand . the poly ( n - acyl - alkyleneimines ) utilized in this invention include polymers comprised of repeating units of the formula : ## str5 ## wherein r is a monovalent hydrocarbyl radical containing up to 20 carbon atoms and n is an integer with a value of 2 to 4 . the hydrocarbyl radical represented by r can be unsubstituted or substituted with substituents such as halo , haloalkyl , hydroxyalkyl , and the like . the poly ( n - acyl - alkyleneimines ) can be prepared by the ring - opening polymerization of heterocyclic monomers of the formula ## str6 ## wherein r and n are as defined above . for example , n - acylated polyethyleneimines of the structure ## str7 ## are advantageously prepared from oxazolines of the formula : ## str8 ## as indicated above , r can be any monovalent hydrocarbyl radical , substituted or unsubstituted , containing up to 20 carbon atoms including alkyl such as ethyl , halogenated alkyl such as dichloroethyl , aryl such as phenyl , halogenated aryl such as p - bromophenyl , aralkyl such as benzyl , cycloalkyl such as cyclohexyl and alkaryl such as tolyl . the preferred poly ( n - acyl - alkyleneimine ) for use in this invention is poly ( n - propionyl ethyleneimine ). an alternative name for this polymer is poly ( 2 - ethyl - 2 - oxazoline ). it is available from the dow chemical company under the trademark peox polymer , with polymers of different molecular weight available as peox 50 , peox 250 and peox 500 . the unsaturated polyester employed in this invention is a copolyester of an unsaturated dicarboxylic acid such as fumaric acid or maleic acid , or mixtures thereof , and an oxyalkylene ether of an alkylidene diphenol . a typical example is the copolyester of fumaric acid which has the formula : ## str9 ## and polyoxypropylene - 2 , 2 &# 39 ;- bis ( 4 - hydroxyphenyl ) propane which has the formula : ## str10 ## such copolyesters are well known in the art and are described , for example , in british patents 722 , 264 , 722 , 265 , 722 , 266 and 722 , 273 . they are available commercially from reichhold chemicals , inc ., as atlac 382e bisphenol fumarate resin ( also known as atlac 32 - 629 - 00 ) and related resins atlac 382 . 05 ( a solution of atlac 382e in styrene ), atlac 32 - 631 - 00 ( also known as atlac 382es ), atlac 32 - 628 - 00 ( also known as atlac 382a ) and atlac 32 - 630 - 00 ( also known as atlac 382esa ). to prepare the unsaturated polyester , an alkylene oxide , such as propylene oxide , is condensed with an alkylidene diphenol such as bisphenol - a , to give the bis - hydroxyalkyl derivative which , in turn , is reacted with an unsaturated acid , such as fumaric acid , to give the unsaturated polyester . as described in british patent no . 722 , 264 , the suitable oxyalkylene ethers of an alkylidene diphenol can be generically represented by the formula : ## str11 ## wherein a is a 2 - alkylidene radical of 3 or 4 carbon atoms , r is an alkylene radical of 2 or 3 carbon atoms , m and n are each at least one and the sum of m and n is not greater than 3 . the esterifying dicarboxylic acid is predominantly fumaric acid , or maleic acid or mixtures thereof , but may include minor proportions of saturated aliphatic acids , aromatic acids or other unsaturated aliphatic acids , such as , for example , succinic acid , sebacic acid , phthalic acid or itaconic acid . each of the poly ( n - acyl - alkyleneimine ) and the copolyester of an unsaturated dicarboxylic acid and an oxyalkylene ether of an alkylidene diphenol is typically incorporated in the radiation - sensitive composition in an amount of from about 2 to about 30 percent by weight based on total polymer content , and more particularly in an amount of from about 5 to about 15 percent by weight . copolyesters of an unsaturated carboxylic acid and an oxyalkylene ether of an alkylidene diphenol have been found to be especially useful in controlling the break - up of the photopolymer coatings in aqueous developing solutions . specifically , the presence of the copolyester results in finer particle sizes upon processing of such coatings with aqueous developers . the copolyester additive is less prone than other polymeric additives to extraction from crosslinked portions of photopolymer coatings upon processing . it has also been found to improve the rate of initial ink - up of printing plates and to counteract the blinding tendencies caused by addition of the poly ( n - acyl - alkyleneimine ) to the photopolymer coating . ( the term &# 34 ; blinding &# 34 ; refers to rendering the image area non - ink - receptive .) the radiation - sensitive compositions of this invention comprise photocrosslinkable polymers , such as polyesters , containing the photosensitive group ## str12 ## as an integral part of the polymer backbone . for example , preferred photocrosslinkable polymers are polyesters prepared from one or more compounds represented by the following formulae : ## str13 ## where r 2 is one or more alkyl of 1 to 6 carbon atoms , aryl of 6 to 12 carbon atoms , aralkyl of 7 to 20 carbon atoms , alkoxy of 1 to 6 carbon atoms , nitro , amino , acrylic , carboxyl , hydrogen or halo and is chosen to provide at least one condensation site ; and r 3 is hydroxy , alkoxy of 1 to 6 carbon atoms , halo or oxy if the compound is an acid anhydride . a preferred compound is p - phenylene diacrylic acid or a functional equivalent thereof . these and other useful compounds are described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 030 , 208 ( issued apr . 17 , 1962 to schellenberg et al ); u . s . pat . no . 3 , 702 , 765 ( issued nov . 14 , 1972 to laakso ); and u . s . pat . no . 3 , 622 , 320 ( issued nov . 23 , 1971 to allen ), the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference . ## str14 ## r 3 is as defined above , and r 4 is alkylidene of 1 to 4 carbon atoms , aralkylidene of 7 to 16 carbon atoms , or a 5 - to 6 - membered heterocyclic ring . particularly useful compounds of formula ( b ) are cinnamylidenemalonic acid , 2 - butenylidenemalonic acid , 3 - pentenylidenemalonic acid , o - nitro - cinnamylidene malonic acid , naphthylallyl - idenemalonic acid , 2 - furfurylideneethylidenemalonic acid and functional equivalents thereof . these and other useful compounds are described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 674 , 745 ( issued july 4 , 1972 to philipot et al ), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference . ## str15 ## r 3 is as defined above ; and r 5 is hydrogen or methyl . particularly useful compounds of formula ( c ) are trans , trans - muconic acid , cis - transmuconic acid , cis , cis - muconic acid , α , α &# 39 ;- cis , trans - dimethylmuconic acid , α , α &# 39 ;- cis , cis - dimethylmuconic acid and functional equivalents thereof . these and other useful compounds are described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 615 , 434 ( issued oct . 26 , 1971 to mcconkey ), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference . ## str16 ## r 3 is as defined above ; and z represents the atoms necessary to form an unsaturated bridged or unbridged carbocyclic nucleus of 6 or 7 carbon atoms . such nucleus can be substituted or unsubstituted . particularly useful compounds of formula ( d ) are 4 - cyclohexene - 1 , 2 - dicarboxylic acid , 5 - norbornene - 2 , 3 - dicarboxylic acid , hexachloro - 5 [ 2 : 2 : 1 ]- bicycloheptene - 2 , 3 - dicarboxylic acid and functional equivalents thereof . these and other useful compounds are described in canadian patent no . 824 , 096 ( issued sept . 30 , 1969 to mench et al ), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference . ## str17 ## r 3 is as defined above ; and r 6 is hydrogen , alkyl 1 to 12 carbon atoms , cycloalkyl of 5 to 12 carbon atoms or aryl of 6 to 12 carbon atoms . r 6 can be substituted where possible , with such substituents as do not interfere with the condensation reaction , such as halo , nitro , aryl , alkoxy , aryloxy , etc . the carbonyl groups are attached to the cyclohexadiene nucleus meta or para to each other , and preferably para . particularly useful compounds of formula ( e ) are 1 , 3 - cyclohexadiene - 1 , 4 - dicarboxylic acid , 1 , 3 - cyclohexadiene - 1 , 3 - dicarboxylic acid , 1 , 5 - cyclohexadiene - 1 , 4 - dicarboxylic acid and functional equivalents thereof . these and other useful compounds are described in belgian patent no . 754 , 892 ( issued oct . 15 , 1970 ), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference . preferred photocrosslinkable polyesters for use in this invention are p - phenylene diacrylate polyesters . printing plates of this invention comprise a support having coated thereon a layer containing the radiation - sensitive composition described above . such plates can be prepared by forming coatings with the coating composition and removing the solvent by drying at ambient or elevated temperatures . any one of a variety of conventional coating techniques can be employed , such as extrusion coating , doctor - blade coating , spray coating , dip coating , whirl coating , spin coating , roller coating , etc . coating compositions containing the mixture of polymers of this invention can be prepared by dispersing or dissolving the polymers in any suitable solvent or combination of solvents used in the art to prepare polymer dopes . the solvents are chosen to be substantially unreactive toward the polymers within the time period contemplated for maintaining the solvent and polymer in association and are chosen to be compatible with the substrate employed for coating . while the best choice of solvent will vary with the exact application under consideration , exemplary preferred solvents include alcohols , such as butanol and benzyl alcohol ; ketones , such as acetone , 2 - butanone and cyclohexanone ; ethers , such as tetrahydrofuran and dioxane ; 2 - methoxyethyl acetate ; n , n &# 39 ;- dimethyformamide ; chlorinated hydrocarbons such as chloroform , trichloroethane , 1 , 2 - dichloroethane , 1 , 1 - dichloroethane , 1 , 1 , 2 - trichloroethane , dichloromethane , tetrachloroethane , chlorobenzene ; and mixtures thereof . suitable supports can be chosen from among a variety of materials which do not directly chemically react with the coating composition . such supports include fiber based materials such as paper , polyethylene - coated paper , polypropylene - coated paper , parchment , cloth , etc . ; sheets and foils of such materials as aluminum , copper , magnesium zinc , etc . ; glass and glass coated with such metals as chromium alloys , steel , silver , gold , platinum , etc . ; synthetic resin and polymeric materials such as poly ( alkyl acrylates ), e . g ., poly ( methyl methacrylate ), polyester film base , e . g ., poly ( ethylene terephthalate ), poly ( vinyl acetals ), polyamides , e . g ., nylon and cellulose ester film base , e . g ., cellulose nitrate , cellulose acetate , cellulose acetate propionate , cellulose acetate butyrate and the like . preferred support materials include zinc , anodized aluminum , grained aluminum , and aluminum which has been grained and anodized . particularly preferred support materials are described in miller et al , u . s . pat . no . 4 , 647 , 346 , issued mar . 3 , 1987 , and huddleston et al , u . s . pat . no . 4 , 865 , 951 , issued sept . 12 , 1989 . the support can be preliminarily coated -- i . e ., before receipt of the radiation - sensitive coating -- with known subbing layers such as copolymers of vinylidene chloride and acrylic monomers -- e . g ., acrylonitrile , methyl acrylate , etc . and unsaturated dicarboxylic acids such as itaconic acid , etc . ; carboxymethyl cellulose , gelatin ; polyacrylamide ; and similar polymer materials . a preferred subbing composition comprises benzoic acid and is described in miller et al , u . s . pat . no . 4 , 640 , 886 , issued feb . 3 , 1987 . the optimum coating thickness of the radiation - sensitive layer will depend upon such factors as the particular application to which the printing plate will be put , and the nature of other components which may be present in the coating . typical coating thicknesses can be from about 0 . 05 to about 10 . 0 microns or greater , with thicknesses of from 0 . 1 to 2 . 5 microns being preferred . the printing plate of this invention can be exposed by conventional methods , for example , through a transparency or a stencil , to an imagewise pattern of actinic radiation , preferably rich in ultraviolet light , which crosslinks and insolubilizes the radiation - sensitive polymer in the exposed areas . suitable light sources include carbon arc lamps , mercury vapor lamps , fluorescent lamps , tungsten filament lamps , &# 34 ; photoflood &# 34 ; lamps , lasers and the like . the exposure can be by contact printing techniques , by lens projection , by reflex , by bireflex , from an image - bearing original or by any other known technique . the exposed printing plate of this invention can be developed by flushing , soaking , swabbing or otherwise treating the radiation - sensitive composition with a solution ( hereinafter referred to as a developer ) which selectively solubilizes ( i . e ., removes ) the unexposed areas of the radiation - sensitive layer . the developer is preferably an aqueous alkaline solution having a ph as near to neutral as is feasible . in a preferred form , the developer includes a combination of water and an alcohol that is miscible with water , or able to be rendered miscible by the use of cosolvents or surfactants , as a solvent system . the proportions of water and alcohol can be varied widely but are typically within the range of from 40 to 99 percent by volume water and from 1 to 60 percent by volume alcohol . most preferably , the water content is maintained within the range of from 60 to 90 percent by volume . any alcohol or combination of alcohols that does not chemically adversely attack the crosslinked radiation - sensitive layer during development and that is miscible with water in the proportions chosen for use can be employed . exemplary of useful alcohols are glycerol , benzyl alcohol , 2 - phenoxyethanol , 1 , 2 - propanediol , sec - butyl alcohol and ethers derived from alkylene glycols -- i . e ., dihydroxy poly ( alkylene oxides )-- e . g ., dihydroxy poly ( ethylene oxide ), dihydroxy poly ( propylene oxide ), etc . it is recognized that the developer can , optionally , contain additional addenda . for example , the developer can contain dyes and / or pigments . it can be advantageous to incorporate into the developer anti - scumming and / or anti - blinding agents as is well recognized in the art . a preferred developing composition for use with the novel lithographic printing plates of this invention is an aqueous composition including : ( a ) a nontoxic developing vehicle , such as butyrolactone , phenoxy propanol , phenoxy ethanol , benzyl alcohol or methyl pyrrolidone , which is a non - solvent for any of the components of the lithographic plate ; ( b ) a first surfactant comprising a sodium , lithium or potassium salt of xylene sulfonic acid ; ( c ) a second surfactant comprising a sodium , lithium or potassium salt of toluene , ethyl benzene , cumene or mesitylene sulfonic acid ; ( d ) a third surfactant comprising a sodium , lithium or potassium salt of an alkyl benzene sulfonic acid , the alkyl group containing at least ten carbon atoms , or an alkyl naphthalene sulfonic acid , the alkyl group containing from one to four carbon atoms ; ( e ) a cold water soluble film - forming agent such as polyvinyl pyrrolidone , polystyrene / maleic anhydride copolymers , polyvinyl alcohol , polyvinyl methyl ethers and polystyrene / vinyl acetate copolymers ; ( f ) an alkanolamine desensitizing agent such as diethanolamine ; and ( g ) an acid , such as citric , ascorbic , tartaric , glutaric , acetic , phosphoric , sulfuric or hydrochloric acid , to control the ph of the developing composition . these developing compositions are described in copending commonly assigned u . s . pat . application ser . no . 379 , 823 , filed july 14 , 1989 , &# 34 ; aqueous developer composition for developing negative - working lithographic printing plates &# 34 ;, by j . e . walls , the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference . a developing composition of this type is commercially available from eastman kodak company , rochester , n . y ., as kodak aqueous plate developer mx - 1469 - 1 . after development , the printing plate can be treated in any known manner consistent with its intended use . for example , lithographic printing plates are typically subjected to desensitizing etches . in addition to the photocrosslinkable polymer , the poly ( n - acyl - alkyleneimine ) and the copolyester of an unsaturated dicarboxylic acid and an oxyalkylene ether of an alkylidene diphenol , a number of other addenda can be present in the coating composition and ultimately form a part of the completed printing plate . for example , radiation sensitivity of the radiation - sensitive polymeric composition can be enhanced by incorporating therein one or more spectral sensitizers . suitable spectral sensitizers include anthrones , nitro sensitizers , triphenylmethanes , quinones , cyanine dyes , naphthones , pyrylium and thiapyrylium salts , furanones , anthraquinones , 3 - ketocoumarins , thiazoles , thiazolines , naphthothiazolines , quinalizones , and others described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 139 , 390 and references noted therein . preferred sensitizers include the 3 - ketocoumarins described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 147 , 552 and the thiazoline sensitizers of u . s . pat . no . 4 , 062 , 686 . such sensitizers can be present in the compositions in effective sensitizing amounts easily determined by one of the ordinary skill in the art . the coating composition can contain pigments preferably having a maximum average particle size less than about 3 micrometers . these pigments can provide a visible coloration to an image before or after development of the element . useful pigments are well known in the art and include titanium dioxide , zinc oxide , copper phthalocyanines , halogenated copper phthalocyanines , quinacridine , and colorants such as those sold commercially under such trade names as monastral blue and monastral red b . the pigments are generally present in the compositions in an amount within the range of from 0 to about 50 percent ( by weight ) based on the total dry composition weight . preferred amounts are within the range of from about 5 to about 20 percent ( by weight ). it is frequently desirable to add print out or indicator dyes to the compositions to provide a colored print out image after exposure . useful dyes for such purpose include monoazo , diazo , methine , anthraquinone , triarylmethane , thiazine , xanthene , phthalocyanine , azine , cyanine and leuco dyes as described , for example , in u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 929 , 489 and 4 , 139 , 390 and references noted therein . such dyes are present in amounts readily determined by a person of ordinary skill in the art . it is recognized that the radiation - sensitive composition of this invention can become crosslinked prior to intended exposure if the compositions or printing plates of this invention are stored at elevated temperatures , in areas permitting exposure to some quantity of actinic radiation and / or for extended periods of time . to insure against crosslinking the composition inadvertently before intended exposure to actinic radiation , stabilizers can be incorporated into the radiation - sensitive compositions and printing plates of this invention . useful stabilizers include picoline n - oxide ; phenols , such as 2 , 6 - di - tert - butyl - p - cresol , 2 , 6 - di - tert - butylanisole and p - methoxyphenol ; hydroquinones such as hydroquinone , phloroglucinol and 2 , 5 - di - tert - butylhydroquinone ; triphenylmetallics , such as triphenylarsine ; triphenylstilbene ; and tertiary amines , such as n - methyldephenylamine . still other addenda useful in the printing plates of this invention include antioxidants , surfactants , anti - scumming agents , and others known in the art . binders or extenders can optionally be incorporated into the radiation - sensitive composition . such binders or extenders can be present in an amount within the range of from 0 to about 50 percent ( by weight ) based on total dry composition weight . suitable binders include styrene - butadiene copolymers ; silicone resins ; styrene - alkyd resins ; silicone - alkyd resins ; soya - alkyd resins ; poly ( vinyl chloride ); poly ( vinylidene chloride ); vinylidene chloride - acrylonitrile copolymers ; poly ( vinyl acetate ); vinyl acetate - vinyl chloride copolymers ; poly ( vinyl acetals ), such as poly ( vinyl butyral ); polyacrylic and - methacrylic esters , such as poly ( methyl methacrylate ), poly ( n - butyl methacrylate ) and poly ( isobutyl methacrylate ); polystyrene ; nitrated polystyrene ; polymethylstyrene ; isobutylene polymers ; polyesters , such as poly ( ethylene - co - alkaryloxy - alkylene terephthalate ); phenolformaldehyde resins ; ketone resins ; polyamides ; polycarbonates ; polythiocarbonates , poly ( ethylene 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- isopropylidenediphenylene terephthalate ); copolymers of vinyl acetate such as poly ( vinyl - m - bromobenzoate - co - vinyl acetate ); ethyl cellulose , poly ( vinyl alcohol ), cellulose acetate , cellulose nitrate , chlorinated rubber and gelatin . methods of making binders or extenders of this type are well known in the prior art . a typical resin of the type contemplated for use is piccolastic a50 ™, commercially available from hercules , inc ., wilmington , del . other types of binders which can be used include such materials as paraffin and mineral waxes . the invention is further illustrated by the following examples of its practice . coating compositions useful in preparing lithographic printing plates were prepared in accordance with the following formulations : __________________________________________________________________________ amounts ( grams ) component composition 1 composition 2 composition 3__________________________________________________________________________ ( 1 ) polymer a ( 15 % by weight solu - 144 . 16 tion in 1 , 2 - dichloroethane )( 2 ) polymer b ( 15 % by weight solu - 144 . 15 tion in 1 , 2 - dichloroethane )( 3 ) polymer c ( 15 % by weight solu - 144 . 15 tion in 1 , 2 - dichloroethane )( 4 ) monastral red pigment ( 7 % by 52 . 13 51 . 54 weight dispersion in 1 , 2 - dichloroethane ( 5 ) monastral blue pigment ( 7 % by 18 . 49 weight dispersion in 1 , 2 - dichloroethane )( 6 ) 2 -[ bis ( 2 - furoyl ) methylene ]- 1 - 0 . 63 0 . 83 methyl - naphtho [ 1 , 2 - d ] thiazoline ( 7 ) 3 , 3 &# 39 ;- carbonylbis ( 5 , 7 - di - n - 1 . 03 propoxycoumarin )( 8 ) 2 , 6 - di - t - butyl - p - cresol 0 . 60 0 . 68 0 . 60 ( 9 ) n -( 4 - chlorobenzenesulfonyloxy )- 1 . 77 1 . 14 1 . 42 1 , 8 - naphthalimide ( 10 ) dihydroanhydropiperidinohexose 0 . 08 0 . 02 0 . 03 reductone ( 11 ) leuco propyl violet 0 . 46 0 . 28 0 . 27 ( 12 ) modaflow coating aid * 0 . 02 ( 13 ) fc - 430 surfactant ** 0 . 15 0 . 23 ( 14 ) 1 , 2 - dichloroethane 597 . 06 597 . 06 630 . 90__________________________________________________________________________ * modaflow coating aid is a copolymer of ethylacrylate and 2ethylhexyl acrylate manufactured by monsanto corporation . ** fc430 surfactant is a mixture of fluoroaliphatic polymeric esters manufactured by minnesota mining and manufacturing company . in the above formulations , ( 1 ), ( 2 ), and ( 3 ) serve as film - forming polymers , ( 4 ) and ( 5 ) serve as colorants , ( 6 ) and ( 7 ) serve as spectral sensitizers , ( 8 ) serves as a stabilizer , ( 9 ) serves at a photooxidant , ( 10 ) serves as an antioxidant , ( 11 ) serves as a print - out dye , ( 12 ) and ( 13 ) serve as coating aids and ( 14 ) serves as a solvent . a comparison coating was prepared by incorporating polystyrene resin ( available under the trademark piccolastic a - 50 from hercules , inc .) in the formulation of composition 1 in an amount of 15 . 3 % of the total polymer content . a composition within the scope of the present invention was prepared by incorporating , in the formulation of composition 1 , atlac 382e in an amount of 11 % of the total polymer content and peox 50 in an amount of 7 % of the total polymer content . each composition was used to prepare a lithographic printing plate by coating it over a brush - grained , phosphoric acid - anodized aluminum substrate provided with a thin carboxymethyl cellulose subcoat . each coating was imaged and then processed with kodak aqueous plate developer mx - 1469 - 1 , available from eastman kodak company , rochester , n . y . the plates were mounted on a printing press , and the number of impressions required to produce an acceptable print under the test conditions was then determined for each plate under normal conditions as well as after treatment with a commercial plate cleaner . the results obtained are indicated in table i below . table i__________________________________________________________________________test additive coating weight number of impressionsno . ( wt . %) ( g / m . sup . 2 ) initial roll - up after cleaning__________________________________________________________________________control a none 0 . 84 16 100control b piccolastic a - 50 ( 15 . 3 ) 0 . 88 12 100control c piccolastic a - 50 ( 15 . 3 ) 1 . 33 5 22example 1 atlac 382e / peox 50 ( 11 / 7 ) 0 . 81 2 7__________________________________________________________________________ it is desirable to have plates roll - up to full ink density with a minimum number of impressions to reduce paper waste as well as to improve press efficiency . a good printing plate can generally be expected to produce acceptable prints in less than 10 impressions . control a demonstrates that brush - grained plates with coating weights of less than about 1 g / m 2 are slow to roll - up to full ink density . polystyrene is a very oleophilic polymer , but it offers only a modest improvement in the roll - up rates at low coverage , as evidenced by control b . it was unexpected , therefore , to find that the coating containing both the atlac and peox resins produced excellent rollth the atlac and peox resins produced excellent roll - up rates even at low total coating weights , as shown in example 1 . other additives such as polystyrene can give excellent roll - up characteristics if the coating weight is sufficiently high , but such coatings can still be susceptible to blinding caused by typical press treatments . control c demostrates that a commercial plate cleaner applied to a plate that otherwise rolls up quickly can produce unacceptably slow roll - up rates . the coating with the atlac and peox resin additives of example 1 showed excellent roll - up behavior even after the plate cleaner treatment , despite the fact that the coating weight was quite low . coatings similar to those in example 1 were prepared using the formulations of compositions 2 and 3 to which had been added 7 . 4 % of peox 50 and 11 . 1 % of atlac 382e . the coatings were similarly processed and tested for their ink receptivity . satisfactory prints were obtained after only 6 impressions for composition 2 and after only 7 impressions for composition 3 . a machine processor charged with 19 liters of kodak aqueous plate developer mx - 1469 - 1 was &# 34 ; seasoned &# 34 ; by processing 280 m 2 of plate bearing the coating identified as control c in example 1 . at this point , plates bearing the coatings identified as control a and control b as well as the example 1 coating were imaged and processed with the &# 34 ; seasoned &# 34 ; developer . the unexposed portions of control coatings a and b partialy transferred to the entrance roller of the machine processor and subsequently deposited onto the plate . the portions which did not transfer onto the entrance roller agglomerated in the aqueous developer and deposited onto the imaged areas . the resulting plates could not be used to produce acceptable prints . in contrast , the plate with example 1 coating processed clearly , with no transfer to the entrance roller or redeposit onto the imaged areas . the poly ( n - acyl - alkyleneimines ) are both solvent soluble and water soluble . these solubility characteristics render them especially advantageous for use in the present invention since they facilitate both coating from solvent solution to form the radiation - sensitive layer and subsequent development by the use of &# 34 ; aqueous &# 34 ; developing solutions , i . e ., developing solutions which are predominantly water but do contain small amounts of organic solvent . incorporation of the poly ( n - acyl - alkyleneimine ) in the radiation - sensitive composition permits the use of lower concentrations of organic solvent in the aqueous developing solution , as compared with an otherwise identical composition that does not contain the poly ( n - acyl - alkyleneimine ). also , significantly less mottle results when the poly ( n - acyl - alkyleneimine ) is employed and higher contrast images are achieved . addition of the copolyester of an unsaturated dicarboxylic acid and an oxyalkylene ether of an alkylidene diphenol provides still further improvements . thus , for example , it causes the coating to break - up into finer particle sizes and it improves the rate of initial ink - up . the most important benefits obtained from use of a copolyester of an unsaturated dicarboxylic acid and an oxyalkylene ether of an alkylidene diphenol , as described herein , are improved roll - up and decreased sensitivity to blinding . coatings containing these copolyesters are less susceptible to the effects of varying coverage on roll - up . they roll - up quicker in general , especially in comparison between plates which have been stored for several days or more before going to press . current trends in the lithographic printing plate industry favor the use of &# 34 ; aqueous developers .&# 34 ; by this is meant that the developer used to process the printing plate , either by hand or by machine , contains little or no organic solvent and that any organic solvent which is present is nontoxic and a high boiling material with a very low vapor pressure . other ingredients included in the developer , such as salts and surfactants , are nontoxic and biodegradable . the present invention is especially well adapted , by virtue of the polymeric materials incorporated in the radiation - sensitive composition , for use with such &# 34 ; aqueous developers .&# 34 ; the invention has been described in detail with particular reference to preferred embodiments thereof , but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention .
| 6 |
what is disclosed is a method for selecting a freshwater fish of short - lived salt - tolerance comprising the steps of screening fish for salt - tolerance , selecting and breeding fish offspring that are predisposed to a short - lived salt - tolerance , and screening the fish offspring for an established salt - tolerance . the fish produced thereby are reared in normal freshwater conditions . while any number of these steps can accomplish the goals , or a part of them , this disclosure sets forth a comprehensive approach . this is not intended to limit to only the combination of all these steps unless claims proscribe otherwise . in the first screening step , a short - lived salt - tolerant freshwater baitfish is selected by subjecting freshwater fish to an artificial , increased saline environment . the heightened saline environment is preferably prepared by the addition of amounts of chlorine , sodium , sulfur , magnesium , calcium , and / or potassium salt to fresh water because these elements make up about 99 % of the salts in seawater , although other substances may be added to the water to create an artificial environment that can be used to produce salt - tolerance in fish . the concentration and amounts of salt added to the water may vary as needed to accomplish the present invention . one solution of the present invention is to add sodium chloride to fresh water ; in particular , sea salt is added to fresh water to bring the salinity to about 32 ppt , although ranges upwards of 500 ppt may be used . the purpose of the first screening step is to select for fish that are able to withstand high salt concentrations for a given period ; that is , the selection produces fish predisposed to a short - lived salt - tolerance . this first screening step may be repeated on the same fish or offspring thereof to produce a fish of desired salt - tolerance , or to fit within a range of saline conditions . the first screening step of the present invention is preferably done in the autumn of the year prior to the desired spring spawn . the saline solution is prepared in a tank commonly referred to in the industry as a raceway , although the invention is not limited thereto . the tank has an inflow and a discharge end . the fish are preferably placed in the tank near the discharge end and are kept in this area using a divider . upon exposing the fish to the saline environment for a predetermined length of time , the divider is removed and a steady flow of fresh water is established in the tank . those fish not sufficiently adaptable to the saline environment are expelled with the outflow of fresh water while the salt - tolerant individuals are able to recover strength and instinctively swim upstream . the upstream survivors are returned to a freshwater source for use the as broodstock . in the second screening step , the broodstock used for production of salt - tolerant eggs are preferably selected from the screening step disclosed above . in the egg - screening process , the eggs are subjected to an artificial , increased saline environment described above for a predetermined amount of time . following this exposure to the saline environment , the eggs that survive are reintroduced to fresh water and allowed to mature . in the third salt - tolerance screening process , fry are subjected to an alternating regimen of saline environment and fresh water . these fry are the product of the salt - tolerant eggs , now matured , disclosed above . this process is performed to produce and select for fish that have an increased ability to withstand alternating exposure to a saline environment when compared to freshwater fish that were not subjected to any of the screening steps . while it is preferred to produce a short - lived salt - tolerant freshwater baitfish by performing each of the above steps in succession , the advantages of the invention may be achieved by performing any of the steps alone or in varying combinations . producing a short - lived salt - tolerant freshwater baitfish through performing all of the above steps on an individual is especially preferred since it produces a greater consistency and populous of desired short - lived salt - tolerant freshwater baitfish . by using multiple screening techniques to achieve consistency , the genetically pressured elements become more stable and predictable . bearing the screening steps above in mind , the preferred embodiment of the invention can now be disclosed . the preferred embodiment begins with selection of broodstock by adding sea salt to fresh water to form a saline solution that has a salt content of about 32 ppt . a tank having both an inflow and discharge mechanism fills with this solution . a divider placed in the tank keeps fish located near the discharge end . fish placed into the tank between the divider and the discharge end remain exposed to the saline solution for about forty - five minutes . at the end of this period , introduction of fresh water forms a substantial current in the tank . removal of the divider allows salt - tolerant fish to swim upstream in the tank towards the inflow end , while fish lacking salt - tolerance flush out the discharge mechanism . those fish that are capable of swimming upstream qualify as broodstock , and the criteria , such as salt content and time left in high salinity , may vary . the brooders selected then spawn in a controlled freshwater environment . an acclimation tank fills with water replicating spawning conditions . the brooders adjust to this environment for twenty - four hours , at which time the water temperature should be around 72 ° f . the brooders move to a spawning tank through an automatic transfer pipe to reducing harmful handling . the spawning tank is a two - level tank with a deep center shelf and shallow shelves that are wider than the deep shelf . when the brooders arrive via the transfer pipe in the spawning tank , the water level is low enough that the shallow shelves are above the waterline . the shallow shelves are populated with artificial spawning material , and over a ten - hour period during the evening the water level rises until the spawning material becomes covered by the proper amount of water for the species of fish in question . the water level is reduced the following morning to a depth where the shallow shelves are again above the waterline and the fish occupy the deep shelf . the brooders are transferred to another tank once spawning is complete . a hatchery receives the artificial spawning materials that now contain fertilized fish eggs . the hatchery is responsible for incubation , hatching , and limited maturation of the eggs deposited on the spawning materials . the spawning materials are preferably flat , rectangular pieces of material known as mats . these mats stack and maintain spacing between them in a hatching tank to allow for circulation . water temperature in the hatching tank is held steady at 70 ° f . as a next step , sea salt is added to bring the salinity of the tank to 32 ppt . the lowered addition of sea salt holds the salinity at 32 ppt for a sufficient duration , at which time the normal water exchange dilutes the salt content to a freshwater level . twenty - four hours after fry hatch , the addition of sea salt brings the salinity of the tank to 10 ppt . after a sufficient period , the normal water exchange again dilutes the salt content of the water in the hatching tank . twenty - four hours following exposure to the salt treatment , the fry are transferred into growing ponds for maturation . the fry that mature compose the short - lived salt - tolerant freshwater baitfish of the present invention . some of the stock of baitfish produced by the disclosed method are retained for use a brooders in another cycle of baitfish production . using broodstock selected from the entire disclosed preferred embodiment produces additional , longer lasting salt - tolerance in successive generations of baitfish .
| 0 |
detailed embodiments of the instant invention are disclosed herein , however , it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the instant invention , which may be embodied in various forms . therefore , specific functional and structural details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting , but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representation basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present instant invention in virtually and appropriately detailed structure . like reference numerals refer to like elements in the drawings . fig1 illustrates a carton 10 in which a plurality , normally 24 , of beverages in cans are sold . beverages are also sold in cartons which hold 6 , 12 , 18 and 36 containers of beverages . the number of beverage containers in the carton can vary depending on the manufacturer and seller . the carton 10 includes a top 12 , a bottom 14 , a plurality of sides 16 , 18 and a plurality of ends 20 , 22 . a plurality of insulated beverage jackets 24 form one end 20 of the carton 10 . the jackets 24 are removably secured to the carton with a plurality of perforated connections 26 . other means to removably secure the jackets to the carton can also be employed such as pull tabs , etc . the jackets are also removably secured to each other with a perforated connection 28 . the jackets are formed from a plurality of sheets of paperboard which are secured together along two longitudinal edges 30 and 32 as shown in fig2 & amp ; 3 . when the jackets are in their stored condition on the carton the sheets of paperboard are flat and touching each other . when the jackets are in their use condition the sheets are expanded away from each other until they form a substantially cylindrical container , a shown in fig2 and 3 . a bottom portion 33 is formed as a portion of one of the sheets of paperboard and attached or secured to the other sheet . the bottom portion is folded , as illustrated in fig2 , when the jackets 24 are in their folded conditions . after the jackets are opened and expanded the bottom portion will unfold and cover the bottom of the jacket to help secure the beverage can in the jacket 24 . jackets 24 can also be formed without bottom portions , as illustrated in fig3 . fig3 also illustrates a beverage can 34 surrounded by the insulated jacket 24 . another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in fig4 . a plurality of insulating jackets 24 are formed into a strip 36 . the strip 36 is removable secured to an end 20 of a carton 10 of beverages . the strip 36 does not form a portion of the carton . the strip can be secured be to the carton by perforated connections , adhesive , tear strips , etc . after the strip 36 is removed from the carton , the individual insulating jackets 24 are detached from each other and expanded into their operative condition as illustrated in fig2 and 3 . another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in fig5 . in this embodiment the insulating jackets 24 form both an end 20 and the top 12 of the beverage carton 10 . any portion of the beverage carton could be formed from the insulating jackets 24 . the jackets 24 are secured to the carton 10 in the same manner as the jackets 24 in fig1 . another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in fig6 . this embodiment is similar to the embodiment of fig1 except that the insulating jackets 38 are designed to surround a bottle with a long neck . each of the insulating jackets is in the shape of a bottle and removably secured to an end 20 of the carton 10 . the upper end of the jackets is open and the lower end is provided with a bottom portion 44 , as illustrated in fig9 . the bottom portion 44 is hingedly attached at one end to the jacket 42 and has another end which is secured between the jacket 42 and the bottle . a plurality of jackets 38 can be secured together and removably secured to a carton similar to the strip 36 of fig4 . after the jacket 38 is removed from the carton , it is expanded such that a bottle 40 can be placed therein from the lower end , as shown in fig8 . the top of the bottle extends through the top of jacket 38 so that the beverage can be consumed from the bottle . the jackets 38 can be arranged in an alternating right side up and up side down arrangement on the carton 10 so as to conserve space , as illustrated in fig7 . in another embodiment , illustrated in fig8 , the jacket 38 is provided without a bottom panel to help secure bottle 40 into the jacket 42 . the insulating jacket 24 of fig1 - 5 can also be placed around a bottle 38 as illustrated in fig1 . the jacket 24 will insulate the majority of bottle 38 . all patents and publications mentioned in this specification are indicative of the levels of those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains . all patents and publications are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference . it is to be understood that while a certain form of the invention is illustrated , it is not to be limited to the specific form or arrangement herein described and shown . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention and the invention is not to be considered limited to what is shown and described in the specification and any drawings / figures included herein . one skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the present invention is well adapted to carry out the objectives and obtain the ends and advantages mentioned , as well as those inherent therein . the embodiments , methods , procedures and techniques described herein are presently representative of the preferred embodiments , are intended to be exemplary and are not intended as limitations on the scope . changes therein and other uses will occur to those skilled in the art which are encompassed within the spirit of the invention and are defined by the scope of the appended claims . although the invention has been described in connection with specific preferred embodiments , it should be understood that the invention as claimed should not be unduly limited to such specific embodiments . indeed , various modifications of the described modes for carrying out the invention which are obvious to those skilled in the art are intended to be within the scope of the following claims .
| 1 |
two aspects and a number of embodiments of the invention will be explained in more detail in the following with reference to the drawings . the isometric view of a first aspect , the horizontal 3 - level mixing , of the invention presented in fig1 shows a top view of the mixing device 01 . the mixing device has a circular shape to correspond the inner circular wall of the cylindrical reactor ( not shown ) wherein the mixing device is to be installed . in particular , the outer rim 02 of the mixing device is circular . in this embodiment the mixing device has no outer wall , but as the outer rim matches the inner wall of the reactor , the reactor wall forms the outer wall of the mixing device . the minor gap between the outer rim and the reactor wall may be sealed , for instance by welding . the collection section 03 is formed between the outer wall which in this embodiment as mentioned is the inner reactor wall and a circular arc divider wall 08 . the collection section is formed around the full 360 ° of the circular mixing device and on the largest diameter . here the fluid flowing from the catalyst bed above ( not shown ) is collected as it enters through the inlet 09 which is formed by the top edge of the mixing device . the fluid can only flow to the next underlying catalyst bed via the inlet and further to the collecting section as the rest of the cross sectional area is blocked , in this embodiment by a plate . in an embodiment of the invention , a quench inlet ( not shown ) may be placed in the collecting section for adding cooling quench fluid to the fluid stream . fig2 shows the internals of the mixing device according to the first aspect of the invention , the horizontal 3 - level mixing . more of the circular arc divider walls can be seen , and it is visible that they run substantially in a spirally inwards direction . inside the collecting section , the mixing section 04 is formed in the same horizontal level but within the outer circular collecting section . the fluid flows from the collecting section to the mixing section via an opening in the spiral formed by the circular arc divider walls . as shown also slots in the circular arc divider wall may form additional passages from the collecting section to the mixing section . mixing of the gas and maybe liquid and vapor takes place in the mixing channel as it travels for ca . 360 ° in almost the maximum diameter of the mixing device before entering the discharging section 05 partly through the opening in the spiral formed by the circular arc divider wall and partly through slot openings in the wall . in the discharging section the mixed gas and possibly liquid and vapor leaves the mixer in a uniform flow . a spilling brim 10 withholds an even level of liquid in the discharging section and through the vapor lift principles ; the gas is lifting droplets of the liquid and carry it out of the collecting section towards the open space center part ( which is also the center of the circular cross - section of the reactor 06 ) of the mixing device and further towards the catalyst bed below ( not shown ). the discharging section may also be constructed to allow for discharge of fluid towards the outer diameter of the mixing device ( not shown ). to further even out the distribution of the fluid to the catalyst bed below , distribution trays as known in the art ( not shown ) may be installed below the mixing device , above the downstream catalyst bed . as can be seen in fig2 , the circular arc divider walls form channels 07 which are forming the collecting , mixing and discharge sections . in fig3 , a second aspect of the invention , the vertical 3 - level mixing is shown . in the embodiment shown , a circular arc divider wall is provided on the maximum diameter of the mixing device to form the outer wall of the channels . hence , in this embodiment , the inner part of the reactor is not forming the outer wall of the mixing device even though the diameter of the circular outer rim of the mixing device corresponds to the diameter of the inner wall of the reactor . the mixing device is donut shaped and is divided by a spiral , spiralling downwards , to the three connected sections , the collecting section , the mixing section and the discharge section , all of which are formed on the maximum diameter of the mixing device and hence the reactor . the gas and possibly liquid and vapor from the catalyst bed above the mixing device is collected above the mixing device and directed to the collecting section which is formed as a circular arc channel by the circular arc divider walls . a quench inlet ( not shown ) may be placed in the collecting section . the fluid mixture is directed to the mixing section through a single opening at the end of the collecting section . as can be better seen in fig4 , the fluid travels in the mixing section in a 180 ° circular movement , where the gas and possibly , quench fluid , liquid and vapor is mixed , before it enters the discharge section which is a level below the mixing section . the gas and possibly liquid continue to travel through the discharging section , but are gradually released from the mixing device towards the center of the mixing device / reactor . a spilling brim ensures an even liquid level in the full circle of the discharging section , and the gas drags liquid droplets over the spilling brim when discharging from the mixing device as described above . also a discharge towards the outer diameter of the mixing device ( not shown ) is possible . in a further embodiment of the second aspect of the invention , the vertical 3 - level mixing the discharging section has a construction so the mixed fluid discharges not towards the center of the mixing device , but downwards . as in the embodiment described above with reference to fig4 , this in this embodiment the mixed fluid travels in the mixing section in a 180 ° circular movement , before it enters the discharge section which is a level below the mixing section as can be seen on fig5 . the gas and possibly liquid continue to travel through the discharging section , but are gradually released from the mixing device downwards from the bottom part of the discharging section , guided by the discharge guide vanes 11 more clearly shown in fig6 , 7 , 8 and 10 . in this embodiment the guide vanes also contribute to the mechanical strength and stiffness of the mixing device . in fig9 the principle of the fluid flow above the mixing device is shown . from the reactor part above the mixer the fluid is forced out towards the collecting section as the center of the mixing device is blocked and is directed towards the mixing section . the fluids passing point a shown , and entering the mixing section are accelerated to a level optimal for multiphase mixing due to the decreased flow area . leaving the mixing section at point b , the fluids are introduced to the discharging section . due to the increase of cross - sectional area available for fluid flow as seen at point b , fig1 from this point the fluid velocity decrease . the fluids are discharged from the mixing device gradually as they are circling around the discharging section . the discharge is done between the discharge guide vanes at the bottom of the discharging section .
| 1 |
the following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings . the same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identify the same or similar elements . also , the following detailed description does not limit the invention . instead , the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims and equivalents . as described herein , data units , such as atm cells , are efficiently scheduled for transmission using a rate wheel . in normal operation of the rate wheel , cells reserve transmission slots in the rate wheel based on traffic policy that applies to a traffic flow to which the cell belongs . different flows may occasionally attempt to schedule a cell in the same slot on the rate wheel , causing a collision . the system keeps track of the number of collisions and may later jump over idle slots to compensate for the collisions . fig1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary routing system 100 in which concepts consistent with the principles of the invention may be implemented . system 100 may receive one or more packet streams from physical links , process the packet stream ( s ) to determine destination information , and transmit the packet stream ( s ) out on links in accordance with the destination information . system 100 may include packet forwarding engines ( pfes ) 110 - 1 through 110 - n ( collectively referred to as packet forwarding engines 110 ), a switch fabric 120 , and a routing engine ( re ) 130 . re 130 may perform high level management functions for system 100 . for example , re 130 may communicate with other networks and / or systems connected to system 100 to exchange information regarding network topology . re 130 may create routing tables based on network topology information , create forwarding tables based on the routing tables , and forward the forwarding tables to pfes 110 . pfes 110 may use the forwarding tables to perform route lookups for incoming packets . re 130 may also perform other general control and monitoring functions for system 100 . pfes 110 may each connect to re 130 and switch fabric 120 . pfes 110 may receive packet data on physical links connected to a network , such as a wide area network ( wan ), a local area network ( lan ), or another type of network . each physical link could be one of many types of transport media , such as optical fiber or ethernet cable . the data on the physical link is transmitted according to one of several protocols , such as the synchronous optical network ( sonet ) standard . the data may take the form of data units , where each data unit may include all or a portion of a packet . for atm transmissions , for instance , the data units may be cells . a pfe 110 - x ( where pfe 110 - x refers to one of pfes 110 ) may process incoming data units prior to transmitting the data units to another pfe or the network . to facilitate this processing , pfe 110 - x may reassemble the data units into a packet and perform a route lookup for the packet using the forwarding table from re 130 to determine destination information . if the destination indicates that the packet should be sent out on a physical link connected to pfe 110 - x , then pfe 110 - x may prepare the packet for transmission by , for example , segmenting the packet into data units , adding any necessary headers , and transmitting the data units from the port associated with the physical link . fig2 is an exemplary block diagram illustrating a portion of pfe 110 - x according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention . pfe 110 - x may include a packet processor 210 and a set of input / output ( i / o ) units 220 - 1 through 220 - 2 ( collectively referred to as i / o units 220 ). although fig2 shows two i / o units 220 connected to packet processor 210 , in other implementations consistent with principles of the invention , there can be more or fewer i / o units 220 and / or additional packet processors 210 . packet processor 210 may perform routing functions and handle packet transfers to and from i / o units 220 and switch fabric 120 . for each packet it handles , packet processor 210 may perform the previously - discussed route lookup function and may perform other processing - related functions . an i / o unit 220 - y ( where i / o unit 220 - y refers to one of i / o units 220 ) may operate as an interface between its physical link and packet processor 210 . different i / o units may be designed to handle different types of physical links . fig3 is an exemplary block diagram of a portion of i / o unit 220 - y according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention . in this particular implementation , i / o unit 220 - y may operate as an interface to an atm link . i / o unit 220 - y may include a line card processor 310 and segmentation and reassembly ( sar ) logic 320 . line card processor 310 may process packets prior to transferring the packets to packet processor 210 or it may process packets from packet processor 210 before transmitting them to sar logic 320 . sar logic 320 may segment packets received from line card processor 310 into data units ( e . g ., atm cells ) for transmission on the physical links ( e . g ., sonet links ) and reassemble packets from data units received on the physical links . sar logic 320 may send reassembled packets to line card processor 310 . fig4 is an exemplary diagram of a portion of sar logic 320 . sar logic 320 may include an ingress component 420 and an egress component 410 . ingress component 420 may receive fixed sized data units , such as atm cells , and reassemble the cells into a variable size data unit , such as packet data . similarly , egress component 410 may receive variable size data units , such as packet data , and segment the packets into fixed sized data units , such as cells . the cells may be transmitted from system 100 via one or more output ports ( not shown ) connected to a physical link . for example , an output port may connect to an optical transmission medium , such as a sonet link having an optical carrier level of oc - 12 ( 622 . 08 mbps ) or oc - 3 ( 155 . 52 mbps ). ingress component 420 may receive data units on particular data flows and reassemble the data units into packets . to do this , ingress component 420 may maintain information regarding a data flow with which a packet is associated and associate each arriving data unit of the packet with that data flow . ingress component 420 may process packets across multiple packet flows that are received at multiple associated input ports . generally , each flow may be configured ( provisioned ) per port before ingress component 420 receives any data units associated with that flow . the data units associated with a particular packet may arrive at various times . each data unit may include a header and data . for atm , the header may include a virtual circuit identifier ( vci ) that identifies a particular virtual circuit with which the data unit is associated and a virtual path identifier ( vpi ) that identifies a particular virtual path with which the data unit is associated . fig5 is a diagram illustrating portions of egress component 410 in additional detail . egress component 410 may include a segmentation component 510 and a scheduling component 520 . segmentation component 510 may receive the input packets and segment the packets into fixed - length data units , which will be described herein as atm cells , although other data unit formats could also be used . the cells may be output to scheduling component 520 , which generally handles scheduling of the cells for transmission . the actual transmission may be handled by an output port ( s ), which puts the cells on the physical link . fig6 is a diagram conceptually illustrating the operation of scheduling component 520 in additional detail . the cells received from segmentation component 510 may be organized into a number of virtual circuits ( vcs ) 601 - 1 through 601 - m ( collectively referred to as virtual circuits 601 ), which may correspond to packet flows in the network . in general , a packet flow may be defined as packets having a set of common properties derived from the data contained in the packets . for example , a particular packet flow may be created to send data between two endpoints that desire a particular quality of service ( qos ) level ( e . g ., a packet flow being used to carry a video transmission between two endpoints ). cells corresponding to packets in the packet flow may belong to one of vcs 601 . cells in different vcs 601 may contend for access to a particular output port , such as output port 602 . scheduling component 520 schedules the sequence of cells that are sent to this port . vcs 601 may each be defined by a number of traffic shaping parameters . in particular , a vc may be defined by a peak cell rate ( pcr ) value , a sustainable cell rate ( scr ) value , a maximum burst size ( mbs ) value , and / or a cell delay variation ( cdv ) value . the values for these parameters may differ between vcs . scheduling component 520 attempts to schedule cells from each of vcs 601 such that the cells from each vc are sent to output port 602 in a manner that satisfies the traffic shaping parameters . in general , the traffic shaping parameters operate to control the availability of bandwidth to network users according to their traffic contracts and to define the spacing or interval between cells in order to mitigate buffering requirements . fig7 is a diagram conceptually illustrating portions of scheduling component 520 . more specifically , scheduling component 520 may use a rate wheel 710 to schedule cell traffic from vcs 601 to output port 602 . rate wheel 710 is conceptually illustrated in fig7 as a “ wheel ” containing evenly spaced slots 715 in which cells are scheduled . in practice , rate wheel 710 may generally be implemented as a circular memory structure that may be maintained in random access memory or another type of computer - readable medium . the various vcs 601 are illustrated in fig7 as corresponding to queues 720 - 1 through 720 - j ( collectively referred to as queues 720 ). queues 720 may be first - in first - out ( fifo ) queues . one of queues 720 may correspond to a single vc or packet flow or , in some implementations , multiple packet flows that have the same traffic shaping parameters may be handled by a single queue . a number of pointers may be associated with rate wheel 710 . as shown , a de - queue pointer 712 , a present time pointer 714 , and an en - queue pointer 716 may each point to various slots on rate wheel 710 . pointers 712 , 714 , and 716 may each be maintained by scheduling component 520 . de - queue pointer 712 indicates the current position on rate wheel 710 at which flows are being serviced . cells being currently serviced are transferred to output port 602 for transmission on the link . output port 602 may include an output buffer for queuing data for transmission . en - queue pointer 716 indicates the future position of each newly scheduled flow . cells from one of queues 720 may be scheduled in slots on rate wheel 710 at evenly spaced slot intervals determined by the traffic shaping parameters corresponding to the queue . for example , the next slot that is to be scheduled for a queue may be based on the previously scheduled slot offset by the cell interval ( e . g ., 1 / pcr ) for the queue . if no cell from one of queues 720 is scheduled to be included on rate wheel 710 at a particular time interval corresponding to the slot , an “ idle cell ” may be included on the rate wheel for that slot . the idle cell may later be transmitted to output buffer 602 . idle cells are generally used to maintain the cell interval at the output port . without idle cells , output buffer 602 may “ collapse ” the intended idle spacing between two cells and place them closer together than desired . present time pointer 714 may include a counter that increments at the cell rate ( the rate corresponding to the interval at which cells are transmitted from the output port ) or faster . the count value of present time pointer 714 may be stalled whenever the buffer in output port 602 is full . thus , present time pointer 714 may increment at the “ logical ” cell rate ( or faster ) when room exists in output port 602 . because the counter of present time pointer 714 can operate faster than the cell rate , present time pointer 714 may stall and then “ catch up ” in order to keep output port 602 full . the number of slots in rate wheel 710 may be based on the line rate of the output port relative to the slowest possible output rate . for an oc - 12 sonet output port , for example , rate wheel 710 may be constructed using 16 k slots . for an 0 ° c .- 3 sonet output port , rate wheel 710 may be constructed using 4 k slots . fig8 is a diagram illustrating one of the slots of rate wheel 710 ( labeled as slot 815 in fig8 ) in additional detail . slot 815 may include a number of fields , shown as a jump offset field 820 , a queue id field 825 , a head pointer field 830 , and a tail pointer field 835 . slot 815 , instead of physically storing the cell assigned to it , may instead store queue id field 825 , which acts as a pointer to the queue that contains the scheduled cell . in one implementation , a value of zero means that there is no cell scheduled in that slot ( i . e ., the slot is empty ). because flows from multiple queues 720 are being scheduled , each with a potentially different cell transmission rate , it is possible that multiple flows will attempt to schedule a cell in the same slot . this is referred to herein as a “ collision .” collisions may be handled by scheduling multiple cell transmissions in a single slot . head pointer 830 and tail pointer 835 may be used to handle the collisions by pointing to a linked - list of additional queue id fields . such a linked - list is shown in fig8 as list 840 . each entry in linked - list 840 may include a queue id field 841 , similar to queue id field 825 , and a pointer 842 to the next entry in linked - list 840 . in the example list illustrated in fig8 , head pointer 830 points to entry 850 in linked - list 840 . the queue id 841 of entry 850 points to a second one of queues 720 that attempted to schedule a cell in slot 815 . pointer 842 of entry 850 points to another colliding entry 855 — the third queue 720 that attempted to schedule a cell in slot 815 . tail pointer 835 may also point to entry 855 , indicating that this is the last entry in the linked - list for this particular slot . scheduling component 520 , when adding a colliding entry to linked list 840 , may add the entry at the location of the next free address entry , which may be pointed - to by a next free address pointer 860 . when the slot is later accessed and a colliding entry in linked list 840 is sent to output port 602 , the entry is then classified as a free entry and added to the end of a linked - list of free entries . in fig8 , two free entries are illustrated ( entries 870 and 875 ). when another entry becomes free , entry 875 may be modified to point to the free entry . similarly , when entry 870 is taken and added to a slot , next free address pointer 860 may be modified to point to entry 875 . jump offset value 820 is stored on a per - slot basis , and as will be described in more detail below , assists scheduling component 520 in “ jumping ” over empty slots on the rate wheel . by jumping over empty slots , scheduling component 520 can optimize the bandwidth utilization at output port 602 . in addition to jump offset value 820 , other values are stored by scheduling component 520 and used to assist in jumping over empty slots . jump credit 805 is one such value . unlike jump offset value 820 , which is stored on a per - slot basis , jump credit 805 may be a global value that is stored by scheduling component 520 for each rate wheel 710 . fig9 is a flow chart illustrating operation of scheduling component 520 in en - queuing flows from queues 720 to rate wheel 710 . flows may be scheduled based on a number of traffic shaping parameters ( e . g ., pcr , scr , mbs , cdv ). for each queue 720 , scheduling component 520 may calculate a cell interval based on the traffic shaping parameters for the flow ( act 901 ). for example , each slot on rate wheel 710 may be considered a cell slot on the link . thus , if the traffic shaping parameters for a flow dictate that the flow should be sent at one - quarter the link rate , then scheduling component 520 will en - queue the queue id 825 of the flow at every fourth slot . based on the calculated cell intervals , scheduling component 520 en - queues the flows , corresponding to queues 720 , at the designated slots ( act 902 ). en - queue pointer 716 points to a position on rate wheel 710 at which the particular queue id is being written . en - queue pointer 716 advances around rate wheel 710 as the flows are written . scheduling component 520 may ensure that en - queue pointer 716 does not wrap de - queue pointer 712 before writing to the next position . slots at which no flows are scheduled are empty cell slots . empty cell slots , when transmitted to output port 602 , will result in unused bandwidth on the physical link . accordingly , it is desirable to minimize empty slots to the extent that the empty slots ( idle cells ) are not required to maintain a desired interval between cells . scheduling component 520 may locate collisions when multiple flows attempt to schedule a single slot ( act 903 ). when a collision is found , scheduling component 520 writes the queue id of the first flow to queue id field 825 and adds the queue ids of the remaining flows to linked - list 840 , as previously discussed ( act 904 ). when there is no collision , the queue id of the single flow is written to queue id field 825 ( act 905 ). head pointer 830 and / or tail pointer 835 may be given the value null , indicating that they do not point to any additional flows . fig1 is a flow chart illustrating operation of scheduling component 520 in de - queuing flows from rate wheel 710 . rate wheel 710 may be evaluated each time present time counter 714 is advanced . as previously mentioned , present time pointer 714 may be advanced at a rate faster than the rate of output port 602 . when the buffer in output port 602 is full , present time pointer 714 may not advance . scheduling component 520 may write the next entry in the slot indicated by de - queue pointer 712 to output port 602 ( act 1001 ). in particular , the next cell from the queue corresponding to queue id 825 of the current slot is written to output port 602 . de - queue pointer 712 is advanced as the cells are written to output port 602 . the amount to advance de - queue pointer 712 depends on the value in jump offset field 820 and on whether the current slot is a collision slot . jump offset field 820 may contain a value that advances de - queue pointer 712 over empty slots and to the next non - empty slot when the last entry in a slot is processed . the jump offset value for the slot may be updated to reflect the location of the next non - empty slot ( act 1002 ). for example , if the next two slots on rate wheel 710 are empty and the third slot contains an entry , jump offset field 820 may be given a value of two , indicating that the next two slots can be “ jumped .” jump credit field 805 is used to indicate how many slots are available to be jumped over , which should not be more than the number of accumulated collisions . as jump offset fields 820 are incremented , jump credit field 805 is correspondingly decremented . accordingly , when updating jump offset field 820 , this field may only be updated up to the value of jump credit field 805 ( act 1002 ). in other words , jump offset field 820 can only be set to indicate a jump value up to the point to which jump credit field 805 indicates a jump credit is available . if the current slot is a collision slot with additional , un - evaluated entries , jump credit field 805 is incremented ( acts 1003 and 1005 ). de - queue pointer 712 is not advanced in this situation as there are more entries in the slot . however , if the current entry is the last entry in the slot , scheduling component 520 may advance de - queue pointer 712 by one plus the value of the jump offset value ( acts 1003 and 1004 ). in the situation in which the jump offset value for the slot was not updated , the jump offset value is zero , resulting in de - queue pointer 712 advancing by one ( act 1004 ). fig1 a and 11b are diagrams that conceptually illustrate an exemplary set of de - queue operations . in fig1 a , assume that there are five flows , labeled as flows “ a ” through “ e ”, each having traffic shaping parameters that dictate a fixed cell interval of five slots . further assume that the five flows all collide in first slot 1101 of rate wheel 710 . flow a is placed in the primary entry in slot 1101 and flows b through e are placed in a linked - list of colliding entries . when de - queue pointer 712 reaches slot 1101 , it will be stopped at slot 1101 for five cycles of present time pointer 716 as each of flows a through e are processed . without the ability to jump slots , as described above with reference to fig1 , idle cells are emitted at slots 1102 - 1105 and sent to output port 602 . as a result , only 5 / 9 th of available bandwidth would be used , and the rate achieved for each flow is 1 / 9 th , rather than the desired ⅕ th of the available port rate . with the ability to jump slots , however , as described above , the jump offset value is incremented to a value of four and the de - queue pointer is advanced five slots ( 4 + 1 ) to advance to slot 1106 . accordingly , slots 1102 - 1105 are skipped after processing is completed at slot 1101 . no idle cells are emitted , each flow is transmitted at the desired port rate , and the full output port bandwidth is used . in fig1 b , assume that in addition to the five colliding flows a through e , an additional flow “ f ” is present . flow f is scheduled at slot 1103 . when de - queue pointer 712 reaches slot 1101 , it will be stopped at slot 1101 for five cycles of present time pointer 716 as each of flows a through e are processed . the jump offset value for slot 1101 will be set to point to the next non - empty slot , slot 1003 . jump credit 805 will have additional credits available after setting the offset pointer for slot 1101 , however , as four flows collided in slot 1101 , but the next non - empty slot is only two slots ahead of slot 1101 . accordingly , the jump offset value for slot 1103 is set to point to slot 1106 . in this manner , a linked - list of jump slots are created by which empty slots can be skipped to fully use the bandwidth at output port 602 . a circular memory structure , called a rate wheel herein , was described that efficiently schedules data units . the number of collisions between flows of multiple data units are kept track of and used to determine a number of available slots in the rate wheel that may be skipped . by skipping empty slots , the bandwidth of the output port can be more fully used . the foregoing description of preferred embodiments of the invention provides illustration and description , but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed . modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the invention . for example , while series of acts have been presented with respect to fig9 and 10 , the order of the acts may be different in other implementations consistent with principles of the invention . also , non - dependent acts may be implemented in parallel . no element , act , or instruction used in the description of the present application should be construed as critical or essential to the invention unless explicitly described as such . also , as used herein , the article “ a ” is intended to include one or more items . where only one item is intended , the term “ one ” or similar language is used . further , the phrase “ based on ” is intended to mean “ based , at least in part , on ” unless explicitly stated otherwise . the scope of the invention is defined by the claims and their equivalents .
| 7 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.